Title: Summer Party
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, or any of the characters.
Chapter seven: And the winner is...
Greg and Archie met Sara at the exit. She smiled at them. "So, did you like the performance? I haven't found the guts yet to face the rest of the bunch out there. What do you think, have I ruined my career?
Greg laughed. "Ruined your career? Sara, your performance was terrific. I swear. Brass is a real talent. He should quit his job and become a professional Elvis impersonator. And Cath and you looked absolutely stunning." He beamed at her.
"Greg didn't you forget to mention that the two of them have very good voices and their singing was excellent?" Archie patted Greg gently on the shoulder. "In my opinion", and he bowed slightly before Sara, "you three did an excellent job and deserve to win."
Archie gave Sara a quick hug. "Would you excuse me please, I want to congratulate Brass and Catherine too."
Sara looked at Greg, who has blushed lightly. He shrugged his shoulders. "Archie is right. You have a very good voice Sara and of course you did a great job. I am sorry when I sounded a little bit, you know cocky or goofy. That wasn't my intention at all."
Sara showed him her brightest smile. "Greg, you are goofy. That's one of the reasons people like you so much. I am sure you know that yourself. Don't worry I am not offended. I am only glad that a least two people liked the performance."
He smiled back at her and embraced her. "Sara, you should never be in doubt about yourself. You are one of the brightest and talented women I know and of course one of the best looking." He let go of her, his eyes twinkled.
Sara swallowed. Greg's embrace had felt good and definitely different than Archie's embrace before. All of sudden she felt nervous at the thought of having a date with Greg. "Thanks Greg. You know how to make someone feel better." Her voice slightly trembled. "So, I think I will go and hear what the others think."
Greg decided to accompany her. As they reached the table Brass and Catherine were already there. Catherine spotted Sara. "Hey Sara, happy news. The guys here liked our show."
"Hey that's good to hear. So I don't need to watch out for an new job, have I?", Sara joked.
"What would CSI be without you?" Brass asked jokingly.
Ecklie's had popped up as he heard Brass speaking. "Elvis, could you..."
Brass raised his hands. "No Ecklie, like I told you ten minutes ago I am not Elvis and I won't give you an autograph. Let it be, ok?"
"But.."
"No 'But'." Brass's voice was firm.
Grissom looked from one to the other. "Give him his autograph Brass. I think it will be the only way to get him quiet."
"Ok, ok, Elvis gives you an autograph. How sweet." Brass stated wryly.
They had to laugh at his statement. Brass wrote 'Elvis' on one of Ecklie's handkerchiefs and like Grissom said Ecklie became quit and sat down again.
They talked and joked until David approached the table.
"Hi everybody. Warrick, the jury has decided. Would you like to come and announce the winner? Before I forget it. You all did great jobs." He gave Sara a shy smile.
"Jope. So in a few minutes we will know more. I must admit I am really curious to know who will be the winner. See ya later guys. And girls, of course." He grinned and went with David.
The others sat down and talked quietly. The tension rose tangible with every passing minute.
For a last time the spotlights on the stage turned on full beam. Warrick waited for the applause to fade away.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We literally reached the moment of truth. Our jury has decided who deserved it most to win this contest. We don't want to keep our participants in suspense any longer, so I beg our jury to come out and declare the winner. Please give us a great applause for our jury, Sheriff Cavallo, Detective Susan Harris and Doc. Robbins."
The three of them entered the stage, both men in black suits and Detective Harris in a casual black dress. Doc. Robbins held a closed envelope in his hands. He stepped forward to the microphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. First of all I hope you enjoyed and still enjoy this special evening. I certainly did and do. I will now have the pleasure to announce the winner of the first LVDP Summer Party Contest. It wasn't a easy decision. Not at all. It am sure that most of you will agree with us, that all of the performances were interesting, but that there were two outstanding acts."
Nick turned to Grissom. "Interesting is a little bit understated, or a nice way to describe a total flop." He pointed to Ecklie who slept with his head on his arms and snored audible.
Grissom grimaced. "You know Doc. Robbins. He always tries to be a gentlemen. Furthermore I am sure that a lot of people really think they did great acts. Otherwise they wouldn't have performed at all, would they?"
They turned their attention back to the stage.
"There was only one little, tiny problem. We couldn't declare two winners. This is a sense of jury, to decide who did his job best. So we decided for one of the two groups, although we think that they both deserve it to win. I will tell you now the reason why we decided like we did and then announce the winner. Otherwise I am afraid you wouldn't hear the reason anymore, because the speech of an old man would be to easily drowned out by the noise." He smiled and his eyes glistered friendly.
"So to cut a long story short, the reason that decided the issue was a formal one. The first act gave both of the participants the opportunity to perform to equal shares. The other act, although one member of the jury liked it a little bit better, was mainly focussed on one person. So the winner is: 'The lab rats' with 'I'm to sexy'. Let's give the two of them a warm applause. Greg and Archie, would you please come up to me so that I can give you your price?"
Like the doctor said the noise that rose was ear-splitting. Greg and Archie both jumped up as their names were mentioned. They smiled like Cheshire Cats and made their way to the stage.
Sara looked at Catherine, her face mirrored the light disappointment she was feeling. "You know, I would have liked to win, but I think they deserved it. They were really good."
Catherine shrugged her shoulders, she too, felt a little bit disappointed. "Yeah, I guess you are right. And it is no shame to loose. We did a good show, too. You heard what the Doc. said. Hey it looks like Greg and Archie will hold a little speech."
They turned the attention to the stage, were Greg and Archie stood before the microphone. They both held a great bouquet of flowers in their arm and Greg had the envelope that contained the promised credit note.
Greg coughed to be sure to get full attention and started to speak.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Believe me, I have never expected that we would win this contest. We performed for the pure fun of it. Nonetheless I am very happy that we could entertain you and of course that we won the contest. Because we are sure that the other act, about which Doc. Robbins talked about, was the fabulous Elvis interpretation of Jim Brass, Sara Sidle and Catherine Willows, we want the three of them come up too and share the honour and the price with us. The three of them were so fantastic that they deserved to win. Give them a hearty applause please."
Archie nodded and clapped his hands.
"Ladies, he meant us. Let's go." Brass laid his arms around the frowned features of his female colleagues.
The two got up, feeling like daydreamers and together they went to the stage. The people around them were enthusiastic, because of Greg's and Archie's spontaneous generosity. They applauded and a some of them clapped them encouraging on the shoulders.
As they reached the others who were waiting for them Catherine noted the frowned feature of the sheriff. She turned to Sara and whispered her in the ear. "Look at the sheriff. He is the reason we didn't win. How much does he hates us?"
Sara nodded lightly and whispered back. "You're right, but look at the Doc. He seemed to be very content with the latest development." As she said, Doc. Robbins was grinning happily. "But to be honest, the two of them deserved it to win. They were good. Only because the Doc. had an other opinion it doesn't mean that they were bad."
Brass who had caught Sara's last words said quiet. "If I had to decide I would have chosen them. But I had the impression that the auditory was undecided. So the situation now mirrors only the current mood."
They shook hands with the jury and exchanged embraces with Greg and Archie. The two men hand over their flower bouquets to Sara and Catherine. Archie grabbed the microphone.
"Herewith I want to officially congratulate our colleagues to their great act and I think they, too, have something to say to us." He gave the microphone to Brass, who stood next to him.
"Um, I really don't know what to say. I feel honoured that our colleagues want to share with us and that they liked our act. But guys.." He turned to the young men. "You deserved to win. You were great, really great."
Catherine took the micro of his hands. "Thank you guys for sharing with us. You are not only good looking.." the auditory laughed out loud, "no you are generous, friendly and loveable too. And I want to thank Jim Brass too. Thank you that you shared your great talent with us."
She beamed at Brass. Cath turned the attention back to the people in the coliseum. "I think we shouldn't bug you anymore and finish the official part. So, thank you very much and let's enjoy the remaining evening. "
For a last time applause was to be heard. The members of CSI nightshift and the jury left the stage.
Brass, Catherine, Sara, Greg and Archie made their way to the rest of the CSI's. Catherine faced Sara. "I hope you wouldn't want to hold a speech yourself, but you didn't look like you would to."
"No, I didn't feel the urge to say something. I am so happy that this over now and life can turn to normal." She glanced thoughtfully in Greg's direction not seeing that Cath did the same with Brass.
They reached the others and saw that Warrick was already there. A last round of congratulations were exchanged.
Catherine sighed and placed a hand on Brass's shoulder. He looked at her with enquiring eyes. She came nearer, so that she could whisper in his ears.
As he felt her breath on his neck he could feel a shiver running down his spine. 'Oh man stop this foolish thoughts.', he told himself. 'That woman is way to good for you.` He concentrated on her words.
"Jim, I think we should send Grissom, Archie and Greg to get new drinks for us. We have to speak with Warrick and Nick about the bet."
"Yeah I guess you are right.", he answered her. "He guys", he said to the three men who sat on the opposite bench. "Would you please be so kind to fetch a few drinks for us. Your way is shorter than ours."
Grissom made a light confused face. Nonetheless he asked them what they wished and the three went for the bar.
Nick watched his colleagues curious. "So, why did you send them away? You did this by purpose, didn't you?"
"Yeah, Jim did it because I begged him to.", Catherine replied. "We have to discuss about the bet. We loose, so we owe you money."
Warrick wanted to say something but Sara raised her hands and interrupted him.
"Please if you want to make fun of us, do it and then let's talk about the business."
Warrick sighed. "Sara, who said that we would like to make fun of you. I talked with Nick earlier and we both have the same opinion. You were great and almost won. If it wasn't for the sheriff you would have, perhaps, won. We will never know it."
Nick nodded firmly. "Yeah, let's forget the bet. I think we all had a pleasant evening and that should be award enough."
Sara jumped up. "Really? You guys are great, sooo great." She gave them both kisses on the cheek and showed them her gap-toothed smile.
Catherine looked relieved and happy too. "Thanks guys." She and Brass had spoken at the same time. They laughed and shared a shy smile.
The crew spent the rest of the night with discussions about nothing in particular. The atmosphere were relaxed and they laughed a lot.
Sara and Greg seemed to be totally absorbed in their own, little world. Sara enjoyed herself. It was the first time in month that she felt completely at ease.
It was late, nearly three a.m.. Brass accompanied Catherine to her car. They talked about the past hours till they reached their destination.
Brass held the door open for her. "I wish you a good night Catherine. The last days were fun, thanks of your bet. Ok, I will see you tomorrow night. "
He turned around.
"Good night Jim. You are right it was fun. It's a pity that it's over now." She had spoken quietly and at the mention of his first name, spoken so gentle, he faced Catherine again. He knew that his chances were bad to ever win her love, but he knew also that he has nothing to loose.
Brass cleared his throat. He felt nervous. "Cath, would you, perhaps, like to go out with me. I know a very good Italian restaurant. We could go there together sometimes. But if you don't like the idea, forget it." He had spoken fast and watched Catherine's face carefully for a reaction.
She looked thoughtfully and was silent for the good part of a minute. He wanted to speak and tell her to forget it, as she looked him straight in the eyes, drew nearer to him and placed a soft kiss on his mouth.
He gasped, completely surprised by her action.
She turned around and got into her car. "I would love to go out with you. Let's say next Friday? It's my night off."
He nodded, unable to speak.
She closed the door, turned the ignition and drove away.
A/N: Thank you for reviewing guys. This story has nearly reached it's end. There will only be one more chapter with an epilogue. But for all who liked the few shippy moments there will be a sequel to see how it turns out with the dates. I`ll call it "Dates" and I have the first chapter already in my mind.