Title: Summer Party

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, or any of the characters.

A/N: I would like to thank you all who took the time to review the previous chapters. Reviews and constructive criticism are always more than welcome. I am not a native speaker so I beg you to forgive me my stupid mistakes.

Chapter five: Swimming in the rain

Brass got up and patted Grissom on the shoulder. "You will have to wait to the next two hours to see our turn. So be patient. You are a scientist. You are supposed to be patient." He turned around to his female colleagues. "Girl's I think it's time to get changed.

Sara and Catherine got up, smiled at Grissom and followed Brass to the provisional dressing room. It still has the lockers out of the time the building was used as a coliseum. The room was crowded with people changing for their performances.

Sara, who was two or three steps behind Brass and Catherine, who were talking about the problems of child education in today's time, spotted Greg who was sitting on a bench in the corner of the room. He seemed to be in deep thoughts and Archie was nowhere to be seen.

Sara tuned her head to Catherine and Brass again. "Would you two please excuse me for a moment. I will meet you in five minutes." Cath nodded and Brass didn't show a reaction at all. He was completely focussed on Catherine.

Sara had to smile. She asked herself if Cath knew about Brass feelings for her. But knowing Catherine she was sure that she knew it. It would be interesting to see where this would lead for those two.

In her opinion they would be cute couple. Cath was a sensible, but nonetheless very strong women, who wasn't always easy to deal with. There were few men who could really deal with her, especially when she had one of her bad days. Brass with his calmness and wry humour was one of them. Even when Catherine's fury and snappy comments let the rest of team get out of her way, Brass wasn't bothered at all.

Sara wished that she would give the whole thing a try. Catherine deserved a man who would love her and treated her right. A man who would be good to Lindsay too. Under his hard surface Brass was a caring and vulnerable man. She was sure he would carry Cath on his hands when she would only give him a little chance.

She focussed on Greg again. As she stood before him he looked up and smiled at her. "Hey Sara, how did you like our little show out there."

Sara smiled back at him. "I have to admit that I am impressed. You two made a good and funny show out there."

Greg slowly shook his head and looked at her with mock seriousness. "Sara, I am hurt. You don't think that this was the hottest show ever? You can't be honest. Come on and admit it. I am hot and spicy and you like it."

He got up. He wore the suit he had worn at the beginning of his performance. "So, if you please excuse me. I would like to see what our competitors will have to offer and I think there will be a lot of fans to greet too."

After a few steps he turned around and faced Sara, who was looking after him. His voice was light and teasing. "And Sara, If you want to ask me for a date, and I know you would like to do it, please don't be shy. I won't say no."

Sara sighed and as she spoke she sounded a little bit impatient. "Greg you know that I won't go out with you. If you believe it or not, you and me would never work."

For a brief moment Sara could see the hurt in Greg's eyes. Then he turned round again and started slowly to walk away.

Then he stopped another time, but didn't face her. His voice was low and serious and there was an undertone of sadness. "You should give things a chance first and then judge about them. You should give me a chance. You know next to nothing about me, only what you see in the lab. But there is more to each human being than you could see on the surface. I only want a chance, so that we could get to know each other better. Perhaps you would like what you see and when not, what would you have lost?"

He started to walk to the exit. Sara was frozen. She knew that he was right. What does she really know about him? And would it be so bad to go out with him one time? After Hank's betrayal, even he was only a good friend, and Grissom´s rejection she don't even wanted to think about men.

But she knew that Greg wasn't only the goofy lab tech, an overgrown boy. He also was a helpful friend and cared very much about the people around him. She was sure that he would never hurt her by purpose and hadn't she thought a few minutes ago that Catherine should give Brass a chance. It would only be a date. And who could know what the future would bring for each of them.

She started to run after him and caught him just before the exit. "Greg wait."

He faced her. "Sara please, I don't want to discuss the whole matter anymore." He looked determined.

She shook her head. "No Greg, I don't want to discuss with you. I only wanted to tell you that you are right and ask if you would like to do something together next Friday? I believe we both will have the night off?"

His face lit up and he looked like the optimistic Greg she knew again. "You are right and it would be pleasure for me to go out with you Sara Sidle." He broadly smiled at her.

Sara showed him her rare gap toothed smile. "Than it's decided. Greg I have a little question. As I spotted you on the bench you looked so thoughtfully. What was it you have thought about?"

Greg smiled gentle. "It was you Sara. I thought about you."

He finally walked to the exit and joined the crowd around Archie.

Catherine and Brass opened the two lockers in which Catherine had placed their clothes earlier this day. Brass grabbed for his costume and held it before him. He glanced at Catherine. "Your friend Laura must be a very good designer. I looks like the real one. If only I would look like the original artist. Catherine I will look horrible. I´ll be a living joke for the next two decades." Catherine could hear a slight tone of despair in his voice.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Brass look at me". As he turned to her, he could see her smile warmly at him. It was her motherly smile, the one that she showed only to very good friends. Friends she cared about. "Hey, you will look good in this. I am sure it will fit you perfect. You don't look all too bad for a middle aged guy. So show them how hot you could be." She winked at him and he could feel his cheeks redden. Something that did not happened to him in ages.

"Ok, ok, so if you would please excuse me now. I want to change clothes. To be so hot, like you think I am, needs a bit of preparation."

Catherine chuckled. She had always liked his ironic humour. To be honest, the more she learned about him, the more she liked him. She knew that she would have to deal with her confused feelings sometime soon, but that wasn't the right time nor the right place. She didn't know why, but she went to him and placed a small kiss on his cheek. Ok, see ya later." Then she grabbed her clothes to find a place where she could change too.

While the others were occupied with getting ready for their performances, Grissom and Nick watched the show progress. So far they had seen Greg and Archie as the Labrats, to female police officers who played the worst sketch they had ever seen and another duo which consisted of a male police officer who played the piano and a female lab tech who sang "Time to say goodbye". The two of them wasn't as bad as they could have been but far away from being good.

Nick turned to Grissom. "Don't you think that someone should have told her to take another song? Her voice isn't bad but when it comes to the higher tones..... ."

Grissom didn't take his eyes of the stage. "You are right, but you know human nature. We seldom think about us as we really are, but as what we wish to be. Wouldn't Ecklie and his colleagues be the next?"

"Yeah I think so", Nick answered him. "I am really excited to learn, with what they want to impress us.

The light on the stage focussed on Warrick again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, now we will come to one of our highlights today. Conrad Ecklie, supervisor of CSI dayshift and creator of this contest, will perform for you tonight. Please let us greet the fabulous Conrad Ecklie as well as two of his charming subordinates with a tap-dance number to an unforgettable song: Swinging in the rain."

The lights went down and the first notes of Swinging in the rain were to be heard. The trio that entered the stage were an impressive sight. It consists of Ecklie and like announced two of his female subordinates. Both of them were blond. Each of the three wore black trousers and black cutaways, as well as black top hats.

After half a minute it was clear that Ecklie knew how to tap-dance. The three of them tapped and swung as if they had done it since their birth.

Nick looked at Grissom. "I don't get it. I did not knew what they wanted to perform, but Hannah, you know the right one, told me that Ecklie taught them something for their performance. That could only mean that they couldn't tap-dance until a few days before."

Grissom faced Nick, his expression was quizzical. "Ecklie don't like to loose and he know that he seldom had a chance to beat dayshift in the past. I am sure that he has done everything possible to avoid to loose against us. Even if that had meant to torture his employees."

Nick shook his head in response. "I know that you're right, but it is hard to believe that the show is so perfect after only a few days of practicing."

It was like Nick's word had been a omen. Within seconds the nearly perfect show turned into a comedy.

The woman to Ecklie´s left stumbled upon her feet. The other two who were building a line with her at this moment started to fall too. A moment later they lay on the floor and it was difficult to differentiate the limbs and attribute them to the different bodies. The room had fell silent. Only the music was still to be heard. It lasted a while till all three of them were standing again. Ecklie´s expression was a sight to behold. It was a mixture of anger, shame and astonishment. He stood still till the music ended. His two colleges looked at each other unsure what to do.

The auditory was still silent. Grissom stood up and started to applaud. People around him joined quickly and the trio bowed short and left the stage.

Nick couldn't hold on any longer and started to laugh. "Tell me Grissom why did you start to applaud. I thought you would be happy that something went wrong." He shook his head. "What a show. They couldn't have planned it better."

Grissom smiled at Nick. "I think Ecklie will have a hard time during the next weeks. So why make it any harder for him. Besides, his interpretation of "Swimming in the rain" was quite excellent." He joined Nick´s laughter.

Nick eyes filled with tears because he laughed so hard. "Swimming in the rain? Yeah the moment when Ecklie fell, his arms wide spread, he really looked like a kind of breaststroke swimmer."

Grissom and Nick sat down again and it lasted a while till they could breathe normal again.