Chapter 3

NEW CSI IN TEN HOURS! I wonder why Morgan is crying! Who do you think might've gotten killed/hurt? OMG I cannot wait!

"Oh god." What the hell was Nigel doing in there? He didn't want to think about it and he shut his eyes in hopes to block out Greg's tortured screams, but it didn't work. He wondered if Catherine and the rest of the guys could hear it, though it was doubtful. As much as he hated to admit it, Nigel was smart; the rooms were probably made to block out sound. And when he heard Greg cry, it made his breath catch in his throat and cause tears to start trickling down his face. Greg was getting tortured and he couldn't do a damn thing.

~+CSI+~

Catherine massaged her temples and closed her eyes. Both Nick and Greg were gone and they had no idea where Nigel could've taken them. This year had been the worse; Warrick getting murdered, Greg getting beaten nearly to death, Nick getting buried alive, and now their best CSI's were kidnapped by a jail escapee. Fucking Nigel Crane! She slammed her fists on the table before burying her face in her hands.

"Hey Cath?" A voice said. Sara…and she still didn't know.

She lifted her head and looked at the younger woman sadly. "Yeah?"

"Have you seen, Nick? I need to have him talk about the case on Nigel Crane to bring Ray up to speed."

Catherine sighed and ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nick is…Nick was kidnapped, too."

~+CSI+~

Nick's body shook with dry sobs as he was forced to listen to Greg's tortured cries and pleas.

"Please stop, please stop, please stop," Nick repeated quietly. 'Stop hurting him you son of a bitch.'

With whatever time that passed, the sounds began to fade…and he didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. And then all the noises just stopped. Nick's heart pounded painfully against his chest as he waited for something to happen. The secret door suddenly swung open and he saw Nigel's back, bent over and dragging Greg by the arms. A silent and unmoving Greg. Nigel then carelessly dropped Greg to the ground and chained an unnaturally bent looking wrist to the wall, similar to Nick's. Nigel stood up and stretched before facing Nick with a grin on his face.

"That was fun."

Nick glared at his stalker angrily, clenching his fists tightly, wanting to beat the shit out of this guy.

"Say…where's Mr. 1970's?"

Now Nick was confused. "What?"

"The black guy, afro dude, kinda tall with an arrogant attitude; I didn't see him earlier; is he dead or something?"

Nick went silent, staring daggers at the man. He knew he was talking about Warrick and right now he didn't want to think about Warrick. He wanted to get out of here and save Greg, who looked like he might not even live.

"Oh, so he is dead. Shame; now you have this poor pathetic excuse for his replacement, huh? That must suck; I'd kill myself if I had to be friends with him."

"Shut up."

"Why are you defending him? I thought you hated him?"

"Why would you think that? The only person I hate most in this room is you."

"Ow, I'm hurt. But really, when he was begging for me to stop, he cried out your name. I told him over and over again how much you hated him- even gave him some examples. Took a while, but he finally realizes how much he doesn't mean to you. We're friends, Nicky, we're brothers. Not him. He's just a wannabe CSI, remember? Remember you called him that?"

Nick sat in shock at what he just heard. Greg was going to be scarred mentally after this and he was pretty damn sure that it would take time and a lot of convincing to get Greg to know that he meant a lot to the Texan. He loved the kid like a little brother and he was gonna tell him that.

"Nothing else to say? Well, then I'll just leave the two of you alone." With that, the lights shut off, there was the creaking of the trap door and the lights flickered back on. Immediately, Nick's attention moved to Greg. What he saw was not pleasant.

"Oh god. Greg?"

Nothing but silence and the sound of Greg's raspy breathing were heard. Well at least he was breathing…but for how long? He was gonna rip Nigel's lungs out; he had done a number on the kid and frankly it made him want to puke. This was worse than when he saw Greg in the hospital after the beating. Bruises were already starting to form on his entire face, his wrist looked broken and no doubt he had other broken bones. Blood caked his blonde hair, though it no longer looked that color, and there were open wounds on every area of exposed skin. And that wasn't even the severest of it. Under Greg's ripped clothes, he could see bright red skin in the shape of a circle. Nigel had fucking burned him! Tears rolled down his face as he could visibly see Greg's chest rise and fall erratically with every strained breath. Nick knew that if the young CSI didn't get help soon, he was going to die; there was no denying that.

"Greggo please, just hang on buddy. I'll get us out of here, I promise. Just please hang on."

~+CSI+~

"Archie, please tell me you got something on either of the boys' phone," Catherine said eagerly. They just told Ray everything that happened since Nigel Crane came into their lives and never seemed to leave. And now the entire nightshift was focusing on one thing: finding Greg and Nick.

"Well, Greg's last known location, according to his GPS, was the house you guys were in-which is no surprise there and Nick's….Nick's phone was also there."

"Great," Catherine said as she began to leave.

"Wait! It's showing a specific location for Nick's cell."

Catherine ran back into the room, hoping to catch a break in this case. "Well?"

"Nick's last GPS location was at the house, but in the basement."

Catherine smiled and patted Archie on the back before dialing Brass' number and running out of the room. Their luck just might've changed.

In a matter of twenty minutes, the team was back at the house and headed towards the cellar door and, hopefully, to Nick and Greg.

~+CSI+~

Nick gasped when the light unexpectedly shut off again and hasty footsteps hit the cement. When the lights turned back on he found that Nigel had an arm around Greg's neck tightly while a gun was pressed firmly to his head.

"You say anything, I'll blow his brains out."

"What are-"

"Learn your manners, Nicky and do what I so politely asked you to do. It seems your team found out the basement part, but I'm pretty sure they won't find this place."

"I did, so what makes you think they won't?" Nick snarled.

"If I wanted them to find it, I would've of made it so. I made it so you would, Nicky 'cause I wanted you to find it. I can hide this place very well, so well that your team will have thought to have made a mistake and leave us alone once again. Isn't that great? You and me alone…except we have him," Nigel said jolting Greg violently. "But not for long."

Nick swallowed as he forced himself to keep his mouth shut.

"Nick! Nick can you hear me?" Catherine. God, he wanted so badly to shout out, but Greg's life was on the line and he wasn't going to risk anything.

"Nick!" Grissom.

"Stokes! Stokes, are you down here?" Brass.

The three waited in silence as the team called Nick's name numerous times, walked around the basement for a while, before figuring Nick wasn't here and left.

"That was close, wasn't it Nick? I thought for sure they would take me away from you. But they don't understand. No one will except for you; we are blood brothers and no one can separate us."

Nick had enough. "Nigel, I don't know what's going on in your sick mind, but it needs to stop. You need to let us go, or at least Greg. He has nothing to do with this. He doesn't-"

"You're wrong!" Nigel exploded, dropping Greg onto the ground. "We're friends remember? Why can't you see that?" He moved over to the Texan and began kicking him in the stomach and punching him in the face. "Why *punch* can't *kick* you *kick* see *punch* that we *punch* were meant to *kick* be together?! Greg does have to be here, you know why? Because I need to show you what idiotic *kick* piece *punch* of shit he is."

When Nigel stopped, Nick was curled in on himself, groaning in pain. That was gonna leave a mark. Nigel inhaled sharply and realized what he had just done.

"I'm sorry, Nicky. I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me." And when he moved in to hug the Texan, Nick growled and moved back.

"Get the hell away from me."

"But Nick-"

"Go!"

Nigel nodded and the lights turned off. Just when he thought the man was gone, he heard him whisper in his ear, causing him to shudder in disgust.

"I'm sincerely sorry; I'll be back later, Nick…and soon we'll be alone for good."

The lights turned back on and Nigel was gone. Nick took a deep breath before tears started flowing out onto his cheeks. From pain, from fear, and from wondering if Greg was going to live through this. With one last look to his unmoving friend, the pain became overwhelming and it took Nick into unconsciousness.

~+CSI+~

The first thing he felt was pain…almost white hot. But then he remembered: he did get burned. Branded like a friggin cow. And it wasn't just that. It was extremely hard to move his body, because every time he did, pain would shoot up into his body. He was surprised he wasn't dead yet. He forced his eyes open, only to find out his left one was partially swollen and he could only see through a slit. Groaning, he tried rolling onto his side, but the pain was too much…and his arm was now chained to the wall. He whimpered, but then stopped. He didn't want Nick to think he was weak and pathetic…even though he obviously was. Speaking of the man, where was he? Scanning the room, he gasped when he saw Nick in a fetal position, his eyes closed and his face pained.

"N-Nick? Nick, are you okay?" When he received no response, he figured he was unconscious. What the hell did Nigel do to him? Nick didn't deserve to be beaten. He would take all the hits if it meant Nick being safe. Now that he thought about it, he realized this situation could've been prevented; if he hadn't wandered off then maybe they'd be back at the lab, safe and sound. Why was he such a screw-up? He was not cut out to be a CSI anymore and if they ever got out of this, he would either resign or go back to being a geeky lab tech. He was sure Nick would be happy about that since the Texan hated his guts. He didn't blame him either, he was a wannabe, a loser, he couldn't do anything right, and he always messed things up. He was a freak, spineless and a baby. He didn't deserve Nick as a friend or as a brother. He couldn't replace Warrick so why bother try and be friends with the Texan? So, he just hoped when they got out of here- if they got out of here- that he could leave and never come back. Nick would be rid of him forever. Tears made their way out onto his face as the pain- mental and physical- took him back to darkness…where it was safe.

TBC

Not a very good ending for a chapter, but I hope you liked the rest of it :) Poor Greggo though :( Mistakes R Mine