DISCLAIMER:Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it.

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: Okay, apparently the site did NOT like my text file, because it would not upload it for the last 12 hours. :p Anyway, I got it working now, and I might even have a couple more chapters up this weekend, if I can stop writing and go through my lovely betas' edits/changes. :D And here's a hint, if you don't get some of the lines that are spoken in this chapter, try typing in "babel fish" in your browser and using that to translate them from Spanish to English or from German to English, depending on the line (should be easy to tell them apart). Babel Fish on AltaVista is a fantastic tool for the linguistically challenged, such as myself (I used to know Spanish, honest, but I haven't used it in so long it's practically the same as Sanskrit now).

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.

Chapter 12

09:00 – 2006.12.07

UNLV Earth Science Building: Offices

The plan was a surprise attack. Nick decided after he and Sara had reached another dead end in the case that he was going to have to follow Grissom's suggestion and enlist Dr. Desmaiseaux's help in locating the primary crime scene. Unfortunately, he had two things working against him: the scene would be useless because of the elements and the time that had passed, in addition to the fact that the professor appeared to despise him with every fiber of her being.

Originally, he thought it might be better to just have Sara head over to the campus and try to unruffle the woman's feathers, but ultimately, Nick knew he needed to fix the situation himself. As he walked up the stairs to the third floor of the Earth Science Building he tried to work out a plan. When his foot made contact with that last step, he knew the only course of action that was liable to provide any positive results was for him to grovel, beg and apologize.

He made his way across the hall from the stairwell and placed his hand over the knob. Taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly, Nick made ready to throw himself on his sword and beg for mercy.

The handle turned, and without thought he walked through the door.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Her voice was low and not pleasant, and when she looked up over her glasses at him her facial expression morphed into something akin to a raging beast. Nick almost thought his eyes were playing tricks in him, because he could have sworn he saw steam coming out of her ears as her face turned a unique shade of pissed off. "I guess they don't teach etiquette around the cattle drive campfire." There it was; the perfect slight on his background. It was the one thing that had been missing from her tirade at the research site.

"I'm sorry… I didn't realize these went right into the offi-"

"Or reading, apparently… The name in big letters on the door didn't give it away?" Nick turned around to see her name, in reverse, stenciled across the glass of the door and he slammed his eyes shut as he counted to ten and worked on controlling his anger and frustration.

"Dr. Desmaiseaux, I am very sorry… I obviously wasn't paying enough attention when I walked up to the door."

"How many hours did it take for you to figure that one out?" His face betrayed his immense confusion at her question and she removed her glasses, letting them dangle from the cord around her neck. "The pronunciation?"

"Oh! Not long, actually… French wasn't really stressed growing up in Texas, so I had six years of Spanish. The two don't really share a lot of pronunciation rules."

"Y el español era una clase más fácil cuando usted lo sabía ya." His eyes opened a little wider when he realized she had just spoken perfect Spanish. "Und Deutscher ist für einen faulen Esel zu hart."

"I have a feeling I've just lost another point, huh?" Nick watched as she shook her head and then replaced her glasses and got back to work.

"Why are you here?"

Nick shoved his hands into his pockets and tried to keep from getting snappy by taking another breath before he spoke. "I ah, we, I mean, needed a little more help with the case."

"Makes me wonder how you people get anything done when you have no idea what you're doing." That one hurt, and Nick winced from its bite.

Nick put on his best polite smile and tried to behave the way his mother had taught him when he decided to take another tack. "Look, I know you and I got off on the wrong foot, Dr.-"

"Isn't it hard to be on any foot when you've got it crammed down your throat?" She continued to flip through the papers on her desk as she spoke with an uninterested tone.

"Right… So, we were hoping you could take a look at what we've put together in the way of trying to find the primary crime scene. We think we have a few possible areas, but it would be invaluable to us if you could see to it to help us narrow that down to somethin' more manageable." He pulled the thick folder out of his satchel and then returned his gaze to the professor as she completely ignored him. "Would you mind taking a loo-"

"Just leave it on the chair… If I have time, I'll take a look." And that signaled the end of their conversation as she swiveled in her chair to regard the computer terminal behind her. "I assume you can show yourself out?"

Nick dropped the folder into the chair and then turned to leave the office. As he was about to step through the doorway, he heard her mutter, "No permita que la puerta le pegue en el asno en la salida."