Okay, here's round two! It came faster than I hoped. I'm really excited to see how much you all enjoy it and suggestions or comments are more than welcome. Oh, and since I overlooked it before, this is for the whole dang book…

Disclaimer: CSI is not mine. Never has been, never will be. The only thing I can claim is a certain character by the name of Casey Layne Montgomery.

Take My Hand

Chapter 2: Meet the Crew

"C'mon, Gil, it's just for a little while."

Casey could hear Sara pleading with her husband over the phone as she sat in the spare room. She frowned as she thought about the problems she was causing the two of them.

"She won't be here too long…no, she needs someplace to stay, and I'm not going to be the one to send her out on the streets of Vegas."

She pulled out a few of her knickknacks from her backpack. The first was the picture of her and her long-gone best friend, Faith, on their high-school graduation day. They were still dressed in those goofy caps and gowns with the silliest smiles on their faces. She had barely seen or heard from Faith since that day. The last she had heard, Faith was studying to become a doctor so that she could go take care of children in third-world countries. The next things she pulled out were the wooden cat, lion, raccoon, and bear that she had carved in an art class once upon a time. Lastly was her little silver jewelry box. That was her favorite possession because it contained so many memories of birthdays and Christmases and friends long gone.

Casey paused a moment and listened to Sara some more. "I won't send her home…She doesn't want to go back, so I won't make her…no, I already told you, I talked to her parents and they don't want her back either. They also said something about a transfer or something. I think she knew this was coming and she planned it. She needs to stay here...well, it's not my fault that you chose to go to this entomology conference in Florida and can't be here to decide things…Gil, please don't make her leave. Please."

She stopped listening again and started unpacking her spare changes of clothing and putting them into the dresser. Then she sat down on the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles on the bedspread. It was a nice room, cozy and dark, just the way she liked it; it was also completely different from the room she had shared with her younger stepsister Alicia, which was far too light, airy, and pink.

The knock on the door stopped her observations. "Come in," she sighed.

Sara entered. "Well, I talked to Gil, and he said you can stay."

Casey pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! I knew it!"

"I also talked to your parents. They said two weeks ago your transfer from USC to UNLV went through."

"I told you I was in college. I told you I that I don't intend to lay around the house all day. I want to do something with my life. I want to succeed, which is more than I can say for the rest of my family. Alicia's twenty and all she does is sleep all day and try to go clubbing. And Ashleigh's failing out of all her junior classes and it's only the first of October."

"So what are you studying to become?"

Casey could feel the blush rising in her cheeks. She was half-embarrassed, half- proud of what she wanted to be.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Sara encouraged her.

She took a deep breath. "I want to become a forensic investigator…like you." At the look on Sara's face, she stopped. "Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not laughing, Case. I think that's awesome. Maybe I can get you a job at the crime lab. When are you graduating from college?"

"Hopefully by the end of this semester in December. I was hoping to get a job out here."

"Well, I can totally help you out with that." Sara smiled. "We're always looking for extra hands around the lab. I'm sure you'd fit in fine."

Casey smiled back at her. "Thanks, Sara."

The next night, Sara took Casey for a little tour of the lab. To Casey, it did not seem too much different than a classroom, except for the fact that it was dimmer and less roomy.

She happened to not notice people staring at her, especially some of the guys. Nick, Greg, and Warrick in particular stared at her while they were pretending to file some paperwork in Grissom's office.

Nick whistled as he stared out the open window. "Damn, she's too good looking to be a lab rat. Is she a newbie?"

Greg and Warrick both shrugged. "No clue," Warrick added.

"I think Grissom said Sara'd be bringing a possible newbie by. Didn't say much else, though," Greg chimed in.

"She looks too young for us, though, Nick." Warrick elbowed his friend. "She can't possibly be more than twenty-five."

Nick smirked. "Aw, but that's the perfect age for little Gregory here."

Greg had been gazing at her long, red hair in its ponytail as though he had never seen anything like it. The other two cracked up as he just kept staring at her like he was seeing a girl for the first time. He never even noticed them make fun of him; he was completely captivated by her.

Then Sara brought her by the office. "Oh, great, the guys are in here!" she said, and quickly they returned to filing their paperwork.

The door opened. "Hey, boys." Sara got their attention faster than usual. "This is Casey, my cousin. She might be a newbie here soon. Casey, meet Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes, and Greg Sanders."

They exchanged hellos, and Casey was glad to meet them, although she was a little shy and reserved towards them. She thought they seemed nice.

"She's…different," Nick said after she left.

"Yeah," Warrick agreed.

Greg refused to say anything. He was afraid the guys would laugh at him. He had never seen anyone as beautiful as her, but he thought that she was way out of his league. He assumed he would never have a chance with her…but that would never be a reason for him not to try. He hoped that someday she would fall for him.

The next person Casey met was Catherine, who immediately took her under her wing. Casey already looked up to her as a sort-of mom after only knowing her for five minutes; Catherine was happy that Sara had given her a place to stay.

Casey liked the lab. It felt safe and secure for some reason, and she liked the people who worked there. That one, Greg, was pretty cute…but no, she had definitely not come here to look for another boyfriend. She was still trying to adjust to being here and not having a boyfriend. He was good-looking, but probably way out of her league, since she was only a student and he was an actual CSI.

The drive home was actually quiet. She and Sara had hardly anything to say until they were almost home. "So, what'd you think of the lab?"

"It's cool," Casey said, not knowing what else to say. She stared out the window at the apparently bleak landscape. "I like the people who work there. They seem nice. What else is there to say, huh?" She smiled. "Are they fun to work with?"

"You'll have to tell me what it's like in the lab now." Sara smiled as well. "Congrats. I talked with some higher ups, and your interview is tomorrow at ten. I think you'll get the job, because I told them even though you were a student, your hours were flexible."

"Really?" Casey's face lit up like a sign on the strip. "Thanks, Sara!"

"No problem," Sara said as they pulled up to the driveway.

Well, you know the drill. Click that review button, please. Next chapter is going to be funny and may be up in a few days…or not. It all depends on what is going on in my hectic life. Oh, and congratulations to my boys' soccer team at school: they at least qualified for state, even if they did lose the hotly contested state game. They held the #1 team in the state at 0-0 for both halves and through double sudden-death overtime, only to lose the shootout.