An Unfair Act of Vengeance

Notes: I'm working hard to cover all the ground and get deeper into the plot, and the characters. If it turns out like I'm planning it could be anywhere from 10 to 15 chapters in the end, if not longer… Thanks for the reviews, they really helped keep me writing, hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Summary: Nick starts looking over his shoulder as he begins to think that all his encounters with some guy might be more than that. Sara and Greg accidentally overhear him talking about how he thinks he may have a stalker with Warrick, and he grows angry when they are reluctant to believe him. He tries to go to Grissom, but finds that his supervisor has been hiding a lot from him and he lets loose on his supervisor.

His small black Sedan sped along behind the large Denali. He thoroughly enjoyed watching the young CSI as he went about his daily routines, but today, when he had gone in for his checkup it had been the perfect opportunity. He must've looked over his shoulder at least a dozen times to see if I was still there… I wonder if that son of a bitch has even come to realize that I've been stalking him… He laughed mercilessly as he watched the CSI's Denali turn into a large parking lot.

Nick slowly coaxed himself to enter the club. The doctor had said that he could go back to his usual activities, but to take it a bit easy, and right now he really felt like he could use a little break from sitting around at home. He got in without a hitch, and soon found himself at the bar ordering a drink. His eyes wandered around to the various people in the club, but decided he was really just here for a few drinks. He decided to sit over in a fairly secluded corner of the club, and sat quietly taking occasional sips from his beer.

"You look lonely." An attractive redhead greeted Nick as he finished his beer. She sat down across from him without even asking if he was with anyone. They talked for a while, before she asked him to dance. Nick thought about it for a moment before he answered.

"Sure. I'd be glad to." Soon people encompassed them, and Nick pulled his companion towards him as they began to dance.

It was the perfect opportunity for him to get close to his prey without anyone noticing. He had asked some girl to dance, and smiled dubiously as they drew closer. Soon they were dancing right behind the CSI and some woman he had never seen before. You certainly have a way with the ladies don't you Nicky? Well, that's about to change… His elbow flew out behind him just as Nick began to spin the redhead under his arm leaving his chest exposed.

Nick clutched at his gut, where he still had to wear the bandages from the attack. He barely thought he glimpsed the man he kept seeing when he went out running, or even when he went to various stores. But he was brought back to the present by the redhead's questions.

"You alright? I don't think I've ever seen anyone in so much pain after someone accidentally elbowed them."

"Yeah, well it just so happens that I got injured there last week, and it's still sore."

"Injured, huh, what happened?"

Nick hesitated. He didn't want to see her eyes change from being interested in him to being put into some weird state of shock. Then decided that if she couldn't handle it then he didn't want to be around her anyway.

"I… uh… I got stabbed while working…"

And then it happened. Just as he predicted she had stopped dancing and just kind of stared at him blankly, before she looked at her watch and insisted that she had to leave. He didn't respond and simply turned around to make his way back to his table.

He left the club a few hours later. He hadn't had any more drinks, but he did get the chance to have two more women flirt with him, only to have them run away when they eventually found out that he had been stabbed. After that, everyone in the club seemed to know, and soon his little corner was completely empty. He could still see the stranger's failed attempts to look at him without him noticing. A few minutes later he decided he had had enough. He found himself fumbling for his keys, although he wasn't sure where he wanted to go. He took one more glance over his shoulder only to see that same guy peer at him from behind a corner before he disappeared.

Nick fished his phone out of his pocket.

"Grissom. Hey Nick. I'm a bit busy, but what do you want?"

"I uh… I was just calling because I saw a uh, a picture of a mourning dove, and uh, well it made me think, and I just wanted to say thanks for everything Grissom… You can't even understand how much you've helped me out recently."

"A mourning dove? A bird made you think to call me and tell me that?"

"Well… they… uh… s-symbolize the ability to mourn over the past, but also to look forward to the future…" Nick said, unable to hide his embarrassment.

"Nick, you really shouldn't be watching Animal Planet this late at night, you need some rest… I'll talk to you later, ok? Now get some rest." Nick didn't get a chance to respond before his supervisor hung up. He looked at the familiar buildings that he passed every day on his way to work, but after he thought about it he decided he was heading the wrong way. He pulled into the CSI parking lot, and looked at the still bustling building. It took a few moments to collect himself and to head inside.

Warrick stormed into the break room unable to hide his anger.

"What the hell are you doing here man?" He demanded as he saw Nick standing in the room. "You're not supposed to be here! And if you think I'm going to look the other way and let you try to come in to work before Grissom OKs it, then you're…"

"Would you just shut up before you stick your foot any farther into your mouth, man?"

Warrick immediately went silent. "You're right, I'm sorry, man, but this shift is really starting to get to me…"

"Yeah, it's ok, but I really needed to talk to someone…"

"Well, I suppose Grissom wouldn't mind me taking a break to talk to you."

"Ok, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I keep on seeing this same guypretty mucheverywhere I go. I've never really gotten agood look at him but I swear everytime I've been somewhere other than my house and looked over my shoulder he's been there, somewhere. And, I don't know how this could be a coincidence…"

"Look, Nicky, you're just tripping…"

"If I wasn't serious do you think I'd be here right now?" Nick replied harshly, and Warrick looked at him in surprise as he saw his friend grow visibly frustrated.

"Come on, Nick…" Warrick didn't finish when he saw that Nicky had turned and was staring intently at the door. He turned to see both Sara and Greg standing awkwardly with the door open, their mouths slightly open in surprise. Nick sighed.

"How much did you guys hear?" He demanded, refusing to be angry at them for accidentally hearing something.

"Uh, pretty much everything I guess…" Sara replied, embarrassed, and Nick put his hand to his forehead as the other two shifted uncomfortably.

"And, you think I'm crazy don't you?"

"Nick, you know we don't t-think that…" Greg tried to sound confident in his claim, but everyone in the room could tell that he had failed miserably. Nick shook his head, and moved towards the door.

"I'll talk to you guys later; I'm just going to go get something out of my locker, and then head home, oh, and do any of you know where Grissom is?"

"I last saw him talking to Archie about something, but I don't what it was about, your best bet would be to check with him." Sara sighed as she watched Nick pass quickly between them she almost added something, but decided against it.

"Don't push yourselves too hard, and I'm sorry for blowing up Warrick, you're probably right…" Nick offered them a smile, and hoped they could tell that he was being honest.

He walked past one of the labs only to overhear two workers talking. "Well, you know how Grissom always says: 'Suicide is the most selfish act anyone can commit.'" Nick let out a low sigh. His next stop was going to be to see Archie, and as he came up on the room he could see his supervisor bent over next to the much younger man. He swung the door open and froze.

The voice triggered an instant reaction. His eyes went wide as he took in the words, he couldn't close his mouth, and he could feel his arms begin to tremble. So breathe quick, breathe slow, put your gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. Any way you like, you're going to die here. Okay?

Perfect.

The last word… He hadn't heard it before… before when he was buried in that hellhole. Then it hit him, it wasn't just the word, it was who had said the word that mattered… That word meant that there was someone else out there; someone else out there was partly responsible for what had happened to him…

Grissom shook his head, and quickly stood to leave, if he wasn't out of the building and at the airport in thirty minutes he'd miss the whole thing, and then he'd be in a huge mess with Ecklie. His jaw dropped when he saw Nick standing in his way. This wasn't how he had wanted Nick to find out that someone else had been involved. A quick glance to his side showed that Archie had just seen the stricken man as well. The audio expert sat petrified in his chair; he didn't know what to say. Grissom began to reach for Nick's shoulder, but Nick jumped back.

Both could see the pain etched in the Texan's face, and they stood transfixed until Nick finally broke the awkward silence.

"What do you think of me Grissom?" Nick demanded quietly.

Grissom looked at Nick, this was definitely not what he had expected. He had expected yelling, he had expected some outburst, not a quiet, simple question… "I think you're a great CSI, that you're smart, intelligent, caring, empathetic yet professional, I think you underestimate yourself and your importance at times, but I know I've always respected your…"

Then it came. He never had the chance to finish before the other CSI seemed to explode.

"Cut the bull, man! You don't think any of that, and we both know it! Whenever I share some little fact you always assume that the only place I can learn it from is some TV show, you're always second guessing me, and most of the time you treat me like some child who doesn't belong here! As far as respect goes I'm starting to doubt you've ever respected me! If you really respected me you would've had the guts to just tell me there was another voice on that damn tape, you wouldn't have tried to hide it. I deserved to know about that voice just as soon as you did! And if you really thought that I was so selfless then why would you still be saying that 'suicide is the most selfish act a person can commit.' Do you really think that had you gotten to me any later than you did that I would've died from asphyxia or from anaphylactic shock? You know just as well as I do that I would've been lying in that damn tomb with a bullet in my head!"

Grissom was stunned. He couldn't avoid the Texan's dark brown eyes that told him just how furious the other man was. Nick's entire body was beginning to tremble; he tried to control himself, to fight back the tears that had welled up in his eyes. He knew he was going to fail miserably, but he didn't want to be anywhere near someone who could do this to him. He quickly turned and slammed the door wide open before aimlessly storming out into the hallway leaving both Grissom and Archie staring after him, both still unable to speak.

The young audio analyst finally broke the silence that seemed to drowning both of them.

"Aren't you going to go talk to him?"

"I think the last thing he needs right now is for me to search him out, I'll give him some space, and either way, I've got to leave now for the airport."

Archie looked at him in surprise, when he had asked the question he could hear how nervous and concerned his voice was, but Grissom… sounded like Grissom. Like he had no thoughts or cares about what had just happened…

Nick found himself sitting on the bench in front of his locker. He couldn't stop the tears, and buried his face in his hands. Why do I let him get to me? Why is what he thinks so important? But, didn't he already know the answer? He didn't know anymore, and it was almost an hour later before he decided to get the paper out of his locker.

He smiled from his dark corner as he watched the CSI break down. Tonight couldn't have gone any better, and he decided it was time to top everything off with a little bit of action. He took a few quick steps so that Nick could see his shadow looming over him. The fool never even noticed him.

Nick's eyes went wide as the heard a familiar click. The same click he had heard before when Amy Hendler had stuck a gun in his face all those years ago; the same click he had heard when Nigel Crane almost shot him before he had changed his mind and tried to shoot himself instead. That same click. The click made when someone cocked a gun…

"It's nice to see that some of you guys actually have emotions. Tell me, are you crying because four women just rejected you, or because your boss and friends rejected you?"

To Be Continued…

Chapter 5: Hopefully will be out soon, here is a short summary of what I plan for it to cover:

Catherine finds out that the 911 call came from Nick's house, she talks to Warrick who says that Nick went to talk to Grissom, she finds Archie, who says Nick and Grissom had a fight and Grissom just left. She looks for Nick, and see his locker open with the 'Crime Stopper' article that Nigel Crane had written, but is mysteriously knocked out. She manages to scratch her unseen assaulter, and when Greg wakes her up, they discover more wierd events that take them down a road they really don't want to follow. Nick is meanwhile still being held at gunpoint within a small closet somewhere in the CSI headquarters.

(If I'm lucky I might have it finished by later tonight, otherwise it'll be at least a daybefore it comes out...)