And Walk Away a Savior
A/N: I'm not quite sure how exactly I'm gonna categorize this one… Yay! And great, an OC. We're all doomed! An either implied or slight GSR warning (later in the story, of course), so if you don't like it… Well, yes. I don't own CSI or the characters described in it.
Chapter One:
They All Cheat at Cards
It was yet another uneventful Saturday night. Uneventful was perhaps the wrong word for the lab itself, Grissom had a case and Catherine was presenting in court on Monday, so her Warrick and Nick were constantly in meeting. Sara and Grissom had their hands full with a triple homicide, but what did he have to do?
Despite being a CSI Level One, he wasn't on a case. Why? For one, he didn't want a triple homicide, but this case was Level Two or higher, so he was left alone. Though that wouldn't be for long. He only had a little farther to go before…
Level Two.
It was like a video game really, you gathered enough points from each case, and then once you had a certain amount, you moved up to the next level.
The lab wasn't very quiet, he had a Marilyn Manson CD on, and the halls were pretty busy. He glanced up at the clock on the wall, which read 11:20 in big, bold numbers. There wasn't much to do either, the toxicology reports were all finished and waiting patiently on the desk in the middle of the room, he'd scanned for possible fingerprint matches for hours, and had finally finished. And now that he had finished, there was nothing to do.
This generally happens when you finish all your assigned work, Greg Sanders was absolutely no exception. But that didn't mean it was still boring.
Though the door opened and Sara filed in with a young woman, maybe twenty-eight or so by the looks of it, following behind her like a lost dog. She had long brown hair, to her shoulders or so, and the standard issue shade of blue eyes. Her skin was pale, to the point where it was unusual for Vegas, but not abnormally so.
"Hey, have you finished the tox report Grissom wanted? And we're gonna need some fingerprinting done." She put a small bag of items on the desk next to the papers. Greg got up quickly and handed the three separate papers to Sara.
"The two ladies had quite a bit of alcohol in their systems, and chemicals substantial to painkillers. Possible overdose? The man had a much higher blood alcohol level, so he was definitely out of it when he was put out of it." Greg explained, pointing to the different bars that represented the different substances. "Other than that, they were completely fine. Any leads?"
"Well," Sara started, before remembering the woman was behind her. "Oh! I'm sorry, Greg, have you met Lenore yet?" She asked, moving aside so the apparently shy woman couldn't hide behind her anymore. "She's a Lab Technician and a CSI in training."
"Hey…" She said quietly, extending a hand.
"Hey. I'm Sanders. Greg Sanders." He said in his best James Bond voice, "Lab Technician and CSI Level One." He added the last bit with only a hint of pride. "Wanna go get coffee later?"
"Um…" She mumbled awkwardly before Sara stepped in, "He does that to all the new girls, don't mind him." She shook her head and pointed Lenore in the way of the door, giving her a gentle push before following her. "And don't forget the fingerprinting!" With that, she shut the door.
As soon as they made it to the other room, Grissom was asking for the report. Sara explained it carefully, handing him the paper before opening a small box of what seemed to be personal belongings. A purse – which appeared to be stuffed with make up – a small beach bag with towels, sunscreen and the appropriate items, but not much more than that. A few smaller, stray items that must have been at the crime scene, were in the box as well, though all of them seemed boring and uninteresting.
Lenore sat down on the chair, observing Grissom and Sara as they worked. She wasn't CSI yet, so she couldn't actually help them – she'd been shadowing Sara, which was why she was even in the room in the first place – but she could go back to the lab and get acquainted with it, now couldn't she? Just not now though, she had important things to observe in their work.
"Once Catherine gets back, I'll have her give you a tour of the place," Sara started, pausing her conversation over the evidence, "I'll have her set you up in the lab once Greg takes his break."
Lenore nodded quietly, making only a small noise in recognition – seeing as Sara's back was to her. "That's fine."
The night wore on for what seemed like ages, Sara and Grissom taking out each item of the box and carefully examining it for anything out of the norm. Eventually they finished them off, Sara glancing at the clock. "Hey Griss, do you think Catherine'd be back by now?"
"That depends," He started, writing something down on a piece of paper. "How long ago did she leave, and why was she departing?"
"Something about Lindsey, I think… Had to pick her up from a friend's house; she left about an hour ago."
"Then logically she should be back."
Sara raised a finger to Lenore, signifying to wait a moment, and went in pursuit of Catherine's location, leaving the technician with Grissom.
"So how do you like Las Vegas?" He asked casually, still writing things down on the piece of paper.
"It's… Different." She replied curtly, watching the door very carefully. "Very different."
"Do you mean that as a good thing?" Grissom didn't take his eyes off the paper this time, but instead was forking through the wallet of one of the purses. "Different is a very controversial word, you know, vague and often misunderstood."
"Vegas has it's oddities that set it apart from any place in particular. Those things can be portrayed either as a pro or con, it depends on the opinion. I think it's a fine place, if you like gambling and murder."
"Well put," He offered a small smile as Sara walked back inside, Catherine in tow.
"Lenore, this is Catherine Willows. She's a CSI and Supervisor." Sara said, moving aside as Lenore got up from her seat, shaking Catherine's hand.
"So I understand you're filling in for Greg as a lab technician… And training to be a CSI? My, my." Catherine smiled, turning for the door. "Well I'd better show you where everything is first."
The woman nodded shyly, following Catherine out of the office.
"You think she'll be any good?" Sara asked Grissom, turning toward him.
"Only time will tell."