Nick stared at the substances in front of him; distaste flickered in his eyes. Glancing behind him, he grabbed the nearest chair, pulled it up and sat, wanting to be a little more comfortable as he scrutinized the bits and pieces. His knee apart, he rested his forearms on his thighs and leaned further in. The set of his jaw, and the line of his back would tell any passerby that he was intent on the task at hand, to find the elusive object of his quest.
"Trying to cool off the whole break room?" Warrick asked walking in finding Nick sitting in front of the open fridge.
"I'm trying to find something decent to eat." Nick's voice echoed a little from inside the refrigerator.
"Ping's decent enough for you?" Warrick asked tossing a brown paper bag on to the tabletop.
Nick pulled his head out, and whipped around. "Chinese? You are the man!"
Nick stood and grabbed paper plates from the stack on top the microwave while Warrick unpacked the bag. "I was expecting everyone else, 's why I bought so much."
"Griss is at PD with Brass," he looked at his watch "I'm guessing he should be back any minute now and Sara's got a suspect on her gas station in interrogation and Catherine...." Nick paused a moment then shrugged.
"Cath's dropping off trace we found at our B&E." Warrick finished for him as he sat down in the chair Sara had occupied earlier, at the end of the table.
"Quit raining yet?" Nick asked.
Warrick shook his head and shoveled a fork full of rice into his mouth.
"Coming down like cats and dogs" a voice chimed in from the doorway. Both men looked up to find Sara's friend Rai leaning against the door jam, arms folded across her chest, her knee bent and crossed over the other foot, the tip of her hiking boot touching the floor. "Hi" she greeted, smiling brightly. "My trip got canceled, I just wanted to tell Sara thanks anyway."
"She's with a sus...she's at the police department." Nick caught himself. "Come on in, you can wait for her here." Ever the southern gentlemen he stood as she detached herself from the doorway and moved toward the table. Warrick looked up at him from his seat and rolled his eyes.
"Thanks" her smile grew just a bit brighter, as did Nicks.
Rai pulled out a chair closest to the door, opposite Nick. Warrick noticed the exchange and shook his head. "Have you eaten? We've got plenty" he asked Rai as she put her purse down on the floor next to her.
"I'm starved. Thanks." Reaching to the back of her head, she pulled out an elastic band, freeing her hair from its bounds. Running her hands through it, shaking out the long curls, she couldn't help but notice she'd gotten Nicks attention. She hadn't exactly meant to, but on the other hand, she didn't mind a bit.
Nick cleared his throat and handed her a plate, pushing a couple of the cardboard containers toward her. "Rai's an unusual name for a girl."
She smiled and spooned some sweet and sour onto her plate. Nodding in agreement, she explained, "My parents were hippies. My name is actually Rainbow." She looked up to find both men staring at her. "Yeah, I know. It is kind of silly. But it could have been worse. My mom wanted to name me Butterfly."
"Then you would have gone through life as Butt." Warrick observed. Nick gave him a sideways look, but Rai laughed.
"Hippies, huh?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah, honest to God hippies. So were Sara's parents, they were all friends, she and I grew up together." She forked a piece of chicken into her mouth.
"And your trip?" Nick asked, making conversation.
"I was going to go hiking in the mountains, but the rain stopped me short."
"They've only been predicting rain all week." Hodges walked into the room. Passing by them, he sniffed the food laid out on the table, made a face and continued on to the fridge. "Especially in the mountains" he continued, his tone snotty and somewhat reprimanding. "It'd be stupid to plan a hike for this weekend."
Gil walked in. "Hi" he greeted Rai. Turning his attention to the lab tech, he continued "My trace fibers?"
"They're running through now. Definitely cotton" Hodges answered, his tone suddenly bright and cheerful. "By the way, did you know in the 5th century cotton fabrics were unknown or quite uncommon in Europe it may be inferred from Herodotus mention of the cotton clothing of the Indians. Ultimately the cotton industry was imported into Europe..."
Grissom cut him off with the slightly confused slightly annoyed look he'd perfected. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I'll go check your DNA." Hodges said sheepishly and dashed out of the room.
"That had to be Hodges." Rai said to no one in particular.
Warrick stopped, mid chew. Nick's fork hung half way up to his mouth. Grissom turned. They all stared at her. "How'd you know that?" Nick asked.
"Well...." Rai grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. "From Sara talking about all of you, I've figured that there are only two jerks here, Ecklie and Hodges. Since it's...." she looked at her watch "after midnight; it's to late for Ecklie to be here, and" she used her fork to point at the hallway Hodges just walked down "his whole demeanor; his tone of voice, body language, changed when Mr. Grissom walked in." She looked toward Gil as he sat down at the end of the oblong table, opposite Warrick, fascinated. "He went from jerk to suck up in nothin' flat. From what Sara says, Hodges is a huge suck up, hence, that was Hodges." She finished her explanation and took a bite of rice.
The men exchanged impressed glances. "You want a job?" Gil finally asked. Rai smiled and crinkled her nose.
"Thanks, but I can't stand the sight of blood."
"What blood?" Sara asked walking in and quickly stopping short, stunned to find Rai sitting there with her boss and co-workers.
Rai glanced over her shoulder to Sara. "Relax, I didn't give away any of your deep dark secrets."
Snapping out of her shock, Sara protested, "I don't have any secrets, deep or otherwise." She sat down in between Rai and Grissom reaching for a plate and the steamed veggies. "The rains bring you back in?" Rai nodded her answer, her mouth full.
"Your robbery suspect?" Gil asked taking a plate and the carton of beef and broccoli.
"Confessed almost the minute he sat down in the interrogation room. O'Reilly didn't even break a sweat," Sara said simply, referring to the big sergeant the CSI's worked with often.
"Good, you can work with Nick on the ..." Gil stopped speaking and glanced at Rai.
"Ok, I get the hint. Civilian in the room." Her tone was light, teasing. "Thanks anyway Sar. I'll talk to ya tomorrow." She stood and pulled her purse on to her shoulder, making eye contact with each of the CSI's. "Good to meet you all. Now I can put a face to Sara's stories." She waggled her fingers in a wave goodbye, and when Nick stood up out of politeness, she smiled, cast her eyes down then quickly back up, looking at him through her lashes. "Bye" she almost whispered.
"Bye Rai," Sara called, staring at Nick. After Rai had left the room she added, still looking at Nick, "you never stand for me."
Nick smiled a dazzling smile. "Jealous?"
"Sara" Grissom interrupted "We've got a DB down with Doc Robinson, probable rape victim, I need you to get down there and get the report."
Still standing, Nick grabbed his pager, unclipping it from his belt and brought it up, staring at the screen. "Gotta run," he said simply before hurrying out of the room.
Warrick watched his friend exit, and snorted quietly to himself before taking Nick's abandoned plate and scrapping what was left onto his own.
Ten minutes later, dinner finished, Warrick left Sara and Grissom in the break room, still discussing the body from the apartment. Headed toward the layout room, he passed Nick in the hall. "Taking Rai out?" he asked. Nick stopped short.
"Yeah." A confused look came over his face. "How'd you know?"
"Your pager didn't go off man." Warrick answered simply.