Chapter 2

For RK9, thanks for reviewing dude. You totally rock!! You made my day! I was grinning ear to ear after your rave review! D

Megan stared out her side of the window as the Tahoe that Grissom was driving sped through the Las Vegas streets…as much as he could with the constant traffic and red lights anyway. Nick sat directly in front of her in the passenger's seat, while Warrick sat off to her left. The vehicle was quiet as nobody was really sure what to talk about. Grissom was his usual quiet self, while Nick and Warrick wanted to talk to Megan, but they just weren't quite sure what they should say. Megan wondered if normally they would talk about their current case on the way there, but they weren't now because she was there and they felt a little awkward. She knew that she felt more then a little awkward sitting there right now. She glanced down at her the notebook in her hands, and reread a few notes that she had jotted down about the investigators, and how they started a case. She had retrieved it from her car before they had taken off toward the crime scene, so that she could write notes for her producer, so he could see that she was actually trying to do her job here, no matter how much resistance Grissom seemed to think was necessary.

They were late heading to the scene, because some of the paperwork that Megan had to fill out took longer then she expected it to. She just couldn't remember some of the tiny little bits of information that Grissom declared pertinent that she fill out. And she could have sworn that that creepy cockroach was staring at her the entire time, as if slowly deciding its revenge against her for earlier. It also didn't help that Grissom stood practically right behind her, and seemed to hover over her shoulder as she wrote. She didn't think she was imaging it…he was directly behind her. He had his back to her back as he passed the time and examined the contents on his shelves…but just him standing that close where she couldn't see him made her nervous. And this made her constantly mess up in her writing; because she couldn't get the letters she wanted to look right. She couldn't stand it when anyone watched her write or type. It was one of her pet peeves. She seriously thought that this guy had it in for her; like he declared it his personal job to make the next two weeks as painful as possible. Her penmanship got jagged, and steadily worse, the more she hurried. And she would hurry even more when she would hear Grissom sigh, and hear him move to check his watch for the umpteenth time…as if it was her fault he given her mounds of papers to fill out right before they take off! So she couldn't really blame him after she had declared that she was done and handed him the paperwork, then watched when he grimaced at her awful handwriting toward the end of her paperwork. She'd be surprised if she could read it herself. This was really going to be a long two weeks!

"Hey, Meg!" Warrick's voice interrupted her thoughts of Grissom as she realized she had completely zoned out, staring at her notes in her notebook. She jumped slightly, not expecting to be talked to, and she looked up and to her left quickly at him with a welcoming smile. At least he and the other CSI agents were trying to make her feel more comfortable. They all seemed to pick up the slack where Grissom's support went flat.

"Sorry, Warrick." Megan said with a slight stretch of her arms. "Just spacing." She closed her notebook and gave him her full attention. "What's up?"

"It's cool." Warrick replied. "We're just about there, so I thought that I'd give you a couple of pointers once we enter the crime scene."

Megan smiled at him, and turned in her seat slightly to face him better, adjusting the seat belt that was digging into her neck. "I'm all ears."

Warrick nodded at her complete attention, and took on a serious face. "First," He started. "Have you ever been to a crime scene before? Ever been stopped because of an accident on the highway? Ever happened to walk down a street and have a random stranger yell for you to call 911 because there's been an accident of some sort?" He looked at her intensely, waiting for her to answer.

Megan shrugged slightly, a little overwhelmed by all of that. "Not really…I grew up in a small town. I didn't move to Los Angeles until a few years ago…and even then I kept myself pretty sheltered…as much as you can in a city like LA, anyway."

Warrick nodded accepting that, but his intense gaze never left hers. "Have you ever seen a DB before?"

Before Megan could answer, Nick poked his head around the side of his seat, maneuvering around the constraining seat belt, and offering Megan his prized smile. "He means a dead body." He said, as if Megan knew absolutely nothing about nothing.

Warrick's gaze left Megan's to get to Nick's, where he rolled them and shook his head. "I'm sure that she knew what I meant, Nick." Warrick said in a 'duh' kind of voice. Nick shrugged, not taking offence (Did he ever take offence to anything? Megan wondered.) Warrick then turned a little uncertainly toward Megan again. "You knew what I meant…didn't you?" Megan wasn't sure what to say. Of course she knew what it meant, but she didn't want to hurt Warrick or Nick's feelings by siding with either one of them. Before she could answer Warrick spoke up again. "If you ever have any questions about anything we're doing, don't be afraid to ask…that's what we're here for." He said assuringly.

Megan tried to think quickly, as she glanced back and forth between the two agents. She tried to live by two rules in her life: 1) If someone is yelling at you and nothing you say seems to pacify them, nod and agree with what they say, and they'll eventually go away. 2) Voicing your opinion when you first meet people can damage later friendships down the road…it kind of tied into those first impression things. The seconds were ticking by as both Warrick and Nick looked at her, waiting for her to reply. "Uh…maybe?" She asked. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Grissom's gaze shift from the road to her direction, and back to the road, as he was driving. That was the biggest move that he'd made to even acknowledge she was sitting in the back seat.

Nick laughed out loud when he heard this and looked toward Warrick. "In other words, she doesn't want to take sides."

Warrick also chuckled, while Megan shrugged and smiled a bit nervously. Were all CSI investigator's this perceptive? "It's alright, Meg. I don't blame you. But getting back to the question, have you ever seen one…a dead body that is." He clarified.

Megan shook her head. "Only on TV and in the movies." She paused, and then smiled recalling an early movie-making memory. "One time, some friends and I were working on this really short, hokey movie, about kid zombies, right? I think the title was, When Kids Grow Down…Like Six Feet Under…we came up with some of the worst make up for the dead bodies for that flick…" She laughed. "And the acting was even worse." She shrugged. "You do what you can with a Mini DV camera, and $20 for a production budget." She winked at them good humouredly. Nick and Warrick nodded and chuckled a bit at her shared memory, recalling past times (growing up) the fun they'd had with their friends in high school and college.

There was a second of silence before Grissom finally spoke for the first time in the car. "TV is different then real life." He said, and glanced back at her. "Don't be surprised if the corpses here stay dead." Then he was silent, having added his two cents, definitely making the mood somber once again.

After a moment, Nick grimaced at Megan…the reality of where they were going coming back. "This will be pretty rough on you, then. A triple on your first day? That's rough." He nodded at her sympathetically, before fighting with his seat belt to turn back around in his seat, as Grissom was slowing the car down, parking behind the yellow tape, and next to the black and white police cars.

Grissom pulled the car to a stop, and turned off the engine. Without saying a word, or even a glance at Megan or anyone else, he was out of the Tahoe, crime kit, and flashlight in hand, and headed toward the crime scene. Megan closed her eyes and took a deep breath; she hoped she was ready for this. She glanced up as Warrick leaned over and gently patted her on the shoulder, concern evident in his eyes. "Breathe through your mouth, and if you can't handle the blood, get away fast…trust me, vomit happens a lot faster then most people think." He gave her one final pat on her shoulder, before he exited his side of the Tahoe, and followed Grissom.

Megan nodded to herself a little uncertainly; she set her notebook on her seat next to her, as she planned on writing down notes on the trip back, but focusing her attention on what was around her while on the scene. She took a couple of deep breaths, and slowly opened her door. Nick had been kind enough to wait for her as she composed herself. He gave her a smile, once again he seemed to exude confidence that she soaked up just being near him. He gave her a little nod and started after Warrick, who was pretty far ahead of them at this point, Grissom even further ahead. Megan followed closely behind Nick, staring at the FORESNICS emblem on his jacket. Mind over matter she reminded herself.

The three agents, used to these kinds of procedures, got right to business. Grissom led the way. He collected information from Brass as he walked toward the first body. Warrick followed closely behind his supervisor, his eyes trained all around him, not apt to miss anything. Nick was about fifteen feet behind Warrick. He took out his camera and readied it to begin processing the scene.

Megan wasn't sure she was ready to get a close look of a body up close, yet. Though she was curious if they did look like they did in the movies. But then again, she'd seen enough horror movies, she half expected a body to go all zombie-like, and start attacking people…like her movie she'd remembered on the way here. Then Grissom's somber words came back to her, and she sighed to herself, and got a grip.

Finally her pace slowed, and her curiosity got the better of her, she turned and looked toward her left at one of the dead bodies she had only seen out of the corner of her eye…and she froze. He was so young! He was African-American, and couldn't have been more then twenty, very good looking…at least he would have been when he was alive. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, obviously coming from the gunshot wound from his stomach. Megan didn't feel scared or sick at first, seen the young man there…she felt sad. Who was he? Whose family did he belong to? Who could have done such a thing?

In her absorbance of the body near her feet, Megan didn't realize that the CSI agents were all further away, examining the first body in the row (the one she was looking at was the last one in a semi-line), they were taking notes. Nick was taking pictures, and all three of them were being very thorough.

Megan glanced up to ask Nick a question about something she'd noticed on the young man, not having realized how far away he was…or how very alone she was in her little spot. There were a ton of police officers, coroners, and crowd members behind the yellow tape…but she felt very isolated where she was standing…and that's when it happened. Everything seemed to dull in noise, except for one sound, and all movement seemed to slow considerably. She heard the crackle of a police radio, and then she saw a burly policeman move to answer the call at his car. The only problem was…that Megan stood in between him and his car. The policeman didn't seem to notice, he was so intent on his radio he just barreled forward. He was obviously expecting some sort of call…or he was short on help for his shift…either way he paid her no heed. Megan saw him as he came (seemingly) straight toward her, and she turned to try and get out of the big man's way, but she wasn't fast enough as he bumped into her rather harshly anyway, eyes on his radio. She didn't see him turn and glance back to make sure she was alright, and as soon as he saw that she was, he continued forward, got in his car, answered the call and left.

Megan's momentum was thrown off, and she stumbled toward her left. Sound and motion seemed to become normal again as she regained her footing. She looked over her shoulder and glared at the retreating form of the police car, off to another assignment. She was usually pretty easy-going. But one thing that Megan couldn't abide by was rudeness. A person had to take 10 times the energy to be rude then to be nice. So what was the point?

She shook her head, and decided to blow it off. You can't change some people. Megan started to brush her shirt off, as if imaginary dust covered it. She straightened her t-shirt out, when her eyes happened to glance down and see exactly where her foot had landed. The world crashed down around her, when she realized that her left sneakered shoe was standing directly in the middle of the pool of blood that she had looked at only a few minutes earlier. Suddenly she couldn't breath. If she didn't feel sick before, she did now.

Her foot was about two inches away from the dead man's face…and while that should have freaked her out the most, she was more afraid of what Grissom would do to her. He had said that he didn't want her along because she would contaminate his crime scene, and she had blown it off, assured that she wouldn't come close enough to damage any evidence…now look where her foot was. She was getting light headed. What should she do? Should she call out? Step out? Draw attention? She would rather be anywhere then to get Grissom's attention right now.

Megan took a deep breath, her eyes started to tear up. Grissom was going to kill her! She slowly lifted her left foot out of the blood, now about puking as she watched the blood drip from her shoe, to get absorbed back into the large pool that came from the body. She stood there for a second, foot about three inches of the ground, while she contemplated her options. She wondered if anybody would notice if she just dropped off the face of the earth. Then she heard someone yell out to her.

"That shoe is evidence; do not set it back down!" Grissom, who noticed everything, had noticed this. It had just so happened that he had glanced up, to see if Megan was handling the scene alright (he had his moments of compassion…they're just buried very deeply), when he saw her standing in that pool of blood, looking down at her foot as if she expected it do something amazing. His anger was boiling over so fast; his usually calm demeanor was fading. He jumped into action. "Nick, Warrick! We have a contaminated crime scene! You know what to do!"

The two level 3 CSI agents jumped into action at their supervisor's bidding. They too had only just noticed that Megan wasn't right behind them…so absorbed in their scene they had been. Nick dashed toward the Tahoe to grab an evidence bag big enough for her shoe, while Warrick ran toward her to help steady her enough so she wouldn't put her foot back down, possibly destroying evidence. A lot of action was happening around her, but Megan could only see Grissom as he slowly stalked his way though the crowd toward her. She could only thank God that he had his sunglasses on, because she would have probably died on the spot if she would have seen him glaring at her right now…she had really messed things up this time.

Luckily Warrick and Nick were there now, and blocked her view of Grissom as they helped her out of where she stood, onto safe ground. Nick held a large evidence bag, and went to work unlacing Megan's shoe, while Warrick stood behind her, his hands on her arms to balance her, so she wouldn't step down on the bloodied shoe. Nick had her shoe off in a second, and dropped in into the baggie. Not until did he stand up from his squatting position near her foot, did Megan looked down and slowly ventured to put her socked foot down on the dirty Las Vegas pavement. She slowly brought her gaze back up, and would have paid any amount of money to be anywhere else at the moment. Grissom had replaced Nick's spot directly in front of her, and he stood less then a foot away (invading her personal space, and obviously trying to do so). He was void of his sunglasses now, and Megan was getting the full extent of his glare…and boy was he glaring. One thing Grissom never ever wanted tampered with…was his crime scenes.

"I'm sorry." Megan said softly. The full impact of his glare taking effect on her. Her eyes were welling up with unshed tears. Could this night get any worse? She wondered to herself. The only way it could, she decided was if she started crying right now…so she was bound and determined not to do that. No matter how much lip biting it might take…and right now it was taking a lot, as Grissom glared at her like that. She wished she could just get away from all of them right now, she'd go anywhere else.

"You seem to be saying a lot of that lately." Grissom replied, his usual soft voice elevated in his intense agitation. He crept intimidating forward, to which Megan immediately backed up. He was less then a foot in front of her as it was, how much closer did he have to be to chew her out? As Megan backed up, that just caused her to back more into Warrick's chest (as he still stood directly behind her). He was also still holding onto her arms, as if to comfort her in a small way. "You contaminated my crime scene." Grissom said, his voice only a little softer, yet very menacing, and his glare hadn't lessened any at all. "Your job was simple." He continued. "You are here to observe for you stupid movie. You were not to get too close to the bodies in case something like this was to happen!"

"I'm sorry." Megan stammered, unable to look away from his intense gaze. How did he always manage to snare people with his looks? She just wanted to look away, yet she couldn't. She just stood there, and looked up at his angry face. She knew that if she tried to tell her side of the story (of the police man that had shoved her out of his way) that her voice would break, and she wouldn't be able to make it through the whole story without crying.

"Grissom." Nick said quietly on Grissom's right side, facing Megan. He turned to face his supervisor. "Not here, not now." Grissom acknowledged Nick's words by lifting his head and having a look around at everyone on the scene staring at them.

Grissom nodded, and brought his gaze back to Megan's. "I can't deal with this right now." He turned to go, then turned back. "But this is not finished." He put his shades back on, turned on his heel, and walked away. He glanced at Nick as he walked away. "Take her to the Tahoe, and tell her to stay put."

Nick nodded, and turned back to Megan. His heart about broke when he saw the tears that were so close to spilling over on her face. "Come on, Men. Let's chill for a sec, okay?" He gave her a comforting smile, and put a hand on her shoulder to lead her to the Tahoe. She didn't argue. Warrick sent her a sympathetic look (that she didn't see) then turned to follow Grissom. "Are you alright?" Nick asked Megan as he opened the door for her, and watched her enter, hands ready to catch her in case she didn't make it, and might need a hand up. She nodded, but wouldn't look at him. He wasn't sure what he could say to make her feel better, so he gave her a smile, not a sympathetic one, but his charming one. "When we get back to HQ, I'll tell you about how bad I mucked up one of my first cases." He saw her glance up at him, and he winked. "Trust me, this is nothing!" He smiled at her, gave her a pat on the shoulder, then went back to finish up his job.

Back at HQ…

Megan barely waited for the Tahoe to stop before she was out the door, and back in the crime lab. She barely flashed the receptionist her VISITOR'S badge before she flew inside. Her one thought was to be alone for a few minutes, and get away from Grissom. There was one place that she could do that. She veered off to the first ladies room she came across, and closed the door behind her. She searched for a lock, and was dismayed when she couldn't find one.

Only after she made sure that she was alone in the bathroom, did she lean against a corner of the room, near a sink, and cry. It wasn't a wailing, loud cry. It was a quiet, tension relieving cry. After only a few minutes, she felt so much better, and her eyes dried up. She bent over a sink and splashed cold water on her face. So I messed up a crime scene. It happens. It wasn't my fault…it was that dumb police officer's! She thought to her reflection.

She looked up, startled, as two women entered the restroom. She hadn't expected anyone else to disturb her little sanctuary. Megan recognized Catherine, but she wasn't sure who the other woman was that was with her. Maybe it was…Sara? Didn't Grissom say something about a Sara?

"Hey Megan." Catherine said warmly, with a ready smile. "How was your first crime scene observation?"

Megan glanced down at her shoeless foot. "Don't ask." She mumbled.

Sara took a step forward, hand extended. "Sara Sidle. You must be Megan, the movie director, right?"

Megan gave Sara a half ghost of a smile. "Assistant, yeah."

"So…what happened to your shoe?" Catherine asked with a slight tilt of her head to the side…much the same way Grissom did all the time.

Megan shrugged, she didn't want to look the older woman in the eye. "It got contaminated."

Sara took a slight step closer, and put a finger under Megan's chin to tilt her head upward to meet their gazes. "Have you been crying?" She asked sympathetically.

Megan didn't know how much more sympathy she could take. "It's been a rough day." She replied with a shrug, and dabbed at the corner of her right eye with her pinkie finger.

Catherine was instantly serious as she looked Megan over. "What happened?" She asked and crossed her fingers in front of her. She knew that Grissom hadn't wanted this woman to come here, but he had accepted and had been paid. He had no right or reason to treat her with anything other then respect. And she would not be afraid to take it up with him.

"Does this have anything to do with your missing shoe?" Sara asked, as she looked down at Megan's shoeless left foot.

"That's part of it." Megan replied, and curled her toes into the linoleum of the tiled floor. "But not the beginning part."

"Do tell." Catherine replied.

Sara nodded and leaned against one of the sinks. "We've got time."

Megan sized the two of them up for a moment and decided that she could trust them; then she began to tell her story of how really, truly bad her day had gone thus far. She started with her talk to the movie producer, Mac, the 4 ½ hour drive here, being early to make a good impression with Grissom. Then about the receptionist who had detained her to get the photo ID, which caused her to be 20 minutes late with Grissom. She followed with his un-welcoming attitude once she did get there, angry because she had been late, but not listening that no one had told her about the badge. How Grissom definitely didn't want her there period, the paperwork fiasco (which was new to Sara), and ultimately the crime scene. How the police officer had shoved her into the pool of blood, and how they had taken her show as evidence…which brought her to now.

Megan paused when she had finished, and tried to gage the two women's reactions. They seemed to handle this like they would if they were to interview a witness. They never interrupted her, and when she paused, they'd ask her questions. Even when it felt as if she was babbling, they would urge her to continue. And now that she was done talking, they just stared at her.

"Wow!" Sara said first, in disbelief. "This was all on your first day?!" She gaped at Megan as she nodded.

"Did you tell Grissom about the police officer that shoved you?" Asked Catherine, anger evident in her voice as to how Grissom had been treating Megan.

Megan shook her head, and wouldn't meet Catherine's intense gaze. "If it wasn't for Nick, he'd probably still be standing out there yelling at me for messing up his crime scene."

Sara shook her head and looked down at Megan's foot. "I can't believe he didn't even get you a new pair of shoes."

"This is not going to work." Catherine said. She was very angry. Megan was a bit confused as to why she was so angry…after all Catherine didn't know her at all. She'd only spent a couple of minutes with her. But Megan didn't have time to think as Catherine reached over and grabbed Megan's wrist. She pulled her out of the bathroom, Sara followed close behind. "We're going to head right into his office, and get this straightened out."

At this, Megan dug her heels, she half slid on her one socked foot. "Catherine, I really don't walk to talk to him right now. I don't want to get yelled at anymore today!" She tried to get her arm back, but Catherine was very strong, which surprised Megan because…she was so little!

"Don't worry." Catherine said as she skid to a halt next to a big glass wall. Inside Megan could see someone that looked to be about her age inside, with massively spiked hair, wearing a lab coat. She watched, amused, as he head banged to music. Catherine turned to look at Megan. "You won't."

Sara smiled at Catherine, then at Megan. "We will."

Megan couldn't believe that they were going to such lengths to help her out. They didn't even know her, yet they acted as if they'd known her for years. "Thank you guys." She said softly.

The two women just nodded and smiled at her, and led the way into Greg Sander's lab. They were instantly bombarded with loud rock music that overwhelmed them instantly. "Greg!" Sara yelled loudly. Greg didn't even notice them as he did his own special dance to his music.

"Greg!" Both Sara and Catherine yelled loudly, and they finally gained the lab tech's attention. He gave them all a guilty smile, and stopped his CD of rock music. "Hey guys, what's up? He asked with a huge grin. "To what do I owe the honor of your esteemed presence?" Then he noticed Megan. She stood toward the side, half behind Sara. He turned and gave her a Greg-award-winning smile. "And you brought a friend." He stepped toward Megan. "Greg Sanders." He smiled, and held out his hand toward her, then he glanced down at her foot and looked back up at her. "Why are you only wearing one shoe?"

Megan smiled and shook his hand. "Megan Athol…and…it's a long story."

Before Greg could start an endless stream of questions, Sara jumped in. "We need you to show Megan some cool Lab Technical things. She'll be shadowing us for two weeks. We need to talk to Grissom." They turned to walk out, not waiting for Greg to respond. They opened the door, Sara first, then Catherine.

Catherine paused at the door, and looked over her shoulder at the two of them. "And Greg? Behave."

Greg opened his mouth to respond with a quirky comment, but the door closed on him before he could. He turned to Megan and shrugged. "They know they love me." He winked at Megan, and smiled. "So…two weeks, huh? You must be that movie director that everyone has been talking about."

Megan smiled, getting really tired of adding… "Assistant director, yeah, that's me."

Greg nodded. "Very cool! And hey, if you need a technical advisor for your movie, my door is always open…except for when I play my rock music, and Grissom makes me close it."

Megan smiled, turned her head, and looked at all of the machines in his lab. "This place is pretty sweet." Her gaze stopped roaming when she met his eyes again. "You must be really smart!"

Greg shrugged, but puffed out his chest proudly. "I can hold my own, alright. But nothing compared to Grissom. He's the Top Dog around here."

Megan ignored that, and started to examine some of the machines. Greg could tell she was ready for a change of conversation, so he gave her the tour of his lab. He explained everything that each machine did, and answered all of her questions, in terms she could understand…not like some doctors who speak in lingo that only other doctors can understand. Megan was very impressed with everything.

"I wanted to be a scientist when I was a kid." Megan said as they pulled up swivel chairs together after the ground tour. Greg even shared some of his prized coffee with her as they sat there, just talking.

"So what happened?" Greg asked, as he took a sip of his coffee, then set his cup down on one of his file organizers. "Why aren't you?"

Megan laughed. "Math and Science were my worst subjects! I'd be stretching it if I could pull a job handing a scientist his coffee cup, and that mean's they'd actually have to let me near their equipment!" Greg laughed and shook his head. "So I went into the movie business instead."

"That's sweet." Greg replied, and there was a moment of awkward silence. "Hey…have you ever seen your blood under a microscope before?" Megan shook her head. "Well then," Greg said as spread his arms out wide. "Miss Megan Athol, be prepared to see, first hand, Greg Sanders in action!" Megan couldn't help but laugh. This guy was so cool in his own way. He was just so much fun to be around!

Megan watched as he rolled over to a drawer, opened it up, and extracted a small hand-held device. She started to watch him warily as he swiveled back toward her. "Okay…" She said a bit nervously, and kept her eyes on the small object in his hand.

Greg noticed her reluctance and stopped. "Check it out, Megan. No reason to freak." He smiled warmly at her. "What I am going to do is to poke your hand with this, only a little prick…right between your thumb and pointer finger…and it will get a drop of blood so that we can examine it under the microscope. It's like what diabetic patients use to check their blood sugar." Megan still looked at him warily as he unwrapped a piece of plastic and placed it in the mechanism. He smiled at her. "Check it out, I'll do it to myself first."

She watched as he poked his finger without as much as a grimace. Then he looked up at her. "See, that's about all there is to it." He extracted the plastic piece with the blood on it, and put the little piece on a slide and under the microscope. "Now we can get yours, and compare the two." He swiveled up to her, and talked as he worked. He unwrapped another plastic piece and popped it into the mechanism. "See this is a main part of my job. I compare DNA samples from possible suspects to either rule them in or out in being in contact with a victim or crime scene." He spread her hand out, and moved the device over the skin between her pointer finger and her thumb. "This wont hurt a bit." Greg said, and true to his word, Megan only felt the slightest of 'pricks' when he got her blood sample. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Greg asked her with a wink and a smirk. He handed her, her hand back, extracted her plastic card with the drop of blood on it, placed it on a slide, and then put it under the microscope, under the comparison side. He stood from his swivel chair, and put his eyes to the eye pieces, and adjusted the light and focus of the two slides.

Megan watched him in admiration. He was really good at his job. Then he seemed to pause, and hesitate. Megan thought back, and couldn't remember if her blood had ever been looked at under a microscope. She'd always been pretty healthy…what if there was something seriously wrong with her blood, and Greg just now, uncovered it? Her heart started to thud harder in her chest. Greg seemed to confirm her thoughts as his next words were, "Oh…okay…I've never seen that before."

Megan jumped to her feet in a flurry, her one shoeless foot slid on the slick floor, the other gained her footing so she didn't crash into Greg. "What? What is it?"

Greg was quiet as he continued to play with the dials on the scope, and look through the eye pieces. "Um…it's nothing." He looked up and smiled at her, though his smile appeared slightly strained. "Nothing's wrong."

"You're just saying that, aren't you?" Megan asked, her heart beat still going rapidly.

"No…" Greg said slowly, and mechanically. "Nothing's wrong." He stepped away from the 'scope and motioned her toward it. "See…for yourself."

Megan looked at him warily, not sure she wanted to now. He seemed a little distanced since he looked through the 'scope…he had to have seen something wrong! If anybody was to see anything, she could tell that it would be this guy. If Megan would have had the practiced skills of any of the CSI's that resided in the building, she would have noticed that Greg was trying insanely hard to hide a smile that was threatening to blow his cover. But she didn't have those observational skills when she was freaked out. She slowly stepped past him, not sure what to think of his expression. But when she looked through the scope, she obviously didn't see what he did.

"Mine is on the left, and yours is on the right." Greg said helpfully from directly over her right shoulder.

Megan stared at the two separate drops of blood. It was really interesting to see the inner workings of a drop of blood. She could see the red blood cells in both of them, and other then a few tiny color changes in certain spots, she could not figure out what he had seen. "I don't see it." She said, and lifted her eyes from the 'scope to meet his…right next to her. What was with these guys and the invasion of personal space, she wondered to herself.

Greg squinted at her, and tilted his head to the side…a trait he must have gotten from Grissom. "You don't see two drops of blood, and tiny blood cells inside?"

"Well, yeah." Megan said, and bent to look into the eyepiece again. "But I don't see what's wrong. Other then slight discoloration in certain spots…they look the same." She looked up at him again, and straightened her back. "What's wrong? You can tell me."

Greg laughed now, losing his somber expression. "There's nothing wrong!" He assured her. "I told you that…I was just trying to see how easily it was to freak you out…and obviously it worked." He smiled smugly at her.

"You jerk!" Megan said playfully, and slapped him on the shoulder…not lightly.

"Ow!" Greg yelped and grabbed his shoulder. He gaped at her.

"You led me to believe something was wrong!" Megan raised an eyebrow up at him in challenge.

Greg smiled a dazzling smile back at her. "It was a joke." He said, and protected his "injured" arm, in case she decided to hit him again. "I had to throw you into the water, and see if you could laugh…or something like that." He grinned, shrugged at her, and patted her on the shoulder. "You passed with flying colors in case you wanted to know." Megan opened her mouth to reply, but Greg kept talking. "Now, would you like to learn what type of blood you are?" Megan paused, then nodded. "Cool." Greg replied, and he leaned back down to look into the scope. He talked as he looked at the two samples of blood. "Ah…you have a very rare blood type." He grinned and stood up to look at her. "Like me, you are AB. Of which only 4 of Americans are. You should be proud."

"How can you tell?" Megan asked.

Greg put a hand on her shoulder to lead her to the scope, to look into the eyepieces. "You can see your red blood cells, those are of course, the little circular red things. That substance surrounding it is called plasma. Although I haven't done a deep analysis of your blood, it compares remarkably similar to mine, in that the plasma doesn't contain any antibodies against either A or B blood…thus making you part of the lucky 4."

When Megan stood up, she about laughed out loud when she saw Greg. He stood in the middle of the room in a struck pose, as if he waited for applause. She humored him and clapped loudly.

"Thank you!" Greg replied with a flourished bow. "Thank you very much!"

And this was how Grissom found them when he walked into Greg's lab a second later. Actually he had stood in the hall for a few minutes, and observed the two of them, while he thought about what Catherine and Sara had told him. Those two were definitely not afraid to stand up to him, and they had taken it upon themselves to stand up for Megan, who was afraid to stand up to him…or afraid of him in general…either way. He watched how attentive Megan had been when Greg had showed her something, and how relaxed and at ease she seemed with him. He cleared his throat loudly to gain their attention. "I hope that I'm not interrupting anything?" He asked, and stepped further into the room. Megan's applause stopped instantly, and Greg stopped in mid-bow.

Greg turned his head from his bowed position and gave Grissom a huge grin, and stood up. "Griss-man!" He stopped at Grissom's tilt of his head. "Grissom." Greg said with a ready smile, and a quick nod to the supervisor. "I was just showing our film protégée here, the intricacies of her own blood."

Grissom's gaze went from Greg to Megan. Megan had looked toward Grissom when he had first entered and when he had talked to Greg, but her gaze immediately went to Greg's microscope when Grissom looked toward her. "Very good, Greg." He said with a quick glance toward him. Grissom looked back toward Megan. "We need to talk." He said in his usual quiet voice. He didn't seem angry anymore…but Megan wondered if it was just a cover. He nodded toward her, and turned to walk out, as if that was all he would say for now.

Megan's stomach dropped to her feet…she really did not like one-on-one confrontations…especially with him! She knew that this one was going to be a doozy. She glanced toward Greg, then moved to follow Grissom. She unintentionally dragged her feet.

"Wait!" Greg called out. He'd seen Megan's forlorn expression. He wanted to put her more at ease with all of them, and he tended to do it in his own unique, Greg-like, way. "Megan?" He asked, and looked intensely into her eyes, very serious right now. "Could you hand me my coffee cup?" He asked with a half smile.

"What?" Both she and Grissom asked at the same time.

Greg ignored Grissom, and smiled at Megan. "Remember what you told me earlier?" He asked.

A light bulb went on in Megan's head. "Oh!" She said, and flashed him a brilliant smile. She glanced around the room, and laughed, tension gone again, for now. She loved this guy! "Where is it?"

Greg pointed behind him toward the filing cabinet he had set it on earlier. So…she would have to walk past him, grab the cup, and pass him again to get to the door. She grinned broadly at him and started to walk toward the cup.

"Greg, do we really have time for this?" Grissom asked impatiently. "Get your own cup."

Greg glanced at Grissom, then turned toward his right at Megan approached with his coffee cup. "Thank you very much." He replied with a wink. And he whispered, "Keep your chin up." He gave her a pat on the shoulder as she nodded and smiled at him on her way toward Grissom. (Confused? Go back to where Megan told Greg about being a scientist…he remembered. ;))

Megan walked behind Grissom with a new confidence that Greg had given her. Maybe these two weeks wouldn't be so bad after all.

Well, that's the end of Chapter 2, whoever reads it, hope you like it. Hope you liked it RK9!! You rock so much for the review, thanks so much!! And don't worry about Grissom…slowly but surely he'll come around!