I just want to throw out a special thanks to my new beta Tefla. Thanks for volunteering. I would like to also thank everybetty for offering as well. You guys are awesome!

Tefla: Thanks for the review. I'm glad I shook up your theory, but hopefully you will like where it's going. I have a lot of action planned.

Happy-me-111: Yep the plot is thickening. More to come.

NickGilGreggonumber1fan: Let's all give Nick a big hug, but me first.- and don't worry there will be retribution. Oh yes there will.

Chrissie0707: Thanks for the review. Yea boys night!

Dumbandhappy: Sad part of all this is I'm not done being bad. Mua-hahahahah

Nicole101: I hope you like this next chapter. Greg makes a small appearance. Now you are going to have to put a little bit more Nicky in your story…. Just joking! - Take care!

Well here's the next chapter. Enjoy….

Nick tossed and turned then finally gave up trying to sleep. He really didn't want to sleep he just used it an excuse to get away from everyone.

He looked over at the clock on the nightstand next to the bed, it read only five-thirty in the evening. He flopped his head back on his pillow and let out a big sigh. He only had another day in a half to go until he testified and then he could go back to a having a somewhat normal life.

Nick kicked his legs over the side of the bed and sat up and muttered, "Yea right a normal life. I'm sure Grissom and the rest of them will treat me like a little porcelain doll and never let me out of their sight again."

He rose up from the bed and walked over to the window. He looked out at the city of Las Vegas, always bustling with tourists and visitors. Nick wished he could be down there instead of under house arrest in this hotel room. He turned around and headed back to the nightstand where he had placed his gun when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said grabbing his gun and attaching it to his belt. He was being guarded, but it didn't mean that he couldn't defend himself if need be.

The door opened and Warrick's head popped in.

"Hey Nick I just wanted to see how you were doing?" Warrick asked with concern in his eyes. He entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Nick saw Warrick come in and close the door. He knew Warrick wanted to talk.

"I'm doing fine Warrick, headache is almost gone. Shocking enough though I couldn't sleep. I guess I have too much on my mind."

Warrick walked over and sat down in a chair across from the bed, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Warrick it's not so much about me anymore, it's about you guys. I'm concerned that you are all going to treat me differently because of all this. I didn't ask for any of this to happen to me. I have tried to deal with it the best I could without it affecting how you guys look at me. Now that I've shared my whole life's story I'm afraid that it will change how I'm treated both personally and professionally. Sure Grissom and Catherine say it won't change anything, but it will. Do you know how long it will be until they let me take a case on my own again, if ever?"

Warrick watched the intensity in Nick's eyes as he vented, he knew better than to interrupt. Warrick was going to be there for Nick, that's what brothers were for. Warrick never had a brother or a big family like Nick; it was just him and his Grandma. When he first met Nick they automatically formed a bond. It was only after a couple of weeks when Warrick considered Nick the brother he never had.

It hurt Warrick that Nick didn't confide in him with everything, but he did understand. It wasn't them; it was how Nick was raised. He was raised to be strong and not to show emotion. It was hard in this job not to show emotion and most of the time Nick did keep it to himself. The only time he saw any emotion was when he was rescued after being buried alive, and apparently Nick was still trying to work through it. He hoped that he could help.

"Nick I think you underestimate Grissom and Catherine." Warrick said timidly trying not to get Nick angrier.

"Really and how's that?" Nick asked as he sat down across from Warrick with his steel gaze looking upon him.

"Grissom and Catherine are professionals Nick. They are going to do their jobs by making sure you are ready to do yours. They will evaluate you and make their recommendations. I don't think that they would do that to you. They know what type of CSI you are and most importantly what type of person you are."

Nick guffawed at Warrick's last comment, "And what type of person am I Warrick? One that needs to be constantly watched or maybe the one that they'll be worried about having an emotional breakdown if something happens?"

"Nick come on man, give Grissom and Catherine more credit than that. Give the rest of us more credit than that. You are the strongest person I know."

"I'm sorry Warrick, I'm finding it really hard to believe you." Nick looked Warrick straight in the eyes when he said that.

"It's the truth Nick. I'm not sure what else I can say to get you to believe me." Warrick looked down at his feet then looked back up at Nick. "Truth is Nick you are a better person than me."

"What?"

"I'm serious Nick, you are a better person than me."

"Warrick why would you say that? After everything I've been through. I'm one messed up person if you haven't noticed."

Warrick shook his head disagreeing, "Nick I'm going to tell you something that up till now no one but Catherine knows about."

This peaked Nick's interest, what was Warrick going to tell him? He waited for Warrick to start.

Warrick continued to look Nick straight in the eyes and started, "I was relieved that you had won that coin toss the evening you were kidnapped. Does that make me a bad person? I don't think so. What I do know is as I watched you in that coffin I realized that if our positions were reversed I would have killed myself way before you guys would have even brought up the web cam."

"Warrick I don't believe that."

"Believe it Nick. I'm not that strong of character. I'm a gambler. I'm always tempted to go back to the table and try my luck. If I were the one in that coffin fate would have tempted me to take the easy way out, by shooting myself. Don't you see where we are coming from? Fate showed up at your doorstep and what did you show him, you believed in your friends and family. You never gave up."

"But I did Warrick. I was going to shoot myself. You were there you saw me." Nick responded.

"No Nick. That was only after you were left with no options. You were out of air and being eaten alive by ants. You had no other options, but the point is that you waited until you no longer had any other options. You gave us a chance to find you. Blind faith man, blind faith. You didn't know that we were really looking for you, but in your heart you knew it to be true. So you sucked it up and got through it. I could never do that Nick. We all watched you battling down there. Believe it or not Nick we do know what type of person you are and we'll take you no matter what. If Grissom and Catherine want to be a little protective for a while, let them. Pretty soon they'll be sick of your ass and you'll be back to working alone. You also have to remember that we are all trying to get through this ourselves. We feel as though we let you down."

Nick looked at Warrick realization finally set in his eyes, "I never really thought of it that way Warrick. I guess I was being a little selfish. I didn't realize that this would affect you guys as well. As for you taking the easy way out I don't believe it. You were able to work through your gambling problems and that takes a lot of guts and strength in character."

"Your right Nick it did, but what you faced was a hundred more times worse, but you conquered it. Grissom was right. You need to stop worrying about what other people think and worry about yourself. Don't be afraid to talk to any of us. We want to be there Nick. It's not a chore…that's what family does for each other. We all love you man, crazy Nicky or not," Warrick said with a smile.

"Well look who's calling the kettle black. It takes a crazy to know a crazy."

Nick joked back, just then his stomach growled. He grabbed his stomach and smiled. "I guess I'm a little hungry."

Warrick smiled back, "Actually that was the other thing I was going to ask you. We are going to order out for dinner, did you want anything?"

"Where are you guys ordering from?"

"Just the local burger joint."

"O.K. I'll take a burger with the works and a side of fries."

Warrick got up from the chair and started walking towards the bedroom door. "You got it."

"Hey Warrick," Warrick turned around and could see that Nick had gotten serious again. "If I could keep any of you out of danger, I would lose that coin toss again in a heartbeat. You remember that."

Warrick walked over to Nick and gave him a brotherly hug.

"Um Warrick. Could you let me go? I'm afraid that Greg may come in a see something. We don't want to give him any material to work with."

With the mention of Greg, Warrick released Nick out of the brotherly hug and they both laughed.

"Are we cool Nick?" Warrick asked.

"Yea man we're cool and I appreciate you coming in here to talk to me. I promise I will try and talk to you guys more about how I'm feeling. O.K?" Nick said.

"Sounds good…Now I'm hungry let's order the food."

Both Warrick and Nick exited the bedroom and came into the main room where Greg was sitting with the two officers watching the football game. Greg looked over to Nick.

"I thought you were going to get some beauty sleep. Nothing's changed. Couldn't sleep could you?"

"Ha Ha Greg. Just remember I have a weapon and I'm not afraid to use it." Nick said and he ruffled Greg's hair and sat down next to him.

"Hey man…watch the hair. It's takes a while to get it to look like a true masterpiece."

"You call that mop a masterpiece," Warrick laughed.

"That hurts Warrick, it really does." Greg said with mock hurt.

Nick looked around, "Where did everyone go?"

"Brass drove everyone home. They didn't want to smother you and said that they'd give you a call later." Greg replied.

"Oh. O.K. It's not like I'm going anywhere." He said with a smile. He then glanced over to the two officers and finally decided introductions were in order.

"Hi I'm sure you already know who I am…Nick." He reached over to shake hands with the first officer.

"Joe Sullivan. Nice to meet you Nick." He shook Nick's hand. Nick looked over to the other officer and repeated himself.

"Ron Hatch…the same. It appears that we are going to roomies for a little while." He said with a sincere smile.

"Yea it looks that way. So I hear you guys are ordering out."

"Yep, but I think it would be best if someone went to pick it up. I would rather not order from room service."

Warrick quickly volunteered both he and Greg to pick up the food. A half an hour later they returned with the burgers. The five men ate in silence as they watched the football game.

Nick actually enjoyed the time he spent with Warrick and Greg. Of course it would have been nicer if it were in his own house, but who was complaining.

Catherine had called around eight to make sure that Nick was doing O.K. and to see if he needed anything. Grissom called at eight fifteen to find out the same, then Sara followed his call. By the time he hung up with Sara he could hardly talk.

Finally at ten in the evening Warrick and Greg called it a night. Warrick was scheduled to testify in the morning and wanted to make sure that he got enough sleep. Both men were leaving Nick with mixed emotions. Nick could tell that they really didn't want to go.

"I'll be fine guys. Ron and Joe are going to be relieved in about an hour by Don McGuire and Shaun Lee. I know both those guys from a case I did few months back. There's no need to worry, besides I have my gun and most importantly my cell phone. Give me a call in the morning before you go in to testify Warrick. Now get the hell out of here, as Greg put it so colorfully before I need my beauty sleep." He said smiling.

"Alright Nick if you are sure. We'll give you a call in the morning."

With that said Warrick and Greg walked to the hotel door followed by Sullivan. With Nick being in protective custody he wasn't allowed near the door. Sullivan unlocked and opened the door, he bid both Warrick and Greg a goodnight and locked the door after they left.

Nick stood in the middle of the room looking at the door. He looked back over at Sullivan and Hatch smiled and plopped himself back on the couch.

"So gentleman what are we watching?"

Well there's Chapter 11. Let me know your thoughts good or bad. The action will be coming shortly. Please review. Thanks!