Games
These characters are not my property.
Just a silly story set during Early Rollout:
Why did Sara drink? Will the guys be able to help Catherine solve her seven-month old problem?
Completely out-of-character actions ahead…
Sara was glad the case was closed. She had been feeling like hell when the investigation started and her mood had not improved much by the second day. And to make matters worse, now Brass truly believed that she was an alcoholic. Sure, it was partly her fault for not telling him the full story but really, how could she? It was bad enough that Grissom knew!
Badly needing a cup coffee, she went to the break room and was surprised see the door closed. She was about to touch the doorknob when she heard voices coming from inside. Grissom and Archie, as far as she could tell. Apparently they needed to talk in private and had chosen the break room. Odd. Sara wondered if she should just leave; since Greg's New Year's Eve eavesdropping incident (*) she knew what happened when you listened to other people's conversations… but Grissom was in there and she loved to hear him talk…
She leaned a little and noticed that there were more people in there:
"Hey, Grissom?" said Nicky, "Did you know that Catherine hasn't had sex in seven months?"
"She told you?" asked Grissom with a touch of disbelief in his voice.
"She told me, too" confessed Bobby.
"Me, too," Admitted Archie.
"She told me too!" said Hodges, more enthusiastically, "I thought she was coming on to me! I was wondering what to do about it when Brass paged her!"
"Just because she told you, doesn't mean she was coming on to you," protested Warrick, "I mean, she'd have to be pretty desperate!"
"But what if she's sending out vibes?" asked Greg, "We should do something, don't you think?"
"Gentlemen," intervened Grissom, "We better talk about something else"
"No, no, boss," insisted Hodges, "I for one would be happy to help her."
"Why would she want you when she can have me?" said Warrick smugly, "After all, she's always having those little 'personal crises' in the locker room while I'm changing shirts."
'Men' Sara thought, shaking her head disgustedly.
"She might want someone younger!" suggested Greg.
"Oh, like she would want you!" protested Nick.
"Guys, guys, calm down" interrupted Hodges "One of us will do the honors, all right? We just need to decide who."
"How?" asked Nick.
"Simply doing what guys around the world do!" Hodges replied triumphantly, "He who has the longest one wins!"
"All right!" they all cried enthusiastically, "Yeaah!"
'Oh, gross,' Sara cringed, 'men are idiots!'
"All right by me," said Warrick, "I always win these things. Are you in, Grissom?"
"No. But I'll be the judge, if you want."
That took Sara aback. She couldn't believe Grissom would condone something as low as this!
She was still coming to terms with this new development, when Grissom spoke again.
"Ok, gentlemen. Ready?" He asked.
"Yeaahh!" They all replied.
Sara decided to teach them all a lesson. She rattled the doorknob and to her surprise the door opened easily. She was about to enthusiastically scream "Gotcha!" when the word got stuck in her throat.
"Hi, Sara," Grissom said calmly, offering a fistful of straws to his coworkers. They all grabbed their straws and Grissom used a ruler to determine who had the longest.
"I won, I won!" screamed Archie, jumping up and down.
"Oh, come on, " mumbled Nick, "The one who'll have no clue what to do..."
"Oh, please", muttered Warrick, rolling his eyes.
"Uh, Archie?" said Grissom, barely containing his laughter, "I think Catherine has already solved her problem. But I'm sure she would have appreciated your interest."
Sara gulped a little coffee and discreetly left, but Grissom caught up with her.
"Sara? Can I talk to you in my office?"
'Oh, great,' she thought, 'now I'll have to face the music.'
Grissom sat behind his desk.
"Sara, I'd like to know why you went to my place."
"Oh, please, Grissom, don't remind me. I felt like hell all day and now Brass thinks I'm a full fledged alcoholic-"
"Well, you're not but you had three shots of tequila." He said reasonably, "If we had continued that card game you would have ended up truly drunk. And that's what has me confused. Why did you dare me to play that drinking game if you were so bad at it?"
"I'm not bad at it!" she protested, "You're just better than me! How was I supposed to know that you played a girls' card game so well, for crying out loud?"
"It's not a girls' game, Sara," he said, very surprised, "It was played by Danish guards during the XVII Century …" he stopped and looked curiously at her, "You thought I didn't have any chance at all-"
"Well…"
"You thought I would inevitably get drunk…"
"Well... I... I... well, that seems to be objective of a drinking game, isn't it?" she smiled sheepishly but he frowned.
"Why did you want me to get drunk?"
"I... uh..."
"Sara?"
He looked at her in the eye -something he rarely ever did- and Sara stared back into those beautiful blue eyes… eyes so expressive and tender that drew her in. She found herself leaning a little towards him, completely mesmerized.
"Tell me..." he said softly, and suddenly she couldn't help to start babbling.
"I... I-thought-a-drink-or-two-might-lower-your-inhibitions-just-enough-to -let -me-get-a -little-closer-to-you-so-I-could-kiss-you-and-show-you-how-good-it-can-be-between-us-if-you-only-let-me-get-close-enough-to-kiss-you-and-"
"You thought a drink or two might make me want to be kissed by you?" he asked.
She reddened.
"No… well… I… I always over-talk around you!" She protested lamely and quickly stood up. She was about to leave when she saw that Grissom had reddened too.
"Sara..." he cleared his throat, "I … hum… " he hesitated, "I certainly appreciate your interest and your…zeal in trying to test your theory. I… admire a scientific mind as you know, and I… I am always willing to take part in experiments-"
"Are you?" She asked hopefully.
"Yes." He said firmly. His eyes, expressive as never before, seemed to be smiling.
"Well..." she smiled too, "Maybe… Maybe we could play another game next time we're free?" she was gratified to see him nod.
"Yes, Sara. But no booze, all right?"
"No booze." She lifted her right hand. "I promise." She smiled and was about to leave when he said just loud enough for her to hear.
"And Sara? I'll play to lose, if you want."
Sara smiled again and left, thinking of all the games they could play to lose... strip poker, for instance...
THE END.
Shameless plug: (*) Read "Eavesdropping.2"