A/N: Okay, just to start, I have appearances for the main OC's I have in here:
Cassandra Sidle: Molly Sims
Jake Thompson: Nathan Fillion
Max Schmidt: Sam Rockwell
Josh Summers: Ethan Hawke
Lynn Thompson: Anna Friel
I don't own CSI, so on and so forth, enjoy.
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Nick Stokes looked around the small bar he was in. The bar had become an escape from work. That Toby Keith song "I Love This Bar" fit this one. There were all types around the place, and Nick loved observing each and every one. It got his mind off of the horrid things he had to see on a near daily basis. Earlier that day, he had watched a man get shot right in front of him, and he was shaking off the event by having a couple of drinks in peace.
Usually business was slow, but there was a couple arguing a couple of feet behind him behind him, making the experience anything but peaceful. The man had blonde hair and the woman had light brown hair. The fight was getting louder and louder by the minute. By the sound of the man slurring his words, he was drunk, when the woman, his girlfriend or wife, or hooker, whichever it was, was sober. Nick glanced around, seeing if anyone was paying attention to the fight. Only a handful of people were. This was Vegas, after all. A fight in a bar was an everyday occurrence. Most of them were just minding their own business. After a while of hearing the woman try and reason with the man, and the man's language getting more and more vulgar, Nick couldn't take it anymore. He could sense it was about to get out of hand. He sighed and put his drink down, ready to step in when the moment was right.
"You lying WHORE!" the man's voice practically broke with the volume of the insult.
Before Nick knew it, something had slammed into his back. He turned to catch whatever had hit him before it fell, finding it was the woman on the receiving end of the verbal attack. He glanced at her, seeing that she was holding the back of her hand to her mouth. Nick caught sight of a small spot of blood on her lip. The bastard hit her. Nick realized, and contained a growl. Arguing was one thing, but hitting a woman was another. He slid off his stool and bent over. "You alright?" he asked her.
The woman shot him a look that Nick clearly read meant 'What do you think?'. However, she shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Nick pressed his lips together, then helped her up. "Come on." He waited for her to right herself before turning to the man in question. "Hey man, don't you think that was a little much? Hittin' a lady? What's that about."
"Shut up, moron! Stay out of my business! She ain't much of a woman, anyway." The man snapped. "Buzz off 'fore I call the cops."
The woman snorted behind him.
"I'm a C.S.I, pal. I am the cops. It IS my business since I can charge you for assault," Nick replied. "Now get lost and leave the girl alone."
Josh glared at Nick before looking at the woman and pointing at her. "This isn't over." he threatened before he turned towards the door and left.
There was a dead silence that lasted a couple of moments before a few of the patrons clapped for Nick, shouting things along the lines of "you told him!" and whatnot. The bartender came over and handed him another beer after thanking him for cleaning up a potential issue. Nick mumbled a thank you, figuring it was no time for heavy appreciation. He turned back to where he had left the woman, to find she hadn't moved from the spot, but just turned to face the table and was now staring at the surface. He took a deep breath, then walked and sat beside her.
After a few moments of silence, she set a sideways glance at him. "…I'm never really good at this, so uh… thanks."
Nick smiled. "No problem." He stared at his drink, then it was his turn to speak up. "Mind telling me what that was about?" he asked.
The woman shook her head. "Why not? You got me out of it." She turned to face him. "That was my boyfriend Josh. He's been on edge lately, and I was out of town seeing my sister about a job I have to take over for her, and he jumped to a conclusion that I was cheating on him."
Nick masked his surprise about getting the whole story. He didn't see that coming. "Huh," Nick nodded, understanding her situation, then observed the right side of her face, which was turning pink from getting hit. "Hey, do you want ice on that?"
The woman shook her head. "No. It'll clear up by tomorrow. It always does, and-" she cut herself off and blushed, looking back down.
Nick frowned. " 'It always does'? Has he done this to you before?"
"A while ago, he did. He stopped for a while. He hasn't done it in ages."
"And you stayed with him this whole time?" Nick asked.
"No. We've been off and on over a few years. We've lived together for a while, and any time he got abusive like that, I went to my sister's for a while, but I've said too much just saying that. I'm telling a good amount of my life's story to a total stranger." She replied.
Nick's frown deepened. He hated when a woman was being abused by her boyfriend and they barely did anything about it. "Well, I just said I was a C.S.I. I can help with this… I know it's personal, but I'd like to help. I'm sorry I stuck my neck out in your business, I'm just not a big fan of this kind of stuff happening. That's part of my job." He explained. "As for the stranger bit…" He offered his hand. "I'm Nick."
"Cassandra." The woman replied. "And 'as for' the job comment, don't I know it."
Nick tilted his head. "Huh?"
"I'm a C.S.I myself down in Reno, but I'm in the works of getting transferred." Cassandra replied.
"Ah, Reno. Tough place." Nick took a drink from his beer glass, then set it down.
Cassandra nodded. "You're not kidding, and don't worry about imposing. It's nice seeing someone actually stand up for me. I can usually defend myself, I just wasn't expecting it this time."
"I believe you, and I'm glad to see my help's appreciated." Nick replied with a smile.
The two talked for a while and got to know each other- well, as much as they could, only knowing each other's first names. Nick had offered her his phone number in case of another incident like the one earlier that night, which she had gladly accepted. However, both of them forgot one important thing before going their separate ways.
--
"I didn't ask for her last name, and I didn't even leave mine on the paper I put my number on for her!" Nick complained to his best friend Warrick Brown, as they started climbing the hill towards their new crime scene.
"What a shame," Warrick replied with playful sarcasm. "That's a shocker since you won't shut up about her."
Nick laughed. "Come on, man. I was proud of myself. I just helped her out on my own! How was I supposed to remember to add my last name? We were talking so much I didn't even realize I didn't give it to her!"
"Well, then I'd love to meet her and see what she thought of you if you're like this." Warrick said before looking down at the crime scene since they reached it. He frowned, seeing that they now had to go down a sharp incline to get to the large hole in the ground that their victim was in. They slid most of the way down, trying to get their footing and failing miserably a good percent of the time. When they reached the bottom, Nick stumbled a bit and caught himself in front of someone. He looked up and could only stare at the person- rather woman's face. "Uh… Warrick?"
"Yeah?" Warrick asked, coming next to him.
"I think you're able to meet her." Nick replied.
"Really? Why's that?" Warrick asked, glancing at the brunette in front of them.
"You're looking at her." Nick replied, and then smiled at Cassandra, who was looking back at him with a smile on her face, her arms crossed over her chest. "You again! I thought you said you worked in Reno!" He offered.
"I did, and I also said that I was gonna get transferred- transferred here, thanks to my sister. I take this is also your crime scene?" she asked.
"Ah. Interesting. You could've told me that you were transferring here." Nick pointed out.
"Well, I told you most of my adult life story. I figured this could be left out." Cassandra replied.
Nick shrugged. "Touché."
Warrick cleared his throat.
Nick didn't seem to notice. He was just smiling at Cassandra.
Warrick elbowed him.
Nick snapped out of it. "Oh, right, sorry. Cassandra, this is Warrick Brown, one of the guys I told you about last night. Warrick, this is Cassandra, the girl I was telling you about just now." Nick introduced them.
Warrick nodded and smiled out of the corner out of his mouth, shaking her hand. "How you doin'?"
Cassandra chuckled. "I'm fine."
Warrick studied her. "So, from what Nick tells me, you never got his last name, and he never got yours."
"That's true." Cassandra nodded. "So, might as well start then, huh?"
Nick nodded. "I'm Nick Stokes."
"Cassandra Sidle." Cassandra replied. She frowned, seeing the looks of amusement drop and be replaced by shock. "What?"
"Sidle? Like… Sara Sidle?" Nick choked out.
"Yeah. She's my sister that I mentioned last night." Cassandra replied.
Nick and Warrick looked at each other, then laughed once before looking at her. "Were you transferred to Gil Grissom's team?"
"Mm hm. Sara's special request." Cassandra replied.
Warrick chuckled. "She would."
Nick nodded in agreement.
Cassandra smiled weakly, then gasped. "Oh, that reminds me. Is Grissom around? Sara asked me to give him something…" She fished around in her pockets, then finally got what she was looking for: a folded up piece of paper.
Nick looked around. "Don't see him now, but he should be around soon. Just wait a bit. He'll show up."
"Sounds good to me." Cassandra replied.
The three did wait, and sure enough, Gil Grissom appeared over the ledge a short time later. After making it down the incline, he reached them, eyes set on Cassandra. "Ah, hello. You must be Cassandra, then." He paused, then threw caution to the wind. "Sara's little sister."
Cassandra smiled and nodded. "Gil Grissom, I presume?"
Gil nodded identically to her. "At your service."
Cassandra held up the paper. "This may not be the right time to do it, but… this is from Sara. It's a note to you, as well as my recommendation letter."
Gil shrugged. "One of the women on this team, you'll meet later once said 'The dead can wait'. Let's see it." He tried extremely hard to hide his eagerness, but to Nick and Warrick's surprise, it showed, ever so slightly.
Cassandra nodded and handed the paper over to him.
Gil unfolded it carefully, then ran his fingers gently over the creases to smooth them as much as possible. Nick and Warrick exchanged looks before peaking over Gil's shoulder to read what Sara had to say.
My Dearest Gil-
You know just as well as I do that I trust Ronnie in this job, it's just… I feel you could use someone with more experience. You'll be hearing from my sister soon about being my replacement on the jobs. She's already a C.S.I in Reno, and in my opinion, she's one of the best out there. She's two years younger than me, and I feel she's better than me at the job. I wouldn't trust anyone but her to replace me on the team and take care of you and my other boys, and girls, for that matter. Please give her a chance on your team. She won't disappoint. She's having a rough time with her life right now, and this may be the perfect way to let her escape and start fresh. She needs a new start as much as I do. Trust me. I know what I'm doing, and so does she. Give her a chance. You won't be sorry. I wish I could tell you more about where I am and what I'm doing, but now's not the time. I need to be away longer. Just know one thing, and that's I love you. Be patient. You will hear from me again soon. I promise.
Love, Sara
Nick and Warrick had stopped reading at the last couple of lines, seeing it was more personal for Gil. Instead, they beamed at Cassandra. "You sound like a perfect match. Good work ethic, life sucks, needs to get away." Nick told her. "Though how 'get away' and 'work around dead bodies' relate, I'll never know."
Cassandra laughed. "Hey, it was my sister's idea. I cried when I said bye to my team in Reno!" She replied. "I'm a surrogate sister, daughter and mom to most of them!"
Nick put his hands up. "No offense, meant, Miss. Sidle."
"Cassie, please." Cassandra replied.
"I know, Cassie… hm, you know, that's too close to a little girl I know. Cass, that's what I'll call you. I like Cass for you. You look like a Cass." Nick replied.
Cassandra raised her eyebrows, but smiled all the same. "Yes, sir."
Nick grinned in victory as Warrick chuckled as well. "Well, you have us interested, now the big guns." Nick turned to Gil. "So, Gris. She hired?"
"She's hired, alright." Gil nodded. "Welcome to our team, Cassandra Sidle."