Note From The Author—The feedback for this story has been so fantastic! Thank you all for encouraging me so much and urging me forward. I'm warning you now that this particular story isn't going to be really deep or existential. It's mostly going to be sort of silly and romantic but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. Thanks for the reviews and keep on reading.

Disclaimer—I don't own the characters of CSI or CSI: NY

Dinner with the teams of New York and Las Vegas was a very colorful and vibrant affair. The waiters were slightly overwhelmed by the large group but somehow they managed. If Stella and Catherine had any reservations about bringing the two groups together, they were almost immediately alleviated. Conversation and jokes flowed easily and it seemed that nobody ran out of things to say.

Catherine and Stella chatted with each other and Warrick as they watched their handiwork. Mac and Grissom were quietly discussing… well something anyway. Over at the end of the table Nick and Lindsay were laughing about the commonalities in their upbringings while Danny chimed in once every now and then, all the while keeping a casual but careful eye on the other man. When Warrick and Catherine momentarily got lost in conversation Stella turned to Flack.

"Most interesting case?" Greg asked, leaning slightly forward across the table towards the detective.

Flack contemplated the question for a moment before he smiled. "There have been so many. Maybe a toss up between the woman who washed out of the self cleaning toilet and the skeleton dressed up as a tourist in Times Square. I don't know there have been a lot of interesting ones. What about you?"

"Lois O'Neal was pretty enthralling; the woman was amazing. Then there was the mother of the groom killed at the wedding. Problem there was that everybody wanted her dead."

Laughing, Stella turned from the conversation to survey the rest of the table. Hawkes had joined in Mac and Grissom's conversation and the three of them were debating some unknown subject. Adam and the tech Catherine had introduced as Hodges seemed to be clashing, albeit good naturedly, but it was Kendall who caught her attention. Lindsay had mentioned once that Kendall had professed her easy boredom, but the length of her employment at the lab seemed to suggest otherwise.

Stella had also noticed that for someone who had an issue with boredom, she was incredibly perceptive. She had spent the entire evening thus far only interspersing conversation with her observations of the others, Catherine and Warrick specifically. She certainly didn't seem to be bored with that particular pass time. She could tell that Kendall could see the same undertone with the pair from the Las Vegas lab, just as she could see the wheels turning in her head.

Later that night when the New York team was walking back down the strip to their hotel Kendall vocalized what went along with the wheels turning in her head. "Does anyone else think there's something going on between Catherine and Warrick?"

Adam slung and arm around her shoulder. "Kendall, just because we all decided to break the rules and live on the Arc doesn't mean that the rest of the world has."

A laugh came up from the group at that and Stella shook her head. "There's nothing going on between them."

"But they both want there to be."

Not wanting to say anything when she'd just barely met both of the parties in question Stella simply shrugged and changed the subject. Even as she did, she couldn't help but silently agree with Kendall. She knew from experience how bad it felt to want someone you worked with; she and Flack had both carried a torch for a long time before they had finally gotten their act together. She knew it was silly as she hadn't even known them for twenty-four hours, but she felt a kinship with the other CSIs and she could only hope that Catherine and Warrick would be able to work something out.

The next morning the conference continued bright and early with more seemingly pointless seminars and sessions. Still, newfound friendships among the Las Vegas and New York teams made it a lot easier; maybe too easy in fact. Mac and Grissom were sitting in the lobby of the conference center when Danny and Nick came walking towards them, both grinning, until they saw their bosses sitting there.

"Hey Mac," Danny said somewhat nervously.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in a session for another…" Grissom looked down at his watch. "Half an hour?"

Nick ran a hand over his hair. "Well, the thing is…" He looked over at Danny.

"We sort of got kicked out," Danny chimed in.

Mac only raised an eyebrow. "Kicked out?"

"Kicked out may not be the right word, maybe asked to leave," Nick told the two men.

Grissom only held a hand up. "I don't want to hear about it. As long as I don't have to catch hell about it from Eckley, I don't' want to hear it."

"Same goes for me," Mac added. "Just try to control yourself from now on Danny."

"You got it Mac." He and Nick turned to walk away, and they were both smiling as they did.

"You got kicked out?" Lindsay cried.

It was around an hour later when Danny and Nick met up with Lindsay and the others. Danny was currently trying to explain his earlier expulsion. "It wasn't so bad Montana, I swear."

"What on earth were you doing to get kicked out?" she questioned. She saw the grin that he exchanged with the other CSI and shook her head. "No, never mind, I don't want to know."

From across the room Catherine watched as Danny caught her in his arms. Lindsay was shaking her head, but her smile told the whole story. As she was watching the pair, Stella slid up next to her. "They're good together," she commented.

Catherine nodded. "They are good together. I noticed last night that they're careful with each other, like sometimes they're unsure of their footing."

"It doesn't surprise me that you picked up on it. They went through a really rough patch about two years ago."

"If it's private…"

Stella shook her head. "It's pretty much common knowledge by now. They had been together for a while when a little boy from Danny's building was killed. Danny was with him at the time and he couldn't seem to cope with it. Eventually he slept with the little guy's mother. It completely broke Lindsay's heart when he told her. Danny immediately wanted to fix things but after what he pulled…."

"She obviously wouldn't have wanted to jump into that mess."

"Exactly. I have to give Danny credit because he really wanted to fix things, but it took a long time to make it right. They've only been back together for about five months."

Catherine nodded. "It seems like they're strong now."

"Stronger than they were."

After Nick and Danny getting their butts tossed out of a session, the rest of their days were blissfully uneventful. At the end of the long day all everyone wanted was to relax. The New Yorkers headed back to their hotel as the Vegas team went to their cars to head home.

Catherine got to her car only to find that she'd left the dome light on all day long and her battery had died. She was digging in her bag for her cell phone when Warrick came up behind her, making her jump out of her skin. She whirled around to face him. "You about gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry Cath, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You good?"

She shook her hair out of her face. "My battery's dead. I was just about to call someone."

"Don't bother; it's late. I can give you a lift home and we'll take care of your car in the morning."

"I don't want to be a pain in the ass Rick."

Warrick laughed. "You're not a pain in the ass Cath. Come on."

The car ride was comfortably quiet with comments and observations interspersed here and there. They pulled up at Catherine's and he was around the car and opening her door before she knew it. Both of them cautious from experience, they walked to the door together.

"Tell Lindsey hi for me," he told her.

She nodded. "I will." She opened the door and turned back to smiled at him. "Night Rick."

Unable to keep his hands to himself, he reached forward to tuck a piece of hair behind her ears, his fingers whispering against the skin of his cheek. "Night Cath."

Moments later he was back in the car, and Catherine was standing inside with her back pressed against the door. She felt like a ridiculous school girl, but she couldn't seem to stop the fluttering feeling resulting from that tiny bit of contact. Trying to shake it off, she headed to bed, feeling better but still a little bit shaky.

Early the next morning, Stella rolled over and was surprised to find she was alone in the hotel bed. She rose frowning, but the frown turned to a smile when she saw the note that Don had left along with her swimsuit.

'I decided to go down to the pool before it gets too crazy. If you wake up soon enough you should join me. Love you, Flack.'

Stella found she really couldn't resist the temptation of an early morning swim; so she slipped into her suit and headed down to the pool. When she got there she found that very few people were evidently willing to get up this early in the morning, even for the luxury of a swim. Save a few people scattered here and there along the fairly vast poolside she and Flack were pretty much alone. She found him immediately in the pool as he easily stroked through laps.

"Hey Detective," she called out.

Flack heard her and came to a stop when he completed the next lap. Smiling he climbed out. "Morning Stell."

For what must have been about the millionth time, she looked him up and down appreciatively. Of course she would have had to be dead not to appreciate the sight of a wet and shirtless Don Flack, but knowing he only had eyes for her somehow made the view all the more impressive. "Morning."

"You going to come over here and give me a real good morning or what?" he asked with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, but unable to suppress a smile, she sauntered a bit closer. "I don't know, you're all wet."

"Aww, come on Stell."

"Well." Laughing, she sidled up to kiss him quickly. "Feel better?"

He shook his head. "Nope, not yet." He pulled her flush against him and he brought their mouths together, kissing her languidly. He was still grinning when they pulled apart. "Now I feel better."

"Mm hmm," she murmured. "But now I'm all wet."

"That's perfect then," Flack commented casually, catching her around the waist.

Stella picked up on his attentions immediately and she shook her head. "Oh no, Don. I'm getting in the water all by myself."

"Oh but this way is so much more fun." He swung her up into his arms even as her legs kicked and she struggled against him. He had every intention of dropping her in, but one of her feet caught him just right and they went tumbling in together.

They came up together, sputtering and laughing. Stella shook soaking wet curls out of her face as she looped her arms around his neck. "Don Flack you should know better than to try and pull one over on me."

He shook his head. "Maybe I should, but why should I quit when I can end up in situations like this? I ended up with a beautiful woman in my arms didn't I?" he questioned.

"I can't really argue with that kind of logic." Figuring resistance was futile, she tilted her head up to welcome another kiss, and she certainly wasn't left disappointed.

Note From The Author—There you go; an Adam one liner, Danny and Nick mischief, and explanation as to how Lindsay and Danny ended up together after he shoved his head so far up his…. well you get the idea. The YoBling (am I completely off on that or what because I don't really use the nicknames) fans got a little vignette and there was something for all of us Stella and Flack lovers. As a side note, do I know if Flack actually likes to swim? Pretty much no. Could I resist the image of half naked and dripping wet Flack? Oh hell no. Come on people, Vegas, hotel pools; I had to go there. : ) And just so's you know, because I have a dirty mind and I totally went there a second after writing this so I'm sure at least one other person will, they weren't doing anything naughty in the pool. As I mentioned there were other people out there, and I somehow don't see Flack and Stella as voyeuristic. : )