I do not own CSI.

Rated T

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** Here is your next chapter... Poor little Emma. She was just terrorized.

Will she be okay? Sure she will...she's a Stokes.

How will Jules react to the news of Cole? What will they tell her?

This chapter will tell you what went on INSIDE the Stokes' house AFTER the chaos that erupted outside was over.

Chapter includes The Stokes, Warrick, and Brass.**

He could hear his daughter crying as soon as he walked into the foyer. It made him sick. He looked over at Brass and gave him a look of rage. It made him furious that Brooke hurt his little girl. Brass followed Nick straight to the kitchen. Nick looked into the den to see Jules and Emma sitting on the couch. Warrick was pacing back and forth in front of them obviously fuming. Nick was surprised to even see Warrick; he didn't even know he was there…he hadn't seen him at all. But what saddened him most was seeing Jules' worried face as she cradled his crying daughter.

Emma was crying and was trying to get her words out.

"Mommy, she pullwit like dis" Emma cried to her mother and demonstrated how Brook yanked her pigtail. "AND she squeezded my cheeks like dis" and she squeezed her face.

The more Emma tried to illustrate what happened the more tears she cried, the more Jules own lip quivered, and the more Warrick paced.

"I know, I know, Sweetheart, I know…don't cry, Honey, Daddy took care of her…she can't hurt you anymore, okay?" Jules stroked Emma's hair, "Don't think anymore about it…it's over…she's gone. You don't have to show me anymore, okay?"

"Why she hawt me, Mommy? Why she do dat?" Emma asked still shaking.

"She is sick, Honey, she wasn't thinking right," Jules explained softly to her little girl who wanted to know why Brooke would want to hurt her.

"She go to doctaw's now?" she asked with her tears slowing.

"Yes, Honey, she is gone…she went to get help for her bad behavior," Jules looked up and saw Nick standing there.

Her face wilted at the sight of him.

Nick went straight toward her and knelt in front of them, hugging them both at the same time.

Nick brushed away some hair that had fallen on her tear streaked face.

"You were very brave, Emma...Daddy is so proud of you!" he told his daughter who smiled softly at what her father was saying.

"I is brave, right?" she said repeating him suddenly looking very sleepy.

Nick kissed her forehead hard and brushed his nose against hers. Emma snuggled down into her mother's arms. Nick buried his face on Jules' knees trying hard to be strong.

Jules put her hand on the back of Nick's head and stroked it gently.

No more words were spoken between them.

Warrick had seen Nick and Brass walk in and wanted to know what happened. He was happy to see his sister and niece were fine, but he now wanted answers to his multitude of questions.

Warrick was the typical pillar of strength though and he waited. He kept his mouth shut, he stuffed his anger down and he waited until the dust settled. He paced back and forth in front of Nick, Jules, and Emma as if he were a guard dog on patrol.

None of them were sure how much time had passed but it hadn't been all that long before the trauma tired Emma out and she fell asleep soundly in her mother's and father's arms. She was wiped out.

"She's asleep," Warrick told them looking down at Emma.

Jules looked down and saw her brother was right.

Nick stood up and took Emma from her arms. He stared at his daughter a minute. closed his eyes and shook his head. He kissed her hair and left the room to carry her up the stairs and to her bed. It was almost an hour earlier then her usual bedtime, but Nick and Jules knew she would be out for the night after the stressful day she just had. They were happy she was asleep now...she didn't have to reenact anymore of her encounter with Brooke.

Jules was obviously shaking. Her hands were trembling and she was out of sorts. She and Warrick went into the kitchen and Brass and Warrick sat down at the table. Jules grabbed a few bottles of water from the fridge and placed each one on the table for herself, Brass, and Warrick. She didn't know if they wanted them or not, she just didn't know what else to do with herself.

Warrick and Brass looked over at Jules as she sat down.

"Baby Girl, what the fuck just happened here?" Warrick asked with shock.

"I have no idea! We have to hear it from Nick. I went to go get Emma's swimming bag and I came right back. When I came around the corner I saw her, Rick…she was holding Emma and…" she felt the panic rise in her throat and she paused. Warrick touched her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Nick came down the stairs and into the kitchen. He walked up behind Jules' chair and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"I am so sorry," he whispered and placed his cheek on the top of her head.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this, Nick, she is fucking nuts!" she turned in her chair a bit to face him.

Nick kissed the top of her head and walked around to the empty chair and sat down.

Brass looked over and shook his head.

"Smart move with the phone, Nick, I almost hung up till I heard you yell about your daughter," Brass explained.

All four of them sat around the table and discussed the nightmare that ensued in front of Nick and Jules' home. Brass took their statements and hung around a bit to talk about it before he got up and said he had to go back to the station and get things moving. He seemed disgusted by what took place just as much as the others.

Nick stood up and walked Brass to the door, leaving Warrick and Jules at the table.

"Jim, listen, man," Nick took a shaky breath and exhaled with the same shakiness, " I cannot thank you enough…if you hadn't listened to my call…if you hadn't shown up… I don't know what I would have done to her, man, I really…" Nick explained but Brass cut him off.

"C'mon, don't go there, Nick," he touched his shoulder, "You did good…you had the presence of mind to call me…be proud of that. You got your daughter away from a lunatic…you tried every which way until you had to take her down…be proud of yourself, Nick…you protected your daughter," he nodded, "I'm proud of you."

Nick nodded and felt his throat tighten. He reached out and shook Brass's hand and gave him a shoulder hug and they patted each others backs.

"I will be in touch if I have any more questions or if I need you to give another statement," Brass said walking out the door.

"Thanks again, Jim," Nick nodded and closed the door behind him.

Brass turned to walk out but stopped for a moment.

"Listen, Nick, I am gonna talk to Gil…I think you should stay home with your wife and daughter tonight, don't you?" he nodded sympathetically.

Nick hadn't even thought about work. He blew the air from his lungs and looked up at the ceiling. He hated not going in but he did think Jules could use him by her side tonight.

"Tell him to call me…I will plan on coming in unless I hear from him," Nick nodded and Brass nodded back.

"You think it is over now, Rick?" she asked him softly.

"I do. I think so, Baby Girl," he reached over and rubbed the top of her hand.

Jules looked up at her brother with a little girl's face and a few tears sneaked from her eyes.

"That bitch hurt my girl, Warrick," she said with her lip quivering.

"Nah, Emma is tough…she came out of this fine," he squeezed her hand, "She will forget all about this soon," he comforted.

Nick walked in and heard their conversation. He heard Jules' voice cracking and strained. He knew she was trying hard not to cry.

"Aw, no, no, Baby, don't cry, okay?" he said feeling his emotions creep up again.

Nick walked next to her and she stood up from her chair and hugged him tightly.

"Darlin' you did good, you stayed right where I wanted you to," he told her.

"I could see it in your eyes, Nick, I knew what you were telling me…I went on trust, Texas," she said and looked up at him with her tear streaked face.

"You did good, Sweetheart, you did good," he kissed her softly and then hugged her tightly again.

Both of them sat down and discussed it more at length.

"Okay, look," Warrick's strong tone took over, "listen to me… this was horrible, yes, I get it, BUT…Emma will be fine. No one was hurt, right?" he looked at both of them one at a time and then continued, "what went down here today may be a good thing…"

"WHAT?" Jules said horrified.

Nick looked across the table at his brother in law and nodded slowly knowing where Warrick was going with this.

"He's right, Honey, he is actually dead on," Nick told her, "No one got hurt and the outcome is good…we can lock her up now," he smiled, "We had nothing to hold her on before…we do now."

Jules nodded and then squinted.

Then, she frowned and then took a long sip of water.

Warrick and Nick looked at each other. Nick had a feeling he knew what was coming.

Jules put her water bottle down and stared at both of them.

"Something you boys need to fucking tell me?" she said with a steely tone.

Warrick looked at Nick.

Nick's stomach turned hoping Warrick wouldn't reveal Jolene's role in this mess. Jules only knew about Cole. So he quickly spoke before Warrick could, but not before kicking Warrick under the table. Jules already heard about Cole so it had to come out, but there was nothing good that come from the second part…the part about her mother.

"I know you heard her mention Cole's name. And yes…he was involved," Nick rubbed the back of his head.

"YOU BOTH KNEW THAT, DIDN'T YOU!" she said angrily. "I want the fucking truth, guys! I mean it" she frowned.

"We knew," Nick said with a look of nervousness .

"HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" she said throwing her arms up, "YOU ASSHOLES! SUCH ASSSSHOLLLES!" she paused, "AND HOW THE FUCK DOES SHE EVEN KNOW JIMMY?" Jules demanded.

Nick blew the air from his lungs…this was going to be a long night.

Quite some time had passed and Jules was still on a roll.

She would finally stop yelling and talk normal…she'd talk about what happened on their driveway… then she would get fired up about Cole's involvement…and then she would get pissed off at the two of them all over again.

Around and around it went.

"You two…UGH!" she yelled up at the ceiling. "If I wasn't so distracted by the thought of Cole still trying to wreak havoc on me and my life I swear to God…BOTH of you!" she yelled, "I swear I would stand up and bang both your heads together for being such fucking assholes!" she glared at them both.

Finally Warrick asked the question that he kept thinking for the past hour.

"How are we assholes, Baby Girl? Because we didn't tell you about Cole's part in it?" Warrick defended.

Nick turned his head to the side and grimaced.

"UHHH YEAH!" she yelled at Warrick.

"And exactly WHAT good would it do for you to know? What? Tell me? Would it make it hurt less?" he spoke loudly back at her.

"Because I should know…I'm not a timid little girl, Warrrrrick! Stop protecting me from evvvverything!" she frowned at her brother.

"No, I know you are not timid! But you are pregnant and you have already been through waaaay toooo much shit and stress for this baby!" Warrick defended.

Jules whipped her head over to Nick. She shook her head disgustedly.

Nick ran his palm down his face. Warrick looked over at him and frowned.

"NICK!" Warrick yelled at him. "You are acting like such a pussy right now! TELL HER! Make her understand that it wasn't something she NEEDED to know!" Warrick said hating to be the only one confronting Jules.

Nick was about to defend himself but Jules stood up, placed her hands on the table and leaned toward them.

"You two are idiots. No really…fucking jerks! I know WHY you did it but you're still assholes," she frowned. "I can't think about any of this anymore…this has been a crazy ass, nightmare of a day. I got my daughter being traumatized by a psycho bitch, who by the way, if I ever get my hands on, will be murdered…I find out that my psycho ex is also involved and paying money to hurt me AND I find out my brother and my husband knew about it and were too chicken shit to tell me," she took a deep breath after rattling out her rant. "I am going to take a shower. I am going to take a shower, I am going to get my pajamas on, and maybe I'll even read... and then… I am going to bed. I am not thinking about this anymore. I just can't. It makes me literally sick!" she threw her arms up in the air annoyed.

Jules got up and turned from the table. She headed out of the kitchen toward the hall but turned around suddenly.

"AND YOU!" she pointed to Nick.

Nick's face looked surprised...he thought he was out of the line of fire.

Jules continued, "YOU can just FORGET about getting LAID!" she yelled, turned back around, and stormed up the stairs.

Warrick winced. "Uckkk," he grimaced at the thought.

Nick winced. "Ah shit," and he too grimaced at the thought.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. He got up from the kitchen table and went to the refrigerator. Taking out two beers, popped their caps off, threw them on the counter and placed them both on the kitchen table.

"Thanks man, I need this," Warrick said and guzzled nearly half of it. "I don't know what's worse…" Warrick said wiping his mouth with his sleeve, "...knowing she is so mad that she wants to bang our heads together or hearing my sister say getting LAID…uckkkk," he shivered.

Nick laughed quietly and rested his forearms on the table.

"She's scared," Nick said after he took a drink of his cold beer. "You know she is. That's why she just took a fit…it's fear, man," Nick said and took another drink.

"Yeah…yeah, I hear ya, you're right," Warrick nodded and rubbed his face with his hand.

"And that's why I didn't jump in, Bro," he said looking at Warrick, " ...so fuck you with calling me a pussy!" he laughed.

Warrick chuckled and shook his head slightly.

Warrick and Nick drank their beers and discussed everything that went on that day. They had had a day from hell and thankfully Nick didn't have to go into work in just a few hours like Warrick did. When Gil Grissom called earlier, Nick stepped out of the kitchen to talk to him while Jules continued to lace into Warrick. Grissom told him didn't have to come in under the circumstances but…Nick didn't know if that was a good thing or bad…knowing how his night was going to go with Jules, he wondered if it would be easier just to go into work. But Nick knew he needed to stay home tonight. He was glad. He wanted to be home with his wife and daughter. He wanted to hold Jules all night long and let her feel safe with his protective arms around her. He needed to be there for his girls. He thanked Griss for understanding and told him he would be happy to work a double soon to make up for it.

Suddenly Warrick stood up and pushed his chair in.

"I gotta go, Boss," Warrick said finishing up his beer. "I hope I can catch and hour of sleep before I gotta go back in."

Nick nodded.

As much as Jules was mad, they both thought long and hard and decided to not tell her about Jolene's part too. They just still felt it wasn't necessary. Too many things were going on and it would do no good for her to learn they lied to her about that too and her mother was indeed alive.

Enough had been done and said. How much more could she take in one night? They weren't sure they were making the right decision so they decided they just wouldn't make the decision at all right now.

And so, Nick and Warrick both agreed that no more would be revealed at least for tonight.

They would think about it another day.