Love, Leaves, and Dead Bodies

"I walk a lonely road,
The only one that I have ever known,
Don't know where it goes,
But it's only me, and I walk alone…" A voice drifted softly through the empty hallways of the Las Vegas crime lab. The voice was obviously male, by the sounds of it, so lets go see who might be here so early, shall we? Nobody in the lab…not even Grissom is here yet…so who might it be…why, it's none other than Nick Stokes, CSI level 3. Jet-black hair, with that slightly mussed-up look that some ladies go for, and those brown pools for eyes, he seems…to be quite bored. Lounged back in one of the couches, throwing a paper ball up into the air and catching it. Yup, he was definitely bored.

He sighed, catching the paper one last time, then tossing it into the garbage. He'd just finished a case, and was waiting for his supervisor to arrive to give him a new case. He wondered, to himself, if he would be working with Sara again…not that he didn't like Sara, but she could be a bit…overpowering. He continued singing the familiar song by Green Day to himself, apparently unaware that someone could hear him…

That someone wasn't well known in the crime lab…actually she wasn't known at all, as she'd only just arrived about five minutes ago. To examine her, from the top down, you'd find dirty-blonde hair, slightly curly, falling to just above her shoulders. Blue eyes gave the slightly tanned face some colour, followed by her nose, which was slightly indented at the bridge from 17 years of wearing glasses. She'd finally got rid of them a couple years ago, to her relief. Pale pink lips made their home in the lower half of her face, making the innocent-looking female a little pretty. Certainly no super-model, but not too bad.

Her figure was good, and she was slim and had good muscle-tone. You must be wondering at this point who this mysterious female is, and why she is in the crime lab. Well, this is Danielle Ryan, the newest member of the CSIs little 'family'. Well, she would be eventually, anyway…she hoped…She'd just moved to Las Vegas from up in Southern Canada, where she'd had a job in the crime lab of Toronto, as a lab technician. After a few years of doing that, she'd gotten tired of waiting to be an intern. So, she packed up her stuff, and shipped herself down to Las Vegas. Luckily, with her previous experience, and her recommendations, she'd gotten a job fairly quickly. So, her first day as an intern, and as a member of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, which was both nerve-racking and exciting.

Ok, dropped off my stuff in my assigned locker…didn't she say to find the break room, and that Gil Grissom would be in soon? Were her current thoughts when the soft singing broke into her thoughts, and she looked up, curious, then started to walk along the hallway, tracing it to it's source, which was obviously the break room. She paused in the doorway, listening to the unknown male, who was obviously unaware of her presence. After a moment, she knocked softly on the doorframe, which made him jump and stop in mid-verse, jumping to his feet.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you…" She said, smiling. "Was that Boulevard of Broken Dreams you were singing? I love that song." Nick was still staring at her, obviously totally lost. "Uh…ya…it was…" He said uncertainly, trying to figure out who she was and why she was in the crime lab.
"Oh, right…forgetting my manners, I guess I should introduce myself…" She stuck out one fair-skinned hand, smiling. "Danielle Ryan. I'm the new intern, nice to meet you…" She waited for him to give his name, still smiling warmly. "Oh, right, I thought I heard something about a new intern." He said, smiling a dazzling smile himself, now that he had an explanation for her presence. "Nick Stokes, nice to meet you too."
"Where is everyone, anyway? You're the first person I've seen so far…" She asked, still smiling, and released his hand after a moment.
"Well, Grissom should be arriving shortly, he's almost always at least half an hour early for the shift, so is Sara…as for Catherine and Warrick, they'll be here in about ten minutes, I would guess." He said, nodding, examining her casually. She's pretty… He thought to himself, not in a dirty way, just a casual way.

"Oh, I see…" She said, nodding, examining him as well, although she didn't judge people on looks. She also often put up a wall around her heart, as she'd been hurt before in love, and wasn't easy to get close to anymore.

As they were talking, Mr. Gilbert Grissom walked in, holding some folders, closely followed by Sara Sidle, Catherine Willows, and Warrick Brown, who, coincidentally, had all arrived at around the same time. Grissom, without even addressing her, started talking to the others. "Catherine, you and Sara got a DB over on Elm's street…" He said, handing them the folder, but neither of them left, gazing quizzically at Dani, who was feeling rather uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot. Grissom didn't seem to notice, just handed Warrick a folder, telling him to take Greg with him, who had just appeared in the doorway. Although the others had been quiet, Greg didn't seem to be so discreet.
"Who's the cute new girl?" He asked, doing a fairly lame attempt at flirting as he strolled into the break room, standing next to Dani, who smiled weakly. Grissom glanced at her, then back down at his folder, and when he didn't say anything, she took the initiative.
"Danielle Ryan…nice to meet you…" She said, trailing off at the awkward silence, which was quickly broken by Catherine, who had put two and two together. "Oh, you must be the new intern, right?" She asked, and when Dani nodded earnestly, the whole tension seemed to relax, and everyone was introducing themselves at once.
"Catherine Willows, great to meet you…"
"Warrick Brown, how's it going?"
"Sara Sidle, hope we get to work together!"

"Greg Sanders…also known as the Cute One."
Nick and Grissom just sort of watched, Nick grinning in an amused way, and Grissom looking a bit peeved. Soon, however, the others had left to go on their separate assignments, Greg with a blow-kiss goodbye, which she didn't return, and she was alone with who she assumed was Gil Grissom, and Nick.

"I'm Gil Grissom…" He said, finally, extending his hand, which Dani shook solemnly. "You have the pleasure of accompanying me and Nick here to our assignment." He handed Nick the folder, and she peered over his shoulder to read it. "Three dead bodies found in a river…" She read out loud to herself, and was immediately excited. "Sounds…challenging." She said finally, smiling.

((You guys better review, or you'll never see the next chapter…you hear me? NEVER!! Muhahahahahahaha!! Ya, I know, it's short, but there'll be more!! As long as you review…))