A/N: Okay...this is kinda pointless but, I just thought I'd let everyone know that there may or may not be a temporary hiatus in all of my stories...I'm moving at the end of September, so around late September/ early-mid October I won't have any updates...this is only temporary and I'm unsure it will even happen. (I'm definitely moving I just don't know if it'll cause a problem on my stories...)
–FMCSI60
Okay, in regards to the book...ready for some CSI/Nicky angst? I was really fluffy in the last two chapters so I thought I'd angst it up! And yes, you'll hear a lot from the CSI characters in the next few chapters...we're goin into a case! Oh yeah! –jumps up and down excitedly at the thought of a CSI case—
...Yea I know...I'm a looser.
Spoilers: Okay...um...Grave Danger and Bodies in Motion...yup that's it.
Rating: M (incase anyone forgot). For mature themes, language, violence, and all the CSI stuff... –rolls eyes—I know, I sound so professional don't I? XD
Disclaimer: I own no one in the show... (See last chapter for list of people I own even though most of them probably won't be in these next few chapters) C'mon...do I really look like I'd own CSI or any songs in here...? Didn't think so. And just so everyone knows...we're starting out the chapter with my favorite word! XD (JK, JK)
Chapter 13
(Three weeks and two days later- May 17, 2006)
"Fuck!" Nick exclaimed and threw the case file down on the table with a slam. Warrick was passing by when the outburst occurred, and poked his head in the room curiously.
"Tough case Nicky?" Warrick asked, coming completely into the room while sipping his coffee and flipping through his own case file.
"There is no evidence...there is no evidence at all 'Rick...none." Nick said defeated and leaned forward on the table, his fists supporting him on the cold metal. He could feel the silver ring on his hand scraping against the table, and no doubt were transferring paint chips to one another. The sound of the metal on metal abrade sent a chill up Nick's spine and he leaned off the table and sat back down in his chair...he was now out of view of the ghastly photos of the lurid crime scene.
Warrick took one look at the photos and sighed. "The Pin-up Rapist...I forgot you were workin the case..."
"Thank you Grissom." The Texan mumbled and Warrick sighed and sat down in the chair opposite his brother, sliding the photos towards himself. The Pin-up Rapist had come out of the woodwork about a month, and killed women sporadically...yet all of the rapes/killings were meticulously planned and atrocious...
"All girls, young, 19-25, tall for their age, similar builds, never blonde, always light colored eyes, living within a thirty mile radius of the lab...most of them lived with a few other people, worked nights or swing...pretty..."
Nick didn't respond...these were all things he knew.
"Every house was broken into but we never figured out how, the girls were raped, beaten, raped again, tortured, raped a third time, and finally...strangled."
"With bare hands...no distinct ligature marks, only bruises. Doc said the normality of him seeing bruises like these in strangulation was when it was done without a weapon..." Nick added.
"All the girls were drugged before the third rape with neurocardiogenic syncope, a drug that causes hypotension and bradycardia...what I don't get is why it's after the third rape and not the second or first..."
Nick ran his fingers through his shaggy brown hair and sighed agitatedly. "Because the sick bastard gets off on women fighting back..."
Warrick processed the information and turned to look at Nick, the Texan's case photos still in his hands. "Nick..." He looked at Warrick. "Remember that high profile serial rapist about five years back...? The Strip Strangler...uh...Sid Goggle?" Nick nodded, looking back at the case file but not really reading the words. He nodded and Warrick continued. "Girls beaten, raped multiple times, tortured, strangled, and then posed as pin-ups...maybe this guy-"
"Nah, I already checked on it. Goggle's still in jail, he had no family or friends. No enemies either...this guy's new and following Goggle's example."
"Maybe he read about it in the news...it was high profile."
"But that was almost five years ago...why now?" Nick asked and Warrick sighed. "And how the hell did he get into the girl's houses?" Nick grumbled, getting restless all over again.
"Well, he didn't get in the window like Goggle did...no forced entry...hey, you know, Goggle stalked these women and learned all about them...he knew their habits and routines and how much time he had to get in and out of there. If this new guy is following Goggle's example than maybe he did the same thing..."
"But that still doesn't explain the why or how."
Warrick stole a quick glance at Nick. He had an idea of how it probably happened...but he figured it wasn't wise to bring up his theory of the women being stalked in front of Nick. Catherine was working the case with Nick, Warrick would just relay his theory to her and then she could...
"Rick?"
"Huh?"
"I said what do you think? The wheels in your head were disrupting the peace in the lab..." Warrick couldn't get out of this, but he didn't want to tell Nick his theory...and he didn't really have to. "What if he got in through the attics...?" Nick asked softly, mirroring Warrick's thoughts. "Maybe...maybe he got in because they let him in...like...like Nigel." Nick suggested and Warrick sighed and nodded.
"M-Maybe..."
"It would make sense..."
"Did you check the attics?"
Nick shook his head. "Nah, there wasn't a reason...till now." They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Nick finally stood and left. "Thanks Rick."
--The bar thingy doesn't work...insert stupid bar thingy here...FYI, this is the next morning about 4 a.m.--
"Bryn Riley-Ann, get your lazy ass out of bed." Kiersten ordered and Riley growled and threw the blankets over her head.
"Noooo. Go away." She moaned sleepily.
"Riley, get up now."
"Why?"
"Because Nick's here and he needs you." Kiersten replied and Riley sat up quickly.
"What's wrong? Is he okay? Why didn't he come up here?" Riley fired off questions and the brunette waved them away.
"He uh...he couldn't make it up the stairs." Riley cocked an eyebrow and Kiersten sighed. "Just come look for yourself." She surpassed a chuckle and Riley crawled out of her bed and slid on a pair of jeans. She followed Kiersten down the stairs and her hand flew to her mouth to control her laughter when she saw what was going on in the living room.
"Oh my God!" She tried to control her laughter as she neared the men all in the living room, Nick being their center of attention. "What the Hell did y'all do to him?" She exclaimed as she neared her boyfriend in the frilly pink dress. "And whose dress is that!"
The guys only laughed and continued applying makeup to the extremely giddy and drunk Texan. "Relax Ry, its Porsche's makeup and Jon's mom's prom dress." Shaun joked. "She was the only girl we knew whose dress would fit Nick."
"Burn!" Tony exclaimed as Jon punched Shaun in the shoulder and then Tony. "Ow!"
Riley shook her head and sighed just as Nick turned to look at her and smile. "Hi Baby..." He drawled and Riley tried so hard not to laugh at the sight of her drunk-off-his-ass boyfriend in a frilly, lacey, poofy, pink prom dress, smeared makeup, and longer than normal long hair in clips. "Do I look pretty?" He asked and the men all hooted in laughter as Riley blushed.
"Um...sure..."
"Am I a pretty girl?" He asked and Riley almost doubled over laughing.
"Sweetie, I don't know...I don't swing that way."
"Oh...yeah..." He gave a goofy laugh. "I forgot." He looked over at Sal. "Sal, am I pretty?" He asked and Riley gripped her sides from laughing as she looked at Sal. Sal shot her a smirk saying, 'I told you he's gay' and then back to Nick.
"Sure." He answered and Nick smiled triumphantly.
"Okay." Riley said waving her hands. "Whose idea was this?" She had seemed to get a hold of herself and wanted to get to the bottom of this before the men whipped out their cameras.
The men all looked at each other, then back to her, devious grins adorning all of their faces. "Deven." They answered in unison and Riley drew in a deep breath and turned to look at Kiersten, Porsche, and Emma all standing on the side lines. They all pointed towards the front door as it opened. All attention was on Deven as he walked in the house, smiling mischievously, holding a few bags from a local pharmacy store, no doubt filled with more things for humiliating Nick.
He pulled out a can of spray on pink hair dye and laughed evilly until he looked up and saw Riley. "AH! Um...hey Ry." He said innocently. "What's goin on?"
"Ah, nothin, you know...just the usual day of my boyfriend drunk off his ass and dressed like a bad prom date from the sixties." She said simply and Deven cracked a smile. "Shoe!" Riley demanded and Kiersten tossed her her shoe as Deven dropped the bags and hauled ass. "Get your cowardly ass back here you son of a bitch!" Riley demanded as she chased him through the house.
"What's goin on?" Nick slurred, looking around confused.
Jabari laughed. "Your girlfriend's chasin her ex around the house, threatening to bludgeon him with a shoe."
"Oh no! That doesn't sound good..." Nick said shaking his head. "She doesn't know how to dispose of a body. I should help her..." He concluded and the guys all laughed as Nick tried to stand up, the stiletto stripper heels getting in his way. He stumbled as he tried to get up. "Hang on Cookie Lips! I'm comin!" He drawled, his voice cracking and all the men were rolling on the floor laughing while pulling out their cell phones and snapping pictures and recording it.
"Don't let him up! He'll break his ankle!" Emma scolded.
The men were too busy laughing to respond.
"Do y'all want Riley on your asses for making her boyfriend break his ankle?" Kiersten asked and all laughter ceased immediately. They looked between each other torn between seeing how funny this would be, or the greatly feared wrath of Riley. After all, Hell hath no fury like a pissed of Southern woman!
"Take off your shoes Nick!" CJ ordered and Nick took off the stilettos, and finally stood up, only to fall back over. He sat on the ground for a few moments before shrieking (in a very unmanly way, only making the situation funnier).
"I'm falling!" He yelled, several minutes after he had actually fallen over. The men laughed harder and Deven appeared back into view, running and scared as Hell that Riley would actually hurt him, which she would.
"Your ass is mine Guisens!" She threatened, using his last name for dramatic affect. She tackled him to the couch and started beating him with a pillow.
He shielded himself, not really minding the fact that she was madder than Rabbi in a deli, so much for the fact that she was practically straddling him and pinning him with her knees. He laughed and 'tried' to wrestle her off him. He grabbed her ass in the process and she punched him in the shoulder as all the men, excluding Nick (who wasn't really that manly at the moment anyway) 'Oooooh'd like second graders. Deven laughed harder until she stood up and kicked him in the side.
"What the Hell is your problem?" She asked after having calming down quite a bit.
"What?" he asked innocently. "Are you worried your 'man' isn't that secure in his sexuality to handle wearing a dress?" Deven joked as everyone did the second-grade-chorus yet again and Riley narrowed her eyes.
"Good God man, don't anger it." Kiersten warned.
"Excuse me, but when's the last time any of y'all put on a dress and makeup and still managed to successfully maintain your sexuality?"
Troy laughed. "Actually, I think that's how I realized I was gay."
Everyone laughed, and even Riley cracked a smile. "Well, you never know Ry, if he is gay...good news for Sal." Pot Roast joked and Sal gave a thumbs-up.
Riley sighed and shook her head. "What is he even doing here?" Riley asked. "How'd he get here from the bar?"
"Jabari was getting off work when Thomas and Tony found him drunker than a skunk singing Lucky Too by Bob Neuwirth for Karaoke Night at the bar." Shaun began to exclaim.
"We didn't know where he lived, so we brought him here..." Thomas explained.
"And then we played dress up..." Deven finished and Riley shot him a glare.
"I can see that." She snapped.
"Aw, Sugar Dumplin, don't worry, I've worn dresses and make up before..." Nick explained and all the men howled in laughter as Riley rubbed her head in a stressed notion. This was a diverse situation...she was use to turning gay men straight...not straight men gay.
"Yay!" Sal exclaimed and Riley rolled her eyes.
"He has five sisters Sal, and he's the youngest in the family...you do the math. I doubt whatever scenario you had playing out in your head is very far from the truth." Riley exclaimed and Sal sighed dejectedly. "Alright...I need someone to help me get him upstairs."
"I got it Ry." Jon stood up and the 6'2 250 pound boxer walked over to Nick and threw him over his shoulder.
"Ahh! I'm falling!" Nick exclaimed and the men laughed again as the giant carried him up the stairs, Riley tagging along behind.
--The stupid bar thingy still doesn't work so use your fantastical imaginations and insert the bar thingy here--
Riley laid Nick in her bed and sighed at the sight of the already half asleep man. He had sobered up quite a bit after the shower he had to have in order to wash the makeup off and hairspray out of his hair. It had been tempting not to try something with him in shower (especially since he had mastered the art of standing), and with the water trickling down his chiseled body, and his constant attempts on her. And whenever she would give him a look and push his hands away with a smile on her face, he would give her a playful pout, making her want to take him right then and there in her shower.
But she knew they still had to talk, a task apparently that would wait until he woke up. She smiled and crawled into the bed with him, cuddling up against him and holding him in her arms. Getting to sleep would be a difficult task considering her current state of supreme 'frustration' and her hotter-than-hell boyfriend laying next to her in bed, naked as the day he was born, but she finally got there.
She woke up a few hours later and sighed when she got a look at the clock, noon. Her internal alarm clock had been thrown off drastically when the car accident a month and a half earlier had prevented her from working. She had only been back at work for a few weeks, and was just starting to get back into the swing of living as a vampire.
Nick's moan and cry of complain from in his dream snapped Riley out of her thoughts, and she looked over at his sleeping form in concern. He tossed and turned slightly as his brow knitted in displeasure. "Mmm...no...stop...please...put the gun down..." He begged from his sleep and Riley's eyebrows rose and she sat up and looked down at him in concern.
"Nicky...?"
"Stop it...leave me alone...!" he pleaded and began scratching at his arms and gripping his head in plea. She backed up for a moment, but then leaned back towards him.
"Nick...baby wake up." This was by far the worst hangover-nightmare she had ever seen...and she had seen some pretty bad ones.
"God! Leave me alone...go away! Get me out of here..."
"Nick wake up." She demanded more firmly and shook his shoulder to jolt him from the horrific entrance that seemed so real to him.
"Get off me...no...this isn't happening...get me out of here!"
"Nick...Nick, you're having a nightmare, wake up." She ordered more loudly. "Nick..."
"Get your hands off of me...this isn't right...put the gun down..."
"Nick!"
"Put the gun down Riley..." He mumbled in his sleep and Riley felt the oxygen being sucked from her lungs as the lurid, impossible words filtered into her ears and Nick's no longer sleeping form bolted up right and straight out of the bed. He ran straight into her bathroom and knelt down by the toilet and emptied the contents of his stomach into the porcelain bowl. She stood behind him and rubbed his back as he continued to purge his stomach. After a few minutes of staying in the position he sighed and fell back against the side of the tub and Riley offered him a cool wet wash cloth. Nick gratefully accepted it and sighed as he ran his hand through his sweaty hair.
Riley wrapped her arms around her waist protectively and sat against the wall opposite him. Her naked form huddled away from him, and Nick was instantly worried he had done something to her or scared her. "Are you okay?" He croaked and she looked at him in shock.
"Am I okay...you're the one who just threw up anything he's eaten in the past 48 hours into the toilet. The question isn't if I'm okay...it's if you are."
Nick looked away and she made a move to come closer to him and brush a stray piece of hair from his face, but he moved away from her touch. She backed away and sat back, farther than she had been a minute ago, but not against the wall. Nick looked into her baby blue eyes and immediately felt bad for his motions. He moved closer to her and she brushed the stray piece of hair she had her eye on away.
"So um...are you okay?"
Nick looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Yeah...ya know, just...one of those warped hangover nightmares." It was only a half lie, the dream was warped, he was hung over...and that was the worst nightmare he'd had since the actual incident...all of them.
She looked at him for a moment and she sighed sympathetically almost making Nick wince. Pity was the last thing he wanted from her. "Want to talk about it?"
"No."
She paused before looking away. "It'll help."
"I'm fine."
"Nick...don't do this..."
"What?" he asked confused and she moved closer to him and leaned up against the tub, so that she was facing him and her side was supporting herself against the tub.
"Trying to act like nothing's wrong...you do it a lot."
"No-"
"Yes you do." She quickly cut him off. "It's just me...you don't have to be Superman...it's okay to be vulnerable."
"I'm fine."
"Stop Nick." She demanded softly. "Don't lie to me...yeah, that may have been an alcohol provoked nightmare...but you've had that before...this was the first time its been this bad."
"There was a tough case at work...that's it."
"Want to talk about that?"
"No...it's against the law."
"Bull."
"It is."
"Does that stop you from talking about it to anyone else?"
"The only other people I talk to are my friends who work at CSI." Nick justified. "Besides...we had an agreement that we'd keep our work out of 'this'." he gestured between them and she sighed.
"Yeah well, I think doing that may be putting a damper on 'this' so I'm breaking the rules..."
"No." Nick said more harshly than he had intended, it had come out as a growl and she recoiled from him. Nick closed his eyes and sighed.
"...Even Superman had Lois..." She said softly and he sighed again. They sat like that for what seemed like hours, when in reality had only been five minutes.
"Riley..." He asked softly
"Yeah?" She answered just as hushed as he had.
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when he realized he couldn't form the words he needed to. I mean seriously, how do you tell the woman that you love (who doesn't even know that you love her) that one year ago tomorrow you were buried alive in a box and almost committed suicide...?
"...Do you know what its like to die?"
Riley stared at him in shock and confusion. Oh God...am I supposed to answer?
"...I...I did...I do."
"Nick...what are you talking about?"
"I um..." Okay...here goes... "I..." Just say it Stokes... "I went to this...this 'crime scene' and uh...I was k-kidnapped by someone with a grudge against CSI." That was really already more than he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't just stop there...he couldn't just not tell her. "He buried me alive in a plexi glass coffin and stuck a camera in it that I couldn't see, and then hooked it up to LVPD so my friends could...could w-watch me." Yeah...smooth Stokes... "I uh...eventually I just...I couldn't take it...my oxygen was running out and...I had used up all the glow sticks that were in the box with me, and th-th-these ants were eating me alive...and...I never really handled the dark very well...a quirk from my child hood." If you can call being molested by your babysitter in your dark room when you were nine a quirk... "I-I uh...I had a gun...I was close..." Tears poured down his cheeks as he spoke of the traumatic event that haunted him for almost a year now. "I was so close to taking the gun and ending it then and there..." He chuckled humorlessly. "I wanted it all to end...I was just so damn sick and tired of it...of everything...of life. If Warrick hadn't gotten to me in time...I would've..."
He let his thought trail off and stared at the pale blue wall in front of him.
"You wanna know how I kept myself semi-sane...? I sang Lucky Too by Bob Neuwrith...I was listenin to it in my car on the way over to the scene..."
Riley immediately thought back to when they had told her that Nick had sang that for Karaoke Night at the bar when he was drunk.
"I uh...I remember a few months ago, I was workin a scene and this...this bug crawled up my arm...I had a mini panic attack...I can't even stand bugs anymore..." He wiped his face with his hand and sighed. "Remember when we broke up a few months ago?" He didn't wait for an answer...he kind of forgot she was even in the room...she hadn't said a word since he started. "When we were apart, the little sleep that I did get...I had these kinds of nightmares...they were so bad that I just stopped sleeping. When we got back together the nightmares stopped but...but they came back all of a sudden."
"Wh-..." She spoke for the first time and Nick closed his eyes, not sure if he could handle looking at her. "When did it happen?" She whispered.
He paused a minute. "One year ago tomorrow."
She nodded slowly and looked at the open bathroom door. She extended her long leg and closed the door with her foot absently. Truthfully she didn't know what to say, she had never been one with words that was Kiersten or Porsche's department. She looked back over at him and brushed her fingers lightly over the scar on his chest. "Is that were this came from?" She asked and Nick nodded.
"The bottom of the box was laying on Semtex...pressure sensor Semtex. The had to equalize my weight with dirt in order to get me out or I'd blow everyone up. The coffin eventually ended up exploding anyway...and a piece of it cut my chest..." He didn't look at her as he spoke and she simply looked to the ground. She suddenly felt very cold, and it only occurred to her now that they were both naked and she was sitting under the vent. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." He apologized and she looked at him stunned.
"What?" she asked in disbelief. "Nick...you...it's fine. I understand why you didn't...cause you couldn't. It was only a year ago."
"I was worried that uh..." He couldn't quite bring himself to say it.
"That what...that I'd take off...? Why?"
"Cause that...that's really fucked up...I'm really fucked up."
She scoffed. "Who isn't?"
"Riley..."
She shook her head. "What Nick? You want me to think I should be totally freaked out and think that you're too fucked up to be with and that I should get the hell outta dodge?"
Nick looked away. "No..." He whispered. "But...I don't know..." He sighed and leaned his head against the wall that was by his shoulder. Truth be told he was glad she wasn't asking how he felt and telling him how sorry she felt for him. Everyone he told this to, his family, friends, psychologists...they all gave him the 'pity speech'...he wouldn't have been able to handle that from her..."I hate that I'm still not over it..."
"Nick, it's only been a year. No one can expect you to be over it by now. I'm not gonna tell you how traumatic it was and that it changed your life, because you know that. No one knows that better than you. But I am gonna remind you that a lot of the things that happened to or around you happened because of that...good or bad."
Nick nodded thinking back on how Warrick had married Tina, Sara and Grissom had gotten together, Ecklie seemed to even be a minuscule less hostile. "You...you happened. If I hadn't been kidnapped then...then I probably wouldn't have been so reluctant to go to the club/bar that night...and I would've snatched up the first girl I saw before I even went to the bar. I wouldn't have met you...and then where would I be."
She was quiet for a few moments. "Yeah, everyone knows I'm the best thing that ever happened to you." She joked lightly and nudged him. For the first time since the night before, he cracked a small smile and reached out for her hand. "Yeah...you are."
--The stupid bar thingy still doesn't work...I hope they get it fixed...insert stupid bar thingy here--
Okay...so...how did I handle the whole Grave Danger situation? I kinda wanted to make it so that she wasn't all 'Oh Nicky! I'm so sorry that happened to you!'...sorry but uh, I didn't think Nick (at least in my book) would react well to that...
So...it would probably be a good idea to review. Cause if you don't agree with something in here, or you love it, or you think I'm totally insane...I'd love it if you would review.
Constructive Criticism Wanted!
tee hee...okay...
--Insert review here...man if only they made a bar for that...but they do make a button...XD--
-Chella Belle