Title: HSU: Casino Capers
Author: Ellie
Archive: You bet
Timeline: Part one before/during Judy pt 1; part two comes after Judy's Belaggio 2
Disclaimer: I know it's not mine.
Summary: Ellie finally wins at some slots, before her men cause some trouble.

Ellie flexed her right hand, fighting off cramps and stiffness. She had lost all track of time. Hours, perhaps days, had passed unnoticed in the fluorescent and neon lights of the casino. She had managed to hop from casino to casino, starting at the Belaggio and when that hadn't proved fruitful she had rustled up some more money from the passing General and headed to Caesar's. When it had become too much to bear to watch Commo skulking about, continuously being reigned in my Laure, she'd moved on, but not without some fun first. The Mediator had been extremely frazzled when Ellie had last seen her. The Vet had managed to tear her energy and hands away from her machine to add to the Ho's harassment. She had seized her moment when the Ranger had unknowingly stumbled into her row of slots.

"Aragorn!" Ellie had exclaimed. The Ranger froze; his eyes darting around him, cataloguing all escape vectors if the need arose. He relaxed somewhat when he realized it was only the Vet Ho. He had shared many ales with her men in the Pub and heard many stories of her efforts and passions for her animals. He respected her love for nature. He and Legolas had agreed that her work was admirable, but she was still a Ho and a Ranger must always be on his guard. "Strider, could you assist me for a moment?" Ellie asked, coating her voice in sugar. "I can't seem to track down a beverage server and I'm parched." She licked her lips both for seductive purposes and to dramatize her thirst predicament.

"Of course, Mistress Ellie, but then I really must be going. I can't seem to locate Legolas and I fear some harm may have come to him." He tried to tie his meaning to his visible uncomfort with Vegas, but Ellie knew he really meant the Water Ho. She and her counterpart, Tara, had taken off shortly after arrival on some escapade involving fountains and the General. She wasn't sure how it had played out, but she hadn't heard any police sirens so she assumed the plan had failed or was still in play, altered to accommodate any circumstance that may arise. And if Ellie knew her roommate, first came the water, then the braids.

"I haven't seen Kendra around here, besides, I'd say the Elf probably found his way up the road to Excalibur. You two would love it there: archers, swords, maidens in distress." He visibly perked at the idea and altered his stance to a more open position, ready to assist the Ho then find his friend. At that moment, Laure ran by again, searching amongst the clamor for her mad Emperor.

"Aragorn," she said as she stopped, skidding to a halt in expensive heels. She straightened her golden hair absentmindedly in front of her new EA. She quickly noticed the other Ho in close proximity and gave her a 'look'. Ellie had expressed interest in the Ranger, but Laure was quickly coming to the decision she did not want to share. Besides, she had three other men already, what could she possibly do with a fourth? And SHE didn't share.

Ellie snatched her opportunity. She rose from her stool, suppressing a painful head rush and forced her weak legs to walk to where Aragorn stood. She placed an increasingly sore hand lightly on his shoulder as if it were something simple and natural.

"Strider was just helping me find a waitress. Oh, there's one. Thank you," she said smoothly, looking off to where she spotted the short-skirted waitress, then back to Aragorn. As she slid past him, purposely brushing against him, she smiled sweetly at Laure then continued past. Laure glared daggers at the other Ho, then quickly smiled at the rough man in front of her.

"Lady Laure, do you require my help as well? I really must find Legolas."

"No, no, you go, I'll be all right." He kissed her hand, eying her carefully. He was still in adjustment after leaving Dorotea and being requested by a new woman. But Laure was fair and kind and he knew all would be well.

~*~*~*~*~*

Ellie grinned as she thought back to the look on Laure's face. She fancied the Ranger somewhat, but found it more satisfying to simple enjoy him from afar and occasionally rile up the Mediator. She didn't really need another man to add to her three that kept her busy enough. Granted, she was a Ho, but some things are just bodily impossible.

She had bumped into Aragorn again later with Legolas at the Excalibur, sporting their swords and bows and not calling undue attention to themselves in the process. She had blackmailed them into using their individual abilities to locate her a new slot machine and track down a wandering Han to give her more money. She had threatened the Elf with a braid fondling Kendra, even though she hadn't seen the Ho since she'd brought her a protein shake at the Belaggio, scolded her at not taking meal breaks, given her a brief update on the fountain progress them flounced off again.

Ellie was now at the Luxor. She had managed to hit a small jackpot at the Excalibur on the machine the Elf and the Ranger had tracked down for her. They had been careful to watch where she had headed next and since arriving at the Luxor she had seen neither hide nor hair of them nor any other Ho's and their related men. She had tried calling Indiana on the cell phone she had given him, since he was the only one of her EA's responsible enough to carry a phone and actually answer it. But now, HE wouldn't answer it! She'd been dismissing it, but now, even through her tired eyes and aching body she was getting upset. She hadn't gotten bothered enough to halt play or get up from her machine, because she was doing well. She had picked a dollar Haywire machine, just under the peak of the pyramid, next to a tall Egyptian statue she recognized as Bastet, and she now had around a thousand coins in the machine. She knew she should cash out and head back to her room at the Belaggi!
o for a warm bath and a hot meal, perhaps to the spa for a massage. Maybe eventually look for her men and be sure they hadn't been arrested.

Ellie reached out an aching hand, while never taking her eyes of the three swirling bars, and groped for her now warm bottle of water she'd acquired from her third stop at the Aladdin. She put her hand around it and brought it to her dry, cracked lips. At the last moment, she glanced at the glass in her hand and the smell wafting to her nose. The glass she had picked up had apparently become someone's ashtray and she had almost gulped it. Ellie sighed and pushed the nasty glass back between two machines out of reach. She took a swig out of her actual bottle of water and lit herself a cigarette, taking care to find the actual ashtray as well. Then she admitted to herself, it was time to pack it in. She pulled out her cell phone, erasing all the missed calls from the Nurse to get a clear screen and called Indy again. The phone went to voice mail again. She sighed again, louder and longer this time. Her Hochlorians definitely included the ability to get extremely angry,!
 though she didn't tend to do it very often. But now, was one of those times. Just as she had signaled for a mobile cashier to come and cash her out, she noticed her water bottle teeter on the ledge by her machine then fall to the floor. It took her dazed eyes a moment to realize that there was more shaking than just her water bottle. All the slots started jingling and the floor began to rumble. She grabbed onto the row of slots to keep her balance against the shaking. The floor just beneath her sandals began to pucker up through the carpet. Startled, Ellie fell back and landed square on her tush. The concrete finally broke through the carpet and crumbled at her feet. People were gathering now, staring at the hole, mouths gaping open. Everyone half-expected some alien to come crawling out. But to Ellie's horror Indiana was what popped above the surface.

"Ahh-hh-kk," Ellie let out a strangled cry. Indiana avoided looking at her for a moment and took in the rest of the surroundings.

"Hmm, yes, Han, you were correct, the statue is just off to the right, about ten yards I'd say."

"Yeehah!" Came a slightly muffled reply from Han, down below Indy somewhere. Even more to Ellie's shock came another reply.

"Good. Now hurry up, I need another drink," Logan growled from below.

Ellie was absolutely fuming now. Indy looked around at the gawkers and raised his hands. "Nothing to worry about folks, just some routine plumbing work. Go about your gaming, we'll be out of your way in a moment." It was then that Ellie noticed that even though Indy still wore his fedora and leather jacket, and most likely his whip as well if she could have seen his waist, he had an "Hi I'm" sticker stuck to his breast and written in Sharpie was "Bob, Plumber". The Ho almost giggled at the idiocy of it all, but her anger suppressed it

Indy finally turned to address his Ho. "Ellie, you wouldn't believe it. Did you know that there was an ancient Egyptian pyramid here? We've located the statue of Horus and are attempting to tunnel under it. I believe there is something very important there. And we've got a site mapped out in front of the Sphinx outside that we're planning to dig next. It'll make an excellent addition to the HSU Museum of Antiquities." Indy was carrying on, apparently not noticing the steam rising from Ellie. Then as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. From below the surface he mumbled a goodbye, then added, "When we find something, I'll call you."

"I might come find you before that," grumbled Logan. "Damn dust in my beer..."

The voices faded away and left Ellie staring around at questioning faces. She shrugged and smiled an, 'I have no idea'. Then she raised her hands toward the ceiling and mouthed, "Why me?"

She finally managed to turn her attention back to her machine. She was more than ready to cash out now and go find some peace in her suite. She stepped over the gaping hole in the concrete then watched, aghast, as her slot machine and all its winnings inside disappeared in a huge crashing sound into a new hole that had opened beneath it.

"INDIANA!!"

********

"Thank you," Kendra said sweetly to the umpteenth Galactic Express guy as he wheeled his dolly full of boxes back to his truck. Kendra tilted her head and whistled to herself. 'Nice butt,' she thought to herself.

"Hey, I got another one!" Tara yelled from across the way. The buff delivery driver picked up his pace, pretending not to hear the discovery of another heavy object he would have to cart away. Besides, he didn't like the looks these girls were giving him. What did they think he was, a piece of meat? He felt so cheap. He made it to his truck and sped away. If they called for another pickup he wasn't taking it.

"Think he'll be back?" Kendra asked he fellow Water Ho as she walked over to her.

"Have any of them been back more than once?" Tara asked sarcastically.

"What?" Kendra said, pathetically trying to sound innocent.

"Well, if you wouldn't try to grab all their butts," Tara teased.

"And if you'd chip smaller pieces," Kendra complained. The two continued bickering but went on with their work happily.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Just next door, inside Caesar's Forum Shops, the Nurse hummed to herself as she danced across the tile to another store. She mentally checked off her list:
Coach (
Fendi (
Louis Vitton (
Ferragamo ?

How could she have missed Ferragamo? She stopped abruptly and whirled around on her Minolo Blahnik heels. Her Servant was not far behind, struggling with the operation of a motorized shopping buggy he was riding and the towering packages that threatened to topple to the floor. She set herself in a stance, armed with a stern look to speed her Servant up, but quickly softened into a sly smile.

"There's a whole case of Hershey's syrup in the suite. The quicker we finish here, the quicker we can get back there and finish up learning your cursive," the Nurse said temptingly. Cicero perked and put the buggy in high gear. Nurse and Servant turned merrily toward their next shop.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ellie had never been to a magic show. She'd never spent much time with Remus and Sirius either, at least not outside of their shots and check-ups. They were friendly and oddly she found she felt quite protected. They had found seats in the first row, though Ellie figured some spell on the ticket agent might have aided that. Apparently they'd already been to some shows. Ellie wasn't sure what had happened (something about Lance Burton and a bunny?), but it seemed they had been disappointed in Vegas magicians. She assumed they were tolerating one more show for her sake. After Kendra had saved her from the black hole of slot addiction (which had been prolonged due to Indy's little stunt), and then their subsequent adventure on the fire engine; Indy had disappeared to find Han and Logan again, inspect their booty and hide from the police ("Damn Nazi's). Ellie had tried to go with them, but knowing they would be preoccupied with their find, Kendra had feared her friend migh!
t wander off to the slots again. She'd passed Remus and Sirius in the Belaggio lobby, still in heated discussion about American magic, and pulled them aside and presented her dilemma. She had much work to resume on the fountain and night was upon them. And besides, Belaggio security was starting to notice something. But Ellie couldn't be left alone. The wizards were happy to 'baby-sit' the vet. They were even willing to tolerate another magic show. They had not seen the fellows who liked to use tigers. They knew the feline loving vet would enjoy that. They'd used a spell to freshen her up. No need to waste time on a shower; the show was about to begin. They zapped her into an exquisite strapless, midnight blue, velvet gown. Her eyes had lit up as she glimpsed at herself in the lobby glass. Then smiled even wider when they zapped themselves as well, and were looking rather smart in Armani tuxedos.

Dorotea had celled phoned them and she and Emmy were going to meet them there. Seems Emmy was angry with the General (again) and Xani and LP were dealing with some incident of their own (had she heard the word diamonds?). They arrived just before curtain time, Dorotea looking wonderfully evil in a little black dress and sparkly Docs, and the Diva in a deep burgundy, V-neck cashmere sweater and a long black skirt, and chunky heels, of course.

Emmy tossed her thick curls and spoke loudly, "This isn't another lame attempt at Elvis is it? I don't think I can take it after earlier today."

There was a loud shushing sound from the surrounding audience members and Emmy glared around, searching for the source.

"No," whispered Sirius. "Zegfried and Ron."

Emmy rolled her eyes, "Those flamers!"

Another 'ssh' sounded as the lights dimmed and the curtain rose. Ellie sat mostly alert as the show began. It was good to be concentrating on something besides three little spinning wheels six inches from your face. The magic was cheesy after seeing Hogwarts wizards at work, but the tigers were magnificent. Even Emmy and Dorotea seemed to be having a good time, and Remus and Sirius kept their eye rolling to a minimum.

Then for the big finale, Ron walked to the edge of the stage and spoke femininely to the audience, his shrill voice booming over the speakers.

"We vill now take a volunteer vrum the audience." The room applauded as he looked about the first few rows of tables. Remus flicked his wand secretly below the table and Ron moved over the stand in front of them. "Ah, how about vis beautiful young lady in thee blue?"

Ellie gaped at him. She never got picked for stuff. Emmy shoved her out of the seat, eager to see some fun at the expense of another Ho.

The Ho let herself be led on stage and over to a large box, all the while eyeing a large white tiger just off to the side pacing in his cage. He seemed a little more eager now that the grrl was on stage and Zegfried and Ron gave each other questioning glances. 'He probably just smells McCoy and the other tigers,' Ellie thought.

As the 'magicians' began explaining the steps of their next illusion where they would turn Ellie into a tiger and back again, Emmy prodded Dor in the side, "This ought to be good." She grinned evilly. Remus and Sirius winked at each other.

Suddenly, Dor stiffened in her seat. "Hey," she whispered, leaning close to Emmy, "aren't those the goons Judy told us about?" She nodded in the direction of a couple of beefy men in bad suits who had just entered. They ambled over to a table at which sat two dumb looking blondes with extremely large, and fake boobs. Strippers.

"I don't know," said Emmy, shrugging her off. "I never saw them. And the General whammied anyway." She turned her attention back to the stage where Emmy had just disappeared into the box and one the men was twirling it around and talking gibberish.

"Well, I've been working on this transfiguration spell to turn them into toads..." Dor began explaining her plan to Emmy who wasn't listening. "...the only problem is I need a wand for transfiguration and they snapped mine..." Still Emmy was ignoring her and didn't even noticed when she'd snatched Sirius' wand from beneath his tux as he sat beside her watching the stage. "Now what was it now? Tigodifus! No...Tadipicus! No, that's not it. Toadopicus! Tigificus!" She looked up from her muttering and noticed the goons gone. 'Oh, must have worked then,' Dor thought excitedly. She was just about to tell Emmy when the crowd exploded in cheers and she noticed an agitated Bengal tiger in the box Ellie had just been in. 'Stupid illusions, mirrors and misdirection,' she thought. At least she was doing real magic.

Just as she was about to figure out how to put the wand back into Sirius' suit without him noticing, it began to glow and feel warm in her hand. She tried hiding it under the table but Sirius looked at her and his smile disappeared.

"Dorotea! What are you doing?" He scolded.

"Well, I was just trying to help out Judy. Look, it worked," she said as she pointed over at the mob men's table. "I turned them into-" she stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed the two men sitting at their table, the woman gazing stupidly at them. "But-" Dor stuttered. What had she done then? The spell had worked; the wand had told her.

She didn't have time to figure it when the applauding crowd suddenly started screaming. The tiger leaped from the cage before the 'magicians' had 'magically' turned it back into Ellie. They were frantically chasing it. It bounded off the stage and headed right to the table where the wizards and Ho's sat in shock.

"Eh, get the cat away. Dogs, I like dogs, no cats," Emmy screamed as the tiger jumped right up in the empty booth and starting mewing and roaring. The party jumped up from the table and joined the rest of the crowd as it hurried out of the auditorium. Ron was yelling something to an assistant about tranquilizers. At that the tiger took off out of the room as well, out through the lobby (to a chorus of screaming guests) and out into the busy night Strip.

A little flustered but otherwise unworried, Dorotea and Emmy convinced the wizards not to worry about Ellie. "She's probably ogling the tigers, or she's wandered back off to the slots," Emmy said, waving her hand in an act of dismissal.

"Moony, I don't like this," Sirius said quietly to his friend.
"No, I think you're right, Padfoot. Maybe we should check it out," Remus replied.

"Yes. Let's get the girls back to the hotel and then we'll look around." Sirius concluded.

Dorotea, not hearing the wizards plan was talking to Emmy. "Did that tiger smell like smoke?"

Emmy looked at her strange friend and shook her head.

None of them noticed the orange and black striped tiger following them secretly through the shadows, its stripes camouflaging it perfectly.

~end~