Disclaimer: You know… nothing to do with CSI

A/N: So I know this is really early, but I had extra time today to post this and I wanted to get it up. Please Review and enjoy! Thanks!

"What was that Nick?" Catherine had just watched from behind the windows, as Nick had held onto Kaitlin's crying figure. She had always known he was an empathetic person, but she knew where this was headed.

Nick knew it had been wrong. He had been sitting there, watching her, as her world crumbled. This was more than anyone could take or should take in his opinion. As soon as he saw her eyes well with tears, his mind seemed to detach itself from his body. Before he knew what he was doing, he was already kneeling on the floor, holding her.

"I don't know, Cath." It was all he could think of to say. He was wrong and he was getting way too attached to this girl than he should.

"I don't know what to do Nick. I mean, I don't think I need to tell you that what you did back there was more than comforting the victim."

"I know."

"These things happen Nick and it's our job to find out how and why."

Nick stopped in the middle of the corridor. He was lost in his own thoughts, not really listening to what she was reprimanding him on. He was just waiting for her to say the word; to take him off of the case.

"Nick, I've been there. You meet someone, you feel attracted to them, you think you can help them and in the process you end up falling for them harder. I'm not going to stand here and remind you of the repercussions of starting something with a victim; goodness knows I am really not the one to do so. All I am asking you to do is to stop and think about what is more important to you: your job or some girl."

Nick only could stand there as Catherine faded down the hall. She was right, his job was way too important for him to loose over his need for Kaitlin.

Kaitlin slowly walked up the driveway to her house. Her roommate had taken the driveway space and another random car was parked next to it, forcing Kaitlin to park along the street. It didn't really matter; it wasn't like they lived in a bad neighborhood.

As she walked in the door, the sound of her roommate laughing filled the apartment. Inside her roommate, Brandi, was sitting on the sofa with a guy Kaitlin had never met. Brandi was also a pretty girl. She had waist long brown hair. She had hazel eyes and was very petite. Kaitlin had always been a small girl, but next to Brandi, every girl looked fat. She was also tall; Kaitlin hated how tall she was. Brandi had always been boy crazy. Every week she had a new guy with her. Kaitlin had never been that way. She was defiantly a one man type of girl, and she usually laughed at her friend's antics.

Today, however, she just didn't feel like talking. It was a Thursday and she had the night off; all she really wanted to do was go shower, change into a pair of pajamas, and sleep for the rest of the night. Brandi had other plans, though.

"Katie! Where have you been all day?" Brandi had suddenly noticed that Kaitlin had walked through the front door.

"I was out." She didn't much feel like talking to Brandi right now. As much as Kaitlin loved Brandi, she didn't think Brandi was the person to talk to about this.

"Well, duh, I noticed that. Oh my gosh! I am so throwing a party tonight! I invited some of the other girls from work over and Darren is bringing some friends over." She indicated to the guy sitting next to her.

Kaitlin just looked at him and waved.

Oh, great, a party. I guess I'm not getting any sleep tonight.

"Look, Brandi, I just don't feel up to partying much tonight. I think I'm just gonna take a shower and head out for the night."

"Are you sure? It's gonna be a lot of fun. Lots of hot, single guys."

Kaitlin laughed. "No, trust me; you don't want me here tonight. I'll just be a few minutes and then I'll be gone. I'll find somewhere else to stay."

"Ok…but you're gonna miss a great night."

Brandi then walked back over to the couch and immediately started to make out with Darren.

Kaitlin walked into her bedroom and flipped on the light. It was a relief to be home. No matter how crazy her day had been, it was nice to know she could come home and feel comforted in the fact that this was her room. It wasn't something she could easily explain, but it was familiar territory.

Her room was very simple. The walls were white and her floor was dark hardwood. In the center, was her queen sized bed. It had a simple blue comforter laid on the top. Her walls were adorned with pictures of her friends and next to her bed was a picture of her and Brandi with Hugh Hefner. It was prized picture that she had had to make multiples of for Brandi. By some luck of the draw, she had landed the master bedroom of their shared house, therefore; she had her own shower in her room.

Kaitlin closed the door behind her and walked over into her bathroom. She flipped up the nozzle of the shower and fixed it so that the temperature was warm. She walked back into her bedroom and began to undress. She grabbed a towel out of her closet and walked back into the bathroom. She stepped into the steamed up shower and let the hot water stream down her body. She didn't know what to think anymore. She just felt numb.

Fifteen minutes later, Kaitlin stepped out of the steam filled bathroom. She wrapped the towel around herself tighter and walked over to her dresser. She pulled out a pair of underwear and reached into the next drawer to pull out a pair of pants. She had difficulty pulling the pants up herself, seeing as she was still wet, but all she really cared about was getting out of her house before anybody asked her to stay.

There was a knock on her door and Brandi's voice followed through.

"Hey, Kaitlin? Darren and I are gonna go run to the liquor store to get some stuff for tonight. We'll be back in about twenty minutes. If I don't see you before I leave, have a good night."

"You too." Kaitlin stared at the door, as if she were talking to Brandi directly.

Kaitlin walked into her closet to grab a shirt. She shifted the shirts along the railing and came across a dress that she had worn to her high school graduation. She pulled it out and stared at it. She suddenly began to think about that day. Her parents had been there, clapping for her, and taking picture after picture of her. She remembered the night her "father" had died. She remembered that she had been there to get pictures of her in this very dress. As she held the dress, memories of the day she had just had, came to the front. She hadn't realized it, but she had started to cry. Tears were falling out of her eyes and strolled down her cheeks. She only realized she had started to cry when one of the tears hit the red dress and stained it. Suddenly, Kaitlin felt angry. She was angry that she was letting this get to her. She was angry that her parents had lied to her for her whole life. She was angry that everything was going wrong in her life.

Kaitlin took the dress and threw it to the floor. She stormed out of her closet and took a picture from her wall of her and her mom. She slammed the picture frame into the floor and watched the glass break. She began to take every picture and everything that her parents had every given her, and she threw and destroyed them.

Out of breath, Kaitlin wiped at her face to rid it of tears. She looked around at the mess that she had created. She walked over to her bed, careful not to step in any broken glass, and picked up a pillow from her bed. She held the pillow to her face and screamed. She screamed for every lie her life had been, she screamed for every time her parents had told her they loved her. She screamed until her voice cracked and her throat hurt. She threw the pillow back onto the bed and stormed back into her closet. She took a shirt off of a hanger and pulled it on.

Outside, she breathed in the fresh air. She loved Vegas in the fall. It was comforting for some reason. She walked over to her car and turned the key. She u-turned her car in the middle of the street and sped down to the nearest bar she could find. She was going to drink away today.

Nick sat at the bar, drinking his beer, not paying attention to anything in particular. He had had a bad day. He was falling for a victim and his job was at stake. As much as he tried, he just couldn't get Kaitlin out of his head. He just wished life was less complicated. He sipped his beer again and sighed.

Kaitlin saw the bar from the street. She transferred into the left lane and turned into the shopping complex. She parked her car outside the bar and turned off the car. She pulled up her purse and checked inside her wallet. She needed to make sure she had brought her credit card; she was going to be drinking a lot tonight. She threw her wallet and her keys back into her purse and she pulled her phone out. She held down the power button and waited for the screen to go black. She then threw that into her cup holder. She opened her car door, locked up the car, and preceded into the bar.

The door of the bar opened and Nick shifted his gaze to it. He thought at first that he was imagining things, but he realized that Kaitlin had actually walked into the bar. He stared at her and waited for her to notice him. When she did, she walked over to him and took the seat beside him.

"You having a fantastic day too?" She looked into his eyes, knowing that she wasn't the only one suffering.

Nick snorted and pulled the beer back up to his lips.

"Can I get you a drink?" He looked at her as she nodded her yes.

"I'll have a Bacardi and Diet Coke."

Kaitlin sipped her drink while taking quick glances at the handsome and kind man sitting next to her.

"I wanted to thank you." She had blurted it out before she could stop herself.

"Yeah? For what?" He knew this was a bad idea, but he liked her sitting next to him.

"For being so understanding about this whole situation."

"I'm just doin' my job." He finished the rest of his beer and motioned for the bartender to bring him and Kaitlin another round.

"I don't know. Everybody else looked at me, like, 'Oh poor-kidnapped-girl.' You just looked at me, like, you knew what I was going through. I know you can't possibly have gone through this, but it's like something has happened to you that your co-workers haven't gone through. It makes you more empathetic to people. It really meant a lot to me."

Nick looked over at her and smiled. She was right, he was empathetic. She was also right that he had been through things the others had not. He had been buried alive, stalked, and slept with a woman who he thought he might love, only to find her dead the next morning. He had been molested as a small child and he knew all too well about people you thought you could trust, not being who you thought they were.

"What are you thinking about there cowboy?" She could see the clocks turning behind his eyes.

"I was just thinking. Nothing important." He looked down at his empty drink.

"Let me buy the next round." She motioned for the bartender to bring more drinks. She was starting to feel a little tipsy.

"So, what are the chances that I would run into you here? I mean there are lots of bars in Vegas, I work at one, and so the chance of us choosing the same one is weird." She knew she was rambling, but she didn't want him to leave, she liked his company.

"I live near here. I come here a lot actually." He wasn't meaning to sound curt, but he didn't want her to hear how drunk he was.

"Really? I live really close to here too."

"So what bar do you work at?" He really wanted to keep the conversation moving forward.

"Well, it's more of a club, but I work at the Playboy Club at the Palms."

Nick nearly choked on his drink. "You work there? You're a Playboy Bunny?" He really didn't want her to know how sexy he found that, but he was having trouble hiding it.

She laughed, used to the reaction she had just received.

"Yeah, I used to be an elementary school teacher, but there was more money in being a Bunny, and fewer hours to work. It wasn't even a competition."

"So, what's it like workin' there?" Now he was genuinely interested.

"Well, it's a lot of fun. I've made some really good friends there. My roommate, who I share my house with, she works there too. She's a bartender and I'm a welcome Bunny. I do get some criticism for working there. Like, people always ask me how I can walk around in such slutty clothes or how I can sleep at night because I am practically a prostitute…I sleep well. Girls are walking around town all the time in short skirts and cleavage baring shirts, I do the same thing pretty much, and I just get paid to do it." She finished down the rest of her drink and asked the bartender for another one.

"No, I think that's really hot, actually." He looked at her and smiled again. He felt like he was back in high school and talking to the prom queen.

As the night went on, Nick began to lay off the alcohol, and Kaitlin began to hit it harder. Nick had lost count of how many drinks she had had, but he did notice that she had switched from rum and Diet Coke to straight up rum. He knew she was about two drinks away from passing out.

"Maybe it's time I got you home." Nick walked over to her and offered her his hand. She slapped her hand into his and pulled herself off her chair.

"Oooookay." She drawled. She wasn't seeing straight.

"You are feelin' no pain right now. You said your house was around here? Can you remember where?" He looked at her as he said this and noticed that her eyes widened as he mentioned "home".

"Uh oh. I can't go home. Brandi is having a party and I don't want to be there. I told her I was gonna sleep somewhere else tonight. Maybe you should take me to a hotel. Let's go to the Palms! I work there." She was defiantly drunk. He thought she was cute. He knew it wasn't a good idea, but he had to ask.

"Why don't you just stay at my place tonight? I live right around here; it'll be quicker than drivin' you to a hotel on the Strip."

"Ok, Mr. Stokes. Oh, wait. Nick. Nick Stokes. You have a really cool name. Has anyone ever told you that?"

He laughed. Yeah, she was defiantly drunk and really cute.

"No, I don't believe I've ever heard that before."

"Well it is. It's kind of like stoked. Like every time I see you, I'm so stoked to see you. Only because you're really nice though. I don't just like you for your looks." She laughed and hopped off of the curb.

The two of them approached Nick's truck and after unlocking it, he opened the door for her. She laughed as he helped her into the truck and shut the door after her. He ran around to the other side and hopped inside himself. He turned on the ignition and Kaitlin immediately reached over to the radio.

"Ooh, we've gotta turn it to 97.5. It's not that I like the music they play, but I do feel like dancing."

She reached forward and turned up the volume. Nick laughed next to her as she began to drunkenly dance in her seat. He noted that, even though she was completely hammered, she could still dance really well.

As he pulled into his driveway, he turned off the ignition and turned to her.

"Ok, Katie, we're here." He reached over and unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. He walked over to her door and helped her out.

With his arm around her waist and her arm around his shoulder, he helped her up the pathway to his front door. He fumbled in his pocket for his keys and once he found them, he unlocked his door.

Walking in his front door with Kaitlin, his mind began to think. As bad of a situation he had put himself in, he knew he needed to right it. He looked at his couch and then over at the beautiful girl he had his arm around. He mentally laughed at how this situation had transpired a lot differently in his dreams.

"Let me show you to the bedroom. You can take my bed, and I'll take the couch." He started moving again towards his bedroom.

He opened his bedroom door and sat Kaitlin down on his bed. She looked up at him and frowned.

"You're not gonna sleep in the bed with me, Nick?" She whined.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Kaitlin." He looked down at her.

Kaitlin slowly stood up and looked Nick directly in his eyes. He noticed how blue they looked right now.

Kaitlin placed her hand onto his chest and began to move it up and around to his back. She leaned forward and began to kiss his neck. She lightly kissed and licked her way up to his jaw where her mouth settled onto his lips. He began to kiss her back and she slowly opened her mouth when she felt his tongue press against her lips. Nick reached around and placed his hand onto her hip, pulling her body closer to his. He could feel her pressing into him; he could feel how warm her body felt. Her lips continued to work his. Kaitlin moaned as she felt his hand move down to grasp her from behind. She needed more. Kaitlin pulled Nick by the collar of his shirt and pushed him back onto his bed. She rested herself on top of him.

Suddenly, Nick pulled back, rolled her over and climbed off of the bed. He looked down at her, lying on his bed. Kaitlin propped herself up on her elbows and looked up at Nick, confused.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't do this." It was a simple answer that he gave her. He hoped she would understand.

"Why? This feels right Nick. I need this." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kaitlin." He turned and walked out of his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"Fine!" She shouted through the door. She fumbled for the covers on his bed and pulled them up to her chest. As she lay there, she cried herself to sleep.

Behind the door, Nick stood there, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes and sighed. He looked down and noticed his problem. He took his back off the door and walked into the bathroom to relieve the problem. Then he walked over to his couch and fell asleep, hoping that she wouldn't be as angry with him when she awoke. He needed things to stay platonic between them; he still had a case to solve involving her.