A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews, guys!
After a long night at the hospital waiting for a nurse to finish stitching up Sara's injured arm and remove all the tiny shards of brown glass from it, Nick had made a decision. He was not going to let Sara go home to her apartment alone that night...something just told him that was a bad idea. He was worried about her anyways...and this way he could keep an eye on her all through the night.
As Nick and Sara walked to Nick's Tahoe, Nick opened the passenger side door for her and waited for her to get inside. Without protest Sara got into the car and let Nick close the door, watching as he jogged around to the driver's side door and got inside. After his door was closed, he hesitated before speaking.
"Sara.." he started. "I'm...going to stay with you at your apartment tonight."
Sara blinked, turning to look over at him. "Why?"
"I want to keep an eye on you," he explained. "You were just attacked...so...I want to make sure you're alright."
Sara nodded slowly, turning and looking down at the floor. Part of her was telling her to object, to make him go home and tell him that she would be alright alone at her apartment. But the other part of her was telling her to let him stay with her, and that part of her won, because quite frankly she did not want to be alone at her empty apartment tonight, she was still a bit shooken up after what had happened. "Okay," she said quietly.
"Okay?" Nick asked, a bit shocked. He was expecting to have to argue to let her stay with him.
"Okay," Sara replied.
"Um...alright," Nick said. Turning the key in the ignition, he started the car up and they backed out of the parking lot. Nick thought about turning on the radio to see what Sara would do...she really hadn't talked much after they had left the hospital, and he was just getting more and more worried about her. Turning to look at her as they stopped at a red light, Nick looked down at her bandaged arm. Reaching a hand out toward it, he gently brushed his fingers against it.
"What are you doing?" Sara asked.
"I'm sorry that happened," Nick told her.
"It's fine," Sara assured him. "I've had worse."
Nick thought to ask her about her last statement, but instead decided against it. Running his fingers up and down, he saw the black stitches underneath the white bandages and moved his hand towards them. She winced and he quickly withdrew his hand. "Sorry!" he said. "Damn it, I keep hurting you.." he said, turning to look down at the steering wheel.
"Nick, it's okay," Sara told him. "I know you don't mean to," she said, looking at the road. "It's not a big deal."
"Okay.." Nick said, though he still felt a bit guilty. Pressing his foot down on the gas pedal, the car started moving again and they headed toward her apartment again. The rest of the ride was silent, and he pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, parking right in front of the building. "Do you have your key?" he asked her.
Sara nodded, handing him the key. "103," she told him. Nick took the key and got out of the car, walking up to the door in front of the car. To his surprise, he had actually parked right in front of her apartment, and motioned for her to follow him. She got out of the car and he opened the door up, walking inside. "Sorry.." Sara told Nick. "It's a little messy...I haven't had a chance to straighten up...you know, with the cases we've had lately, I've just been...a bit forgetful, I guess."
Nick looked around- the building looked pretty torn up, actually. There was a vase on the floor, shattered into pieces lying on the floor in a messy pile. Then there was a picture hung up on the wall, of Sara and what looked to be a family member standing next to each other. The glass on the frame had also been shattered, and the pieces lay at the bottom of wall.
Nick had seen places like this before, but only at crime-scenes. These sorts of surroundings had usually been where a body was found, and the angry piles of thrown around furniture and broken glass had been signs that a struggle had ensued against the victim and the perp.
"Sara?" Nick asked. "What happened?"
Sara shot him a small smile. "I was a bit clumsy last night.." she said. "I came in and I had forgotten to leave some lights on...and so when I was looking for the light switch I tripped and knocked that vase over.." she said, pointing to the vase on the floor.
"What...about that picture?" Nick asked, pointing to the broken picture frame.
"I...don't know," Sara said. Then quickly changing the subject, she said, "I'm going to take a shower, make yourself at home. The remote is- well, should be- near the couch somewhere.." she said, heading down the hallway. "I'll be out soon," she told him, closing the bathroom door behind her after grabbing a towel and washcloth.
Nick nodded and walked into the living room to search for the television remote. Looking under magazines and pillows, his search came up empty, and instead he headed into the kitchen. Searching through a cupboard, he found a package of coffee. Getting out a filter and the other necessary items, he poured water and the coffee into the machine and started brewing it. He walked over to the kitchen table and took a seat as he waited for the coffee to finish making.
The kitchen table was filled with newspapers and magazines. Nick flipped through them, hoping to find something to read as he waited for the coffee to finish brewing, when he saw something that caught his eye. It was a small manilla folder, looking to be a casefile, and he took it out from under the pile of newspapers and magazines to look at it. On it was a small note that read "Read and call me later". Who was 'me', Nick wondered?
Hearing the water in the shower still running, Nick opened the file to look through it. He looked at numerous pictures that appeared to be of a crime-scene; a gun found near a dumpster that was plastered with graffiti, a bag of cocaine found inside the dumpster, and another bag filled with marijuana behind the dumpster. Flipping through to the next page, Nick looked at photos of the suspects, Nick deducted. One picture was of an african-american male with black hair. The next photo was of a hispanic male with black hair and a thin mustache.
After flipping through about two more photos, Nick noticed that the third looked a bit odd. The man in the third photo was a tall man with a strong build. He had brown hair and dark brown eyes. Nick couldn't tell but see an odd resemblance to someone he knew in this man...and then looking closely at him, he noticed something- this man was Sara's trainer.
Getting up, Nick grabbed Sara's driver's license from off of the kitchen counter. Holding it up to the other picture, so that they were side-by-side, he made the comparison. The resemblance was obvious, anyone could tell.
Looking down at the picture again, Nick looked at the name of the man. It clearly read in black ink 'SIDLE, DANIEL'. That was all the proof that Nick needed. This was one of Sara's relatives, it had to be.
Lost in his train of thoughts, Nick failed to noticed that the water in the shower had stopped running. Sara walked into the kitchen drying her hair, dressed in her pajamas. "Did you make coffee?" Sara asked. "That sounds good." And then she saw the file he was looking at. Her face drained of color immediately, and she paused, almost dropping the towel she had been using to dry her hair with.
"Sara.." Nick said, looking up at her. "What is this?" he asked, pointing to the folder in his hand.
Sara quickly walked over to him, snatching the file from his hand and putting it on the counter. "It's nothing," she told him. "It's just a case Grissom is having me work on."
"Sara..." Nick said. "You're working a case with me right now, remember?" he asked.
"This is a cold case, Grissom wants me to try and look over the evidence again so we can get a conviction."
Nick sighed, dropping his head. "I saw the picture, Sar."
"What..picture?"
"The picture of Daniel Sidle."
Sara swallowed hard, looking down at the floor. "And?"
"Who is he, Sara?"
"It's not important."
"If he was involved in a criminal investigation, then yes, it is important," Nick told her.
"Don't worry about it," Sara said. "It's none of your business."
Nick sighed. "Sara...please?" he asked.
"He's my brother," Sara said. "He got in a bit of trouble and I'm trying to help prove he's innocent."
"Is he?" Nick asked.
"Of course he is," Sara told him.
"Alright..." Nick said. "When did you discover he was in trouble?"
"Last night," Sara said, walking over to the coffee machine and pouring herself a cup. "He came over hear and asked me to help him."
Nick thought for a minute- the night before was when all of the destruction in her apartment had apparently taken place. Did that mean...that her brother had something to do with it? "Did he do anything, Sara?" Nick asked.
"What do you mean?" Sara asked, taking a seat across from him.
"Did you two...argue?"
"No."
"Sar..." Nick said quietly.
"We didn't."
"I don't believe you," Nick said. "I think you did..." he told her. "And I think that's how you got that bruise on your forehead."
Sara sighed, looking down at her mug of coffee. "He didn't mean to, he was drunk."
"That doesn't justify what he did, he's your older brother, he shouldn't have hit you."
"I'm used to it."
"What..?" Nick asked.
"Nothing," Sara said quickly. "It's nothing.." she told him.
"Okay.." Nick said, though he didn't want to change the subject quite yet. "Why did you lie to me?" he asked her. "Why did you tell me you ran into a door?"
Sara laughed a little. "I was desperate for an excuse," she shrugged.
"Okay.." he said. "And...why did you lie to me about your trainer? I know he's your trainer."
Sara sighed. "I don't know."
Nick looked down at the floor. "Do you know who that man that attacked you tonight was?"
Sara was silent for a minute, before replying. "Yes."
"Who was he, Sara?"
"He was..." And then there was a knock at the door. "Hang on.." Sara said, walking over to the front door of her apartment. Opening it up, she and Nick were both surprised when the person outside the door lunged toward her and pushed her against the wall.
"Hey Sis." Right away Nick could tell who it was. "I told you to call me after you had read that file, and that was supposed to be this morning."
"I got busy," Sara told him. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sick of your apologies," Daniel hissed. "You were supposed to read it, that was our agreement. I told you there would be consequences if you didn't read it."
Sara sighed. "I know."
Daniel smiled, looking down at her arm. "I see you do," he told her. "So did you read it?"
"Yes."
"And you know what to do?"
"Danny, you know I can't.."
"Don't ever say you can't, Sara," Daniel said. "You know you can do it."
"I'm with the law, I can't do this!"
"All you have to do is plant a little evidence!" Daniel said. "That's it! And then deliver some drugs! Is that a big deal?" Sara didn't reply, looking down at the floor. "Is it?" he asked, slamming her against the wall again.
Sara winced. "No."
"That's right," Daniel told her. "So call me later, and I'll give you the instructions," he said, walking out the door. "Oh and Sara.." he said, poking his head back inside. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this." And then he slammed the door.
Sara sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around herself and sinking to the floor. Nick quickly ran over to her, kneeling down beside her.
"Sar..."
"Thank you for not letting him see you," Sara told him. "He would have lost it if he had."
"Sara..." Nick said. "I'm actually disappointed that I didn't do something...he could've really hurt you."
"It's okay.." Sara said. And then getting to her feet, she headed down the hallway. "I'm going to sleep," she told him, walking into her bedroom and closing the door behind her. Nick was about to say something but her door had already closed.