The Ticket to the Future is Blank

Chapter 2: A Concept of Pain

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The meeting at the airport had been relatively quiet and brief. Nothing more than what was necessary had been said; the usual salutations and offerings to help carry luggage. The same was to be said for the unusually long ride back to Nick Stokes' apartment. Neither knew what to expect from the other or themselves for that matter, finding themselves both thrown into a situation that was a little more than odd. Being silent was decidedly the most acceptable course of action for the time being.

It was nearly evening and the sky was darkening down considerably when the black SUV pulled into the small paved driveway. Nick turned the vehicle off and pocketed the keys, then turned on his new roommate with a nervous smile.

"Well, here's home." And then quickly turned away when she had met his gaze. He didn't know exactly why, but this young girl made him slightly uncomfortable. He then got out of the car before she could respond in any way, circling around back of the Tahoe to get the luggage that had come with his goddaughter on the plane. He had intentionally lost himself in throwing a duffel bag over his shoulder that he didn't notice Christabel come up beside him and grab a suitcase. He jumped only slightly when she spoke.

"So, did my things arrive alright?" she asked.

It took Nick a few moments to even understand what she had asked, and a few more to dredge up an answer.

"Uh, ya. Everything showed up yesterday. I put it all in the spare room – well, I guess it's your room now-"he gave a small nervous laugh. "But ya, it all arrived ok as far as I know." He found himself staring into her bright blue-green eyes and quickly averted them and grabbed one more bag, then closed the trunk door.

They were both quiet all the way in. Nothing was said when Nick fumbled with the keys that were normally so familiar to him. And again, no words were spoken when the two nearly ran into each other in the hall. It was an odd, clumsy sort of waltz that they performed on tiptoe, not knowing where to move really but doing it nonetheless because talking just seemed inappropriate. And that was how the two remained, in this almost vow of silence.

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It was nearing the dinner hour when the new monastery feel of the apartment was broken. Nick, a bit more at ease after having had a few hours to think, asked his young cousin if she'd like anything specific for supper. As it turned out, she too had a thing for America's favourite meal – pizza. And it was over all-dressed pizza (olives and fetta cheese included) that their first real conversation started.

"You know, I never would have thought to put fetta on this." Nick uttered while chewing. "It's good."

"Papa liked it this way." Christabel replied, smiling. Nick stared at her expression, watching it change from admiration to a slight reoccurrence of the same sadness he'd witnessed in the terminal. Her more-than tan colored skin seemed to lighten as the emotion took hold of her body. Nick's initial reaction was to reach out to comfort her, but on second thought, he wasn't so sure what he should do, they being practical strangers. But just as Nick was about to say something – anything – to change to subject, Christabel spoke up.

"You know, Nick isn't a very becoming name for a man." The corner of her lips quirked just a little, sending a slight chill down Nick's spine. It was oddly reminiscent of Grissom.

"How do you figure?" he asked, more intrigued by the comment than insulted.

"Well, Nick is a boys name. Nick, Nicky – they're names you give a child, things that they can understand so that they don't become tongue tied by the full power of their names. You are Nicholas," she said, though her pronunciation made it sound like 'Nicklas'. Nick was just starting to recognize her slight southern accent, though it was warped by the French influence of New Orleans.

"I remember that my mother called you Nicholas, always." She reminisced slightly. Nick smiled. "I rather like long names. So much more elegance- something the world is lacking at the moment." She sighed, putting down the slice of pizza she had been only nibbling at for the past few minutes. Nick didn't quite know what to say for a few glancing moments.

"You were really young the last time I visited your parents, what were you, eleven?"

"Ten and a half, actually." She corrected, that slight smile appearing again, and inflicting the same response in Nick.

"And you remember your mother calling me, Nicholas?"

"Of course, I have quite a good memory." The smile grew by a few degrees.

"I see." Nick smiled. "But do you remember what I brought you that time?" he challenged.

"You brought me a stuffed armadillo, and you told me that it was the state animal of Texas because 'likes us Texans, it's got a thick skin, so we're hard to hurt,'"

"Damn," Nick chuckled a bit, smiling and looking at his cousin unbelievingly. "I can't believe that you remember that."

"Ya well, like I said,"

"A good memory, I know." Nick chuckled again.

There was another long pause, though not quite as uncomfortable as any before. It was more of a moment of silence, a time to take a moment to reflect.

"I guess I have more Texan blood in me that I'd realized," Christabel suddenly said, though it was just barely more than a whisper.

"Why do you say that?" Nick's head tilted slightly.

"After all this, after having," she paused. "Having lost both of my parents, I can't really feel it."

"Feel what?"

"Grief. I know I'm supposed to feel it. And don't misunderstand me, I miss Mama and Papa dearly, but I don't feel that 'my world has ended' in a manner of speaking. I think I was a more upset at the fact that certain little routine things would be absent from my life than at the fact that my parents are dead."

Nick studied the girls face. Her eyes were somewhat blank, not really seeing, and her features mirrored this as well. It was in a way unsettling.

"The wound is still fresh, Christabel. I imagine that you're still in shock."

"All things in their own time sort of thing, right." She said, head tilting slightly forward. It was the same look that Evangeline had given him on many occasions, and it always made him feel like he'd stated something that was blatantly obvious. But this wasn't quite the same; it didn't last long enough to have its full affect. Christabel's expression became sullen once more. "I don't know, I suppose I just don't feel human if I can't feel such a base emotion. It's like I'm numb to everything, but even that's not quite right."

"It's just another concept of pain, Chris. 'S nothing to worry about, believe me."

"I suppose." She accented unconvincingly

From then on all that could be heard in the small townhouse was that of food being chewed. Decidedly no the best sound, Nick mused. But what else was he to do. About fifteen minutes later Christabel said a scant 'Goodnight' and went off to her room. Nick waited to her the soft scuff and click of the door closing and finally exhaled.

"This is going to be interesting." He said to himself, running his hand nervously through his hair.

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A/N: Thanks go to Ash (sorry I spelt Sara wrong), Shelbers, dd9736 (the story would take a turn for the worst if she were younger, though I do see where you're coming from), and Tickled Pink. I love reviews; they make me ever so happy. It's nice to know that people like your work (even though this isn't completely mine, they aren't my characters. Oh well.) Yes, there will be a relationship – a couple actually – romantic and otherwise, and they will make themselves apparent in due time. Hehe. So, on with the reviews!