A/N: This will be the final chapter in this story. It takes place during the Season 12 finale and season 13 premiere.

Love Is Your Color

Chapter 19: Gone

The last few months had been amazing for Roxie. She didn't feel like she had much stress except for the worries she had for Nick everyday. She'd spent her time raising Sophia who was getting bigger everyday. She loved being able to be present, aware, and awake during the day to be with Sophia. The only she hated was it seemed like Nick was throwing himself into work and wasn't as present, but she knew it was also very busy at the lab. There were some nights where she just wanted him to hold her, but she slept alone. She knew he had things on his mind. She could feel it, but he wouldn't open up, he wouldn't talk to her about it.

Finally he had a night off. Roxie had put Sophia down for the night and she was excited to spend the evening with her husband until his cell rang. She knew he was going to have to go in and like that he had to go. She woke up in the morning hoping he would have returned, but she was alone. She rolled to his side of the bed and held his pillow close to her. It was going to be another long and lonely day.

The day seemed to go quickly. She could only hope that Nick would be home for dinner and that they could have another chance at spending the evening together. Until then she thought it would be nice to go visit her other family. The Russell family had really become her new family. They'd taken her in and she was forever grateful. She knocked on their front door and Barbara opened all smiled.

"Roxie hey!" she said happily. "And baby Sophia." She said to Sophia who at 6 months old was all smiles.

"Hey I thought I'd come by. How was that election thing you went to last night?" Roxie asked as she walked into the house.

"It was very… political. Anyway D.B. had to leave for a crime scene." Barbara said rolling her eyes.

"Yeah Nick was home for once and had to leave." Roxie said her voice laced with disappointment.

"That's what happens when you marry into the job. Come in the kitchen. We're baking cookies." Barbara said. Roxie followed her into the kitchen. "Roxie you finally get to meet Maya and Katie." She said as she pointed out a young blonde and a little girl. Who were her daughter and granddaughter.

"It's so nice to meet my adopted sister." Maya said happily giving Roxie a hug. "Love your hair. I wish I had the guts to do something like that."

"Thanks." Roxie said. "And so great to meet you."

"Seriously my parents keep going on and on about Roxie and Baby Sophia." Maya said.

"It's a baby." Katie said happily.

"Yep that's baby Sophia." Maya said to Katie.

"Can I hold her?" Katie asked Roxie.

"Of course." Roxie said. Katie sat in a chair and put her arms out. Roxie put Sophia into Katie's arms.

"She's cute." Katie said happily. Sophia started to giggle.

"So both you and your husband are CSIs?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, but I'm on leave. I wanted to spend some time home with Sophia." Roxie said looking at her little girl who was having a great time playing with Katie. She thought about what it would be like to have another baby. She wanted to give Sophia a sibling. She grew up so lonely and it would have been nice to have someone else, but she did at least have her mom.

"Are things getting better?" Barbara asked Roxie. Roxie had told her about everything and how she was feeling.

"No." Roxie said with a sigh. "He is still shutting me out and won't talk about it. I can only hope he will open up before he gets to his breaking point. I think he forgets that he can depend on me the way I depend on him."

"It's a man thing." Maya said.

Roxie left the Russell house with a ton of food and cookies. She decided to stop by the lab. She wanted to see her husband and it had been awhile since she took Sophia by. She strolled into the lab with Sophia who was all babbles in her stroller. She saw Finn and gave her a wave before walking to her.

"The famous Roxie graces us with her presence." Finn said giving Roxie a hug.

"I was out and wanted to stop by. Also brought my husband a little something to eat." Roxie said holding up a bag with some food from Barbara.

"I see you have some of Barbara's peach cobbler in there." Finn said.

"Yep hoping to entice my husband to come eat it at home. I feel like I haven't seen him in forever." Roxie said truthfully.

"Well I saw him head to PD." Finn said.

"I'll head over there and see if I can find him." Roxie said. "I'll catch up with you later." Roxie walked towards PD. The air outside was nice. She looked down at Sophia who smiled up at her. She knew that Sophia would be very happy to see Nick. She was a 100 percent Daddy's Girl. As Roxie approached the building she saw the front doors fly open and Nick walked outside. He looked upset. He looked like he wanted to punch something or someone.

This was just not the day. Nick was aggravated beyond anything. His heart was beating and his blood was pumping red-hot. He knew going in there that things could get heated facing McKeen, but the things he said about killing Warrick just set him off. Walking outside he could only hope that he could cool down. Then his eyes met another set of eyes outside. He saw Roxie slowly walking towards him. He didn't want to feel like this and see her. He needed to cool down.

"What's wrong?" Roxie instantly asked as she approached him. She placed a hand on his arm. He quickly moved away.

"That…that piece of shit is in there talking about how… how killing Warrick made him a hero." Nick spouted off.

"What? McKeen… what is he doing here?" Roxie asked. She knew everything. She's just started working for LVPD when Warrick was killed by the then Undersheriff.

"Long story." Nick said sitting down on the bench. Roxie sat with him.

"We just came by to see you, but it's a bad time." Roxie said looking down at the ground. It seems like it was always a bad time. She'd missed the days of their careless romance. Now everything seemed to complicated and with the feelings he was harboring inside she felt useless as a wife. "I brought you some food."

"I'm not hungry." Nick snapped at once.

"You might be later." Roxie said as she handed him the bag. "I guess we'll go home." Roxie wanted to cry. She hated that he wasn't letting her in. She knew things never felt right to him after Catherine left, but he wouldn't go in any further. He just like everything else let it roll off.

"I'm sorry Rox." He said looking at her. "I've been dealing with a lot. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's fine. I understand. Just try and come home. You can get some rest. We can share the peach cobbler when I put Sophia to bed." Roxie said looking at him with pleading in her eyes.

"I can't. We've got a stakeout, but I will come home as soon as I can." He said as he placed a hand on her cheek. "I promise Rainbow." Sophia then started making gurgling noises. Nick smiled down at his daughter who was so content and didn't have a care in the world. He wished he could be like her.

"Well I will see you later then." Roxie said before leaning in and giving him a kiss. "I love you." She said truthfully.

"I love you too." He said holding her hand in his. "I'm coming home later. I promise." Roxie simply smiled. She could only hope.

Sitting at home Roxie had put Sophia down for her nap. The evening had winded down like always. She sat on the couch in her pajamas eating some of the cookies she'd brought home from the Russell's earlier that day. She took a deep breath as she starred at the clock. She only hoped that Nick would be home at a reasonable hour. She sighed and turned on the TV. There was a press conference going on from the Sheriff. She turned up the sound and watched. It was all about an investigation into more corruption and scandals in the police department. Roxie was grateful that for once she wasn't working. She turned off the TV and looked at the clock again. She pulled a book off of the shelf and decided it would be nice to read for a bit until her cell phone rang. She saw it was Sara.

"Hello." Roxie answered.

"Hey Roxie it's Sara. You might be dealing with a very unhappy husband soon. Just warning you. He left here talking about quitting. I'm not sure what's up, but he seemed serious." Sara explained. Roxie sighed.

"Alright thanks Sara. I'll be waiting for him." Roxie said. She knew his breaking point would be coming soon and it seemed like he'd hit it.

"Well I better go. Getting another call." Sara said before the call abruptly ended.

Roxie sat on the couch looking out of the front window. She just waited for Nick to pull into the driveway. She really wasn't hoping on dealing with an agitated husband tonight, but that's what she was going to be dealt. She sat waiting and waiting. She then drifted to sleep on the couch.

One beer, turned into two, and two into three… Nick had decided he would have one and go home to Roxie like he'd promised her, but after two he knew he wasn't going to drive home and kept going. He'd hit that point. He hadn't expected to hit it, but he had. Things had changed so much and the prospect of more changes just sent him over. He wasn't dealing with it. He was officially done. As he stood drinking he thought about the job offered he'd received while he and Roxie were in Hawaii from the San Diego lab. He wondered if the opportunity would still be open. Now seemed like the right time to go. He was done with Vegas and a move seemed like the right thing. He didn't know what Roxie would think about it. She'd made a new family with the Russell family. He couldn't tear Roxie away from that. His cell phone rang. He expected it to be Roxie, but it was Sara again. He ignored her call and kept drinking. Tonight he wanted to drown his sorrows.

Roxie awoke to her cell phone ringing. She opened her eyes and looked at the clock. It was nearly 2am. She couldn't think of who would be calling her at 2 in the morning. She sighed and pulled her cell phone to her face trying to make out what the screen said through her drowsiness. She sat it was Sara calling her again. Roxie answered the call with a yawn.

"Hi Sara." She said drowsily.

"Hey Roxie. I know it's late, but we have a situation. Nick got himself into some trouble. You might want to come down here." Sara said.

"Come down where?" Roxie questioned as she sat up.

"Down to PD. Nick got into a drunken fight with some cops. I'm headed over there. We are crazy slammed tonight. McKeen released hell on us. Ecklie was shot and Russell's granddaughter was kidnapped." Sara explained.

"Wait Katie kidnapped?" questioned Roxie.

"Yeah umm… when you come Nick might need a change of clothes." Sara said.

"Umm okay… I'll head there now." Roxie said as she sat up and ended the call. Rushing into her bedroom she put on clothes and grabbed Nick some clothes from his drawer. She then realized that she couldn't wake Sophia and take her down to the Police Station and the one person she first thought of wasn't going to be able to keep her because she was dealing with her own drama. Roxie then remembered their emergency sitter. Their neighbor across the street. She quickly called their neighbor.

Roxie walked into PD tired, but there. Their neighbor had come over to stay with Sophia while Roxie went to find out what was up with Nick. She spotted Sara in the hall. Sara saw Roxie and walked to her.

"I just talked to him. He's a mess, but I told him tonight we need him and when he sobers up he is working." Sara said.

"Can I see him?" Roxie asked.

"Yeah this way." Sara said. Roxie followed Sara and there Nick was in a cell. The cell was opened for Roxie. She caught a glimpse at his face. He was bruised and bloodied.

"That fuck did you do?" Roxie asked him at once.

"I was having a drink." Nick slurred.

"I already know that things went down. I know you apparently quit or whatever. I don't know what has been up with you lately, but it's not cool I'm your wife. You should have come home and talked to me. Hell you should have been talking to me for months, but you've just been shutting me out. You can depend on me you know." Roxie was enraged. She hated to see him this way, but it was his own fault. He knew better.

"Whatever." Nick slurred.

"You're still drunk. This isn't you. I know this isn't you." Roxie said as she threw his change of clothes at him. "Sara said once you are good you are working. I'm going home. Mrs. Tanner is with Sophia. You can come home when you figure out what the fuck you want. Until then I'm going to be a mother and I'm going home to my daughter." Roxie left him alone. Roxie was incredibly upset. She hated that it'd come to this. She hated that he'd shut her out for so long .

Roxie pulled up to their house. She noticed that both the front gate and front door were open. This wasn't normal at all. She quickly rushed into the house. She at once saw Mrs. Tanner on the floor with what looked to be a gunshot wound to the head. Roxie rushed to the table near the front door and pulled out a gun. She slowly made her way up the hall. She looked into Sophia's room. It was dark, but she realized right away that Sophia wasn't there. Her heart began to be quickly. She rushed into her own room and there was no Sophia. This couldn't be happening. She hadn't have been gone long.

The house was swarming with police and CSI's from day shift since night shift was severely understaffed tonight. Roxie sat on the front porch rocking back and forth. She didn't know what to do or what to think. She felt like she'd lost her ability to think critically. She was a complete mess. Her baby girl was gone. A car pulled up and Nick jumped out he quickly ran to Roxie. He was back in the lab when Sara came to him about Sophia. He sat next to Roxie and pulled her close Roxie instantly pulled away.

"Leave me alone." She growled at him.

"Rainbow…" he said. Roxie looked at him with rage in her eyes. He knew that this was his fault.

"This is all your fault. My daughter wouldn't be gone if you'd just come home. If you'd just been a man." Roxie said as she stood. She walked away and across the yard. Her head hurt with a mix of questions and anger.

"I'm sorry. I screwed up." Nick said approaching Roxie.

"Just find my baby." She said. "That's all I want. I want my baby." Roxie started to cry. Something she'd already done plenty of times in the last hour. Nick pulled her close and let her cry. He felt so guilty. He knew it was a fact that if he'd come home then Sophia wouldn't have been taken. Instead he made stupid decisions based on anger and emotions.

"Alright a routine traffic stop was done off the strip and the officer said the baby in the car looked a lot like Sophia." Brass said as he came out of the house.

"They found her?" Roxie then asked.

"Well the cop issued a warning and let the driver go, but we have information. The car belongs to a Lisa Richards of Henderson. We've got an address." Brass then said.

"Let's go!" Roxie said at once.

"Rox maybe you should stay here." Nick suggested.

"I'm going." Roxie said at once.

They pulled up to a house. It was all-dark. Roxie could only hope that Sophia was here. She could only hope that her baby was safe. Nick looked over to Roxie. He knew she was still angry with him. She hadn't looked at him the entire ride. Every time he tried to touch her she would pull away. His heart broke every single time. He knew it was his fault. He knew he screwed up. He could only hope that once Sophia was found that Roxie would forgive him. He only hoped that they could move on after this as a family, but all it was…was hope. There were no guarantees.

"Alright we will let officers surround the house and take it from there." Brass said over the radio.

"Roxie." Nick said looking at Roxie who continued to look forward. "I know I screwed up. I know I shut you out. I just didn't know how to come to you about what I've been feeling. I didn't want to worry you with my problems." Roxie looked at him. She shook her head.

"I'm your wife. It's ok to bother me with your problems. It's kind of the point." She said to him before looking forward again. Roxie felt so much resentment towards him in the moment. She felt a single tear fall down her face. She quickly wiped it away.

"Alright the house is surrounded and they will go in first. Then we go." Brass said over the radio.

Roxie held her breath. She only hoped this would be the end of this torment. She looked as the officers stormed in the house. They then got out of the car and rushed towards the house. Through all the noise Roxie heard a cry. It was Sophia's cry. Roxie didn't care about anything. She rushed right in and followed the sound of the cries. She then found Sophia lying on a bed. She quickly scooped Sophia into her arms. She cried as she held her baby. She walked from the house with her baby in hear arms. Nick pulled both of them close. Roxie pulled away and looked at him.

"I can't." Roxie said plainly. "I need time. I need space. I just need to be with my baby." She said as she walked towards the ambulance that had arrived to take Sophia to the hospital for a quick check-up.

Nick walked into the hospital. He wanted to see his wife and daughter. He could only hope that Roxie would be more welcoming. He found her and Sophia sitting on a hospital bed. Sophia had a smile on her face as she played with Roxie. He stood at the door and watched them. He was so happy that things ended well. Roxie looked up at him. The smile she had faded.

"Sophia and I are going away for a little bit." Roxie said.

"Rainbow. I'm sorry. I don't know what else I can do." He said as he walked in the room and sat on the edge of the bed Sophia crawled into his arms.

"We just need to go away. Please don't fight me on this. I need to reevaluate everything. I need time to think. Please just let us go." Roxie said truthfully. Nick let out a sigh as he held his baby girl in his arms. He watched as Roxie removed her wedding ring.

"Roxie don't." he said at once. Roxie just looked at him and didn't say a word. She took off her necklace, the key necklace he'd given her. She slipped the ring into the chain and put the necklace back on.

"I'm keeping it close." She said to him. "I just need time."

"I'll give you time." He said defeated. He handed Sophia back to her. Roxie stood with Sophia in her arms. He watched as Roxie walked out of the room without another word and like that they were gone.

A/N: I know you all hate me for that one. I'm going to work on the sequel. I'm titling it 'Dreaming in Color'.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Taking my daughter to a Halloween festival tonight. She is dressed as a ladybug. I'll post a pic on the facebook page… If you haven't already like the page Facebook /TheMoonyAngel7