The sleeping pills had worn off hours ago, yet Nick stayed asleep. It was Saturday morning, so Mrs. Stokes didn't bother waking him up.
At about 10:30 Nick finally pulled himself out of bed. He was disoriented for the moment. As soon as his brain started working properly he recalled the night before. He remembered what Amy had said right before he fell asleep.
Our little secret.
Nick shuddered involuntarily. He tried to push those thoughts out of his head, failing miserably. He slowly and quietly walked down the stairs. He walked to the kitchen where his mother was clearing the table from breakfast. His plate was still on the table, waiting for him. He padded over to his seat.
"Good morning, Nicky," his mother greeted.
"Good morning," he replied quietly.
Mrs. Stokes was caught off guard by her son's quietness. He was usually hyper and enthusiastic in the morning. Probably just tired from yesterday.
Nick ate his breakfast quietly. When he was done he set his plate by the sink and walked into the living room. He turned on the TV and watched cartoons.
Somewhere in between Wylie Coyote falling off the cliff and Buggs Bunny's famous line, "What's up Doc?" Nick's sister, Kelly, came in to tell him they were playing the football game they played every Saturday morning.
"You Coming?" she asked when he didn't follow her.
Nick shook his head.
"Why not?" Kelly asked.
Nick shrugged.
"C'mon," Kelly whined.
"Please?" she asked.
Nick shook his head.
Kelly walked outside to talk with her sisters.
Nick turned his attention back to the TV. Not two minutes later did all five of his sisters trudge inside to drag him out to play.
Jessica, the oldest girl, grabbed both of Nick's feet as Emily, the second born girl, grabbed both of his hands. They hauled him up and outside, all the while Nick complaining.
When they reached there makeshift football field they set Nick down in the grass. Nick quickly got up and started to walk back to the house.
"Where are you goin' Nicky?" Rachel asked.
Nick didn't reply; he just kept walking.
Lauren caught up with him. She practically picked him up and carried him back to the rest of the group.
"Hey, Nicky. You wanna' be a captain?" Jessica asked, trying to get him to agree to play.
Nick finally relented. His sisters always knew how to get him to do something he didn't want to do.
Nick nodded.
"Good," Jessica replied, "I'm second captain."
"Let's pick teams," Emily announced.
"Nicky, you can go first," Jessica said.
Nick pointed to Rachel. She was the most athletic girl there was to choose from. Rachel walked over to where her little brother was standing.
"Okay, I pick Emily, which means Lauren's on your team," Jessica said.
Jessica picked up the ball and everyone got into position. "65, 32, 48, hike."
Jessica passed the ball to Emily, who made a dash for the touchdown area. Nicky started scampering after her. She was twice as fast as him, so she slowed down to make it a little easier for him. Nick gained a sudden burst of speed and tackled his sister to the ground. He quickly grabbed the ball and started running toward his own touch down area.
"Nicky!" Jessica called out, "That's not how you play."
Nick stopped. He turned toward his sister and ran back. He was just learning how to play, so he didn't know the rules that well.
It took about ten minutes to explain to Nick what to do in that situation. After that they were playing again.
When they finally finished, Nick's team had won 36- 28. All of the children walked back to the house. By the time the reached the house it was time for lunch. They had a quick lunch before they went off to do their own separate things.
Nick went up to his room. As he entered thoughts of the night before came crashing back into his mind. He glanced at his bed. He could never sleep in that thing again. He sat down on the floor and thought about what he would do. After a while his oldest sister, Jessica, entered his room.
"Hey, Nicky. You wanna play a game?" she asked.
Nick figured it was better than what he was doing, so he nodded.
They went downstairs and played a couple games before dinner was served. They ate dinner and then went off to bed. Nick reached his room and remembered his problem. He walked over to his closet and pulled out and extra blanket and pillow. He layed them out on the floor and got down on the floor. He covered himself with the blanket and immediately fell asleep.
The next six days went by in a blur. Sunday he went to church. Monday-Friday he went to school. Friday night his sisters had dance practice again. His mom called up Mrs. Handler, but again she could not baby-sit, so she called Ms. Jones. When Nick heard this he panicked slightly. Ms. Jones told Nick's mom she could baby-sit Nick while his sisters were at dance practice.
That night when his mom left he went up to his room to hide from Amy. That night was terrible. It was even worse than the last Friday. This continued for about three years. Nick never told anyone about it. He feared Fridays. He feared Amy. After three years he finally convinced his parents he could take care of himself, but the nightmares of those horrible nights continued to haunt him. He could feel her fingers caressing his skin still. Her hard lips pressed against his. Her hands roaming his body. It was all too much.
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Sara walked into the break room to spot Nick staring off into space. His eyes had a far off, distant look in them. She walked past him to get a cup of coffee. She filled her cup and then sat in the chair across him. As she studied his face she recognized tear-stains down his cheeks. She was begging to worry. Nick still hadn't noticed her. He was off in his own little world.
Sara continued to watch him as she sipped her coffee. A few tears rolled down his face, but Nick didn't seem to notice. Now she was really worried.
"Nick?" Sara asked.
No response.
"Nick?" she said again, a little louder.
"You there Nick?" she asked.
Still no response.
"Nick!" Sara said loudly.
Nick jumped, shaken from his revere.
"Huh?" he asked, dazed.
"You okay?" Sara asked, genuinely concerned for him.
"Yeah," Nick replied wiping at his face. He got up to get some coffee.
"You don't look okay to me," Sara replied.
Nick sighed. "I'm fine, really," he said.
"Anything you wanna talk about?" Sara asked. Nick was her friend, and it probably wasn't a secret that she had some feelings toward him.
Nick shook his head.
"You sure, cause I'm here if you need to talk," she said.
"Yeah, just a tough case, that's it," Nick tried to brush it off.
Sara knew there was more to it than that, but she didn't press him.
Nick set down his coffee, which he hadn't even started and walked out of the room in a rush.
Sara stared after his retreating form.
Nick entered Greg's lab (A/N: Yeah I know Greg shouldn't be in the lab, but I think he fits in best there.).
"Hey man, I got your results." Greg greeted.
Nick stared at him as if to ask, "And…"
"Tests came back as positive for seminal fluids," Greg informed.
Damn, Nick thought.
"Thanks," Nick said as he took the paper from Greg's hand and walked out of the room.
His next stop was Trace.
(A/N: Sorry I don't remember the lady's name that works in Trace. Was it Crystal or was that the replacement lab tech? Oh well, I'm using Crystal. Please tell me if I'm wrong.)
"Hey, Nicky," Crystal greeted. "I got those prints you took from the nightstand, came back as a Jean Kenler."
"Thanks," Nick said as he took the results from her.
He exited the room and pulled out his cell phone. He called Brass and asked him to bring Mrs. Kenler in for questioning. Then he walked out to the parking lot and drove his Tahoe down to the station.
It was about twenty minutes after Nick arrived at the station that they brought in Mrs. Kenler. The police got her situated in a room before he entered. It took all his energy not to yell at the woman for molesting a child. I don't even know if she did it, at least find proof before you go accusing people, like last time, Nick thought.
"Mrs. Kenler? I'm Nick Stokes from the Las Vegas Crime Lab, may I ask you a few questions?"
"Well isn't that why I'm down here?" she asked in a sour mood, and already Nick didn't trust her.
"Okay, um, do you know a boy by the name of Jack Davis?" Nick asked cautiously.
"Yeah, that's the little boy that lives down the street from me, why?" Jean asked.
"Jack was, um, sexually abused, and your fingerprints were found at the crime scene, can you explain that?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, I baby-sit for the Mrs. Davis all the time."
Nick had expected her to be a little more defensive.
"Can you tell me where you were at about 7:00 on Friday night?" Nick asked.
"I was at work," she replied simply.
"May I ask where you work?" Nick asked.
"I wait tables down at a small restaurant called Jack's Shack (A/N: I know, sucky name.)." she replied.
"Ok, thank you for your time, Mrs. Kenler, you are free to go," Nick stated, wrapping up the interview.
Mrs. Kenler was escorted out of the room by the officer standing in the corner. Nick soon followed.
Nick watched as Mrs. Kenler was led back outside before walking out to his car as well. He hopped in and drove down the Strip to the restaurant Mrs. Kenler had mentioned.
He got out of his Tahoe and walked into the small shack. As he entered he was blown away by the horrible smell of smoke coming from the smoking section. He walked up to the lady who was seating the costumers.
"Hello, sir. Can I help you?" she asked politely. Her eyes devoured the sight of his well-defined body.
"Um, yes. Uh, I'm Nick Stokes, from the Crime Lab. Uh, can I talk to the manager please?" Nick asked nervously.
"Of course, right this way," she said as she walked toward the back of the restaurant.
They walked past a door and down a hallway before finally turning into a quiet room. There was a big desk in the middle of the room. At the desk a handsome young man sat filling out paperwork.
"Mr. Jenson, this is Nick Stokes from the Crime Lab, he wanted to talk with you," the girl said.
"Thank you, Lindsey. Please, have a seat Mr. Stokes," Mr. Jenson said as Lindsey left the room.
"What brings you here?" Mr. Jenson questioned.
"Uh, one of your employees, uh, Mrs. Kenler. Um, one of her neighbors was, uh, abused, and her, um, fingerprints were found in the house," Nick informed him.
"Why can't you just ask her neighbor who did it?" Mr. Jenson asked.
"Uh, her neighbor said they didn't remember anything about what happened," Nick said.
"Oh," Mr. Jenson replied.
"Well, can I help you with anything?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Um, I just need to know if Mrs. Kenler came to work on Friday and when," Nick replied.
"Of course," Mr. Jenson replied opening a drawer and pulling out some papers.
He took a quick glance at them and turned back to Nick. "She was here on Friday from 6 to 10," Mr. Jenson informed.
"Ok. Thank-you, Mr. Jenson," Nick said.
"No problem," Mr. Jenson replied.
Nick shook Mr. Jenson's hand before leaving the room. He walked back out to his Tahoe and drove back to the lab. There he walked down the hall. He spotted Weston, the nine year old kid whose case he was investigating. Shouldn't he be in the hospital, still?
"Hey, Wes, shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Nick asked gently.
Wes Johnson looked up as the familiar man sat down next to him. He looked down at his hands getting nervous.
"You okay, man?" Nick asked quietly.
"Yeah," Wes whispered almost inaudibly.
"Did they let you out early or did you perform a Houdini?" Nick joked lightly.
Wes smiled his first real smile since it happened. "They let me go," Wes replied.
Nick smiled. "So… why'd you come here? Don't you want to go home?" Nick asked.
When Wes faced Nick the look in his eyes answered Nick's questions. Wes didn't want to go home because that's were it happened. Nick looked around. The hallway was full of people, hustling and bustling around. Nick turned back to Wes. "You wanna' go somewhere a little more private?" Nick asked.
Wes nodded.
Nick led Wes to one of the interview rooms. He waited until the small boy got into his chair before sitting down in his own.
"I know how you feel," Nick started.
"How?" Wes asked immediately.
Nick got a little uneasy. "Uh, well, um, I was about, uh, your age," Nick started.
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Outside the interview room
Warrick and Sara had both witnessed Nick's mood earlier and were curious as to the cause of it. They both knew he was sensitive to cases like the one he was working on now.
They walked into the room next to the interview room and peered through the one-way mirror as they listened to the discussion.
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"Uh, well, um, I was about, uh, your age," Nick started.
"I was, um, born in Texas and raised there. I had a brother in college at the time and five sisters, all older then me. My sisters went to dance practice every Friday night from 6-9. I never liked to go, so my mom always had a babysitter come over. I usually had one of our neighbors, Mrs. Handler, as my babysitter, but one night she couldn't come. She recommended another girl she knew that babysat kids. Um, her name was uh, Amy Jones."
"She uh, came that night to baby-sit, and when my mom left she um, asked if I wanted to play a game. I said sure, but she said I might not be old enough. She asked me my birthday and how old I was before she finally agreed to let me play. She told me to play the game I had to um, take off my shirt and go count to fifty in my room with the lights out. I did and finished counting when she walked into my room um…naked," Nick whispered the last part. His eyes had that far-off look again as he remembered that night and all the following ones.
"She um, came up to my bed and pulled the blankets down. Then she…" Nick began to cry quietly. Wes looked at him stunned. This man had gone through the same thing he had. He had thought he was the only one. He had felt so alone these past couple days. Now he felt like he had a friend.
"She um, threatened me that if I told anyone that she would tell my parents it was my fault. I believed her, so I stayed quiet. After she made me promise to stay quiet she gave me sleeping pills. My sisters continued dance lessons and eventually my mom gave up on Mrs. Handler and always called Ms. Jones. She kept…she wouldn't always give me sleeping pills, sometimes she just let me sit up in bed and think about what had happened. It continued for three years until I was twelve and convinced my parents I didn't need a baby-sitter. No one figured it out," Nick finished tears rolling down his face.
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Right after Nick had started Catherine and Grissom had walked in looking for Sara. Sara had told them to wait while they listened to what Nick had to say. Both Catherine and Sara had tears rolling down their face when he was finished. Grissom was shock still and Warrick's hands were shaking.
None of them would've guessed that their friend had gone through such a horrible thing.
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"All that really happened to you?" Wes asked not totally believing him.
Nick nodded.
"How did you deal with all of it?" Wes asked.
"I pretended that those three years of my life never happened, but that wasn't the smart thing to do. I should've told someone, just like you need to tell someone," Nick prodded.
Wes nodded.
"But it's so hard,"
"I know, but you have to do it or it'll eat you up. Don't you want whoever did this to you behind bars?" Nick asked.
Wes nodded again and sighed.
"When I came home from school my mom and dad were still at work. My mom called and said neither of them would be home before nine. She said she would call a baby-sitter. It turned out to be Ms. Waters. She lives down the road from us. She um, came over and uh…yeah," Wes explained quietly.
"She left before my parents got home. She left a note that explained why she had to go. She also made me promise not to tell and threatened to abuse me again," Wes finished.
"Don't worry, we'll get her," Nick was very determined.
"Did they ever catch Ms. Jones?" Wes asked before Nick had a chance to leave.
Nick froze. He turned toward Wes. His eyes full of terror. "No," he whispered.
Both stood up and left the room. Nick walked Wes back out to the lobby where his mother was waiting. After Wes left Nick got back to work.
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In the viewing room the other CSIs stood shocked. Their own co-worker was the victim of child molestation. It wasn't a wonderful thought. After Nick left they slowly dispersed as not to be caught eavesdropping. Nick was still on their minds though.
A/N: Okay chapter 2 finally done. Oh, and that one review about the sleeping pills problem. I tried to fix that, if you noticed. Please review and thanks for reading.