Categories > TV > CSI
Title: Green with Envy
Author: Cerasi J.
Rating: PG
Website: http://www.ffo.puckin-a.net
Feedback: Please! I'm addicted to it! CerasiJ@yahoo.com
Category: Humor
Archive: FanFiction.Net, FanFiction Online, GSAS, downFORyou. If you want it, drop me a line and let me know.
Spoilers: Double Dealer
Summary: Nick pulls a few April Fool's pranks and is duped by one in return.
Disclaimer: I don't own Nick, Greg, Catherine, or Sara. I can claim, however, that I own Grissom's crickets, because he isn't using them right now! ... Okay, okay, fine, I don't own Grissom's crickets!
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March 31st, 2003
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Sara Sidle was late. Not ten minutes late, not even fifteen minutes late. No, she was a whole half-hour late. She should have listened to her older brother-the brilliant mechanic who worked for Ford Engineering-he told her to get a new battery, but at the time, it wasn't in her budget, and she didn't have the petty cash to spring for the eighty-dollar toy. Sara sighed as she rushed into the lobby of the police station. The stupid car wouldn't even turn over this morning, and she would be forced to admit to her brother that he was right-as usual. She had been forced to take a cab to work, which brought her tardiness level up to thirty minutes.
And so here she was, running into the building, her shirt buttoned wrong and her shoes untied, scrambling to show the receptionist her ID at 11:30 p.m. Judy smiled at her and only raised an eyebrow, relating easily to the situation Sara had found herself in. "Evening Sara," Judy said, nodding at Sara's badge. "Hi Judy," Sara gave her a smile and hurried past, back toward the CSI HQ. With the task of showing ID and signing in completed, Sara raced toward the locker room to stow away her coat and purse. She never saw Nick Stokes peeking around the corner of the locker block, trying to hide his grin.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror hanging on the wall by the door and noticed the sky blue Banana Republic button-down she was wearing was done up wrong. Sara groaned and her hands flopped to her sides in defeat, throwing her brown leather jacket and matching handbag to the floor, she stomped over to the mirror and began to unbutton her shirt. Behind the locker, Nick's eyes went wide as he watched the wiry brunette fix her clothing, and couldn't help but noticing the scrap of black lace that made up her bra. With a silent gasp he quickly swung himself about and fixed his eyes on the far wall.
He stayed there for several long moments until he heard the leather purse and jacket being snatched up from the floor. Unable to hide his grin, he peeked around the corner again. Sara fumbled with the combination lock on the metal door marked "Sidle". Cursing now and then when her stubborn and clumsy fingers twisted the knob in the wrong direction. Finally getting the correct code, Sara removed the lock and pulled up on the handle... Behind the locker block, Nick held his breath and waited.
He heard the metallic "twing!" as his booby trap was sprung-a spring-loaded snake that was rigged to leap out at Sara when she opened the door. Nick cringed inwardly at the shriek Sidle let out and laughed out loud as he heard an earth shattering crash as Sara leapt backward and collided into the other row of lockers. He heard the door of the locker room slamming against the wall and Grissom and Warrick's voices flooded the room, Grissom's came first, "Sara! Are you all right?!" And then Warrick, "What the hell is going on in here?!"
Nick couldn't take it anymore, he burst out laughing and staggered out into the main row of lockers, grasping his sides and hooting with laughter. "APRIL FOOL'S!" He cackled, bursting into fresh peels at Sara's bloodthirsty stare. Rolling his eyes, Grissom held up his hands and left the room. "OHMIGOD!" Nick cried, pointing at Warrick, tears streaming from his eyes, "You should have heard her scream!"
"Should have heard me scream, NICOLAS STOKES! You'll be the one screaming when I'm done with you!" Sara fumed, throwing herself at Nick with the intention of punching him in the face. Nick looked up at the last second to see an angry Sara flying toward him. "Whoa!" Nick exclaimed, reaching out and catching Sara in his arms before she could go WWF on him. She was caught off guard by the sudden catch and gasped, her clenched fist thudding harmlessly against his strong chest instead of pounding him full in the face like she had planned. She stared up at him with huge Doe-like eyes and Nick stared right back, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. Sensing the change of mood in the room, Warrick rolled his eyes and left to finish the task of narrowing down the DNA matches from CODAS.
Nick's arms were wrapped unknowingly around her shoulders, and beneath the thin fabric of her blue button-down he could feel her shake. If it were with fright or anger, he would probably never know. "Ouch," Nick joked, hoping to make her feel better by acknowledging that she had hurt him a little bit. (Which she hadn't.) He was now feeling a tad bit sorry for startling Sara so badly. "Ooh, you jerk!" She exclaimed as she wriggled out of his grasp and turned to stare at the rubber King Cobra now dangling out of her locker.
Nick couldn't will away the chuckles that threatened to spill over, "The look on your face was priceless," he chuckled, "I thought you were going to have a heart attack!" By now he was in full-blown hysterics at the thought of Sara's freaked out scream. With a significant amount of disgust Sara reached out and yanked the fake snake out of her locker and replaced it with her coat and purse, "I can't believe you," she was saying, "You are such a jerk, such a jerk. Do you realize what I've been though this morning? Do you?" Sara was so mad her face was turning red, "My car bit the dust okay? BOOM! And it's gone! I had to take a cab to work today! And now you expect me to play Crocodile Hunter with you!"
She pulled her CSI baseball cap out of the metal compartment and chucked it at him, "JERK!" She slammed the locker door and stormed out of the room in a huff. Nick's roaring laughter had finally died down to just a bad case of the giggles. He picked up the discarded baseball cap and put it back in the annoyed Sidle's locker, which had swung back open due to the force of which it was shut. For a moment, Nick contemplated putting the snake back in the locker but decided against it. He just hung the baseball cap back on its hook, shut the door gently and snapped the lock back into place.
Then, he strode out of the locker room. Time to find Catherine.
---
Catherine Willows' high-heeled boots clicked on the shiny floor as she made her way toward the break room for the CSIs. In her hand she was holding a container full of fresh Lo Mein and orange chicken from Panda Express, in the other she was holding a Grande Iced Chai from Starbucks. Her stomach growled with anticipation of the scrumptious meal. She flashed her badge and waved to Judy, smiling at everyone she saw. As she walked she peeked into various labs, saying hello and just being cheerful tonight. She looked up and nearly bumped into a grumbling Greg Sanders who was digging through his pockets for a few quarters so he could extract a candy bar from the vending machine. "Greggy!" Catherine said with a sunny smile, "What's up?"
"Aw," he mumbled, picking a piece of lint of out his hand as he dug for change and tossing it to the floor, "I loaned Archie my last five dollars to grab us a burger at Wendy's, that was an hour ago, I'm starving, Ecklie's pissed at me and I don't have any money." He forced a smile onto his handsome face, "How about you?" Catherine's smile didn't waver, "Oh, don't worry Greggy, Ecklie's eternally pissed at everyone. C'mon," she slipped her arm around his shoulders, "I brought Chinese, I'll spilt it with you."
"Really?" Greg exclaimed, looking up with surprise as Catherine led him down the hallway. "Really," she said. "What's the catch?" His brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You have to put any DNA evidence that I turn in tonight on the top of the pile," Cat replied with a sly smile. Greg mulled over this as they walked into the break room, "Deal, I'll grab the drinks."
"Oh, I've got one for myself," she motioned to the Starbucks cup and pulled fifty cents out of the pocket of her blue jeans, "Here, grab something for yourself." Greg took the money warily, "Now I'm gonna owe you double, first you split your lunch with me and then you give me money for my drink." Shaking his head, he said, "Thanks, I'll be right back." Turned, and strolled down the hallway for a Dr. Pepper. Still smiling and shaking her head at the young lab tech, Catherine set about hunting down two paper plates and two forks. Lost in thoughts of Lindsey, her sister's divorce and why on Earth would Greg be broke, she was startled when Nick popped his head in the door and said, "Hey Cat, Grissom wants to see you in his office."
Confused, Catherine put the plates down next to the box of Chinese, said "Okay, thanks," and left the room. Nick's eyes followed her; she walked down the hallway, calling out, "Grrriiiisssooommmm?" and finally entering his office. Not waiting any longer, he darted into the break room, tore over to the table and opened the box of steaming chicken. His stomach growled and he plucked a piece of orange glazed poultry out of the box and popped it in his mouth. Grinning, he pulled the little jar he swiped from Grissom's office, unscrewed the lid and dumped the contents inside.
He closed the lid of the Chinese food box, tucked the jar back inside his shirt and scampered out of the break room to camp in the lab across the hall. Greg entered the break room first, followed, almost immediately by Catherine. "Where'd you go?" Greg asked, as he opened his Diet Sprite, (they were out of Dr. Pepper), and took a swig. "Uh, Nick said Grissom wanted to see me, but when I went in there..." She shrugged, "Grissom wasn't in his office. So I just paged him, let's eat, I'm starving!"
Across the hall Nick bit his lip and waited with baited breath. Greg set a plate in front of Catherine and one in front of himself; Catherine picked up the container and opened it, prepared to divide the meal evenly between her and Greg. She let out a startled scream when a fat, black cricket leaped out of the Styrofoam container and landed on her red sweater and suede leather jacket set. "Whoa!" Greg jumped up as Catherine dropped the container, spilling the food all over the table. The whole container was crawling with large, ugly crickets.
Catherine gasped and backed away from the table, as the crickets swarmed over the table. "God Catherine!" Greg exclaimed as he started stomping on the little buggers that jumped onto the floor, "Now I can see why you wanted to share your lunch with me!" Catherine squealed and ignored Greg, "God I hate crickets!" She looked about the ready to jump up on the chair and scream for rescue from the horrible creatures. Greg, however, just looked disgusted. He continued to squish any bug that got close to his red and white Sketchers.
"Oh my God," Catherine groaned as she batted an evil insect in Greg's direction, "Eww! Kill it, Greg! Kill it!" Now Greg was chuckling, "Chill, Cath, it's just a bunch of crickets." Catherine took to brushing off her trousers and jacket, as if the critters had crawled up her pant legs, "No, you don't under-ew!-stand! When I was a kid in Montana my brother dumped a whole jar of crickets on me while I was asleep! And I hate them!! Eww!" Across the hall, Nick frowned, now feeling guilty. However, even Nick couldn't keep a smile off his face when a cricket hopped from the puddle of Chinese noodles to Catherine's professional red sweater, causing a startled shriek to be admitted from the latter.
Nick ran across the hall, poked his head in the door and yelled, "April Fools!" and bolted down the hallway before Catherine or Greg could catch on and wrestle him to the ground. Greg and Catherine stared at each other, a dozen emotions and expressions crossing their faces, disgust, anger and something like remorse from Greg's side. (The remorse was probably because the whole tub of chicken and noodles had been lost.) Disgust was also prominent on Catherine's face, but it was mixed with something else: mischief.
The lab tech and the CSI glanced up suddenly when Sara said, "Oh my God, what happened? Did someone go to that nasty little Chinese place on Fuller Street? I told those health inspector dudes they should shut that place down." Greg rolled his eyes, "Yeah right," he snorted. "Nick thought he was being funny, so he dumped a whole jar of crickets in Catherine's box of Chinese food, which, I might add, we were planning to share." Sara's eyes narrowed and flashed with Septa fire, "Nick?" Catherine raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Sara would start grinding her teeth at the mention of Nick's name. "Where would Nick get crickets?" Greg asked as he stomped on another insect.
"Grissom," Sara and Catherine said at the same time. "Gah!" Greg cried, stepping away from the table with the realization that he had just squished his boss's cricket collection. "Grissom is in on this too? Damn, I knew something was up when he didn't tell me to turn down Black Flag tonight." Sara shook her head, "No, why would Grissom give up his crickets for an April Fool's joke? I mean, you know how he is about bugs." Catherine nodded her agreement, "Yeah, Grissom wouldn't give up his crickets without a fight."
Greg started scooping up the wasted food and putting it back in its container, "Did Nick do something to you, Sara? Is that why you look so pissed?" He flashed her a playful grin. "Yeah," Sara gritted her teeth, "He put a spring-loaded snake in my locker." Catherine shook her head while Greg continued grinning, "Ooh, that's a good one, too bad he didn't have a video camera-..." He was cut short by Sara's flesh-piercing glare. "I mean, I just thought-..." Greg stuttered and stumbled over his words, "It would have been funny! 'Kay, I'll shut up now..." He looked pitifully at his feet.
Catherine's eyes sparkled with impishness, "Greg," she turned to the sulking, hungry young man, "I need you to find a dye, powdered, some sort of brightly colored dye, that's non-toxic to human skin, make it green or purple or something. And make sure it's hard to get clean." Greg raised his eyebrows, "Heavy duty, huh? What for? What's your idea?" Catherine grinned, "Just get it and you'll see," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill, "And here, get yourself something to eat." Greg accepted the bill and tucked it in the pocket of his lab coat, "Thank you, um, so that's green dye?" He started to back out of the room.
"Green, red, blue, I don't care, whatever you can get, make it bright, make it loud." Catherine turned to Sara, "Sidle, you're with me." Sara cocked her head to the side, "Why? Where are we going?" Catherine took Sara's arm and pulled her out the door after Greg, "We, my dear, are going to see Captain Brass."
---
"A lock pick? What for?" Jim Brass asked the two female CSIs sitting in the guest chairs in front of his desk. Sara sat primly in the seat, her back straight, her thin hands folded in her lap, while Catherine had an elbow resting on the edge of his desk, casually, as if she were making a deal with the DA. "Revenge," Catherine said simply without blinking. Brass didn't look taken aback like most people would have, instead he asked, "Against whom?" Sara, who had been silent until now, cut in, "Nick." Now Brass raised an eyebrow and looked surprised, "Nick? Good ole Texas Home-Boy Nicky Stokes? Why, what did he do to you two?"
"He put crickets in my Chinese food," Catherine said. "And a spring loaded snake in my locker," Sara added. Brass chuckled, "All in the name of an April fools joke, huh? What kind of Chinese?" Catherine smiled at Brass's curiosity, "Orange chicken and Lo Mein." Brass winced, "Ouch, that's good stuff. What are you planning on doing to him?" Catherine smirked evilly, "That's classified, if I told you, I'd have to kill you."
"So can you hook us up?" Sara asked, growing impatient with Brass's chitchat. She wanted justice! And she wanted it now! "I can," Brass said calmly, folding his hands in front of him and leaning his elbows on the desk, "But it'll cost you." Catherine and Sara exchanged glances. "How much?" Sara asked warily. "A box of that chicken you were talking about," Brass grinned as he reached into a drawer and slid a lock-picking device across to Catherine. "I'm on duty and I'm starving." Catherine grinned as well as she swiftly picked up the tool and deposited in her purse. "Sure thing," Sara said with a smirk as she stood, "Thanks Brass."
"You're welcome, but be careful, because I don't want this to come back and bite any of us," Brass looked stern about his warning. Catherine's impish grin faded and was replaced with an angelic smile, "Oh, don't worry," she said, as she turned to leave, "The only one going to get bit is Nick."
---
"A lock pick and non-toxic, non-washable dye? What are you planning, Catherine?" Sara asked as they walked into Panda Express. "Oh, I guarantee you'll get a kick out of it the next time you see our Nicky." Catherine stepped up to the counter and ordered a container of orange chicken and fried rice for Brass. "Actually," Sara said to the Asian woman behind the counter, "Can you make that a double order? Only with Lo Mien instead of rice?" The woman nodded and got busy with the food, Catherine looked at Sara curiously. "For Greg," the brunette explained as she pulled out a twenty and laid it on the counter, "He does deserve it, after all. He was caught in one of Nick's pranks, too." Catherine smiled, "Yeah, I know, poor kid. He works hard, I hope he finds that dye."
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With the chicken and fried rice delivered safely to Brass, the two CSIs made their way toward the DNA lab where Greg Sanders was peering into a microscope, head banging to the three-octave shriek of Disturbed's lead singer. Both women stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. Greg, however, didn't seem to notice them as he was still head banging and mouthing the indistinguishable lyrics. "Greggy!" Sara shouted over the music. Greg gave a start and turned to see who had bothered him. When he saw it was his two very favorite CSIs, his youthful face broke into a sunny smile.
He reached over and shut off the stereo, "Hello ladies! To what do I owe the visit?" Catherine held out the container of food, complete with napkin and fork. Greg gasped, "Oh my God, I could kiss you! You are my Goddesses!" True to his word, he leaned over and planted a kiss on Catherine's cheek. "Better kiss Sara, too," Catherine teased, "she paid." With red tingeing his fine features he placed a kiss on Sara's cheek as well. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," he said as he picked up the fork.
With a great deal of caution, he opened the box, relieved to see to no crickets, cockroaches or millipedes had been placed in his Chinese. With a satisfied sigh he grabbed the fork and began shoveling Lo Mein in his mouth. "Mmm," said Greg as he attacked the chicken. "I believe you have something for us?" Catherine said, the almost crazy glint shone in her eyes once again. Greg nodded, his mouth full to capacity, he motioned in the air a few times before he finally swallowed. "Yeah," he rolled his chair over to the other side of the lab, grabbed something from the counter top and rolled back over. He held the glass jar up so Catherine and Sara could see.
"Food dye," Greg elaborated, picking up his fork and going after his chicken again. Catherine took the jar from him and held it up to the light; she smiled at the green powder inside. Greg swallowed again, "Mostly used in the coloring of cake frosting for chefs and whatnot, it's non-toxic, odorless, it's hell to get off skin OR clothes or walls or anything for that matter, and," Greg opened the jar of food dye and grabbed a wooden Popsicle stick from the table beside him. He stuck it in the powdered dye and licked it off the end of the stick.
"And," he said, "it tastes just like limes, not like Jell-O, either, like Margarita limes." Sara and Catherine exchanged pleased, wide smiles. "Greggy," Sara clapped him on the shoulder, "You are the best, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise." Greg beamed at Sara, "Thank you, that makes me feel all warm and squishy. Either that or I sat in something." Both Sara and Catherine laughed out loud. They thanked Greg once more, turned and left the lab, the food dye in hand.
---
A half-hour later, Catherine and Sara pulled up in front of Nick's little house on Ford Street. The grass was neatly trimmed, the hedges were kept nice and neat, there were even flowers planted under the windows, it seemed like a cozy place. "I didn't know Nick was into flowers," Sara commented as she opened the car door and took in the site. "Yeah, cute place, isn't it?" Catherine said as she stepped onto the sidewalk, dye and lock pick in hand, "C'mon, let's just hope Nick's bathroom is as clean as the outside of his house. You know how men are."
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April 1st, 2003
7:15 a.m.
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Nick Stokes was beat. He had been working a particularly trying case involving a mob case and a mummy. He was happy to be home. Taking a deep breath, he climbed the three steps that lead to the front porch, grabbed his mail and let himself in through the front door. Nick stretched and groaned when his joints creaked in protest. He slipped off his shoes and dug through the mail, looking for something besides bills. Finding nothing of interest, he turned toward the living room, picking up the remote and flicking on the TV. His stomach growled, reminding him of the box of Fruit Loops in the cupboard. Nick ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl, a spoon, the milk and his cereal. He plopped down on the couch and watched the score from last night's Dallas Stars/Colorado Avalanche game.
When he was done with his breakfast he stretched again and decided to jump in the shower before heading off to bed and catching some Z's. Stripping off his shirt he tossed it in the laundry basket in the hallway before padding barefoot and half-naked to the bathroom. When he stepped in the room, he stopped. What was that smell? It smelled like... limes. Shaking his head, he decided it was the cereal he had had, there were lime Fruit Loops in the box, after all.
Nick finished undressing and hopped in the shower. He turned the water on full blast and stuck his head under, letting the water rush over his shoulders and back. He raised his head, staring at the wall and blinked in a confused manner as he was suddenly assaulted by the smell of limes and hot water. Shrugging, and ignoring the enticing smell, he raked his fingers through his hair and turned around, letting the water pound his back. He was bothered by the smell of the limes and couldn't figure out for the life of him why the water did smell that way. It's never done that before.
He turned back toward the showerhead, looked up, and let out a startled gasp when he realized the water was coming out green. Nick quickly shut off water, wrapped a towel around his waist and got out of the shower. He wiped the condensation off of the mirror and jumped back when he saw his reflection. "I'm GREEN!" He cried in dismay. His skin, his face, his hair, everything was dyed green! He couldn't go back to work like this! What would Grissom say? And Warrick, Warrick would laugh at him for sure! What about Sara and-... "Sara!" Nick realized, remembering the spring loaded snake, and the jar of crickets he'd swiped from Grissom.
He rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead, so this was their revenge, huh? Pouring dye in his showerhead and making him into the Jolly Green Giant? He had to admit, it was pretty clever, but very, very wrong. Nick dried himself off, got dressed and went next door to his neighbor Mandy's house, Mandy just happened to be a make-up artist.
---
Later that evening when shift started, Catherine sat in the break room with Greg Sanders who was reading an older issue of Guitar1 and munching on a chocolate donut. Catherine sipped her steaming coffee and whispered to Greg, "Have you seen Nick yet?" Greg shook his head, looking up from his magazine, "Nope, haven't seen him yet. But hopefully he'll be a glowing apple green when we see him again." Catherine and Greg exchanged evil grins. Greg went back to reading and Catherine was munching on a donut herself when Sara entered.
Catherine got very excited, "Is he here? Did you see him?" She hissed across the room at Sara, who shook her head. "Nope, not yet." Sara poured herself a cup of coffee and took a seat beside Greg, who looked up and smiled warmly at her, "Morning Sara, no snakes in your locker today?" Sidle grinned from behind her coffee cup, "Only if you put one there, Sanders." Greg held a hand over his heart in Boy Scout fashion, "Never bite the hand that feeds you."
Catherine chuckled, "Which reminds me," Greg went on, "Thanks for the Chinese yesterday, I thought was I going to waste away to nothing if no one fed me soon." It was at that point in time when Nick strode in, dressed in black blue jeans, a black turtle neck and hiking boots. He smiled warmly at all of them, "Morning gang," Nick said in a chipper tone, "Have assignments been handed out yet?" Nick crossed the room and helped himself to a cup of coffee. The three at the table swapped bewildered glances, Nick seemed perfectly normal. He wasn't green at all, like they had hoped he would have been. "Uh," Catherine said, "No, Grissom isn't in yet."
Nick turned from the coffee pot, his mug in hand, a smile still plastered on his face, "You guys must have thought that was pretty funny, huh?" For a moment, Catherine stared at Sara and Sara stared at Greg who was watching Nick with a bemused expression on his face. "Putting green dye in my shower, I mean." Then it sank in and Catherine indulged Nick in a sly grin.
"Well, it didn't seem to work," Greg pointed out, noting Nick's hair color was still the same, his skin tone as well. Nick glared at Greg, "You were in on this, too?" He exclaimed, slightly surprised. "Damn straight I was," Greg replied proudly, putting his feet up on the table and leaning back, his hands behind his head. "Thanks to you I nearly starved yesterday." By now Sara was snickering behind her hand, "So," she asked, attempting to be serious, "Why aren't you green then?"
"I am green!" Nick protested, pushing himself away from the table and standing, "I'm green all over thanks to you three!" Nick's voice had rose an octave and his eyes were blazing, "My neighbor is a make-up artist, and she made me decent enough to show my face in public, I had to go to Wal-Mart this morning to buy a bottle of hair dye so Grissom wouldn't fire me because I showed up to work with green hair!"
"You're green all over?" Greg couldn't help but laughing. "Prove it," Catherine smirked, not quite believing whether or not their plan had worked. "Fine," Nick replied shortly. He grabbed hold of the hem of his sweater and gave a yank, revealing his green chest and abdomen. Greg laughed so hard he fell out of his chair and was sprawled out on the floor, grabbing his sides and hooting loudly. Catherine, too, was laughing, glad to see that their plan had worked. Sara, however, only quirked an eyebrow and grinned in an almost suggestive manner, "Ooh," she said, her hands wrapped around her coffee mug, "a strip show, too bad I didn't bring any single dollar bills."
This caused Greg to go into fresh peals and Catherine had to put her head between her knees to prevent hyperventilation. Blushing furiously, Nick dropped his shirt and plopped back into his seat, staring at the tabletop, praying Sara wouldn't notice the ruddy red painted on his cheeks. Warrick poked his head in the door, "Hey, sounds like you guys are having too much fun in here, uh, Griss says to join him in the meeting room if you want to work today." Greg had finally calmed himself down enough, so color was now returning to his face.
"Oh my God," Greg snickered, "It's the Jolly Green Nick!" Greg jumped out of his seat just as Nick took a swipe at him. Laughing, Greg danced from foot to foot, "Don't worry man, the dye will wash away in three or four days! Well, it's been fun but I must be returning to my lab! Adios!" Catherine had stood and gathered her coffee cup, "Well, shall we?" Still chuckling she left the room, leaving Sara and Nick sitting the table. Nick didn't make eye contact with Sara as she stood, she too, gathered up her coffee cup and started toward the door, pausing only a moment to whisper in Nick's ear, "Some men look very sexy in green." She walked out the door, leaving Nick sitting by himself.
A slow smile worked it's way onto Nick's handsome face, he didn't care if he was green, having Sara look at him like that with her eyebrow quirked and that sly smirk adorning her lips might have just been worth it.
The End.
Author: Cerasi J.
Rating: PG
Website: http://www.ffo.puckin-a.net
Feedback: Please! I'm addicted to it! CerasiJ@yahoo.com
Category: Humor
Archive: FanFiction.Net, FanFiction Online, GSAS, downFORyou. If you want it, drop me a line and let me know.
Spoilers: Double Dealer
Summary: Nick pulls a few April Fool's pranks and is duped by one in return.
Disclaimer: I don't own Nick, Greg, Catherine, or Sara. I can claim, however, that I own Grissom's crickets, because he isn't using them right now! ... Okay, okay, fine, I don't own Grissom's crickets!
---
March 31st, 2003
---
Sara Sidle was late. Not ten minutes late, not even fifteen minutes late. No, she was a whole half-hour late. She should have listened to her older brother-the brilliant mechanic who worked for Ford Engineering-he told her to get a new battery, but at the time, it wasn't in her budget, and she didn't have the petty cash to spring for the eighty-dollar toy. Sara sighed as she rushed into the lobby of the police station. The stupid car wouldn't even turn over this morning, and she would be forced to admit to her brother that he was right-as usual. She had been forced to take a cab to work, which brought her tardiness level up to thirty minutes.
And so here she was, running into the building, her shirt buttoned wrong and her shoes untied, scrambling to show the receptionist her ID at 11:30 p.m. Judy smiled at her and only raised an eyebrow, relating easily to the situation Sara had found herself in. "Evening Sara," Judy said, nodding at Sara's badge. "Hi Judy," Sara gave her a smile and hurried past, back toward the CSI HQ. With the task of showing ID and signing in completed, Sara raced toward the locker room to stow away her coat and purse. She never saw Nick Stokes peeking around the corner of the locker block, trying to hide his grin.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror hanging on the wall by the door and noticed the sky blue Banana Republic button-down she was wearing was done up wrong. Sara groaned and her hands flopped to her sides in defeat, throwing her brown leather jacket and matching handbag to the floor, she stomped over to the mirror and began to unbutton her shirt. Behind the locker, Nick's eyes went wide as he watched the wiry brunette fix her clothing, and couldn't help but noticing the scrap of black lace that made up her bra. With a silent gasp he quickly swung himself about and fixed his eyes on the far wall.
He stayed there for several long moments until he heard the leather purse and jacket being snatched up from the floor. Unable to hide his grin, he peeked around the corner again. Sara fumbled with the combination lock on the metal door marked "Sidle". Cursing now and then when her stubborn and clumsy fingers twisted the knob in the wrong direction. Finally getting the correct code, Sara removed the lock and pulled up on the handle... Behind the locker block, Nick held his breath and waited.
He heard the metallic "twing!" as his booby trap was sprung-a spring-loaded snake that was rigged to leap out at Sara when she opened the door. Nick cringed inwardly at the shriek Sidle let out and laughed out loud as he heard an earth shattering crash as Sara leapt backward and collided into the other row of lockers. He heard the door of the locker room slamming against the wall and Grissom and Warrick's voices flooded the room, Grissom's came first, "Sara! Are you all right?!" And then Warrick, "What the hell is going on in here?!"
Nick couldn't take it anymore, he burst out laughing and staggered out into the main row of lockers, grasping his sides and hooting with laughter. "APRIL FOOL'S!" He cackled, bursting into fresh peels at Sara's bloodthirsty stare. Rolling his eyes, Grissom held up his hands and left the room. "OHMIGOD!" Nick cried, pointing at Warrick, tears streaming from his eyes, "You should have heard her scream!"
"Should have heard me scream, NICOLAS STOKES! You'll be the one screaming when I'm done with you!" Sara fumed, throwing herself at Nick with the intention of punching him in the face. Nick looked up at the last second to see an angry Sara flying toward him. "Whoa!" Nick exclaimed, reaching out and catching Sara in his arms before she could go WWF on him. She was caught off guard by the sudden catch and gasped, her clenched fist thudding harmlessly against his strong chest instead of pounding him full in the face like she had planned. She stared up at him with huge Doe-like eyes and Nick stared right back, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. Sensing the change of mood in the room, Warrick rolled his eyes and left to finish the task of narrowing down the DNA matches from CODAS.
Nick's arms were wrapped unknowingly around her shoulders, and beneath the thin fabric of her blue button-down he could feel her shake. If it were with fright or anger, he would probably never know. "Ouch," Nick joked, hoping to make her feel better by acknowledging that she had hurt him a little bit. (Which she hadn't.) He was now feeling a tad bit sorry for startling Sara so badly. "Ooh, you jerk!" She exclaimed as she wriggled out of his grasp and turned to stare at the rubber King Cobra now dangling out of her locker.
Nick couldn't will away the chuckles that threatened to spill over, "The look on your face was priceless," he chuckled, "I thought you were going to have a heart attack!" By now he was in full-blown hysterics at the thought of Sara's freaked out scream. With a significant amount of disgust Sara reached out and yanked the fake snake out of her locker and replaced it with her coat and purse, "I can't believe you," she was saying, "You are such a jerk, such a jerk. Do you realize what I've been though this morning? Do you?" Sara was so mad her face was turning red, "My car bit the dust okay? BOOM! And it's gone! I had to take a cab to work today! And now you expect me to play Crocodile Hunter with you!"
She pulled her CSI baseball cap out of the metal compartment and chucked it at him, "JERK!" She slammed the locker door and stormed out of the room in a huff. Nick's roaring laughter had finally died down to just a bad case of the giggles. He picked up the discarded baseball cap and put it back in the annoyed Sidle's locker, which had swung back open due to the force of which it was shut. For a moment, Nick contemplated putting the snake back in the locker but decided against it. He just hung the baseball cap back on its hook, shut the door gently and snapped the lock back into place.
Then, he strode out of the locker room. Time to find Catherine.
---
Catherine Willows' high-heeled boots clicked on the shiny floor as she made her way toward the break room for the CSIs. In her hand she was holding a container full of fresh Lo Mein and orange chicken from Panda Express, in the other she was holding a Grande Iced Chai from Starbucks. Her stomach growled with anticipation of the scrumptious meal. She flashed her badge and waved to Judy, smiling at everyone she saw. As she walked she peeked into various labs, saying hello and just being cheerful tonight. She looked up and nearly bumped into a grumbling Greg Sanders who was digging through his pockets for a few quarters so he could extract a candy bar from the vending machine. "Greggy!" Catherine said with a sunny smile, "What's up?"
"Aw," he mumbled, picking a piece of lint of out his hand as he dug for change and tossing it to the floor, "I loaned Archie my last five dollars to grab us a burger at Wendy's, that was an hour ago, I'm starving, Ecklie's pissed at me and I don't have any money." He forced a smile onto his handsome face, "How about you?" Catherine's smile didn't waver, "Oh, don't worry Greggy, Ecklie's eternally pissed at everyone. C'mon," she slipped her arm around his shoulders, "I brought Chinese, I'll spilt it with you."
"Really?" Greg exclaimed, looking up with surprise as Catherine led him down the hallway. "Really," she said. "What's the catch?" His brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You have to put any DNA evidence that I turn in tonight on the top of the pile," Cat replied with a sly smile. Greg mulled over this as they walked into the break room, "Deal, I'll grab the drinks."
"Oh, I've got one for myself," she motioned to the Starbucks cup and pulled fifty cents out of the pocket of her blue jeans, "Here, grab something for yourself." Greg took the money warily, "Now I'm gonna owe you double, first you split your lunch with me and then you give me money for my drink." Shaking his head, he said, "Thanks, I'll be right back." Turned, and strolled down the hallway for a Dr. Pepper. Still smiling and shaking her head at the young lab tech, Catherine set about hunting down two paper plates and two forks. Lost in thoughts of Lindsey, her sister's divorce and why on Earth would Greg be broke, she was startled when Nick popped his head in the door and said, "Hey Cat, Grissom wants to see you in his office."
Confused, Catherine put the plates down next to the box of Chinese, said "Okay, thanks," and left the room. Nick's eyes followed her; she walked down the hallway, calling out, "Grrriiiisssooommmm?" and finally entering his office. Not waiting any longer, he darted into the break room, tore over to the table and opened the box of steaming chicken. His stomach growled and he plucked a piece of orange glazed poultry out of the box and popped it in his mouth. Grinning, he pulled the little jar he swiped from Grissom's office, unscrewed the lid and dumped the contents inside.
He closed the lid of the Chinese food box, tucked the jar back inside his shirt and scampered out of the break room to camp in the lab across the hall. Greg entered the break room first, followed, almost immediately by Catherine. "Where'd you go?" Greg asked, as he opened his Diet Sprite, (they were out of Dr. Pepper), and took a swig. "Uh, Nick said Grissom wanted to see me, but when I went in there..." She shrugged, "Grissom wasn't in his office. So I just paged him, let's eat, I'm starving!"
Across the hall Nick bit his lip and waited with baited breath. Greg set a plate in front of Catherine and one in front of himself; Catherine picked up the container and opened it, prepared to divide the meal evenly between her and Greg. She let out a startled scream when a fat, black cricket leaped out of the Styrofoam container and landed on her red sweater and suede leather jacket set. "Whoa!" Greg jumped up as Catherine dropped the container, spilling the food all over the table. The whole container was crawling with large, ugly crickets.
Catherine gasped and backed away from the table, as the crickets swarmed over the table. "God Catherine!" Greg exclaimed as he started stomping on the little buggers that jumped onto the floor, "Now I can see why you wanted to share your lunch with me!" Catherine squealed and ignored Greg, "God I hate crickets!" She looked about the ready to jump up on the chair and scream for rescue from the horrible creatures. Greg, however, just looked disgusted. He continued to squish any bug that got close to his red and white Sketchers.
"Oh my God," Catherine groaned as she batted an evil insect in Greg's direction, "Eww! Kill it, Greg! Kill it!" Now Greg was chuckling, "Chill, Cath, it's just a bunch of crickets." Catherine took to brushing off her trousers and jacket, as if the critters had crawled up her pant legs, "No, you don't under-ew!-stand! When I was a kid in Montana my brother dumped a whole jar of crickets on me while I was asleep! And I hate them!! Eww!" Across the hall, Nick frowned, now feeling guilty. However, even Nick couldn't keep a smile off his face when a cricket hopped from the puddle of Chinese noodles to Catherine's professional red sweater, causing a startled shriek to be admitted from the latter.
Nick ran across the hall, poked his head in the door and yelled, "April Fools!" and bolted down the hallway before Catherine or Greg could catch on and wrestle him to the ground. Greg and Catherine stared at each other, a dozen emotions and expressions crossing their faces, disgust, anger and something like remorse from Greg's side. (The remorse was probably because the whole tub of chicken and noodles had been lost.) Disgust was also prominent on Catherine's face, but it was mixed with something else: mischief.
The lab tech and the CSI glanced up suddenly when Sara said, "Oh my God, what happened? Did someone go to that nasty little Chinese place on Fuller Street? I told those health inspector dudes they should shut that place down." Greg rolled his eyes, "Yeah right," he snorted. "Nick thought he was being funny, so he dumped a whole jar of crickets in Catherine's box of Chinese food, which, I might add, we were planning to share." Sara's eyes narrowed and flashed with Septa fire, "Nick?" Catherine raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Sara would start grinding her teeth at the mention of Nick's name. "Where would Nick get crickets?" Greg asked as he stomped on another insect.
"Grissom," Sara and Catherine said at the same time. "Gah!" Greg cried, stepping away from the table with the realization that he had just squished his boss's cricket collection. "Grissom is in on this too? Damn, I knew something was up when he didn't tell me to turn down Black Flag tonight." Sara shook her head, "No, why would Grissom give up his crickets for an April Fool's joke? I mean, you know how he is about bugs." Catherine nodded her agreement, "Yeah, Grissom wouldn't give up his crickets without a fight."
Greg started scooping up the wasted food and putting it back in its container, "Did Nick do something to you, Sara? Is that why you look so pissed?" He flashed her a playful grin. "Yeah," Sara gritted her teeth, "He put a spring-loaded snake in my locker." Catherine shook her head while Greg continued grinning, "Ooh, that's a good one, too bad he didn't have a video camera-..." He was cut short by Sara's flesh-piercing glare. "I mean, I just thought-..." Greg stuttered and stumbled over his words, "It would have been funny! 'Kay, I'll shut up now..." He looked pitifully at his feet.
Catherine's eyes sparkled with impishness, "Greg," she turned to the sulking, hungry young man, "I need you to find a dye, powdered, some sort of brightly colored dye, that's non-toxic to human skin, make it green or purple or something. And make sure it's hard to get clean." Greg raised his eyebrows, "Heavy duty, huh? What for? What's your idea?" Catherine grinned, "Just get it and you'll see," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill, "And here, get yourself something to eat." Greg accepted the bill and tucked it in the pocket of his lab coat, "Thank you, um, so that's green dye?" He started to back out of the room.
"Green, red, blue, I don't care, whatever you can get, make it bright, make it loud." Catherine turned to Sara, "Sidle, you're with me." Sara cocked her head to the side, "Why? Where are we going?" Catherine took Sara's arm and pulled her out the door after Greg, "We, my dear, are going to see Captain Brass."
---
"A lock pick? What for?" Jim Brass asked the two female CSIs sitting in the guest chairs in front of his desk. Sara sat primly in the seat, her back straight, her thin hands folded in her lap, while Catherine had an elbow resting on the edge of his desk, casually, as if she were making a deal with the DA. "Revenge," Catherine said simply without blinking. Brass didn't look taken aback like most people would have, instead he asked, "Against whom?" Sara, who had been silent until now, cut in, "Nick." Now Brass raised an eyebrow and looked surprised, "Nick? Good ole Texas Home-Boy Nicky Stokes? Why, what did he do to you two?"
"He put crickets in my Chinese food," Catherine said. "And a spring loaded snake in my locker," Sara added. Brass chuckled, "All in the name of an April fools joke, huh? What kind of Chinese?" Catherine smiled at Brass's curiosity, "Orange chicken and Lo Mein." Brass winced, "Ouch, that's good stuff. What are you planning on doing to him?" Catherine smirked evilly, "That's classified, if I told you, I'd have to kill you."
"So can you hook us up?" Sara asked, growing impatient with Brass's chitchat. She wanted justice! And she wanted it now! "I can," Brass said calmly, folding his hands in front of him and leaning his elbows on the desk, "But it'll cost you." Catherine and Sara exchanged glances. "How much?" Sara asked warily. "A box of that chicken you were talking about," Brass grinned as he reached into a drawer and slid a lock-picking device across to Catherine. "I'm on duty and I'm starving." Catherine grinned as well as she swiftly picked up the tool and deposited in her purse. "Sure thing," Sara said with a smirk as she stood, "Thanks Brass."
"You're welcome, but be careful, because I don't want this to come back and bite any of us," Brass looked stern about his warning. Catherine's impish grin faded and was replaced with an angelic smile, "Oh, don't worry," she said, as she turned to leave, "The only one going to get bit is Nick."
---
"A lock pick and non-toxic, non-washable dye? What are you planning, Catherine?" Sara asked as they walked into Panda Express. "Oh, I guarantee you'll get a kick out of it the next time you see our Nicky." Catherine stepped up to the counter and ordered a container of orange chicken and fried rice for Brass. "Actually," Sara said to the Asian woman behind the counter, "Can you make that a double order? Only with Lo Mien instead of rice?" The woman nodded and got busy with the food, Catherine looked at Sara curiously. "For Greg," the brunette explained as she pulled out a twenty and laid it on the counter, "He does deserve it, after all. He was caught in one of Nick's pranks, too." Catherine smiled, "Yeah, I know, poor kid. He works hard, I hope he finds that dye."
---
With the chicken and fried rice delivered safely to Brass, the two CSIs made their way toward the DNA lab where Greg Sanders was peering into a microscope, head banging to the three-octave shriek of Disturbed's lead singer. Both women stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. Greg, however, didn't seem to notice them as he was still head banging and mouthing the indistinguishable lyrics. "Greggy!" Sara shouted over the music. Greg gave a start and turned to see who had bothered him. When he saw it was his two very favorite CSIs, his youthful face broke into a sunny smile.
He reached over and shut off the stereo, "Hello ladies! To what do I owe the visit?" Catherine held out the container of food, complete with napkin and fork. Greg gasped, "Oh my God, I could kiss you! You are my Goddesses!" True to his word, he leaned over and planted a kiss on Catherine's cheek. "Better kiss Sara, too," Catherine teased, "she paid." With red tingeing his fine features he placed a kiss on Sara's cheek as well. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," he said as he picked up the fork.
With a great deal of caution, he opened the box, relieved to see to no crickets, cockroaches or millipedes had been placed in his Chinese. With a satisfied sigh he grabbed the fork and began shoveling Lo Mein in his mouth. "Mmm," said Greg as he attacked the chicken. "I believe you have something for us?" Catherine said, the almost crazy glint shone in her eyes once again. Greg nodded, his mouth full to capacity, he motioned in the air a few times before he finally swallowed. "Yeah," he rolled his chair over to the other side of the lab, grabbed something from the counter top and rolled back over. He held the glass jar up so Catherine and Sara could see.
"Food dye," Greg elaborated, picking up his fork and going after his chicken again. Catherine took the jar from him and held it up to the light; she smiled at the green powder inside. Greg swallowed again, "Mostly used in the coloring of cake frosting for chefs and whatnot, it's non-toxic, odorless, it's hell to get off skin OR clothes or walls or anything for that matter, and," Greg opened the jar of food dye and grabbed a wooden Popsicle stick from the table beside him. He stuck it in the powdered dye and licked it off the end of the stick.
"And," he said, "it tastes just like limes, not like Jell-O, either, like Margarita limes." Sara and Catherine exchanged pleased, wide smiles. "Greggy," Sara clapped him on the shoulder, "You are the best, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise." Greg beamed at Sara, "Thank you, that makes me feel all warm and squishy. Either that or I sat in something." Both Sara and Catherine laughed out loud. They thanked Greg once more, turned and left the lab, the food dye in hand.
---
A half-hour later, Catherine and Sara pulled up in front of Nick's little house on Ford Street. The grass was neatly trimmed, the hedges were kept nice and neat, there were even flowers planted under the windows, it seemed like a cozy place. "I didn't know Nick was into flowers," Sara commented as she opened the car door and took in the site. "Yeah, cute place, isn't it?" Catherine said as she stepped onto the sidewalk, dye and lock pick in hand, "C'mon, let's just hope Nick's bathroom is as clean as the outside of his house. You know how men are."
---
April 1st, 2003
7:15 a.m.
---
Nick Stokes was beat. He had been working a particularly trying case involving a mob case and a mummy. He was happy to be home. Taking a deep breath, he climbed the three steps that lead to the front porch, grabbed his mail and let himself in through the front door. Nick stretched and groaned when his joints creaked in protest. He slipped off his shoes and dug through the mail, looking for something besides bills. Finding nothing of interest, he turned toward the living room, picking up the remote and flicking on the TV. His stomach growled, reminding him of the box of Fruit Loops in the cupboard. Nick ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl, a spoon, the milk and his cereal. He plopped down on the couch and watched the score from last night's Dallas Stars/Colorado Avalanche game.
When he was done with his breakfast he stretched again and decided to jump in the shower before heading off to bed and catching some Z's. Stripping off his shirt he tossed it in the laundry basket in the hallway before padding barefoot and half-naked to the bathroom. When he stepped in the room, he stopped. What was that smell? It smelled like... limes. Shaking his head, he decided it was the cereal he had had, there were lime Fruit Loops in the box, after all.
Nick finished undressing and hopped in the shower. He turned the water on full blast and stuck his head under, letting the water rush over his shoulders and back. He raised his head, staring at the wall and blinked in a confused manner as he was suddenly assaulted by the smell of limes and hot water. Shrugging, and ignoring the enticing smell, he raked his fingers through his hair and turned around, letting the water pound his back. He was bothered by the smell of the limes and couldn't figure out for the life of him why the water did smell that way. It's never done that before.
He turned back toward the showerhead, looked up, and let out a startled gasp when he realized the water was coming out green. Nick quickly shut off water, wrapped a towel around his waist and got out of the shower. He wiped the condensation off of the mirror and jumped back when he saw his reflection. "I'm GREEN!" He cried in dismay. His skin, his face, his hair, everything was dyed green! He couldn't go back to work like this! What would Grissom say? And Warrick, Warrick would laugh at him for sure! What about Sara and-... "Sara!" Nick realized, remembering the spring loaded snake, and the jar of crickets he'd swiped from Grissom.
He rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead, so this was their revenge, huh? Pouring dye in his showerhead and making him into the Jolly Green Giant? He had to admit, it was pretty clever, but very, very wrong. Nick dried himself off, got dressed and went next door to his neighbor Mandy's house, Mandy just happened to be a make-up artist.
---
Later that evening when shift started, Catherine sat in the break room with Greg Sanders who was reading an older issue of Guitar1 and munching on a chocolate donut. Catherine sipped her steaming coffee and whispered to Greg, "Have you seen Nick yet?" Greg shook his head, looking up from his magazine, "Nope, haven't seen him yet. But hopefully he'll be a glowing apple green when we see him again." Catherine and Greg exchanged evil grins. Greg went back to reading and Catherine was munching on a donut herself when Sara entered.
Catherine got very excited, "Is he here? Did you see him?" She hissed across the room at Sara, who shook her head. "Nope, not yet." Sara poured herself a cup of coffee and took a seat beside Greg, who looked up and smiled warmly at her, "Morning Sara, no snakes in your locker today?" Sidle grinned from behind her coffee cup, "Only if you put one there, Sanders." Greg held a hand over his heart in Boy Scout fashion, "Never bite the hand that feeds you."
Catherine chuckled, "Which reminds me," Greg went on, "Thanks for the Chinese yesterday, I thought was I going to waste away to nothing if no one fed me soon." It was at that point in time when Nick strode in, dressed in black blue jeans, a black turtle neck and hiking boots. He smiled warmly at all of them, "Morning gang," Nick said in a chipper tone, "Have assignments been handed out yet?" Nick crossed the room and helped himself to a cup of coffee. The three at the table swapped bewildered glances, Nick seemed perfectly normal. He wasn't green at all, like they had hoped he would have been. "Uh," Catherine said, "No, Grissom isn't in yet."
Nick turned from the coffee pot, his mug in hand, a smile still plastered on his face, "You guys must have thought that was pretty funny, huh?" For a moment, Catherine stared at Sara and Sara stared at Greg who was watching Nick with a bemused expression on his face. "Putting green dye in my shower, I mean." Then it sank in and Catherine indulged Nick in a sly grin.
"Well, it didn't seem to work," Greg pointed out, noting Nick's hair color was still the same, his skin tone as well. Nick glared at Greg, "You were in on this, too?" He exclaimed, slightly surprised. "Damn straight I was," Greg replied proudly, putting his feet up on the table and leaning back, his hands behind his head. "Thanks to you I nearly starved yesterday." By now Sara was snickering behind her hand, "So," she asked, attempting to be serious, "Why aren't you green then?"
"I am green!" Nick protested, pushing himself away from the table and standing, "I'm green all over thanks to you three!" Nick's voice had rose an octave and his eyes were blazing, "My neighbor is a make-up artist, and she made me decent enough to show my face in public, I had to go to Wal-Mart this morning to buy a bottle of hair dye so Grissom wouldn't fire me because I showed up to work with green hair!"
"You're green all over?" Greg couldn't help but laughing. "Prove it," Catherine smirked, not quite believing whether or not their plan had worked. "Fine," Nick replied shortly. He grabbed hold of the hem of his sweater and gave a yank, revealing his green chest and abdomen. Greg laughed so hard he fell out of his chair and was sprawled out on the floor, grabbing his sides and hooting loudly. Catherine, too, was laughing, glad to see that their plan had worked. Sara, however, only quirked an eyebrow and grinned in an almost suggestive manner, "Ooh," she said, her hands wrapped around her coffee mug, "a strip show, too bad I didn't bring any single dollar bills."
This caused Greg to go into fresh peals and Catherine had to put her head between her knees to prevent hyperventilation. Blushing furiously, Nick dropped his shirt and plopped back into his seat, staring at the tabletop, praying Sara wouldn't notice the ruddy red painted on his cheeks. Warrick poked his head in the door, "Hey, sounds like you guys are having too much fun in here, uh, Griss says to join him in the meeting room if you want to work today." Greg had finally calmed himself down enough, so color was now returning to his face.
"Oh my God," Greg snickered, "It's the Jolly Green Nick!" Greg jumped out of his seat just as Nick took a swipe at him. Laughing, Greg danced from foot to foot, "Don't worry man, the dye will wash away in three or four days! Well, it's been fun but I must be returning to my lab! Adios!" Catherine had stood and gathered her coffee cup, "Well, shall we?" Still chuckling she left the room, leaving Sara and Nick sitting the table. Nick didn't make eye contact with Sara as she stood, she too, gathered up her coffee cup and started toward the door, pausing only a moment to whisper in Nick's ear, "Some men look very sexy in green." She walked out the door, leaving Nick sitting by himself.
A slow smile worked it's way onto Nick's handsome face, he didn't care if he was green, having Sara look at him like that with her eyebrow quirked and that sly smirk adorning her lips might have just been worth it.
The End.
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