A Brick in the Wall
By Lady-Lunastar
Disclaimer- I do not owe CSI, its characters or any music used here. If I owned any of these things I would be rich and not living in the Midwest broke like whoa. If for some unknown reason CBS starts suing fan fic writers they will get nothing from me other than credit card bills and my bill for my tuition this term. I hope they enjoy these things they way I do ;)
Summary-Nick is unable to get over losing Warrick and pushes another friend away in the process. When this friend's life is put in danger can Nick put the ghosts aside to help the living? Set in Season 9…possible spoilers based on other rumors. Nick/OC
Prelude
Not alone in despair
May 2005
Las Vegas
I can't do this anymore…I can't do this anymore…I can't do this anymore. His hand twitched on the gun and started to move it closer to his head. This set the ants off and they started to bite him even more. Nick thought when he was ten and compound fractured his arm that hurt, he thought being pushed out a window and breaking two of his ribs was painful, that being stalked by the guy who installed his cable was freaky. This however this took the cake, being put in a box by someone and buried underground, left to die from no air, the ants coming into the box after he shot out the light that kept taking the air away.
I can't do this anymore…he heard the noises above him and didn't care he just wanted everything to stop. It looked like light was coming through and than he heard Warrick's voice.
"Hey, hey, put that down we're gonna get you out of there!" Nick had the gun under his chin and was ready to pull the trigger. "PUT THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW!" ordered Warrick. Nick eased the gun away from his chin. He heard Grissom order Greg to get a fire extinguisher to kill the ants. The ants kept biting him and Nick just kept sobbing, he didn't care who saw he just wanted out of this hell hole. The next thing he felt was the cold sting of the fire extinguisher and the ants stopped biting. Just get me out of here…please god just get me the hell out of here. They went to open the box and he heard Catherine yelling.
"GET OUT THE HOLE! THE BOX IS READY TO EXPLODE!" He saw the other officers flee expect for Warrick. Grissom and Greg where just out of his line of sight.
"I'm not leaving here without Nick!" snapped Warrick.
"There are charges under the box!" cried Catherine.
"I'm not leaving here without him!"
"Warrick, Catherine is right. Get out of the hole now. I know what we're going to do just trust me!" ordered Grissom. Warrick looked back at Grissom and than back at Nick and got out of the hole, leaving Nick alone. He started to scream even louder.
"HELP!! HELP!! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!!" He saw Grissom on top of the box.
"Nick…can you hear me? It's gonna take us a minute to get you out of there." I need out of here now! I can't stand it anymore! "NICK…PANCHO!" It was what his dad called him and he trusted his dad and he knew he needed to trust Grissom now if he wanted out of here.
"Listen to me!" He put his hand on top of the box. "Put your hand on my hand." Nick did has he was told and started to realize that they weren't going to leave him here alone and that Grissom was going to get him out of this. "Good. Now listen, there maybe explosives under the box set on pressure switches." Son of bitch what the fuck is next?
"We need to equalize your body weight before we pull you out ok?" Sure whatever just get me out of here!
"Nod your head if you understand me," said Grissom and Nick nodded. Grissom called an order to get dirt over here and for a rope. "Alright Poncho, we're gonna open the lid and get you out but I need you to say lying down ok, or else you'll blow us all up. Do you understand that?" Nick nodded he just wanted out.
"Do you promise? Poncho say I promise."
"I promise," cried Nick. Grissom and Warrick opened the box together and Nick grabbed for Warrick and Grissom and was crying like a child. Just get me out…I wanna go home. Grissom secured a rope around his belt and got out the hole along with Warrick.
"Ok Poncho. I need you to close your eyes and hold your breath." Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"NOW!" screamed Grissom and the next thing Nick felt was dirt covering him, the feeling of flying through the air and the sounds of something blowing up. He was above ground and breathing.
"Ok stand aside let the medics through," snapped Sara. Nick was aware of the medics putting a blanket over him and onto a stretcher.
"Ok, let's go!" said a faceless medic and Nick was in the ambulance and he heard Warrick and Catherine next to him and he reached out to them.
"Hey big guy," said Catherine taking his hand. "It's gonna be alright. We got you out." He felt Warrick take his hand. He saw me…he saw that I was gonna blow my brains out…
"Let's never flip for assignments again ok man." Nick almost laughed. He felt the medic slide a needle into his arm and the world started to go black.
"Just get some rest kay Nick," said Catherine. His eyes started to drop and he welcomed the darkness. He had never felt so alone in his whole life, this despair was overwhelming. No one will ever understand this
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Four hundred miles away
"Joey…Joey baby…where are you? Its gonna be alright sweetie," said Tatum and she tried to move and found she couldn't do it. Her legs were stuck and her arm hurt. What the hell is wrong? Her head hurt too and she felt something soaking her shirt. Damn it why can't I turn around? She heard something knocking and it hurt to turn her head to see where the noise was coming from, but she did it and saw Eric, the rookie cop standing in front of her. What the hell are you doing here?
"TATE, TATUM CAN YOU HEAR ME?" She groaned and tried to move and couldn't.
"JUST GIVE US A MINUTE, WE'RE GONNA GET YOU OUT!" Out of where…she looked around and noticed the steering wheel was pressed against her stomach and her legs. She noticed that blood was getting in her eyes and that the window shield was broken out.
"I…where's Joey?" muttered Tatum. Eric shook his head and walked away and Tatum tried to open the car door to follow him and noticed that she couldn't get the door open. She looked and saw another car was in the way. She heard the sounds of metal grinding against metal and the door open and she started to go for her seatbelt when Eric stopped her.
"You're gonna hurt yourself, stay still!"
"Joey? Where's Joey." She couldn't hear him and she couldn't see into the backseat where he had been sitting. Poor guy must be scared out his mind…he was screaming for me.
"Let's get you out of here ok," said Eric and felt him and someone pulling her out slowly and getting her on a stretcher. She saw that Joey wasn't in the backseat, makes sense they would get him out first he's a kid…but wait.
"There's a tree in my car," muttered Tatum looking at her car, the little import was trashed only good for the junk yard. She noticed the passenger side was wrapped around a great big oak tree that the locals called Old Billy.
"Why…where is he?" She felt herself being strapped down and despite the haze of pain she felt herself fought off passing out and tried to find her son.
"Eric…I need to see him. Where is he? Where's my baby?"
"Get her out of here!" ordered Eric.
"WHERE IS HE!" She tried to get up and found the effort caused the world to explode in even more pain and she was forced to stay still by the medics. She looked up and recognized Donna, the weekend EMT who also worked at the nearby dollar store and she was looking at Tatum with a look of pity and despair.
"He's gonna be alright honey," said Donna in a voice that told Tatum it was the opposite of that." She and another EMT got Tatum in the back of an ambulance and she finally passed out from the pain. My baby…where is he?
"Tate…sweetheart can you hear me?" asked a voice. She opened her eyes and saw her father looking at her with the same look Donna had given her. He was out of uniform and off base, which surprised the hell out of her.
"Hey daddy…thought you were out of the country," she went to sit up and he made her lay still.
"No soldiers here honey, no need to be brave." She groaned and stayed laying down.
"Have you…have you seen Joey yet? I…I couldn't get to him and they won't tell me a thing. I just want my baby back." Her father blinked and she swore she saw tears in his eyes, she had never seen him cry. Not when her mom left, not five years when 'it' happened, not when grandpa died. She had never seen him break; she had never seen him cry in all twenty three years of her life.
"They tried baby, he was just…they couldn't honey." She looked blankly at her father.
"What," she sat up in the bed ignoring how much everything hurt. "I don't understand. Where is he? I wanna see Joey!" Her father sighed and took her hand.
"Honey…Joey's dead. He just...baby I'm sorry."
"No…no, no, no, no! I WANT MY SON!" She screamed at him and she tried getting out the bed and he stopped her.
"He's gone sweetie. He's gone," he just hugged her and let her cry. My baby…my baby is gone. She heard someone come in and give her a shot. "Just go to sleep honey, I'll be here. She felt the pain start to fade away and the world start to go black. I'm so sorry I let you down Joey. She had never felt so alone in her whole life, this despair was overwhelming. No one will ever understand this.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
May 2008
"Yeah I'm looking for Tatum Fritz?" asked Nick. The nurse looked over her charts and than back to Nick.
"Family?"
"PD," said Nick showing his badge. The nurse studied the badge and found it to be the real deal.
"She's in room 3090. We're gonna keep her overnight for observation. Nasty wound she got, lucky it didn't hit anything vital."
"Yeah, you're telling me," said Nick. He and Tatum had been working Leo Finley's apartment hoping to find clues to where he had Katie Sanders and while they were there, Finley's partner came back and opened fire on them. Tatum had pushed him out the way and took a bullet in the shoulder for her trouble. Nick was here to check up on Tatum and to let her know that they had found Greg's kid; she had been next door the whole time.
Nick stopped by the gift shop and picked up a thing of roses for her before heading up to the room. After all she did save your ass. He poked his head in first before walking in.
"You decent?" He heard a muttered 'sure' and came in. Tatum was sitting up in a bed, half awake with her left arm bandaged and in a sling.
"Hey Nicky!" Oh she is drugged up good. He pulled up a chair next to her and sat the flowers on the stand.
"Hey, how you feeling?"
"I got shot…than I got a shot so I think that balances things out somehow." He started laughing and wondered what they had her on. Greg was never this cheerful after the explosion in the lab and they had him on the good stuff.
"Well I have good news for you. We found Katie and right now Greg and Jenna are spoiling her rotten and I have a feeling the trail for the asshole who took her is going to be easy, he confessed to everything."
"Well that makes everything better. Can I pay someone in jail to put a foot in his ass for me? If I could that would be great."
"I'm sure we could work something out with the guards." She groaned and adjusted herself in the bed and Nick wondered when her family was coming out. His family would have been on the first plane out of Dallas if they found out he had been shot. Hell he almost couldn't get them to leave after his kidnapping; he almost had to throw them out after a month.
"So have they called your parents yet?" asked Nick. Tatum shook her head.
"If you wanna call Iraq be my guest. I think my dad's still working there…or was he going to Afghanistan. Shit I can't remember where he's headed." Tatum looked really annoyed with herself for not remembering and Nick felt like an ass even though there was no way he could have known. Way to go Nick.
"Your dad's in the army?" Tatum nodded.
"Contractor, he's been overseas for about a year now. When he's not there he's stationed in North Carolina."
"What about your mom?" Nick couldn't get his mom to leave his side and his father had to pull her away to eat, shower and sleep. A look of sadness and annoyance crossed her face and he wanted to kick himself again for bring up a sore point he couldn't have known.
"Well if you can get a hold of her, can you give her my number I have some things I would like to tell her."
"Do you mind me asking when you saw your mom last?"
"Fourteen. My parents were great when they were separate but as a married couple, not so great. They fought all the time when my dad was home and when they were going through the divorce my dad sent me to Utah to stay with his parents and when the divorce was final, she took off to the Holy Land, or that was were the last letter came from and I stayed in Utah. My dad thought it was better I stay with family than alone on the base. We saw each other during the summer when I would go back to North Carolina."
"Only child?"
"Yep, but that wasn't so bad once I got to Utah and saw the kids who had fifteen brothers and sisters and never had a moment of peace or TV, or sugar." Nick started to laugh and thought about something Tatum had just said and it confused him.
"So your dad is the mid east because of the Army, why is your mom. She in the service?" Tatum looked at him.
"Playing twenty questions with me?"
"No, no…just having a chat. Trying to get the girl who took a slug for me to open up a bit that's all." Tatum gave him a shy smile and took a sip of water.
"She's Jewish, wanted to reconnect with 'her roots' so she went to Israel and somehow has survived all the bombings the past twelve years."
"Do you…"
"Practice. Yeah I don't eat pork, do Yom Kippur and I was doing Chrismukkah before it was cool. I really thought about bring a law suit against those OC bastards. So let me guess…Baptist?"
"Catholic and a lapsed one at that," said Nick.
"Not surprising…most Catholics I know ended up being lapsed. I hear the nuns beat it out of you."
"Well you sit through Midnight mass and try not to fall asleep because you know if you do, your sisters are gonna poke you awake in the middle of that moment of silence and you wake up with a mini scream," said Nick.
"I'll trade you for Yom Kippur where you are told that God is gonna put your name in the Book of Life or the Book of Death when you're four. Death never crossed my little mind until than, my biggest fear was falling off my bike." They both started laughing and Tatum yawned. Nick looked at his watch and realized they had been talking for over an hour and he should go home and get some sleep before starting his next shift.
"Listen I have to go, but if your free later on this week when you get out, you wanna go out for steak. I do owe you one." Tatum shrugged.
"I wanna go to Hana Yori; they cook the steak right in front of you and the chef does this crazy, crazy shit with the food." Nick smiled at her.
"Ok. Get some rest." He went to walk out the door and Tatum called out to him.
"Thanks for the flowers. I haven't gotten any in…well a long time."
"No problem." Nick left and Tatum looked at the flowers and shook her head. Joey was the last one to get me flowers, for Mother's day. Tatum took another click of the painkillers and let herself doze off.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Nick came in for shift that night and headed into the locker room, he wasn't surprised that Greg wasn't going to be in tonight. The last two days had been hell for him, he almost lost his daughter and his fiancée and Nick would have been shocked to see him back so soon. He was changing his shirt when he heard Catherine from else where in the locker room.
"I just…I don't know what to do with her anymore Warrick. She has ever right to be mad at me, but I really don't need her giving me crap on top of everything." Nick shook his head; Lindsey was giving Catherine grief again, than again she had been held hostage yesterday morning by the guy who attacked Jenna and kidnapped Katie so he couldn't blame her for the bad attitude this time. He went to go talk to her; he rounded the corner and saw her hugging Warrick and felt his heart start to sink. Should have seen it…I blew my chance with her. They didn't see him and he went back to his locker and finished getting ready for the night.
"Thanks Rick I needed that."
"Hey anytime you need to talk you know where to find me," said Warrick. Nick sighed and left the locker room unnoticed. Well at least I know it's with someone who isn't going to screw her over and hey be happy for your friends; he just got out of a shitty marriage and well let's not even think about all of the assholes Catherine has dated. He got paired up with Ronnie from swing and he let it slip that he has checked up on Tatum and they were going out to dinner. No one would leave him alone that night.
"Tatum Fritz? The Tatum Fritz…red hair, pale, wears Tina Fey glass once in awhile, really bitchy at times, Tatum Fritz?" asked Hodges when he went to get his results from Trace.
"Only with you Hodges because you're you." Hodges shook his head.
"I hope you enjoy the crazy."
