Authoresses' Notes: Hi, everyone! After a bit of a hiatus, Sassy and Giggles are back writing CSI/CSI: Miami stories. Let's hear a "w00t, w00t". Jokin'. Anyway, both of us love the Fifth Season Two-Part Finale, "Grave Danger", of CSI and we got to thinking: How would our OCs react to the situation? So, "Grave Danger, Love's Embrace" was embedded in our brains, wouldn't stop bothering us, and, after much tweaking, typed to what you see before you today. This is Part One of Two, because we wanted to stay true to the Episode and the Episode was in Two Parts; we'll post Part Two in two days, 'cause we wanna see what people think of Part One first. So, please, Enjoy, Read, and it would be very much appreciated if you Reviewed, too!
Disclaimer: No, unfortunately Sassy and Giggles do not claim ownership of anything related to the "CSI" franchise; that right belongs exclusively to Anthony E. Zuiker. They do own Carmen Jones, Fleur Bouchard, and any other characters mentioned herein that are unfamiliar to the Franchise.
Summary: SPOILER ALERT! Season Five of CSI, Two Part Season Finale "Grave Danger". What starts out as a routine "garbage" run for CSI Nick Stokes quickly turns into a race against time for his friends, and girlfriend, to save his life. Rated T, to be safe.
CSI: Grave Danger, Love's Embrace
Part One of Two:
Crime Scene Investigator Nick Stokes paused in his strides to the bag he'd spotted by the fire hydrant when he heard his cellular phone ring. Without looking at the Caller ID, he answered, "Stokes."
"My fire, mon Amour? Always," the voice on the other end of the phone brought a smile to his face.
"What're you doing up so late, Flowergirl?" He lightly teased her, as he continued his short trek to the bagged cup.
"Missing you, of course," Fleur Bouchard, one of two Wards of Lieutenant Horatio Caine of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab and Nick's girlfriend, replied easily.
"Fleur? What's wrong?" Nick detected something in her tone that set alarms off in his head.
"I… I don't know, Nick," she confessed. "I've been trying to sleep, but, for some reason, I can't. It's like a massive dose of caffeine was introduced into my system; I'm wide awake and jittery. And, before you even ask, no I haven't had any coffee or soda or anything with more caffeine than some cocoa. I just got an urge to call you; I'm sorry if I caught you at work, again. It's, what? Eleven something there?"
"And past two in the morning in Miami, Sunshine," he reminded her. "Don't you have class first thing, for your Forensics courses?"
"I know, I know. I just had to call you, Cowboy. I guess I'll let you get back to work, Nikko; I love you."
"If you want to talk while I work, that's fine, Sunshine," Nick knelt down next to the fire hydrant. "And I love you, too, my Naughty Nurse."
She laughed, "Still don't know why, but I believe you."
"Huh."
"Nick? What is it?"
"This is weird. Wh -" Nick was abruptly cut off as he was grabbed from behind and something that smelt of ether was placed over his mouth and nostrils; on the other end, his girlfriend heard the slight struggle and began to panic.
"Nick? Nicholas? Are you alright? What's going on over there?" The last thing Fleur heard was the sound of a body being dragged away with heavy footsteps.
))) Meanwhile in Miami, Florida… (((
A young woman slowly hung up the phone she held, before she redialled; this time a different number. "Grissom."
"Gil?" The twenty-five year old woman ran a shaking hand through her thick red hair.
"Fleur Bouchard? To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"I think something's wrong with Nick, Gil," she felt it best to get to the heart of the matter.
"What do you mean, you think something's wrong with Nick, Fleur?" Grissom was puzzled. "He's down at the cross of Flamingo and Koval, doing a garbage run. According to Catherine, he lost a coin toss to Warrick."
"I don't know where he is, but that's not the problem, Sir." Fleur then quickly explained her conversation with her boyfriend and what she heard over the phone, adding, "Nick isn't the type to play such a cruel joke, Gil. I'm worried; would you be able to send someone to see what's going on and let me know?"
"Of course, my dear. You're right, Nick isn't the type to pull such a cruel joke, especially since he knows how much you worry about him. I'll give you a call as soon as I know. What number did you want me to call you at?"
"You can call me on my cell," Fleur gave him her cellular number. "Thanks, Gil; I really appreciate this."
"It's no problem; I'll be in contact with you as soon as I know something, Fleur. You have my word."
With those parting words, the two hung up.
Please, Lord… Please let Nick be okay… Fleur prayed as she exited her room and went into the Living Room of the Penthouse Suite she shared with her best friend, Carmen Jones, and their shared Guardian since they were ten, Horatio Caine. She sat down at the grand piano her Godfather had had installed several years before into the Living Room, playing mindlessly. She came to about fifteen minutes later when a cup of tea was set in front of her by a freckled hand, which belonged to her Godfather.
"What's wrong, Sweetheart?" Horatio's concerned jade eyes expertly took in his Goddaughter's pale face and the slightly torn skin on her top lip from where she'd been biting it in worry.
"Something's wrong with Nick, Uncle Hooray," Fleur gave him the same rundown she'd given to Grissom just twenty minutes before.
"Fleur, Sweetheart, maybe he just dropped his phone?" Horatio tried to stay calm for her, but she heard the concern in his voice.
"I hope so, Uncle… I hope so…" Fleur leaned into his embrace as he wrapped an arm around her, sitting beside her on the piano bench.
Nearly thirty more minutes past before her cell phone let out a gentle tinkle, signalling an incoming call. Glancing quickly at the number, she answered, "Gil?"
"Fleur? I'm sorry, but somehow Nick was kidnapped from the Scene; the attending Officer left the Scene, and Nick, unsupervised and there's signs of a struggle. We're doing our best to find some leads, but it's slow going because some Evidence isn't matching up," Grissom answered.
"I'll be down as soon as possible, Gil; thanks for letting me know," she replied, trying to keep her tears at bay.
"If anyone deserves to know, you do, my dear. I'll keep you posted. Please, give me a call when you land; I'll send a car."
"I will," Fleur promised, hanging up and replacing it into the pocket of her dressing gown.
"Go get dressed; I'll see about getting you on the next plane to Vegas, Sweetheart," Horatio urged as he stood up and drew her back to her feet.
Swallowing thickly, Fleur nodded and, as she entered her room, closed her door; she re-emerged several minutes later with her hair thrown back into a ponytail, dressed in snug dark-wash jeans and a violet t-shirt. Walking into the kitchen, she found her best friend talking quietly on the phone.
Carmen held up a single finger and motioned for her friend to sit down at the table. She nodded, "We will. Thanks again, Dad. Love you, too; bye." Hanging up the phone, she turned to the distraught redhead and, pulling her friend into her arms, explained, "Uncle Horatio let me know what's going on. I'm coming with you; there's no way in Hell you're going to go through this alone."
"Why were you on the phone with your dad?" Fleur asked quietly, squeezing her friend tightly before she reluctantly pulled out of the embrace.
"I was talking to him about getting a flight to Vegas; Dad's going to call ahead, so by the time we get to the airport there'll be a plane ready for a non-stop flight. We should be in Vegas within six hours or so."
"Thank you," Fleur blinked back tears as she choked on a sob, grasping her best friend's hands in hers.
Nearly seven and a half hours later found the two women landing at the Las Vegas International Airport with a familiar face waiting for them at the Gate. "Fleur, Carmen, hey," Warrick Brown stepped forward, hugging Fleur back when she launched herself into his arms, shaking. "He's still alive, Babe; he's still alive…" He soothed her, rubbing her back in small circles.
"Is there any news?" Carmen asked quietly, following their friend as he led the two women out to his SUV.
"Yeah, a package came a few hours ago; around midnight," Warrick was hesitant but, as he drove, he filled the two women in on what was in the package.
"Oh, Merde," Fleur whispered to herself. "Nick has Taphophobia; combined with being stuck in there for several hours already, I wouldn't be surprised if he also becomes Claustrophobic."
"The fear of being buried alive and the fear of small, enclosed spaces," Warrick breathed, swearing under his breath. "His parents have both already arrived; they got in around three-thirty this morning. Somehow, Catherine managed to get the million we need and Grissom went on the drop about forty minutes ago. Before you guys got off the plane, I got a call to report to the Scene of the Drop Off - the guy blew himself up."
"How the Hell are we supposed to find Nick, then?" Carmen asked desperately.
"We think outside the box, Car; we'll find him. Warrick, whatever you guys need, coffee, whatever, we'll do it," Fleur spoke with a quiet determination.
They drove in silence for nearly fifteen minutes before he broke the silence,
"How close are you guys to being Certified?"
"We help Uncle Horatio and his Team around the Lab as Assistant Techs, when we're not doing our Intern Nursing and Student Teaching," Carmen replied. "We're evaluated and Credited by whoever we're working with."
"Good; we can use that," he glanced at them from out of the corner of his eye as he drove. "It's all hands on deck right now; did you two sleep at all on the plane here?"
"Carmen had something slipped into my tea; I got about six hours," Fleur answered without hesitation.
"I got five or so. I figured you might need a fresh set of eyes," Carmen added.
))) Nearly twelve hours have past… (((
"Nick's here," Sara Sidle ran back into the room, jabbing her finger onto the "X" closest to the door.
"Let's go, everyone; all hands on deck," Grissom responded immediately.
"We're coming with you," Fleur and Carmen followed them and the others nodded.
"Carma, you're riding with me," Greg Saunders took Carmen's hand and Carmen willingly followed her boyfriend to his vehicle.
"Fleur, I'd like you to ride with me," Grissom spoke up just as Warrick opened his mouth to lay the same claim.
"Alright," Fleur followed her boyfriend's Supervisor out to his own SUV.
When they were a few minutes into the drive with the vehicle's sirens blazing, Grissom asked her, "Fleur, how are you holding up?"
"About the same as you, I expect," she replied carefully. "I just… I want Nick home. I already called my Godfather to let him know I'll be staying in Vegas for as long as it takes to help Nick recover and he has Marisol on the plane right now, with some changes of clothes and money for me. He's also speaking to my Professors to see if he can have my school work emailed to me."
"Don't you dare blame yourself, Fleur Sonja. This guy was out for blood and if it hadn't been Nick, it would've been another CSI. We'll get him out. If it hadn't been for you calling him at just the right time, we may not have even noticed him missing for several hours," Grissom was firm.
"If it hadn't been for my calling at exactly the wrong time, he would've been more aware of his surroundings; so, yes, Gil, I blame myself," she answered coolly.
After that, Fleur more or less zoned for the rest of the twenty minute drive, coming to when Grissom parked and was speaking to the crowd of Law Enforcement, directing them to look for any loose dirt.
Fleur was partnered with Catherine; the two of them had sensors that were looking for the signal from the webcam that had been used to assure themselves that Nick was still alive. "I've got a signal," Catherine hollered.
"We've found the signal!" Fleur announced as loudly as she could; despite her lack of height, she was quite loud when the need arose.
The entire crowd raced after Catherine and Fleur; Fleur let out a yelp when she tripped over something that covered the ground and her sensor went soaring out of her grip. "Fleur? Are you alright?" Catherine backtracked a few feet to check on the petite redhead.
"Yeah, I just tripped - a pipe!" Fleur gaped when she shone her flashlight to the object she'd tripped over and discovered a thin pipe sticking out of the ground.
"Fleur, I think you've found it!" Catherine became excited at the prospect. Dropping to her knees, she dug a bit and came away with a plastic bag that covered the router that had been sending the signal. "This is it! We've found it!" She screamed over at the others and, within a minute, the majority of the searchers were there with shovels.
"It's here! We've found it, this is it!"
"Nick! Nick, we're here!" Catherine hollered down the pipe as Fleur busied herself with grabbing a shovel from a nearby Officer and began shovelling away as much as she could, as quick as she could; she was joined by Warrick, along with two other male Officers and they began digging at a fast pace as the others held flashlights. "We're here, Nicky; we're gonna get you out."
"Hang in there, Nick; hang in there…" Fleur murmured to herself as the others watched, helpless. Warrick's watch beeped, signalling they were, more or less, out of time. The two shared a frightened look and continued working at a more feverish pace.
"I've hit something!" Warrick exclaimed as his shovel made a "thunk"ing sound.
"We've got ya, Nicky!" Catherine called down to him with the hope that he could hear.
"Ditto," she breathed as her shovel made an identical sound; not paying any mind to the dirt that was gathering in her hair and on her clothes, she knelt and brushed as much as she could off with her bare hands.
"Go get the fire extinguisher," Grissom called and Greg took off at a dead run as Warrick joined Fleur on her hands and knees.
"C'mon, Nicky; we're almost there…" Warrick muttered. They managed to clear off a foot-by-foot square and saw Nick with the gun pointed at his jaw. "Hey, hey! Put that thing down, Nicky!"
"Nikko, don't! Don't do it, Mon Amour!" Fleur screamed, frantically clearing off as much as she could as she saw Nick give Warrick a blank look and his finger moved on the trigger, "Please, please, don't leave me, Nicholas… please…" She was sobbing as she and Warrick cleared off the last bit of the Plexiglas coffin.
"We got you, we're gonna get you out, Nicky," Warrick promised; he may as well not even have spoken, as Nick's gaze was locked on the filthy form of his frantic girlfriend and the gun was lowered to his side and released. "Get me that fire extinguisher, Greg!" He grabbed his shovel again and used it to pry open the top, allowing just enough room for Greg to shoot the pressurized Carbon Dioxide in through.
"Short bursts, Greg; don't suffocate him," Grissom instructed, offering Fleur his hand and helping her out of the hole, Nick's eyes following her every move. "That's a good girl," he complimented her as he half-wrapped an arm around her shoulders, even as she watched in fixation while Greg and Warrick were working to kill the Fire Ants that were eating her boyfriend alive; Nick was forced to shut his eyes and clamp his mouth even tighter as the concentrated Carbon Dioxide from the fire extinguisher invaded his coffin.
"Hang on, Buddy; hang on. We've almost got you outta there," Warrick spoke assuringly to his friend.
"Get the Paramedics," Sara shouted over her shoulder.
"We're on it," Carmen and an Officer took off running for the main road to flag down the approaching ambulance.
"Hang on; hang on. We're gonna kill those ants, okay?" Warrick kept speaking to his friend as three Officers jumped down to help pry part of the top off.
"This should do it," Greg responded, firing several more short bursts into the coffin.
Catherine looked at her phone as it began ringing. "Willows."
"Yeah, hey, Boss," David Hodges replied.
"We've got him, Hodges; we've got Nick. We're getting him out, now."
"That's great. Wait, wait; don't hang up, just listen."
"What? What is it?"
"Those dimples on the bottom of the prototype… GCMS found traces of Semtex on each one of the dimples, on the underside of the box, attached to a pressure switch."
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Catherine breathed, hanging up after a moment.
"One… two… thre -" Warrick and Greg are about to lift the top off of the coffin with several others, including Detective Captain Jim Brass.
"Everyone out of the hole!" Catherine raced over, "The box is rigged to explode!"
"Are you kidding?" Brass exclaimed, getting out of the hole along with the others, minus Warrick.
"Now!"
"I'm not leaving without Nick," Warrick retorted.
"There are charges under the box, attached to a pressure switch. Get out of there, now!"
"Here, take her," Grissom handed the now stiffened form of Fleur to Brass.
"I'm not leavin' here without him," Warrick choked back his tears.
"Warrick, Catherine's right; get out of the hole, now. I know what we're gonna do," Grissom ordered. "Just trust me."
Reluctantly, and looking like it physically pained him to do so, Warrick climbed out of the hole; as soon as Warrick left his sightline, along with Fleur being ushered through the queue of Law Enforcement, Nick began to panic and pound on the lid, screaming, "Don't leave! Don't leave me!"
"We need two hundred pounds of dirt over here, right now; and we're gonna use that Back-hoe to get it," Grissom pointed to the machine behind him and people raced to get the required materials. Hearing Nick's scream turned more terrified, Grissom jumped into the hole, brushing the light dusting of dirt away, "Nick! Can you hear me? It's gonna take us a minute to get you out of there, okay? Nick!"
Nick didn't seem to hear him and continued pounding on the lid frantically, moaning something that sounded to Grissom like, "Fleur… no… no…"
Grissom thought quickly, hearing the sounds of Fleur struggling against several Officers as they tried to drag her away from the area; he winced when one Officer's voice went high-pitched with pain. "Pancho!"
Nick froze up; however Grissom was unsure whether it was because of the use of his father's name for him or if Fleur, who slid down into the hole looking the worse for wear, was the reason. "Listen to me!" Grissom said sharply, "Put your hand on Fleur's hand."
Nick slowly began to calm as he placed his hand underneath his girlfriend's where she was bracing herself against falling. "Good, Nikko; tres bon, mon Cow-boy," Fleur praised, tears in her eyes as she gazed down in his.
"Good. Now, listen: there may be explosives underneath the box. We think they're set on pressure switches," Grissom lectured, trying not to alarm his friend. Nick's head banged on the bottom of the coffin, a defeated look on his face.
"Nicholas, Gil has an idea to get you out, but you have to listen closely to what he's saying, alright?" Fleur soothed, trying to convey calm to her trapped boyfriend.
Nick nodded and Grissom continued, "We need to equalize you body weight, so we can pull you out, okay? Pancho, nod your head if you can understand me." Nick nodded again, hope coming back to his dark brown eyes as his Supervisor continued, addressing the others watching, "Okay, we're going to use the dirt from the Back-hoe to equalize his weight; somebody get me some rope and a carabineer to lift him out." His instructions given, Grissom turned back to the trapped CSI, "Alright, Pancho; we're gonna open the lid and get you out. But we need you to stay lying down, okay? Or else you'll blow us all up."
"Nick, please; nod if you understand what he's saying," Fleur pleaded; Nick's half-closed eyes opened wider and he gave her a desolate look as he nodded.
"Do you promise?"
When Nick didn't answer, Fleur spoke harshly, her tears flowing past her defences, "Nick; in order for this to work, we need your promise… I need your promise."
"Pancho, do you promise?" He repeated; this time he got a desperate nod and a shout,
"I promise. I promise, Gris…"
They heard Catherine shouting as she led the Back-hoe to them. "We're getting you out, Nicky; don't move," Grissom cautioned as he, Warrick, and Fleur worked together to pry the lid off.
"Three, two, one; heave," Warrick counted; with a unified grunt, the three lifted the top off and threw it aside.
Grissom had to grab Fleur's waist quickly as, sobbing, she and Nick's hands found each other and hung on desperately. "J'taime, Nikko. I love you, so much," firmly anchored by Grissom's hold on her, she leant over and lightly brushed a kiss to his blistered lips. "Just sit tight, Cowboy."
"Oh, God… I love you… I love you…" Nick sobbed, tightly gripping her hand as she pulled back a bit, leaning somewhat into Grissom; both were so focused on Nick, that they didn't notice Sara's displeased look at their position.
"We gotcha, Nicky; we gotcha," Warrick assured, rubbing his friend's leg soothingly. "It's gonna be okay, Buddy…"
"Alright, bring that over," Grissom called over his shoulder and the Hoe driver carefully drove it over.
To be continued in Part Two…
Authoresses' Notes: Part One of Two, uploaded. Hopefully, everyone likes it; I hope you at least Enjoyed Reading it. Please, if you did, or even if you didn't, we would appreciate you leaving a Review. We, at the very least, had fun writing it.
For those people who are following our other story "Unknown Relations" which is in the CSI: Miami section, but Nick and Greg make appearances in there, we're working on Revising it; as for the timeline, we figure that it takes place about three to four years after this story.
The duo of Sassy and Giggles accept the "Three C's": Comments, Compliments, and Constructive Criticism. Good, bad, or in-between, it doesn't matter to us. Thanks to those who R&R!
- Sassy and Giggles
