Justice

He was smothered with attention, and for some reason, it reminded Nick of when he played sick to get out of school as a kid.

The CSIs surrounded him on all sides, with each lending a hand to support him. He wasn't sure why—his legs worked fine. In fact, it felt good to walk after being tied down all the time.

Sara took Nick by his right arm, making him yelp. He quickly clenched his teeth to muffle the noise, but all the CSIs noticed. Sara immediately let go of him.

"Nick?"

He shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "It's just sore."

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Grissom said, leading the group to the street. "We're stopping by the hospital."

Nick was smart enough not to argue.

Sunlight hit his eyes as they moved towards the cars. Nick squinted at first, but the feel of it . . . the light, the warmth . . .

He smiled, and got in the car.

"You have a fracture in your forearm," the ER doctor told Nick. Beside him, Grissom and Warrick nodded along. "I'd like to put a cast on it. However, that'll cover up the cut, and that needs to be bandaged for just a couple of days."

Nick glanced at his wrists. They looked ugly, to put it bluntly. "So . . ." Nick prompted.

The doctor reached into a cabinet and pulled out a stiff brace. "This'll have to do till then." He looked to Grissom and Warrick. "Make sure he wears this all the time, or his arm won't heal correctly."

The CSIs nodded sternly and shot warning glances to Nick. He rolled his eyes.

"If it'll make it stop hurting, I'll wear it—trust me," he said.

The ER doctor smiled briefly. "How'd this happen?" He reached for Nick's arm, and started feeling the bone. Nick bit down hard on his tongue. "I need to get the bone aligned," the doctor said.

Thanks for the warning. Nick braced himself. The doctor tugged once, then again. Nick's eyes started to water. But that was it--the doctor started putting the brace over his arm.

Nick watched the brace closely, wincing as the doctor strapped it on tightly.

"So how did this happen?" the doctor prompted.

"Lamp," he answered. Grissom and Warrick looked to each other.

"It's always the everyday objects," the doctor mused.

Nick smiled tightly. "Tell me about it."

Catherine and Sara were waiting for the guys as they emerged from the ER.

"They got her," Catherine said. Nick almost choked.

"They did?" he asked. Sara nodded along with Catherine.

"Brass waited with LAPD outside the building," Sara said. "They just arrested her on her way in."

Nick shut his eyes for a second and let out a slow breath. He felt relieved. Surprised too. He was sure that she would have seen the police and run. He almost felt sad for her. If she'd really wanted to, she could have run away and started that new life.

Her mistake was trying to make me part of it.

He shuddered involuntarily, drawing a look from his friends.

"I'm fine," he said quickly.

The district attorney was already talking about extraditing Mrs. Henler back to Nevada. It'd take a couple of days, but for now she stayed in LAPD custody.

Rumor had it she was severely distraught, screaming and crying a lot. Nick tried not to think about that as they drove back to Las Vegas the next day.

He changed clothes. He'd wanted to shred that blue shirt Amy bought him, but Grissom said it'd be better to hang on to as evidence. It was sitting in a tagged plastic bag in the back of the car now.

They were cautious around him. They spoke to him, but didn't really talk with him. Nick couldn't blame his friends—they just didn't know what to say. Nick figured they didn't want to upset him or bring up unpleasant memories. He appreciated that, but knew it was silly to tiptoe around things that had to come out, if nothing else than for the official record.

"Nick, there's something I've got to know," Grissom said. That caught Catherine's attention, as well as his own. Nick shifted in the passenger seat.

"Okay," he said. He scratched at his arm, just under the suffocating brace.

Grissom took a deep breath, that rare look of caring about being sensitive showing up on his face.

"The police came," he started. "They said it was a domestic disturbance, that you admitted you hurt Mrs. Henler." Gil shook his head, more from the confusion than anything else. "Why did you do that when you could have had them help you?"

The desperation resurfaced as Nick remembered Amy, how manipulative she was—how she convinced the cops she was the victim. How she hide that gun until she could use it best to her advantage.

Fear. He felt it all over again. She really would have pulled the trigger on them. Probably on him too . . .

Nick cleared his throat, well-aware that he'd delayed too long.

"Um, Amy—Mrs. Henler had the gun," Nick said. "The cops never saw it, but they didn't suspect her of anything." He huffed at that, but cleared his throat again. As he spoke, his voice became monotone, and his words automatic. "She had the gun aimed at the back of their heads. They never had a clue. She would have shot them if I hadn't played along."

He saw her, in control. So composed, even at being unstable at the right moment. He felt helpless again as he saw it in his mind.

Catherine laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it and patting him. Nick smiled quickly and swiped at his eyes.

"How long has that kept you awake?" Nick asked, changing the tone playfully. Gil smiled, and Catherine let out a laugh.

"That wasn't the only thing that kept me up," Grissom said. "We haven't slept since you were kidnapped."

Nick frowned and glanced at the steering wheel. "Then why are you driving?" Grissom started to wave him off. "No, seriously. I've had nothing to do but sit or sleep for the last few days. Pull over."

"Nick, Grissom's fine," Catherine said, her motherly side coming out. "You still need to rest."

"Guys, come on," Nick said, looking to each of them. "You've earned it."

Grissom drove for another mile before he pulled over. Nick took them the rest of the way home.

Brass watched from down the hall as his officers brought Mrs. Henler into the LVPD precinct. Her face was still wet from tears. Jim hadn't seen it dry yet.

The officers didn't take her to interrogation. There was no need. All the evidence pointed to her. No, she was taken directly to a holding cell, until the public defender arrived.

She disappeared from view just as Jason Henler entered the precinct. He saw Brass and came towards him.

"Detective Brass," he greeted morosely. "She's here?" Jim thought it was interesting he didn't say his own wife's name.

Brass nodded. "She's very emotional right now," he said. "We're putting her on 24-hr suicide watch. Just in case." That wasn't very comforting to say, but somehow he thought Jason Henler didn't care about tact anymore—not where Amy was concerned.

Jason nodded slowly. He appeared distraught himself, but more in a self-agonizing way.

"Um, the officer she kidnapped . . ."

"CSI Nick Stokes," Brass filled in.

"Is he okay?" Jason asked. Brass cocked his head to the side. Mr. Henler surprised him. In some ways, he'd expected anger towards Nick or towards anyone involved in this losing situation.

"His injuries were minor," Brass said. "He's back at work already." Though against everyone's wishes, he thought with a slight smirk. Jason nodded.

"Could I speak with him?"

Nick shifted uncomfortably as he sat across from Jason Henler. He had no desire to be there, and his eyes said as much. He avoided Jason's eyes until he realized that made him seem guilty.

Of what? You didn't do anything.

But Mrs. Henler did—and had wanted to get closer. Nick gulped; he felt like he'd broken them apart.

You didn't. They wouldn't have been together if Faye Green was still alive.

"Mr. Stokes," Jason started. He wrung his hands a bit as he spoke. "I . . . I wanted to apologize, for Amy."

Nick wasn't sure if he was supposed to say anything, but Jason looked like he had more to say.

"I never knew . . . that she was capable of . . ." He substituted the critical word with a gulp of his own. He coughed, and offered Nick a weak smile. "Are you all right?"

Nick nodded. "I'm fine, Mr. Henler."

Jason lowered his eyes to the table top. "Did she—did she hurt you . . . or treat you badly?"

Nick wasn't sure how to tackle that one. What do you say to the suffering husband about his criminal wife's behavior? He knew there was more than injury that Jason implied. Which makes me wonder if he saw this coming.

"Nothing I can't heal from," Nick replied safely. He smiled, eliciting one in return from Mr. Henler. "I have a question." Jason nodded. "Did you ever see signs? Something that pointed to how unhappy she was?"

The man sighed. "I should have. She was always uncomfortable when Faye got mentioned. She would instantly act overly happy--fake."

"Like she was trying too hard," Nick filled in. Jason nodded.

"I could have prevented all of this," he said somberly.

Nick didn't answer, but watched the man's eyes moisten. He stood up and laid a quick, brotherly hand on Jason's shoulder before leaving the room.

He was leaving the precinct when Brass intercepted him.

"How'd it go?" Brass asked. Nick sighed, his good hand on his hip.

"Awkward."

Jim smiled. "Well, you're going to love this." Already Nick didn't. "Mrs. Henler is asking to see you."

Nick's face hardened, and he shot the detective a look. "Absolutely no way."

He was staring at a case file, a bit miffed that he couldn't go out in the field yet. For some reason, Grissom wouldn't allow it until next week. So he sat in the breakroom, catching up on cases.

He heard a knock at the doorway, and looked up to see Greg standing there with a smirk.

"Hey Greggo," he said. "How's it going?"

The young lab technician sat down. "Nothing much. Just wanted to see how you were doing."

Nick smiled and opened his mouth to answer when someone else appeared in the doorway.

It was Grissom.

"Hey Gris," Nick greeted. He was about to say more when he noticed the expression on his boss's face.

"Amy Henler just escaped police custody," Grissom said, "using her husband as a hostage."

a/n: Kristen999 said something about not trusting me yet-even with Nick out of danger. You guys know me so well. :o) Hope you liked this chapter!