In a World They Forgot

We Were Strangers

   I stepped out of the green VW Beetle that I had owned since my twenty first birthday. Six years later, I was back home in Vegas where I’d been raised. The city of sin itself and here I was ready to tackle anything and everything it threw my way. I pushed up the sleeves of the simple green shirt that I wore and made my way briskly across the parking lot, pushing the door to the Las Vegas Police Department open with one gliding movement. I glanced around, my hazel eyes flicking across the sombre faces of everyone I saw; officers, detectives and civilians. I stepped over to the desk and smiled. “Yeah, hey, I’m supposed to be meeting Gil Grissom? I’m the new CSI on the graveyard shift.” I told the blonde woman as she looked up at me with perfectly arched eyebrows.

“Just a moment please.” She picked up the phone and dialled the extension that I could only assume led to the man I was looking for. She spoke quietly into the mouthpiece and I waited patiently, thinking about how strange and yet exciting it was to be working in my own city for a change. Her words snapped me back to earth in a heartbeat though. “If you’d like to take a seat, he’ll be down in a moment.” I thanked her politely and sat on one of the hard chairs, away from everyone else.

   Whilst I waited, I studied the people in the room. I’d seen them before; not the exact individuals, but the characters they would play in the scenes that were about to unfold. They were the nervous relatives, some angered by the need to come down here to collect a rebellious child and others mournful, preparing themselves for the news they already knew deep down. No matter where they were on the planet, they were all the same and I’d spoken to, seen and comforted them all before.

   “Miss Romani?” I looked up and smiled at the aged man stood before me, his glasses perched on the end of his nose. I stood up, smoothing my outfit out first.

“Yeah, that’s me. Please, call me Miki though.” I shook his hand firmly and noticed the dark twinkle in his eyes. He’d seen a lot, I could tell.

“I’m Gil Grissom. I’m the supervisor of the graveyard shift, we spoke on the phone the other day.”

“I remember. I’m glad to be here.” He gestured for me to follow him, and I did so, studying carefully as he punched a four digit code into a locked door.

“I’m glad to have you. I understand you were one of the best in Peoria.” He glanced over at me as he led me down winding corridors.

“My supervisor may have exaggerated. It was a small lab and I worked hard, that’s really all that there was to it.” I confessed, never enjoying having my ego boosted.

“Still, he only said good things. You worked to get a case closed regardless of how small it was. That’s the kind of CSI that I want on my team.” He pushed open a door that led to the labs, holding it open for me before we continued. “I’ll be honest with you Miki, this city is going to be a lot tougher than anything you faced in Peoria, but I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

“I was born and raised in Vegas. I already understand how different it is.” I said with a small smirk as he stepped into a dark, cluttered office.

   He stepped around the desk and stooped, opening a drawer and pulling items from it one by one, laying them in front of me as he spoke. “Your pager, locker key, ID badge and gun.” His wise eyes blinked up at me. “I assume you already know this basic initiation?”

“Yeah, I remember the one in Peoria like it was yesterday. You don’t need to go over gun maintenance though. I got down to a tee.” I said with a smile as I picked each item up and placed it in the correct location on my person.

“I can cross that off the list then. I’m going to take you down to the labs now, unfortunately, I have a meeting with Detective Brass that I’m already late for, but one of my CSI’s should be able to give you a full tour of the facilities.”