Chapter Two

Jason

"Eek! Elizabeth! Help! Jason is being an abhorrent human again!"

Molly Turner dashed down the Chicago crimelab hallways, tripping slightly in her high-heels that did not do her pudgy legs any justice. She was wearing an official looking black skirt that came to her knees, and a button-down suit-jacket whose buttons looked as if they were about to snap.

"Elizabeth! Help me!" She turned a corner and nearly ran into Mindy Bletcher, who was carrying a large stack of paper. Mindy turned around, waved her fist, and grunted threateningly.

"I see freaky dead people!" she shouted after her, narrowing her eyebrows and squinting her light blue eyes.

"Elizabeth!" Molly cried again, turning yet another corner and running flat out as fast as her heels would allow. She slowed at the sight of an open door and skidded to a halt.

Liz Keller looked up from a pile of paperwork at Molly, her blonde hair tucked back behind her ears, her brown eyes curious and suspicious.

"What is it now Molly?" Liz asked calmly, folding her hands on the table and sighing. She had way too much paperwork to bother herself with this.

"It's Jason." Molly said scathingly, straightening out her outfit and stepping into Liz's cluttered office. "He's been chasing me with that mouse all afternoon." She narrowed her eyes. "I suggest you make him stop bringing his pet to work."

"Molly, why don't you just get over your fear of mice?"

"You know I can't do that! I'm terrified, and always have been."

Liz rolled her eyes, keeping herself from saying that before Molly started talking again, she hadn't been afraid of anything, not even a dozen eagles threatening to peck her eyes out. "Where is he now?" she asked.

Molly huffed, "He just chased me out of the evidence room with that horrid beast."

"Send him in, please."

Molly turned on her heel and stormed out of Liz's room, "Oh Jason! Come here dear, somebody official would like to speak with you!"

Liz sighed softly and returned to her paperwork. She had far too much on her mind. All this paperwork was consuming her time to go out in the field and be what she wanted to be—a CSI! And not to mention, Will from the coffee shop had finally called her number, and their relationship had been making it harder for her to concentrate on work.

"You wanted to talk to me Liz?" said a warm tenor voice.

Liz looked up at a man with tanned skin, dark brown hair, and matching eyes, as well as a small goatee. He was wearing at the moment a pair of jeans, a navy blue t-shirt with a chest pocket, in which a small white mouse was sticking its nose out of. Over the t-shirt was a lightly-colored leather jacket, in which his hands were tucked.

"Yes, Jason." Liz said, folding her hands and twiddling her thumbs. She stared purposefully at him. He did nothing. "Well? Sit down!"

Jason nodded at her and swept over to the chair in front of Liz's desk, seeming nervous.

Liz pursed her lips and continued twiddling her thumbs.

"Jason, what am I going to do with you?"

"What?"

"Chasing Molly around with Matches?"

Jason shrugged and reached into his shirt pocket, coming out with Matches the mouse.

"You know he's harmless. I don't see what the problem is."

"You're scaring Molly half out of her wits and causing her to run around in high-heeled shoes!"

"Hmm…I guess you have a point…"

"Why are you bothering to do things like that when there's plenty of work for you to do?" Liz asked him exasperatedly.

Jason shrugged.

"I'm bored."

"And what are we supposed to do about that?"

"Make me un-bored?" he offered.

Liz rolled her eyes again. "You know we can't do that."

"Why not? All I'm asking is to go to one more seminar, one more conference, one more chance to go out of the lab! Please?"

"No Jason!" Liz said sternly, pointing her eyes at him and widening them authoritatively. "You know we can't risk what happened last time!"

"So I set the teacher on fire, big deal! It was an accident anyway!"

"It nearly cost you your job! And mine!"

Jason suddenly stuck out his lip and widened his eyes.

"Pwease?"

"Jason, don't."

"Pwetty Pwease?"

"No."

"With Sir William on top?"

"Don't bring Will into this."

"Come on Liz! I promise! I won't!"

Liz sighed then said softly, "I can't."

Then her phone rang as Jason threw his hands in the air, Matches chewing on a belt-loop.

"Stay here, we'll finish this up after the phone call." Liz said to him and picking up her phone.

"Chicago Crimelab, this is Supervisor Elizabeth Keller speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hey, Liz, it's Greg Sanders from Las Vegas!"

"Oh…well, hi Greg. What…why are you calling?"

"We have a problem."

"What? Already? It's only been a couple of weeks! What's wrong with you Las Vegans? Not seen enough snow in your lifetime?"

"Hey, don't make fun of me. No, really, a big problem. Sara's been arrested."

"What! What for?"

"Well, you know how she shot all those eagles and stuff on your rescue mission thing?"

"Yeah…"

"Yeah, well, she's been arrested for shooting those eagles."

"Well…well how can I help?"

"I need your help to bail her out of jail."

"How am I going to do that?"

"And I also need a replacement for her while she's in jail."

Liz paused, her mouth open.

"Well…I-I-I can't leave the lab."

"Why not? You did it for Grissom! Why not me?"

"Well it's just—I…er…I-I-I don't know. I-I don't know."

"Pwease?"

"Greg, don't!"

"Pwetty Pwease?"

"No."

"With…do you have a boyfriend?"

Liz blushed.

"Maybe."

"With whomever you're dating on top?"

"Greg!"

Suddenly Molly appeared in Liz's doorway.

"Elizabeth, Melinda is attempting to get candy from the soda machine and it's not working, do you want me to stop her before she sets off the alarm?"

"Could you do that Molly, please?"

But Molly was staring at Liz.

"To whom are you talking to?"

"Somebody. Go make sure Mindy doesn't do anything stupid."

"Whom?"

Liz rolled her eyes.

"Greg Sanders, from Las Vegas, remember?"

"Ooh, the dashing one?"

"Yes, Molly, the dashing one." Liz repeated. "Now go stop Mindy!"

"Oh, yes, yes, righto, righto." And Molly headed off back where she came from.

"Sorry Greg…" Liz said into the phone.

"You think I'm dashing?"

"Cut it out."

"No, really? I've never been called dashing before."

"Cut it out!"

"Fine. But really, I really desperately need your help! There's a crazy gay waiter here who's trying to hook me up with a hooker!"

Liz winced, "That bad, huh?"

She thought she heard Greg whimper on the other end. "Mhmm."

Liz sighed, "All right, I guess I'll come."

Jason gaped at her, his eyes widening.

"Thank you!" Greg cried into the phone. "You won't regret it! I promise!"

"Goodbye Greg."

"See you soon Liz!"

And they simultaneously hung up.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked her, putting Matches in his pocket and standing abruptly.

"I'm going to Las Vegas." Liz said, stacking the completed paperwork and grabbing her purse and jacket.

"WHAT?"

"Molly can keep an eye on you and Mindy, don't worry!" she said, pulling out her keys and heading out the door.

Jason narrowed his eyes and followed her.

"I don't need anybody to watch me. My pyromaniatism is completely under control."

"Of course it is. Anyway, a friend of mine needs help over there and I'm heading on over." She opened the doors leading into the darkened parking lot.

"And you can't take me with you?"

"No. I can't. I don't want you setting Greg or Grissom on fire."

"That was an accident!" Jason shouted as Liz went to her car.

"Jason, really. I can't risk it. I'm going home to order plane tickets and then I'm going to Las Vegas, all right?"

Jason narrowed his eyes even further, then said in a low voice, "If you don't take me with you I'm going to let Matches loose in the evidence department and you'll get fired for deserting your crew and hiring somebody like me."

Liz dropped her jaw and glowered at Jason through her car window. Then, closing her mouth, Liz said quietly, "Get in."