October brought a change in the winds. As they shifted north they blew in over the Sierra Nevadas, cooling and slowing, and bringing with them gorgeous clear and milder sunny days punctuated by sudden bursts of rain. Street cafés brought their tables back out to the sidewalks. Kids returned to playing in their yards. Locals and tourists alike reveled in the cooler temperatures.

With the relief came a slowing in the crime rate. Normal bar squabbles and road rage incidents no longer led to hot tempers and gunfire. Families enjoyed each other's company for a while.

Of course nothing could completely stop crime in the City that Never Sleeps. Which led to Nick and Warrick's presence outside a crack house in the seedier part of town. A neighbor had called city police to complain about the incessant barking of a dog at the house across the street. Police arrival several hours later had found an extremely angry woman in curlers and a house coat wagging her finger at them and two dead bodies. Apparent OD's, but who could tell for sure. Which was why CSI was there.

The coroner was working on the victims inside and Nick and Warrick lingered out front, chatting, enjoying the relative freedom of a less than needed CSI presence.

"So, Mr. Man of the Hour. Nice attaboy from Grissom, huh?" Warrick asked Nick.

Nick's discovery of the firearm in the shed had started a chain of events that led to two arrests in the murders of the record producer and his family. Turned out the gun was registered to the son. He'd turned the very expensive weapon over to a high-powered dealer as partial payment for an exceptionally large amount of cocaine. Seemed sonny boy wanted to get into dealing coke, but lacked his father's keen business sense, and wound up reneging when he couldn't come up with the rest of the payment. Worse, he couldn't turn the product back over to the dealer since he'd already sniffed most of it up his nose, and shared it with six women he'd invited over to 'party' with him. Grissom had made a point of praising Nick's work at the meeting they'd had at beginning of shift.

Nick gave Warrick an eye roll, but he was secretly more than a little pleased.

Loud barking off to the side of the house distracted him and he turned to see a large mastiff type dog, front paws planted on the chain link fence that partitioned off the tiny yard. The house was typical for its kind. Peeling paint. Sagging front porch. Overgrown shrubs and dead weeds filled where there may have once been gardens. Trash strewn about and caught in the bushes. And copious amounts of dog doody.

Nick picked his way back to the fence, approaching the dog slowly. The dog stopped barking, and its tail started wagging furiously, kicking up a mini tornado in the dead leaves that covered the yard. Nick held a hand out towards the beast; his reward a hand licked clean and left dripping with doggy drool. He moved in closer and reached a hand over to pet the humongous head, scratching the dog between the ears. He murmured quietly to the mutt. "Hey, boy, you're a big one, ain't ya? Good boy."

He heard Warrick approaching from behind him and dropped his hand. The dog resumed barking.

"We should probably call animal control for this guy, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm sure LVPD already did, but we can make sure they do if not. So … ummm…don't take this the wrong way, but I've been thinking on what we talked about. You know. At the producer's house."

Nick raised his eyebrows at this and waited silently. He knew he had unloaded a huge pile of shit on his friend, and he'd actually been surprised he'd let it go as long as he had. Figured since he'd done most of the talking that night, was only fair to let his partner have his piece.

"I got you a little something to add to your new bling."

Nick hesitated for a second, then got the reference, his hand rising involuntarily to where his brand new shiny Medic-Alert pendant hung on a silver dog tag chain under his shirt. He had never been one for jewelry, and it still felt odd, the cool metal pressure on his chest. His doctor had recommended it and it had seemed especially prudent since he and Catherine had been discussing his return to solo work.

"My bling, huh? Okay. Let's see it."

Warrick brought out a small paper bag from his pocket and handed it over to Nick, his expression that of a kid who had just drawn his mom a Crayola masterpiece.

Nick unwrapped the bag to find a silver dollar coin, a hole drilled through the top of Kennedy's head.

"Is this some kind of sick Kennedy in Dallas reference, cuz I'm not getting it. Sorry, Bro."

Warrick's smile faltered a bit. "No, Man. It's the coin. The coin. The one we flipped that night."

He'd obviously seen the look of horror beginning on his face that Nick couldn't help, despite the apparently friendly gesture.

"No. No, Man. Hear me out. Like you said. The coin didn't put you in the box. You can say Karma- I say psycho Walter Gordon. Whatevs. But ever since that night, this coin has been… God, Nick. This is gonna sound warped, I know. But it's brought me luck. I mean luck like I never had before. I had a good run with it, but the gambling thing- it's old. Not gonna get me where I need to be. Where I need to be going someday. So I figured, maybe you could use a little luck. That's all."

Nick's face must have shown he still remained dubious.

"I'm totally serious, Man. You know us gamblers are superstitious buggers. Look at Candy Man. Damn chocolate cost him his life. But I don't need this. And you seem to think that you do. So wear it or don't. Hell, toss it in Lake Mead if you don't want it."

Nick considered his friend's gesture. What the hell…couldn't bring any worse luck than I've already got.

He pulled the dog tags free from around his neck and undid the clasp. Slid the coin onto one end where it fell to rest next to his pendant that read Allergy to insect bites/bee stings, with a red caduceus on the flip side. Refastening the clasp he returned the chain to its former place, the coin heavy against his chest.

"Thanks, Man. I think," he said with a laugh.

Dave was on his way over, and he gave them the heads up that it was undoubtedly overdoses that killed the two men inside. The ME's wagon had already pulled up and the black bagged bodies were being loaded into the back. "Looks like there's no reason for you two to be here. Thanks for showing, though."

"No, problem, Dave. That's the job, right? Hey, you know if the cops called Animal Control for the monster back there? Hate to see the poor thing starve to death."

"Yeah, I heard one of them make the call. Well, see you guys 'round."

Warrick slapped his hands together, rubbing them with glee. "C'mon. Let's grab something to eat before we have to head back. I'm starved. Cath won't know we finished up here so soon. We got time to grab some chow. How 'bout an In N Out burger and a cherry Coke" Seeing the grin appearing on Nicks face, he continued, "Yeah. I know what my boy likes. Alright, let's roll."

And with that he took off, his long legs taking great strides across the yard towards the road where the truck was parked. He was only a few feet from the sidewalk when his foot struck a pile of fresh dog crap, covered by dead leaves, still wet and slippery from the most recent downpour. He lurched forward and landed on one knee and his outstretched hands struck just shy of the sidewalk.

Nick ran over to find Warrick sitting on the ground, the one knee of his pants green with grass stains, his shoe covered in dog doo, and decent amount of blood pouring from his hand.

"Rick, Man! You okay? What happened to your hand?"

"I landed on a screw. All this trash around, it would have been weird if I hadn't hit anything. Ah, shit. Now I'm gonna need a tetanus shot. And these were my favorite pants, too. Goddamnit. Hey…hey, Nick! Wha… are you laughing, Man? Stop laughing! It's not funny. Yeah, all right, ha ha. Just help me up would ya?"

Nick took the time to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye, and stifled his laughter long enough to put out a hand to help his friend up.

"Sorry, Man. I just think I felt a shift in my Karma."

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That's all she wrote. Literally. Thanks for taking the ride with me. I must apologize for the misconception that my last chapter would be sad. I was actually saying that I was sad since the story was ending. This story wound up being a little more personal than originally planned. My best friend and I have a similar dynamic- she's the Warrick, and I am definitely the Nick. My friends love reminiscing about my misadventures and misfortunes. Those stories always get the biggest laughs. But when they are happening, there is only one person I would want there, and that's her. But dang, that girl is Lucky. What ya gonna do? We play the cards we're dealt with, right?

So happy ending for our boys. And I already have a new one ready to start. I'll tease you with the title: Tabula Rasa, and you can count on my main man being the focus, with generous amounts of the rest of the gang. Action adventure mixed with a smidge or three of angst. Hopefully in the right combination.

Thanks to my reviewers, and those who read without leaving their marks. Hope you enjoyed. Take care, and hope to see you next time.