DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters nor do I profit when I write stories about them. This is the only way I can think of stopping the characters from dancing in my head together with the characters in ALIAS. Thank you.
A/N- Sorry for the late update. I was suffering from writer's block and even if its vacation time for students in our country, I am cursed to study for the entrance exams for college. Wish me luck.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER FOUR
"Is this on purpose? Trying to make me angry?!" Greg asked to Deia Reynolds, one of the new CSI from dayshift, who is currently on overtime.
"No, of course not, Mr. Sanders." She replied as she smiled at him. Greg had tried to flirt with her but, unfortunately, failed to get the results he wanted.
"Then, why are you doing this? Why?" Greg asked.
"Why, what?" A voice asked. It was his cousin. "Oh, hi, Deia." Christianna greeted as she went inside the Greg's lab.
"Hi, Chris." Deia greeted.
"You know her? You know each other?!" Greg exclaimed.
"Of course we know each other. We're friends." Christianna answered.
Greg sputtered.
"Mr. Sanders, you sound like a car." Deia commented.
"Why are you irritating me? I told you earlier that your evidences are not yet finished. That was an hour ago, and now you're here again. Come back later!" Greg said to Deia.
"Greg, you just have to tell that to her. No need to get angry." Christianna said as she eyed her cousin.
"Well, Ms. Reynolds hasn't been listening." Greg answered sarcastically.
"Okay then, I'll just come back later." Deia replied and said goodbye to Chris.
They watched as Deia walk out and disappear from sight.
"What was that all about?" Christianna asked as she turned to Greg.
"Nothing." Greg answered and turned away from her. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked.
"Just came to say hi. I just arrived and shift hasn't started yet, in case you didn't notice."
"But, Deia's in overtime." Greg said, a bit confused.
"Her shift ended two hours ago, at six." Christianna replied. Greg shrugged then resumed doing his work. Christianna watched from behind, not really pestering him, which she does a lot.
Silence.
"You fancy her, don't you?" She asked after a few minutes.
Greg whirled around to face her. She and her twin have this reputation in the family as 'mind readers'.
"Fancy? I don't fancy Deia Reynolds, super witch!"
"She's not a witch. She's nice." Christianna said, hiding her amusement as he turned his back against her again.
"That's what you think." Greg answered, miffed.
Christianna pursed her lips then laughed. Greg turned to look at her again.
"What?"
"You fancy her but you know that she pushes every guy who takes notice of her. So you act like you don't like her so that she will take notice of you. Am I right?"
Greg raised an eyebrow. Christianna smiled at him then looked at her watch. "I've got to go, Grissom and Catherine's going to interview Mr. Barton again."
Greg just watched his cousin skip out of the room. 'Damn it. She read my mind."
***
"Mr. Barton, why did you not tell us that you and Alaine Tripman had a personal relationship?" Catherine asked. Martin Barton was sitting on the aluminum chair, his head, looking at his hands.
"You didn't ask." He replied.
"Mr. Barton, can you give us some blood samples?" Grissom asked.
"Listen, don't ask me that question because I didn't tell you that Alaine and I went out on dates. That's not fair. I love… I loved Alaine. And I didn't kill her."
Catherine and Grissom looked at each other.
"No one in the company knows. The company forbids us to date each other. It says that it might affect our dancing." Martin Barton continued.
"Oh, like your aerial dancing career?" Catherine retorted.
"This is different. You can't control this kind of feeling. You do know that. Alaine knew that I was into aerial dancing. She was enthralled when I showed her one exhibition."
"Well then, Mr. Barton. Since you knew her, can you please give us a reason why she might have been killed?" Grissom asked. "Does she have enemies…?"
"She doesn't have any enemies. But she has this rivalry with another dancer. Her name's Elisabeth Denver. But it's a healthy competition. They're childhood friends."
"Are you sure they're friends?" Catherine asked.
"Yeah. They go out for coffee together, sometimes go out to catch some movies. They were dancing together since they were little." He answered.
"So, she's not really jealous that Alaine got the role of Juliet?" Catherine asked.
"Elisabeth is Alaine's counterpart. They're both Juliet." Martin Barton answered.
"Who's your counterpart?" Grissom asked.
"Ben Tyler."
"Are you and Ben Tyler good friends too?" Grissom asked.
"We're friends. In this business, it's hard to have enemies. Because you might get discriminated with the roles you're going to get."
"So you try to be friends with everybody?"
"Not really. I just try to be a nice guy."
"Can you be a nice guy and give us some blood sample?" Catherine asked.
Martin Barton looked at her then to Grissom.
"Just to exonerate me? Fine! Take ten gallons if you want!"
"A small prick will do, Mr. Barton." Catherine commented. She then went to Grissom then whispered to his ear, "Do you think he'll agree if we ask him to participate in a lie detector test?"
"Leave that to me."
*********
[That weekend]
"Ms. Christianna and Ms. Sidle are upstairs." Agatha, the housekeeper told Warrick, Nick and Greg. It was the first time for Warrick and Greg to visit Sara in the Johanson house and the second time for Nick.
They went up the magnificent stairs and proceeded to the family room. The trek up the stairs brought back memories for Warrick. He remembered going up this stairs to find evidences
As they went up, they heard people laughing. It was Sara, Chris and her mother. They were watching something on television.
"Hi Greg, Warrick, Nick." Chris said and smiled at them. The three men smiled back.
"Good afternoon, ma'am." Nick said to Mrs. Johanson.
"Hello, boys. Oh, have a seat." She said as she stood up.
"No need to do that, Aunt Camille." Greg said as he kissed his aunt on the cheek.
His aunt smiled. "I'll be cooking dinner, honey." She replied then left.
"What are you watching?" Warrick asked as they sat down the sofa.
"A comedy." Sara answered. The three men realized that Sara and Christianna were watching a comedy made by the French, acted by the French and spoken in French. There were no English subtitles.
"Its in French." Nick remarked.
"Uh, Sara stumbled upon this movie. And surprisingly she knows the language." Christianna explained.
"I didn't know that." Nick said.
"Its funny." Chris replied. "It's going to finish soon."
"You know French?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah. A bit." The girl answered. A comment from one of the French actors made the women laugh. But Nick, Warrick and Greg didn't understand a thing that was said.
A few minutes later, the end credits rolled.
"So, what do you want to watch?" Sara asked then smiled at them.
"What have you got?" Nick asked.
"A lot?" Christianna answered. "Or do you want to play the Play Station?"
"Do you have new titles?" Greg asked.
"Yeah. She has. We played it already. Some sort of spy thing." Sara said.
"Syphon Filter 4." Christianna replied.
"Really?! I've been looking for that game!" Nick, Warrick and Greg said in unison.
Sara giggled. "They really are crazy about Play Station games." She remarked. Warrick glanced at her. Sara looked more relaxed here than in the hospital.
"Want to play it?" Christianna asked, smiling. The boys all nodded simultaneously. Christianna moved towards a table behind the television and took out the Play Station 2. She quickly installed the machine.
"So, Sara, how are you?" Warrick asked.
Sara smiled at him.
"I'm fine. I remember some things once in a while, but not really helpful."
"Don't say that. When you remember something, that's already a sign that you are recovering." Nick said.
"Will I plug it in?" They heard Greg ask. Christianna gave him a nod and the Play Station came to life.
"I have four controllers." Christianna said as she gave them one each. "Do you want to play, Sara?" she asked. Nick, Warrick and Greg went out of their seats to sit on the carpet.
"No, I'll just watch. I like it better when I don't do the actual killing." Sara answered.
Christianna smiled at her. "Sara's very good at this."
"Really?" Nick asked, glancing at Sara.
Chris nodded her head. Just as then, her father walked in.
"Hi dad." Chris greeted.
"Hello, honey." Samuel Johanson said as he surveyed the people around the room. "Is everyone okay?" he asked after a few minutes.
"Yes, Uncle Samuel." Greg answered.
"Are you boys going to the charity ball organized by the mayor?" Christianna's father asked.
"We need to. Everyone's invited." Warrick answered as he paused the game.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Hey, Chris, do you need a partner?" Greg asked.
"Uh… no. I already have one." Chris answered.
"You do?" Greg asked, a bit surprised. He looked at Sara. "Do you know who it is?" Greg asked her.
"Yeah." Sara said then looked at Christianna.
"He's an intern in the hospital." Christianna said, without looking at Greg.
"Dr. Michael Greenfield." Sara said.
"Greenfield? Jonathan and Laura Greenfield's son?" Christianna's father asked.
"Yeah… I think so." Christianna asked.
"Jonathan and Laura Greenfield? Wow." Warrick said, whistling.
"Why?" Christianna asked. Warrick, Nick and Greg were looking at her as if she was from outer space.
"Jonathan and Laura Greenfield are like, the Hiltons when it comes to wine. Excellent wines, by the way." Warrick said.
"They are?"
Her father said something in Norwegian that sent Greg laughing so hard.
"I'm not going to marry him, daddy." Christianna said as her face turned fiery red, almost the same color as her hair.
"Have fun, boys." Samuel Johanson said as he went down. Greg was still laughing.
"What did your father say?" Sara asked.
"Nothing…" Chris answered. "I'll tell you later." She whispered.
They resumed the game. Nick was the poorest player, dying five times, straight in a row. He stopped playing after dying for the eleventh time and joined Sara, who was sitting on the sofa.
"So, how do you find the game?" Nick asked.
"I think your playing sucks." Sara said, smiling.
Nick smiled back. "Yeah, I think I agree with you."
He then watched Chris and Warrick pummel Greg in the three-player mini-game.
"So… uh…" Nick said after a few minutes. He was summoning his courage to ask Sara to be his date on the charity ball in front of his three colleagues.
"What?" Sara asked, pulling her gaze away from the television.
"Can you be my date in the charity ball?"
Sara looked at him. She can feel the 'discreet' glances of Christianna, Greg and Warrick.
Sara smiled at him.
"Yeah, I'll go to the charity ball with you."
Nick looked at her, a bit surprised. He didn't expect that Sara would answer him right away or actually accept his invitation.
"You will?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, I will." Sara answered, still smiling at him.
"That's great." Nick said then smiled back.
He still has that smile on is face when he arrived home.
