"He's a grown man and a CSI level three. He doesn't need coddling."

"Then why are you still here? This is a family matter."

"I'm here—"

"STOP!"

Warrick was brought to a dead stop by Nick's shout. He hadn't meant to lose his temper like that, but the things Gillian Stokes had said really got to him. He couldn't even fathom how she could think that he'd just let Nick get taken by that lunatic Gordon. That any of them would rather see Nick in danger than risk their own skin. That it hadn't felt like his chest was being crushed in a vice each time he saw Nick on the webcam.

"Sorry 'bout that," Warrick said quietly as he dropped down onto the couch. Nick's desperate plea had knocked the fight out of him and even if he wanted to he didn't think that he could keep to his feet. "I didn't mean to lose my temper like that."

And even though Warrick had just been yelling at the guy's mom, Nick leaned into him. "S'all right."

Relaxed as Nick appeared then, there was no masking the tension in the room. Any other time Warrick would have bolted. He didn't need to get in someone else's family drama. It was Nick, though, and Warrick couldn't walk away.

"Gilly, we should all probably head back to the hotel," Judge Stokes said at last. "We have a flight to catch tonight and I'm sure Pancho here would like to get some rest. The boy looks about ready to pass out."

It was easy to tell that the man was uncomfortable, but Warrick wasn't sure if it was because his son was curled up against another man or if it was just because he didn't know how to fix the situation for Nick. Warrick himself wished that he knew how to take the fear out of Nick's eyes.

"I was thinking that I would stay for a few more days to help Nick settle," Gillian said as her husband and daughter began moving towards the front door. "He'll need someone to cook and keep the place tidy and I don't think he'd want a stranger doing that at the moment. Would you, Nick?"

"You have that big case coming up, Mom. You need to get back to Dallas," Melanie Stokes said, drawing her mother's attention away from Nick. At that moment Warrick could have kissed her because Nick visibly relaxed then.

"You should go, Mom," Nick croaked, offering up a mostly genuine smile. It wasn't one of Nick's usual brilliant smiles, but it was a real one. "I'll be all right. I have a lot of friends here who'll make sure I stay out of trouble."

And even though Warrick could see the strain in his muscles, Nick forced himself up off the sofa and shuffled over to his family. His sister unobtrusively slid an arm around his waist under the guise of giving him a sideways hug, but it was obvious that she was helping him keep to his feet. Warrick couldn't hear what was said, but Nick was nodding, a slight trace of a smile on his lips. In that moment Nick looked relaxed and Warrick was grateful for it.

With his sister's arm still around his waist, Nick shook his father's hand before he was wrapped up tight in his mother's arms the instant he stepped away. Gillian Stokes seemed determined to squeeze her youngest in half, but Nick held up to it; returning the embrace willingly. For all of her current overprotective tendencies, Warrick could tell that she loved her son. She was just too stressed out to be aware that she was actually making things harder for Nick. And since he was too understanding for his own good, Nick wouldn't say anything about it.

Knowing that it was a family moment, Warrick did his best not to spy on the situation. Close as he was to Nick, he still wasn't family. He was, however, the one who would be around while Nick was getting better. And he had the vacation time to prove it. Granted, the vacation time had been insisted upon by both Grissom and Catherine, but Warrick would have asked for it anyway. He wanted to be there for Nick.

As soon as the front door shut, Nick sagged against it. He was breathing heavy by the time Warrick got to him and Warrick knew that he was only one good wobble away from collapsing.

"Couch or bed?" Warrick asked as he slipped an arm around Nick's waist, drawing the smaller man against him.

"Couch," Nick mumbled, his fingers finding Warrick's right hand which was on his hip. "Sick of lying on a bed."

"I'll bet you are, buddy."

Warrick didn't react to the fact that Nick twined their fingers together, not entirely sure how to react. Nick had always been the tactile sort, moreso in the past few days. Since wedging his fingers under the slid of that plexiglass box, it had become the exception when they weren't in contact. Even if it was as simple as Nick sliding his leg over until it touched Warrick's elbow when he'd been using Nick's bed as an armrest, Nick had been sticking close. Not that Warrick minded. He was just as content to reassure himself that he hadn't lost Nick as Nick was to make sure he hadn't been lost.

"They're gonna come back in a few hours," Nick yawned as he slumped down onto the couch. "Say goodbye before they head off home."

"They just want to make sure you're okay," Warrick said, not protesting when Nick tugged him down onto the couch as well. "What happened scared all of us. And seeing you with that gun…."

Warrick didn't even realize what he'd said until he felt Nick tense beside him.

"There was no more air coming and the ants… I just… I thought…."

"Hey, Nicky, no," Warrick cut him off, turning his body so that he was facing him. He grabbed hold of Nick's left hand, squeezing it, relieved when he felt Nick squeeze back. "No one's faulting you for that. You staid together for over twenty-two hours and that takes a lot, man. More than I've got."

"Rick—"

Warrick shook his head, cutting him off. "Let me get this out, okay? When you shot … when you shot out the light, there was a second I thought you'd shot yourself. That was the longest fucking second of my life. I was sitting there in the A/V room and I thought I'd just watched you die. That was… fuck, I can't even describe it except that I don't want to feel like that again. I want you around. I need you around for a very long time."

Neither one of them said anything for a long while. Warrick was starting to get worried, thinking maybe he should let go of Nick's hand, when Nick leaned forward, bowed head coming to rest against Warrick's cheek. Immediately he had his free around Nick's shoulders, holding him tight. When he felt Nick's arm wind around his torso, Warrick leaned back, stretching out on the couch and taking Nick with him. He didn't think about it, the two of them simply shifting about until they were comfortable.

Less than ten minutes later Nick was sleeping peacefully.

Warrick knew he was going to pay for it later with a stiff back, but he didn't care because Nick had fallen asleep without a sedative for the first time in three days. It had been over twelve hours since he'd been medicated for something other than the ant bites and he was sleeping soundly.

Warrick didn't even realize that he'd fallen asleep until he heard the front door open. There was no time for him to move and even if there was it would have meant dislodging Nick who was still sleeping soundly. Warrick wasn't going to wake him up if he didn't have to. And even though he was pretty confident that he knew who had just arrived, Warrick couldn't help but hope that he was wrong.

He was just rethinking whether it would be better for Nick to be awake or not when the front door opened and the Judge and Mrs. Stokes as well as their eldest daughter entered the condo. With the way Nick's place was set up the three Texans saw them right away.

"Could you please keep it down? Nick's finally sleeping well and I don't wanna risk waking him," Warrick said as casually as he could manage in the face of Nick's shell-shocked family. Truth was, even he didn't want to think about the implications of their current position.

"You mind telling me what you're doing cuddled up on the couch with my son?" the judge asked, his voice quiet but still with a noticeable edge to it.

"Nick was having a hard time sleeping so I offered myself up as a human pillow," Warrick said calmly giving the various expressions of outrage and shock being directed towards him. "He needed the human contact."

"And the fact that you're both men?"

"Has nothing to do with anything," Warrick informed the older man. "We've been through and seen a lot over the years so me offering up a little bit of comfort isn't that bit a deal."

Bill Stokes merely shook his head in disbelief and turned towards his wife. The expression on her face was on that Warrick really didn't want to interpret. Being pinned under Nick, Warrick felt at an obvious disadvantage and was beginning to realize that he'd have to wake him up.

Being gentle as possible, Warrick lightly shook Nick's shoulder, murmuring a quiet, "Wake up, buddy," in his ear.

Nick fought against consciousness, turning his face into Warrick's chest and generally just shifting about.

"Come on, Nicky. Your folks are here."

Nick slowly lifted his head, his face only a few inches from Warrick's. The other man was blinking owlishly, his eyes not really focusing him at first. For a few seconds it looked as though Nick was gonna kiss him because Nick's eyes were locked on his lips.

"What kind of drugs are they giving you, Pancho?"

Nick's whole body went stiff, his eyes wide with fear. Only it wasn't a fear that Warrick knew how to help him with because he was equally frightened at the moment. There was a lawyer and a judge from Texas glaring death at him. He wasn't entirely opposed to using Nick as a human shield just then because he knew they wouldn't attack Nick.

"Mom, Cisco, I… I just… we weren't…."

Nick was trembling all over by then and even though it probably wasn't the most opportune moment, Warrick slipped his free hand around to cup the back of Nick's neck, massaging the tense muscles he found there. He kept his full attention on Nick, not caring how the others reacted. Nick's eyes had been darting about while he struggled to process what was going on and when they landed on Warrick at last they were noticeably damp; the wetness making the usually brown eyes look almost black.

"Easy there, Nicky. Don't go hyperventilating on me," Warrick murmured, giving Nick's left hand a squeeze. "Breathe nice and even. That's it. Stay even with me."

As he helped Nick get his breathing under control, he also coaxed the other man into sitting up. It would be better for all concerned if they didn't look like a pair of teenagers who'd just been caught in the act. Bad enough that he felt it.

"Sorry 'bout that," Nick mumbled, staring down at his lap. "Must've been more tired than I thought."

"Are you sure you they should have let you out of the hospital so soon?"

Nick sighed and leaned back into the couch. "I don't need to be in a hospital to sleep. I'd rather do it at home. I don't have t' worry about anyone watching me here and I get to decide who's around and who's not. Right now I want Warrick here. So please stop tryin' to chase him away or make him feel guilty about what happened. It wasn't anyone's fault that I ended up in that box."

It was the longest speech Warrick could remember Nick making since he'd got out of the box. He was glad to see Nick standing up for himself too. Nick had been meek as could be over the past few days; not even asking for painkillers when it was obvious that he was hurting. Warrick could only hope that Nick would keep this up in the long run. In his own quiet way, Nick was one of the strongest people he'd ever met and he didn't want to see the other man loose that.

"I apologize, Mr. Brown, if I have made you feel at all uncomfortable," Gillian said softly, the words sounding forced from her.

Warrick smiled graciously and bobbed his head. "Not at all."

He'd make nice for Nick's sake. The rational part of Warrick knew that it was the stressful situation that had Nick's parents acting like they were. Their youngest had almost lost his life to the whims of a madman; that was enough to mess with anyone's head. Warrick was still reeling from it and knew that he would be for quite some time. And even though there was a voice inside screaming at him to not let Nick out of his sight, Warrick announced that he was going to head out to buy some ground beef to make the burgers he'd promised Nick.

"Don't—You don't… you don't have to go," Nick stammered, immediately reaching for Warrick's hand.

Warrick gave Nick's left hand a squeeze. "I won't be long. It'll give you time to say goodbye to your folks."

Nick didn't look entirely convinced, but he didn't protest. At the same time, though, he also wasn't letting go of Warrick's hand. So, just as he had when Nick was still in the box Warrick let Nick be the one to loosen the grip. And, as it had that night, it took a few minutes, but Nick eventually let his fingers slid from Warrick's. Promising once again that he'd be back soon, Warrick left the condo before he could think of a reason to stay.

Even though he had no reason to presume such things, Warrick stopped off at his place on the way to the grocery store to pick up a change of clothes. Nick didn't seem like he was ready to spend the night on his own. Truth was that Warrick wasn't ready for him to spend the night alone. Rationally he knew that Nick was safe, but after everything that had happened Warrick wasn't quite ready to be rational. He just wanted Nick to be okay.

Warrick stocked up on all the fixings they'd need for the burgers then headed for the check out. He almost picked up some beer too, but since Nick wasn't allowed alcohol with the meds he was on he figured it was better not to taunt the poor guy. They'd just have to make due without.

In all it was less than an hour later when Warrick pulled up to Nick's building for the second time that day. Just like the other time, it was Nick's sister that answered the door, smiling when she saw him.

"He's been getting twitchy," Melanie said quietly as she took the bag from him.

Warrick didn't have time to process her words before she disappeared towards the kitchen. Nick Stokes was not someone that he would have ever described as twitchy. Twitchy was Greg. But when he caught sight of Nick sitting curled up in a corner of the couch, Warrick couldn't think of any word except twitchy to describe him.

"I've got the stuff so whenever you wanna eat just let me know," Warrick said by way of greeting.

"You're back."

"Told you I would be," Warrick assured him as he moved to join Nick on the couch. When he sat down Nick stretched out his legs so that his toes brushed against the side of Warrick's leg. "The lines ended up being a bit longer than I thought."

Nick relaxed visibly at that, his body no longer quite so tense.

"We'd better get going if we're going to get through the security check in time for our flight," Melanie said as she emerged from the kitchen. "Much as I love you, Nicky, I want to get home to my kids."

"Jake's probably been feeding 'em nothing but junk food." Nick managed a brief grin as he spoke.

Taking the hint, Bill and Gillian reluctantly got to the feet. At his mother's insistence, Nick stayed where he was, receiving a kiss on the cheek from both his mother and sister. Warrick was surprised as hell w hen Melanie kissed him on the cheek as well.

"Take care of him," she whispered before pulling back.

Warrick definitely didn't understand her, but he liked her just the same. He liked her even more when she got her parents to leave without a fuss. Then it was just him and Nick.

"You ready for those burgers?"

Nick slowly bobbed his head up and down. "I could eat."