Chapter Seven – Showing Up the Boys

They spent the next forty minutes enjoying another round of beer and chatting. The discussion rolled around to chocolate and the many other vices they each had. That topic only brought them to a more dangerous one: shopping. Talk of shoes and jewelry for the few times any of them got to get dressed up held all of their attention. It wasn't until a loud cheer went up from around the bar that they became more aware of other people again.

"What the hell?" Amanda asked curiously as she eyed the large gathering of men in the far corner.

One had a fisted hand raised in victory and seemed to be gloating to the others.

"Oh, that's Andy. Around here he's the self proclaimed darts champion," their waitress explained as she came over with another round for all of them. "Only a few people have managed to beat him, and that's only on one of his bad days. He's always come back and creamed them after."

"Guy thinks he's tough shit," Emily mused as she watched the group.

"Come on! Anybody out there dare to take on the reigning champion?"

Most of the people in the bar swung around to look at Andy, but nobody took him up on the offer. Andy had been on a roll tonight, and nobody wanted to be the next victim. Emily nudged JJ's arm and grinned mischievously at her. JJ got the message right away. She stood up and leaned against the table before addressing Andy.

"Think you're man enough to take me on?"

Andy glanced over at her and smiled gently. He didn't seem worried at all, but he should have been.

"If you're up for a challenge, then I am, Sweetheart."

Sweetheart? Really? JJ glanced behind her at Emily with an amused smile on her face. This guy had no idea what he was getting into. JJ would have crushed him to begin with. The fact that he had called her "Sweetheart" only made it easier to be willing to demolish him and maybe rub it in his face after.

"Should I be nice?" she asked Emily, still smirking. She had a feeling she knew what the answer would be. Emily didn't disappoint.

"I think he deserves whatever is coming to him," Emily told her. She winked, the meaning clear. No, she definitely shouldn't be nice.

JJ grabbed one last sip of her beer before sauntering over to Andy and the dart board, her hips swaying with each step. Andy grinned. He was looking forward to this. It wasn't that often that he got to crush a pretty woman in darts.

"Alright! We've got a challenger! Who wants to make a bet?"

Olivia's eyes shifted away from JJ and onto Amanda, watching closely. Amanda probably had no idea that Olivia was aware of her gambling problem. It had never been discussed openly with anyone but their captain and Fin. That didn't mean Olivia hadn't put the pieces together. She was a good detective after all. Without saying a word to hint at what she knew, Liv gently touched Amanda's arm. The other detective glanced over and smiled. Apparently she was handling things just fine, and Olivia didn't need to worry.

"Think she'll win?" Olivia asked Emily.

Emily almost laughed outright when she responded.

"Jayje is from a tiny town in PA. Darts is like a national sport there. Besides, you've never seen how point on she is with a gun."

"And that's related?" Amanda asked skeptically.

Emily nodded toward where JJ was standing and twirling a dart in her hand.

"See for yourself."

All three watched closely as JJ held the dart up and readied herself to throw. Andy had insisted that she go first so she wouldn't be intimidated by his first throw. A quick flick of her wrist and the dart was zipping through the air to land just outside of the center circle. Andy's mouth hung open just a bit when the dart came to rest. JJ smiled at him and brushed a loose strand of hair back behind one ear.

"You're not intimidated by my first throw, right?"

Not willing to be made fun of, Andy immediately started clapping his hands in response.

"Nice job. Just don't get too cocky. Beginner's luck doesn't last forever," he warned with a confident smile.

"Beginner's luck, huh? You wish."

"He's certainly going to wish that's all it is," Emily grinned as she continued to watch the game.

Amanda and Olivia both seemed to agree. There was just no way JJ could have been that lucky. It had to be skill.

And it was. As the game neared the end JJ was still continually hitting high point shots. Andy's darts on the other hand were moving farther away from the center. Unwilling to lose to JJ, he'd gotten so tense that he'd begun to make quite a few mistakes. His next throw sealed his fate. The dart left his hand, flew through the air, and sunk into the wood surrounding the board. He hadn't even managed to get one point on that throw. A cheer roared out and the spectators started clapping JJ on the back.

"Nice job!"

"Damn, you're good!"

"I didn't think anyone could beat him!"

JJ just laughed at all of them before winking at Andy. She patted his arm in a consolidating fashion.

"Next time, be careful who you challenge to a game. There's more to a woman than what you see on the surface."

Andy just gaped at her, completely unable to respond. He was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

Grinning, JJ weaved her way around the guys on their way to harass Andy over his loss and made her way back to the table. Double high fives were exchanged all around.

"That was pretty damn impressive," Amanda told JJ as the other woman took a seat.

"Thanks. It was fun. You've got to put the guys in their place from time to time."

Olivia laughed.

"I'd drink to that."

The others didn't need any more direction than that. They each lifted their glasses, ready for a toast.

"To holding our departments together," Olivia began.

"And showing the guys we can kick ass just as well as they can," Emily added.

"Cheers!" Amanda and JJ echoed as they all clicked glasses.

It had been an amazing night so far, and they were planning on enjoying every moment they still had. Soon enough they would be back to work again. All four of them pushed that thought out of their minds though. It could wait until later. Right now there was fun still to be had.

Author's Note: That's all! I do have another story (SVU only again) in the works. Unfortunately I'm not even done writing it since it's really long. Like rivaling Tendrils long... So you'll just have to wait a little while to see it up here again. If you're waiting for more CM stuff, that's coming also, but I can only write one at a time.