The next shift yielded very little new information. The hunt for Sikes had
been ongoing, as he was not staying at Michelle Wilson's home. She claimed he
went off to visit family. Brass had been on the phone chasing down leads,
the instructor supposedly used his own car to visit relatives somewhere in
Nevada.

Warrick was summoned back to the DNA lab. It was almost time to go home, but
he knew it must be important. He found Greg mulling over a computer screen.

"What's up, Greg?" The tech didn't give him any zany remarks, just handed him a sheet of paper.

"Got the tox screen back on Roger Sikes."

"About time," Warrick grumbled.

Greg shrugged, "His lawyer almost put a halt to it, when Michelle Wilson
said she changed her mind. However, permission had already been granted."

Warrick looked over the results. "Positive for ten times the legal limit
without a prescription."

Greg smiled, "You have real probable cause for that APB."

Warrick looked for Catherine to share the news. She was ecstatic,
and called Jim so he could search for their suspect with full resources.

"Look, shift's over. Go home and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a
big day." Catherine had been in an over protective mood of late. Warrick was not going
to argue with her.

"All right. I'll stop by the hospital before I clock in tomorrow."

Catherine chuckled. "I think Nick is a bit tired of us stopping in all the
time."

Warrick laughed. "If you think he's been snarky towards us, then don't ask
the nurses about his mood."

Catherine smiled. Both criminalists headed towards their lockers and then
finally home. The next night would prove to be very interesting indeed.


Catherine hurried in several hours early. Grissom had paged her at home.
Brass had picked up Roger Sikes, who had been found within the city limits.
He was being brought in. The female CSI found Warrick bounding through the
hallway like a bull searching for his mark. She had phoned him with the
news, knowing there would be hell to pay if she kept it from him.

They meet in front of Grissom's office who waved them in. Both CSI's wondered
how many hours their supervisor had been pulling on his own case. He looked
tired, but had kept to his word about lending a hand in the Gold Gym's
homicides.

"Catherine you have lead on the case, you can be in on the interrogation."
Their supervisor looked at Warrick pointedly. "I want you to just observe."

Warrick bristled. "Gris, come on man."

"This is Catherine's case. I want her to confront Sikes. I want to see if we
yield something new if he's not being questioned by another Alpha male,"
Grissom reasoned. He held Warrick's gaze, unfazed by the scrutiny.

Grissom looked at his watch. "Sikes should arrive here within the hour." The supervisor stared at his investigators. "I also got a call from the hospital."

Both Catherine and Warrick looked at their boss expectantly. "Nick's being
released in the next hour as well." Grissom watched as both his people realized that in their zeal how much time had elapsed. Had it been two days all ready? He worked his jaw, and fixed them with a serious expression.

"Who's going to pick him up?'"

Warrick bit his lip. He wanted to be involved as much as possible in Sikes'
interview, but he wanted to be there for Nick as well. He began mulling the
decision over as a thought struck him.

"I'll be right back." Warrick sprinted down the hall, leaving behind two bewildered superiors.

He bounded down turns, barely missing coworkers as he accelerated towards his
goal. He opened the door to the locker room watching Greg jam out to his
headphones as he finished changing into his civilian clothes. Warrick gave
the younger man a curious look as his wardrobe choices. The tech had a white
T-shirt with purple splotches of color that seemed to be randomly been flung
on with a paintbrush. He had worn out jeans with a black leather belt laced
with silver chains around it.

Greg finished tying his shoes, oblivious to the other man. The tech stood up
and almost ran into Warrick in his haste. He pushed his headphones down to
around his neck and lowered the volume to his CD player.

He looked at his coworker quizzically. "What's up?"

"You leaving now?" Warrick inquired.

"Yep. I was asked to work a double for Grissom and Sara's case. I was going
to head over to Desert Palms to visit Nick and then head home," Greg sighed
at the thought of getting to sleep.

Warrick smiled, and Greg shifted uneasily under his now friendlier gaze.

"That's perfect."

"Yeah. Why's that?" Greg asked cautiously.

Warrick's expression grew serious, "Nick's being released now and we need
someone to pick him up."

Greg's eyes grew large. "Yeah? You want me to? Sure man, no problem." The
tech was pleasantly surprised by this. Then his happiness grew to wariness.
Suspicious, he looked at Warrick. "Why aren't you picking him up?"

Warrick knew it was time to land some important points. "Roger Sikes is
being interviewed again. I want in on it. I need you to make sure Nick goes
home."

Greg arched both eyebrows. "You want me to keep him away from work?" Greg
laughed. "That's going to be fun."

"Greggo, " Warrick placed his hands on the tech's shoulder and gripped them
somewhat hard, trying to get his point across. "This is important, man. He
needs to rest."

"Yeah. No problem." Greg watched as Warrick released his shoulders. Greg scanned the different lockers and spotted the one he was looking for.

He tested the door, but found it locked. "Yo, Warrick. You know Nick's
locker combo?"

The CSI eyed the tech for a moment. "Yeah. Why?"

The tech laughed. "His clothes are sitting in trace for analysis. Man has no
threads, and his house is past the hospital."

"Good thinking." Warrick walked over, spun the dial and popped open the
locker.

Greg sifted through until he found a pair of jogging sweats and one of
Nick's black T-shirts as well as a pair of broken-in loafers. He gathered
everything together and looked up at the CSI. "I'll call you after I tuck
him in bed," he said jokingly.

"You know. That's a good idea. Maybe you could sack out at his place. Keep an
eye on him." Greg laughed, "You're afraid for my safety, right? That I might fall asleep
going back to my house."

Warrick smiled, he knew the kid picked up on things well. "Yeah, and that's
exactly what you're going to tell Nick."

Greg grabbed his CD player and saluted his friend before ducking out of the
locker room. Warrick glanced at his watch and noting the time, decided to
get ready for the interview.


Nick felt like a worn out blanket in many ways. Little parts of him seemed
more frayed then others. He hadn't received much rest in the last two days.
In between scans and x-rays he had to be woken up every hour to make sure he
had not developed any complications from his concussion. He had a raging
headache, his whole body was so sore it hurt to take anything other than
shallow breaths, and his pain medication had run out when his IV was
disconnected. Therefore his shoulder hurt like a bitch. He was beyond
cranky, and on the edge of full blown incommunicable from lack of sleep.

Despite all this, he was grateful to be finally leaving. He didn't talk much
to Greg, although he nearly hugged the kid when he gave him his clothes. He
had shooed the tech outside the drawn curtain as he pulled on his jogging
sweat pants without too much difficulty. He had managed to put on his shirt
one handed. He allowed his right arm to dangle to the side, only raising it
to push it though his sleeve. Like a good patient he put his sling back on and stepped into his loafers. Nick pushed the curtain back into place.

Greg was waiting for him expectantly. "You ready?" he asked, wanting to get out of the hospital. He really hated these places. They brought back less than pleasant memories from when he'd been blown up.

"I've got to take a leak," Nick responded, going towards the bathroom.

The tech sighed, "I'll be right here."

Nick closed the door behind him and waited patiently to release his bladder.
Going to the bathroom the past few days had been pure hell. His bruised
kidneys made him have to wait forever to pee. He stood there, cursing as the
pain spasmed in his back. It felt like he was trying to pass razorblades.

Greg heard the string of profanities and started pacing the small space
anxiously. He didn't want to invade the man's privacy, but he'd been in
there a long time.

"You ah... all right, Nick?" he asked hesitantly.

Nick closed his eyes as he held on to the tank for support. This was
ridiculous. A damn simple basic function was giving him torment and on top of
things, Greg was checking up on him. "Give... me... a moment," he grunted.

Greg wanted to open the door, but kept himself from doing it. He'd give the
CSI a few more minutes, then he was going in.

Nick finished up, sighing at the blood in the toilet. His doctor had warned
him about this, and he knew it was going to last a few more days. He flushed
the john, knowing Greg would freak out if he saw the red water. He opened
the door right before the tech was about to bound in.

"Whoa, dude. It's cool," Nick tried to squelch any embarrassment.

Greg licked his lips, "Uh... everything all right?"

"Yes, Greg it is." Nick managed a weak smile, this was damn humiliating. He
didn't comment further, when his escort home pushed forward a wheelchair.

"Your chariot awaits." Greg stepped back, indicating that his charge should
take a seat.

"You're getting way too much pleasure out of this." Nick complained as he
sat down, knowing it was hospital procedure to be wheeled out.

Greg pushed him out of his room, and around a corner in the hallway. "I am
in no way a masochist, hence the reason I already picked up your
prescriptions."

Nick held onto the handles of the chair as Greg steered him out of the
hospital at a speed that was a bit too nauseating for him. They zig zagged
past others in the corridors towards the sliding glass doors. Once they
entered daylight, Nick groaned as the bright sun made him see spots across
his vision. His stomach flip flopped once as he lurched to a stop in front
of a car.

Greg put the brakes on the chair and quickly opened the passenger
door. Nick took it as his cue to stand up. He got to his feet a bit shakily and
held onto the car door for a moment. He must have leaned on the door for
support a bit too long as Greg fidgeted next to him.

"You sure you're okay?" Greg asked in one of those concerned voices that
just served to irritate the man only more.

"I said I was fine," Nick snapped, his accent heavy. Just as he said it, the
Texan regretted it. He looked at Greg with the eyes of a man whose emotions
were still a bit too raw. "Sorry man."

Greg looked momentarily hurt, but that washed away to another worried
expression. "It's cool."

The tech looked anything other than relaxed and at ease. Nick couldn't blame the guy. He knew he was a mess. Of course he was the only one privy to this knowledge. Nick told all the nurses and his doctor what they wanted to hear. He couldn't hide some of his dizziness or reactions to their tests, but he could lie about the severity of how he
felt.

Nick slid in and fastened his seatbelt. He sat back and released a slow heavy breath as his escort returned the wheelchair. He rested his head back and absently rubbed at his temples, careful of his stitches. He opened his eyes and waited as Greg hopped into
the driver's side.

"You want me to pick you up some food before I take you home?" Greg was
about to start the ignition.

"Nope. I want you to drive me to LVPD," Nick responded.

Greg almost dropped his keys. "Aaah... I can't do that, man."

"Why not?" It wasn't really a question that needed to be answered, almost a
dare to argue with the CSI.

"You're not medically cleared for the field for, last I checked, at least a
week," Greg responded, albeit nervously.

"You're right, I'm not. However police quarters isn't out in the field,
Greggo. I won't even be on the clock." Nick stared at the younger man. The
tech's spiky hair might have wilted under that kind of pressure if it were
physically possible.

Greg laughed softly. "Nick man. You just got out of the hospital. There's
nothing to do there."

Nick grabbed the steering wheel and leaned a bit closer. The criminalist
knew he didn't have the same effect as Grissom, but he could be intimating
when it was deemed necessary. He made murderers squirm, this wasn't nearly
as difficult.

"If there's nothing to do, then there isn't any harm in it, is there?"

Greg retreated as best he could, sliding away from under the 'interrogation
stare'.
"To you maybe. However, I would be drawn and quartered by Warrick,
then Grissom. Afterwards Catherine and Sara would tar and feather me."

"Come on, G. If you don't help me out, I'll just catch a cab."

"Why do you want to go there anyway? I mean, if you're going to look for a
death wish, why not back to the lab?"

Nick sighed. "I can get the info I want there, without running into anyone
from the lab."

Greg began to wonder how he got put in this situation. He was going to piss
someone off tonight no matter what happened. "I've got your wallet," he said
feebly. If Nick didn't have any money, then he couldn't find a way to LVPD.

Nick gripped the wheel harder. He understood the sentiment, but now wasn't
the time for it. He closed the distance between them even further. This was
certainly beyond invading the tech's private space. Greg was now crushed
against the driver side door.

"Greg. At least two people have died. Maybe three. This guy is a coward. I
didn't even... I didn't see his face."

Nick swallowed hard. "I need to work. If I stay alone with my thoughts, I won't be able to rest anyway," he grudgingly admitted. "How can I even relax knowing that the guy that almost killed me is still out there, and with my damn gun."

The DNA analyst succumbed to the heat and nodded. Nick went back to his side of the car, relaxing just a bit in his seat. He didn't face his escort and the engine roared to life as they pulled out of the hospital. Nick leaned his head against the side window and stared out at the blurring objects on the road. The vibration from the glass started to irritate his headache and he moved away from it. He closed his eyes and allowed the silence of the car to lull him to sleep.

When the car stopped twenty minutes later, Nick jumped with a start. He glanced at Greg who was watching him. "We here?"

The tech nodded. "I'll come inside with you." Greg didn't want to chance
that the CSI would fall flat in the parking lot, and have that be blamed on
him as well.

Nick got out of the car stiffly, and started very slowly towards the police
station. Feeling slightly guilty, Nick glanced back at the tech. "Thanks for
bringing me here. Sorry for being such an ass."

Greg smiled. "Sure thing. I wouldn't give up a ring side seat to fireworks."

Nick laughed. "Don't worry, I'll tell them I forced you."

'Yeah, right. As if you could force anyone to do anything,' a voice doubted in Greg's head.

Both men entered the police station and Nick carefully avoided the bustle of
people all over the place. He veered away from the busy lobby and down the
quieter corridors of the inner sanctum of the headquarters. Nick knew each
hallway like the back of his hand and headed towards Jim's office. He
rounded a corner, going towards the interview rooms, and stopped in mid step
when he saw a person heading right towards him.


Auhtor's notes: Broken record time. Thank you to all new and faithful for youe contiuned support. Its touching. Hoped you enjoied the latest. Another Monday!

csifan-

Missed you on the last update. I'm a big fan of the action/drama genre, its relly a fun thing to explore. Thank you for your comments.

cl-

Nick is doing fairly well, let's see if the gang will keep an eye on him. You never know. Again I love Warrick, I don't think anyone could hold that man back if he was bound and deterimned to do something.

PL Wynter-

The suspect is out and about and there is still a case that needs to be solved, I think our Fav CSI is going to be a very busy man, despite warnings otherwise.

mudhousejunkie-

I'm feeling better thank you. Damn sinuses. Here's the latest, thanks again!

Staresp4cat-

Hehe, the man needs to get home first! Then maybe someone will keep an eye on him, we all hope!

A.Remains-

Nick is doing as well as expected, now he better follow doctor orders...oh whoops...we'll see.

amarawind-

Yep, Nick in this one as well. We do have to see what the others are doing :-) Writing it is my fix as well, hope the addiction isn't too bad.

Desination-

Glad to see you back from your trip and all caught up. Thanks for your comments, yeah poor Nick is going to be fuzzy for a while, concusions are no joke.

Charmboy-

You're on a good computer now I see :-) Glad you're able to post!

angleforever-

thanks nice to see another new face. I think Warrick would drive Nick crazy if he was there with him for too long. Could you imagine the ribbing? Warrick would just stock up for a day when he could pick on Nick about it later.

msquirrel-

Another new person saying hello. Thanks for your commnets on Walk in the Woods, hope you enjoy your journey as you catch up on chapters.

kiki-

Thank you for your support, seems everyone has a heart attack during chapter 6. Enjoy the rest.