Jim Brass picked his head up from it's hanging position as he walked down the hallway just in time to see Nick Stokes closing in on him. As soon as he saw the younger man, he turned on his heel and headed in the other direction after having made brief eye contact with the CSI. Brass knew that this wouldn't stop Nick from his pursuit, so he quickened his pace to try and guarantee his escape from the other man. The police captain had no inetention of speaking witht he other man. No one in the lab or police department wanted to be around Nick because he wasn't the same anymore. He wasn't Nick Stokes, he was Nick Sparazza to them. A criminal. A traitor. An enemy.

Brass and Grissom had had long conversations about said young man, and both were saddened to see the road he headed down. Nick wouldn't listen to anyone who was trying to help him from getting into something he couldn't get out of, but he hadn't listened to anyone. Now, they only associated with him when they had to at work and that was that. So it was no surprise that when Brass had seen Nick coming, he'd changed his intended course of direction for the complete opposite one.

Brass was just about to turn down the next hallway and make a break for his office when he heard footsteps coming closer behind him. Brass didn't dare turn around; he told himself he wasn't going to waste his time with a lost cause. He was four feet from the safe haven of his office when Nick's voice cut through the silence of the police station.

"Brass," Nick said suddenly.

Brass took two more steps and reached for his door handle. Nick spoke again. "Brass," he said, his voice softer this time.

Brass turned around to face the younger man. "What?" he asked coldly.

Nick visibly flinched. "Can I talk to you?"

Brass sighed heavily. "We've tried this Nick, everyone has. You didn't want to listen then, and I bet you don't want to listen now. We tried to stop you from becoming like them, and you didn't want to believe it. You didn't believe the people that love you, so you're on your own now."

Brass turned back around the slipped into his office, dramatically slamming the door behind him. He went straight to his desk and sat down in the large leather chair, but it wasn't as comfortable as he remembered it being. He felt like he was sitting on stone rather than soft leather. He buried his face in his hands and tried to convince himself that what he just did was for the best. He was trying to convince himself that the kid he just turned his back on deserved it. He had always viewed Nick as something more than a co-worker. The kid was so outgoing and easy to get along with that he made it hard not to build a bond with someone like that. But Brass knew that that wasn't the same kid that was he had just spoken to outside his door.

Brass could recall the exact moment he knew that Nick Stokes wasn't the same as Nick Sparazza.

Nick sat down in the chair across from Grissom and Brass with a look of pure and utter annoyance on his face. He had seemed aggiatated all shift, but now it was really showing. The two older men had called him into Grissom's office to discuss how everything was going with James and the FBI's "investigation." They were both worried because Nick had been acting really different and they weren't sure why.

"We think this whole thing with your family is getting a little out of control Nick," Grissom said.

Nick sighed. "Wasn't that to be expected?"

"Not to this degree," Brass answered. "The affect on you isn't what we were expecting, and frankly it isn't a good thing."

"What were you expecting?" Nick asked. "My father is the biggest crime boss in history, and I got thrown in the middle of it."

"We didn't want you to get involved in this," Grissom said. "We were against it from the beginning. You have nothing to prove to anyone, and this isn't doing anyone any good."

Nick threw his hands in the air. "Well what do you want me to do?"

"We want you out," Brass said. "Before something happens to you."

"What more could happen to me?" Nick said. "In my life, I've been molested, held at gunpoint multiple times, stalked, and buried alive. Then to top it all of, I'm working for my father now, who's worse than all the bad guys in every mob movie ever made. What else could make that list?"

"We don't want to find out," Grissom said. "We're getting the feeling you're not doing this to get skeletons out of your closet that you didn't put there."

"Do you think I'm doing this because I like being a criminal?" Nick asked.

"We think that's where this is headed, and we want to help you Nick," Brass said.

Nick shook his head slowly as he stood up. "I don't need help, I'm fine."

As Nick headed for the door, Brass had to get the last word in. "You don't even know what's happening to you. You're not you anymore."

Nick turned around with his hand on the doorknob. "Maybe this is me," he said before openening the door and leaving the office.

That night, it hadn't been what Nick had said so much as how he had said it and the look in his eyes as he had said it. His voice had somehow lost it's charming Texas accent and his eyes had faded to something of a gray. Seeing him the way he was now made Brass realize that this wasn't the kid he'd known for the last fifteen years. He was completely different, and not in a good way at all.

Brass sat there for three hours, thinking about the downward spiral Nick had lunged into. The worst part was, he didn't seem to care and no one could help him. He didn't see what he and his family were doing to him. He was transforming into this completely different person that was too good at what he was doing. Being good at illegal activities isn't something to be proud of.

Brass sighed heavily and stood from his chair. His back was sore and he could feel a major headache coming on from thinking too hard. He ignored the unfinished and neglected reports on his desk and switched off his light. He trudged to the door and opened it slowly, the door feeling heavy and as if it were on hundred-year-old hinges. Brass looked down at the floor, and upon doing so, he realized why the door felt so heavy.

Nick craned his neck and looked up at the police captain who had just emerged from the cave of his office. Nick scrambled to his feet and ran his hand through his hair as he always did out of nervous habit. Brass looked at Nick and couldn't help but feel sorry for him at the look of how pale he was. There were bags under his red rimmed eyes that looked tired and as if they had just finished shedding tears.

"Please, just listen to me for five minutes, then I'll leave you alone," Nick said quietly.

Brass merely nodded at the younger man and stood as still as a statue.

Nick took a deep breath to try and clear the lump in his throat before he began. "I messed up, worse than I ever have, and I know that I can't make it all magically better. But I'm sure as hell gonna try. I don't know what came over me. I felt responsible for everything my family had that I wanted to fix it, but ended up doing it myself. Believe me, this was never my intention. I never meant to hurt you guys and let you down like this."

Brass opened his mouth to speak, but Nick kept going. "I know that this is nobody's fault but my own, which is why I'm trying to fix it. I'm gonna fix it, I know I can. But in case something goes wrong and something happens to me, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, for everything. I already apologized to Warrick, Grissom and everyone else. I fucked up, but I'm not gonna let it stay that way. I wish I had a better excuse, but I don't. I really am sorry."

Nick stood there for a moment after he had finished and looked at Brass with pure honesty and guilt in his eyes. He slowly turned around and started heading down the hallway. He was halfway to the end when Brass called out to him.

"Hey, Nicky," he said, and Nick turned around. "Are you trying to tell me that you're gonna try and get through the Sparazza'a by yourself?"

Nick shrugged slightly. "Yeah, with a little help from Warrick."

Brass smiled slightly. "You two can't do shit without me. Count me in kid."

Nick hadn't spoken to Jack since Jason had left almost three days ago. Nick hadn't really spoken to anyone much since that had happened other than to his friends, whom he had thoroughly apologized to. Nick hadn't even spoken to his father or Mike, which was definitely unheard of. They were always calling him at all hours of the day to have him set things up and make things happen. Nick guessed they understood that he was shaken up and needed some time.

Jack definitely understood that because he himself had been shaken up. He was beginning to realize just how serious this whole situation was and was worried about Nick. The very last thing he wanted to see was Nick getting hurt, or someone Nick loved getting hurt. Jack knew all too well what James was capable of and didn't want Nick founding that out first hand.

Jack had only been to Nick's house a handful of times, mainly to keep from causing any trouble. But that was before Nick's real background had come out and it didn't make a difference if Jack went to Nick's or not. So there they were, sitting on Nick's back porch, surrounded by the darkness and silence.

"They all forgave me a lot easier than I expected," Nick finally said.

Jack knew who he was talking about. "I never doubted they would. They love you Nick, and love conquers all."

"My dad and brother love me too," Nick said sadly.

Jack looked at the younger man sitting in the chair next to him. "Yes, yes they do. Do you think that that's a bad thing?"

"Well, when two totally different groups of people both love you, how do you chose?" Nick asked.

"So you've decided that you have to," Jack said. Nick frowned slightly. "Chose," Jack added.

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I can't be two different people. I don't want to be, I just want to be me."

"And who exactly are you?"

"I'm Nick," the Texan replied simply, not adding a last name.

Jack smiled. "Yes, you are. And you've always been Nick."

Nick shook his head. "No I haven't. I changed and became a Sparazza just to found out what it would have been like."

"But deep down, you were still Nick. If you hadn't been, then you would never have be able to decide to go back to being who you truly are if that person left you entirely," Jack said. "What made you go back?"

"When my dad asked me what mattered most to me."

"And what's the answer to that question?" Jack asked.

"The people I care about," Nick answered. "Warrick, Catherine, Grissom, Greg, Brass, Jason, you...the people I let down. The people I almost lost. I can't lose them, without you guys I'm nothing."

Jack sat back in his chair and looked up at the stars above them. "Ya know, when you got into this business and most of me worried sick about ya, part of me knew that you'd be okay. I guess I knew all along that you'd figure it out and find the good in this thing. You found it, so don't let it go Nicky."

Sorry I skipped parts with Grissom and the others and just mentioned them, but I did it because I don't think that on the show that they do a good enough job portraying Brass' relationship with anyone other than Grissom. So that's what I tried to do here and hope it worked out for the best.

Thanks for the reviews and hope you're enjoying.