Chapter 2

It didn't take long for Mandy to become comfortable hanging out with Greg, and soon she was drumming on the desk with some pens while he did air-guitar to the music they had blaring out of the boom-box. When the music stopped, they both looked up, and Mandy's face turned a crimson colour as they saw Grissom standing in the doorway, finger on the pause button, eyebrow raised. She quickly smoothed her hair, which had gone wild from their little 'party'.

"Nice to know our interns don't waste their time…" Grissom said, which caused Mandy's face to go another shade redder. Greg, however, shrugged nonchalantly, as if it happened all the time. Grissom handed him a swab. "Epithelial, get the DNA profile." He said, then left without another word, tapping the pause button on his way out, causing the music to blare through the room again. Greg sat down in his wheelie chair, wheeling around and tapping the stop button on the boom-box on his way back, stopping the music.

"No more music until later, unfortunately…come on, I'll show you how this works." She slid over, banging chairs with him and nearly falling over, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the machinery. "Careful…"

She watched as he started the procedure, leaning back in her chair, listening as he outlined it for her. Mostly she just sat there and nodded, but managed to keep her temper. Finally, he closed the machine and glanced at her, winking and grinning mischievously.

"Now, you get the honour of pressing the Start button…" He said, pushing out of the way with a exaggerated bow. She rolled her eyes, but grinned and leaned over, pushing the start button with a flourish.

"Voila!" She said, then spun her chair around the room, grinning as Greg double-checked to make sure she'd pressed the right button, which she had, then pushed over to the radio and pushing play once more.

"Yup, and now we can listen to our music until it's done, which may take a while." He said, spinning over to join her in the middle of the room, so that they were doing a bizarre spinning chair dance, Mandy holding onto the arm of his chair and he holding onto her arm to keep themselves from getting disconnected and flying into the equipment. Definitely not a good idea, as they would be responsible for the damages.

"Guys…what are you doing…?" Came a voice from the door, and the music was stopped. Dizzy, Mandy tried to stop, and so did Greg, resulting in a very abrupt stop, giving them both sore necks. She blinked, trying to bring the figure at the door into focus, and eventually recognized the strawberry blonde Catherine.

"Waiting for the DNA testing to be done, and you do know, we need something to compare it to…do you have any suspects yet?" He said, and Catherine shook her head, leaning against the door, not even recognizing that Mandy was there.

"Run it through CODIS for me, would you, Greg? Let me know when you're finished." She then left, tapping the music on her way out, leaving Mandy feeling rather put out. She rolled the chair over, stopping the music as Greg tapped a couple buttons on the computer, so that as soon as the profile was complete, it would get run through CODIS.

"Why is it that nobody seems to even notice me around here? It's like they don't want me around or something…" She asked, and Greg looked up from the computer and shook his head, his normally bright smile transformed into the closest to a frown Greg had ever gotten.

"It's not that they don't want you around…it's just…" He trailed off, thinking. Should he tell her? No…what if she got scared, and decided to leave? "They just don't like new people joining their little 'team'. Don't worry, once they warm up to you, they'll get better." He said, smiling a winning smile. She smiled back, her worries settled for the time being.

Before anything else was said, Nick was in the doorway, and shoved an evidence bag into her hands, as she was closest. "Amanda, I need those two samples tested, tell me if they match, alright?" Before she could respond, he was gone, on his way to the evidence room to examine the rest of what he and Warrick had collected. She stared after him, her mouth half-opened, then turned to Greg with a raised eyebrow. He started laughing hysterically at her expression, which was the perfect blend of confusion and irritation.

"Don't let it bother you, they always do that. At least you're being noticed." He said, once he had composed himself. She rolled her eyes and carried the envelope over to the machine, which was finished with the other sample. Opening the envelope, she carefully pulled out the two swabs. "Do you need help?" Greg asked, and she glanced up, frowning slightly, and opened her mouth to say no, but didn't get a chance to finish, as Greg walked over.

"Don't worry about it, I'll guide you through it, since it's your first time." He carefully started showing her slowly what to do, but this time he let her do almost everything. When they finished, she tried to remember everything he'd told her, and began to wish she had written it all down. Seeing her expression, Greg grinned and nudged her shoulder gently.

"I'll run through it again next time…" He said reassuringly, and she smiled, taking a seat in the chair, and suddenly there was a loud beeping noise. They both turned to the computer, which was beeping, showing that CODIS had found a match. Greg walked over, followed by Mandy, who leaned over his shoulder as he sat down to check it out. "Better go find Catherine. You stay here and wait for the your samples to be done." He pulled out the paper from the printer and headed out the door with a final wink and a blow-kiss. She rolled her eyes, and he laughed, giving a final wave as he disappeared out the door, paper in hand, blue lab coat flapping. She sighed, twirling in her chair, and considered making herself some of Greg's coffee, then decided it was better not to risk getting caught.

With nothing else to do, she let her mind wander, and, after a lot of irrelevant thoughts, it finally settled on deciding exactly what she thought of Greg. He was…nice, funny, and definitely a character. Suddenly she straightened, and leaned against the desk, her mind beginning on an internal debate. The last time she'd let someone get to know her, she'd ended up getting hurt. In more ways than one. Mainly mentally and emotionally though.

No…she'd never get close to anyone again…it hurt too much. Suddenly her eyes were covered from behind and the now-familiar voice of Greg came from behind her. "Guess who?" She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs lightly so that he let go. "It's Greggo!" He said, grinning and spreading his arms as if awaiting applause and looked a bit disappointed when she snorted and started laughing.

"Fine, Miss. Unimpressed, your samples are done." He snatched the paper from the printer and handed it to her, and, seeing that it was a match, she stood up to go find Nick, but he walked in right as she was walking out, snatching the paper from her.

"Thanks Amanda, appreciate it!" He said and left, leaving her a bit blown over. She blinked, then turned to Greg.

"Are they psychic or something?" She asked, then broke into a grin, and they both started laughing at the thought of the CSIs being psychic.

"Nah, they just have good timing." He said, and grinned. "Plus I told him that it was almost done when I saw him on my way back from getting Catherine." She rolled her eyes, but grinned indulgently. For the first time, she actually noticed what colour Greg's hair was. Spiky blonde-streaked brown. It looked nice.

"So…now what?" She asked, sitting down in her chair again, and spinning around. Greg shrugged, and turned on his rock music, but this time they refrained from starting rocking.

((Ya…I know…horrible way to end a chapter, but I can't think of anything else to write at this exact moment…hope it's alright…thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are the best! I'll try to update again soon!!))