Notes: Total Moosebash. Total silliness. Just enjoy. Joey! You have incited a riot in my mooses! I think I need to turn the tranquilize gun on YOU! Now I've got camp songs going through my head too. Anyone want to join in a round of "Barges"? Or do you prefer "Fried Ham"? Where is that purple box????

GS Cookie Recon
by Wnnepooh

"I know I bought them... where'd they go?"

Hearing his partner's dismayed voice, Jim peered over the railing from his bedroom hoping to discern the problem. The curly-topped young man sat emptying everything from his pack. A scene remniscent of Mary Poppins and her carpet bag. There seemed no end to the items. Seeing the frustration plain on Blair's face, Jim finished dressing and headed down to join his friend.

"Okay, Chief. What has got you so riled." Before Sandburg could form the words to his distress, the tall man's senses had locked onto a foreign, yet pleasant, item. "OOOOOOOHHHHHHH. Girl Sprout Cookies." He was almost childlike in his reverence to the boxes sitting on the coffee table, holding each aloft and examining the pictures and cookie descriptions. "Way to go, Chief. I couldn't find ANYONE selling these around here."

The anthropologist was observing - as was his nature - with great amusement as his normally stoic friend morphed into a very convincing CookieMonster. Smiling at the sight, he almost forgot his problem. "Well, a couple of the profs at school brought in the forms a month or so ago. I'd forgotten I'd even ordered any. Then when I hit the bank on the way home, there were a dozen little girls standing outside the ATM. Like I could withdraw money right there then turn around and ig them."

"So," Jim said, turning only part of his attention to the young man but refusing to relinquish his grip on three boxes. "What's lost?" Using the hand filled with a purple box, Jim motioned to the backpack. "You said you had something, but now you can't find it. Tell me it wasn't the rent..."

"No," and Blair smiled. He knew that even though his roomy insisted on rent payments, the money seldom went for more than 'loans' to fix one slightly beaten '68 Volvo. "I've got that right here." So said, Blair removed the envelope and offered it to the big man who motioned helplessly with his box-filled hands. "I can keep it."

"Sandburg! GIVE!!!"

Inbetween laughs, Blair plucked up the remaining boxes to examine each. "I KNOW I bought a certain kind, but I can't find them. I have these great memories of them with Naomi. Kind of a constant in the great chaos of my younger years - ya know?"

The twinge of melancholy in the young man's voice managed to break through Jim's glee. "Well Chief. I'm sure that if you missed one kind, it wouldn't be too hard to drive back to the ATM and get them. It's still early. Bet the little Greenie Girls will still be there."

Joy. Utter and complete happiness. Whatever it was, it covered Blair's face. "Really? You're not too busy? I thought we had a stake out tonight?"

"We still do." Jim said with a big smile. "But I think I'll be a much nicer Sentinel with a couple boxes of these for myself."

"Oh, gees man. I picked up like four boxes just FOR you. The peanut butter sandwich, the chocolate/peanut butter things, those mint ones..."

"They have names, Chief." But looking at the boxes, the detective was somewhat dismayed, his confusion showing clearly on his face. "WHAT THE...??? What is this, Sandburg? Some kinda joke?"

Blair turned around quickly seeing Jim tearing into one of the boxes. "What's wrong? Something unusual about that box? Please don't let it be a bomb or anything. I don't think I could deal with Cookie Commandos..."

There were cookies in the purple box. Just cookies wrapped in plastic and sitting perfectly in the little tray. Jim opened up his senses to the contents, identifying all the important things.

"Carmel, coconut, chocolate.... MMMMMMMMM Samoas..." Popping one of the perfect little tires in his mouth, Jim grinned letting the pleasure wash over him. "THESE are my favorites..."

"WHAT?" And Sandburg reached for the box, snagging it out of the big guy's hand. He was lucky Ellison was otherwise engaged. "That's the kind I was missing!" Visually matching the purple box to the others littered around, Blair recognized what had thrown him off. "THEY CHANGED THE NAME!!!! How could I miss that?"

Interupting his joy for one second, Jim smiled. "Sometimes it's the most elementary things we miss, Watson." Setting the box down, he grabbed two more of the cookies careful NOT to get chocolate on his jacket as he shrugged into it. "You coming, Chief?"

"Huh? What?" Blair said with some surprise. He was still standing there comparing boxes. "Where?"

Holding up the bank envelope, the detective smiled. "1st Cascade. Corner of Fraser and Delaware." There was still some confusion in his partner's face. "Girl Sprouts and something called..." looking at the box on the table, Jim shook his head and recited: "Carmel Delites..."

"Oh." Sandburg mouthed silently, then exclaimed as the words registered. "OH! Cool!" Grabbing his coat and pack, he pushed past Jim and headed down the stairs.

"What's with the pack, Chief?"

Stopping only long enough to smile, Blair responded happily. "I just emptied it out. I had 10 boxes of cookies in there WITH my books. How many can I get in here WITHOUT them?"

Locking the door, Ellison shook his head. "I'm thinking to buy 'em by the case, Chief."

"Cool..."

Jim watched his partner practically run to the truck. "Calm down, Chief. Don't know why you're so interested in cookies. You don't eat junk food, right?"

"It's more than that, man. The Girl Scouts represent a necessary part of modern civilization. A group that promotes the unity of the female, the universality of womankind..."

He started the truck, eased it into gear, and pulled into traffic. All the while, listening to the discourse on the goals and functions of the Girl Scouts. When Sandburg started to disect the ritual costumes and something called a 'fly-up' ceremony, Jim held up a hand.

"I'll buy you three boxes of Samoas to put away the Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology for one night, Chief..."

A smile spread across the young man's face, the elation spreading to his eyes making them sparkle. "Just three? You know that particular encyclopedia is over 5 volumes in print..."

It was going to be a long, costly night...

~~~~~
finis