My Way is Clear

by Simply Ginger

Nick meets a paramedic after getting injured at a crime scene. In an AU, this is their story. This is not a slash and all the characters from CSI show up eventually.

13. Steal My Sunshine

Chapter 13 – Steal My Sunshine

A/N: Two weeks after the previous chapter.

After recess was called in between court cases, I got up to see if Anna was here yet. I had just testified at a pre-trial session and was waiting on the second case of the day I had to be here for. Anna had gotten a subpoena about three months ago and was going to be here today to testify. I offered to get Grissom or Ecklie to call the ADA and have her reschedule Anna's testimony because of her injury, but Anna assured me she wanted to be here.

I stepped outside the courtroom and started to walk towards the entrance to the courthouse. I got about twenty feet away from the courtroom and saw Anna talking to Bryan and someone else. She saw me and left the two of them where they were and started walking towards me. "Hey." I got a look at her and saw that she was in her Class A uniform for her court appearance today. With her hair pulled back behind her in a low ponytail, she had her fire department dress hat on her head, "I don't get many chances to see you in this uniform. Looks good on you."

"Hey Nicky." She took off the dress hat and kissed me before we moved back towards the wall of the courthouse, "Thank you, but you're also biased. Something tells me I could wear a burlap sack and you'd tell me I looked good."

"Caught me and yes I am biased." I put my hand on the small of her back and we started to walk back towards the courtroom where the case was going to be heard.

"I haven't put this one on in ages. Almost forgot what it felt like." She started to mess with the strap on her sling, "Help? It's caught on my nameplate."

I helped Anna adjust it to where it was in a more comfortable position for her shoulder and freed it from her brass nameplate that was pinned to her shirt, "Feeling better? Bryan get you up here okay?"

"Yep." Anna looked behind her, "He was behind me but who knows where he went." She glanced over at the clock above the courtroom doors. "I hope we're out of here in time for my physical therapy session. It's at noon."

The clock on the wall above the courtroom doors said it was a few minutes before 9AM, "You should be. Your part shouldn't take you that long. You here for that car fire we worked?"

"Yeah. I don't know why I got called, but whatever." Anna reached for my hand and took it in hers, "But here I am none the less. Bryan said he'll drop me off at the hospital if you can come and get me at 1:30 when I'm done. That okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be done by then and in the event I'm not, I'll send someone over to get you. Oh, and just be warned, this guy's defense lawyer, Dale Demers, is a real jack wagon. He's one of those ambulance chasing sharks that will do anything or say anything to get his client off. He's an obnoxious gas bag. Just be careful."

"Miss Anna." Anna didn't get a chance to respond as she looked around me and saw Greg a few steps behind me, headed our direction, "And how is the finest paramedic in all the land?"

"She's doing well. Her arm and stomach still hurts, but I'm managing. How is my favorite camera man wanna be?"

"Business is slow. Need you and Nick to help me with that. You still owe me a duet."

Anna smiled, "And I intend on paying up too. I told you I would."

"Testifying injured are we? Now that's dedication." Greg looked at Anna's sling, "Couldn't get out of testifying? I figured with your injury and all, they'd make an exception."

"I didn't ask. I'm not doing anything and all I can do now is sit at home and watch TV. I haven't even been cleared to drive yet. If I didn't get the subpoena months ago, I would have had the LVFD legal rep call and reschedule."

The court doors opened and the bailiff announced we could come in and take our seats. I led Anna to a bench and she sat down first with me sitting next to her. Greg walked around and sat on the other side of Anna. We talked for a few moments until Bryan came in right before the bailiff called the court to order.

"All rise." The bailiff stood next to the judge's bench, "The Honorable Judge Benjamin Cunningham presiding over Clark County General Court session." The judge walked in and after he was seated, the bailiff announced that we could be seated. I took my seat back on the bench with Anna next to me and put my arm around her shoulders, propping it on the back of the bench we were sitting in.

We were in court about half an hour before Anna got called. As usual, the bailiff massacred Anna's last name as he was swearing her under oath.

Dale stood up as he got ready to question Anna. He did his best to look intimidating but I could tell from where I was seated, Anna was not impressed, "State your name please for the record."

"Anna is my first name. My last name is Gigandet and that's spelled G-I-G-A-N-D-E-T."

"Thank you." He marked something on a sheet of paper that was on the table he was sitting at, "It says here that you made the scene on March 18th. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir. I was part of the engine company who responded that day."

"It says here you're also a paramedic." He looked over at Anna, "If you're a medic, why were you on the engine that day? Did someone get hurt?"

"No. I'm a dual role provider. I'm certified and trained as a firefighter as well as a paramedic. The day in question, I happened to be on the engine. I am usually assigned to the ambulance, but on this particular day, I was assigned to the engine."

I could tell that he was looking at the sling around Anna's shoulders as he continued his staring contest with her, still trying to bluff her by looking more intimidating than he really was, "And were you hurt during your job duties as paramedic or firefighter?"

"No."

"Then how were you hurt?"

"I'm failing to see how that has anything to do with this case. I was not hurt during the date in question nor does it have anything to do with my job. If I was hurt on the date in question, I wouldn't have been at work. It's really hard to hold a fire hose or operate life saving equipment one handed."

"I have to agree with Ms. Gigandet. Her injuries have nothing to do with the case." Judge Cunningham folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, "Let's move it along, Mr. Demers."

"Yes, sir." Dale looked down and wrote something else on his paper, "So you treated my client, Jesse Davidson."

"No. As per the report, you can clearly see that I did not. I was on scene responding to the car fire. I didn't treat your client. I was part of the team that put the fire out in his car."

"So you didn't treat him?"

I had to hide a smile as Anna shook her head and sat up a bit straighter to show how annoyed she was with this line of questioning, "Didn't I just say that?"

"But you were on scene?"

"Yes. You have the report. I signed it as you can tell. Therefore once again, I was there."

The attorney opened a folder on the desk and got out a different scene report, "So, what would you say was the condition of my client when you made the scene?"

I could tell from where I was sitting that Anna was getting annoyed even more with the defense attorney's line of questioning, "I wouldn't want to speculate."

He looked back at her and then turned to face the gallery, "What do you mean 'you wouldn't want to speculate?' Does that mean you don't know how to do your job?"

"No. It means I didn't treat your client. I had nothing to do with him on this date in question with the exception of putting out the car fire caused by the wreck. I didn't treat him. If you want to ask what his condition was, you'd need to interview the two people on the ambulance for that day. Seeing as how I did not treat him, I don't know what his injuries were so I can't speculate on that. The only contact your client and I had was when I glanced at him as the officers were putting handcuffs on him. I was focusing my attention on the car fire with the rest of my team and we were all making sure it was out before the investigators from crime lab started processing."

Dale sat down on the edge of the table, "So you can't tell me what was wrong?"

"No." Anna stared at him, causing him to stand back up in front of the defense table, "Again, I don't want to and I am not going to speculate on what your client's injuries were at the scene. It'd be like me asking you to do something you've never done before and asking you how to do it. You know such as if I asked you how to tell the truth. You've probably never done that before in your life, right? Therefore you wouldn't want to speculate on how it's done."

Dale turned around as the bailiff standing beside Anna gave her a look as the judge was busy trying to hide a smile as some low laughs came from the jury box as well as the gallery. He cleared his throat, hiding the need to laugh. "Please keep it on topic, Ms. Gigandet."

"Sorry, your honor." Anna looked at me and I knew that sorry was the last thing she felt, "Do I need to rephrase that for you or did you get it?"

The defense attorney looked down at his papers, "I got it." He wrote something else down, "So how hot exactly was the car fire when you arrived on scene?"

Anna folded her left arm across her chest and let it rest on top of her sling, "Well, we don't exactly get a thermometer out and measure the temperature before we put it out, but if I had to guess, it was really, really hot."

"Aggie, damn." Bryan exhaled sharply as he put his dress hat in the vacant seat between us. I knew he and I both were getting ready to get up if Anna got arrested for being a smart ass.

I looked down at my feet, trying not to laugh while I said a silent prayer hoping that Anna wouldn't be thrown in jail for contempt for being a smart ass, though I couldn't blame her. I have had dealings with Dale Demers in the past and know how she felt being questioned by him. The judge cleared his throat as he told Dale to get on with it.

Dale continued questioning Anna on what happened that day. After a few more questions, she was excused. She sat down next to me as Bryan was called next to testify, "I hate being called as a witness like that. Everything they need to know is in the report. That's why it's called a report."

"I know. Just be glad you're not us. We're here more often than not and it's the same questions over and over and we have to explain every single detail so that John Q. Citizen can understand what we're doing and how we do it. At least your job is pretty cut and dry. How many ways are there to put out a car fire and how complicated can they be?"

"True." Anna held onto my hand we listened to Bryan give basically the same answers Anna gave not ten minutes ago, but Bryan didn't use the dramatic flair that Anna did. When he was excused, Anna kissed me before she and Bryan left the courtroom.

Greg and I were called as witnesses and a couple hours after Anna left, we were excused. By the time we got out of court, it was noon and Anna's therapy session had just started. I knew she still had another hour and a half with the therapist at the hospital, so I went back to the lab to catch up on some paperwork I needed to finish while I was off work with Anna. It had only been a little over a week since she got home from the hospital and I hadn't gone back to work yet. I had talked to Ecklie and Grissom and they both agreed to let me stay off work until Anna was cleared to drive. Until then, I needed to be around as much as possible in case Anna had a doctor's appointment or a complication from her surgery.

I went to the conference room at the lab and checked my mailbox. Grissom had told me he shoved a brown envelope in my mail slot with the paperwork I needed to finish before I could come back to work. I got the envelope out of my box and left the conference room to try to find an empty office where I could sit down to start in on the paperwork. Two of the day shift CSIs passed me in the hallway as I was looking for an empty room to use. They told me they were on their way out to another crime scene and were using the office next to the DNA lab earlier in the day and that I could use it if I didn't mind the mess they left.

I was lost in paperwork when I heard someone knocking on the window to the office I was in. I looked up to see who was trying to get my attention and was surprised to see Anna and I waved her inside, "Hey, my love. I wasn't expecting you." I checked my watch, "You're early. How'd you get over here?"

"Greg have a new case?" She maneuvered around the boxes of evidence that the two day shift CSIs had left on the floor in the office I was using. "Looks like he's been in here given the mess. Obstacle course now part of CSI training?" She stood on her toes to kiss me, "Could be fun I guess. Just don't break an ankle, but then again, we have a streak going on with who can spend the most time at Desert Palms. I think I'm winning right now anyway."

"You're early."

"My PT's patient before me canceled and she had an open slot. I didn't know if you'd be done with court by the time I got through, so Bryan stayed with me at the therapy session. He didn't have anywhere else to be so he brought me back over here when we left Desert Palms and I saw your truck outside. I didn't want to call in case you were still in court or something. I ran into Catherine and Sara in the lobby and Catherine told me you were back here."

"No, it's not Greg's case actually, but I can see where you'd think that given the mess. This is from a case two of the day shift CSIs are working. Apparently they have the same cleanliness and organizational skills that Greg has. I'm just in here hiding so I can fill this paperwork out that Grissom left in my box that needed to be done before I come back. I still have to get a medical release done." I looked at the boxes on the floor. "Obstacle course would be dangerous for some of the people here. It's a good thing my girlfriend is a paramedic." I returned the kiss and hugged her, "They're both just messy as hell, but you already know that by just looking around. Therapy go okay?"

"Yep. I had an MRI scheduled for today, but my PT wanted to leave early so she'll do that tomorrow, but she says I'm doing fine. Hurts like hell though. I'm still so sore from the session. Ready to leave?"

"I am if you are. I gotta go see if I can find Grissom so I can give these to him or I can throw these on his desk. Wait here?" Anna said she would as I left to see if I could find Grissom. I checked in his office and of course, he wasn't there. I put the paperwork I had filled out back in the envelope and put a Post It note on top telling him I had filled out as much as I could and when I got the medical release in the next couple days, I'd have the doctor fax it over to his attention.

After finally getting back to where I left Anna, I remembered I left something in my locker and needed to go get it while I was here. Rather than make her wait again in the lab, I took her by the hand and led her through the maze of hallways until we were at the locker room downstairs. I left her waiting outside while I got what I needed. When I got done, I saw that Anna was outside talking to Catherine while she was waiting on me to get what I needed. I was always amazed that no matter where we were, Anna could find someone to talk to about something. "Ready?"

Anna looked over her shoulder, "Just waiting on you." She turned her attention back to Catherine, "To answer your question, my shoulder's doing pretty well. I'm still really sore and if the hospital's physical therapy department ever goes under, my PT can always get a job at Helga's House of Pain. I know I have to do it and all that but, blah, it hurts."

"I'm sure you already know this, but stick with it. It'll get easier. Those first few weeks are the worst." Catherine looked behind us at the clock on the wall, "Heading home already? I didn't figure you'd be here at all today."

"On our way now. Nick said he was going to come back here to wait on me so he could finish up some work while I was at my therapy session at Desert Palms. I had Bryan drop me off here because my PT session was earlier than normal and I didn't know if Nick was done with court or not. I haven't been cleared to drive yet, so Nick's my chauffer."

I took Anna's hand, "We better get going."

"Nice to see you again, Cath." Anna held onto my hand as I led her out of the lab and back outside, "I don't know about you, but I'll be ready for winter, or at the very least, fall. This heat is excruciating. It's a dry heat, just like a sauna."

I opened the door to help Anna get in my truck, "That's Vegas for you. At least it's not heat plus humidity."

Anna and I went home and settled in to our post-hospital routine once again. The next couple days were the carbon copies of the days since Anna had gotten discharged. I'd take her to her therapy and bring her back home. Sometimes we'd go out and other times we'd come back to her house and just relax. It was nice just getting to spend time with her after she got hurt without having to worry about her work schedule or my work schedule.

Even though Anna didn't have to be at work, she preferred to sleep whenever I did. I was going back to work in a few days and needed to get back in the habit of being up all night and sleeping during the day. Anna and I slept at night through the rest of the week because she wasn't cleared to drive. Finally on Wednesday, after another MRI, Anna's therapist announced she was cleared to drive herself around meaning I could go back to work since she could drive herself to and from the hospital. I told her I'd still bring her on Thursday and Friday to her therapy session if she wanted me to take her.

After her session on Thursday, we went out to celebrate that night and stayed out later than we had in a long time. Anna fell asleep on the way home. I woke her up long enough to come inside the house and change, but she fell asleep quickly once she got in bed.

"Noooooo! Noooooo! God, No! Nicky!"

We had been asleep about four hours when Anna woke up. I sat straight up in bed when I heard her terrified cries. Even as dark as it was in our room, I could tell she was sitting up in bed, breathing heavily from her nightmare. She put her hand across her forehead before she fell back on the pillows in bed, "Anna? I'm here. I'm fine." I reached over and turned the light on so I could see her, "You okay?"

"No." Anna looked over at me and shook her head before letting out a heavy sigh, "Another nightmare." She threw the covers off of her and after petting Draco who was stretched out in the floor of our bedroom, Anna left the room and went up front. I stayed where I was until I heard the sound of glass breaking coming from the kitchen. I kicked the covers off my side of the bed and petted Draco on my way by her. She yawned and stretched on the floor before she rolled over to her other side as I left the room to go check on Anna.

When I got to the kitchen, I looked down and saw the shattered remains of a glass. Anna was barefoot in the kitchen and as she started to walk towards the laundry room where the broom and dustpan were, I stopped her, "Stay where you are. You're barefoot. I'll get it." I got the broom and dustpan and started to clean up the broken glass.

As I was throwing the shards away in the garbage can, Anna started crying again. "Nicky, I'm sorry. He came back. He…I didn't…You…" She looked up at me, "I couldn't…I tried…but I couldn't and you…"

I knew what Anna was trying to tell me. She was trying to tell me had another nightmare about Nigel coming back and killing me and she wasn't able to stop him. Since being home from the hospital, this was about the tenth time she had that specific dream. I dropped the broom and dustpan on the floor as I took her hand in mine and pulled her towards me, "I am so sorry you're going through this. I am so sorry." I did my best to soothe her fears, but she continued to cry, "Anna, it's okay. Everything is okay. It was just a bad dream, I promise you. I'm fine and it's all over. Everything is over with. You're safe here with me." I tightened my arms around her when she didn't stop crying.

Ever since Anna had her second surgery in the hospital, she had been waking a couple times a night with nightmares from what happened in my apartment that night. I was having them also, but mine weren't as bad as Anna's were. The worst night she had was the first night home from the hospital. It took me almost half the night to calm her down enough for her to lie back down with me in bed. I spent the rest of that night in bed watching her sleep. Any time she woke after a nightmare, I did my best to make sure that when she realized she was awake, she found I was holding her. Over the past couple nights, her nightmares seemed to be fading. She went from waking up half a dozen times a night to about once a night. She slept soundly last night and didn't wake up until the cat got in bed with us, alerting us to the fact she needed cat food in her bowl.

I carried Anna back to our bedroom and put her down gently in the bed. As I picked the covers up and covered her with them, Danilla got in bed next to Anna and stared purring. Anna started to pet her cat as I told her I'd be right back. I went back to the kitchen and fixed her a glass of water and brought it back to her. She took the glass from me and drank about half of the water before putting it on the nightstand as I turned the lights back off and I got in bed next to her. When Danilla hissed and ran off, Anna moved herself as close to me as she could without actually being on top of me. I felt her sigh under the covers as I positioned myself against her back. I put my right arm across her waist and got my left arm under her and rested my forearm against her chest with my hand across her injured right shoulder. "Better?"

"I was until now. I just…I just wish I could get them to stop. I know he's dead. I know he can't hurt us anymore. I don't want to close my eyes because every time I do, I have flashbacks of that night. I want it to go back to normal. I'm tired of being afraid of going to sleep."

I tightened my hold on Anna as I felt her move closer to me. I kissed her on the back of her neck, "I love you, Anna. I'm here. Try closing your eyes. I won't let you go tonight. I promise."

"I love you too, Nicky." Anna shifted her weight enough for me to let go of her. She reached over to her nightstand and turned her iPod docking station on and after finding the playlist she wanted, she hit the button on the iPod and a few seconds later, Renee Fleming's soprano voice was singing a Puccini song from one of the playlists that Anna listened to a lot.

Anna covered herself back up and I held onto her again as she tried to go back to sleep. I recognized the playlist after the first song was over with as one of the playlists that I played for her while she was in the hospital as I was waiting on her to wake up from her second surgery. I held her tighter as I felt her relax. After the fourth song, Anna's breathing became steady and deep and I knew she was finally asleep. I let the iPod play on in the background as I kept my vigil on Anna while she slept.

She didn't wake up again during the night and I fell asleep before the iPod played the last song in the playlist. When we woke up the next morning, the only sounds we heard were a few birds chirping outside of our bedroom windows and the box fan running in the corner of our room. After turning her iPod docking station off, Anna got in the shower with me and as she braced her right arm with her left, I helped her wash her hair. She wasn't able to use her right arm much and still needed my help. I helped her get dressed afterwards and we left the house, headed to Anna's Friday physical therapy session. I left Anna at the hospital while I went to the lab to turn in the medical clearance paperwork I had to have completed before I could return to work. The last PT session Anna had at the hospital was when I scheduled my appointment. The doctor spent barely thirty seconds in the room with me before he signed the form and handed it back to me.

"Nick!"

I didn't even have to look as I got out of my truck. I knew who that voice belonged to. "Hey Cath."

Catherine pulled me into a hug, "Miss you. What are you doing here?" She looked through the windshield of my truck. "Where's Anna? She okay?"

"Where's Anna? She's at her physical therapy session at the outpatient clinic at Desert Palms. I had to bring the medical release form to Grissom so I could come back to work later on. As to how she is, well…" I exhaled sharply, "That's…that's a bit harder to explain. That's a loaded question."

Catherine started walking towards the entrance of the lab as I followed, "What's wrong? Did Anna have complications from her surgery or something? Is she back in the hospital?"

I opened the door for Catherine as she stepped inside the lobby. "No, in that aspect, she's fine. She's had several MRIs done earlier and everything looks fine with those. She's healing on the outside as can be expected. It's how she's healing on the inside that has me worried. The first night after we got home, she woke up about half a dozen times, screaming. She was having nightmares that Nigel was coming back to finish what he started."

Catherine waved her badge in front of the reader to unlock the door in the lobby that opened into the hallway leading back to the lab and let herself in as she held the door open for me, "Nick, that's normal given what she's been through. Is she seeing anyone? Like a psychiatrist or something?"

"Yeah, she's seeing one. I have to see one also as part of me being released to come back to work. The department won't let her come back to work until she finishes both parts anyway but as it is now, she can't go back because of her shoulder injury. It's going to be another few months before she's cleared physically to go back to work, but right now, I'm just worried about her emotional state. Granted the nightmares aren't coming as frequently as they were, but when they do hit, she's still waking up in the middle of the night screaming."

"And all of this started when?"

"The hospital." I pulled another door open in the hallway and held it for Catherine and waited on her to walk through it before I continued, "The nightmares started in the hospital after her second surgery and I don't even have to ask her what she's dreaming about. I know. What I don't know is how to help her. I'm clueless on that end."

Catherine opened the door to Grissom's office long enough to put a couple of files in the box on his desk. His Big Mouth Billy Bass above the door started singing, "I hate that fish." She dropped the files on Grissom's desk and started to close the door, "Be there for her. Comfort her however you can and let her know that she's safe with you. It's gonna take time for her. That's all I can tell you. Just be there for her and let her know you will be there for her always and no matter what. There's not a magic wand or a pill that can make what happened that night go away. I wish there was. I'd let you know where to find it. It hurts me to see her go through that so I can imagine how it makes you feel. We have to see behavior like that enough as it is with this job and we're taught to disassociate ourselves from the victims in order to help them, but in this case, we both know you can't do that where Anna is concerned."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me to do. Just be there for her and I am going to be. I'm not going anywhere but I just feel so helpless when she wakes up at night, covered in sweat and screaming because she had another dream Nigel where came back and killed me before she could save my life."

"Just give it time, Nick. That's all anyone will tell you to do." Catherine said she'd catch up with us later as we parted company as she went one direction and I went to go find Grissom. I looked in ballistics and in trace but he wasn't there as well as in a few more places with no luck. Finally, I went back to his office and was about to leave him a note on his desk when I saw him approaching. "Hey, Griss." I held out the forms. "Brought these by for you. All filled out so I can come back to work later on this week."

He took the forms from me, "Thanks, Nick. You do know if you need additional time off, you can have as much as you want." He opened the door to his office and told me to come in and when we did, that fish started singing again, "Ecklie and I told you to take as much time off as you need. We're not pushing you to come back. We both know what happened and if you need more time, it's yours." He pulled his chair out and sat down and after moving some files that were left on his desk, he found a place to set the stack of papers he was holding, "You're sure you're not rushing this, are you? What does Anna think?"

The fish had finally shut up by the time he finished speaking. I was thrilled. I hated that fish almost as much as Catherine did, but Grissom loved it. "Anna thinks that I should go back whenever I'm ready. She's not going to be cleared medically to go back to work herself for another couple months. She can't bend or lift anything and still has limited use of her right arm, but she has been cleared to drive. There's no way she'd be able to go back to work before the end of the summer. She's on medical leave from the department and we both don't think I'm rushing this. Anna told me to go back to work when I felt comfortable in doing so."

"Like we said, it's your choice. Guess we'll see you in a couple days then?"

"I'll be here."

"Bring her by when you can." Grissom pointed over his shoulder to the tank where the tarantula that had Anna's middle name was kept, "Gabby misses her."

"Uh, sure. I'll bring her by just as long as you don't bring that spider by for a visit." While Anna was in the hospital, Grissom did sneak that spider in to see her. I made sure to keep my distance as did Bryan who was in the room at the same time. After telling Grissom goodbye, I left him in his office and went back to the hospital to get Anna.

I went up to the floor where Anna was and stood in the doorway of the room. From where I was watching, I could se that Anna was still giving her therapist the evil eye as she was doing some work with free weights. I watched and had to hide a smile as the therapist handed Anna a heavier weight. I could tell by looking at her that Anna was either contemplating accidently dropping the weight on the woman's foot or she was coming up with ways to kill her physical therapist using that weight. Anna did her reps and the therapist took the weight back from her and said she was done and that she'd see her Monday. Anna looked relieved to finally be done with the therapy for the day. We stopped and got lunch before we went back to Anna's house.

The rest of the night passed quickly. Anna and I stayed up all night together so I could get back in the habit of sleeping during the day again. We watched a midnight movie on Saturday night and stopped and ate at one of the casinos on our way back home. By Sunday, we were both exhausted and spent the day at home. Monday was my regular off day, but Grissom had said Sara was out of town attending a conference and had asked me to come in a day early.

Anna said she'd be fine while I was at work. I was a little hesitant to leave her, but she said Bryan was off that night and if she needed anything, she'd call him. I told her to call me if she had any problems, no matter what. After I got to the lab, Warrick and I got assigned to work a robbery at a check cashing place and he and I passed the time quickly as we caught up while we worked. The store had video surveillance and when the clerk played the tape back for Warrick and me, we got a clear shot of the suspect. The clerk identified the guy as an ex boyfriend of hers and after we passed the information along to Captain Brass, he called us about an hour later saying that the guy was under arrest and he needed our paperwork for the arrest so that the DA could file the charges. I told Warrick I'd handle that if he wanted to go back to the lab and get started processing.

I got to the station just as the uniforms had finished booking the man. After telling Brass I was here, I found an empty interrogation room at the station and filled out the scene reports we had to do. Warrick emailed me a form he had filled out at the lab. I printed that off and I finished up the paperwork that I had completed before I made extra copies for our records and another copy for the shift sergeant as well as the original which Brass would get. I dropped off one of the copies with the desk sergeant and made my way towards Brass's office to drop off his copy of the investigation forms he needed for the DA to be able to file charges. I started to open the door, but I saw a dark haired woman sitting down. I stayed where I was until Captain Brass motioned for me to come in. I opened the door as I apologized for my interruption. "Excuse me, ma'am." I handed the forms to him, "Just dropping this off for that robbery earlier that Warrick and I worked. He emailed me his sheets and I printed them off and included them with mine."

Brass flipped to the second page of the report I filled out, "Warrick signed it this time, but you didn't."

"Sorry." He handed me the form back and gave me a pen. I found a spot on the filing cabinets next to the door and signed it, "Sorry about that."

"Thanks, Nick. I'll call you later on and let you know how it went." He stuck the signed forms in the folder on his desk and turned his attention back to the lady in his office as I left.

After I excused myself, but before I could make it out of his office, I had a weird feeling hit me. I turned to watch the door to Brass's office shut behind me and at the exact moment the door clicked shut, the dark haired lady in Brass's office turned to watch me through the window just beside the door. Something about her eyes made me wonder if I had met her before. I shook the feeling off as I got ready to leave the police department. I told the receptionist at the desk to have a good day as I left the station. I checked my watch as I got in my truck. I had just under two hours to get back to the lab to help Warrick finish processing, clock out and head home so I could see Anna before she left for her Monday therapy session. She had another MRI scheduled before her therapy appointment and I knew she'd be leaving earlier than normal to get that handled.

I made it back to the lab and got everything done with about half an hour left to spare. I was just getting ready to start my truck to leave when I realized before I left that I needed to tell Grissom something about the case we worked last night. "le Damn." I made short distance of the sidewalk leading up to the entrance of the lab.

"Forget something?"

"Yeah, I did. Can you buzz me in? I left my badge in my truck and I'm in a hurry. Anna's physical therapy session is in a little bit and I wanted to see her before she leaves. I'll probably be asleep by the time she gets back."

Judy pushed the button under her desk to let me in, "Tell her I said hi."

"Will do." I picked up the pace again as I made it through the hallway trying to find Grissom. I checked his office and of course, he wasn't there. I looked in a few more of the offices, but didn't see him in any of them. Running out of time, I went back to his office and wrote a note telling him about the case from last night.

"Nick Stokes, you have a visitor in the reception area. Nick Stokes to the reception area.'

I threw the pen on Grissom's desk as I stuck the note to his phone receiver, "Judy, why do you do this to me? You know I'm on my way out." I left Grissom's office and retraced my previous steps so I could see who was in the lobby on my way out the door, wondering the whole time who needed to see me.

I checked my watch once I got to the door at the lobby and hoped this was going to be quick as I had to get out of here before I was late. "Judy, who's here for me?" She pointed to a lady sitting down in one of the chairs in the corner of the room. "May I help you?" I tried to remember if I had seen this woman before or if she was connected to one of the cases I was working, but I was drawing a blank.

She looked at me strangely as if she was expecting someone other than me, "Are you Nick Stokes?"

"I am. How can I help you?"

The lady stood up, "You don't know me and I'm sorry for barging in on you like this, but I wondered if I can speak to you a moment. I saw you earlier in Captain Brass's office at the police station. I was in there when you came in."

"Right." I remembered now where I knew her from, "Sorry about the interruption."

"No problem. My name is Renee. Renee Willis." She held her hand out and I shook it. I was staring at her, trying to place her. I was running through reports and incident notes in my mind, trying to put her name with any of the cases I had open, but was drawing a blank, "I know you're trying to find out where you know me from, but you don't know me." She looked at me for a moment before speaking. The way she looked at me made me wonder if she was trying to decide whether or not to tell me who she was, "You know my brother." She sighed, "Well, knew at least. I believe you knew my brother would be the correct way to word that. My brother's name was Nigel Crane."

A/N: Betcha didn't see that one coming…Told you I wasn't done telling this story… Insert that evil maniacal laughing sound that Hodges made at the beginning of You Kill Me when Archie 'died' at the beginning of the episode.

I also know that on the show Nigel didn't die for one and secondly, according to the printout Grissom read in the episode and the same one I quoted in an earlier chapter, Nigel had no family, but as you can tell, I'm changing that. It *is* possible in real life for a report like that to show no family but the person has family members living in another state.

The courtroom dialogue that Anna had in the first part of the story was based on a case that I heard while I was in court for a former job that I had ages ago. I had to go to court often because of my job and I heard a lot of cases then.

Reviews please.