Say Hello to the Past (CSI fanfiction)

Nick, the Dependable Guy

(AN takes place after season 2; episode 4: "Bully for You." And, I love this picture, so I decided to use it for this chapter.)

"Oh Nick, what were you in high school?" Catherine asked as she turned halfway away from the counter to face Nick and Warrick, who was sitting at the table in the breakroom.

"Me? I was- uh- I was dependable." Nick said as he sat down at the table with Warrick.

"Dependable," Catherine said the word as if she were seeing how it fit Nick as she poured her coffee. "Dependable Jock? Dependable Stoner?" Catherine asked as she took her mug of coffee and made eye contact with Nick again.

"No, never a strap, never a smoker. Just an all-around dependable guy I guess." Nick placed his coffee cup on the table and paid attention to Catherine.

"He's trying to say he wasn't popular." Warrick chimed in as he tilted his head back some to make eye contact with Catherine, and all three of them laughed at that.

"I was popular with the right people. I can tell you that." Nick was looking at Warrick as he said this. A picture of Emma Grace came to Nick's mind, and as he gave a slight smirk, he rested his forearm on the table and pointed the pen in his other hand at Warrick. Nick had decided to tell them what Emma Grace had always said Nick was not in high school.

"I can also tell you what I wasn't. wasn't a MacDaddy Wannabe with a members-only jacket putting the swerve on all the ladies." Nick let out a small chuckle, grinned when Warrick took a sip of coffee, and just smirked. No, Nick hadn't quoted Emma Grace word for word all those years ago; and no, Nick knew that wasn't who Warrick was in High School, but Nick couldn't help but tease Warrick when he got the chance to. It was a good way to lessen the tension of cases when they were all on break.

Warrick played along as he looked at Nick and said, "What's wrong with those members' only jackets? They were kind of cool back in the day." Warrick knew Nick was teasing him. Even though Warrick wasn't one to openly share his feelings, he and Nick had been roommates the first few months that Nick moved to Las Vegas in 1997, and their friendship had turned to a brotherhood where, on occasion, they talked about their pasts and families with each other.

Sara had come to the break room after Warrick's comment and told Nick that they had a lead on their case. Nick got up to go with her, but Warrick had asked her what she had been in High School. Nick had been a little surprised with how quickly Sara answered that she had been a science nerd. Sara has finally let her walls down enough to become a part of the team/ Grave Shift family; Nick thought as he and Sara walked off to get back to work on their case.

Freshman year of High School:

Nick had just started high school. It felt strange not to see Emma Grace walking down the hall; she was still at the Middle school. Most of Nick's friends had transferred to the high school with him, his brother Chris was just two years ahead of him in school, and his sister Kimberly was a senior this year.

Nick had a lot of homework his first week of high school, and Emma Grace and her sister were over at the house for the night because both their parents had to work late. Amy, Emma Grace's sister, was helping Nick's mom cook in the kitchen when Nick noticed that Emma Grace seemed to be struggling with homework.

Nick closed the textbook he was reading and walked over to Emma Grace. "Let me help you, Gracie."

"Nicky, you have more homework than I do. I'll eventually figure this out; it's okay." Emma Grace gave Nick an appreciative smile.

"Gracie, you know I enjoy science. Please let me help you." Nick sat down beside Emma Grace.

"Okay." Emma Grace and Nick spent the next hour working on Emma Grace's science homework. As Jillian Stokes called the family to come to dinner that night, Emma Grace laid her head on Nick's shoulder and whispered: "Nicky, thanks for being someone I can depend on."