A/N: Thank you CSIvsHP and Hope06 for the reviews. I don't own CSI, blah blah, movin on.

The waiting room of Las Vegas General was packed with people from the crime lab, waiting with baited breath to hear anything about Warrick and Max. Wendy and Hodges were sitting in the two chairs by the door, then every chair along the adjacent wall was occupied. Gil took the seat next to the door, Sara was to his right, then came Nick, Cassandra, Jake, Jim, Catherine, Greg and Ronnie. The wall adjacent to that one had Al, David, and Mandy in the seats, then others including Tina were scattered in the seats in the middle of the room.

The fact that Jim kept getting up and pacing didn't help anyone's nerves. Jake had his hand on Cassandra's knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze any time they looked at each other. Cassandra also had her head on Nick's shoulder and his arm was around her own shoulders, for more emotional support than anything. It was the same deal with Hodges and Wendy, Greg and Ronnie, and Gil and Sara. There were several times where Hodges tried to crack a joke about a guy that he met in a bar the past weekend, but it only helped for a moment.

When a doctor came into the room, everyone was surprised that the floor didn't cave in because everyone got to their feet as fast as they could.

The doctor looked at all of them, waiting for the ruckus to stop, then spoke up. "I take you're all here for Mr. Brown and Mr. Schmidt?"

Nobody wanted to talk. They all looked around uneasily.

The doctor nodded, understanding the silence. "I'm told that there's Mr. Brown's ex-wife and Mr. Schmidt's foster sisters here…?"

Tina, Cassandra and Sara all got up slowly.

The doctor smiled at them. "Hi, I'm Doctor Peter Lewis. Can I speak with you?"

The sisters and Tina exchanged looks, then looked back at the crowd before following him inside the room.

Everyone outside tensed up when they saw Tina frown deeply when Peter spoke to her and the sisters go pale when he spoke to them, but none of them had a breakdown, so that seemed to be a good sign. They soon came out, and Sara and Tina spoke quietly, then went into the center of the room to report what they heard.

"Max is gonna be in the hospital for a while healing, and so is Warrick…" Sara began.

Tina nodded. "Warrick is worse, though, since he got a chest shot. He's in a coma, and they're not sure when he may wake up…" she trailed off and looked down.

Sara stepped in and finished for her. " They know he will, though. It's just a matter of time," they explained.

The spirits of the people in the room lifted a bit, knowing that their friends had hope. They all started talking among themselves now, saying how much they knew that Warrick or Max was going to pull through and whatnot.

Nick had just pulled away from hugging Greg when he realized something. Cassandra had disappeared. He looked around for the room for her and didn't find her. Worry came over him briefly since he had heard about the note, then told himself she wouldn't have gone off alone to set him or her up. She was too smart to do that. He looked around, then thought of one option. He headed for the exit and walked out of the building, towards the stairs leading to the parking lot, then sighed in relief, seeing her sitting on one of the steps about halfway down. He saw that she was hunched over, her knees tucked close to her body, her arms folded on her knees and her head resting on her arms, so he debated whether or not to approach her, then decided to do so. "Hey, Cass! There you are!" he sat next to her.

"Go away, Nick," Cassandra grumbled into her arms.

Nick frowned. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy that Max and Warrick are gonna be okay?!"

She lifted her head and glared at him. "Of course I am!"

Nick opened his mouth slightly when he saw that her eyes were glossy. "Cass? … Cass, are you crying? Are you alright?"

"No, Nick! I'm not alright, okay?! Warrick and Max nearly died today because someone's after Sara and I! It feels like Sara and I are the ones who put them here!" she motioned back at the hospital.

Nick shook his head and put his arm around her. "Hey, that's not true and you know it. You guys weren't the ones who pulled the trigger. I know how that must feel. It doesn't mean you have to distance yourselves from the people who care about you in there," he shook her gently.

"We're the reason it was pulled, though, and yes it does," Cassandra murmured, then sighed. "Just leave me alone,"

"How can I when you're like this, huh?" Nick went to tuck a strand of her hair back behind her ear, but pulled back when she got to her feet quickly and walked a few feet away before turning to him.

"You don't get it, do you?!" she yelled at him.

Nick opened his mouth and shut it quickly, completely stunned.

Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose and turned around so her back was facing him. "Criminals are always true to point in notes like the one found on Max. Beth, Max, Warrick. They're gonna keep trying to kill people close to me. I don't want any of you to get hurt or killed, you most of all. Out of all the new people I've met here, you've been the kindest to me. I don't wanna lose you,"

Nick took a couple of steps forward. "I don't wanna lose you, either. Cass, I nearly lost my best friend tonight. You're a great girl. I don't wanna see the you I've come to care about go turn into some guilt ridden, depressed… stranger. I'm your friend. If you think trying to keep me away from you to protect me is gonna work, you've got another thing coming, because if this is the way things are playing out, I'm hell bend on being the one to protect you. Jake just said it, so I might as well, too. I'm behind you no matter what, because that's what friends do!"

She blinked twice, staring at him.

Nick was suddenly worried again, seeing her bite her lip. He thought he had just made things worse by causing her to cry more, so he was taken by total surprise when she suddenly launched herself at him, putting her arms under his, then hooked them around his back, then she tucked her head under his neck and started crying harder than she had been.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her close. "It's okay," he murmured. He gently kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair.

"…Nick?"

Nick looked back slightly, but still enough that he wouldn't disturb Cassandra. He saw it was Gil.

Gil pointed at Cassandra and mouthed if she was alright.

Nick frowned and sent him a 'You've got to be kidding' look.

Gil shrugged.

Nick sighed. "She should be soon," he replied. "Is Sara stayin' with you tonight?"

Gil nodded.

Nick looked at Cassandra again, then back at Gil. "I'm just gonna take her home. Tell everyone we said goodnight, alright?"

Gil nodded again, then with one final look at Cassandra, he went back inside.

The next morning:

Cassandra groaned and attempted to flip over when she woke up, but found that she couldn't. She looked down and found an unknown arm along her back. She looked to the side and found Nick was next to her on the bed. She contained a scream, but didn't manage to stop herself from falling off the bed. She quickly got up, trying to remember the night before. She looked down, relieved to find that she was still fully clothed in the outfit she was in the previous night, belt and all, and she was even more relieved when she saw Nick was also in the clothes from the previous night. She sighed in relief and pulled herself upright when she did manage to remember what happened.

It had started off like some "Hot Shots" type comedy since she had fallen asleep in Nick's car and he couldn't wake her up so he resorted to carrying her inside, accidentally making her hit her head on the doorframe on the way inside. She was awake for just enough time to give him a piece of her mind, then collapsed onto the guest room bed. Nick had told her that he knew she wouldn't go after the person who had attacked Warrick and Max by setting up a trap for him, but wasn't sure about her doing anything "stupid" . Any C.S.I would know that "something stupid" was now almost always attempting suicide. She told him she wouldn't, but he didn't trust her so he had lay down next to her. She had complained that it was like him babysitting her, but when he didn't give in, she gave up and let sleep take her.

She trusted him, though. He didn't seem like the man who would try anything sleazy. She remembered it was Saturday, the group's day off. Great. Just great. This is gonna be slow torture. She left the room to make coffee for them when she spotted that she had a message on her phone. She checked the voicemail, cursing the phone for going through the options slower than she would've liked it too. It finally started playing the messages.

"Hey, Cassafrass. It's Jake. I mean, who else would call you at this hour other than Asshole Josh… you know what I just realized? Now you know a lot of 'J''s, don't you? Josh, Jake, Jim, Jeremy… that's besides the point. I called to check up on you, make sure you were okay after last night. Oh, and by the way, Greg stole my nickname. Stay away from Brass Sunday when he's around, okay? Long story, and knowing 'Greggo', he'll tell it. All right, I'll see you sometime shortly. See ya, sister-from-another-mother, Call me! … If I ever say anything like that again, shoot me with my own gun, you got that? I'm just gonna stop talking. Love ya. Bye."

There was a beep, indicating the message was over. Cassandra looked at the phone. "That boy really needs to learn to shut up once in a while," she murmured to herself. She got the coffee set and groaned, hearing her phone ring. "Can you guys stop checking up on me?" she demanded, walking back over to it. She hit talk. "Sidle,"

"Hey sis, how are you?"

Cassandra sighed. She could deal with Sara. "Not so good, you?"

"Same. Get any sleep?"

"Barely. You?"

"Same again… I hope Nick's treating you alright after that," Sara replied.

"Yeah, he was fine. He's still sleeping right now,"

Sara laughed. "Sounds like him. He's a good guy, Cassie,"

"Yeah, I know. He wouldn't leave my side last night. Ended up dozing off next to me,"

Sara laughed again. "At least he's taking everything somewhat good,"

"Lucky him," Cassandra mumbled.

Sara sighed. "Max and Warrick are gonna pull through, Cass. They're both strong in every sense of the word. They'll be as good as new in no time,"

"Thanks, Sar," Cassandra smiled.

"No problem… Gil's just put breakfast down on the table, so I'm gonna go. Hang in there. I love you,"

"Love you too. Bye," Cassandra hung up. She glanced at the clock. It was only 9:30 in the morning. She found herself out of things to do, so she ran out the door quickly and got the paper, bringing it inside. She started thumbing through it, nearly tearing it from attempting to pass the headline of "33-Year-Old Man Found Shot in His Home".

"It's freaking following me, now," she muttered to herself. She kept trying to find another story to focus on, but couldn't, and since she couldn't bring herself to read the article on her brother, she gave up and went back into the guest room and starting going through some of Sara's outfits to wear since her own home still hadn't been cleared, not feeling like wearing another one of Nick's shirts and the pair of jeans she had been wearing everyday since Beth's murder. She settled for Sara's navy blue tye-dyed shirt and a pair of jeans that were about a size or two too small, so she had to squeeze into them and found it hard to breathe the first few minutes she was in them. She poured two cups of coffee and set them on the kitchen counter, then went into the living room and collapsed onto one of the couches, starting to think to herself, making up a mental list of people that she would have to check up on. She must've been staring at it for a while, because she had zoned out until someone clearing their throat startled her enough to make her fall off the couch.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt. You know, if you had kept staring you woulda' ended up burning a hole in my ceiling,"

Cassandra got back on the couch. "Thank you, Captain Obvious," she glared at Nick, who was in the doorway, coffee already in hand.

Nick shrugged. "Again, I should know about the ceiling, I had a-"

"Stalker, yes, I know," Cassandra's glare turned playful.

Nick shrugged. "Hey, you'll regret cutting me off when you end up having a stalker…" he went to continue, then stopped. "… Not really an appropriate time for that comeback, huh?"

"Yeah," Cassandra nodded once.

Nick also nodded, then sat on the couch next to her. "Thanks for the coffee, by the way," he turned on the T.V.

"Max Schmidt was found shot in his home yesterday-"

Click.

"You thought killing everyone around me was going to get me closer-"

Click.

"Sick of losing your friend thanks to stupid people?"

Cassandra grabbed the pillow next to her and slammed her head into it before screaming into it as well.

"Sorry. Workin' on it," Nick muttered.

"The dog's name… is Cannibal?"

Nick poked Cassandra after nodding, satisfied at what was now on the T.V. " How does 'The Ref' work for you? It's funny and nobody dies!" he offered.

"Whatever,"

Nick changed the channel again.

"Open the gates and seize the day!"

Nick looked back at her. " 'Newsies' or 'The Ref'? In other words, kid who'll grow up into one of Hollywood's 'hottest' actors, or a kickass Christmas movie?"

Cassandra felt around for the clicker, then changed it back to "The Ref" without looking at the screen. "You're worse than Jake," she growled into the pillow. She looked up when she heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it," Nick jumped back up and went to the door. He opened it and raised an eyebrow, but smiled when he saw it was Catherine. "Cath…" he greeted.

Catherine nodded, then elbowed her way passed him and went into the living room. "Cute. I think it actually works better on you then it does on Sara,"

Cassandra looked down, realizing she meant the shirt. "Oh, thanks,"

"Any time," Catherine nodded.

Cassandra threw her legs over the side of the couch and sat up. "What brings you here?"

Catherine smirked. "We are kidnapping you for the day. You need a vacation right now,"

Before Cassandra could even ask what she meant, Catherine had grabbed her hand and started dragging her out the door. Without much choice, Cassandra took Nick's arm and pulled him along, not knowing what was in store for her.