Setting: After Season 2, before Season 3. (Only because I've seen all of one and two, and only part of three, and none of the others.)
A heated argument greeted Las Vegas Crime Scene Investigator's Nick Stokes and Warrick Brown as they slipped through their night supervisor's closed door. They were a little taken aback at Gil Grissom's harsh tone that he used as he spoke to the other person on the phone. They couldn't really understand much of what was being said, only hearing one side of the conversation, but they could easily tell that Grissom wasn't amused in the least.
"I told you, it's not a place for civilians. We're dealing with people's lives here. We can't have some naïve person following us around, destroying our crime scenes. My agents know how to tread on a scene; she would destroy countless items of evidence tromping after them." He paused and listened to what was being said on the other end for a moment. While he listened he motioned for Nick and Warrick to have a seat in the two chairs that were in front of his desk. His eyes narrowed as he listened to what the other person said. "She'll get in the way; this is a job for trained professionals!" He paused again, and his mouth opened to an 'o', before he snapped back, "You can't go over my head, I'm the night supervisor. If you wanted her on my shift, why would you even try to go over my head to my supervisor? That's not exactly the best way to make points with someone, you know." His eyes went wide as what he heard surprised him a little. "Excuse me, but are you trying to bribe me into letting a civilian in on my ranks?" He sighed, and shook his head, resting his head in his free hand that wasn't holding the phone. "Fine, whatever. Agreed. The money is for equipment purposes. But know this: she is to observe period. Understood?" Grissom nodded at the phone. "Good." And he hung up the phone with a loud bang. He glared at the phone for a moment before looking up at Nick and Warrick.
"What was that all about?" Nick asked; he chuckled a little. It wasn't everyday that Grissom showed that he was frustrated. He glanced down at his watch, "January 4th, marking the calendar."
Grissom shook his head at Nick and looked toward Warrick. "Some big wig Hollywood producer wants to send some green Assistant Director here to observe us for two weeks to do research for a movie they're making to be released in a year and a half."
Warrick raised an eyebrow up at Grissom, and cocked his head to the side in a way that all of the CSI's had a way of doing when digging for information. "And you agreed?"
"Well not at first." Grissom mused. He rolled his eyes, and looked toward Nick. "First he threatened to go over my head, and when I convinced him that that wouldn't work, he decided to go the American way and bribe me." He smiled a big smugly, looking back toward Warrick. "He offered to pay almost anything, and even suggested ten grand for grant money."
"He offered to pay almost anything," Nick said, getting Grissom's attention again. "And you only agreed on ten grand?! It sounds like he really wants this assistant to come here, you shouldn't have settled for less then fifty!" He grinned at Grissom. "I wouldn't have."
Grissom shook his head at Nick, and looked between the two of them. "I still didn't want to do it at first…but then you know what occurred to me?" He trailed off and smiled at them. They knew this smile very well. This was Grissom's "It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it…and it might as well be you." smile.
Warrick and Nick knew their supervisor well enough to read his smile easily. Grissom had many different smiles, as most people do. And this is one that they had seen more often then they could count. The two of them glanced at each other, and then turned toward Grissom. "Us?" They both asked together.
Grissom's grin only got bigger.
One Week Later
Megan sighed to herself as she stared up at the building that she'd come to know well in the next two weeks. Inside was the Las Vegas Crime Lab. A place where the guy she was supposed to be shadowing didn't want her anywhere near him, because he was afraid that she'd contaminate his precious crime scene. She had just driven from LA…a 4 ½ hour drive, and she had dreaded her destination the entire time. Mac, the producer that had gotten her this gig, had explained all the circumstances to her a few days ago, and what she was supposed to do. Mac had also told her about the night supervisor (Grissom?) and his reservations about letting her come onboard. If this wasn't the best, closest crime lab in the country, he would have sent her somewhere else. Mac was also reluctant to send her off by herself, into such unknown territory; a small town girl like herself. But after the argument that Grissom gave him about her observing it probably would have cost another ten grand to send another crew member…and that was just out of the question.
He said that it was all in the hands of the assistant director now…which was her…not a great thought right now. She took a deep breath, and held it for a second. She would make the best of whatever happened. She'd make friends with this Grissom guy, and all would be right with the world. Everything would work out for the best.
A quick glance down at her watch revealed that it was 7:50. She was early. Her appointment with Grissom wasn't until 8:00…hopefully showing up early would make a good impression with him. She was really nervous about meeting him. Megan took a deep breath, stiffened her spine, and walked through the front doors. She had been given directions to find Grissom's office, and she hazily brought them to mind as she walked forward. Everything was different in your mind's eye then when you actually see the real thing. Megan was concentrating so hard on where she was going that she completely missed the receptionist's desk in front.
"Excuse me?" The receptionist called out to Megan's back. "Excuse me!" She yelled loudly, half standing up to get her point across, and getting Megan's attention. Megan turned half around with a 'who? Me?' expression as she pointed to herself. "Can I help you?"
Megan turned the rest of the way around, and shuffled back the few steps giving the receptionist a friendly smile, taken aback by the unnerving stare of the receptionist. "Hey." Megan said a bit nervously, she bit her lip slightly. "I…um…have an appointment with Gil Grissom at 8." She pointed over her shoulder. "It's that way, right?"
"Do you have a pass?" The receptionist asked haughtily, ignoring Megan's question.
"Um…no." Megan replied nervously, fiddling with her hands as she talked. "They never told me that I needed one…all they said was to go to the night supervisor's office…Gil Grissom's…at 8." She shrugged. "My producer set it up."
The receptionist leaned forward and looked at Megan over her black rimmed glasses. "So you're the film director."
Megan shrugged. "Assistant director actually." She smiled a bit nervously, hoping that maybe that would ease her passing to get into the lab. Standing there talking was cutting away precious minutes of her finding Grissom's office, and arriving there early.
The receptionist leaned back into her chair again, as if almost relishing her power that she now held. "Nobody gets into the lab without a pass." She snapped. "No pass no appointment. This isn't Hollywood where we let celebrities do just whatever they want to do. We do things by the book here."
"I'm just an assistant director, ma'am, no celebrity." Megan replied, not sure what she should do to pacify the woman. She glanced down at her watch anxiously. "How long do you think this will take?" The receptionist just shrugged and beckoned her forward with one finger. Sighing to herself, Megan slowly went forward.
20 Minutes Later…
Megan hurriedly attached her VISITOR'S badge to her t-shirt, and scrambled in through the lab's doors, anxious to not only get to Grissom's office as quickly as she could…but also to get out of that unnerving receptionist's presence. She was fifteen minutes late as it was…she was obviously not going to make a great first impression with Grissom.
Once she actually got into the lab, her mind went completely blank…which direction was she supposed to go to get to his office? She couldn't remember to save her life if she should go left, right or straight. Everything looked the same to her! She should have just written the directions down in the first place, her memory was always doing this to her! She was close to panicking, because she couldn't remember which way. She shrugged to herself and started walking straight, hoping that by the grace of God she'd be heading in the right direction. She started examining every sign on the wall, hoping they would give her some clue as to where Grissom's office was supposed to be.
Megan was craning her neck around to look behind her at a sign that she had missed when she felt like she ran into a brick wall…only brick walls usually don't move backward when you bump into them. This brick wall was human. Whoever it was instantly put his arms on her arms to steady her into not falling. "Are you alright?" The man asked with a slight Texan drawl.
Megan turned and looked up, and was mesmerized by his eyes. They were so dark and mysterious. He had to clear his throat slightly before she even remembered that he had asked a question. "Sorry!" She replied quickly, and indicated her bumping into him. "And yes, thanks for catching me." She smiled up at him, and belatedly realized that his hand lingered on her elbow, longer then it took to steady her from falling. She didn't notice; because she was too busy staring at his name badge. Nick Stokes. CSI. She wondered if she'd be working alongside him anytime in the next two weeks.
"Anytime." Nick replied, taking a step backward so that he could look at her easier without looking straight down, and without her craning her neck upward. She was tall, but he was much taller. He cocked his head to the side. A trait she would come to know well amongst all of the CSI agents. "You look a little lost." He said with a helpful smile…at least Megan interoperated it as helpful…or adorable would work as well. "Is there anyway I can help you out?"
Megan sighed in relief. Angels sure had some beautiful faces in Las Vegas. "You're my savior." She said with a huge smile, still biting her lip a bit nervously. "I'm looking for Mr. Grissom's office…I was supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago…and I am so lost. I can't remember any directions that Mac gave me, and this place is like a maze!"
Nick looked at her as if a light bulb had suddenly lit up in his head. "Hey, are you Megan Athol? The film director?" He asked, and grinned broadly, as if he was so delighted to be the first person to meet her.
Megan smiled and shrugged a bit. "Assistant, yeah that's me."
Nick's smile couldn't have gotten bigger. He extended his hand toward her. "I'm Nick Stokes, CSI." They shake hands…and once again Megan wondered if she was imagining his hand lingering longer then a normal handshake would be with her hand. "We'll be working very closely together for the next two weeks." He winked and smiled his 'crest white' smile at her. "Come on, I'll show you to Grissom's."
"Thank you so much!" Megan said gratefully as they walked together, Nick expertly maneuvering around the hurrying scientists in ankle-length lab coats, and steering her around them as well, since they were so into their own work they didn't seem to notice anyone else in the hall. Nick kept his hand on the small of her back as he steered her around, but Megan didn't mind in the least. She felt very safe and secure walking next to him, as if the world couldn't touch her because he would be there to protect her. It sounded stupid, but when you have to step out of your comfort zone into unknown territory you will cling to whoever comes along that makes you feel like yourself, and not so afraid of what you're getting into. He fears about meeting Grissom went on a back burner as they walked together. Nick pointed things out to her as they walked. Things like the interrogation room, the lab & lab tech (to which Megan only saw a guy in a lab coat jamming to rock music) and so forth. It turned out that she had taken many wrong turns in her endeavors to get to Grissom's office, because they passed the hall that led the way out by the receptionist's office.
"So have you been in the film business long?" Nick asked conversationally as he steered her down the last hall to Grissom's office.
Grissom's office loomed darkly in front of them as they walked closer. You know how in movies when something scary happens, the screen seems to zoom in and zoom out at the exact same time? That's how Grissom's office appeared to Megan as they got closer. She had to tell herself not to drag her feet as they got closer. "A few years." She replied distractedly, her fears rushed back to her as she saw the figure of a man sitting in the dark room at his desk. It wasn't too late to turn around, maybe she could just slip away…they'd never know. But Nick's comforting hand on her back stopped her, not physically, just mentally. She concentrated on his strength to give her the strength to face this over-whelming figure she was to meet. Her heart was beating so hard, she could have sworn that it would leap out of her chest and dance a jig on the floor.
Nick smiled at her as they reached Grissom's office. He removed his strong hand from her back, and moved to walk in front of her to step ahead as they reached his office. The door was open, but Grissom was obviously deep into his paperwork, because he didn't even notice them standing there at his door. Nick smiled comfortingly at Megan and knocked loudly on Grissom's door. Grissom jumped slightly, obviously having really been into his paperwork. He looked up at the door, to see Nick and Megan standing there, glanced down at his watch on his wrist, and then motioned for them to come in.
"Hey Grissom." Nick said, leading the way in, not noticing that Megan was doing her best to stand directly behind him to try and not so subtlety hide from Grissom's all-knowing gaze. "Your 8 o'clock is here." He said cheerfully and glanced to his left where Megan and been standing, but wasn't any longer. "…somewhere." Grissom cocked his head to the side and did his little squint as he waited for Megan to introduce herself. Nick glanced over his shoulder to see Megan standing behind him, obviously very freaked out. "There you are." He gave her a reassuring smile, and put a comforting hand on Megan's shoulder and brought her around to stand in front of him, leaving his right hand on her right shoulder. "Grissom, Megan Athol. Megan, Gil Grissom."
"Nice to meet you, sir." Megan said cautiously, biting her lip nervously, and winding her fingers in the fabric of the hem of her shirt. He was so unnerving! He just stared at her. He didn't look from Nick to her, or turn his gaze anywhere else; he just sat there looking at her. Was she supposed to do something? Was she supposed to say something? He was already supposed to have gotten the check for her being there…so what was he waiting for?! The only movement that she had seen him make was to glance up as they first entered, and that was out of the corner of her eye, because she had quickly ducked behind Nick.
"Take a seat, Megan." Grissom finally spoke, his voice was quiet and yet filled with such depth. It wasn't a menacing sound…and yet it was still so very much full of authority. Megan nodded at him and slowly stepped forward to comply, leaving the safety of Nick's close proximity. She wouldn't look Grissom in the eye, she just stared at the edge of his desk, still biting her lip, and winding her fingers into the fabric of her shirt. "Thank you, Nick." Grissom said, and nodded at the still standing CSI. "I'll see you in ten minutes for assignments." Nick nodded at Grissom, recognizing his cue to leave. He glanced down at Megan's still form, her stiff posture, and her nervous tells; his heart went out to her. He slowly and silently slipped out of the room, and closed the door behind him.
When the door closed behind Nick, the final 'click' seemed so loud and final to Megan. That meant she was actually alone with this guy. Although he didn't seem mad…he seemed liked one of those guys who kept his emotions to himself, so who knew what he was going to say to her now? She felt very alone sitting across from him, refusing to meet his gaze. She was truly afraid of Grissom. She'd heard a lot about him, seen him a TV a couple of times, and she'd heard Mac's rendition of his attitude toward her being allowed to shadow him for two weeks. She was afraid that her just being there (never mind her being late) would make him angry…and judging from his extended silence…he already was.
After another minute, Megan couldn't take any more and she glanced up from her hands to his face…and she remembered it being a very big mistake. She only wanted to look him in the eyes for a second, but as soon as he caught her gaze, he seemed to reach out and grab it, not allowing her to look away. And since she hadn't looked him in the eye when she first entered, she hadn't seen that he was very disgruntled with her for being late (she'd assumed he was, but she hadn't known for sure)…but looking into his eyes now, she could tell that he was. She would have preferred his silence compared to the speech that it looked as if he was about to give her. So she was very surprised when all he said was…
"You're late."
"I'm really sorry about that!" Megan started babbling. "I meant to come here early but—
"Your appointment was clearly at 8:00 sharp." He said, his quiet voice interrupting her. He still looked her straight in the eye, and then made a show of glancing down to the watch around his wrist. Her gaze involuntarily followed his. "It's now 8:20." He looked back up into her eyes, her eyes meeting his involuntarily again; she couldn't seem to look away. His gaze held her's like a snare. Grissom cocked his head to the side. "Is this going to be a problem?"
Megan blinked, and the spell was broken and she was able to look away from his intense gaze. Once she was free of that, she swallowed nervously, and stared at a pen on his desk, as if she was having the conversation with the pen, and the pen was talking back to her. She started babbling again, and could barely understand the words that that came out of her mouth as she said them…but the sound of her own voice was more comforting then the silence, so she kept going. "It's a long story Mr. Grissom. You see I didn't know that a Visitor's badge was required to enter the lab, or that it required a photo ID since it's an extended badge for the two weeks that I'm going to be here. Nobody told me that before I got here, so while I was here early to come and meet with you right away at 8…I had to stop and get that—
"Megan?" Grissom's quiet voice interrupted her nervous babble. She stopped talking, and glanced up at him briefly before looking down at her conversational pen on his desk. "I'd appreciate it if you'd look me in the eyes when you talk to me."
Megan swallowed nervously and nodded at the pen. He was unnerving but this was just something that she was going to have to deal with…as much as he hated her, a job was a job. After she gathered all of her wits she breathed in and dragged her eyes up to meet his intense gaze. "Sorry. Um…anyway, it took longer then expected. That's why I'm late…sorry." She almost forgot to exhale.
Grissom nodded, not revealing what he was thinking as usual. He really didn't want her here, but he had been paid, and she was obviously easily made nervous. He supposed he should at least do something to make her feel a little bit more at ease. "I trust that this won't be a problem in the future."
Megan shook her head, amazingly keeping eye contact with his intense look. "No, sir."
"Good." Grissom replied, and gave her a half smile. Megan wasn't sure how to interpret that smile; was he patronizing her, or trying to be friendly? Her gaze shifted down to his hands as he shuffled a few papers on his desk. He picked them up and held them out to her for a few seconds until she slowly reached up and grabbed them from his hand. "If you are to observe us for two weeks, you'll need to fill out these papers." Megan glanced down at them as he talked and she leafed through a couple of the pages, catching words here and there. "Pretty standard stuff, really." Grissom said, catching her attention again. "Accidental death policy and the like." Megan stared at him unblinkingly for a second…he had to be joking…right? Grissom just stared right back at her and shrugged. "We need to have all our basis covered." He clicked a pen and handed it to her. "Fill out these forms, and then we can get started. My evening shift should be here in a few minutes, and you can meet those that you'll be observing. I see that you've already met Nick."
Megan nodded at him, and looked a little relieved. He looked back down at a case file that was on his desk. It sounded and looked as if he wanted her to go elsewhere to fill out these forms…she could get out of his unnerving presence for a few minutes! Didn't Nick mention something about a break room when he gave her an unofficial tour earlier? She could easily fill out the forms there, in the comfort of her own presence. Megan slowly stood up, not wanting to engage his attention from his case he was looking over. She had even taken a couple of steps toward the door, when Grissom's voice stopped her.
"Where are you headed, Megan?" In his usual quiet voice. So quiet, yet so authoritative at the same time. She wondered if he had any kids, she could about imagine that they didn't get away with anything when he was home, if he had any.
Megan slowly turned in her tracks and looked at him. She nervously pointed toward the door. "Um…to the break room, to fill these out?" She asked, unintentionally using upward intonation at the end of her sentence, making it sound as if she was asking a question in her statement.
Grissom, who notices everything, noticed that. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her. "Was that a question?" He asked.
"Uh…no, sir." Megan replied, not quite sure how to continue. "She made a sweeping motion of her hand around his desk. "On my way toward your office Nick showed an employee break room that had table and chairs available." She squirmed under his gaze. "I thought I could go there to fill these out, since there isn't that much room in here."
Grissom motioned toward his desk, and the chair that she had just occupied. "We can make room." He scooted his chair over to the left a bit, and cleared of his papers to the right. He smiled at her, and pointed toward the now empty spot on the right of his desk, right next to him and his chair. "See? Room." He patted the empty desktop invitingly, then turned and continued looking over his case file, seeming to ignore her, but actually observing her in his own quiet way, without her knowing it.
Megan wondered if he got some sort of weird thrill watching her squirm. I can do this she thought to herself. Mind over matter. She nodded at his turned head, and moved the chair she had just been sitting in, to his side of the desk to fill out her papers. She made sure not to move it too close to him, and (as she was right handed) put up her left hand next to her face to give her a tiny shield while she filled out the papers.
The paperwork was really easy stuff. It reminded her of the endless forms that she had to fill out when she entered college. Name, address, phone number, social security number (probably so they could get a tax break some how), and so forth. She filled them out rapidly, trying to keep her penmanship easily legible. She was trucking right along when she came across a question that made her glance over at Grissom as he flipped a page in the case he was reading. He glanced at her and went back to his reading. She squinted at the question, making sure that she read it right, "Who to contact in event of fatal injury sustained while on the job". What was she getting herself into? She sighed slightly to herself, reminding herself that it was all about the movie. Then she paused, trying to remember he roommate's cell phone number. She knew it started with 690…but for the life of her she couldn't remember the last 4 digits…which were kind of vital. She tapped her pen on the sheet of paper for a moment trying to think. She let her gaze wander up toward the edge of the desk and she came face to face with a jar that had a massive cockroach…and it was looking at her.
Megan screeched (not noticing that Grissom about jumped out of his chair at her sudden outburst) and she backed up as quickly as possible. She flew backward in her chair, knocking it over, and tumbling toward Grissom's chair as she did. She didn't notice his outstretched hand to help her up; she just crawled away from the huge cockroach that was now skittering every which way in the jar. She had a massive fear of bugs…she wasn't quite sure why, she'd never been seriously bitten by one…but they just freaked her out in general. She liked to call her fear "bug-o-phobia".
When Megan could feel the solid wall behind her, she used one of the shelves to help her steady herself into standing. It was sad really, but her legs were actually shaking from seeing that cockroach in the jar. Coming from South Dakota they didn't have to deal with cockroaches. Mosquitoes the size of birds maybe…but not cockroaches. Megan glanced toward the shelf that was helping her steady herself, and about had an accident on Grissom's floor when she saw various other insects on display in various forms surrounding his shelves. Was this guy crazy?! She wondered to herself as she quickly backed away from that shelf as fast as she could. She smacked into Grissom's chest (as he had stood up to see what she was freaking out about) and he put out his hands to catch her, and possibly try to calm her down before the whole lab was in his office wondering if he was attempting to murder their new observer.
"You're frightening my cockroach." Grissom said softly, and nodded toward the insect in the jar that was still skittering around in circles as fast as it's little legs would go. Megan barely followed his glance toward the jar, and then she struggled and practically clawed her way out of Grissom's "embrace" until she was far on the other side of his office toward the far wall. She quickly glanced toward it to make sure that there was nothing creepy crawly behind her, and slowly leaned against it, exhaling softly. She willed her heart to slow it's fast beating. Boy was she going to have nightmares tonight. How she had failed to notice all of these little "quirks" in his office when she first entered was beyond her…maybe it was because he was just so unnerving! She stood there for a moment trying to steady her breathing.
"Did I fail to mention that I'm an entomologist?" Grissom asked with a slight smirk.
Megan forgot her fear of him for a moment, and swept her hand across the expanse of his desk and walls. "Yeah, and your office is infested."
Grissom cocked his head to the side (something that was already starting to annoy her) and just looked at her. "Do you suppose that if we were the size of cockroaches, and cockroaches were the size of us…that they'd be frightened of all the little two-legged critters running around?"
Megan just stared at him…he was really out there. Grissom just stared right back at her. There was a moment of silence when a slight knock came from the door, and three people filtered in. They looked from Grissom, standing behind his desk, to his over-turned chair, and finally to Megan, still pressed up against the far wall.
A woman with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair came up to Megan first, extending her hand. She wore a welcoming smile on her face, and Megan liked her right away. "Catherine Willows." She said as she shook Megan's hand. She smiled and glanced over at Grissom before looking back to Megan. "Let me guess…Grissom showed you his hobby of cockroach racing, and things got a little out of hand?"
"Megan Athol." Megan replied, and gave Catherine an astonished look. "He races cockroaches?!" Her head whipped over to Grissom who just shrugged slightly before he bent to straighten the chair. Man did this guy have issues. Movement to Megan's right brought her eyes back that way, and a very cute African-American man came up to her next, hand extended. Her gaze went from his extended hand allllll the way up to his eyes. He was really tall, especially standing just a foot away from her. These guys really didn't seem to have issues with personal space.
"Warrick Brown." He said with a half smile. "And if you want to get it spelled right in the credits of your movie…you can always have Sandra Bullock give me a call to confirm. I'll give you my personal home phone number." He gave her a slight wink as she shook his hand, and stepped aside. She smiled up at him; she knew that she'd enjoy his sense of humor for the next two weeks.
"If Sandra's gonna be callin' anyone," The only familiar voice said next as Nick stepped up toward Megan. "It'll be me." Nick nodded triumphantly at Warrick. "Ya see, Megan and I? We go way back."
Megan smiled at Nick and glanced over at Warrick with a nod and a smile. "Oh yeah…at least ten minutes!"
Nick laughed and clapped Megan on the shoulder with his hand and moved to stand next to her on her right. He turned and whispered. "This is where we meet before we get our assignments on where we're going to go for the evening, and a description of the case." He nodded toward where Grissom was holding a couple sheets of paper. "He's holding the crime scene cases in his hands now."
"Nick," Grissom said, gaining the distracted CSI's attention. "Megan is here to observe. She'll be able to figure out what's going on perfectly fine on her own."
"Sorry." Nick said, but he didn't look to be put out by his reprimand by his supervisor. He heard Megan sigh to herself to his left and he turned slightly to wink at her, obviously used to Grissom's behavior.
"Alright people, we have a busy night ahead of us." Grissom said. "As you all can see, we will have an observer with us for the next two weeks for a film being made in the future. She is to be treated as a civilian only."
He continued talking, but Megan fazed him out. It was obvious that he didn't like her, but did he have to make it so blandly obvious every time he spoke or looked her? This was going to be a very long two weeks. She heard Grissom droning on in the background, but she didn't stop to try and comprehend what he was going on about. Her gaze wandered to the certificates that covered his walls, and wondered where he had gotten them all. He was obviously good at his job…that much was obvious. He also noticed everything and seemed to file it away into his brain for further use later on. With just the fifteen minutes she'd been with him she felt like he knew her whole life story just by looking at her…his brain must be loaded with useless information about tons of people from all of the cases he had worked on over the years. Megan's thoughts were interrupted when Nick elbowed her in the ribs and cleared his throat a bit loudly. She was abruptly brought back to the present, her heart beating hard in her chest when she realized that everyone was staring at her.
"Excuse me?" Grissom asked, tapping the papers against his palm slightly as he talked. "Megan? Are we boring you?"
Megan could have sworn that she broke out in a cold sweat just then. You'd think that she'd be used to his intense stare by now, since that's all he seemed to do when he looked at her…but she wasn't. "I'm sorry." She offered a bit lamely, wondering if she even tried to make up an excuse he'd listen to it.
Grissom did a half nod at her apology, seeming to accept it (which confused her), before he looked back at his agents. "As I was saying: Catherine, you have a fire damage at a residential. Brass thinks that arson is strongly suspected." He handed her the top sheet of paper, which she took and immediately started to look at. "Sara will meet you there. She had car trouble today, which is why she's late." He turned his gaze toward Nick and Warrick, passing over Megan where it seemed to linger for a moment. "Warrick, Nick, you two will accompany me for a triple homicide, possibly gang related."
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Wait a sec, they get a triple and I'm stuck with arson? How'd that work out?"
Grissom back toward Catherine, and shrugged. "It's just how the cards played out." He handed Nick and Warrick the piece of paper with the case on it. Warrick took the sheet and scanned it quickly; Nick leaned over his shoulder reading it as well. Megan stared at Nick's elbow. "We leave in five." Grissom said, gaining everyone's attention.
Everyone started to disperse and do a few last minute things they wouldn't be able to get done at the end of the night. Catherine went to give her daughter a quick call. Warrick went to grab a quick cup of coffee to give his system a jolt of caffeine. Nick also followed Warrick so he could grab a quick bite to eat, knowing he probably wouldn't get one later. Their minds were already set to the cases they were about to start. Megan took this as her cue to be able to slip out of Grissom's office unnoticed with the rest of the group. He never told her where she'd be going; maybe she'd luck out and get the arson case with Catherine and the other CSI…Sara? She felt comfortable with these guys; they acted as if they at least wanted her to be there…Grissom obviously wanted nothing to do with her.
Just as she was about to slip through the door, hiding between Nick and Warrick, Grissom stopped her with just a single word…as he was prone to do. "Megan?" He asked in his quiet voice. She stopped in her tracks, causing Warrick to propel her into Nick. They all mumbled their apologies, and Warrick slipped around her giving her a sympathetic smile, while Megan meekly slipped back into Grissom's office. "Don't you have some paperwork to do?"
Well, that be all for chapter one. I tried to make it long to grab attention, what did ya guys think? Don't worry Grissom will warm up to her later in the story…but right now it's a lot of fun having him antagonize her! I mean he seriously wouldn't want some random person tromping around after them destroying his evidence…right So I think his anger is rightly placed.
Review if you see fit, but please no flames. If you don't like the story, then don't read it…but please don't flame it