Vicissitudes by LosingInTranslation

DATE: November 2006

AUTHOR: LosingInTranslation (AKA Jennifer, losingntrnslatn)

TITLE: Vicissitudes

DISCLAIMER: Don’t own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!

RATING: T – Teen (language and adult issues)

PAIRINGS: GSR & Yo!Bling pre-established in previous fics of this timeline.

SPOILERS: Sequel to "Displacement" and "Transitions"

SUMMARY: Everything is changing around Nick Stokes. Can he deal with it, and how it will affect him in the end?

A/N: This is my own little take on the things that drive and motivate Nick Stokes throughout his life and work. Not everyone is going to agree with me on this one, and I can accept that. This is a serious angst monster fic, so don't expect a whole lot of fluffiness in this one. However, I am still a GSRshipper, so you'll get a little breather here and there with that.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: There were many who helped with this one along the way, so my hearfelt gratitude goes out to them all. It was a long process and it found a few casualties along the way, but everyone's contributions really helped to make this an amazing experience. Thank you all for your help and support!

REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.

Vicissitudes

vi·cis·si·tude
noun.

1. Mutability in life or nature (especially successive alternation from one condition to another)

2. One of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in one's life, activities, or surroundings.

3. A variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something; "the project was subject to the usual vicissitudes of exploratory research."

Chapter 1

21:00 – 2006.12.03

CSI Lab: Break Room

The regular night shift crew was sitting around the table trading jokes, jibes and a general feeling of camaraderie between them. Sunday night was the start of a new week, and the team was enjoying teasing Sara about her wedding plans. They each had their own ideas of what a wedding between their two favorite geeks would be like, and no one was afraid to share with her what those were.

“I don’t know. I figured it’d be one of those quaint outdoor weddings…” Warrick shot Nick a quick wink before he continued, “…at the Body Farm.”

The howls erupted from around the table leaving Sara with her mouth hanging open in shock.

Greg decided to chime in with his defense of Sara, “C’mon guys, you know Sara wouldn’t play that way.”

Sara recovered long enough to say, “Well, thanks, Greg. At least one per-…”

“I was picturing the minister at the top of the first big drop on Grissom’s favorite coaster, and the whole wedding party in the cars behind the bride and groom.” His face betrayed his devilish intent and the laughter burst forth once again.

By the time Grissom and Catherine finally appeared at the door, it took the boys a little while to stifle their laughter.

“I’m glad to see everyone excited for work tonight,” Grissom spoke over the noise as he noticed Sara sitting with her arms crossed over her chest and looking a bit angry. “Well, almost everyone.”

Catherine felt the need to chime in once her gaze fell onto Sara. “Don’t tell me… The guys were teasing you about the wedding?” When Sara rolled her eyes to show that Catherine had hit the nail on the head the blonde only shook her head at the guys and continued, “Don’t you hyenas have anything better to do?”

Grissom sensed that they were about to erupt into another fit of laughter, and felt it was his duty to calm the storm. “Obviously not… And for the record, there will be no bugs, bodies or amusement parks involved.” He could see all of their taunts deflate instantly and relief washed over Sara’s face. “In fact, you should all be receiving your invitations any time now, according to my mother. Sara and I decided to let her plan the whole thing, since neither of us had the time, nor the inclination for such an undertaking at the moment,” Grissom explained, eliciting the desired response from everyone, as they were all shocked dumb by his admission. “But I can tell you not to make any plans for New Year’s.”

“New Year’s? Seriously?” Greg was completely surprised by this latest development.

“Why?” Grissom looked up from his clipboard, confused by Greg’s shock.

“I guess, I just figured you guys would be engaged a while, for some reason.” Greg started to chew on his index finger, his first tell that he was nervous about something. Greg was still getting used to all the changes around the lab and with his friends, but the haste of the wedding was not something he had planned on. Things were changing a little too fast for his tastes.

Warrick slapped the younger man on the back and said, “Are you kidding? You don’t think seven years is enough waiting?!”

“More like eleven, by my account,” a tired voice teased from behind them.

The night shift all turned in unison toward the door of the Break Room to find the night shift coroner standing there leaning against the door jamb with a stack of folders tucked under one arm.

“How do you figure?” Nick was the one who had asked, since he did not quite understand her frame of reference.

“Well, I was actually in that lecture hall when they met, and you’d have had to be deaf, blind and stupid not to have figured that one out.” When Catherine and Warrick struggled to restrain their smirks, Stephanie noticed that Sara and her uncle were blushing slightly. “Sorry, guys, but genius doesn’t keep you from being stupid. I was just a dumb kid, and I saw it.”

Grissom shook his head in an attempt to push the embarrassment away.

“Anyway, I’ve got reports for you guys. And I’m ready with the desert DB whenever you guys are,” she explained as she dropped the reports onto the table. Catherine picked through to find hers and then passed the rest to the next person.

When Stephanie was safely out of the room, Grissom decided it was time to get the assignments handed out if they were ever going to get through the night. “Okay, first off, we have good news. After successfully cleaning up the mess at the Body Farm, the higher ups were convinced to reinstate Greg’s Level One status.”

Greg’s whole face lit up and he asked, “Are you serious? You mean I’m not a trainee anymore?!”

Grissom smirked and said, “That’s right, but it also means that you still have to complete your final proficiencies for Level Two before you can go solo, so Catherine will be observing you on this trick roll case over at the Golden Nugget.” He handed the young man the slip, which he anxiously pulled from his supervisor’s hand.

“Warrick?” Grissom continued quickly, he was not wasting any time on assignments that night. “Hit and Run on Charleston Blvd. Vega says it’s a real mess, so you might want to bring extra coveralls.”

Warrick took the slip and nodded his head at the suggestion.

“Nick, Sara?” He had a thick folder for them, which was unusual for a new case. “Seems the weekend folks botched this one up pretty good, so we’ve been assigned to clean up the mess and take over the case.” He handed the folder to the two CSIs and then continued for everyone’s benefit, “DB, found in the Lost Gringo Mountain State Park. We’re being called in out of our jurisdiction because it was found inside the perimeter of a major research site funded, in part, by UNLV and is run by the head of the geology program there. Every courtesy is to be extended to the research team, but we need to get this case wrapped up quickly, if possible.”

Sara did not even flinch at Grissom asking them to hurry a case along, and Nick figured she must have already gotten the run down on the case. He never wanted to think that Grissom would let his personal relationship interfere with work, but the situation in which he found himself smacked of preferential treatment. Nick felt compelled to question him about his haste, “Since when do we rush the evidence, Grissom?”

Grissom looked up from his notes and was surprised to find Nick not following the logical train of thought. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because another shift screwed it up from the start. It’s in a State Park, so the Sheriff, the Mayor and the Governor are going to be all over it come morning, and because this lab doesn’t need anymore trouble between us and the staff over at UNLV.”

Nick blushed under the scrutiny and felt even more ridiculous for his false suspicion when he felt Sara kick him a little under the table.

“Now, if no one else has any questions…” Grissom looked around the table and found everyone ready to get the day going, so he decided to make his last announcement. “Good… Ah, I’ve made arrangements for everyone to have Saturday night off in order for us to have a little party.”

Greg immediately perked up and asked, “Is this a Christmas party, Boss?”

“No, Greg… But if you like, you could consider it a holiday party, of sorts.” He looked to Sara for reassurance to continue. When he found her tender smile, he had the strength. “We’d like everyone to be at our place about seven PM. It’s just a small gathering of friends, so please try to keep this to yourselves.” Suddenly feeling self conscious, he nervously flipped through his notes once more and then continued, “Okay, I believe that covers it.”

Everyone pulled out from their seats and began to shuffle out of the room quietly as they pondered the meaning behind Grissom’s little party.

Nick and Sara were the last to make their way to the exit. Grissom stopped them, “Ah, if you guys run into any trouble with the case, just give me a buzz.”

Nick was confused by Grissom’s implication that they would not be up to the task. “Why would we need any help?” he asked, his words sounding far more confrontational than Nick had intended.

“I have a bit of a background in the geology, and I just happen to have a lot more contacts at UNLV than either of you.” Grissom could not resist adding the last part, “And because I also happen to be your supervisor.”

Once they were out in the hallway, Sara gave Nick a firm punch in the arm, “Are you looking for a fight tonight?”

Grissom smirked to himself at overhearing Sara standing up for him. Once he had gathered his notes up, he tucked the clipboard under his arm and turned to escape to his office. He held out a faint hope that everyone would be too caught up in their assignments to pay his little announcement any attention. When he had made it to his office door unscathed, he sighed as he pushed into the safety of his office. His relief, however, was to be short lived. Seated in the chair in front of his desk was Catherine.

“You didn’t really think I was gonna let you slide on that one, did you?” she asked, her entire face a question.

“One can dream.” Grissom moved to close the door to his office.

“Whatever… Now park it and start talking, Mister.” Catherine demanded, never being one to mince words.

He made his way past her, around behind the desk, and sat as he worked up just the right opening for giving her one piece of the puzzle. “Well, you know how much you complain about your office?… There might just be a remedy to that dilemma.”

Chapter 2

21:45 – 2006.12.03

C.S.I. Lab: Autopsy Room

The elevator ride to the Morgue was not a pleasant one for Nick Stokes as Sara questioned his need to confront Grissom about their assignment. Nick knew that he should not have taken things as far as he did, but he had been bothered by the sinking suspicion that he had been left behind for a while. He was desperately happy that his friends had settled into their respective relationships, but there was still a part of him that felt jealous of their successes in finding happiness. And unfortunately, those feelings seemed to be leeching into his work as well. He knew in his heart that his friends would never let their personal lives destroy their professionalism, but that green-eyed monster had a powerful affect on his mind, and so the doubts remained. However, if he was truly honest with himself, he would have to admit that his feelings of inadequacy were coming from somewhere he rarely liked to dwell. He had been questioning so many things since the day he was abducted, and he was not sure he would ever be able to find the answers to his questions without truly facing those demons.

He was shaken from his inner turmoil when Sara’s words finally pierced through his contemplation. “I mean really, Nick… What’s gotten into you lately?” Sara asked one of those questions for which he had no answer as they made their way to the Autopsy Room.

“I honestly don’t know… Maybe I’m just feelin’ like the odd man out, or somethin’,” he tried to play off his unrest with a bit of humor.

Sara looked back at him and smirked as they stepped off the elevator and said, “Well, when you figure it out, will you let me know?” She put her hand firmly on his forearm before he could pass her and gave him her most dangerous grin. “Otherwise, I’m just gonna have to beat it out of you.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Got it.”

When they finally pushed through the doors to the Autopsy Room, they were both surprised to find it empty. Stephanie was usually exactly where she said she would be, so they could only assume that something had taken her away from the Morgue. Nick pulled out his phone and then said, “I’ll just call upstairs and have her p-…”

Before Nick could finish David came into the room with a body on his gurney. “Hey, guys… Can I help you with something?”

Sara smiled at the man’s pleasant demeanor and answered, “We were just looking for Steph, and our DB.”

David stopped pushing the gurney, walked over to the table near the slab and retrieved the notebook sitting there. “Well, I passed Stephanie going into the bathroom on the way in, but which DB are you looking for? I might be able to get you started until she gets back.”

Nick was able to speak first, “Ah, DB found in the Lost Grin-…”

“Lost Gringo, got it… Multiple GSWs. Unique wound patterns. Atypical signs of exposure.” He looked back up from the pad and then continued, “The body’s been prepped, so the victims effects have been removed, and I’ve already collected all the trace.” He moved across the room to a small wheeled basket, which he pushed towards to the two CSIs. “I was going to take it up as soon as I got back from the hit and run on Charleston Blvd.”

Nick gave the man a quick clap on the back and said, “We can get that for ya, Super Dave. Looks like you got your hands full tonight.” Nick gestured at the two bodies that had been present when they arrived and also the one David had just wheeled into the room.

“So, where did you say Steph was at?” Sara was curious as to why the woman was taking so long if she had only gone to the bathroom.

“Standing right behind you.”

When they both turned to face the voice, there was more than just a little surprise on their faces to see her looking a little too pale.

“Sorry, but I need to remember not to eat anything Gil gives me to snack on.” Her explanation made sense to them both, because they had each lost stomach contents to one of his “tasty protein treats.”

“After all these years, you haven’t figured that one out yet?” Sara was the first to jump at the chance to tease her about the slip up.

“I’ve always liked the freeze-dried and the deep fried ones… But he likes to sneak some fresh ones in there sometimes, and those are just…” They could visibly watch her face turn green at the mention of the disgusting bug treats that Grissom was famous for, and for a second Nick thought she was really going to puke. “Okay, let’s just not talk anymore about it.”

She swallowed hard, and as she made her way back across the room David handed her a paper cup of water to help settle her stomach. She smiled at his kindness and the two continued about their normal routines. Stephanie slipped on the headgear and switched on the microphone as she began to explain. “John Doe, approximately twenty-five to thirty. Weight: two hundred fifteen pounds; height: seventy-one inches. GSW’s to the thoracic and cranial regions, approximately thirteen entry wounds on the posterior side and seven exit wounds on the anterior side. X-Rays show three slugs lodged in the skull and one slug firmly resting between the second and third thoracic vertebrae. The remaining two slugs were retrieved when the body was prepped for autopsy and subsequently sent to Ballistics for analysis.” She stopped and clicked the button once to pause the recording. “I recognized the wound patterning, but I left the determination up to Ballistics, just to make sure they got a clean and unbiased read.”

Nick and Sara leaned in closer to examine the bullet wounds and he tried to figure out what had created that pattern when he had to ask, “So, what did you think it was?”

Stephanie never got a chance to answer as Sara said, “MAC-10, based on the shot grouping, and at pretty close range if this stippling is any indication.”

“You’ve had some experience with them?” the coroner questioned.

Sara looked up from the body and said through her smile, “Probably from the same place as you.” Her knowing look brought a grin to Nick’s face and he waited for her to elaborate. “The MAC-10’s are a favorite of the Asian gangs in San Francisco.”

“Give the lady a prize.” Both women got a good laugh at the exchange and Nick once again felt out of place. “So, if you’ll notice the mottling of the dermal tissue, and the varying degrees of lividity…” Stephanie waited for them to catch up and turn their attention back to the body before continuing. “The victim also suffered from extreme exposure, which is not really uncommon for that part of the desert, except for the bizarre items we found in the trace elements.”

Nick was ready with the question that time. “What kind of stuff?”

She shrugged as she moved across the room to the basket of evidence bags. “Well, it’s not often you find pinion matter in the desert.” She held up the bag that showed needles from a tree and small pollen pods as well.

“Makes me think it was a body dump.” Nick said as he pulled the folder from under his arm and dug through it until he found the page he was looking for and then read from it, “And the complete lack of evidence found at the scene would seem to confirm that.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.” David chose that moment to cruise through the room to find a random piece of equipment.

Nick looked up to see the coroner’s assistant walking through the room. “Wha’dya mean, Super Dave?”

“Well, they’re always getting weird stuff washing into that ravine…” He adjusted his glasses as he dug through a cabinet and once he turned away from it he concluded, “Kind of why the research team is there in the first place.”

As quickly as he had appeared, David was gone once again, leaving Nick to process what he had just said, “Yeah, so what kind of research is going on out there, anyway?”

Stephanie had the answer, “Evolution of Desert Erosion.”

Nick and Sara both gave her incredulous expressions to meet her answer.

She could only laugh at their reactions as she continued to explain, “The high desert is the easiest place to study the effects of erosion on not only soil, but also the landscape in general. Erosion is a faster process in the desert environment and greatly reduces the time it takes to evaluate its effects, which leads to more effective research.” When she could see their continued confusion, she tried to explain it further. “See, it’s like a forced experiment, but with all the variables of the real world. You can see the actual reactions of nature to the elements imposing upon it, instead of only being able to recreate specific factors of each element or natural reaction.”

Nick looked to Sara and she appeared to understand the concept, so he just nodded and hoped she could explain it to him later. He decided to steer the conversation to something that he could grasp and so he asked, “Okay… So, what’s our time of death?”

Stephanie seemed to snap back into the case at hand in an instant and pulled her face shield back down and grabbed her scalpel before answering. “I have no idea.”

That caused a laugh from the two CSI’s. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.” Nick teased and then asked, “So, why can’t you give us a TOD?”

“Too much exposure… And that’s what’s weird.” She pulled up one leg and showed them the odd mottling around the back of the left calf. “This is not the kind of thing you see purely from desert climate inversions. It’s almost like this guy was flash frozen or something. But whatever it is, it makes getting a realistic time of death impossible.” The coroner then made quick work of the Y incision before she added, “Well, for me anyway.”

“What do you mean, Steph?” Sara winced as the incision was made, but she was dealing with the sight much easier than she had in the past. Nick realized that she must have been working on her problems with autopsies in the last few months.

“Oh, well, based on the research they’re doing, and with the video and stills, I bet the research team would be able to give you a better frame of reference on time of death…” She continued about her work, not stopping to explain herself to them. “Plus they can give you some info on all the soil samples and other matter we found on the body. Hodges won’t be able to do much more than give you a generic type of soil, but I bet their people can tell you where it came from, and maybe even help you find the primary scene.”

Nick shook his head at the idea and asked, “How could they do that if we’re dealing with a body dump?”

Stephanie looked up from her work and gestured for them to look at the victim’s back as she pulled the body up to its side, “Right here… Do you see the plant matter in the wound?” They both found what she was referring to and realized that the wound did contain a small amount of what appeared to be pine needles and bark. “According to David, that park also has some mountain areas, which include some stretches of pinion. Might be your primary scene, but either way, it’s worth a good look.”

Looking to each other, Sara and Nick had to agree that she was right. “Before you put the body back down…” Sara reached for a pair of tweezers from the tray beside the slab and asked, “Can I get a sample of that to take to trace?”

“Beat you to it…” She pointed in the direction of the basket and said, “Collected pieces from each wound and sealed them up. I also made sure David took pictures of each wound, since the previous team didn’t get much in the way of evidence collection in any phase of this case.”

“Yeah, we heard that already.” Sara took the folder from Nick and started looking for something else. “So, is there contact info for the professor in charge of this research team?”

Having already gone back to work, Stephanie answered her off the cuff, “Just call the main number and ask for the head of the geology program. And I’d be prepared for some fun over there.”

Nick was intrigued by her comment and asked, “Why’s that?”

Shrugging at the question, she responded, “I’ve just heard some real horror stories about those people. Real hard nosed, no nonsense, and a little caustic from all accounts.”

Sara shook her head and asked, “Don’t you ever have good news anymore?”

Chapter 4

11:00 – 2006.12.04

UNLV Earth Sciences Building: Laboratories

Nick stormed through the corridors of the UNLV Earth Sciences Building like a man on a mission. He had a cellphone up to his ear as he walked and proceeded to carry on an exceptionally animated conversation with the person on the other end of the line.

“Look, I don’t give a crap about university politics, the color of the sun or how much quartz surrounds the average gold mine, and at this point I don’t care if I ever find this gnarled up old professor, but if one more person sends me on a wild goose chase today, I’m gonna lose it, Sara!” He threw his arm in the air as he spoke, even though Sara would not be able to see the gesture. “No, I understand that we can’t get anywhere on this case without this clown, but I am past the point of carin’… I’m tired, I’m frustrated and dangit I just want a straight answer outta someone ‘round here!”

He stopped in his tracks and hung his head as he waited for his partner to finish talking. “Yeah, I know, and I should have let you come over here, but I figured it wouldn’t take me but a few minutes… Okay, but you don’t gotta gloat… You’re already home, aren’t you?” Nick shook his head and swore silently in the empty hallway. “Awright, I’ll try one more time to find this guy and then I’m calling it a day… Yeah, best smile and all… Thanks… Did you have any luck with that stuff?... Great!... Looks like we’re battin’ a thousand on this POS case… Yeah, will do… See ya tonight.”

Closing up his phone, Nick looked up to the ceiling with his eyes closed, took in a deep breath of air and let it out slowly as he tried to calm himself before going to the tenth place he had been sent that morning. However, despite his efforts, he still felt frustrated from his experience on the college campus. Some of that frustration was showing in his body language as he pushed through the doors to the lab he had been directed to by the last person he had found.

He looked around the room, hoping to catch sight of someone who could point him in the right direction for the professor in charge of the research site. But, the only person he found was a young woman in the back corner of the room. As he rounded a series of counters, he could see her more clearly, and that was when he noticed that she was sitting on one of those electric scooters for the handicapped. Clearing his throat as he approached the woman, he continued to walk towards her and when she looked up from her work he spoke. “Hey… I’m Nick Stokes-…”

“I’m right in the middle of something…” She interrupted him and then returned her attention to the laptop at her side. “All the classes are full for next semester, and we don’t have a ‘rocks for jocks’ class in the curriculum. Try the Life Sciences Building.”

Nick could not help but feel like he was being dismissed without a second glance. And he was also a little ticked that she had pegged him as a jock. “I think you have me confused with someone else. I’m with the-…”

“Not really interested… I’ve got things to do, so if you don’t min-…”

“I do mind… Quite a bit, actually. So, if you can spare me about thirty seconds of your supposedly precious time, I need to find the head of the geology department and someone downstairs said I could find him up here.” Nick had finally reached his breaking point and decided to unleash his ire on this incredibly rude woman.

She looked up from her work once more, took her glasses off and let them hang from the beaded cord that draped around her neck. She fixed him with an icy gaze and asked, “Who are you looking for?”

“A Dr. R.J.,” Nick gave a pained and stilted pronunciation of the last name in his notes, “Dis-my-sox?”

The woman shook her head in disgust and Nick thought he saw a white line that trailed along her jaw, but her loosely hung, raven hair obscured most of his view. “How many times have you said that name like that?”

Her question shook him out of his anger for a moment, and he wondered why she would have chosen that as the question to ask him. “I don’t know… Feels like I’ve been shuffled around by about fifty differnt people this mornin’ tryin’ to find this guy.”

“Next time, try learning how to say someone’s name before you go about butchering the shit out of it.” Her candor had him reeling a little. Even after working with Catherine for years, he was still thrown whenever he heard a woman use obscenities. When she put her glasses back on and began to type something into the laptop, he thought for sure he heard her mumble, “What a jackass.”

“Look, however you say the name, I need to talk to this guy, even if I have to get a subpoena to make the guy come out from whatever rock he’s crawled under.” When she looked back at him from over the top of her glasses, he actually felt a little chill running down his spine. Her glare was practically spitting nails at him, but he was not about to back down. “I’m with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and I have official business to conduct with the professor.”

“Day-may-zo.”

He had no idea what she had said and had to ask what she meant by it, “What?”

“You’re supposed to pronounce it ‘Day-may-zo.’” She sat back in her seat and crossed her left arm over her middle to catch the right one, which was lying on her lap. “What did you need?”

“I have to talk to the doctor about something that happened out at his research site recently.” When the woman began to give him another look of disgust and shook her head, he fought to understand what he had said that she seemed to find so offensive.

Before Nick could challenge her physical response to his question, there was a voice calling out from behind him. “Hey, Doc!”

Nick did a double take between the young man speaking behind him and the woman seated before him. “I got the rest of that footage from the canyon cams downloaded to disk for that detective guy. I also got a hold of the ranger station, and Byron and Danny said they’d be sure to do a daily quick check of the cabin until we can go back out there.”

Horrifying realization spread over Nick’s panicked face, as he finally understood why the woman was being so hostile towards him; she was the doctor.

“Oh yeah! Before I forget, Sandi FINALLY got that bastard at NOAA to give up those satellite images of the Mohave. She said she’d have ‘em for you when she gets done with your one o’clock lecture period.” The young man nearly walked right into Nick and then looked up to find him standing there. “Dude! Sorry, I didn’t see you there, man.”

Nick just nodded and the man walked around him to hand the professor a disk case and some folders before moving through the other doors and into another room.

Nick slammed his eyes shut and tried to push out the anger as his embarrassment welled up to the surface. He struggled to come up with something clever to say, but it just was not there, so he went with a little old fashioned groveling. “Look, I am really sorry… It’s late and I’ve been shuffled all over the place for the last hou-…”

“I’m not interested in your excuses, Mr. Stokes.” She once again returned her attention to the computer screen. “I have work to do, so if you don’t mind?”

Nick’s embarrassment was quickly replaced with anger at the woman’s dismissal of him and his questions. “Look, Miss… I’m investigating a homicide here, and I think that you can spare a few minutes over a man’s life.” She looked up from her computer once again, but Nick did not give her the chance to rebuke him once more. “I have some soil samples from the victim that need to be identified and I was told you and your people are the only ones who can do that… I also have some problems with the time of death and was informed your research might help us get that information as well. So, if I can get you to take a look at these, the people of Las Vegas would appreciate your time.”

“I’m curious…” He watched as she set her jaw and he could once again make out that faint line over her face. “You come in here, butcher the shit out of my name, assume that because I run the project I must be a man, rudely interrupt a delicate experiment, and then take up my valuable time, with which I am trying to save millions of lives, and then you have the fucking nerve to be indignant with ME?! You son of a bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are?!”

The young man who had exited the room suddenly poked his head back in and asked, “Ah, is everything okay in here?”

Nick instantly felt like an amazing ass, but before he could do anything the doctor threw the disk case across the table with her left hand and spoke again. “No, it’s not… Would you like to escort this asshole out of my lab? NOW!”

The man quickly moved to show Nick out the door and looked something like a scared rabbit for a second.

Once they were out in the corridor and out of the line of sight for the doctor he spoke, “Hey, dude… Don’t sweat it. You just caught her on a bad day, man.” He handed Nick the disk case he had grabbed off the table top and then explained, “Here’s the video your detectives asked for, and if you need us to look over anything, just leave it with me, dude.”

The man seemed to be genuinely concerned with what had happened in there and Nick felt comfortable asking him what he did not understand. “So, is that typical behavior, or do I just bring it out in her?”

The younger man laughed out loud with his question and then answered, “Nah, dude… There’s a reason Doc works with rocks… It’s ‘cause they don’t care how much she yells and cusses at ‘em. And the rest of us are just used to it.” He gestured at the folder Nick had tucked under his arm. “Wha’cha got there, man?”

“Oh!” he pulled the folder out and said, “We found a bunch of soil samples on the victim and we were hopin’ you guys could help us out on identifyin’ them.”

He took the folder and then held out his hand to shake Nick’s, “I’m Boone, by the way. I run the field unit for the Doc and I’m the resident climatologist for the team.”

“Nick Stokes, Crime Lab.” Nick returned the gesture and they shook hands. “Hey, we’re havin’ trouble determinin’ the time of death and our coroner thinks that you guys can help out with that, too.”

The man screwed up his mouth to one side and said, “Well, that would be Doc’s area, since I don’t even think Sandi could pull that one off. But let me see what I can do.” He flipped through the pages as though he was searching for something. “You got a card in here so we can reach you after she cools down?”

Nick started patting himself down to look for one of his cards when he finally remembered that he had a few in his wallet. He pulled out the wallet and thanked the young man, “Hey, thanks, man… I appreciate it, really.”

From the lab they could hear the woman hollering about something and Nick shook the guy’s hand once more. “Good luck with that… And sorry for kickin’ up the tempest for ya.”

Boone only shook his head and turned back to the lab saying, “If it wasn’t you, it would’ve been somebody else… At least this was a new variable.”

Chapter 5

20:00 – 2006.12.04

C.S.I. Lab: Processing Room

“Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrgggghhhhhh,” Nick’s exclamation was only matched in a display of frustration by his posture, with his fists planted into the counter and his shoulders hunched over.

“No wonder this got pulled to nights,” Sara said as she flopped the folder she had been looking through onto the counter top beside Nick. “Did they do even one thing right out there?” She shook her head in disgust at the mess they had been entrusted to clean up and said, “We’ve got no choice… We have to go back out there and hope we get lucky.”

Though it would have seemed impossible, Nick’s shoulders slumped even more. “I hate it when you’re right.”

Sara nudged him with her elbow and teased, “C’mon… It can’t be that bad.”

Nick rolled his eyes at her comment and then set his jaw when he answered her challenge. “Trust me… It can.”

Her face became a question when she sat down on the stool with her arms crossed over her chest and asked, “You mean there is someone else on this planet immune to your charms?”

When he grabbed at the bridge of his nose, in a gesture she knew marked his frustration, she reached for another folder and flipped to a specific page. “So, I take it this Dr. Desmaiseaux is not a pleasant person?” The name practically sang when Sara said it.

Nick looked up at her with surprise and asked, “How’d you do that?”

She was taken aback by his question and had to ask for clarification. “Do what?”

“You said her name perfectly. How’d you know how it was pronounced?” Nick was impressed that Sara understood the complicated name so easily.

“Four years of French in college for the elective language credits… I’d already taken Latin in high school.” Nick laughed at her answer, because he could not think of another person who would have chosen Latin over French for their language requirements in high school, and then turned around and taken it as an elective in college. “And besides, I think there was an obscure French writer with that name… I’m pretty sure Grissom has some of his works at home.”

Except Grissom, of course, he thought with a smirk.

Before either of them could continue the discussion Judy poked her head in the doorway. “Do you think you guys could start picking up your messages when you come in the door, please? I am not a messenger service, ya know.” The diminutive woman was attempting to chastise them for their error, but Nick always had a hard time taking anything Judy said seriously. Hard to be afraid of a pixie, he thought.

Sara reached out and took the two stacks of messages from the woman and apologized, “Sorry, Judy… We were just trying to get a jump on our case… Must have slipped our minds.”

The look Judy gave her showed that she was not buying the excuse, not one bit. However, her annoyed expression still looked a little too cute to be effective and she simply left the room before Sara’s smirk turned into a laugh.

“Am I the only who finds it hard to keep a straight face when the ‘Lolipop Guild’ is trying to stare you down?” Sara’s question was the first bright spot of his day and he could not contain the laugh that sprang forth.

Nick chuckled at her attempt at humor, but he was too far down inside his own head to really enjoy her joke.

With another devilish smirk on her face, she looked down at the report and asked Nick about the latest gossip in the lab. “So, have you talked to Greg about his big trick roll case yet?”

Nick shook his head and said, “Nah… He tried ramblin’ on about somethin’, but I wasn’t really payin’ attention.”

“Haven’t you noticed how quiet it is over in Trace?” Sara was determined to get him out of his funk.

“Yeah, didn’t Hodges just have a vacation? How can he be out again?” Nick looked up and noticed Sara’s sideways grin. “Wait a sec… Are you tryin’ to tell me…” He looked around to see who might have been listening and then leaned in to whisper in a conspiratorial manner, “Hodges was the trick roll?”

Sara nodded and gave him a raised eyebrow. “Cuffed, jellied and all.”

Nick dropped onto one of the stools and cut loose with a hearty fit of laughter before he leaned back and let out a big sigh. “Thanks, Sar… I needed that.”

Sara tried to appear nonchalant by flipping through her messages when she asked, “So, are you ready to talk about what’s eating you yet?”

He dropped his chin at her mention of his recent unease, but he really was not ready to go into it, so he tried to deflect her attention. “Right now? I’m still a little ticked off about this mornin’.”

Her face returned to its questioning appearance and she asked, “What? You mean getting the run around at the-” She stopped mid-question when she came across a message from the assistant lead from the research site about her request to visit the site. “Well, looks like we gotta get the Doc’s permission to head back to the crime scene.”

Nick looked up with dismay and said, “You’re kidding right?”

Sara knotted her brow and asked, “No… Why is that a problem?”

He winced and explained, “Well, let’s just say that things did not end well over at UNLV this mornin’.” Her scowl told him that he had better elaborate. “I sorta screwed up.”

She slammed her eyes shut before she looked for a better answer. “Screwed up how?”

“Well, first off… She’s not a gnarled up old man… Though after our interaction, I’m still holding to the gnarled up description.” He tried to find a good way to spin it to his side of things, but even he knew that he was in the wrong on that one. “And she’s got a mouth like a trucker.”

“Sometimes… It’s the only appropriate way to speak to some people.” She put her hand on her hip to emphasize her next question. “So, besides insulting her by automatically thinking she was a man and obviously butchering her name, what else did you do?”

He winced as he said, “I might’ve said somethin’ about getting a subpoena to make her talk to us, and maybe I got a little hot under the collar and said somethin’ about this bein’ about a man’s life and she should have some respect…or somethin’.”

Sara’s hands went to her face and drug them down over her cheeks as she said, “Damnit, Nick!”

“Look, I know I screwed up… I already said that, but-”

“But nothing!” Her arms were thrown out in a gesture of extreme irritation that Nick instantly recognized. “Do you have any ide-” She was interrupted by her pager going off, she looked down at the message, and then shut her eyes against the information contained there.

“What?” Nick’s voice betrayed his worry.

“Well, here’s your chance to fix this mess.” She threw the pager at him, gathered up their notes on the case so far, and started for the door.

Nick looked down at the screen and his whole body cringed when he read the message:

Rock Doc is here… & U Btr HURRY B4 she jets!

Nick swore to himself and ran out of the room to catch up with Sara at the door to the stairs. There was no time for him to come up with anything eloquent to say to Dr. Desmaiseaux, so once again his only option was groveling.

As they raced down the steps, he hoped to be able to muster the nerve he needed to get through his next encounter with the bristly geologist. But that hope was short lived when they reached the doors to the Autopsy Room and he felt his stomach turn to lead at the look his arrival had elicited from the woman. Her expression made it painfully obvious to him that she was still fuming from their previous meeting.

Fortunately for him, he had Sara and Stephanie to act as buffers this time around. At least, that was what he hoped would happen. When Sara started talking, he breathed a little sigh of relief.

“Dr. Desmaiseaux?” The woman gave a slight nod and Sara continued, “I’m really sorry, but I wasn’t aware you were stopping by.”

“Well, it wasn’t really my intention, but I was flipping through your lab report and something caught my attention.” With her left hand, she opened the folder and turned to the page she was referring to and then continued, “The plant matter found in the man’s clothing was unusual.”

Sara moved closer to examine the page she had turned to and said, “Yeah, we’re thinking that the body may have been dumped at your sight an-”

“Not likely, since the site is so remote… No, it’s more likely that it washed into the ravine from somewhere else.” She bent over stiffly, retrieved the leather briefcase from the scooter basket, placed it on the table and struggled to remove another folder from it with her left hand. When she brought her right hand up to the steady the folder pouch as she dug into it, they could not help but notice its mangled appearance. “If you’d have found that stuff in his shoes, I’d get it, but stuck in his clothes would be highly improbable.”

She handed Sara a vegetation report for the Lost Gringo Mountain Recreation Area and upon skimming through it, she realized the woman was right. The pollen pods they had found were from a variety of tree that carried the pods at the tops of its height, as they were what made up the canopy of a pinion forest.

“Are you suggesting this guy came through the canopy?” Sara asked processing the information.

The doctor shrugged with her left shoulder and asked, “Well, they did find him with a harness… Which is what didn’t make sense in your report…” She pointed to the inventory list of personal effects and asked, “My field supervisor told me the guy had on a ripped jumpsuit and a pretty serious harness rigging, but there’s no mention of it here.”

Sara’s shock must have been obvious to everyone in the room because Stephanie felt compelled to ask her about it. “What is it, Sara?”

“What harness? There’s nothing in the report about a harness.” She started flipping through their notes and Nick tried scanning through his mind about the case. They both came up empty in regards to a harness on the body. “Was there a harness when he got here?”

Stephanie picked up her own report and skimmed over the inventory of items that had been removed from the corpse. When she found nothing, she went to her office and started looking through a binder on the file cabinet. The next thing they heard was her own brand of exclamation with the slamming of the binder. “Son of a motherless sheep!”

When the coroner re-entered the room, the scowl on her face was enough of an indication that her humor had turned off, but when she picked up the phone it was confirmed in her voice. “Judy?... Would you please get that worthless excuse for a human being, Talbot, back here ASAP. And then get Doc Robbins on the horn for me, please?”

Sara watched her with apprehension as Stephanie grabbed at the back of her neck and stretched her chin up in the air in an attempt to ease the tension that had obviously landed there. “Problem?”

“Yeah, bonehead Talbot cut the thing off and dumped it in the waste bin for incineration. Didn’t want the decomp smell in the room.” Stephanie’s head shook with her frustration, “Luckily, Ricky noted it in the inventory register.”

The doctor seemed somewhat amused and hazarded a comment about the situation. “Do things always run this smoothly around here?”

Stephanie’s half-hearted smile was almost feral when she said, “Only on the weekends… For now.” Her last remark was dripping with the threat of danger. And since she had become, by default of attrition, the second most senior coroner in the morgue, that danger was very real.

Sara took that as her opening for their request and she jumped in head first. “So, as you can see… We are dealing with a serious learning curve because of the previous team’s deficiencies. And we were really hoping to be able to get back out to the scene to try and salvage this case.”

“And you already heard from my assistant that the sight was closed and you’d need my express permission to go out there, right?” The woman was quick and to the point.

“Yeah, and look I know that this is a huge imposition for your team, but we really need to get this one closed. So any help you could provid-”

“No need to beg… My assistant and I are planning a trip out there for Wednesday morning to repair some of the equipment that was damaged in that last storm, and to fix the mess left by your people.” She added her last comment with a dark look that she fixed on Nick.

Nick had purposely remained silent through the entire exchange, in an attempt to keep from getting on the woman’s bad side any further. However, with her pointed look in his direction, he knew that had failed completely and it was time to come clean. “We’d be happy to assist in any way we coul-”

“Highly doubtful, but you are both welcome to ride out there with us to get what you need.” She withdrew a card from her jacket pocket and handed it to Sara with her left hand. “Be there no later than seven AM, and dress appropriately. It’s rough terrain and we’ll be out of range of most everything out there, especially cell service.” She returned the briefcase to the scooter’s basket and then had another thought, so she added, “And we don’t have the capacity to pack out invalids. That’s what the rangers are for.” Her gaze was squarely set on Nick as she spoke that last line and he felt the chill of her words.

He listened, with his head down, as the scooter whined out of the Autopsy Room.

Stephanie was the first one to speak, after she heard the familiar bell of the elevator doors closing, “Damn! I know it’s the morgue and all… But THAT was cold.”

“Right,” Nick had no snappy comeback for Stephanie’s analysis of the situation and chose to leave it at that.

Thankfully, Sara came to his rescue. “So, did she have any other insights into the case before we got here?”

Stephanie seemed to be shocked back into reality with a start and she immediately grabbed for her notebook. “Yeah, in fact she thought that your primary is probably about two hundred feet up from the base of the ravine, based on the plant matter we found in the vics wounds. And the soil samples seemed to confirm it as well.”

Sara took the notebook from Stephanie and looked over the notes the coroner had made. When she came to something of interest she handed it to Nick while pointing at the item. “What’s this about the mottling from the exposure?”

“Oh yeah.” Stephanie slapped her forehead in an all too familiar gesture. “She said that based on their data, there’s no way there would have been such a significant risk of exposure, based on the presentation on the body. It would have required substantially lower temperatures to have caused the mottling we saw on the extremities.”

“What data are they using?” Nick had finally recovered enough to participate in the conversation.

Stephanie handed him a printout showing temperature, barometer, dew point and wind direction and velocity readings from six different weather stations. “They have a bunch of weather stations set up in the area surrounding the site to gauge what really happens over the course of their research in terms of weather. And from their data, there weren’t any temperatures coming even a little close to being able to cause the kinds of exposure damage to the tissue on this body.”

Sara was looking over Nick’s shoulder to see the data in question. “So, what you found in the autopsy shows a more drastic form of exposure?”

“Yeah,” she reached over the table and removed a folder to hand to her before continuing. “I found indications of third degree frostbite along the extremities, and that there was enough time for thawing to begin before the TOD.”

They both looked through the coroner’s notes, but Nick was still a little confused. “How can you tell this guy had started to thaw?”

The coroner walked closer to the two CSIs and turned the pages of her report to a series of photographs detailing the area of frostbite. “You can see here that the swelling and hemorrhagic bullae had already begun to form in places.” Stephanie then turned to another page and said, “And then there’s the opacification of the corneas.”

Nick was shaking his head at that symptom and commented, “Yeah, but that happens when the body has been out there for so many da-”

“Completely different pathology… This is the kind of thing that happens during exposure to extreme temperatures while the heart is still pumping, and not the simple clouding that occurs post-mortem.” Stephanie was quick to shoot him down on his supposition.

“Well, the only thing this is accomplishing, is giving us something to work with once we have some kind of idea what the hell happened out there.” Sara grabbed up all the reports and turned back to thank the coroner. “Thanks for calling us down and this,” she held up the autopsy report, “but it looks like me and Nick have a lot of video and trace to wade through tonight.”

Sara and Nick were already walking out of the room when Stephanie called back to the pair. “Glad I could help.” They were about to push through the doors when she turned back and said, “Hey, do I need to bring anything Saturday night?”

“You’re still making the dessert right?” Sara turned back to face the woman with her question as Nick watched the exchange with interest.

“Yeah, Linds is coming by Friday to help me, and to stay out of trouble. But I’ve gotta work some Saturday, so I wanted to make sure Thomas knew what to have ready before he picks me up.”

When she spoke, Sara noticed that Stephanie seemed even more tired than she did up in the Break Room earlier, so she made a mental note to bring it up to her later. “Nah, I think we’ve got everything else under control, since we still have your serving platters from the last time.”

Stephanie laughed and said, “Yeah, and obviously I’ve really missed ‘em, since I hadn’t even thought about ‘em since I loaned them out.”

“Awright… I’ve got sisters and I know where this conversation is goin’, so I’m outta here.” Nick pushed through the door and left Sara and Stephanie laughing at his parting remark.

“I better follow him, see ya later.” Sara finally left the room and Stephanie took a seat on the stool by the table and got back to work.

She sat there for a few moments, until the silence became too much. “Okay enough with that nonsense.” She picked up the remote control beside her on the table and the room was suddenly filled with the sounds of Bizet’s Carmen. “Should’ve figured it out when I always liked the murder scene best.”

Chapter 6

16:00 – 2006.12.05

Grissom/Sidle Home

Sitting cross-legged on the couch, completely surrounded by printouts, brochures, flyers, pictures, folders and a couple of notepads, Sara Sidle tried to make her way through the wealth of information before her. She chewed on the end of a pencil for several minutes as her eyes scanned through the specifics of one location. When that one had been determined inadequate for their needs, she dumped it into the “no” pile within the trash can at the end of the couch, and moved on to the next location.

As her frustration level started to rise she let out a sharp breath before she called out to the room’s other inhabitant. “Gil?” She chose not to wait for a verbal acknowledgement and went on, “Are you sure we should be looking in Summerlin? I mean, it’s just so, so plain.”

Without taking his attention away from the computer screen, he casually called out his answer. “Well, the neighborhoods are safe and the houses have all the amenities we agreed on, so yes, we should.”

“Okay, but why aren’t we looking outside of town again?” She moved another location into the circular file.

“Because neither of us wanted to spend all of our time commuting into the city every day.” He shook his head at her question, but not because of the question itself, only that he had now answered that same question about six times already.

“So, why is it that I am over here doing this by myself again?” The slightly annoyed tone in her voice was crystal clear.

That got his attention and he chuckled as he stood up from the desk. “Because I was just getting my grant letter in order, so that I might give you my undivided attention.”

He crossed the room to the couch and found her looking up at him as he leaned down to kiss her tenderly on the lips. “And now that I am here, what would like me to look at?”

She pointed at the small pile of maybes at the end of the coffee table near his easy chair, “Those over there are the maybes.”

Gil maneuvered around the land mines of piles spread around her to take his seat in the recliner after grabbing up the maybe pile. As he sat back, he noticed a pile sitting under her shoe. “What are those?”

She leaned over the edge of the couch to follow where he was pointing on the floor and noticed the pile of rejects she had placed under her shoes. When she answered her shoulders shrugged, “Those are the asshole realtors I wouldn’t buy something from if my life depended on it.”

He smirked at her response, but felt a need to remind her of the use of foul language. “Was that really necessary?”

“Yes, it was… If you’d talked to them, you’d understand.” She dropped another packet into the “no” pile before adding, “And if you so much as breathe on anything from the Rockford Agency, I’ll be looking for an apartment, alone.”

He was shocked by her comment and felt compelled to ask, “And this would be for…”

“For telling me not to worry my pretty little head about the asking price and that he would only talk figures with my husband just before he tried to grab my ass in his office.”

“Excuse me?!” That time it was Gil’s tone that was unmistakable; he was beyond angry.

Sara, however, was still dealing with her own anger over the incident. “If I so much as get wind that he’s involved in a property we look at, I’m gonna be out of there so fast…”

“Sara, when did this happen?” he spoke through a clenched jaw.

His voice finally pierced through her own rage and she realized that he was quickly turning red. “It was this morning, and I’ve already dealt with it, so don’t get all worked up.”

“How did you- What did you-” He was struggling to work through his rage and his words would not come out easily. “Who wa-”

He was stopped from saying anything else when he felt her hand underneath his chin as she lifted his gaze up. “I took care of it, and I’m fine.”

He was still angry, but the reassurance he found in her eyes helped him to push it aside, for now.

He sat back in the chair and she moved his arm out of the way to take a seat in his lap. “Is this protective thing going to get better or worse when we aren’t working together anymore?”

With that simple question, his anger was immediately turned into embarrassment and he dropped his chin to his chest, “Sorry.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his to ask, “Should we talk about this now?”

“I suppose we’ve put it off long enough,” he said as he released the breath he had been holding since being caught. “Unfortunately, I am always going to worry about you.”

She smiled and held him a little closer. “And that’s what makes you great… I just don’t want it to get so bad that it creates problems for us.”

“Tell you what… If you can promise me to always be careful and not take unnecessary risks, then I will do my level best not to be an overprotective Neanderthal… Deal?” He could feel the smile that spread over her face as she pressed her cheek into his and held him just a little bit tighter.

“I think I can live with those terms… But only if you promise me not to get so caught up in your experiments that you forget I am living in the same house with you.”

With that, the battle of the promises was on. “Agreed, but you have to promise that the days of the triple shift are over.”

“Okay, but you can’t take off on a moment’s notice to consult on some bug case without talking to me first.”

“Fine, but that means you will be running out of vacation time before the end of each year in order to travel with me from time to time.”

“Sounds good to me, but you have to swear that we take at least one real vacation a year; no cases, lectures, experiments or consults involved.”

That one concerned him a little and he raised his eyebrow to show his concern. “Does that inclu-”

“No, we can still see bugs, just so long as they aren’t on a corpse.” Once again, they were thinking on the same wavelength, and he smiled. She took that as the sign that their discussion was over and kissed him on the lips to seal the deal. “All done?”

“With the big stuff,” he commented.

His answer did not bring her any comfort and she fixed him with a questioning glare, but his attention seemed to be far off. “Gil? What is it?”

He took in a deep breath and decided that there would probably never be the perfect time to bring up the topic, so he made his choice and forged ahead. “There is one thing we still haven’t finished clearing up.”

She looked closely at him, trying to figure out what he was referring to, and when she was unable to come up with an answer she asked, “And that would be?”

“Children.” For such a simple word, its utterance caused all of the air in the room to stop moving in an instant. Her silence told him what he already knew, that she had not thought anymore about the topic since the conversation they had after Stephanie had first brought it up to them. “We still haven’t resolved that one.”

She fought against the shock and the nervousness to find her voice again, but it was not an easy feat. Eventually, she was able to swallow back the lump that was closing off her throat and managed to squeak out, “I guess not.”

He watched as she began to wring her hands and it made his heart sink that he had caused her pain again. Gil wrapped his arms around Sara and pulled her closer to him. “Sara, I’m not just making these changes for me… I’m doing this for us and for our future.”

She heaved a deep sigh and said, “I know, and believe me when I tell you how much it’s meant to me. It’s jus-” Her voice failed her again, and his heart clenched at the sound of the sob she struggled to keep inside.

“I’ll drop this, for now… I just need you to promise me one thing.”

She nuzzled down into the crook of neck and whispered, “What’s that?”

He leaned his head against hers and asked, “That you’ll start thinking about it, and we’ll talk about it again soon?”

As she rested against his chest, he could feel her tension ease a bit and then she simply said, “Yeah, that’s fair enough.” And his own tension began to melt away with her agreement.

They sat that way for several minutes, until an urgent message from Gil’s stomach reverberated throughout the room. “Well, I guess we better figure out something to eat, huh?”

His face warmed with his embarrassment as she slid off of his lap and stood up. “Yeah, so I’ll get started on the food…” He looked around the room at the mess and asked, “What should we do with all of this?”

She blew out a full breath of air and then turned to help him out of the chair, “I’ll get this cleaned up, and sort through it all later…”

He came to his feet and then wrapped his arms around her. “Are you sure you don’t want some help?”

Draping her arms around his neck, she smiled and said, “I’ve been thinking… Maybe we’re doing too much all at once. I mean, what with the new job, my shift change, the holidays, your mother, the wedding and dealing with the team this weekend.” She leaned her forehead into his cheek and continued, “I just think we’d be moving beyond the overachiever range and into insanity mode if we try to find a house during all this.”

Gil craned his head back to get a good look at her face and then he smiled at her expression. “As seems to be a trend lately, you’re probably right.” He was rewarded with the sparkle in her eyes and the crooked smirk on her lips. “Besides, once I get back from D.C. next month, I’ll have a lot more time to devote for a proper search.” He fixed her with a salacious tilt of his eyebrow when he made his next comment, “Among other things.”

Her lips pursed, as she tried to suppress the full out smile that was threatening to emerge. “For some reason, that thought both excites me and scares me to no end.”

Gil was having a hard time understanding her comment and his face showed his confusion when he asked, “How is my searching for our house excit-… Oh…” The reason finally made it through his thought process and he blushed at her suggestion.

Deciding that their current line of conversation would likely lead to them being late for work and very hungry, he chose to change the subject quickly. “So, food?”

She inhaled sharply, sensing his decision to calm things down, she kissed him on the cheek and turned out of his arms with her request, “Sounds good… Something light though. I’ve still gotta make it into that dress in a few weeks.”

He gave her a disapproving glare and said, “Sara, I seriously doubt that will ever be an issue for you.”

She smirked at his assessment of her dietary habits as she started cleaning up the all the real estate information. Sara was actually relieved to have been able to shelf the house hunting for the time being, and not just because of the idiot she had dealt with that morning. There were just so many changes coming about in their lives, and she was fairly certain the stress and strain of finding, buying and then moving into a new house was a recipe for disaster by adding it to everything else.

As she was shoveling the last of the brochures into a banker’s box she had a question on her mind. She called back into the kitchen, “Hey, Steph wanted to know if we needed anything for Saturday night.”

“We still have her serving dishes, so I can’t think of anything.”

Slapping the lid down on the box, Sara stood up to admire her work and gave a crooked smile. However, the smile was short lived when her mind moved ahead to Saturday night. “So, how do you think everyone will take the news?”

She watched as he blew out a heavy breath in response to her question, and she had worked her way towards to kitchen when he finally spoke. “Well, Catherine already knows about the whole business with Ecklie.”

Sara sat down on the stool closest to him and pressed her eyebrows together when she asked, “And how did that go over?”

He shrugged as he turned to toss a few egg shells into the trash. “Better than expected… But I suspect the full impact hasn’t hit her yet.”

“Do you really think Burdick and the Mayor will take your recommendation?”

“They really don’t have a choice with my supposed leave of absence happening at the same time.” His hands were vigorously beating the eggs in the bowl as they continued their conversation.

“Did any of them question your decision to take so much time off?” She was chewing on her lip with her nervousness.

“Ecklie has been rather determined to interrogate me on the matter, but I’ve managed to slip through all of his traps.” He had a devilish sneer on his face with his admission, and Sara had to admit that it was also a very sexy look for him.

“Well, my requests have been accepted, too…” She swatted him on the backside playfully, “Thanks to my terribly understanding supervisor.”

He gave her a crooked smirk and then asked, “So, did you have any trouble with the new day shift guy?”

“Not at all.” She reached onto the cutting board he had brought out and stole one of the mushrooms when he had his back turned. “Seems like a real decent guy and he agreed to keep it quiet until the transfer is complete.” When she popped the mushroom into her mouth, he gave her a sideways glance and shook his head. “He also said that he already has someone wanting to move to nights, so it came at just the right time. And he has a new person starting the first, so he won’t be short-handed while we’re gone either.”

“Do you ever feel like timing is on our side…for a change?” Sara laughed out loud at his question and he managed a quick chuckle as he worked at chopping up the veggies for their omelets before she had stolen them all to eat.

“We’ll see how we feel about that when you go out to D.C. for a couple weeks without me.” She had meant it as a joke, but when she saw him drop the knife to the cutting board and his shoulders drooped, she knew it was weighing heavily on his thoughts.

She stood up from the stool and moved closer to him. Standing directly behind him, she wrapped her arms around his midsection and rested her chin atop his shoulder. “Sorry.”

He patted her clasped hands where they rested over his shrinking belly and then leaned his head to hers as he spoke, “I suppose I’ve been trying to forget about that aspect of our new life.”

She took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly before she said, “Hey, we’ve gotten bigger things sorted out already… This is just one more puzzle for us to figure out…together.”

He smiled so broadly that she could feel it as they stood there together in the kitchen, and they both knew that everything would be just fine.

Chapter 7

06:55 – 2006.12.06

UNLV Earth Science Building: Parking Lot

Nick had intended on getting there earlier, but both he and Sara had gotten stuck in a little impromptu safety meeting courtesy of their favorite assistant director, Conrad Ecklie. The man really did have the worst possible timing.

The whole ride over to the campus, Nick had pushed the bounds of safe driving, and even managed to garner a few choice words from Sara about his future inability to give her any grief about her driving. It was nearly seven in the morning, and Nick was doing his level best to be onsite and out of the car by the prescribed time, even if it killed him.

They practically screeched into the parking lot at exactly five minutes before the hour and he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. However, upon seeing the Doc sitting in the passenger seat of a UNLV pickup, glancing at her watch impatiently, the burden had quickly been dropped back down squarely onto his shoulders once again.

As Sara stepped out onto the asphalt to speak with the Doc and her assistant, Nick tried to distract himself by taking a look at the trailer hooked up to the university truck. There were three, dusty and well used, red ATV’s strapped down to the equally dirty flatbed trailer. He also noted there were several metal cases tied down in the space where a fourth ATV would have rested.

He watched as Sara began a rather animated conversation with the Doc’s assistant. Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him and he stepped out of the vehicle to join them and to take his lashes for his earlier behavior.

Sara turned to see his approach and gestured for the assistant to turn as well before she said, “Hey, Nick… Did you know Sandi was the Doc’s research assistant?”

Nick tried to search his mind for the woman’s face and name, but he was coming up short of an answer when the woman removed her large floppy hat to reveal a head full of very long, reddish orange hair and said, “Does that help?”

That was when it dawned on him. “Super Dave’s fiancé?!”

She shook her head at Sara and just laughed, “Why is it no one recognizes me without the hair?”

The voice from inside the truck answered for her, “Because it’s hard to see anything else.”

Sandi shrugged, realizing that it was a rather obvious physical trait. “Anyway, I was just explaining to Sara about those boneheads you guys had come out to the site when we found the body. I felt like I was watching the Keystone Cops, or something.”

Nick switched straight into investigator mode. “So, you found the body?”

She pulled her hair back up into the hat and put it back on her head before answering, “Ah, no… That was Boone. I was still at the cabin getting the data readings ready to cart back to the lab when he radioed in about the body.”

“But, you were there when the crime scene crew showed up?” Nick started taking down some notes on his pad.

“Well-”

She was cut off by the obviously irritated voice of the professor. “Do you think we could do the interrogation after we get to the site? It’s already getting late.”

Nick sucked it up and prepared to make his apologies. “I’m sorry, Dr. D-”

“Whatever… Sandi, we need to get that meter fixed and we need to get back here before my meeting, so let’s go.” Sandi grimaced when she turned to the CSIs as she tried to play off the professor’s rudeness.

Nick walked away, clenching his jaw and desperately tried to hold his tongue as Sara and Sandi made apologies for their respective traveling companions. When Sara reached their truck, Nick was already inside and turning red with his anger.

“We’re gonna follow them out, so stick close.” He nodded, and she could not help but add, “We can’t afford to lose ‘em, ‘cause I’m not sure they’d wait for us.”

He put the car into gear and followed closely behind the university vehicle, but he was unable to keep his tongue any longer. “I can’t believe that woman… I mean, really… Was what I did so bad? Really?”

Sara was not going to answer him, thinking it was a rhetorical question, but when she found him staring at her, she figured she had been wrong. “Well, let’s review… You were pissed off after getting the run around, and we both know how charming you can be when that happens.” Nick grimaced at her assessment, but motioned for her to continue.

“And of course there was the whole name butchering incident, followed immediately by the sexist assumption she was a man.”

Nick had to stop her there, “I am not a sexist!”

“All evidence to the contrary.” Sara had meant it offhandedly, but she also knew there was a little truth in that statement. Nick had very specific ideas about the female of the species, even if he did try his best not to show it, most of the time.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Nick looked genuinely shocked at her remark.

“You want a list?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Fine.” Sara set her jaw and got started, “The hooker, the pyro, the whistle, the nurse-”

He stopped her before she went any further, “Wait, wait… What about the nurse? And which one?”

Sighing, Sara rolled her eyes and answered, “Does it really matter? You treat beautiful women one way and all the rest differently. You have a different way of acting towards me, that you would never do with Warrick. You see Catherine as subordinate to Grissom, even though they are BOTH your supervisors.” Nick was having a real tough time stomaching her assessment of his personality. “Face it, Nick… It may not go all the way to discriminatory, but you ARE a sexist.”

Searching for a response to her statement, he was at a complete loss for words, because he was totally unable to deny any of her declarations. The only thing that his mind could register was that he probably owed her an apology. “Sara, I’m s-”

She held up her hand to stop him, “There’s no need to apologize. It’s just who you are. It’s just that other people may not be able to see past it the way I do.”

That confused him, so he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re not a pig… It’s just that you have your mind on a certain bent; that women should be different than men. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a Texas thing, but you aren’t doing it out of some macho power trip. You just seem to have some warped view of what women are, I guess. I know you mean well, but sometimes it can piss me off. But when it’s all said and done, I know your heart’s in the right place, and I can look past the stuff that bugs me because we’re friends.”

“And if we weren’t friends?” He was not sure he wanted to know the answer, but he had to ask.

“Then…” She fixed him with one of those dangerous looks and said, “I’d probably have left your butt back in that lot and road out with them alone.”

Nick smiled uneasily and kept right on driving, but his friend’s words weighed heavy on his mind for the rest of the trip.

Chapter 8

08:00 – 2006.12.06

Lost Gringo Mtn. State Rec. Area: UNLV/EPA Desert Erosion Research Site

When Nick watched the university truck pull off onto a large clearing at the side of the park service road his whole body stiffened. He was about to have to deal with the professor face to face once more, and he just knew it was not going to be good.

Sara immediately jumped from his truck and went to where the professor’s assistant was standing at the back of the trailer. They were obviously hitting it off well, and he assumed it had something to do with her friendship with David. Nick had always been fond of the coroner’s assistant, but they had never really struck up any kind of real friendship. As he watched the two women laughing and unstrapping equipment, he tried to prepare himself for a morning with the professor.

Opening the door to his truck, he carefully slid out onto the hard scrabble ground below and kicked up a little dust in the process. He ambled over to the trailer and laid a hand on the upright ramp at the back of the trailer.

He was about to ask what he could do when the professor limped around the side of the other truck. “Careful leaning on that ramp… The catch isn’t always tight.”

Nick immediately took his hand off of the ramp and stared at it like he had been snake bit, but the professor seemed to pay him little mind. He took one more steeling breath before asking, “So, what can I do to help?”

The professor hollered, “Stand back,” as she dropped the lever that had been holding the ramps upright and they came crashing down onto the ground.

They all jumped away from the trailer in an instant, but before anyone else could say something Sandi took the initiative. “Christ, Doc! Would you quit that?!”

Nick had originally thought the trick was being played on him, but Sandi’s outburst and what he thought was a smile from the professor made him realize it must have been a running gag. She cast another look at Sandi and said with a careful grin on her face, “I guess the catch is working today.”

“Whatever… It wasn’t funny the first twenty times you did it, what makes you think it would get better with repetition?” Sandi hauled the large metal case off the front of the trailer and dropped it onto the ATV with the short-bed on the back.

“Watch it… That meter costs more than your hatchback.” The professor shot over her shoulder as she slowly made her way back to the front of the truck.

Nick took the time to more closely examine the ATV’s. All three were different, with one being the standard one person recreation vehicle he had used back home. The one Sandi was loading up with equipment looked like a scaled down, short-bed, four wheel drive pickup, but it still was only good for one person to ride. The third one, however, was rigged with an odd looking seat on the back end of it. It appeared to be air-cushioned with some kind of shock absorber along with an interesting harness. He deduced that it was probably for the professor, since he found it difficult to believe she could operate one of the ATVs with that bad leg of hers.

While he was sizing up their transportation for the day, he failed to notice that Sandi had come up behind him until she put a hand on his arm and said, “Hey, Nick… You want to unload the first two ATVs for me, please?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I can do that.”

Nick climbed up onto the trailer when Sandi had another thought, “Ah, you have used an ATV before, right?”

“Oh yeah… We got a bunch of ‘em out at my folks place.” Nick climbed onto the short-bed ATV and cranked it up.

The professor came back around the truck carrying a series of radios and looked up in time to find Nick sitting atop the short-bed carrying her precious piece of equipment and he could tell instantly that she worried about the logic of having him operate the vehicle. He smiled and revved the engine quickly to drown out any attempt she might have made to dissuade him from moving the ATV and then slowly backed it down the ramp onto the desert floor in one smooth motion, without so much as rocking the equipment strapped onto the bed. He parked it, and left it to sit there idling as he moved to next ATV.

As he jumped up onto the trailer again the professor asked, “So, you’ve used these before?” Nick only smiled as he kicked on the modified ATV and revved the engine to keep it going. The professor dropped her gaze and he could tell she was suppressing the desire to make a rude comment. He had to wonder, as she moved back to where Sara was standing, if she and Sandi had not also had an interesting discussion about behavior patterns on their way to the site.

Once all the ATV’s were ready to go, and all the equipment loaded up, Sandi handed out helmets to each person. As Nick was about to slip his helmet on the professor stopped him and said, “You might want to plug in your radio first.”

Nick looked down into the helmet and found that there was a headset inside the padding there. He looked around the side and found the jack for the radio unit and plugged it in as he examined the controls for the radio. Not seeing a talk button, he had to assume they were voice activated and then he found the microphone tucked up into the face shield of the helmet.

Having gotten everything on the short-bed adjusted for his comfort, Nick looked up and noticed Sara having a little trouble with her helmet. So, he walked over to her and asked if she needed any help. While he was readjusting the headset inside of her helmet he watched the professor getting up onto the modified ATV with only a little balancing help from Sandi.

He observed as she leaned back onto the ATV from the air-cushioned seat and pulled herself up into the seat using her left arm and hoisting herself into position by gripping what looked like a handbar welded to the side. It was an interesting maneuver, but it seemed to do the trick. During the whole thing, he noticed that Sandi did not balance the professor with her right arm, but instead keeping a hold on her side. When he saw her tuck the right arm into her overshirt and pull the shoulder harness strap over it he suddenly realized that there was something wrong with the arm.

Before it was over, Sandi had placed the professor’s right leg into an odd looking stirrup and tightened a webbed harness over her lap as well. He had to wonder why she would go through so much trouble just to go out to a field research site, since it obviously took a great deal of effort only to get her there. Out in the desert, with nothing around for miles, he also had to wonder about the sanity of having someone with so many physical limitations on the field research team at all. The whole thing just seemed far too dangerous for his comfort, but he was currently in no position to voice his concerns.

Sara noticed that his attention had been closely attuned to the professor’s actions and she nudged him with his elbow. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to stare?”

Nick whipped his focus back to Sara and said, “Huh?... Oh yeah, sorry... I was ju-… Nothin’.”

Sara smirked and then whispered, “Let me guess, you were wondering why she even bothers if it’s that much trouble?”

His face immediately betrayed his shock at having been caught, and a blush flagrantly passed over his cheeks. “I’ll give you a hint… Because guys like you think like that.”

Their exchange went no further when Sandi walked up to inspect the device attached to the back of Sara’s single person ATV. As she was checking to make sure it was securely fastened to the back Nick became curious as to why it looked like they had attached a road grater to the vehicle.

“Hey, Sandi… Are we plowing roads with that thing?”

His question was met with a condescending laugh from the professor. “Not hardly… Soil compaction is a huge factor in changing the face of the desert landscape. So, we do our best to keep the soil at existing compaction densities by only heading out single file and trailing the grate on the last vehicle. We also use two alternating routes to reach the site.”

“So, compacting the soil… From like trucks and stuff?” Nick was really trying to understand the work they were doing out there.

“Various land use practices that involve trampling or off-road vehicular use can cause soil compaction and results in decreased rates of water infiltration and increased soil erosion rates. We’re experimenting with this area for a recoverability practice, since it demonstrates a controlled zone in which there is little to no moisture present through the flats here. In some places, fifty years later, a single incursion of a vehicle continues to impact the area it has left, making it devoid of even lichen growth. This is just one way we’re trying to reverse the effects of improper land use.” The professor obviously knew her stuff, and Nick had to admit he was impressed with her dedication to not only studying the desert environment, but also working to correct damage already done.

“And I wish I could say that will be the end of the lesson today… But I’ve taken this trip with her too many times to even hope.” Sandi winked at Sara and Nick as she made her way back to her ATV and then called over her shoulder. “And just like the lady said; single file, Sara in the rear. We’ve got just over four miles to the site and I really don’t want to have to listen to Doc if she misses her meeting today, so let’s get going.”

They all mounted up and did a quick radio check before motoring off to the West of the roadside pulloff. The terrain was a little smoother than Nick had anticipated, but looking ahead he could tell that it was not likely to stay that way.

They had been going for a good twenty minutes when they started to approach an arroyo and he heard the radio crackle in his ear. It would appear that the lesson was just beginning.

“Those are dry stream beds, commonly called arroyos. They’re typically formed by the violent storms that flood the desert environment: sometimes sending thousands of liters of liquid through a single arroyo in a matter of minutes. Actually, more people die in the desert from drowning than from heat exposure or dehydration. Those flash floods are quite common out here because the water really has nowhere to go but out, and in a hurry.”

The next few minutes were quiet again, but then Nick noticed a strange sight off to their right. At first glance he thought it was some kind of NASA probe, but he decided it would be a good way to make points with the professor by noticing. “Is that some kind of reading station off to the right?”

His headset crackled again with her response, “Good catch… It’s actually one of the eleven climatology stations we operate onsite that feed data to the USGS. They work off solar power and transmit wind direction and speed, precipitation, humidity, air and soil temp, as well as barometric pressure via that antenna linked to the GOES-4. The USGS has these stations all over the country in an attempt to better catalogue U.S. climatology data. There are a few privately held stations as well… Run mostly by amateur climatologists and quite a few environmental activists. However, the USGS prefers to use their own station readings, in order to prevent any possible political bias in regards to the actual data reported. But so far, even the private data is sticking to the official record as well and telling a fairly compelling story.”

The scenery was all starting to blend together for Nick and he was having trouble following along any longer, so he was really glad when Sara decided to pipe up with a question of her own. “Hey, what’s the significance of the soil changes at the base of the watersheds, but not beyond that?”

Without fail, the professor had an answer for that as well when the radio popped off again. “It’s called an alluvial fan and they’re pretty common to the Mojave Desert and the California portions of the Sonoran Desert. They’re formed through geologic time where an arroyo or wash drains a mountain, depositing the detritus in a semicircle at the canyon's mouth. Much of it’s been washed down during torrential summer downpours. In the Southwest these detritus skirts or pediments are frequently called bajadas. The substrate is coarser, with larger rocks on the upper bajada and then the finer ones are found at the lower elevations.”

Nick was getting a forced crash course in desert geology, but he was beginning to find the information somewhat relevant to his work. He had been a surprised a few years back when he had found a woman in the desert; the victim of drowning. Nick and the detective had a tough time grasping the fact that anyone could die of drowning in the desert. At the time, Greg had given him a quick lesson in rainfall around the Vegas area. He racked through his brain trying to figure out what that term was that Greg had used, because he figured it would help him not sound so much like an idiot. “Hey, I had another case a while back and we were talking about something called the ‘mountain shadow effect.’ What exactly is that?”

“I think you’re referring to rain shadow deserts…” Nick was wrong, because he was yet again proven a fool. “Rain shadow deserts are formed because tall mountain ranges prevent moisture-rich clouds from the reaching areas on the lee, or protected side, of the range. As the air rises over the mountain, the water’s precipitated and the air loses its moisture content. A desert is formed in the leeside, or shadow, of the range. And yes, this area is the prime example of a rain shadow desert.”

It was Sara’s turn again when Nick heard her voice over the radio, “So, if there’s little or no precipitation in this area, what kind of erosion are you studying? Wind?”

“Well, while little rain does fall in the deserts, they do receive runoff from ephemeral, or short-lived, streams fed by rain and snow from adjacent highlands. These streams fill the channel with a slurry of mud and commonly transport considerable quantities of sediment for a day or two. That phenomenon is very similar to what happens with man-made erosion, and by studying the natural process of sedimentary erosion, we’re able to predict the patterns of man-made wastewater disposal erosion and then we can prevent much of the damage that’s been done to our country’s waterways and aquifers.”

Nick was finally starting to understand just why the professor’s work seemed so important. She was trying to preserve the environment in a real and effective manner, using the principles of erosion she was studying in a controlled, but natural setting. And the fact that someone had turned her site into a crime scene actually made his stomach turn.

For the rest of the ride to the site, Nick listened to the various snippets of conversation, but his mind was occupied with other things. And he had to wonder if Sara had picked up on his mood change, because she seemed to take over the question side of things at about the same time. Of course, she could just be interested in the professor’s work. She is just a science nerd after all.

Chapter 9

08:45 – 2006.12.06

Lost Gringo Mtn. State Rec. Area: UNLV/EPA Desert Erosion Research Site

After what was probably the roughest four and a quarter miles of Nick’s life, they finally arrived at the research field site. There was a solid, walled shelter that looked like it was sitting up on a series of milk crates. He imagined it had to be a sweat box for anyone working inside there. He also spotted various weighted tripods throughout the small canyon, on top of which, he assumed, were a series of still and video cameras. Nick noticed a few more of those reading stations at different points throughout the canyon. All in all, it looked like a fairly high-tech research site.

“Surprised by all the gadgets, Mr. Stokes?” The professor called from the shelter as she reached up to remove the padlock, with her crutch dangling from her left arm.

“A little, I guess… Just seems like you’d be worried about leaving all this stuff lyin’ around.” He walked around the back of the short-bed and started removing the straps from the equipment as he spoke.

The professor laughed at his suggestion that the equipment would be stolen. “Well, first off, you saw how hard it is to get in here… Plus, the stuff is on twenty-four seven, so they’d be caught on video, since all this stuff transmits straight into the shack and then to a satellite uplink. And then…” She dropped the crutch back down and leaned against it as she pointed up at the structure off in the distance on the east face of the mountain bordering the canyon. Nick noticed that her right hand was covered in jagged scars as she pointed west, and then she said, “That Ranger Lookout Station is pretty visible to the site. Rangers are there quite a bit, plus that’s where the radio relay station sits for this area.”

Nick realized he had just caught her in a lie, “So, that whole bit about this place being out of reach was something of a stretch?”

Her half of a grin was pinched and she shook her head when she said, “Only when we’re onsite… That four and a quarter mile stretch is completely blind. And if something’s gonna happen, that’s where it’ll be.”

“Fair enough… So, where do you want this thing?” Nick patted the piece of equipment on the back of the short-bed.

“Just leave it.” The professor looked over her shoulder and called to Sandi. “Sandi! Why don’t you take them to the site and show them the way up the ridge?”

“Gotcha! Lemme just finish with this thing.” Sandi was busy pulling some brush out of the front end of the modified ATV.

“Leave it… I’ll get it when I’m done.” At the professor’s word Sandi stopped and began to stride over to the short-bed with Sara following close behind.

“I left the grips on the fender,” Sandi said as she reached the shelter. She stretched her hand up to grab the bar the professor had just unlocked and pulled it out, which caused the whole sidewall to drop to the ground with a horrendous metallic crash. Nick and Sara were both clutching their hearts and ears from the shock, but Sandi and the professor only had their heads turned with a finger in one ear.

Without missing a moment, the professor started up the ramp created by the fallen wall and called over her shoulder to Sandi again. “Just make sure you take the bunny slope up… I don’t want any mishaps out here.”

Nick grimaced when he saw Dr. Desmaiseaux looking directly at him when she had spoken that last line and he had to turn away to hide his frustration. He watched as Sandi grabbed a pack off the back of the short bed and motioned for him and Sara to follow her to the ridge.

Nick trailed behind the other two women as they made their way through the small canyon. He had been shut down twice in the same day by the same woman, and for a guy who prided himself on his charm and chivalry, Nick Stokes was feeling beaten.

When they reached a cut in the slope of the canyon wall Sandi stopped them and asked, “Okay, make sure your shoes are on tight, your packs are balanced and anything you might need on the trek up is in your pockets and not the pack. This trail’s not really a trail, so much as a string of footholds along a rock face.” Sandi was checking her own boots and pack as she spoke and Sara followed her lead.

Nick took a moment to look up along the cut and then had to ask, “So, this is the bunny slope?”

Sandi laughed at his question and said, “Oh yeah… The only other way up is hanging from a rope and dodging falling rock from the person over you.” Sandi moved over to check Sara’s pack for balance and then added, “Don’t mind, Doc… She’s got a lot going on and so a sparkling personality isn’t really high on her list of priorities.”

Nick looked up from where he had leaned over to re-tie his boots and asked, “Sparkling?”

A broad smirk crossed Sandi’s face before she responded, “Okay, so she’s a raging bitch most of the time, but it does serve a purpose.” The look in Sandi’s eyes as she explained further made Nick nervous. “At least she doesn’t throw things anymore… I’ll take the occasional string of expletives over the sailing of another laptop into the rocks any day.”

Sara was not able to contain her own laughter at Sandi’s statement. “I sure hope you’re kidding.”

“Not hardly… I think you can still find pieces of it behind the shelter over there.” Sandi continued her casual inspections by checking Nick’s pack as he stood up and looked over towards the shelter where Dr. Desmaiseaux was pulling equipment off the short-bed. “Thank God David was able to salvage my hard drive.”

“Wait… It was your laptop?” Sara was shocked with the revelation.

“Oh yeah… But in her defense, I was about to replace it because it had gotten so temperamental. And besides, after David spent a whole week working to save the data I had in that hard drive, I knew he was a keeper.” Sandi winked at Sara when she added that part, causing the other woman chuckle.

Sandi looked satisfied that everyone was finally ready to make the trek up the canyon wall. She slapped her hands together and said, “Okay, enough mush… You guys ready to go?” She found a pair of anxious expressions and she smiled. “Okay then, one foot in front of the other, single file…” She pulled out a length of rope and tied hand holds in it, handing it to each of them as she walked to the front of the cut trail. “Hold on to this and use the rest of us to counter-balance if you lose your footing.”

“Ah, where did you guys find the body?” Nick worried they were forgetting why they were out there.

“I’ll stop when we get there… He was wedged into one of the crevices about half way up.” Sandi spoke as she made her first steps into the cut.

Sara followed right behind her and Nick pulled up the rear. The footing was tricky and he found himself staring at the ground more than looking ahead, just to make sure he did not trip and take all three of them down with him. He could not imagine that thin as a rail Sara or the lanky Sandi had enough substance to hold him back from falling if it happened. He also did not need another incident for the professor hold against him.

He had been so busy watching his own feet that he failed to notice the two women had come to a stop and he came face to backpack with Sara. “Whoa there, cowboy.”

Nick caught himself before he fell backwards and blushed immediately. “God! I’m sorry, Sar.”

Sara just turned to him and smiled, which instantly put his fears to rest. Without saying another word to him, she turned her attention back to Sandi and asked, “Which way?”

“Over there on your left, about ten meters… You’ll be able to see all the scuffs from the litter and all the footprints.” Nick’s face showed his disappointment and Sandi added, “Sorry, but they were already lifting him out by the time I got here. But, I did make sure Boone took some pictures before they got there. Should be on that disk you got from him.”

Sara and Nick walked the ten meters to the body site, made a quick scan of the area, took some reference shots for their scene sketches, and basically came back to the trail with nothing more than they had arrived with that day. It was very disheartening for both of them and Sandi could see it in their expressions as they returned to the trail.

“So, I gotta re-set a seismometer up top on the ridge… You guys want to come up with me and look around?” Nick could tell that Sandi was trying to give them anything she could and he had to admit that he was curious if they would find anything.

He smiled at the young woman and said, “Yeah, that would be great… Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky.” He was glad to have a chance to look around some more, but if Nick was completely honest with himself, he just did not want to go back down into the canyon, alone, with the professor.

They were on their way up the trail once more and Nick continued to focus on his steps, but also on the distance between himself and Sara so he did not make the same mistake again. The time seemed to get away from him, because before he knew it they had cleared the trail and were now standing atop the ridge enjoying a quick drink of water.

Sandi immediately set to work on her seismometer adjustments as Nick surveyed the ridge and Sara applied some additional sunblock to her face and ears. Nick gave her a sideways grin as he watched her slather on more of the cream.

“Laugh all you want, but I don’t tan, and I am not about to be sunburnt at my own wedding.” Sara continued her work as he laughed outright.

He moved to stand beside her and put a hand on her shoulder when he said, “Don’t worry, Sara… I’m sure you’ll have already peeled by then.”

“Don’t even joke about that, Stokes.” The glare she shot him only made him laugh again, and he started walking along a grove in the ridge top.

“Joke about what?” Sandi had quickly rejoined them.

“Nothing…” The look Sara shot him told him all he needed to know. “Hey, Sandi… All kidding aside, what’s going on out here that’s got the Doc all worked up?”

Sandi blew out a sharp and exaggerated breath and then she said, “Where do we start?” It was obviously a rhetorical question as she began to answer it herself. “Ah, we’ve got the Dean of Science trying to muscle in on her grant money, the annual progress reports for the federal service, Boone’s masters being put on hold because of some bogus departmental political garbage, rehab from the last surgery, running a major research project as a second job, and oh yeah, a dead body in her research area. So, why would she be on edge?”

“Sounds like fun… What kind of surgery?” Nick noticed that Sara was staring at him with a surprised expression, but he had no idea why.

“Nothing major… Doc just has a bad habit of wearing out her spare parts. Woman’s got more metal in her than my hybrid. And I wish I was exaggerating.” Sandi laughed at her own joke and Sara tried to join her, but she was still giving Nick a look.

“Spare parts?”

“Huh?” Sandi was crouched down and digging through her pack as she answered him. “Oh yeah, Doc’s pretty much held together through the grace of Dow Chemical, Alcoa Aluminum and God almighty. Of course, after getting bounced off a semi-truck, she’s lucky to even be drawing breath.”

“Bounced off a what?” Sara and Nick were both shocked at her offhand remark, but it was Sara who spoke up.

“Ah, Doc was in a pretty nasty motorcycle accident with a semi about ten years ago; before I knew her actually. End of my freshman year I was looking for an internship and my advisor had worked with her before the accident, so he recommended me for her project. Haven’t left yet, and she’s even my sponsor for my Ph.D. That accident did a number on her in a lot of ways though. I mean, she was always confrontational, but afterwards it was like she lost all patience.” Sandi started securing her pack again as she spoke. “I saw it in her field notes, but the best way to see it is the tapes.”

Nick was transfixed with the story and felt compelled to know more. “What tapes?”

Sandi shrugged and said, “Research tapes… You deal with a bunch of college punks all the time and you have to spend some time editing out the antics from your research tapes. Before the accident, Doc and her fiancé were the biggest of the pranksters, but afterwards, Doc’s sense of humor got really dark.”

Sara took another drink and remarked, “I didn’t know the Doc was married.”

Nick watched as Sandi blanched with Sara’s comment. “Ah… Um… The Doc’s not married.” Sara’s gaze shot up to Sandi’s and Nick watched as the woman practically whispered her next words. “He ah, he was…he didn’t sur-…survive the accident.” She shook her head sternly at the pair beside her and said, “And if you value your life, I’d forget all about him.”

They both took the warning for the solemn truth and dropped the issue. Nick decided to look around the area again, hoping to get his mind off of the information he had just been given. As he cast his gaze toward the trees off in the distance, something caught his attention.

“Ah, Sandi?”

She looked up from her water bottle. “What’s up?”

“How much foot traffic does this ridge get?” He was walking slowly towards the item that caught his eye as he spoke, careful not to miss anything along the way.

“God… None really.” She looked around the area and watched as Nick stalked off towards the trees. “It’s been month’s since I was up here, and I think Boone had to reset the weather station system a few weeks ago, but nothing else has been logged since the last time I was up here.”

Nick was nearly to the item when Sandi spoke the last words. Bending down to examine the piece of torn material, he had not realized that Sara was right behind him until she handed him the camera over his shoulder. He looked back to find her digging for her forceps. “Thanks, Sara.”

He clicked off a few shots after dropping the marker down and when he turned back, Sara was reaching for the camera and handing him the forceps and a bindle. He reached out and grabbed the material, holding it up for both of them to see.

“Looks like ripstop material… Like a running suit maybe.” Sara was dead on with that analysis.

“Yeah…” He sealed the bindle and started scanning the area further ahead.

Sara beat him to the next piece. “Over here!”

He walked the ten meters over to where she had wandered along a strange looking path on the ground. “More material?”

“No, looks like some plastic, but it’s not melted or very degraded at all, so it couldn’t have been out here long,” she said as she snapped off her reference pictures before she tucked the camera back into the side of her pack and then went for the forceps. As she was digging, Nick walked up beside her and handed them back to her. “Oh, yeah.” Her casual smile reminded him just how much he enjoyed working a scene with Sara. They might be competitive, but it had never really been a bad thing, even during that whole promotion nonsense.

Nick looked back down at the ground again and was trying to make out what it was they were following. “What do you think this is?”

“What?” Sara tried to see what he was referring to, but only found him looking at the ground. “You mean the ground?”

“Yeah, it looks like some kind of trail… See the disturbance in the rock patterns?” He was gesturing at the disheveled rocks and dirt when Sandi came silently up behind them.

“Probably the wash path of your body.” Both CSIs nearly jumped out of their skins when she spoke. “Sorry, too much time in the desert.” She tapped at the smooth and supple rock hound shoes she was wearing using her opposite foot. “I’m stealthy.”

They both shook their heads at the joke, and the three of them began to follow the swath in the dirt to see if they came across anything else. As they were walking, a warm breeze began to waft down from the treeline. Sara and Nick continued their forward march towards the trees and closing the distance quickly, but Sandi stopped and started looking across the sky.

Nick suddenly found something glinting off in the trees and was about to mention it when Sara pointed in the same direction to show that she had seen it as well. Sandi, however, looked preoccupied as she scanned the distant horizon. As the two CSI’s were about to inform her of their discovery, a signal flare exploded overhead.

“Crap!” Sandi turned to Nick and Sara with a terrified look on her face. “Whatever you have is all you’re gonna get. Make a run for the edge… NOW!”

Sandi took off at a dead run, but Sara and Nick were standing there in confusion until Sara caught the scent of ozone in her nostrils at about the same moment that Nick did and they both took off in the same direction Sandi had.

When they all got to the canyon’s edge, Sandi made Nick take the lead and she took up the rear, telling them to stay low and be very careful with their footing. She then added that while speed was important, so was getting them all down there in one, unbruised and unbattered piece.

When they finally made it down the slope, Nick was surprised to find out how quickly they had made their descent. But then he looked back up at the top of the canyon to find some very angry clouds moving in quick.

His other two companions were calling to him from fifteen meters away to hurry it up and he wisely took their advice. Once they reached the ATVs and the shelter, he realized that all three ATV’s had been packed up and were idling as they arrived.

“All right. Saddle up and get the hell out of here… The barometer is dancing like a drunken Irishman, so we’re in for a good one.” The professor took the pack off of Sandi’s back with her left hand and tossed it into the shelter.

Nick and Sara strapped on their helmets and tightened up their own packs as they prepared to jump on the ATVs. As they got ready to light out of there, they noticed Sandi and the professor arguing about something.

“You ladies think we can save that for when we get back to the trucks?” Nick thought he was being funny, but the look he got from Dr. Desmaiseaux let him know she was not of the same opinion.

“Why don’t you just worry about keeping up when you haul ass out of this canyon.” Sandi shook her head at Dr. Desmaiseaux’s comment and started putting her helmet on as she walked away from the professor.

Nick and Sara exchanged concerned looks as Sandi climbed up on the modified ATV alone and the professor started towards the equipment shelter. “Ah, what’s going on?”

“You’re getting the hell out of this canyon before the floodgates open up.” Her face told him she was not kidding, but he was not able to comprehend what was really happening.

“And you-”

“Can take care of myself until the storm clears… Now get moving.”

He simply could not help himself when he exclaimed, “No way!”

Sandi tried to explain, “Nick, it’s really not-”

He immediately jumped off the short-bed ATV and ripped his helmet off, cutting her off with, “We all came out here and there’s no way I leave anybody behind, so what’s the problem?” Looking around at the ATV’s he could see that they were carting out a lot more stuff than they came in with, but that was still no excuse in his mind for leaving someone to fight off the elements: certainly not someone in her position.

“That equipment needs to be packed out safely, and I can ride out the storm in the shelter so there’s no need for you to get all n-”

“No way I’m leaving you here in that sweat box with that monster storm barreling in.” Nick was not about to back down from his position.

Dr. Desmaiseaux’s face began to fill with rage as she spoke, “Since when do you have any say in what happens on my fucking site?”

“This is my investigation and I’m responsible for everyone here and I am not leaving anyone here under these circumstances! Especially someone who can’t fend for themselves.”

The professor’s expression sailed straight past rage and right into full blown fury. “Fuck you! I’m better off out here than you any day of the week! Now, get your ass on that ATV and get the hell out of here before you put everyone in danger, you moronic son of a bitch!”

“Cuss me out all you want… I am not leaving you out here.” Nick took his back pack off and began to cram some of the things from the short-bed into it until he ran out of room and called for Sara to toss him her pack. She hopped down from her ATV, handed it to him and put his pack on her shoulders.

By the time he had cleared a large section from the short-bed he pulled the tarp off of the gear that it had been covering and laid it out in the back of the ATV to act as a cushion and then walked over to the professor.

He looked over at the professor and said, “Let’s go.”

“I am perfectly capable of staying out h-”

“Do you have what you need?” He saw she had a bag slung over her shoulder and decided that he was not going to wait for her to answer. “Well, you can come back for anything else.”

“GO!” She plopped down onto the edge of the shelter ramp and made her intentions to stay well known.

“Fine… We do this the hard way.” He handed Dr. Desmaiseaux her helmet and then leaned over and picked her up, gently putting her over his shoulder and striding over to the ATV with a string of colorful expletives trailing behind him.

“Get your fucking gorilla hands off me you goddamn bastard! I will not be manhandled by a retarded, piece of shit, fuckwitted asshat! Now put me the fuck down!”

Reaching the ATV, he complied with her last request as he carefully dropped her onto the tarp so that she was resting just behind his seat and her legs were sitting next to each other, but slightly hanging off to the side of the bed. He reached down and tucked her feet into the side of the bed and removed his jacket to act as another cushion. She continued to insult his parentage, intelligence and manhood as he secured her to the ATV.

Once he was satisfied that she would not get loose with the straps and cords he had fashioned he jumped back onto the ATV and then turned to her and said, “If you turn to the left a little you can hold on to my worthless piece of horseflesh to keep from bouncing around too much.” His last remarks were heard quite clearly by the other two people present, since it had gone out over the radio. They both had to suppress their laughter as they watched the professor putting her own helmet on just as they all peeled out of the site.

Chapter 11

21:00 – 2006.12.06

C.S.I. Lab: Breakroom – Assignments

Nick was busy nursing his third cup of coffee since he dragged himself out of bed that night, when everyone else began to descend upon the Breakroom. Warrick and Sara were busy talking as she tried to explain to him about some math equation that Lindsey had been struggling with, but it was so far over his head Nick felt like his eyes were glazing over. Greg was deep in conversation with Catherine, and he figured it had to do with their case, since Greg was supposed to be presenting it to the team during assignments. Nick was still having a hard time keeping the images of Hodges trussed up in a hotel room out of his head, so he pushed the sounds of that conversation out as well.

By the time Grissom finally arrived for the night’s briefing, the caffeine had finally started coursing appropriately through his veins and his mind.

“All right, let me get a run down of where everyone is at, please?” Grissom carefully sat down in the seat at the end of the table. “Warrick… Where do we stand on the sex assault in Sunrise Manor?”

Warrick shrugged him off and said, “Slam dunk… DNA on epithelials, blood and semen was a match, witness statements have him running off, photos show the bruising and the arresting officers got his clothes from the trash in the alley… And the final three pointer? Her DNA on him at the time of arrest. Dumb ass hadn’t even taken a shower yet.”

Sara shot him a disgusted look and said, “Wish they were all that easy.”

“Tell me about it…Makes me sick thinkin’ about those guys runnin’ the streets with regular folks.” Everyone in the room gave their own audible agreement to his statement.

“Okay then… Nick, Sara… We’re getting some real pressure from the Governor’s office to get this DB in the desert case closed before the press gets involved. Where are you at?”

Sara looked over at him, and he knew that meant she was letting him take the lead. While he was grateful for her confidence in him, he wished she would have taken control and saved him the embarrassment. Clearing his throat, he forged ahead, “Ah, well, Trace is backed up right now, so… We’re ah, waitin’ on the analysis of the materials we found at the site. We’re definitely looking at a dumpsite instead of a crime scene, but the elements have probably destroyed any hopes of finding the original site. As it was we almost got washed away ourselves.”

Grissom cocked his eyebrow and shot Nick a dangerous look. “I heard about that.” Nick stiffened at the implication he had put them in danger, but Grissom let him off the hook. “And I heard you did quite a number taking control of the situation… Don’t worry, Nicky. I’m fairly certain that any of us would have done the same thing.”

Nick knew there was a but in that statement, so he just waited for it. “Though I would hope it could have been done with a touch more sensitivity.”

Nick shrunk down in his seat a little when he answered, “Got it.”

“So, what’s your next step?”

“Well, we planned on going through our notes and putting all the photo evidence together in the hopes we can get a general direction for the primary crime scene.” Sara gave him a firm nod and held up the additional disk she had obtained from Sandi as he explained.

“That’s only going to get you so far, since neither of you are familiar with the area. And you’re going to hate this…” Grissom gave him a worried expression as he continued, “You are going to have to make peace with Dr. Desmaiseaux, since she is the only person able to help you with that.”

Nick visibly grimaced and asked, “Can’t I just go down to the USGS and talk to them?”

Grissom chuckled, took his glasses off and then smirked, “That would work… If she hadn’t been the person who surveyed that park before it was to be commissioned.”

“You’ve GOT to be kidding me?!” Everyone in the room laughed at Nick’s reaction.

Once their laughter subsided and Nick buried his head in his arms on the table, Grissom continued. “And now… For the moment we’ve all been waiting for… Greg, what about your case?”

“FINALLY!!!” Greg’s enthusiasm was a plus on this case, and everyone had been dying to find out what really happened on his “trick roll.”

“Calmly, Greg… While your second first case, might be thrilling, we need to give the victim the proper respect.” The giggles spread out over the room, because everyone knew who he was referring to in this case.

“Fine… Okay, our trick roll, wasn’t really a trick roll, after all… Seems the victim, had acquired the assistance of a certain professional and while their arrangements were being carried out the victim made an unwelcome overture and she bailed on him, mid-act, and thus leaving him incapable of removing himself from the room in time. The housekeeping staff called PD upon finding the victim, and since they spoke little English, the victim was unable to enlist their assistance before they called PD. All charges have been dropped.” Greg was practically vibrating after giving his official statement.

Grissom was not about to let him suffer, so he gave him leave. “Okay, now that the official report is out of the way… How about the real story?”

“THANK YOU!!!” Greg was practically bubbling over with enthusiasm by that point. “So, looks like Hodges hired a pro to indulge in some jam-slash-leather-slash-bondage fetish he’s got. Paid her five hundred bucks to truss him up and pour the stuff all over him, and then some. I guess she laid out some ground rules before hand, about no funny business. Like THIS didn’t count?! Anyway, I guess he crossed the line and she totally bailed! But, she left him with his wallet and all his personals AND the keys to the cuffs!” Greg was laughing right along with everyone else at that point, so it took him a moment to recover long enough to finish. “Anyway, seems he could’ve reached the keys himself, IF he’d have been paying attention. Instead he waited there like a bonehead until housekeeping showed… Insult to injury, when Sofia got there, she called the locksmith, because she didn’t see the keys either! So, when Catherine and I got there we spotted them right when this great, big, burly locksmith guy got there. He wasn't exactly happy being called out that late. But when he found out he wasn't even needed, that’s when he really let loose. It was SO AWESOME to see that weeney get taken down a few pegs!”

Warrick chose that moment to make his own interjection, “Or at least down from the wall.” And his comment got their laughter going all the more.

They were just starting to get back to normal when someone poked their head in the room carrying a report. “Nick, they said this material was a rush…”

As soon as they heard the voice, the stifled laughter was too much for anyone not to notice. “Yeah, so you’ll ah, have it tomorrow.” And with that, Hodges quickly left the room, just as the laughter erupted again.

“Okay, on to business, please?” Grissom waited for the last vestiges of the laughter to die down. “It’s not a busy night, but looks to be a logistical nightmare.” Grissom was running his hand over his chin and Nick knew that signaled there was something frustrating him.

“Don’t worry, Gil…” Catherine held out her hand for the slip in his hands and said, “I’ll take the aggravated assault out near Nellis. That should put me far enough away from the Pike for everyone’s comfort.”

Grissom gave her the slip and looked at her from over the top of his glasses, “Thanks, Catherine…” He flipped through to the next slip and said, “Warrick, you’re going to have the B&E in Henderson. Sara and Nick, you’ve still got your case to work, and Greg…” The youngest member of the team looked up with hope. “You’re with me tonight.” Shrinking away from the thought, Grissom looked quite pleased at having changed the mood. “Suspicious circs at the Pike.” Grissom handed Greg the slip and got up from the table.

“Oh, and one more thing…” Once he was sure he had everyone’s attention he continued, “Let’s try to keep things on an even keel around here, please? I know there will be a great pull towards certain jokes and pranks being played, but we do still have to work together, so try your best, please.” Grissom turned and left the room with his last words.

With him safely out of the room, Sara took the initiative to say, “Well, he didn’t say we couldn’t do anything, right?” The evil glint in her eye was enough to make everyone start laughing again as they headed out for the night.

Warrick shook his head with a sly grin on his face and said, “Girl, you been spendin’ way too much time around Steph.”

Chapter 13

23:00 – 2006.12.07

CSI Morgue: Dr. O’Halloran’s Office

Nick was still beating his brains trying to get an angle on his case as he made his way down to the morgue. He was hoping he could go back over the body and find some different answers, but mostly he was just trying to delay the inevitable; having to meet with Dr. Desmaiseaux for another slam session.

Sara was still working on the videos and photos from the research team, and he had already seen more angles of that desert canyon than he had ever thought possible, so he went off in search of a different view. He thought that he might try to pick Stephanie’s brain about the body and maybe get her opinion about what to do in regards to the professor.

When he pushed through the doors of the morgue, he noticed that Stephanie was not working on a body at the time. As he thought about it, he realized it had been a slow week for DBs, and knowing Stephanie’s normal speed, he assumed she had finished with everything already.

He noticed some movement over in the office and made his way across the room when he heard her voice call out from the other side of the doorway. “If you’ve got a body, get out.”

Nick poked his head in and found her lying down on the couch with her arm thrown over her eyes and her legs hanging off the opposite arm of the small couch. He had to chuckle at the sight, which caused her to peek out from the crook of her arm. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Well, that’s the kinda greetin’ every man dreams of.” He stood in the doorway with his hands on his waist and smiled.

“Save it for the girls at the club, cowboy.” Her voice was filled with fatigue, and Nick grew a little concerned, since he had not heard her like that since her brush with death earlier that year.

As he looked around the office, the office he once had to process in a hazmat suit, a shiver ran down his spine. “Hey… You okay?”

She moved her arm off of her face and rubbed at her eyes over the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, I’m fine… Just not sleeping very well.” She gave him a weak grin and asked, “So, what did you need?”

“I don’t wanna bug you if you’re no-”

She dropped her feet to the floor and brought herself up into a sitting position as she cut him off, “Look, I’m here, you’re here, and you obviously need something. What’s up?”

“My DB from the desert…” Nick shifted a little uncomfortably in the doorway under her slightly aggravated gaze. “We keep running into dead ends, and I was thinking about maybe taking another look at the body… Maybe I mis-”

“Didn’t miss anything… And I just got the final report back from the copy service.” She was about to get up from the couch when Nick stopped her.

“I’ll get it, where is it?” Nick looked for his cue from her, but instead she stood up and went to her desk to retrieve the CSI copy of the report.

She turned and handed it to him, “Here.” Then she crossed in front of him and dropped back onto the couch.

He looked down at the report in his hands and away from her gaze when he mumbled, “I could’ve gotten that for you.”

“And I can get it for myself, too… You think I need you rummaging around on my desk?”

That was the last straw for Nick. “Sheesh! Do I have something tattooed on my forehead making everyone jump down my throat this week, or what?!”

Stephanie leaned back at his sudden outburst with a shocked expression on her face. “Whoa there, big fella… Who peed in your Post Toasties this morning?”

Nick cringed when he realized what he had done and squeezed his eyebrows together with his hand. “I’m sorry… I ju-”

“Why don’t you try explaining where the hell that came from, instead of some half-assed apology?” Nick looked at her with his mouth hanging open.

He was surprised at his snap at her, but her response had really shocked him.

“Have a seat and spill it… Obviously bottling it up isn’t helping.” She had a point, and with resignation playing over his face he grabbed one of the chairs and sat down.

“I really didn’t mean to jump on your case… It just seems like every time I turn around this week, someone is rippin’ me a new one and I can’t figure out exactly why.”

“Wouldn’t have anything to with your new friend, the professor, would it?” Nick was starting to think his thoughts were either transparent, or she was psychic. “And before you go thinking I have some great insight here… I heard about what happened at the field site.”

That was at least a little relief, because he thought Sara had probably told her about the incident. And then he got nervous, because that also meant she had probably told Grissom about it as well.

“Yeah, we had dinner with David and Sandi before shift, and she said it was not exactly a pleasant experience for all.”

Nick visibly relaxed at her explanation. However, his curiosity was getting the better of him and so he asked, “What did she have to say?”

“The highlights? Something about you almost being late, getting caught in a real blower and then…” She gave him one of those sarcastic looks and continued, “there was the part about you going caveman and throwing the Doc over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes.”

Nick groaned at her description of the incident and banged his head back against the wall. “Man!” He expelled a lung full of air and then said, “I don’t even know why I did it, ya know?”

“Male bravado?” Stephanie commented as she laid back down on the couch.

“Why would you say that?” Nick was genuinely curious as to her opinion of him and the situation.

“Because it’s who you are, I guess.” She threw her arm over her eyes again as she spoke.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He was beginning to think everyone he knew thought he was a sexist jackass.

“It means you have a different set of rules for different people.” She paused for a moment and tried to formulate the rest of her response. “Like with the report… You decided I must be ill, and since I’m a girl, you felt a need to look after me for some reason… I’m not ill and I have never bought into the delicate female myth. Maybe that works where you come from, but not me.”

“That’s so not fair! I have five older sisters, and there is no way I could have survived if I had been even a little sexist. And my mother’s a lawyer for cryin’ out loud.” Nick was getting riled up at the inference.

“Were you told to always get the door?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you taught to always take care of a woman?

“Of course.” Nick shrugged that one off like it meant nothing.

“Then by default, you think a woman can’t take care of herself in any situation.” Nick was shaking his head at her deduction of his beliefs. “Just give me a second to explain… My folks, they got married late in life, and my Mom had been on her own since she started college. She had to fight for everything she got and she made sure she had all the skills she needed to succeed in a man’s world. My Pop, he was orphaned as a kid, and spent his first years in a Catholic children’s home, until his sister was adopted by another family. When they found out she had a little brother, they took him home, too. His adopted mother was a business woman, and her husband had a private law practice that he operated out of their home. So, he grew up around not only a strong woman, but also a man willing to care for his children.” Nick thought about how Stephanie maneuvered through life and the difficult world of forensic pathology and he understood a lot more about her because of her family history.

“I was exposed to a family model that showed me the power a woman could wield and the caring nature of men. But at the same time, I saw that my father was also a powerful man, and my mother was just as caring. They were equals, and I never had to question that. I also never had to question who was in charge, or try to work one against the other, or which one cared about me more, or which one liked me more.” Stephanie hit on something that struck a nerve with Nick.

“So, who was the disciplinarian in your family?” Nick was using his own family model for parental roles.

“Disciplinarian?” Stephanie removed her arm and cast a puzzled glance at him.

“Ya know… When you got in trouble, who nailed you for it?” Nick was having trouble understanding why she was asking that question.

“In trouble? I don’t know that I ever really got in trouble… Well, not any real trouble anyway. But Uncle Gil was the one who usually had long talks with me when he’d find out I had been causing mischief at school.” Stephanie winked at him and then said, “Of course I was a pretty weird kid, and the only people who ever raised their voices to me were my teachers when I would question what they were saying… I was hell in Sunday school class.” Nick had to laugh at her joke, and it helped to lighten the mood a little.

“Maybe I should have come to your house to stay, then I wouldn’t be catchin’ so much hell right now just for actin’ like a gentleman.” Nick chuckled at his own joke, but when he looked at Stephanie she was not laughing.

“You think hauling someone off against their will is being a gentleman?” Nick was shocked at her question and he blushed when he realized the impact of what she had said. “No wonder you only date Barbie Dolls.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know… The sex pot-slash-brainless Betty Crocker types I’ve seen you with: all style and no substance.” Even lying down, Nick could tell she was shrugging off his question.

“C’mon… That’s not true.” Nick was shaking his head again.

“Let’s see, there was that flight attendant, the blackjack dealer, the nurse from the respiratory wing when I was in the hospital, that meter maid from traffic, the other nurse from God knows where… Was she really a nurse, or did she just have the clothes for some reason?” Her loaded question made Nick’s jaw drop in total shock. “And that’s just since I’ve been in town… I hear you had some more colorful dates before I got here.”

“Okay, obviously my personal life is everyone’s fodder around here.”

“Please, this building is worse than ‘Peyton Place,’ and you know it.” There was no argument for that one, and Nick knew it as well as anyone.

“Well, if I’m such a sexist asshole, then why do you even bother?” His tone was sharper than he had intended.

“Because you aren’t an asshole, you’re just deluded.” That gave Nick a chuckle, and so she continued, “Look, I don’t think you’re a bad guy, the whistle incident aside, I just think you’ve got some pretty outdated opinions about how women should be treated. And I think you date women who are not as keyed in to the feminist mind on purpose.”

With his head shaking again he had to ask, “I don’t understand that… What d’you mean?”

“Well, you date these bimbo types; not usually educated, no strong personalities, pretty on the outside and not much going on besides that. They’re never gonna threaten your motives, and they play into your condescension as a way to wiggle into your life, somehow.”

Nick could not help himself, he had only one thing to say, “Wow…”

“Sorry, man… I just call it like I see it.” She sat up on the couch again and then said, “I mean, it’s not like it makes you a bad guy, Nick… It just makes you a guy I would never have gotten to know if we didn’t work together, and because I did get to know you, I can see past those things that piss me off.”

Nick chuffed at her comment and remarked, “Sara said almost the same thing to me this week.”

Stephanie gave him a sly grin and said, “So, if two of the smartest women you know say something, don’t you think you should pay attention?”

Nick winked and then said, “Could just mean I work with a couple rabid feminists…” Nick got up to leave at his final remark and was glad to have at least ended his conversation with Stephanie on a friendly note. But he had a lot of things to think about.

Chapter 14

23:55 – 2006.12.07

CSI Lab: A/V Lab

“Aaaaaarrrgggghhh!”

Nick entered the A/V Lab with a sideways grin at hearing Sara’s verbalized frustration. “That bad?”

She turned quickly and fixed him with a steely glare. “Hey, don’t shoot the delivery boy.” Nick handed her a cup of coffee as he took the seat beside her.

Sara sniffed over the top of the cup and made a disgusted face. “Eww… No coffee for me.”

He reared back in amusement over her response and asked, “Since when?”

She shook her head and took a swig from her water bottle before answering. “Trying to cut down on the caffeine.” There was the faint trace of a smirk playing on her face as she answered him, but Nick decided he had enough on his plate to worry about without whatever it was she had going on.

“Whatever… It’s your funeral.” He pulled up to the terminal and leaned in close. “So, have we gotten anywhere?”

“We have been scanning video all night, while you have been shooting the breeze with Steph.” Her pursed smile let him know she was only kidding. “So, did she have anything new for us?”

“Just the final autopsy report.” He handed her the copy he had been given and watched as she started leafing through it. “She did determine that the exposure noted on the body couldn’t have been caused by the nights out in the desert. Her theory’s that the level of exposure is consistent with the high altitude exposure found with rogue skydivers from time to time.”

“Skydivers? Well, that would explain the material we found on the ridge.” Nick gave her a questioning glare and she explained, “Hodges was just in here… That material is most commonly used in drop suits.” She got a devilish look on her face, and then added, “And Hodges is allergic to strawberries, so you lost the pool.”

“Damn! I was countin’ on that one, too.” Nick shook his head in disgust, but he quickly moved back into the case. “So, I guess we have PD track down some leads at some area Skydiving schools?”

Sara shrugged and turned back to her video, “I’ve already got Vega calling around in the morning.”

Nick was frustrated at his lack of participation in the case and had to ask, “Is there anything I can do here, besides piss people off?”

She cast a sideways look at him and smiled when she replied, “Well, you’re not bad to look at.”

“Thanks, Sara… That’s a real big help.” He slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest in resignation.

“Okay…” Sara pushed back from the console and regarded him with an angry expression. “What the hell happened in the morgue to have you looking so morose now?”

“Nuthin… Not really.”

“Right.”

He shook his head and said, “It’s nothin’ really… Just that Steph said some things I wasn’t real happy about, but I can’t really say she was wrong either.” He looked up into her eyes and realized he was not getting out of there without spilling his guts. “She just seems to agree with the rest of the world that I’m a jackass.”

“’Cause you’re just such an unlikeable guy.” She made a noise that signaled her sarcasm and then added, “Please, Nick… No one has ever thought you were a jackass.”

“The professor?”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t count… She has her own issues, and she strikes me as one of those people that never takes the time to look past her first impressions anyway. You either meet her on her grounds right out of the gate, or she doesn’t waste the time.” Nick looked at Sara in complete shock and she noticed his expression. “What?”

Shaking his head to clear the fog, he answered, “I just thought you liked her.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t… I happen to think she’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, but that doesn’t mean she’s perfect by any stretch.” Sara shrugged off his disbelief as though it were nothing.

“So, what I did out there, you don’t have a problem with it?”

“Are you kidding? The Neanderthal approach is never my first choice.” He looked a little defeated at her response and she continued, “I know why you did it, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it, especially since we have to work with her. You’ve put us all in a bind because you decided she threatened your manhood.”

“Wait a minute… I did not think she was threatenin’ anything, except her own safety.”

“And you were qualified to make that decision, how? By virtue of your gender?”

“Ouch…” Nick tried to take the slam in stride, but it cut him deep. “Does everyone around here think I’m a sexist?”

“Haven’t we already had this conversation?” Sara was trying to figure out where he was going with the conversation and that was when it dawned on her. “Stephanie called you on it, too… Didn’t she?”

“Yeah… And somethin’ else about my datin’ preferences.” His shoulders were drooping down with his mood.

“You mean your Barbie Doll fetish?”

His eyes shot up and he jumped to his feat with his anger. “What? Are you two runnin’ some kind of tag team on me? What is this, slam Nick week?!”

“Whoa… Where the hell did that come from?” Sara was surprised at his display of anger.

He slammed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, trying to get a grip on his anger before he spoke again. “Sorry… It’s just… She used the exact same term when we were talkin’.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised… I bet we took the same gender studies class with Dr. Hainline at Berkeley.” Nick’s embarrassment flooded his face as she explained the commonality between the two women.

“Man… I never even thought about that. I’m sorry, Sara.”

“Don’t sweat it… I think everyone forgets that I had a life before CSI.” She chuckled at the notion, and Nick tried to join her, but he was still reeling from the fact that his friends saw these things in him.

“Look, no one thinks you’re a bad guy, Nick. I think most people just chalk it up as a cultural thing, and in some ways it is, I guess.” She laid a hand over his shoulder and tried to offer him some comfort. “But in the end, you don’t think any less of me just because I’m a woman. I just sometimes think you have three classifications for women: the ones you date, the ones you admire and the ones you pity.”

“Wow… That makes me sound like such a…”

“Guy?” Sara cast a sideways grin at him and he had to chuckle at her analysis. The laughter kept him from letting it sink in too deeply. There would be time for that later.

“Now, help me chart the progress and document the times so we can try to narrow the timeline down a little more. Archie’s already cut together a single video showing the body itself.” She nudged him a little with her shoulder and he smiled cautiously before nodding his head.

Chapter 17

08:55 – 2006.12.08

UNLV Administration Building: President’s Office

As Grissom walked into the austere furnishings of the UNLV President’s office he was greeted with the smiling face of the man’s secretary. “Dr. Grissom?”

He nodded and said, “Yes, I’m here for a nine o’clock appointment with Dr. Daeke.”

The woman smiled a little broader and said, “Of course, Dr. Daeke is expecting you. If you don’t mind taking a seat a moment, I’ll let him know you’ve arrived.”

Grissom nodded, but as she disappeared into the private office he remained standing. If she was just going to come right back out and get him, he was not about to sit down into the low-rise, leather sofa. And he was right, as she immediately returned to the outer office and motioned for him to go inside. He smiled and proceeded through the door.

He was greeted by the booming voice of the university’s president. “Dr. Grissom! I am so thrilled you were available for a meeting.”

The sprightly, older looking gentleman met him midway through the office with an enthusiastic handshake. “I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear that you were finally joining us in academia, Dr. Grissom.”

Grissom was hoping he still had an arm when the man was finished, because at the current rate he was likely to shake it off and start beating him with it at any moment. “Thank you, Dr. Dae-”

“Please, please… Call me Donald.” Grissom nodded and the man finally released his death grip from around his hand and gestured for him to take a seat.

Once Grissom was firmly seated, the older man had a question, “Is there anything I can get you, Dr. Grissom? Coffee, water, tea? Anything at all?”

“No, I’m just fine, thank you.” If there was one thing Gil Grissom detested, it was the ridiculous fawning that people in positions of authority perpetrated as they attempted to win a new prize. It was even worse now that he appeared to be the prize.

He listened patiently as the man droned on and on extolling the virtues of a life spent in academia and all the fine things the University of Nevada: Las Vegas had to offer him, but his mind was not truly focused on the obviously prepared speech. No, he was thinking about the rather emotional conversation he had with Sara about the offer he had received from the Jeffersonian a few months back. He thought about how he had to convince her that people were always trying to lure him away from field work, or to their own labs and that he had routinely turned down offers on a nearly monthly basis for numerous years.

And now, as he sat there pretending to listen to the university’s best pitch man sell him on a tenure within their system, he realized that for the first time in his career, in his life, that his reputation was a benefit, instead of a burden. He had worked long and hard, and sacrificed so much of his life and happiness to achieve this status, and now he was going to use it for all it was worth. He now had a reason to change his life. He had a purpose to his life that extended beyond science, and for the first time he was ready to place happiness over all other things. However, unlike most men reaching his station in life, it was not only his happiness he was concerned with, and for the first time in his life he was putting the needs and hopes and dreams of another over and above his own, gladly.

For all of his espoused brilliance, the man really was a slow learner, since it took him fifty years to finally figure out what made him happy. True, he had always found joy in the work, but it did not keep him warm at night, or chase the nightmares away, or fill him with such an empowering feeling of happiness just by staring into its eyes. No, he had found his key into the kingdom of lasting happiness, and it had come in the guise of a tall, lithe, brown-eyed beauty of a woman who loved him with all of her heart. And she made sitting there in that office listening to the overzealous administrator blathering on about the things he could do for UNLV and the things they could do for him worth every single excruciating second.

Eventually the man began to wind down, and Grissom’s attention turned outward again. “But I’ve rambled on long enough, Dr. Grissom… Please, tell me what we can do to convince you to head up our new forensic science graduate program?”

The side of his mouth turned up into half of a grin and said, “Before we go into that… May I ask how you heard I was leaving the lab?”

“Oh! Of course… I was in Washington for a conference and had lunch with an old pupil of mine, Dr. Goodwin from the Jeffersonian Institute. When I told him of our plans for a forensic science program, he of course wished to gloat about having acquired your talents for his organization’s work.” The man gave a woeful expression when he added, “Had we known you were considering a career change, I can assure you I would have been on your doorstep in a moment. May I ask what has changed your perspective?”

The smirk appeared on his face subconsciously as he answered, “My life, actually… I’m about to be married and it has been the impetus for a great many things of late. However, I’ve also grown disillusioned with the slightly skewed political nature forensic work has taken on in recent history, and I thought my knowledge would be better served helping to develop new techniques and perhaps in training a new breed of forensic scientists in the process.”

“And that was precisely the reasoning behind the development of a graduate program in forensics here at UNLV.” The man was practically beaming at having found a perfect segue way into his pitch again. “So, again I ask, what can we do to convince you to join us?”

Grissom took in a deep breath and pursed his lips into a contemplative gesture. “First, it would have to be a position of limited involvement at the administrative level. I am not an administrator.”

“Oh, but of course! What we are looking for is someone to develop this program, help it to grow, tend to its research and advise students along the way.” The man was becoming a little more excited than Grissom was comfortable with, but he continued with his requirements.

“I also would not be willing to walk away from my fellowship at the Jeffersonian.”

“Most certainly… It will be a great privilege for us to have one of their fellows on our staff as well.”

“And I would need a great deal of flexibility for my lecture and consultation schedule.”

“Absolutely! Having a touring member of our staff is an amazing recruiting tool.”

“If I were to house my lab here at the university, the school would have to fully fund it, and that includes any grant writing and administration of that lab. One of the main reasons I am leaving the crime lab is my distaste for administration.”

“We have the appropriate people for that type of thing, and you could conduct your experiments without ever having to worry about all of that.”

“But probably the most important, I would need complete and utter autonomy from the university system. That includes all research, curriculum and degree granting through this program… Nothing that I develop in this time will ever be the sole property of the university. I would, of course, grant the school rights of co-publication and full reference to the location of the work, but it still belongs to me.” Grissom knew his final condition would be the deal breaker for sure, so he fully expected the meeting to be over quickly at that point.

“Hmmm…” The man rubbed a finger over his temple as he worked through the specifics of Grissom’s terms. “It might take some coaxing from a few of the board members, but I honestly believe we could pull it off. If I can do it, will we have a deal?”

Grissom sat there in complete and utter shock. He never expected them to agree to even half of his demands, and here they were nearly resolved to each of those deciding factors. Grissom struggled to retain his composure and forced the only answer he could come up with. “I’ll, ah, have to discuss it with my better half before I can commit to anything, of course.”

The man rose from his seat and put his hand out for Grissom to take as he said, “Well, then I won’t keep you any longer…” Grissom stood and they shook hands with his parting words. “I’ll let you get home and I have a board meeting to put together.” He led Grissom to the door and then asked, “Now, you’ll let me know as soon as you and your bride have made a decision?”

“Yes, of course… And thank you for the consideration.”

“Oh, the pleasure has been all mine, Dr. Grissom… All mine.”

Chapter 18

16:00 – 2006.12.08

Willows/Brown Home

Catherine walked in through the garage door and was instantly knocked over with the aromas of a home cooked meal being prepared in her kitchen. She smiled when she realized that this was just one of the benefits of her new life. Before her mind could drift to those other benefits, she called out to alert the house’s other inhabitants of her return.

“I’m Home!” She dropped her purse and the DVD’s onto the counter as she yelled.

“You don’t have to yell.” Lindsey was suddenly standing right beside her and moving towards the stove.

Catherine was clutching her heart with her fright, “Jesus, Lindsey… Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

The teenager laughed at her mother’s reaction and then turned to pick up a spoon and stir the concoction on the stove. “Sorry, Mom… But it was kinda funny.”

“Yeah, a real laugh riot… You only took two years off my life. Hey, I thought you were gonna be at Steph’s today.”

“Yeah, me and Tiffany helped her with the dessert and then we bailed, because Steph wanted to get some sleep.” When Catherine leaned over her shoulder to get a look at what she was doing, Lindsey bumped into her with her hip.

Catherine swatted at her daughter, who seemed to be in a rare good mood. She was going to have to investigate that one further but first… “Where’s Warrick?”

Lindsey gestured over her shoulder with her chin towards the bedroom. “He wanted to jump in the shower before dinner.” She glanced down at her watch and then said, “Probably done by now… Mr. ‘It doesn’t take more than twenty minutes to take a shower, ever.’”

Catherine chuckled at her daughter’s jibe as she walked down the hall towards their bedroom. She was eternally grateful that her daughter had been so accepting and accommodating of Warrick’s addition to their little family. The only one who had balked at the relationship had been her father, but she understood that he would always be uncertain of her choices in men, given her track record. However, once he saw how happy she was, and how Warrick looked after “his girls” Sam had finally come around.

When she entered the bedroom, he was standing in the doorway to their bathroom toweling off his head. Bare feet and wearing only a pair of workout pants, she stopped for a moment to admire the view as she leaned against the wall next to the door and leered for a moment longer. For many years, that was the only view of paradise she had the privilege of seeing, and seeing it now reminded her of all that wasted time. As she studied the well sculpted lines of the muscles across his back, she involuntarily sighed at the vision, causing him to turn and notice her welcome presence.

“Hey, that was fast.” He smiled at her and the warmth of that small gesture touched her all the way to her core. Tossing the towel into the hamper he walked to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her before kissing her sweetly on the cheek. “No traffic?”

She returned the embrace, pulling him even closer so that she could feel the heat of his bare skin as it pressed into her. “Nah… I just used the lights and sirens.” He looked down at her with a disbelieving glare and she cracked a smile. “No… There wasn’t any traffic, but I took the side streets, too.”

He smiled at her admission and said, “Three times the mileage, half the time to get there. Ain’t that a shame?” He was shaking his head as he finished, then he turned her away from the closet she was beside, kissed her again (that time on the lips), winked and reached into the closet for a shirt.

She could have watched him dress, but decided the bed needed to be straightened up instead. As she was pulling the comforter back up to the head of the bed, she wondered how they had so quickly moved into such a comfortable and domestic relationship. She was leaning over into the middle of the king size bed, struggling to put the pillows into the right position, when she felt his hands close around her hips.

“Need a little help?”

When she turned around to see his expression, she had to laugh. “You keep that up, and it’ll ruin all this work I just did.” She stood back up and turned in his grasp so that she was facing him.

Before they could get any farther, there was someone else standing in the doorway, “Hey guys… Oh god… Can’t you at least wait until I leave?”

The looked at each other a moment longer and both of them mouthed, Teenagers.

“What did you need, Linds?” Catherine was the first to turn away and glare at her daughter.

“Just wanted to let you know Tiffany and her Mom are on their way, so I’m gonna bail on dinner, if that’s okay with you guys.” Catherine could see that Lindsey already had her backpack thrown over her shoulder.

She immediately turned to Warrick to find out what had changed about their quiet night. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender and said, “Sorry, I forgot… When they dropped her off this afternoon her Mom asked if Linds could spend the weekend with them out at the lake.”

“And I did my homework, except for some reading, but I’m taking that with me. Besides, Tiff and I are in the same English class and we were gonna get through it together, because we have a test on Monday.” Lindsey was practically begging by that point. “Plus, Warrick already told me that I can’t get into trouble, no boys without Mrs. Taylor around, and he has a friend with the park rangers so he’ll check in on me if he even THINKS I’m doing something wrong. Mom… He even called the guy this afternoon to tell him to watch out for me… Can you believe that?!” Lindsey was talking with the speed of light and Catherine struggled to keep up when they all heard the honking of a car horn.

Warrick used her confusion to leave her side and walk over to Lindsey as he grabbed his wallet off the nightstand. When he reached in to grab a couple of bills, Lindsey immediately tried to snag them from him, but he held it up and out of her reach. “Remember, this just is a loan against your allowance… So, don’t go gettin’ any bright ideas, Missy.”

He started to bring his hand down again, but when she reached for it he quickly raised it again, eliciting a standard teenage eye-roll for his efforts. “Okay, okay… Slave labor for a week, I get it.” She grabbed for the cash as soon as he brought it down within her reach and then she lurched at her mother to plant a quick kiss on her mother’s cheek. “Thanks Mom! Thanks ‘Rick!” She was halfway to the front door when she hollered back, “See ya Sunday night!”

Catherine was still in a state of shock at the scene she had just witnessed as Warrick leaned over to get an eye to eye look at her face. “Hey… You okay with this?”

Her mouth was hanging slightly agape when she finally came back to her senses. Shaking her head to clear away the last of the fog, she huffed and said, “I have no idea what just happened.” She looked up and saw apprehension on Warrick’s face and she had to admit that it only endeared him to her even more. “Did you just do what I think you did?”

“I went too far, huh?” He ran his hand over the side of his head and groaned. “I’m sorry, Cath, but the woman was there and I guess she thought I coul-”

Catherine reached up and put a finger over his lips to stop him from continuing. “Shhh…” She pressed her palms into his stomach and looked up into his eyes saying, “You did fine… Really.” Leaning her forehead into his chest she sighed and then said, “I’m just not used to having this, I guess.”

Warrick wrapped his heavy arms around her shoulders, pulling her in tightly and kissed the top of her head. “Having what?”

She smiled, turned her head to rest her cheek against his chest and sighed, “A partner?” They both chuckled at the statement within a question. “I’ve been doing this by myself for so long, Warrick… Even when Eddie and I were still together it was just me. So this…” She moved her hands over his chest, down his sides and wrapped her arms around his waist to hold him to her, “is all new to me.”

Slowly bringing his right hand across her back to her shoulder and then sliding it up her neck to her chin he pulled her gaze up to his. “Well, then I guess we both better get used to it, because I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

They would have stayed locked in the kiss that followed for some time, had the phone not started ringing. Catherine wound her arms up around his neck and said, “Let the machine get it.” And he smiled at her insinuation until they both heard Lindsey’s voice calling out from the answering machine.

“DON’T FORGET THE STOVE, YOU SEX MANIACS!”

Warrick squinted his eyes shut and grimaced as he turned away and went for the kitchen muttering, “Definitely your daughter.” Catherine was too busy falling back onto the bed in a fit of laughter as he trudged into the kitchen to say anything.

Chapter 19

19:30 – 2006.12.08

Grissom/Sidle Home

Consciousness was battering around inside his brain as he fought to stay asleep, but eventually Gil knew it was of no use when his bladder also started making its intentions known. As he painfully extricated himself from the soft and warm bed he noticed that there was not even a flicker of light coming through the window, which meant he at least got a decent amount of sleep for a change.

His mind was only vaguely aware of the actions of his body as he made his way into the bathroom without switching on a single light. Movement coming from pure instinct he made it through the motions and quickly dispensed with his most pressing physical needs.

Not even bothering to put on his robe and slippers, he shuffled out towards the kitchen in his pajamas and bare feet. The moment his feet came into contact with the cool, stone tile floor, Gil realized his error and had to fight the shiver that ran up his legs and into his back. That shiver managed to shake loose a yawn that overtook him and he had to rub his face with one hand to make the tingles go away.

That yawn had brought him fully into the land of the living and that was when he heard a soft, melancholy, acoustic melody wafting into the hallway from the living room. He stopped to try and identify it by the music, but then his ears picked up a wavering voice delivering the tender lyrics.

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
are drifting through my open mind
Possessing and caressing me.

A sleepy smile played over his face as he listened to the Beatles sing the chorus. He smiled, because he had not wanted to get the “Let It Be… Naked” album, for fear it would tarnish his beloved memories of their music. But, as was often the case, Sara had led the way and purchased it for his last birthday, promising him that he would not regret it. And as was also a frequent occurrence, she was right. The stripped down tracks, straight from the recording studio had revealed a much different album, and though he may not have appreciated it in his youth, it was fast becoming his favorite now.

The words were so much crisper in this alternate version, and he also enjoyed that fact that he could share this music with Sara. She had remarked that she had bought it for him, but it was also to replace the disk she had worn out in her car from overuse and the Nevada heat.

When the next verse began, his smile widened as he realized how true those words were to his life at that moment.

Sounds of laughter, shades of life
are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe.

Making his way to the couch, he found Sara engrossed in a journal and softly murmuring the words of the song to herself, lit only by a single lamp. She was leaning her back against the arm of the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest as she read, and she was completely oblivious to his entrance. Or so he thought.

As he leaned down over her head to lay a kiss there, she looked up and smiled. Completely taken over in the moment, he kissed those smiling lips through their combined smiles.

“Mmmmm…” She wriggled up her nose a bit and added, “Morning breath.”

In another life, he might have taken offense to her comment, but in this one he knew she was just giving him grief. She dropped her feet to the floor as she turned to look at him. “And still in your pajamas?”

“Yes,” he turned and trudged into the kitchen for his coffee. “There is an order that must be maintained.”

She giggled at his comment, and the way he moved across the cold floor in his bare feet. “And that order would be?”

“Bathroom, Sara, coffee,” he poured the cup of waiting coffee and started his way back to the couch with the cup to his lips as he tried to bring on the day. He sat down beside her, he put an arm over her shoulders and then continued, “Sara, food, Sara, shower, and…”

“So, that makes me the intermission attraction in this routine?” She cocked her eyebrow as she snuggled into his shoulder.

“No, you’re pretty much the attraction all the time… But the human body cannot live on Sara alone.” She lifted her face to his and gave him a stronger kiss than their first one of the day. When she finally pulled away, his face morphed into a devilish glint. “But I might be convinced to test that theory.” He was rewarded with her own salacious grin.

“I take it you slept well?”

“Almost didn’t want to wake up, but…” He held her to his side a little tighter and said, “it was a little chilly in there.”

“Wait a minute, you were the one battling me over turning the thermost-” She was stopped in her tirade by the look on his face telling her that he was not referring to the temperature of the room, so much as the temperature of their bed. “Oh.” She blushed furiously and he felt a warmth spreading through his chest. It delighted him that he could still cause the blush to rise into her cheeks with his words and looks. “Well, you haven’t been sleeping well all week, so I thought I would let you sleep today.”

“Which I appreciate, but we have so much left to do before tomorrow that you should’ve gotten me up before now.”

She shrugged him off and reached out for the forensics journal on the coffee table and then leaned her back into his side to continue reading. “I already did the shopping.”

“What?” He was shocked at her initiative, but he also wondered just how late she had let him sleep. Squinting at the clock on the VCR and seeing that it was half past seven, he was relieved to know he had not slept the entire day away, but that raised another question. “How long have you been awake?”

She glanced at her watch and shrugged again, “Since two… I had an appointment this afternoon and I did the shopping when I got done. Picked up your package from the post office, put the groceries away and then I went to the gym with Warrick. Got back here a little before six, took a shower, fixed something to eat and then parked it on the couch until you showed up.”

The warmth that had started to spread through his chest grew as he listened to her recount the events of her day. He had never imagined that domesticity would agree with him in such a way, but that was just one of the many beautiful things he had come to love about his life with Sara. He took another sip from his coffee when a thought entered his mind. “Package?”

She chuckled at the boyish tone of his voice that came out with this question. “Yeah, from Amazon, so I hope they finally got you your latest werewolf DJ book, so you’ll stop whining about it.”

“Hey! I ordered it a month ago, and it still hadn’t gotten here and I’ve been dying to know what happens next.” Before he realized it he was sitting on the couch with a ridiculous pout on his face and Sara was laughing at him.

He put the coffee cup down on the table and got up from the couch in a flurry, dropping Sara onto her back with a THWUMP. “Hey!”

He quickly shuffled over to the breakfast bar, but he did not see the package and he turned to her. “Where is it?”

She was belly laughing by that point and he walked quickly back to the couch, nearly stubbing his toes on the coffee table as he launched at her. “Where is it?!” His hands were tickling at her sides and she was thrashing around atop the couch and giggling madly, gasping for air.

“Gil, stop, please HAHAHAHAHAHA, no stop, HEHEHEHEHE, oh god stop! HAHAHAHA I GIVE! UNCLE!!!” He stood up from the couch and looked down to see she was completely flushed from the tickle torture, her breathing coming in heaving gasps. When she started to calm down and had still not given him the location of the package he brought his hands up in a menacing gesture. “Nonononono… It’s right here.” He watched as she retrieved a small, wrapped rectangle from between the cushions of the couch.

She yelped as he snatched it from her grasp and then ripped through the wrapping before dropping back onto the couch. Seeing the book, he knew it was the one he had been waiting on, but ever the detective he wondered how it had gotten wrapped, since he surely had not ordered it gift wrapped for himself. “Sara?”

“Look inside.” She smiled in that way that always made him feel like a melted puddle of goo and he turned to the first page of the book; nothing. “Keep going.” He turned the next one and found the title page, but this time he noticed some writing just above the author’s name. When he looked over at her again, she was holding his glasses in her hand. “Go ahead… Read it.”

He put the glasses on and looked down upon the title page. Hand written above the author’s name was the following inscription:

Gil-

You must be a big fan to have someone

go to so much trouble to get my signature.

Enjoy it in good health!

Her signature followed the inscription and he nearly ruined the whole thing when a tear fell down his cheek onto the page. Fortunately it landed below the signature and he was able to dab it up. When he looked up at her that time, she placed her hand on his cheek and smiled. “I hope you aren’t mad… But I cancelled that order on Amazon.”

“I don’t u…”

“When I was talking to Thomas about trying to find out if there were any signings, he called a friend from college. Turns out he works at that publisher’s office, and he called in a couple favors to get her to sign it.” He drew her up into his embrace, and after a while, she managed to choke out. “I guess this means I’m forgiven for canceling the order?”

Pulling back, he nodded his head and said, “Something like that.”

“Oh , and Stephanie says ‘thanks a lot’ for getting her hooked on ‘em now, too.”

He laughed at the thought of Stephanie reading anything about werewolves, since the girl had long held an unnatural fear of canines almost since birth. “Now, THAT is funny.”

“Yeah, Thomas said it was pretty ironic, what with her not even able to be in the same room with a tea cup poodle.” He could feel her chuckling into his neck as she nuzzled in his embrace. Resting his chin on top of her head, he was not ready for her sudden jerk away from him. “So, if the aforementioned schedule holds true to form, then you are in need of some food?”

Taken aback by the speed of her actions, it took him a moment to respond. “Ah, yeah… Yes, that would be the next thing on the list.”

She jumped up from the couch and started towards the kitchen. “So, what are you in the mood for?”

“Oh, well… I’m not sure I really want any-” His mouth stopped working the moment he looked up to find her standing at the edge of the kitchen holding a very familiar white box and a delightful smile playing across her face. “Well, now that you mention it… I could go for one of those muffins.”

“More coffee?” The look on her face told him this was going to be a very good day off.

“Yes, please.”

When she reached the couch she had the carafe of coffee and the box of muffins from their favorite European bakery. After she set them down on the coffee table, she had her back to him and he was unable to resist the temptation it offered. Pulling her back onto the couch and into his arms, she yelped in surprise, but it was quickly stifled by his passion filled kiss.

“Mmmm… According to the list, food was supposed to come before that.” Her smile beamed up at him and he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. Sara was the only woman ever able to cause that particular reaction in him and he loved her all the more for it.

“Yes, well, I’m trying not to be so stuffy… Someone told me I had too many routines.” He winked at her and she laughed at his playful expression.

They settled in for a pleasant breakfast, as they leaned into each other and read from their respective materials. It was one of those quiet moments that they both appeared to enjoy whenever they could. Sara would lean her back into his side, usually with her knees drawn up to her chest, sideways on the couch as she read. He had been surprised by what a voracious reader she was, going through one or two books a week, in addition to at least a dozen different professional journals and three newspapers. It seemed that she was determined to never be behind the curve when it came to current events or her field.

However, there were two things that shocked him about her reading materials. One was the fact that she had never stopped her interest in theoretical physics, as she routinely corresponded with her old professor at Berkeley about a series of equations he was still working on. Of course, he also remembered the day he thought he would stump her by giving her a mathematical problem involving the melting time of a pile ice shaved from a hockey rink. When she worked the entire thing out, in her head, as they were standing in front of the pile shocked silence was all he could offer. The other item that he found intriguing was her wealth of knowledge when it came to the realm of prose. She seemed to know many of the French poets he had long admired, and gave him the names of a few others. She knew all the classics and showed him the world of the American Romantic Poets, but especially Edna St. Vincent Millay. He had, of course, come across some of her work in the past, but when she took down the woman’s biography from her bookshelf he was shown the vast and decadent world of the arts in the United States during the twenties and thirties and the one woman who seemed to always be in the center of that world. When he began to read her poetry again, it held new meanings for him and became unbelievably powerful. It was just one of the many wonders they had shared with one another during the course of their relationship.

With the muffins eaten, and after he had drained the last of the coffee from the carafe, his mind began to drift to their week. Normally, they would spend their last waking moments at the start of their weekend decompressing from the week, but he was late getting home because of his meeting and Sara had been through a very long week, so she had simply fallen asleep the moment she got home. Unconsciously, as he thought about the week, he heaved a deep sigh.

Sara closed up the journal she was reading and tossed it onto to the coffee table. When she scooted down the couch and threw her legs over the arm, he looked down to find her head lying in his lap and lips pursing into that quirky smile of hers. He gave her a sideways grin and set his book down on the couch. “Yes?”

“Don’t give me that… You’re the one who gave the ‘let’s talk’ signal.” Her quirky smiled moved straight into a smirk as Gil bowed his head at her observation.

“Am I really that transparent?”

“Only for someone that can see through you… So, what would you like to talk about?” He smiled that time, and laid his left arm over her midsection as his right hand involuntarily moved to stroke her hair.

“Well, I had that meeting yesterday…”

“And?”

“They caved on every single item.” He delighted in seeing the surprised look on her face with his statement.

“Even the ownership stuff?!”

He tilted his head to side and shrugged, “Essentially… Though he did say he would have to convince the board of trustees on that point, but he was very positive it could be done.” He smiled to himself with the memory of his meeting.

“Wow! So, we wouldn’t have to keep all your critters at the house after all?!”

He chuffed at her conclusion, “Is that all you care about?”

“No, of course not.” She took his hand into hers and held it up as she laced her thin fingers through his meaty ones. It looked as though she was comparing the differences in them, turning his hand over to see it from all angles. “I was just hoping to keep work and home from being the same place, ya know.” She looked up at him with a smirk, “I kinda like having you all to myself when we’re at home.”

He could not help smiling back at her, and then pulled his hand up to take hers to his lips. “Then I guess it’s settled… If they agree to all the terms, then we take it?”

Sara quickly sat up and whirled around to face him as she asked, “Since when do I get to make those kinds of decisions?!”

He laughed at her shock and reached out for her left hand, bringing it to his lips once again. “Since you put that on.” He watched as the blush rose up on her face with his suggestion.

“Well then, in this case… I’m going to defer to your judgment.”

He gave her the raise of his eyebrow as he said, “That would be setting a dangerous precedent.”

She leaned forward and then ducked to the side of his face, saying, “Oh yeah,” before sucking his earlobe into her mouth for a moment.

The sensation was enough to make him realize he was in a lot of trouble in the future.

“Huh?” He was rewarded with her giggle in the same ear and then she pulled away with a smile on her face.

She got up off the couch and took the breakfast items off of the coffee table, walking towards the kitchen she called over her shoulder, “So, what all did they offer you?”

“Writing the graduate program curriculum, associate selection, office, fully funded laboratory, and lots of little minions to do my bidding… Pretty much the brass ring.” He realized he was actually pleased with himself over the whole situation. He was about to be an accredited fellow of the Jeffersonian, a tenured academic and a pure scientist. It was like heaven on earth for a man like he used to be. And the man he had become was happy that he could continue his work and still stay close to his family. It truly was the best of both worlds.

Hearing the water running in the kitchen snapped him out of his musings and he chuckled as he looked at his watch. “I think that has to be a record or something.”

She called out from the kitchen, “What?”

“You made it almost a whole hour before you had to put those dishes in the dishwasher.”

When she spun around to glare at him from the kitchen, he knew he had gotten her. “Hush you.”

He got to his feet, looked down, and realized he was still in his pajamas. “Shaking his head he thought, What would my mother say? That thought reminded him of something. “I forgot to tell you… I talked to my mother this morning, and she is not going to be here for two weeks, like she planned.”

“Why not?”

He walked towards the kitchen to stop the hollering through the expansive room. “She had forgotten about a gallery show that she had arranged for this month, and so she won’t be here until Christmas Eve.”

“That sucks… I was hoping she could look at a few of those neighborhoods we were thinking about.” He moved even closer, as he stood directly behind her at the counter. “Since we won’t have all the creepy crawlies around, we might actually be able to convince her to stay with us in the near future.” She rocked her hips and bumped into him with her backside to tease him a little further.

“I still don’t understand that one… I had them all when I was a boy and she never said a word.” Gil moved to the side as she nudged him out of the way while she wiped down the sink and counters.

“I’m sure there was more to it, Gil… I mean, it was probably quieter at Steph and Thomas’ place.”

His face turned into a question as he looked for the answer to that comment, “I don’t understand how that could be tr-” He stopped when he saw the raised eyebrow on her face and then it suddenly dawned on him. “Oh… Right, quieter.” His cheeks felt warm and he had to look down at the floor, which was when he remembered he was not only in his pajamas, but he his feet were bare. In response to being seen, his toes wiggled up into the air to greet him.

“So, how was your week?”

Sara shrugged and let out a sigh as she answered, “For me? It wasn’t so bad, but I’m a little worried about Nicky.”

“Yeah, I got the distinct impression that he had not smoothed things over with Dr. Desmaiseaux when I saw her this morning.”

“I didn’t know you were meeting with her, too.” Sara continued her tidying up as she spoke.

“Yeah, she’s about to publish a report that I’ve been keen on getting a look at, and she was kind enough to offer me a preview and a glimpse of her source data.” He scooted up to the top of the counter when she came at his feet with the Swiffer. “It’s fairly compelling stuff, in terms of its consequences to the field of entomology and anthropology. My colleague in D.C. told me about the work when I asked her about the good doctor.”

“Did she say anything about the scene with Nick?”

“No… In fact, there was a conspicuous lack of even mentioning his presence, even when she commented about you. Which, by the way, she was very impressed with you, my dear.” His smirk told her that he felt a certain amount of pride in that knowledge.

“Well, I am an impressive woman.” There was a dangerous glint in her eyes as she spoke.

“No arguments here.” He winked at her and she went back to cleaning the floor. “Anyway, she was going to take your report out to the site this weekend and go over it to see if she could shed some light on your primary.”

“Oh good… I forget to even ask Nick what she had said when he went back out there. I got so wrapped up in the maps and video last night.” Sara was removing the cleaning pad from the floor mop as she spoke.

“Well, hopefully she’ll have something for you on Monday.” Gil leaned back against the cabinet and thought about what he still had to do that week. “And since neither of us has brought it up yet… What do we have left to do for tomorrow?”

“Well, I’ve already cleaned up, Thomas and Carter are bringing over the table thing and the chairs, and I did the shopping this afternoon…” She looked around to see if it would give her any clues about any additional cleaning there, but she found none. “So, other than getting up early and cooking, the only thing left is to drop the bombs and hope to hell the nuclear winter doesn’t take too long… Oh! And you need to go get the dry cleaning… I didn’t get to that today.”

He laughed and shook his head at the jumble of details she had offered up to him. “So, you left me the easy stuff?”

“Hey, I’ve already had to traipse around the desert and break it to Nick that he’s a sexist and a bimbo junkie, I think the least you can do is handle the rest.” She sank back into the door of the fridge with her last statement.

“Well, it was about time someone did.” Sara shrugged at his offhand comment. “I just can’t believe no one has really called him on it before.”

“Steph, but that’s just how she is, I guess.”

“True, but he still managed to charm his way out of that one, mostly.” Gil shook his head in disgust. “I suppose I can’t really fault him, it was the way he was brought up, and he doesn’t do anything overtly sexist with malice, but I can see where someone like Dr. Desmaiseaux would bristle at his behaviors. And though he has come a long way, he still has some work to do if he’s going to get away from his past.”

The smirk on Sara’s face as she shook her head intrigued him. “What’s that about?”

“Oh nothing… I was just thinking, how bizarre it is that we both think so much of Nick, even with his faults.”

“It is the mark of true friendship… Otherwise, you’d have given up on me a long time ago.” The corners of her mouth turned up at his remark and he had to look down at his dangling, bare feet to break the trance. “So…” He hopped down from the counter, “Since I have to get the dry cleaning, I suppose I should put on something other than pajamas, and perhaps take a shower.”

“That might be a good idea.”

As he was about to pass her on his way out of the kitchen, he leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. Walking away, he glanced at the calendar on the side of the fridge and noted the date which reminded him of something. “Do you need me to pick up your prescription when I grab the dry cleaning?”

Sara had already moved on to tidying the dining room when she asked, “What prescription?”

He stopped his path down the hall and turned to respond, “Well, the drugstore is right next to the cleaners and since Sunday will be the tenth, don’t you need your monthly refill.”

Sara regarded him with scrunched up eyebrows. “I’m lost. I don’t have a prescription due.”

“Sara… Your birth control?” He was a little agitated that she had somehow forgotten.

“OH!” She had a funny look on her face, and then screwed up her smile when she said, “I thought I told you… I had an appointment this afternoon.”

He felt slightly embarrassed by her answer, knowing that he had obviously not been paying enough attention to her when he woke up. “I’m sorry… So, you have something else? Did you tell me you were switching?”

She reached for a small bag that had been sitting on top of the refrigerator and placed it behind her back as she sauntered over to him with a salacious expression over her face. “Well, actually, I think you were the one who’s been suggesting the change.”

“Okay, now I am confused, because I honestly do not recall-” He stopped talking when she reached him at the entrance to the hallway, and raised her eyebrow as she brought the paper bag to the front to hand it to him.

He held it a moment, almost afraid to look inside, but he had no idea why. She smiled and said, “Though, I may have to go back to the store, since your mother isn’t going to be here as long.” That comment sent his curiosity soaring well over his apprehension and he opened the bag to view the contents.

Not being able to believe his eyes, he blinked twice, and then looked back up into Sara’s waiting gaze. She tipped her head down to peer inside the bag and then looked back into his eyes. Gil shook his head and asked, “I don’t understand… Are you okay?”

She smiled brightly and it looked like she was trying to stifle a giggle. “Oh yeah, perfectly fine: head to toe.” When his face began to wrinkle up with his lack of understanding she finally burst with a laugh. “Oh, don’t worry so much, the doctor said we only had to do that for a month or so, until all the other stuff works its way out of my system.”

He reached into the bag and pulled out one of the boxes of condoms and said, “So, why these?”

Sara gave him a look of obviously mock surprise and said, “Oh, I’m sorry… I thought you were the one who wanted to start this thing… But if you’ve changed your mind, I can just stay on the pill and we’ll forget all about kids.” Sara grabbed the bag away from him with a devilish grin on her face and turned as she pretended to walk away.

His mind exploded with understanding in that instant and he grabbed for her and the bag, at the same time. “Oh, no you don’t!” He had her wrapped into his arms as she was laughing and smiling so brightly he thought there was a sun in his grasp. Turning her around, he was so overcome with joy he was incapable of speech in that moment. This was just the thing that was going to make the next day worth it all. His future was now as bright as the smile he was attempting to kiss off her face, and he knew his routine was completely shot for the day as they staggered back to the bedroom.

Chapter 20

23:30 – 2006.12.08

Willow/Brown Home

The soft music of the DVD menu had cycled through at least a dozen rotations by the time Catherine stirred from where she had snuggled under his arm as they got comfortable on the couch for the movie. When she lifted her head, she heard Warrick’s sharp intake of breath as he too woke up from their obvious nap.

Laughing, Catherine laid her cheek back down on his chest. “What an exciting pair we make?!”

Warrick stretched his arms up over his head and let out a huge yawn. “Arrrrrrhhhhhhh… Man.” He blinked his eyes a few times, lowered his arms to rest around Catherine’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “I think it had more to do with the movie… I know it was supposed to be a great film, Babe, but it’s a little slow.”

She chuckled a little and looked up at his face. “Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t take movie recommendations from Sara, huh?”

His laughter reverberated through his chest and tickled the side of her where it rest against him. “Outside of the occasional music recommendation, Sara is not the source for anything in the realm of pop culture.”

Catherine slapped lightly at his chest as she got up from the couch. “Not nice… True, but not nice.”

He grabbed for the remote and ejected the DVD as he sat up and tried to stretch out his back a little more. “So, do we chance another movie… Or did you ask Grissom to recommend something?”

“Ha! You only ask for Gil’s advice on the four B’s.” Catherine walked around the couch with their glasses and went to the kitchen.

Warrick’s face betrayed his confusion, and so he had to ask, “The four B’s?”

She came back out of the kitchen with a bottle of beer in each hand. “Yeah… Bugs, bodies, baseball and Bach.” They both broke out into a hearty round of laughter at the truth of her words.

As she sat back down on the couch, she did so by sitting with her knees butterflied and her ankles crossed. The two took long draws off of their respective bottles and settled down from their laughter. Warrick was the first to break the new silence. “So, what did you weasel out of Grissom about this party tomorrow?”

Catherine nearly choked as she tried to finish swallowing her drink, and Warrick knew he had struck a nerve, so he just waited for her to recover. “Ah, what do you mean?”

“Oh please… Like I don’t know you went straight to his office and beat him down until he spilled the beans.” Warrick shrugged off her attempt at playing down her interaction with Grissom. “So, what’s going on, and should I be worried about those rumors that’ve been flyin’ around about Ecklie.”

“Well, I don’t know what would constitute worry for you, but…” She took another drink from the bottle and then turned around on the couch, dropping her feet to the carpet before she was able to finish the sentence. When she sensed his glare set firmly into her profile she finally broke. “Okay, okay… Yes, Ecklie’s being made the head of ID.”

“Damn!” Warrick shook his head at the notion that someone with no talent, no loyalty and no spine could succeed in the ranks of the police department, an organization that thrives on those qualities. “So… Grissom’s gonna be the AD?” He watched as she stiffened with his question, and he had to wonder why.

He did not have long to wonder. “Well… Not exactly.” She glanced over at him and saw the confusion and curiosity on his face. She took in a deep breath and made ready to drop a bomb of her own. “Gil sort of recommended me for the job.”

His eyes went impossibly wide with her statement and it was his turn to nearly choke, just on his own tongue. “What?!”

“And for some reason, he’s pretty sure they’re gonna take his recommendation.”

“Wow…I mean… Ah…” Catherine was becoming unsettled by his shocked response to her news.

She turned to face him again, tucking her foot under the leg sitting along the outside of the couch. “What? I need to know what you think about this.”

Warrick heaved a deep breath as he processed the information he had been given. “Well, if you think you’re ready, I think you should take it… Sounds like Grissom’s confident in you.”

Catherine jumped at his positive remark and launched into her reasoning behind her interest in the job. “It’s totally different from being a supervisor, and it would be doing the things I was actually good at when I ran my own shift, and I could give a new face to CSI, really step things up and help bring us out of the basement in the rankings, and-” His laughter stopped her roll and she regarded him with a hurt expression. “What?”

He worked to stifle his laughter and then reached out for her hand. “I’m sorry… It’s just you were so excited, and it kind of reminded me of somebody else.” She scrunched up her face trying to figure out what he was talking about when he laughed again and said, “Yeah, that one, too… Almost the same height, same bright blue eyes, blonde hair-” His description went unfinished when she slapped his arm and brought her lower lip out in a pout.

He reached over and took the bottle from her hands and placed it with his on the end table. He turned back to her and wrapped her up into his arms before he said, “Look, I’m sorry… This is serious, but it was kind of cute to see you so excited about something, and I was pretty sure I saw a side of you that hasn’t peeked out in a long time.” She calmed at his explanation and settled into his embrace as he continued, “I guess I’m just sad to see it all end, the team’s gettin’ busted up again.”

Catherine shrugged, because while she knew he enjoyed working with their team, she was the only one leaving. “Come on, Baby, it’s just me… It’s not like the rest of the-” She stopped when she felt him tense at her explanation. She sat up and looked him dead in the eye when she asked, “What? What’s going on?”

He looked down, away from her penetrating glare, and tried to form the words. He knew there was more to the whole thing than even Catherine was aware of, and he was the one who was going to have to break it to her. “Well… Ah, I um, had some lunch with ah, Sara and Steph this week and ah.” He looked up and when their eyes met, he knew he had to come clean. “Sara’s gonna be movin’ to Days come the first of the year.”

Her reaction was instantaneous. “You’re fucking kidding me?!” When she saw her answer on his face she could not help but shake her head. “That little cockroach! Scurrying around in the dark, giving me half the story like that. I’m gonna kill him!”

Warrick smirked at her response and said, “Somehow, I don’t think that would help.”

“Yeah, well I’m still gonna give him a piece of my mind about this tomorrow.” She reached over him to retrieve her beer and sat back on the couch to enjoy it as she took the last drink.

Warrick watched as she drained the bottle of the last drop, with her long neck exposed as she drank. It amazed him many times at the different things that would catch his gaze. When he finally looked away, he found her staring at him with a dangerous smile. He blushed at being caught in the act, which only gave liberation to her laughter.

His blush deepened and she finally took pity on the man when she leaned in to drop the bottle back on the table with her hand planted in his chest. Lifting back to look at him once more, she found his emerald eyes sparkling with something she had become intimately familiar with in the last months. She smirked and asked, “Should I be worried you orchestrated this little weekend trip of Lindsey’s with an ulterior motive?”

“Worried? Nah…” His right hand began to trail up her thigh slowly when he practically growled the words, “Just a very nice side effect.”

Chapter 21

18:15 – 2006.12.09

Grissom/Sidle Home

“Okay, Uncle Gil… Table’s all set up.” Thomas and Carter stood back from the newly assembled great table and waited for the man to come out of the kitchen to inspect their work.

Wiping his hands on the towel draped over his shoulder, Gil strolled into the dining area after being called. “Looks good. Thanks for doing this guys.”

“Anytime, Dr. Grissom, anytime.” Carter patted his friend’s shoulder and started for the door as he nodded at the older man.

Thomas called down the hall, “Hey Steph!”

She and Sara came walking down the hall as she said, “Oh, quit your yellin’.” She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. “You need to go home and get cleaned up.”

He chuckled at her comment. “I was just about to say the same thing… Come on, let’s go.” He took her hand and tried to tuck her arm under his to lead her out.

She brought his hand up to her lips, kissed it and then let it go. “Nah, I’m gonna stay here and help Sara finish getting ready.”

Sara watched the two as she crossed into the kitchen and brushed past Gil. It looked to her like a dance, the way the two younger people interacted. The careful smile and the little nod she got from Gil told her that he saw it, too.

They were speaking with low voices as Gil turned and came back into the kitchen. Putting a hand on the small of Sara’s back, he got her attention to whisper, “Know anything about that?”

She quietly shrugged, glancing over her shoulder to catch sight of them once more and shrugged, “Maybe.” She was rewarded with his screwed up, sideways smirk and a near chuckle.

When Stephanie finally joined them in the kitchen she found the two with a matching pair of conspiratorial smirks. “I don’t even want to know… Just gimme the plates.” Gil feigned a hurt expression and Sara simply handed the woman a stack of plates, while she took the other one.

As they worked setting the table, Sara accidentally bumped into Stephanie and she noticed her wobbling a little. “You okay?”

Stephanie cast a searching look to see where her uncle was before she turned back to Sara and sighed as she answered. “I’m fine, really… Just trying to get over this stomach thing.”

Sara pursed her lips and as she walked passed Stephanie into the kitchen, but she left her with something to think about, “So, from bad food, to not sleeping, to a stomach thing… But it’s nothing, right?” Sara could hear the younger woman gasp as she walked away.

Returning with the silverware, Sara found Stephanie with her hands planted firmly into the table. “You’re as bad as my mother.”

It was Sara’s turn to gasp that time. “Bite your tongue.”

Chuckling Stephanie felt compelled to explain, “No… I mean about the not being able to get anything passed you.”

Sara scrunched up her face and asked, “You know what I do for a living, right?” She watched as Stephanie hung her head at the question. “So, you wanna spill it now, or wait a little longer?”

Stephanie’s expression changed into an impish glare and she said, “You’re the investigator… You figure it out.” The younger woman thought she could string her along a little longer, but when her uncle came up behind them, she was proven wrong.

He stopped beside her and looked up and down before he shrugged at Sara. “Before long, everyone’ll have it figured out.” Sara laughed at the shocked expression on Stephanie’s face as Gil walked away from them, and then he called over his shoulder from the hallway, “Listen for the timer on the oven, please… The buns are still in there.”

Sara enjoyed the stunned expression on Stephanie’s face a while longer as she finished setting the table for their big dinner. Stephanie was only able to break herself from the shocked stupor by the sound of the doorbell. “Ah, do you ah, want me to get that?”

Laughing at her obvious discomfort at having been found out, Sara cut her a break, looked down at her watch and answered, “Yeah, go ahead… Probably just Warrick and Cath… Gil wanted them to come by early.”

Stephanie looked back at the woman as she asked, “You mean he hasn’t told them anything either?”

“Only a couple pieces…” The doorbell sounded again, along with some impatient knocking. “The major bomb is happening as soon you answer that door.” Stephanie’s pace picked up.

Sara’s suspicions were confirmed the moment the door was opened as she heard Catherine’s exasperated voice, “About time! I was gettin’ ready to knock it down.”

By the time Catherine emerged from the hallway, Sara was laughing at the whole situation. “I’m glad you think this is funny… I’m about to lose my mind over all this.” She turned back to see why Warrick was tapping her shoulder, only to find him asking for her coat. After she handed him the coat she was ready for war. “Now, where’s Grissom?” Her hands were planted firmly on her hips and the battle was on.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Catherine.” Gil had emerged from the back of the house at her flamboyant entrance.

“Uncle Gil, you might as well tell the wind not to blow.” Stephanie’s sarcastic remark earned her a steely glare as she passed Catherine on her way to the kitchen.

Gil shook his head at his goddaughter’s sense of humor, but he had business to deal with, so he motioned for Catherine and Warrick to walk with him to his office. “Could I speak with you both for a moment?”

Catherine stomped forward and said, “There better be some explaining in that speaking.” Warrick followed quickly behind her and just shook his head. They may not have been a couple for very long, but he had known Catherine more than long enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. No one survived for very long without learning that all important lesson.

As Gil followed them into his office, he shut the door behind him and then gestured for each of them to take seats. Instead of sitting in his normal seat, Gil simply sat on the top of his desk, facing the pair. He took a deep breath and blew it out sharply before he started to speak. “Between the two of you, you know more about what’s happening tonight than most everyone else; Sara and Stephanie obviously have other information.”

“Obviously,” was Catherine’s only response, as her jaw was already set. Warrick only sat in silence, fearing what was to come.

“I spoke with Undersheriff McKeen yesterday morning, and he is certain that my recommendation has been approved. They wanted to get that through before Ecklie’s promotion, to be certain of impartiality. Well, that’s what McKeen wanted, anyway.” Gil turned his focus on Warrick, “Warrick, I hope you understand that I spoke with McKeen about your relationship as part of my recommendation. By making it a pre-existing condition, neither he, nor Sheriff Burdick could find any issue with it, so please don’t worry about it. It would appear that in that respect, Sara and I may have cleared the way for such things.”

“Thanks, Gris… I was a little worried that it would-” Warrick looked from Grissom to Catherine with relief in his eyes. “Well, that it would keep them from choosing Cath for the job.” Catherine took his hand in a gesture of reassurance.

“Not an issue… Of course, they were also in something of a bind when I not only refused the position, but-” Gil paused for a moment while he prepared for the real bomb. “But with me leaving, they really didn’t have a choice.”

In unison, they both exclaimed, “WHAT?!”

Outside the office, in the dining area, Stephanie and Sara chuckled as Sara remarked, “Well, at least there wasn’t any swearing.”

“It’s Cath, there will be swearing… Just as soon as the air makes it back into her lungs.” With that they both had to struggle to stifle their fit of laughter.

Gil waited for his ears to stop ringing from the voluminous burst of sound and then attempted to continue. “I should explain a little more.”

“You damn well better, Mister!” Gil smirked at her response, knowing that it was probably the mildest thing she had been thinking at that moment.

“I am quite certain you’ve been aware of how unhappy I have been with the situation at the lab, as of late. I am a man without a politic bone in my body, and it seems to me that the lab and the department as a whole, has become rife with politics.” His deep sigh let them know that he was being totally honest with them. “I am a scientist, Catherine, and while working in the crime lab environment was once a perfect field laboratory for my theories and experiments, it has become a place I dread with every fiber of my being. I know you’ve seen it Catherine.” He waited for a response from her and it was received in the resigned nod of her lowered gaze. “I have worked very hard my entire career, only to find myself at a crossroads in the practical field that I simply could not subject myself to; stagnate or move to administration. As you are both well aware, I am no administrator, and I was barely a supervisor.”

Warrick chuckled a bit at his analysis of his own limitations, “You are a great teacher, Grissom, but I could tell the other stuff was really gettin’ to you lately.”

“Yes, it has… And it doesn’t have to. Like I said, I have worked very hard throughout my career and now I find myself in a position to dictate my employment, to a certain degree. Also, I have other things in my life now, besides my work.” They both looked at each other and smiled, realizing the man had finally figured it all out. “As a result, when I simply mentioned to a colleague that I might be looking elsewhere, I had a rather prestigious offer dropped into my lap. And then apparently the word got out, because I’ve had other offers since then.”

“Do you mind my asking what offers?” Catherine was curious, but mostly she was afraid that she would be losing her friend to some faraway place.

“I have accepted a position with the Jeffersonian as their at-large entomological fellow. It means I can live wherever I choose, and that I will be granted a great deal of time and some resources for my research.” He was practically beaming as he revealed the information to his friends, and Catherine decided in that moment that any reservations she might have were inconsequential in comparison to seeing her friend so captivated by the notion of his new life.

“That’s amazing, Gris… How’d you come about that?” Warrick was smiling brightly, in response to the man’s revelation.

“A colleague, a former student actually, works there and has been after me for some time to make the switch. When she heard I was beginning to look at options, she immediately informed the director of the chance to, as she said, ‘grab me up before anyone else had a chance.’” Grissom was smiling to himself at the recollection.

Catherine’s face immediately went white when a realization passed through her mind. “When does this take affect?”

“My position at the Jeffersonian begins in February, but my ‘vacation’ starts the first of January.” There was something in his tone that worried Catherine even more.

“You mean your honeymoon, right?” She eyed him with a suspicious glare and Warrick’s attention was suddenly riveted by the inference.

“No, I have three months of vacation time built up, and I am using it.” He paused, trying to gauge their states of mind before he launched into the next phase of his tale. “At least, that’s what I told McKeen and Burdick.”

“Oh no… You aren’t-” Catherine’s breath caught in her throat with his cryptic explanation.

“I’m afraid it was the only way I could insure a successor for the graveyard supervisor position, what with you going into the assistant director’s chair. It’s already been arranged… Warrick will be the acting shift supervisor during my extended vacation. That is, if you want the job?” Grissom waited for a reaction from the younger man, but all he saw was the color completely drained from his face.

Catherine reached over and put her hand over his forearm, hoping to bring him back into reality, or at least check for a pulse. “Warrick? Are you okay?”

“You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me?!” His outburst was unexpected, especially coming from him.

“Wow! I really didn’t think ‘Rick would be the first to drop the F-Bomb.” Then Stephanie nodded her head and winked at Sara, “Been around Catherine too long.” Their laughter was incapable of being stifled that time.

Warrick held up his hands, Catherine was thrown back in her chair from the shock and Grissom was blinking back from the surprise outburst. “Sorry, but what the hell are you doin’, Grissom?!”

“Here’s the deal, if they thought I was leaving right now, they would look for a shift supervisor from outside sources. By telling them that I am taking an extended vacation, I can name my own acting shift supervisor, and by the time I turn in my official resignation, you will have proven to them your ability to handle the job, and they will have no choice but to make the position permanent.” He looked to Catherine for confirmation of his logic and she gave him a slight nod, “I’m sure Catherine would agree… And besides, it would also take the burden off of her, having to recommend you for the position herself, and thereby giving Ecklie ammunition to threaten both of your positions. This was the only way I could arrange it so that everyone wins.”

Catherine took Warrick’s hand and squeezed, “He’s right… Any other way would give Ecklie too much sway over the decision. This way, the shift doesn’t suffer, and neither of us is put into an awkward position down the road.”

Warrick first looked at Catherine, and found encouragement in her eyes, then he looked to Grissom and had to ask a tough question. “But what about Sara? I mean, she and I are at the same level and-”

“Warrick… Sara doesn’t want it. Well, not yet anyway… And we both agreed you were the best CSI for the job. I’m sure Catherine feels the same way, and I know Brass does. He’s the only other person aware of all that’s going on, as he’s the one that enlisted McKeen’s assistance in this whole thing.” Grissom noticed that Catherine’s face had just lost all color, and he knew what to say. “Don’t worry, he only knows about the slipping past of you into the assistant director position, and choosing Warrick as the interim, so that we can groom him for future success. You see, the regular swing supervisor is getting close to retirement. McKeen is big on promoting from within, so he was all for the notion of getting Warrick ready for more responsibility in the future. He just doesn’t know how soon that future will arrive.”

“So, you are planning to tell the whole shift about this tonight?” Catherine was always one to get to the point.

“I am, as long as Warrick says yes.” Grissom regarded him with a raised eyebrow.

Warrick blinked a few times, took in a lungful of air and said, “You make it hard for a guy to say no, Grissom… I just hope I can live up to your expectations.” Grissom extended a hand to the younger man in congratulations.

“You always have, Warrick.” Seeing his mentor’s broad smile gave Warrick’s heart a warm and abiding respect for the man.

The quick knock on the office door was quickly followed by it cracking open on the face of the grizzled, veteran detective. “Hey… I just wanted to be the first to congratulate the new bosses.” Catherine smiled at his entrance and immediately stood up to greet him.

“Jim!” Catherine embraced the man as he stepped inside the room. “I can’t believe you didn’t spill this one!”

“Hey, I gotta reputation to protect… Besides, I knew it would be a helluva lot more fun this way.” He kissed the woman on the cheek and then held out his hand in congratulation to Warrick. “I’m just sorry I didn’t get here sooner, so I could see the looks on your faces when the bugman dropped the bomb.” He shrugged and then added, “Oh well, at least I’ll be able to watch Sanders have his stroke.” When their laughter filtered out into the dining area, they quickly found the door crowded with the house’s other two inhabitants.

Looking over the top of Jim’s head, Stephanie queried, “Well, I don’t see any blood splatter… So, am I to assume everyone survived unscathed?”

Grissom got up from his desk and motioned the others to move, “All’s well, for the moment… Now move it so I can check on my dinner.” As if on cue, the buzzer went off, signaling a need for the cook’s attention. “Come on, out of the way, please?”

They all filed out into the main living area as Grissom made a beeline for the kitchen, with Sara fast on his heels. The guests decided to take the time to congregate in the living room and take their leave to sit down for a little while.

Jim was the first to break the companionable silence with a question for Stephanie, “So, where’s that no-good husband of yours, Missy?”

Stephanie sat in the overstuffed chair, propped her feet up on the ottoman and said, “He and Carter spent an hour putting the table together and he was kind of gross, so I made Carter take him to the house to hose him off.”

The older man shot back with, “Do you need a ladder for that or-”

She winked and lobbed it right back, “Special attachments for the hose… Best thing for cleaning that pesky undercarriage.”

“Ohhhhh… I didn’t need to know that.” Jim was wincing from the mental images her joke had created as Sara came into the living room.

“I think Steph’s middle name should be TMI.” Sara came to sit on the arm of the chair, right next to Stephanie.

The voice called from the kitchen, “Just be glad she’s finally developed a filter.”

“My God… You mean she used to be worse?!” Catherine was having a hard time believing that one.

“Oh come on… I wasn’t that bad.” Stephanie crossed her arms over her chest and was wearing a pout as Gil came walking into the living room.

“Oh really…” Gil tilted his head forward and raised his brow as he asked, “So, who was that little girl that asked our cooking instructor if she was going to try and suck on her uncle’s tongue after class again?”

“Hey! I was only nine… And besides, you were the one who’d explained French kissing to me after I walked in on you with that Biology profes-” Stephanie held a hand up to her mouth as soon as she saw her uncle’s pained expression and realized what she had just done. “Ooops?”

Gil was turning several shades of red as the howls of laughter erupted. He turned back for the kitchen with Stephanie calling out, “Sorry, Uncle Gil.”

Before anything else could be said the sound of the doorbell rang through the house. Stephanie had her head in her hands and was deeply regretful for her slip, but Sara put a hand on the younger woman’s shoulder to reassure her as she stood up. “Don’t worry about it, kid… He’s got more important things to worry about right now.” Sara walked away from the mortified younger woman as the others gathered around her enjoyed another round of hearty laughter at her expense.

When Sara re-entered she was busy scolding Thomas for ringing the bell and making her get up, “Seriously, we all knew you were coming back, and it’s not like you aren’t welcome.”

“I know, I know… But I’m not interested in surprising the one couple capable of knocking me off and hiding the body where no one would ever find it again.” Thomas nodded to the others in the room as he took his seat beside Stephanie on the arm of the chair.

Catherine raised an eyebrow and asked, “The one couple?”

Stephanie chose that moment to come out of her embarrassment to comment, “Yeah, you’d never get away with it… It would involve not gloating about it.”

Jim and Warrick both reeled back from the cut, while Sara struggled to hold back her own laughter and Catherine’s face showed her shock at having been bested. Shaking his head, Jim had to add, “The kid’s got a point, Cath.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As everyone began to slowly trickle into their home Gil’s sense of dread began to rise. He was making the last of his dinner preparations when Sara came up beside him and nudged him slightly to get his attention.

“Are you doin’ okay?”

He sucked in a lungful of air and blew it out quickly before saying, “As well as can be expected… Though, I really do wish we could just send them a memo or something.”

She smirked at his little joke and slightly bumped him with her hip when she said, “Not if you want to enjoy a long life with me.”

He smirked as he put the last item into the serving bowl and said, “Then I guess it’s settled… Brutal humiliation tonight, lifetime with you.”

She picked up the last bowl and turned for the table when she added, “Good choice.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dinner was well underway with polite and friendly conversation passing between everyone assembled there. Doc Robbins was regaling Greg with tales of his time in a big city ER and some of his most bizarre cases as his wife Judy conversed with Catherine about the trouble with teenage daughters. Warrick was spouting NCAA basketball statistics with Nick as they discussed their Final four predictions with Stephanie. Thomas was deeply engrossed with Sandi’s tales of trial and tribulation surrounding her Ph.D dissertation process with David piping in now and then on certain points to emphasize the severity of the situation.

Sara looked around the table and found that most everyone had nearly finished with their desserts, and the rest of the food was practically destroyed. Finally her gaze rested on Gil who was in a heated debate with Jim regarding the Spring Training prospects for the upcoming baseball season. As much as she hated to end the happy scene before her, Sara knew they had business to take care of, and she needed to get Gil’s attention.

Rising from her seat, she asked, “Can I get anyone some more coffee?” Sara caught the look on his face as she turned towards the kitchen to get the coffee. He was girding himself up for the inevitable, but her subtle reminder was just the catalyst he needed.

As soon as Sara had filled the few cups that were offered she moved to her seat. He used her return as an excuse to stand and hold out her chair, but more importantly it was time, and he needed to be standing to deliver that kind of news to his team; his people.

Clearing his throat, he began. “I know I was somewhat vague about my reasons for tonight…”

“Somewhat?” Catherine broke in, but he found it was just the distraction he needed to calm his nerves. “That’s like saying the desert is kind of hot.”

He looked down and he was ready. “Yes, well, while some things…” He looked directly at Catherine that time, “never change…there are others which are destined to change. That is why I asked you all to be here tonight.”

Grissom took in a deep breath and forged ahead, “As you all know, Sara and I are getting married at the end of the month. My mother has informed me that everyone has replied with their attendance. At which point she decided that she was not the only one thinking the day would never come, judging by the response.” He waited for their quiet laughter to die back down before continuing, “The first of the year will be bringing about many changes for all of us.

“I am quite certain everyone has heard the rumors about Conrad Ecklie being made the director of the investigations division, and I’m afraid that I will have to confirm those rumors. Effective January one, he will be stepping into that role and his replacement will also be appointed. Before anyone asks, yes… I was approached for the position, again, and once again, I refused it. As many of you are well aware, I am not an administrator, and while Conrad is not exactly anyone’s first choice, he does have a knack for the more mundane aspects of the job, and ID is in need of someone with those skills. I don’t expect anyone to like the promotion, but you will be required to deal with its implications.” He paused and looked at each person in the room. He saw the question forming on Nick’s face, even before he asked it.

“So, who’s gonna run the lab then?” Nick was confused by the confession.

“I have given McKeen and Burdick my recommendations, and I have been given certain assurances that they will be taking my suggestion to the commissioners for final approval.” He paused again, but this time in order to give his next words even more impact. “I have recommended Catherine for the position, and she has agreed to accept it, once the final decision has been made.” There was a collective gasp in the room, and in a rare display, Catherine actually, and genuinely, blushed at the attention. “I have nothing but confidence in her ability to lead the lab, and make it a better place for everyone involved.”

Waiting for the requisite congratulations to make their way around the table before continuing, Gil knew the next parts were going to be very difficult.

Seeing that the murmurs were dying down, he cleared his throat again. “Ah, it was this development that made my next announcement much easier to complete, knowing that the lab and my team would be under sound leadership. But before I continue, I also wanted to make sure that everyone here understands that this is not up for public speculation. Nothing I speak about here tonight can be shared with anyone outside of those assembled here.” He saw affirmative gestures from everyone present and felt it was time to move on.

“For some time now, even before recent events, I have found myself questioning why I was at the lab. Politics and theatrics have become rampant in forensic work in recent years, and the science has suffered. And, despite what my mother has to say, I am first and foremost a scientist. Politics, budgets, personalities, TV sound bites, and personal bias has become the norm in forensic investigation lately and I abhor those things in their entirety. Once I had found happiness in one aspect of my life, I was shown in crystal clear colors just how little happiness there was in the rest of my life. So, I started looking at ways to remedy that problem. And that was when it was dropped into my lap, literally and figuratively.” He looked to Sara, who cast her glance downward at the reminder of the day the offer arrived at their home.

“It would appear that my years of faithful service to the fields of entomology and forensic science were not entirely wasted, as it would now appear that I have developed something of a sought after reputation. Upon hearing that I might be interested in another position, the Jeffersonian sent me a rather substantial offer to become their at-large fellow in the field of entomology. The position involves consulting work, a lecture schedule and a certain amount of research, all of which can be done from anywhere I choose.” Seeing that everyone was sufficiently mesmerized by the words he had spoken, he continued. “I have accepted their offer.” There was no collective gasp or murmur of words that time, but a cacophony of sound as everyone spoke at once: none of it was positive.

He motioned for them all to settle down and continued, “Look, I know this can’t come as a complete shock… You’ve all commented on my unhappiness on the job for a while, I just had this offer come out of the blue and quite frankly, it seemed like perfect timing for me. With Sara and I starting our new life together, I couldn’t think of a better way to start the new year; with a beautiful wife, a new job and a new lease on life.”

Once again, Nick was the one to speak first. “So, what does this mean for the rest of us left behind?”

“Well, officially…I’ll be taking a three month vacation. I have that much time built up and for the first time in my life, I feel like using it. With Catherine’s pending promotion, the brass would have been scrambling for someone to run the Graveyard shift, but with telling them my absence is to be a vacation, they are letting me name my own acting supervisor.” He could see the wheels turning in a few heads and then he laid it all out, “I have asked Warrick to take that position, and he has accepted.” That time there was a gasp. He was sure that everyone thought Sara would have been his choice.

All eyes turned to Warrick and he felt compelled to respond, “I’ve got the most time as a second, and I’ve been running weekends for almost two years now, so it was the only way Gris could keep the team together, so to speak… It made sense to me, and I was more than flattered that he thought I was ready.”

Grissom nodded and then went on, “By having some time to show he has what it takes to handle the job, the brass won’t have any choice but to make the position permanent when I inform them of my resignation after two months. It also removes any implication of favoritism from Catherine’s tenure, and I felt it was necessary to take that burden off of them both.”

Greg was the next to speak up, and Grissom knew it was out of his loyalty to Sara. “But why not Sara? She trained me, and was also running weekends.”

Sara put a hand on Grissom’s forearm to stop him from answering and then spoke up for herself. “Because I’m getting married, and I’d like to settle in to that before taking on any other major challenges.” That comment earned her a few chuckles, with everyone knowing she meant that Grissom was challenge enough for anyone. “And because…I’ll be moving to Days come the first of the year.” There was that gasp again.

“But…”

“Greg, I just can’t see staying on nights if Grissom isn’t there, and with him keeping a day schedule, it would just be too much of a strain for the two of us. I love working with you guys, and we’ll still see each other at shift change, but I need to make this change for me.” She could see the pain in the younger man’s eyes, but she saw the acceptance, as well.

Doc Robbins was the first to take the step forward in the discussion, “Well, then I guess there’s only one thing left to do.” He stood up and slowly walked around the table to stand next to Grissom. He looked up into the man’s eyes and then brought his hand out. “Congratulations, old friend…” The two men shook hands firmly, “I can’t think of someone more deserving of success and happiness, Gil.”

Grissom smiled at his friend’s offer and said, “Thank you, Albert. That means a great deal coming from you.”

The congratulations seemed to flow freely after that first step was taken, and the rest of the night was filled with talk of the wedding, the new job and the new graduate program he would be heading up at UNLV. They were just a group of friends and colleagues discussing the future, and that was a welcome change from their usually somber gatherings. Everyone seemed to be taking the news quite well, and the jokes and stories came forth with little effort for the rest of the night.

Everyone was enjoying themselves that night, everyone but Nick. He managed to slip away early, relatively unnoticed, because the whole thing was an awful lot for him to swallow at that moment. He was not sure about anything anymore after getting the carpet ripped out from under him. First, he found out what his friends really thought about him that week, and then he had his whole world being brought down around his ears. He just could not be there with everyone so happy about the events of the night without losing control of his emotions. He thought that if he just had a little time to deal with it before anything else changed, he would be better able to cope. The changes were just coming at him too fast, too often and too hard.

Chapter 24

08:00 – 2006.12.11

Lost Gringo Mtn. State Rec. Area: Cormier Trail Parking Lot

Nick had stopped at the ranger station to make sure he knew which trailhead he was looking for, and he found them to be very helpful. After hearing glowing reports about the Doc from the rangers there, he was starting to think there was just something about him that she found repulsive, because it seemed like everyone else loved the crotchety geologist.

He finally made his way to the Cormier Trail parking lot and immediately started looking around for the rest of her crew. The only thing he found in the lot was that tricked out, dark blue pickup with a flatbed trailer hooked up to the back by the trailhead, and a couple of compacts with bike racks on the other side of the lot. He parked his truck over by the flatbed trailer and got out to look around for the driver.

He figured that the Doc had probably passed off the chore of showing him the area she speculated on to someone else in her team, so he figured he might as well do his best to get along with them. Walking up to the trailer he got a closer look at the odd looking golf cart that was strapped to it. It almost looked like it was a cross between an ATV and a golf cart. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a logo on the side of it, marking it as the property of the U.S. Geological Survey.

As he moved closer to the truck itself, he tried to figure out what modifications had been made to the slick looking vehicle. It had a very pricey looking topper on the back, but he was unable to place the maker. Being a truck man, he thought he knew all of the good topper makers, but in the end he figured it must have been a custom fiberglass job, which meant it was also very costly.

Just when he was moving to get a closer look at the truck, he nearly came out of his skin when the voice behind him said, “I see you found the place, eventually.”

“Do you enjoy sneakin’ up on people?” Nick was clutching at his chest as he tried to catch his breath.

Dr. Desmaiseaux regarded him with a sideways smirk and said, “Sorry about that… I always figure I make enough noise when I walk to alert anyone.”

Nick had to chuckle at her candor and tried to bring the conversation back to the task at hand. “Yeah, well I guess I’m not that observant… So, I got your message this morning.”

Her face took on a pensive expression as she continued towards the flatbed again, “This morning? You didn’t get it Friday night?”

Nick was confused, but he decided it was worth pursuing. “Well, I don’t work Friday night, unless there’s a big rollout and they call me in. I just got a message this morning that I was supposed to be meeting you here at eight.”

“Huh…” She limped up to the tailgate of the flatbed and leaned against it a moment. “Well, I left a message Friday night before I left for the cabin letting you know I had a pretty good idea of where your primary was, but that I’d have someone leave you a message Sunday night as to where and when to meet up for a look.”

Nick looked down at his feet and shook his head as he fought back his own embarrassment at having jumped to the wrong conclusion, again.

“And I had to run into town for gas early this morning, and there was a message on my cell telling me they must’ve written the number down wrong, so I called you myself while I had signal… I take it you didn’t get the other message, then?”

Nick sucked the air through his teeth and smirked, “No, I didn’t get that one, just the one at five this mornin’ tellin’ me to meet you here at eight.”

“Wow… So, you figured the bitch was at it again?” Nick almost choked on the air with her question. “Right, well, we better get moving if we want to get there and back before you pass out from exhaustion.” She pushed back off from the tailgate and started moving to the front of the flatbed. “You better hit the john before we leave… It’s a protected wildlife area and…” She looked over at Nick’s truck before continuing, “since I was planning on three people, I left the pack-out unit off the cart.”

“Just me… Sara’s on another case now.”

Nick took her advice and hit the port-a-john real quick so he could get back out there and help the Doc get that cart off the flatbed. He seemed to have caught her on a good day and he planned to try and make up for any perceived transgressions he may have made towards her.

When he got out he saw that the truck topper had been opened, but unlike most toppers, it had flipped open from the driver’s side of the truck. As he got closer, he caught a glimpse of the Doc’s scooter in the back, hooked up to what looked like a crane. As she moved away from the truck he watched as the topper slowly lowered back into place, and that was when he realized it must have been set up using a remote controlled hydraulics system. He had to assume the crane looking thing ran in much the same manner. Nick understood, once again, how important being independent must be to the woman, for her to go so far to enable her even a modicum of physical freedom.

As he reached his own truck he opened up the passenger door to retrieve his equipment and then walked up to the flatbed, setting his kit down on the ground beside it. He reached for the tailgate release and slowly dropped it to the ground, gaining the attention of the Doc. As he tugged on the straps holding it down, he asked, “So, will it roll off, or do I need to drive it down?”

She gave him a confused expression and asked, “What are you doing?”

He paid no attention to her tone and continued removing the straps when he responded, “Trying to get this monstrosity down from the trailer… Just what is-”

“I can handle it just fine by myself, thank you.” That time her tone was unmistakable.

Nick cringed, hoping to hold back the slight anger that had risen in him. “Right, but since I’m here, why would you have to?”

“Because I don’t need you to do anything for me?”

“And again, I’m just trying to help out, since I’m here…”

She gave him a concentrated glare when she asked, “And if I was an able bodied male, would you be doing the same thing?”

Nick drew his chin down with lips still pressed together and shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much. It’s just in my nature to lend a hand. I’m sure not gonna stand back and let somebody else do all the work when I can help out.”

He watched as she seemed to relax at his simple explanation. “Okay… Extend the ramps and you can drive it down… Keys’re in it.” Nick smiled to himself at the quick change in her demeanor. He guessed that Sara must have had a point all along; sometimes it was just easier to be honest about that stuff, instead of relying on a dependence to some obscure sense of tradition.

Once the cart was on the ground he and the Doc loaded the rest of their equipment onto the bed and proceeded to strap it down to keep it all from bouncing out of the thing. It was an odd looking beast, with the two seats up front and the flat truck-like bed in the back, it looked like something that belonged in the circus. However, it had knobby tires and was obviously a four-wheel-drive vehicle that resembled a scaled down, almost childlike version of the off-road vehicles Nick was familiar with from his youth in Texas.

Tightening down the final strap, Nick glimpsed that USGS logo again and felt compelled to ask her about it then. “So, how’d you get a hold of a USGS cart?”

She held a mysterious half smile when she answered wistfully, “They ah, owe me a few favors… So, they ah, loan me equipment when I need it.”

Nick decided to let the mystery drop and then watched as she climbed into the driver’s seat and stuck her crutch behind the seat before firing up the cart. He gave the area one quick look to make sure they had not forgotten anything, and then he clicked the button on his key ring to lock his truck up.

As he climbed into the cart, the Doc started reaching into her left pants pocket and said, “Thanks for the reminder.” She pointed her own keyless device at her truck and the lights flashed to show it had locked. “That would have sucked.”

Nick chuckled at her candor as she cranked the cart up and started down the trail. It was a narrow trail and he was fairly certain the cart was the largest thing to be able to get through there. That was when she started her next bit of tour rhetoric. “Government vehicles are the only motorized transport allowed in this area. It’s reserved primarily for hikers and extreme mountain bikers. The bike trails run alongside the walking trails and only occasionally intersect.”

“I bet this is a tough course on a bike, judging by the steep sides.”

“Oh yeah… I’m told it’s the best training course in the country, because of its diverse terrain and sharp grades.” Nick sensed a bit of sadness in her voice as she described the trail.

“So, I was going through the video, your reports and did a quick study of the weather data from that time frame and I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of where your body got started, but I wanted to try tracking the path I think it traveled to be sure.” She was paying close attention to the road and Nick listened intently as she continued to explain her analysis of the data. He was amazed at the way she had come up with her conclusions, and he had to admit, he was a little surprised to find that she had spent that much time working it. He had been convinced she was blowing him off completely, but he guessed there were a lot of other factors coloring his opinion of the woman.

Chapter 25

10:00 – 2006.12.11

Lost Gringo Mtn. State Rec. Area: Cormier Trail

They had been driving around the winding paths for almost two hours, and Nick was beginning to think the place was a never ending maze. He had no idea how the woman could possibly know where she was at, let alone where she was going with all the turns and twists and steep grades they had traveled on in those two hours. He was about to say as much when he felt the cart coming to a stop.

Looking around for a reason behind their pause, he finally noticed the very large, fallen limbs blocking the path from any further progress. Shutting down the cart, the Doc climbed out and went to the back to retrieve something. When he watched her pull a small chainsaw out, he shook his head and jumped out of the cart.

“Don’t worry about it… I can clear it.” He instantly moved towards the blocking offenders when he heard a disgusted noise coming from behind the cart. Looking up he asked, “What?”

“What makes you think I can’t handle it myself?”

Nick choked back the smart ass comment that was threatening to spew forth and instead countered with, “Oh, I’m sure you could, but the fact is, I am here and instead of causin’ a huge ruckus with that chainsaw, I figured I could throw my back into it and keep the critters from gettin’ anymore spooked than that cart’s already done.” He waited to see what she was going to do or say and when she dropped the chainsaw back into place, he leaned down and lifted the limbs up and then out of the way. “One of my sisters is an environmentalist of sorts, and she’s always tellin’ me that the underbrush and fallen trees are important parts of the ecosystem, so, whenever possible, I should leave ‘em intact.”

As he dragged the branches off to the side of the path, he thought he heard her huff at his comment, but decided to let it drop as she climbed back into the cart and they proceeded forward up the path.

The area they were entering rapidly became increasingly dense with brush and timber. They also appeared to be continuing upwards at each turn, making him believe they were also climbing in altitude. Off to the right he saw what looked like a clearing, and just before they headed off around another bend in the path something else caught his eye. It was colorful, and shaking with the breeze up in the trees.

“Hey… What’s over that way?” He pointed in the direction of the flapping, colored fabric and Dr. Desmaiseaux stopped the cart. She put a small, folded map on her lap and then brought the compass out of her shirt pocket with her left hand.

After a bit of careful consideration, she announced, “That would be in an almost direct line with the research site, along one of the typical debris paths from the rainfall.” She scanned the treeline where he had pointed and then remarked, “Hmmm… I would have thought it would have been along a different vector, based on the condition of the body and the plant matter retrieved, but this area could also be a viable access zone.”

Nick watched as she pulled out a pocket computer and took a reading off of the GPS unit mounted on the dashboard. After the Doc input a few things into the computer she came back with, “Actually, this is probably a perfect location for a drop… Or at least a possible overshot drop, since the clearing is a little further along the path.”

Nick was intrigued by the idea of a clearing, “How far along?”

The Doc shrugged and said, “Just around the next bend, actually… Probably get us closer to that chute as well. And less walking is always good.”

“You think that’s a chute?” Nick was confused about how she would have jumped to that conclusion.

“Well, you’re certainly not going to climb up there to leave such a colorful piece of fabric, and it looks to be light enough it never would have gotten that high from the ground with the way the wind whips down through these trees, so it had to come down from above the trees and a parachute is the only thing that makes sense.” She put the cart back into gear and started off down the path again.

When she stopped the cart again he realized just how right she had been, since they were standing almost directly next to the tree containing the chute material. Immediately upon looking up along the tree, Nick spotted the tell-tale marks of a gun blast. From the number of shots and the size of the holes in the bark, he figured it was probably their MAC-10. Looking around the ground surrounding the tree, he quickly found a few shell casings. He grabbed his kit from the back of the cart and pulled out some forceps and a few bindles to retrieve the casings. Hopefully they could get some prints off of the casings.

As he is bent over collecting as many of the casings as he could find, the Doc started looking around as well. “Ah, you might want to check this out.”

Nick dropped the last casing into a bindle and sealed it as he walked towards the Doc’s voice. “What’ve ya got?”

She pointed at the ground where some tire tread marks were and said, “Those are from a dirt bike. At least 200cc’s, judging from the depth and width of the tracks.”

Shaking his head in confusion, Nick had to ask, “So, what’s the big deal about that?”

Huffing in her obvious frustration with him she said, “Well, since there’s no motorized travel on these trails, I’d say that’s a big clue.”

Finally understanding her, Nick retrieved a bag of the casting compound and shook it up to get a good cast of the treads, just in case they were able to locate the bike that had left them. As he waited for the compound to harden, Nick decided to follow the treads and see if they led to anything else. It was not long before something down in the gully beside the trail caught his eye.

“I think I just found the getaway car.” As he spoke, he could hear the Doc hobbling over to his side to look down hill.

She looked back and forth between the tree containing the chute, the tire treads and the ditched mountain bike at the bottom of the gully. “Hmmm… Probably a safe bet, since I haven’t heard any reports of lost bikers in the area in over a month.”

Nick hopped over to the cart and grabbed his backpack, strapped it to his shoulders and then bent over to tighten his shoelaces. He was interrupted by the Doc asking him a question. “What are you doing?”

He continued tightening up his laces as he shrugged off her question, “I’m gonna go get that bike… It’s evidence.”

Shaking her head in disgust she replied, “Like hell you are… Evidence or not, there’s no way you can just hike down into that gully.”

“Why not? It looks like it’s less than two hundred feet, and it’s not too stee-”

“Look, Wild Bill, it’s got nothing to do with the distance or the grade. That’s loose scrabble soil, and the recent fires in the area have made the erosion even worse around here.” She was leaning against her crutch with her left arm and gesturing in a loose manner with her right arm. That was when Nick saw that her right hand was mostly balled up into an atrophied clump with jagged scars extending down her arm. “Within five steps, you’re gonna find yourself two hundred feet down in a real hurry, ass over tea kettle the whole way.”

Nick huffed at her analysis of the situation, but he knew he had to get that bike. “Well, you got any other bright ideas on how I can get that bike? ‘Cause I can’t leave here without it.”

She looked back and forth between the edge and the cart. “Yeah, gimme a sec.”

He watched as she limped back to the cart, started it up and repositioned it so that the front end was pointed at the ledge, directly above the discarded bike at the bottom. When she climbed back out of it, she left the cart running, which confused Nick until he watched her kick on the winch attached to the front end and let out a length of the cable.

“Grab the rope in the back… We’ll make you a harness and I’ll lower you down with the winch.” Nick instantly went to get the rope and when he got back around he handed her one end of the rope as he fashioned a harness for himself with the other end, leaving a trail of rope that he could fasten to the bike for lifting it out of the gully.

After she had pulled the slack rope up into the winch she went to check on Nick’s progress with his harness. “How’re you doing with that?” Inspecting his work, she gave the length of rope a test tug and satisfied herself with his proficiency. “You’ve done this before?”

“I’ve done a little climbing.” Nick was pleased that he had managed to remember everything his brother had taught him when he used to take Nick climbing in his younger days.

“Okay, go down backwards, and watch your footing… I’m telling you, that ground is not stable.” Her final admonition gave him cause to give her a sarcastic look.

On the way down, after having lost his footing three times, he felt a little foolish for having questioned her analysis of the situation. His bashful smile and the thumbs up he gave her as he finally reached the bike was his tacit apology for having doubted her expertise.

He had brought down a few tape lifts with him down into the gully and he proceeded to print the bike, hoping they would yield something useful. Once he was satisfied he had gotten all he could, he strapped the bike into the makeshift harness and gave the Doc his signal that he was ready to head back to the top.

Nick felt the slight tug of the winch driven rope and immediately began to carefully climb his way back up the gully. Being much more careful after the missteps on the way down, he managed to make it almost all the way up the gully, with the bike dangling below him, without a single incident. Within a few feet from the top, that was about to change.

Suddenly and without any warning, the ground below his feet gave completely away, thus causing the ground above that spot to fall away as well, forcing him to fall back and dangle upside down from the rope, his head banging alternately into the ground and the bike. There was dirt falling all around him and covering him in a thick coat of debris, making it hard for him to even tell which way was up. Still blinded by the falling dirt and rocks, he almost missed the hand that was thrust down to him, but eventually its existence registered to him and he grabbed for the hand, instantly righting himself once more. Once right-side-up, he scrambled and found some tree roots to grab hold of to steady himself further. Finally on his feet again, he felt the pull of the winch and began to claw his way up the last few feet to the edge.

Just as he made it over the edge, he saw Dr. Desmaiseaux unstrapping herself from the bumper of the cart as the bike was pulled up from the edge by the winch. Nick suddenly realized that it was the Doc’s hand that had found him to bring him back from the edge and that information left him speechless.

The only acknowledgment she gave about the incident was a simple statement, “I told you that soil was unstable.” Nick could only nod his head in agreement as the stupor descended upon him. She did her best to change the subject quickly when she asked, “So, did you get what you needed?”

Nothing else was said about the incident, and Nick went about processing what he had determined to be his primary crime scene. Photos were taken, the cast of the treads was bagged, and he managed find a few pieces of oddly stained paper at the base of the tree. He also collected a small sample of blood from one of the bullet holes in the tree trunk, and if he could tie it to his victim, then he would be certain of the primary scene location.

After bagging up all of his evidence, Nick looked once more up at the chute wafting in the breeze, way up in the tree branches.

“Got a problem?” The Doc’s voice interrupted his glance.

Looking back down and directly at her, he said, “Yeah, but there’s no way I can get up there to fix it.”

She climbed back up into the cart and stowed her crutch once more. “Take a look in that crate in the back… Should be something in there to help you out.”

Nick found the crate and discovered there was a pair of climbing spikes and one of those thick straps he had always seen in those lumberjack competitions on ESPN between football seasons. Without even thinking, he let loose his sarcasm for the first time that day, “Lemme guess… These are yours, too? Is tree climbing one of your many talents?”

The Doc fought back an oddly unsettling smile and said, “Nah… That’s what undergrads are for.”

Chapter 26

23:45 – 2006.12.11

CSI Lab: Processing Room

Nick was busy taking the coordinates from the Doc’s notes and applying them to the topographic map of the area to mark out their primary crime scene. Cartography was usually something he excelled in, but the notes he was using were slightly illegible and very detailed. He guessed the woman must have picked up a different mapping lexicon with her geological work than he was used to seeing, because she had everything down to the closest centimeter from what he could decipher.

He was looking up and rubbing the tight muscles in his neck when Sara suddenly appeared in the Processing Room. “Was it really that bad?”

He turned with a start, “Huh?”

Sara chuckled at his confusion and then elaborated further as she took the seat opposite him at the table. “You’re awfully tense… Was your latest encounter with the Doc that bad?”

Nick grinned at her insinuation and shook his head, “No, not exactly, though it almost was, that’s for sure.”

“What happened?” Sara reached over the table to grab the sheets from him and started flipping through the data he had been trying to translate, making her own notations on another sheet.

“Well, it started off with me thinking I was bein’ summoned out to the park by the queen, but it turns out reception lost the first message.” He shook his head with his disgust at that turn of events. “But we got that cleared up pretty fast. Then I tried steppin’ in it again by tryin’ to help out with the equipment…” He smiled to himself as he replayed that one in his head. “And I guess I owe that one to you.”

“What did I do?” Sara looked up from the sheet with surprise.

“I was just honest with her about what I was doin’ and she accepted it a lot better, so I guess you were right.” Sara gave him a sideways smile at his admission and then went back to converting the data into a useable format. “Anyway, the only major thing that happened was me almost dying.”

“What?!” The conversions were completely forgotten about with that statement.

“I had to scale down a gully to retrieve the bike, and the ground was real loose out there. I had ropes and such, and that was a good thing, ‘cause otherwise you’d have to be out there investigatin’ my demise.” Nick let loose a deep breath and added, “And the weirdest thing happened.”

“Weirder than impaling yourself as you slid down a mountain?”

“Yeah, I guess so… The Doc managed to pull me out of the landslide before it got any worse.” Nick had a faraway look on his face with that statement and Sara was confused.

“What do you mean…pulled you out?”

“Just that… I guess she was anchored to the cart and gave me her good arm to pull me right-side-up before the harness failed or I choked on a ton of falling dirt and debris.” He shook his head as that scene played over in his head. “I don’t know how she did it, but she yanked me back out of the black and I was able to get to the top. I was so freaked at the time, I didn’t really process it then, but when I was driving back to town it hit me… That took some serious strength, Sara. How’d she do that?”

Sara laughed at his question. “You think just because she has other physical problems, she can’t carry her own?” Shaking her head with frustration she added, “That’s why you have so much trouble, you just can’t see a woman as being that strong, can you?”

“C’mon… I know women are strong, bu-”

“I’m not talking about childbirth or putting up with your crap… I mean real strength, Nick. Not that I think of myself as some brute, but if pushed, I bet I could give you a hell of a fight.” Sara was trying to prove a point to Nick, and she only hoped he could get it.

“Well, I don’t know about that, Sara… I easily outweigh you and-”

“Right, which is what a lot of women use to their benefit in dangerous situations: the natural male notion that women can’t handle their own in a fight. Self-defense courses aren’t all about dirty tricks, Nick. They’re about using surprise and agility to incapacitate an attacker. There is a great deal of strength in those abilities.” She was doing everything she could to get through to him.

“So, you’re saying that someone who’s been bounced off a semi could still haul my ass off that mountain?”

“I think the proof is in the truth, man. She DID haul your ass up, didn’t she?” Sara finally felt like she had made some progress with her friend.

Nick chuckled and blushed just a little. “Yeah, I guess so, but it still feels weird.”

Sara made her last notation on the separate sheet and handed it over to Nick. “I’m sure… Anyway, here’s your coordinates.”

He took the papers from her and compared them, realizing that Sara had just performed some very complex math while having a serious conversation with him. He looked up from the papers with a shocked look on his face and met Sara’s gaze. “How’d you-… I mean, where’d that-… Damn, Sar! That’s impressive.”

“They don’t accept morons into graduate programs in theoretical physics.” Her wry smile told him what he needed to know.

He felt compelled to make one more comment on the subject. “But you practically did that in your head?!”

She shrugged and pulled out one of the other maps as she added, “So, what? Grissom does crosswords for fun… I do calculus.”

He shook his head as he chuckled and went back to marking the crime scene out, “You are a nerd.”

They worked in companionable silence for a little while. That was, until Sara noticed something on the map she was studying.

“Hey, Nick?”

Without looking up from his task he said, “Yeah, what is it?”

She passed him the folded map she was looking at, showing only the legend. “Did you notice this?”

Nick finally looked up and at the map where Sara was pointing. That was when he registered what she was referring to, because down in the corner of the legend, under the author of the map, were two names: A. Cormier & R. J. Desmaiseaux.

“That’s weird.”

Sara scrunched her brows together and asked, “Why?”

Nick shrugged and went on to explain, “Well, I was just on Cormier Trail this morning, and I can’t imagine there are that many R.J. Desmaiseaux’s in the world. I wonder who this Cormier person is.”

David was walking by the door when he heard the names being thrown around. “Hey guys.”

“Hi, David. Can we do something for you?” Sara gave him a friendly smile as she made notice of his arrival.

He shrugged in a non-committal manner and said, “Oh, no… I just heard you mention the Doc and her fiancé… I didn’t know you knew both of them.”

Sara’s brow was getting a workout when she gave David a questioning glance, “Ah, we don’t… We just saw the names on the maps and were curious who the other person was.”

“Oh! Well, then I guess I just told you.” David looked from one to the other and decided that maybe he should say it again. “Andy Cormier was the Doc’s fiancé… Before the accident… Though I guess, just because of the accident it doesn’t really change that he w-” He saw the looks on their faces and realized he was rambling again. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay, David.” Sara smiled again to put the young coroner’s assistant more at ease. “How much do you know about the Doc’s history?”

“Well, just what Sandi has told me, but I do know that she’s an incredible woman, even if she can be a pain in the neck sometimes.”

Nick scoffed, “Sometimes?”

“No offense, Nick… But you’re the kind of person she tends to dislike the most.” David’s assessment of his status sent Nick into a tailspin, while Sara stifled her amusement.

“Was there a bulletin about this that I missed?! Sheesh!”

“Well, I, ah, um-” David was flustered by the accusation.

Sara piped up to calm the situation, “Don’t worry about it, David… Nick seems to think we’ve been picking on him lately, so it’s got nothing to do with you.” Her smile instantly helped David to relax, but Sara was not done. “So, what can you tell me about the Doc? She’s kind of an enigma around here, and it might help us decipher some of her notes a little better.”

“Well…” David took in a deep breath and went on, “you obviously know that she was injured. Pretty bad, really… They never expected her to live, let alone walk again. But I really don’t think it was the physical trauma that turned her into what she is today. It was more the circumstances of her accident.”

Sara pushed one of the stools towards David so that he could take a seat. “That sounds strange. I mean, anything that would put you into that condition would have to be pretty life changing.”

“Don’t get me wrong…” David sat down on the stool and set his report down in an empty spot of the table. “It’s certainly one of the causes of her current nature, but I think losing her fiancé that way was probably the biggest factor.”

Nick was finally ready to join the conversation again, “What way?”

“Man… Well, they had just finished the first half of their survey for Lost Gringo. Did you know that they actually created the park?” When they both nodded, he continued, “Anyway, they’d just finished the first half of the survey… Did you know that he wrote the mapping software the USGS has been using for cartography for a while now?”

Sara shook her head to show that she did not.

“Yeah, so he was this programming and math whiz, and created this amazing software for mapping uncharted terrains. Got this grant from the USGS to take it from his master’s theory to a practical application. By that time, they were already together… I know they met in Colorado, but I don’t know which school it was, CU or the Mines…” David shook his head to get back on track again, “Anyway, they moved to Arizona to work on the software and for R.J. to finish up her Ph.D. dissertation through ASU, and so they could visit with her folks in Sedona. They came to Nevada specifically to demonstrate the software program and prove his theories. It was just a bonus that she could continue her research here, too. I guess they’d been here less than a month when UNLV practically begged her to take a tenured position. Sandi says she’d proven some fantastic geological principle or something when she was doing her first master’s degree, but you’d have to ask her about that, since I have no idea what she’s saying sometimes.” David paused and blushed once he realized he had been rambling once again. “Sorry.”

“S’okay, Super Dave… You tell a good story, man.” Nick winked at the man to show he was still following along.

“Okay, well, they’d finished the first half of their survey project and decided they wanted to celebrate. So, they called her folks and his, told everyone to meet them in Sedona for the wedding. I guess they were both pretty spontaneous people back then. Anyway, they got on their bikes and hit the road to Sedona. Did I mention that Andy was a competition motorcycle racer before he started his master’s degree?” Sara and Nick both looked at each other with a little surprise.

Before David could continue, Nick suddenly thought of something, “Damn! I knew that name sounded familiar. Racing bikes, right?” David nodded, “That guy was the hottest thing on a Ninja, ever. I saw him race in Big D a few times, but that was years ago, when I was in high school, or college maybe.”

David mulled that over a moment before he said, “Yeah, that would be about right… So, they were headed to Sedona for their own wedding when they got into the accident with a logging truck, just outside of Flagstaff. They were only an hour or so from her parent’s place when it happened. Truck crossed the centerline, Andy swerved to miss it and to warn R.J., but they guessed he must have overcorrected and it sent him straight into the oncoming truck. They figured he died instantly, so at least there was that. R.J. lost control of her bike trying to avoid his swerve and ended up bouncing off the side of the truck which sent her skidding across the road and down into a ditch. Search and Rescue had to come out to lift her out, which was bad, since her father was on the team.”

“Wow… That’s just…” Nick was dumbfounded by David’s description of the accident.

“Yeah, I guess they didn’t even think she’d make it to the next morning, and when she did, they were sure she’d be a quadriplegic. Then she woke up from the coma and started PT, but they never thought she’d be able to walk, because of all the muscle and nerve damage. By the time she walked out of the rehab hospital, they tried to tell her she’d never be able to return to her field work. Six months later she had Sandi and a cartography grad student out in the desert helping her finish up their survey project. And they did it on schedule, too. She was tireless. Sandi thought for sure she’d kill herself with the pace she worked, but R.J. was up and ready to go every single morning.” David paused to put a proper finish on his story.

“She’s got no use for anyone putting obstacles or conditions on her, she doesn’t take crap from anyone, she’s a taskmaster and very demanding, and she is a seriously tough lady. As much as I cringe at her lack of social grace, I have nothing but admiration for her strength and her character.” David rose from the stool with a playful smile on his face, and then added, “Even if she does have the most colorful vocabulary of anyone I’ve ever met.”

Sara had to blink a few times to get the images that were evoked by David’s tale out of her mind before she could speak again. “Thanks, David… That actually helps a lot.”

“No problem… Now, I need to get these to Catherine before she throws another fit. If you guys have any other questions about the Doc, I would suggest talking to Sandi. My info is only second hand… Sandi’s her friend, I’m just the by-product that comes with her.”

Sara had to chuckle at David’s analysis of his importance in that equation when the man left the room. When she turned to Nick, she could tell he was very deep in thought. “It’s a lot to process, huh?”

“What? Oh, yeah… I mean, wow… That’s-”

“Yeah…” Sara stood up and took a deep breath before saying, “Well, I’m gonna check with Jackie on those prints… You better finish processing that chute before we let Hodges get his sticky fingers on it.”

Sara’s little jibe was just what Nick needed to break himself from the horror of David’s story. “Yeah… That’s probably a good idea.”

Chapter 28

09:00 – 2006.12.12

UNLV Earth Science Building: Offices

On the elevator ride up to the offices, Nick triple checked that he had all his ducks in a row to limit the amount of time he would have to bother the Doc. All night, he could not help thinking that he had only been lucky to catch the Doc in a decent mood before, and knowing he was going to mess up and say or do the wrong thing could potentially change her good mood to bad in an instant put even more pressure on him.

Once he finally reached the door bearing her name, he took a steeling breath and knocked confidently, even though he felt like anything but. “What?!” That was the first indication he was sunk.

He cautiously poked his head in through the door and found the Doc struggling to move around the room without her crutch. As he brought his gaze up, he saw that her left arm was in a sling and his whole mind exploded with the implications of that sight.

“Wha-… Oh, it’s you… What d’you need?” She continued to hobble around the room as she tucked folders into her sling. When he had not spoken yet, she looked back at him and he was instantly sorry for it, because he knew she saw the shocked expression on his face. “Great,” came her cynical reply to his state. “Look, I don’t have time for this… Either tell me what you need, or get out of the way.”

Nick stepped into the room and fumbled through the words, “Oh, well, I ah, wanted to ah, maybe talk to you about this ah-”

She put the things and her briefcase into the basket on her scooter and then she said, “You know what, I really don’t have time for this… Talk to Boone or Sandi, but I need to get out of here.” She settled down onto the scooter and looked back up at Nick. “Are you going to move, or what?”

“Wait a minute… I need to know somethin’…” He stared down at her and finally found his voice again. “Is that,” he pointed at the sling, “because of me?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” He was completely confused by her response, but the next thing to come out of her mouth totally floored him. “Get over yourself, cowboy. The whole world does not revolve around you. Now get the hell out of my way, before your self-centered ass makes me late.”

He had no choice but to move unless he wanted to be knocked down in the rampaging woman’s path. Nick was left in a stupor as he tried to process what had just happened before him.

When the stupor finally broke, it was because of anger. Anger at having been dismissed as nothing more than an annoyance. Anger at having been put into a category he did not belong in. Anger at once again being insulted for nothing more than being a caring person. His anger gave him strength and light to his feet as he ran out to the elevator to confront the infuriating professor.

Sliding to a stop beside the doors and throwing out his arm to hold the elevator doors he had finally reached his limit. “Where the hell do you get off saying that to me?!”

“I th-”

“NO! This time you’re gonna listen to me for a change. Just ‘cause I was worried about havin’ hurt you, or because I ain’t the kinda guy to leave somebody to the elements if I can help it, or on account of being raised as a gentleman, doesn’t mean you get the right to rip me a new one whenever you damn well feel like it. I don’t give a damn what you’ve been through, it doesn’t give you the right to treat people like fleas sent to irritate you on a regular basis. So, I think I deserve at least the civility it would take to give me a couple minutes of your time to give me a decent answer to my questions.” Nick was huffing with the exertion of having said more in under two minutes than he probably had in the last week.

“Are you done?” The Doc’s jaw was set and she barely moved her lips when she spoke.

“For now, yeah.” Nick nodded, but stood his ground.

She motored forward a little, forcing him away from the door before she began to speak. “The world does not revolve around your weak-ass case, nor does it seek or need your pathetic approval to continue to spin on its axis. In fact, the world doesn’t give a rat’s ass what you think, how you were raised or whatever you fucking deem necessary to do. The world has much bigger problems than whatever stick’s been shoved up your ass, Mr. Stokes. And if it isn’t too much to ask, I have a plane to catch so that I can attempt to work on some of those real problems that exist in the world. And the thing that gives me the right to speak to people anyway I damn well please, is because I fucking well earned it… Earned it by spending a lifetime dealing with stuck up, condescending, self-centered, self-serving, prejudiced, overgrown frat boys that never learned to grow up every day of my fucking life as they try to destroy everything I hold dear and the future of this whole fucking planet! So, yeah, I get to call a fucking pig a fucking pig whenever I good and goddamn well feel like it! So, you can take your high and mighty bullshit notions and shove ‘em back up your ass where they belong!” The door to the elevators closed as she rolled back inside leaving Nick to stand, once again, in a stupor as he reeled from the rant that had just been leveled against him.

He was still standing there when someone tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, man… You okay?” He slowly turned to see the worried face of one of the professor’s assistants. “Dude, you look like you went ten rounds with Tyson. Must’ve gotten the full treatment, huh?”

Nick was barely able to register what was being said to him by the man. It took him a moment to process just who the man was. Blonde shaggy hair, tall, tan, dressed like a beach bum, oh yeah, that’s Boone. “Oh hey, Boone.”

“Oh yeah, Dude… You got both barrels, didn’t ya?” Boone shook his head and chuckled as he took the folders from Nick. “C’mon, man… I’ll buy ya cup of coffee and we can go through your stuff and see what we can do before Sandi comes back up.”

Nick followed the man into the Doc’s office and then sat down at the table while Boone poured them both some coffee. Boone handed him the mug and started flipping through the pages of Nick’s reports as he stood there with his own mug of coffee. “Wow… Whoever’s doing this really knows their stuff.”

As he took a sip from the mug, Nick had finally broken the last holds of the stupor. “Sorry, what?”

“Oh, I was just sayin’… Whoever’s runnin’ those drugs really knows their stuff, man… They’re droppin’ right along the flight path to McCarran, far enough out in the desert that Nellis ain’t paying attention, and in a rec area that’s abandoned at night with almost no artificial lighting in the whole park, with just enough open ground to land and light out without anybody knowin’ about it.” Boone shook his head as he looked down at the diagrams.

Nick took out his note pad and started making notes from the man’s assessment. “So, you think the plane this guy parachuted from was on the way to McCarran?”

“Oh yeah… There’s a ton of commercial air traffic up from Mexico and South America, so it’s only logical there’d be drug traffic, too.” Boone finally sat down and started digging into the reports.

“How do you know about the air traffic?”

Boone shrugged off the question by saying, “We have to track flight patterns over the park for noise and wind variances for the data.”

“We also help monitor air emissions to keep the international commercial traffic on the up and up for the EPA.” Nick instantly stood up when he heard the feminine voice behind him. “Thanks, Nick.” She turned to Boone and asked, “Any more of that?”

“Oh, yeah.” Boone jumped up as Nick returned to his seat and Sandi took the other man’s place. “She got out okay?”

“Yeah, I had Philly Andretti run her out to McCarran. So, she should have just enough time to scream at the TSA agents.” Sandi smiled at their private joke as Boone laughed. “It really isn’t just you, Nick. She just seems to enjoy it more when you’re the target.”

“Gee thanks.” Nick was brought right back to the confrontation at the elevator.

“Seriously, Dude. You are not alone in that one…” Boone sat down at the table and slid a mug of coffee over to Sandi and then continued. “Doc’s just got all this rage, ya know, and it don’t take a lot to set her off under the right circumstances, or wrong ones, depending on your perspective.”

“And there’s not a person on this team that hasn’t incurred the Wrath of the Beast at least once or twice. But at the same time, there’s also not a person here that wouldn’t lay down their life for her in a heartbeat. R.J. may be rough around the edges, but her heart is in the right place and the work she’s doing is just so vital to human existence. Plus, there’s the whole added benefit of working for one of the leading minds in physical science in the world.” Sandi and Boone shared a smile and then she added, “Besides, the fireworks shows are kind of entertaining when they’re happening to someone else.”

“Well, when you put it that way… You’re welcome for the show.” Nick was trying to get passed the experience, but there was still something bugging him. “Can I ask you a question?”

“I think I already know what it is…” Sandi turned to look him in the eye for a moment when she said, “She had a scope yesterday afternoon to clean up some loose tissue. Been scheduled for weeks.”

“Seriously?” Sandi nodded to him and he felt a wave of relief wash over him. The guilt that had rapt his soul at seeing her in that sling had been weighing heavy on him. Even the thought of being responsible for hurting her physically was making him sick. With the weight of his guilt lifted he felt compelled to ask, “So, what was so earth shattering she had unload on me today?”

“Oh… She walked into a congressional summons first thing this morning, with orders to appear before the Senate Subcommittee by four this afternoon, Eastern Time.” Sandi tilted her head to the side as she started leafing through the report, and then added, “So, you can bet there’s a Federal Marshal gonna get more than an earful when she lands at National.”

“They can just do that?” Nick was confused as to how something like that could happen.

“When you’re a director at the EPA, they can tell you where and when to be any time they want to.” Nick looked up at Sandi in shock. “What?”

“Director?”

“Yeah, you think you can run this kind of research project as a simple college professor?” Sandi chuckled at Nick’s surprise. “Hell, I teach the few classes she has in the curriculum, she just writes the graduate program and has final approval over Master’s Degree thesis submissions. They only have her work through the university so they can ride the coattails of her research.”

“I guess I just don’t know a lot about the whole academic world.” Nick realized in that moment that if any of the evidence in the case were to come into question, the D.A. was going to want the Doc to act as an expert witness. And that was the first joy he had gotten from the day, because it would be highly entertaining to be a fly on that wall. He almost felt sorry for whatever A.D.A drew the case. “So, what’s her bag at the EPA?”

“She’s their chief geologist, and runs the erosion studies for the whole agency. And if they called her in on such short notice, it usually means they have a big fish making waves in congress about the new requirements she wrote for the construction industry.” Sandi continued talking to Nick as she studied the case files.

“But still, isn’t it too much to expect same day service on a summons from across the country?” Nick was still confused about the perceived urgency of the summons.

“Well, it looks like they’ve been trying to notify her since Friday, but she’d been out at the cabin all weekend. So, when she didn’t answer the messages, they sent a Federal Marshal out to serve her with the summons this morning. Needless to say, she was less than pleased. In fact, you should thank that guy, because he got the full blast of her rage… I think you just got the leftovers.” Sandi and Boone both chuckled at that one. Sandi then handed Boone one of the pages from the report for him to review.

Even Nick had to chuckle at the news. “Well, then remind me to never cross paths with her before she’s let it out.”

Boone got up from the table and went to one of the binders on the shelf in the back of the room as he said, “Well, I think I can help with that.” He flipped through a few pages, made a couple notes on Nick’s report and then repeated the process once more before he continued, “Because we just nailed your timeline, Dude.”

“Wait… Are you serious?” Nick took the sheet from Boone and looked over the notes in disbelief. “Can you back this up?”

“Sure, I’ll just make you a copy of the data disk, and you should be set.” Boone walked to the computer terminal and started making the disk.

“I’m gonna need some kind of report from you guys to hand over to the PD tonight… Would that be possible?”

Sandi got up and went to the other terminal as she took the report from Nick and said, “No sweat… Have it in ten minutes, on letterhead and you can just sit back and enjoy your coffee. I figure it’s the least we can do after your roasting.”

Chapter 29

20:15 – 2006.12.12

Las Vegas Police Department Headquarters: Jim Brass’ Office

With everything tied up into a nice and neat little package, Nick walked up to the door of Jim Brass’ office to hand over the case to the P.D. Once he turned over his findings to Brass he would be officially done with the whole nightmare. It, or more specifically, she would be someone else’s problem after that final task.

Knocking on the door, Nick found that Brass had company. “Hey, Nicky… I hear you got something good for us on that desert research case.”

“Brass…” He nodded to the grizzled, veteran detective and then to the younger man in the room. “Vega… Obviously you guys got a tip on what I was bringing over tonight.”

“Yeah, well, Sara might’ve mentioned something when we were playing cards.” Jim gave him a standard smirk.

Nick shook his head and laughed as he asked, “Wait, you guys are letting Sara play cards now?”

“Not hardly… It’s bad enough losing money to Gil every week, I don’t need Miss ‘I can calculate the statistical odds in my head and kick everybody’s ass’ at the table.” All three men laughed at Jim’s assessment of the situation. “No, she got a ride home with Cat after their double, and was conscious just long enough to give me the heads up on your case.”

Dropping the report down on Brass’ desk, Nick went on to explain, “Well, I got a little more done after she took off… Including nailing down your timeline.”

Brass picked it up and made a face showing that he was impressed with the feat. “Not bad, Nicky… Not bad at all.”

“Looks like you got a new heroin ring operating in Nevada. Two suspects, both local, and my third set of prints matches our vic. They chute in from a small commercial turbo prop to a remote part of the rec area and bike it out. Looks like our boy in the morgue was the victim of somebody gettin’ greedy.” Nick watched as Brass flipped through the pages. “You have an approximate TOD, primary crime scene, path the body took and where the body was found, trace analysis confirming heroin and aircraft lubricant, along with all the plant matter to substantiate the path of the body, prints from the bike matching a con and a dealer at the Tangiers, as well as your vic. All of which brings the case to you guys tied up in a pretty little bow.”

Vega waited for Brass to hand over the report when he said, “Well, I guess we’ll just have to try and get this all closed up before the feds decide to swoop in and try to take all the credit. Thanks, Stokes.” Brass gave the report to Vega and nodded. “Captain… Stokes… Thanks for the pass off.”

“Good luck, Sam.” Brass nodded at the man as he left the office.

Nick was still standing when Brass motioned for him to take a seat. “So, I hear you been getting the short end of the stick from this Doc out at UNLV?”

“What, is there some kind of interoffice memo goin’ ‘round I don’t know about?” Nick was starting to feel like he was getting it from all sides on this case.

“Calm down there, Butch… Just friends lookin’ out for friends, Nicky.” Nick relaxed a little with Brass’ explanation. “Talk to me, maybe I can help.”

“I don’t know, maybe the girls are right.” Nick sunk back in the chair with his resignation.

“Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far.” Brass had his trademark grin plastered across his face and was unable to contain the chuckle. “So, I take it you had another run in with the Doc?”

“Run in? No, it was more like gettin’ run over.” Nick shook his head as their last conversation flashed through his mind. “I just can’t seem to cut a break when it comes to that woman.”

“What’re you doin’ to set her off?” Jim leaned back in his chair as he asked.

“You mean, besides breathin’?”

“Yeah, kid… Besides that.” The man’s laughter actually made Nick feel a little better.

“Well, let me see if I can remember the whole laundry list… I am a stuck up… condescending…self-centered…self-serving…prejudiced…overgrown frat boy… Yeah, I think that’s how it went.” Nick ran his knuckles along his jaw as he clenched it after completing the list.

“That certainly is a very complete list… And not a curse word in the bunch. I’m impressed.”

“And for her, that’s a serious feat… But she more than made up for it when she told me where to stick my ideas about how to treat people.” Nick was still hurting over that last part of the woman’s tirade.

“Well, all I can say is… You got off lucky, kid. Took ya more than thirty years for someone to give ya the beat down for outdated behavior towards women. Me? I took my lumps in the seventies, when they were all militant and full of fire.” Jim shook his head at the memories.

“You?” Nick was shocked by the disclosure.

“Of course… I’m a fossil, Nicky my boy. Throw back to another time, but even an old dog can learn new tricks.”

“Huh…” Nick sat there dumbfounded by the things Brass was telling him. “So, how d’you do it, Jim?”

Jim Brass shrugged a little and sighed, “I don’t know, Nick… Maybe it was having a daughter, or maybe it was seeing a good officer taking the worst of it and still doin’ her job, or maybe it was just because I realized the world had changed.” Jim turned to face Nick and then added, “You gotta figure it out for yourself, kid… But I suggest you figure it out fast, because you work with some serious women, Nicky, and they’ll only put up with so much.” Nick looked down, knowing the man was right. “I’m actually a little surprised it took them this long to gang up on you.” Nick brought his gaze back up and once again saw that sinister grin spreading across Brass’ face.

“Musta been my sparkling personality.” Nick smirked.

Brass winked at him. “Yeah, that’s gotta be it.”

Chapter 30

21:00 – 2006.12.13

CSI Lab: Break Room

Sara and Nick were having something of a silent war as they sat at the Break Room table. She was trying to look busy as she read a forensic journal and he was paying far too much attention to that microwave burrito in front of him. Periodically, they would each look up and over at the other, but then quickly looked away if they thought the other might have noticed. It was obvious that neither was willing to make the first move. Sara was more accustomed to this particular battle, and she knew the only way to solve the impasse.

Slamming her journal down onto the tabletop, she looked over at him and asked, “How much longer are we going to keep this up?”

Nick shrugged and poked at his burrito again before answering, “I’m not the one who started it.”

“ME?!” Sara threw herself back in her chair and her face showed her shock. “How did I start this?”

“You’re the one telling Brass about my-”

“Our case.”

Nick nodded his head and continued, “Our case… Gangin’ up on me with Stretch Armstrong downstairs… And you’re also the one who didn’t even give me a clue about that little bomb you and Grissom dropped on my head last weekend.”

“Okay, first, Brass asked, and I was too worn out to even consider that he had an ulterior motive.”

“It’s Brass, he always has an ulterior motive, Sara.”

“Whatever… Second, you don’t ask for opinions from people if you don’t want them to be honest, especially me and Steph.”

Nick smirked at that one and acquiesced. “Okay, you gotta point there. But the last one?”

“Right…” Sara bit the corner of her lip as she searched for the answer. “That was out of my hands. Grissom was serious about not telling anyone beforehand. He wanted to make sure none of it got out an-”

“Sara, you know if you tell me something, you can trust me. I’d never betray anything you gave me, you know that…”

“That’s got nothing to do with it, Nicky. Grissom specifically asked me not to talk to anyone. I couldn’t be-”

“Betray his confidence… I get it.” Nick hung his head once he understood the full situation. “So, basically, what you’re sayin’ is I gotta stop makin’ rush judgments, again.” Nick looked up at Sara with a shy smile.

“You said it, not me.” Her sideways grin told him they were done with their little tiff.

“Alright… Next time, could ya at least warn me?”

Sara bit down on her lip again, but Nick was turned away and could not see her nervous actions. “Well, there is-” Before she could actually get it out, Warrick and Greg came blustering into the Break Room.

“Sara! You have got to hear this!” Greg was filled with his normal high impact energy. “The whole place is buzzin’ about your transfer to days!”

“Greg! You didn’t?!” Sara was instantly on her feet, but Nick reached out and took her by the forearm to restrain her from braining the younger man.

Greg immediately threw his hands into the air and exclaimed, “NO! I swear, Sara, it wasn’t me!”

Warrick took a seat at the table and reluctantly explained, “Nah, it was that busy body secretary of Ecklie’s, I’m sure… Probably under the direction of the weasel, himself.”

Dropping to her seat, Sara sighed, “Great… That’s exactly what Grissom needs to hear today… Not like he wasn’t already in a bad mood.”

“Aw man, what now?” Warrick shook his head in disgust as he asked.

“I’ll give you three guesses, and unless they all involve Ecklie, you’ll be wrong.” Sara was joining in on the level of distaste being displayed as everyone else groaned at her answer.

Greg held up the coffee pot and said, “Well, at least we know they kept it out of the Break Room this time.” They all laughed at his joke and that gave him the confidence he needed to continue with his original story. “So, Sara, you wanna guess what stories are flying around here about why you’re going to days?”

“God… I can only imagine. I bet half are going to say it’s because I’m either pregnant or I’m dumping Grissom.”

Greg looked positively despondent at her admission. “How’d you know?”

Nick shook his head and chuckled, “Please Greggo… This place is awful predictable, little man. And besides, it’s Sara and Grissom, what else are they gonna yammer on about?”

Greg dejectedly took his seat at the table and said, “Well, there is one rumor that sounds a lot more believable.”

Leaning back in his seat and stretching, Warrick asked, “What’s that, junior?”

“I overheard a couple of the day-shift techs saying Blake Reynolds was the CSI coming to nights.” Greg watched Sara cringe at his news, so he continued, in the hopes she would confirm it. “They said something about him getting a divorce and wanting to switch to nights so he could spend the days with his little boy.” Greg saw that Sara was completely tense and asked, “Hey Sara, is there any truth in that one?”

Sara immediately felt all eyes on her, and she dreaded doing it, but she had told Grissom she was not going to lie to anyone on the team. “Yeah, look, Blake still hasn’t told the people in his team… Yes, he’s the one I’m switching with at the first of the year.” She suddenly forced a stern expression to form on her face when she said, “But you can’t tell anyone you know about it, got it?” Everyone nodded, but Sara knew the damage had been done when she looked on as Nick sat there clenching his jaw.

The mood in the room was intensely somber when Catherine entered with the assignment slips for the night. “Well, who kicked the puppy tonight?” Several sets of eyes glanced quickly from Sara to Nick and Catherine had her answer, the news had leaked. She decided to cut the woman some slack, “Whatever, look we have a full board tonight, so let’s cut the chatter and get out on the streets people.”

Catherine proceeded to hand out the assignments, sending each person out as she passed them off. When she was done, Nick was still seated at the table and she could instantly tell he was not happy about it. “Nick?”

He looked up and saw that she was completely out of assignment slips, “What’s goin’ on, Cath?”

“Well, I was late coming in tonight because I had to deal with Ecklie about overtime. You’re getting the Sara treatment for the rest of the week. You’re already maxxed out on overtime for the month, Nick. The only reason we’re not sending you home is because the case you were working is high profile and the sheriff is salivating over outdoing the feds on a major drug ring.”

“So, what am I supposed to do, sit around here and twiddle my thumbs?!” Catherine was growing concerned with his level of anger.

“Nick, I don’t make the rules, but they are there for a reason.”

“That’s crap, Catherine, and you know it!” Nick went storming out of the room, leaving Catherine standing there in shock at his display.

Chapter 31

21:16 – 2006.12.13

CSI Lab: Grissom’s Office

Staring out over at least a month’s worth of paperwork that needed to be sorted through in under two weeks, Grissom blew out a breath as he settled in to hack away at the first stack. He decided the first thing he would finish were the all the employee evaluations, commendations, recommendations, certifications and general personnel notes. It was partially self-serving, because he knew Warrick would be calling him repeatedly to understand what even half of it was, so this would save him a major headache down the road. The other part was that he wanted to leave the people who had worked so hard for him over the years with one last thing; his acknowledgment and approval of everything they had done for him and the department.

He was busy tallying all of Greg Sanders’ hours in the field and the specific cases he had worked on with great joy. The young man had made such an amazing leap in maturity since leaving the lab and becoming a C.S.I. and it made him proud that he had been a part of that transformation, if only because he had placed the bulk of his early training under the careful watch of one Sara Sidle.

Grissom was completely unaware of the tempest that was about to blow into his office. CRASH! His door was thrown open so hard he cringed as he waited for the glass to shatter. When the sound of breaking glass remained absent he hazarded a glance up, expecting to see Conrad Ecklie standing in his doorway. He was absolutely flabbergasted to find instead, a steaming mad Nick Stokes.

“What the hell is goin’ on around here, Grissom!?”

Grissom deliberately removed his glasses and sat back in his seat, as he dropped his pen on the desk. When his eyebrow raised, he could see that Nick was far too angry to understand any subtleties at that point. “First of all, would you like to carefully close my office door…” Grissom gestured for the door and then brought his hands together in a pensive pose. “And then you can explain why you felt the need to bust into my office like a lunatic.”

Nick clenched his jaw and ground his teeth as he turned to shut the door. When he turned back to stare at Grissom, he tried to control his anger, but it was boiling hotter with each passing moment. “What’s with being banned from the field?”

“You’re way over on hours… And before you say anything, I understand why, but that doesn’t change the fact that HR is coming down on Ecklie about the overage, and that sort of thing rolls downhill, Nick.” Grissom tried to lessen the blow with the praise he had heard from the sheriff. “Fortunately for you, McKeen went to bat for you, so you can still work the lab this week, if you like.”

“What does THAT mean?! If I like?” Nick’s anger was not dissipating.

“According to my records… You haven’t taken any time off since-… Well, since your medical leave. Maybe you should consider-”

“Are you tryin’ to handle me, Grissom? You had Sara go almost two years without a single freakin’ PTO, and you don’t say anything to her… Why me?” Nick was ramping up even more.

Grissom bit back what he was going to say, and then carefully mentioned, “This isn’t about Sara… This is about you, and for the record, everyone is required to take PTO after so many hours on the job, as a direct result of certain oversights in that area of my administration.”

“Fine…” Nick was trying to get the next part out without blowing his top, but it was getting harder and harder the more he talked to Grissom. “So, tell me why you not only didn’t consider me for the promotion, but you replace Sara with a second lead, leaving me in limbo indefinitely?!”

Grissom finally understood what the real issue was with Nick’s question. “Is that what this is about? You thought you should’ve been shift supervisor?”

“You should’ve at least considered me… And then you buried me!” Nick was screaming again and he bashed his fist into the filing cabinet beside him to release more of his anger. With the pain coursing through his body to combat the rage, he started to shake his head as he lowered his gaze and said, “I just don’t get it, Grissom. I never knew you could do me this low.”

Grissom shook his head in disbelief at Nick’s assessment of the situation. “I’ve never hidden the fact that Warrick was being groomed for something else, something bigger. Plus, he has more experience and more time in the field than you do. He’s also been trading the weekend supervisor duties with Sara for over a year. You’ve never once stepped up in that capacity, and have never indicated an interest in it either.” Grissom noticed that much of the steam in Nick’s anger was finally waning, so he gestured for Nick to take a chair. “The fact is Nick, you have some fine qualities, and a great future as a C.S.I., but you haven’t ever expressed an interest in a supervisory role. I recommended you for that key position, because I thought you had finally understood what it took to go that extra mile without getting too wrapped up in the case to lose your edge, and that was what that particular position required.”

Nick was confused with Grissom’s analysis and had to ask, “I thought it was a promotion, that I’d be doing more high profile cases, and working with training new staff, and-”

“It was a status promotion only, and it was more political than merit based, at the time, you were the better C.S.I. for the position.”

“What do you mean, ‘at the time’?”

Grissom shrugged, and reluctantly said, “A lot has changed in the last couple years, Nick. You’ve changed, some for the better, but not all.”

“Look, I went through the counseling, I passed all the psych tests and-” Nick stopped himself when he realized the whole thing was nothing but a massive rationalization. “You don’t think I’m ready for any of this, do you?”

Shaking his head, Grissom asked, “Ready for what? I don’t think I understand the question.”

“Supervisor, second lead, any of it. You don’t think I could handle it, do you?”

“Right now?” Grissom saw how his words dug into Nick, and changed his mind about what he was going to say. “Nick, you’re maxxed out on overtime, you’ve just been dealt a huge blow, and then with Sara and I dropping that bomb last weekend, it’s just been a lot to process. Before I answer any more life altering questions, why don’t you take some of that time off? Go see the family, rent a cabin, visit the beach, something, just get away from here for a few days, clear your head, put your house in order.” He watched as Nick seemed to be receiving the suggestions with some interest. “And when you get back, I promise, we’ll sit down and talk about this, at length.”

Nick’s shoulders slumped with the weight that rested there, but Grissom could tell that his words had gotten through. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course.” Grissom rose from his seat and moved around the desk as Nick also rose from his seat. “With the holidays coming up, this might be the perfect time for a little Stokes family reunion.”

Nick actually chuckled at that thought, seeing as he had just cleared another message from his mother telling him how much she missed him and hoping they would get to see him very soon. “Yeah, and it might help my parent’s phone bill a little, too.”

“Ah yes, the persistent nature of the worried mother… I believe I am familiar with that phenomenon.” Grissom smirked at the memories of his own mother’s incessant messages requesting his presence over the years. Leading him out of the door, Grissom gave Nick a friendly pat on the shoulder and sent him on his way. He only hoped that his words helped the younger man, because he had a great deal of baggage to work out on his own. Grissom had been in that same place at one time; adrift in the sea of life with no sail and no rudder with which to guide his life beyond his work.

As Grissom gingerly closed to the door to his office, he made one final comment, sending it out into the cosmos, since there were no other ears to hear it. “I hope you find it faster than I did, Nicky.” Then he turned and went back to his desk to finish slogging through the paperwork that awaited him.

Chapter 32

06:15 – 2006.12.14

CSI Lab: Layout Room

With Grissom’s words playing over and over again in his head all night long, Nick worked to put the finishing touches on the notes for the case file. The more he thought about what the man had said, the more he realized he might have had a point. He had been coasting on auto-pilot for a long time, ever since that night.

Nick did need to get his house in order, and he needed to get his head on straight. He decided in that moment that he was going take his boss’ advice and go on that vacation. He was also going to follow some advice he had been given a long time ago; when you get lost at the end, the best thing to do is go back to the beginning. For Nick, that beginning would be waiting for him back home in Texas.

Once the decision had been made, Nick started gathering all of his notes and files together so that he could submit the case as closed. As he put them all together, he realized he was missing a couple of pathology reports. He was about to pick up and head down to the morgue when he looked up at the door and found Stephanie standing there.

“I was just gettin’ ready to look for you.”

She held up a folder and said, “I bet you were looking for these.” She tossed the folder down onto the table. “Sorry, I had to get some copies, since I’m gonna write this one up. Those exposure wounds are something that seriously needs to be added to the knowledge base.”

“Oh yeah? Does that mean I get a mention in one them journals you got piled up on your desk?” Nick gave her a sly smile with his question.

“Keep dreaming, buddy… We don’t use names like bribery in the pathology journals. And besides, since you didn’t see the body where it was found, I wouldn’t even be able to use you for a presentation.” Stephanie motioned for the chair on the opposite side of the table.

“Yeah, sure, have a seat.” Nick made a move to get up, but she shook her head to show him he was okay.

“Sorry, been a long week already.” Nick could only assume that Stephanie was still dealing with the affects of her recent brush with death. He had noticed that she seemed to be a little run down lately, and then there was that thing with the food poisoning, so he figured she must have been running on empty. “And I’ve been feeling kind of bad about giving you the business last week. Nick, I know tha-”

“Hey, don’t sweat it… Really. I know you and Sara were just bein’ honest. And as much as I was bein’ jerk at the time, I think it was just the kick in the butt I needed.” Nick tried to show the woman with his expression just how true those words were.

“Well, either way, you didn’t need me coming down on you like a ton of bricks, and I’m sorry. Sometimes I just get carried away… And I think you caught me on a bad day.” He watched as Stephanie appeared to get a faraway look in her eyes. “Hopefully those are almost done, but I won’t make any guarantees, yet.”

Nick decided that humor was probably the best way to diffuse the situation. “Yeah, well, you think maybe you could put up a sign or somethin’? Or some kinda warning system? Ya know, green for okay, yellow for a mild tantrum, orange when it’s gettin’ dangerous and red when stuff’s gonna fly through the air?”

Stephanie laughed and it made him feel a lot more secure about the situation, “Sure thing, but only if you use the same system.” She slowly got up from the chair and nodded at him. “Thanks for listening, Nick.”

As she left the room he smiled and said, “Anytime, Stretch.”

Nick reached for the folder and added his case notes to each of the reports and arranged them into the final file. He was signing the final summary when another visitor dropped into the Layout Room. “Hey, Nicky… You ah, got a minute?”

Nick looked up from his full report and found that Jim Brass was standing in the doorway. “Ah, yeah sure, Brass… I was just filling out the last of the forensics report for the desert case.”

“Good, good… That’s ah, actually what I was here about.” Brass was obviously not happy about having to be there, so Nick decided to wait it out and get the whole story. “I wanted to let you know that Vega has two of your suspects in custody right now. Went to question the dealer at the Tangiers and the guy caved so fast, poor Sam couldn’t even keep up.”

Nick chuckled at Brass’ description. “Yeah, I had a feelin’ he’d be your weak link.”

“That’s an understatement… Anyway, with what we got from that idiot, we were able to set up a stakeout for the next drop. Managed to get your other set of prints when he got his chute tangled up in the trees, but ah, it looks like we missed the main guy. Took off on a dirt bike, and there’s been no trace of him since they lost him.”

“Man, that bites, huh?”

“Yeah, and better yet, the park service guys tell me if he’s got supplies, he could hold up out there for a month, or slip past us without even a trace because of the size of that place.” Nick could tell that Brass was leading up to something, and he knew he was not going to like it. “They also tell me, there’s only one person that can help us find the perp and/or the stash.”

“No, there’s no way, Brass… I am not-”

“Look, if there was any other way, I’d do it, Nick, but she’s all we got to take these clowns out. We only picked up the lackeys, and without the main guy, we’ll never shut that operation down.” Brass took in a deep breath and gave Nick his last ace. “These guys are bringing in more raw smack than I’ve seen in my entire career, Nicky… You got any idea what kind of volume that’s gonna create on the streets?”

Nick hung his head, Jim’s words had hit him right in the heart. That much heroin on the streets would be a tragedy, and Nick knew that no amount of abuse or pain would stop him from doing what needed to be done. “Yeah, yeah, I get it Jim… Problem is she’s out of town right now. She too-”

“She’s back, but she ain’t answering her phone. Rangers said she gets like that sometimes, and won’t talk to people she don’t know, so I figured if-”

Nick laughed at that assessment. If she was not about to talk to strangers, how would she feel about talking to the guy she seems to despise the most. “Look, I’ll give it a try, but I’m not making any guarantees, man. I don’t exactly have the best track record with her, ya know.”

“Yeah, I know, but I wouldn’t be doin’ my job if I didn’t ask.” Brass nodded at Nick and then left a map showing where they had lost the suspect on the table. “Thanks, Nick.”

“I’ll do my best.” Nick nodded as Brass started to walk out of the room.

“All I’ve ever asked.”

Chapter 34

01:30 – 2006.12.15

Stokes Home: Garage

With each and every astoundingly dust covered box and crate that Nick moved he became more and more aware of the fact that his life had changed dramatically since his abduction. Before the incident, he regularly took his bike out for a spin, but he was drawing a complete blank on the last time he even saw the thing, let alone fired it up. He also realized that he seriously needed to clean out his garage.

He had always used it for storage, since his truck did not fit inside of the compact garage that came with his condo. What he had not realized was that it was also being used for anything he never wanted to see again, but was not entirely ready to part with yet. As he moved the umpteenth box of old magazines Nick’s greatest fears came to pass; he had turned into his mother. For years he listened to his father complain about his mother never throwing anything out, and here he was doing exactly the same thing.

The first thing he found was his motorcross shirt with all the panels. Next object that turned up in his archeological dig were the pads he wore under the shirt and pants. However, none of those things were going to do him any good for a trip down the highway; he needed his bike, his gloves and his helmet. At that point, he was still trudging through several boxes of old clothes stacked all over the place.

With his hands on his hips, Nick surveyed the garage as he attempted to figure out the next place to look. While he was focused on the scan, he failed to notice the teetering stack of boxes to his left. That failure ceased when he was bombarded with the boxes as they fell to the ground, but not before smacking him the face. Once the cacophony of destruction was finished falling around him, he brought a hand up to his face where it stung and brought his hand back covered in blood. “Fantastic!”

Nick stomped his way back up into his condo to get a good look at the damage. As he walked through the front door his toe became caught up in the strap of the backpack he left by the door and he nearly went careening into the kitchen counter. “Damnit!” Nick was quickly reaching his breaking point when he finally made it somewhat safely into the bathroom to find that he had a lovely cut across his brow and cheek. As he proceeded to clean up the blood and crud, he found that the wound was also red and raised, which immediately told him it was going to bruise on top of everything else. With his hands planted firmly on the bathroom vanity Nick hung his head because he knew he was going to head home to Texas in a few days with gash on his face and a black eye. “Helluva way to show the folks you’re doin’ just fine, Pancho.”

Nick took out the first aid kit and finished cleaning up the cut. When he took a last look in the mirror as he tossed the wad of used gauze in the trash, he shook his head in disgust. For a day that had started out with such promise, it had turned into garbage in a serious hurry.

When he had gone into the lab with his vacation slip, Grissom had been receptive to the whole thing and thanked him for considering what he had said. Then Grissom told him to make sure all of his case notes were up to date and filed, in case there were any questions while he was gone and that as soon as it was done, he was officially on leave. Nick only had a few things to do and then he was out the door before midnight. The only thing he felt bad about was the fact that everyone was out in the field, so he had not been able to say goodbye to anyone.

Almost as if on cue, his cellphone rang and the display showed Sara’s name. “Stokes.”

“What, you think you can just slip out of town without so much as ‘see ya later?’”

“Nah… Actually, I was gonna call you when I got back from the desert this afternoon. I needed to ask you for a lift to the airport Sunday.” Nick smiled because he had known that Sara would be the one to call him first. Instead of continuing to walk down the stairs to the garage, Nick copped a squat there on the step to talk to his friend.

“You better have… Because I need to know where you’re going in order to put in my present request.”

“Well, then you’re in luck, ‘cause I’m headed home for Christmas.” His smile seemed to be firmly in place as he talked to Sara.

“Oooooo… Does that mean I can get you to bring me back some of your Mom’s oatmeal raisin cookies?” Nick knew what she was going to say even before she said it, but it still made him laugh. Sara and his mother had bonded while his parents had stayed at her place after his abduction. It had helped Nick to convince his parents that he would be okay if they went back to Texas, because they knew Sara would keep an eye on him for them.

“I bet you’ll get more than that, seein’ as she just found out about the wedding.” Nick had to get his dig in, because he was surprised that Sara had not included his parents in the announcements.

“Not true… I just got their present in the mail this week, and they apologized for not being able to come to the wedding.” Nick sat there in shock when he realized that his own mother had conned him.

“I’ll be a-… She totally punked me.” Nick shook his head in disbelief, but delighted in the laughter that came through the phone from his friend. “You gotta stop talkin’ to my mother… She’s pickin’ up your evil streak.”

“Nah, I think you’re just finally wising up enough to see it.” Nick realized, too late, that he had walked right into another of her potshots.

“Whatever… Look, I gotta dig my bike outta the garage so I can get down to the research site and do some beggin’ for Brass.”

“Yeah, I heard the Doc’s been playing hard to get again… Good luck out there and just remember to keep your foot out of your mouth.”

Nick laughed again at Sara’s attempt at humor. “Yeah, yeah yeah… Look, I’ll call you when I get back and give you my flight info, if you don’t mind runnin’ me to and from the airport.”

“Anytime, Nicky… Talk to ya later.”

“Bye, Sar.” As Nick clicked his phone closed he smiled again with the knowledge that even if he was a backwards pain in the butt, he had good friends to see him through it.

He got up from the steps and trotted back down to the garage with that smile still plastered on his face. Just as Nick came around the corner he nearly slammed into his bike and Warrick. “Whoa! Where’d you come from?”

“And a fine hello to you, too.” Though his words sounded harsh, the grin on his face told Nick all he needed to know; Warrick was there to check on him.

“Sorry, man… But aren’t you supposed to be workin’?” As he looked down he suddenly realized that Warrick stood there with his bike. “And how’d you know what I was lookin’ for?”

Warrick shrugged and said, “Me and Sara ran into Brass and he said you were gonna fall on your sword with the Doc to get her cooperation on the case again. But it looks like I might’ve been a little late.” He pointed at the gash on Nicks’s face and added, “Cane or laptop?”

“Neither… I had an unfortunate incident with a stack of boxes.”

“Well, then I guess I got here just in time. I figured you’d be lookin’ to get the bike back on the road to hit the research site, especially when Sara told me you were takin’ some time off.” Warrick bent back down to the bike and got back to work as Nick tried to find his voice again.

“Yeah, but how’d you know where the bike was?” Nick attempted to change the subject.

Warrick laid a finger alongside his nose and said, “Followed the evidence… Or more like the smell of gasoline.”

Nick shook his head. “You gotta be kiddin’ me?!”

Warrick cracked a smile and said, “Yeah, I am… Who do you think put it away when you were in the hospital?”

With his head hung low on his shoulders, Nick sighed, “I swear sometimes I got ‘sucker’ written on my forehead.”

With a wink Warrick answered, “Yeah, well, we didn’t want you to feel self-conscious about it.” He waited for Nick to recover from the hit before he added, “Go on… Keep lookin’ for your helmet and I’ll get this thing fired up.”

Warrick started checking over the bike as Nick paused a moment to admire the fact that his friend was giving him enough space to talk on his own. He smiled and turned into the garage to locate that helmet and work up the nerve to tell Warrick what was going on and why he was taking leave. Their somewhat silent tasks continued along for nearly an hour.

At the exact moment that Nick finally found the helmet, he heard the motor fire up on his bike. With both men smiling from their efforts, Nick knew that the time had come.

“Hey, man… If you got some time?” Nick looked from his watch to the stairs that led up to his condo.

Warrick nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a slow one… Gris put me on-call for the rest of the night.”

The two men made their way to Nick’s condo. Once inside Nick went straight to the fridge, pulled a couple of soft drinks out and placed them on the counter. Warrick took a seat on the opposite side of the counter and leaned against it with his forearms.

“You hungry?” Nick stared into the refrigerator as he spoke.

Warrick shrugged. “Yeah, I could eat.”

“Good…” Nick pulled a large styrofoam container out of the fridge and walked to the microwave. “Because I got all these wings for football night, and ended up watching the game alone.”

“Aw man… Don’t do me like that.” Warrick cringed at Nick’s accusation. “You know I didn’t have a choice. Cath had to go in early and I got stuck at Lindsey’s dance recital. Trust me, settin’ on your couch was where I woulda rather been.”

The silence hung between them for a little while as the microwave dinged and Nick worked to set the food out for the two of them. However, before Warrick could touch a bite, he needed to clear the air between them. “Hey man… There’s somethin’ I’ve been needin’ to talk to you about.” Warrick took in a deep breath and then sighed. “I know you’ve been sittin’ behind the eight ball for a while now, and I’m sorry for not bein’ there for you, Nick. I know it’s not an excuse, but I’ve just been so caught up in my own stuff tha-”

Nick started to shake his head and said, “No way, man. I’m not gonna let you do that. You got this whole thing with Catherine and helpin’ her with Lindsey and I know that you’ve got these things in your life now, Warrick…” He paused for a moment to try and find the right words to express what he had been feeling. “I just feel like all these changes are happenin’ around me and I got no control and no say about what’s goin’ down. Like I’m just some spectator, and everyone else is callin’ the shots, gettin’ the breaks, while I get left with nothin’ but the crumbs. And the worst part is that I can’t be pissed about it, because I’m happy for you guys, ya know. I would never want anything but the best for all of you, but…” Nick choked on the last words.

“But it’d be nice if you got in on a little of it, too?” Warrick’s words cut straight to the heart of the matter.

“Yeah…” Nick nodded his head as he picked at the food and stared off into space for a few moments. “Grissom’s right, though… I need to get my head on straight, and then try to figure out where the heck I really am.”

Warrick shook his head as he laughed briefly. “Sucks how that works out, huh?”

“What’s that?”

“Takes the man ten years to see what standin’ right in front of him, but he can peg us without even blinkin’.” They both laughed then, both knowing that Grissom’s aloof attitude was never more than an act, because he had been on the money with the both of them more times than either would ever admit.

They polished off the wings, laughed at each other’s jokes, made promises to spend more time hanging out in the future, and simply enjoyed the company of the other. When they were finished, Warrick helped Nick get ready for his trip down the road until he finally got a page to go assist Sara on another case.

As Nick watched Warrick drive away, he felt a little better about his place in the world, and about his friendships, again. It helped his disposition as he prepared to once again do battle with The Beast.

Chapter 35

06:45 – 2006.12.15

Outskirts of Lost Gringo Mtn. State Rec. Area: Desmaiseaux Cabin

The ride down the highway had been uneventful, and in fact, it had been strangely calming for Nick. The miles clicked by effortlessly, gave Nick an incredible sense of space that he had been missing for some time, and enabled him to put into perspective much of what had happened in the last couple of weeks. The whine of the road beneath his tires was like a comforting song that brought his mind into focus as he replayed the events of the last couple weeks in his head.

He had been reacting to everything on a purely visceral level up to that point, never taking the time to process anything before responding to it. And while it still bothered him that Sara failed to tell him about the details of her transfer, he knew that her explanation had been the truth, and that she had no control over who would be moving to Graves from the day shift. He knew that Grissom’s choice to install Warrick in his place was the right decision, but it was still a huge hit to his ego that he had not even been in the running during the process. However, he had no one to blame but himself in that regard, because he had been coasting along on auto-pilot for quite a while. He planned to use his time off to try and get a handle on the whole thing and figure out where he was going from there on out.

Nick enjoyed the peaceful ride out to the desert, and used the time to center himself before he met up with the professor. He planned to do everything he could to convince Dr. Desmaiseaux to assist them in the search for their suspect. As he was on his way out of town, Nick remembered that Sandi had said there was a whole crew out there, so he stopped at a little donut shop on the outskirts of the city to pick up a couple dozen donuts. Nick knew from his own college days that someone showing up with donuts was a hero under any circumstances, so he knew that at least the crew would be happy to see him.

Hazarding a glance at the map he taped down to the gas tank, Nick doubled checked the directions to the cabin site and realized he was within minutes of arrival. With the sun rapidly rising to his left as he traveled South along the road, he checked his watch to make sure his arrival time would not be too late. When he saw that it was still before seven o’clock, he decided to still hit the cabin site first, instead of continuing to the research site pull-off.

As he passed the mile marker from the directions, he started to look for the Forest Service road on the map and slowed the bike down to enable a quick turn. When the road suddenly came into view, Nick was ready to make the left turn, but terribly unprepared for the rugged grade of the road. Normally, he would have simply enjoyed the bumps and jumps, but with two dozen rings of sugared bribery riding behind him, he decided to take it easy.

With an opening on the right, Nick caught site of a grouping of tents and campers long before he saw the cabin. His first indication was that he had happened upon a campground, but then he saw the base of a tower with several cables running from it to the campers. When he looked a little closer, off to the left, tucked into the trees, he spotted a small cabin. Nick stopped the bike long enough to check his directions when a man in a floppy, tan, wide-brimmed hat came walking towards him. As the man drew closer, Nick recognized the shaggy blonde hair that belonged to the professor’s field assistant, Boone. He brought the bike down into the clearing and met Boone onsite.

“Dude! You must be a serious glutton for punishment.” The young graduate student smiled as he walked up to him.

Nick removed his helmet and gloves and dropped them down onto the seat of the bike. “Yeah, well, I’m told that I’m a slow learner.” Nick was doing his best to keep things light.

“Must be, man…” Boone checked out Nick and the bike for any clues. “So, what brings you all the way out here at the crack of dawn?”

Nick pulled off his backpack and set it down next to the helmet on the bike and then reached to undo the box of donuts he had strapped down to the back of the bike. “Well, I’m doin’ a favor for the lead detective, and throwin’ myself on my sword to do it.” Boone laughed at the obvious joke and waited to learn the truth. “And, I brought a peace offering to get my foot in the proverbial door.” Nick handed over the box and waited for Boone to inspect the contents.

“DUDE!!! You just hit the motherload!” Boone reached into the box, took hold of the wax paper and then picked two of the jelly donuts out and handed them to Nick. “Take these with you to the cabin and I’ll distribute the rest.” Nick gave him a strange look when he took the donuts and Boone laughed as he said, “Trust me, man… Those will save your life.”

Boone walked Nick up to the porch and when they reached the door he said, “Make sure you give her the donuts first, it’ll lessen the bite.” Nick was about to say something, but not before Boone knocked on the cabin door as he turned and ran back to the site’s other inhabitants.

The Doc’s voice bellowed from the back of the cabin. “C’mon in!” Nick cautiously poked his head inside the door. He seriously began to think the whole thing was a huge mistake. He should have hit the Ranger Station and been announced, but he honestly thought she would have blown him off if she knew he was on the way. The surprise attack might get him more lumps, but at least he would get some kind of response to take to Brass, instead of a brick wall.

As Nick slowly walked over the wooden floor, he quickly realized that the woman was not aware of her visitor’s identity, so he decided he should announce his presence. However, once he stood inside the cabin he was shocked at the size of it. From the outside it had looked much smaller, but from inside he deduced that it had to be at least in excess of a thousand square feet of space.

“I’m running late, Boone, so the coffee’s not ready yet.” Nick followed the sound of her voice and found the kitchen. When he took another step forward he was stopped in his tracks by another sight; the professor standing, with her back turned, in the middle of the kitchen, wearing a tank top. For the first time since David’s graphic description of her accident, Nick had a visual frame of reference for her extensive injuries. There were large, purplish patches of skin along her right shoulder and upper arm, an enormous scar from a surgical incision across her shoulder blade and a jagged and deformed scar where it looked like the skin had been torn away from her arm. As he stood there in awe of the significance of the damage, she lifted an overshirt onto her shoulders and that was when he noticed the scars that extended up along her neck and disappeared into the hairline that he saw for the first time. She had her hair tied up in one of those bands, and he could also see that her hair was obviously disturbed by scars on her head as well, from the way it was pulled back.

When the timer on the coffee pot went off, Nick struggled with the view in front of him and his breath caught in his throat at the implication of the visual proof of her trauma. But the one thing he knew was that he needed to let her know the identity of her visitor, and the only thing that popped into his mind to do was, “That’s okay, I’ve already had my coffee.”

He tried not to look directly at her as the professor quickly pulled the shirt tightly around herself and instantly took her hair down in a panic before she turned to face the voice that was obviously not her field assistant. “Where’d you come from?” The tone of her voice was shaky and almost sounded frightened.

“Sorry, Boone sent me in here. I hope it’s okay.” Nick realized that, not only had he caught her off-guard, but his presence in that vulnerable moment had upset her more than he understood.

She fumbled with the shirt and her grasp of the counter when she replied, “Um, yeah. It’s ah, fine… What brings you out here?” She practically stuttered her way through the words and her level of comfort in the situation was obviously very low.

“Ah well, actually Captain Brass asked me to talk to you and see if you couldn’t um, help us out a little more.” Nick fought to keep his focus with the images of her shoulder playing out in his head. “They had a little trouble when they tried to-”

“Yeah, I heard from the rangers that things got a little hairy up there.” Nick noticed that she seemed to have gotten her guard back up and it served to make him nervous instead.

“Right…” Nick looked down and noticed that he still had the donuts in his hand. “OH! I almost forgot. These are for you.” Nick placed the donuts down on the counter in front of her, and hoped the peace offering would put them back on the right path.

“Donuts?” She gave him a wary look. “Where’d you find donuts out here?” Nick thought he saw a glimmer of hope in her question, but he was still on unsteady ground.

“Ah, I stopped and grabbed them from this little place on the way out of Vegas. Sandi told me you had a whole crew out here, so I got a couple dozen.” Nick shuffled his feet as he explained.

“And these were the only ones to survive the vultures?”

Nick blushed when he realized she was hinting at something. “Nah, actually Boone liberated those for you. Said they’d keep me alive for dropping in announced.” When he looked up to smile at her, he had to fight the urge to cringe as he noticed that her hair was no longer covering the right side of her face and he could see the obvious droop in that corner of her mouth.

He knew she had seen the look when her face instantly turned to stone. It was as though a wall had dropped over her expression in that moment. “So, what do you need this time?”

Nick tried to sound confident as he explained the problems they faced. “Well, they lost the ring leader out in the woods after the drop and they couldn’t find him with the chopper. They’re afraid he’s holdup somewhere out there, or that he’ll slip past them.” He was still unable to find even a hint of softness in the looks she gave him. “This guy is bad news, and he’s responsible for bringin’ a lot of heroin into the country.”

“You have the coordinates where they lost him?” She grabbed her crutch and started for a large table in the center of the main living area. On the table was a series of topographical maps.

Nick tried to keep his emotions off of his face as he followed her over to the table. Once they reached it, he handed her the trail map Brass had given to him. “They lost him ‘bout a half mile from that drop site we found.”

Dr. Desmaiseaux took the map from him and then reached over for a map roll leaning against the table. She laid out a fresh topographical map, complete with the park trails on it and began to make some notes directly on it. She flipped back and forth from the map with the notes and the one below it. “Do you have anything else that would give me any leads?”

“OH!” Nick dropped his backpack onto the table and dug out the trace report from the suspect they had in custody. “Here’s the trace report from the guy we nabbed up there.”

She leaned against the stool beside the table and began to look through the report. When she needed to see the next page, she set it down on the table, let her crutch rest against the stool and flipped the page with her left hand.

Nick stood by in agonizing silence as she slowly and painfully leafed through the report. When she reached for her crutch to rise, Nick thought his brain was about to explode in anguishing anticipation, but she only made a few more notes on the map.

After what felt like an eternity, she rolled up the map with the one good hand and gave it to Nick with a shove toward the center of his chest as she said, “I’ve marked off the place to find your guy. Just remember that there are some caves in that area, so be prepared for a fight.”

She limped over to a walkie talkie sitting by the front door and called, “Boone.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’m sending you out on babysitting duty in the back nine. So, make sure Sawyer is ready to handle the crew today.”

“Copy that, Doc.”

Nick watched intently as Dr. Desmaiseaux crossed the room with a bit of difficulty, to a short-wave radio that sat on a cabinet. “RJD-Niner to Ranger Control… RJD-Niner to Ranger Control, come in Ranger Control.”

“Hey Rox! What’s the word?”

“Hey Danny, can you put in a call to the LVPD guys and the State troopers to meet C.S.I. Stokes at the trailhead, please?” Nick was distracted from what she was saying by the fact that her crutch was dangling from her left arm as she held the transmitter of the radio. His rapt attention was on that crutch as it swayed back and forth. Each tick it made in its rhythm made him more and more aware of her disabilities.

“Ten-four, Rox … What’s brewin this time?”

“Got a twenty on the suspect… Tell those guys to come loaded for bear, and get the boys over at the U.S.G.S. to deliver the carts.”

“Hey Rox … Any chance we can get in on that action?” The professor laughed at the question.

Still under the spell of the crutch, Nick absently said, “If they got more of them carts, it might not be a bad idea, if they got anybody that’s armed.”

She shrugged at his suggestion and then spoke into the transmitter again, “Dan, Stokes is saying to break out the guns and carts and head on out there, buddy.”

“Roger that, Rox! Consider it done… Over and out.” It was obvious that the ranger on the other end of that radio was thrilled at the chance that Nick had provided them.

The Doc shook her head as she turned around and said, “Well, that got you more points than the donuts.” When she finished turning around she caught sight of Nick and suddenly realized what he was staring at and her entire expression went from stone to fury in an instant.

She turned on a dime and made her way straight back to the kitchen, as she called out over her shoulder, “Take the map, you’ll need it… Thanks for the donuts and enjoy your trip.”

Nick looked down into his hand at the map, and suddenly felt like he had just been dismissed by the queen. That understanding led to bringing his anger back to a boil. He felt as though he was being punished for something he did not understand, yet again, and he had finally reached his limit for the rudeness he was going to take by that point.

“Is that it?”

Her curt response was all he received. “Excuse me?”

“Is that it? You just walk away and dismiss me like one of your students, dependent on your whims, and that’s it.” Nick had no idea where it had come from, but the ire was there and he had had his fill of her attitude.

She turned and fixed him with a steely glare when she said, “I wasn’t aware there was anything else required of me by the people of Nevada.”

“Fine, then can you tell me exactly what it is about me that seems to turn you into a raging…” Nick chewed back the word. No matter how angry he was, he just could not bring himself to call a woman by that word. “Why is it you feel the need to treat me like dirt all the time?”

“I don’t have the time to treat you like anything, Mr. Stokes. And I certainly don’t have the inclination to waste any of my time placating your ego with useless pleasantries. I have done my job, I have done my duty, and now that my usefulness in your endeavor is over, I see no reason to entertain you further.” She was grinding her teeth as she spoke through her clenched jaw.

While Nick was angry, her last statement confused him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I take no joy from being anyone’s sideshow attraction, and I try very hard to limit the time I spend with people repulsed by physical appearance. At the same time, I don’t feel particularly friendly towards anyone uncomfortable with how I look or act. So, no Mr. Stokes, I don’t feel a need to treat you like anything, because that’s what you are to me; nothing.” She turned again and began to walk away from him as quickly as her crutch could carry her.

As he opened his mouth to respond to her accusations, Boone popped his head in the door, “Yo Boss Lady! The natives are gettin’ restless out here without their coffee…” Boone noticed Nick at the door and said. “Hey Nick, you ready?” The sandy haired man smiled at Nick, but it was short lived when he saw the look on his face. “Everything okay in here?”

Nick shook off the feelings of rage, shock and frustration, and tucked his chin down to hide the rest as he brushed past Boone when he walked out of the door. “It’s fine… Let’s go.”

Chapter 38

14:30 – 2006.12.17

Stokes & Wheel Ranch (Stokes Family Ranch)

The moment the Suburban made it through the front gate, Nick knew he was in for a very long day. There was a banner spread out over the gate with the words “Welcome Home Uncle Nicky!” in great big painted letters. It looked like the nieces and nephews had been turned loose on an old sheet, which only meant that the rest of the family was lying in wait for him once he reached the front door.

He was not disappointed by his family as the Suburban crunched to a halt over the quartz rock drive in front of the house. They poured out of the house, as if on queue, before he could even unbuckle his seat belt. Nick shook his head at the display, but his sister-in-law had a comment to make.

“Nicky, it really has been a while since you’ve been home, darlin’. And they just wanted to make you feel to home.”

“I know that, Louise… It’s just a little much all at once.” Nick did not have to see his sister-in-law’s face to know that his words had shocked her. He had never shown any displeasure with his family’s excesses before, so his comment had taken them both by surprise.

“Well, either way, you need to cowboy up and take yer medicine, jus’ like the rest of us, Nicky.” Daniel pushed open his door and then said, “C’mon and get it over with.”

Once he stepped out of the vehicle, everything became a tidal wave of hugs and kisses and tears and slaps on the back and squeals and giggles and serious Stokes family overload. When Nick finally found himself in his father’s den watching the second half of the Saints game while they waited for the Broncos game to kickoff, as they all recapped the Cowboys game from the day before, he knew beyond a doubt that things rarely changed in Texas. And even fewer things changed in the Stokes house.

By the time the Broncos game had started, Nick had already reached his fill of football with the brother-in-laws. The Judge and his brother had been bad enough growing up, but the addition of a couple of ex-collegiate ball players into the mix made it practically unbearable. The whole thing made him miss watching the games with Warrick in his living room, or even going head to head with Greg on Madden Live. He had a voice in those circumstances, while in his father’s den he would forever be the youngest boy and the one sent to the kitchen for refills.

During the next punt return, Nick quietly slipped out of the room in search of his mother, and the hopes of a quiet conversation. He needed her advice on some things and if he played his cards right, he could catch her alone.

When he poked his head into his mother’s parlour, he knew his cards had come up short as he found the smiling faces of nearly all of the women in his family. The only ones missing were his sister Connie (she was most likely feeding her baby) and his oldest niece Neeley.

“Was there something ya needed, Nicholas, honey?” His mother had always used his full name. She claimed that she had gone to a great deal of trouble naming her children, and therefore she would not sully that work by using nicknames.

“Ah, no Ma’am… Just tryin’ ta get a break from the football brigade in there.” Nick smiled and moved to take a seat on the ottoman near his mother. He looked around the room for the missing faces.

His mother instantly knew what, or who, he was looking for and spoke up. “Constance is up with the baby.”

“Oh, okay… They doin’ awright?” Nick tried to engage the women on their level.

His sister Elizabeth was the first to speak. “Oh yeah… But Connie says she’s jest about ready to use a bottle and give up the rest. Says it’s too much work, even with Michael helpin’ when he can.”

“Like any man kin help with such thangs, puhlease.” Louise always needed to add her own opinion to a conversation.

“He certainly does a lot more than Danny ever did… I don’t think Danny was even home long enough to last through a diaper change with Neeley.” Connie had appeared in the doorway to add her own thoughts to the conversation. “I changed more of her diapers than he even thought about, and I was just a teenager. Heck, I think Nicky did more for her than Danny. Isn’t that right, Nicky?”

Nicky took on the deer caught in the headlights look, but his sister-in-law was on the defensive before he could say anything. “Now, that’s not fair. Daniel was in law school when Neeley was born and he had a lot goin’ on.”

“Constance, I think that is more than enough.” Mrs. Stokes was always the last word in a conversation between those two. Connie had never liked Louise and often commented about the math involved between their wedding and Neeley’s birth.

“Sorry, Momma…” Connie took her seat next to Rachel as the woman slid over to make room for her younger sister. “Rachel, did you tell Nicky about the twins at the science fair?”

“Oh shoot, no I haven’t… Momma, are the pictures over there?” Rachel pointed at the photo albums beside her mother’s chair. Mrs. Stokes reached down and took out an album, passing it to Nick beside her. Rachel watched as Nick flipped through the pages. “All the way in the back, I think.”

Nick flipped it over and then started from the back until he found pictures of his twin nephews, Riley and Tyler. “Okay.”

“So, they found the instructions fer that volcano ya did when you were a boy, and those two lil’ monsters got it in their heads that they could make it better. So, ya know what they did?” Nick knew that if his sister Rachel had been standing, she would have had her hand on her hip.

Nick looked at the pictures and saw that the boys were covered in something black. “Lemme guess… They swiped some gunpowder from Gramps’ workshop?”

“YES!” Rachel was shocked that her little brother had guessed what her boys had done.

Connie laughed when she saw that Nick had a slight blush on his cheeks. “Don’t you even tell me… It was in yer notes, wasn’t it?!” Nick cringed when he realized his sister had pegged him once again. “I knew it!”

“Obviously the twins had a little less fear of the Judge than I did.” Nick turned to see his mother shaking her head in mock disapproval. “Sorry, Mom, but if I hadda done it, I know I’d have beat that kid with the ants. But the thought of the Judge ridin’ herd on my tail stopped me cold.”

“Well, I’m sure that wasn’t the only thing that stopped ya, honey.”

“That and the fear of blowin’ up Connie’s boyfriend Derek and havin’ her beat the tar outta me.” That comment brought a round of laughter from each of the women, except for Connie.

“Derek was NEVER my boyfriend. Jus’ because yer little geekazoid friend had a crush on me and followed me dang near ev’r where I went, DID NOT make him my boyfriend.” Connie wrapped her arms around herself with her indignation, but she was quickly hugged by Rachel.

Being that Nick was encroaching on female territory, it was only right when Maggie and Ruth-Anne moved in to lay the hurt down on Nick. “Well, I seem to remember a little girl with headgear and stringy hair followin’ your fuzzy butt around for quite a few years.” Ruth-Anne took the first shot that started the howls.

Maggie came in for the kill with, “And at least Connie didn’t have to get her cousin to go with her to the prom.” The laughter after that little reminder was raucous enough to make Nick stand up with his embarrassment.

But before he could make his retreat, his mother had something else to say. “Now, y’all leave him be, or we’ll never get him back out here again.”

“Oh Momma, we gotta make fun of him while we can, since he doesn’t exactly give us many opportunities.” His oldest sister Maggie got up and crossed the room as she spoke and met Nick at the door. “Now, Nicky, you know we jus’ like to tease ya, right?” She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and held him tight.

“Yeah, I know… I just forgot how much y’all enjoy torturin’ me.”

Mrs. Stokes reached her hand out to Nick and he took it. “Are you sure you don’t need anything, honey? It won’t be long for supper, but I can get you somethin’ now, if you want it.”

“No, Ma’am, I’m fine, really…” Nick exchanged a hug with his oldest sister before he continued, “I think I’m just gonna go take a walk, and stretch my legs a little while we’re waitin’ on supper.”

Everyone took his assurances that he was fine at face value and Nick made his way out of the house. From the moment he had entered the parlour, he had the distinct feeling that he was not exactly welcome in their conversation. He had been getting that feeling from his sisters whenever they had gathered together for a lot of years, but he had always continued to try because he remembered with a great fondness the days when he was allowed within their circle. The only thing he had ever been able to figure out was that when it became obvious he was, in fact, a guy that he was no longer allowed to join in their discussions. While he could still talk to them individually, if they were assembled, he was an unwelcome guest.

Nick’s feet were doing all the thinking as he made his way out the back of the house, and before he knew what had happened he was within a few yards of the horse barn and corral. He stretched his arms out and leaned up against the fence to watch the Palomino colt prancing inside the corral.

He was lost in the magic of the creature’s delicate steps and bows in the waning light of the Texas dusk. It was one of the things that pulled him back to this place every time: his love of the place, of the ranch, and of his family was the magic of his life. His thoughts were drifting out into the ether and his body was barely registering his existence, until the sounds of hoof beats broke through the natural silence.

When he turned toward the source of the sound he found his oldest niece atop her Sorrel as she trotted the horse to the corral. “Hey, Uncle Nicky!”

He moved to grab hold of the gate to allow her to stable the horse without dismounting. As he stepped aside to swing the gate open, Nick watched as Neeley swung her left leg over the saddle, pulled her right foot out of the stirrup and slid off the side of the horse right into her uncle’s arms for a hug as the horse continued inside the corral. “Damn! I’ve missed you!”

With her arms wrapped tightly around his neck she held onto him with a death grip as Nick laughed at the display. “Well, I gotta admit, that’s the best greeting I’ve gotten since I’ve been home.”

“That’s ‘cause I’m the only one who kin give ya the Full Neeley.” Nick laughed again as he remembered the nickname he had given to her wrestler hugs.

When she finally began to let go of her hold on his neck, he gently lowered her to the ground. “And I see you’ve been workin’ on that trick ridin’ again.”

“Yeah, but Gramps ain’t real happy about it. I think he’s still sore I won’t ride competitions anymore.” Neeley shrugged him off and then walked toward her horse where she took hold of his reins. “Tsk tsk, c’mon, Sundance.”

Nick followed behind her as she led the horse into the stables. “Hey, I thought I was Sundance?”

“Whatever…” She turned to give him a wink and then shrugged, “Either way, I’m Butch.”

Nick had to laugh, because he may not have always understood his niece’s humor, but her delivery was always dead on. As he watched, she removed the saddle and bridle before getting out the chamois to wipe him down. While she worked, Nick realized how grown up the girl had become in his absence. Eventually, he could no longer restrain himself from saying anything about it. “Man, Neeley, you shore have grown up.”

She shook her head and shot back with, “Nah, I’m not any taller… I just grew out in a few places.” Neeley was rewarded in her remark with the blush that immediately rose on her uncle’s cheeks. “Boy, Aunt Connie’s right… Yer way too easy.”

“Yeah, well, ya don’t need to be takin’ any lessons from her. Liable to end ya up working in yer Grams’ office.” Nick heard the words echoing in his head and realized that in less than six hours his accent had come back with a vengeance.

“Not hardly! They don’t make lawyers outta Chem majors.” She blasted as she continued to get the horse ready to bed down for the night.

Nick was impressed that his niece had held strong to her interest in science. It had been one of the things that drew them together while he was still in Texas. Nick had been a sophomore in high school when his oldest niece was born, so he had been a big part of her early development. He would often sit with his niece when she was little, and she showed an early interest in the homework he did, so Nick tried to nurture that curiosity by simplifying the work for her level. In his first year in Las Vegas he was rewarded for his mentoring with an excited phone call telling him she had won the state science fair. He knew he should never pick favorites, but Neeley was most definitely his favorite.

“So, you haven’t even been here a full day and they’re already givin’ ya the heebee jeebies? How’re ya gonna last more than a week, Uncle Nicky?” And that was the other reason he loved hanging out with the girl, she was the most direct and to the point member of his family. Neeley never stood on propriety or tradition, and if there was something on her mind, she was more than happy to let you know.

Nick winked at her and said, “Odd sleepin’ schedule and a whole lotta time on the back a one a them horses.”

“Nice!” Her laughter filled the barn and the creatures therein each reacted to the sudden outburst. “Boy, did I miss you!” She shook her head for a bit as she finished up with her horse and then led him into the pen. “So, how much time’ve we got ‘fore Grams rangs that bell?”

Nick looked down at his watch and scrutinized just how much time there was. “Well, I figure you got just enough time to wash off the dust and sweat and keep her from tannin’ yer hide for bein’ late to supper.”

“Perfect! I timed that just right, then… No time for Momma to read me the riot act anymore tonight.” Nick scrunched up his face at her comment, but Neeley tried to shake it off. “It’s yer first day back… We kin save the drama fer anotha day… ‘Specially since I’m stayin’ here fer the semester break.” Neeley walked up beside him and leaned in to give him a gentler hug. “I’m really glad ya made it home fer the holiday, Uncle Nicky… I’ve missed you.”

Before he could answer her, she had lit out of the barn at a gallop. “See ya at supper!”

As he watched her disappear into the house, Nick suddenly had an epiphany. His niece reminded him of someone, or more accurately, two someones. She was just like Steph and Sara wrapped up in a thick Southern accent. “No wonder!”

Chapter 39

16:50 – 2006.12.22

Stokes & Wheel Ranch (Stokes Family Ranch)

The sun was just beginning to make its descent once again as Nick stared out over the scene before him. The view of the rolling grazing land on his parents’ ranch had always been a comfort to him. And as he sat sideways atop his father’s prize winning Appaloosa, his left knee hooked on the horn of the saddle, Nick understood what is was that made people love Texas with all their hearts.

He blew out a long breath and tipped his hat back on his head as he brought his left elbow down to rest on the inside of his leg. Nick listened to the sounds of the wind whistling through the willows down by the creek, the soft rustle of tender branches as they rubbed together, the faint trickle of water as it worked its way over the rocks, and the cattle on the next hill lowing as they prepared for another night on the Texas plains. Each sound brought him further into his own peace, and had served him well on his quest to sort himself out on the trip.

When he had made the plans for the trip, Nick had thought it would be to seek out advice and counsel, to re-connect with his values and understand what it was that made him what he had become. Instead, he had found comfort in the quiet, out alone on the wide plains that made up his family’s ranch. He had found that things were not quite the way he had always remembered them while he was up in Las Vegas, and that in many ways he had idealized his life before beyond the point of reality. He also found that few things had really changed there over the years, but the real change had been within himself, he had changed.

Blowing out another slow and heavy breath, Nick glanced down at his watch and saw that it was getting close to supper time, and if there was one thing Jillian Stokes would not tolerate, it was being late to supper. So, Nick threw his left leg back over the saddle and dropped his hat back down along his brow before he took the reins of that Appaloosa and lead him back towards the stables.

It was an uneventful ride back to the barn, with the horse and rider moving along at a steady clip, but once they reached the stables Nick knew that the smooth ride was over. Standing by the open gate was his mother, and he knew enough about her to realize she was meeting the problem of her sullen child head on.

Out of respect for his mother, Nick dismounted the horse before he reached her, and removed his hat as he walked the horse the rest of the way to the corral. “Hey, Momma.”

“Did ya have a good ride, son?” As always, she started out with a little small talk to make him comfortable. As he passed her at the gate, she followed him inside.

“Pretty good… Fixed a piece of fence up on the North Rim…” Nick played along with her draw. “Checked on the grazers in the winter field.”

“And generally stayin’ out of sight hopin’ nobody’d have a chance to corner ya while yer here, right?” Nick shook his head and smirked as they entered the barn.

“So much fer small talk, eh, Momma?” Nick asked as he started to work removing the bridle and straps.

“Well, I’m gettin’ a little long in the tooth fer wastin’ time, son.” She reached up and took the bridle from him and hung it on the wall. “Are you gonna tell me the real reason you decided to come home all of a sudden? Or, do we continue ta pretend like yer a spontaneous kinda man?”

Nick cringed when his mother spoke. “C’mon, I ain’t that bad.”

“Darlin’, you were the only child I had who planned out his own school clothes, two weeks in advance, and had them organized as outfits in your dresser…right down to socks and drawers.” She laid a hand on his arm and added, “You, my dear, are a planner. And while there’s certainly nothin’ wrong with that, it doesn’t lend itself to spur a the moment trips half way cross the country jus’ because. So, it’s time to fess up, son. What is it that’s got ya headin’ fer home?”

Once again, she had him pegged from the start. “We’re you just plannin’ on lettin’ me dangle a while before ya went in fer the kill?”

“Oh, I do like ta give you children a sportin’ chance, but time’s runnin’ out and I’d like to actually spend some time with ya before it’s all over. And before the masses invade again this weekend, preferably.” Nick carried the saddle to the rack and nodded his head. He never could refuse his mother.

“I don’t know, Momma… Things have just been so turned around lately, I’m not sure if I’m comin’ or goin’ anymore.” He watched her remove the blanket and then throw it over the rail as he started to wipe the horse down. “Everything’s changin’ around me, and I guess I’m jus’ not sure how I fit in anymore.”

“And you’ve never been one that adjusts to those sudden changes real well... So, other than your friend Sara marryin’ that Dr. Grissom, what else seems to be the trouble?”

“Don’t get me wrong, now… I’m nothin’ but happy for Sara and Grissom, and Cath and Warrick totally deserve to be happy and all, b-…”

“Catherine and Warrick?” His mother looked confused by that fact.

“Yeah… I didn’t tell you?” Mrs. Stokes shook her head in a negative fashion. “Yeah, couple few months now. I musta forgot ta mention it.” Nick shied away from her accusatory glare.

“Yeah, what with all those conversations I’ve had with yer answerin’ machine, it musta jus’ slipped yer mind.” Busted again. He should have known better than to try and slip anything past one of the best defense attorneys in all of Texas. “So, what happened to that girl he married?”

“Divorce… Real messy one, too. But with Steph and Thomas and the rest of us helpin’ him through it, I think he came through awright.” Nick had half a smile growing from the corner of his mouth with that thought.

“Steph? Now which one is she again?” His mother was not about to let him off the hook, and she was going to pull every last bit out of him.

“She’s that new coroner I told ya ’bout… Did I tell ya she’s Grissom’s niece? Well, goddaughter anyway. She calls him Uncle Gil, and it always makes me laugh when she says it.” Nick finished up with the horse and let himself out of the stall.

As he stepped out, his mother gestured for him to grab some hay and take a seat. “Sounds like you’ve gotten pretty close to this woman.”

“Who, Steph? Yeah, she’s somethin’ else, Momma. Smarter an’ all get out, even more than Grissom, I think.” Nick chuckled at that, because he would never have admitted that to anyone other than his mother. “And Connie’d be happy to know that there’s somebody in Vegas rides herd on me even better than she ever did.”

“Should we be gettin’ to know this young lady?” His mother asked with the cock of her eyebrow.

Nick looked up in surprise, he could not understand how she would think such a thing. “No way! First off, I’ve got like ten years on her, and second, she’s married. She and Thomas got married right after she came to Vegas. They’re both awesome, great friends.”

His mother smirked and said, “I suppose I should’ve known… Only women ya ever seem to talk about are either yer best buddies or yer boss… Tsk Tsk Tsk, never would’ve thought I’d have a playboy for a son.”

Nick’s expression became pinched at his mother’s offhand comment. “Wha’d’ya mean by that?”

“Nicholas…” His mother gave him a down-turned glance and continued, “You’ve not exactly been much in the way of the settlin’ down, honey. Your father and I have pretty well given up on the notion altogether.”

“Wow… Nice to know my own folks think I’m a hopeless case.” Nick shook his head in disbelief at the revelation.

“That’s not true, darlin’. We just didn’t figure you for the family man. You’ve always been more focused on your work, and your friends, than you ever were on the family or the future. Especially since ya moved up to Las Vegas.” Her face took on a faraway expression and then she said, “I think that’s why yer father was so against ya movin’ away… He knew, as long as you were close, we’d still be in yer life, but once ya left Texas, it’d never be the same.”

“Well, I know I don’t talk to y’all as much as I should, but I’m not gettin’ why it’d be any different, Momma. It’s not like I’d ever stop lovin’ everybody.” Nick was confused by his mother’s conclusion.

“I think ya know more about it than yer willin’ ta admit… Ya haven’t exactly been feelin’ ta home all week, have ya now?” Nick began to think that his mother had managed to tap into his brain at some point, because she was bringing up everything he had wanted to talk to her about from the start of the whole thing.

“Yeah, I guess… I’ve been trying to get a handle on everything, and I thought this’d be the best place to re-group, to get my head screwed on straight. There’s just so much goin’ on, Momma. I feel like I’m gettin’ lost in the shuffle, ya know?” Nick held his chin up and then leaned back against the wall as he looked up into the rafters.

“Is it workin’?”

Nick chuckled, “I thought so… Until I started talkin’ ta you.” He turned his gaze back to his mother and said, “And I know what yer gonna say… Have I really looked at everything from all the angles? I’m tryin’, I really am. It’s jus-…”

“You jus’ needed everythin’ to slow down fer a little while, so you could catch yer breath and sort it all out. And you thought you’d get that here? Over the holidays?” They both laughed at the ridiculousness of those assumptions. “Son, you’ve been gone too long, if you’ve forgotten how crazy this place kin be right now.”

“Either that, or I’m jus’ not the sharpest tool in the shed.” They laughed again, and his mother glanced down at her wrist watch.

She stood up and put her hands on her hips to say, “I know I can’t give ya any answers, darlin’, but I hope that we at least gotcha on the right path?”

Nick stood to join her and walked up to wrap his arms around his mother. “As always, Momma. And the rest is still up ta me.”

As they walked back to the house, with his mother holding onto his arm, Nick finally felt like things were going to fall into place. He knew he still had a lot of work ahead of him, but he had found that solid ground he needed to build himself back up, and to finally decide what kind of man he was going to become.

Chapter 40

20:30 – 2006.12.22

CSI Lab: Layout Room

“AAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!” Catherine’s outburst broke through the monotony of their task.

“Well, that certainly was helpful.” Grissom smirked with his gaze coming from over the top of his glasses.

“It wasn’t meant to be helpful, Gil… And how the hell does this place keep running with all this mess?!” Catherine held up two fistfuls of forms to demonstrate her frustration. “My God! We’ve probably killed a whole freaking forest with all this crap!”

Warrick chuckled at her display. “Well, then I guess you just found your first goal of office, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Catherine’s face scrunched up with her question.

Grissom sat back in his seat and said, “I believe he’s referring to the increased amount of paperwork since Ecklie stepped into the A.D. position. We also seem to have abandoned the digital transfer of reports, so that a person must go to the copy service and get a copy of the entire casefile, instead of being able to search it from the database and print off the single page you might need. In many ways, our jobs have become more difficult and painfully tedious, and there is a marked increase in the probability for human error with only marginally reduced expenses in some areas, while other areas have seen a dramatic rise in expenditures.”

“What Grissom’s sayin’…is Ecklie sucks.” Warrick stopped his boss before he had gone any further into his analysis.

“Which scares the hell out of me, since he’s being given more power.” Catherine unceremoniously dropped the folders onto the table.

“Fortunately, there is only a rubber stamp power in that position. It’s more of a political appointment, than a promotion, really. The actual work is done in this building, which is why McKeen was so adamant about getting the right person into the job. All indications show that McKeen will be our next sheriff, so he is only serving his own needs by having a quality staff beneath him, and not a slew of ill-equipped cronies.” Grissom leaned forward again and grabbed the next folder in his stack as he finished his assessment of the situation.

Catherine and Warrick were both in a state of shock. They had a difficult time believing that Grissom had such an astounding wealth of information on the obviously political nature of the administration in the lab. “So, all this aloof, enigmatic, absent-minded scientist crap is just a smoke screen?!” Catherine felt a need to call him on their discovery.

Grissom innocently looked up and said, “Hmmm?”

“Don’t even try that with me, Gil.” Catherine’s steely glare only served to bring a smirk to Grissom’s and Warrick’s faces.

“I have always said that I won’t play politics with science… I never claimed to be ignorant of the process.” Grissom’s comment was met with their groans, but soon they were back to sifting through the mounds of paperwork yet to be processed.

Before long, Warrick felt a need to get something off of his chest. “Hey, Gris… Did you know Nick was planning a trip to Texas?”

Grissom sat up and pulled off his glasses when he felt two pairs of eyes on him. “I knew that’s where he was going.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t say a word to me about it until I saw it on the schedule. It’s just not like him, ya know? And he’s just been on edge so much lately, and that business with desert DB case, and then the promotions and stuff. I really think he’s feelin’ like he’s outta the loop, or that he’s missin’ out on something.” Warrick truly was concerned about his friend, and Grissom knew where that line of questioning was bound to lead. “And I gotta admit…I’m feelin’ kinda guilty about it.”

Catherine was instantly shocked at Warrick’s admission. “Why in the world would you think that?”

Warrick shook his head and said, “Because I wasn’t there for him. Haven’t been for a while now. And if I’m having this problem now, what am I gonna do when I’m supervisor with all that other responsibility?”

Grissom leaned back in his chair and pressed his fingers together in that unmistakable gesture of contemplation for a moment before he answered. “I’m afraid that is one of the many downsides to being a shift supervisor.” The sigh that escaped his body seemed to bear the weight of many regrets. “In many ways, you have to maintain a distance, in order to be able to look at these things objectively. Yet, you can’t become too distanced, because it can leave your people without a connection to you and it will serve to create animosity.”

Catherine listened intently as Grissom relayed his advice to Warrick, because she knew there was hard won wisdom in those words. “You have to walk that fine line between interest and investment to worry and over-protection. They have to know that you trust them, but they also have to win that trust, and in order for that to happen, you’ve got to be open to them, from time to time. To check up on your people, but do so in a way that it doesn’t appear you have lost faith in them,” Grissom explained his position with as little detail as he could muster, but he knew Catherine would find the hidden meanings with little effort. “But I think the most important thing you can do is to give them your support under all circumstances. While mistakes need and should be addressed, they should always be handle by you, and not by anyone outside of your team. Stand up for your people, and take responsibility for their actions when you can, because ultimately it is your leadership that determines their actions.”

Warrick stiffened a little at Grissom’s testimony of leadership, because he knew that no one on the team would be who they were as CSIs without all of those things that he had explained. While each of them possessed talents of their own, not a one would have gotten where they were at that point without Grissom. It was the first moment that Warrick truly appreciated how much he was going to miss the man when he left the lab.

Catherine decided that, while Grissom’s words were well warranted, she needed to come to Warrick’s aide, because she could see his tension build with the weight of her old friend’s words. And, in typical fashion, her first instinct moved her to humor. “So, is it the holidays, the wedding, or the gray in your hair making you wax philosophic tonight?”

Grissom grinned, in that half smirk that endeared him to everyone and answered, “All of the above.”

“Thanks, Gris. I guess I’m just gonna have to come up with some of this stuff on my own, but I hope you don’t mind the occasional call for advice?” Warrick tried to bring closure to the discussion as well.

“Not at all.” Grissom put his glasses back on and picked up another folder when he added, “And I wouldn’t worry about Nick too much… He’s doing the work, it’s just that it wasn’t anything he had planned on, and so it’s taken a lot out of him. He’s never been one for major changes, or disruptions to his plans, but I have faith in his ability to come out of this on top.” Catherine and Warrick exchanged surprised glances at his insightful description of their friend’s troubles, and then he hit them with, “And just as soon as he figures out which way is up, the only things you’ll have left to worry about will be his barber and his somewhat questionable taste in women.”

Chapter 41

20:30 – 2006.12.24

Stokes & Wheel Ranch (Stokes Family Ranch)

The air had simply become too thin inside the house for Nick, and he had started to feel the walls closing in after yet another grueling dinner with the Stokes Clan, en masse. He had struggled to endure it for as long as possible, but when his sister-in-law started talking Texas politics, he quietly and quickly excused himself, saying he had a few phone calls to make before the holiday.

It was true that he wanted to call his friends and wish them a Merry Christmas before all hell broke loose at his parent’s house in the morning, but he knew his real motives would not be lost on a few of those present. In an effort to keep from having lied to his mother, Nick immediately withdrew his phone dialed the first number in his speed dial.

The noise that followed the phone picking up was enough for Nick to have to pull it away from his ear for a moment. “Greg! Turn it DOWN!... Chaos Central, how may I help you?” Sara’s voice was filled with the mirth that Nick wished he felt at the moment.

“Hey Sar.” Nick smiled into the phone.

“NICK!” He could tell she had pulled the phone away, and then he heard her yell to everyone else. “Hey! Nick’s on the phone!”

That was when he heard the most pitiful, unorganized, and incredibly loud chorus of “MERRY CHRISTMAS, NICKY!” coming from the speaker of his phone. Well, at least they haven’t forgotten me.

“Hold on a sec, let me step outside…” He waited patiently for her to reach a quieter spot, and when the din of noise finally ceased, she exhaled into the phone. “Now I know why I always skipped the holidays before… It’s just pure insanity in there.”

“Sounded like it… You guys decided to have everyone over?” He was a little disappointed that he had not known anything about the obvious party.

“Ah, no, actually. We’re over at Steph’s. Gil’s Mom wanted to bring them some dinner, and apparently Cath and Warrick had the same idea, and then Doc Robbins and his wife dropped by with something for them, and the same with David and Sandi, and before we knew it, there was a serious party going on.” Nick had to laugh, because of the situation and because he was still jumping to conclusions. One of these days, he was going to have to do something about that problem.

“Well, who else is there?” He tried to keep her talking about her own holiday, in the hopes she would not question him about his trip.

“Ah, well, Wendi and Greg took Beth out to dinner for the holiday and they joined in when they came by to drop her off, and Carter, of course, is here.” She paused and he could tell she was replaying the scene in her head, as she did so often when they were working. “OH! And Stephan just got here. Apparently, he had gone to a party with the folks in homicide as Sofia’s date.”

“That’s still going on?” Nick was surprised by that turn of events.

“Occasionally… At least, that was the way Stephan put it… Steph’s right, the guy’s a serious man-whore.” Sara’s good humor helped to lighten his spirits a little.

“Well, then I guess that works out perfectly, huh?” The two shared a little private joke in their laughter. “So, I just wanted to call everybody and tell them Merry Christmas, since I know what it’ll be like over here tomorrow.”

“Something like it is here tonight?”

“Worse! I got a mess of rug rats stompin’ the dirt out here ta boot.” His words were met with Sara’s careful chuckling. “What?”

“You’ve been there too long.”

“I don’t get it. Why?”

“Because you sound like one of those guys in those bad movie westerns right now.” Nick squeezed his eyes shut when he realized that Sara was talking about his re-emergent accent.

“C’mon, Sara… I’m swimmin’ in sagebrush and saddle soap, it was bound ta happen.” Nick hoped he would be able to shake most of it before her wedding when he met up with everyone again. The last thing he wanted was to get the business from Warrick and Greg about his cowboy ways again.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never had the pleasure of the full-on Texas drawl. You’d been in Vegas a while when I got there.” That was when Nick realized she had never experienced his accent, so he decided to forgive her amusement at it.

“Jes keep it ta yerself, awright?” He threw in a little extra twang in an attempt to elicit a giggle from his friend.

He was not disappointed. “Oh man! You have got to cut that out, or I’m gonna bust a gut here.”

“Okay, Sara… Hey look, I just wanted ta wish everybody a great day tomorra, and since they’re all there, could ya pass it along for me, please?”

“Sure, Nick… Hey, is everything okay with you?” There was the question he had hoped to avoid.

“Would ya believe that I’m workin’ on it?” He cringed, hoping against hope that she would buy the story.

“Tell ya what… I’ll take that as answer, for now… But when I pick you up from the airport, you and me are gonna have a talk, got it?” Nick smiled again. Leave it to Sara to find a way to pin him down on the subject the way few ever could.

“Deal… Now, you get back in there and be festive, dangit.” Her giggle told him he had made the right choice in calling her.

“Fine! But I am NOT singing Christmas Caroles and I swear if Greg comes near me with that stupid mistletoe hat one more time, I’m gonna turn Grissom loose on him.” They said their goodbyes through their laughter and Nick felt much better about what he would be going home to in a few days.

“Home… Huh, who would’ve thought that?” Nick was truly surprised that he had honestly thought of Vegas as home. More surprising was the fact that he truly believed it was the first time he had ever done that.

As he closed up the phone and put it in his pocket, he realized that he had made his way back to the stables, yet again. They seemed to have some kind of pull on him that week, but he was not exactly unhappy about it. One of the many things that bothered him about his hours on the job was the fact that he rarely got an opportunity to just get out into it and relax. And if there was one thing he knew about riding a horse, is that it was certainly relaxing for him.

His father’s new Palomino had wondered into the outside corral again and he found his attention drawn to it. The horse had yet to be broken, so his father had given it the greatest freedom at the stables with shelter from the elements, but also a fair sized corral for greater movement. When it came to his horses, Judge Stokes was an unusually sensitive man, and he did everything in his power to minimize an animal’s anxiety. Nick only wished that also held true for his children.

When he had told his mother that his fear of the Judge had guided many of his decisions in life, he had not been exaggerating. The fear of seeing that disappointment in his father’s eyes always weighed heavy on Nick for everything he did in life. He knew that he should not base his life on his father’s approval, but old habits did indeed die hard.

As his attention drifted away from the horse and thoughts of his father, Nick caught the faint sound of something rustling overhead. He looked up and thought he noticed a slight bit a light coming from the hay loft that should not have been there. His natural curiosity got the better of him and he went in to investigate.

Just as he was about to step onto the first stair leading to the loft, a head leaned over the opening and he watched as his eldest niece released a lung full of smoke and breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just you.”

Nick chuckled at her reaction and started up the stairs. “Well, a fine how d’you do, ta you, too.”

“Whatever, I was only worried if it was Gramps. He comes out here most nights to check on the new Pally.” When he reached the top of the steps, Nick saw that his niece was laying back against a wool saddle blanket, spread over a few hay bales, and that it looked like a fairly regular resting spot for her.

“Comfortable?” She shrugged and took another drag off of her cigarette. “Livin’ dangerously, aren’t ‘cha?” He leaned against the safety railing above the stairs.

Neeley regarded the butt with little interest and said, “It’s the forgivable sin. And besides, how else do ya expect me ta put up with that…” She pointed toward the house with disdain in her voice, “without a little help?”

Nick had noticed that things were obviously tense between Neeley and her parents, but Nick decided it would be best to wait until she was ready to talk about it. Maybe this was her way of bringing it up. “Yeah, I noticed things have been a little chilly between you and the folks… You wanna talk about it?”

He watched as she tried to play it off, if only for a moment. Better judgment quickly overrode her need to keep the peace and she motioned for him to take a seat. “Mom’s pissed and Pop’s without a clue ‘bout what ta say.”

“Now, Daniel’s never been one for bein’ short on words, so I find that a little hard to believe , kiddo.” Nick sat down on the bales directly opposite her to get the full story.

“Yeah, well, I guess findin’ out yer only daughter isn’t exactly gonna have the comin’ out party ya wanted will do that to ya … Well, at least, I ain’t never heard of a cotillion for announcin’ yer daughter’s a dyke.” Nick nearly choked on what little air remained in his lungs after her declaration.

“WHAT?!” It was the only thing Nick was able to muster in his state of supreme shock.

Neeley gave him a confused look and asked, “Didn’t Grams tell ya?” All that she saw in response was his blank expression and knew that she had not. “Huh, I would’ve thought fer certain she’d told ya when y’all had that little talk the other night.”

Nick sat there with ten million things going through his mind at once and none of it was helping him to come up with a response to the news his niece had dealt him. Nick was at a complete loss for words. When she saw his vacant stare, Neeley’s expression immediately turned to sorrow. “Wow… I never thought you’d be like that, Uncle Nicky. I’m kinda disappointed.”

Nick was shocked back to the conversation by his niece’s saddened statement. “Wait a minute, now. You can’t jus’ drop a bomb like that on a guy and expect him ta have all the answers, right up front.”

Neeley shook her head and answered, “I didn’t expect ya ta have any answers, but I at least thought you wouldn’t look like I jus’ killed yer hamster, or somethin’.”

He had no idea where it came from, but all of a sudden, he felt an undeniable urge to laugh his ass off. And so he did, much to the initial dismay of his niece. However, when he did not stop laughing, and only laughed harder at the incredulous expression on her face, she was unable to resist joining in. Before long, they were both clutching their sides and breathing in heaving gasps between laughs as they tried to calm down.

“Oh God! I’m sorry,” he managed to squeak out between laughs. “But that was the one thing missin’ from this whole horrible month.”

She looked at him through tear filled eyes, her own laughter having rendered her nearly speechless. “What’s that?”

“The trifecta of twenty first century women… I’ve been attacked by militant feminists, new age equality freaks, and now; a lesbian.” He worked to put himself upright again as he spoke.

Neeley’s mirth seemed to die with his statement. “Please tell me those aren’t your only categories for women? Not that you should lump anyone into categories, mind ya.” She saw something in his expression that frightened her and she sighed, “Damn, Uncle Nicky… I thought if anybody’d escaped the family curse, it had ta be you.”

The last of his laughter was silenced by her words. “What curse?”

“The ridiculous stereotypes and behavior patterns that this whole family…hell, the whole damn state, and maybe even the entire South puts on gender roles. Women are only this and men are only that. Separate social clubs, and separate careers; if they even let the woman have a career. And believe me, it takes a helluva woman to pull that one off without a string of divorces as long as my arm.” Neeley shook her head at the notion and then continued. “I know you’ve seen it. I mean really, y’all are in there watchin’ football, bein’ waited on, hand and foot, by women with advanced educations, so it’s not like it isn’t obvious, or nuthin’.”

Nick was about to say something, but Neeley was on a roll at that point. “And don’t you dare come into that parlour when they’re in there squawkin’ about somethin’, ‘cause that’s womenfolk territory, little man. Hell! I don’t even know what they’re doin’ in there, because my skin crawls listenin’ to them talk about babies, and stretchmarks, and recipes for this or that like they weren’t lawyers and executives. The whole thing jus’ makes me sick.”

He waited a moment to see if she had any steam left and when he could tell that she indeed run out, he spoke again. “Man, girl… This been botherin’ you fer a while now, or what?”

“Somethin’ like that… Look, I’m sorry fer jumpin’ down yer throat like that, it’s jus-”

“Yer still tryin’ to figure out where you fit into the whole thing, and don’t see too much in the way of wiggle room in those models?” Nick tried to get his niece to crack a smile, but it seemed to only sadden her more.

“And it sucks, big time.” Nick saw that Neeley truly was fighting to find a place in their terribly conservative family.

He moved closer to her, put an arm around her shoulders and drew into his embrace. “Well, kid, welcome to adulthood. Most of it sucks.” That was the first chuckle he had gotten since she started her tirade.

“Ya know, ya could’ve told me this before hand?”

“Nah, then who’d I have ta commiserate with in this glorious mess we call family?” That was the right thing to say, because she immediately wrapped her arms around his midsection and gave him a solid hug.

“So, if yer the prodigal son and family hermit, what’s that leave fer me?”

Nick took a deep breath and thought about that for a moment, then blew the air out through his nose. “I got it… Yer the butch sheep… I mean, black sheep.” She looked up and saw his careful wink and then they both laughed at the sheer humor of the situation they were both in at that very moment.

“Awright… How many more ya got ta get it out of yer system?”

Nick shook his head and said plainly, “Oooo, none that I care to repeat, and certainly NOT in mixed company.”

“Can’t be any worse than the one I heard about the little boy who had his fin-”

Nick instantly cut her off and said, “Heard it, and DEFINITELY don’t want ta hear it from the little girl whose diapers I changed.”

“Spoil sport.” She let go of him and reached down for her cigarettes again.

Nick grabbed hold of her hand and asked, “Do me a favor, please?”

“I know… Don’t smoke, right?” She picked up the pack and tossed it into the garbage pail near the stairs. “Happy?”

Nick gave her a suspicious glare and asked, “Empty?”

She smiled at his guess and nodded her head. “Sorry, but I had ta try. Anyway, ya can’t blame me… It’s been a VERY long weekend with my mother walkin’ around in a snit the whole damn time.”

Nick hugged her again and then kissed her forehead the way he had when she was little, and it reminded him that sometimes it was good for some things to never change. “Look, squirt… I don’t know what ta tell ya about yer mother, because quite frankly, she baffles the hell outta me, too, but yer old man’ll come around, eventually. He may have a little trouble at first, but I happen to know fer a fact that the man loves ya more than football.” He looked down into her waiting eyes and delivered the final blow. “And we both know how much that is in this family.”

“God, Texas, Family and Football… Unless the Aggies make it to a bowl game, and then all bets are off.” Their comfort seemed to snap right back into place with their shared joke.

As they leaned back against one of the hay bales, Neeley rested her head on her Uncle Nick’s shoulder and asked, “So, why’re you havin’ a shitty month?”

Nick shook his head at Neeley’s choice of language, but he knew it was a losing battle. The girl had spent her lifetime fighting against everything her mother stood for, and the single best way she could get under the woman’s skin was to use “unladylike language.” So, Nick tried to shrug it off as he answered her question. “Oh, nothing big… My two best friends are in these great relationships, with my two bosses-”

“Yeah, Gram’s told me yer friend Sara was gettin’ hitched at the end of the month.” Neeley’s interruption reminded him again why he liked talking to her more than anyone else in the family; Neeley actually listened when he talked. “She’s the one that can do algebra in her head and keeps yer butt in line, right? The one you said was hung up on some guy that didn’t have a clue what to do with her?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“So, who’s she marrying?” Her question seemed innocent enough, but Nick was about to shock her.

“That guy who finally pulled his head out of his butt and figured out what to do with her is my boss.”

She looked up and saw his devilish smile. “Damn! That guy was Dr. Grissom?!” His nod told her all she needed to know. “Well, I guess it just goes to show… Don’t matter how smart ya think ya are, you can still be a dumbass.”

“What do you know about Grissom?”

“Puh-lease! He’s only one of the most respected men in forensic science right now.” That surprised Nick and he had to get a good look at her to see if she was serious.

“Since when’ve you been interested in forensics?”

She immediately shot back at him, “Ever since I chose biochemistry as my major.”

“Well, it would’ve been nice if you’d have told me.”

“And it’d be even better if ya called me once in a while. I haven’t really been able ta talk ta you in like two years, Uncle Nick, so don’t go blamin’ me fer being outta the loop.” Her words hit home, and hard. “Hell, if it weren’t fer the internet, I wouldn’t have even known what happened to ya when Grams and Gramps took off fer Vegas in the middle of the night.”

“Aw man… Neeley, I jus-…” The words caught in his throat and he knew he had some explaining to do. “Look, I’m sorry about all that, but honestly, I don’t talk ta anybody about that stuff, kid. It’s a part of my life I’d just as soon forget, okay?”

“Yer not just sayin’ that ‘cause I’m a girl?” Nick looked into her eyes with that comment and found a pure jokester staring back at him. “Gotcha.”

He smirked and then waggled a finger at her. “And that’s the other reason I’m havin’ a rough go of it lately… You women and yer insane need to hyperanalyze everything a poor guy does, until he don’t know if he’s comin’ or goin’.”

She shrugged him off. “It not just guys… We pretty much do that with everyone. For some strange reason, we like to understand what makes people tick before we decide anything about ‘em.” She ended her jab with a wink, but Nick was serious.

“What do you mean?”

Neeley had not expected a question from that statement, because she thought it was self-explanatory. “Just that… I don’t like making assumptions about anybody on account of appearances or first impressions. It’s tough sometimes, especially when yer first impressions end up right, most of the time. But take my friend José, most people see him and the only thing that they see is a drugged out Mexican. Fact is, José’s from Columbia, his parents were in the diplomatic corps and were both killed by the Medellín when he was a baby, and came to the states to live with his Aunt and Uncle, who worked in the State Department as interpreters. He also happens to have Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, but nobody can ever get past his appearance to find out what he’s really like. They just see what they want to, because the truth is a lot harder to work out, and who wants to cross those pre-set societal boundaries, ya know?”

Nick shook his head and asked, “You sure yer takin’ chemistry? ‘Cause that sounds an awful lot like Sociology ta me.”

“Kid all ya want, but ya know it’s true. In fact, Momma practically had a hissy fit when she saw me talkin’ to José after school the first time. Actually told me ta ‘be careful ‘round them Mexicans, honey. I wouldn’t want you gettin’ inta any trouble now, ya hear?’ I nearly choked, Uncle Nicky.” Neeley still looked shocked that her mother had said something like that.

“Well, I don’t think yer mother is exactly the best person ta reference when it comes to social tolerance, ya know. She wouldn’t let you go to the park out by yer old house with me if I was going to toss the ball around with my buddy Sam, after all.”

“Which one was he?” She scanned her memories to come up with a face for the name.

“The one who was an All American Running Back for Grambling?” Nick gave her a knowing look and then it dawned on her.

“OH! The black guy. Isn’t he the one in the U.S. Attorney’s office out in D.C.?” Nick was amazed once again with just how much she really did pay attention to him when he talked to her.

“Yeah, same guy. But yer mother thought it was ‘just askin’ fer trouble.’ I was only seventeen, but I still wanted ta brain her for that one.” Nick was still shaking his head when Neeley spoke again.

“Yeah, well, that’s just another one of those things on the list that makes me wish I’d have gone to school outta state.” He could see she was serious, but he had to admit that he had been absent when she had been making that decision and it made him feel worse. “But I got a great advisor up in College Station, even if there’s this one professor that is constantly holding me up to the standard set by the family.”

“Aw, man… Yer not gettin’ the Stokes treatment, are ya?” Nick cringed at the thought. It was one of the things that he had always hated about being in Texas. There was a lot to live up to being a Stokes in Texas.

“Nah… I’m gettin’ the ‘well, I never heard your Uncle Nick complainin’ about my readin’ assignments’ or my personal favorite, ‘I don’t seem to recall Nick ever startin’ a campus protest, maybe you should try one of the athletic programs for all that extra energy.’” Nick realized that it was not the Stokes family curse she had incurred, but it was the careful prodding of one Dr. Cecil Abernathy, professor extraordinaire and world class joker.

“Lemme guess… Dr. Abernathy?” She nodded in eager affirmation at his guess. “I knew it! That old buzzard used the same garbage on me. ‘Mr. Stokes, I seem to recall that your mother never questioned any of my assignments.’ He’s just yankin’ yer chain, Neeley.”

“That mean ole bastard! I shoulda known he was playin’ me, but you gotta admit, he does make the game fun.” The two shared another private laugh, and settled into more tales of life in the Station.

However, there was something bothering him about what his niece had said regarding making assumptions about people. And so, he carefully steered the conversation back around until finally he was able to ask, “What d’you think about me, in that respect?”

She scrunched up her mouth and then asked, “You want honest, or the party line?”

“Do yer worst.”

“Well, honestly, I know yer not as bad as every other male in this family… Well, except for Michael, but he’s married in and he still has time.”

They both looked at each other and then simultaneously said, “Not married to Connie.”

“Anyway, yer not like most guys, and you do try…most of the time. But, you still fall into those comfortable patterns a lot, and I bet it’s been gettin’ you in a lotta trouble lately, huh?” Nick rolled his eyes at her question. “Yeah, I had a feelin’ with that comment about women from earlier. So, which ones are the rabid feminists and which one is the hippie child?”

Nick laughed to hear his niece make such an amazingly accurate assessment of his recent strife. “Well, you know about Sara-”

“Oh right, the one gettin’ married is a rabid feminist. Whatever, try again.” Neeley had quickly shot down his first example, but Nick was not yet ready to concede.

“Awright, so she’s an enlightened feminist, but she still packs a helluva punch.”

“Truth hurts… Move on.” She was not going to let him off easy, at all.

“Fine, well the hippie child, as you put it, is not a hippie child, she just had these really connected parents I guess. They shared everything, straight down the line. Of course, the fact that this girl is a flippin’ genius probably didn’t hurt in that regard. They probably had to split it down the middle keep up with this one.” Nick regaled her with his description of Stephanie. “Anyway, she’s the one who I accidentally whistled at when sh-”

“You didn’t! No way!” Neeley was staring at him with her eyes as wide as he could ever remember them and he actually blushed at the notion. “Oh wow! That’s worse than I thought, Uncle Nicky!” Nick hung his head with the embarrassment, all over again. “You should’ve been horse whipped fer that one.”

“Trust me, what I got was much worse. It was almost a year ago, and I’m still catchin’ hell fer that one. And it doesn’t help that this girl, well, she’s also kinda huge… I mean, like she’s over six foot tall and played basketball in college. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out about that until she kicked my a-…” Nick caught himself quickly, as he had nearly forgotten who he was talking to by that point. “Knocked me out shootin’ hoops out back of the lab one night.”

Neeley shook her head and laughed, “Man, you still can’t cuss in mixed company, huh? Don’t get me wrong, I think you deserved everything that woman dished out to ya, but I can’t believe you still do all that stuff that Gramps says ‘a proper Southern gentleman should never do in the presence of a lady.’”

“There’s some things that are just about respect, Neeley. It’s not all bad stuff.” Nick was tired of that fight, and was in no mood to have it with someone in his own family.

“No, I get that, but I seriously think you may be the only one…well, other than Gramps…that actually does it fer that reason. I mean, Poppa, maybe, but most of the time he’s just puttin’ on aires. But you honestly think it’s just about respect, huh?” Neeley was shaking her head with disbelief as she spoke.

“Well, yeah.” It was a simple answer, but sometimes, the simplest answer was the best one. When you hear hoof beats, you don’t think zebras. “Well, I’ll be a son of a-”

“First rate defense attorney?” He looked up and saw the impish glint in his niece’s eyes.

His smile started on the left side of his face, and then he gritted his teeth as he reached out to put her head in a lock and started rubbing his knuckles into her scalp. “You got way too much smart alec in ya, kid… Time for NOOGIES!” Before long, they were collapsed in a heap on the floor, laughing until their sides hurt again.

When they had resumed normal breathing, Nick was surprised again when Neeley asked, “So, who’s the other bra-burner ridin’ yer ass?”

“Anybody ever tell you yer a little blunt, kid?”

“On occasion, but I don’t pay ‘em any mind.”

Nick took in a deep breath and then said, “Well, you remember that desert case I was tellin’ ya ‘bout?”

“Yeah, the one with that lady geology professor.” Neeley sat up and looked at him sharply. “Oh man! Don’t tell me, you thought she was a man and made an ass of yerself, right?”

Nick cringed at the accuracy of her conclusion. His niece gave him a good punch in the arm and said, “Serves ya right, ya big goof!

He knew she was right, but he was not about to admit to anymore. Instead, he managed to wrestle her to the ground. “Who’s a goof? Huh? Who’s the goof?” Their combined laughter soared through the rafters of the barn.

She finally managed to wriggle her way out of his grasp and jumped to her feet. “HA! Yer too slow, old man.”

Nick simply fell back into the floor and huffed. “Well, if I’m such an old man, then why don’t ya help a guy up.” She leaned down and gave him her hands which he used as leverage to get to his feet, and then pushed her into the loose hay. “Not bad fer an old man, huh?”

As he approach, hands extended, ready to tickle her senseless, she cried out, “Uncle, uncle, uncle! I give.” He reached out and pulled her to her feet in a single swift motion. She looked around the loft for a moment and then put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, “Man! It’s a good thing Wally’s gonna be up here before Gramps gets a chance to see what we did to his fresh hay.”

Nick gave her a sly grin and said, “Trust me, the Judge has had a lot of messed up hay in the past… He’ll just be glad not to find one of the horses munchin’ on a pair of wayward skivvies again.”

She slapped his arm and said, “No way! Yer such a dog, Uncle Nicky!”

“Hey, don’t look at me… How d’you think you got here, kiddo?” He walked down the stairs as his niece stood, white faced and in a complete stupor at the top as she processed that little piece of information.

It took a moment, but she soon recovered her faculties and went racing down the steps after her uncle shouting. “WAIT… Who’s skivvies were they?!”

Chapter 43

15:00 – 2006.12.26

McCarran International Airport: Arrivals Deck

Under normal circumstances, Sara hated taking Grissom’s Denali, but when it came to going to the airport, it would always be her first choice. With those fancy letters on the side, no airport cop would make her leave the curb on the deck, and if there was one thing Sara hated it was driving around in circles, simply because she was always early and it took a while for someone to walk down from the concourse.

When Nick finally came through the doors near the American Airlines sign, Sara had already talked with three different officers who were curious as to why C.S.I. was parked at the airport. Sara gave them all the same story, she was there picking up a departmental VIP as a favor for her boss. Thankfully for her, Nick did not come back from Texas looking like a ranch hand. He was dressed in nice pair of slacks and a dark colored sweater underneath his sport coat. She had to assume that his parents had probably taken him out before they let him off the hook.

“Officer… Anything I can do fore ya?” Nick strolled up with his best Texas charm oozing from every pore.

When the officer looked back to see Nick approach the car, Sara had to laugh at the nervousness in the man. “Ah, no, Sir… Just making sure everything was on the up and up.”

Sara was really glad that Nick knew all about her airport game. “Well, isn’t that nice. I ‘preciate y’all bein’ so thorough. Especially seein’ as how the young lady’s in a departmental vehicle, with her badge showing, and I bet her I.D. matched it and everything, huh?” As Nick continued to ham it up, Sara had to fight the urge to laugh her ass off. They had played this game before, but Sara could not recall him ever playing the Southern card quite like that since she had known him.

“A, yes, Sir… It all checked out… I-I’ll be going now.” The officer tipped his hat and shuffled off to check on the next parked car behind them. Nick opened the back door and threw his carryon inside and then took the computer bag from his shoulder and left it on the floor before he slid into the passenger seat up front.

The moment he slammed the door shut, they both burst out laughing. “Oh MAN! I cain’t believe that guy totally bought that whole thing!”

“He’s gonna be scratching his head over that one ALL DAY!” Sara got her laughing under control and pulled away from the curb. “Where the HELL did you get that whole Southern Gentleman thing from?!”

“Are you kiddin’?! I’ve been watchin’ my father and brother pullin’ that crap on people fer years.” The two continued laughing all the way out to the highway.

“Hey, thanks for doin’ this, Sara. I really didn’t want everyone knowin’ I got home early.”

“Are you kidding me? I would have chewed off my own arm to get out of that house today.” Nick couldn’t help but laugh at Sara’s desperation.

“Wedding plans?”

“Not just wedding plans, but Grissom fighting with his mother and Beth and Stephanie and Catherine, and it’s like I’m not even there… Until they want me to be the tie-breaker, and then expect me to know what the hell they’re even talking about!” Sara blurted it all out in a string and Nick had a hard time keeping up with the firestorm. “I mean, it’s not like I have had ANYTHING to do with setting this stupid thing up! At this point, I just want to tell everyone to just forget about it! If I knew getting married was going to be THIS much of a hassle I would’ve said no.”

Nick chuffed at her conclusion, “Tsk… Whatever. It took you more than six years of chasin’ the man around the lab to get him to ask the first time. I don’t think you’ve got the patience to wait for another chance.”

He enjoyed the silent victory for exactly two stop lights, before the tension became too much for him. “Sara-”

“So, how’d it go with the family?” Nick instantly recognized that he had gone too far.

“Ah, it went…” That was when the idea seized him. “Tell ya what… Buy me a cup of coffee and I’ll give ya a full report?”

The corner of her mouth turned slightly up and she said, “Sure… Sounds like a deal.”

They pulled in to the first coffee house they spotted on the drive, and settled in with their respective choices. When the silence became too much for them both, they tried to break the stalemate.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that-”

“I’m sorry, I’m just really stressed out-”

Before either could finish, they looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

Sara was the first to concede. “Okay, obviously we both have a lot on our minds right now.” She took a deep breath and said, “Actually, I was glad when you called this morning… I’ve been thinking that I owed you something, and I really need to get this off my chest.”

Nick took his own deep breath and prepared for the worst.

“Look, I honestly had no idea that Reynolds had put in for the first open slot on Graves. And then the whole thing with Ecklie getting appointed to I.D. came up. With everything happening so fast, I didn’t even think about what it was going to mean for you. I hope you know I’d never do anything like that on purpose, and-” Sara’s words were starting to run together and Nick simply could not listen to it any longer.

“Sara, stop…” Nick squared his shoulders and forged on, “I know you didn’t do anything on purpose. Yer just livin’ yer life. I can’t fault you, or Grissom for that. And I know that I was bein’ a real horse’s ass before I left. None of that has anything to do with you guys. It’s just one of the things that I’ve not exactly been real great at dealin’ with lately. But I’m workin’ on it.”

Her smile was his first indication that his words had been well received, “Sounds like that trip home did you some good.” As she brought the cup up to her lips, she smirked, “Sometimes he surprises even me with how he knows just what somebody needs to get back on track.”

Nick’s mouth turned up in half of a grin and he asked, “Are you speakin’ from experience?”

“Hey, I’m certainly not marrying him for his political aspirations.” The smirk on her face made it impossible for Nick to not bust out laughing at the sheer idiocy of the statement.

“Oh man! You gotta stop doin’ that ta me, you’re makin’ my sides hurt.” Nick wiped his face with his napkin, because he was certain he had broken out in a sweat with that last round of laughter.

Sara sipped at her tea and casually asked, “So, anything earth shattering happen since I last talked to you?”

Nick scrunched up his face as he tried to figure out what Sara had meant. “You took me to the airport, so I already told about the arrest… Then I spent a week and a half with the Stokes Family Sideshow, so there really ain’t much ta tell.”

Sara shrugged, “Well, when you left, I noticed there was a certain individual left out of the arrest tale…” Nick cringed, because he was fairly sure he what she was going to ask. “Did you have any trouble with the Doc when you went out there?”

He winced and then let it all out, “You mean other than getting’ a little dumbstruck when I went in the cabin, and embarrassin’ myself bein’ a jackass?” It was Sara’s turn to wince at his admission.

“What happened this time?”

“Well, it wasn’t totally my fault, but I think she was expectin’ somebody else to be comin’ in, and she was just gettin’ up, so she only had on a tank top.” Nick drew in a deep breath and forged ahead, “And I saw all the scars and stuff on her back and her arm and it was…it was really bad, Sara. I’ve never seen anything like that on somebody still alive, ya know.”

“And she caught you staring?”

“Well, not at first… But when she heard my voice, she put on this big shirt real fast, and she took her hair down. Problem was, I’d already seen the scars. Even with her covered like that, I saw ‘em…or at least, it felt like I did.” He blew out a breath, as he tried to work through the event in his head. “At the time, I don’t know that I realized what I was doin’, but in hind sight, I was watching everything she did after that, just lookin’ for all the stuff that was wrong. The way she walked, how she held her hand, that weird thing with her speech that I finally got after I saw the scars, and…” He was staring into nothing as he tried to replay the incident in his mind. “It was like I wasn’t lookin’ at a person anymore, but I was seein’ a victim… Well, not really a victim, but like it was-…”

As he struggled for the words, Sara nodded her head and said, in a barely audible voice, “Damaged goods…”

Nick looked up and over at Sara in an instant, as though he had never seen her before. “Sara, I-”

“So, what happened when she caught you?” He nearly got whiplash from the way she deflected the attention.

“Um… Well, I didn’t really know she had until I was leaving. It felt kinda like she was dismissing me and I got irritated, so I said something. That was when I realized she’d noticed that I’d been starin’.” Nick thought back to the way she had told him off and it sent a shiver down his spine. “It was weird though, ‘cause she was totally calm… No emotion at all. It was like she was…I don’t know.” He shook his head as he tried to put a name to the feeling he had gotten from her flat, but eloquent dismissal. “It just felt like there was something really sad about the whole thing.”

Sara’s face told him that she had not understood what he had said. “What did she say?”

“Somethin’ about not havin’ time to placate my ego with useless pleasantries, and that she didn’t feel like wastin’ any time on somebody who treated her like a freakshow attraction. At first…I was angry…dang ticked, really. But then it was like I felt like I’d just been punched in the gut with what she’d said. Like I was a serious toad for being freaked out by what happened to her, ya know.” Nick was still working it out in his own mind as she retold the event to Sara.

When Nick finally looked over at Sara after a long silence between them, she was staring intently at the table. He swore he could feel the sadness pouring off of his friend as she sat across from him. Without looking up, she finally said, “How do you feel about it now?”

Nick exhaled sharply and leaned back in the booth. “Like my niece is the smartest person I know.” Sara finally looked up at him and he could see her confusion. “She told me that I got the family curse. That I judge people based on first impressions, on what I can see, instead of what I can learn. She’s pretty sure I need a swift kick in the rear before I’ll finally wise up.”

He had expected his friend to agree with Neeley’s assessment, but instead he was met with her continued silence. “Look, I know I can be little dense sometimes, and I’m not always good at dealing with stuff out of the norm, but you gotta remember that until I came to Vegas, I never knew there was something outta the norm. This job has been an education, but not always for the good. We get to see everything that’s wrong with the world, so I need a little slack on the learnin’ curve for the good stuff. I mean, I see somebody who’s mean as a snake on the surface, it takes me a while to figure out there could be a dang good reason behind it.”

“And when you see a battered body, your first instinct is pity?” That question shocked Nick to his very core.

“God No! First thing that comes to my mind is what on earth could be the purpose of that kind of hell. Nobody deserves that. I don’t care who they are, nobody should have to endure pain like that.” Nick surprised himself with his answer. In fact, Nick was sure he had never even considered what he really thought about anything like that before. He was quickly coming to an understanding about himself; he seriously needed to take a long hard look at himself, because it was obvious he needed to understand himself before he could ever hope to understand anyone else.

As he finally returned his gaze to Sara, he thought she had relaxed a bit. “So, I take it, you’re still working all this stuff out?” The subtle turn of her lip told him that things were okay between them.

He chuffed, “Yeah… I guess so.” Nick gave her a sideways grin and said, “Apparently all of you girls are right.”

“What about this time?” As she pursed her lips to hide a smile, Nick felt infinitely better about the whole conversation.

“I really am a slow learner.”

Chapter 44

2006.12.26 – 2006.12.28

Las Vegas, NV

From the moment Sara had dropped him at his place, Nick had started thinking. He thought about all of the things he never gave himself leave to consider. He had the next three days all to himself, and he planned to use that time to actually think about who he was and what he wanted.

He knew that most people did that kind of thing on a regular basis, but he never felt that he had a right to indulge himself in such a way. For some reason he had always believed that things were what they were and thinking about how you felt about them never did anyone any good. Lately, he realized just how wrong that assumption had been. A lot of my assumptions have been proven wrong lately.

His attention was brought to the present by the sound of the washing machine cutting off. He quickly transferred the load of whites from the washer to the dryer with a practiced ease. When he was in high school, his mother had started working a huge case and was putting in more hours than usual, so when he complained to his sister Connie that he hated having to listen to his sister-in-law’s comments when he would show up at their place with a load of laundry every time he would babysit for Neeley, she told him it was high time he learned how to wash his own dirty drawers. The lesson had been so successful that Nick started doing all the laundry at home, to help his mother in the only way he knew how.

As he threw in the dryer sheet and closed the door Nick remarked to himself that Connie had always done things like that as they were growing up. In hindsight, Nick realized that his sister was doing everything in her limited capacity to keep him from turning into his brother. Connie had always complained about their older brother, and she had always insisted that Daniel was the perfect example of everything she hated about men; his arrogance, his complete lack of any domestic skills, his approach to marriage, his political beliefs, and his general attitude towards women.

Nick found himself chuckling to himself as he made his way back to the kitchen, because his sister had certainly practiced what she preached as he thought about the man she had married. Michael was a caring, compassionate, articulate, intelligent, strong and loving man. When they had their first child, Michael had given up his position at a major architectural firm and stayed home to care for their first born. His reputation allowed him to work whenever he wanted as a freelance architect instead of being at the whims of others in a high pressure firm. This gave his wife the freedom to continue her work as a defense attorney in her mother’s firm. Nick found that his sister had not only broken the mold of a proper Texas marriage, she had re-written the whole book. So, why was it he always thought of his brother when it came to someone who had found happily ever after?

As the microwave dinged, telling him his French bread pizza was done, Nick said, “If only you’d have taught me how to cook, too.” He took it out of the microwave, threw out the container and grabbed a paper towel before he moved into the living room to flop down onto the couch and flip on the television.

Nick watched the evening edition of Sportscenter on ESPN and munched away at his pizza as he thought about what it was that appealed to him about his brother’s life. Daniel had met Louise when they were in high school, he took her to the prom, they went to the same college, they got married, they had children and they had made a successful life. The only word that came to Nick’s mind as he recounted his brother’s life was easy. Daniel had it easy.

Daniel never had to question his beliefs, never had to question his worthiness, and he never had to question what he had to do, it was all too easy for him to go through life. Nick had to admit that he envied him the simplicity of his life. Daniel did not live with the unanswered questions that woke Nick in a cold sweat at times. Daniel never looked at the world through a microscope, but instead with a sweeping vision, content in the knowledge that world fit into his vision without fail. Nick had to deal with the how and why on a daily basis, yet Daniel only ever worried about who was going to pay for a crime. Nick knew that everyone held a secret and in his line of work, he learned about them and treasured them, while Daniel never got to see inside the mind of another living soul. Nick was able to see the heart of things and people, and used that insight to guide his decisions. Daniel had a daughter that felt abandoned by his inability to see to the heart of the matter at first glance.

Suddenly, Nick was no longer envious of his brother’s simplicity. As Connie had been known to say, “Remember, being simple is considered a handicap in most people.” In his mind, complicated was quickly becoming his new favorite word.

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Standing in his bedroom as he folded the clean laundry Nick realized that he had never folded laundry with anyone, other than his mother or his sisters. That thought was accompanied by the fact that he had never been close enough to another woman to ever have gotten the chance.

He scoured his memory banks trying to recall the longest relationship he had ever had. Surprisingly, he had a hard time pin-pointing one specific relationship, because they all seemed to last about the same amount of time; long enough for sex. That little revelation bothered Nick more than any of the other things he had learned about himself lately.

Nick had always ribbed Warrick about being the player, but when the rubber hit the road, Warrick had been in more relationships than Nick in half of his lifetime. Warrick could remember their names and details about each of the women he had been with, but Nick was having trouble even remembering a single thing about each of the women he had seen over the years.

If Nick was truly honest with himself, the woman he had even held the slightest emotion (beyond lust) for was Kristy, the hooker. He tossed the socks he had just balled up into the dresser drawer as he shook his head and said, “Damn! I can’t even remember her last name.” Once again, Nick had to admit that Sara had been right; he really did only date women that offered no threat to his easy life; that never made him question anything.

Finding out that, no matter how hard his sister had tried, Nick had turned into a mutated version of his older brother was not something he had anticipated on his journey of personal discovery. The two sides of his mind were instantly at war over this revelation. Nick was suddenly very happy that his whole life had been turned upside down and placed under the microscope. It was obvious to him that the changes around him may have been frightening, but they were actually going to save him from himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After having been to his third boutique, Nick was reminded in glaringly bright letters exactly how much he hated shopping. One of the things he had to do with the rest of his week off was to find a wedding gift for Grissom and Sara. They had told everyone that they were not interested in gifts, but Nick was sticking to some of his old-fashioned ways (even if he was working to rid himself of others) and a gentleman always brings a gift to a wedding. Of course, he had also taken their suggestion and made a donation to a suitable charity in their names.

Nick had chosen the Nature Conservancy, because they never flooded people with requests for more money, or pulled off any ridiculous protests; they simply worked to purchase and protect lands important for environmental safety. He knew that Grissom and Sara were both supporters of the organization, and he had to admit that he himself had given a little money to them after one particularly impassioned dissertation from his sister Rachel a couple years ago.

With a heaving sigh as he pulled out of the parking spot, he decided to call it a day on the shopping. He still had a few more days to try and find something for the happy couple. If worse came to worst, he would just use the Warrick Plan, and get them a gift certificate. He knew it was the coward’s way out, but he had procrastinated too long and was running out of time.

Sticking to the honesty kick he had started with himself, he knew he had procrastinated out of some childish hope the whole thing would go away. While he was happy for his friend and his boss, he was frustrated by the fact that he felt like he was being left behind. He knew it was wrong, but he was still coming to grips with that reality.

His mother had also been right, Nick was a planner. So, when things failed to fit into his carefully constructed reality, he struggled to cope with the changes. Some changes were easier for him to deal with, while others left him fighting for a place amidst the chaos.

Warrick and Sara were still his friends, but now he wondered what his place was in their lives. Would Sara still check up on him when he had a cold? Would Warrick still come over for football games? Or…would they both simply forget about him in their new lives?

He mulled on that last bit as he drove back to his place. Pulling into his parking space, Nick chuckled to himself, “What am I worried about? I’m too loveable to forget.” The statement was meant as a joke for his own benefit, but it also served to give him a little boost. The truth was that Nick knew his friends, and he knew that they cared about him enough not to let him drift away. If anything had ever proven it to him, it was the aftermath of his abduction.

Nick keyed his way into his condo and set the little bag from the card shop down on the bookcase beside the door. Looking around the living room, Nick released a deep sigh. He had recently told his niece that he never thought about the abduction, but he had lied. He thought about it a lot, even though he tried really hard not to. It never worked, because at some point in his day there would always be something that would bring the memories of that time back to his conscious mind with a power he hated to succumb to.

A few years back, Nick had been stalked, without knowing anything about it. The guy had become obsessed with Nick, and did everything to inject himself into the life that Nick possessed. At the time, Nick thought being attacked by that nut was the worst thing that could have ever happened to him. Once again, he was wrong.

After he had been shoved through a second story window by his stalker Sara and Warrick had picked him up from the hospital, vowing to keep an eye on him. However, he had talked them into letting him sleep it off at home while they went to work. Sara had been the most reluctant, but Nick had put on the charm and convinced her he would be fine. And again, he was wrong. The stalker had taken up residence in Nick’s ceiling and attacked him when he felt threatened by another. After that, he had Sara glued to his side for a week, and no amount of charm in the world was going to convince her otherwise.

But it was after the abduction that Nick finally understood how much their friendship had meant to them. Sara and Warrick took turns staying with him at the hospital. Warrick took care of his place and his bills while he was in the hospital and Sara had his parents staying in her apartment until Nick had finally convinced them to go home. More times than he could count, he would wake to find Sara half asleep in a chair beside his hospital bed. Warrick would sneak him in the burgers he practically lived on, and kept him up to date on the happenings at the lab. If there was one thing in his life he should never question, it was their friendship.

That realization left him feeling a little guilty for having ever doubted their loyalties.

He started to dig through the freezer for something to nuke for dinner. “One of these days, I need to take someone up on their offers to teach me how to cook. Man cannot live on frozen pizzas and burritos alone.” Nick ripped open the wrapper and tossed the burrito into the microwave. He picked up the remote from the counter and flipped on the television.

When he finally settled into the couch with his burrito and a beer, Nick started thinking about the abduction again, or more accurately, the aftermath of the abduction. He was certainly more claustrophobic than he ever had been in his life. And any kind of bug on or near him still gave him the shivering fits. But the most important thing he had noticed since that episode was his shift in attitude.

Once upon a time, Nick had been the voice of optimism, but that changed when on a random coincidence he was shoved into a trunk and subsequently buried alive, left to live his last hours in total psychological torment. Pure dumb luck had him inside that acrylic box, and it took everything in his soul to keep from blaming anyone for his ordeal. However, there was a casualty that day, the last of his innocence.

Nick had not really understood just how much he had changed until the previous Fall when Stephanie had been in the hospital fighting for her life. He had found himself playing out the worst case scenarios for his friends, not giving them the hope that they needed. Hope had always been his department, but he realized that he had lost touch with that part of his soul. He knew that it was not dead, but he was certainly struggling to find it at times. If he was going to get himself out of this mess that his life had become, he needed to find the hope within himself again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Spending the better part of the afternoon cleaning out his garage, Nick decided he had enough time left to hit a few more shops for that gift, so he headed upstairs for a shower. As the water worked off the first layer of dirt and dust Nick thought about his last conversation with Grissom, and about the things that were said.

He knew that Grissom had been right, that he had not given him any reason to think of him when selecting a CSI to succeed him. For some reason, Nick had been sailing along on auto-pilot for quite a while. If he was honest, he knew it had started even before the abduction. There had been something bothering him ever since Ecklie had broken up the team.

Ecklie had sowed a seed of doubt in Nick’s mind during his internal investigation, or more accurately, his witch hunt to discredit Grissom. But when he had approached Nick, Ecklie had made it seem like Grissom had purposely left him out to dry when he was working the Westanson case. Nick got the distinct impression that Ecklie was implying that Grissom had set him up to fail. In his heart, he knew that Ecklie was wrong, but it left a tiny niggling doubt in the back of his mind.

As he continued to scrub the grime of his labors off of his body, Nick realized that Ecklie had used his strongest weakness against him, and thereby inflicting maximum damage to his relationship with Grissom. Once again, jumping to conclusions and making assumptions without looking deeper into the matter had cost Nick dearly.

He tried to work out in his head exactly what it was that made him always make those assumptions before he had all the facts. As he worked the shampoo into his hair he struggled to understand what it was that sent him down the same road all the time. If he was ever going to overcome that habit he needed to get a grip on where it originated. The only thing that seemed to make sense to him was not something he had ever imagined of himself. Nick Stokes was a closed minded, judgmental hard ass by nature. In other words, he was his father’s son.

Nick squeezed his eyes shut and fought to hold back the frustration that came with that realization. His father was far from being a bad man, but he did have his preconceived notions about people and circumstances. The only thing that kept Nick from resenting his father for this nature was the fact that, when presented with opposing evidence, he would always follow the truth. But in Judge Stokes mind, you had to earn his belief; it was never given freely.

With his head directly under the shower head, the water washed away the last of the shampoo and the last of Nick’s resentment. All those years with Grissom, and it took self-reflection in the shower to understand what the man had been trying to teach him all along; never draw conclusions until all the evidence is in. He needed to learn how to follow the evidence, instead of having the evidence beat him over the head before he got the picture.

He stood there under the water for a while longer, the water sluicing over him. The heat of the water and the relief from finally having gotten his head screwed on straight gave Nick the most relaxed feeling he had felt in a long time. He needed to remember to thank Grissom for suggesting the vacation before it was all said and done. Now that he could see the light, it was time to set a few more things straight, but that would have to wait until after the holidays.

Chapter 45

17:00 – 2006.12.29

Desert Springs Mall: East Entrance

Pulling his black truck into the first parking spot he had found after driving around for nearly twenty minutes, Nick was reminded once again how much he really hated shopping. “If it wasn’t for you guys… There’s no way I’d go to this much trouble.”

He shook his head and dropped the emergency break with his foot. He had already been to another mall since he had woken up that afternoon, and still came up empty. The salesclerk at the last shop he had been told him about a couple of shops at the Desert Springs Mall, so he decided to give it a try.

As he crossed the parking lot towards the East Entrance Nick looked around at all the cars crowded over the asphalt and became just a little disgusted at the display. “Commercialism is alive and well in Las Vegas.” He knew it was not a phenomenon exclusive to Vegas, but for some reason it always seemed worse around that town.

When he stepped up onto the sidewalk near the entrance, Nick was bombarded by the appearance of a gaggle of unruly teenagers. Being a solid guy, Nick was unmoved by the collision, but he held up the kid who had crashed into him and warned, “Hey now… Watch where you’re goin’ there little man.”

The boy was unphased by Nick’s warning and rudely replied, “Fuck you, old man.” The kid wrenched his way out of Nick’s grasp and rejoined his friends as they bounded away. “And the horse you rode in on, asshole!”

Nick knew that the kids’ behavior was nothing new, but it still bothered him that anyone could have that little respect for another human being. Let ‘em call me old-fashioned, but that’s just bad parents.

Still irritated by the exchange, Nick turned back towards the entrance and continued on his quest for the perfect wedding gift. When Nick looked at the doors, he noticed that something was wrong with them. As he walked closer he realized that there was some kind of chain wrapped through one set of the doors. When he finally reached the entrance, Nick was shocked and enraged to find a woman lying on the floor in the breezeway between the doors.

He closed the remaining distance in a flash and worked feverishly to remove the chain from the handles. Once it was free, he threw open the door and immediately went to aid the woman on the floor, making sure she was unharmed. “Miss, are you okay?”

As her face turned to meet his voice, he was shocked into total silence. However, the woman in his arms did not have the same problem. “You have got to be kidding me!”

Her words shook him out of his stupor. He gave her a sideways grin as he carefully helped to lift her from the floor. “Well, it’s nice to see you too, Dr. Desmaiseaux.”

Once on her feet again, she let loose a chuckle and said, “Sorry, it’s just been one of those days, and the LAST thing I expected was to end up on the receiving end of an eagle scout’s good deed.”

Nick made sure to support most of the Doc’s weight with her left arm, while holding on to her right side. He was unsure of the status of her right arm, but after seeing that sling a couple weeks ago, he was not about to take any chances. Being as gentle as possible, he guided her to the bench over by the payphone so that she could sit down and get her bearings. “Well, then you’re in luck… I was never an eagle scout, it interfered with football practice.”

Once she was firmly seated on the bench she looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow and asked, “It wouldn’t have had anything to do with those things being like chick kryptonite, would it?”

Nick blushed for a quick second and said, “Yeah, well, that might’ve been a factor.” Nick looked around for the Doc’s scooter, and not seeing it, he finally spotted her crutch stuck in the inner doors’ handles. “You gonna be okay for just a sec?”

She nodded her head and then leaned back against the wall as she drew in a deep breath. Nick walked through the outer doors and made his way inside the mall entrance through the other breezeway. Once inside, he moved to the jammed doors and worked the crutch out of the handles to free the doors.

At first, the crutch simply would not budge, but Nick noticed that it came apart in the middle of the shaft to adjust for size, so he unscrewed the tap and pulled that handle end away from the base, enabling him to get it free of the door handles. When he looked up he saw that the Doc had been following his progress with some amusement. As he came through the door while he put the crutch back together he sheepishly said, “Helps to be smarter than the crutch.”

She worked to suppress the laugh that was evident in her eyes. “Just remember… You said it, not me.”

He set the crutch down next to her and then crouched down to be at eye level with the disheveled and battered professor. “Are you okay? You want me to call an ambulan-…”

“No, really, I’m fine.” She pulled at the tie holding her hair back and set it in her lap as she ran the fingers of her left hand through her hair to straighten it. “More pissed than anything.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not on duty, but I can call in a favor and get some guys down here… I’m pretty sure it was the same punk ki-…”

She shook her head slightly and held up a hand. “If I filed charges every time something like this happened, I’d never get out of the courthouse… Really, I’m fine.”

Before Nick could make any more objections, a mall security guard came in through the outer doors. “Is everything alright in here?” The overweight man was obviously out of breath and Nick had to fight the urge to laugh when he looked up into the man’s gut, which was hanging way over his pants.

“Ah, yeah, we’re doin’ alright.” When Nick turned to face the Doc, he found her struggling to hold back the same laughter.

“We got the whole thing on camera, but we couldn’t see their faces. Did either of you get a good look at ‘em?” The man was still huffing and puffing a little and Nick had to keep his face towards the Doc, because he just knew if he had to look at the man’s red face, he was going to lose it right there.

“Ah, no, not really… How ‘bout you?” Nick found he actually enjoyed the annoyed look the Doc shot him at his question.

“No… I was a little busy focusing on the floor as I fell to it.” She grabbed the crutch with her left hand and worked to stand up. Nick immediately jumped up from his crouched position and moved to her right side, holding out his arm, in the event she needed a little help getting steady on her feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse us…” Dr. Desmaiseaux bobbled slightly to the right, and Nick moved in to stand beside her, with his arm around her back.

The two walked slowly out of the breezeway, leaving the security guard behind. Once they reached the end of the sidewalk, Nick looked in the handicapped parking area for her truck, but failed to find it. She must have sensed his confusion and said, “That’s why I’m winging it on the metal leg… The other spots were full, so I couldn’t get my scooter out.”

Nick shook his head and added, “Yeah, took me twenty minutes to find a space.” They stood there a moment before he broke the silence again. “So, I never pictured you for a mall rat.”

She laughed at the joke and said, “Not hardly!” She gathered her composure again and continued, “No, I had to return a gift, and I wanted to make sure I hit the thirty day mark, since I’ll be in D.C. next week.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be out here either, but I procrastinated too long gettin’ a wedding present, so I’m startin’ to get kinda desperate.” As he spoke the words, Nick realized just how little time he had left.

“When’s this wedding?”

Nick cringed when he said, “Two days…”

She shook her head and looked down. “Oh yeah, you’re in trouble.”

“Yeah, well, I already figured that one out. Worse comes to worst, I gotta chicken out and get a gift certificate somewhere I know they’ll go.” She nodded her understanding and Nick decided that he was never going to have a better opportunity to set things right than he had been offered by fate. “I know it wasn’t exactly the best circumstances, but I’m actually kinda glad I ran into you.”

She laughed at his statement. “Yeah, right… As welcome as going to the dentist for a root canal.”

Nick turned to face her and said plainly, “No, I’m serious… Look, I realize you and me didn’t really get off to a great start, and I know I have to shoulder a lot of that blame. I wanted to apologize for anything I might’ve done to offend you. I’ve come to a recent understanding that I’m not exactly good at dealing with things the way I thought, and unfortunately, you got caught up in the middle of a lot of that, and I really am sorry for all of it.”

He stood there, looking down at the ground, waiting for the professor to respond to his admission. When the silence became too much for him, he finally looked up to find the Doc staring at him with her mouth gaping open. “Wow.” It was the only thing she said, but for some reason, Nick took comfort in it.

He watched as she suddenly seemed to break through the shock. “Um… Okay, that was ah…” She shook her head and finally had an idea of what to do about the situation. “Okay, look… I ah, need a little time to digest that and…” She looked at her watch and continued, “And I haven’t had anything to eat since sunup, so would you like to join me for dinner so I can find out what the hell is going on here?”

It was Nick’s turn to be shocked at that point, but for some reason his body answered the question for him when he found himself nodding his head in agreement. In order to keep from looking like an idiot, his voice finally caught up with him. “Sounds great… You pick the place, and I’ll drive.”

Chapter 46

18:00 – 2006.12.29

Mataam Fez Moroccan Restaurant

As they walked into the dimly lit restaurant a feeling of unease fell over Nick. Nothing inside the place looked even vaguely familiar to him, and the aromas filling every corner were even more foreign. Nick was quickly becoming concerned at his decision to let the professor choose the restaurant. His concern was legitimized when he heard Dr. Desmaiseaux speaking with the manager in what he assumed was French.

Once they were seated in the back of the restaurant, Nick picked up the menu and was once again filled with dread over the choice in dining location. When he looked up from the menu, he found the professor suppressing an amused smirk. “Don’t worry, Cowboy… If you can handle meat and rice, then you won’t starve. Anything else is totally optional.”

Nick’s guarded smile was his answer. He noticed that she had yet to pick up a menu, and felt compelled to ask why. “Do you eat here a lot? I mean, you haven’t even touched your menu, and you were talkin’ with the manager and all.”

“I get a lot of takeout from here, but yeah, I know the owner. And I do have a lot of meetings here. It’s quiet, the food’s good and the lights are dim, so it makes it easier for people to have a real conversation with me.” She lifted the lid off of a metal steamer atop the table and took out a hot towel. She used it on her face first and then over her hands before she motioned for Nick to do the same. “A little of the old world tradition, and it makes Nadir feel like a host instead of a businessman.” She gestured around the small curtained alcove in which they had been placed, “He has a few of these for the high rollers and fellow travelers. And it gives him a chance to practice a little of the lessons he learned as a boy. Plus, it’s nice for me to be around one of my father’s friends.”

Nick was shocked at her statement and he needed to ask her about it. “How did your father know him?”

She shrugged and placed the towel on the side of the steamer closest to her. Nick followed the gesture with his own towel. “Met him when he was working on a research team in Morocco. I think they stayed in the hotel run by Nadir’s family as their guests, but they became fast friends. Nadir showed my father the everyday world of Moroccan society and culture. When I was a little girl, Nadir came to the states and my father offered him his hospitality until he knew what he was going to do.”

The curtain parted and the man in the silk jacket came in saying, “And it was there that I learned of the American taste for the exotic. Some might say that my path was chosen for me.”

The professor was about to rise from her seat when the diminutive man gestured for her to remain seated. He placed the tea pot he had carried in onto the center of the table. “Hadi will have your food very soon, mon cher. Please, enjoy your meal.” The man exchanged nods with them both and was out of the alcove without another sound.

Nick looked suspiciously at the menu and said, “So, this thing is just for show?”

She smirked and said, “Nah, but you can figure out what you’re eating after the fact. It’s a mix of Middle Eastern and Moroccan cuisine. He’ll probably start us off with some hummus and pita, and probably a little Orange Flower Beet Salad.” Nick’s nose turned up at the word beets, and the Doc laughed. “Don’t worry, I love the stuff, so if you don’t like it, I’ll be happy to take it off your hands.”

Nick blushed at her comment, but he felt like he needed to explain himself. “Sorry, I guess I’m not much of an adventurous eater.”

“With my parents… I had trouble understanding the pull of a regular pizza or burgers. Both of them were ridiculous cooks, so I’m fairly certain there isn’t an exotic dish I haven’t had at least once.”

Before he could ask about her parents a young man in an unusual waiter’s outfit came through the curtain with a tray. And true to her assumption, there was pita bread and hummus and a red salad that Nick had to assume was the beet thing she had mentioned. When the young man in the red sashed, white cotton uniform left, Nick released a breath he had not realized he was holding.

“Don’t sweat it… I won’t be insulted if you don’t like it, but you should at least give it a try. You never know what might strike your palate.” Dr. Desmaiseaux placed the napkin in her lap and reached out for a piece of the pita, which she tore a piece from and then scooped out a trench of the hummus.

Nick decided the stuff was probably okay, because he had seen both Sara and Stephanie eating it before, so he grabbed his own piece of pita and threw caution to the wind. When he plopped the piece into his mouth, he was pleasantly surprised to find that while the texture took some getting used to, the nutty flavor of the dish was actually very good.

After the two of them had practically killed the plate of hummus, Nick looked down at the deep red salad in front of him. For some reason, beets had always caused a scowl to descend over his face, but he honestly could not recall ever having eaten them. When he looked across the table, he found the Doc enjoying her salad and decided that he might as well give it a try. The only thing he had to risk was a bad taste in his mouth and possible embarrassment. It’s not like I haven’t already done enough of that around the woman.

As he lifted the first bite to his mouth, Nick realized he was being watched. “Well, here goes nothin’.” He nodded at the professor and forged on ahead. Once the forkful had hit his tongue, he found that he had bitten into something oddly sweet, with just a hint of salt and a tanginess that usually came from citrus. While he started to chew, he became aware of the fact that it was actually very tasty. He looked over at the Doc and smiled as he continued to chew it up. “Wow… That’s actually pretty good!”

She laughed at his shocked response. “Don’t be so surprised, Mr. Stokes… People have been eating beets on purpose for an awfully long time. There had to be a good reason for it.”

“Yeah, well the color alone would cause suspicion in any house in Texas.” Her laughter was unexpected, because Nick had not thought the joke that funny.

“Pinko! Right… Too funny.” Nick was surprised she had caught the subtle joke. “Man, you must’ve really grown up conservative, huh?”

Nick nearly choked on his second mouthful of the salad with her question. “Um, I ah, guess so… But it was more like a split personality house. My father’s a judge and Mom’s a defense attorney… It was kind of like a Harvard debate at the dinner table every night.”

She shook her head and said, “Yeah, I can see that… Mine was more like a summit meeting with wine and grass.”

“Excuse me?” Nick was not sure he had heard her right, or that she would have admitted such a thing.

“Yeah, one of the many drawbacks having overgrown hippies for parents. Although, I have to admit, the allure of smoking pot and getting drunk was a foreign concept to me. My biggest rebellion in college was grabbing some food at McDonald’s.” Nick realized just how differently they had grown up. While Nick had never been inclined to experiment with drugs (more from fear than anything else), he had certainly experienced more than his share of drunken idiocy in the name of exploration. He had to wonder how his life would have been different with a liberal upbringing.

“So, what kind of kid were you?” Nick was unsure where his question had come from, and instead of dwelling on it, he continued to put away the salad in front of him, waiting for her answer.

“I’m pretty sure my parent’s thought they’d gotten the wrong kid, but since I was born at home, they’d have been hard pressed to deny me. That and the fact that I look too much like them.” She pushed her plate away, and Nick saw that she had already finished her salad. He was impressed, because outside of Stephanie and Sara, he had trouble remembering any other woman who ate with such abandon. “I started organizing my books in alphabetical order by the time I was four, and I was performing a crude version of materials analysis in my mother’s pottery shed to make sure the pots she made would hold up by the time I was eight. I had gotten thrown out of grammar school when I was nine because I called the science teacher a hack for not knowing the correct order of the accepted geologic eras at the time. I was meticulous, a voracious reader, knew three languages by the age of twelve, and never accepted anything at face value… Basically, a hippie’s worst nightmare.”

Nick pushed his plate away, laughing at her self description. “And they couldn’t say a thing without going against their own ideals of the freedom of expression, huh?”

“Oh yeah! I’m willing to bet Marlo Thomas never thought her Free to be You and Me would be used to defend the right of a fourteen year old to invest her allowance in mutual funds.” They were both laughing at the admission when the waiter came through the curtain again.

The young man placed what looked like a pie plate into the center of the table. He removed the discarded dishes and then put out fresh ones for them. Before he left, there was a serving spoon placed in the dish and another basket of pita bread was left on the table.

Nick eyed the dish with apprehension, but his nose gave him the impression that it was worth a try. “It’s a B’stilla. Sort of like a Moroccan pot pie. Nadir’s is made with chicken, vegetables, garlic, onion and phyllo dough. All mixed together with some traditional spices and then baked until the phyllo is nice and crusty.” He watched as she scooped a piece of the odd looking pie onto her plate. As she cut into it, the amazing aroma that escaped told Nick it had to be tried, so he followed suit with his own plate.

With the first bite, Nick’s taste buds were assaulted with the unfamiliar flavors. “Is that cinnamon?”

“Very good… There’s a lot of cinnamon in Moroccan cooking.”

He took another bite and found that there was something foreign in the mix. He knew there had to be sugar in the recipe, but the spice he tasted seemed to have its own style of sweetness, along with a savory flavor as well. “What’s this other thing?”

Her sly, sideways smile met his question. “Kind of sweet, but unusual?” Nick nodded his head, knowing that she had caught on to his question. “It’s saffron; another spice popular in North African and Middle Eastern cooking.”

Their small talk continued in an oddly comfortable fashion. Nick told her of his family, and his five sisters. She told him about the year she spent in Europe with her parents when she was fifteen. He told her about coming from a long line of people in the legal and law enforcement field. She told him about how her parents were forced to home-school her after being thrown out of several schools, but how home schooling really meant she taught herself most things through reading and traveling with her parents. By the time he had finished off the last of the curried lamb shanks and she leaned back from the remnants of the keefta he realized they had been talking and eating for nearly two hours, and not once had they argued.

When the manager showed up to help clear the remaining dishes, he had brought what looked like a small tea pot and three very small cups. Nick was about to refuse the offer, when the professor spoke up. “Ah… My favorite part of the meal.”

The man set the cups down and began to pour the thickest, brown liquid Nick could ever remember witnessing. As he placed the cups in front of each person, Nick watched as the other two lifted the cups in the air, and Nick felt compelled to follow suit. “Oh, just remember… Only sip. I don’t want to be responsible for your coronary.” The Doc’s warning seemed ominous and Nick decided to take it seriously.

The man then spoke in his thick accent, “Aimez la vérité même si elle vous nuit, et détestez les mensonges même si ils vous servent.”

Dr. Desmaiseaux nodded her head and added, “Salút!”

They each sipped at the cup, but Nick was the only one to sputter at the assault of the liquid to his tongue. The man smiled and nodded at the Doc before disappearing behind the curtain. “Are you okay?”

“Man! And I thought dayshift coffee was strong.”

Dr. Desmaiseaux laughed at his outburst and offered, “Sorry, I probably should have warned you about the Turkish coffee. It’s a little strong.”

“Yeah, like I’m only a little southern. That stuff could clean a carburetor.” Nick took a full drink from his water glass as he tried to get the coffee paste out of his mouth.

“Actually, try the wine… It works better than water.”

Nick followed her advice and found that the wine did help with the taste. Once he felt more settled he realized he was curious about what the manager had said. “So, I figured with the timing and all, that he said a toast or something…but I have no idea what he said.”

“Oh, sorry… I sometimes forget that not everyone picks up languages like magazines.” Nick suddenly understood a little more about the woman. “It was ah, an old Moroccan saying. Nadir says it reminds him of me whenever he thinks about it… Aimez la vérité même si elle vous nuit, et détestez les mensonges même si ils vous servent. Love truth even if it harms you, and hate lies even if they serve you. Nadir says he uses it for scientists and policemen.”

Nick smiled, knowing that the conversation she had with the manager when they arrived had probably been about him, just a little

Just as he was about to thank her for the explanation, the waiter had returned with two more plates. When the young man had left, Nick looked down into a plate filled with a coiled snake made of pastry. When his gaze trailed back up at the professor, she had another amused smirk on her face. “It’s M'hanncha, also called ‘The Snake.’ It’s fried phyllo dough with an almond paste filling. Nadir’s wife makes hers with lots of cinnamon and orange flower water, so I can never pass it up.” She watched Nick eye it suspiciously when she said, “Don’t worry, if you’re worried about your figure, I can have Hadi box it up for you.”

“No, it’s fine… I’m just not used to so much rich food is all.”

She chuckled as she pressed her fork into the coiled pastry. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those frozen burrito guys.” When Nick nearly choked on his wine, she had her answer. “Well, that explains a lot about your disposition.”

While she had obviously meant the remark as a joke, Nick decided to take it as the perfect opening to finally bringing the conversation back to its origins. “Yeah, well, I guess I shouldn’t go lookin’ for people to help me when I’m tired and cranky either. Makes me forget the lessons I’ve learned.”

“Hmmm… If I took that advice, I’d never talk to anyone.” Her expression told him that she was making a joke and it served to ease the tension that had suddenly fallen between them. “So, if you don’t mind…” Nick gestured for her to continue. “What prompted that whole…apology?”

“Believe it or not, a holiday trip to Texas with the family… That, and havin’ my tail handed to me by nearly every woman I know. Tends to make a guy think about the things that make him tick.”

It was her turn to nearly choke on something at his admission. “God! You must have one seriously thick skin… To survive something like that with any ego left at all.”

Nick blushed at her outburst and then did something that shocked her to her very core. “Yeah, well I’m a pretty easy target, so I must’ve just built up a resistance. But honestly, I wanted to thank you for givin’ me the what for… I’m not sure if I would’ve ever come to terms with this stuff if it wasn’t for you makin’ me question everything I ever believed in.”

“Ya know, most people would be out for blood after all that… How the hell are you grateful for it?” She sat back in her seat, the dessert completely forgotten.

“Well, I guess it’s because I never would’ve seen what I was doin’ wrong if you hadn’t thrown it in my face like that. See, when I complained about what happened, I found out what my friends and co-workers really thought about me. And that really bothered me, but the worst part was…I couldn’t say anyone was wrong. I’m not givin’ you all the credit, ‘cause I’ve been dealin’ with a ton of changes, and frankly, I’m not so great at that, but if it wasn’t for you makin’ me question my attitudes, I might’ve really screwed things up. So, yeah, I wanted to apologize to you for bein’ a jerk and to thank you for helpin’ to hold a mirror up for me.”

They sat there in total silence for a few minutes. Just when it started to become unbearable, the professor spoke. “Damn!” Nick thought that was all she was going to say when she shook her head and continued, “I can honestly say…I have never experienced anything like that in my entire life… Mr. Stokes, I should thank you. I know I can be a real bitch, and sometimes I don’t even realize how bad, because it’s just become second nature to me anymore, as a way to make it through a world that would rather I didn’t exist. But I have never in my life had anyone apologize for anything I’ve deemed a slight, let alone had them thank me for calling them on their prejudice. It takes some real guts and…I don’t know…” She struggled for the words to express her feelings in that moment, and Nick found that he was hanging on the conclusion. “And an amazing sense of self to be able to seek out someone like me and even try to apologize. You not only have my gratitude, Mr. Stokes, but also my respect. Thank you.”

“Wow.” Nick was rendered mostly speechless by her response. He had never expected anything like that, but she had impressed him with her sincerity. It made him wonder what would have happened if he had come to his epiphany before having met the woman.

They both opted to have their desserts boxed up and quietly made their way out of the restaurant. Nick carried both boxes as he walked with her to his truck, and then helped her in so that he could return her to her own vehicle.

When they returned to the mall’s parking lot and Nick found her truck far from the entrance, he found himself getting a little angry at her having had to walk that far to the entrance. After he helped her out of his truck, he waited for her to climb into her own truck before handing her the boxed dessert. She set the box down on the seat beside her, and then reached over into her briefcase to retrieve a business card.

“You might want to give this place a try… On your wedding gift hunt.” Nick looked at the card and then she explained, “Great for finding gifts for the science minded couple. If you had a little more time, I’m sure they would’ve been able to help you find something really special. Their procurement guy is amazing… But I’m willing to bet you’ll find something there to suit a physicist and an entomologist.”

Nick looked up with a blush when he realized that she knew who he was shopping for. “And pass on my congratulations to the happy couple. I hear it was quite the adventure getting those two together.” Before he could ask how she knew that, she had turned over the engine and dropped the truck into reverse.

Nick was still chuckling at the turn of events as he watched her truck speed away.

Chapter 47

15:00 – 2006.12.30

On the Rocks Boutique

Nick was beginning to think that all of his luck had turned to garbage lately. He had overslept, and only woke up because the tuxedo place had called to find out when he was coming to pick up his suit for the wedding. He had no idea what they had done to get Sara and Grissom to agree to a formal wedding, but he was fairly certain it must have involved threats to life and limb. After confirming that the shop would be open until after six, and because it was his on the way there, Nick decided that he still had time to stop by the store that Dr. Desmaiseaux had recommended.

As he pulled into the tiny parking area, Nick was instantly worried about the place. It looked more like a warehouse than a store, and it was obvious that the place was probably huge inside. There was no way he was going to have the time he needed to sort through the place to find the right gift. The thought of a gift certificate was looking more and more like a reality. However, Nick decided that he should at least check the place out since the Doc seemed fairly convinced he could find something appropriate.

He was still trying to work out how she knew about Grissom and Sara, but he figured it probably had something to do with Grissom. After all, geology and entomology had a little crossover in their fields, so she probably knew Grissom professionally. Of course, that meant the thing between him and Sara was not only famous in the Las Vegas law enforcement community, but the academic one as well. He could only imagine how much that would bother the insanely private couple, and it made him smirk a little at the thought.

The smirk was short lived, however, as Nick stepped into the building. There was a tiny reception area, ornately decorated with antiques and artifact cases. In the center of it all was a standard reception counter with a computer monitor on top and what appeared to be an antique receptionist. She looked up at him over the tops of her half glasses and smiled. “You looked lost, honey… Can help you get going in the right direction?”

It took Nick a moment to gather the capacity of speech. “Ah, oh… No, I was actually told this was a bouti-”

The elderly woman jumped down from her stool and came around to the front of counter with a big smile on her weathered face “You must be that young man Roxanne told me about!” She took off her glasses and gave him the full once over. “And I’ll have to give her the what for… She didn’t say what a looker you were!”

Nick immediately looked at his feet, hoping the blush in his cheeks faded quickly. “I, ah, um I was-”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, sweetie. I scare everybody.” Nick was struggling to get a hold of himself as the woman took his hand. “Now, you just come back here with me and we’ll see if this won’t work for your wedding couple.”

As they walked through the door beside her desk, Nick was shocked to find an expansive warehouse stocked to the rafters with items that he would probably never recognize. All the while the little old lady kept rambling on, so he politely listened, even if he had no idea what she was talking about. “Poor Nathan, he was always trying to keep up with that one, but wouldn’t you know it she was still at least five steps ahead of him. Good thing Susan was such an easy going spirit otherwise those two would have talked themselves to death! Of course, Andy was such dear heart, god rest his soul, but I always thought he might end up getting lost around her. I mean, it’s not like she couldn’t run a Timex into the ground on her worst day, but the way he just traipsed around with her whenever she’d get a bee in her bonnet about this or that, I thought the poor boy was gonna wear himself out. What with him growing up with such a laid back family and all, but that’s just how those bayou people are, I guess. Of course, you’d never know her parents were a bunch of tree huggers talking to that one!”

The woman spoke with breakneck speed and Nick’s head was spinning at trying to understand even half of what she was saying, so he just nodded his head and hoped she knew what she was doing. They passed by a bunch of racks bearing large items, and Nick could swear most of them were just boulders and huge rocks. But still the woman kept talking. “Of course, she’s been such a pill since the accident, but I think she’s actually gotten worse in the last couple years. Poor child being all alone now. So sad, watching her at the memorial for her mother last Spring. Almost like she’d lost her light or something. That’s why I was so happy to see her this morning. I mean really, she looked almost like her old self again. Well, at least like she did before Nathan left us, god rest his soul. Ya know what I think, I think it’s those so and so’s out in Washington beating her down. Always calling her away from her research to testify at this and that, like she’s at their beckon call or something. Bunch of money grubbing imbeciles if you ask me, but that’s not why you’re here, is it. OH! Roxanne was very specific about this piece, she thought it would be just the thing. Of course, she is so particular about everything really. She even had some special clay brought in from Peru one time just to truck it down to her mother herself, so Susan could make this traditional something or other for a friend of hers. So picky, that one. Oh! Here we are.”

It took Nick a moment to realize the woman had stopped talking and that they had stopped moving. “I’m sorry, I was looking around. You certainly have a lot of stuff in here.” Nick took the time to glance all around, and suddenly realized that the racks had become shelves and the enormous rocks had gone, but there were several carefully wrapped items across the shelves.

“No problem, honey…” She took out an inventory manifest and then started looking through items on a specific shelf. “Now, I know it was one of these, but she was very specific about the inclusions, so I’m just trying to find the exact one she picked out, and… A-HA!”

Nick was a little surprised by her outburst, but he quickly recovered enough to see the woman reaching for something over her head and he moved to assist her. “Here, let me give you a hand… Which one?”

She pointed to the top shelf and said, “Slot eleven thirty-eight.” Nick checked the tag and reached for the bubble-wrapped item.

Once he had it in his hand he realized just how heavy it was. After she was sure he had it safely in his grasp, she pointed to a table a few feet away. Nick carefully moved towards it and then gingerly placed the item on the table. “Go ahead and take a look, sweetie.”

He started to unwrap the item. The first thing he found was what appeared to be an acrylic stand of some kind, so he placed it on the side and kept unwrapping. When his hand first made contact with the item he found that it was smooth and cool, and felt like a hunk of glass. He looked up at the woman for some kind of clue, so she started to read from the manifest and Nick took the last of the wrap off of the item.

At first glance, he thought it was some kind of dirty, yellow glass, but her words told him what he had failed to notice. “Insects in Fossil Amber: Insecta; Hymenoptra, Diptera. Arachnida; Araneae, Salticidae. Age: Pliocene to Pleistocene. Size: Amber seventy-seven millimeters long , fourty-three millimeters across, fourteen point six grams. Location: Andean Uplift Region, Andes Mountains, Colombia…” She paused in her description and Nick was captivated by the ancient amber he held in his hands.

He looked at the piece intently, studying the two perfectly preserved spiders. He could have sworn that the two were actually reaching out for one another as they struggled in the ancient tree sap that captured them for all time. There were also a couple of other insects trapped in the hefty piece, but his limited knowledge would not have identified them.

As he held up the piece into the light, his chatty guide continued her schpeel. “Oh, I do love working with this group! They even give us a little description of the thing…” She started to read from the page again, “This plaque displays a fine pair of Jumping Spiders, five millimeters and three millimeters in length. They are members of the Family Salticidae, a name derived from saltere (to jump). They sneak up on their prey, then pounce, earning them the name Jumping Spiders. They are accompanied by a tiny wasp and a dark-winged fungus gnat. Spiders are always highly prized by collectors, and a fine pair such as these would make a great addition to any amber collection.” She looked over at Nick and removed her glasses again when she said, “And judging from the look on your face, I’m gonna say this is exactly what you’re looking for, huh?”

Nick chuckled at the woman’s conclusion, and answered with, “The only way this could be any better… Is if you had one with spiders AND butterflies!”

However, he was shocked when she shot back with, “Honey, you put in the order, and the first one those boys down in Columbia turn up is yours!”

Nick blushed at her enthusiasm, but then he shrugged and said, “Might as well start that resolution on my procrastinatin’ now… Besides, they’ll have a lot of anniversaries to buy for.”

Epilogue

22:40 – 2006.12.31

Stratosphere Hotel & Casino: Grissom/Sidle Wedding Reception

Everyone found their seats as the waiters began to pass around the glasses of champagne. Once all of the glasses had been handed out, Jim Brass decided it was time to make his move. He clinked a fork along the side of the flute and got down to business. “Alright you hyenas…that means you, Sanders. I got a little business to take care of here.”

He waited for the chatter to die down and for Greg to finally stop pouting before he took in a deep lungful of air and slowly let it out to calm his nerves. He was not a man built for speeches, but this was one occasion he was willing to make an exception for.

“Oddly enough, my position here today is that of the Best Man, but quite honestly, we all know that isn’t the case. I’m just the lucky stiff who gets the right to speak up first. No, we all know who the best man is today. Well, at least the luckiest one, anyway.” Everyone chuckled at his joke, and it gave him a moment to collect himself.

“Gil and I have been friends for a long time. Not because we hang out, or tell each other all our deep dark secrets. No, it’s because we understand each other. We both know what the other one needs and we do our best to be there whenever possible. Now, just because we might know what that thing is, doesn’t mean we always listen to the other one, but we also know we’re both a couple of pig-headed sticks in the mud sometimes, so it usually evens out in the end.”

He paused to let the laughter die down again, and then he forged on. “Somebody asked me once, why it was I was willing to stick my neck out for this guy. Why I put up with his eccentricities, how I could call such a cold and driven guy my friend? And quite honestly, I would answer them with the same thing every time. If you have to ask, then you’ll never understand. I never asked myself those questions, because for some strange reason, I just knew. I knew that when the pin hit the primer, he’d be the first one to jump in front of the bullet. And he knew that I would do the same. That’s the basis of our friendship, that trust. And the only time in the history of our friendship have I ever questioned that trust, was with this one, right here.” He looked down at Sara, took her hand and brought to his lips.

“As I watched the two of them doing that dance between attraction and avoidance, that was the first time I questioned whether or not my friendship with Gil would survive. When I said I knew what he needed, I wasn’t kidding. I knew from the moment I met her, that she was what he needed more than anything else. As I got to know Sara, I realized that she needed him just as much. The best and the worst part of that arrangement was that I found myself torn between two friendships.” He huffed out a breath and looked at Sara again, “I gotta tell ya, that rock and a hard place would have been a lot easier to deal with than what I had gotten myself into.”

“And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, salvation arrived in the form of a wise-crackin’, trouble makin’, red-headed coroner.” Everyone’s attention shifted to Stephanie for a moment and she blushed at being called out. “Thanks to her, along with a little help from another trouble maker… It’s gotta be the red hair.” Everyone laughed at Jim’s side joke. “So, with all these people conspiring to push these two knuckleheads together, we finally come to the events of the day.”

Jim held up his glass, and waited for everyone else to follow suit before he continued. “For all the trials of friendship and love that got you here, may the rest of your days be filled with joy and happiness. I can’t think of two people who’ve earned it more than you.” Everyone toasted the happy couple and settled back down with beaming smiles all around.

Jim unbuttoned his suit jacket and took his seat as he nodded to Stephanie, “Alright, kid… Try and top that one.” He gave her one of his trademark wry smirks.

Stephanie looked around and realized that everyone really was waiting on her. She gave Sara a worried glance and whispered, “You didn’t say anything about giving a speech.”

Sara leaned over and whispered into her ear, “Believe it, or not… This is my first wedding.” The two women shared a private laugh and then Stephanie cautiously got to her feet.

She reached down for her glass and took a deep breath. The only thought in her mind was, Sure is a good thing I can think on my feet.

Before she could start to speak, Jim stopped her. “You got the wrong glass there, kid. You’re supposed to toast with the good stuff.” She looked down and saw that he was pointing at her glass of juice.

There was a moment of sheer terror that played across her face, until she looked at Sara. The woman tilted her head to the side and mouthed, “Why not, it’ll get you out of the speech.”

Stephanie smiled at that and took hold of her husband’s hand when she said, “Sorry, I’m ah, off the good stuff for a while…” She watched as everyone grew a little uncomfortable, deciding that she must have been referring to her health problems from the Fall. Thomas squeezed her hand, and gave her the courage she needed to finish. “It’s bad for the babies.”

The next sound she heard was all of the oxygen being sucked out of the room, as everyone gasped in unison. There was a fairly loud chorus of “You’re pregnant!?” immediately after that.

Everyone proceeded to offer their congratulations. Catherine, however noticed that Sara and Grissom were not surprised. “How long have you two known about this?”

Sara shrugged and said, “For sure? When she asked me to recommend a good OB/GYN a few weeks ago. But we’d been a little suspicious for a couple weeks before that.”

Sara put her hand on Grissom’s arm to get him into the conversation, but she found him with an oddly puzzled expression on his face. “Gil, what is it?”

His brows pressed more firmly together as he looked at Sara and then said, “She used the plural.”

Catherine was not following his train of thought. “Who used the what?”

He turned to look at Stephanie, who had a suspicious grin on her face when he said, “You used the plural… You said… Babies.”

She and Thomas both smiled broadly that time, when Thomas remarked, “Did we forget to mention the fact that we’re having twins?”

A/N: I thank you all for having followed me on yet another marathon fic. I deeply appreciate all of your kind words, as well as your comments and criticisms. I know that there were times it was hard to see where I was going, and a few of you wished I'd been a little nicer to Nick, but I hope the ending brought resolution to it all. Now, I have to beat back my beta from pestering me about another story.

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