AN: I have tons of reasons why I haven't updated in forever, but to cut it short there were two main reasons: 1. This website is annoying! There are so many good fics to READ that most of the time I forget that it's also possible to WRITE stories. 2. Apart from the last two months where I spent most of my free time on this chapter my brain/fantasy was apparently on vacation.
This chapter turned out to be quite a challenge. The hardest one I've written so far simply because it's about Sara. You ever tried writing something funny about someone who's always so serious and in control? Even Grissom was easier to write even though I have to rewrite his chapter. There's just something that bothers me about it.
Anyway, I want to thank everyone who
reviewed the last chapter:
The last letter: About Tina watching Warrick's audition… I already have plans for the epilogue. XD. I already feel bad for Warrick. =) Thanks for your suggestions concerning Sara's "partner" in this dare. I definitely have to use Doc Robbins for another chapter.
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DISCLAIMER: CSI and its characters do not belong to me, it all belongs to Anthony E. Zuiker. Thank you Anthony for that awesome show!
"Hey Sara," Wendy greeted as she entered the locker room and saw Sara sitting on one of the benches with her head buried in her hands.
"Jesus, Wendy!" Sara shrieked as she got violently pulled out of wallowing in self-pity. "Were you planning on giving me a heart attack? What are you doing here?"
"Err, getting dressed to go home. You know, the thing people usually do in locker rooms…" Wendy said carefully, freaked out by Sara's weird outburst.
"Oh, right. Locker rooms, getting dressed, that sounds logical."
"Sara, not that I'm not used to your sudden mood swings, but is everything okay? You seem a little, I don't know, out of it."
"I'm fine."
"Okay," Wendy said skeptically. "Well, call me if you need anything. I better go home now. Bob is already waiting for me."
"Who's Bob?" Sara asked, glad for the change of subject.
Wendy sighed happily. "Bob is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. A little bit expensive, but…"
"Expensive?" Sara interrupted her. "Did you buy a Chippendale, or something?"
"No! Bob is my new shower head. I mean, life as a single lady definitely sucks, but it's better than wasting my time on finding a decent guy among all the gamblers and freaks in Las Vegas."
"I don't know, single life doesn't seem that bad to me," Sara offered lamely and eyed Archie's letter that was lying next to her and had "Call me Cupid, the matchmaker" written on the envelope.
Wendy, being as obsessed about the newest lab gossip as always, shrieked excitedly when she followed Sara's line of vision.
"Oh my God, it's a letter!"
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Sara commented dryly.
"Oh come on Sara, don't be so gloomy. It's a love letter from Grissom, isn't it?"
Sara snorted. "Yeah, sure. Seriously, Wendy? I'm not sure how well you know Grissom, but I don't think the word love can be found in his vocabulary, unless it's related to the mating habits of his bugs. Even if Grissom would be able to write a love letter, which I highly doubt, it would probably sound something like 'Oh Sara, your hair is as shiny as the one of the hairiest spider I possess and your legs as slender as those of my centipede Mike!"
"Oh come on Sara, give Grissom some credit. Did you never, unlike the rest of the lab, notice the way Grissom looks at you?"
"Maybe he's just guessing at which kinds of lice could be crawling through my hair."
"Are you always this optimistic?" Wendy asked sarcastically.
"I'm just being realistic!" Sara defended herself.
Wendy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, and I'm about to grow wings out of my ass and fly to the top of Mount Everest!"
"Don't forget to dress warm," Sara muttered.
Wendy groaned and threw her hands up in the air.
"Okay, that's it!" she exclaimed and grabbed the letter. "Whatever this letter is about, it can't be that bad."
Her attempt to comfort her co-worker had gone unnoticed as Sara had already sunk back into her self-pity and daydreamed about the possible outcomes of this dare night. Needless to say, thanks to Sara's pessimism AKA realism all of them were absolutely horrible and ended with her dying from embarrassment.
In the meantime, Wendy had unfolded the letter. The first thing she spotted was Archie's typical signature at the end of it.
"Shit! I completely forgot about that dare night thing," she groaned.
Sara's head shot up. "You know about it?"
"Yes, Archie mentioned something to me during break a few days ago. Have you already read the letter?"
"Just about half of it; after that, I was too busy deciding between killing Archie or running away to Mexico."
"If you're so fixated on getting out of this dare night, why did you agree to participate in the first place? Is it because of the movies?"
"Hell no. If I wanted to see two guys fucking each other in the middle of nowhere, I could just watch some gay porn. Plus I have more than enough chick flicks at home, courtesy of my fundamental Christian neighbor who thinks I'm a lesbian because I never bring home any guys and who wants to lead me onto the right path to heaven."
"Okay, let's leave out the fact that your neighbor is probably female, because no man, Christian or not, would want to convert a lesbian. If it's not for the movies, then why are you doing this?
"Are you kidding me? If I wouldn't participate, Nick and Warrick would tease me all the time about being a coward!" Sara exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire universe.
"Great. I completely forgot that I am dealing with the 'tough, not afraid of anything, not even Greg's lab rat hairstyles' member of the night shift." Wendy grimaced.
"Well, what can I say? The role of the 'strong ex-stripper with Satan's temper' was already taken by Catherine."
As if on cue, the whole day shift ran past the locker room.
"Code red! It's hurricane Catherine!"
"I'm too young to die. I haven't even lost my virginity yet!"
"Please spare me. I have kids and an affair!"
The mob continued running towards the nearest exit while Wendy wasted no time and quickly finished getting dressed.
"I have to get out of here. Sara, I'll see you either tomorrow at work or someone's funeral," she quickly finished her goodbyes and sprinted out of the locker room.
"Probably at Archie's funeral if Catherine gets her hands on him," Sara thought to herself and picked up the letter that Wendy, in her hurry to escape the lab, had dropped to the ground.
Sighing once more, she began reading what she considered to be her death sentence.
"Dear Sara,
I know that right now you probably hate me as much as Catherine will want to kill me after this lovely dare night.
*Sigh* Catherine. Don't you agree that she desperately needs some help? Or is it just because of emancipation that every once in a while modern women like her tend to become as aggressive as the bullies who always beat me up at school? Well, you tell me, since you're the number one feminist of the lab.
By the way, don't consider this statement as misogynic. I love feminists, especially when they're in my bed and force me to go all submissive on them.
However, time to change the subject and take a look at your dare. I know that, as a feminist, you are certainly convinced that you don't need a man in your life in order to feel complete. But, even though I like you a lot, there are two simple yet important aspects that bother me about your chosen lifestyle:
You are a workaholic. Don't even try to deny it. A trustworthy source told me that instead of Playgirl magazines you hoard books about forensics and old case files under your bed. Has no one ever explained the meaning of free time to you? You're supposed to come home, have sex (alone, with someone else, with a sex doll, an orgy,… the possibilities are endless), take a shower, go to bed, have sex again after you woke up, eat something, play computer games for hours, call your mom, go out do drink a coffee (alone or with your imaginary friends) and then return to work. There are other things you could do, but these activities do wonders to me. I mean, look at my body…
You have a crush on Grissom. He's old enough to be your father! Have you ever thought about that or were you too busy undressing him with your eyes?
Your crush really started to take a toll on my mental health, you know. Instead of wet dreams about Pamela Anderson, I started having nightmares about you and Grissom going at it on the table in my lab.
So, to convince you that you do need a man in your life, someone that should preferably not be Grissom, I organized a date for you.
He's moody, ironic and a little bit nerdy. In other words, he reminds me of you so don't try to come up with the excuse of having nothing in common. He would be a great choice. Well, how could he be anything else if even someone with such great taste as me approves of him?
I also want to include some love lessons in your dare. First lesson: Love contains many mysteries. That's why I decided on not telling you his name. I know you can't wait to finally meet him (aren't you amazed by how well I know you?) but have a little bit more patience so I can give you some more instructions.
The guy I chose for you is a little bit shy; I had to motivate him a little bit. Greedy as always, 100 bucks wasn't enough for him. He made me promise that his date will be smoking hot because, according to him, his biological clock is ticking and he can't waste his time with women that are not his type.
By the way, if between kissing each other senseless, you find the time to talk to each other, you might want to explain to him what a biological clock is. You could fill the Grand Canyon with the things he doesn't know about women.
Anyway, we spent a whole hour talking about his type of women and based on this information I picked out your outfit for this date and put it in your locker.
Well, I don't want to tantalize you any longer. You date is taking place in Funland amusement park (wow, what a creative name the owner thought of. Gosh…) Your date will be waiting for you in front of the entrance with a bundle of roses that I had to give him the money for… cheap bastard. Why do guys always have to buy flowers? Why not women for a change? Would have saved me 20 bucks! Anyways, have fun, and don't forget to buy a photo to prove the fulfillment of your dare (plus we all want to see the new dream couple on their first date.) And don't even think about taking old case files with you! Maybe some condoms in case the Ferris wheel gets stuck.
Love, mama's boy
Sara laid the letter aside and took a deep breath. Slowly, almost fearfully she got up from the bench and dared to take a look at her locker. It seemed harmless, but Sara was convinced that she would rather have the boogeyman in it than an outfit that Archie had picked out. The picture of the yellow and violet Hawaiian shirt, combined with the two times too big baggy pants he wore a few days ago was still fresh on Sara's mind.
Her hands were shaking as she opened the locker and took out a white plastic bag. She closed her eyes, emptied the contents on the bench and took one more deep breath before taking a look at her outfit.
"Hell no, I'd rather go naked!" she screamed.
To other women the outfit probably wouldn't have seemed that bad, but for Sara it was the worst possible scenario coming to life.
The pile of clothes consisted of a pair of white high heels, a pink belt which, after closer inspection, proved to be a mini skirt, and a pink and violet checkered blouse.
"Do I really have to do this?" Sara asked herself.
The idea of just backing out was immediately banned from her mind as she could already imagine Warrick's and Nick's teasing grins.
"Well, it's either getting teased for being a chicken or running around dressed like a whore."
It didn't take Sara long to make a decision.
Groaning, she began to pull the clothes on. She soon was grateful that she hadn't decided on wearing a thong that day. Combined with the mini skirt it would have probably led to the foundation of a fan club of male teenagers in the park.
Sara's mood got even worse when her feet already began to hurt just by looking at the high heels and as she buttoned up the blouse she went ballistic.
"Damn it, Archie!" she cursed as she desperately fought with the upper buttons. "How am I supposed to squeeze my breasts into this tight piece of shit? Even if I would manage, the buttons would probably pop off and become the newest flying missiles of the military!"
After a while of trying and cursing at her failures, Sara spotted a piece of paper that she hadn't noticed among the pile of clothes. She picked it up and immediately recognized Archie's messy handwriting.
"Sorry Sidle, I couldn't spend even more money on your date so I had to give you my ex-girlfriend's blouse. To my regret, her 'two arguments' aren't as big as yours. Not that I ever stared at your breasts."
"As if you'd ever be able to talk to a woman and look her in the face," Sara rolled her eyes and huffed when she had to give up and leave the first three buttons open. She looked into the mirror to survey her outfit. To her dismay her hair looked like she just got out of bed which only increased the dubiousness of her style.
"What the hell? Let's just get this over with."
She squeezed her feet into the pair of high heels, grabbed her purse and left the locker room.
On her way to the parking lot she became grateful that everyone in the lab knew she didn't drink alcohol anymore. The way she stumbled around in high heels would cause anyone else to think she had a couple drinks too much.
"Wow baby! Why didn't God warn me that such a beautiful angel like you would fall from heaven? I would have caught you in my big strong arms!"
"Excuse me?" Sara twirled around to give the guy who had the nerve to hit on her a piece of her mind. "Johnny?" she asked incredulous. Johnny was the lab's paperboy. Sara had always though him to be a cute and shy teen, but apparently it only took a slutty outfit and male hormones on full drive to destroy that impression.
"Johnny! Hi. Err, it's not what you think" Sara stuttered while asking herself why she felt the need to explain her outfit to Johnny. He didn't even really know her, plus he didn't seem to be listening to her anyway. He looked more like his brain was already creating a vivid fantasy about her.
"I need this outfit for a secret investigation. That case about the murdered hooker that was all over the news, you know?" she continued and hoped Johnny would believe her horrible lie. She had never been a good liar, but only then when she thought about how against the rules it would be to tell a stranger about a secret investigation, did she realize how much she truly sucked at it.
"Okay" Johnny said slowly. "Promise me you won't call the cops on me but sometimes, when I'm bored, I read the newspapers I'm actually supposed to deliver. Anyway, didn't that case already get solved days ago?"
"Oh, right" If anything, Sara looked like the prime example for 'deer caught in the headlights'. "I guess they forgot to tell me. Sometimes all the crimes in Vegas get us a little bit confused."
"Weren't you standing next to Captain Brass when he gave that press conference yesterday?"
"No, that was actually Catherine. She dyed her hair. Johnny, I really have to go now. I'm sorry."
Sara quickly ran to her car in order to avoid further questions. She turned on the engine and left the parking lot with screeching tires. In the rearview mirror she saw Johnny, who hadn't moved from his spot and was scratching his head in a confusing manner. She nervously wiped her forehead after she had rounded the first corner and Johnny disappeared from her line of sight.
"Phew! That was close"
15 minutes later
"Gosh, I bet even Jesus didn't get that many stares," Sara muttered as she was on her way to the entrance of Funland. She couldn't decide on what was worse; the stares of the male visitors who were ogling her like a piece of meat or the other women who were sending her disdainful looks while trying to gain their (drooling) men's attention back.
Sara came to a stop in front of the ticket booth and tried to spot a bundle of red roses, the distinctive mark of her blind date.
"Sara?"
She turned around to the familiar voice that had called her name.
"Hodges…"
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm just waiting for someone," Sara answered. She didn't even try to explain her outfit to Hodges. Who cared what he thought anyway?
"Yeah, me too. She is actually supposed to be here already," Hodges shrugged.
Only then did Sara spot the bundle of flowers he held in his right hand.
"Oh, no!" It felt like the air got pressed out of Sara's lungs.
Hodges misunderstood her and hastily wiped his chin. "What? Do I have something on my face? Just wipe it off! I want to make a good first impression on my date"
"You already ruined that one with the sweat stains under your armpits," Sara said under her breath.
"What? Sorry, I didn't hear you."
"Nothing. Err, how am I supposed to say this? I think… these flowers are for me"
"For you?" Hodges seemed dumbfounded. "You are my blind date?"
"Yeah, I guess I am," Sara said unenthusiastically. She could feel how her mood was on its best way to reach a new nadir.
"Wow. I guess I just expected someone…" At Sara's murderous glare Hodges immediately swallowed her words he had planned on saying. "…else"
"Just shut up Hodges! Let's get this over with," Sara snapped.
"Sara, wait!" Hodges grabbed her arm to stop her which, if they weren't surrounded by dozens of other people, would have probably earned him a kick in his neither regions.
"What?" Sara shouted.
"I know we both didn't expect this but it's still a date so… maybe you could call me David?" Hodges suggested sheepishly. Before Sara really ended up kicking him in the nuts, he quickly held out the flowers. "Here. These are for you. They somehow ran out of red roses. I still hope you like them"
Sara was left speechless as she stared at the bundle of ruffled green stuff. It kind of looked more like one of her vegetarian meals than flowers.
"Thank you…David" she said through gritted teeth and quickly turned around to the ticket booth. "Two tickets please."
"No, let me" Hodges quickly intervened.
"At least he's paying" Sara thought. However, her joy quickly faded as Hodges just tore the tickets out of the cashier's hand and skipped over to the entrance. "I can't wait. Hurry up Sara!"
Sara growled and pulled out her wallet. She had just wanted to hand over the money as her body froze up. The cashier was giving her a look which told her that also he had decided to try his luck.
"Why is it that such beautiful women like you always go out with such jerks? Hell, I would pay for anything I could do with you." he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"For heaven's sake! Just keep the change and shove it where my foot will be next time I see you!" Sara yelled and threw the money down on the table.
"Excuse me Miss but could you hurry up a little bit?" the woman behind Sara asked.
"Could you just shut up and mind your own business?" Sara turned around to tear the woman's head off, only to freeze in her tracks as she saw that it was an old woman in her seventies who looked like she would leave the amusement park in an ambulance.
Sara could feel her face becoming hot. She quickly turned her gaze to the floor so she could hide her embarrassment.
"I'm sorry Ma'am" she apologized and trudged over to Hodges who was jumping up and down like a giddy five-year-old.
"What took you so long?"
"Sorry, I was busy flushing all my manners down the drain."
"Whatever. So, with what are we gonna ride first? Carousel? Water slide? Those spinning coffee cups?"
"How about bumper cars?" Sara suggested. Her proposition didn't derive from being in the mood for bumper cars. She didn't want to ride any attraction at all but considering that her feel were already starting to hurt like hell, she had just chosen the closest one.
"Okay. Why not?" Hodges shrugged.
They each sat down in one of the cars and waited for the start signal.
At first Sara just drove around and tried to avoid getting hit. Hodges however drove like a maniac and crashed into everyone he could. All of a sudden Sara flew forward as a bratty kid crashed into her at full speed. She caught herself with her arms before her head had the chance to hit the steering wheel.
"Oh you snotty, little punk!" she screeched.
The boy's eyes widened with shock as Sara turned the car around and pressed down hard on the gas pedal. Like a fury she chased the little boy who was constantly looking over his shoulder and had already started to bawl out of fear.
"Got you!" Sara grinned as she quickly gained speed on him and there were only two feet separating them. What she didn't expect however was for the boy to make a sharp U-turn which caused her to crash full speed into the barrier.
"Ouch" she groaned and felt her forehead for any blood. Her headache got even worse as Hodges came up behind her, holding his sides from laughing so hard.
"Oh my God, you should have seen yourself. How could you miss him?" he managed to say in between gasps. "Why is it that women are such lousy drivers?"
Sara was about to throw one of her high heels at Hodges, hopefully hitting an eye when she realized that the round of bumper cars was over and the boy had run towards a woman which Sara assumed to be his mother. He clung to her waist, still crying and pointed at Sara.
"Shit!" Sara cursed and dragged a laughing Hodges away. "Would you stop laughing?"
She turned around to grab him by the collar of his shirt. "This is not funny!"
Hodges couldn't stop laughing which made Sara get angrier with every second passing by. She was about to hang him from the nearest tree when suddenly screams got her attention. She looked upwards and a devilish grin brightened her face.
Without wasting a second she grabbed Hodges and dragged him forward. Luckily, the waiting queue was very short. Hodges didn't even notice where Sara had led them to until she ruggedly pushed him into one of the seats in the first row.
"What…?" Hodges stopped laughing and tried to figure out what was going on.
"Hey! Isn't that Justin Bieber?" Sara quickly diverted his attention.
"What? Where?" Hodges craned his neck to get a look at his hair idol.
Sara sighed happily and relaxed back into her seat as the safety harnesses came down and the ride started moving. "Never mind. Guess I mistook him for someone else."
Hodges looked disappointed, then surprised when he realized they were moving. He looked down to his feet, only to see that the ground beneath them got further and further away.
"What the hell?" he screamed, then looked upwards and saw the guide rails pass them by.
"Relax David. Have fun!" Sara grinned and enjoyed his fear more than the spectacular view they had from up there.
"Have fun? You've taken me on a rollercoaster!" Hodges yelled and struggled in his seat.
"So what?" Sara grinned triumphantly.
"I'm fucking scared of heights!"
"Oops. Guess I forgot about that" Sara answered hypocritically.
Hodges was shaking like a leaf as the rollercoaster had reached its highest point.
"Chill out David. It will go down soon"
"I'm even more afraid of high speeds"
"Oh right. You mentioned something like that a while ago…" Sara said satisfied.
"You…"
"David?"
"What?"
"Have you ever watched Final Destination 3?"
Sara's eardrums almost burst as the rollercoaster went down and Hodges started screaming for his life. Downwards, upwards, loop, twist, roll. Hodges never took a breath and just continued screaming. He was about to pass out when the rollercoaster came to a jerking stop. The safety harnesses opened and Sara got out of the seat.
"Did you have fun?" one of the employees, who looked like he was bored to death, asked them.
"Definitely," Sara was grinning from ear to ear.
"Is your boyfriend alright?" he asked skeptically.
Sara turned around to look at Hodges whose face had turned a strange shade of green. His eyes were opened up wide and he was gasping for air like a fish out of the water.
"He's doing great. Right, baby?" Sara clapped him on the shoulder.
"Just get out of my way." Hodges groaned and sped past Sara.
With a newfound enthusiasm for amusement parks, Sara pranced through the exit gates. "I think I'm beginning to like this date… or maybe not. Eww!" Sara complained as she saw Hodges a few feet away throwing up into some bushes. Sighing heavily she trudged over to him and sat down on a bench.
"Do you want a candy bar?" she asked as she fished one out of her purse.
At the mention of food Hodges only threw up harder. This earned him some snickers from a bypassing group of teenagers.
"You try seeing a corpse without throwing up! That'll show you who has the stronger stomach!" Hodges yelled after them. The teens' eyes widened as they turned to stare at Hodges and quickly ran away.
"Seeing a corpse?" Sara reprehended him. "They are going to think you're a murderer."
"Shut up, Sidle" Hodges sent her a death glare and slumped down next to her.
"Come on Hodgie!" Sara shoved his shoulder in a sad attempt to cheer him up. Somehow she was feeling bad. It wasn't right to mess with people's fears. She knew it all too well from when Greg had put a fake plastic scorpion in her locker. "I'll even let you choose the next ride." She put on her best puppy dog look.
"Leave me alone," Hodges grumbled.
Sara tapped her foot exasperated. The face that she felt bad for him didn't mean that her patience wasn't wearing as thin as always.
"Stop acting like a spoiled brat. Come on! I don't want to sit here all day" She grabbed his elbow and dragged him towards the ghost train.
"Come on! Are you for real? The ghost train?" Hodges grouched.
Sara rolled her eyes. "What's wrong with that?"
"It's boring, not to mention something for losers."
"Exactly the right thing for you then," Sara murmured. Hodges didn't even hear her because he was still complaining about how lame the ride would be going to be.
"Why would someone even want to ride this thing?"
"I don't know. Maybe they hope that the manager will see and hire them as the spooky, horrible driver," Sara snapped. She still hadn't forgotten about the result concerning her driving skills.
Hodges cracked a grin. "You mean as the spooky horrible driver with the even more horrible hair style."
Sara let go of Hodges' elbow and rummaged through her purse on the search for a mirror. True to Hodges' words her hair was standing out in all different directions from the rollercoaster ride.
"Oh no! I look horrendous!" she whined and tried to comb through her hair with her fingers.
"It's not that bad."
"Not that bad? You try running around like you just put your finger into a power outlet."
"Okay, you look horrible. At least it's going to be dark in the ghost train so no one is going to see you."
"Geez, thanks for the comforting words, Jackass. At least I didn't scream like a girl on the rollercoaster."
Hodges rolled his eyes and pushed Sara into one of the seats.
"Hey, watch out!"
"Just scoot over and quit being a diva. You're never going to let that rollercoaster ride slide, are you?"
"Are you kidding me? That will be the only good part about this date."
Hodges' body was shaking as he took deep breaths to calm down. Sara leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. The ride started and soon enough they were engulfed by darkness.
Sara was thinking about how ever worse this date was than her first one when that guy had shown her his collection of cartoon-underwear when all of a sudden she could feel Hodges' hand on her thigh.
"Hodges" Sara's voice was dangerously low. "Get your filthy hand off of me or I swear it will end up in a glass in Grissom's office next to the pig fetus."
"Can you feel it?" Hodges whispered. The only thing Sara could feel was Hodges' hand that was still resting on her thigh.
"Feel what?" Sara snapped irritated as she shoved his hand away.
"There's something in here."
"Yeah, fake spider webs and bats."
"No, it's something else. I can't describe it. It's dangerous, a dark presence. I feel like it's closing in on us… aaah!" Hodges began screaming as a fake skeleton fell down from the ceiling. He had grabbed his chest in an attempt to avoid a heart attack.
"Uh, spooky…" Sara commented dryly.
They drove out into the daylight and Sara took a look at Hodges. He was breathing hard and his face was ashen.
"David?" She leaned over to him and patted his knee.
"Sara?" he stammered and took her hand without averting his eyes from the entrance of the ghost train.
"I felt it too"
"You did?" He finally managed to avert his eyes and stared at Sara with hopeful eyes.
"Yes. I felt how boring this ride was" Sara threw her head back and laughed. "What a wuss!" she snickered.
"Sara, wait!" Hodges yelled after her and quickly got out of the cart.
She tried to put on a serious expression but failed miserably. "What is it?" she asked him with mischievous twinkling eyes when he had caught up to her.
"Sara, don't tell anyone in the lab about this. They would tease me to death"
Sara put her finger under her chin and faked to think about it. In reality she was waiting for Hodges to kneel down in front of her and beg. "I don't know. I bet Warrick and Nick could come up with some good jokes. I could use some good laughs"
"Sara, I beg you. I'll even win you a stuffed animal" Hodges pointed to a game where people were shooting arrows at a sight disk.
"Please" Sara snorted. "Have you ever thought about how those animals probably got manufactured by poor women in Japan whose salary is barely enough to feed their children?"
"Great. Other women are begging their boyfriends to win them something and here you are, giving me a lecture about women from Japan," he huffed.
"Well, you're not my boyfriend but go on, try to win me something."
"Will that stop you from telling the lab about the skeleton incident?"
"We'll see" Sara answered amused.
Hodges groaned unnerved, went over to the game and was soon equipped with a bow and three arrows. He was about to take the first shot when Sara leaned over his shoulder and whispered "Good luck" into his ear. Hodges, still a little bit jumpy from before, flinched and missed his target.
"What the hell Sara? I was aiming! Now I wasted the first shot!"
"Err, Hodges…"
"I can't believe it. Here I am, trying to do something nice for you even if you've behaved like a complete bitch the whole date…"
"Hodges-"
"What is you fucking problem? Do you think I wanted…"
"Hodges!" Sara tried to get his attention once more.
"What?" he yelled at Sara.
"Okay, first, keep your spit to yourself when you scream at someone and second, you have at least hit something…" She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.
"Oh my God, what have I done?" Hodges was shocked as he stared at a man who was laying on the floor screaming and who had an arrow sticking from his bottom. "We need to scoot!"
Hodges' voice was filled with panic as the mob who had gathered around the man glared at him.
"Are you kidding me? What kind of CSI would I be if I'd just flee from a crime scene? Anyway, it was an accident" Sara said indignantly.
"No, it wasn't. You did this. It's all your fault!" Hodges accused her.
"My fault? Are you crazy?"
"If you hadn't frightened me, this would have never happened!"
"Well, I can't help it if you are such a scaredy cat," Sara yelled at his face.
"If I was such a scaredy cat, I would have already screamed bloody murder when I first found out I was having a date with you!"
While Hodges and Sara were having an intense fight, an ambulance made its way through the mob of people.
"I need to go with him," Hodges said when he spotted it.
"What? Why?"
"Well, firstly, it would get me away from you and secondly, I can't just leave than man alone. What if he bleeds to death? I could never forgive myself if he spent his last minutes without morale support."
"Hodges, you shot him with an arrow, not with a shot gun. In the ass, no less! He's not going to bleed to death. The worst thing that could happen is he won't be able to sit down for a while."
"How can you be so heartless?" Hodges asked Sara with tears in his eyes.
"How can you be such a drama queen?" Sara countered.
Hodges just shook his head and got in the ambulance.
"You can't just leave me alone!" Sara protested but Hodges wasn't paying any attention. Instead, he had taken the man's hand in his and whispered comforting words to him.
Sara turned around angrily and pushed her way through the bystanders.
"Hey, you! Stop right there missy!" a voice called after her.
Sara turned around and stared at the angry face of one of the park's security men. Next to him stood the park manager who was scrutinizing her with hard eyes.
"You mean me?" she asked confused.
"Don't fake ignorance missy! We've been looking all over for you. Come with us now," the security man snapped and grabbed Sara by the arm.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Sara yelled.
"What does it look like? We're throwing you out!"
"Are you kidding me? For what?" Only then did Sara see the cashier and the old woman from the ticket booth, as well as the boy and mother she had seen at the bumper cars.
"Oh, that's why."
"Exactly, so don't pull anything stupid and just come with us"
Sara slouched her shoulders and was about to surrender when she remembered something. "No! I can't go yet. I still need a photo of us!"
Sara pointed her finger at Hodges and prayed that the park manager would grant her her wish. The date would have all been for nothing if she couldn't prove it to Archie.
"Lucky you that I have one right here," the park manager growled and handed her a sheet of paper.
Sara turned it around and gasped at when she saw on the photo. It was from the rollercoaster ride and showed Hodges who was screaming for his life, as well as Sara who was laughing her head off. What had Sara caused to gasp however was that she had forgotten to press her legs together and how this, combined with the miniskirt, provided a deep insight between her legs.
"Oh no," Sara whined and could feel her face becoming red.
"Oh yes. It caused a huge commotion in front of the photo booth. About thirty men wanted to buy it and got into a fight about who would get one first," the security man explained.
"But…I… I want a different photo. I can't show this to my friends," Sara protested.
"As if you didn't do this on purpose," the park manager accused her.
"Excuse me?"
"Come on! Why would you dress like this otherwise?"
Sara was about to beat him up when the security man stepped in front of her and flexed his biceps.
"Okay" Sara surrendered and took a few steps backwards. "I get it. No more causing trouble. I'll lead myself out."
She trudged over to the ambulance and sat down next to Hodges who was smiling. He obviously misunderstood her actions.
"I knew you weren't that heartless."
The paramedic closed the doors and they soon were driving onto the main road.
"Gosh, I'm tired," she muttered and leaned her head back. At the sound of her voice the assistant driver turned around to stare at her.
"Sara?"
Sara's head shot up. "Hank?" Indeed it was Hank, Sara's ex-boyfriend.
"I didn't even recognize you. You look…different," he said slowly and took in her clothes.
"It's not… I usually don't… It was just for…" Sara stammered. How many times would she feel like having to explain her appearance?
"Her date," Hodges finished her sentence before Sara managed to form her thoughts into words.
Sara's mouth went dry. She almost expected Hank to say "Guess not only your clothing style, but also your taste in men is different now" but he just stared at her like she had grown a second head. Sara growled and elbowed Hodges in the ribs.
"Ouch! What the hell?"
"What is your problem?"
"You're asking me that?" Hodges snorted and rubbed his aching ribs.
"Why did you tell him that I'm your date?"
"Because you technically are my date."
"But he doesn't need to know that."
"I was feeling left out by you two, okay?"
At Hodges' hurt expression Sara turned her gaze to the floor. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that the disaster that day turned into wasn't entirely Hodges' fault. Sure, he had behaved like a complete moron but her bad mood and bitchiness hadn't helped either.
The ambulance came to a stop in front of the hospital and they all got out. Hank sent Sara and Hodges one more incredulous glance before he and his colleague rolled the injured man inside. Hodges was hot on their heels to make sure the man would be okay.
Sara sat down, took out her cell phone and scrolled down until she found the right number.
"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered on the other side of the line.
"Wendy? It's Sara. Listen, you remember how you told me to call you if I needed anything?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Do you know any good psychiatrists? I think Catherine infected me with her temper."
AN: I hope everyone can remember Sara's ex-boyfriend Hank?
Are you still mad at me? No? That's great. To make sure, leave a review to show me that I'm forgiven. =) Just kidding.
I think I did well considering I found it really difficult to write about Sara, but enlighten me with your opinions.
Btw, I do not have anything against Christians. I'm agnostic, but tolerate every religion. As long as people have faith (doesn't matter in what) they're human.
Last but not least, fox-rox1539, you ROCK! Thank you so much for being my beta reader. Couldn't have wished for a better one! Huge credit goes to you. Without you I wouldn't have the courage to post these chapters. Damn grammar mistakes! =)