Title: Give Thanks for Small Favors
Author: Buffy
Rating: G
Summary: post Grave Danger. A potluck Thanksgiving for the team, with humorous garnish for the turkey.
Notes: Just went to see a movie yesterday, and the line /begged/ to be used in a slashfic. Unfortunately, all other stories I came up to use the line in were too kinky for me to write.

***

Brass was the last to show up, carrying his contribution to the feast. They were celebrating several things, the most obvious of which was Thanksgiving. They were also celebrating the fact that Nick was allowed to come back to work, even if he was grounded in the lab for another month. In an effort to be more organized, Catherine had announced that Gil would be hosting the dinner, and assigned each person food to bring.

Greg braved Catherine and Gil's combined wrath to poke his head into the kitchen, "Can we eat all the pretty, good-smelling food now?"

Gil gave him a look over the top of his glasses, "No, we're still waiting on one more person."

Catherine gave him an exasperated look, "Who else is there? The whole team's here."

"Well, when we had lunch the other day, Lady Heather mentioned that her daughter was spending the holiday with friends. She was going to spend the day alone, going over the accounts for her business. But since you were so adament about people needing to spend the time with family and friends, I thought I should invite her." Gil not only kept a straight face, his expression was filled with innocent pride, like a little kid waiting to be told he'd done well. Only those who were standing close and knew him well noticed the mischivous twinkle in his eye.

Catherine had been had, and she knew it. He'd used her own argument against her, so she'd have to be graceful about it or face heckling from their friends. "Well, we should have enough food for one more. What did you ask her to bring?"

"I had her bring something for dessert."

Now Catherine let her temper slip, just a little. And Lindsey and Sofia looked ready to join her. "Gil, how could you? Sofia, Lindsey, and I spent the week baking pies. We do not bake. And why didn't you have her bring another side dish to help stretch the main meal?"

"I didn't have her bring /a/ dessert, just something /for/ the dessert. I had her bring the topping. I thought she was the best choice, because after all, whipped cream isn't whipped cream unless it's been whipped by whips." Gil gave her his most clueless, innocent smile as he quickly picked up the platter with the pre-carved bird and carried it over to the table.

Both Greg and Brass choked on drinks when they heard his response. Nick and Warrick just laughed, while the females looked ready to murder him.

Nick turned to Warrick, "That's just wrong, dawg. Can't you do something about your boyfriend's sense of humor?"

Warrick moved over to steal a quick kiss and a roll, "You've been waiting to use that line since you dragged me to see `Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' haven't you."

Gil's smile slipped from innocent to smart-alecky, "Just be glad I didn't use the one about the squirrel and his nuts."