DISCLAIMER: Don't Own It, No Money Made... Just for fun & enjoyment.
RATING: M for Mature. For language and mature situations in later chapters.
A/N: Since I am so far ahead in my writing right now, I thought I would give you an extra chapter this !
REVIEWS: Thanks to all who have yesterday they finally fixed the hit counter, and I can see just how many hits the chapters are getting... All I can say is WOW! Thank you for reading!
Chapter 7
She spent three hours that day filling out more forms and surveys and legal documents and releases of information and applications for insurances than she had ever dreamed existed. Surely, after all of that, she knew that a tree had died in order for her to get her dream job. When she handed the mound of paperwork over to the personnel clerk, Dr. Stephanie MacInnerney knew she was taking a monstrous step towards her new life. After that historical moment, she stopped at the store and got herself a fruit bowl to take home; the home she now shared with her fiancé. She wanted to get a little unpacking done before Thomas woke up, so they were able to spend just a little more time together before she had to be on duty for her first shift in the morgue. She was still dealing with the after affects of six and a half months of isolation from the man she loved, and it would be a while before they had made up for all of that lost time.
When she arrived at CSI headquarters that evening, she was really starting to feel the butterflies and she was ready to get it all over with quickly. She needed to make her reputation fast in this place, because she was actually going to be working with her ghost here. At least with the L.A. County Coroner's she had a little distance from her father's reputation, and her name gave her plenty of distance from good old Uncle Gil. But here in the same lab in which he worked, it was only going to be a matter of time before her secret got out.
After getting her orientation speech from Dr. Robbins, she got the full tour of the morgue. Then it was time for her to get familiar with her surroundings. She had immediately changed into the scrubs that David had pre-ordered for her; extra large and extra tall, just the right size. But it was when she slipped on that blue lab coat with her last name embroidered on one side and Las Vegas PD Crime Lab on the other side that she truly felt like this whole thing was not a dream. She sat down on the stool beside the metal table in the autopsy room and was busy looking through the procedural guide.
That was how CSI Nick Stokes found her in the morgue. And without even realizing what he was doing, he whistled. Not one of those casual whistles, but the kind of crude thing you heard when a pretty girl walked by a construction site. As soon as the auburn haired beauty in the lab coat turned to the source of the lewd whistle he knew he was doomed, and his face showed every ounce of his shame. "I know things are a lot more relaxed in Las Vegas, but I can't imagine they just forgot about sexual harassment legislation." Her carefully raised eyebrow told him he was so busted.
"Hey, I'm real sorry… I swear that was so not intentional." Nick was failing miserably, and his face was now turning about fifty shades of red from his total embarrassment.
Sensing that the man before her had been sufficiently mortified by his own act, she decided to give him a break, "Right… And I suppose you've never done anything like that before, too." She gave him one more disapproving glance before she turned back to her manual, "So, why are you down here?"
The voice that responded was decidedly feminine, "Because he was looking for an autopsy report… And you are?" When Stephanie turned back around, she found an older woman with strawberry blonde hair standing with her hand on her cocked hip and a serious case of attitude on her face.
"The one who put Dr. Robbins' reports in the boxes of the people they belonged to after he went home for a little while." As she finished speaking she stood up. Sometimes, her height gave her a serious advantage, as it was doing while she watched both of the CSI's follow her ascent with their stares. "And you are?"
Catherine decided that maybe she should take a different tack with this woman, "Well, I would be Supervisor Catherine Willows, and you still haven't answered my question."
"Good to meet you, Catherine… Dr. Robbins had some good things to say about you." Stephanie was holding out for just a while longer, but she did offer her hand to the woman. As they shook hands, she looked in Nick's direction, "I'm surprised you still have those tendencies with a female supervisor, Mr-?"
The blush had quickly returned to Nick's face, and he looked at Catherine for reassurance, but found that accusatory stare of hers and he was now desperate to escape the morgue at all costs, "Completely Embarrassed and Wanting to Take a Bullet Now."
Stephanie then extended her hand to Nick, "Wow, your parents must have really wanted a puppy." Catherine was unable to contain the laugh that escaped her lips and Nick began to shrink back from the two, realizing he was now the brunt of a joke. His only consolation came from the fact that it would appear as though this new woman in the morgue was not really going to nail him for the whistle screw up. He shook her hand and his head.
"Hey, I really am sorry about that before… I guess my libido overrode my brain on that one. And I'm Nick, Nick Stokes." He was still blushing, but it confirmed Stephanie's suspicions that it had been an innocent mistake.
"No problem, Nick. But I have two tips for you… One, I have excellent hearing, and two, I also read lips. So, I would suggest saving any comments regarding my anatomy to be said far away from me." Nick was taken aback by her comment and gave Catherine a look that showed his confusion and shock.
Catherine, sensing the joke, played along, "Nicky, do we need to have an appropriate behavior in the workplace lecture?"
"I swear, Cath, it was nothing like that, honest!" When the two women looked at each other, they were unable to keep the joke going any longer and burst out laughing. "Oh, okay… I get it: teach the idiot boy a lesson, huh?"
"Sorry, Nicky, but it sounded like you needed it." Catherine turned back to Stephanie, "I would have to say that you are probably our new coroner, right?"
Still laughing, she tried to answer, "That would be correct. Stephanie MacInnerney. It's really nice to meet you Catherine… Al and Gil had lots of great things to say about you, so I've been looking forward to this."
Catherine looked a little surprised, "So, you've seen Gil already?"
"Ah, yeah…" That was her first slip up, and she had to recover fast, "He and Al took me out to lunch when I was out here for my interview." She managed to pull that one off pretty easy, without further incident, but Stephanie knew she would need to be very careful around this woman if she was going to keep her secret safe.
Nick was still trying to recover from his shameful introduction to the new coroner, "So, is it doctor, Stephanie, or what?"
"Well, I've been called many things in my lifetime, but mostly it's just Stephanie. My age tends to make it hard for me to pull off the whole title thing." Stephanie was hoping that he did not put her height and name together for the inevitable nickname she had been running from for years. She would be really glad when she got married so she could drop that last name.
"Thank God! I was really hoping you didn't look that good in your thirties." Catherine's outburst made her laugh a little.
"Nope, still working up to that milestone… In about three and half years."
That information was just too good for Nick to pass up, "Damn, girl… You're already an ME and you're only twenty six?" His Texas was showing through with that statement.
"I'm afraid I was one of those kids everyone hated growing up. And the overachieving thing just never seemed to leave me." Stephanie noticed that they were both looking at her with curious expressions on their faces.
"Well, you should fit right in with this bunch… With the exception of me, I would say that describes every single member of this team." For Catherine, that was a supreme compliment.
Nick was busy trying to gauge her height and then something in his brain clicked when he got to the name embroidered on her lab coat. "Hey! I just thoug-."
He was pointing at her name and she knew exactly what he was going to say before it ever came out of his mouth, so she cut him off, "Don't even go there, Cowboy… That name is reserved for my father, and I will not be happy if I hear it's gotten around."
Catherine, being Catherine, suddenly had an epiphany. "Hey Nicky, why don't you go and get those reports from our boxes and I'll meet you in the break room for assignments, okay?"
Nick looked from one woman to the other and shrugged, "Sure, Cath… See ya up there."
Catherine watched him leave the autopsy room and waited until she was certain he was sufficiently out of range of their conversation before she started. When she turned around to the striking young woman beside her, she dropped her bombshell, "So, why hide your relationship to Grissom?"
This time it was Stephanie's turn to blanche, "I ah, um, I, well…" She took a deep breath and realized that she was completely busted this time, "Well, that lasted all of half a day."
Catherine gave her a puzzled expression, "Excuse me?"
"Sorry, I figured I had at least two weeks before it would get out… What tipped you off?" Stephanie returned to sitting on her stool.
"Well, the nickname actually… I recognized it." Catherine shrugged off her question.
"You knew my father?" It was Stephanie who was confused this time.
"Only by reputation… And hearing Gil talk about his buddy back in San Fran. He really admired 'Big Mac' MacInnerney." Catherine showed her the tell that got her busted.
"Right… I should have known Uncle Gil would have told YOU about Pop… Sorry, but I know about you from reputation, too." She pulled the other stool over for Catherine to take a seat. "Look, I don't suppose I can convince you not to rat me out, can I?"
Catherine thought about it a moment, "That would depend on why you're trying to keep it a secret, I guess… Why are you guys hiding your relationship?"
"Well, I have this pathological need to prove myself… I gave up a full scholarship to a college just because my mother was a professor there… Moved to L.A. for Med School to get away from my father's reputation. I even thought about using my mother's maiden name when I decided to go into this field to outrun the comparisons." She looked into Catherine's eyes to make one last plea, "Hell, I would've never come to Las Vegas if it wasn't for my fiancé getting into such a tough field of surgery. He didn't match to anywhere in L.A., and Desert Palms was his best match. I even tried to fight it for six months, staying with the L.A. County Coroner's Office and hoping he'd be back in another year. When it became obvious that wasn't working, I put in my notice and started looking for pathology jobs out here."
Catherine chuckled a little, "Well, it looks like your stubbornness paid off… You came out at the perfect time to get this job."
"No kidding! Nothing like living your dreams… I've wanted to work with my Pop and Uncle Gil since I was a little girl. But what is that saying?" She looked into Catherine's eyes again.
"'Be careful what you wish for, little girl; for you may surely get it.'" They both laughed that time, and Catherine laid a hand on the younger woman's shoulder as she stood up to leave, "Don't worry, honey… They won't hear about it from me, I swear." She gave her that motherly smile, and Stephanie knew she would keep her word.
"Thanks, I really appreciate that, Catherine." And with those words, they had formed a bond.
