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: Don't think I'm getting soft on Nick with this chapter... I'm just setting him up for the real fun.

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 34
03:30 – 2006.12.15
Stokes Home: Garage

With each and every astoundingly dust covered box and crate that Nick moved, he became more and more aware of the fact that his life had changed dramatically since his abduction. Before the incident, he regularly took his bike out for a spin, but he was drawing a complete blank on the last time he even saw the thing, let alone fired it up. He also realized that he seriously needed to clean out his garage.

He had always used it for storage, since his truck did not fit inside the compact garage that came with his condo. What he had not realized was that it was also being used for anything he never wanted to see again, but was not entirely ready to part with yet. As he moved the umpteenth box of old magazines Nick's greatest fears came to pass; he had turned into his mother. For years he listened to his father complain about his mother never throwing anything out, and here he was doing exactly the same thing.

The first thing he found was his motorcross shirt with all the panels. Next object to turn up in his archeological dig were the pads he wore under the shirt and pants. However, none of those things were going to do him any good for a trip down the highway; he needed his bike, his gloves and his helmet. At that point, he was still trudging through several boxes of old clothes stacked all over the place.

With his hands on his hips, Nick surveyed the garage as he attempted to figure out the next place to look. While he was focused on the scan, he failed to notice the teetering stack of boxes to his left. That failure ceased when he was bombarded with the boxes as they fell to the ground, but not before smacking him in the face. Once the cacophony of destruction was finished falling around him, he brought a hand up to his face where it stung and brought his hand back covered in blood. "Fantastic!"

Nick stomped his way back up into his condo to get a good look at the damage. As he walked through the front door his toe became caught up in the strap of the backpack he left by the door and nearly went careening into the kitchen counter. "Damnit!" Nick was quickly reaching his breaking point when he finally made it somewhat safely into the bathroom to find that he had a lovely cut across his brow and cheek. As he proceeded to clean up the blood and crud, he found that the wound was also red and raised, which immediately told him it was going to bruise on top of everything else. With his hands planted firmly on the bathroom vanity Nick hung his head, because he knew he was going to head home to Texas in a few days with gash on his face and a black eye. "Helluva way to show the folks you're doin' just fine, Pancho."

Nick took out the first aid kit and finished cleaning up the cut. When he took a last look in the mirror as he tossed the wad of used gauze in the trash, he shook his head in disgust. For a day that had started out with such promise, it had turned into garbage in a serious hurry.

When he had gone into the lab with his vacation slip, Grissom was receptive to the whole thing and thanked him for considering what he had said. Then Grissom told him to make sure all of his case notes were up to date and filed, in case there were any questions while he was gone and that as soon as it was done, he was officially on leave. Nick only had a few things to do and then he was out the door before midnight. The only thing he felt bad about was the fact that everyone was out in the field, so he had not been able to say goodbye to anyone.

Almost as if on cue, his cellphone rang and the display showed Sara's name. "Stokes."

"What, you think you can just slip out of town without so much as 'see ya later?'"

"Nah… Actually, I was gonna call you when I got back from the desert this afternoon. I needed to ask you for a lift to the airport Sunday." Nick smiled because he had known Sara would be the one to call him first. Instead of continuing to walk down the stairs to the garage, Nick copped a squat there on the step to talk to his friend.

"You better have… Because I need to know where you're going in order to put in my present request."

"Well, then you're in luck, 'cause I'm headed home for Christmas." His smile seemed to be firmly in place as he talked to Sara.

"Oooooo… Does that mean I can get you to bring me back some of your Mom's oatmeal raisin cookies?" Nick knew what she was going to say even before she said it, but it still made him laugh. Sara and his mother had bonded while his parents stayed at her place after his abduction. It had helped Nick to convince his parents that he would be okay if they went back to Texas, because they knew Sara would keep an eye on him for them.

"I bet you'll get more than that, seein' as she just found out about the wedding." Nick had to get his dig in, because he was surprised that Sara did not include his parents in the announcements.

"Not true… I just got their present in the mail this week, and they apologized for not being able to come to the wedding." Nick sat there in shock when he realized that his own mother conned him.

"I'll be a-… She totally punked me." Nick shook his head in disbelief, but delighted in the laughter that came through the phone from his friend. "You gotta stop talkin' to my mother… She's pickin' up your evil streak."

"Nah, I think you're just finally wising up enough to see it." Nick realized, too late, that he had walked right into another of her potshots.

"Whatever… Look, I gotta dig my bike outta the garage so I can get down to the research site and do some begging for Brass."

"Yeah, I heard the Doc's been playing hard to get again… Good luck out there and just remember to keep your foot out of your mouth."

Nick laughed again at Sara's attempt at humor. "Yeah, yeah yeah… Look, I'll call you when I get back and give you my flight info, if you don't mind running me to and from the airport."

"Anytime, Nicky… Talk to ya later."

"Bye, Sar." As Nick clicked his phone closed he smiled again with the knowledge that even if he was a backwards pain in the butt, he had good friends to see him through it.

He got up from the steps and trotted back down to the garage with that smile still plastered on his face. Just as Nick came around the corner he nearly slammed into his bike and Warrick. "Whoa! Where'd you come from?"

"And a fine hello to you, too." Though his words sounded harsh, the grin on his face told Nick all he needed to know; Warrick was there to check on him.

"Sorry, man… But aren't you supposed to be workin'?" As he looked down he suddenly realized that Warrick stood there with his bike. "And how'd you know what I was lookin' for?"

Warrick shrugged and said, "Me and Sara ran into Brass and he said you were gonna fall on your sword with the Doc to get her cooperation on the case again. But it looks like I might've been a little late." He pointed at the gash on Nicks's face and added, "Cane or laptop?"

"Neither… I had an unfortunate incident with a stack of boxes."

"Well, then I guess I got here just in time. I figured you'd be lookin' to get the bike back on the road to hit the research site, especially when Sara told me you were takin' some time off." Warrick bent back down to the bike and got back to work as Nick tried to find his voice again.

"Yeah, but how'd you know where the bike was?" Nick attempted to change the subject.

Warrick laid a finger alongside his nose and said, "Followed the evidence… Or more like the smell of gasoline."

Nick shook his head. "You gotta be kiddin' me?"

Warrick cracked a smile and said, "Yeah, I am… Who do you think put it away when you were in the hospital?"

With his head hung low on his shoulders, Nick sighed, "I swear sometimes I got 'sucker' written on my forehead."

With a wink Warrick answered, "Yeah, well, we didn't want you to feel self-conscious about it." He waited for Nick to recover from the hit before he added, "Go on… Keep lookin' for your helmet and I'll get this thing fired up."

Warrick started checking over the bike as Nick paused a moment to admire the fact that his friend was giving him enough space to talk on his own. He smiled and turned into the garage to locate that helmet and work up the nerve to tell Warrick what was going on and why he was taking leave. Their somewhat silent tasks continued along for nearly an hour.

At the exact moment that Nick finally found the helmet, he heard the motor fire up on his bike. With both men smiling from their efforts, Nick knew that the time had come.

"Hey, man… If you got some time?" Nick looked from his watch to the stairs that led up to his condo.

Warrick nodded. "Yeah, it's been a slow one… Gris put me on-call for the rest of the night."

The two men made their way to Nick's condo. Once inside Nick went straight to the fridge, pulled a couple of soft drinks out and placed them on the counter. Warrick took a seat on the opposite side of the counter and leaned against it with his forearms.

"You hungry?" Nick stared into the refrigerator as he spoke.

Warrick shrugged. "Yeah, I could eat."

"Good…" Nick pulled a large styrofoam container out of the fridge and walked to the microwave. "Because I got all these wings for football night, and ended up watching the game alone."

"Aw man… Don't do me like that." Warrick cringed at Nick's accusation. "You know I didn't have a choice. Cath had to go in early and I got stuck at Lindsey's dance recital. Trust me, settin' on your couch was where I woulda rather been."

The silence hung between them for a little while as the microwave dinged and Nick worked to set the food out for the two of them. However, before Warrick could touch a bite, he needed to clear the air between them. "Hey man… There's somethin' I've been needing to talk to you about." Warrick took in a deep breath and then sighed. "I know you've been sitting behind the eight ball for a while now, and I'm sorry for not bein' there for you, Nick. I know it's not an excuse, but I've just been so caught up in my own stuff tha-"

Nick started to shake his head and said, "No way, man. I'm not gonna let you do that. You got this whole thing with Catherine and helpin' her with Lindsey and I know that you've got these things in your life now, Warrick…" He paused for a moment to try and find the right words to express what he had been feeling. "I just feel like all these changes are happening around me and I got no control and no say about what's goin' down. Like I'm just some spectator, and everyone else is calling the shots, gettin' the breaks, while I get left with nothin' but the crumbs. And the worst part is that I can't be pissed about it, because I'm happy for you guys, ya know. I would never want anything but the best for all of you, but…" Nick choked on the last words.

"But it'd be nice if you got in on a little of it, too?" Warrick's words cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"Yeah…" Nick nodded his head as he picked at the food and stared off into space for a few moments. "Grissom's right, though… I need to get my head on straight, and then try to figure out where the heck I really am."

Warrick shook his head as he laughed briefly. "Sucks how that works out, huh?"

"What's that?"

"Takes the man ten years to see what's standin' right in front of him, but he can peg us without even blinkin'." They both laughed then, knowing that Grissom's aloof attitude was never more than an act, because he had been on the money with the both of them more times than either would ever admit.

They polished off the wings, laughed at each other's jokes, made promises to spend more time hanging out in the future, and simply enjoyed the company of the other. When they were finished, Warrick helped Nick get ready for his trip down the road until he finally got a page to go assist Sara on another case.

As Nick watched Warrick drive away, he felt a little better about his place in the world, and about his friendships, again. It helped his disposition as he prepared to once again do battle with The Beast.