"Why didn't you save him?" Warrick turned and looked into Grissom's grey eyes before he walked away. Warrick fell to his knees and broke into tears.
Warrick opened his eyes and looked around. It took him a minute to realize he was in Nick's living room. He had fallen asleep in the recliner, and Nick was stretched out on the couch. Warrick let out a sigh of relief. Just a bad dream. Warrick got up and walked into the bathroom. Flicking on the light and looking into the mirror, he noticed his face was tear stained. He had actually cried in his sleep. He splashed ice cold water on his face and made his way back into the living room. The title screen for 'Bad Boys 2' was up, and he suddenly remembered watching the movie with Nick last night. They must have fallen asleep before it was over, because Warrick couldn't recall seeing Will Smith drive the bright yellow hummer down the hill of crack dealer's houses in Cuba - his favorite scene. The phone started ringing, waking Nick up. He rolled off the couch and landed on the floor with a thud.
"Really graceful." Warrick said with a laugh. Nick lightly punched him as he made his way to the phone in his bedroom.
"Hello? Oh, hey Catherine...Yeah sure, come over...Yes, I'm positive...I'm fine, really...Yeah, he's here, well, I don't know where he is but he's around here somwhere...Okay, see ya soon." Nick walked back out into the living room and sat back down on the couch. "Warrick, the teams coming over to visit." Nick yelled, and in return he received a playful slap on the back of his head from Warrick.
"I'm right behind you Columbo. No need to yell." Warrick walked around the couch back to his chair. "I'm starving...you hungry?"
"Yeah...I think we fell asleep before our pizza got here last night."
Warrick laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Warrick followed Nick into the kitchen and started looking through the cabinets as Nick searched the fridge. "Uhh...Nick..."
"I have no food." Nick finished the sentence for Warrick. "I think that's why we ordered pizza."
"Way to be Nick." Warrick clapped him on the shoulder and went back into the living room, followed by Nick. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Nick flipped through the channels. When they couldn't find anything worth pretending to watch, Nick clicked the tv off and threw the clicker on the coffee table. Warrick decided to break the tension. "No nightmares last night I hope."
"Actually, no. I might've, I just don't remember." Warrick nodded and looked down at the floor. Nick could tell something was wrong. "Did you?"
Warrick nodded slowly and looked up at Nick. "We were...at your funeral. It was raining and everyone was crying. After they lowered..." Warrick trailed off as Nick looked down. He knew what he meant without him even having to hear Warrick say it. "Everyone left except me and Grissom. It started raining harder and he asked me why...why I didn't save you."
"But you did save me." Nick said, walking over and kneeling next to Warrick.
"Not in my dream...you died in my dream because I didn't get to you in time...it was my fault you were down there in the first place..."
"No, Warrick it..."
Warrick cut him off. " 'Wasn't your fault.' That's all everyone keeps telling me, but it is. You didn't wanna go 2 outta 3 cuz I have a gambling problem..."
"No you don't. I was kidding bro."
"I know, but it's true. If I never did, then you wouldn't have said it and we woulda gone 2 outta 3."
"You still could have won Warrick...if I can't blame myself for everyone who got hurt before, you can't blame yourself for this."
"Watching you on that screen and knowing it shoulda been me was the worst feeling in the world...all I could do was watch. And when we thought we found you at the warehouse where Grissom dropped the ransom...it was just a fucking dog. I kicked a bucket of something and Greg..." Warrick let out a short laugh.
"I'm glad it was me and not you. I wouldn't change it even if I could. I wouldn't have been able to keep it together...I woulda lost it. As soon as we dug you up, I would have done something stupid like pull you out right away and blow everyone up."
"You wouldn't have gotten a chance too. I would have never made it as far as you."
"Yes you would have." Warrick didn't have a chance to argue. He was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Hey, maybe the pizza guy came back." Nick joked, standing and walking over to the door. He opened it to reveal Catherine, with the rest of the team behind. "Nope," Nick said, turning back to Warrick. "It's just Catherine." He said with mock disappointment. Catherine let herself in.
"You better have pizza. Dumbass over there fell asleep before the guy got here last night." Warrick joked, joining Nick to greet their guests.
"Me? You fell asleep too, why is it my fault?" Nick said as he let everyone else into his house and closed the door.
"Your house, your responsibility."
"Yeah, my money too." Warrick picked up a pillow and threw it at Nick, who dodged it easily.
"Is this how you always treat your guests?" Greg asked jokingly.
"He never has guests, so he's a little clueless as to what do to." Warrick replied. Grissom and Sara sat together on the love seat, Warrick went back to his chair and Catherine, Nick and Greg took the couch.
Catherine decided to break the awkward silence that was starting to build. "Sorry we couldn't come visit you in the hospital, the nurses weren't very cooperative with the visiting hours and we were really backed up at the lab."
"You yelling at all the nurses didn't help too much." Greg added, getting a slap on the shoulder from Catherine.
Nick laughed. "Don't worry about it. I was pretty drugged up anyway, wouldn't have been too fun to visit."
"Your skin looks good Nick...I expected there to be more scars or bites." Sara said carefully. Grissom gave her one of his 'What the hell?' looks and she just shrugged, but Nick took it in stride.
"Yeah I know. That cream or whatever they have at the hospital is like magical."
"Ya know Nick...the ants actually helped us find you. They helped narrow it down to a few nurseries."
"Gruesome Grissom." Everyone said in unison, and they all burst out in laughter. Grissom just shook his head and laughed. The conversation veered away from Nick's kidnapping and carried on easily. Warrick was surprised at how well Nick was pretending to be okay. He was laughing and keeping up his end of the conversation. But when he smiled, it was only his mouth smiling, not his eyes. Nick's eyes always gave him away, to Warrick at least. After a good hour of chit chat, the rest of the team had to get home and get some sleep before next shift. They all said their goodbye's and left, but Grissom hung back.
"Nick, I just wanted you to know you can take as much time off as you want. There's no rush. Don't come back until you're ready, okay?"
Nick nodded. "Thanks Griss."
"And you," Grissom said, turning to Warrick. "Same thing. I know how close you guys are." Nick and Warrick both smiled as Grissom left. As soon as the door was shut, though, Nick's smile faded, and on seeing this, Warrick's turned to a frown.
"What's wrong?"
"I uh...I don't know if I'm gonna go back to work." Nick said quietly.
Warrick's heart began beating faster. "What do you mean?"
"I...I'm too scared."
Warrick put his hands on Nick's shoulders and looked him right in the eye. "It's okay to be scared Nicky. It'll get better, just give it time."
"I've been scared since I was 9."
Warrick didn't know what to say to that, so he just pulled Nick into another hug.
"I'm sick of being scared."
"I know. But you can't let it stop you from doing something you love and you're so good at."
"I know..." There was another loud knock at the door. Nick pulled away and looked at Warrick.
"Maybe Greg forgot something...or it's really the pizza guy this time." Warrick offered. Nick laughed and went to the door. He opened it and an attractice brunette threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. Nick was startled at first, then realized who it was and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Jen! What are you doing here?"
"I came to visit my little brother, is that a crime?"
Nick stepped back and crossed his arms. "Mom called you, didn't she?"
Jen put her hands up in defeat. "Yeah. And thank God cuz you don't tell me anything anymore." She said, playfully punching Nick's shoulder.
"Don't make me beat on you."
"Awww Nicky...so cute, you thinking you could actually take me." Nick laughed and walked past her and grabbed her bag, bringing it into the other guest bedroom. "Nick, tell me again why you bought a three bedroom house..."
"Cuz it's closer to the lab, and so that my best friend and sister can stay with me at the same time." Jen looked at Warrick on the couch and put her hand over her mouth.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! How rude, I didn't even know you were there...I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Warrick said with a laugh, getting up and walking over to Jen with an outstretched hand. "I'm..."
"Warrick. Nick's told me about you. I'm Jen, and Nick's rude."
Nick appeared at the end of the hall. "What the hell did I do?"
"You just let me walk in and didn't even introduce me to your best friend. Real nice." Nick rolled his eyes and sat on the couch. Jen took a seat on the love seat across from Nick, and Warrick again went back to his chair next to Jen. "So, Nick...are you okay? That must have been horrible..."
"I'm fine."
"No you're not, don't lie." Warrick was a little surprised Jen would call him on that. "I know you all too well Nick."
"Then why do you ask questions when you already know the answer?" Nick said with a smile.
Jen shrugged. "Because I can, and I want you to tell me the truth. You never call me anymore, we haven't talked since Christmas."
"Why do I always have to call you?" Warrick couldn't keep the smile off his face. He didn't have any brothers or sisters, and it made him happy to see Nick was so close with one of his. "You're always working anyway. She's a lawyer." Nick said to Warrick.
"Oh man." Warrick said. "I hate lawyers." he said, half joking.
"Yeah, that's okay. I really don't like CSIs either." She shot back.
"A little heads up Rick...you will never beat her in a verbal fight, so don't try."
"I'll keep that in mind." Warrick replied.
"In my defense," Jen said, holding up her hands. "I'm a prosecuting attorney. So we kinda are on the same side."
"Right." Nick and Warrick said together. Nick got up went into the kitchen and made some coffee. "I hope you're not hungry...I have no food."
"And I'm not surprised." Jen said, accepeting the coffee from Nick as he handed the another cup to Warrick.
"But you always have coffee." Warrick said matter of factly.
"A CSIs best friend. I stole this from Greg's secret stash...if he finds out, I'm dead." They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying their Blue Hawaiin coffee. "So how long are you staying Jen?" Nick asked.
Jen took another sip of coffee before answering. "Only 2 days. I have to be in San Francisco by Wednesday for a conference."
"And Jay gets the kids? That should be interesting."
Warrick turned to Jen. "How many kids do you have?"
"Two." Jen answered proudly. "Jen, she's 10, and Nick, he's 6." Warrick looked at Nick and he laughed, along with Jen. "It was my husband's idea. He thinks it's so awesome how they're 4 years apart, and so are me and Nick."
"Is he psychic?"
Jen laughed. "No. He wanted to name our first child after me because it was a girl, then 4 years later when a boy was born, he thought it'd be perfect to name him Nick. He get's amused easily."
"Is he a lawyer too?" Warrick said playfully.
Jen hit him with a pillow. "No, he's a doctor." Nick was so happy Warrick and Jen were getting along. He knew they would, it was just comforting to see it. "Speaking of Jay, him and the kids say hi and hope you feel better soon. And if you send Nick a box of candy for his brithday ever again, I'll kill you.
Nick laughed. "I asked him 10 times what he wanted, and all he said was candy, so I gave him candy."
"He ate it all in one night and wouldn't sit still for like 3 days."
" 'Atta boy."
Jen rolled her eyes and turned back to Warrick. "So are you married?"
"Nah. Just a girlfriend, Tina."
"At least your dating." Jen said, turning back to Nick, who had suddenly fallen asleep on the couch. "Is he okay?" She said, worry filling her voice.
"Yeah. The meds he's taking for the ant venom or whatever makes him tired. Plus he hasn't slept much these last few days...nightmares."
Jen put her hand on Warrick's arm and smiled warmly. Her smile reminded Warrick of Nick's. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Being such a good friend to Nick."
"It's my pleasure." Warrick said, smiling. "So what was he like as a kid?"
"He was always dependable." Warrick had a flashback to when Nick said he was "just dependable" in high school. "Whenever me or one of our older siblings would have a party when our parents were gone and we'd oversleep or pass out, he'd always wake up early and clean up so they never knew." Jen smiled. "He absolutly loved horses. He rode everyday. Him and Matt, our older brother, were always playing baseball or tormenting the rest of us."
"How many of you are there?" Warrick said laughing.
"Seven. Kelsey and Kristin are the oldest, twins. Then Jill, Matt, me, Abbey and Nick."
"Youngest of 7."
"Yeah."
"And I take it you two are the closest?"
"Yeah. We actually shared a room. Our ranch was huge, but just one room too small for a family of nine. He was supposed to share a room with Matt, but he never shared anything. He still doesn't." Warrick smiled. "Most people would think sharing a room with a boy would be too annoying for a girl, especially a younger brother. But he was fun." Jen's smile widened and you could see in her eyes she was recalling a lot of happy memories. "I remember when I was a junior...I was so excited to go to prom. It's all I thought about all year. Then...probably the week before...my dad found my teeny tiny bag of weed in a shoebox in our closet, and Nick was only 13 so my dad correctly assumed it was mine." Warrick was shocked. Jen definitly didn't seem like the kind of girl who did drugs in high school. "Don't worry. I wasn't a druggie or anything. It was just stupid peer pressure. I only did it once and I got sick so I hid the rest in my closet. Anyway, my dad freaked. He started yelling 'No car, no phone, no tv, no PROM.' Nick didn't even hesitate. He told my dad it was his. My dad's a judge and can usually tell when someone's lying, but Nick pulled it off. He kicked me when I tried to argue. He was grounded for an entire year, and to this day my parents still hold it against him sometimes. " Jen's eyes slightly watered. "And when I asked him how I could repay him, he said have fun at the prom, and to promise him I'd never do it again."
"That sounds like Nick." Warrick said.
"Yeah. He always put everyone else before him. When a younger kid would be getting beat up or pushed into a locker, Nick would always stand up for him. On Senior Tag Day at our school, when all the seniors would chase the freshmen after school with shaving cream and water balloons filled with God knows what...Nick was on their team and helped them hide."
"He's always been so kind...he's such a good person, and no one cuts him a break. They stalk him...push him out of windows...and bury him alive." Warrick said shaking his head.
"At least he has you."
