Title: Enough
By: stokesgirl
Character: Nick Stokes
Rating: PG-13
Beta: Smokey (Thanks, you rock girl)
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them and never will, just having some fun with them
Summary: This story was written for challenge #7 in the Nick Song Fic challenge over at TalkCSI. You are to write a story, based on the lyrics of a song, and the story can be no more the 2500 words. The song this time was "It Was An Accident" by Don Conoscenti.

Nick takes a walk along Fremont Street and something unexpected happens, which makes Nick realize he's had enough!

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Nick was walking down Fremont Street on a particularly hot night in Vegas. He had just come off a rough week and now had a few days to himself. As he walked he did one of his favorite things…people watched. He watched the tourists and found it amazing that he could tell the difference between the tourists and those that lived in Vegas. He couldn’t explain how he knew…he guessed the tourists always looked happy and the natives…well they had that ‘everyday’ look about them.

 

Whenever Nick felt like he needed to escape reality for awhile, he got away. He did not actually leave the state; just his version of ‘getting away’. When he got that feeling during the day, he would head to Lake Mead and go hiking. If the feeling came at night, like it did tonight, he headed to Fremont Street or the Strip and people watched. Sometimes he just liked to pretend that he was a tourist with no cares in the world. He chuckled to himself, but it helped to relieve the stress.

 

He continued to walk down Fremont Street, away from the tourists and the bright lights. Suddenly, he felt something pressed up against his back and heard, “Don’t make any sudden moves. Just turn and head down the alley.”

 

“Look,” Nick said, “I’ll give you the money.  Just let me get my wallet. You can have the money.”

 

Nick started to turn around and the guy said, “I said don’t turn around and go down the alley.” He pressed the gun harder into Nick’s back to make his point. “Don’t make me tell you again.”

 

Nick did what he was told and turned down the dark alley. He realized how quiet it was here and wondered if there was anyone around. Frankly, he wondered why this stuff happens to me.

 

The guy forced Nick deeper into the alley. When Nick could not go any farther, the guy told him to turn around. Nick complied, going back to his training and what people in this situation are told to do: just do what you are asked and you could walk away. Apparently these ‘experts’ that tell you to comply have never stared down the barrel of a gun.

                                                                                                                    

However, CSI Nick Stokes kicks in and immediately takes stock: white male, 25-30 years old, 5’11”, muscular build, blond hair, blue eyes, and has a good 50-60 pounds on me.

 

“Give me your wallet and don’t try to fight.”

 

Nick thought, there comes a time in your life when enough is enough. You either continue putting up with it or you don’t. Nick thought that this moment in time was a 'don’t'.

 

Nick reached in his back pocket, took out his wallet, handed it over, and when the guy reached out to grab it that was the moment…the moment Nick stopped putting up with it.

 

Nick grabbed the guy’s hand and jerked him toward him, throwing the guy off balance a little. Nick’s wallet fell to the ground. 

 

The guy looked down at the wallet and then up at Nick. “That was really stupid, man.”

 

Nick responded by punching the guy in the jaw and said, “No, stupid is trying to rob me.”

 

The punch knocked the guy off his game, but only for a few seconds. While the guy was trying to recover from the punch, Nick smacked the gun out of his hand.

 

The guy looked at Nick and head butted him, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him up against the side of a brick building, knocking the wind out of him. The guy then turned away from Nick to go grab the gun.

 

Once he had his wind back, Nick pushed the guy to the ground and kicked him in his abdomen. “You bastard,” Nick spat at him. “You will not win!”

 

Nick went to kick the guy again, but the guy grabbed Nick’s foot and pulled on it, forcing Nick to fall to the ground. The guy crawled his way up Nick’s body and twice punched Nick in the face. The third time, Nick blocked the punch and with his knees he was able to push the guy off of him. Unfortunately, he pushed the guy right next to his gun. The guy grabbed the gun, and when he went to point it at Nick, Nick reached up and tried to wrestle the gun away.

 

“You will not win! I will not let you win!" Nick yelled.

 

“What is wrong with you, asshole? You’re gonna die for being stupid.”

 

Nick struggled for the gun.  He felt the guy’s finger on the trigger and the gun pressing into his gut. Nick moved their entangled hands so the gun was not pointing at him. As he did this, he managed to roll them so he was now on top of the guy.

 

Though Nick did not want to die, he had become fed up with these punks mugging people. He was scared to death, no doubt, but figured that at some point in your life you have to stop putting up with it.

 

He had been held at gunpoint a few times, stalked, thrown out a window, kidnapped, buried alive, eaten alive, lost his best friend, and now he was being mugged. Nick had no idea why this stuff happened to him…what he did to deserve all of this. He managed to survive it all, including spending hours being buried, hoping against all hope that the team would find him, only to have it all end here tonight. The irony was not lost on Nick.

 

The two men continued their struggle to get control of the gun and to maintain control of it. The guy rolled them so he was on top of Nick. Once again, the guy managed to get the gun pointed at Nick. Nick thought it’s now or never. He grabbed the guy’s wrist that was holding the gun and started to move the gun away from his abdomen. At that moment, the guy kneed Nick in the groin and managed to start rolling them. As they rolled, Nick made one last grab for the gun and then the gun went off.

 

Everything was quiet except for the heavy breathing coming out of one of the men and the other struggling for breath, choking on his own blood.

 

I hear the sirens coming. Can you get here quick? Someone heard the shot, didn’t they? I mean those are sirens, I hear, right? The police are probably coming. How do I get myself into these things?

 

I look over and see the life go out of him and all I can think of is, I didn’t mean to do it.