Title: Summer Party
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, or any of the characters.
Chapter two: Brainstorming
"Catherine, wait." Sara started to run after Catherine, but Catherine didn't slow her pace. Sara was angry. "Cath, you cannot be serious. You can make a fool out of yourself, if you like to, but I will never take part in this show. Do you understand me? It may be better, if you pay the money and forget the whole matter." Catherine finally turned around and looked at Sara. She was still smiling, as if Sara's rant hasn't bothered her in the least. "Sara, I…" she started, but was interrupted by Greg who headed in their direction and was waving with some papers in front of him.
"Girls, what's the matter? Hey Sara, why are you looking like you want to kill someone?" He smiled broadly and winked at her. "I think I know what bothers you, but you needn't to be sad, all those rumours aren't true." Sara scowled at him. "Greg, what the heck are you talking about? " He showed her his most innocent look. "Oh, I thought that the rumours about me, dating this hot, new lab assistant might perhaps upset you. I can assure that nothing happened and nothing will ever going to be happen." Sara rolled her eyes, but her lips twisted into a small smile, "Greg, didn't you want to give us the results of the DNA test? If yes, then give them to us; if no, then would you please be so kind to let us alone. Catherine and I have some matters to discuss."
Greg nodded his head. "Ok, here are your results, the first DNA sample, the blood, belonged to the vic. The second one, you know the skin under the vic´s nails, was a full hit too. It belonged, you would never have thought of that, to the boyfriend." He shook his had with mock seriousness. "Be honest, what would you do without me? Nevertheless I think I will let you alone now, so that you can have your girls chat. Ahem and Sara, you don't need to deny it. I know you want to talk about me" Catherine had to laugh out loud. "Greg, did it ever come to your mind that some things aren't about you?" He smiled. "Nope. Before I forget to tell you, Archie and I will perform a little show at our summer party. So prepare yourself for the hottest show of the year." With that he turned around and headed back for the lab.
"How could he know about the summer party?" Sara asked, and her voice sounded utterly confused. Catherine shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Really. He seems to have placed some extra ears all over the place. Anyway, when Greg is able to do a performance, than you should be able twice." She looked serious now. "I will be honest with you Sara. I didn't plan to bet with the guys. It was a spontaneous reaction, but I can't stand arrogance and Warrick and Nick acted like the gods of arrogance themselves. I won't back out. Come on, we have two weeks to think about it and plan something suitable. You can still give it up later, but let's try it first. "
Although, during Cath´s speech she looked undecided, Sara now nodded. "You are right, I hate arrogance too, with all of my heart. I´m in and we will win that bet." Her voice sounded steady now. "Let's give Brass a call and tell him to meet us for breakfast after shift. We will tell him about the good news then. It will be hard enough to convince him to play along."
Catherine smiled approvingly and grabbed for Sara's arm, "we should go back to work now. If Grissom will catch us discussing the bet that should never be, he is going to kill us. I'll call Brass when we're out of here."
Four hours later, after shift.
Sara and Catherine entered the diner. Brass was already waiting for them at their favourite table in the corner. He got up as he caught sight of them. "Ladies, what a pleasure to meet you here." He smirked. "Please sit down and enjoy yourselves."
They both sat down opposite of him and smiled at him. "Hey Brass, how are you?" Catherine greeted him. "You look tired, did you have a rough night?" Sara added. Brass frowned, he worked long enough as cop to know that something was completely wrong. "Let's call it instinct, but something isn't right here. What do you two want from me?" Catherine gave him an innocent look and tried to sound soothing. "Jim, what do you mean? It was our only intention to have a nice breakfast together and chat a little."
He leaned forward and his face wore a slightly impatient expression. "Catherine, Sara don't try to fool me please. You two act totally out of character. First of all, you never wanted to meet me alone and although it is a pleasant thought that you find my present so enjoyable that you want more of it, it is not very likely." He gave them a small, sad smile. "Your second mistake was to show me your broadest smile, as soon as you caught sight of me. You never did that and no one would expect you to do it. I mean, we all have hard jobs to fulfill and at the end of shift we are tired. That's perfectly normal. I would have expected a tired, little smile at the best. So, now let's come to your last but most conspicuous mistake. You Catherine," he pointed to the blond opposite of him, "called me Jim. You would never use my first name under normal circumstances, so I know that there is something different today." Now he turned to the brunette. "And you Sara said that I looked tired and you never bothered to mention my appearance before and you did it with this suspicious, caring undertone I have to add."
His face lit up and he started to laugh. "I wish you could see your faces now. Sara, you are looking like the bad conscience yourself and you Catherine can barely hide your laugh. So whatever it is, spill it."
Catherine suppressed the impulse to led out the laughter and nodded. "Ok, I'll tell you everything, but first I have to admit that I have never thought that you are such a good observant. I am really deeply impressed. Now to the news, you remember the bet last night? " Brass moaned. "I see, that is the case", Catherine continued. "Nick called me earlier and told me that he and Warrick are into the bet. I convinced Sara that she will at least try it and I hope that I could convince you too. Brass we needed you. I know that you don't want to look like a jerk, neither will we, but I assure you that I won't press you to do something that you don't want to. "
"Brass please," Sara started. "Nick and Warrick acted like a pair of extraordinary dorks last night and I really want to wipe that nasty smile off their faces."
Catherine and Sara waited for Brass to answer. His face didn't show his feelings and he remained quiet for a minute. He took a deep breath and his voice sounded serious. "Ok, I will tell you what I think. We will never win when we try to perform something traditional."
Sara showed him her gap-toothed smile and wanted to say something, but Brass raised his hand. "Let me finish please. I couldn't have known that you wanted to talk with me about the bet, so I told Warrick and Nick to meet us here. They agreed and told me that they would try to persuade Grissom to come along too. I think we should use the remaining time and plan a concept. There was a time, ages ago, were people thought of me as a hot, talented guy. Don't look like you couldn't believe it. It´s true. I think we could use the rest of my talent and pair it with your own. I think I have the perfect idea how to win the contest. It would perhaps look rather funny than hot, but I think the audience will be swept of their feet."
Five minutes later the other three arrived. They sat down and the rest of breakfast they talked about nothing in particular. Grissom had to go early, because he wanted to get some sleep before the department head meeting with Ecklie, which was held two times a month. As they were alone Nick looked cheerful at Sara, Catherine and Brass. "You know, you don't have to do a performance at all. You could pay us now and Warrick and I will swear to forget the whole matter." Warrick laughed out loud, but to Nick's and Warrick´s astonishment Sara simply smiled. "Oh, don't worry about us, we have everything planned. I could only advise you to save some money for us, because our show will rock. The money is ours"