Time to meet the Team
Ryan walked with Dr. Tom Loman to the conference room, discussing a case from last week. Walter saw their approach and decided to make sure everyone knew of Ryan's new affliction.
"Hey everyone look its Ryan the crad…" Ryan whipped out his cell phone and pointed it at Walter in a challenging manner. "Never mind." Walter quickly finished.
Just then Horatio and Jessica walked into the conference room. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at the pair. Still arm in arm, Ryan couldn't help but wonder if they seemed like they were walking even closer than before. Were they holding hands just then?
"Everyone this is Ms. Jessica Stone, she is the newest addition to our CSI family. She will be interning here over the course of the next year. Jess, why don't you introduce your self to the team?"
"Ok, well where do I begin? My name is Jessica Stone; I began my college career at Adrian College with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, and a Minor in Music. From there I began grad work at Penn State University and developed a love for Forensic Science so now I'm attending Miami University for a degree in Forensic Science. And that's my life in a nut shell."
"What kind of degree are you pursuing at Miami University?" asked Natalia.
"My Doctor's of Philosophy." responded Jessica.
"Your PhD, really?" asked Eric, "You're already working on your PhD and you're how old?"
"I'm twenty-seven." Jessica answered.
"That's really young to be working to getting a degree like that already." Tom commented.
"Yeah, when did you start college when you were twelve or something?" Eric joked.
"No I was fifteen. I was still in high school when I was twelve."
The entire team looked at the young woman standing before them. Each was wondering the same thing, was this some kind of genius in their presences? Were they looking at a child prodigy?
"If you don't mind me asking," Said Jesse Cardoza, "How many college degrees do you have?"
"Well I have two undergrad degrees that I've already mentioned along with my music minor, I have three Masters of Science degrees, two PhD's, and I'm currently attempting my third PhD. So all in all seven completed degrees and one still in the works, unless you count the music minor as a degree which then I guess I would have eight completed degrees."
The eerie silence fell over the room again and the young woman just stood there awkwardly for a moment, waiting for someone to say something. It was Ryan that broke finally broke the silence.
"That's really impressive. I remember just trying to complete my Master in genetics in three years was difficult enough, but all of that over the last twelve years? You're amazing."
"Thank you." Jessica politely said, with a quick glance down and a very apparent blush forming on her neck and cheeks. Ryan couldn't help but feel his own ears turn red and hoped his lack of recent hair cut helped disguise this fact, but highly doubted it and knew he would hear about it from Walter later.
"Well enough about you, Jessie. How about we meet the rest of the team?" Horatio said, as he came to the young woman's rescue. He had placed a hand on her shoulder and Jessica turned to look into his eyes. Ryan could feel the connection that formed when they looked at each other, and he suddenly became every aware of feelings that the young woman clearly had for her new supervisor. But it wasn't just Jessica that felt this way; Ryan could see it in Horatio's eyes that he felt the same way.
The team went around the room and introduced their self. When it came time for Ryan to give his introduction he couldn't help but notice the look Walter gave him. When he was done he quickly sent a text to Walter from under the table that said 'Your momma loves you.' Walter read the message and responded with 'At least my mom loves me!' before he thought about who he was sending it to. He quickly followed it up with an 'I'm so sorry man! I completely forgot! Feel free to kick my face in after we're done here!' 'It's ok; I know you're not trying to be mean. You're too much of a softy to be malicious.' Walter gave Ryan a quick smile and Ryan returned it, acknowledging the resolution of the fight earlier that day.
"Alright everyone, I think that does it for this meeting." Horatio said as Calleigh finished her introduction. "Now the moment some of you have been waiting for; who is Jessica working with?"
"Well it can't be Cardoza, two Jesses in the same space. Implosion anyone?" Eric quickly joked.
The team laughed briefly at this joke before Horatio raised his right hand to silence them. It was in this moment that Ryan realized that Horatio's left hand was held behind him in the extremely small space in between his and Jessica's bodies. Jessica's right hand was also in this space. If Ryan strained his neck ever so slightly he could see that their fingers were intertwined together behind their backs. Now Ryan really began to wonder about this relation his supervisor had with this new subordinate.
"So after much consideration I have decided which team member Jessica will be working under. I feel that this member has truly exemplified what our mission here at the Miami Dade Crime Lab is and I believe that Jessica will work well with him." Horatio began, "Mr. Wolfe I would like you to meet your new intern Ms- Well, I guess I should say Dr. Jessica Stone."
Ryan sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do. He already knew that this woman was something else. There was something about her that made him stomach do back flips and his pants a little uncomfortable. Ryan didn't know how this was going to work. He could barely sit here in a room full of people with Jessica, how did Horatio expect him to be in a room or Hummer alone with her?
"Thank you, H." he said after a brief moment in his usual Ryan manner, "I'm really honored that you think so highly of me. But are you sure that Dr. Stone here will learn anything from me? I mean she's a freakin doctor times three already?"
"No, just two, I'm still working on the third." Jessica quickly interjected. "And you're obviously very smart. I mean why else would H have hired you the way he did, with barely an interview?" A certain blush once again formed at the base of her neck. Ryan had never seen anyone blush like that before.
"Wait how did you know I didn't have an actual interview?..." Ryan questioned.
"That's enough, Mr. Wolfe please take Dr. Stone to your lab and show her where she'll be working. She doesn't have lab coats right now so see if you can find her something temporary to wear." Horatio interrupted, releasing Jessica's hand and placing his own on her waist, guiding her to Ryan. Ryan stood and Horatio gestured for them to go. As they walked from the conference room Ryan's phone buzzed. He looked down to find a text from Walter.
'I hear tucking your boner up under the waist of your pants helps the blood flow back and you can loose it faster that way.'
'Yeah? I bet that's the only way you can get rid of yours when you're not playing tug of war with the Cyclops.' Ryan responded.
'Touche, you win this time Wolfe.'
'I win every time Walter.'
'Like you're going to win with that new intern "working under you"?'
'You're just jealous.'
'Damn straight I am.'
Ryan chuckled at his coworker's wit and continued on to his lab with his new intern.