A/N: I know, it has been FOREVER since I updated. But I have had the worst case of writers block. Seriously! And I've had exams and all that. And last week I got bucked off the pony my sister leases and broke my collar bone (I was riding him because he broke my sisters wrist the week before!) So, sorry for the long period between updates. For now, review. And any ideas are welcome. As is Constructive Criticism! Review!
Emily
Disclaimer: don't own, do want
Sara could feel her heard drop as the locker door swung open. It was just like he had left it. Tears blurred her vision as she reached down to grab a shirt he had left on the floor. A hand lightly touched her shoulder; she turned and silently thanked Tom Stokes for the support. She slowly started cleaning it out, one item at a time. A pair of old shoes, an extra pair of jeans. Random pictures adorned the locker wall. Most were pictures of his family and the rest of the CSI's, but a few were of the two of them, together.
An hour later, she was finally done. With the help of Sandy and Tom, she had managed to clear the locker. She had packed the stuff in her car when she saw Catherine and Grissom. Both looked shocked. She jogged to catch up to them.
"Catherine, Grissom." They turned, slightly surprised to hear her.
"Sara. What are you doing here?"
"Just cleaning out Nick's locker." Was it just her or did Catherine and Grissom both get strange looks on their faces. She shrugged that off. She needed to start accepting the fact that Nick was gone. She had, at one point, been in serious denial, trying to figure out every conspiracy theory in the book, trying to find some excuse for how he could not have been dead. But she was slowly starting to come to peace with his death. Not that she would ever be fully in peace. But it was to the point where she didn't cry herself to sleep every night.
"Good. Listen, we have to go…" Started Grissom. Sara just nodded.
"Go, find his killer." She whispered, forcing a smile. With that she turned, leaving Grissom and Catherine just watching her walk away.
Catherine Willows had had a lot of surprises happen to her. But none of them topped what she had just discovered. Nick Stokes was alive. The agent had not been able to reveal his identity. Technically, he wasn't really allowed to reveal the fact that Nick was alive, but he had. Of course, this news left Catherine with a whole new problem.
How the hell was she supposed to keep this from Sara? She knew she had too, on way or another. But how? How could she watch this woman who had become such a good friend go through such immense pain while she held the key to take all that pain away? She wondered if Grissom was thinking the same thing. She turned to him.
"It hurts me to keep this from her."
"I know." He replied, his voice heavy with pain. Catherine studied him. He had aged so much since Nick's death. His face had developed lines not there before; his hair had gone almost completely gray. The death had taken an emotional and physical toll on all of them. Catherine knew that she also probably looked much older then she had once looked not so long ago.
The next day, Sandy and Tom Stokes flew home to Texas, promising to keep in touch with Sara. Sara went back to work, for she was only at the four-month mark. While everyone tried to act as normal as possible around her, that was growing increasingly difficult. She was starting to show, a constant reminder of just how much Nick's death had affected her in particular. She constantly tried to get information from Catherine and Grissom about the progress of Nick's case; every time they refused to tell her anything. Finally, she just gave up asking.
Meanwhile, in Tampa, James Whitman was also trying to keep his mind off what was going on with his case. He was trying to keep his cover, and do what he was supposed to be doing. He didn't socialize with the other officers, nor did he date. He didn't care what they said about him, what they thought. He just wanted to get back to Sara. He would spend many nights just thinking about what things would be like once he was back. Would she still love him? What if she had found someone new? He tried not to think about that, though it was hard. He had no way of knowing that what he should have been thinking was would Sara still be alive when he got back.
The man grinned as he looked at the copied picture of the brunette woman in his hands. He had gone back to that apartment, getting the picture copied and returned. Now he was getting somewhere. He stood behind the man at the computer. His employers had provided this contact to him. They had paid him to find out something to use against this man 'James', something to prevent him from testifying against them. So here he was, at the 'office' of some computer man, who was running the picture through some database (the man wasn't really sure what he was doing. In this business, it was a don't ask don't tell kind of thing. That also went for contacts)
An hour later, after much keyboard pecking on the contacts part, there was finally a match. The man smiled widely as he stared at the name he had been searching for.
"Sara Sidle. Here I come." He whispered.
A/N: well, I hope you liked. I didn't think that this was such a great chapter, but as always constructive criticism is welcome, as are other reviews! So, please, keep those reviews coming!
Emily
