Authors Note: I own nothing. But I thank my readers and my reviewers. You are feeding the muse! Again this is an un-betad chapter. I hope you are all still enjoying the story.Chapter 5

Catherine called Brass, asking him to come by the lab ASAP. She made sure to keep Greg close by. She left Mandy to her work until the others were both available.

Mandy walked into Catherine's office with a confused look on her face. "Catherine, I don't have any pending tests for you. Are you sure you meant to page me?" Mandy was even more confused seeing Brass and Greg already seated in the office.

"Yes, Mandy, I meant to page you. Please, take a seat." Catherine motioned to the last empty chair in the room. As Mandy took her seat Catherine began. "I know you are all a little confused by Nick's behavior lately. So Nick asked me to give the three of you this information. Keep in mind this is confidential and will not be repeated to any other person anywhere, ever. Unless you get direct approval from Nick himself. Is that clear?" Catherine looked at each of them sternly as they nodded in return. "Good." Catherine took a deep breath as she took her own seat.

"This case Nick and I are working on is a lot bigger than it appears. The woman who has been committing these crimes is from Nick's past. When Nick was nine, he was assaulted by a babysitter." With a raised hand Catherine squelched the three sets of pending questions. "Please, I don't know the exact details. I just know it was a one-time thing. Nick has never told anybody about it, not even his parents, until he and I had that case with the un-ethical therapist and the 15 year old boy." She got three simultaneous head nods at their recollection of the case. "This woman came to Las Vegas for Nick. She is the same woman who assaulted him all those years ago. It looks like she has been keeping tabs on him. And from the message she sent tonight, I believe she is going to try to take him. Or at the very least, hurt him again. I think Nick has come to the same conclusion."

They sat in shock for a few minutes. Brass was the first to speak. "I'll set up a guard detail right now." Brass started to get up. Catherine just shook her head and motioned for him to sit back down.

"I would like nothing better. But, if we do, Nick gets put under the microscope again. I don't think he could handle that right now on top of his well-kept secret coming to light. I will take extra precautions and make sure he isn't alone. But, we have to do this low key. If Ecklie finds out, Nick will be off the case. Nick needs this closure. He deserves it."

Greg stood up and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Catherine asked incredulously.

"He's alone right now. I'm going to go find him." And with that Greg left the office. Greg's mind was spinning from all the reactions he had witnessed out of Nick in certain situations making complete sense suddenly. "How could he work those cases?" Greg wondered. He still had trouble dealing with beatings and explosions, and his traumatic experience was in adulthood when his mind could accept that people could be evil. But Nick had been just a kid, how could he have come to grips with something like that at such a young age. Greg needed to find Nick.


Nick found a bench that was set back from the sidewalk, hidden in shadows, and he waited for the fallout. He really didn't want to tell anybody. He never meant to tell Catherine. It just came out. Now he had to deal with his co-workers, his extended family knowing his repulsive secret. He figured Greg would want to know details. He was still a lab geek at heart and facts were his passion. And he was sure that Greg would be repulsed by the information. Greg would never want to be friends with him again, Nick was sure of it.

Mandy would be more protective. But she was kind of like Sarah in that she did it discreetly. Or would she be so disappointed in him for not telling that she would shut him out as well?

He was most worried about Brass' reaction. He was kind of like the uncle to the team. Would he still be the surrogate nephew? Or would everybody he had come to think of as his family ostracize him? He couldn't blame them if they did. He wanted to ostracize himself for being so afraid to tell when it could have made a difference.

He really didn't want to face any of them anymore tonight. So he remained sitting quietly in the shadows. But he wasn't hidden as well as he thought he was.

Across the parking lot hidden in shadows also, was their prime suspect. Perched in a tree like a panther ready to strike, Alison watched Nick with night vision binoculars. Grinning like a Cheshire cat. "You are even more divine than I imagined you would be my Nicky." She said to herself. "Soon, very soon we will be together as we should have been since that night." Alison stealthily climbed down from her perch. She walked two blocks to where she had parked her rental car and drove back to the address she had given to her employer. As she approached the property she pushed the button on the garage door opener on the visor. A hole opened up and she drove down the ramp to her "house".