Hanging head in shame….I know this is really late. Being an American of Irish descent married to a cop from NY, you can imagine that we celebrate St. Patrick's Day. If you have never been to NY for the parade, everyone should go once. It is quite an experience!

Still don't own them, but live in eternal hope.

CBI Calendar - March - Saint Patrick's Day

Grace Van Pelt groaned inwardly as soon as she spotted the first green paper shamrock. She knew what that meant. For the next few weeks, she would have to listen to really bad fake Irish accents calling her a 'colleen'. There was nothing like being a tall red head around St. Patrick's Day. Her protestations that she was NOT Irish always seemed to fall on deaf ears.

At least that Security guard Moriarity had retired. If she had to hear him sing "Take Me Home Again 'Graaaaace" one more time like the last 2 years, she would have done something very wrong with her service piece. Maybe without him calling attention to her every day in March, it wouldn't be so bad this year. She had almost gotten lucky. Of all people to screw it up for her, it was Wayne.

Grace had never mentioned any of this to him, although she knew he had smiled whenever Moriarity sang to her. He was the only man at CBI headquarters Wayne didn't glower at when he spoke to Grace. Of course, that the older man was well over 65, only 5 foot 4inches and looked a little like a leprechaun hadn't hurt either. Other than that damned song, she had actually liked the man. Every one did. You couldn't help it. He was unfailingly polite, cheerful and friendly.

So far, this year, only a couple of people down at the soup kitchen had commented to her about her hair and St. Patrick's Day. By March 17th, she was starting to relax. It looked like no one would insist this year they kiss her or offer to pinch her for not wearing green.

Last night, she and Wayne had gone out for an early dinner. He had insisted on going home alone and wanted to go to bed early. She was worried about him. He claimed he wasn't feeling well, but she knew he was hiding something. He said it was all fine, but his big eyes and open face were really bad and hiding secrets. She began to really worry when he kissed her so tenderly good night and told her again how much he loved her.

Grace called Wayne early the next morning to see if he was feeling better. She had begun to seriously worry about him. His good-bye last night felt like too serious. She was determined to get it out of him before they went into work. He answered the phone briefly and said he was fine, but just getting into the shower. Wayne claimed a headache to explain the night before, but Grace wasn't buying it. After unsuccessfully trying to calm Grace, he called Cho.

"Hey, man, this is really going to be bad. Grace knows something is wrong and she is going to be very pissed about this. You don't know how annoyed she gets about this stuff."

"Yeah, it sucks, but a bet is a bet. I just can't believe I got sucked into the same one."

"Dude, I am going to look ridiculous and Grace…"

"YOU? Just imagine how awful this will look on me! Let's just suck it up and get this over with. Just ignore the comments. I still think you should have told her in advance."

"I wanted to but Jane made me…"

"I am never betting against him or with you again"

Grace got to work early. She had worn a very deep green shirt so as not to hear all the stupid remarks that day. She half smiled and otherwise ignored the "Top o' the mornings" thrown at her. Her focus was on Wayne. She figured if she got there early enough, she could pin him down and find out was wrong. Evasive on the phone he could do. He sucked at lying to her face.

Despite her concerns, she became engrossed in her work once she got there. Lisbon had given her a cold case she wanted some evidence tracked down. Grace's skills at uncovering information online had begun to be known. So when Wayne and Cho arrived, she wasn't even in the bullpen. She was in an office trying to get some information with just the barest of evidence. Sometimes people thought she could make the computer do anything. What they didn't realize was that you needed something to input.

It was the noise level outside the office that finally drew her attention. She could hear Wayne's voice raised. That was unusual. He didn't yell. He talked a lot, but yelling wasn't needed when someone was his size. When she heard Cho's voice raised, she began to really worry. Jane was laughing and Lisbon was tying to calm it all down. Really, it they hadn't all been in a law enforcement building, she would have sworn she was standing outside an unruly study hall.

Yanking the door open in alarm, her breath caught at the sight. A large group of agents had gathered around a very tall man in horrid red wig. Oh no! She knew those shoulders anywhere. A silence fell as people began to become aware of her presence. As the group disbursed, Grace saw not only one, but two men in the same red wig. Slowly, Rigsby and Cho turned.

They knew what the silence meant. Grace had finally seen them. Cho was aggravated and embarrassed. Wayne was terrified. Better than anyone, he knew how sensitive Grace was about her hair. The stunned look on her face lasted a moment. She looked over Cho carefully, saving the worst for last. For there was the man she had come to trust above all others, wearing a wig 3 shades brighter than her own. Her fury battled with her curiosity. One glance an Wayne's miserable face confirmed this was not voluntary. She already had surmised that from Cho.

Only one man was capable of producing this kind of behavior. Jane's face had been a study in mirth and fake innocence. Usually, Grace was slightly amused by it. Today, he had made Wayne, Cho and herself the object of ridicule. Her anger was reserved for him.

As she stepped toward him the silence was deafening. No one moved. It didn't matter that there were crimes unsolved. At that moment, they were all just people caught up in an office drama.

Grace knew Jane thrived on reactions. It gave him control. She would not reward him. Taking a deep breath, she forced a sense of calm to her face. And she ignored him and the whole situation. No fuel, no fire, her grandmother always told her.

"Boss, I think I will need more information for that search. I have too few variables. The data is too large. Could we get anything else to narrow it down"?

Lisbon's eyes gleamed with a sense of admiration for the younger agent. Clearly, Jane wanted her to freak. He had of course guessed that Van Pelt hated St Patrick's day and all the nonsense surrounding it. They all remembered her explaining over and over last year that she was not Irish, she just happened to have red hair. Van Pelt didn't play his game. Good for her.

"Van Pelt, I was just coming to give you more to input. I think this will help"

The crown disbursed. No show this morning to discuss. But almost all of them had snapped a few pictures of the two fake red heads. One brave soul even ventured a "Happy Saint Patrick's Day, Van Pelt".

She calmly glanced over at Meehan, and offered a faint smile. "Is that today? Well, that's your holiday of course. Enjoy it."

Rigsby and Cho started to slide their hands up to remove the offending items off their heads. As Grace passed them, her lethally quiet words stopped them.

"Oh, I am quite sure that the bet was for more than a few minutes. You two were stupid enough to make that bet with Jane, live with it."

"Never batting with you against him again, Rigsby"

This was inspired by a dear friend who has red hair and spends half of March explaining that she is NOT Irish!

As this is really a year long fiction, I do apprecieate each chapter being reviewed! Hint hint hint!!!