I am writing this for a dear friend of mine so I included her in this story. I hope everyone who reads it enjoys it!

Disclaimer: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is © Anthony E Zuiker/CBS. I do not own anything, except for the original character who happens to be my best friend.


A Texan woman walked into the Las Vegas Crime Lab dressed in a black and white semi-business attire and greeted the front reception desk. Fatigue was present on her face from flying so many hours to get there. She had checked into her hotel previously but there was absolutely no time to get any sleep, for she had to get to her new job. Judy, the receptionist, greeted her, knowing that she was coming in today. The woman seemingly loomed over the desk since she was unusually tall for a female, especially since she was in heels. Judy directed her towards the supervisor's office down the hall and a few turns later she would find it.

"The office with lots of weird collections in it, like bugs and fetal pigs, you can't miss it," she told her, a grin apparent on her face as she gestured that it was easy to find. The new woman grinned in return; she knew this was going to be interesting.

The heels of her shoes clacked behind her as she made her way slowly to the said office, keeping a strong hold on the manila folder and a bag with a change of clothes in her hands. She figured that she would look nice for the meeting with the supervisor; after all she didn't want to show up to his office in a uniform ready for work if she wasn't going to be on a case right away. Her nose scrunched up at the thought of a scenario of a grease monkey at a formal party, sort of thing.

She followed the narrow hallways, seeing the glass labs on every side of her as she passed by them. There were people dressed in lab coats and forensics uniforms walking in two's or three's as they discussed what they found or studying what was printed out on papers for them. Some, she noticed, would be in a hurry to their next destination as they zoomed right past her. And others almost collided with her a few times as they hurriedly said their apologies and headed off.

The tall Texan woman finally made her way to the office that she was supposed to meet her new supervisor and noticed the door was wide open. Her brilliant green eyes studied the man through her thin sleek bangs. The receptionist was right about the oddities that decorated the office and gazed over to the nameplate with the name that she recognized from her paperwork. Gil Grissom. He loomed over his desk; not too much light illuminated his office except for a single light that did its purpose on his desk to help him study his paperwork. His glasses slouched down the bridge of his nose.

The woman hated to interrupt this busy man, seeing that his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Her hand brushed her long auburn hair out of her face and then lifted up to softly knock on the doorframe. The man's head shot up quickly upon hearing the sound and his frustration of someone interrupting his work turned into a friendly one.

"You made it," he said, gesturing for her to sit down in one of the seats in front of his desk. "Did you have trouble getting here?"

"No, no trouble at all thank you," she said politely. She glanced around his office before taking her seat. "So, do you lead a double life as a CSI and a vampire, Mr. Grissom?" He smirked at her comment and leaned against the back of the seat.

"Maybe," he relayed. Then his eyes glazed over a little as he recalled a quote that came to his mind. "'There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.'" She looked at him interested, admiring his wisdom. Grissom saw her fascination at his words and then explained, "Joseph Conrad, one of the great English novelists."

"Nicely done," the woman said amused, already liking this man's company. She laid her things on her lap, passing along her folder within his reach. Grissom grasped the manila folder and flipped it open making sure everything was in there. She smirked as she noticed his glasses slid down the bridge of his nose again as he glanced at the documents inside. His blue eyes looked over the spectacles in her direction to study her.

"I've heard so many great things about you from Houston , I am looking forward to having you with us," Grissom stated, satisfied that everything was in order. He placed the folder on his desk.

"And I heard that you're a perfectionist," she remarked with a grin. The corner of Grissom's mouth curled up slightly as she added, "Which is a great challenge that I gladly accept."

"I am called a lot of things, but you'll have to find that out, won't you?" he commented, with his fingertips pressed together and cocking his head to the side. He cleared his throat a little as a sign of a change in subject as he looked back down at the folder she handed to him earlier.

"Since you are new here, I will need a pint of your blood," he insisted, waiting for her to protest like all newbie CSI's do the first day.

"Ah, so you are a vampire, Mr. Grissom," she joked. He was about to explain that he collected it from all new CSI's as one of the regulations but she held up her hand to stop him, then started to roll up her sleeve. "I know the drill."

After the proper procedures, Grissom escorted the woman to the break room, knowing that everyone was there to receive their assignments for the night. The Texan female smirked at the group as she and Grissom gradually approached them, noticing that they were joking around while having a cup of coffee together. The strawberry blonde was acting as a motherly type, breaking them up once in a while. She secretly hoped that she could belong in their little clique in no time. After all, she was a friendly one who got along with most, but she knew that she didn't please everyone either; such is life. The group looked up altogether when they noticed a woman that they did not recognize coming towards them. She was hoping that they knew she was arriving or else this was going to be really awkward. The looks on their faces confirmed her fear; they had no idea.

"Okay, before we get started, I wanted to introduce you to Lynndy Bakey," Grissom gestured towards the new lady. He introduced her to the staff by naming who was who to her so she could get a better idea. The gang all said their greetings and gave her welcoming smiles. Grissom then turned to her. "I'll show you to the locker rooms so you can change." She nodded following him to the direction of the changing room.

The group in the break room turned to each other when they saw it was safe to talk and out of listening range. They all had the same confused look on their faces.

"Did you know anything about this, Cath?" Nick was the first to question, his Texas accent thick with annoyance. Catherine had her arms across her chest and she shrugged her shoulders, giving him the impression that she was just as lost as he was.

"Is she supposed to replace Sara?" Greg daringly asked, not really liking this at all. Sara had just left the team and Grissom was already over it and hiring a replacement. That seemed a little odd.

Warrick then spoke up, his voice deep. "She's probably here to help out. We have been extremely busy as of late and it would be a good thing to have an extra body around here."

"Knowing Grissom, that's probably what it is," Catherine finally chimed in, realizing that must be the case. Grissom had been pulling triple shifts, or so it seemed, since they lost Sara. They all had felt the effects of a missing member of their team and it was affecting them physically and emotionally. They knew that she had to leave before she cracked at an inappropriate time or to a point where she would be unfixable. She needed to take care of herself and they understood that, but it didn't make it any less painful, seeing themselves as a tight knit family. Since Sara's departure, everyone seemed on edge. Having a new person take place of someone that was irreplaceable was just a blow to them.

When Grissom led her to the locker rooms, Lynndy turned around to face him at the doorway. She wanted to speak to him in private and knew this would be the only time to do it before the shift started.

"Mr. Grissom," she started. "Am I to assume that you did not inform your staff of my arrival?"

"I thought it would be better if I did not mention anything to them," he stated. Lynndy was about to question when he continued. "We just lost a member of our staff who was with us for many years. If I told them that you were arriving, they would have assumed that you are to replace her permanently. They are still feeling at a loss with her gone." She could see the hurt in his face a little when he explained this. He was feeling at a loss too, but wasn't saying anything, only speaking in the defense of his colleagues. If anything, it made him more agitated to speak of it.

"Well, you know your team members more than I do so you know what's best, I suppose," Lynndy exasperated. She was warned back at her home lab in Houston that there might be some tension but she wasn't sure exactly what. She was just going to have to try to fit in for the time that she will be here, that much she knew. As long as no one chewed anyone's head off then she could deal with this.

The shift meeting took place when Grissom came back and passed out their slips, explaining who had what before they had a chance to read it. Lynndy had come back to the break room dressed in the blue forensics uniform which conformed to her body nicely and her long brunette hair up in a tight bun. She stood against the doorway with her arms crossed. She could feel the slight tension in the air so she didn't dare come in any more than that. When Grissom passed out a few slips, the members took the small documents and passed by her one at a time, not even taking a second glance. That is, until it was just her and a handsome man in a black vest and jeans across the room from her.

"Nick, I want you to pair up with Lynndy here," Grissom said to him. Nick raised his eyebrow at him but then walked over to see what the little piece of paper had to say; though he knew Grissom would explain it anyway. "A couple of 419's in a crushed vehicle, the police suspect foul play since it did not collide with any other vehicle. Now, Lynndy is a transitional CSI from Houston so she doesn't need to be coached but make sure to let her do some work, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," he said dejectedly. He was hoping for a solo this time but he had a feeling that when it was just down to the two of them, he was going to be forced to pair up with her. Nick passed by her and she followed. Secretly, Lynndy knew that this was going to be a rough night.

They walked down the hallways together and Nick kept doing side glances at her. She took notice but opted to not say anything. She knew her joking or sarcasm, her best persona traits, probably wouldn't be a good first impression. But then again, it was the only way to break the ice with people sometimes.

"So, you're from Houston, huh?" Nick asked, trying to start up a friendly conversation with her. He still didn't like the fact that he had to deal with a newbie but he didn't want to seem like a total jerk.

"What was your first clue?" she asked sarcastically. "And yes I am. I know that you're from Texas too," she said, proud of her Texas honing skills of picking up certain accents from people. Call it a gift. He eyed her, not sure what to make of this woman.

"Yeah, I grew up in Fort Worth," he shared, giving her a slight smile.

"Glad to have a fellow Texan on board, I would have felt alone," she remarked, letting up on her sarcasm, giving him a small grin.

They headed out to his charcoal Denali and went on their way to their call.


The Denali drove up to the police cars with their flashing blue and red lights. The firefighters were there also since it was always protocol for them to be present at an accident. The CSI's could see the vehicle against the curb, smashed in the front. It looked to be a red van with an already small nose in the front, the impact making it a lot smaller. The coroner's van could be seen there along with the police officers surrounding the area. You could see the corner taped off with the familiar yellow tape as the passing snail-like traffic slugged by, hoping to get a glimpse of something exciting.

"Damn lookie-loos," Lynndy muttered under her breath, slightly annoyed. Nick chuckled at her remark, never hearing someone say that before.

They walked up with kits in their grips and gloves that dressed their hands as they strolled over to the onsite homicide detective, Detective Vega. He had a grim look on his face as he saw the approaching CSI's. He felt that he should just give them the run down even though he literally had nothing much to go on.

"Well, you probably already know my answer," Vega said to them, raising his hands in the air slightly.

"Everyone was in the bathroom?" Nick asked, getting a snort from Lynndy. How many times has she heard that before back in her hometown? It was amusing to know they used that joke here too.

"Close, but yeah no one saw anything. I already interviewed the people in the houses around here. The elderly couple here in this house," he pointed to the house in front of the curb where the crash took place, "Were in their bedroom watching television when this occurred but claim they did not hear anything in particular before the crash."

"This is a residential area, so there aren't any security cameras, right?" Lynndy asked the detective. He nodded his head to confirm her theory.

"No sounds of skidding, maybe screaming?" Nick asked, trying to see if he could get more info out of him. The detective shook his head.

"Nothing," Detective Vega replied. "According to eyewitness reports, no one saw another car involved. As far as we know, we either have a hit and miss or a case of poor driving."

"Thanks, Vega," Nick thanked, starting his way towards the wreck with Lynndy tailing right behind him. When they drew closer to the scene, they saw David was already there making his usual notes of the condition of the body. The driver's side door was open so he could take a better look. Upon arriving to the car, it seemed like there wasn't a dead body in there, but then they saw the backside of it on the seat.

"Hey Super Dave," Nick greeted him as they closed in and almost forgot to introduce his partner. "Oh sorry, this is Lynndy, she's new to our team. Lynndy, this is David." Lynndy gave him a small wave as he smiled back, acknowledging her.

"I don't even know why they called you guys out here," David started to say. "But I guess it looks odd since a vehicle just crashed into the curb by itself."

Nick took out his camera that was attached to his shoulder and started taking pictures of the scene.

"Hey, didn't Grissom say for you to not do all of the work?" Lynndy asked, looking annoyed at him. Nick put down the camera and looked in her direction. He cocked an eyebrow at her, looking as annoyed as she was to see if maybe she'd retract that comment. She wasn't going to crack, "That's not gonna work on me, buddy."

"Go right ahead then," he said, handing her the camera so she could take multiple pictures of the scene. Lynndy grabbed the yellow markers and put them down around the vehicle when she had found something new and relative to the scene before snapping more pictures. Nick drew out his flashlight, taking a better look at the body in the driver's seat. It was a male who had fallen to the passenger's side seat and had blood running down his forehead and nose from the impact of the steering wheel. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt so he had fallen down to the other side.

"No air bag, this looks to be a 1985 model," he said, the light shining on the steering wheel to show the blood mark from where the man hit his forehead. It was a slightly different shade than the color interior.

"They didn't have air bags installed in cars then," Lynndy remarked, knowing a little bit about the older makes and models. She walked around towards the back of the car, flashing more pictures of the car. "This is a Toyota LE, before they had the models." Nick looked at her, impressed about her knowledge of vehicles. Lynndy turned to the coroner.

"Are there any signs of drunk driving or illegal substances?" Lynndy asked, glancing at Nick who seemed to still look inside the car to see if there were any bottles or paraphernalia inside.

"Not that I know of, I'll have to send samples to tox back at the lab. DB's are of a male in his 40's. Found a wallet on him, his name is Robert Langwald," David explained, then pointing to the back of the car with his pen. "There is a male child in the back seat, appears to be about the age of 9, most likely the son."

Lynndy bit her bottom lip, hating the fact that a child was involved in this wreck as well. They had focused on the driver that they didn't see the boy in the back. Nick shined his flashlight towards the back seats and they saw that the child was lying face down on the red carpet floor. Obviously, he wasn't wearing a seatbelt either.

"None of them were wearing seatbelts, you'd think they'd know better," Lynndy thought out loud to Nick and shook her head sadly. It probably would have saved their lives if they had. What was sad about this was the child was not taught to put on his belt by his father, which could've saved him.

She started to walk around the car, reaching in her pocket for a flashlight as she took a better look at the vehicle as well. She walked around it towards the passenger's seat side. The beam of the light illuminated on the doors and frame of the car. She flashed the light inside, taking a better look for any type of oddity. The glove compartment was smashed down upon impact. Lynndy shined the flashlight towards there to see if she saw anything. The light beamed a little bit back at her and she knitted her brows, trying to figure out what that could be. Whatever it was, it seemed to move. Her eyes grew wide and she dropped her kit to the ground with a thud, trying to pry open the passenger's side door as hard as she could. The damage done to the car made it difficult to open it without force.

Nick happened to gaze over to her direction at the sound of her straining. He raced over to her side and was wondering what she was doing.

Lynndy answered him before he could utter a word to her. "There's something in there."

Nick dropped his kit quickly to the ground as well and helped her open the door. With their combined strength, they were able to release it and it fell beside them with a loud clang. Suddenly, a little ivory and blood covered hand reached out from underneath the glove compartment.

"We need a paramedic!" Lynndy screamed out, as she and Nick tried to see if they could get the individual out of the car. The firemen came over, one with a crowbar in hand, knowing that the CSI's were trying to save someone inside. The two stood aside letting the firefighters do their job of releasing the person in there. They had to pry the twisted metal in order to get to it. One of the firemen reached in and pulled out the person. It was a tiny body of a wounded girl, her blonde hair matted to her bloody face. Lynndy could see the girl's cheeks as silent tears ran down them while the fireman carried her to the nearing ambulance so they could tend to her. Lynndy sat on the nearest curbside, brushing her arm across her forehead, wiping away some perspiration that had formed. Nick tried to settle the rhythm of his heart mentally, even though he was scared that they would lose the girl. He took notice of the newbie next to him on the curb.

"You okay?" he asked her, feeling sympathy towards the fellow Texan.

"Yeah, I got scared, she could've died in there if we didn't get to her when we did," she said, her accent shining through her anger. "What kind of family doesn't wear seatbelts? She was thrown underneath the glove compartment and got trapped, not a sound coming from her. The rescue team didn't even know she was there."

"This seems to affect you," he took note. "Are you sure you'll-"

"I just dislike stupidity and you see a lot of that on the job," she interrupted, standing up from the curb and knew she had to clear the air after her rant. "I'm sorry, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure there, partner?" he asked, his accent laced in his words. Lynndy chuckled and glanced at him. She nodded; trying to convince him that she was all right.

"Let's get going, we need to process the scene," she told him, grabbing her silver kit and walking towards the opposite way of the scene. "I'll search the perimeters, I'll see if I can find any loose parts that may explain what really happened."

He nodded, grabbing his kit and following suit. He went about his business and kept a glance here and there towards her direction. Maybe he had misjudged the new CSI. After all, he was jumping ahead of himself by harshly judging her. She didn't seem too bad after all. She was professional about all this, even though it seemed to affect her in a way. That's the problem with this job; you cannot let emotions get involved. Easier said than done.

Lynndy scanned the area, with her flashlight as her main source of light, carefully tracing her footsteps. Her eyes scanned the black asphalt for anything in particular. She saw a small black piece of what looked like rubber. Kneeling down, she bagged it in the plastic evidence bag.

"There aren't any tread marks, it doesn't look like he tried to even brake," she shouted towards Nick's direction. Nick squinted a little in her direction, nodding to acknowledge her as he was bagging a few things himself.

"Oh, hold up," she said, nearing another part of the road. She saw a curved tread mark on the asphalt and snapped some pictures of that. "Hey Nick, could you come here for a second?"

Nick stood up from his bent position and walked over to where she was. Lynndy pointed out what she saw in the road. The curve was from the left lane as if trying to make a U-turn but the curve didn't actually complete the U shape, it looked more like a sloppy L shape.

"Do you think this was from the vic's car?" she asked him, pointing her index finger from the curve mark to the direction of the curb.

"Yeah," he involuntarily agreed. He turned his head towards the crushed van as he tried to see if that could be the case.

"So that means, the vic was trying to avoid something, possibly another car or person?" Lynndy theorized, looking at him for acknowledgement.

"Or someone tampered with the vehicle. Could be a lot of things but we won't know until we get the car back to the lab," Nick retorted. Lynndy knitted her brows together, not liking his tone at all and was going to confront him about it until a loud noise interrupted her.

"Speak of the devil," she said, directing their attention to the tow truck that was just coming in to take the car back to the lab for further analysis. Nick went back to where he was to finish up. They basically had collected what they needed for now. There really wasn't much to go on here at the scene. Nick was right; they had to examine the car for any form of tampering to see if that was the cause.

Lynndy stood there contemplating with her arms crossed. She thought they were getting along for a while there but then Nick goes back to being a sourpuss. It was inconceivable that Grissom never told his colleagues that she was arriving because she wasn't getting a nice treatment at all. It was as if she was just being looked down upon as inferior and she didn't like it at all. Letting out a deep sigh, she knew that she was just going to have to ignore the cold shoulder and act as if it doesn't affect her, silently hoping that this'll just blow over and they can start again. Collecting up her kit, she joined Nick towards the Denali and they headed back to the lab.