Jake sighed and looked at the small crowd of people clad in black. Thankfully, the rain that had plagued the funeral service had cleared up a few minutes before, and the service could go on with the attendees a little more happy then they were before. "You see… this is why I hate being outgoing… people always count on me to make the speeches after the first couple of ones, and we're all bawling to begin with…." He looked down, then back up. "…Here it goes, then… We're here to pay tribute to a man everyone here felt safe calling a true friend. He was loyal, friendly, and most importantly, brave. Sometimes that bravery landed him in situations that we know we wouldn't have been able to make it through… He also landed himself in quite a bit of trouble,"

A few people managed to chuckle at the comment.

Jake waited for the chuckles to die down before looked around again, ready to continue. He shook his head and shifted around, leaning on the podium. "I barely knew the guy, but he made it easy to become friends with him. He was charismatic… when he was in a room with you, you couldn't help but feel good. I know that's what he did to me. He did that for all of us, come to think of it. "

There were several murmurs of agreement.

Jake nodded. "Another man who can back up that statement is another one we all know, love, and respect. Jim, I heard you wanna talk? Get up here before I start cryin'."

More chuckles, but not many.

Jake took his seat beside Cassandra. She smiled at him and patted his thigh, then Cassandra looked to the side when she felt someone squeeze her shoulder. She smiled, seeing who it was. It was one of The Vegas Crime Lab's "Damned-Lucky-Miracle", Max. He was the crime lab's "miracle" because he had woken up the day after Lynn's arrest, brightening the mood slightly.

The blond had his hand on her shoulder, smiling weakly. 'You okay?' he mouthed.

She nodded, then watched as Jim got up to take his turn to talk. She looked over her shoulder at Catherine, who also looked up and smiled weakly and nodded at her. Cassandra looked back at the podium as she heard Jim let in a sharp inhale before getting back down to his seat.

Before anyone knew it, the funeral had come to an end and everyone had gone their separate ways, but the CSIs, as well as Jake and Jim stuck together and had aligned their cars next to each other. A portion of the team leaned on Cassandra's 4x4, waiting to regroup. They all tensed up when they saw Conrad coming their way. Cassandra had met him the night of Lynn's arrest, and like everyone else, had joined in with hating every fiber of his being, because the way he perceived the incident, it seemed like it was good that Nick had gotten shot. That didn't fly too well at all. Jim nearly threw a punch at Conrad, but Jake had held him back, but within seconds, had thrown the punch to Conrad's jaw himself. He was shocked as well as relieved when the older man let him off with just a warning. However, judging by the look Conrad was giving Jake, he wasn't too thrilled that it was all he gave. Jake just grunted before leaving, not wanting to deal with him.

Conrad looked at the others and opened his mouth. It took everyone a moment to realize he was addressing them. "I'm sorry for your loss," he mumbled, then walked away.

It also took the team a while for them to realize that he had actually comprehend what he said. Everyone looked down in silence. Gil was the only person who let out an audible "Thanks" to the man. That was yet another thing that surprised everyone, since Sara had left yet again after she and Cassandra were rescued. It still depressed Gil a bit, so he had barely spoken unless it was totally needed or had to do with a case.

"Yeah… hey, uh… was I the only one who saw Brass speak? I think he was crying,"

Cassandra turned to the person next to her. "What, have you turned into Hodges, now? It's a funeral, people cry at funerals."

"Hey!" Hodges objected.

Both of the arguers ignored him.

"I know that, Cassandra. I'm just pointing out that it's weird for him!"

"I know that, Nick. I just don't think that's quite fair. You would want people crying at your loss during your funeral, wouldn't you? Need I remind you this could have been you three months ago?" she asked her boyfriend of two months.

Nick smirked and shrugged it off. By some miracle, the doctors had managed to handle the gunshot he had received and patched him up well. After about a week in the hospital and several follow-ups, he was back to normal, save for the scar he had gotten from the ordeal.

"Thank you, Cassie,"

Everyone jumped slightly, not expecting to hear Jim behind them.

Jim nodded at them, then looked around. "Can we uh… can we get outta here? I' m never one for funerals… before, during or after."

"Amen to that." Jake nodded, joining them again. "Sorry. Had to talk to Becca Connors. Steve left behind her and three kids… God, I'm gonna miss that guy." He mumbled of the dear friend who he had lost two days before. The man who's funeral they were all at, because Steve was new to the force and had gotten close to each and every one of them to make the transition easier.

"Yeah," Everyone nodded, heading towards their respective cars. Nick, Cassandra, Jim and Jake were in one, Gil, Catherine and Warrick were in another. They all stared filing into their return ride without another word.

A few months later:

Cassandra practically kicked open the doors leading into the main hallway of the crime lab. She was both mad at Nick and herself. A few days earlier, Nick had been questioned by some lawyer during a hearing involving one of his cases. For some reason, her name had come up and the lawyer had practically interrogated him about their relationship, and even if she hadn't been with him, how it possibly affected the case. Nick had apparently defended it right off the bat, saying that she was already looking for another job in the field to go along with the "no dating coworkers" rule. Of course, it was true and she was looking for a job, but it wasn't that issue that had her angry. It was the fact that he had gotten home and asked her why she loved him and why she was in the relationship. Her reply was slapping him and telling him never to ask that again, because "he knew damn well that she loved him for who he was and what others thought didn't matter". She hadn't spoken to him since, and that was where the anger at herself came in. It was his birthday and he knew she was still mad, so he got up a few minutes before she did, just so she didn't have to deal with him, according to Greg. Right after the younger man told her that, he had hugged her to try and lessen the blow. It didn't help much since she felt awful right away, being that she had forgotten it was his birthday as well as the fact that he felt she didn't want to see him. She had far too much on her mind that night. She nearly cried when Catherine had brought in his birthday cake and when she smiled at him, he returned a weak smile and looked away. As if it couldn't get worse, a few seconds later, he was called off to a case and went off without another word.

"Miss. Sidle!"

She turned around, hearing Ray Langston, the newest member of the CSI team calling her. "Oh, hey. How many times have I asked you to call me Cassie, Dr. Langston."

He chuckled. "And how many times have I told you to call me Ray."

She smiled. "Fair enough. What's up?"

Ray's smile faded. "Well, it's Nick…"

Her own smile disappeared. "Oh my God. Please tell me he's okay. Did something happen to him?!"

Ray put his hands up. "No, no. Well, he's just upset… he knew the victim, Hayley, today, as you probably knew by his reaction… he's beating himself up over it… a lot. I figure he may want to see you."

She raised her eyebrows. "Right now, I don't know."

"What, with your fight?" Ray asked.

Cassandra looked at him. "How'd…?"

He smiled. "Once Greg and Hodges know, everyone knows."

She laughed. "Good point. Where is he?"

"Locker room."

"I'll see him. Thanks." She started heading towards the said location. When she got there, her heart just about broke, seeing him sitting on one of the benches, crying. "Oh, Nicky…" she hurried to his side and sat down beside him.

Nick looked at her. "Hey, Cass," he mumbled weakly, then sniffled and looked away.

She frowned. "Nick, baby, come here," she sat down next to him and looped her arms around him. "Hey… you want me to tell Riley to try tomorrow for that breakfast?"

"I don't know, Cass… as if I haven't put you through enough in the past few of days, and now I'm not even botherin' to apologize… now this throwin' me for a loop… I'm sorry." he whimpered the last bit since he started crying again.

"Hey, hey… I overreacted, okay? You really cared for Hayley… I remember you talked about her and now you lost her, and losing Warrick earlier… you don't need me mad at you. Now I know you're gonna blame yourself for the whole thing, so shut up, and if that doesn't work, fine, I forgive you. Now cheer up. You're gonna make me cry." she kissed his shoulder.

Nick laughed weakly and took her hand, holding it there, but then stopped and let out a sob again.

Cassandra frowned. "Hey, what's wrong, now?"

He looked up at her. "The first day I met Hayley, after I told her what was going on 'cause she wouldn't leave me alone when I didn't… we got to talkin'… told me things were gonna start lookin' up…" he took her hand again and squeezed it. "Two days later I met you."

"No," she rested her head on their hands. "Come on. Honor Riley's breakfast thing. She'll kill you if you don't. I'll settle for making you lunch." she took his hand and led him out of the room. "Hey, Riles! He's set for that breakfast!" she called, seeing the blonde.

Riley joined them halfway. "That works!" she smiled weakly at Nick. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Nick nodded.

Riley's smile widened, then she looked at Cassandra. "You sure you don't mind I'm taking your man out?"

"No. Just make sure you two behave, okay?" she teased, then looked at Nick, then gave him a peck on the lips. "I have some news later, okay? Figure you need it."

Nick blinked. "You're scarin' me now. Should breakfast wait? I can-"

"No. Have fun." She gave him another kiss, then waved as Riley dragged him in the other direction. She laughed, then turned around and headed for Grissom's old office that was now shared by almost all of them to see what Greg was up to. However, she was intercepted by Catherine, who was grinning ear-to-ear. "That's not creepy at all."

Catherine ignored her, then grabbed her hands. "You owe me big, sister!"

"For what?" the other woman asked, then blinked when Catherine hugged her. "Cath, really. It's creepy now."

"I think I have a job for you." The woman replied.

"Which is?" Cassandra asked.

Catherine just kept grinning at her.

"Out with it, Willows!" Cassandra growled.

"Well, maybe if you'd give her a chance, she'd tell you, Sidle!"

Cassandra froze. She knew that voice. A grin much like Catherine's spread on her face, and before she knew it, she had turned and launched herself at the owner of the voice, with every intention of hugging the life out of him.

A/N: (runs from the people who thought Nick was dead in the beginning) The sad thing is, I planned that. Anyways, that was originally going to be a two-part epilogue, but I put them together. I may change that later. Yes, that last bit was from "Turn, Turn, Turn". Well, anyway, that was the conclusion of "I've Just Seen a Face". Obviously, the sequel is in the works as well. I'd like to thank all my readers and reviewers for putting your time into reading this. You're the best.

Until next time,

PCl