Once again, I own nothing or no one except for Samantha Ross.
Shades of Aiden, pieces of yourself
"She's sun and rain,
she's fire and ice,
a little crazy but its nice.
And when she gets mad, you best leave her alone.
'Cause she'll rage just like a river, than she'll beg you to forgive her,
Oh she's every woman that I've ever known."
-She's Every Woman Garth Brooks
"The day suddenly got a whole lot more interesting." Stella said, as she and Lindsay, still observing from halfway down the hall, watched in shock and fascination as Adam scooped a pretty little brunette thing up into his arms, a massive childish grin on his face as he lifted her effortlessly off her feet. Then kept his arm around her shoulders as he talked to Danny and Flack, who were looking on in states of confusion and awe.
"Who is that?" Lindsay wondered aloud, hands on her hips, straining her eyes in an attempt to read lips from that far away. "Is Adam dating someone other than Kendall? I mean, I thought they were in an exclusive type deal? And to bring another girl to your work place? Doesn't seem like an Adam thing to do. I bet you that that's who answered the phone at his place."
"I don't know who she is," Stella said. "But he obviously knows her very well."
"What's going on?" Hawkes asked, as he came down the hall from ballistics, carrying a small stack of case folders and found Stella and Lindsay in the hall, staring intently in the direction of the elevators.
"Check this out, Hawkes." Lindsay said, nodding in the direction of Adam, Flack, Danny and the mystery woman. "Looks like Adam's been playing the field a little."
"You don't know that." Stella chastised the younger woman. "That's how rumours get started. She's probably just a friend."
"When is the last time a friend hugged you and smiled at you like that?" Lindsay inquired.
"She looks cute." Hawkes said approvingly. "Lucky Adam. Think that might be the new girl?"
"How would she know Adam?" Lindsay asked.
Hawkes shrugged. He was never one to jump to conclusions or make assumptions or judgements. He preferred to get all the facts before offering too much of a comment. "Maybe she's an old classmate from university," he reasoned. "She could be anyone. Like Stella said. Close friend, relative. There's a number of possibilities."
"Are you guys talking about the girl with Adam?" Kendall popped her out of the trace lab. She'd heard their less than hushed conversation and the jealous girlfriend in her had given her enough just cause to check the situation out for herself.
Stella nodded. "Do you know her? Ex university buddy? Old friend? Another girlfriend?"
Kendall glared at her. "For the record, he only has time and energy for one girlfriend. That's the new CSI. His sister."
"Sister!?" Stella and Lindsay exclaimed in unison.
"Adam has a sister?" Hawkes frowned. "He never talked about having a sister."
"Maybe because he knows you guys won't bother to listen," Kendall felt the urge to stick up for her boyfriend. "I mean, have any of you ever thought of sitting down with him and having a conversation with him about something other than work? There's more to him than any of you could possibly know.Try talking to him like a human being and not treating him like the lab whipping boy and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Trust me. I was."
"She told you two." Hawkes said and grinned at Stella and Lindsay as Kendall disappeared back into trace.
Personally, despite his penchant for dressing like a frat boy who just rolled out of bed after a hard night of partying and his often eccentric behaviour, Adam Ross was a hell of a nice guy who would bend over backwards to help a friend and deserved to be given a fair shake around there. Half the time it was his hard work that broke a case yet he never got credit for it, or asked for any sort of recognition. He also had a shy, broken little boy quality to him that Hawkes had unfortunately seen many a time before during his rotation in the ER during his med school days when an abused child rolled in. He'd heard that Adam's father had been a bully, but Hawkes himself had never brought up the subject with the young lab tech. Some wounds never fully healed and Hawkes didn't want to re-open any of them.
"Check out the way Danny and Flack are checking her out." Stella commented with a laugh. ''Those two are hopeless. You would swear they've never seen a pair of boobs or an ass before."
"Looks like Flack may come out on top in that betting pool over at the precinct after all." Lindsay added.
"I don't know." Stella said, shaking her head. "Something about that new girl, just by looking at her, tells me that she's not a pushover. She'll give him a run for his money. She won't make it easy on him. And I guarantee, that he'll like it and keep going back for more."
"Might be exactly what he needs." Hawkes offered.
The three of them buttoned up and smiled politely as the new girl, flanked by Adam and Flack as if they were her personal body guards and trailed after by an annoyed, grumpy looking Danny, came down the hall towards them. They made a stop at ac's office, but Danny kept going.
"New friend, Danny?" Lindsay asked.
"Adam's sister." he replied crossly. "Don't you guys have work to do?"
"Who pissed on your cornflakes?" Stella asked as he stalked past them.
"Flack." he simply replied and turned into the lunch room.
"What's gotten into him?" Hawkes asked.
"Exactly like he said.Flack." Stella replied. "Come on, you two. Let's go and hang out by Mac's office and pretend we're not eaves dropping."
"You know," Lindsay said. "Danny really hopes she's like Aiden."
Stella smiled. "So do I." she said.
Adam knocked noisily on the office door. "Uh... Mac?" he poked his head in cautiously.
"How's that trace from my subway tracks case coming?" Mac asked, his eyes riveted on the computer screen in front of hm, fingers flying across the keyboard.
"Fine. I'm on top of everything. Its all in the GC/MS as we speak. Just waiting for the results to come through."
"Good. That's what I like to hear. I don't want things falling behind like they did when you were gone for three weeks in Phoenix."
"Didn't help that you were away in England either." Adam commented.
Mac stopped typing. Looked over at the sheepish looking lab tech, an eyebrow arched.
"That so did not come out right. I did not mean that the way it sounded." Adam defended himself. "You had every right to go away. What you do with your personal time is your business. Not mine. Just that I heard this place practically imploded without you. Not that Stella isn't capable of running the place. 'Cause she is, don't get me wrong. Just no one can do this job like you and keep this place running and all and... you know what? I'll shut up now."
Mac smirked. "Is there something you wanted Adam?" he asked firmly, yet politely.
"No. I didn't want anything. Its just that my sister is here.Out in the hall with Detective Flack."
"Why is she out in the hall with Detective Flack? How'd she end up with him?"
"Something about sitting outside on the front bench and Danny making a lame ass comment. Its weird, long story, trust me. Guys like Danny, they tend to follow her around. Its like she has punish me written on her forehead or something. She's a magnet for the faux renaissance man type. She was with this guy in Phoenix and... never mind."
"And why is she out in the hall with Detective Flack and not in here, with you, talking to me?" Mac asked.
"Good question." Adam said and knocked on the glass wall and waved his sister into the office.
Mac pushed his chair away from his desk and stood up and came around to greet a young, attractive brunette as she stepped confidently into his office. He saw no resemblance between brother and sister apart from the same smile and the same lovely white teeth. While Adam was somewhat tall and bulky with thick wavy hair and a dishevelled appearance, his sister was short in stature and had a willowy figured and chestnut rod straight hair and was dressed neatly and conservatively. He took one look at her and someone else immediately sprung to mind. Not so much in physical resemblance, but in style and confidence and the sure, professional way she conducted herself. Aiden.
"This is my sister, Samantha." Adam introduced her to Mac. "Sammie, this is Detective Mac Taylor. Your new boss."
"As I said before, just call me Mac," he said and shook her hand warmly. "Pleasure to finally meet you."
"You as well. Its nice to be able to put faces to the names Adam has mentioned over and over."
Mac gestured for her to have a seat in front of his desk. "Adam, if you'll..."
"Give you guys a moment?" he finished. "Of course."
As Adam went to leave, Mac noticed the other members of the team gathered out in the hallway, trying their best to act as if they weren't being nosey. "Send Stella in, would you, Adam?" he asked.
"Sure. No problem." he stepped out into the hallway and passed the message along to Stella.
"And the rest of you make yourselves scarce!" Mac yelled out to disperse the crowd.
Samantha took seat in the leather bound chair in front of the neatly organized glass topped desk and stole a glance around the room. Bright yellow walls, a couple of book cases and filing cabinets. A large map of the city of New York tacked to one wall. Personal mementos and photographs adorning the others. The one that caught her eye almost immediately was off a much younger Mac Taylor in a Marines dress uniform. Adam had mentioned that Mac was a former Marine and that he'd survived the bombing of the barracks in Beirut in 1983. And that his wife, Claire, had died on nine eleven. Adam had said the man was pretty much a mystery. But that he was well respected, well liked, and more than a little feared among the lab techs. She figured as long as you did your job properly, what was there to be afraid of?
She glanced towards the door as a tall, slender attractive woman in a black business suit and a head full of dark curls came into the room. "You must be Detective Bonasera," she said, getting to her feet and offering her hand.
"I am." Stella smiled and shook the younger woman's hand warmly. "But please call me Stella."
"Adam mentions you all the time." Sam said, as the two women took seats in front of Mac's desk as he slipped in behind it.
"Unfortunately, I can't say the same about you." Stella said reluctantly. "Adam's never mentioned a sister."
"He's very private about some things . We've always been very close. Since we were little kids. He means the world to me. He's my little brother after all. I'm very proud of him. He's come a long way from the slums of Brooklyn."
My dad was bully.Stella easily recalled Adam telling her once. When they were investigating the woman shop lifting from all the high end stores. When they'd watched the surveillance tapes, Adam had commented that the way the suspect cringed and jumped when someone approached quickly or raised their hand was a classic sign of domestic abuse. He never spoke of it again, and the way he had closed himself off so quickly after that simple comment told Stella that his childhood had been far from perfect. She wondered how much his sister had gone through.
"How did you and Adam end up in Phoenix?" Stella asked curiously. "I always just assumed he was originally from there."
"Our father passed away when I was fourteen. Adam was nine. Our mother met someone quite quickly and he was offered a job in there so we all packed up and left. It was a God send, to be honest. All of us needed to get away, to lay down new roots. Start fresh. I wasn't surprised when Adam came back here. He always had big dreams and he knew this was one of the biggest and best cities to be in. I wasn't in a hurry to get back.So after university, I took a job with the Phoenix P.D. Moved through the ranks. Some things kinda fell apart about a year ago and I've been waiting for a chance to move on. When I saw the posting Detective Taylor..."
He cleared his throat noisily.
"Sorry. Mac." she corrected herself with a girlish giggle. "When I saw the posting Mac put out, I jumped on it. And here I am. Back home. Its where I belong. There's nothing left back in Arizona for me. Who knows? Maybe there's something big for me here."
Stella couldn't help but stare at the new detective. There was something very refreshing about her that went way beyond the girl next door looks. It was in the honesty and candidness of her responses. In the way she spoke confidently and in the firmness of her handshake and the sincerity and trust in her eyes. And Stella too was reminded of Aiden. The eagerness to impress but sure enough of herself not to care what others thought or said about her. Samantha Ross would be a welcome addition to the lab. And would no doubt change every ones lives. Stella just didn't know how much, or how quickly she would do it.
"Tell us about your sister, Adam." Hawkes said. He and Flack and Danny sat at one of the tables in the staff lunch room, sipping lukewarm coffee and bottles of water and discussing what they knew so far about Samantha Ross. Which was very little. Adam didn't seem to keen on sharing any information with them. He'd been dodging the hints they'd been dropping for the last twenty minutes. Hawkes had decided to just take the bull by the horns and ask outright.
"What's there to tell?" the lab tech asked, stirring a handful of sugar packages into black coffee.
"The basics. Likes, dislikes, schooling,stuff like that. Details." Hawkes replied. Then added very politely, "Please."
"Screw that stuff." Danny said. "Tell us what's important. She got a boyfriend? Husband? Significant other? What?"
Adam fixed Danny with a foul look. "Don't even think about it, Messer," he warned. "Keep your grime-es off of my sister. She doesn't need a boyfriend or someone to hook up with or whatever you want to call it, right now. Its the last thing on her mind, trust me."
"Too bad." Danny said sincerely. "Must break Flack's heart to hear that."
Blue eyes locked on Danny. "And what's that suppose to mean?" Flack asked.
"I saw you checking her out." Danny replied. "Given her that little smile of yours. Chattin' her up in the elevator. Holdin' open doors and shit."
Flack snorted and shock his head. "I was being a gentleman." he informed his friend.
"Yeah, right. You were just gettin' ready to bust some serious game on her and you know it."
"You're delusional, Messer. You are. I was just being nice. Making the new girl feel welcome.That's it."
"Bullshit!" Danny laughed. "You were so comin' on to her."
"You were coming on to my sister?" Adam looked mortified at the thought.
"No. I wasn't." Flack defended himself. "Okay, I'll admit. You got a pretty hot sister, Adam. She is way too attractive to be related to you in any shape or form but that's an entirely different story. But I was not coming on to her. I had no intentions on coming on to her. If you should be pissed at any one it should be Messer, trying out his whole player thing. And failing miserably, I may add."
"Fuck you, Flack." Danny said. Know who she reminds me of? Aiden. All that hotness and Brooklyn hard core tough girl bitchiness."
"For sure." Flack agreed. "Definitely like Aiden. Who, may I remind you, shot you down too."
"Hey, once she gets accostomed to the Messer charm, it'll be all good. Trust me."
"Messer charm." Flack scoffed. "Messer bullshit is more like it. Besides, aren't you with Lindsay?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Flack. I don't know if I'm coming or going with her anymore. And let's face it? Sex on a pool table and a couple of near tries since and a few dates does not exactly qualify as a relationship. Friends with benefits, maybe."
"I so did not want to hear that." Adam grumbled.
"But back to the good stuff." Danny changed the subject quickly.
Truth was, he had no idea what the issue was between him and Lindsay. It was way too complicated for even him to fully comprehend. It just seemed as if every time they were getting closer and closer to making a serious commitment to each other, to be ready to take their relationship to the next level, Lindsay went through some kind of emotional turmoil and began pushing him away. And it hadn't helped things that no matter how many times he'd been there for her, whether it be saving her ass in the midst of a undercover op gone bad or flying to Montana to support her through her trial, she was never around when he needed her. He'd gone through some rough moments following little Rueben's death and she'd been no where around to help him out.
But Flack was .Flack was his best friend. Hands down. Flack would go to hell and back for him and vice versa if the time ever arose. Apparently the saying was true. It was bros before hoes.
"You're sister, Adam." Danny said, sipping his coffee. "She got a boyfriend or what?"
"No. No boyfriend, no husband, no nothing. Na-da."
"There's hope for us yet, Flack." Danny said.
"No offense, Danny," Adam tried to be as sensitive as possible with what he was about to say. It wasn't his intention to hurt anyone's feelings, but the thought of his sister and any of these guys turned his stomach. The thought of his sister with any guy for that matter made him sick. But Danny and Flack? Oh hell no. Especially Danny. Was he really God's gift like he let on? Or was it all just an act? Adam didn't want his sister to be the one to find out. "but my sister... well, you're not exactly her type. You're too... what's the word..."
"Too much of an ass hole?" Flack offered.
"That too." Adam agreed and an empty bottle of water tossed at him for doing so. "Its just that... don't take this as an insult or anything, but you're blond for one. She isn't into blonds. She likes dark haired guys. At least they've always had dark hair."
Flack grinned victoriously at Danny. "Flack one, Messer zero." he chided.
Danny flipped him the middle finger.
"Guys, give it a rest, all right." Adam implored. "You're both just not her type. I mean, you're cops. She doesn't date cops. Bad experience. Real bad experience, actually. And if she did, she'd definitely go for someone like Hawkes first. You know, the strong, silent, smart type."
"Are you implying we're stupid?" Danny gasped dramatically.
Adam held up his hands in self defense. "No...no. All I'm trying to say is that..." he sighed heavily. "Look, I am begging you guys. Just stay away from my sister. Please. She doesn't need any more drama in her life right now. Drama is why she left Phoenix in the first place and I don't want her having to bail out of her 'cause you two can't keep your dicks in your pants. So please. Please. Just leave my sister alone."
Danny and Flack looked at each other and smirked. Both of them thinking, sorry Adam, you are shit out of luck
"So she likes the intelligent type, huh." Hawkes spoke up. "What else does she like? Books? The theatre? Music? What?"
"I don't know, okay?" Adam shook his head, clearly uncomfortable with discussing any aspect of his sister with them. "You want to know stuff like that, ask her."
"I will do just that." Hawkes concluded.
Stella and Samantha came into the lunch room. Laughing and chatting as if they'd known each other all their lives and were doing nothing more catching up on a little work place gossip or what they'd done the night before. When silence between all the men fell, Stella stopped walking and turned a leery gaze on all of them, hands on her slender hips.
"All right..." she said, like a school teacher getting ready to chastise her students for passing notes and whispering during a lesson. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing." Adam and Hawkes answered in unison.
"Football." Danny said.
"Hockey." Flack replied.
Hawkes quickly got to his feet and went over to welcome Samantha, his hand outstretched. "I'm Sheldon Hawkes," he said in his warm, soothing voice.
"The famous ME turned CSI." she said, smiling brightly and shaking his hand. "Adam told me all about you."
"All good I hope." Hawkes smiled as well, coffee brown eyes sparkling.
"Of course." she assured him. "Do I call you Hawkes? Sheldon?"
"You may call me whatever you want." he informed her flirtatiously.
Flack nearly spit a mouthful of coffee across the table. Hawkes busting his game? A game none of them even knew he had or even knew how to use? For real?
"In that case, Sheldon," she said. "I'm Samantha."
"A pleasure." he said and motioned for her to take a seat at the table, pulling out a chair for her. "I'd like to hear about Phoenix," he told her. "Would you like something to drink? Bottle of water? Pop? Tea or coffee?"
She accepted a bottle of water.
Danny and Flack looked at each other. Each with an eyebrow raised. What the fuck is going on here? they both thought.
"Where's Lindsay?" Stella asked, taking a seat between Danny and Flack as Hawkes and Samantha began an intense conversation into life in Arizona as opposed to New York and Hawkes discussed his reasons for leaving the MEs office in exchange for something more exhilarating.
"Moping somewhere." Danny replied. He wasn't sure who he was pissed at anymore. Flack or Hawkes. He chose the latter. Because right now, Flack wasn't doing to good in the score with the new girl department either. "Someone else took away her cute new girl title away."
"Very funny, Messer." Lindsay said as she slipped into the room. "A girl can't go to the bathroom and you're already talking shit?"
"You can go wherever your little heart desires." he informed her.
Lindsay stood before Flack, arms folded across her chest, staring down at him expectantly.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"Can I sit there?" she asked in response.
"There's twenty other chairs in the room, Monroe. Park yourself in one."
She frowned.
"He was here first." Danny reasoned.
She shook her head in obvious disgust and decided instead to approach the new girl. Let this new CSI now that while she may think she's all that, from where Lindsay was standing, she didn't see much to write home about. Regardless of the spell she seemed to have cast on all the guys. Lindsay wasn't being second in Danny's life to anyone. "I'm Lindsay Monroe." she simply announced, offering a hand.
Samantha looked the girl from head to toe. This country girl with the piss poor Posh Spice knock off hair do had another thing coming if she was planning on playing the intimidation game with her. If this girl was as much of a bitch as Adam let on, she was about to meet an even bigger one if she pushed it. "The one from the mid west that Danny calls Montana, right?"
Lindsay bristled.
Everyone felt the tension appear immediately. And everyone stopped and watched and waited.
"Don't feel too bad." Sam said and calmly sipped her bottle of water. "You'll be called a lot worse in this job. Trust me. Personally, I think its kinda cute."
"Finally!" Danny exclaimed. "Someone who appreciates a little romantic gesture."
"Its annoying and obnoxious." Lindsay informed him.
"If it would make you feel more appreciated, Danny," Sam leaned across the table and laid a hand on his forearm. "you can come up for a nickname for me." He may have been a little to forward and tried a little too hard at his attempts at charm, but Danny Messer seemed like a decent guy who meant well and had the best of intentions. He definitely deserved a lot more respect. And if this was how his girlfriend treated him, what did he let his enemies do to him?
"Yeah?" he grinned broadley. "How's Brooklyn sound?" he asked.
"Stupid." Lindsay replied.
"I think its perfect." Sam told him.
Lindsay felt her heart sink into her stomach. She felt vulnerable. And very,very threatened.
"Brooklyn it is." Danny decided.
And with that, the days of Montana had passed.
Thanks to all my "fans" who have reviewed and helped me along.
Aphina
Maddison Bellows
Eddiesgirl
Bluehaven4220
lily moonlight
I hope you all enjoy this. It was a little long and a little tedious. But it was important to establish relationships between Samantha and the others. Especially the guys! And a little Monroe bashing to end it all of. Also, the word grime-es that Adam uses, I borrowed from Tim Speedle. He used it once and I thought it was great so I borrowed it. RIP Speed!