Sunday / Monday

She woke up with a headache as bad as a hangover and a vague sensation that something was wrong. Nicks side of the bed was empty but still faintly warm, he hadn't been up long. She brought her hands up to her face to try and rub away some of the tightness behind her eyes, the muscles in her arms and back cried out with the sudden movement. Then she remembered. It all came back in one horrible flash of memory, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep and forget again. If you do that, you'll never get up again Sara's voice whispered in her head. With a groan, Rai swung her feet onto the floor, and slowly, feeling every ache, pulled herself to her feet. At the bedroom door, she heard Nick moving in the kitchen, and could smell bacon and brewing coffee. Her stomach rumbled fiercely and she realized she hadn't eaten since lunch the day before.

His back was to her when she walked in and he was poking at the bacon with a fork. She watched him, his head dropping a little, and she wondered if he'd slept at all. Probably not, she told herself. "Hey" she said softly, to not startle him.

He turned and smiled at her. The skin under his eyes was almost as dark as the day's growth of beard on his cheeks. He hadn't slept she decided. "Hey" his tone just as soft as hers. She moved next to him in the smallish kitchen, and looked into the frying pan. "Hungry?" he asked at the same time her stomach growled loudly.

She snorted, a little embarrassed, and rubbed her stomach as if to quiet it "Guess so." She smiled slightly and Nick exhaled, relieved to see the smile, even one as small as that.

He cupped her check, rubbing his thumb lightly across the bruise. "It looks a little better."

She reached up and took his hand in hers, moving it away. "That's not true, but it's sweet of you to try." She took a deep breath and, dropping his hand moved to the coffee pot. She fixed them both a cup while he took the bacon out of the pan and cracked open the eggs to go with it.

Twenty minutes later, the food gone, they sat quietly at the small square dining table just off the kitchen. Rai stared at her empty plate; surprised she'd inhaled her breakfast as quickly as she had. She glanced up at him. "I hate to sound cliché, but we need to talk."

He nodded, "Yeah, ok." She told him the story, just as she'd told Catherine the night before. More than once, he felt himself on the verge of breaking in, asking her a question or offering a comment, but restrained himself, remembering that he wasn't at work.

When she was done, he took a few moments, breathing deeply, trying to keep his breakfast and temper down. His head was reeling with the images she'd just presented him.

"Why was the cop here last night?" She broke through his thoughts. Nick cleared his throat, unsure of how much to tell her. She read the hesitation on his face. "Please just tell me."

"We think that maybe the perp who attacked you was the Vegas Strangler" he used the name the news had dubbed the killer. "If you hadn't kicked him in the balls..."

"I'd be dead." He nodded slowly. "And you think he might come back, to...finish." Again, he nodded. She inhaled deeply, absorbing the information.

After a moment he asked: "You think you can sketch his face?"

"Yeah. If I can get my things. Do you think they'll let me in my apartment? I'm gonna need some clothes too." She tugged at his sweatshirt she was wearing.

"I'll call Griss."

Rai went to the bathroom while he was on the phone. Splashing her face with cool water, she leaned into the mirror, closely inspecting at the marks that had been left on her. Straightening up, she stared at herself, hoping that telling Nick had been the hardest part of this, aside from the actual rape, because it was over. Inhaling deeply, she tried to steel herself for the days ahead.

Nick knocked on the door. "Yeah" she called. In the hall, Nick cautiously tried the knob; another sigh of relief escaped him when it turned, she hadn't locked him out this time. He leaned in, holding the door to his chest.

"Griss say's we can't go in, but he did allow Sara to gather some clothes and things, they're at the lab. And Sara took Monte home with her."

Rai covered her mouth with her fingers. "Oh God. I'd forgotten all about him. He made me put him in the kitchen, he'd said it was for Monte's own protection."

Nick nodded "That's where they found him, in the kitchen."

They were climbing out of the Tahoe at the lab forty-five minutes later, Rai wearing the same sweats, but had changed into one of Nick's tee shirts for the Vegas heat. Nick kept a protective hand on the small of her back as he steered her down the halls to Grissom's office.

Grissom sat behind his desk, facing the doorway. Sara and Warrick sat in the two chairs facing Grissom's desk, their backs to the door. Sara was speaking when Rai and Nick appeared in the open doorway, and, catching Grissom's change in expression and eye direction, she stopped in mid sentence and turned quickly in her chair. Seeing her childhood friend, Sara practically jumped from her chair and gathered Rai in a tight hug. For the first time in her memory, Rai was the first one to let go. Sara pulled back a little, but kept her hands on Rai's elbows. She looked at Rai, her brown eyes darting back and forth, and after a moment, her unasked questions momentairy satisfied she said: "I've got some of your things out in the truck, you wanna go get them? Maybe change out of these clothes." Sara lightly teased with a yank at the tee shirt sleeve.

"Yeah, these sweat pants are starting to feel a little grungy." Rai glanced at Nick as she passed him on her way back down the hall.

He nodded faintly. "I'll be out in a minute, I want to talk to Gris." He said softly.

"How's Monte?" Rai asked as she and Sara made their way down the hall.

Nick watched them from his spot in the doorway, and when they turned the corner he brought his attention back to the office. Warrick lifted his chin in greeting as Nick flopped tiredly down into the chair Sara had just vacated. "Hey man."

Nick looked at Warrick for the first time since he'd arrived. Weariness was etched into his eyes. "When's the last time you slept man?" Nick asked.

Warrick shrugged. "What day is it?"

Grissom watched his two younger colleges "Nicky..." he began slowly.

"Gris, I want to take vacation." Gil looked at him stunned. He'd been about to tell Nick the same thing, and had expected an argument. Nick kept going, not noticing Grissom's expression, and stating his case. "I need to stay with her, in case this guy comes to finish the job. And," he emphasized the word, coming to his strongest reasoning "the farther I stay away from the evidence, the better." He finished, and finally took in Grissom's expression. "You were going to say the same thing, weren't you?"

Grissom nodded "Yeah" he said simply. "Sara's going to take the other cases, her involvement will have to be minimal. Dayshift will have to help out, put in some overtime. You've got a weeks time comin' anyway, take it. If we haven't caught this hump by then..." he paused searching for the right words. "We'll handle it then. But," he used a pencil to point down the hall Rai and Sara had just walked down, "we need to talk to her."

"Yeah" Nick answered resigned. "I know."

Walking into the brightness of the parking lot from the comparative dimness of the lab, Nick squinted and slid his sunglass on. His found the two women standing next to the open back door of his Tahoe, a suitcase and cardboard box loaded in the back seat. Rai's arms crossed against her chest each hand holding the other elbow, in a protective posture; Sara's hands flew animatedly in the air, punctuating her words. From just outside the lab door, he could hear Sara's voice, but not her words, but as he crossed the parking lot, about halfway to them, he heard Sara say "That's not gonna happen" just before Rai noticed him out of the corner of her eye and put a hand on Sara's arm, putting a stop to the conversation.

"Hey" Rai greeted him as he joined them next to the truck.

"Hey." He answered, ignoring the conversation he felt left out of. He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her on the temple.

"Can we stop at Sara's and pick up Monte on the way home?"

He nodded, "Of course. But Gris wants to talk to you first."

Rai sighed. "Yeah." Before shutting the Tahoe door, she reached in and grabbed her sketchpad and pencils that Sara had packed. "Ok" she said to them.

Inside, Nick's protective hand left the small of Rai's back as he turned down a second hallway, headed to the break room to get them some water. Sara led Rai the rest of the way to where the other CSI's had gathered in the interrogation room, the only room big enough to hold all of them and offer privacy.

Catherine and Grissom sat on one side of the oblong table. Warrick leaned up against the mirror, Jim Brass stood unobtrusively in a corner, two feet away from him. Rai sat down in one of the two empty chairs at the table, opposite Catherine, and Sara walked over to join Warrick against the mirror.

"Rai, have you met Capitan Brass?" Gil gestured to the corner where Brass stood.

"We sorta met last night." Brass answered the question.

Rai's eyes tightened for a moment before she realized what he was talking about and they flew open wide. "I'm sorry about that. Could you please tell that officer for me?"

"What happened?" Catherine sat up in her chair.

"What officer?" Warrick asked at the same time.

"Guys." Sara got their attention. "We'll talk about it later." Rai had told Sara the story in the parking lot, her embarrassment evident, she'd told it almost as a confession.

Nick walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. Walking to the table he handed Rai the bottle of water and sat down in the empty chair next to her. Looking up, he found his friends looking at him and all of a sudden, he realized he was on the other side of the table from where he usually was.

Catherine cleared her throat, the noise like a starting gun. "Rai, first I want to thank you for letting them take the swab last night..."

Nick broke in. "What? What swab?" He looked from Catherine to Rai.

Rai glanced at her hands, folded on the table on top of the sketchbook she'd put down. She hadn't told him that part, she didn't know why exactly, but now she was wishing she had.

Catherine surmised the situation quickly and jumped in to save Rai. She held up a hand to silence Nick. "There was just a misunderstanding at the hospital." Quickly, she changed the subject. "Rai, I know how hard this is, but we need you to go over it again."

Rai's head bobbed for a moment, then her eyes unfocused as she remembered. She told them the story. Unlike Nick, they broke in, asking the very questions Nick had held back that morning.

"How tall was he?" Sara asked.

Rai looked to Nick, considering. "An inch or two taller than Nick?"

"So about six feet." Grissom commented. "White or black?"

"White."

"What color was his uniform?" Brass asked from the corner.

"Camel pants, dark olive shirt." Brass smiled at the description, chalking it up to her artist's eye.

"Anything else you can remember about him physically? Muscular like he works out? Or skinny maybe?" This from Warrick.

Rai shrugged. "He was stronger than me. His hands were," she swallowed away a lump in her throat "soft."

Catherine and Grissom exchanged glances; neither knew what to make of that, but it did remind Catherine of a question. "Was he wearing gloves?"

Rai thought about it, her eyes glassed over. "Not when he walked in. As he started down the hall, toward the bedroom, I saw him pulling something on, I guess I just made the assumption it was gloves like the one's ya'll wear." She took a sip of water and held it in her mouth for a moment, unable to swallow.

"Did he touch anything before he put on the gloves?" Warrick asked, leaning in a little, excited by the possibility of fingerprints. Rai dashed his hopes when she shook her head.

"Could you smell anything on him?" Grissom asked.

Rai tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Cologne, or aftershave. I don't know what brand." She put her hand to her mouth and quickly stood up, the chair legs screeching against the floor. "Excuse me" she said though her fingers and she rushed to the door. Sara was at her side in an instant, leading her to the bathroom.

Nick watched them leave, his jaw working.

"Had to be done Nicky." Catherine tried to calm him. He didn't answer.

Grissom reached across the table touching sketchbook. "May I?" He asked Nick.

Nick gave a short nod of consent.

As he slid the book over in front of him, Catherine leaned forward into the table; Warrick made his way over and stood behind her. Brass came over and joined the group, standing at the short end of the table between Catherine and Rai's empty chair.

Grissom opened the book and began to flip the pages. The sketches, both in regular and colored pencils, were of diverse subjects. Two pages contained several different pictures of the same dog from varying points of view. "Monte?" Grissom asked glancing up to Nick.

"Yeah."

Other pages contained drawings of fairies and storybook characters. Dragonflies and mythological creatures dominated several pages. Grissom turned the page. Catherine gasped, Warrick let out a "Whoa". Staring up at them from the page of the sketchbook was an almost photograph like drawing of Sara. Rai had even managed to capture the energy of Sara's personality in the eyes.

Grissom pulled off his glasses and glanced at Nick. "Could she draw her own composite sketch?"

Nick nodded. "She wants to."

Just then, Sara appeared in the doorway, Rai right behind her, a paper towel still in her hand. Both women's eyes were rimmed in red; Rai's were still glistening. As she passed the table headed back to her spot at the mirror, Sara glanced down to see what had captured their attention, and smiled when she recognized the drawing.

Sitting back down, Rai tried to smile but failed. "Sorry."

Gil let her settle in. "Rai," he pointed at the sketch of Sara. "Do you think you can draw your attacker?" She glanced briefly at Nick then at Grissom, and nodded. Gil handed her the book. "Please."

Rai took the book and set it down in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she turned to a clean page, picked up one of the pencils and began. They watched her, all of them, glancing from her face to her hand and then the picture that was being revealed. Sara couldn't help but smile as she watched them watching Rai. She'd always been impressed with and proud of her friend's talent. Twice Rai's hand stopped moving, the pencil hovering just above the paper. Both times she swallowed hard and began again.

After about twenty minutes Rai moved her hand and the pencil away from the paper and studied the face she'd created. She ripped the paper out of the book along the perforated edges and handed it to Grissom. Sara came over to stand next to Warrick behind Gil, and Brass placed his palms on the table, leaning in. Staring back up at them, in an almost photograph like portrait was the face of the Vegas Strangler.