We own nothing, except for Lara and Tempeste. Who, by the way, are not Mary Sues. Well, they sort of are, but they weren't written for this purpose. They characters from our own, original story that we started in grade ten (I think). Anyway, I wrote this for Kat because it was funny, and they decided to change and evolve it a bit so that I could post it as a fanfic. Yay!
Greg Sanders had had a particularly rough night of work. A triple homicide had forced him to pull a double, which was never fun. And because of short-staffing, he'd been forced to double as labtech and CSI, which was just generally irritating, no matter how much Sara tried to convince him it was a compliment to his lab expertise. Right now he just wanted to go home, take a hot shower, and crawl into bed until his next shift."Hey, Greggo!"
He looked up to see Nick and Warrick heading toward him. "Yeah?" he asked, somewhat warily, worried they had more DNA for him to process.
Nick grinned. "Hey, relax man. We're just going out for drinks. D'you want to come too?"
"Sure." He felt immensely relieved as they headed into the lobby, but Greg stopped when he saw a familiar figure on the bench. "Lara!"
She stood up. "Hi Greg."
"What are you doing here?"
Lara shrugged. "Diverted flight. Looks like I'm stuck here for a couple of days." She smiled. "Damn."
"Right." Greg turned to Nick and Warrick." I'm going to take a rain check on those drinks." He and Lara headed out the door, ignoring the wolf whistles behind them.
Greg being no real loss, Nick and Warrick headed to the bar anyway. Because it was only four o'clock in the afternoon, the bar was nearly empty. That was why it was hard not to notice the pretty girl who came in about an hour later. She looked to be in her early twenties, tall with dark hair and green eyes. She ordered a drink and sat by herself at a table close to theirs.
"Hey man, she is totally checking you out," Warrick told Nick.
Nick turned around to look. "No, I think she's checking you out."
Warrick looked closer, and then stared at Nick. "She's checking us both out."
Nick finished his drink. "Twenty bucks says I'll get her first."
Warrick grinned. "You're on."
Nick headed to her table, Warrick close behind him.
When they reached her table, the girl grinned at both of them. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come over. Sit down."
Taken aback, they both did. Warrick recovered first. "I'm Warrick; this is my friend, Nick. And you are…?"
"Tempeste. Jones."
"Tempeste?" Nick repeated skeptically. "Come on sweetheart, you can tell us your real name."
Tempeste laughed. "That is my real name, honest! Would you like to see some ID, officer?"
Warrick looked at her. "How did you know we were with the PD?"
Tempeste shrugged. "Lucky guess?" She looked at them critically. "Although I'm going to say you're not actually cops, you're quiet for that. You seem to be more of behind-the-scenes boys." She was quiet for a minute, mulling it over. "Hm… let me guess… crime scene investigators?"
Warrick and Nick both stared at her. "How did you know that?" Nick asked.
She shrugged again. "What can I say; I have amazing observational skills… which led me to observe the CSI ID badge sticking out of your jacket."
Nick grinned. "Alright then, Tempeste. What brings you to Vegas? Business, or pleasure?"
Warrick rolled his eyes, but Tempeste smiled. "A bit of both, I guess. I'm on my way home from a… business trip, but I'm stranded here for a couple of days."
"Well at least you're in Vegas," Warrick said. "There are worse places to be stuck."
Tempeste shrugged again. "I'm not much of a gambler. I guess I'll just have to find… other ways of occupying my time." As she spoke, her index fingers slid over the rim of her glass and then across her lower lip. Both men gulped. Tempeste got to her feet. "Well, I'm going back to my hotel." She walked about two tables away before stopping and looking back. "Are you coming?"
They both looked at each other. "Which one of us were you talking to?"
"Both of you, of course."
They looked at each other again and shrugged. "What the hell?" They headed for the door.
"Hold up guys," Warrick said when they had gotten outside. "I forgot my jacket." He went back in, leaving Nick and Tempeste to wait.
He's been gone less than five seconds when Greg came down the street. His arm was slung around Lara's shoulder as he told her about his latest scientific discovery. They looked quite comfortable, but Lara stopped dead at the sight of Tempeste.
"Temp!"
"Lara? Who is this?"
"I'm Greg," he said. "And w-Nick?"
"Hi Greg."
And at that moment, Warrick came back. "Sorry guys, it slipped under the table-Greg?"
Greg's eyebrows shot straight up and his chin dropped. "Warrick? Nick?" He kept looking from one to the other as if he'd never seen them before.
"Tempeste!" Lara sounded impressed.
"Lara." Tempeste glanced quickly at Greg. "Gavin?" she asked pointedly.
"Gavin?" Greg turned to Lara in confusion.
She ignored him. "Gabriel?" she retorted.
"Gabriel and I aren't-"
"Dating, I know," Lara finished.
Greg had gone back to staring at Warrick and Nick in absolute shock. "I never would have thought… Warrick and Nick?"
Rolling her eyes, Lara grabbed Greg's hand, and they started down the street again. "Hey babe?" she called back. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."
"Yeah," Nick muttered. "But we live in Vegas. And we work with him."
Lara and Greg continued down the street, Greg still muttering on. "I just can't believe that Warrick and Nick… I mean, I've been working with them for six years."
Lara rolled her eyes. "Greg, forget about it."
"Yeah. But, I mean, I just never thought… it's so weird."
"Greg! Forget about it."
"Yeah, but this is huuuge."
Lara rolled her eyes, and shoved Greg against the wall. She kissed him, biting his lips gently as she did so. Reaching under his shirt, she slid her hands up his side. "There," she said, pulling away. "Now can we talk about something else?"
Greg blinked. "Um, sure." Then he seemed to catch a hold of himself. "Actually, how about we do something else, that doesn't involve talking?" He kissed her again, until they were both short on breath. "Your place or mine?" he muttered.
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Warrick, Nick, and Tempeste were still standing outside the bar, not quite sure what to say. Tempeste smiled. "Well, I guess I'll be going then." She looked at them hopelessly. "I take it you're not coming?"
Nick and Warrick looked at each other. Despite the fiasco with Greg, they were still quite drunk, and Tempeste was very hot. It was Warrick who spoke. "What the hell. The damage has already been done. We might as well get something out of it."
A wide grin spread across Tempeste's face. "Well in that case, let's get the hell out of here." She linked arms with both of them, setting of down the street toward her hotel. After all, there were only eight more hours until they had to go back to work.
Which, as it turned out, wasn't really enough time, and Warrick and Nick were left scrambling for clothes ten minutes before work while Tempeste laughed.
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Greg walked down the hall, humming to himself. He'd had a very good day. He stopped though, as he passed the staff room window, and saw who was inside. Greg slid into the room. "Hello Nick. Warrick."
Nick and Warrick, who had been talking to Catherine, immediately stopped. Nick's eyes widened, Warrick choked on his drink, and they both avoided looking at anyone, particularly each other.
Catherine looked from one to the other. "Did I miss something here?"
"Oh, I'd say so," Greg agreed, pouring a cup of coffee and adding copious amounts of sugar to his coffee. (Because that's what he needs. More sugar.) "I think that Nick a-" He was cut off as Nick stood up and punched him squarely in the shoulder. "Ow! That hurt. Abuse, man." He turned around too quickly and spilled some of the coffee on his hand. "Fuck," he announced, sucking on his burnt fingers.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Nothing," Nick answered quickly. "Greg was just leaving. To do lots and lots of DNA work, weren't you?"
Greg backed away toward the door. "Hey man, all I'm saying is that this lab has far more history than you can possibly imagine. And I'm not talking about the building." He picked up his coffee and nursed his sore fingers with a hurt look at Nick. "Hey, I can keep a secret, so be nice." He left again.
Catherine looked at them. "I'm sorry, but that was weird even for Greg. And since when do you punch people Nicky? What's going on?"
"Nothing." Warrick and Nick said at the same time.
Warrick got to his feet. "Cath, you should know better than anyone that everyone here has a secret." He left, and Nick just shrugged at her.
"Yeah," she said. "But I know everyone's secrets."