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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-04
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1,541
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1/1
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The Third Tale

Summary:

Fandom: CSI: NY
Pairing: Not explicit but Mac/Danny
Rating: FRT
Summary: After a stressful night, the team gets together to unwind
Disclaimer: So not mine. I don't even own season 1 on dvd yet.
Archive: Yes
Author's Notes: I think this is one of the odder I've posted, but eh. *shrugs* It answers two of Peja's challenges. The "I Lied" improv (that Sam answered first in her awesome poem) of include these words/phrases: okay, so I lied, velvet, Eerie castle, chill, goblin(s), four poster bed and the stardust improv (include goblin, pumpkins, stardust, druids, makeshift tent, dancing naked in the moonlight).
Note 2: No, you haven't missed the first two tales. I haven't posted them here yet. I will eventually, but you don't need to read them for this to make sense. All you need to know is that a story gets told in each of my Tales
Submitted through the CSI_New_York_Slash mailing list.

Work Text:

The Third Tale
by Gin

After a long and stressful week the smoky air in the bar seemed the perfect to be on the chill night. Stella, Aiden, Flack, Lindsay, Danny and Mac sat around a table in the back of Sullivan's, beers in front of all of them. They drank the first round of beers in silence, but the second round yielded conversation.

"Let's tell ghost stories," Aiden said with a grin on her third round.

"Why?" Flack questioned.

"It beats thinking about this week's case," she shrugged with a moment of complete sobriety. Pratt had struck again, prompting Mac to call her in for consultation for the week. Shaking the dark thoughts away she continued with a grin, "Besides, it's almost Halloween. What better time is there?"

Proving that even he was capable of having fun, Mac agreed. "All right. But you have to start." Danny and Stella, who had both switched to soda after the first round, exchanged a glance and then hid grins.

"Okay. It was a dark and stormy night," she began.

"No!" barked Flack. "No decent ghost story starts out that way."

"Yes they do!"

"No, they don't!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Stop it!" Mac slammed his glass onto the table, causing the two to jump and people at nearby tables to look over. "No, they don't. Try again Aiden."

She pouted, but complied. "On a bright and sunny day," she began and Lindsay snorted beer out of her nose when Flack choked on his in his effort to stop her again.

"I think this is going to be a fun night," Danny whispered to Stella as he deftly switched Mac's second empty glass with a full one.

"Totally worth being the DD," she agreed, watching their fearless leader take another sip of his beer, not realizing that a switch had been made. "How long can you get away with that?"

"Eh, if he hasn't caught on now, I'm good," he smirked.

"Okay, I got it!" Flack crowed a moment later. They all turned to him and he started the story.

"On a cold snowy night-" he began and dodged the pretzels that Aiden threw at him, "Four people, three girls and a guy, were driving down a deserted country road when their car ran out of gas. Now, being the age that it is, they all had their cell phones with them. Unfortunately, seeing as how they were in the middle of nowhere, three of the phones had no signal. They called for help, but it was going to take an hour for someone to get there. Looking for something to pass the time they spotted a graveyard just down the street and decided to go tell ghost stories and scare themselves."

"My turn!" interrupted Lindsay enthusiastically, causing Flack to glare at her, but he let her take over.

"They walked through the graveyard, stopping and reading the gravestones as the fog began to thicken. When they reached the back of the graveyard Isabella found a gate leading to a path. 'Let's follow it!' she said and Hannah and Jake started after her. 'What if there are goblins down there?' Ashley asked her friends, not liking the idea of following the foggy path."

"Why do you get to name them?" demanded Flack as he finished his fourth drink.

"Because you didn't."

"I was going to!"

"But you didn't," Aiden smirked at him. He continued to pout, but Lindsay continued the story.

"The other three laughed at her and started down the path. Remembering the lessons of the scary movies, Ashley hurried off after them. The path curved up into the mountains, deep into the woods. When the path opened up they saw that they had reached-"

"An eerie castle!" Aiden interrupted. Lindsay stopped, looked irked for a moment and then nodded.

"An eerie castle," she repeated. "Your turn." Aiden simply grinned and continued.

"The four walked through the gates and past pumpkins lining the path up to the door. When they reached the door Isabella reached out to knock on the door, which promptly opened with an ominous creak. The four paused, but Jake led the way in.

'Let's go,' he instructed them.

The girls hesitated but, not wanting to be left behind, followed him into the dusty foyer. There were candles lit every five feet or so, giving a spookish luminescence to the hall. They peered into the living room with its shrouded furniture and thick velvet curtains before following the stairs to their left upstairs. They wandered through the bedrooms, finding nothing but old, dusty furniture and four poster beds. They were in the fourth room when Hannah asked 'What's that noise?'

They all stopped as a creaking sound traveled toward them. 'Someone's coming this way,' whispered Ashley, grabbing Jake's hand. They stood frozen as the creaking grew louder, sounding like it was just outside the door and then moved past them.

'Let's go!' Isabella took off for the door.

'Are you crazy?' Ashley protested, but again followed the other three when the left the room."

She stopped to finish off her beer and gazed tipsily at her former coworkers. "Your turn," she beamed at Don.

He nodded, finished his beer, poured another one from the picture and continued.

"When the reached the hall, it was empty. They followed the hall to a second set of stairs and down those into the backyard. They stood on the yard watching as druids came out of makeshift tents."

He paused and smirked. "I think Mac should continue. He hasn't had a turn yet."

"I don't know," the other man hedged, but allowed the others to goad him into it.

"Come on Mac, let's hear what you can come up with," prodded Stella. Danny remained silently, trying valiantly to not laugh.

"All right," he agreed and the other three drinkers cheered while Stella smirked in amusement.

"They watched stardust float down from the sky as the druids came out of the tents, dancing naked in the moonlight."

Danny choked on his soda, spitting all over the table. Stella put her head down, her shoulders shaking. The other four looked at them like they were crazy.

"What's wrong with them?" Aiden asked Flack.

"No idea. Go on Mac."

Mac eyed the other two warily before continuing. Danny excused himself from the table, needing to go somewhere else to laugh hysterically. Stella joined him a few minutes later, tears streaming down her face.

"You don't want to know," she told him, waving off any questions. "How the hell many drinks has he had?"

"Six." He glanced at the table and saw Mac pouring himself another beer. "Seven. It's a new record."

"He's going to kill you, you know."

"Totally worth it. Just wish I'd taped this, you know."

She snorted. "We'd never find the body if you'd done that!"

"Would've been fun, all I'm saying." They gathered their courage and walked back to the table in time to hear Lindsay finish off the story.

"...And then there was a tapping sound. They jumped and found themselves in the car where they'd apparently fallen asleep. They found their friends peering into the car looking worried as they held up the gas can they'd brought. They would have shaken it off as a dream except for the stardust that fell from their clothes as they climbed from the car."

"Very nice," Stella interrupted as they all clapped. "I think it's time to go home now." She ignored the protests as she plucked several bills from Mac's wallet. "I'll take Aiden and Flack. Can you drop Lindsay off on your way home?"

"Not a problem," he assured her, nudging Mac out of his chair. "C'mon Mac. Let's go." The older man leaned on him as the group stumbled toward the door. He settled Mac into the front seat and Lindsay into the back.

He was buckling his seatbelt after getting Lindsay into her apartment when Mac looked at him, eyes slightly glazed.

"Danny? I think I'm drunk."

"I'd agree with that," he said carefully, pulling out onto the street.

"You said you wouldn't let me get drunk," he groaned.

"Okay, so I lied."

~End~