A Definite Bet

Chapter 1

Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage. Ambrose Bierce

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone in regards to CSI; the show and its characters belong to a bunch of people who aren't me. I am merely borrowing the characters for my own amusement. Dance puppets, dance.

Author's Note: As I've told some of you, this is a companion piece to my first story "Remembering Forward." It's not necessary to read it for this fic, but you are more than welcome to read it…and review ;)

As usual, thank you to my awesomely, cool and extremely helpful betas, EllipsesBandit and CSINut 214. What can I say? They
rock.

The sun barely peeked over the western horizon before disappearing for the night. The overbearing heat of the Las Vegas day transformed into a refreshingly cool evening. Many cars were parked outside a small, classy hotel off the Strip.

Inside, beautiful ocean landscapes adorned the white walls of the lobby. Plush chairs and love seats surrounded small coffee tables; ideal spots for intimate conversations. A doorway leading to the bar stood to the left, and off to the right, past the check-in desk, was a hallway that led to an atrium.

Several rows of dark wood chairs with white seat cushions filled the room. A wide strip of red carpet led to a podium, where arrangements of cream and maroon colored roses stood on either side. A panorama of stars gleamed outside the skylights. In the atrium, lab technicians, detectives, and other friends clustered, chatting …

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"So how'd ya like the other night?" Sam Vega asked, clasping his hand on the other man's shoulder.

Vartann shook his head. "I should've just emptied my wallet right there on the table. Saved me the embarrassment."

"What happened?" said Sofia as she stood next to Vega.

Vartann replied, "Oh, a bunch of us got together to play poker with Grissom; Me, Sam, Brass, Warrick, Nick, and Greg."

"So what…Grissom cleaned you out?"

"He cleaned everyone out."

"Hey speak for yourself," Vega began, pointing to the tall detective. "I stopped after I lost forty. The rest of you kept goin'."

"How much did you lose?"

Vartann snorted. "More than I care to admit."

"But not as much as Sanders," Vega added.

"No, I definitely didn't lose as much as Sanders."

"Well, how much did Grissom win?" Sofia asked.

"He walked away with a significant chunk of money. I wonder what he did with it," Vega pondered.

"Who knows?" Vartann said, shaking his head again. "What I want to know," his voice laced with frustration, "is how in the hell is it possible for him to get two royal flushes in one night."

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"How long have you known Grissom?" said Jacqui.

"Several years now," Valerie began. "He's been coming to the butterfly pavilion for a while."

"I bet he's there a lot," laughed Wendy.

"About four or five times a week. Always asking about new exhibits or seeing what could buy from us. He's even talked to school groups about tarantulas."

"Grissom with kids…" Jacqui raised her eyebrows. "There's a thought."

Valerie smiled at the comment. "It's true; the kids love him. Then his visits dwindled. I only saw him maybe two, three times a week. I was happy to see a girl was distracting him, and that he hadn't found another bug source."

Judy walked quickly to the group of women. "You will never believe who just walked in here?"

"Who?" said Wendy, leaning closer to hear the gossip.

"Conrad Ecklie."

Jacqui gasped. "No way."

"He's sitting in the back row on the left side," she pointed to the section. The four women turned to see him quietly observing the room, not talking to anyone.

"What's the big deal with Conrad Ecklie being here? Isn't he the assistant director of the crime lab?" questioned Valerie.

"He put Sara and Grissom through hell when they told him they were together," Judy said. "The three of them were in closed door meeting for an hour. Grissom and Sara were livid when they walked out."

"And then Ecklie pulls all the techs together, and tells to do performance evaluations on them. Wanted to make sure they didn't act inappropriately and he wasn't giving her special treatment. They weren't even working cases together and it's not like they were making out at the lab. You couldn't even tell they were together," said Wendy.

Valerie's eyebrows came together. "You're kidding?"

"Nope," Jacqui shook her head. "He also told Nick, Catherine, Warrick, and Greg to do the same thing. Only the kicker was Sara and Grissom didn't know about the evaluations. And nobody knew they didn't know. When the team found that out, they were pissed. Nick told Ecklie it was sneaky and rude to undermine the staff like that. Catherine threatened to go to the head director with his behavior. After that, things calmed down, except Ecklie slowing paper work for the team like evaluations that would give them raises. And he kept sending Grissom stupid memos about professional behavior seminars."

"Why is he here then?" Valerie said, gesturing to where the man sat. "I can't imagine they'd invite him."

"Who knows?" said Wendy.

"I bet he's going to object during the ceremony," Judy told the group.

Jacqui looked to the back section. "He better not."

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"C'mon Henry. You've been stalling. What's your bet?" demanded Hodges.

"Six months, because she cheats on him with a cop," answered Henry Andrews, a new lab tech. A few bills were placed in Hodges' hand.

David Phillips stood a few feet from the men, talking to his wife, Rachel. He shook his head, and let out a disgusted sigh as he overheard the conversation.

"What about you, Archie?"

The young man thought for a moment, before giving Hodges some money. "Three years because he's seeing someone younger than her."

"If Grissom goes any younger, he'll be looking at high school girls," the trace analyst said.

Rachel gently rubbed David's arm after he sighed again. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well what's your bet?" Henry asked.

"Three months because she finally finds out about his long standing affair with the dominatrix," Hodges proudly stated, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You think he's sleeping with that woman?" said Archie.

"How could he not be? Have you seen her?"

"Wait a sec. When have you seen this infamous Lady Heather?" asked Henry.

"I vis-, look it doesn't matter. Everyone knows he has a thing for her. And what matters is this marriage is a joke and someone will collect big bucks when they get divorced," stated Hodges. He noticed the brunette coroner and his wife beginning to walk away. "Speaking of jokes," he said under his breath. "Phillips! Care to join us?"

David stared at Hodges for moment, as if debating his options. Rachel murmured a few words to her husband to which he quietly answered "I know." She left to find their seats, while he joined the men. "What do you want?"

Hodges tried to sound innocent. "Oh nothing. Just wondering if you were feeling a bit jealous of Grissom and his dear, sweet Sara."

David furrowed his eyebrows, both in confusion and irritation. "Why would I be jealous?"

"Because they get to have their wedding here in this nice hotel and the reception in a very expensive restaurant, while you," Hodges said, not disguising the laughter, "had your wedding in Dr. Robbins' backyard." Archie and Henry snickered.

David opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it. He started to turn around and leave, when Hodges grabbed his arm.

"Now, now David. No need to get huffy. I don't think the bride and groom would appreciate your resentment. I do have a serious question for you though."

"What?" He angrily asked.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," Hodges sarcastically replied. "I thought you might want to make some money in a bet."

"What kind of bet?"

"How long do think Grissom's and Sara's fairytale," he said the word with distain, "love story will last?"

David pulled his wallet out of his pocket, and extracted a twenty-dollar bill. "Forever." He slapped the money in Hodges' palm, and stalked away.

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"So you're going to be writing a book on Gil and Sara's relationship?" laughed Al Robbins. "Do they know you're doing this?"

"The book is more about relationships at work; I'm just using them as one of my examples, but I've got lots of sources," Lauren answered.

"Do you have a title?"

"The Geek's Guide to Romance in the Workplace."

"I like it," Robbins nodded his head in approval. "What kind of things are you going to write about?"

"Finding loopholes in company policies that forbid dating your co-workers; how to maintain a good working relationship; when to tell your colleagues you're seeing someone. There's a lot I want include," she replied.

"Sounds great. I'll be looking for it when it comes out." There was a brief pause. "I still think it's funny Sara knows a writer. I thought all her friends would be in forensics."

She smiled knowingly. "That's what happens when they make a science geek and bookworm roommates in college."

"Since you've known Sara a long time, you must know her parents. I didn't see anyone that resembled her at the rehearsal dinner or here tonight, for that matter."

Lauren hesitated for a moment. "Sara…she…she doesn't get along with her mom, and her dad's dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Al said sympathetically. "Do you know if she's having anyone walk her up the aisle?"

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Greg Sanders checked his reflection in the hallway mirror for the fiftieth time; he made sure his bow tie was still straight, and his hair still in place. He gritted his teeth together and opened his mouth; nothing stuck in them. While checking his tux for pieces of lint, he asked, "What's taking them so long? At this rate we'll be having the ceremony at dawn."

Nick Stokes shook his head. "It takes a while for women to get ready; even longer for their wedding day. Besides, Catherine is back there. No doubt she's putting as much make-up as she can on Sara."

"No doubt Sara's resisting."

The two men waited in a small room, outside the front entrance to the atrium. Greg finally turned from the mirror. "You nervous?"

"Not really."

"You have a pretty important job."

"I know that," Nick told him. "But after all of my sisters' weddings, I'm used to walking someone up the aisle. Why? Are you nervous?"

Greg smirked at the question. "Me? No way, man. Totally cool."

But truthfully, the former DNA lab rat felt rather anxious. Because his hands shook so badly, he stuffed them in his pockets. He looked down to check his shoe laces again. Nobody knew it, but he practiced his escorting duties so he knew he wouldn't trip. He didn't want to lose his job for ruining his boss' wedding day.

Just as Greg was about to check his watch, there was the sound of clicking heels on the wood floors. The group of women they had been waiting for finally arrived. A tall, silver-haired woman, dressed in an elegant burgundy suit led the way; she had the same penetrating blue eyes as her son. The team recently met Grissom's mother, Helen, at the rehearsal dinner. Despite both her deafness and her genetic relationship to Grissom, Helen had a talkative personality, and regaled them with stories about the artists from her gallery in California. Greg enjoyed when she told him he was a delightful, young man. In front of Grissom.

Following Helen was Catherine, Sara's bridesmaid. The blonde wore a sleeveless, long, dark red dress. It surprised Greg when he heard Sara had asked Catherine to be in the wedding party; the two weren't close. He did notice though, they had called a truce. Next to Catherine was the maid-of-honor, Angela. The dark haired woman was Sara's best friend from Tamales Bay; they had known each other for most of their lives. She too had on the same dress as Catherine. Sara trailed the two women, and she looked…well, beautiful.

Her shoulder length brown hair was curled into a more stylish fashion. The make-up made her eyes look even more warm and deep. The cowl neckline and the spaghetti straps of the white gown revealed her slightly freckled skin. Her dress hugged her body in all the right places (hey, he was still a man), and flowed to her feet, leaving a short train.

He didn't realize his mouth was hanging open until Sara approached him. "You okay Greg? You've been standing there with your tongue on the floor."

"Sara, you…you're-you're gorgeous," he managed.

Her face turned pink at his compliment. "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

"I have to agree with him," Nick smiled. "You do look really nice."

Catherine added, "And that soon-to-be-husband of yours is rather handsome in tux."

"You saw him?" Sara asked.

"I had to help him with his tie." Catherine shook her head. "The man can give you every detail at a crime scene, but he can't figure out a bow tie. That job Sara, I happily hand over to you."

"Gee thanks."

Sara let out some deep breaths, and Greg noticed she was fidgeting with the bouquet. "You okay?"

"I'm…I'm a little nervous," she admitted.

"Don't worry, dear, you'll be fine," Helen said.

"If anyone has to be nervous, it's Grissom. I mean, he's about to marry the prettiest girl in Nevada." Greg corrected himself when he caught Catherine's mock-glare. "Well, one of the prettiest."

The group chatted for a while before the ceremony, trying to put Sara at ease. Greg cracked a few jokes, making her laugh. As the ceremony drew closer, he sent up a silent prayer hoping nothing happened when he went up the aisle. He peeked out the door, seeing the guests had taken their seats, and Grissom, Brass, and Warrick were already by the podium. "Looks like they're ready for us."

Everyone got assembled for their entrance; Sara stood at the end of line with Nick and Angela. Greg came up and said, "All right, Stokes, back off, back off. I get to be the last man to touch the former Ms. Sidle."

"He's all yours, girl," Nick smirked, and took his place to escort Helen Grissom.

Greg smiled proudly as he offered his arm to the bride. Soft classical music wafted through the doorway, and Nick and Helen led the line. As Catherine and Angela followed, Sara leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?" he whispered.

"Thank you," was all she said.

Just before they walked out, Greg murmured, "I'm really happy for you. You deserve this."

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TBC