New CSI? || Karl

Joanne passed a hand through her hair as she glanced over some files for the latest case. She had got to work a little bit late, something that didn't happen to her usually. And exactly when the boss had told them to be there on time, because they had a new CSI. Well, she couldn't care less about the new CSI, she only hoped that the boss wouldn't be mad because she had missed it. A young man about her age came up to her.
"Det.Biondi?" he said. "Are you done with those files?"
Joanne raised an eyebrow as she looked straight at him. "You're annoying," she said, then took a sip from her coffee. "And because of the fact that you're annoying, you're not working with me anymore."
The man's jaw almost dropped. "What? You can't do that."
Joanne kept looking at him with judgy eyes and shook her head. "I can't. But the boss can. Good bye," she said simply, then went on with her way.

"Well that wasn't harsh at all," a sarcastic drawl was heard over Joanne's shoulder. Karl had been sent to find the blonde CSI to help with the investigation and instead walked in on this small war. "You always this harsh with colleagues?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Joanne's eyebrow shot up when she heard a sarcastic drawl behind her. She stopped and smoothed her white button-down shirt and the top of her black dress pants a little, before turning around to see who the voice belonged to. She had an interesting surprise when she saw the good-looking man, but right then, she was surprised by his words. No one had told her something like that before. They all used to shut up and swallow.
"Excuse me?" she asked, taking a few steps closer to him, seeing that there was a big distance between them.

Eyebrow still raised, Karl lazily took a couple of steps towards her. "I asked if you were always this harsh with colleagues," he repeated. Looking at her, Karl fought the urge to roll his eyes. The pretty blonde simply radiated the air of someone who was used to getting her own way. Well, that was going to change; he was not going to bend to her every whim.

Joanne looked straight at him, eyebrow raised. In one hand she was holding some papers for the case, while in the other one she had a cup of coffee. Her hair was up in a messy bun so no lock of hair fell in her eyes.
"I am not necessarily harsh," she said. "I just don't like working with botchers," she stated, then took another sip of coffee. "Now, would you mind telling me who you are? Or I can go back to work, since I don't care that much."

Karl gave a snort. "No, by the sounds of things you just don't like working with anyone," he retorted. "The guy asked you for the files. I don't see how that can be classified as 'botching' something up. And unfortunately no, you can't get back to work - you're stuck with me. Karl Lindemann; I'm your new partner on the case," he greeted her coolly.

Joanne's eyes widened at the unknown man's words, as both her eyebrows shot up. Her lips parted, but no word came out at first. She had come to the lab when she was really young, she had done mostly a good job, so the boss seemed to like her, seeing that she didn't act towards him this way. And everytime she had a problem with someone, even though it was just a whim of hers, it was not hard to get rid of him. And no one had told her something like this before, so she was a little bit shocked.
"No, I don't think so," she frowned, shaking her head. "I don't know you and no one told me about it. Sorry," she shrugged, starting to turn around in order to leave.

Karl smirked. "Ah, yes, well that's your own fault. The rest of the team knows about it because they were on time. You however were late, and missed out on hearing your boss assign me to your case," he told her, not making any attempt to go. "So now point in going to complain to your boss about it - he'll agree that it's your own fault. So like it or leave it, but we're working together," he told her calmly, though his eyes were cold. What a way to start his first day in Vegas; he was already beginning to dearly miss his Chicago colleagues.

Joanne gasped slightly, almost inaudibly at the man's words. So he was the new CSI... Pretty cocky for his first day at the lab, she thought. He seemed a bit older than her but still, she had worked there longer than he had, so in her opinion, he had to respect her a little bit more than he was at the moment. She realized that there was not much she could do; it was her fault that she hadn't been on time. She took a deep breath, but didn't turn around to face him again. She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Follow me," was all she said, then started walking towards her office. That meant that she had to fill him in, however much she disagreed with this.

"Yes ma'am," Karl muttered sarcastically under his breath. Just his luck - to be paired up with the wannabe Queen Bee on his first day. He so wanted to make a comment on this, because he wasn't appreciating the underling-treatment. But he kept his mouth shut. Instead he simply stated, "Didn't know that you Vegas CSIs couldn't multi-task by walking and explaining the case at the same time. Strange city."

Joanne sighed as she walked towards her office. She was so bugged that she had to work with the new CSI. What was she supposed to be now, a baby-sitter? She always wanted cases with the boss or the big people around the lab, not the young ones. However, when he said that, she stopped again. They were right in front of the door of her office. She turned around so she was facing him and narrowed her eyes, looking up into his.
"Are you really being sarcastic to me? To me? In your first day?" she asked lowly, raising an eyebrow. She was not used to people talking to her like that, so he was a surprise for her.

Once again Karl fought the urge to roll his eyes. Really, who did this female even think she was? She acted like she was the boss around here, yet chances were she wasn't even that high up on the office pecking order. "The fact that you have to ask me makes me think you might not be familiar with the concept of sarcasm," he shot back, not wavering under her steely look. "And are all you females here such wannabe-Queen-Bees?" he added, raising an eyebrow at her. Of course not; chances were it was just her. How he wished he could get a new partner, but Karl was nothing if not professional. He would not be the one running to Grissom asking to be paired with someone else.

Joanne's jaw almost dropped at the man's words. She parted her lips and swallowed hard, once again unable to speak for a moment. What could she tell him, after all? She knew that she was not the nicest person, nor the kindest, nor the most adorable. But in her opinion, to become someone big in your job, you had to be strong, confident and tough. And she surely wanted to become someone.
"I am not..." she started, then swallowed again. "I am not a wannabe-Queen-Bee, okay? You are the one who came here in his first day and started being all sarcastic and a know-it-all," she shot back with a frown.

"Sure you're not. And I'm a fluffy pink bunny," he shot back, looking thoroughly bored of the whole conversation. She wasn't at the top, wasn't even second-in-command and yet she acted like she was. "And no, I came in here defending that poor CSI you harassed. You cut him down over nothing. Thank you for showing me that my initial assumption that Detective Biondi had manners was completely and utterly false," he told her, voice dripping with sarcasm at the last line.

Joanne felt pressure in her whole body, her brain and her heart. She was shocked by Karl's words, because not only that no one had told her that before, but she also assumed that he, as a new CSI, wanted to get along with his coworkers, not fight with them. She took a moment to take a deep breath and clear her mind, before she looked straight at him again.
"You and I are going to work together, Lindemann," she stated. "Not because I want to, but because the boss wants to. So I would like us to collaborate, not fight all the time. Show me that at least you have manners, if I don't," she said, slightly sarcastically, narrowing her eyes. She went inside of her office and let the door open for him to come inside. Only a few moments with the new CSI and she didn't like him. She had no idea how she would work with him for so long.

Karl rolled his eyes at the blonde's retreating back. The distaste he was feeling towards her was growing more and more and he wondered how far into the case they'd make it before she snapped and outright would refuse to work with him.

"Oh so you actually don't like fighting with people?" he asked, assuming a look of mock-surprise as he seated himself in the chair opposite her desk. "Never would have guessed by your attitude and behaviour."

Joanne set the papers and her coffee down on the desk, then sat down in her chair. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, one that had somehow fallen from her messy bun. At Karl's words, she placed her elbows on the desk and looked at him, a relaxed expression all over her face.
"Do you want to work, with me of course, solve this case as fast as possible and get rid of me, or do you want to sit there, look at me and give me your sarcastic remarks?" she asked calmly, raising an eyebrow.

"I want you fill me in on the case, that's what I want," he replied, folding his arms across his chest. "After all, I can't really work without knowing what I'm supposed to be solving," he added in a tone that implied the 'duh' at the end of his sentence.

Joanne gave a nod, though she narrowed her eyes a little bit. "I was going to fill you in. But you had to stop criticizing me first," she said with a very fake smile, before turning her eyes to the papers.
"Elaine Smith, 25 years old. She was stabbed, then thrown in the water where she was found. She is the third killed like that this month," she said, handing the files to Karl.

Karl gave a nod. "Has there been a common denominator with the three?" he asked, serious now.

Joanne looked at Karl, glad that he had become serious and ready to work now. "The age. They were all 25. Nothing in common about the looks, one was a tall redhead, one was a short brunette... There jobs had nothing in common. So no, nothing much," she said, shaking her head.

Karl was silent for a moment. "Anything trivial? Like maybe they were at the same gym or something?" he asked. "What evidence have you picked up from the previous two cases?"

Joanne looked at him and shook her head. "No," she said, but then remembered something. "They all had gone to the same gas station the day they were killed," she told him, cupping her hands together on the desk.

"Did the security tapes show anything?"

~Time Skip~

"I need a coffee," Karl stated, some time later, pushing himself out of the chair. "Meet back here in 15?"

Joanne looked up at Karl when he suddenly got up in need for coffee. She would have told him that he couldn't simply get up and leave whenever he felt like it, but she had finished her coffee as well and felt like she needed another one.
"No no," she said, getting up from her chair as well. "I'll go grab one too."