Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI. This story is purely for entertainment. This story is centered around the episode Grave Danger the quotes I use may not match the episode itself.
Forever
Jackie Stokes was awoken suddenly in the middle of the night. Her cell phone was ringing. A pit formed in Jackie's stomach as she looked at the caller ID, it said, Catherine Willows. She knew at this hour it would not be a social call.
"Hello" she said tentatively.
"Jackie this is Catherine, I am very sorry to have to tell you this but Nick has been kidnapped" Jackie went almost numb and did not say anything in return.
"Jackie, you ok?" Catherine asked.
"Yeah, I'm ok" She answered barely able to speak. Then she added "I will be there as soon as I can" and then she hung up the phone.
When she got out of bed she felt as if she was going to throw up. She also felt dizzy, her head was spinning. She grabbed her nightstand to steady herself, which was a mistake, because it caused her to come face to face with her and Nick's wedding picture. She stumbled backwards causing her to sit back down on the bed. She loved that picture, at night when Nick was at work she would often catch herself staring at it, now though it provided more hurt then comfort. She rubbed her eyes, "pull yourself together" she scolded herself. She managed to find a pair of jeans in the closet, and grabbed the first t-shirt she could find. She didn't realize it was Nick's until she had pulled it off the hangar. It smelled like Nick's cologne, the kind she loved, he didn't even really like it, but wore it because she liked it so much. She contemplated hanging it back up and grabbing her own shirt but decided against it, she was in too big a hurry. She put on her shoes, grabbed her purse and her car keys and was out the door. Usually the drive to the lab took around 20 minutes but she made it in 7. She raced through the door and saw Catherine.
"Cath, did you find him, what's going on?" she asked.
"Jackie, hi, no we haven't found him, but we will, it is going to be ok." She assured her. She grabbed Jackie around the shoulders, and said "follow me" She led Jackie into a room, Grissom was waiting for them. Grissom stood as Nick's panicked wife entered.
"Jackie, we are going to do everything we can to bring Nick home safely" He promised her.
"I know you will, I completely trust you" she said, and she meant every word. She knew if there was one group of people that would be able to find Nick, it would be Nick's crew, Nick's family.
Grissom continued "Jackie, we are going to need your help"
"Anything, I will do anything, what do you need?" Jackie asked, eager to help anyway that she could.
"Is there anyone you can think of that would want to hurt Nick, did he tell you about anyone that had threatened him, a suspect, anyone at all?" Grissom asked.
Jackie racked her brain but could only think of one. "There was this one guy Nick told me about, that stocked him, it was years ago, long before I even met Nick, but I can't recall his name."
"Nigel Crane" Grissom said.
"I'm sorry?" Jackie said, not understanding.
"Nick's stocker was Nigel Crane, we looked into him but he is still in prison." Grissom said.
"Oh" Jackie said dejectedly. "That is all I can think of, Nick doesn't like to tell me too much about the cases he works, or the suspects involved, he knows I worry about him a lot. I am sorry you guys, I wish I could be of more help" Her eyes were starting to glass over with tears.
Grissom saw this and lightly grabbed her hand, "its ok, you did great" he told her.
She managed a small smile "thanks Grissom" she said.
After that Grissom let go of her hand and stood up. "I am going to go see what the best course of action is, I will let you both know if I find anything useful" He turned to Jackie and said "Jackie, if you need anything you let one of us know"
"Thanks, I will" she said forcing a smile on her face to show her gratitude. After that he left the room.
Catherine took a deep breath before she said "Jackie, there is one more thing I have to ask you"
"What's that Catherine?" Jackie asked.
"Do you want me to call Nick's parents, or do you want to?" Cath asked.
"Oh God, my mother in law is going to freak" she said.
Cath gave her a sympathetic smile and said "I can call them, you don't have to"
"Thank you Catherine, but I'll do it" She said.
Catherine laid a hand on Jackie's shoulder and said "alright then, I am going to go help Grissom, but if you need anything, you know my cell phone number."
"Thank you" Jackie said.
With that Catherine walked out of the room. Jackie picked up her cell phone, and dialed her mother in law. She realized this was going to be the hardest phone call she had ever had to make. Her and her in-laws got along wonderfully, it was the kind of relationship daughter in laws dreamed of, the only bad part about the entire thing was that they lived so far away, which Jackie knew was hard on all of them, especially Nick.
"Hello" Jill (her mother in law) said sleepily on the third ring.
Jackie tried to keep from breaking down. "Jill, hi, its Jackie, listen, I have some bad news, Nick has been kidnapped."
She heard her mother in law gasp and say "oh my god" Then she heard her say "Roger, wake up, now, Nick's missing, he has been kidnapped."
"Jill listen to me ok, they are doing everything they can to find him, but it would really help me if you guys came down here, would you do that, please?"
"We will be there as soon as humanly possible sweetie, just hang on" Jill said.
"Ok great, thank you" Jackie said, realizing that her voice was starting to break up. She wanted to end the conversation quickly, she knew that if she lost it now it would only provide more stress to her already frantic mother in law. "I will see you guys when you get here, think positive thoughts, please, just keep thinking positively."
"We will, see you soon" her mother in law said, and with that the call ended.
Jackie got up and wondered into the hallway, it was buzzing with activity, once in a while she heard her husbands' name but her head was spinning to bad to listen to all the different conversations.
She sat there for a few hours before Catherine came over to her, she sat down next to her and said "we have some news, a ransom has been offered, and there is a video that shows Nick is alive"
"Oh thank God" Jackie said very relieved. Then she looked at Catherine and said "tell the kidnapper we will give him anything he wants, anything" Then she added "I would like to see the video, may I?"
Catherine grabbed her hand and said "Well we don't think paying the ransom is going to help, we believe this is all about control, not the ransom money, and about the video I'm not sure that is such a good idea dear."
"Why, what does the video show?" Jackie asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"Well, Nick is….he is….struggling" Cath managed. Tears started to form in Catherine's eyes, and Jackie could tell by the look on her face that it wasn't good.
Jackie took a deep breath "I still want to see it, please" She asked.
"Alright, come with me, I'll come with you" Catherine said. Catherine wrapped her arm around her shoulder and led her into another room, again Grissom was there.
"Gil, she wants to see the video" Catherine said.
Grissom looked at her and said "are you sure that's a g"
Catherine cut him off "just show her" she said.
"Alright" Grissom said.
He moved out of the way of the screen so Jackie could see. Jackie felt Cath's grip tighten on her shoulder, and she felt Grissom grab her hand gently. What Jackie saw was worse then she ever could have imagined. Her husband was alive but her looked panicked, horrified, and he was screaming.
Jackie took a wobbly step towards the screen and she whispered "oh Nicky, I am so sorry, so truly sorry, I would trade places with you in a heart beat, you have to hang in there, Gris and the team will find you, all you have to do is hold on, please, just do whatever you can to hold on, I love you more than you could ever know, stay strong."
Tears were now tumbling down both sides of Jackie's cheeks as she turned her attention away from the screen, she could no longer stand to look at it. She noticed Catherine also had tears running down her cheeks, and Grissom's eyes were watery as well.
"Come on" Catherine said quietly, still with a tight grip on Jackie's shoulder. She led her out of the room and back to her chair in the hallway. She sat her down and left for just a couple minutes, she came back with a glass of water.
"Here" she said handing the glass to Jackie. Jackie took it with shaking hands, but she'd managed to compose herself again.
"Are you ok?" Cath asked.
"Yeah, I will be alright" She said.
"Ok, I have to go help Grissom, but if you want, I can send someone over here to sit with you until your in-laws get here." Cath offered.
"Thanks, but I am alright" Jackie said offering a slight smile in appreciation.
"Ok." Catherine said, she offered her a smile as she turned to go rejoin Grissom.
She heard Catherine's heels click on the floor as she walked away and Jackie wondered why she couldn't awake from this horrid nightmare, that had to be all this was, it could not possibly be real, this is the kind of thing you see in horror movies, not in real life. She sat there, staring at her wedding ring, and one word kept popping in her mind: forever, that is how long she and Nick were suppose to be together. Their wedding was only seven short months ago, that was the day Nick had slipped that ring on her finger promising her forever. She recalled the wedding vows that Nick personally wrote for her that day:
I will love you forever,
Whenever you need a shoulder to cry on, I will be there, forever,
Whenever you need someone to make you laugh, I will be there, forever,
You will be mine, and I yours, forever.
Their wedding was easily the happiest day of her life, and she was pretty sure Nick felt the same. Now though, with every passing hour it looked like their forever was going to be cut short, way too short. No, that couldn't happen. Nick was going to die when they were old, very old, when they had children and grandchildren running around. They had so much they still wanted to accomplish together, so much life left to live, he just couldn't die in some cold, coffin- like box, alone and frightened, it just could not happen.
"Jackie, Jackie" A scared sounding voice snapped Jackie out of her thoughts and she looked up to see her mother and father in law running towards her.
"I am so glad you guys are here" Jackie said, jumping out of the chair and running at them. They all embraced one another.
"Do they know who took Nick yet?" Roger asked.
Jackie didn't get an opportunity to respond because they heard a voice from behind them say "Judge. Stokes, Mrs. Stokes" they all turned around and Grissom was standing there. "Come with me" Grissom said, so all three of them followed Grissom into the same room that Jackie had met with Grissom and Catherine when she first got to the lab that night.
When the four of them walked into the room Catherine was waiting for them.
"Is there any news?" Roger said, all business.
"Mr. Stokes, there has been a ransom offered" Grissom said.
"Great, we can sell anything, the ranch, the cars anything, we have some of the money now, and we can get the rest later, be we are going to need at least one more day."
"Mr. Stokes, I don't think the money will help, you see we think this is all about control, not the money"
Jackie stole a glance at her mother in law, and she looked terrified upon hearing that last part of Grissom's comment.
"Do you know who this is animal is that took my son?" Roger demanded.
"No, not yet" Grissom admitted.
"Do you know where Nick is?" Roger asked.
"No" Grissom said again.
"Well then what the hell do you know?" Roger said, growing frustrated and angry.
"At this point, not much" Grissom admitted.
"Let's just cut to the jest what evidence do you have that my boy is still alive?" Roger asked.
Grissom stole a glance at Catherine, "there is a video" Grissom said.
"Let us see it" Jill said immediately.
"Jill, listen, you do not want to see that video, trust me, you don't." Jackie said immediately.
Jill could tell by the look on her daughter in law's face that she meant what she said. "I have to Jackie, he is my son" Jill said quietly, tears starting to well in her eyes.
Jackie gave her mother in law a sad smile, as Catherine said "alright, then follow Mr. Grissom and I"
Jill looked back at Jackie and asked "Are you coming?"
Jackie shook her head no and said "I'm sorry, but I can not see that again, I just can't"
"alright, that's fine" Jill said as she got up and went with her husband, Grissom, and Catherine.
Jackie did however follow them into the hallway, and just as Jackie had thought, her mother in law couldn't take what she saw, she was in the viewing room about 2 minutes before she came running out sobbing. Her father in law continued to watch the video for just a minute longer, Jackie heard him say something but she couldn't make out what, he then came out and joined his wife, trying to comfort her anyway possible but it didn't look like it was doing any good at all. Jackie looked over at her in laws, her mother in law was sobbing so hard she was trembling, her father in law was trying to be strong for his wife but he was barely succeeding. Jackie realized that as hard as it was for her that her husband was missing, it had to be ten times worse for her in laws; after all, Nick was their son, their heart, their life. She wanted to comfort them; she at least had to try. She took a deep breath and walked over to them.
She wrapped her arms around both of them and said "listen, I know this is unbearable, but believe me there is no one else I would rather have looking for Nick right now, no one. The people in this lab, they love Nick, they consider Nick family, and they want Nick home safely just as much as we do. I trust them with Nick's life, I would trust them with my own life, and what is even more important is that Nick trusts them, he is going to do everything he can to hold on because he knows that his team will stop at nothing to find him."
With tears streaming down her face Jill looked Jackie in the eye and said "Do you really, truly mean that?"
"From the bottom of my heart." Jackie said.
After that they embraced for a long time.
With her arms still around her mother in law Jackie whispered "it's going to be alright."
After a few minutes Jill managed to pull herself together. She looked at her husband and said "Honey, can we go outside for a few minutes, I could use some fresh air."
Her husband smiled, grabbed her arm, and said "alright, lets go"
Jill turned to Jackie and said "would you stay here, in case there is any news?"
"Sure" Jackie said with a smile.
Her in-laws went outside and Jackie returned to her seat in the hallway. After about a half hour her in-laws came back.
"Anything?" Roger asked his voice hopeful.
Jackie shook her head and said "no."
"This is ridiculous, why don't they at least try to offer the ransom, or do something else, anything else, they are not doing anything?" Jill said, frustration apparent in her voice.
"They are doing the very best they can Jill" Jackie said.
Jill then got angry, she shot her daughter in law a dirty look "who's side are you on, ours, or there's?" she snapped.
"I'm on Nick's side" Jackie said quietly.
"Yeah well it sure doesn't seem like it" her mother in law snarled angrily before she stormed down the hallway and out of sight.
That was it, Jackie lost it, every once of strength she had was gone, she buried her face in her hands and started sobbing. She received comfort from someone unexpected.
"Jackie shhhh, shhhh, come on now, don't cry, she didn't mean that, she is just scared, upset, frustrated, every bad emotion you can think of." Her father in law said with his arms around her.
"I know, I understand that" Jackie managed to say between sobs.
After a couple minutes Jackie managed to regain her composure, and she stopped crying.
"You alright now?" her father in law asked.
"Yeah I'm alright" she said.
Her father in law smiled and said "good" then he added "Alright then I better go find her"
With that he let go of her, and disappeared down the hallway in search of his devastated wife.
Jackie sat there alone, lost in her own thoughts until a hand on her shoulder startled her, causing her to flinch. She looked up to see her husband's best friend and colleague Warrick Brown sitting next to her.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you." He said. She offered him a sweet smile.
"How are you doing?" he asked her.
"I'm hanging in there" she said. She noticed Warrick looked like she felt: tired, sad, almost sick. "How are you doing?" she asked him.
"Not very good" he admitted. He sighed and said "Jackie, I have a confession to make."
She looked at him and asked "what is it Warrick?"
He said "Nick's kidnapping, it's all my fault."
Jackie was shocked "Warrick come on, that's crazy, you had nothing to do with it, it was just bad luck." She said.
"No, you don't understand, we had two assignments tonight, one was at a strip club the other at a trash run, we flipped a coin, I got the strip club, Nick got hell, literally."
He then stood up, he looked angry and for a second Jackie thought he was going to punch the wall, but he controlled himself and sat back down.
"Warrick, listen to me, this is not your fault, nobody thinks this is your fault, not me, not Nick's parents, not the team, no one" She said.
Warrick still looked unconvinced so she tried another tactic. "Warrick, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, anything" he said.
"Do you think Nick blames you for any of this?" she asked.
"What?" Warrick asked surprised. She repeated the question and he was silent for a second before he said "Nicky, nah, Nick is to good a person to do that."
She smiled at him and said "well, if Nick doesn't blame you, don't you think it is a little silly to be blaming yourself?" He didn't say anything but he stood up so Jackie did the same.
"Thank you" he said, so quietly it was almost a whisper. They embraced and Jackie started to cry softly, she looked at Warrick and noticed there were tears in his eyes as well.
"I promise you, I will not sleep, eat, or do anything else until we bring Nick home" Warrick said.
"I know" she said.
With one last squeeze to her hand Warrick walked off down the hall. Jackie again sat down alone. She sat there for hours with no news about her husband, and for the first time she started to think that maybe she would never see her husband alive again. She had no doubt that the team would find him but she begin to doubt that it would be in time, after all how long could someone stay in a box underground, eventually he would run out of oxygen. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse it did, much, much worse. Catherine came out to inform her that the weight of the box had buckled, causing the box to crack, allowing red ants to crawl inside the box and now the ants were literally eating Nick alive. Jackie completely lost it, she started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Oh my God Catherine, please you have to free him from this hell, he won't be able to take it much longer. He doesn't deserve this torture, he is the nicest, most caring person I know and I don't know what I will do without him, if he dies, just shoot me, seriously just shoot me, it will be easier to die then to have to live the rest of my life without him."
She was hysterical now and Cath knew she had to calm her down. "Jackie honey listen, don't say that, you are not going to have to live the rest of your life without Nick, we will find him, he just has to hang on, and you have to calm down, just keep the faith, ok."
Jackie took a couple of deep breaths, and that helped her to regain some of her composure.
"That's it, just relax" Cath said. I'm going to see how the investigation is going" Cath said as she got up. She gave Jackie's arm a squeeze before she left.
Jackie sat their wishing that she could trade places with her husband, wishing that she could do something, anything to help him. She knew that if it were her in that box Nick would be doing everything he possibly could to get her out of there, yet all she could do is sit there, waiting for good news. She felt helpless, she couldn't free her husband from this horrid nightmare.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, everyone came running out into the hallway,
Catherine grabbed Jackie's arm and said "we know his location, come on."
It was all a blur, everyone sprinting down the hall. Jackie tried to look for her in laws but she couldn't find them. Jackie thought that was probably good, just in case…in case they were too late. Jackie quickly pushed that horrible thought from her mind, Nick is going to be fine she told herself. The drive seemed endless, sitting in the SUV with Catherine, neither of the women spoke. Cath was too busy making sure she maintained control of the vehicle while going at a high rate of speed and Jackie was too busy saying silent prayers. It seemed like everyone on the entire police department were following them in different vehicles.
They finally reached the location, they ran through the nursery looking for Nick. Finally Catherine found the transmitter and they began to dig frantically. A cop whom Jackie had never met had a grip on her shoulders, partially to comfort her and partially to prevent her from getting in the way.
After what seemed like an eternity she heard Warrick say the words that she had prayed so hard for. "Hey man, put that down, put that down, we got you, we got you"
Jackie wept, but this time it was tears of joy streaking down her face. They killed the ants with a fire extinguisher and just when Jackie thought the nightmare had finally ended Catherine's cell phone rang.
She heard Catherine exclaim, "You've got to be kidding me." Catherine then yelled "Everyone out of the hole now, the box is ready to explode, get out of there now"
Everyone got out of the hole, everyone except Warrick. "I'm not leaving here without Nick" he said stubbornly.
"There are charges under the box" Cath said again.
"I'm not leaving here without him" Warrick said.
"Warrick, Catherine's right, get out of the hole now, I know what we are going to do, just trust me." Grissom said.
Warrick slowly got up and moved out of the hole.
Jackie was again sobbing, this time tears of anguish and sadness.
"It's all right, Gil knows what to do" the cop said.
Grissom got into the hole, he was trying to comfort Nick, and give him instructions at the same time but Nick was so scared all he would do was scream.
The next thing Jackie heard Grissom say shocked her "Poncho" he yelled.
Jackie wondered how in the world Grissom knew Nick's special nickname given to him by his father as a young child.
Upon hearing this Nick immediately calmed down, at least enough to listen to what Grissom was trying to tell him.
Dirt was used to equalize Nick's weight so the box would not explode when they lifted Nick out. The next thing Jackie saw was her husband flying through the air like he was shot out of a cannon.
There was a loud explosion and when the dust finally cleared Jackie saw her husband lying in the dirt. "Honey" she exclaimed. She fought against the cops grasp, she wanted to run to her husband and be by his side.
"Wait until the EMT'S get him on the stretcher and then you can go" the cop said.
The EMT'S worked quickly and soon they had Nick loaded on the stretcher. Jackie broke out of the cops' grasp and sprinted across the dirt toward her husband. Nick was loaded into the ambulance as Jackie tried to climb in after him.
"I'm sorry, but you can't come in here." One of the EMT's said.
"Watch me" Jackie said defiantly, as she climbed into the ambulance and took a seat next to her husband.
"Nicky, I'm here, I'm right here, I love you so much baby" she said to Nick.
She looked over to the door of the ambulance and saw Warrick and Catherine standing there. "Come in" Jackie said waving them in. The EMT looked like he was going to object but Catherine shot him a death glare and so he smartly thought better of it and kept his mouth shut. They climbed in and took a seat next to her.
Jackie turned her attention back to her husband. She wanted so badly to hold his hand or stroke is cheek but his body was so ravaged with ant bites that she was afraid to touch him for fear of causing him even more pain. She noticed that his index finger on his left hand did not appear to have any ant bites on it so she grabbed it and held on tight.
She said "Nick, everything is going to be ok, you are going to be fine, we are all here, me, Catherine, Warrick"
She stole a glance at Catherine and Warrick and they offered her slight smiles.
Nick didn't say anything back, which shook Jackie a bit. As the ambulance started to race towards the hospital, it's sirens blaring, tears started to well in Jackie's eyes, they were not happy tears, but not sad tears either, they were just the result of the incredibly long night that everyone had just had, the weight of the entire situation coming down on her.
Catherine noticed the tears in her eyes and she grabbed her hand and said "It's over Jackie, it is finally over"
Jackie let go of Nick's finger long enough to give Catherine a hug.
As she turned her attention back to her husband, she realized Catherine was right, it was over, and she had been given a second chance with her true love, her soul mate, and for that she would forever be grateful.