CSI is not mine. period.

Rated T

Warrick keeps his promise and checks to see if Brooke Latham is in the system.

Is she?

This chapter includes Warrick, Nick, Greg, Catherine and Archie.

Let's hope Nick will finally get closer to finding out the truth.

Please review because I am seriously losing focus and could use some of your thoughts.

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Waiting for the light to turn green, he yawned loudly into the back of his hand. He had just left work and was anxious to get some sleep. Nick knew he would be meeting Jules later and he wanted to get some rest in so he could spend time with her. He wanted to take her out tonight. Just as he grabbed his cell phone to call her, his phone rang in his hand. He picked it up quickly without looking at the ID.

"Stokes," he said as usual.

"Hey, Nick, it's Warrick," he began, "Listen, man…"

"Uh huh," Nick mumbled waiting for what his brother-in-law had to say this time.

"I know..." Warrick began before getting cut off.

"Look, Rick, if you are expecting me to apologize for hitting you then you may as well hang up now, cause it ain't gonna happen. You pushed me too far," he spoke coldly.

"I know, I know you're thinking I am gonna argue with you out about that, but I'm not, Man. I know I was…well, I was outta line and I'm sorry. I've been thinking a lot about my sister believing in you…you telling me I should listen to you and so…," he paused hearing only silence and wondered if Nick was still there, "Nick? You still there?"

"Yea, I'm here," he said flatly, and intently listening to Warrick's apology. "I'm listening."

"Well, man, I just needed to ask you…you told me her name was Brooke Latham, right?" he asked unsure. " L-A-T-H-A-M?" he spelled it out.

"Yeah, that's right, why?" Nick asked squinting his eyes and wondering where he was going with this.

"Well, you said you think something is wrong…that you don't remember any of it," Warrick explained.

"Yyyep, that's what I am sayin'," Nick answered coldly.

"Well, I was sittin' in the lab tonight, and just for the heck of it, I ran her through the system. I know, I know, you told Greg she wouldn't be in there because she has never been in trouble… but I ran her anyway," Warrick explained.

Nick listened, "Yeah? And?"

"She's in here, Nick," he told him.

"WHAT? For what?" Nick said shocked out of his mind.

The Brooke Latham he knew never had a run in with the law in her life. In fact, the Brooke he knew was a prissy, little, southern, gal.

"Drunk and Disorderly, DUI, Assault on an officer, . …and it says she had a drunken brawl with some dude outside Cheetah's," he revealed.

"The seedy strip joint? On Western Avenue?" Nick jerked his head back surprised.

'The one and only…apparently she was a dancer there, Nick." Warrick informed him.

"Get the fuck outta here, Warrick…are you sure? You ran BROOKE LATHAM… L A T H A M?" he said confused.

Brooke was a Show Girl not a stripper in a seedy strip bar, Nick remembered silently.

"I do this for a living, Nick…and shockingly I know how to spell," he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah…I know, sorry, I'm just blown a way, man. Blown fuckin away!" he shook his head in disbelief. "Listen, Rick, thank you…thank you…it means a lot, man," Nick said truly grateful.

Finally, he felt like he had his best friend willing to stop and think about what he was saying. He knew that was hard for Warrick because Warrick's first instinct has ALWAYS been to protect Jules. He knew that Warrick seeing Jules cry would be like running fire through his veins. Part of him understood that, but the other part of him felt let down. He was just happy that finally Warrick was stepping up to the plate and listening to him.

"Yeah, man, listen…it still doesn't prove anything. It only shows you she ain't an angel...she's no innocent. But, Nick, I swear to God, if I find out you are just covering your ass, brother…if this IS exactly what it looks like…I'll have to kill you," he chuckles only half kidding. "But I do wanna tell you again … I am sorry for what I said. I am sorry for bringing Tiny into it," he paused. "And trust me, brother, I do want to clear your name. I hate wanting to kill you all the time," he told him. He was actually serious about feeling like he wanted to strangle him to death.

Nick sighed loudly, "Hey, whatever it takes, man… I want my name cleared. And I want my life back...I want my family back."

"Hey, Nick?" Warrick said calmly, "Can you bring me those pictures so I can dust them to see if there are any prints on them. Now that we know she's in the system let's see if we can't get a match. And if it's not her, well maybe we can at least find out who took them."

Nick was about to answer him and tell him he would be right there but Warrick spoke to someone in the background.

"Yeah..yeah, okay, I'll ask him, hold up..."Warrick says before putting his mouth back to the phone. "Hey Nick, Sanders just told me that he will run the envelope if you have it. Was it sealed?" he asked Nick.

"Yes…I'm turning my car around now," he said making an illegal U-Turn on the Sunset Strip and headed back to the Lab. "And Warrick…have faith, I love your sister, I love my daughter, my family, all of it, I love them way too much to lose it all on a drunken weekend. I know myself better than that…I don't care what the proof is showing," he said adamantly.

"Just come back to the lab…bring everything. We'll be waiting for you," Warrick told him and hung up.

Walking quickly down the hallway of the LVPD Crime Lab, Nick walked straight to Greg Sander's lab and hoped he and Warrick would be in there so he wouldn't have to search the building for them. Nick sighed a breath of relief when he saw Greg in the lab, hovered over a microscope with his music blaring.

"Greg!" Nick yelled over the music.

Greg looked back and rolled his chair over to his radio and turned it off.

"You got them?" he nodded.

"You know it," Nick nodded back handing the envelope to his friend.

Greg went right to work. He swabbed the seal on the envelope immediately.

Nick looked around and asked Greg where Warrick went.

"He is coming right back…he went for the Red Creeper in Grissom's office," he smirked.

They both knew Grissom swore there was no better print powder. Nick felt relieved knowing it was Warrick's small way of showing Nick he plans on digging deep for him. He knew Warrick well and he knew that it was his way of telling him there will be no stone unturned.

Nick nodded happily and breathed out a loud breath of air.

"At least if we find anything, now we will have something to compare it to," Nick looked over at Greg who was running the test.

"True. That's why he ran her…just in case…" Greg nodded.

"I just never in a million years…I guess I just haven't been thinking right. I should have just ran her…what is wrong with me?" he shook his head with disgust.

"Hey, you have had a lot on your plate, man, it's just what happens sometimes," he put his hand on Nick's shoulder hoping to make him feel less guilty for not checking the database sooner, "So, it's done now…and if there are prints, we'll run them against hers…without a comparison, man, I wouldn't be able to help you, but now we have something to go on, so it's all good. It's cool," he nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah," he paused, "I just never in a million years thought…wow, Brooke…I still can't believe it," Nick shook his head and began preparing the photos for dusting.

Warrick strolled in with a little glass jar filled with a red powder.

"Let me see what ya got," he said to Nick as he walked in.

They nodded at each other…their way of saying "sorry" about the fight.

As Warrick and Nick leaned in and dusted photos, Greg looked over at them and noticed Nick's knuckles were banged up a bit. He looked back up at Warrick and looked again at that bruise on his face.

"So, Rick, you banged your face on a rafter yesterday? Dusting for prints?" he said squinting his eyes.

Warrick looked over at Greg. Nick's head jerked up and he stared at him too.

"Ohhh kaaaay, I will leave it alone," Sanders said and continued running the DNA tests.

Once Nick was finished dusting and lifting prints from the photos, he scooped them up and put them in a pile. Holding them in his hand he looked over at Greg and Warrick.

"Rick, can you run the prints through CODIS for me? I'm gonna take these down to Catherine. I want her to look over them while we wait for the tests. Maybe fresh eyes can see something we missed. I don't know what, but what the hell, I didn't think Brooke would be in the system either and look how that turned out!" he was still shaking his head about that revelation.

"I'll text you as soon as DNA results come in," Greg answered as Nick was already half way out the door.

"Me too on the prints," Warrick nodded and collected the lifts.

"Right!" he yelled back already half way out the door.

Catherine and Nick sat side by side with the pictures spread out across the table. Catherine grabbed her red marker and made an arrow pointing to a few things before sliding it over to Nick.

"What?" he asked looking at her and then back down at it.

"Look at your hands, Nick," she said with her head down still looking at the other picture.

"What? What do ya mean?' he grimaced.

"What do I mean? I mean your hands…the ones on her breasts," she said seriously looking up at him.

Nick winced at the sight of his hands on anyone's breasts other than Jules'.

"Yeah, thanks for pointing that out, Catherine" he grumbled.

"No, No, Nicky!" she smacked his shoulder, " Look at how she is holding them. You aren't holding her breasts, she is holding your hands to her."

"Yeah? So…" he tilted his head and wondered where she was going with that.

"You aren't grabbing at them...she put your hands there. And, look at your face…your eyes aren't open. You're passed out, Nicky, I can tell with the loop…here you look," she handed him the magnifying loop.

Nick looks through it and it instantly blows up his face and he can see his eyes closed and his face has no emotion…he wasn't sure but, he could very well be out cold.

He looks up at Catherine, and his mouth falls open.

The two of them hunker over the next picture, and again Nick is not involved in the act. If anything, Brooke is doing all the work.

"Nick, her hair is covering your face as she is supposedly kissing you. I don't see any pictures that have you groping her. And unless you're a cold fish in the sack, Nicky, that just doesn't seem normal to me," she smiled a closed mouth smile at him.

Nick nods slowly thinking hard about what she was saying.

"Catherine, I wanna bring this one to Archie…you see that?" he says slowly pointing to the fuzzy reflection in the mirror.

Catherine looks up at him and nods.

"I sure do, Nicky. I sure do."

Nick was almost out the door as she confirmed it.

Nearly running down the hall to bring the photo to Archie, Nick made it there in record speed.

"Whoa, Stokes, what's up?" Archie said startled by Nick's urgency.

"Can you blow this image up? I need to see that reflection," He asked.

"Right now? I have this case…" he begins to tell Nick.

"No, no, Arch, it's a favor…it's, um, it's for ME" he pleads with him and his face shows it. "This is mine."

"OH! Oh, yeah, no problem," he said taking it from Nick and scanning the picture into his computer.

"Um, Nick?" Archie says slowly looking closely at the image.

"Yeah?" he looked up.

"Can I ask who that smoking' hot blond is that is on top of you?" Archie looked at Nick with his eyes wide.

"Oh man, you don't even want to know…how about I fill you in another time?" Nick shook his head.

Archie laughs slightly under his breath wondering if Nick's wife knows about these pictures.

"Whaddya got, Arch?" he asked impatiently.

"Wait, Nick, let me clean up the image," Archie said changing the pixels to made the image come to life.

The image comes in clearly and it is of a young woman.

"I don't know her. I have no idea who the hell that is," Nick scratched his head. "We didn't go out with her that night. She wasn't even there with us!"

"She's hot too." Archie nodded.

Nick ignored the comment, he was too busy thinking about who she was and if she wasn't hanging out with them then how did she get in a room with him and Brooke?

"Can you blow up my face?" he asked staring at the image.

"Ask and you shall receive,my friend," the tech said as he worked his magic.

With his face blown up he could see that Catherine was right…there was no participation and if Nick was purposely hooking up with anyone, he would be heavily involved. Nick was not a lifeless lover. He had never been a "dead fish" in his life.

As Nick asked Archie to print him out a copy of each blown up face he felt his phone alert him of a text.

He quickly looked at it and smiled.

Thumbs up.

Get back here.

Greg

"We got a hit, Nick," Greg nodded looking over at him, "It's her. Brook's prints are all over those pictures.

"I cannot fucking believe her! I knew she had to have something to do with this mess. I had a gut feeling. Why would she want to fuck up my marriage though, man?" Nick asked knowing neither Greg nor Warrick had an answer. "what about the other prints I lifted? I guess their photo lab techs' prints, maybe?"

"Still running, but I think I am gonna get the answer that will knock you on your ass, buddy," Greg rolled his chair over to Nick.

"Uh, Nick…You might want to sit down for this one," Warrick said with his face looking shocked and angry.

"What? WHY?" Nick gave him a puzzled look.

"Greg got the DNA from the envelope seal…it's not Brooke's, Nick," he tread softly knowing Nick just might collapse when he hears who was a match.

"Just tell me, Sanders…stop fucking around," he waved his hands as if to hurry him along.

Warrick held Nick by the shoulder and looked him dead in the face.

"Nick, it's Jolene Parker…her DNA is all over it. Jules' mother sent them, Man," Warrick said with his own face turning red with fury.

Nick took the seat Greg had offered him only minutes ago and managed to sit down. Jolene? She hasn't given up? She is still trying to make Jules' life miserable? How could this be? WHY? What did Jules ever do to her but be born?" Nick said heartbroken for his wife.

"What I would like to know is HOW THE HELL BROOKE KNOWS JOLENE PARKER!" Warrick couldn't help but yell.

"I'm guessing Strip Club? CODIS has her prints…she was mixed up with all that garbage," Greg nodded.

"Oh my God. I don't fucking believe it," Nick covered his eyes with his hand and shook his hand, "…I swear to God I feel sick."

Greg had a quizzical look come across his face. "Nick… how do you know she didn't get you fucked up enough that you actually did wind up getting with her? Would Jules…um…?" Greg paused not wanting to be the one to ask if Jules would forgive him or be able to get the idea of him having sex Brooke out of her head.

Warrick looked over at Nick wondering that same question.

"One thing at a time, Sanders, please! I gotta just sit with this a second," he scooped up the pictures and threw them into the manila envelope. He stood up but still braced his hand on the table.

Warrick and Nick looked at each other in disbelief at the idea of Brooke and Jolene being in cahoots with one another. It took them awhile for the information to be absorbed. It was just too mind blowing for both of them.

Finally, Warrick looked at Nick.

"Somebody has to tell Jules that her mother isn't really dead," Warrick covered his face with both hands, pressing them against his head.

"I was thinking the same thing, man…my stomach is in knots," he held his stomach briefly. "We should have never lied to her, man," Nick said squeezing his mouth with his hand.

"Yeah, but I wanted to protect her," he admitted softly.

"Hmm, kinda what she did to you with me?" he raised his eyebrow at his brother in law.

Warrick took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

...He had no defense.