AN: Hey, there! I had to write about Nicky he's to adorable. I had this in my mind for a long time, i just had to get it out onto the computer. So here it is, my first chapter. I don't know when I'll be able to update, but hopefully it'll be soon. Reviews are welcomed. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation or it's characters.


Old Job, New Crime Lab

I'm on my way to my new precinct, and I'm already running a little late. I had the night shift, which is a big difference from my day shift at my old precinct. I moved to Las Vegas a few weeks ago, after an incident at my old precinct in Tampa. My partner and I were hunting down a notorious serial killer and we didn't wait for backup like we should have.

We got caught off guard by the killer and were ambushed by him, he stabbed my partner several times in the neck and came after me. I tried to fight him off the best I could, but I ended up getting slash up in the process. When I was able to disarm him he was able to pick up a pipe that was in the alley way and hit me in the head.

I don't remember anything after that, but other officers were able to apprehend the suspect and I woke up in the local hospital. I had a nasty contusion on my head and tons of scratches from the knife littering my arms and chest. I was apparently in the hospital for two weeks before I woke up and my captain told me everything that happened when I did wake.

The captain was the one who said I should move and start over. It was hard getting over my partners death and I didn't know if I could work in the field anymore. Since I was a kid I wanted to be in forensics and fight crime, then when I finally graduated in the top of my class at the University of Miami I was ecstatic.

Two years ago I joined the Tampa police department and it all went downhill. I was making simple mistakes and trying to take down every bad guy in town. Three months before the incident I started picking up on things and I was regaining my skills. I was even in line for a promotion and my partner couldn't have been more proud.

My partner wasn't romantic with me, but we did have a slight connection and I wondered if he was still alive if he was still alive. I sighed and looked out my car window as I sat at a red light. I missed Tampa a lot, Florida has been my home since I was born and now I'm in a new state, new city, and where the night life is booming.

I eventually got to the Las Vegas Police Department and I stood by my car looking over the building. I was nervous for many different reasons, starting my job up again and having to get to know a whole new team. From what my Captain said, Grissom, is a really cool guy and very smart. My captain said he went to school for a while with Grissom at UCLA and they had a few classes together.

He told me that he put a good word in for me and Grissom would be happy to put me on his team. I was reluctant at first to take it, but eventually after some thought and support of my family, I decided it would be best and that's why I'm here now. So, I'm going to pull myself together and walk into that precinct and begin a new life.

I walked into the precinct and went to the floor I was told the forensic lab was on. I walked off the elevator and looked for the office of Gil Grissom.

"Excuse me Ms., do you know where Gil Grissom's office is?" I asked a blond haired lady.

"Yes I do, I can take you to him. I'm Catherine Willows," she said extending a slender hand.

I shook it and said, "Hi, I'm Timi Pedal."

"Nice to meet you, I didn't know we were getting a new addition," she said as she let go of my hand.

"Nice to meet you too. I guess they were keeping it on the down low," I said.

"Yeah," she said.

She led me to an office and the door was open. An older man was sitting at a desk and looking at papers. Catherine knocked on the door and he looked up. He was wearing glasses and really wasn't too bad looking for an older guy.

"What's' up Catherine?" he said to her.

"Timi Pedal is here to see you," she said pointing to me.

"Oh yes I was expecting you, you're late," he said.

"Sorry, I lost track of time," I said.

"Its fine, come on in. Thank you, Catherine," he said.

"No problem," she said and left.

"I'm Gil Grissom, I heard lots of good things about you from, Lieutenant Davenport. I'm sorry for what happened to you and your partner, I hope you're ready to work again," he said.

"Thank you, sir. I am ready to work again, it's been a while, but I'm ready to start over," I said.

"Call me Grissom, and I'm glad. It's slow right now, but it will probably pick up later tonight. Until then I'll show you around," he said.

"Okay," I said.

"Welcome aboard to the night shift CSI Pedal." Grissom said as he got up and outstretched a hand.

I shook it and said, "Thank you sir, I mean Grissom."

He smiled and started to walk out. When I turned I noticed a whole bunch of bugs, a bulletin of cases, and books around his room.

"Oh, I like bugs," he said.

"I see that," I said taking a look at a two headed scorpion.

It gave me the creeps, let's just say I'm not a bug person. It could be the sweetest bug on the planet, and I still would run screaming in the other direction.

"Not a bug person, huh?" he said.

"No, not at all. It's kind of cool though," I said.

"I think your one of the first person to say that. Come on let's go," he said while he laughed.

Grissom showed me around the lab, the cafeteria and locker room. He even took my blood for purposes I'm still not sure of. I was in the locker room now and putting stuff in my new designated locker. A man came in with short black hair and an adorable smirk on his face. He was quite handsome and I wondered if we'd be working together. He started putting things in his locker and he looked over at me. I don't think he even knew I was there right away.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even notice you," he said with a southern accent.

"It's fine, I'm Timi Pedal. I just joined the night shift," I said.

"Really? I'm Nick Stokes, CSI level 3, been working here for a while now it's nice to see a new face," he said.

"Nice to meet you CSI Stokes," I said.

"You can call me Nick. I'll see you around Timi," he said.

He closed his locker and walked out of the room. I think Nick is very hot, but I must keep myself together. Most places it's frowned upon to fraternize with your co-workers, so I'll make sure to just stay strictly in the friend zone. Another man came in and looked at me funny.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Timi Pedal, I'm new to the night shift," I said.

"That's what Nick was saying to me as I walked bye. I'm Warrick Brown, nice to meet you, Pedal," he said.

"You too," I said and left the room.

"Pedal, we have a case. Do you want it, unless you're not ready for field work yet?" Grissom said stopping me.

"I'll go, I can do it," I said.

"Here's the file and also your new badge. Brief yourself on it, I'll put Nick on the case with you," he said.

"Okay Grissom," I said taking the items.

Nick walked bye and Grissom called his name.

"What's up, do we have something?" Nick asked.

"Yes double homicide, near the housing center on 3rd street. You and Timi are going to work together," Grissom said.

"Okay, we're on it. Come on, partner," he said.

I went with Nick and hopped into his black SUV. While he was driving he struck up a conversation with me.

"When did you move here?" he asked.

"About a month ago," I said.

"Where from?" he asked.

"Tampa, Florida," I said.

"Cool, I don't mean to pry or anything, but what's your story?" he asked.

"What makes you think I have a story," I said.

"Everyone has a story, whether it's good or bad. I saw some scars on your hand and wrist. There light, signifying it was a while ago, what happened?" he asked.

I pushed a hand through my short dark brown hair and I told him what happened and how I came to getting a job here in Sin City.

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. I moved here from Dallas, because I felt I could be my own man here. Didn't have to compete with being as good as my mom or dad, who's a lawyer and a judge," he said.

I nodded and looked out the window of the SUV. The rest of the trip was silent and eventually we arrived at the scene. The scene was bustling with uniformed officers and Crime scene tape was out holding back the nosy onlookers. We got out and Nick gave me an extra kit he had in the back trunk. A bald headed man came up to us and said, "Nick, we have two dead at the scene, no witnesses. Who's she?"

"Captain Brass, meet the newest member of the night shift at the crime lab, Timi Pedal," Nick said.

"Oh, nice to meet you Pedal. You two go check out the scene," he said.

We started looking at the scene and placing number cards down by evidence to mark them. Nick and I were photographing everything we could, including the two victims. Nick started laughing and I gave him a funny look.

"Sorry, but when you crinkled your nose like that, you looked old enough to still be in high school," he said.

"Everyone says that, no one think I'm a cop until they seriously look over my badge. I'm twenty five, but look like I'm fifteen," I said.

"Ha, that sucks, but I guess that's good sometime, especially when after a criminal. They wouldn't think twice about you being able to arrest them," he said.

"Yeah, I guess," I said.

We got back to the case and eventually they took the bodies away to be examined by the coroner.

"I think we got everything, I don't see much of anything. They must have took the gun with them," Nick said looking around the scene.

"There's an anomaly with that trash can. It's tilted to the side, while the other is straight against the wall," I said.

"Nice catch, let's go check it out, Pedal," he said.

Nick moved the trash can and we found a promising piece of evidence, a bullet lodged in the wall of the building.

"You want to do the honors?" he asked.

"It would be my pleasure," I said.

I got my tweezers out and dislodged the bullet from the wall.

"It looks like a .45," Nick said.

"It does," I said while looking at it.

"Let's take it back to the lab," he said.

"Okay," I said.

I placed it in a yellow evidence bag and placed it in my kit. We headed back to the lab after we collected the rest of our evidence. I met the Medical Examiner, Dr. Robbins, who was a cool older man. He gave us great details on the two dead victims. I also met one of the forensic experts named Greg Sanders, he was kind of cute and dorky, about my age. He was super friendly and I couldn't deny I liked him a little bit too.

"Hey I got a hit off the bullet," Greg told us.

We went to the lab he was working in and he briefed us on what he found.

"Bullet is linked to a special .45 that was linked to a special local gun store. Customers pay a fortune to put a logo on their bullet, so every time the gun fires it places the logo on the bullet. This one has a skull and crossbones," Greg explained.

"That's a little stupid to have it custom made, easier to track you down," I said.

"True, but people are crazy these days. Anyway it's called Legendary Smith Shop, near Roosevelt and Delton Street," he said.

"Thanks Greg. We'll go check it out," Nick said.


Nick and I went down to the gun shop and went up to the front desk.

"How can I help you this evening," a bulky looking man with tattoos said.

"I'm Officer Stokes and this is Officer Pedal, we're looking into a murder," Nick said holding up his badge.

"Damn, I don't know nothing about a murder, I swear," he said.

"We're not accusing you, sir. We just want to know about a gun you sold," I said.

"All right, I can help," he said.

"We're looking for a gun you sold with a specific hammer that places a skull and crossbones on the back of the bullet when fired," Nick said as he showed the man a picture of the bullet.

"Oh the .45 I sold. That guy gave me the creeps personally, he barely said any word to me. The only thing he said was about his purchase. Me and my co-worker, Ralph, tried to make small talk with the man while trying to help him pick a gun. He barely even blinked, paid in full though, $350 for the special gun," he said.

"Cash?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, but I still write names down, in case there's a malfunction or problem. Also it takes about a week to finish the gun, so we contact the customer when it's done," he said.

"So what's his name," Nick asked.

"Parker Baxter, I have his address too," he said.

'"We'll take that too," Nick said.

The man gave us all the information we needed and we headed off to Baxter's apartment. Nick called Grissom and told him what we found out. We arrived at Baxter's house and a red truck was parked in the drive way.

"You have your gun?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Be ready for anything," he said.

"Okay," I said.

I wasn't quite ready for a showdown with a criminal again, but I couldn't put our lives in danger for not being ready to handle it yet. Maybe I shouldn't have come back yet, I should have waited. We reached the front door and Nick knocked on the door.

"Who is it," a man said from inside.

"LVPD," Nick said.

No sound came from inside and Nick and I shared a look. Then next thing I know a bullet flies through the door.

"Get down," Nick said.

Nick kicked open the door and I heard gunshots being fired off. I couldn't move I was stuck there replaying what happened to me and my old partner. I placed my hands over my ears and closed my eyes. I heard tires screeching and more gunshots.

"Timi! Timi, hey it's okay," Nick said.

He touched my arm and I flinched away from him. I couldn't bare looking up at him and facing what just happened.


We were back at the lab and I was sitting in Grissom's office with Nick by my side.

"We put out a BOLO on Baxter's truck, I'm glad you two are all right. Timi, can you continue this case?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Don't go too hard on her Grissom. It could have happened to anybody," Nick said.

"I know, Nick. She's been through a traumatic event, but if she freezes up again she could be putting herself and others in danger," Grissom said.

Nick nodded and I said, "I understand, I'm really sorry. I won't freeze next time, I promise."

"I hope not, let's go finish up this case with no more incidences," he said.

We nodded and left Grissom's office. We went to the break room awaiting word on our whereabouts of the perpetrator.

"Hey, Timi," Nick said.

"Yeah," I said.

"What happened out there, don't blame yourself for it, it could have happened to anybody. Just know it's not your fault, PTSD is normal after you've gone through something that traumatic," he said.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," I said.

"No problem, I just don't want to see my new co-worker resigning after her first day," he said.

"I don't think I'll be resigning any time soon. Even though I've been through a lot, I still love my job, and getting criminals off the streets. I don't want to give that up, I worked too hard to get here," I said.

"That's the spirit. Maybe when the case is over, we can all get some breakfast, there's a diner we all go to," Nick said.

"Sounds good," I said.

"Great," I said.

Warrick walked in and said, "Hey Nick, glad you're okay. You too new girl, heard you froze out there. Not good with conflict?"

"Leave her alone, Warrick. She's been through a lot before she came here," Nick said.

"Damn I'm sorry. I didn't know, did you get attacked?" Warrick asked.

I explained to him what happened to me and in the meantime Catherine and Sara Sidle, came in and listened too.

"Wow, I'm so sorry," Sara said.

"Yeah, I honestly didn't know," Catherine said.

"Most people wouldn't even have the guts to talk about something like that," Warrick said.

"My therapist thought it be best to voice it, instead of keeping it all bottled up inside. So when people ask, I don't mind sharing," I say.

"That's cool," Nick said.

Nick's phone rang and he answered it.

"You got him… He's in interrogation… We'll be right there," Nick said.

We all looked expectantly at him and he said, "Parker Baxter has been brought in."


Nick and I were in the interrogation room staring down, Parker, trying to get him to talk.

"You know you're going to prison for a long time Mr. Baxter. Two counts of murder, two counts for discharging a weapon at officers," Nick said.

"I did not kill, Maddie and Dexter," he whispered.

"It was your gun, was it not?" Nick said.

"It was, but I gave it to Rodger," he said.

"Who's Rodger?" I asked.

"A friend," he said.

"A friend who'll let you go down for murder," I said.

He sighed and said, "We just went to talk, things got heated and escalated. Dexter punched Rodger and Rodger took my gun and shot Dexter, then Maddie."

"Tell us where Rodger lives," Nick said.

"I'm not squealing to the police, are you crazy?" he said.

"It's either tell us who Rodger is or go to jail for two murders you didn't commit," Nick said.

Parker looked between us and spilled where his friend lived. He even gave us his full name, Rodger Kerger. We went to the address he gave us and found a small trailer park just outside the city. We found Rodgers trailer and knocked on the door. We heard the back door shut and we bolted to the back.

We looked for Rodger in some wooded area and couldn't find a single thing, we decided to split up and I was walking alone flashing my flashlight in every direction I could. I heard a twig snap and I looked around, but saw nothing. Next thing you know I'm grabbed from behind and I screamed.

"Shut it, copper. I ain't going to jail again," Rodger said.

He tried to drag me with him, but I stood my ground so I wouldn't budge.

"I ain't playing around," he said pulling a knife out.

He put it against my throat and said, "Come with me or die right here."

"Put the knife down," I heard a familiar voice say.

"What are you gonna do about it? You wouldn't want to shoot your lady friend would you," Rodger said.

"Leave her alone," Nick said panicked.

In the back of my mind flashed to that very horrible incident that happened, I was not going to let that happen again. I gained some courage and pulled the man's arm away from my throat, I ducked under his arm and went to the side of him. Nick took the opportunity and shot the man in his shoulder. Rodger dropped the knife and fell to the ground, holding his injured arm.

Uniformed cops made their way over and took Rodger away in handcuffs.

"You all right?" Nick asked as he came over to me.

He assessed me and made sure I wasn't injured.

"I'm fine," I said.

He looked down in my brown eyes with his own and quickly looked away. He backed up from me and said, "How did you do that?"

"I gathered my courage and dipped into my self-defense courses I took when I was younger," I said.

"Awesome, I'm just glad it worked out," Nick smiled slightly.

"Nick, Timi, are you two okay?" Grissom asked.

"Fine Grissom. Timi handled it really well. Helped me get a good shot of the suspect and take him down," Nick said.

"That's great, I'm glad you two made it out. Nice work Timi and Nick," Grissom said.

"Thanks," Nick and I said in unison.


The rest of the early morning, we finished our paper work closing out the case. Grissom had me in his office giving me my first evaluation, and he said I did a superb job despite my little hiccup at Baxter's home. He gave me a good praise and told me to keep up the good work.

I got my purse from the locker room and Nick came in.

"Hey, Timi. Heard you're going to be staying here a while since you did a good job," Nick said.

"Yeah, I'm glad I wasn't fired on my first day," I said.

"Yeah. Hey, are you still up for breakfast? I asked everyone else, but they passed. Your still welcomed to come if you want," Nick said.

"Um... Sure, I'd like that. Maybe you can give me some advice about living here. It's been a month, but I've mostly been cooped up in my home," I said.

"It'll be my pleasure, to be your official guide of Las Vegas. Let's go get some breakfast," Nick said.

Nick and I walked out of the locker room with him explaining the crime lab, Las Vegas, and great food places to go. We had a great time together at the diner. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, both on and off work.