Chapter 2: La chica nueva

A/N: This chapter title translates to the new girl. In this chapter, she meets the rest of he team and gets a huge surprise. Huge thanks goes out to Axellia, my official beta. Enjoy!

Penelope got off the subway at 42nd street after her 30 minute ride uptown and walked the rest of the way to the lab, stopping at Starbucks along the way for a bagel and a 3rd cup of coffee. She got a little nervous as she walked through the front doors and rode the crowded elevator up to the 11th floor, where the crime lab was. She had heard great things about Mac Taylor and his team, and as excited as she was to be working under him, she was equally nervous. She wanted to impress them and not just come off as another lab geek.

When the elevator stopped at the 11th floor, she got off and was instantly greeted by Mac Taylor, who was leaning up against the wall right next to the elevator. "I was wondering when you'd get here." He said.

Penelope checked her cell phone: 8:45. She wasn't late. What did he mean, he was wondering when I'd get here, she wondered as he led her down the hall.

"Relax, you're not late." Mac told her as he led her into his office, going behind his desk and rifling through papers as she stood in front of him, clutching the strap of her messenger bag with both hands. "Since you got here early, you can look around before I put you to work."

Penelope sighed quietly as Mac handed her two folders.

"I'll have Adam give you a quick tour, and then I need you to run tox on those two victims. He's in the AV lab." He pointed directly down the hall from them. "Don't take too long."

Penelope nodded at his instructions and hurried down the hall into the AV lab, the folders in one hand and the other holding the strap of her bag, slung over her left shoulder across her. She poked her head around the lab and didn't see anyone, just lots of computers and hi-tech equipment.

Suddenly, she heard a loud noise behind her, and when she turned around, she was face to face with a man about 5'8", with auburn hair that was spiked up, side burns, and a beard but no moustache. She was pretty calm, so she didn't freak out or jump back, but smiled and raised one eyebrow.

"Boo!" The stranger shouted and laughed. "That didn't scare you at all? No?" His smile started to fade as Penelope shook her head no.

"Okay, moving right along…" The person wiped his hands on his pants and stuck his right hand out, his right wrist having a few bracelets. By his plaid shirt, interesting greeting and strange hair, he could be classified as weird, but Penelope decided he was just goofy. "Adam Ross, AV tech. Welcome to my humble abode."

"Penelope Diaz." She shook his hand and took another look around the room. "Nice lab." She turned back to him. "I understand you're going to give me a tour?"

"Why yes I am. If you'll follow me we'll begin." He led her into the hallway and they started down the hall in the opposite direction of Mac's office. "Please no flash photography, videos food or drinks," He nodded to her now empty coffee cup and half eaten bagel, which she promptly threw out, "and keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. Thank you." This made Penelope giggle once more. She predicted that his guy was probably the office clown/goofball.

"We'll start at the Trace Lab. Now, the names of most things, such as the trace lab or Mac's office, are pretty self-explanatory, so I won't go into too much detail, but what's your field of expertise?"

"I'm in Toxicology."

"Great. The Tox lab is right next to the Trace lab." Adam pointed them out to distinguish them. He went on to show her Ballistics, DNA, QD, Prints, Autopsy, the break room, the locker room, and a few offices along the way until they arrive back at Mac's office.

"Well Miss Penelope Diaz, it has been an honor to be your tour guide and I hope you have an awesome first day."

"Thank you Adam, it was an exceptionally great our." Penelope giggled. "I'll see you later."

Adam went into Mac's office, while Penelope headed to the tox lab to get started. It took her a while to find everything, but once she got started she worked pretty quickly and thoroughly. By the time she finished, it was almost 12:30, so she decided to take her lunch break.

She grabbed her brown leather jacket from the locker room and was just about to get on the elevator when Adam got her attention, waving wildly with both arms and signaling for her to come into the break room.

"I thought you should meet a few people." Adam told her in the break room. He turned to a few people standing at the counter.

"Guys, this is Penelope. She works in tox." Adam introduced her. He pointed to a tall woman with very curly hair eating an apple. "This is Stella Bonasera."

"Hello." Stella smiled. Penelope returned the greeting.

Adam then pointed to an African-American man with square, black glasses eating with chopsticks out of a Chinese food box. "That's Sheldon Hawkes." He also greeted Penelope, similar to Stella.

Adam finished with the last person, a man with spiked brown hair and his arms crossed, leaning on the counter. "And that is Danny Messer."

"Hey." He gave a little wave and rubbed his eyes.

"Lucy keeping you guys up?" Stella joked, throwing the remains of her apple away.

"Yeah, she hasn't grasped the concept of sleeping for more than two hours at a time." Danny replied, pushing his sleeves up and opening a case file. Sheldon snickered and gave Danny a small punch in the arm. "Don't worry, bud. The bags under your eyes are actually a good look for you."

"Alright, enough from the peanut gallery, let's get back to work." Danny concentrated even harder on the case file while Sheldon threw out his Chinese food box and took a Diet Coke from the refrigerator.

"So how's your first day going?" Stella asked, changing the subject.

"It's going pretty good. It took me some time to get acquainted with the lab's layout, but after that…"

She was cut off by a very familiar voice to her, coming from behind her and asking, "Has anyone seen Mac?" She turned around to see Don Flack, a very familiar dark haired, blue eyed detective that she hadn't seen in god knows when.

"Don." She said with a shocked expression.

"Penny." He also said with a very similar expression to hers.

A/N: There wasn't any Spanish in this chapter, it just didn't fit with what was going on. I promise there will be some next chapter, but please review!