Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine, but the story is.
The exchange between Sara and Nick during an episode got me thinking about how he got his last promotion and his behavior got me wondering as to how he might get this one.
Scene of the Crime
He sits alone in a dark office a world away from where he started his career. There are files on his desk and cases on his mind. Officially, he is off duty, but for a long time now there has been nothing for him to go home to. In fact, he even found his own company lacking.
He knew to a certain extent how it had started.
He had wanted that promotion.
Needed it to prove that he was deserving of his previous one.
That it wasn't because Brass had under minded Warrick on his case.
He had wanted it so bad that he could taste it.
So he had under minded her.
Made sure that she hadn't gotten it.
That he had.
And he could still remember her reaction. Remember the knowledge of his underhandedness in her eyes. Remember her words: "I hope it's worth it, in the end, Nick, because sooner or later you're going to run out of bodies to walk over around here. Besides, we're all CSIs, we remember where the bodies are buried and just who buried them."
She had just turned her back and walked away.
When she returned it was with cold shoulders.
But he was proud and he had thought it would be ok.
Until he started to see the reactions of the others.
Till he saw that he had proved just the opposite of what he set out to.
Eventually he had had to leave.
He had claimed it was because there was no room for advancement there, but there was more to it. There was the constant fear of all of them seeing down to the fact that he couldn't get a promotion on his own merits.
That fear had followed him here.
He had fought it.
Worked as hard as he could to prove them wrong.
To do better and go further here.
And he had.
But the cost was in many ways his life.
He had no family to speak of and he had long burned the bridges to close friendships.
Now, all he had were occasional pictures courtesy of Greg.
Pictures of Grissom, Sara, and their family.
Pictures of Warrick and his wife and children.
Pictures of Cath, Jim, and Lindsey.
Even pictures of Greg and his latest--- whatever.
And he realized he had none to send back.
He was a CSI.
He was smart enough to know when a body had been decomposing for years.
To retrace the line of evidence to the scene of the crime.
He knew now that Sara had been right.
He just never expected that it was himself that he was burying in the Las Vegas Crime Lab that day.