Chapter One: "Accept Me".

It was interesting how things always seemed to work out, starting out seemingly, to be a disaster then turning out to be the best decision anyone could have ever made.

That's how I felt when I first made the long trip to Las Vegas Nevada. It was hectic, and it felt like the worst thing I could have ever done. Its not that the city was all that different than my home in New York, where I was born and raised. Only difference was the number of casinos, more lights, and the desert terrain that I had now grown used to.

It was a disaster in my mind then, but that was before I had made any real friends, when I was the newbie on the job, and nearly always lost. That's when my name had been temporarily changed from "Claire" to, "Hey new girl".

That was years ago, however, before I had befriended six wonderful people, and fell in love with the most incredible guy I could ever imagine. I had been at work in the lab for about a week before I had even met him, and the people I had come to love as if they were my own family barely had an ounce of respect for me at all. I was hired by Conrad Ecklie, who much like them, I hated. But since I had been hired by him, they treated me as if I were him, until Greg had finally come back from vacation that day, the day my story began.

"Greg worked faster than this new girl, do you know what the chemical is or not?" Warrick stood over my shoulder, his arms crossed firmly against his chest as he stared unhappily at the computer I was sitting in front of.
"Well then where is this Greg guy? Have him do it for you. Because unless he's here, you'll know the damn results when I do." I stated angrily, sick of my new name, and even sicker of being treated that way.

It was then that he walked in, well, danced in and over by us.
"Greg is here, have no fear!" He announced, grinning at Warrick before looking over my shoulder at the computer. "Chloroform? This from your case?" He questioned Warrick, barely acknowledging me.
"Finally! Yeah, that's my case." He said, quickly running out of the room. Leaving me alone with Greg, while I sat in my chair nearly pulling my hair out. It was to much, I wanted nothing more than to quit.
"You don't look so good, must be new." He commented, pulling up a chair next to me.
"Yeah, I'm new. Ecklie hired me and I mas well be him with how they've been acting towards me."
"Death sentence right there, by the way I'm Greg." He smiled, extending his hand to me.
"Claire." I introduced myself, smiling and accepting his hand. He was cute, that was no doubt. His sandy blonde hair slightly messy, and his smile warm. He seemed to have a carefree nature about him, something I admired. I had been labeled a science geek since before I could remember, always over working and barely sleeping half the time.

It wasn't until later that I'd find out that I had this in common with someone else working here, someone I would grow to think of as my best friend. It also wouldn't be until later, that I would be able to call the usually friendly group of CSI's family, something I thought I would never have.

Now before I go and finish telling you about how I came to this point in my life, maybe I should first dwell in the past a bit. Maybe knowing how I first came to being in Vegas would make understanding my position much easier.

See, I had never truly had a real family. Well, I did, but I really didn't care for the one I had. I was one of the more wealthy kids back then, but you never would have known it by looking at me. I wasn't like my two older sisters, I didn't care for designer clothing, nor did I care for shopping and spending hundreds of dollars in one day. Instead, I spent my time in my room, listening to music and turning my room into my own little lab.

I liked it that way, only thing bad was the fact that my parents were never home, and when they were there precious time was spent casting presents upon their two eldest daughters. The only time attention was in my direction was if it was asking me to do something with myself, wear make up, go shopping, or if I was doing an experiment that happened to stink up the house I'd hear "Dammit Claire! Would you throw that shit out!". Thinking back on how I grew up always kind of reminded me of Cinderella, minus the mice, the glass slipper and being forced to clean up after everyone. Maybe that was why it was always favorite fairytale.

Anyway, I graduated highschool a year early, my teachers all being impressed with how smart I was and recommending me to a few various colleges. The moment I got out of college, I quickly got a job at a small lab just outside New York city. After a year of work, my boss told me he saw bigger things for my future, that I was to bright to be coped up in a small lab. It was then, while I sat in front of him that he called up Gil Grissom, unfortunately for me Conrad answered the phone. He liked what he heard, asked for my resume. A month later, I receive a call...

And that's how it started, Greg Sanders was the first person to openly accept me and give me a chance. He didn't scoff at me, just merely took a seat and introduced himself. He understood the pressure, and didn't try to judge me. In fact he was happy to meet me, because I was the one that bumped him up to a permanent CSI, and he always jokingly called me his hero for doing so. I always thought of him as mine, for bringing me closer with the people I'll later introduce to you in my story, although I'd never tell him this and feed his ego, it had grown big enough as it was.