Disclaimer – I own nothing of RENT or CSI: Las Vegas. They belong to their respected owners. 'Nuff said. I do, however, own my original characters.
BOLDED = SIGN LANGUAGE
Italics = Written things
A/N: I was on a walk this morning and this story popped into my head. I will update my other stories – just having this little thing called 'writer's block'. I hope to get the third chapters of my Robin Hood & Phantom stories up soon.
Summary: AU: The Rent gang (except Angel) go to Las Vegas to celebrate Roger & his twin sister's birthdays, but they end up becoming key witnesses in a murder investigation instead. Takes place in 2010. Rated T for language, among other things.
Genre: Drama/Romance
Rating: T
"Guys, Roger's birthday is coming up, so while he's at the airport getting Maegan, we should discuss it." Mark told the others. It was June 10, 2010 – four days before Roger and his twin sister, Meagan's birthdays.
"Mark, every year you fret about it, but as I've told you before – IT'LL BE OKAY!" Maureen yelled the last part.
"How about a trip to Las Vegas?" Joanne spoke up, not taking her eyes off her computer screen.
"It's on Roger's Bucket List – to go to Vegas." Mimi told the others, filing her nails. Just then, Roger, Maegan and Collins entered the loft, signing to each other. Meagan was twenty minutes older than Roger and was the female version of him, except that she had been deaf since she was three-years-old.
"Hey guys!" Maureen greeted the three of them.
"Roger, who all them?" Meagan signed to Roger, nodding to Maureen, Joanne, Mark and Mimi seated on the couch.
"My friends – Maureen, Joanne, Mark and Mimi." Roger signed to his twin. Meagan smiled at each of them as Roger fingerspelled their names.
"HOW WAS YOUR FLIGHT?" Maureen shouted.
"Mo, she's deaf, but I can translate." Roger informed Maureen before turning back to Meagan. "How your flight?" Roger signed.
"Good. Thank you." Meagan signed to Maureen. Maureen looked to Roger, confused.
"She said – good, thank you." Roger translated. Collins smiled and headed to the kitchen, a sudden frown on his face. Angel had died from AIDS in 2000 and Collins missed her so much. Angel had told him to move on, even though Collins promised he wouldn't.
Five hours later, Meagan, Roger, Collins, Mark, Joanne, Maureen and Mimi had either left or gone to bed. The ones that were awake – Mark, Mimi and Collins – were figuring out how they were going to get the money to go to Vegas.
"I have some money saved from my various jobs." Collins told them.
"Same with me." Mark and Mimi said in unison.
"I know Joanne has some – I don't know about Benny." Collins said.
"I don't care about Benny." Mimi muttered under her breath.
"When should we fly out?" Mark inquired. He was on his laptop, trying to figure out when the seven of them could fly out and looking at the cheapest tickets.
"When's the earliest we could go?" Collins asked, getting up from his spot on the couch and sat next to Mark.
"We could leave tomorrow or the twelfth." Mark said.
"How about the twelfth? That way, we can get tickets and tell Roger and Meagan where we're going ahead of time." Mimi suggested. Mark nodded and booked their flight for Vegas.
The next morning, everyone was up and around except for Meagan and Roger. They were very heavy sleepers and it took a long time to wake them up. Once Roger and Meagan were up, the girls went shopping while the guys played Wii.
"Dude! You beat me again!" Collins exclaimed, frowning as his Mii hung its head and walked off the screen. The boys were playing Dance Off, which all of them liked.
"It's just my luck." Roger said as he took the remote from Collins' hands. He, Mark and Collins were dance battling each other's Miis.
Meanwhile at the mall, the girls were trying so hard to communicate with Meagan, but none of them knew sign language.
"How have you liked your trip so far?" Maureen scribbled down on a piece of paper. Meagan looked at the paper and smiled.
"I'm really enjoying it – thank you." Meagan wrote in clean, readable cursive.
"Where did you live before coming here?" Joanne wrote, handing the paper back to Meagan. They were sitting at a table in the food court, passing a piece of notebook paper around.
"I lived in Michigan with my Aunt Kay, Uncle Patrick and cousin Elizabeth – Liz for short." Meagan wrote before handing the paper back to Joanne.
"What's the weather like there?" Mimi wrote.
"It's usually in the 70s, but when I left, it was 88." Meagan wrote.
"What is your family like?" Maureen wrote.
"Wonderful. My Aunt Kay is deaf, so the two of us communicate a lot of the time. Liz is going to school to become an interpreter. She and I performed in a Deaf Star Search. We signed the song 'Strangers Like Me' – do you know it?" Meagan wrote.
"I love that song." Mimi wrote.
"What do you like to do?" Joanne wrote.
"I ride horses, read, write, play Wii, ride my bike, take pictures, scrapbook, watch movies, dance, go to musicals and plays, walk my dog Chance, play computer games and make jewelry." Meagan wrote on the paper, turning it over.
The girls wrote for a while longer before deciding to head back to the loft.
"You would've liked Angel. She died five years ago and was Collins' girlfriend." Mimi wrote on another scrap of paper as she and Meagan climbed in the back of Joanne's car.
"I thought Collins liked boys?" Meagan wrote, a little confused.
"Angel was a drag queen – you know, a boy pretending to be a girl." Mimi wrote before handing the paper to Meagan.
"Oh. I see. How did Angel die?" Meagan scribbled.
"AIDS." Mimi wrote, tears in her eyes. Meagan reached over and hugged Mimi.
"Thank you." Mimi wrote on the paper.
"It's too quiet! Let's turn on some music!" Maureen suggested, turning on the radio. The song 'So What' by Pink came on and instantly, Meagan began signing. Mimi watched her new friend, very impressed. She later explained that she could feel the vibrations through the floor and could 'feel' the song.
The girls reached the loft an hour later. Maureen and Joanne dropped off Mimi and Meagan before heading to their apartment to pack for Vegas.
"Hey ladies. You have fun?" Collins asked as Meagan and Mimi entered the loft.
"Best. Day. Ever!" Mimi told him, hugging Meagan again before going to her room.
"We're leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow. You packed?" Roger signed to his twin. She nodded and hugged her brother before signing 'good night' and going to the room she shared with Mimi.
The next morning, the gang stumbled out of their rooms at 3:00 AM in order to make it to the airport by 7:30 – the time their plane left. The drive to the airport was a three-hour drive, so they would have plenty of time to sleep on the plane and in the car.
"Are we there yet?" Roger grumbled, adjusting his position.
"Not yet." Mark answered, keeping his eyes on the road. In Roger's car, Mark was driving while Collins sat in the front. Roger, Mimi and Meagan were in the back. Maureen and Joanne would be taking their car and would be meeting them at the airport.
"How about now?" Mimi yawned.
"Almost." Mark said, still not taking his eyes off the road. Meagan was fast asleep, oblivious as to what was going on around her.
Fifteen minutes later, Mark parked the car in the long-term parking lot. As he and Mimi tried to wake Meagan up, Roger and Collins got everyone's luggage out of the trunk.
"Rog, how do you wake your sister up? It's impossible!" Mimi complained. Roger unfastened Meagan's seatbelt and punched her on the arm – hard. Meagan woke up, a pissed off look on her face.
"What the hell, Rog!" Meagan signed angrily.
"We're at the airport." Roger signed to her, helping Meagan out of the car. Mark locked the car just as the shuttle came that would take them to their terminal. It was about a ten-minute shuttle ride and everyone was bored.
"Did you bring your guitar?" Collins asked.
"Yup." Roger answered, stifling a yawn.
They reached the terminal and stepped off the shuttle. Mark and Collins went to check baggage while Roger and Meagan went to use the restroom. Mimi was in charge of waiting for Maureen and Joanne.
The girls arrived five minutes later, looking sleep deprived.
"It was hard leaving Elise and Mr. Snuggles at the kennel." Maureen told the others. Elsie was their five-year-old black Schnoodle while Mr. Snuggles was their one-year-old gray-and-white domestic short hair cat.
"I bet – those pets are like your kids." Mimi told the girls. Both of them nodded as Roger, Meagan, Collins and Mark walked over.
"The baggage is checked, so we just need to go through security." Mark told the others while Roger translated for Maegan. They nodded and waited for Maureen and Joanne to check their bags before joining them.
"I'm so excited!" Mimi squealed as the seven of them went through security.
"I am, too." Maureen chimed in.
"I'm gonna go get coffee – anybody want some or to come help me?" Mark asked while Roger translated.
"I'll go." Meagan signed.
"Me, too." Roger piped up. They were now through security and were headed to their gate. Roger looked at his watch – two hours until their flight left.
"We have two hours, so if you guys want to eat, or need to pee, now's the time to do it." Roger told the others.
"Now boarding flight 11242 to Las Vegas, Nevada." An overhead voice announced two hours later. Mark handed everyone their tickets and compared seat assignments. He, Maureen and Joanne were in row 15; Roger, Collins and Meagan were in row 16. Poor Mimi was in row 18.
"See you in Vegas." Roger told his girlfriend, kissing her on the lips. Mimi nodded and made her way to row 18.
"Aisle or middle seat, which?" Roger signed to Meagan.
"Middle please." Meagan signed. Roger indicated to Collins to get in first, then Meagan. He sat on the aisle and looked for his friends.
"Rog! Down here!" Mark called from the aisle seat of the row behind them.
It was a long flight to Vegas, but everyone had something to do – Meagan, Joanne and Mark had brought their laptops; Collins brought papers to grade; Mimi brought her headphones, while Roger brought a book.
There were two in-flight movies – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Proposal. Roger ended up watching The Proposal, since his book was getting boring.
"Anything to drink?" the flight attendant asked Collins.
"Pepsi, please." Collins told her. Roger nudged Meagan and signed if she wanted anything to drink. She nodded and signed 'water.'
"She'll have a water and I'll have a root beer." Roger told the flight attendant before she could say anything. She nodded and handed Roger and Meagan their drinks.
What seemed like an eternity later, the plane landed in the Las Vegas Airport. The seven of them exited the plane and had to shield their eyes coming out of the airport.
"Which hotel are we at?" Roger asked as Collins tried to hail a taxi.
"Excalibur." Mark answered as a taxi came to the curb. Meagan, Mimi, Maureen and Mark climbed into the cab while Joanne, Roger and Collins waited for another one.
"Excalibur Hotel, please." Roger told the cabbie once the three of them were settled in the backseat.
It was a twenty-minute cab ride, which didn't bother the three of them.
"So, what hotels are the best to go to?" Roger asked the cabbie.
"Try Caesar's Palace – that's where I go all the time." The cabbie answered in a thick accent.
"Thanks. We'll keep that in mind." Joanne muttered under her breath.
They were now at the hotel, checking in and talking about room assignments.
"I think that the guys should share one room and the girls should have the other." Maureen told the guys.
"No, because you guys don't know sign." Roger argued.
The room arrangements were as followed:
Room 1134 – Collins and Mark
Room 1138 – Meagan, Roger and Mimi
Room 1147 – Maureen and Joanne
"Do you have a pool?" Maureen asked the girl at the front counter, obliviously flirting with her.
"We have two – a heated indoor one and an outdoor one." The girl answered.
"How late are they open?" Maureen questioned.
"The indoor one is open for another twenty minutes and the outdoor one is closed until 9:00 AM tomorrow morning." The girl told Maureen, ignoring her flirting. She thanked the girl and stormed away from the desk, an irritated look on her face.
"So, what do we wanna do?" Mimi asked as Maureen came over.
"We should all go to bed – we have a busy day tomorrow." Mark answered before Maureen could say anything.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" Roger asked as they took the elevator to their rooms.
"You'll have to wait and see." Joanne piped up.
"Oh. My. God!" Mimi hissed, digging her fingernails into Roger's hand.
"Ow! Meems! What the hell!" Roger hissed.
"Is that?" Collins questioned as an African-American man and a Caucasian woman stepped onto the elevator just as the seven of them did.
"What?" Mark inquired as Maureen elbowed him in the ribs.
"Benny?" the six of them asked.
"Yeah – who's?-" Benny inquired as he turned around. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"We were just thinking the same thing, bonehead." Maureen hissed under her breath.
"We're here on our honeymoon. I'm Georgette."
"Honeymoon?" the bohos cried in unison.
"Did I tell you guys that Alison and I filed for divorce?" Benny asked his friends, a little sheepish.
"Roger, what's going on?" Meagan signed, quite confused.
"That's Benny and his wife, Georgette." Roger signed to his sister.
"Why they here?" Meagan signed.
"On honeymoon." Roger signed.
"Roger, I didn't know you knew sign language." Benny observed.
"In case you didn't notice, asshole, my sister is deaf, which means she can't hear!" Roger nearly screamed. Collins stood between Benny and Roger, just in case a fight broke out in the elevator.
The elevator reached the eleventh floor and the nine of them stepped off the elevator.
"Are you following us?" Joanne asked Benny as he and Georgette walked down the same hallways as Joanne and Maureen.
"No – our room is down this way." Georgette answered as she and Benny entered room number 1149.
"Gah!" Maureen screamed as she and Joanne entered their room.
"Honey, relax." Joanne told Maureen as they entered their room. Maureen went straight to the bed near the window and curled into a ball, not bothering to change into her pajamas. Joanne sighed and went to the bathroom to change before climbing into bed.
In Mark and Collins' room, things were not going well.
"Dude – what the hell?" Collins questioned, staring at the room. It was small with one bed in it, instead of two.
"I specifically asked for three rooms with two beds in each." Mark said, very upset.
"I'll call room service and see if they can bring a cot up, or something." Collins reassured Mark. He let out a sigh and gave in to Collins calling room service. The man at the front desk apologized and said that someone would be bringing up a cot as soon as they could.
"Thanks." Mark thanked the guy before hanging up. "For nothing!" he mumbled under his breath.
The cot arrived five minutes later and after much arguing, it was settled that Mark would sleep on the cot while Collins took the bed.
The friends instantly fell asleep, anxious for the day ahead of them.