Disclaimer: I am not connected in any way with the creators of any of the CSI shows. (I wish I was though, so Danny and Lindsay would get together already.) These are just my mind's version of the events that transpire on the show.

Nick and Warrick arrive in this chapter. See if your suspicions are right. Please don't forget to review after you read. :D

Hawkes and Stella headed to the airport to pick up the two detectives from Vegas. On the long ride, they discussed the basic details of the case. Hawkes was relieved that Stella was focused on work stuff and that she wasn't grilling him about Cassie.

What he felt for her was too complicated that even he couldn't understand it. He didn't need anybody, especially not Stella, making a big deal out of it when he couldn't even face Cassie. He didn't want to face her without having a clear idea of what it was that he felt for her. All that he knew was that he felt something for her.

Stella slid an amused glance at Hawkes. For the past few minutes, they'd been discussing the case, but as they progressed, Hawkes grew more and more distracted until he finally trailed off and stared out the window in silence.

Stella started to probe gently. "Sheldon, is there something wrong?"

Hawkes looked away from the mirror and sighed. "Yeah, Stel. I'm fine."

Stella slid another glance at him, "Hawkes, I'm not just being nosy here. If there's something wrong, then you might want to talk to me about it."

Hawkes hesitated. He really wanted to ask for someone's advice, and he'd really appreciate a female perspective on the situation. But at the same time, he didn't want all the people at the lab finding out what did or did not happen with him and Cassie before he had the chance to figure if out.

Stella seemed to sense what he was thinking and laughed softly. "Don't worry, Hawkes. If it's really important, you can talk to me and I won't tell." She reached out to pat his arm. "Is it Cassie?"

Hawkes felt a flush climbing up his neck. Damn Stella for being so perceptive. He sent a prayer to the powers that be that Stella was honest about keeping her mouth shut about this. He sighed again and answered, "Yeah."

Stella glanced at him again, while navigating her way through traffic. "What about her?" she asked gently.

Despite his misgivings, Hawkes found himself unloading the entire story on Stella. He told her about what happened with Cassie at the lab, how he found himself thinking about her in the most inopportune of times, and about what happened the night he walked her home.

All throughout, Stella listened quietly, nodding her head at different points to show that she understood. When Hawkes finished, she stayed silent, gathering her thoughts.

Then she spoke, "Sheldon, have you admitted to yourself that you like Cassie?"

Hawkes nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty much okay with that." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Thing is, I'm not sure what exactly do I want from her. Plus, I'm not really sure if she wants the same thing." He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "What thing? I don't even know what I want from her."

Stella said softly, "You might want to talk to her about that. You never know. You guys might be on the same page and that you're just dodging each other." She smiled in remembrance, "Kind of like what Danny and Lindsay did for a long time."

Hawkes chuckled at that. "I guess you're right, Stel. Don't worry, I'll talk to her." He pointed to the left, "Hey, there's the turn off for the airport."

Stella smiled affectionately at him and said, "I hope everything goes okay." She maneuvered the SUV onto the exit and they headed straight for the airport.

Less than fifteen minutes later, they reached the airport and found a parking space.

Stella slipped on her shades and asked Hawkes, "What time is their flight getting in again?"

Hawkes checked his watch and said, "We're right on time. According to Mac's instructions, their flight arrives in about 10 more minutes. We have just enough time to get to the gate."

The two detectives hastened their pace and they reached the gate just as passengers were stepping out. Hawkes held up a small sign that said 'Brown and Stokes'.

Soon enough, two men stepped out of the gate, scanning the arrival area. One man was about 6'2", well-built with curly brown hair. The other was shorter and stockier, with a nice, friendly smile and kind eyes.

The tall man caught sight of the sign Hawkes was carrying and nudged his friend. Hawkes said to Stella, "I think they found us."

The two men walked over. Stella flashed a friendly smile and said, "Vegas boys?"

The tall man laughed and said, "Yeah. Taylor's team?"

Hawkes laughed as well and extended his hand, "Yeah, that's us. Sheldon Hawkes."

Stella introduced herself as well. "I'm Stella Bonasera."

The two men introduced themselves. The tall man reached for Hawkes' hand and said, "I'm Warrick Brown and this is Nick Stokes." He gestured to the other man, who also held his hand out and answered, "Hey, thanks for coming to get us." He had the faint hint of a Texas accent.

They moved towards the baggage claim carousel and grabbed Warrick and Nick's bags. They headed out towards the car, where Stella told them. "So, we're going to take you guys to the hotel now, and let you guys get some rest. We can start on the case tomorrow when you've settled in properly."

Nick glanced at Warrick who nodded. Nick said pleasantly, "If it's not too much trouble, we'd like to go straight to your lab and see what you guys got."

Hawkes twisted in his seat to look at the two men. "Are you sure?"

Warrick answered this time, "Yeah. It's cool. We'd really like to get a jump start on the work."

Stella shrugged her shoulders and said, "Alright, but just so you guys know, the team would probably like to take you guys out for drinks later."

Nick chuckled and said, "Sounds good to me. You in, Warrick?" he asked, turning to his friend.

Warrick nodded. "Sure. How often do we get to be in New York right?"

Hawkes laughed and said, "Don't worry. While you're here, we'll show you guys around. New York's a great city and we'll try to make sure you don't work too hard at the lab."

Since traffic wasn't too bad, they arrived at the lab another half hour. Stella and Hawkes stowed the bags in the trunk and led Warrick and Nick up to the lab. Stella sent Hawkes to get the case files and asked him to meet the three of them back in her office.

On their way to her office, Stella caught sight of Danny and waved him over. Danny sauntered up to them, a bunch of file folders in his hand. "Hey, Stel," he greeted.

Stella introduced the men. "Guys, this is Danny Messer, another CSI. Danny, this is Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes. They're the CSIs sent over by the Vegas Crime Lab to work on a case with us."

Friendly smiles and handshakes were exchanged all around. Danny confirmed with the two men, "You guys know we're taking you out later, right?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, Stella already mentioned it. We're game, man."

Danny noted the accent, "Hey, where ya from?"

Nick smiled and answered, "I'm from Texas. I moved to Vegas a few years ago."

Danny nodded. "That's cool. You'd probably get along with my girlfriend. She's from the Midwest."

Stella chimed in, "And Jordan."

Danny agreed, "Yeah. Jordan Addison. Friend of Montana's from college." He glanced at his watch. "Listen, it was great to meet you guys. I'll see you later, ok? I gotta get down to the morgue."

Warrick and Nick nodded. "See you, man."

Danny gave one last wave and hurried off.

Nick gestured to Danny's retreating back. "Nice guy."

Stella laughed and answered, "Yeah. We're a happy team here."

They entered Stella's office at the same time Hawkes did. They immediately clustered around the table and tackled the case.

After an hour, Stella held up her hands and ordered, "Okay. That's it. We need to take a step back." She suggested, "Why don't we all get a cup of coffee in the break room?"

Hawkes immediately seconded the suggestion. He stretched his arms above his head and said, "C'mon, guys. It will help when we look at the case with fresh eyes."

Warrick and Nick followed Stella and Hawkes as they walked towards the break room. When they walked in, they saw Cassie and Lindsay laughing over a cup of coffee.

Lindsay saw them approach and said warmly, "Hey, Stel. Come join us," she invited. "Cassie and I are waiting for my trace results and I dragged her here to have coffee with me."

Hawkes lagged behind the group. He wasn't sure how to act around Cassie, so he hung back, pushing his hands into his pockets as Stella introduced the two newcomers.

"Hey, Linds. Hey, Cass," Stella called out. "These are the guys from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Hawkes and I are working with them on a serial case." She introduced the guys to the girls. "Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes, this is Detective Lindsay Monroe and this is Cassie Simmons, one of our Trace Lab analysts."

Handshakes were exchanged all around and the girls made casual talk with the boys. Cassie noticed Hawkes just then and she called out softly, "Hey, Doc." She looked uncertainly at him, unspoken questions in her eyes.

Hawkes couldn't help himself. He moved closer to her and said quietly, "Hey, Cassie."

There was a moment of awkward silence until Nick broke it. "So, are you girls joining us later? I heard that we're being introduced to an NYPD tradition later."

Lindsay looked quizzically at Stella, "Tradition?"

Stella laughed, "Sullivan's."

Lindsay grinned and said, "Yeah, I'm in. What about you, Cassie?" she said, turning to the other woman, who was still looking at Hawkes.

Cassie was jerked out of her reverie. She and Hawkes had been staring at each other, both uncertain of what to say, but both unwilling to break the contact between them. She wanted to pull him aside and ask him about what happened, but she was also a bit afraid of what she felt for Hawkes. All her life, she had always been the one in control of the relationship and she wasn't used to feeling unsettled.

She forced a smile and said, "Yeah, I'm game."

Stella wasn't oblivious to what was going on and she tried to smooth it over by saying brightly, "Great! I guess that counts everybody."

Lindsay reminded her, "Have you called Flack and Jordan?"

Stella shook her head. "I was just going to."

Lindsay assured her, "Don't worry. We're meeting them later and I'll just pass on the message."

Stella smiled, "Thanks, Linds."

Lindsay said, "No problem, Stel." She turned back to Warrick and Nick and asked them warmly, "So how long are you guys going to be here?"

Nick felt himself responding immediately to Lindsay's innate niceness and smiled at her. "According to our boss, Grissom, we're here for a week at least. We'll extend depending on how the case goes."

Warrick chose to remain silent and observe the other occupants of the room. He observed that Stella was obviously the big sister of the group. He also noticed that there was some sort of tension between Hawkes and Cassie, although he didn't really understand why. He decided to conduct a little experiment later. He looked over at Nick, who was carrying on an animated conversation with Lindsay. Knowing Nick as well as he did, he knew that his friend was attracted to the CSI.

Nick was unaware of the fact that he had edged closer to Lindsay and was laughing at something that she said. At that moment, Danny walked into the room and noted that the man he met less than two hours earlier was getting too close to his girlfriend for comfort.

He decided to follow Jordan's example from the other night and casually walked over to the group. "Hey, Montana," he said, draping his arm around Lindsay's shoulders. Lindsay looked at him and smiled, sliding her arm around his waist and leaning into him.

"Hey, Messer," she answered with a grin. "Thought you were just going to the morgue. What took you so long?"

Danny laughed and sent another clear, but silent message to the other man by pressing a kiss to Lindsay's temple. "Yeah, I was, but I got held up when Sid started this really weird story about one of the bodies he processed before." He grimaced. "I'm telling you, Montana. You owe me for going down there by myself."

The message was not missed by Nick, who grinned good-naturedly, and held up his hand in silent apology, which Danny returned with a nod and a friendly grin. No harm, no foul.

Warrick interjected and asked Lindsay, "Wait. Is your name Lindsay or Montana?"

Lindsay blushed and answered, "It's Lindsay. Danny's actually the only one who calls me Montana, cause that's where I'm from."

Warrick's confusion cleared. "Oh, so you're the girlfriend he told us about earlier. He figured you'd get along with Nick, cause you're both from the west," he explained, poking an elbow into his friend's side.

Lindsay laughed and said, "Yeah, that would be me." She looked back at Danny and said, "So what did you find out from Sid?"

Danny answered, "Vic wasn't bludgeoned to death, like we thought. The head wound did bleed a lot, but it was superficial. If she hadn't been drugged up, then she would probably survived with a concussion at the worst."

Lindsay chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "So Sid sent a sample to Tox to do the bloodwork?"

Danny nodded. "We're waiting for that. Did you know that Flack was supposed to drop Jordan off here earlier and pick me up to go look for Keith Tyler, but I was in the middle of something so she went with him instead?"

Lindsay shook her head. Danny answered ruefully, "Yeah, I didn't know that either. But Flack just called to let me know that they're bringing Keith Tyler in. We need to go to interrogation, Montana."

Lindsay gulped down the rest of her coffee. "Sorry, guys, but duty calls." She grabbed her phone from the table and took Danny's hand as she got up. "We'll see you guys later, okay?"

Stella and the others waved good-bye to Danny and Lindsay as they exited the break room.

Stella grinned at Nick and said, "Sorry. I figured you knew."

Nick laughed and answered, "Aw, it's no big deal. She's just really nice."

Hawkes entered the conversation at that. "Wait a minute. Did you just --?" He motioned to Lindsay's seat and gaped at the other man. "Oh no, you didn't!"

Nick laughed again and explained, "Hey, it's cool." He held up his hands. "I backed off when I realized that Danny's girlfriend and Lindsay were one and the same person."

Stella smirked. "Yeah, and I'm impressed. Danny never said a word."

Nick grinned back at her and answered, "Yeah, it's a guy thing."

Warrick silently decided to put that 'guy thing' to the test. A few minutes later, Cassie excused herself, saying that she needed to get back to work. The rest of the group decided to leave the break room and head back to work as well. They made plans to meet up at the end of shift and go to Sullivan's together.

On their way out, Warrick hung back and approached Hawkes, who had been quiet during the time that the group was in the break room.

"Hey, Hawkes," Warrick called out.

"What's up, Warrick?" Hawkes said with a questioning smile.

Warrick glanced out the door and answered, "Well, I was wondering if there was anything between you and Cassie."

Hawkes looked up at the taller man in surprise. "What makes you say that?"

Warrick let out an amused chuckle. "Well, there's the fact that you two spent the better half of the hour just looking at each other." He quickly said, "I hope you don't get me wrong. It's just that, I don't see a guy looking at a girl in that way unless there are strong feelings involved. And the way I see it, that girl is too fine to be left alone for long." He regarded the other man seriously, "I'm telling you, if you don't do it, someone else is bound to ask her out."

Hawkes was startled by that, "What? Who's going to ask Cassie out?"

Warrick shot a glance at Hawkes and said, "I'd ask her out if you weren't in the picture."

Hawkes looked up at Warrick, alarmed. Then Warrick chuckled. "Yeah, that guy thing works. I'm telling you, man. Ask her out. I might not be so nice the next time."

Hawkes regarded him silently for a moment. Then he broke out into a smile and said, "You're an okay guy, Warrick. I think we're gonna get along just fine."

Warrick laughed and clapped his hand on Hawkes' back. "Go for it, man."

The two men laughed together and made their way to follow Stella and Nick.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :D Please don't forget to review, because they do brighten up my day:D Haha. :D Thanks and have a great day as well:D Watch out for the next chapter, where the team takes Nick and Warrick to Sullivan's. :D