Chapter 1
Nick Stokes walked through the hallway of the Las Vegas Crime Lab pinching the space between his eyes. It was the beginning of his shift after a restless weekend. The past few weeks have been wearing down hard on the Texan's shoulders. Not only has he been assigned to some of the toughest cases of his career but last week marked the one year anniversary of Warrick's death. Losing Warrick gave Nick a new appreciation for his job as a Crime Scene Investigator. Nick always knew that what he did was important, but losing someone close made him realize that behind every victim, is someone like him. Someone who is just as angry as they are sad, someone who wants justice…Nick can provide that justice.
Nick likes to put up the exterior of a tough guy, but inside he is just as soft as anyone. Nick fought hard to hold back is full emotions at Warrick's murder scene last year but he managed, barely but he managed. People saw what he wanted people to see, a man who was put together. He didn't need everyone asking him if he was okay every ten seconds that would have just made it harder. What people didn't see was Nick break down in his car when he parked it in the driveway of his home. He couldn't even hold it until he got into his house; he just sat there, his head on the steering wheel, sobbing like a child. He could only recall one time he had cried that hard and Warrick was there to hold his ant bitten hand.
When Nick cornered the Under-Sheriff in the woods, nobody knows just how close that bullet was to hitting flesh and not dirt. The rage in his body was near impossible to deal with, but just before he pulled the trigger of his 9mm. he thought about Warrick, Grissom and his family back in Texas, and shifted his gun an inch to the right and shot at the ground. Something told him that he was needed, somewhere in the world was someone who needed his help and by God if he wasn't going to help.
Nick has been seeing a therapist for some time now. It started as company policy from when he was attacked and buried alive, but he decided to keep the sessions going from his own wallet. Nick was tired. In fact, Nick was tired of being tired. He misses the way things were, he misses his family back in Texas, his friend Sara who decided to leave CSI, his ex-boss Grissom who eventually left to go to Sara, and most of all he misses his best friend. Just when Nick thought he was going to lose it…she came to save him.
--
Catherine hurried out of her office flying past Nick without as much as a wave, "Whoa," Nick called out, "Catherine, where's the fire?" He joked
"Archie may have broken my case! Here," Catherine shoved a clip board in Nick's hands and began talking quickly in phrases, "Lobby, Elliot Gibson, My office, I'll be there in two minutes."
"Yeah no problem," Nick said understanding her request.
"Thanks Nicky!" She called back as she took of down the hallway in heels.
Nick looked over the clipboard in his hands and apparently the lab was hiring a new CSI. He flipped the front page over and what he saw made his mood worsen, as if that was possible. Greg Sanders appeared at the end of the hallway walking toward him.
"Hey man, your working early. Shift doesn't start for fifteen minutes." Greg said stopping in front of Nick.
"Nah, I just got here. Catherine's busy and she asked me to grab someone from the lobby for her, apparently we're bringing on a new intern."
"What!" Greg said with shock. "Another intern! Man, I thought we met our quota for this quarter."
"Yeah, me too." Nick agreed
"The last girl was cute though." Greg said
"Yeah, but her attitude sucked and not to mention she had no idea what she was doing."
"True that. Well, maybe we'll get lucky this time." Greg said then started walking away toward the locker room, "See you in a few."
"See ya" The cowboy called back.
Nick made it to the lobby but his head was still tilted toward the clipboard. He lifted his head to survey the space but only one seat was occupied. Sitting in the furthest seat away was a girl who looked no older than 25, Nick looked down at her resume to confirm, almost 24 actually. She was dressed how he would imagine a female version of Greg Sanders would dress. She had on a pair of checkerboard vans, some well worn faded jeans, a t-shirt he would put money on was of a band he had never heard of, with a red cardigan over top left unbuttoned. Something about her made Nick think of a child, it could have been the way she was sitting on her left leg, letting her right leg hang back and forth about an inch over the ground. Or the way she was smiling at something on her cell phone as she typed away on the keys. Nick Stokes is a trained observer, and behind the big smile on the girls face he could see a sense of broken. Well put together on the outside, but on the inside she needed help. Nick knew that feeling all to well. She looked up from her phone and met Nick's eyes. The sensation was immediate.
The moment he saw her eyes he knew she was the reason he needed to keep a level head that day in the woods, it was like his head suddenly became clear and a strong sense of protection developed for this girl, whom he had not even met yet. He was going to help her and in return, unbeknownst to Nick, she was going to save him.
