The Truth Hurts
Disclaimer. I do not own any of the characters from CBS's CSI...unfortunately: )
Nick was standing in the doorway, unable to move or utter a word. Both Grissom and Archie spun round.
"You know why you're here? Cause' you followed the evidence."
Nick never thought he would have to hear those words, the words that had haunted him, and here he was standing in CSI HQ with his boss playing this nightmarish message in front of him.
Grissom looked at Nick…he had never meant for him to hear the tape again, he thought he was out in the field with Sara.
"Nick…."
Nick turned away from Grissom and as a single tear fell from his eye he walked out of CSI HQ not stopping, not even for Warrick who called out to him as he walked through the corridors. Warrick walked into the AV lab where he had seen Nick leaving from. As he entered he realized what had Nick had been so shaken about. He looked over at Grissom trying to figure out why he would put Nick through the hell of hearing the tape again. Grissom's people skills were not very good but he instantly picked up on what Warrick was thinking.
"I didn't mean for Nick to hear the tape" Grissom said in an almost apologetic tone, similar to the tone of a small child after they have been caught red handed.
"Why are you even playing it, man?" Warrick was being unusually forceful with his boss.
"Warrick…" Grissom sighed, he somehow thought that if he didn't tell anyone about what he had found on the tape it wouldn't be true.
"There is a second voice on the tape….I think Walter Gordon had an accomplice." Warrick felt the feeling of dread washing over him, how could Nick cope with the knowledge that one of his kidnappers was still out there.
Nick sat in his SUV, his head tilted back against the head rest. He was coping, trying to get over what he had been through but hearing that tape brought all his emotions bubbling back to the surface. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the tape but it just kept replaying over and over in his head.
A loud tap at the window brought Nick out of his daydream. He jumped and turned to see who was facing him.
"Catherine?"
Catherine stood next to Nick's window with a mothering look on her face. Nick opened his truck door and turned to face Catherine, he stayed seated but swiveled round so his whole body was facing her.
"Nicky… Grissom told me about the tape, I'm sorry you had to hear about it like that."
Nick was unsure by what she meant, he had obviously heard the tape before, what could she mean 'heard about it like that'? Puzzled, Nick got out of his truck and stood in front of Catherine.
"Heard about it like that...Heard about what?"
Catherine realized she had said too much, and didn't know how to tell him, or if she should tell him at all. She knew that the HQ parking lot wasn't the best place to talk to him, so she insisted that Nick drove home. Catherine got into the passenger seat and Nick drove them both back to his place. Neither one of them spoke until they reached Nick's driveway. Nick put his SUV in park and turned to Catherine.
"Catherine…will you please tell me what's going on"
Catherine sighed and struggled for the words, Nick had already been through so much and she didn't know what the information of a second kidnapper being out there would do to him.
"Grissom…Grissom found a second voice on the tape that Walter Gordon left in the…left for you."
Nick's eyes widened he couldn't believe what he was hearing, maybe it wasn't true he thought, maybe Grissom was wrong. He tried to speak but his mouth had become dry and his whole body began to tense up. Catherine looked at Nick who once again had been reduced to feeling helpless and afraid. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry Nick"
Grissom sat in his office, his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. Nick had been through hell and now he had made things worse by letting him hear the tape, the tape that might push him over the edge. There was a knock at the door and Catherine entered.
"Gil…Nick knows about the possibility of there being an accomplice."
Grissom looked up and the look of confusion spread across his face. Surely Nick hadn't heard the other voice on the tape. No, Archie had stopped it before it had got to that part.
"How...how could…?" Catherine looked down at the floor wracked with the enormous feeling of guilt.
"I thought he already knew…I was consoling him when I realized that he didn't, but by then I had said too much."
Catherine sighed and looked at Grissom, hoping that he would tell her that everything would be all right. Grissom closed his eyes trying to mask his feeling of disappointment, not of Catherine telling Nick but at him not being the one who had. He was Nick's supervisor, it was his job, his responsibility, and he owed it to Nick.
"Where's Nick now?"
"He's at home…Warrick's with him…I don't think he should be alone right now."
Grissom nodded but didn't say another word, he watched in silence as Catherine left and walked down the corridor, he was once again left with his own thoughts. As Catherine walked she wondered how Nick was going to get over this, or if he ever would. Nick was strong and she knew this but at the back of her mind was the feeling that Nick would never be the same again.
This is my first attempt at fan fiction and was going to be a oneshot but I may continue the story. Please review, good or bad tell me what you think...thanks.