"You have got to be kidding!" Nick was incredulous at what Warrick had just shared with him and Sara.
"I know it's ridiculous, but he seems to think that Sara may have compromised his ability to produce children in the future because of her well placed knee." Warrick glanced over at Sara with a smirk.
She just sat there with a stoic expression on her face at what Warrick had just told them. She hadn't been surprised to find that he was the one knocking on the door, and she'd let him in without much more than a hug and a few words being exchanged. Now Nick was pacing in frustration and Warrick was trying to be logical.
"So he's going to press assault charges against her when he's the one who hurt her?" Nick was wishing that he'd gone ahead and given Brian at least one well placed punch for what he'd done to Sara.
Warrick looked over at Sara in concern. "What else did he do, Sara?" He knew that she'd been shaken up emotionally, but he hadn't realized that she'd been physically hurt as well.
Sara slowly lifted the edge of her shirt to reveal the finger-sized bruises where Brian had dug his fingers into her flesh already beginning to turn purplish.
Just the sight of them caused Nick to clench his jaw a bit harder. "That's gonna be a little tough for him to explain."
"Damn, girl." Warrick winced as Sara lowered her shirt.
Sara let out a sigh. "Look, we may as well go down to PD so I can file a report against him. I'm sure that we're going to need to get pictures of this too." She really wished that there was another way to handle this situation because she certainly didn't want to see the jerk again, but if there was one thing that she trusted it was the evidence. She knew that Brian might try and deny it, but the evidence along with Nick and Warrick's eyewitness accounts would say otherwise.
Nick's expression softened as he regarded Sara and he walked over and sat down next to her on the couch, reaching over and taking her hand in his. "I'm really sorry we didn't get there sooner."
She glanced up at him and smiled. "Hey, it's not your fault." She looked over at Warrick. "You guys got there, that's the important thing. If he'd gotten me out of the club, I'm not sure what would have happened." Actually, she was fully aware of what could have happened. If the guy was willing to assault her in front of other people, he most likely had one agenda on his mind, and the thought occurred to Sara that she probably wasn't the first woman that he'd tried this on.
Nick squeezed her hand, he too was well aware of what might have happened.
"Darren said he was going to press charges against Brian for disorderly conduct in his club, but I'm sure once the paperwork is processed and he posts bail, he'll probably walk." Warrick was glad that his friend had the foresight to press charges giving them the time to get down to PD and file a report, and since Sara was technically a part of the LVPD they would be able to file felony assault charges.
"Let's just get this over with." Sara let out a tired sigh. She had wanted to let off steam after their case wrapped up, and after they'd all worked several double shifts in the last week on it, Grissom had given all three of them the night off. And now here they were in the middle of another case, only this one was personal.
Warrick noticed that Nick didn't let go of Sara's hand as they got up off of the couch and headed out to his rig, and he raised a quizzical eyebrow when neither one of them jumped into the front seat, opting to take the backseat together instead. As he started the ignition, he was about to ask them about it when he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Nick put his arm around Sara's shoulder and lean over and kiss the top of her head. Sara closed her eyes and relaxed against him. Warrick made a mental note to ask about this apparent change in their relationship after this mess with Brian was behind them.
A short time later, as the three walked into the police department, they ran into Grissom with Brass right behind him. "What are you three doing here? I thought I gave you the night off." Grissom looked slightly confused.
Before either of the guys could say anything, Sara cut to the chase. "I need to file assault charges against some guy we had a run in with at a club."
Grissom's eyes widened in worry as he considered all of the possibilities. "But you're ok?"
Sara nodded. "Just some bruises."
"Does this guy have a name?" Brass immediately wanted to pull himself in on the loop.
"Brian King." Warrick interjected quickly, his tone indicating that he'd like to wipe the floor up with the guy.
Grissom and Brass exchanged a glance before either of them said anything further. Brass took the lead. "I think we should take this into my office."
Sara, Nick, and Warrick exchanged perplexed glances and followed Brass and Grissom as they turned and headed back in the direction from which they'd just come. As they all filed into the office, Warrick closed the door behind them.
Sara didn't mince words. "What the hell is going on?"
Grissom tried to be direct, but kind at the same time. "Sara, what exactly did Brian King do to you?"
She unceremoniously lifted her shirt up high enough to show them the bruises on her side that Brian had left. "He asked me to dance and when I was done he wouldn't let me go. He kept insisting that we leave together. Nick and Warrick had to help me out."
"Course her knee helped things out quite a bit." Warrick quipped, proud of the hit she landed.
Grissom furrowed his brow. "Other than that did he do anything?"
Sara shook her head and narrowed her gaze at him and Brass. "No. Now will you tell me what the hell is going on?"
Brass cleared his throat. "Brian King isn't Brian King. He's Jeremy Carlson. The responding officer determined that he had falsely identified himself and so at the minimum he faces a misdemeanor charge."
Grissom continued. "He also appears to match the description of an unnamed suspect in several sexual assault cases, as well as an attempted murder case."
The color drained out of Sara's face and she felt like her throat was constricting as the realization of what his intentions had been sunk in.
Just as her legs were about to give way, Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I've got you, Sar."
"Sara, we're going to need to get photographs of those bruises. I can call Catherine if you'd be more comfortable." Grissom shifted into investigator mode, not quite knowing how to deal with the strong woman in front of him who seemed to have turned into an emotional puddle in Nick's arms.
Sara nodded, closing her eyes as she rested her head on Nick's shoulder as he stroked her hair. "You'll do a line up too?"
"As soon as we get him processed we'll put together a line up." Brass confirmed.
"Catherine should be at the lab; I'll call her and let her know you're coming." Grissom's tone was gentle.
"We're on it." Nick responded as Sara stepped out of his embrace.
"All of you are hands off on this. If he's who we think he is, we can't afford for him to get off on a technicality." Grissom knew that they all knew that, but he had to say it for the record, lest their emotional tie to this case cloud their judgement.
Nick literally glared at Grissom. "We know."
Grissom nodded somberly as the three younger CSIs trailed out of the office and his eyebrows curved upwards in surprise as he saw Nick reach over and take Sara's hand.