Chapter 12: Help

Warrick went into the kitchen, at about ten, and started making the day's bottles, there wouldn't be enough for the full time, if Warrick wasn't going to be back the next day, but I could, with difficulty make bottles. "I'll come back after shift tonight, to make sure that you'll have enough bottles till I can get back," Warrick said, I had been sitting in the rocking chair, and must have spaced out. "I've measured out the portions in some small containers, in case I can't get back before end of shift tomorrow, so that you can make more as you need them, but I'll call if I can't make it," Warrick continued.

I nodded, without looking up from Nilde, "I've got to go, I promised Griss I'd be in a little early tonight, to do some paperwork, so I'll see you," I nodded again, and Warrick left.

I don't know how long I sat there, but I was pulled out of the stupor by Nilde's cry. I got up, and went to the kitchen, placing her bottle in the microwave, I laid her on the table, where I left a changing pad, and changed her wet diaper, then fed her, or tried to feed her, she was crying, and wouldn't accept it, I moved to the rocking chair, and began to rock, slowly, in an attempt to calm her down, slowly she did, and took the bottle, but halfway through, when I stopped to burp her, she started crying again, I continued to rock her, as I burped her, she ended up crying so hard, she threw up the food she had eaten, I was slower than I wanted to be, and that affected my mood, causing me to be more stressed. Around one, I decided to take Nilde to the park, hoping the fresh air would help her calm down, I brought the stroller out to the sidewalk, I walked for half a block, with her against my shoulder, and she calmed down, I put her in the stroller, as I stood there, buckling her in, a voice called out, "Nick, what's up?" it was Tina, a stay at home mom, who lived a few doors down from me.

"Not much, just out for a walk," I said.

"How is she?" Tina asked, herding her two five year old daughters, in front of the stroller she was pushing.

"Not feeling so great, she's been unhappy all day, I'm not sure why."

"Does she have a fever?" she caught up to me, and reached out, putting her hand on Nilde's forehead, "She feels warm."

I reached out, and touched her forehead as well, "Cooler than usual, actually," I said, she was naturally warmer than most people, I knew her strength would be in fire powers, When she was older.

"So how have you been?" Tina asked.

"Good, kind of sleep deprived, my casts are getting really annoying, and that's making it harder to sleep."

"Weren't you supposed to get them off yesterday?" She asked.

"My doctor wants to be a little cautious, because I've basically had a crash course in single parenting in the last month, and according to him, that's causing it not to heal as fast as it should, same for my leg, I'm kind of annoyed, but eventually, I will be free of the casts," I told her, with a little laugh.

We walked to the park, when we sat down on the bench, her girls ran for the swing set, I checked on Nilde, and saw she was asleep. "Finally," I said, sitting back against the bench.

"She's not sleeping through the night yet?" she asked.

"Not yet, but her schedule was disrupted so recently, I was trying to get some semblance of normalcy into her routine," I told her.

"I know how it is, my daughters were fine, but my sister's little girl didn't sleep through the night, until she was six months old," she told me.

We talked for an hour, before her daughters came over, "Mommy, we're thirsty," the slightly smaller of the two said, I think her name was Halley, the bigger one would be Katherine then, I thought to myself. "Ok, we'll go home, then," Tina said to them, "See you around Nick, I bring the girls here every afternoon.

I sat for a short while longer, then got up, and made my way back to the house, pushing Nilde's stroller in front of me. As we made our way up the driveway, she started crying, I sighed, as I put the stroller next to the front door, I carried her inside, and placed her in her swing, so I could bring the stroller in as well. It wasn't until nearly one in the morning, before Nilde calmed down for any length of time, I had checked telepathically after she reacted to the house, what the problem was, and she was sensing mental pain from somewhere outside the house, I hadn't checked before, but now knew she was a strong empath, at the very least, though I wasn't sure what other abilities she would have. I did what I could to shield her mind, but I knew that she would need more than my abilities to make it possible for her to live a normal life, I knew, as had happened with me, being a strong telepath, she'd need to see someone once every couple weeks, to block, and shield any growth, in the abilities, until she could control, and shield her abilities herself, I still saw someone sometimes, to help with the really difficult times, when my shielding began to fail, under stress. There was no one to help her in Vegas, I knew that, I was the strongest telepath anywhere, by that point, though there were some who were better trained, and one such telepath was who I visited, in Texas, he might be able to help her, but I doubted it, I knew of a powerful empath, in DC, and picked up the phone, and called the man I knew in Texas. "Hi, Nick, what's going on? What do I hear over there?"

"My daughter, I need the number of the empath in DC, who can do shielding in infants."

"Alright, just let me find it."

A minute later, my friend came back to the phone, and gave me the number, I hung up on him, I was starting to panic, about Nilde's increasing agitation. I dialled the number, and found it was a local psychic shop, in DC, not quite what I was expecting. "Madame Lucian?" I asked.

"That is me, who is calling?"

"You're a psychic, shouldn't you know?" I tested.

"Turelio, your friend called me, to see if I was still here," she said.

"So can you help?" I asked.

"I can, bring her to me, and I will help," The woman seemed genuine, and if she knew I was going to call, then she probably was.

"I'll fly out as soon as I can, thank you," I told her.

I put Nilde down, and went upstairs, to my room, I pulled out a suitcase, and packed what clothes I could wear, then brought the two bags I had to her room, I put a bunch of her clothes in the bag with my clothes, diapers, and some other essentials including formula powder, and empty bottles. I called the airline, and got us a ticket on the next plane to DC, as I moved around the kitchen, Nilde started to cry, she had been sleeping, for a change, leaving me to work, as I packed the stuff, I started to cry, as I finished packing the formula, and bottles, she just started screaming louder. I was angry, that she wouldn't stop crying, so I didn't go into the living room, I put a bottle in the microwave, then put the rest in the diaper bag, along with the pre-measured formula, I put some extra diapers in the bag, some clothes, a few toys, and her soother, then I checked her bottle, and went into the living room, before I got there, the doorbell rang, I went there instead. "What can I do for you?" I asked the uniform at the door."

"Neighbour complained, that there has been a baby crying here all day."

"Come in, I was about to feed my daughter," I limped back from the door, and into the living room, she didn't stop crying as I picked her up, but when I put the bottle to her mouth, she sucked on it for a moment then started crying again, spitting it out. "Oh, Nilde, you're going to make yourself sick doing that," I said.

"Looks like you're about to go somewhere?" The officer said.

"Yeah, it's hard to take care of a baby with one arm in a cast," I said, "I'm going to my mother's until I'm out of the casts."

"What happened?"

"I was caught in an explosion," I said, motioning to the marks still visible on my face, from both the long ago attack and the explosion, with the bottle in my left hand. I tried to give Nilde her bottle again, the officer still hovering, her still refusing to take it. On the table was still the changing pad, and clean diapers, I laid her down, and unzipped the pajamas, all of her clothes were easy to change, since I only had partial use of my left hand. As I changed her diaper, I made a point to prove to the officer, that she hadn't been injured in anyway, he nodded, as I shot the diaper into the garbage, with my right hand, I used some hand sanitiser before I picked Nilde up. "I've had a friend coming over to help, when he's not working, but it's not enough, I need more help, and I'm going to DC, for help from my mom."

I knew that would be accepted, "The only thing I've got to ask for then, is proof you're her legal guardian, and you have permission to take her out of the state," the officer said.

"I'll get it for you," I said, trying again to give her the bottle, in the kitchen, in the diaper bag, I had all the papers that I'd need in there, I put the bottle down, and pulled them from the side pocket, then picked the bottle up again, and kept trying to get her to take it, sometimes she'd take it for a moment, then spit it back out again.

"Maybe she's not hungry," the officer said.

"Maybe," I said, then looked at the officer, "You done here, you satisfied?"

He nodded, "I just need to fill some things out, can I use your counter?"

"Go ahead," I motioned to a clear spot.

The officer pulled some papers out of a small briefcase, and laid them on the counter, "What was the call?" I asked, "Just out of curiosity."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The call, was it a 416a, or something else?" I said.

"You're right, but how do you know that?" he looked around.

"I don't use my scanner, normally, but I have one in my car, and one in my room, I'm a CSI, LVMPD" I told him.

"You were caught in the lab explosion," he said.

"Yeah, is there anything you need me to sign?"

The officer finished the reports, and had just left, when the cab arrived. He pulled into the driveway, and got out, "Can you take these bags?" I asked.

He nodded, and picked them up, when I reached the car, I saw a baby seat in the back, "You take your child with you?" I asked.

"If we can't find a babysitter, when my wife makes plans, I take her with me, my boss doesn't really care, as long as he knows, I only get smaller fares when I have her with me, or just the ones with less people."

"Right," I said, buckling Nilde's seat, she stopped crying, as soon as she saw the other baby, in fact, she reached over, across the middle, and tried to reach her.

The cab driver laughed, a little, as he closed the trunk, and saw this. I rode in the front seat, on the way to the airport, at the airport the cab driver got out, and grabbed a luggage cart from just inside the doors, and brought it out. I took Nilde out of the car, while the cab driver pulled my bags out of the trunk, and put them on the cart, with the diaper bag on top, I put Nilde's carrier on the top of the cart, using my good hand to balance the carrier, and my not so good hand, to push the cart. The flight would be nearly six hours, and I had three bottles that just needed to be warmed up, I thanked the cab driver, after paying him, and walked into the airport. I went to the check in counter, and got our seats, security took a little longer than I expected, they wanted to test every little thing for drugs, or whatever.

I limped as fast as I could to the gate, and got there just before they called the handicapped and those with young children, I laughed as I realized I fell into both categories, for the time being. I found my seat, I hadn't paid for a seat for Nilde, but I was given one, because children under two got to fly for free. I buckled her seat in, then I stowed the diaper bag, beneath the seat. I watched the rest of the passengers board, and get settled. Ten minutes into the flight, just as the seatbelt sign went off, Nilde woke up, she didn't cry, which I was thankful for, but she did sound like she was about to cry, I picked her up, and pulled out the diaper bag, walking up to the lav, I passed the kitchen area, and asked one of the flight attendants, if there was anywhere I could warm up a bottle, she offered to warm it up for me, I thanked her, and handed her a bottle, I brought Nilde the rest of the way to the lav, where I changed her diaper, I passed the kitchen area on the way back to my seat, the flight attendant smiled, handing the bottle back to me. I sat down, and shook the bottle as best I could, then I tested it, both for temperature, and incase she added something, though I doubted someone working for an airline would try to hurt a complete stranger. I had just finished feeding Nilde, when the first flight attendant brought around drinks, she offered me something for her, I smiled and said, "Nilde is only four months old, she still gets formula."

"Right, what can I get you?" she asked.

"Some Pepsi please." I said.

The flight was long, but when we landed, I waited until most of the other passengers had left the plane, then picked up Nilde, and went out to the tarmac, I found a cart, first thing, with the two bags, and the playpen finally on the cart, I began to leave. It was already almost six, by the time I had checked into the hotel, I made sure I had enough stuff in the diaper bag, and went out to catch a cab. I gave the cabbie the address, and he smiled "Most tourists don't go there as part of a plan, they just end up there."

"I'm not a tourist," I said.

At the address I was given, I saw it was a gaudy looking fortune teller's shop, I got out of the cab, after paying the man, carrying Nilde I went to the door, and pushed it open. There was a woman wearing garish clothes sitting on one side of the table, and on the side with his back to me was a man with dark hair. "I'll be right with you," she said, without looking up.

I didn't listen to what she said, but the guy left a few minutes later, and the woman waved me over. "Come on back, and I'll help you with your problem."

I followed her behind the curtain, where she went behind another curtain, a minute later, she came out wearing jeans and a t-shirt, she was a lot younger than I figured she would be. "Nick, I'm Nicole Lucien" she said.

"I know, this is Nilde," I smiled.

"You're proud of your daughter."

"Yes, of course I am," I said.

Hours later, I was sitting with Nicole, she was telling me about what she was going to do to help Nilde. "I know you have a job, that probably doesn't allow you to take a lot of time off, however, mine does, so one weekend every second month, I'll come see you in Vegas, and the opposite months, you come here, until she's a year old, then we'll have to re-evaluate what needs to be done."

We started what needed to be done, when we got to a certain point, Nicole said, "That's all we can do tonight, can you come back tomorrow around eight?"

"I can," I agreed.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow."

She called a cab, and when it arrived, I got in, and he drove me to the hotel. I went up to my room, and set up the playpen for Nilde, just as I was about to shut the light off, there was a knock at the door. "Yes?" I asked.

"We missed you, coming in, you have a message," the man was a bell boy.

"Thank you," I said, taking the piece of paper, from him, I gave him a small tip, and he left with a smile.

I unfolded the piece of paper, and looked at it, "Nick, call me, Warrick."

I picked up my cell phone, and hit speed dial number three, Grissom was one, and Catherine was two. "Warrick here."

"It's Nick, what's up?"

"Just checking on you, what's up with the going off the map, your cell was off, and I had a hard time finding you at any hotels."

"So how did you find me, I'm not exactly checked in under my own name?" I asked.

"I happened to remember something you told me when we first started really talking, and I used that information to find the hotel you were in."

"Right, I told you my other name, didn't I? So what's up?"

"How about we talk about it when you get back," Warrick said.

"Then why did you call me long distance?"

"Right, Griss went to your house about six, or so, and you were gone, a neighbour told him that you had taken, and this is a quote, 'That screaming kid out of his of there' and she was happy about it, figured I'd give you the heads up, and suggest you talk to Griss before he talks to you."

"Thank you Warrick," I said.

"Also, while you're in DC, we're getting a temporary trace tech, from the Navy lab there, on loan, on the condition, that we process anything they need while she's here, Cath would like you to meet with her over breakfast tomorrow, to discuss living arrangements, also, call Cath before you meet Abby, better yet, call her before you go to sleep tonight." Warrick said.

I shut the light off, and turned a lamp on, leaving the room in mainly darkness. "Alright, then I'll talk to you later, because I'd like to sleep sometime tonight."

"At the end of the night, you won't get any more sleep than otherwise," Warrick said.

"But I like to think I will," I told him, then hung up.

Before he could call me back, because I knew he would, I hit the button to call Catherine, she answered on the second ring. "Hey Cath, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, do you remember the chick that came to Vegas, right after the explosion? The one from NCIS?" Cath asked.

"Yeah, Abby, something or another, why do you ask?"

"She's coming to help us out for awhile, I was wondering if you could host her for a month, while we wait for our permanent trace tech to clear the medical part of his transfer, and move out here, she's agreed to come and help out, and her boss has agreed to a temporary transfer, as long as we process their stuff, which Griss and Ecklie agree, isn't a problem, I want you to meet with her, and if you agree to host her in your spare bedroom, then see if she agrees," Catherine said.

"One, actually two problems, I'd need someone to clean out my office, of boxes, I've just put a bed in there, and it's a real mess, second, I'm probably going to be here for almost an entire week," I said.

"That's ok, she's not coming to Vegas for another week either, is there anything else?"

"One thing, I never told you this, in fact, I only told Warrick, but I have a daughter, I in fact had two spare rooms, and an office, but I'm getting a live in nanny, to help with my daughter, and she's now got a room, so all I have is an office, which I'd need you to get Warrick to check over for specific files that would need to be moved out of there, he'd know which ones, and she'd have to agree." I specified.

"I'll talk to Warrick, I've got her number here, call her," Catherine said, after I confirmed I had something to write on, Catherine dictated the number to me, "She's expecting your call around eight in the morning, what time is it there now?"

"About midnight, Cath, am I allowed to call it a night?" I asked.

"Get some sleep, Nick, but when you get back, we'll talk about you keeping secrets from me, I thought you were my friend."

"We are friends, Cath, listen, I haven't told Grissom, but I think that he knows, one of my neighbours might have told him, when he was at my house earlier, I don't know, Warrick said something, anyway, Cath, while I'm here, I'm not really accepting calls, but Warrick knows how to get in contact with me, so if something comes up, just get him to call me," I told her.

"Alright," Catherine said.

"I'll talk to you later," I told her, "I'll call you tomorrow no matter what."

"Alright, goodnight, Nick."

I hung up the phone, and clicked off the light, I was soon asleep. I woke up, at five in the morning, not to Nilde screaming, as I usually did, but I was awake nonetheless, I slipped out of bed, and moved to the playpen, she was sleeping peacefully, her chest rising evenly. Then I realized what woke me up, it was a gunshot, I slipped the chain on the door, as I looked out the peephole, a man ran out of the room across the hall, with a gun in his hand, he had his head ducked low enough to avoid sight by the cameras, but not low enough to avoid my line of sight, he stuffed the gun into his pants, and ran towards the stairs. I moved to the phone, and dialled 911, soon the police arrived, it wasn't until the police officer showed his badge, at my door, did I open it. I looked back at where Nilde slept, she had slept through something I hadn't that showed that she really would sleep through the night, hopefully from now on. "So what did you see?"

"Well, I woke up at about five, that in itself surprised me, because my daughter wasn't up," I said, "When I realized that it was a gunshot, I looked out into the hall, a man came out of the room across the hall, holding a gun, as soon as he was gone, I called 911," I told the officer what I knew.

"If you saw him, would you be able to recognize him?"

I nodded, without hesitation, "If you want a sketch, I've been working on one, since I called," I turned, and leaving the door open, I picked up the notebook beside the bed, the sketch wasn't quite finished, but it was almost exactly as I remembered seeing the guy. I tore the page out, and handed it to the officer, "also, I would suggest your people stick near the walls, someone might be able to find the shooter's foot prints," I told him.

The officers knocked on the door across the hall, when there was no answer, the hotel manager unlocked the door, and stepped back, one officer stepped into the room, and walked towards the body I could see laying there, he checked for pulse, and shook his head, looking around the room, he called back, "Call NCIS, this is a Navy officer, their jurisdiction, and walked back out to the hall. He started to tape off the doorway, and I looked at either end of the hall, the two officers were standing in the hall, right outside the door, destroying any evidence that may have made it's way into the hallway, "Gentlemen, Nick Stokes, I'm with a crime lab in Vegas, please move away from the doorways, and tape off the hallway at least from the doorways at either end and stop destroying evidence."

"We know how to do our job," one man said.

"And I know mine, no matter that I don't have jurisdiction, it is my job to protect a crime scene, thus I'm asking you to remove yourself to the elevator, and you remove yourself to the stairs," I said, pointing at each one in turn. They only moved, together towards the elevator. I nodded, that would be better, any footprints to the stairs would still be available for the investigators, whoever it was that ended up investigating this mess, and the only reason I called it a mess was because the officers had been tramping over evidence since they had arrived. It took nearly an hour after the call went out, for the investigators to arrive, the one in the lead was Gibbs, I recognized the ones behind him as Tony, and Kate, the other man I didn't know. "Gibbs, I'm glad you're here, I gave the bumbling idiots over there a sketch of the man I saw exiting the scene just before I called the police, they probably destroyed any evidence in this part of the hallway, but from the next door, to the stairs, they haven't been, and the perp went that way, so, you might be able to get some usable footprints off of the stairwell, or before then, in the hall."

Gibbs nodded, "Thank you, Nick. Kate, Tony, Start processing the scene, McGee, I'm going to teach you how to interview the first witness on the scene, I figure with a co-operative witness, we can get some decent practice in."

"Funny Gibbs," I said.

"No, really, McGee has to learn how to interview a witness, the right way." Gibbs said.

"Fine, McGee, ask me the five million dollar question," I smiled.

"What's your name again?"

"Wrong question, you should always remember the witness' name, if you don't, why should they remember what happened." I said.

"Nick, you're crazy,"

"I was a Dallas cop, that's what they teach us," I said.

"Dallas, Baltimore, are all cops turned CSI's jerks," McGee asked.

"Tony, you being a jerk to McGee?" I leaned over and called into the next room.

"Never," Tony called back.

"Alright, try again, what is the five million dollar question?"

Without prompting from Gibbs, McGee asked, "What happened here?"

With a slight smile at Gibbs, I sighed, and said, "I already told the cops, ask them."

"I'm asking you now, I'll talk to them after," McGee said.

"I woke up, for some reason, I didn't know at the time, but I've got a really good memory, and I realized, it was a gunshot, I checked the hallway through the peephole, and saw a man with a gun, he had his head down, but I saw his face, he tucked his gun into his pants, and walked towards the stairs, I did a sketch of the guy, I gave it to the officer over there," I said.

"You're an artist?" McGee asked.

"No, but I've worked in law enforcement for a long time, and sometimes I feel the need to get my suspects on paper, you'd be surprised, even if I never saw the guy before, how close I get sometimes." I told him.

"How long has it been since the shooting?" he asked.

"It took you guys an hour to get here, it took them nearly three quarters of an hour to get here, I'd say almost two hours."

McGee asked me a few more specific questions, then thanked me, and walked towards the cops, Gibbs thanked me, and followed McGee. I went back into the room, and dialled the number I had been given for Abby. "Hi, you must be Nick," she was really perky.

"I am, I'm in DC on a personal matter, and was asked to see you to make plans for your stay in Vegas, I know I'm calling late, is there any chance we can meet tomorrow for breakfast?"

"How about today at noon, for lunch?" she asked.

"I'll have to check, because I was kind of a witness to a crime," I told her.

"I'll hold" she said.

"Gibbs, am I going to be able to get out of here for lunch?" I asked.

"Of course, you can go now, if you want," he said.

I went back to the phone, "Noon sounds good, where should we meet?"

"There is a diner near the NCIS building, called Caty's it's on fifth, when you tell the cab driver." Abby said.

"Alright, I'll see you then," I said.

I measured the bottles as best I could for Nilde, and made them ready, I started to heat water, I had been planning to warm up the bottles from the fridge, but I didn't have a microwave, so that wouldn't work. I fed Nilde who gave me a look, as soon as she was done the bottle that told me, that she wanted more. "Just be patient," I told her, and laid her on the bed, the bed was within sight of the open doorway, so I sat between her, and said doorway, so I could change her diaper. I spent the next hours, interacting with my daughter, though I did call for room service, and met the waiter at the elevator, I shut the door, when I went in to eat it. I sat down on the bed, Nilde lay next to me looking content. "Now you're happy," I said, in the most annoyed tone I could muster, she just looked up at me.

At quarter to twelve, I left the room, and waved at McGee who was standing at the stairwell, he opened the door into the stairwell, and then he darted past me, though we ended up riding the elevator down together. "You don't trust me, you think I did it." I said.

"Why do you ask that?"

"First witness, first suspect," I pointed it out, "Though if you think about it, if an officer finds a body, he isn't a suspect, and I only reported shots fired, that isn't unusual for someone who had nothing to do with the crime to be concerned, and do that."

On the main floor, I went to the front desk, "How can I help you sir?" the desk clerk asked.

"I'm going out for a few hours, but if the NCIS special agent Gibbs asks for access to my room, please supply him with a key."

"Yes sir," she nodded.

I turned from the desk, the phone rang then, the desk clerk answered the phone, "Mr. Stokes, you have a phone call," she called.

I walked back to the desk, and took the phone, "Hello?"

"Mr. Stokes?" the voice on the other end was unfamiliar.

"Speaking."

"Please hold for the council chamber," she said, and music came over the phone line.

I stood in the lobby, waiting for the line to come alive. "Nicky?" the voice on the other end was my father's

"Don't call me that," I said.

"Alright, I'm sorry," he said, "I've got the entire council here, Turelio, and the oracles."

"What do you guys want?" I asked.

"We have agreed," One voice I didn't recognize said, "We welcome you, and your clan to join the larger clan."

"I must speak with my clan members, before I can agree, most of them agreed earlier to an alliance, and that is what this must be, only an alliance. As they have had time to change their minds, seeing what you truly are, some may also have decided it wasn't worth it," I said.

"Your clan is spread across the country, how long will it take?"

"I will inform my father within the next two weeks, but we will not centralize, our manner of living is such that my people are free to do as they wish, the clan is strongest with those freedoms." I said.

"You will be an allied clan, as such, you can set your own policy, with the risks and benefits of the larger clan, your clan will pay some dues, of course, you will attend council meetings, or your highest advisor, and when other parts of the larger clan need help, you will send it."

I told him that I would inform them when a decision had been made, and that I would contact them. On the cab ride to the café, where I was meeting Abby, I called Bobby, "We've been asked again to join my father's council, we would be allied with them, in the case of a problem, either way, I told them, it was an issue that needed discussion, I've got a meeting in a few minutes, for non clan business, but would you call Encaitare, and Manveru, about this, and I'll call you when I'm done?"

"Alright, so you're in DC?"

"I am, why do you ask?"

"I've got a case I wouldn't mind using your expertise on."

"Alright, I'm meeting someone for lunch, but I can stop by your office, when I'm done."

"Sounds like a plan, bring ten bucks, if you want to enter an office pool."

"We'll see about that, Bobby, you know I'm really good at winning those," I told him.

I closed my cell phone, just as the cab pulled up to the café, I handed the driver his money, and unbuckled Nilde's car seat. I walked into the café, the tables were mostly full of couples, or business men, I knew this girl I was supposed to meet wouldn't be dressed like a business person, I looked around, and saw her, she had black hair, she surprised me, she was dressed in a business suit, all in black, but it was set off by gothic earings, and necklaces. I moved over, and sat on the other side of the table, "Abby?" I asked.

"I am," She smiled, "Nick, I hope."

"I am," I returned her smile, lifting Nilde out of her seat, I said, "This is Nilde, my daughter, I'm going to get right to the point, they want you to stay at my place, because, I have a few spare rooms, if you'd be willing to stay with us, Nilde and I would be glad to have you in our home for the time you are in Vegas."

"I accept, now that business is out of the way, let's get some grub," she handed me the menu she had been holding.

After we had placed our orders, I looked at Abby closer, and recognized a vampire relic, not that it said much, it had become a pop culture item a number of years back.

"That's an interesting symbol, do you know what it means?" I motioned to the least recognizable relic she wore.

"It's a vampire symbol, I'm amazed with the culture, it's so mysterious, and romantic," Abby was definitely not one of the kind.

"I agree," I said, we talked for a couple minutes, after we ate, and paid, she invited me to tour the lab where she worked, I agreed. We walked down the street together, and talked about the gothic culture. Just outside the NCIS building, my cell rang, I flicked it open, "Nick, we've got an interesting situation here, can you come by, if you help, you may be paid a consultant's fee."

"Alright, Bobby, I'll be there as soon as I can," I said, after hanging up the phone, "Sorry, Abby, I have to go, my friend needs some help with something."

"Alright, when are you going back to Vegas?" she asked.

"In three days," I replied.

"I'll see you in a week then, when I get to Vegas," Abby said.

I turned to the street, and hailed a cab, less than five minutes later, I arrived at the FBI building, walking in, I pulled out my wallet, and handed my CSI badge, and my drivers licence to the receptionist, I told her that Bobby was expecting me, she picked up the phone, and dialled an internal number, a moment later, she passed my licence, my CSI badge, and a visitor's badge as well. I nodded at her, as she told me to go to the third floor. At the elevator, I nearly ran into a blonde woman leaving it at the same time, "Sorry Ma'am" I smiled, and did a slight bow.

"It's alright," She smiled, she was followed by a golden retriever, away from the elevator. I pressed the button for the third floor, and heard someone asking to hold the elevator, I stuck my hand out, and held the elevator for him. "Thank you," he said, he had dark hair, and I recognized him, he was Bobby's friend, Jack.

"No problem, You're Jack, right?" I said.

"Yes, and you are?" He asked.

"I'm Nick, I'm a friend of Bobby's he's talked about you," I told him.

"Right, so what are you doing here?"

"Bobby asked me to consult on something or another, I don't even know what he wants me to do," I said.

"You'll find out soon enough," Jack smiled.

I put Nilde's carrier on the floor of the rather slow elevator, she was sleeping, and didn't notice it. I followed Jack off the elevator, and down a hallway, to either a small bullpen, or a large office, there was a door off the far end of the room, Jack went to the desk closest to the door, Bobby was sitting at a desk on the other side of the room, looking around the room, I noticed that the room was set up, in such a way that no one had their back to the open room, and only one desk was behind another, almost like offices, not the standard bull pen.

"I need you specialized expertise, for an interrogation," Bobby said.

"Who are you interrogating?" I asked.

"We think that this man tried to blow up a house in Washington, but first, we have no proof, and second, he's not talking," Bobby told me.

"And you think I'll get him to talk?" I asked.

"Of course, you are after all an expert," Bobby said.

"An expert at getting you to talk, that's saying nothing of criminals," I pointed out.

"I trust you can do it, and if not, at least we tried,"

"Alright, do I get a coffee before going in?" I asked.

"And a peek at the file, you need to know what we need from him," Bobby said, I put Nilde on the floor, and sat across the desk from where Bobby had been sitting when I walked in, he handed me a fair sized file, "Coffee is on it's way, Sue just went out to get some."

"And you're sure my coffee will be in there?" I asked.

"Of course, why would she leave the coffee I told her was for me out?" Bobby responded.

"Because you don't drink coffee," I pointed out.

"Alright, so I'm not the most brilliant person, when it comes to getting you coffee, if she doesn't come back with your coffee Nick, I'll personally walk down to the coffee shop, and get it for you."

"You'll take Nilde with you?" I looked up with an innocent smile.

"Of course," Bobby replied.

Ten minutes later, the blonde I ran into outside the elevator came in, carrying two trays of coffee, "I can't believe the audacity of people, I was at the coffee shop, and the guy behind me in line started ragging on the fact that I had a dog in there, I know Levi doesn't wear all the harnesses, and junk, but he's still licenced, and he still wears the kind of ID he needs to be in those places," she said, then without a pause, she changed topics, "Of course, some people still remember the old courtesies, I bumped into someone coming out of the elevator, on my way out, and he bowed, now if that hadn't been proof enough he was a sweet guy, he had a baby with him too."

Bobby looked at me, and raised his eyebrows, "I'm sorry for being raised with general courtesies," I told him.

"Sue, this is one of my best friends, Nick Stokes, he's in town from Vegas, he's the expert I was telling you about, Nick, this is Sue Thomas, one of my co-workers," Bobby said.

"And this is my daughter, Nilde," I told Sue, looking down at my daughter.

"Nick, Sue is deaf, you have to look at her, when you talk," Jack said.

"Sorry," I said, looking up, "This is my daughter, Nilde."

"She's so cute," Sue put the coffee down on a desk, and crouched next to Nilde's seat, Nilde opened her eyes then, I reached down, and unbuckled the seatbelt, then tapped Sue on the shoulder, since she wasn't looking at me, "If you want to hold her," I nodded down at her, she had reached up, not for me, but for Sue.

"Bobby, do you think that she'd be able to handle the thought of someone talking directly to her?" I asked him Telepathically.

"I can barely handle it," Bobby pointed out.

I nodded, and watched Sue pick up Nilde, "Nil-te? Is it?" she asked looking at me curiously.

"Nil-Dae, actually," I said, pronouncing the name more clearly, "It means friend."

"It's an odd name, where did you find it?" Jack asked.

"It's my father's native language," I told him.

"I've never heard a name like that before," Jack said, he wasn't lying, but I could tell by a slight change in the tone of his voice, that he was tense.

"Alright, lets get this done," I said, "Nilde and I have some big plans tonight."

A blonde man, and two women came into the room, the man looked at Jack and said, "I couldn't get anything out of him."

"Ooh, coffee," the blonde woman said, she picked up one cup, "Who wanted English Toffee?" she made a face.

"That would be Nick's," Bobby took it, "And I'd be careful not to insult his taste, he has the skill to make you question everything you ever believed with just a few questions."

"Bobby, don't scare them, just give me my coffee and show me where this guy I'm supposed to question is," I said.

My coffee was handed to me, and Bobby showed me out of the room, we were followed by the rest of the group, I could tell while Sue was comfortable carrying Nilde, she was confused.

I slowed down, so I was next to her, looking at her, I said, "She is quite comfortable with you, if you're uncomfortable holding her, though, you can pass her to Bobby, he's never gotten to hold her."

She nodded, but just readjusted how she was holding Nilde a little, we arrived at two doors side by side, Bobby pointed me to one of them, and everyone went in through the other, I gave them a minute, to get situated, before going in myself, "Hi, Joseph, I'm Nick Stokes," I said, I had taken off the visitor's badge, but was wearing my CSI badge, it was the only form of intimidation I had in this situation, and it looked more official than the visitor badge.

"This is a little out of your jurisdiction, and an interview just a little outside your field of knowledge," he said, motioning to my badge.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not from around here, but where I am from," I said, looking at my badge, then back at him, "I'm the best."

"You don't look like the best, even that English Prig, and the Australian are more intimidating than you."

"Ah, once again, you're right, but you see, I'm not here to intimidate you, I'm here to get answers, as the best, I know, just a few well worded questions would get just a few well worded answers, as the best, I also know that you know exactly what is on the other side of the wall, so I'm not going to play games, you know your rights, you know the system, hell you probably even have your lawyer's number memorized, if you were given a chance to call him, I also know that you put the bomb in that house, what I want to know, is why?"

"I didn't put the bomb in the house," he said, "I told the others that."

"But you see, there must be proof that you did, or you wouldn't be here," I told him, "I know this, I'm supposed to get answers, so answers I will get, though really, if you think about it, the evidence speaks for itself, because everyone claims their innocence."

I sat with my coffee, talking with the 'suspect' for over an hour before I was satisfied with what I got. Outside the interrogation room, Jack, and Bobby were still there, while everyone else had gone to do whatever it was that they had to do. "You really got him talking near the end, how did you do that?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, when they're put together, in just the right order, they tend to work," I replied.

Warrick's POV

I spent a day and a half at Nick's clearing his study, I didn't realise how much stuff he had managed to collect in the last year. I had been using Nick's spare room, while he was gone, and at my house, there were some of my extended family who it seemed to me were out staying their welcome, because I had to sleep during the day, or so that's what I told them, I also told them to keep somewhat of a routine, I would be staying at a friend's place. I headed into work, locking Nick's too quiet house behind me. At the lab, I saw Sara just leaving, "Pulled a double?" I asked.

"Yeah, case is a sort of tough one to figure out," Sara said.

"You'll get it, you always do," I smiled, and waved, as I walked into the building, I waved to the receptionist, I hadn't seen much of her when I was working graveyards, because when I put in overtime it was either out of the lab, after shift, or before shift. "Warrick, a message for you," she said, so I went to the desk.

"What is it?" I asked. She silently handed me the piece of paper, and went back to whatever she was doing. "Grandma?" I looked at the message, "You take the call?" I asked.

She shook her head, "Here when I got here, why?"

"My grandma would've called my cell, so I was wondering," I said.

I pulled out my cell, and hit the fourth button, the phone rang three times, before my grandma answered. "Granma? It's Warrick, why did you call?" I asked.

"You weren't at home, I thought you were at work?" She said.

"I've got some unwanted house guests, an Aunt, from my father's side, and a couple others, overstayed their welcome, I'm staying at a friend's house, hopefully they will get the hint, that I'm not around, and leave." I told her.

"You weren't at work," she said.

"I work evenings now, Grandma, not nights, what is it you wanted?"

"Would you pick up some milk on your way home, we need milk," She said.

"Alright Grandma, I'll bring you some milk, when I come home," I told her.

After saying my goodbyes, I hung up the phone, and continued into the lab.