It's going to get hot in here! ;)
Greg tossed the envelope on the break room's table in front of Nick.
"What's this?"
"You tell me. A present your admirer wants you to have," he said quite annoyed.
"What are you talking about?" Nick picked the envelope up from the table.
Greg walked to the coffee machine. "And thanks a lot for telling her Novak raped me. Not only is this not what happened, it's none of her business, either!"
"I... What?" Nick asked confused while he opened the envelope.
"And why on earth would you tell her him and I used to be friends?! I mean..."
"Jesus!"
"Let me guess. Something crazy?" Greg turned around to Nick as he poured some coffee into a cup.
Hodges walked in, glancing at what Nick was looking at. "Whoa! Who's this?"
Nick quickly put it back in the envelope. "Mind your own business, pervert."
"I'm the pervert? I'm not the one looking at pornography at work. ...Right now, anyway."
"...Pornography?" Greg asked confused and curious. "Let me take a look."
"No!" Nick said embarrassed, grabbing the envelope. It had some very explicit pictures of Mrs. Douglas in it.
"Come on, share! Don't be egoistical! Who is she? She's hot!" Hodges tried to take the envelope, but Nick wouldn't let him.
"Get away from me!" He hopped off his seat. "Greg, what are you talking about? I didn't tell her anything about Novak. I didn't even mention his name."
"...But you did talk about it?"
"Well, she said she was scared when she saw the scarring on your wrists and..." Nick noticed the look on Greg's face. This was exactly why he didn't want him to know. "...She probably just thought you... But I didn't tell her what happened, and I certainly didn't make up any lies! You know me better than that!"
"So that's what she meant..." Greg shook his head. "It's alright but... Nick, she's sending you nude pictures and... She said weird things, told lies." He had a rather worried look on his face. "She said she was worried because you didn't call her, stuff like that."
Nick looked thoughtful at the envelope. "I need to go talk to Russell."
"Do you want a restraining order?" Russell put the pictures Nick showed him down on his desk.
"No, I don't think that's necessary. She's probably just lonely and not handling her husband's death very well. I'm not scared or anything. ...Yeah, a little bit creeped out, but... Maybe I should go talk to her? Explain to her why I can't go out with her and..." Nick tried to find a solution.
"...Hope she'll just understand? She obviously has some mental issues and I'm not willing to let her be a risk to you."
Nick shook his head. "Just let me talk to her, I'm sure I'll be able to convince her to leave me alone."
"I hate heads or tails..." Nick said frustrated in the locker room. "It's no fair, you know. You always choose tail and you always win." It was the next day and Nick still meant to talk to Mrs. Douglas.
Greg laughed. "Are you actually implying I cheat at heads or tails?"
"I don't know how you do it, I just know you do..." Nick said, smiling at him. "Okay, I'm gonna go hit the showers and try to get this stench off of me!" They decided to let a coin decide which one of them would have to go into a dumpster behind a restaurant. Inside that dumpster was a lot of trash, and not all of it was from the restaurant. Most of it was from a dead body lying in front of the dumpster. Most of that body's intestines were inside the dumpster. The CSI jumpsuit Nick was wearing was soaked in bodily fluids and other things and some of these things got on Nick's skin, too. He really needed a shower badly.
"Okay. And just so you know, I don't cheat. It's just karma. Remember all the times I had to get into a dumpster just because I was the new guy?"
Nick rolled his eyes laughing. "We all had to go through that when we were the rookie! It's tradition!"
While Nick took the shower he craved, Mrs. Douglas was walking inside the lab. She looked around with a hopeful smile on her face. She walked through the halls, looking for Nick. All she saw were unfamiliar faces, though. "Excuse me," she said to Robin walking past her. "I'm looking for Nick Stokes. Do you know where I can find him?"
Robin smiled at her. "He just came back from a crime scene and from what I saw, he's probably taking a shower right now. Why don't you wait in the lobby and I'll tell him you wait for him Mrs...?"
"Douglas. Cheryl Douglas." She smiled, shaking her hand. "Thank you very much, dear."
Robin walked on, but Mrs. Douglas had not intended to wait in the lobby. She walked towards the showers. It was just a little past 9 a.m. and the lab was quite empty. Most CSIs were out at a crime scene at the moment and the lab rats were inside their labs doing their jobs. Mrs. Douglas used the opportunity and walked inside the shower. Nick had just put a towel around his hips when she entered. "Mrs. Douglas, what are you doing here?!" he asked quite shocked.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She blushed. "Your colleague said you were in here. I had no idea..."
Nick was obviously embarrassed. "I-I'll be right out, just give me a minute. How about you wait in the lobby?"
"Of course! I'm so sorry." She smiled as she walked out.
"Mrs. Douglas..." Nick said with an embarrassed smile as he walked up to her in the lobby. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm so sorry about that Mr. Stokes... I didn't know that's a shower room! Why would your colleague send me there?"
"...I don't know, which one did you talk to?"
"I didn't get her name, but she was a beautiful young lady."
Nick shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really matter."
"But... I couldn't help but notice your wound. Does it hurt?" She hinted on the graze wound he received when he saved her.
Nick shook his head. "It's fine. So what can I..."
She interrupted him. "I feel so guilty. It's all my fault that you got that horrible injury!"
Nick was starting to get annoyed by her. "Why did you want to see me?" He thought about talking to her about the pictures.
"Well it's been three days since we last bumped into each other and... You do realize I gave you my phone number, right?"
"...What? ...Yes I did, but..."
Greg walked over to the two. "Oh, Mrs. Douglas! Nice to see you."
"Greg, dear. Hello." From day one she called him by his first name. It was rather uncommon for victims and their relatives to do that, but she was a rather uncommon woman.
"I meant to call you later today to talk some things through about the case. But since you're already here, we might as well do it now if you've got time," he explained.
Mrs. Douglas looked at Nick for a moment, then over to Greg. "Sure. What a lovely coincidence I'm already here, right?" She laughed.
They walked away and left Nick with a confused look on his face. He wondered himself why he didn't mention the pictures.
The following day, Nick got surprising news. "Sexual harassment?!" he exclaimed. "Russell, that's not true!"
"I know that, Nick. Now sit down. It's gonna be fine."
"I never touched her! She was the one coming on to me!"
"You mean there was more than the pictures?"
Nick nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Nick shrugged. "I didn't think it was anything serious. She just lost her husband, she's probably scared and lonely and..."
Russell shook his head. "Did you tell anyone that she was hitting on you on her couch?"
Nick shook his head.
"Not even Greg?"
"No, I..." He explained why he was there in the first place and why he didn't want to tell Greg. Not only was he a bit embarrassed, he also didn't want to tell him because he knew he'd ask questions. This, Nick thought, could've led to him having to tell Greg why she was scared of him. Obviously, this came out eventually, but he didn't think about filling Greg in then.
"And now... Did you tell me everything?"
"Well... one more thing..." Nick went on to tell him about the day before, when she walked into the shower. "This is a nightmare!"
"Okay, listen. We'll let the lawyers take care of this, alright? Don't contact her, don't answer her calls. Just stay calm, this will go away, I'm sure."
While Nick was at the lab, talking things through with Russell, Greg was at Mrs. Douglas' home, talking to her about the case. After everything that happened he seriously considered giving up the case, but he wanted to close it. He had no idea about the sexual harassment allegations. "Thank you," he said to her as she gave him a cup of tea. "Now, could you tell me who Matt Ruiz is?"
Again, just like when Matt Ruiz, the man who shot at Nick, was there, she was getting angry again. "This son of a bitch tried to ruin my marriage! He was my husband's best friend and... He once tried to rape me."
Greg looked surprised. "...Rape you? What happened?"
While they were talking about it, her phone rang. "Excuse me, Greg..." She went into the next room to answer. "...What do you mean? What pictures? ...Oh, I see. Thank you for your call."
Greg couldn't help but overhear the conversation, but he had no idea what it was about. "Is everything alright?"
Again, she seemed upset. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" She walked into the bedroom. A few minutes after, she released a dreadful scream.