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"Why are we hiding in the storage closet?" Natalia asked.
Natalia, Ryan, Walter and Eric were all squeezed inside the storage closet, which wasn't very big. It was hard to breathe and people had their hands at places they shouldn't. Everyone was beginning to sweat too.
"Walter is taking up too much space. You get out." Ryan said.
"No way, I'm not going outside. What if he sees me?" Walter whined.
"How come we only hide when he's sick?" Natalia asked.
"Because he becomes worse than Alexx when she's on the warpath and worse than Frank when he doesn't get his morning coffee." Eric said, "He becomes, and forgive my choice of word, a real bitch."
"H? A bitch?" Natalia chuckled.
The guys looked at her as if she was crazy for not noticing the change in their boss's demeanor when he was sick and she shrugged innocently. Last time Horatio had been sick she had been out of town and that had been... many years ago. Now, their boss not only had a cold, but a fever as well, and a sore throat. He had already scared the new IAB detective out of his mind by growling at him and glaring at him like he was going to kill him. Everyone knew to stay away from the redhead when he was like this; which was exactly what the team was doing.
"Where is Calleigh?" Eric asked.
Suddenly the door opened and Calleigh jumped inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She was panting and her face was red from running.
"He's in the reception area." She whispered.
"Oh, god he's close." Ryan said.
"Everyone be quiet." Calleigh said.
There were too many people in the storage closet now and they were leaning on each other and the door. They all held their breaths when they heard someone walking by outside. He was growling and trying to clear his throat from the constant itch.
"It's him." Walter whispered.
"Shh!"
The person left and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly the door opened and they all fell outside on the floor; landing on each other.
"Ouch! Walter get off!" Ryan exclaimed.
"I can't if Natalia doesn't get off me first!"
"Nat, move!"
Natalia jumped off Walter, whom jumped off Ryan and then helped Ryan up on his feet. Calleigh and Eric got off the floor as well and then they all looked at Frank.
"You left me alone with him? Without any warning whatsoever?" The Texan asked.
"How could you not know H was sick? Everyone knew it the moment he started banging his head against the hummer door because of the flat tire he got in the parking garage." Ryan said.
"And as a result he has a headache; which doesn't improve his mood." Frank said, "And because of his flu he's angry, which means that I have to take care of him."
"Take care of him? He's not a child." Natalia said.
"Do you have any idea how a sick Horatio reacts when he can't find his team and his favorite detective spills his coffee all over him?" Frank asked.
The team winced at the thought of poor Frank being the object of their boss's fury. Not to mention it wasn't even lunch yet so the redhead was probably still not fully awake yet; he wasn't always a morning person.
"Keep that image in mind while you hide next time." Frank said and walked away.
Just as the team was about to put all the storage equipment back in the closet Horatio appeared. From the look in his face they knew he was not happy.
"Care to explain why you were hiding?" He asked.
Normally one would be able to explain and still remain on Horatio's good side, but when the redhead was sick he was not as easy going as other days.
"Um... Walter can explain." Natalia said, "I got DNA waiting."
She hurried down the hallway to the DNA lab, while all the other CSIs came up with excuses to let Walter handle the situation. Horatio's tired eyes focused on his newest CSI. Walter gulped and smiled the most innocent smile he could muster.
"Well um... you see H... we were hiding because..."
"Because I'm sick?"
"Yes."
"And because that makes me scary?"
"Yes."
"And none of you wanted to handle me when I'm like this?"
"No, no. Not at all. We just thought we would stay out of your way and let more experienced people like Frank hang out with you." Walter grinned innocently, "And besides this storage closet needs cleaning so we thought it would make you happy if he did it and then the door looked us in and then Frank rescued us."
"It needs cleaning huh?"
"Yeah."
"Well, then why don't you clean it Mister Simmons?"
With a sinister smile the redhead walked away leaving CSI Simmons behind with a broom in his hand.
"Right. Clean the storage closet." He muttered, "Next time we hide in the gun vault; at least then Calleigh will get to clean because it belongs to her."
Throughout the day the team did everything they could to keep their boss happy. They constantly brought him a fresh cup of coffee, they got his mail for him, and worked extra hard at crime scenes; processing every inch of the scenes and even bought him his favorite meal for lunch. This, of course, made their boss very happy and by the end of the day he felt much better and even smiled when Calleigh brought him his last cup of coffee before the end of the shift.
"Here you go, Horatio." She smiled.
"Thank you Calleigh."
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Much better, thank you." Horatio grinned.
"You seem very happy." Calleigh said, suddenly getting a gut feeling that something was not right.
"What time is it?"
"Five."
Horatio chuckled and stretched in his office chair. He then stood up and went to the break room to the team; Calleigh followed him with a perplexed expression. When he entered the break room his team straightened up in their chairs and looked at him.
"You seem happy, boss." Ryan said.
"I am." He said.
He walked over to Doctor Tom Loman and stuck his hand out to him. Tom cursed under his breath and handed Horatio thirty dollars.
"Thank you Tom." Horatio smirked.
"Wait? What is going on here?" Natalia asked.
"I bet Horatio thirty dollars he couldn't get you to believe he was sick the whole shift, thus not be able to make you do everything for him; like bringing him coffee, his mail and work extra hard." Tom sighed, "I should have known not to bet against him."
The team gaped at their medical examiner and boss. All day it had been a big joke?
"The good news is that Alexx owes me twenty dollars, because she said I couldn't make Horatio take the bet." Tom smiled.
As Tom and Horatio left the room, the team looked shocked at each other.
"All the work, all the things we've done... for a bet?" Ryan asked, "I must have brought him six cup of coffees and spent hours processing parts of a crime scene that had no evidence whatsoever; all to please him."
"I brought him two cups of coffee." Walter said.
"And we squeezed inside that storage closet for nothing." Eric said.
"We got played." Natalia said.
"Well, you know what? Payback is a bitch." Calleigh smirked, "And I say it's time we teach our boss and medical examiner a lesson."