Hello! The pen name's michelaski and I decided to take a plunge(after a few gruling weeks of self doubt and asking some people for their input which I thank youguys very much for)and publish my very first CSI fic. I admit that some of the terminology won't be acurate but I'm willing to try my hardest with it and the same thing goes for the other languages that aren't Spanish, I'm Puerto Rican and that's my native tounge so...no further explinations. Since the summary's on the link you clicked might as well just write down the pairings...
Pairings: GregOC for the most part but there are likely chances of CathOC, GrissomSara, NickOC and WarrickOC(I just love to create characters! Noticiable?)
and of course the ever so painfull disclaimer: I don't own CSI or anything related to it...Just my OC's and that's it! Btw, takes place a bit after season five and the team's back together!
Chapter One
Attitude Needs No Translation
"Hello Brass," said Grissom as he was granted entrance to the crime scene. Brass seemed more than a bit preocupied as he greeted his collegue and friend, Gil Grissom.
"The victim is Caroline Quiñones, age 25 and a local. Her boyfriend found her, she wasn't answering the door or his phone calls so he used the spare key to come in and saw this. Apprently the neighbors haven't heard anything but this seems to be a serial case to me...I've read something about some cases lately with the same pattern or something," Brass said as he closed his notepad, suddenly, it dawned on him. "Do you remember the international serial killer that last struck in Spain?"
"Yeah," Grissom responded. "He's all over the international news, why?"
"I want the whole night shift on this case. He just struck in Vegas..." Brass said as he picked up his cell phone and began to dial a number.
"You sure?" Grissom asked in response as he picked up his own cell phone.
"Yep, everything is the same as the last case, I'm positive," Brass responded as he left the house. Grissom called each member of the night sihft, including the pair that had their night off. If Brass was right, they'd stumbled upon a very big case.
Meanwhile...
"Hey," said a small light brown haired female as she answered her phone. She looked out the window of the building she was inside off and saw a tall guy with spiky hair answering his cell phone as well. From the look on his face, she could tell that he was disappointed and that he had been stood up. It usually happened to guys like him...she returned the focus to the person that had called her. "I'll be right there," she finished saying as she hung up, slung her bag over her shoulder and ran out, running to where she had parked her car. On the way, she crashed into somebody and nearly fell. "I'm very sorry...I'm kind off in a rush! Goodnight!" she cried and without even looking back, got into her blue BMW X5 van and drove off. The person she bumped into, just shook his head slightly, not understanding what the rush is since it was late at night in the first place. He let out a sad sigh and proceeded to get into his car and drive to work for an emergency meeting he was called to.
Back at the lab...
"Who did you call Brass?" Grissom asked as he entered the Las Vegas Crime Lab building.
"Someone. She should be well on her way in. Did you call the meeting?" Brass asked.
"Yes but we should be looking for a translator to make the calls for all the previous cases," Grissom pointed out.
"I already did, that's whom I called," Brass explained as they entered the break room.
"So...did you go out with Greg?" asked Nick to Sara as he sat down.
"Damn! I knew I forgot something!" Sara cried out in response. "No use to explain why now...he probably won't talk to me for a while..."
"You've got that right Sidle," Greg said as he came in and sat down in the far end of the table. He still couldn't believe that it happened. He thought she was better than that.
"Sorry I'm late guys, I was checking on something for my case with Catherine," Warrick said as he joined the crowd in the room.
"You're not working that case anymore, we're working the international serial case. I just recieved a partial copy of the documents in the Florida case and compared it to ours, it's the same and the CSI's in Florida compared it to the Puerto Rican case. This guy is serious about what he does..." Grissom said as he placed papers on the table for everyone to take a look at.
"Sorry I'm late Grissom," Catherine responded as she walked in.
"Don't bother explaining Catherine, just sit down. We're supposed to be having a special guest arriving soon..." Grissom replied as he looked at Brass who had answered his cell phone. He quickly noted that all eyes were on him and he quickly hung up.
"She's in the building, she should be here in about five minutes, the receptionist is giving her directions to get here right now," Brass responded.
"How do you know this translator anyway?" Grissom responded.
"She's the daughter of an old friend of mine. I haven't seen her since she was in diapers...her father gave me the number to reach her in any case," Brass responded. "She's much better qualified for this than anybody else the state would want to hire."
"Why is that?" asked Catherine.
"Last I talked to her father, she's not only excellent in languages, she also has a master's degree in Chemistry. Not only that, she worked as a CSI intern in Puerto Rico so she knows everything that happens at a Crime Lab like this one," Brass responded. Suddenly a 5'2 female walked in, bag over her shoulder, hair up in a bun, sweatpants and a tank top dressing her.
"Is this the CSI meeting?" she asked. She immidiately stopped her eyes on two people, the guy with the spiky hair that she was sure she'd seen before and her dad's old friend, Capt. Jim Brass.
"Yes and who might you be?" asked Grissom as he looked at her.
"Adriana Carrasquillo," she said as she extended her hand. "I got a call from Brass to come here, I'm the translator."
"You sure don't look like one," Greg muttered under his breath. He looked up and prepared to say something else but she beat him to it.
"You say the words "little girl" and you'll have a nice black eye to remeber me by," she said. "I apologize for that but I'm not too fond of pejudice due to my appearance."
"Understood," Grissom said.
"You look like a high school student," Catherine added.
"Yeah, I've heard plenty of those. Now, I believe that we should proceed to talk buisness, no?" Adriana responed.
"Yes but before that, do you know the case?" asked Grissom.
"I've been reading articles on it during my spare time, last time he struck was in Spain," she responded. Grissom smiled slightly at her and proceeded to ask another question.
"Apparently he's moved on to the United States and has now struck here in Vegas. How many languages do you know?" he asked.
"I know two types of English, same with Spanish, French, Italian, German and I just started to learn Norewegan last week but I'm not too fluent on it, meaning that I might need help with that one since it happens to be where he first struck," she responded. Everyone seemed impressed but...how did she learn all of that? She blushed at the sight of Grissom's wide eyes and explained. "I've been homeschooled...and I'm a quick study so..."
"Self-explanatory," finished Warrick. She smiled as she nodded. "But what do you mean by two types of English and Spanish?"
"I know British English and Normal English, meaning the one I'm speaking right now and by Spanish I mean the one spoken in Spain to the one in Puerto Rico since the one kids learn in your schools is Mexican or Spanish...I definately know it's not Puerto Rican..." she explained.
"Don't you mean our schools?" Nick asked, obviosly including her in that group.
"No...I'm uh...not from around here," she said at last.
"Where are you from precisely?" Grissom asked.
"Puerto Rico," she responded firmly. "I hope nobody has a problem with that..."
"I don't," Warrick said imediately with the others agreeing shortly after. She smiled widely and the others slowly returned it with the exception of Greg.
"All right then," Grissom said. "Since we want to catch this guy as quickly as possible, you should meet the people you'll be working with. I'm Gilbert Grissom," he said as he extended his hand. She shook it and her face lit up.
"My grandfather is an entnimologist and he's a rather big fan of your work..." she said with a grin.
"I'd be glad to talk to him sometime, now, crew introduce yourselves," Grissom said as he stood in the doorway and observed.
"Catherine Willows," said the blond female as she stood up and shook her hand. "I'm pretty sure you're going to enjoy working here with us," she said with a small smile.
"That I hope," said Adriana in response. After Catherine sat down again, a rather tall, dark toned man approached her.
"Warrick Brown," he said as he shook her hand. She looked up and couldn't resist making the comment.
"Damn...I feel shorter..." she said while everyone laughed lightly. "No offense," she finished.
"None taken," Warrick replied with a smile. Another guy with not that bad of a build in her eyes came up next.
"Nicholas Stokes, feel free to call me Nick," he said.
"Pleasure," Adriana responded. A female with shoulder length brown hair walked up to her.
"Sara Sidle," she said as she eyed Adriana carefully. They were slightly similar in physical appearance but she shook it off. Then came up a guy with spiky hair and slowly took her hand.
"Greg Sanders," he said softly.
"Sorry about my rude remark...it's just that I'm just used to respond like that when people treat me that way," she said as she looked up to meet his eyes.
"I'm sorry too, I judged you before hearing anything else. My mother's family is from Norway by the way," he added.
"Then could you help me out? I'd appreciate it a lot," she said sweetly.
"Yeah. I'll do it..." he said as he looked away from her and turned to Grissom. "I'll help her with Norway."
"That's settled then, I'm going to get the numbers from the Crime Labs you need to call, Warrick and Catherine, get to work on the evidence we have, Sara and Nick, take another look at the crime scene, come with me and I'll give you the address," Grissom said as he made his way out of the room, leaving Greg, Adriana and Brass alone.
"You've grown up..." Brass said as he walked over to Adriana. "I haven't seen you in years..."
"I barely remember you Brass...I remember you talking to dad on the phone and saying all these stories about Grissom and the night shift. I'm surprised that I've been able to meet them in person. Anyway, how'd you know I was in Vegas?" she asked.
"Your father mentioned it, he also told me to keep an eye on you..." Brass responded. "I have to go but take care of yourself."
"I will," she said as Brass left the room. She looked at Greg and noticed that he was sad about something and she also noticed that she recognized him from somewhere. "I've seen you before..."
"Yeah...you crashed into me out on the streets earlier..." he responded. Her eyes widened in realization.
"That was you?" she cried. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't worry...I now see why you were on a rush. I was too..." he said as he half smiled for the first time in a few hours. She returned it with a small blush.
"You were stood up weren't you?" His eyes widened at her question. He managed a small nodd before she continued. "Guys have been stood up in that corner before. I just figured...longtime crush?" he weakly nodded. She was figuring him out already. "You know what? You shouldn't dwell on the sad part of it. Now you know that it probably isn't meant to be and here's another piece of advice...you should bounce right back up regardless...if you stay like that...you could miss seeing the perfect girl for you...they always seem to pass by a guy when they're sulking about the latest breakup..." she said. He looked at her, wondering about what he'd see in her eyes. He could tell from the glint in them that she wasn't referring to herself and he sat down to think on what she said. Maybe she's right...he thought. I've always been the master flirt...I shouldn't stop now...he finished thinking as he looked up at the girl.
"Here are the numbers," Grissom said as he walked in and handed Adriana a piece of paper. "Now get to work Adriana, I'd like to see if Brass was right about you..."
"No problem Mr. Grissom and bay the way, feel free to call me Adri," said girl said as she scanned the paper.
"And you can call me Grissom," he said in response. "Hope you're ready for long nights..."
"Don't worry," Adriana said as she looked up from the paper. "I'm used to working long hours. This will be easy..." she said as she walked over to the phone there was in the room. Grissom nodded and left the pair alone. Greg glanced at her and saw her proceed to dial a number. She looked his way and smiled at him. He couldn't resist the urge of returning it, it was bizzarely enchanting. Apparently someone picked up on the other side of the phone and she turned her focus to the phone, speaking French. For a while she remained silent. "I'm on hold...could you bring my bag over please? I need to get a pen and I've got an empty notebook so I'll be able to keep track of everything."
"Sure," Greg responded as he got up and gave her a rather heavy bag. "What do you keep in there? Rocks?" he asked as she took it. She opened it and he tried to peer inside but she moved away so he wouldn't know its contents. "Isn't it heavy?"
"I'm used to it...oui," Adriana replied as she zipped up the bag and focused on the phone call. She opened a hardcover notebook to the first page and proceeded to take notes. "Merci..." she said as she hung up. "They've got silch...only a fiber but it's cotton used in almost every type of clothing and it wasn't a blend either...they're sending in a representative over as soon as possible with a copy of the file," she said as she picked up the phone and dialed another number. "Guten morgen..." Adriana said as she proceeded to speak to the German Crime Lab. Greg seemed a little surprised since she really hadn't lied...she did know the languages. She jotted down some things and hung up. "They're also sending in someone..." she said softly.
"You're going to be working like a maniac..." Greg commented.
"I just hope it all works out evenly," she said as she picked up the phone once more. This time she called the Italian Crime Lab. She took some notes once again. "Gratzie," she said as she hung up. She didn't even bother to talk to Greg briefly as she picked up the phone and proceeded to call the London CSI Lab. "Good morning, this is Adriana Carrasquillo calling on behalf of th Las Vegas Crime Lab. I would like some information regaurding a recent case..." she said sweetly to the other person on the phone. She stopped talking breifly as she was put on hold once again.
"How do you know what time is it there?" Greg asked. He'd been wondering about that...
"Just some simple mathematics Sanders..." she said as she turned the page on the notebook and took notes again. She hung up and burried her face in her hands. "At this rate...I'm living at the airport all day tomorrow..."
"Everyone's sending a representative?" Greg cried. She nodded and yawned before picking up the phone. "I thought you said this would be cake and you're yawning like a tired dog..."
"Well my apologies Greg but I was doing something else when Brass called and I rushed right over..." she said as she began to dial another number. "Buenos días, les habla Andriana Carrasquillo de parte del Laboratorio de Crimen en Las Vegas, nescesito información sobre un caso que ustedes comenzaron del asecino internacional..." she said in Spanish as she talked to the Crime Lab in Spain. "Lo espero entonces. Muchas Gracias e igualmente," Adriana said as she hung up. She wrote some things down and checked another name off Grissom's list. "All that's left is Puerto Rico since Florida is on its way..." She yawned again and pulled out a chair from the table and sat down. "Oh boy..." she whispered.
"Want some coffee?" Greg asked. She looked up and shook her head.
"I'm just starved...I skipped dinner and right now I regret it..." she said as she closed her eyes for a moment.
"Want anything in particular?" he asked, eyeing her carefully, she was kind of skinny already, why would she skip dinner?
"I was doing something and it slipped my mind...and frankly I dunno...I can't think straight right now...too much math..." Adriana said as she burried her face in her hands.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" Greg asked.
"I figured from your reaction when I mentioned that I skipped dinner."
"How did you see that?"
"Corner of my eye...I'm a detailist..."
"Noted...anyway, want anything in particular?"
"Well...wait...I might have something..." she said as she opened her bag and began to rummage through it. She then pulled out a small container and grinned. "I knew I packed this before I left. You won't need to go out Greg...I made this in case I'd skip dinner again this week."
"You've done it before?"
"Yeah...I'm kind off a ditz...but it's mostly because I get so wrapped up in what I do I forget I'm human and have needs," she responded as she got up and walked to the micorwave. He walked over to where she was and picked up the phone.
"May I use your stuff to write everything down?" Greg asked as he began to dial the number and looked to Adriana. She nodded and the microwave beeped. She opened the door and a delicious scent filled the room.
"Don't look at me...focus on the phone man...you want to get this over with and take a shower to rethink about your love life no?" Adriana said as she unwrapped some utencils from the napkin and sat down to eat. Greg proceeded to speak to the Norway Crime Lab as she had her helping of her own cooking that reminded her of home. She then paid for a soda from the machine and kept eating when Grissom walked in. "I skipped dinner...Greg is calling Norway and all that's left is Puerto Rico..." Adriana said as she had another bite of her food. Grissom raised an eybrow, surprised at her response.
"You read minds?" he asked, expecting a positive response.
"No," she said after swallowing and wiping her mouth. "I read faces, eyes and expressions of both body and faces. Right now yours tells me that you thought I was really psychic. If it were true...I would've been working as a TV personality long ago. Apparently my smile is something that should be broadcast all over the world...at least, that's what my father tells me." Grissom smiled at her, which was rare of course, and sat down across from her, waiting for her to finish eating.
"Care to tell me details of all the places you've called in?" he asked as she closed the now empty container.
"London has silch. Only a shoe print but it isn't too clear...all they could get from it was that it's a size eleven. Spain had a few tagless hairs which apparently don't match the victim but since they have nothing to compare it to...they stopped there. Germany had nothing out of the ordinary and they prefered not to disclose information over the phone. France only had a cotton fiber, unblended, but Trace never found the probable source. They're sending it over hoping that the trace analist here could go further. Italy had little to add but they're sending the files over ASAP. Florida is on its way with a copy of the case and I need to call Puerto Rico..." Adriana responded as Greg finally hung up.
"Norway didn't have much to add...even if it was the first case. But someone's flying over with a copy of the file to hand deliver it to one of us," Greg said as he sat down.
"Not me...you're going to have to go to the airport with me..." Adriana said as she got up and walked over to the phone. She picked up the reciever and dialed a number that she knew by heart. "Buenas noches. Te habla Adriana Carrasquillo de parte del Laboratorio de Crímenes de Las Vegas. Estoy bien Madeline pero eso no eso lo que nesecito sino, estoy llamando sobre un caso reciente. Si, ese mismo..."
"She's good," Catherine said as she stopped by for the breakroom for some coffee. Adriana looked up from her notebook and waved at Catherine with a grin, greeting her. She smiled and returned the wave and sat down on the table. "Anything?" she asked Grissom as she saw him writting down something.
"Well he's been fairly clean and hasn't slacked in any of the murders, let's hope we've got something to work on in Puerto Rico," he replied as he turned to Adriana.
"Si lo se...hablamos despues y ya tiene él el número asi que te puede llamar cualquier cosa. Nos vemos. Bye," Adriana said as she finally hung up. She turned to the group at the table with a small smile. "He left a partial smudged thumbprint in Puerto Rico that they're bringning with the file so..."
"Jackie..." Catherine said. "She's the one that works the print lab."
"Excatly, Jackie, can work with it since it takes a while for the latest high tech stuff to get to Puerto Rico and the tech is fairly new since the old one quit..." Adriana responded as she glanced at her watch.
"Got somewhere to be?" asked Greg.
"Yeah," Adriana replied, surpising them all. "Airport. Florida is nearly here and Puerto Rico will be here in about a few more hours. The ones from Europe are coming in early tomorrow...and you," she said while pointing to Greg. "Are coming with," she said as she closed up the notebook she had in her hands. Greg nodded in response, surprising Catherine a little.
"What time do we meet and where?" he asked. Catherine was suprised even more at this. Someone had managed to have some sort of control over Greg...and he was obeying every word?
"We could meet at my place and take one car there," Adriana suggested. "Much easier." Greg nodded in response to her statement and smiled to himself. She was smater than she looked. "Yeah I know Greg..." she said as she sat down.
"Know what?" he asked, testing her.
"That I'm smarter than I look," she said as she grinned. Greg looked at her surprised that she guessed. "Guess you didn't hear my conversation with Grissom..."
"Guess not," Greg said with half a grin. He was slightly feeling like his old self again. Maybe relfecting on what Adriana said wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"By the way, they also found some wierd plastic in the vitim's body that was similar to the one found in Germany, Trace in Puerto Rico suspect it to be unrelivant to the case but since it's such a tiny frgament, it's hard to tell. Germany is sending the piece over to compare it to the one in Puerto Rico. The preliminary identifaction in Germany was a fragment of an girl's earing but they aren't to sure..." Adriana said to Grissom and Catherine.
"Why a girl's earing?" Catherine asked.
"Could be that the killer has a daughter..." Greg said.
"True..." Adriana began. "But it calso ould be something else. It was just a preliminary."
"Right," Catherine said as she got up. "I'm going to check on Sara and Nick at the crime scene. Warrick is with Al in autopsy, you should go Grissom."
"All right," Grissom said as he got up and left.
"And I," said Adriana as she got up. "Will take a walk around, to get to know this place...I will be here for a while after all."
"See you around," Greg said as she began to walk out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts once again. This time he was actually not that sad about it since he thought about what Adriana had told him. He noted that she didn't say what most people would say in a situation like his. He smiled again and couldn't help but deep inside thank her for giving him the push he needed to bounce back. Adriana on the other hand, was estatic to be working with the people that Brass always talked so highly off, aside from that she's a key in solving one of the biggest cases around in the US and the rest of the world for that matter. She passed by a room that had very familiar equiment and peeked inside.
"DNA Lab right?" she asked as Mia looked up and nodded. "May I come in?" Mia seemed confused as to what a mere teenager would be doing in the lab but let her in. "What are you looking at?" she asked as she noticed the microscope that was on.
"Hairs that Grissom brought in. They're all tagless," Mia responded as she changed the slides.
"May I take a look?" Adriana asked. Mia looked around and since there wasn't any sign of Ecklie, she let her take a look. Adriana happily humched over the microscope and viewed the hairs. "You're right...nothing here. Could you change it to the slide you were viewing?"
"It's a rather large ball of hair. All of it is the same color as the victim's though," Mia said as she changed the slides. Adriana changed the magnification and adjusted the microscope at the sight of something very interesting.
"The victim's a burnette right?" Adriana asked.
"Yeah...the whole hairball is from her hair. I made a visual match since I can't run DNA to be exact."
"You missed something...could you hand me a pair of gloves and some tweezers?"
"Sure but...what did you see?"
"Some black hair...I want to exctract it from the hair ball to examine it better," Adriana said as she slipped on the gloves and took the tweezers. She pulled out the slide and took a closer look, slowly managing to extact the hair. She took one look at it and smiled slightly. "It doesn't look like pet hair nor synthetic, could be human...wait, wait..." she said as she examined one end closely. "And hello skin tag..."
"What?" Mia cried as she walked over and looked at the end of the hair Adriana was examining. Sure enough, there was a skin tag present. "But how did this hair get in there?"
"Could be that while he was brusing the hair, it must've been the stress of cleaning up the brush and scattering the hairs that made it fall out or something," Adriana said as she placed the hair on a separate slide. "Take a look and see if I was right..." Mia hunched over the microscoe and after making the proper adjustments found a skin tag.
"You were right...now I need to run a test on this and hopefully we might have a suspect..." Mia said as she looked up to Adriana. "Thank you..."
"No prob," Adriana said as she removed her gloves. "See ya around..." she finished saying as she left. Mia had no time to say anything and just grinned. She almost missed that...and who was this kid? Adriana was smiling as she walked around the lab and passed by almost every lab tech's and officer's domain. Some of them took notice of the oddly dressed stranger and wondered about her presence, especially one named Conrad Ecklie. He got out of his desk and walked out into the hall, following her. She was on her way back to the break room, to check on Greg.
"Excuse me!" cried Ecklie trying to get her attention. "Little girl!" he cried. She turned around at the sound of that, he'd gotten her attention all right...Greg heard it too and looked up to see Ecklie walking over to Adriana.
"¿Qué me llamaste?"(a/n: trnslation: What did you call me?)Adriana asked, anger rising.
"You're not supposed to be in here," Ecklie said firmly. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're too youg to be around here," he finished saying. He was starting trouble without knowing. Greg imidiately saw her clench her fists and he got up quickly and made his way over.
"Excuse me?" Adriana responded, giving her nearperfect English a strong Latina flavor. "Did you forget the case the night shift is dealing with?"
"The international serial killer I've been told...but that has nothing to do with you miss," Ecklie said even firmer. "Security!" Two security gaurds made their way towards them.
"Ecklie," Greg said as he took Adriana's clenched fist in his hands and started to carress it in hopes of calming her down. "She's here because she's the translator Brass recommended and Grissom hired."
"He should've checked with me, I am the asistant director after all," Ecklie responded.
"Well pardon Mr. Ecklie but I was hired since I was considered better than anyone you would consider hiring," Adriana responded rather firmly and in her normal English.
"Why is that?" Ecklie asked, the secutrity guards coming closer.
"I've been in a crime lab before and I know the workings, procedures and what forms to get for a situation like this..." Adriana responded, finally calming down. Her fist was now relxaded as her hand slightly opened in Greg's hand. He left out a small inaudible sigh of relief and watched the confrontation. "So, excuse me Ecklie, but I have the right to be here just like you, even if my work is until they don't need me anymore..." Ecklie looked this girl over and couldn't help but notice that she had a Latina temper and attitude but then again...attitude needs no translation, this girl means buisness.
Okay...very long chapter...I tend to sometimes write a lot so I hope you have the patience to stick with me throughout those chapters or those who like lenghthy chapters rejoice! Anyway, I would really appreciate a review!