Chapter 7

When the screaming erupted, everyone in the lab stopped and turned. In the middle of the hallway, Nick and Catherine were going at it, yelling about some evidence they disputed the outcome on. Nick was determined he was right, but so was Catherine.

The screaming brought several officers including Brass, and eventually Ecklie. They didn't see either of them; they were waiting for Greg's signal. Which came from a mirror that flashed across Nick's face. He took a swing at Catherine, purposely moving the air before her face, encouraging her to fall back several steps. That brought forward lab techs from all directions, and Ecklie. People pulled Nick away, and shielded Catherine.

"Take him to my office!" Ecklie bellowed.

And Nick was push-pulled away. Ecklie turned. Catherine had to work at keeping her startled, surprised look. After all, they had planned this. Unfortunately, Ecklie taking Nick away wasn't part of the great plan.

"Are you okay?" Ecklie asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll take care of this."

"Conrad, I'll take care of it. I'm his supervisor. It's my job."

Catherine started to walk by him but he grabbed her arm. "Why would he try to hit you?"

"He's been… Moody, since he came back."

"You cannot let this go unpunished."

"Unpunished? You want me to turn him over my knee?"

Conrad gave her a level look.

She smiled, pulling her arm away. "Fine. I could fire him if that's what you mean."

"You want to fire him?"

"Not really. But you seem to."

"I never said I wanted him fired."

"You want him punished. What does that mean?"

"I was thinking suspension."

"As strapped as we are? We can't do that. You know that."

"Then what would you suggest?"

She sighed, looking at the eyes around her. What would she suggest? Catherine looked up at Ecklie.

"I'll demote him. Put him back to CSI 1."

"Two."

"He tried to hit me. I think he needs to be at one and get some stress off his shoulders."

"Two."

"Okay. I'll go talk to him."

"No. I'll talk to him. Guy to guy."

She didn't respond. This was not part of the plan. Not even relatively close to it. She watched Ecklie walk around her before she looked back at Greg. He looked just as worried, but only shrugged. She looked down the hall, watching Ecklie's baldhead disappear. How were they going to get around this disaster?

#

Nick didn't look up when the lab techs – including Hodges – made a path to let Ecklie into his office. Nick kept his eyes on the floor, feeling balled up with frustration. Being drug into Ecklie's office was not part of the plan. He was supposed to be demoted to CSI 1 for behavior. A behavioral demotion meant that a CSI had to work with a partner, had to verify all their findings with a supervisor, and under no circumstances were allowed to be in a courtroom until they had passed their pysch evals. Which Catherine had planned on continuing to forget submitting the request for until someone finally got fed up and made her – say, Ecklie? That all went out the window now that he was involved, and Nick felt—

"We are so screwed," Warrick voiced Nick's repeating thought as he settled into the chair next to Nick.

Nick barely nodded – he had to consciously remind himself not to respond to his hallucination, especially not in the presence of Ecklie.

"Out," Ecklie ordered the lab techs, and shut the door behind them with a slight slam. He closed all the blinds before returning to his desk. Exhaling a long, loud breath, he started typing on his computer and not paying any attention to Nick.

Minutes passed.

Nick shifted in his chair.

When was the yelling going to start?

Minutes turned into a half hour. Nothing.

Warrick verbalized the thought that was pounding through Nick's mind. "What the hell is going on?"

There was a knock on the door. Ecklie glanced at it, but didn't call the person in. When the door started to open he sprung to his feet.

"This is just getting out of hand, Nick. You have nothing to say for yourself?" Ecklie demanded.

Nick and Warrick stared at him, bewildered by the question and comment. It literally came out of the blue. The two looked at a Sergeant standing in the doorway.

"What?" Ecklie snapped.

He glanced from one to the other, then the folder in his hand.

"It can wait," the officer said and then quickly shut the door and left.

Ecklie sat back down, resuming typing in silence. Nick slowly looked from the door to him.

"Maybe you should ask him what's going on," Warrick suggested.

Nick didn't. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Soda or water?" Ecklie asked.

When Nick didn't answer he looked up, clearly expecting an answer.

"N-No." Nick shook his head to make sure the answer stuck.

Ecklie reached into a mini refrigerator behind him and took out a bottle of water. He swallowed a few mouthfuls and then went back to typing.

"Just ask him," Warrick urged.

Nick cleared his throat. Ecklie kept typing. Nick shifted in his chair. Ecklie's typing didn't even slow.

"What is going on?" Nick finally blurted.

Ecklie glanced at him. "Hm?"

"What is going on? You had me drug in here and in the last forty-five minutes all you've asked is if I wanted something to drink. If you're saving up the yelling, could we just get it over with? I have work to get back to."

Ecklie sat up, holding Nick's stare. Nick braced for the onslaught of Conrad Ecklie arrogance.

"Did you really think I'd believe that show out there?" Ecklie motioned out of the office. "Nick Stokes has never struck a suspect, let alone a co-worker. You've gotten a little rough, put a few against walls, but you've never punched anyone."

Nick didn't respond. He was grateful that Warrick didn't either.

"Look, Nick, I've had several officers and a few lab techs – none of the graveyard – come to me because you have been behaving strangely. Several officers have reported hearing you talking to someone, but when they came into the room, there was no one but you. In particular was a rape homicide a few weeks ago that Catherine was at. She sent you out, they said you tore out of there and they didn't see you the rest of the night. I'm not that far from my CSI roots, Nick. Even I can follow the evidence."

"Did he ever have CSI roots?" Warrick grumbled

Nick didn't look away or admit to anything. He wondered how far Ecklie would go to lay his trap for Nick.

Ecklie sat back in his chair. "Actually, if this hadn't happened tonight, I would have done something. Maybe fired you, maybe not."

Nick was suspicious of that comment. It was strange to hear Ecklie side with a CSI in any circumstance.

"Maybe not?"

Ecklie shrugged. "You've had it rough the last eight months. You were nearly beat to death and were in a coma for a few months, so I empathize with your situation. Which is why I'm going to play along with this. For now. You and Catherine, and who knows who else, have obviously created a perfect reason to demote you, which will keep you out of the courtroom and means all of your work will be double checked. I also understand you're seeing a psychiatrist outside of work again. I'm willing to accept these terms to keep you employed. You're a good CSI, Nick, one of our best."

"Whoa. He put that together all by himself? Maybe there is a CSI somewhere in there after all." Warrick chuckled.

"How long is a while?" Nick asked.

"How long do you want it to be?"

"Six months. At least."

"Six months? Ecklie questioned.

"Hell no! Nick, don't you dare agree to that," Warrick ordered.

"No. Eight."

"Are you nuts?" Warrick asked Nick.

Ecklie leaned on his desk, staring Nick in the eyes. "Because it's going to require a lot of shuffling, and lying, I need to know what it is I'm lying and shuffling for. Tell me what's going on, Nick."

"This goes back to when I woke up in the tunnels."

Warrick stood, standing in front of Nick. Although to Nick's eyes he couldn't see through him, he knew the hallucination wasn't solid to Ecklie and continued staring at the same spot.

"Do not tell him anything about me, Nick. He won't understand," Warrick said.

"What about it?" Ecklie asked.

"I woke up and saw a hallucination of Warrick. He followed me out of those tunnels. Now he follows me everywhere. But I know it's just a hallucination, a creation of my mind as I'm working through everything. The therapist I'm seeing now, I've been going to her for a few years, and she's helping me figure out how to make him leave for good, or at least get me to where I can ignore him."

Warrick walked away, putting his fingers into his hair as if he were about to tear his head off. "YOU ARE NUTS!"

"You see him all the time?"

"Yes."

Ecklie nodded, looking at the notepad under his hands. Warrick charged up to the desk, slamming his hands on the wood. Nick started a little at the sound only he heard. Ecklie didn't notice.

"Don't you dare do something stupid, you bald ass mother fu—"

Ecklie looked up at him. "I believe you and Catherine are handling this in the best way, so I'll stay out of this. For now."

Nick almost smiled. "Okay."

"Now, we have a no violence in the workplace policy that says I have to fire or suspend you. If we want this to look real, I'm going to have to suspend you for one month. This means there'll be another psych eval before you come back to work. Do you think you can breeze through another one again?"

Nick solemnly nodded.

"Thank you for being honest with me. I'll do everything I can to help protect you."

Nick smiled. "Thank you, Conrad."

He nodded. "Welcome. Enjoy your time off. See you in six days."

Nick stood. He walked up to the desk, holding out his hand. Ecklie reached up and they shook hands. Ecklie smiled.

"Just because I'm the Under Sheriff doesn't mean I'm that far from the Wall Crew, Nick."

"So I'm not a good CSI?"

"You are, but Hodges told me one day, 'Being a member of Las Vegas PD's super secret club makes us close friends.' Not sure I'd want to consider Hodges a close friend, but you I do."

Nick nodded and left. He didn't care that people stared at him as he walked past, and it was hard not to smile. He didn't go to Catherine's office – they'd planned that. To make it real they were going to have to avoid each other at work for a little while, or so they'd planned. But tonight, when she and Greg came over for dinner, he knew they could change that. They were going to be just as stunned by Ecklie helping him as he was.

Nick stopped short and turned a full circle. Warrick was nowhere in sight. As a matter of fact, he had vanished shortly after leaning on the desk in Ecklie's office. Nick had been so focused on Ecklie, on the rare humanistic side he was exposing, that he hadn't even noticed.

Nick slowly continued his trip to the locker room. He knew it wasn't that easy to make Warrick vanish, but he felt that soon Warrick would return to his rightful place – a friend who made his mark on Nick's life, who he'd had to bury, and whose face time would eventually erase.