Title: Can't Take It
Summary: Snickers. Follow Grissom, Nick, and Sara through a case; one that could ultimately draw two of our favorite CSIs together.
Disclaimer: No, I don't own it. Own: a grammatical word emphasizing that somebody or something belongs to a particular person or thing and not to somebody or something else. So much pain in such a little word.
A/N: I just want to take this time to thank you guys for reading. The story's almost over, I'm leaning towards one more chapter after this one. But anyways, I seriously appreciate you're reading my writing, and I hope it wasn't a waste of your time so far. Or yet.
I'm upping the rating one more time for a little bit of course language (like last time, just a few words, actually, probably around 5 or 6, but…)
Enjoy!
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"Alright" Nick started, sanding across form Janet and Kyle, who were both leaning against the police cruiser. "Kyle, is it?" After an affirmative nod from the man, Nick continued, "Exactly how old are you?"
"26" came the gruff reply, "Since about half a year ago. Why, you wanna come to my next party?"
Nick chose to ignore him, instead asking, "And you work…?"
"Down on the strip. Tangiers" he interrupted. "I make pretty good pay, too. Plus you get membership to one of their gyms. As long as there're no paying customers doing yoga or some crap like that, I get free access to the machines. Even after hours. It's pretty sweet."
Nick looked the guy up and down; although he hated to admit it, Kyle looked like he took advantage of the gym a lot. He was, even for 26, rather large.
Kyle just smirked. "Now it's my turn for a question. That chick you work with, the one inside. What's her story? Is she single?" Kyle shot Nick, what was in his opinion, a very sleazy grin before the CSI shook off his question, clenching his jaw to keep from snapping.
"I'm not done with my questions yet, pal" Nick said protectively. "So why don't we talk about Karen Gordan. She used to work with you, right?"
The CSI could have sworn he saw a flicker of emotion…fear? jealousy?...flicker across the man's face upon the mention of Karen's name, but if he did, Kyle recovered quickly. "Uh, yeah. I guess so. I don't really remember."
His sister next to him snickered loudly. Kyle sot her a dirty look before explaining to Nick. "I think she left… a while ago. Three months, at least. I don't really recall. We weren't that close."
"Then how do you explain this?" asked a curious Grissom as he walked down the driveway. He held up a photograph of Karen and Kyle, kissing for the camera. "Found it in your room" the supervisor explained to a very surly looking Kyle.
Grissom turned to Nick, mouthing 'Sara found the knife'. Nick made a quick motion to the two officers, who promptly moved to stand one on either side of Kyle.
"Ever ridden in a cop car before?" Nick asked him while the officers aided Kyle into the cruiser, just as Sara emerged from the house, a triumphant look on her face and a large evidence bag in her hand.
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Nick and Sara shared a frustrated glance; the two CSIs were seated on metal chairs in the interrogation room. Kyle slouched on an identical chair across the table from Sara, declining legal representation, and behind him, leaning against the wall, stood a very agitated looking Jim Brass.
Brass sighed, "Look pal, not that I'd like to be here all night, but the longer we sit here with you not saying anything? That's money in my pocket. Gotta' lover overtime, huh? But what I don't get is why you want to stay here so badly. Just like my company?" Brass grinned sourly before pressing the man, "So let's try this one more time: What happened?"
Kyle just crossed his arms defiantly.
Sara pushed a clear evidence bag on the table toward shim. "We found this knife in your house. Tested positive for blood. We matched it to Jack Hobbes. Your prints are all over it. We also," she added, "found a key in your room. The one Mr. Hobbes gave your sister while she was house-sitting. Though you'd just…borrow it for a while?"
The man's eyes narrowed, before addressing the two CSIs. "Karen wasn't evens supposed to be there. I mean, Jesus, the man just got back from a trip, you'd think he'd chill for the night. Damned idiot. Having her there almost ruined everything."
Nick leaned forward in his chair as Brass asked, "We know you and Karen used to be close. Your sister told us Karen broke it off with you. But you didn't take that very well, huh? Tough guy like you? So, then what? What happened at Mr. Hobbes' house?"
"So I had the knife from my kitchen. Walked over to his place, got in with the key I stole from Janet. Karen and him were both on that chair…bastard couldn't keep his hands off her. I punched her, on her eye, when she turned around…it's not like I wanted to hurt her, but she was there and I needed her out of the way."
Kyle rubbed the bridge of his nose, oblivious to the fact that Nick and Sara shot each other quick glances at the mention of the chair, which they both remembered quite fondly.
Kyle continued, almost in a monotone, "She fell and I picked her up. I had to hold the knife to her throat, just to show that prick Hobbes who was boss. But she bit me. I pushed her away; she fell near the table but didn't get up. I checked on her real quick; she was breathing so I figured she was alright. Then I dealt with Hobbes. He'd broken a glass or something and came at me with it." Kyle laughed cruelly as he continued, "Dude was a wimp. He got one scratch on my hand before I pinned him to the wall and -" he pantomimed slashing Hobbes' throat, sliding one finger across his Addams apple. "I tried cutting out his heart, too…poetic justice, right? But it was too hard. So I left him there. Grabbed Karen's ring and split through the window when I heard a neighbor's dog barking. Thought someone saw me."
Brass just looked disgusted as Nick nodded, "Yeah. We found the ring in your room, man. Looks like it was busted up pretty bad."
"I smashed it against the coffee table and took the piece wit me" sneered Kyle.
"So…what? If you break the ring it's like Karen never fell in love with Jack? They never fell in love and she'd throw herself back at you?" Sara quipped. She seemed to have hit a nerve.
"SHUT UP!" Kyle bellowed, lunging across the table at Sara, tackling her to the ground.
Brass fumbled around the man's chair, which was thrown against him as Kyle had jumped out of it, as two officers charged through the doorway, although it was Nick who pried the guy off Sara first, throwing him against the wall. The two officers rounded on Kyle, pinning his arms to his sides, as Nick knelt down by Sara.
Sara gritted her teeth angrily before whispering softly, "Thanks Nick". She gingerly rubbed the side of her face where she had hit the ground.
Nick watched her, eyes full of concern. "God Sara" he breathed heavily, "I mean…Jesus." He swore under his breath. "Are you ok?"
He traced the side of her face tentatively with his thumb, cupping her chin with his hand. They locked eyes before Brass coughed, bringing the pair back to reality. Nick shook his head before helping Sara up. 'She'd just been attacked' he thought bitterly, 'The last thing she needed was him hitting on her'
They returned to their original seats, as had Kyle, although this time two officers stood next to him, holding him down. Brass relocated to the other side of the room, standing behind Nick and Sara, a reassuring hand placed on the back of her chair.
Kyle stared venomously as Sara. "Shut up" he spat, "Just shut up. Karen loves me." He huffed angrily before adding in a low, deadly tone, "Bitch. Good thing your boyfriend was here to save you."
Nick clenched his fist under the table as Bras interrupted, "Ok, ok, that's enough."
Sara, Nick, and Brass watched in uncomfortable silence as the officers cuffed Kyle and led him out of the room.
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A/N: Whew…so much drama. Ok, one chapter left to tie up the lose strings (i.e.: Nick and Sara :D). Let me know what you guys think, and see you one last time for the next chapter!