Chapter Seven

Nick knocked on Grissom's door a bit harder than he had intended. His supervisor looked up from his papers and seeing who it was, gave a small frown.

"What do you want, Nick?" he said as he looked back down at his papers. "I'm not putting you back on the case if that's what you're here about."

The fact that Grissom wouldn't even pay him the courtesy of giving him his full attention frustrated Nick even further and so he responded a bit more forcefully than he would have otherwise. "I want to talk about the crap you've been giving me for the past month. You've done nothing but breathe down my neck and criticize me and my work. I'm tired of it, Grissom. I don't deserve that."

Grissom glanced up and said, "You feel you're being treated unfairly?"

"Yes! That's what I just said!" Nick folded his arms tightly across his chest.

"Perhaps you should lodge a formal complaint with Human Resources." Grissom quipped.

"No. What we need to do is talk." Nick wasn't going to let Grissom get away without saying anything for himself.

Grissom set his papers aside and folded his hands on his desk like some professor about to berate a truant student. He fixed Nick with a condescending gaze and adopted a tone to match it. "Okay, Nick. What shall we talk about? Your inability to keep your emotions in check? Your reckless disregard for your own personal safety? Your intense need to play the hero and rescue those you deem worth saving?"

"I don't have a need to play the hero!" Nick countered angrily. "I just want to help people!"

"Really? Why, then, did you rush into your neighbors' house the last night with no thought to the danger that you might encounter? You didn't call for backup. You just ran in there waving your gun around. A gun which you managed to lose. That's not the only instance either. You care so much about becoming the victim's champion that's it's ridiculous! Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't started wearing a cape!" Grissom's face was contorted with a mixture of anger and mockery.

Nick was momentarily stunned by the older man's cruelty which allowed Grissom to keep speaking his mind. "Tell me, if Donna comes knocking on your door, begging for help, will you risk it all to help her? After all, you do love those lost causes. Let's just hope that this time it will turn out better for your damsel in distress."

Grissom knew he was being ruthless in his words. He could hear a voice that oddly enough sounded like Catherine telling him that he should stop his reckless words, but he ignored it. For once, Gil Grissom was going to let himself be ruled by his emotions rather than his cool logic.

"You want me to say I'm sorry about the whole Kristy thing? Is that what you want from me?" Nick asked, throwing his hands up. "Fine! I'm sorry! I didn't mean for any of that to happen! I was trying to help her!"

"My point is proven." The trace of a smirk appeared on Grissom's face.

"There is no pleasing you! It doesn't matter what I do or how much I try! I'm not perfect, Grissom!" Nick snapped. Reason was giving way to anger and his next words came tumbling out of him.

"I'm not your Golden Boy, Warrick! He's your favorite, isn't he? When he gets someone killed, he's welcomed back like the Prodigal Son after a few days of being relieved of duty! He doesn't have to do jack squat to get back in your good graces!" Nick said, his voice rising.

"No one's more sorry for what happened than him! He made a mistake!" Grissom's voice matched Nick's in tone and pitch.

"So did I! Do I get forgiven? No! I've been busting my tail for the past month trying to make amends but you still treat me like crap!" Nick had now started shouting and gesturing wildly with his hands as he spoke.

"Warrick left Holly at a crime scene when a cop was present. If the cop had not been there, I feel confident that Warrick would not have left Holly alone. It was unfortunate that the cop ended up leaving to respond to another call. You, however, consistently put yourself in a compromising situation by getting involved with that prostitute. After 'rescuing' her from her fight with Jack, you took her back to her place and knowing full well what was most likely going to happen, you willingly went into her house. You ended up sleeping with her and then wound up being a suspect in her murder! You showed no restraint! You let yourself be deluded by the lies she enticed you with! She knew exactly what you wanted to hear! You gave no thought to anything other than your immediate gratification and you brought shame on the entire lab!" Grissom brought his fist down hard upon his desk in order to drive his point home.

Nick immediately fell silent, knowing that if he opened his mouth right now he would say something that he'd end up regretting. His body was trembling with a silent rage. It infuriated him to hear Grissom refer to Kristy only as a prostitute. It infuriated him to think that Grissom believed his only reasons for wanting to help Kristy was so he could get into her bed. It was like he was nothing more than a stupid teenager incapable of thinking with anything other than his libido. If this was really what Grissom thought of him, perhaps he'd be better off someplace else.

Grissom looked down at his desk and angrily began shuffling papers. "Go. Just go, Nick. I don't want to see you anymore right now."

Without a word, Nick turned on his heel and stormed out of the office and out of the lab.

Nick was so completely overwhelmed by the variety of emotions coursing through his body that the drive home was a blur. He vaguely remembered getting into his SUV back at the lab and then he somehow miraculously ended up at his house. He considered himself lucky to have not caused any accidents given his reckless state.

He stormed through the front door and tossed his jacket on the ground. As he did this, he realized that he was still wearing his service piece. He'd left the lab in such a hurry that he hadn't remembered to remove it. He yanked it out of its holster and tossed it on the couch. Feeling anxious, he walked over to the fridge and searched for something to help soothe his nerves. He grabbed the last bottled iced tea and made his way into the living room.

Flopping down on his couch, he palmed the beverage in his hand and stared at it. Without really even being conscious of his decision to do so, Nick threw the bottle across the room and watched it smash against the opposite wall. It shattered into pieces and the liquid contents left a brown streak on the wall, but he didn't care. It felt good to do something destructive. In fact, he wished that he had another bottle to throw against the wall.

To say he was mad would be an understatement. He was completely blinded by his fury. He was furious at Grissom. Furious at the implications the man made. Did his supervisor not know him at all? Did he really think Nick was some grand-standing hero who was incapable of a rational thought? If that were true, why didn't Grissom just fire him and be done with it? Why keep him around if he was such a liability?

But he wasn't just mad at Grissom. He was mad at himself. He had been stupid to think that he could make Grissom talk to him. Had he really been expecting the man to apologize right there? Grissom would no sooner have done that than tell Nick he could have his job. Their relationship had never been one that you could define as "close." That wasn't about to change now. In fact, it was completely non-existent now.

He was also mad about the things he had said about Warrick. Warrick was his friend - more like a brother than a friend. It wasn't Warrick's fault that Grissom favored him. Warrick had never tried to kiss up to the boss or make Nick look bad in front of Grissom. He was just being himself and to be honest, Nick wasn't surprised that Grissom liked Warrick so much. He was a great guy, a great friend, and a hard worker. No, he could not blame Warrick for his bad relationship with Grissom. That wasn't fair. It just really hurt to think that the man he looked up to thought so little of him, and there was such a hopelessness in knowing that there was nothing he could do to change Grissom's mind.

Nick sighed and leaned his head back. Closing his eyes, he tried in vain to drive away the sound of his thoughts from his mind, but every time he shut down his own internal dialogue, he could hear his supervisor's harsh words echo in his head.

He needed a distraction, something to take his mind away from the past hour and a half. Television. Perhaps that would do it. Snapping his eyes wide open again, he leaned forward and grabbed the remote. As he held the remote in the air, finger poised over the power button, a warning bell went off in his head. Something wasn't right. He was suddenly struck with the intense feeling that he wasn't alone in his home.

Ever so quietly, he sat the remote down and stood up. He glanced around his living room for a sign of disturbance, but found none. He silently gave thanks for leaving the lab in a hurry and leaned over to grab his gun. Nick held the gun out in front of him. Perhaps he was overreacting, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was here and he wasn't about to be caught off-guard. After all, had someone not abducted his neighbors just last night? Nick would rather be safe than sorry.

Taking one step at a time, he moved stealth-like towards the hall. His heart pounded as his eyes scanned the back door and his worst fears were confirmed. One of the panes was broken - the one nearest the lock of the door, the blinds were bent at an awkward angle - no doubt by the person who had gained entry into his home, and the door was unlocked.

There was definitely someone here.

Nick stuck his head in the bathroom to make sure it was clear. There was no real place to hide in there anyway. Pressing his lips together tightly, he made his way to his bedroom and noticed immediately that his closet door was closed. He was fairly certain that he'd left the door open. Gripping the gun tightly in one hand, he reached forward to swing the door open.

A high-pitched scream ripped through the air and Nick jumped back, his heart pounding loudly. He pointed his gun at the figure cowering in his closet.

"Hands up!" he shouted.

The trembling figure complied and she stared at Nick with red, puffy eyes and a tear-stained face. It took him a few seconds to realize who she was.

"Donna? What are you doing in here? I could have shot you!" Nick was beside himself.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed, stepping out of the closet. "You weren't home and I couldn't wait outside. I didn't want to be seen."

"So you broke into my house?" Nick asked, exasperated.

"I was scared and I didn't know what to do! You've always been so nice to me and I thought maybe you could help me since you're a cop." Donna said frantically.

"Where have you been? Are you hurt? Do you know where your parents are? Are they hurt?" Nick lowered his gun as his anger was replaced by deep concern for the distraught young woman before him.

"I messed up, Mr. Stokes. I didn't know he was serious until it was too late. They're going to do bad things and those poor little children are so scared! You have to help them!" Donna babbled, clutching at his hand.

"Donna, I understand that you're upset, but in order for me to help you , I need you to slow down and tell me everything. Start at the beginning, okay?" Nick used a soothing tone as he brought the girl over to the bed and encouraged her to sit down.

"I guess it all started when I saw Nathan. I wasn't lying to Mr. Grissom when I said before that I didn't know where he was. I hadn't been in contact with him. I promise. He just showed up outside my window a few nights ago and wanted to talk. I know that I shouldn't have and that it was wrong given that I knew what he had done to his father, but I let him inside my room. He was all excited and started talking to me about how happy he was. He had found his true father or something like that. That part was a bit confusing and I didn't really understand what he was saying because he was talking so fast and kept pacing around the room. Anyway, he told me that he could introduce me to a man who would change my life, who knew how to help me be happy." Donna paused to wipe a few stray tears away from her eyes.

"Why were you unhappy?" Nick asked. He didn't know Donna all that well, just enough to say hi and engage her in small talk in passing, but she had never given him the impression of being continually unhappy.

"Because of my parents. They're never around and they never pay any attention to me except when they're finding fault. It's gotten worse over the past year. That's why when Nathan and I met, we connected so quickly. We both know what it's like to be unloved." She sniffed and looked away.

Her voice grew quiet as she continued to speak. "Nathan just looked so different. So happy. I wanted to feel that way too so I went with him. He took me to this house and introduced me to Levi and the others. Nathan told Levi all about me and how my parents treated me. Levi promised that he could make things better if I wanted him to and I said yes. At first, I thought Levi and everyone else were good people. They were so nice to me. They cared about me. But then I saw the children, Ally and Matt. They were so scared. They kept crying for their mom, but Martin wouldn't let them see her. I couldn't figure out why. Then last night Levi called for me and told me that the first step towards my healing was about to begin. He took me to this room where all these people were tied up. He pointed to each one of them and told me what they had done to deserve the punishment they were going to receive. One of the women was Ally and Matt's mom. She was screaming for her children. Then he brought my parents in all tied up and I got scared. Levi said that the earth had to be purged from people like my parents who were evil and didn't know how to love. He said that they had treated me unjustly and in a few days, they would pay for it. I didn't know what to do. I only just managed to slip away. I came straight here because I didn't know where else to go or who to trust. I knew you'd take me seriously."

At this, she became frantic once again. "I didn't know what he was going to do! I swear! I didn't know he was going to take my parents! Please do something! He's going to kill them! He's going to kill all of them!"

Nick fell silent, staring at Donna's face. The way she was pleading him with those big, brown eyes of hers made his heart ache for her. She needed his help and he would not abandon her. The concept of not helping someone in need was completely foreign to him. He couldn't let her down. Not now when she so desperately needed him.

Nick pressed his lips into a thin line of determination. "Take me to the house."