Sage Business

Chapter 1

The graveyard shift was about to start but it didn't officially start until Nick had his first cup of coffee. CSI Nick Stokes, like most other people, was a creature of habit and he always had a cup of coffee before he started the shift. It was like a jump-start to the day; it was the source from which determined the course of the day. His buddy Warrick Brown was never left out of the equation though this time around it was payback for a bet that he lost.

The only place to get a good cup of coffee was the café about a block from the crime lab and as per being a creature of habit, Nick stopped there. Since it was nearby, it was typical to see guys from the other shifts and the LVPD hanging out there. He greeted a few guys and stood in line for his order. While waiting he got a couple of good views of some ladies that were out late and gave a slight smile when it was clear that they were working girls.

It wasn't much to get two tall, black and he was heading back to the car. He was called to by someone from days and he turned to return the call since there was a inter department football game next weekend. Days versus nights. The pools were already going and bets were being laid by those who weren't going to be playing.

He didn't pay attention to where he was going and bumped into someone. He turned to apologize, "Sorry about that."

"Walk much?"

Nick frowned as he came face to face with a woman with very short auburn hair cut in a sort of man's regular cut and chocolate brown eyes. She was dressed as someone that was a cross between a hippie and a Goth. He noticed the dog collar on her neck and the leather gauntlets on her wrists and they were a tasteful match to the ensemble she was wearing. She wore a chocolate brown suede jacket with a black shirt underneath, black pants and workman boots with two inch soles. Her nails were painted black and she had faint purple eye shadow and if she wore lipstick, there was no sign of it. She was carrying a rather ratty looking side bag. All in all she looked like a UNLV student and she was gorgeous. He replied, "Hey, I apologized."

"Maybe you should get a seeing eye dog. You'll not run into people much," the woman replied with a faint Southern accent and a hint of sarcasm in it.

Nick bristled slightly, "Hey it was an accident and I apologized for it." His Texan accent filtered through in his agitation.

"Maybe if you weren't ogling at society's definition of a perfect woman…"

"Like you would know."

"I know that you were looking at two hookers who were brazen enough to try and solicitate in a place frequented by cops," the woman replied in a bored tone. "So you're just another male who likes to ogle. Someone up there save us." Her sarcasm increased as she looked up.

Nick shot a glare at her, "You don't know nothing."

"Right except that you're a primitive male," she shot back. Before giving him a chance to retort, she adjusted her bag and sauntered out.

Nick stood there trying to figure out what the hell her problem was. He was sure that all he did was bump into her and he did apologize. He had been raised to be a gentlemen even if the lady was being a pain in the ass. He considered her to be a bit stuck up and a tasteful Goth… if that was anything to go by. At least he was glad he didn't have to see her again and he cleared his thoughts to finish bringing the beginning of the shift coffee.

As usual it was a tightrope act of walking through the main halls of the lab but Nick was used to it. He navigated the halls all the way to the break room where Warrick was watching the news on the TV. He didn't have to announce himself since Warrick swiveled around and said, "You're late Nick man. I hope that coffee isn't cold."

Nick grinned, "Relax partner, Mindy makes a nice hot one." He put the cup in front of Warrick. "I trust we're even on the IOU?"

Warrick picked up the cup for him, "I don't know." He smirked as he took a sip. It was nice and hot still. "You might be off the hook."

"Come on, we're even," Nick replied with a smile. He and Warrick always kidded back and forth and occasionally they did bet on solving the cases. "I could use a break."

Warrick chuckled knowing that Nick was right. This made things even. "What's got you so riled up?"

"Oh a girl at the café."

"So that's why you're late," Warrick teased.

Nick made a face as he drunk his own coffee. "Not that buddy."

"Oh, she turned ya down."

"No," Nick chuckled feeling a bit annoyed at even thinking about her. "She… got a little… I bumped into her and I apologized."

"Let me guess, she didn't take it too well." Warrick couldn't help but shake his head in a good natured way. "You sure have a way with the ladies, man. She called you a Neanderthal or something?"

Nick gave a slight cough to clear his throat. "Something like that. She was all bent out of shape."

Warrick chuckled and kept his thoughts to himself. He could tell that whoever the girl was, she rattled Nick's cage good. It was rare that a girl could do that to his best friend. He would love to meet her and see her in action. "I would've loved to see that."

"Yeah I'm sure you would." Nick finished his coffee and tossed the cup. The before the shift routine was over and it was time to get to business. He didn't want to discuss it anymore and felt that a new case would take his mind off of things. "Come on. Grissom may have something for us."

Warrick finished his cup and tossed it as he followed Nick out of the break room. He couldn't help it, "So was she from one of the other shifts?"

Nick resisted the urge to tell Warrick to shut up but he knew that would only egg his friend to more questions and teasing. "No. Probably a student from UNLV and into Goth. One of those who more likely wants to change the world."

"Ah one of those. A woman of intelligence. I like it," Warrick replied. "No wonder you're wound up."

"Yeah whatever. Can you drop it?" Nick rounded the corner to the conference room to where the assignments would be given.

"No problem man." Inwardly though Warrick was laughing. Yep his buddy Nick had met his match. It made him wish he had been there to see it.

"Hey guys."

Nick and Warrick turned to see the lab rat Greg Sanders jogging up. He looked like that he had some news and was bursting to let them know. Nick grinned at the sight of the DNA tech. Even though he could occasionally put his foot in his mouth, Greg usually was a fount of information and had Nick thinking of him like the fun little brother. "Where's the fire Greg?"

Greg came to a stop with a slight panting from his jog. "Nothing. Just that a little birdy told me that we're getting a new CSI for the graveyard shift."

Nick looked at Warrick and they both looked at Greg. Nick asked, "Where did you hear that?"

Greg knew he got an audience and took a breath before continuing, "Day shift."

"Greggo," Nick began.

"You know it's day shift," Warrick finished.

"Yeah but it's consistent with the lab techs," Greg replied. "We are getting a new CSI and supposedly she knows a bit of DNA work." He gave a slight smile.

Nick couldn't help but smile. He knew that Greg had expressed interest in fieldwork. "So I take it that you're going to attempt to get into the field?"

"Maybe," Greg replied with a knowing smile. "Anyway I heard that she was requested by the sheriff to come here. Now I'm with you guys in thinking that it should have been for day shift since they could use a little… but she's slated for your guys' shift."

"Who is this new guy?" Warrick asked, interested.

"She," Greg corrected. "She is from D.C. Metro and was a lead investigator for the crime lab over there. Rumor has it that she had worked on a few high profile cases for the military and occasionally joint investigations with Baltimore PD homicide division."

Nick made a face to indicate that he was impressed. At least the new guy knew what they were doing. Still he did think it was odd and he could tell Warrick was thinking the same thing since they were a pretty good team so far. "Okay so we aren't dealing with a rookie so to speak. Anyone seen this new CSI? Got a name or something Greggo?"

"Well I think I saw her in Grissom's office but no name." Greg paused a bit. He could tell that they wanted more by the way they were looking at him. "I can tell you she's already had three guys, two from days and one from tech ask her out."

"Uh huh," Nick replied giving a sly grin in Warrick's direction, "So were you the tech that asked her out?"

Greg stood up acting offending, "No." He gave up after a while. "Yes and she accepted. Coffee date." He checked his watch and said, "Sorry, break's over. Have fun meeting her."

Nick wasn't sure at what just happened. He was certain that Greg did meet the new CSI but wasn't telling. He would have had to find out her name if he asked her out and she agreed. He looked at Warrick and could tell he was thinking the same thing. He just voiced it, "Greg asked the new guy and she accepted?"

"Might be a squint at heart. Takes one to know one," Warrick replied as they continued their way. "Better him than days."

"I'll say."

"Hey Nick, Warrick," Sara Sidle called coming in, "You hear about the new guy out of LA?"

"We heard she was from D.C," Warrick replied. It was typical of the grapevine to become tangled with information. Greg though was a better source and he did say that they were going out on a date.

"Oh. Days," Sara replied with a knowing smile. "So you heard that she's going out with Greg?"

"Yeah," Nick replied with a grin, "Still can't believe it myself."

"She's probably better than Nick's mystery woman," Warrick added, not being able to resist. He grinned at Sara.

"Really? So what she do? Say no?"

"Crashed and burned," Warrick answered.

"Hey it was not like that," Nick replied after casting a glare at Warrick. It said that he was annoyed and that his friend was going to get it later. "Just a simple overreaction to bumping into her and that's it." He could tell that Sara wasn't buying it. "It's the truth and it's a good thing it was a once in a lifetime thing because…"

When they entered the conference room Nick had turned to see Catherine and Grissom there. There was also one other person in there. He recognized who it was instantly. It looked like his bad 'morning' was going to turn into a bad day. It was her.

She knew her way through a crime lab. It was like riding a bike and it was a place that she loved. Sure the layout may be slightly different but it basically held all the same kinds of equipment. The nice thing is she was with the number two crime lab in the country even though her old lab in D.C. was just as good in her opinion. Still there was promise in the Las Vegas crime lab and she could say that she worked in the city that was made by gangsters.

She decided to take a look around after being let in and walked through. She wanted to see the lab and it seemed like a good idea and plus she had to find the office of the supervisor Gil Grissom. She could hardly wait to meet a well-known colleague she had only seen in conference. So she did what she did best and walked right in.

She found the lab easily even though she had been waylaid by a couple of guys. She couldn't help but give a slight shake of her head at the fact that the grapevine was the same here as it was in D.C. She could hardly expect her being a new arrival would be received quietly but she was hoping not to hear the whoppers she had heard but some were pretty funny. What was even funnier was the fact that her appearance belied any rumors that had been circulating. It was why she was the scientist.

One place that had her interest was the DNA lab. It was her specialty along with a few other talents in criminalistics. She walked and stood in the doorway to look at the equipment she was very familiar with.

"Um…can I help you?"

She turned to see a young man with a sort of boyish face that looked good for him. He was wearing a lab coat and a shirt that most jocks would say that a geek would wear. His hair was styled in a messy way and allowed for his natural curls to show through. She gave a smile and replied, "Oh I'm okay. Just getting a feel for the lab."

Greg Sanders studied the woman, guessing who she was right away. He liked her get up in the chocolate brown coat that offset the black she was wearing along with the faint purple eye shadow. Her hair was short, like a man's cut, but styled. Her voice held the slightest hint of a southern accent and sounded real nice. He replied, "You the new CSI?"

"I am," she replied, liking the tech even more. "Are you the DNA man?"

Greg smiled, "Yeah." He held out his hand, "Greg Sanders."

"Parker. Sage Parker," Sage replied as she took the proffered hand. "You really do have a nice set up here. I wouldn't expect anything less from one of the best crime labs in the country."

Greg felt like a bashful school kid in front of Sage Parker. "Thank you and from what I hear, you're pretty good yourself. I mean on the job. D.C. Metro right?"

"Yep," Sage replied, "Thank you Greg for the compliment. Aside from the fieldwork the guys in the lab are just as important. Teamwork." She watched as Greg seemed to blush. She got the feeling that few compliments came his way and while she had run a tight ship in D.C., she never hesitated to compliment her team when they did good work.

Greg looked for something to say since he was surprised and pleased at the compliment. Finally he said, "I see you know a bit about that and… that's good."

Sage chuckled as she adjusted her shoulder bag on her shoulder. "Don't try so hard Greggo. It takes a bit of getting used to and just can't get the Southern hospitality out of me. But I do look forward to occasionally working together. Maybe you could help me out. I was originally looking for Gil Grissom's office. Could you point me in the right direction?"

Greg immediately snapped back into reality. "Uh yeah." He pointed out the directions to Grissom's office. "Nice to be working with you…"

"You can call me Parker. Most folks do," Sage replied with a smile. "Also riles up a few people when they get a girl instead of a guy. Plus the dog collar throws them off." She pointed at her collar.

"Sure. Well nice to meet you Parker," Greg replied, not minding at all that she called him by the nickname Nick occasionally used. It sounded nice coming from her. He was going to like working with her and watched as she started heading in the direction of Grissom's office. A sudden idea occurred to him and he trotted after her and called, "Hey, Parker."

Sage turned towards Greg, "Yeah?"

"You wanna go out for some coffee. Like a welcome coffee when the shift is over?" He held his breath thinking she was going to refuse.

He was surprised when she said, "I'd like that. See ya later Greggo."

It left Greg on air. He was able to finish up what he was working on faster and to the beat of his choice of music. It was then he spotted Nick and Warrick and decided to give them the heads up.

Meanwhile Sage found Grissom's office and walked in since the door was open. She was immediately drawn to the specimen samples on the shelf. The two headed scorpion and the radiated pig held her attention and she spent some time staring at it. She then noticed the orange kneed tarantula in his glass case and smiled sadly. She missed her pet that she had but he had a good home.

She noticed she was being watched and said, "You have a very nice specimen of tarantula." She turned to see the one she knew was Gil Grissom and asked, "Gil Grissom?"

Gil Grissom studied his new hire as she studied him. He was used to most things in the lab like Greg and his music but the appearance was something he didn't expect, especially from a top forensic scientist from D.C. Metro. He noted how she treated his specimens with fascination and respect and approved. She was a scientist and a damn good one. He gave a nod and a slight smile, "Yes."

Sage held out her hand, "Parker, formerly of D.C. Metro."

Grissom gave a gentle smile, "Sage Parker does not need any introduction," and took the proffered hand. "Welcome to Las Vegas."

Sage smiled, "Glad to be here. Looking forward to work with one of the best entomologists in the country." She finished the shake and put her hands together. "You do have some interesting specimens here… makes me jealous." She paused a moment to study the elder scientist. She noted that he liked to observe.

Grissom looked at Sage and asked, "You collect?"

"Mostly things that colleagues have given me over the years and a few things I've collected on trips out of the country," Sage replied as she took the seat that Grissom offered. "You know we sort of met once at a convention. You were discussing the bugs and decomp in arid conditions. Very interesting with the case study of the vic wrapped in the blanket."

Grissom was impressed. "You were there?"

"Yeah. We didn't actually meet but I was there. I was also presenting on forensic behavioral analysis and DNA profiling," Sage replied. "Joys of being good at what you do." She noticed Grissom was still watching and observing. She studied him back. Finally she said, "Look I know that you probably are thinking that it's odd for me to leave Metro and come here but I do say this: that I'm here to work."

Grissom was well aware of Sage Parker's reputation. He had the privilege of listening to her lecture and found her to be very well articulated and intelligent. He had made inquiries then and learned about her work for D.C. Metro and occasional forays into military and FBI. He was willing to overlook the fact that she dressed in Goth with the dog collar because she was a good scientist. If anything the lab should be honored to have her work with them even though the sheriff saw it as a feather in his cap. "Okay. I'm sure you'll do great here so if you just sign the necessary paperwork, we can get started on the shift." He pushed forward the file containing the necessary paperwork towards Sage.

Sage picked up the pen and read over them. It was the standard fare of death or personal injury on the job waiver. The other paperwork she had finished months ago. She signed and put the pen down. "Well I'm at your disposal Boss."

"Technically I am your supervisor but you do have seniority," Grissom replied. He closed the file and set it aside to turn it. "If you come with me, I'll introduce you and get you started on your first case."

"Looking forward to it," Sage replied as she stood up. "Oh and no I don't want to donate for your experiments." She gave a grin at the look on Grissom's face. "I've heard."

Grissom thought this was going to be an interesting start to the shift. That she knew her way around the lab, he had seen when she came in. Her confidence and knowledge spoke volumes and he did wonder why she would leave her position to come out here. He didn't say anything though and led her to the conference room where Catherine Willows was waiting for her assignment. He introduced them, "Catherine, I'd like you to meet Sage Parker from…"

"D.C. Metro, I heard," Catherine replied. She smiled at Sage. "Hi I'm Catherine."

"Sage but I tend to go by Parker," Sage replied. "Pleased to meet you."

"Nice collar. Classy," Catherine replied.

Sage grinned and replied, "Thanks. You'd look good in one too. I'm thinking subtle but the hint of authority. I know a guy who makes them. I'll put in a good word."

"I might take you up on that," Catherine replied, liking Sage immediately. She actually liked the ensemble. It suited her.

Grissom gave them a couple of seconds before he handed a slip to Catherine, "Got a B&E in Henderson. Take Sara with you."

Catherine took it just as Sara, Nick and Warrick entered. She noticed how Nick froze the moment he laid his eyes on Sage. Her reaction was different. This was going to be good. She waited while Grissom introduced Sage to the others. Nick was the last and he looked like he had just swallowed a glass of sour milk and she could tell that Warrick was trying not to laugh. It seemed that this night was just getting started.

A/N: Just new to the fandom but not to fanfiction myself. Enjoy.