Part of the Team (Tori | Lance | Greg)

[Jacob C. Quinto]

Quin smirked as he waltzed into the office, his suitcase slung over his shoulder. Yes, he slung his suit case over his shoulder. Don't ask how he did that. To cut a long story short: belt. Broken buckle. Heavy bag. Sling.

He somewhat dashed over to the forensics department, peering at a girl's legs as she strode past him. She gave him a 'get lost' look, but he had already turned around and looked away. Really, he could be such a pain in the neck at times.

Quin's phone rang in his pocket, and he snarled as he declined the call. He already knew who was calling. One of his exes from years long gone had been bugging him all morning. Seriously, that girl was just obsessed. This wasn't the first time though. Exes were a daily problem, or a tradition as one might call it.

The forensics lab was a rather nice place. But of course, there was the whole hygienic thing going on. First, you stepped into an enclosed glass cubicle. You were sprayed with antibiotics and you needed to wear that horrible white overcoat to keep germs out. Plus, there was the whole thing where you needed to wear latex gloves and all. This was protocol, of course, because all those dead bodies needed a lot of care, and no viruses nor bacteria should reach it.

As the cubicle door on the other side opened, the air-conditioning and chemical scents in the lab hit over Quin like a wave of pressure. This was to be expected, of course. Not all rooms smelt like blood and drugs. He pranced over to his pal, Lance, and gave him a pat on the back. "Bet you fifty bucks I can get Tori to say she loves me by today."

[Lance Dominic]

Lance had been early again, no surprise. It was pretty much like he lived in the same place he worked in.

Of course, he had that whole mansion that his grandfather left him... but still. It wasn't a really cozy place to be, especially once you knew killer targeted you. A lot.

He was quite startled to feel Quin's hand on his shoulder. Lance was just peering at a book, much like how Quin peered at a woman's legs, just that Lance wasn't as terrible. He rolled his eyes and stared at Quin.

"Yeah right. It's a bet then." he chortled, this was going to be the easiest fifty dollars ever.

He turned back to his book, ignoring the blondwad behind him he sometimes referred to as 'friend'.

[Toriann Daire]

"Yes, yes, of course. No, sir. Yes, I know." Tori spoke to the department head through the phone, keeping the anger out of her voice. She knew they're latest case was a bit late. The autopsy result had been swapped with something else by someone, and Tori was definitely getting to the bottom of it.

She went through the whole cubicle procedure, hanging her brown overcoat onto a cold metal pole and taking her vanilla cream one from another. She washed her hands, put on a pair of latex gloves and dusted herself before drawing in a breath and going into the lab.

"What's a bet?" Tori asked suspiciously as she walked over to her desk, rearranging a crooked notepad.

Plopping her well-known blue sling bag onto the leather chair, she sat down and filed through the papers on her desk. "I'm waiting."

[Jacob C. Quinto]

Quin whacked Lance's head, just in case he was about to say something. "Huh, what? Oh nothing." Quin lied, giving Lance a glare. A smirk upon his face, Quin headed to his desk and pulled out the reports on their latest victim. His phone rang again, but he just left it ringing, his attention focused onto the files.

The constant ringing didn't stop, and it didn't exactly help Quin by knowing the tune of 'Real Good Man' was playing in front of both of his co-workers. So reluctantly, he picked up the phone.

Yeah, right. He only glance at it, then looked up at Tori. "Hey Tori, can you pick that up for me?"

OOC ~ Sorry it's a little short. Like I said, tis my first role-playing year. Two months to be exact.

[Lance Dominic]

(No problem, Mem. All of us get writer's block once in a while.)

"Bet? Oh Quin said that he could -OW!" Lance cried out in annoyance as Quin whacked his head. He looked at Quin with rather pissed off eyes, glaring with his teeth clenched and bared. "Thanks a lot, buddy," he said, giving Quin a fake smile.

So to keep himself occupied, he looked back at his book. Well, not a book exactly. It was a dictionary. Yes, a dictionary. But it wasn't just a normal one, this one was a bilingual one. Not only that, but the one of the languages was Greek! Myeh, so its not that exciting to you.

Lance felt like someone had taken a great hulking hammer and smacked him on the side of the head with it - then gone and smacked him on the other side just for good measure. There was a throbbing ache in the center of his brain, the kind of pain that could only come from staring at itty bitty type for seven hours on end.

He didn't have to - he was probably about a million years ahead of any assignment on his linguistics than he would ever have, but Lance tended to obsess over things like this, especially when there were new alphabets involved. He'd managed the phonetics all right, but he hadn't quite convinced himself that studying for seven hours wasn't the best way to memorize vocabulary.

He rubbed his eyes wearily, jamming the thumb and forefinger of his left hand up while doing so. Man these contacts were so annoying. His eyes teared up, mostly from allergies. He shook his head at himself. He sniffled, and felt another one of his sneezing fits coming on. Trying his best to stay 'unsneezed', Lance turned to see if Quin planned on trying to make Tori say 'I love you'.

[Toriann Daire]

Tori's eyes shifted from the goofy blond to the awkward brunette. Seriously, why did she work in the same department as these two? Tori shook her head as both of her co-workers turned to their own activities.

"Oh yeah, Quin, you still owe me thirty dollars," she called over to him, her face set in a grave expression, like thirty bucks was the biggest deal in the world.

She looked through the names on the list. Already three people had died in the attack, all with the same MO. Why didn't the head think this was a serial? Same MO within Brooklyn and even same victimology. She rubbed her eyes as she caressed her head in her hands, sighing.

"Hey Tee, can you pick that up for me?" Tori's eye twitched, once, twice, okay maybe thrice. Pick up his phone? What the heck did he want her to do? Reluctantly, Tori got up from her seat and over to Quin's desk, placing her hands against the cool glass table.

"Who, may I ask, will be on the line?"

[Jacob C. Quinto]

Quin couldn't help but keep that smug grin on his face as Tori came over to the phone. "My ex. She thinks we're not over yet." The blonde casually looked at Lance, a smirk across his face. He took the phone from his table and with his other hand, grabbed Tori's palm and placed the phone there.

"And yeah I remember. You answer this phone call and I'll pay you today." Quin hadn't forgotten where or what that thirty dollars had been used on. Lunch. She bought him lunch. Okay, probably not the best start on a relationship, but who cares. Someone like Tori was worth the wait.

Quin leaned back against his chair and looked around him. There were four desks, chairs backing against the wall, two tables along one wall and two along the other side. The table next to Tori was vacant, which was the table across from Quin's. Lance sat next to him and in front of Tori. The rest of the lab -chemicals, blood, bodies, tools and all- were further into the lab, inside another door. Quin thought this was silly, but Tori had told him before that this was for safety. Really.

Looking at their rather comfy, small, and white office space, Quin wondered if the other departments were just as quiet. Not that you could call this quiet. The speakers that belonged to the three of them was often turned up to brain-damage level, but it hadn't been turned on yet. It wasn't nine o'clock, which was the time where Tori gave them permission to blast his ears out. Besides that noise, there was the constant arguing. They were separated from the other forces, but he wouldn't have had it any other way.

OOC ~ Ack, I forgot our facts. What time was it again?

[Lance Dominic]

(Yeah, it was nine, Mem. And I FOUND OUT your plot for the cash so hah!)

Lance watched his two teammates as they quarreled slash argued. This was rather natural for them, of course. Lance would sometimes interfere and call it a 'lover's quarrel', but the last time he did that he ended up getting a really harsh glare from Quin, so he chucked that idea away.

He continued reading his dictionary, his eyes fixated on the tiny Greek print on the book. He heard Tori and Quin talk a bit about thirty dollars, and it suddenly snapped in his mind. So he probably wont get that fifty bucks.

Worse, he was gonna lose it.

[Toriann Daire]

Now Tori was just plain confused. What the heck did Quin expect her to say to an ex girlfriend? She gave him a look that probably would've said something like, I'm definitely going to kill you for this.

She took the phone from her palm -which had been placed there by Quin- and clicked the green button. "Hi there, Kimberley? Ah yes... who am I? Um, I'm..." A bit anxious, Tori turned to look at the idiot who put her into this situation. She clenched her teeth and glared at him, before turning around to face the door, as well as Lance.

"I'm his, uh, wife," Tori knew she sounded unsure and that she stuttered, but really. Quin was going to need to pay a whole lot more than thirty bucks for this.

Tori looked at Lance, his head in another dictionary. She sighed, rolling her eyes. This really needed more than thirty dollars.

[Jacob C. Quinto]

Quin was covering his mouth with his left hand, holding in the urge to burst out in a bark of laughter. Tori actually said it! Now if only he could get that fifty dollars from Lance. Then all will be well.

"Tori, Tori, Tori! Tell her we have three kids! W-wait, no, two." Quin smirked as he looked at Lance, giving him a thumbs up as well as his famous Casimire smile; probably his most charming one, but he knew it annoyed Lance to the bone.

Quin got up from his chair, leaned against Lance's table and flashed him a big, goofy grin, rubbing his index and middle finger with his thumb, indicating the sign for Lance to pay up. Tori hadn't exactly broken the bet yet, but that little anthropologist was more than predictable. She always did what you wanted her to, even when she didn't know it.

[Lance Dominic]

(I know it's a bit short, but Lance doesn't have much to do now)

Lance stared with his eyes almost popping out of his sockets when Tori picked up the phone and told this 'Kimberley' that she was Quin's wife. Lance could almost choke with sarcasm. Quin was definitely not someone who could dedicate himself to one girl and one girl only.

When Quin came over to claim his cash, Lance held up his hand, palm facing outwards, asking him to hold on. Nothing had been said yet. Lance stared in angst at Tori, holding his breath.

There goes fifty bucks.

[Toriann Daire]

Tori spoke through the phone with clenched teeth, her eyes fixated on Quin with a look one could note as death glare. She honestly didn't intend on saying what she was about to say, but the girl on the phone was almost as annoying as Quin himself. I wonder why they didn't become soul mates. Seems right. Tori thought.

"Um, yes... of course I love him." When that particular word was muttered out of her lips Tori mentally kicked herself and physically slammed her hand on Quin's back as to tell him to shut up about it. This wasn't a very decent victory.

Tori gave Quin a whack on his forehead, smirking and turning away to continue the conversation. "Um... kids... two? They're what? Oh um... twins...?" She hung up at that point, after the girl on the line began screaming about taking her man. Girl, you can have him for all I care. Tori thought, throwing the phone back to Quin.

She walked up to him and grabbed his collar, firmly but not harshly, and stared at him and his ridiculous smirk. "I want that thirty now." The seriousness in her voice was very much noticeable, and she hadn't stopped that clenched teeth issue.

[Jacob C. Quinto]

A smug little -or not so little- grin spread across Quin's face as Tori told Kimberley that she loved him. This was all going way too well, as sometimes it always did at Quin's expenses. He received her whack graciously though, looking at Lance, his eyes dancing.

"Pay the poor girl, Lance." Quin told him, cocking his head to one side and showing a pout, as if sympathetic. Yeah, right. He got off from the table and back to his seat, then gestured towards the linguist. "Oh and the other twenty is mine," he informed him, leaning back in his chair and stretching.

Once all this had been settled, Quin looked through all the files he had with him. It had only been last week that an autopsy report had been stolen, and switched, with another one. And now they had no leads with the case.

Turning around in his leather chair, Quin folded his arms and thought about all he was doing. His job was just to hack computers, reconstruct machines at the crime scene and all the other techno stuff. Then why on Earth was he so worried about all these things?

Maybe it was just because his team became his family, the one he never had. And his family became his life. He glanced over at Tori, who seemed still pissed. Well, families quarrel too. Quin thought with a smirk, twirling around again.

[Lance Dominic]

(Epic shortness, but I'm in a rush and I've got five minutes.)

Lance stared at Tori, his mouth hanging open. She actually said it. She actually said it. She actually SAID IT! Lance could only start stuttering in shock at Tori, and admiration at Quin, his mouth opening and closing, not finding something decent to say.

Way to make someone look like a goldfish.

He reluctantly got up, handing Tori thirty dollars and a sheepish grin. "Um, we bet that Quin could get you to say you loved him. And here's your cash." He turned towards Quin's table, slamming a couple of ten dollar notes onto his desk. "There you go, big guy."

He went back to his desk, rubbing his eyes and sniffling. His contacts were getting in his allergies problem again, and he felt like he was about to start one of his infamous sneezing fits. They always came at the wrong time, and in this case, right now.

[Toriann Daire]

Tori's eyes flicked from Lance to Quin and then back to Lance again. A bet that Quin could get her to say she loved him??? Tori looked back at Quin and bit her lip, giving a glare at the same time and lifting her index finger. "You truly know how to blackmail someone, don't you, fuzzball?" She stated, clamming her other hand into an uneasy fist, her index finger poking his forehead as he smirked on.

After a few moments, she smiled though, despite herself, because she managed to see the funny side of it. And anyway, I got paid. Tori thought to herself, stuffing the ten dollar bills from Lance -and indirectly Quin- into her pocket. Heading back to her desk, Tori sat down and stared back at Quin from across the room, eyes slanted and trying.

She filed through a couple of files and sighed, rubbing her forehead with her left hand. These autopsies for so many cases... a serial in Florida with a dozen bodies, an uncertain case in Nevada and even one right here in DC. And autopsy results had been switched, of all things to happen.

Getting up from her chair, Tori began walking into the inner lab, bending her fingers and asking Quin and Lance to follow her. She didn't turn back though, and if they didn't see the gesture she wouldn't really have cared. Pressing the appropriate digits/ the password (which is pi, by the way) the glass cubicle to the inner lab opened, a strong smell of antibiotics in the air. Tori did the slipped on the procedure and went through to the other side.

Walking towards a table where a young child was laid, killed in a family robbery, Tori managed to pat the dead kid's head and purse her lips. Ever since that trip to nowhere Tori had been careful about what she did with her, um, clients.