Title: Greased Lightning.
Author: Dana-Maru1
Summary: Sue and Lucy persuade the team to take part in a performance of Grease to raise money for a deaf school
Disclaimer: Sue, Jack and anyone else you may recognize are not mine. But thanks Pax for letting us borrow them from time to time... Oh, and the rights to Grease aren't mine either. Damn.
Saturday night was always a night for Sue and Lucy to eat ice cream and watch girly movies. Lucy had gone to buy the ice cream and some popcorn while Sue picked out the movies from their extensive DVD collection. She selected three of her favorites: Ghost, Pretty Woman and Dirty Dancing. These were ones she and Lucy both knew they'd never tire of. Even if the guys refused to even give them a chance. Not long after Lucy left to go to the store, Sue had begun cooking dinner. She set the plates out on the counter, putting the roast chicken on them. Levi sat on the floor watching her, with the hope that she'd drop some. Sue was carrying their dinner into the living room just as Lucy came through the door with the ice cream and a huge bag of popcorn.
"Hey Lucy, what took you so long?"
"I bumped into an old friend from school... we got talking." Lucy answered
"Oh, hope you had a better relationship with your fellow students." Sue said, smiling slightly.
"Yeah... She was telling me about her family. She had a daughter, she's thirteen now and she goes to a deaf school downtown. She said the school boards are going to shut it down though."
"Why would they want to do that? It's not like there's enough deaf schools."
"Well, they don't have the funding to run it. So unless they come up with the cash pretty soon it's gonna close. The parents of all the kids are trying to organize fundraisers, I kinda said we'd help."
"Sure, I'd love to!"
"There's a small catch... I said I'd help set up a version of Grease."
"The movie?"
"That would be the one."
"Oh! Well... I'm sure we can come up with something. You think the guys would help?"
Lucy laughed. The guys most likely had refused to even see the movie so it was doubtful that they'd partake in a theatre production of it.
"Wouldn't hurt to ask, I guess." She answered once she'd stopped picturing Myles in a T-Birds jacket with a quiff.
Sue signed "I agree" and they settled on the couch to eat dinner before Lucy put the first movie in the DVD player. Leaning back on the couch, Sue opened the bag of popcorn, spraying some on the floor. Levi ran for it before she'd even had the chance to stand up off the couch. A couple of hours later, they'd decided to replace Pretty Woman with Grease. While watching the movie, Lucy was mentally allocating each member of the team to a character. Obviously Sue and Jack would just have to take the roles of Sandy and Danny. No way was she missing another great opportunity to set them up. She smiled to herself, one of those mischievous smiles she got when she was planning something like this and Sue groaned inwardly.
On Monday, Sue and Lucy walked into the bullpen with what looked like case files. Lucy handed one to each member of the team. Myles took his first and skimmed through the first few pages.
"Is this some kind of a joke?"
"Joke? Would we do that?" Lucy replied, trying her best to look innocent.
"Don't give me that!" He scoffed, "what's with the script?"
"Well, it's a new case ... theatre productions of Grease have been targeted by ..."
"By who? Spill it Sheila." Bobby told her.
"By parents of a deaf junior high school who don't want it to close down because of lack of funds..." Lucy answered.
"Oohh! I get it. You want us to help raise funds?" Jack said, laughing.
"That was the general idea." Sue responded.
"Are you going to help, or not?" Lucy questioned impatiently.
"Why not?" Jack and D answered
"Sure, count me in." Was Tara's response.
"What are friends for, mate?"
"Great!" Lucy said, and the team looked expectantly at Myles.
"Come on Myles, it'll be fun." Sue pleaded.
"Fine..." He groaned in his baritone voice, "I'll do it."
The team didn't really have anything to do that day in terms of a case so they spent most of the morning pouring over the script. Opening the first page, Jack read the cast list:
CAST
Jack Hudson -- Danny Zuco
Sue Thomas -- Sandy Ollson
Tara Williams -- Rizzo
Bobby Manning -- Kenickie
Lucy Dotson -- Frenchy
Myles Leland (The Third) -- Doody
Maria Martin -- Marty Maraschino
Diane Spencer -- Putzie
Elijah Albright -- Sonny
Charlie Adams -- Principal McGee
Howie Fines -- The Teen Angel
Helen Weis -- Vi, diner waitress
Sam Weis -- Vince Fontaine
Mark Mackenzie.... Coach Calhoun
Narrating -- Amanda Duffman
He couldn't help but smile when he noticed he was being paired with Sue again. Of course, he knew Lucy had a lot to do with it. It did embarrass him when she constantly made comments about how close he and Sue were. But, he didn't mind really. He remembered when Helga had signed "you two still make a cute couple" in the presence of the whole team. And still wondered why Lucy hadn't spilled the beans to the rest of them. After all, she never usually missed a chance to embarrass him and Sue.
Later that evening, Sue and Lucy invited the rest of the team to their apartment for their first rehearsal. Going over the lines of the first few scenes, Lucy watched in awe of how convincing an actor Sue could be. She knew she needn't worry about that area, but it was the singing she had to be concerned about. Sue had to keep in time with the music, and Lucy wasn't sure if it would work. They had pretty much perfected half of the play already so Lucy announced that it was time to exercise their singing talents. Selecting one of the songs, they sang together at first. Then it was Sue's turn to go solo, she sang in perfect time right down to the last verse:
"But now there's no where to hide
Since you pushed my love aside
I'm outta my head hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you"
Afterward, the team gave her a standing ovation.
"Wow! How did you do that?" Jack breathed out eventually
"What?"
"You sang that in perfect timing." Bobby answered
"Oh, I just watched the scenes with Sandy singing in them." She shrugged
"How many times exactly?" Tara asked
"I lost count after about a hundred! Did I sound okay?" Sue asked uncertainly.
"You sounded great!" Jack responded.
She flashed him the smile that always made his heart beat that little bit faster
"Well, I am so glad I don't have to worry about that aspect anymore!" Lucy gushed, relieved, "anyone hungry?"
Everyone chorused his or her agreement. Levi added a bark for effect and Lucy phoned in the order for pizza. When their pizzas arrived, the team fell into silence for a while. Though the conversation soon came back to the same topic they'd all been thinking about the past few days. Grease.
"Shame I can't do the Australian accent though..." Sue commented.
"Well, there's only one of us who can and I doubt he'd suit a poodle skirt!" Lucy retorted.
"Aw man," Jack shuddered, "I'm never gonna get that image out of my head!"
For two weeks, after work the whole team practiced their parts in Lucy and Sue's apartment. When it came closer to the performance they spent those last few days rehearsing with the rest of the cast. Members of the school's faculty had taken the roles of the other characters and Amanda learned every piece of dialogue in the script. She stood alone at the front of the stage, to the right, signing every spoken word for the deaf children who'd come to see the play. The first act was coming to an end, and Sue and Jack sang:
"It turned colder, that's where it ends -"
"So I told her we'd still be friends."
"Then we made our true love vow -"
"Wonder what she's doin' now..."
"Summer dreams ripped at the seams, but oh, those summer nights." They sang together.
When Lucy had thought this was the perfect chance to finally get Sue and Jack together, she most certainly wasn't wrong. As they looked at each other from opposite ends of the stage, it was clear, from the look in their eyes that they'd grown even closer in the past few weeks. Those two weren't the only ones who'd gotten closer though, she noticed. Bobby and Tara looked almost as close as Sue and Jack. And Lucy wouldn't have admitted it if she'd been asked but her old feelings for Myles were beginning to resurface. Outside of work he was still his usual sarcastic self, but there was a softer side to him that became evident when she watched him go over his parts. She'd put him in the part of 'Doody' as a joke, to see how he'd react. She thought he'd have a lot to complain about, but he took it in his stride and actually looked like he was having fun. Lucy watched Myles on the makeshift benches, dancing across the seats with the rest of the guys. Whenever he looked in her direction, she blushed and turned away.
Soon, it came time for Sue's solo song. She sat alone, in the center of the stage, wearing a white nightdress just like Sandy's in the movie and began singing 'Hopelessly Devoted to You'. As she began the second verse, she glanced at the team standing in the wings.
"You know i'm just a fool who's willin'
to sit around and wait for you.
But baby can't you see
there's nothin else for me to do?" She gave Jack a meaningful - almost pleading - look, and went on, "I'm hopelessly devoted to you."
The members of the cast watched from the wings, listening entranced. All of them in awe of this very determined woman. She was proof to the kids at the school that with a little determination, you can do almost anything that you set your mind to, no matter who you are.
"But now,
There's no where to hide
Since you pushed my love aside.
I'm out of my head,
Hopelessly devoted to you."
Sue thought of Allie, as she sang the last verse. Putting every ounce of her true emotions into it. This was the part of the song she was concerned about. She worried that she'd hit the wrong note and not be aware of it. She needn't have worried though, she realized, when she watched the crowd stand and applaud.
The play came to the last act, Sue emerged clad in the tiny black pants and leather jacket and when Jack sang the first verse of 'You're the one that I want', it was the real Jack singing. Not 'Danny'.
"I got chills, they're multiplying',
And I'm losin' control
Cause the power you're supplyin',
It's electrifyin'!"
His heart was pounding as she sang her reply.
"You better shape up,
Cause I need a man,
And my heart is set on you
You better shape up, you better understand,
To my heart I must be true."
Lucy smiled, satisfied, when she saw Jack's reaction to Sue's transformation, still watching them intently throughout the rest of the song.
"If you're filled with affection, 'n you're too shy to convey
Meditate my direction, feel your way"
"I better shape up, cause you need a man"
"I need a man, who can keep me satisfied"
"I better shape up, if I'm gonna prove"
"You better prove - that my faith is justified."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure down deep inside"
"You're the one that I want!" They sang in unison, gazing into each other's eyes.
Those watching would have thought that what the characters felt for each other was true to the actors. They wouldn't have been wrong, either. Both of them completely filled the stage when they were on it together.
As the whole cast sang the last lines of 'We Go Together', Troy drove a small convertible on to the stage. 'Sandy and Danny' got in, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes, and shared a kiss before the curtains went down. Listening to the crowd cheer, Lucy smiled. The play had gone down well if the noise from the audience was anything to go by. The place was packed and at $10 per ticket for each of the 300 members of the audience, they'd made $3000 for the school ...and that kiss was most definitely not in the script.
The End
Hmm, watching Grease definitely brings out the worst in me. And I'm not going to apologize for it! What did ya all think? Did it rock or did it suck? Either way - review please!