As Nick's breathing slowed and his heart rate steadied he began thinking about the situation he was in. He allowed the needle on his speedometer to relax slightly and tried to compose his thoughts. He was still grasping the note in one hand and he glanced at it again. There's no need to be irrational about this, Nick said to himself slowly. He decided to pull over and think about his choices.

The words on the note reverberated again and again in Nick's mind. Take this with you. Take what with me. How did she…

"No," Nick said aloud to the empty SUV. "There's absolutely no proof she had anything to do with this. I have to get a grip." Nick decided that there was nothing else for it; he had to take the note to the lab and have it analyzed for prints. He put his SUV back into drive and headed towards the lab.

All the way to the lab Nick was wondering whether Kelly Gordon could have made some kind of parole. He didn't understand how anyone else could have left a note with those specific words. He remembered the meeting he'd had with her vividly.

His face still bore the evidence of his stay underground. The small welts the fire ants had left him with were only slightly visible after intense treatment in the hospital but they still itched horribly.

Her blonde hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. Her dull blue jumpsuit made Nick feel uncomfortable; a constant reminder of what she was going through, and why he'd nearly died in a hole in the ground.

She'd been reluctant to talk. She wasn't interested in what Nick had to say: "Don't take it with you".

It was all he could think to say.

Nick hadn't told anyone that he'd planned to visit the person who was, in some twisted way, responsible for what had happened to him. Only one week after he'd been released from the hospital, two weeks after he'd been dug out of his early grave, he'd driven to the state prison. It was something he told himself he needed to do in order to move on, but he knew he probably shouldn't have tried to face her so soon after the ordeal, which was why he'd decided to go without telling anyone. Now, he realized, he would have to come clean. That made it his fault…if she was bent on some kind of twisted revenge…

With his mind entirely not on the road, Nick managed to safely maneuver his way back to the lab. Well he thought to himself as he opened the driver's side door, might as well get this over with.

Nick walked much more slowly than the situation merited, towards Catherine's office. He wasn't looking forward to admitting that those deaths were his fault. If he hadn't gone to see Kelly Gordon, none of this would have happened. He knocked on the door and was surprised to find Grissom there as well. He and Catherine seemed to be having a conversation so Nick waited just inside the door. Thankful of any reason to delay the news he was bearing, he waited patiently for them to excuse his intrusion.

"Nick!" Catherine and Grissom were both surprised to see him there but Catherine was the first to pronounce her confusion. "What are you doing here…I sent you home."

"I know," Nick answered. "And I went, but I came back."

"Why?" Grissom this time, always trying to analyze the situation, had picked up on Nick's tone. Something was wrong and even Grissom could detect the concern in his friend's voice.

"Well…" Come on Nick just do it! "Because I found this note on my living room floor. It looked as though someone slipped it through my door or something. I thought it might be important to the case you guys are working."

Grissom and Catherine shared a short glance to communicate their mutual confusion and Grissom reached out to take the note from Nick.

"Take this with you?" The words held absolutely no meaning to Grissom so he looked to Catherine, trying to find out if he'd missed something – as he sometimes did. Catherine's face was just as blank so he looked instead towards Nick whose expression was grave.

Nick was forced to continue. "A couple weeks ago, well two weeks ago, I …I went to the state prison and…well I had to talk to Kelly Gordon."

Catherine was completely blown away by this news. She hadn't any idea that Nick had been to the prison, or that he even knew about Kelly Gordon and, judging by the look on his face, neither had Grissom.

"And?" Catherine prompted Nick, anxious to hear the rest of this story.

"Well I told her…not to take it with her." Nick's glance stayed on the floor. He purposely avoided making eye contact with both Catherine and Grissom. He was therefore unable to gauge their reactions as they processed this information.

Catherine's mind was racing. What did this mean? How did it affect their case? And, most importantly, how was this affecting her friend? She noticed that Nick refused to look her in the face and she almost thought she could detect a hint of guilt on his face. Great.

"Nick, why didn't you tell someone you went to talk to Kelly Gordon. And for that matter, how did even know about Kelly Gordon?" Grissom, forever tactless, had obviously missed the guilt on his friend's face. His tone was somewhat accusatory, which Nick picked up on right away.

"I know Griss…I'm sorry. To answer your question, I asked my shrink to tell me all about what happened…that night. She told me she didn't think it was such a great idea I got all the details at one time, so soon after the fact so I…I took a quick glance at the case reports. They held an account of Sara and Brass's interview with Kelly. I wanted to meet her. I wanted to see her face."

"Oh god Nick," Catherine's concern for her friend was increasing rapidly. "You shouldn't have had to find out like that."

"Never mind that," Nick's expression suddenly became determined. "We have to figure out how Kelly did this." What the hell is going on? Nick wondered. The further this conversation progressed, the more confused he became. Why did they pity him when he deserved to be reprimanded?

"Well we'll process the note, but I really think you should go back home" Grissom, once again, was having a bit of a hard time adjusting out of his authoritative role. "Sara, Warrick and Greg finished their case so they can help us figure this one out."

"Yah, okay." As taken aback as he was, Nick was feeling more than slightly worn out from the myriad of emotional swings he'd already experienced that evening, so he decided he wouldn't argue to stay. He could always go home, take a short nap, and be back to the lab to help them fix this mess he'd created.

"And have Warrick go with you, just to make sure you didn't miss anything at your house."

"Sure thing boss." Nick said as he left the room closing the door behind him.

As soon as she could be sure Nick was out of hearing range, Catherine rounded on Grissom.

"What the hell was that?"

"What?" Grissom was completely shaken by this unexpected attack.

"He was feeling guilty Grissom. God, can't you read people at all? He was feeling guilty and you attacked him!"

"I…" Grissom tried to negate Catherine's accusations but soon realized that she was one hundred percent correct. "Oops."

"Ya, Oops." Catherine's tone was patronizing, to say the least. "And I suggest you go fix your mistake. Drive Nick home and APOLOGIZE."

Grissom recognized Catherine's suggestion as the same type he used to make when he had been the supervisor of the night shift; the kind of suggestion that was not a suggestion at all, but rather a very explicit, and carefully masked, order.

Grissom caught up with Nick and Warrick in the parking lot. He fed Warrick a story about Catherine needing him in the lab and that he'd gladly accompany Nick to check out his townhouse. They'd been driving for over fifteen minutes, they were only minutes away from Nick townhouse, and Grissom still had not managed to utter a single word; let alone an apology for the way he'd acted in the lab.

The uncomfortable silence stretched between the two CSI's as Nick drove them through Downtown Vegas, heading for the residential area he called home. Both men were silent. Nick, convinced that he was guilty for what was happening, the deaths of the people that had perished in the explosion, and the woman that had brought them there in the first place, decided that he was better off keeping his mouth shut, his ex-boss was obviously angry with him. Grissom was worried about how to proceed; never being good with people he knew he had to tread carefully to prevent hurting Nick further.

They managed to reach Nick's townhouse before Grissom could figure out how to proceed. Sure, he thought to himself I'll just tell him once we're inside.

Once again Nick fumbled for the right key and let himself in, Grissom following close behind. Nick headed for the kitchen and removed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Hey Griss, you want anything?"

Grissom didn't answer Nick. He was staring, apparently transfixed, at the door Nick had closed behind them.

"Nick," Grissom called. "Are you sure this door was locked when you got in and found the note?"

"Ya," Nick replied thinking about the last time he'd gained entry, " 'cause I remember how hard it was to find the damn key in the dark!"

"Then we have a problem," Grissom continued. The dark expression in his voice made Nick come back into the living room, gazing enquiringly at him. He didn't have to wait long for Grissom to continue. "How did someone get the note in?"

"I figured they just slipped it…under the door." Even as he said the words Nick realized the folly of his assumption. There wasn't a sliver of room between the door and the carpet when the door was closed. He could plainly see that there was no way anyone could have slipped anything, no matter how small, through that door; it appeared to be tight to the walls all the way around.

"But then…" Nick didn't finish his question. He was already painfully aware of the answer.

"There's only one way someone could have left that note in you house." Grissom answered Nick's unasked question. "If they were already inside."

Hello readers! I knew I left a harsh cliffhanger on the last chapter so I tried hard to get this one out before I left for my trip and here it is:) Unfortunately the ending on this chapter isn't much better than the last and I leave tomorrow. I hope you'll all forgive me I'll try to update whenever I can! I know this chapter kinda makes Grissom look insensitive and that wasn't what I was looking for; I intend to remedy the situation. Oh and just so you're sure, the words that are centered are flashbacks lol… I couldn't really decide how else to separate them and I don't really like writing "FLASHBACK". It always jerks me out of the storyline when I see it and I wanted to prevent that from happening.

Big thanks go out to Mma63, imbreena, everybetty, KatKnits00, and yendy's for the reviews! Also a special thanks goes to Nix707 for, not only does she take the time to review, hers was the first fanfic I ever read and it was fabulous! (got me hooked) As always any suggestions or criticisms are welcome and PLEASE REVIEW I love reading reviews! Thanks for reading!