A/N: Okay, here's the third chapter. I know, this is kinda going along slowly. So shoot me! I'm guilty as sin, but I promise you that it will pick up soon. Then you'll see why one of the genres is action/adventure. Right now, I'm just introducing things, letting you get a feel for the new character that I introduce here.

Disclaimer: I'm just a poor person! I own nothing! Sometimes, I'm not even sure if I own my own mind! So what makes you think I have the power to possess CSI or any of its wonderful characters? Though I wouldn't mind it at the very least, but whatever... ;-)...

Chapter 3: The Café

Sara's POV

"So I see that wild driving side to you still hasn't left, huh? You totally killed my tires just by driving out of the parking space! They're bare as a baby's behind." Brooke laughed upon enter the small and quaint cafe.

"Well, I'm not sure about wild... Wild would imply that it's out of control, and my driving is completely in control. I haven't gotten in a car accident once in my life." I stated proudly as we seated ourselves in the far back at an open booth.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say sis... You better knock on wood right now, because I don't want my car to be in the junkyard on the drive back because of you jinxing yourself." Brooke warned me playfully, passing me a menu once she took one for herself.

I shook my head at the thought of how superstitious the young woman in front of me was sometimes. Opening the small menu that the diner offered, my eyes immediately darted to the sandwich section, scoping out the vegetarian dishes. Not seeing anything worth while, my eyes went over to a vegetarian wrap, which I knew they had. Nodding my head to myself, I closed the menu and set it aside, satisfied.

"Damn that was quick! What, did you just decide to order everything?" Brooke looked at me over her menu, an amused look crossing her face.

Trying to hide a smirk, I replied with slight laughter in my voice. "No... I just know what I want. I've gone vegetarian, for your information. I can't stand the thought of eating any meat anymore."

"Say WHA?" Brooke immediately dropped her menu on the table and gawked at me disbelievingly, her mouth agape. "Who came and whacked you with a veggie stick? When we were little, I always saw you gnawing on a beef jerky stick or a Slim Jim!"

"Well, if you have to know, it was actually my boss's fault... You see, he and I were working this case where..." My voice dropped mid-sentence, my tone of voice being almost proud as I spoke of Grissom. Then the recollection of earlier today, hit me again. I mentally shook myself and tried to recover for the unexpected pause, clearing my throat for a lame excuse. "Excuse me... We were working a case were this lady had gotten killed by her husband and dumped up in the mountain. Well, we both knew that the husband was guilty as sin, but we couldn't prove it..." And I continued to rattle off the main factors of the case, talking of how my temper flew up at Scott Shelton, and how I assisted Grissom on his vigil with the pig. I explained how after seeing the flies and larvae infest the poor pig, I vowed to never eat another piece of meat ever again.

"Wow! Steel-Stomach Sidle was defeated by a decaying pig? Man, I'd known that way back when, I could've won that bet we made with each other." Brooke commented as a waiter walked up to us, at long last.

"What could I get for you two ladies?" He smiled courteously at myself and then Brooke. "Could I start you off with anything to drink?"

"Just water please, and I'd like a vegetarian wrap please." I ordered.

"All the same for me." Brooke said, as the waiter looked her way.

"All right then. Two waters and two vegetarian wraps it is then. They'll be up shortly." The waiter flashed another smile just before he left.

Amazed, I stared at Brooke who had, yet again, a smug look on her face. "Surprise, surprise Sizzle B. You aren't the only one that turned into a leaf eater."

"And you comment on how I used to eat everything! I can't believe this!" I claimed in sure amazement. "When? Why?"

"Okay, okay... It's a bet. But I'm still going through with it, so it count, a'ight?" She told me. "One more week and I'll win the bet. The guy I made a bet with said I couldn't last a whole month without meat, and I bet against him."

"And have you kept completely up with that bet?" I asked knowingly.

"Hell no!" She said shortly with a brighter smile on her face as we both shared a laugh at that.

After a moment of calming down, I realized I hadn't smiled this much in one day, let alone laugh, for the longest while. Months, years, whatever it was, it was a long time ago. And I'd nearly forgotten how Brooke had always been able to put a smile on my face and laughter in my voice from all those years ago. I smiled once more at the thought that now that Brooke was back, maybe now I'd be able to be happier.

The ever-smiling waiter returned promptly, our meal in hand. Setting it before us, he gave us a smile just before a left, murmuring a, "Enjoy your meal." comment over his shoulder as he left.

Brooke stared after him for a second more with an arched eyebrow. "I can't help but think that he's off something. Nobody smiles that much or that nice without having a good reason."

"Who knows? Maybe he got lucky last night?" I chuckled as I picked up the wrap and took a bite out of it.

"Well, judging by his looks, I'd normally say 'No'. I mean, the kid looks five times worse than Michael Jackson with his pet It he calls a nose." She said in a hushed tone. "But then again, this is Vegas. And anything can happen in Vegas." Brooke commented as she took a large bite out of her wrap.

I had to admit Brooke was right. The kid did look worse than Michael Jackson with his pet thing he calls a nose. Of course, I wasn't about to say it out loud.

We ate in peace for several minutes, and I stared across the table to see her chewing rather distastefully on the wrap. She'd turned away more than once to spit the contents into a napkin furtively and then turn back, as if I didn't know what she was doing. Managing to at least get half way, she tossed the wrap back on the plate and sat back with an exhale of breath, shaking her head in disbelief.

"What?" I asked with a smirk.

"How can you live off that? Clear that up for me, because I just don't get it. How can you live off of eating rabbit food? Especially when it tastes like it's been used for toilet paper first for flavoring?" I tried to not gag at the thought, but it worked to no effect and I soon reciprocated her action of placing the wrap back on the plate, sitting back in my seat.

Laughing while gagging proved to not be a good combination for me because I didn't know what to do. Either laugh or gag.

"Thanks... Thanks Brooke. I really needed that image." I said sarcastically.

"Anytime there sis! That's what sister are there for! And just think, where would you be without me?" Brooke said in a mockingly ecstatic voice.

"Well, right now I would be eating, if it wasn't for your... comment." For a lack of words, I chose to say "comment".

"Guess you won't be c'min back here any time soon, eh?" She took a sip of water, eyes still fixed on me.

"Nice try with the Canadian accent, but it doesn't work on a black person, sorry to tell you." I taunted her about the fake accent, and she gave me a fake pout to go along with it.

Just then, a beeper went off, and we both looked down at our waists. Seeing nothing, I figured it must've been hers. And judging by the way her face seemed to be fixed on a slightly shocked expression, I had confirmed that theory. She shifted in her seat so that she could reach into her pocket to retrieve something, which turned out to be her cellphone. Looking up at me for a quick second, she indicated to wait one second as she turned around to make this "urgent" phone call.

"What is so important that you have to contact me right now?" Brooke said in a quiet whisper, sounding agitated now.

I took a sip of the water, the condensation on the outside of the glass getting my hand wet. I tried not to listen in on her conversation, but I was naturally curious.

There was a garbled speech over the line, the voice in a very deep tone and sounding like a male. Loud music and people screaming with joy could be heard in the background of the conversation.

A party or a concert,I thought.

"You're shitting me..." Brooke said in a now lighter voice, no longer agitated by the mysterious man on the other end. "Right now? I can't do it right now! I'm out with my sister!" There was a pause as the man spoke back. "Yeah, easy for you to say... Listen, do I really need to be there? Is there no other way you can get the sub?" She asked, in a desperate sort of tone now. "What do you mean he 'vanished'? People just can't magically poof into nothing there buddy." More garbled dialogue. "Yeah, yeah... I figured that too. He really never knew how to take care of himself, so that wouldn't surprise me if that's what happened." Brooke's voice was slightly sad as the man replied, slightly panicked. "A'ight, a'ight... Give me fifteen minutes, twenty tops. Where are you?" There was a relieved reply as he told her the address to some place. "Wow! Way the Hell out there? They sure know how to pick the spots." Brooke spoke sarcastically. "A'ight. See you there, and leave a piece for me!" She said shortly just before she hung up.

She placed the phone back in her pocket and settled back into her seat, taking in a cleansing breath and letting it go as she looked back at me innocently. As if I hadn't heard her side of the conversation.

"The job?" I took a shot in the dark.

"Yeah, I wasn't supposed to work until later in the night, but the sub decided to take a leave and now they need me." She explained in a very vague and evasive kind of way.

"Well, I won't keep you. If you need to get going, we can. Besides, I need to check for updates on my case." I said, already grabbing my coat and shifting out of my seat.

As I slid on my jacket, Brooke stood up and stretched for a solitary moment. Before my coat was fully on, Brooke had stacked both plates and grouped the now empty glasses next to them, after she gulped down the remains of her water. As I was about to put a twenty on the table, Brooke swatted away my hand and put money of her own down - a replica of my twenty dollar bill. Prepared to leave now, we walked back out to the parking lot and I got back into the driver's seat.

Driving along the road back to the lab, it was silent with the exception of the deafening stereo system. I actually dreaded going back to the lab this one time, in fear of having to face Grissom or anyone else in that building. Especially Catherine, the Queen of Gossip, who was more than likely to try and pry information out of me about a number of things. But then again, life is filled with a lot of things you don't want to do but must still go through with. But that didn't stop the sigh from escaping my lips as I pulled into the lab's parking lot.

Exiting the car but still lingering at the window, I waited for Brooke to roll down the window after scooting over the divider of the seats to claim the driver's seat. I watched as she re-adjusted her seat back to her comfortable level and relaxed in the seat, staring back up at me.

"Well, it was great seeing you again after all this time, Brooke. Thanks for taking me out to eat, even if I didn't really eat that much after your moment of thinking out loud." I smirked as she grinned wildly.

"Hey, don't expect anything but the truth from me, girly..." She told me with a wagging finger as she made haste to find a pen and paper from the glove compartment. She scribbled on it quickly and passed it out the window to me. "Here... Call me sometime later tonight."

"I get off work in the mornings." I informed her briefly.

"Even better! I can take you out to breakfast and try to make up for this meal!" She said.

"Hmm, we'll see... I'll call you as I'm driving home." I promised her.

"Sounds like a plan, sis. For now, I've gotta go chase that money trail." Brooke said as she put on her sunglasses.

"Well, a wise man once said, 'Make the money. Don't let the money make you'." I said as I backed away from the car slightly.

"Yeah, but another wise man also said, 'If you aren't a paper chaser, then I'll tell you what you will be. You'll be on the corner with a tin can saying that you'll work for food.'" She said.

"That wasn't a wise man. That was the neighborhood's resident crack dealer." I said with only a slight frown.

"True, but at least at the end of the day, he wasn't the one sitting at home with no food in his stomach. And if he managed to find a way to beat that routine, unlike the rest of us that lived in that slum, than he must've been some type of wise man." Brooke shrugged as she waved goodbye, rolling up the window. "Talk to you later Sar..."

Giving a small wave of goodbye, I observed as she peel out of the parking lot and skid onto the road sharply, just before darting off down the road with the stereo on blast. I shook my head as I walked back inside the building. And as I checked back in with the office, I couldn't help but smile once more.

And she complains about me killing her tires?

TBC

A/N2: Okay... So, here's the boring third chapter. And yes, I was evasive of Brooke's job for a reason. Don't worry. It will all piece itself together in due time. Soo, now here comes your part. Hit me up with a review! C'mon, you KNOW you wanna! C'mon... C'mon lil' fella! You can do it! I have faith in you! But nah, seriously... Tell me what you think. Tell me what you think about the new character, Brooke. C'mon, I can handle the truth! I ain't no sissy!