Archie and Bobby waved at the approaching group, their wide smiles welcoming. "Hey guys," Archie called.
"Archie, what's going on man?" Nick asked as he came closer to his friend who was now dressed in a brightly coloured orange and green suit.
"Don't ask," Archie groaned, "I don't get paid enough to do this, you know." Looking skyward, he addressed no one in particular. "You hear me? I want a raise."
"Oh, it ain't so bad," Bobby smiled as he looked down at his own outfit.
"That's because you got to wear normal colours!" Archie retorted.
"I always thought munchkins wore those stripy tights and had the triangle hair," Nick theorized, his mind trying to picture the creatures.
"Dude, that's the umpa lumpas!" Archie shook his head in dismay and folded his arms across his chest. "This is such a bad idea."
Greg came to stand beside Nick, but kept his distance. "Come on Nick, don't you know your Umpa Lumpas from your munchkins?"
"This coming from the man whose only pairing is with me!"
"Excuse me?" Sara asked curiously as she came towards them. "What do you mean you're paired with Greg?"
"Yeah, I know, it's so wrong," Greg shook his head vigorously.
"Oh I don't know," Sara grinned, "whatever stirs your coffee I guess!"
"SARA…" Nick growled.
"Hey, I'm okay. I have Grissom." Sara grinned, "At least I'm safe."
"I wouldn't count on that Sara," Greg told her, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "I just realized what S/C means."
"Oh and I'm sure you're gonna tell me, aren't you Greg?" she sighed, "Well go on then, tell me, what is S/C?"
Catherine came over to stand next to Sara and offered her a smile. "Oh yes do tell, I'd like to see, just what is the meaning of S and C?"
Archie and Bobby shared a glance and then looked over at Catherine in surprise.
"I've started to rhyme, obvious I'm sure. We're going to the castle to find a cure."
"Oh," Archie nodded, trying to act normal as though this was a daily occurrence.
"Okay then Greg, you were going to tell us what S/C meant." Sara told him.
"Sara and Catherine."
All eyes suddenly turned to the two women who stood stock still next to each other. "Uh…that's…new," Sara stuttered.
"I totally agree, but for some it's a must. Two women together fills them with lust…"
"Catherine!"
Stopping mid sentence, she turned to see what Warrick was yelling for, and saw that his face had turned a deep shade of red.
"Well they do," she told him, "it's only the truth. Didn't you ever experiment in your youth?"
"Uh…NO…and we are not having this conversation." Reaching over, Warrick pulled on her arm and led her away from Sara's side.
"Hey," Sara told him huffily. "Just because some people write about this stuff doesn't mean that…uh…" her voice trailed off. "I think I'll shut up now."
Grissom came closer to her and rested his hand in the small of her back, "Come on, we'd better keep walking."
"Keep on the path," Bobby called when they walked past him. "And watch out for bad witch Ecklie."
"Ecklie?" Nick asked quickly, his shoulders stiffening. "What's day shift doing here? This is our case!"
"Hey take it up with TPTB," Archie told him, "nothing to do with us, we just read from the script."
"Okay, okay," Nick groaned, lifting his hands up in surrender. "See you guys later."
"Later," Archie nodded as he turned back to Bobby. In a hushed voice he nudged the other man's elbow. "What say we go back and party with those S/C shippers?"
"Oh yeah," Bobby nodded enthusiastically and turned to follow his friend back down the hill.
***
The night shift carried on their trek along the yellow brick road until they came to a lonely scarecrow attached limply to a pole. Greg looked around at the others and decided to be the brave one and started to approach it.
"Help me down," it squeaked miserably, causing Greg to jump backwards.
"Uh…how do we know you're not an evil scarecrow just waiting to kill us all like some psychotic murderer?"
"Because I haven't got a brain," he wailed.
Sara's eyes shot to the scarecrow when she recognized the voice. "Hank?"
"Sara?" he sighed, relief in his voice. "Can you help me down from here?"
"Nope," she told him abruptly and started to walk past him only to turn around when no one had followed. "I say we should leave him there, he said it himself, he hasn't got a brain."
"Sara, we know he has no brain, he cheated on you, the guy's insane." Catherine came to stand beside her, segregating herself from the men. "I say we take him and burn his straw and leave him as a pile of crap on the floor."
Grissom glared at Hank angrily. "You cheated on Sara?"
"I'm sorry, just help me down and I swear I'll make it up to her," Hank pleaded.
Nick grabbed hold of Hank and started to shake him, his straw flying in every different direction. "You don't cheat on someone I care about."
"Oh Nick," Sara sighed, a warm smile spreading over her lips. "That's just so sweet."
"See I told you he cared, he's like no other. Now if only he didn't feel like your brother," Catherine sighed.
"Nah, I don't think of Nick that way." Sara grinned, "But thanks for thinking of me."
"You're very welcome Sara, my friend, I just hope my friendship can make amends. I wasn't so nice to you at first, and when you wanted to leave I feared the worst." Catherine shook her head sadly.
"No hard feelings Cath," Sara smiled.
Over at the pole, Hank's straw leg suddenly came away from his body and flew across to the other side of the road. "Oh no…my leg…you broke my leg!"
"Well that sucks," Nick groaned, "I was aiming for your neck…sheesh, my aim is off."
"You're getting sloppy bro," Warrick told him, patting him on the back reassuringly. Pushing Nick's hands away, he lifted Hank Scarecrow down from the pole and propped him up.
"Thank you," he sighed in relief.
Grissom looked him up and down and started to walk back towards Sara and Catherine. Greg followed, then Nick and finally Warrick.
"Hey what about me?" Hank whined, "How am I gonna follow with just one leg?"
"With difficulty," Warrick called back.
"Yeah, hop," Nick suggested.
"Or slither," Sara called out as she linked her hand with Grissom's. "You're a snake Hank, you might as well act like one."
"I said I was sorry," he whined miserably as he hopped over to retrieve his leg from the other side of the road. Lifting it in the air he waved it frantically, hopping unsteadily as he tried to catch up.
The further they walked along the yellow brick road, the darker it had started to become. There was a large clump of trees that grew alongside the road, their branches overshadowing the path.
"This is kinda creepy," Sara whispered as she leaned in closer to Grissom's arm.
"They're only trees," he told her with a smile.
"Yeah, well I've seen Lord of the rings Rings you know, walking trees and stuff." Sara looked around her as they walked through the small clump of Oak trees, keeping her fingers firmly clamped around Grissom's hand.
"This is weird," Nick whispered.
"Keep walking," Grissom warned, his eyes watching the trees cautiously.
"What is it?" Greg asked worriedly, quickening his pace to walk beside Grissom. "Your spidey sense tingling?"
"No, my Grissom sense," he huffed. "Look there's the clearing, if we head right for that opening we'll be okay."
Catherine looked around her and wrapped her arm firmly around one of Warrick's. "This place is freaky, the branches are quaking. Look at my fingers," lifting a hand up she shuddered, "my hands are shaking."
"We're almost through," he told her as he took hold of her outstretched hand and held it close to his arm.
When they had almost made it through, an apple fell from the branches to hit Nick on the head. "Youch."
Another apple fell, followed by another until it was raining apples on top of their heads. "Quick everyone run," Grissom yelled, his hand catching Sara's to pull her out into the clearing and back onto the yellow brick road again. The others soon followed with Hank Scarecrow, the last to come through, hopping as if his life depended on it.
"That was close," Sara sighed, taking a second to lean into Grissom's shoulder.
Taking a moment, Grissom put his field kit onto the ground and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, too close."
"Hey guys," Nick said quickly, breaking the mood. Pointing to the opposite side of the road he started to walk slowly over towards what appeared to be a tin man with its back towards them.
"Okay, now this is getting weird," Sara groaned as she unwrapped herself from Grissom's arms to walk over to where Nick was standing.
Sighing heavily, Grissom picked up his kit and made his way over, noticing how his fellow teammates mouths hung open in shock. Following their gaze his eyes fell onto the tin man, his breath choking in his throat as he uttered a name. "Lady Heather."
"Hello," she purred, her joints squeaking as she tried to come closer. "Thank goodness you have arrived. I seem to have lost something."
"Not her virginity," Sara muttered cattily into Catherine's ear, causing the older woman to laugh out loud.
Ignoring the comment, Heather came closer to Grissom and held out her hand for him to take, but he stood still. "I seem to have lost my chastity belt key, I need to find it."
Sara's mouth dropped open and she came closer to Grissom, accusations in her eyes. "I swear Grissom, if you have her key you're a dead man!"
"I…No…I…" Grissom's throat was suddenly dry and he looked at the other men for some help.
"My guess is that your missing key is in the same place that scarecrow's missing brain is," Warrick suggested helpfully, causing Lady Heather to turn to him.
Catherine moved to his side with lightning speed. "Back off now," she warned, her hand pushing Heather back, "as fast as you can. Warrick here is only My man. If you want a quick roll then look over there, there's a man with no brain only too willing to share. He's made of straw, but if you want a quick lay, he's only too willing, even has his own stack of hay."
"Yeah, and he has no remorse for what he does, so I guess you two are made for each other," Sara said sweetly as she took Grissom's hand to pull him away from the tin woman.
Lady Heather fixed Hank with her dark eyes and shrugged squeakily. "Maybe when I have my key returned you could come and join me?"
Hank shook his head worriedly, stray pieces of straw flying in every direction. "Help," he yelped pathetically as Lady Heather picked him up in her arms and started to walk behind the others.
***
Moving on, they came to a pile of clothes that lay dumped by the side of the road. "Hey, look at that," Nick said as he pointed towards it.
"Careful Nick," Greg muttered, reaching out his hand to stop his friend from moving. "We have no idea what that is."
Behind them, Sara stifled a giggle and looked hurriedly away when both Nick and Greg turned to glare at her.
"I'm sorry," she beamed, "you two're just so damn cute!"
"Oh be quiet," Greg grumbled. Turning back to Nick, he realized he was still touching his arm and pulled it away quickly. "I'll…I'll go."
Stepping closer, Greg cautiously kicked at the crumpled outfit with his foot, moving part of it aside. When it appeared to be harmless, he bent down to touch it.
"Wait!" Catherine called quickly. "You don't want to touch it, not with your hand. I don't want you to rhyme like me, understand? This place is just waiting to run us amock, look what happened to me when I touched that rock!"
"She's right Greg," Warrick nodded, "you shouldn't touch it with your bare hand."
"Okay, so what do you suggest I touch it with?"
Looking around, Warrick spotted Grissom's field kit, which he still held firmly in his hand. Grissom followed his eyes and snatched his kit up into his arms. "Oh no, we only have one kit between the six of us, I am not letting you turn it into something just so Greg doesn't start flying or something!"
"You just don't want them to know you've got smut in your kit," Sara told him huffily, folding her arms over her chest.
"Smut?" Lady Heather asked quickly, her interest piqued. "Have you decided to partake in the arts of pleasure again Mr. Grissom?"
"Uh…" Grissom looked from Sara to Heather and shook his head, small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "No," he squeaked.
"Hey back off 'Tin girl'," Sara warned, taking a step in front of Grissom. "No one reads Jazzy Lust after Grissom except me. Got that?"
"Uh…Jazzy what?" Nick asked curiously. "You been holding out on us there, Sara?"
"Oh shut up Nicky," she scoffed. "Just help me find something to poke at that thing would ya?"
Greg turned his attention back to the clothes on the floor and was suddenly hit by an idea. Walking past Nick, he reached over to Hank who was strapped to Heather's back.
"Hey, don't touch that," Hank warned, flapping his arm around to throw pieces of straw everywhere.
Greg ignored him and pulled his broken leg out of his arms. "I'm only borrowing it."
"That's mine!"
"OH, SHUT UP," everyone chorused, causing Hank to clamp his straw mouth closed in a scarecrow like pout.
Greg gingerly approached the clothes and prodded at them with Hank's straw leg. When nothing happened, he poked the leg further inside and started to lift the clothes off of the floor.
"That looks like…" Sara started, her voice trailing off.
"Wasn't there supposed to be a cowardly Lion in this story?" Warrick asked dubiously.
"Well, we found his clothes," Greg told them. Taking a closer look, he peered at the label and quickly dropped the clothes back onto the floor. "Grissom, I think you should come and take a look at this."
"Okay," Grissom slowly stepped closer; his caution noted as he came to see what Greg was pointing at. Looking down, he was shocked to see 'Gil Grissom' written on the lions label and stepped back in horror.
"This was yours, Grissom," Greg told him, his voice registered with shock.
"Okay, so why wasn't I in it?" Grissom asked, his eyes flitting from one face to another.
"Beats me," Warrick shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call you a coward."
"Ah, but the lion wasn't really a coward, he lacked courage," Grissom pointed out. "Did you know that in the original story…"
"I get it," Sara interrupted quickly, her face beaming into a huge smile.
"Excuse me?" Grissom questioned, confusion in his eyes.
"Don't you get it?" she started excitedly. "You found your courage!"
"I did?"
Sara watched him with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. Stepping closer she lowered her voice so the others couldn't hear. "Your office…the Denali…my floor…do you need me to remind you again?"
Grissom's face suddenly flushed crimson and he coughed loudly as he loosened another button on his shirt. "Oh…yes, I did…um… you're right."
"So I take it we have no lion?" Warrick asked.
"It seems our Sara has finally succeeded in showing our Gil what he really needed," Catherine whispered into his ear.
"Oh?" Warrick asked, then a second later, "OH!"
"Okay, we've established I'm no lion, can we please move on now?" Grissom asked quickly, his hand once again moving to Sara's back.
"Oh I wouldn't say that, Grissom," Sara whispered softly, winking seductively as they walked.
Grissom gasped, his mouth hanging open in shock at her boldness. "Uh…""You know, it's such a shame this ratings only a PG-13," she sighed wistfully, wrapping an arm around his.
"Um…dare I ask why?"
"Because I could really jump your bones right about now!" Smiling sweetly, she pulled him closer as she chose to ignore his rapid increase in breathing.
Greg nodded and looked at Hank's straw leg quickly. Thrusting it out to Heather, he shoved it into her hands before turning tail to practically race to walk beside Nick. "That woman's scary," he muttered.
"What?" Nick asked with a grin as he cast a quick glance backwards. "You're kidding me right? You're scared of her?"
"Sara scares me…" Greg whispered quickly, "but her, she terrifies me."
"Greg you dawg," Nick laughed, slapping his friends shoulder before retrieving it quickly.
TBC