Undercover || Karl

Joanne sighed as she plopped down on her couch, passing a hand through her hair. She was all dressed up, wearing a pair of jeans, a plain short-sleeved top and some sneakers. She had her suitcase and her backpack ready and she was waiting for Karl, who was supposed to come pick her up at any moment. They were going to Miami for an interesting undercover case. That was the only reason why she had accepted to spend God-knew-how-many days just with Lindemann. She glanced over the papers where it was written everything about their new identities as she waited for him. He had to be there any minute now.

Glancing at his watch, Karl pulled up outside Joanne's place. He was all packed up to go to Miami, though why he'd agreed to go with Joanne, he didn't know. Not getting out of the car, he honked the horn, sending her a text. 'Hurry up, princess. Karl'

Joanne heard the horn and got up from the couch, assuming that Karl was finally there. Before she could get out though, she got the text from him. She chuckled and shook her head, then threw her backpack over her shoulder and took her suitcase and keys. She got up and saw him in his car, waiting for her. She stopped for a moment to lock the door, then rolled her suitcase towards the car.
"Hey," she greeted him, passing a hand through her hair.

"Hey Joanne," he greeted her, giving her a smile as he opened the boot for her. "Wow, and here I was, expecting you to bring your entire wardrobe with you," he teased with a chuckle.

Joanne went to place her suitcase in the boot of the car. "You could've at least got off to help me," she called out to him. She was just joking at the moment, though she didn't know for how long she would get along fine with him; he made it almost impossible.
"It's not my entire wardrobe, just half of it," she joked, as she got on the passenger's seat and threw her backpack in the back of the car.

Karl pulled a face, shrugging. "Nah, you're a big girl - you can do it yourself," he retorted, sliding into the driver's seat. "You know you probably won't need all that stuff, right? We'll be back before you know it," he added, starting up the car and beginning the drive to the airport.

Joanne's eyebrow shot up at Karl's words. She put on her seatbelt and pretended to fix her shirt a little, though in all honesty, she didn't necessarily want to look at him. "That is not very gentleman-y, you know," she commented, then passed another hand through her hair. "Well, who knows," she shrugged, then got her papers out. "Have you seen these?" she asked. "Seems like we will be a couple for the next few days."

Karl gave a soft snort. "And who ever claimed that I was a gentleman? I certainly did no such thing," he told her. "And yes, I have seen the case file. We are working the same case here, if you've already forgotten. But you're worse than a sniffer dog, so we'll find the perp in no time."

Joanne raised an eyebrow as she stopped moving and looked at him. His words were kind of harsh, though she had done nothing wrong, after all. "You know, I don't like you either, yet I am trying to be nice, seeing that I'm going to spend the next few days with you. So maybe you should do the same," she told him, then passed a hand through her hair again. And to think that she had slept with this guy...

Karl rolled his eyes. "Look, I meant it as a compliment. After all, those dogs are super persistent and get the job done. And I thought those were two things you prided yourself on," he said with a shrug.

Joanne sighed and shook her head. "No, you're being harsh to me with no good reason. But again, I don't want to fight with you right now," she said, looking out on the window. Maybe it was better than get in another argument with Karl. "Anyway, how long should the flight be?" she asked.

"I can't help it if you're sensitive over nothing," he muttered under his breath, switching lanes. This was going to be such a long case, he thought with an internal sigh. Why him? Couldn't Grissom have sent someone else in his place? Like Patrick or Helena?

When she asked him, he gave a shrug. "No idea. Five hours, I think, give or take..."

Joanne heard him mutter under his breath and looked at him, shaking her head again. "Jeez, can't you just drop it?" she asked. Sometimes, he just seemed to make things hard on purpose, honestly.

Jo gave a slight nod. "Hmm, that's a long flight. Think I might take a nap, I'm pretty tired," she said, looking out on the window again. She couldn't fight with him during the flight as well, after all.

"Hey, you're the one that brought it up! I was simply explaining myself," he stated, rolling his eyes. Just kill him now. Please. He wondered if he could just conveniently 'forget' something back at home and leave her to go to Miami by herself. If it wasn't for the fact he'd probably get fired for it, he fully would.

"Sure. I'll spend the flight looking over the notes," he replied, taking a left.

Joanne decided to drop the argument; at least, the smartest gave up first. At his next words, she gave a nod and leaned back in the passenger's seat. "I've looked over them," she said. "Do you know that we may need to go to the beach? I mean, I never go to the beach. I don't even own a bathsuit," she told him with a light shrug.

Karl's eyes left the road for a moment, looking at Joanne with surprise. "Seriously? You don't have any togs?" he repeated, giving an unbelieving chuckle. "Well, we're definitely going to have to fix that..."

Joanne chuckled and shook her head, but kept looking over the files. "Nope," she replied to his question. She knew that most people thought she was a weirdo for not liking to go to the beach or to swim, but it was just not her style. At his next words, she raised her eyes and looked at him.
"Ooor..." she started. "You can go to the beach by yourself, find yourself one of your bimbos - there are many of them. I mean, I'm sure you're looking forward to this," she told him. She was not mean right now, but neither the nicest person.

Karl gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "Oddball," he teased, taking a left. "I mean sure, it's not like you'd get much of a chance here in Vegas, but not even owning a swim-suit: really? Don't you ever go to the pool or something?"

At her next words, he rolled his eyes. "God, Biondi, you really don't know me, do you? Because if you did, you'd know that I can't stand bimbos."

Joanne rolled her eyes and chuckled a little. She was used to being called an oddball, but she was just not a fan of sun or water. "No, I don't go to the pool," she admitted, shaking her head.

At his next words, she raised an eyebrow. "Jeez, don't get so defensive," she said with a shrug. "Bimbos, whores... I'm sure you'd have them rather than me," she added. She knew that he didn't like her, just the way she didn't like him. She didn't want to go to Miami with him, but what was there to do.

"Water is fun. You have to go some time," he insisted, pulling into the airport parking lot.

"Oy! Very nice to your fellow females, aren't you?" he shot back rhetorically. "I may like my strippers, but that's it. Now hurry up, or we'll miss the check-in time."

Joanne rolled her eyes again, as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. It was going to be a looong time in Miami with Lindemann. She grabbed her files and shoved them in her backpack, then went to take her suitcase out of the boot of the car.
"We're going to stay together on the plane, right?" she asked. "I mean, we should talk about the case." She would have rather slept a little, but they still had to talk some small things. And it was going to be a pretty long flight, so she could also take a nap.

"Don't worry, Biondi, I promise to take you to see all the epic Miami strippers," he teased, going and grabbing his own suitcase from the car, before locking it. "They're gonna love you."

"And yes, I promise I'll stick to you like glue. Can't have someone kidnapping you. Or security taking you away cos you're actually a Drug Empress in disguise."

Joanne chuckled slightly and rolled her eyes again. It was something she did a lot when she was with him. "Don't you worry, Lindemann, I'll be okay. But we're not going on vacation, so we have to the discuss the case," she told him, then started towards the check-in point. She then looked at him, remembering something. "Did you call for a room at the hotel?" she asked. Grissom had told them to take care of it, but she hadn't assuming that Karl would.

"How old do you think I am? Ten? Of course I booked us a hotel. Though we'll be in one room. Only one place had a vacancy at this time. So you're stuck with me until we get back to Vegas," he told her, flashing her a charming grin.

Joanne raised an eyebrow, though she did smile slightly. It was unexpected how he had moved from the jerky words from before to the charming grin. As for the room, she didn't mind it that much, if he didn't plan on walking in on her while having a shower.
"One room," she repeated with a nod. "Two beds, right?"