A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews, nearly at 500! This story is for Eeliab8 who suggested a story were Warrick didn't die, but Nick killed Mckeen and what the repercussions of that might have been. This is completely AU/ Non-Canon.

Summary – Believing Warrick is dead, Nick hunts down Mckeen and shoots him. However, Warrick didn't die and now Nick is being accused of murder…

Murderer?

The past two hours had been a total blur to Nick. Warrick had been shot, he'd died in Grissom's arms momentarily, until the paramedics brought him back; but even then the pulse was weak, and they told the CSIs from the start it was unlikely Warrick was going to make it.

Catherine went in the ambulance with Warrick – Nick had never seen her so broken and upset – whilst Grissom drove himself and Nick – the supervisor still had the blood of their injured friend on his clothes, but didn't seem fazed by it at the moment. However, Nick could see that this was really getting to Grissom, his emotional barrier was finally down, and so Nick concluded if Grissom looked like he was about to have a break down, there was really no hope for the rest of them.

Nick sat in the waiting room with his head in his hands and nervously bobbing his leg up and down waiting for news on his dying best friend and brother, Catherine phoned Greg in tears and Grissom very emptily explained things to Sara, but told her not to come. Nick himself was yet to say a word.

Eventually, the doctor came and all three CSIs stood up; Catherine clung desperately to Nick's arm and he could feel her shaking, and Grissom had gone back to being stoic. The doctor started trying to explain things, but Nick only heard one thing; one little thing which made his and the worlds around him begin to break down. Catherine started sobbing even louder and buried her head in Nick's shoulder, Grissom fell down to his seat, and the words just kept playing through Nick's mind…

"…not going to make it through the night…"

And so here Nick was. Two hours later and they knew it was Jeffery Mckeen – their very own undersheriff – who had shot and killed Warrick, because he was going to die after all… Nick shook his head and looked down at the ground with bleary eyes. He knew he should be with Warrick right now, but he just couldn't face it, he couldn't face watching the man he loved like a brother die. Nick had been broken enough when Greg was beaten up and Sara was kidnapped; but this, this just tipped Nick over the edge.

Catherine and Grissom had stayed with Warrick for his last moments, since he didn't have any family left and Tina no longer seemed to care. Nick wondered how Greg and Sara were taking this… Greg would probably feel responsible for looking after everyone for the next few weeks, pushing his own emotions aside, and Sara would keep strong for Grissom's sake, because she knew this time it would be him who needed the support.

Nick was following the blood trail alone from the crashed car they had found, and he knew what he was going to find. Perhaps if Mckeen wasn't dead, he would finish the job. And then Nick spotted him; the man who had shot his friend, gunshot wound to his stomach, but still very much alive. Nick strode over with an emotionless expression on his face, drawing his gun.

"Stokes..." Mckeen breathed.

"Shut up" Nick seethed as he pointed his gun at the pathetic excuse of a man before him.

Mckeen looked at him incredulously "What the hell are you doing!?" he commanded to know.

I'm not sure was the right answer, but Nick couldn't show any weakness. He was the dominant one now, and he wanted to see Mckeen squirm in fear, because even though Nick liked to believe Warrick was invincible, he knew his friend best and knew Warrick must have been scared.

"Is he dead?" Mckeen asked, snapping Nick out of his thoughts. Nick looked at him blankly "Brown, is he dead?" he asked again. Nick grew even angrier at the slight smirk he swore just flashed across the undersheriff's face.

"No" Nick replied quietly.

He left out how Warrick would die eventually, within the next few hours, because he just wanted to watch as Mckeen's face fell in terrified realisation, to make him believe it had all been for nothing.

"You're lying" Mckeen retorted "You're lying!" he yelled, but Nick just shook his head. Mckeen lowered his head back down to the ground and breathed heavily "Then what are you doing? Why haven't you arrested me yet?"

"Because I'm not done with you yet" Nick replied.

"What, are you going to kill me, Stokes?" Mckeen taunted him with a wicked grin "I know it must be bad then, you wouldn't kill me if Warrick was going to survive…besides, you don't have it in you."

Nick took the safety off the gun "You want to test that theory?" he threatened.

"You really think killing me would be in your best interests?" Mckeen questioned "Going to prison for the man who shot your best friend, leaving all your other friends to suffer alone. What about them, huh? You think they'd want to see you behind bars?"

"They'd understand" Nick replied, still surprised with himself as to how he was remaining so calm.

"Besides, who's to say I stopped at Warrick?" Mckeen asked, and Nick just frowned in confusion. "Think about it, Nick, do you really know where Sidle and Sanders are?"

Nick's eyes widened at exactly what the undersheriff was suggesting; that he'd got to Sara and Greg too…No, no he's bluffing, he's just trying to provoke you Nick told himself, although his grip on the gun tightened Greg and Sara are fine, Grissom and Catherine just talked to them…wait, how long as was that?

Again, Mckeen just smirked "Have I got to you, Stokes? Killing Warrick was bad enough, huh?"

"Shut up!" Nick finally exploded, placing his finger tightly on the trigger.

His anger was literally seething through his teeth as he breathed raggedly. It was all getting too much for him now, shooting and killing Warrick, threatening Greg and Sara; Nick had had enough.

Mckeen suddenly placed his hand in his pocket and Nick saw he was about to pull something out, but the CSI reacted first. A loud bang sounded out through the surrounding area. Mckeen fell limp as the bullet from Nick's gun was planted right by his heart.

Nick just stood shaking, trying to comprehend what he had done.

Greg rushed through the hospital after asking a nurse for Warrick's room. He had literally just landed in LA when Catherine had called him, and so demanded with a clerk to get him the next flight back. It had been a restless journey, Greg couldn't stop his anxious fidgeting as he thought about Warrick fighting for his life, and the rest of his friends so torn apart.

Greg skidded around the corner and found Grissom sat outside a room with his elbows on his knees and rubbing his hands down his face. Greg didn't know what to say, so he slowly walked over and sat beside his supervisor, cautiously placing a comforting hand on Grissom's shoulder. The older CSI looked up in acknowledgement, but Greg could tell Grissom was grateful for him being here.

"Tina still has the power to decide wither or not to turn off the machine" Grissom told Greg solemnly "She...she said to do it, but she couldn't be here to see it. Catherine's just saying good bye, she wants to be with him" Greg nodded slowly and Grissom could see the younger man's hands were shaking, just like after the lab explosion "Are you alright?" he asked.

"No" Greg whispered as he dropped his hand from Grissom's back and looked down at the floor with a sniff.

This time, it was Grissom who placed his hand on Greg's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. The young CSI turned to look at him with teary eyes, but still had a small smile of thanks on his face.

"You should go and say goodbye too" Grissom encouraged him "He's so proud of you, Greg"

"I know" Greg replied and stood up, taking a shaky breath and then heading into the room.

It was a heart wrenching sight, Catherine sat holding Warrick's hand, whispering things to him as she stroked his hair. Wires were coming out of Warrick all over the place and it made Greg feel even more sick. At first, Greg didn't want to disturb the scene and wanted his presence to be unknown, but eventually Catherine spotted him, and she waved Greg over before pulling him into a very tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, Cath" Greg whispered as he buried his head in her hair.

"It's not your fault" Catherine said, pulling away and wiping her eyes.

The pair sat together for a while, holding each other's hand desperately, until a doctor and a nurse arrived along with Grissom.

"I'm afraid it's time" the doctor said solemnly.

"Shouldn't we wait for Nick?" Greg asked quietly, but Catherine and Grissom knew he wasn't coming.

"Please, just do it" Catherine said quietly "I can't stand to see him like this anymore" she sobbed and buried her head in Greg's shoulder.

The doctor turned off the life support and Grissom looked away, whilst Greg just clung to Catherine.

"I don't understand…" the doctor suddenly said, and the CSIs heads all snapped around to look at him. "There are still small spikes on the heart rate monitor…" he turned to look at Warrick "He's breathing on his own…"

"Nick!" Brass called as he and two officers approached the scene. The CSI was sat on the floor with his head in his hands, shaking violently, his gun thrown down beside him. "Nick, c'mon, it's alright now" Brass coaxed him to stand up.

"I-I shot him" Nick stammered; he was obviously in shock. "H-he was gunna p-pull something"

"Alright, alright" Brass said, running a hand up and down Nick's back in hope of calming him. "Search him" Brass told one of the officers and then nodded to Mckeen.

"He's dead" the officer confirmed "But there's no sign of a weapon"

Brass's grip on Nick's shoulder suddenly tightened. If Mckeen had no weapon when he was already injured and then Nick shot him, there was no way they could claim it was self-defence. They would accuse Nick of murder with malicious intent, although Brass knew he would do nothing of the sort.

"Captain, we have to take him to the station" the other officer said solemnly.

"No!" Brass snapped, although he knew it was the right thing to do "I will not let you accuse him of murder!"

"It's alright, Brass" Nick said quietly "They're just following procedure"

Brass was about to protest when Nick's phone started ringing. The CSI pulled it out and saw it was Grissom; he knew what his supervisor was going to say and he didn't want to hear it. He handed the phone over to Brass and the police caption answered it. After a few minutes of listening to Brass saying 'yeah' and 'alright' he finally hung up. Nick looked at him expectantly.

"Warrick's alive" Brass told him "He's looking stronger by the minute, they think he'll make it"

Nick didn't know how to feel. Obviously he was absolutely thrilled his friend was going to be alright but…now he was being arrested for what was potentially murder, one he had no right to commit since Mckeen was unarmed and Warrick didn't die after all.

Nick wanted to go and see Warrick more than anything in that moment, to hug the man he loved like a brother and say how happy he was to know he was alright . But he couldn't, as one cop opened the car door and the other took hold of Nick's arm. Brass wanted nothing to do with it.

"C'mon" the officer said, leading Nick over to the car and placing him inside.

Nick didn't even try to fight it. He didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to do. It just didn't seem real. He was being arrested for murder, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The end :3

Aww no, I wouldn't do that to poor Nick, there will be a part deux! Well, depending how this part goes down… I was really excited about this story, I really liked writing it, so I hope you enjoyed :)

Prompts and Reviews would be awesome :) xx