Chapter Two: Hello, Vegas; Goodbye Sanity
Four things, for future reference: 1: I'm making Grissom and Sara live together. 2: Archie and Greg are roommates. 3: Catherine and Eddie are actually divorced. 4: I don't exactly know what to do with Grissom, Warrick, Jason, Sara, Catherine and Susan, so they'll only be there when the characters are on scene, or whenever else it's necessary.

The Vegas airport was already forecasting every fear that Bonnie had about the city itself. It was only five in the morning, and already, the best two words to describe it were 'total insanity.' Seemingly, the only normal person in the whole airport was standing by their gate, flashing them a comforting smile. He looked like a normal guy, about forty, with curly sandy-blond hair and brown eyes. Jason approached him, like he knew him, and smiled. "Bobby Dawson?" he asked, probably hoping he was right, so he wouldn't look like an idiot. That was the one thing that Jason hated the most in the world. Whenever he was wrong, he would make an excuse about it.

"Yeah, that's me…" Bobby had a slight southern drawl. Bonnie grinned. She loved accents, and this one drove her insane. "You must be Jason Elder?" he asked Jason, the friendly smile still plastered across his face.

Jason nodded, and looked back at the rest of the team. "This is my wife, and second in command, Susan…and this is the rest of my team; Destiny Abbot, Julie Myers and Bonnie Fletcher," Bonnie hated how he introduced her last.

He's ashamed of me, and he had just made it abundantly clear. Bonnie told herself, with a sigh. Charming, Jase…so charming, she pushed her hair behind her ear, and rolled her eyes. And oh so subtle, too!

"Nice to meet you all," Bobby nodded to all of them. "You'll probably have to remind me of your names every time I see you, though. I'm the worst with names…" he flashed a comforting smile.

Jason laughed a little. "We'll probably need to be reminded a lot about your names, too. This is really the farthest we've traveled outside Boston," he explained to Bobby, who was now leading them to a van in the parking lot.

"Yeah, you should have seen how long it took Jase to get our names right…it was pretty funny!" Bonnie grinned, and looked at Jason, who as usual was flashing her a patronizing look. "He'd get to mad when he messed up, and then quietly look at whoever it was and ask, 'who are you again?' Isn't that right Jase?"

Jason grumbled. "Yes, Bonnie," his face was glacial, while Bobby gave a quick, warm laugh. It was evident to Bonnie, that Bobby had the typical kind, southern gentleman thing going for him. It wasn't just an act.

Julie shook her head. "Bonnie just loves living on the edge of getting fired, isn't that obvious, Bobby?" she laughed at her comment, while Bonnie's eyes narrowed.

Bonnie curled her lip at Julie, and rolled her eyes. It was visible to Bobby, at that moment, who was the youngest on the team.

Bobby laughed at Julie, then looked back at Susan and Destiny. "You two ok back there?" he asked, walking back a couple steps to help Destiny carry her suitcase. Sure, it was a small suitcase, but to a tired twenty-five-year-old, a small suitcase can seem like a two-thousand-pound-hippopotamus.

"I think it's obvious that we all need either a good, extra-caffinated cup of Java, either that or a good night's sleep…" Susan glanced from Bobby to Destiny, who was greatly pleased that Bobby had come to her rescue.

"I'll go for the latter…" Destiny mumbled her first words of the evening. "Do you guys know where we're staying?" she asked, looking at Jason and Susan, a look of pure hope on her face.

Susan and Jason exchanged blank looks, while Bobby stepped in and saved the day again. "Grissom told me the plan…Destiny, you'll be staying with Catherine," he looked at Destiny, who nodded. "Jason and Susan, you'll be staying with Grissom and Sara, and Bonnie and Julie, you'll be staying with Archie and Greg."

Bobby's sentence was followed by about five shocked, or maybe horrified gasps, and Jason's loud voice coming through, shouting, "And these guys are…how old?"

"Well, before I answer that, I have two things to say defense of myself and my boss, it wasn't my choice…it was Grissom's," Bobby nodded, and then continued. "And in Grissom's defense, we didn't know how old Bonnie and Julie were…"

Bonnie and Julie exchanged looks of shock. They were going to be staying with either guys who were their age, or old decaying blobs. "How old are they?" Bonnie finally spoke up.

"They're both twenty-three…" Bobby looked around, at the humorous looking shocked looks on the Boston CSI's faces. "They're good kids, don't worry…"

"So, you places our youngest girls in a frat house?" Jason yelled, rather rudely.

"If anything happens to these girls…are there any other options?" Susan spoke up, protesting along with Jason.

"No, not really. Greg and Archie are the only ones with rooms to spare, after the rest of you were taken care of…" Bobby explained, surprisingly not losing his cool at the brashness of Jason and Susan. "Catherine only has one spare room, because she has a daughter, Nick and Warrick share a rather small apartment, and Grissom and Sara only have one extra room."

Julie looked at Bonnie, and sighed. "I hope these guys aren't freaky, man…" she laughed, then looked back to Jason.

Bonnie laughed, too. "So do I…" Despite Jason's yelling, and protesting to Bobby, which would disable most other people's brains, she thought for a second. So, I'm staying with two guys I don't even know? Bonnie asked herself. Lovely, sounds like great fun! She nodded, acknowledging the fact that she'd heard Bobby. At least Jul will be with me…we'll be tortured together. They got into the van, and they were on their way.

Just as the van door closed, the same girl from the airport got into her car. So…these people stick Bonnie with someone who doesn't know her, and…oh, this is going to be too easy! She glowered angrily at the van, and began to follow it out of the airport.

~~

Destiny looked around the house. For a three-bedroom, it was pretty big. "This is a really nice house…" she looked at a slightly older woman, who was putting dirty dishes into the dishwasher. "Would you like some help?" she asked with a smile, not wanting to be a pain.

Catherine smiled cordially back at Destiny. "Thanks, and no, it's ok…" she told her. It was strange. To Catherine, Destiny was almost a portrait of her when she was twenty-five. Only, with a lot more clothes on, and a lot more confidence.

"Are you sure?" Destiny asked, feeling somewhat like a louse. "Because, I don't mind, at all…" the woman standing before Destiny looked quite admirable. She had a really strong sense of confidence, and it showed in the way that she carried herself. She was a single, working mother, who's daughter still pulled straight A's in school. There hadn't been a sentence yet where Catherine hadn't mentioned her daughter, Lindsey.

Catherine flashed Destiny a motherly smile. "I'm sure, Destiny," she nodded. "If you could, though, would you please go check on Lindsey? Just tell me if she's still sleeping?" it was now six-thirty, and about time for Lindsey to be up, getting ready for school. "It's upstairs…first room on the right…"

Destiny nodded, not needing to consider for another moment. Catherine had been hospitable enough to offer her a place to stay, so the least she could do was go check on her daughter. "Sure thing. I'll be right back…" she told Catherine quietly, as she walked toward the staircase.

"Don't wake her up or anything. If she's still asleep, just let her sleep for a few more minutes, and then I'll wake her up…" Catherine explained, knowing she could trust Destiny, just by the look on her face.

"I won't," Destiny shook her head, and started up the stairs. Was the typical overprotective mother, Destiny noticed. She thought it was adorable, though. She wondered if Lindsey sometimes felt about Catherine, how she used to always feel about her mother. Quite the woman…I wonder how she balances a night job, and an eight-year-old (Author's Note: I don't know if Lindsey is eight or nine, if she's nine, please tell me, and I'll correct it.) daughter? That's an amazing feat. She told herself, as she peered into Lindsey Willows' room. Surely enough, the little girl was still sleeping. She looked completely angelic. Quite possibly the most adorable child Destiny had ever seen. Not wanting to wake her up, Destiny quickly shut the door, and walked back down the stairs.

Much to Destiny's surprise, Catherine was already finished with the dishes, and now sitting on the couch in the living room, a cup of coffee in front of her. "Was she still asleep?" she asked, looking up at Destiny, who sat about three feet away from her, in a chair.

"Yeah," Destiny nodded, and looked toward Catherine. "She's adorable, Catherine," she told her.

"Thanks," Catherine beamed. She loved it when Lindsey cot compliments. It a way, she felt like the compliments were directed at her, too. "I do the best I can…"

Destiny definitely saw a respectable woman in Catherine Willows. And she also saw a strong bond about to form between the two of them. She was deep in thought, about what it must be like to be a single mother under Catherine's circumstances, when there was a knock on the door.

Catherine stood up, and walked to the door. She peered through the eyehole, and smiled when she saw who was on the other side. "Ah, good, you get to meet two of the other people you'll be working with…" she looked to Destiny before opening the door. "Hey, Nicky, and hey, you!" she turned from the first visitor, to the other one, a dark-skinned male, with black hair and green eyes, and kissed him.

"Uh, Catherine, your visitor…" the first man asked, while Catherine was kissing the other one.

"Oh, yeah, right…" Catherine pulled away. "Nick, Warrick, this is Destiny Abbot, of the Boston Crime Lab. Destiny, these two fine gentlemen are Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes…" she pointed to each of the men.

"Nice to meet you," Destiny looked from the dark-skinned man, to the light-skinned one. She stood up. There, about fifteen feet away from her, stood the most amazing looking man she'd ever seen in her life. From the first noticeable features, his dark-brown hair and brown eyes, all the way to his perfect jaw line and smile, Destiny was officially taken over by Nick Stokes. Maybe Vegas wasn't so bad after all!

"Nice to meet you, too, Destiny…" Warrick smiled, and approached her. "And looking forward to seeing you around the lab, too."

Nick couldn't stop staring, but managed to pull his mind from the tubes long enough to approach Destiny, and offer her his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you, since that seems to be the popular way to say it today…" he joked, feeling like a total idiot afterward. Why could he never find the right words to say around a woman?

Apparently, Destiny looked beyond his horrible joke, and saw what was supposed to be humor, because she laughed anyway. "Yeah," was all she could pull out as a reply. This guy must have this effect on a lot of women…she thought.

~~

"Normally, the house isn't this terrible," Sara Sidle knelt down, and picked up a couple of pieces of paper that had fallen from the table to the floor. "I just haven't been around enough to really clean it up, you know?" she asked, looking at Susan, knowing she could probably relate to her.

"Yeah, I definitely know what you mean," Susan nodded, and immediately got up to help the younger woman clean. "I'm just thankful that I'm usually home during the day when Katie is home…" she laughed a little. "Or else my house would never be clean. I pretty much work around the clock, unless Jason is home, then we sleep in shifts," she explained, smiling slightly at Sara.

Jason had fallen asleep in the guestroom, as Gil had in his own room. Both of them had been through rough nights, only in different ways. This left Sara and Susan to talk in the living room.

"That has to be tough. How old is Katie?" Sara asked, hoping to see a picture of her guest's daughter.

Sure enough, Susan pulled a wallet-sized picture of a small, blonde girl, with adorable green eyes, out of her purse, and held it out to Sara. "She's eleven. The light of my life…" she explained, her smile growing a bit.

"She's adorable!" Sara grinned. "How long have you and Jason been married?" she asked, sitting down on the couch.

"Fifteen years…" Susan's smile held strong. "We love each other more and more with each passing day, too," she slid the picture of Katie back into her purse, and nodded a little. She saw the admiration coming from the younger woman, and it flattered her. "How long have you and Gil been living together?" she asked.

"Only a couple months, but I think the fact that we're in the same house now brings us a lot closer…" she explained. "Oh, by the way, thank you for helping me clean…" she nodded a thank you to Susan.

Susan shrugged it off. "No problem. I know how tough it can be to clean up after more than one person…"

~~

Standing outside a small house, the same girl from the two airports watched Bonnie and Julie carry their suitcases in, with the help of two twenty-or-so-year-old men. Jealousy tore through her body. "Why is it all the men always flock to Bonnie or Julie? What do they have that you don't, Christine? What? They're not that much prettier than you!"

In a different tone of voice, completely (much lower, rougher and deeper), she shouted, "Bonnie Fletcher will die! And I don't care who I have to take down on my way there!"

~~

How will Bonnie and Julie react to Archie and Greg? Stay tuned to 'City of Sin' to find out.

Oh, and thanks to Peggie, Franny, Barbara and Raven for your feedback. It's much appreciated.