Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to CSI or it's affiliates. I am merely a fan whose would like to take already established characters into a story of my own rendering.

Heed

Chapter 3 Heed the Desperate

Nick was known on occasion to exaggerate. Think of the big fish tale. Sara was always amused to listen to Nick's stories of home and growing up with a large family all around him. He could make a three hour road trip to Houston turn into an epic adventure with dragons, fairies and ugly wart-covered witches (who's parts were usually played by the sister he was most annoyed with at the time).

So when Nick said the phrase "Hole in the Wall", Sara just assumed he was exaggerating. But when they drove up to the place, Sara realized that Nick hadn't exaggerated enough. Nick park the SUV in one of only five parking spots that surrounded a door with a small sign over it: Marty's.

Sara got out of the passager's side and gaped at the place for a minute. "Wow Nick, when you say 'hole in the wall', you really meant it.

"Yes, there are times that I do not lie or stretch the truth." Nick replied as he met her behind the Denali with a coy smile on his face. "But don't worry, Today's Tuesday. Marty has the exterminators out here on Mondays. All the roaches ought to be dead by now." Sara punched him lightly on the shoulder as the two moved towards the entrance.

Inside, Marty's wasn't much to look at, but it was quaint at the same time. Dimly lit, the room was filled with three booths off to the left, two booths to the right and a few tables scattered in between. In the back, there was a short bar and four stools. Off to the right was a small one door entrance to what was probably the kitchen.

There weren't many patrons inside except two men drinking at the bar, and another man drinking alone in the middle booth to the left. Sara looked at Nick who, it turn, ushered her towards the first booth on the right. They sat on either side and both were quiet as a woman approached them. She was in her mid-fifties and was probably really pretty at one time, but a hard life dealing with drugs and drinks and dirty men had made her appearance hard. But one look at Nick, she softened slightly and a small smile crept on her weathered face.

"Well, if it isn't my crime-fighting Nicky." She said with a cracking voice. "It's been a while." She turned to see Sara and she slapped the top of Nick's shoulder. "Brought himself a girl to this joint. It must be love."

The two CSIs turned red and both immediately denied any relationship. Sara started to sink lower into her seat. Nick saw and decided it was time to order. "Sorry, Sugar, but Sara's just a coworker who loves waffles, so naturally I brought her to the best waffle-house in town."

The woman straightened up a bit in pride. "It my own recipe too." But she remembered her customers and pulled out a small pad to write the orders on. "So is it waffles all around or are we having anything else."

"I think we need some strawberries to top and an order of biscuits with lots of jelly. I think pancakes too with syrup on the side. Sara, can you think of anything else?" Nick looked across the booth at Sara, who was staring at the booth's table and trying to figure out how everything was going to fit.

Sara looked up and smiled weakly. "I think that'll do. Otherwise we might bring down the table."

The woman wrote down the orders. "Allrighty, it'll be just a few minutes. I'll bring out a pitcher of orange juice while you wait."

"Thanks, Sugar." Nick replied.

"Sugar?" Sara said with one eyebrow raised.

"It's her name. She said her parents named her that because they thought she looked so sweet. They were miners outside of Reno. She met Marty at the annual Christmas party when she was sixteen. The got married two years later and moved to Vegas to start a restaurant. Turn out Marty's quite the chef. They started out small, kinda like this place and made pretty good money. They opened a new place and even had some hotels wanting Marty's to cook for them." Nick paused for a minute and looked at Sugar, who returned with the orange juice and two crystal glasses that were a bit too fancy for this place.

Nick picked up his glass. "As you can see, they did very well." He looked around to make sure that Sugar and Marty were no where to be seen, then continued, "Sadly, they both got involved with drugs and drinking. They started to run out of money so Sugar started dancing in the back of the restaurant for extra money to keep the place up. Marty found out and was devastated. So he and Sugar went to counseling and rehab. They closed the large restaurant and opened this small joint here about ten years ago and have been here ever since. Marty says it pays the bills and for their son, James, to go to college, so they're happy."

Sara was quiet for a moment. Her thought were consuming her. Nick didn't disturb her and poured himself a glass of juice. Several minutes went by before Sara snapped out of her daydream just in time to see the food arrive. Marty helped deliver the meal and introduced himself to Sara, claiming Nick was the reason James was going to college. Nick just smiled and soon, the older couple moved away.

Nick and Sara ate in a comfortable silence for half the meal, each enjoying the food and the company. Then they started to talk. They spoke of work and cases and Nick spoke of his family and the time he spent as a Dallas police officer.

"So what about the mysterious Sara Sidle?" Nick said in between bites. "Will anyone ever know about her past?"

Again, Sara's mind drifted away. But this time, she spoke of what she saw. "My parents owned a large house that they made into a bed and breakfast. When I was old enough, I started to help out by cleaning the sheets and resetting the rooms. My older brother helped out in the kitchen. My dad could cook like no one else in town. The restaurant they had on the bottom floor was a famous local attraction. It's a shame he could never enjoy it."

"Why?" Nick asked.

"He drank. I suppose my parents' story isn't all that different from Sugar and Marty. Except it was mostly my dad, and not both of them. He drank and started to beat on my mom and brother. I think that's why most of my chores were upstairs. He didn't go there much. He always hit mom and my brother in the kitchen."

Sara was silent as she remembered that fateful night. "One night, my mom had enough. So she picked up a knife and stabbed him. I heard screaming like I'd never heard before and ran downstairs to the kitchen. We had only a handful of guests that night, so it wasn't as many witnesses as it could have been."

"Nick, I saw my mother drop the knife." Sara's eyes widened and her pupils dilated slightly as she remembered. "Two of the men staying in the hotel sepearted her from my dad, who was lying in his blood on the floor. This woman call the police and this elderly couple who stayed once a month found my brother in the cupboard and me standing over my dad and took us to the living room. The police came. It was open and shut. They didn't care it if was self-defense."

Sara's expression change again to a solom look as she finished. "We were taken to foster care and were soon separated. I've hardly seen or spoken to my brother since. I've only visited my mom a few times, but all the counselors advised it would be best if I didn't."

"Wow, that's a lot to handle." was the only response that Nick could muster.

Sara looked at him and smiled weakly. "I wish I had a family to call like you do. I wish I wasn't so scared of getting hurt that I kept friends to hand out with. I don't know why my did drank, but drinking is my release. It just lets me forget and since I don't have anyone around to hurt, it's ok."

Nick's face clouded slightly, "That's a sad excuse. What about work? One day, you're going to be too drunk to work and all you'll get is trouble. I don't think Sara Sidle is the kind of person to lose her job over a pitiful like she feels like she needs to drink away!"

"You don't know me. You don't know what's best for me!" Sara was getting angry. Nick looked around and saw that the other people in the tiny room were starting to stare. He quickly dropped several bills on the table and took Sara's hand. She realized this wasn't the place to argue so she allowed herself to be moved towards the exit.

As if in a movie, it had started to rain. The sun was completely hidden by the clouds as the rain fell like pebbles straight down due to the lack of substantial wind. Nick and Sara quickly made their way into the SUV and Nick started to drive towards Sara's apartment.

"Do you really think so little of your coworkers...of me...to think that we wouldn't want to help you?" Nick said in a flat tone. He pulled into a guest parking spot in Sara's complex and turned off the engine. "Don't you think we care about you? That we want to help you? I'm sorry what happened to your family. It's a shame that you didn't get a normal childhood. It's a shame you feel all alone."

Nick looked straight at Sara. He'd unbuckled his seatbelt and noticed Sara had done the same He also noticed her hand on the door handle. "It's a shame you don't let anyone get close to you so you can continue on the path your father started."

Sara opened the door and tried to get out, but Nick was prepared and took hold of her other hand. "Let me go, Nick! Let me go!"

Sara struggled until Nick let go of his grip. She stared at him for a brief second, wild-eyed and frightened. Then she rushed out of the SUV and headed towards the courtyard in the back of the complex. Nick quickly followed her. He found her sitting on a stone bench hunched over and crying. He ran to her and sat down next to his friend. Taking her into his arms, Sara struggled for a moment before just letting it all out.

As the rain continued to fall, they sat in silence in the darkened daylight, drenched, but neither cared. They didn't want to lose the connection that both had made. Finally, Sara moved under Nick's weight. Nick moved back slightly and adjusted his body on the bench.

"I was molested when I was nine." Nick said, breaking the silence. The rain started to stop and the sun was slowly creeping out through the clouds. "She was a last minute babysitter. I didn't know what to do, so I just let her. I never told my family. Only my counselor, Grissom, and Catherine know. And now you."

"Why me?" Sara said simply.

"Because you need to know that you're not the only one who feels alone sometimes. It's so hard to get close to women and have a real relationship. I scared I'll get hurt again. So I just have a one night stands. I hurt them to get back at that bitch who took my innocence." Nick's face became clouded again.

"Then I saw hell in the form of a plastic coffin. Sara, I wanted to die. I want to shoot myself and die." Nick and Sara's eyes met. Nick's looked sad and Sara's concerned. "But I started to think. I didn't want my life to end like that. I wanted to have a chance to live. Start really dating. Get married, have a family. I couldn't pity myself any longer. In the end, you're dead. That's it! There's nothing else you can do on this earth at that point. People are only going to remember what you did, not what you could have done. Get it?"

"It's sounds pretty, Nick. It really does. But what have you done since then. It's been almost a year and you'll still seemed trapped by your deamons. Sara's voice was bitter. "Can you really say you've done anything to change who you were before.

"Not on the outside, not yet." Nick replied. "But on the inside, I know what I want."

"So?" Sara stood up and faced Nick, "Inside, I know what I want too. But no one sees that. You just said when you're dead, that's it. You got your second chance, Stokes! Why don't you use it?"

"OK, I will." Nick stood up and in one swift movement, took Sara into his arms and kissed her.