Sheesh. I'm sufering from a serious writer's block on this story. Still, I do hope you like it, reviews are especially now truly appreciated to keep me going and fighting and all.

I don't own nothing but Nicole. CSI Miami belongs to CBS, and Run this town (you know about the title) belongs to Jay Z.

10. I break the rules so I don't care

About six police cars were parking in front of the lab when Nicole and Ryan arrived. Frank Tripp was on his phone, calling for a SWAT team when he saw them two. He hung up and walked over to them. "Alarm was set off in DNA lab. We don't know anything yet, only that apparently there are some guys in there."

"In DNA lab?"

Tripp shook his head, "Not just there. Right after the alarm in DNA, Trace and Morgue set off alarms too…"

"Is the nightshift already in?" Nicole asked. Ryan knew why she asked. Valera.

"We don't know. We don't know a thing, to be honest. Not how many are in there, not why they are in there, nor how many and who of our people are in there. We basically have to wait for them to contact us…"

Ryan nodded, but Nicole shook her head, "I'm not gonna wait."

Frank looked at her, "Ferguson, I'm not in the mood to discuss with you now. You will stay here and not do anything that could endanger anybody's life. We don't know what those people want…" His cell phone rang again. He took the call and turned away.

Ryan sighed, "I don't know but I think I maybe know what those people want…." He turned around to get support from Nicole, but there was no Nicole. He could only see a red haired figure running around the corner to the back entry of the HQ. "Why? Why? Why? Why can't you just listen to Frank? Why can't you just be nice and sane and stop doing the exact opposite of what people want you to do? And now I have to run after you, just because… well just because I'm exactly the same as you are…" He checked on Frank, who was still on the phone, and then ran after Nicole. He caught her at the emergency exit. "You know this is against all rules?"

"Does this door open when you're on the wrong side of it?"

"I don't even wanna imagine what Stetler will do to us if he finds out…"

"I can't open the god damn door. Does it open anyways?"

"Nicole, are you listening?"

"No, I'm not. Is there any window I could climb through?"

"We could also just wait until they tell us what they want and let out guys negotiate with them!"

"Ryan, seriously, we all know what they want. They're here for the same reason they shot Travers, they want the piece of suit. And I'm not gonna give it to them."

"They prolly have it already and have left the lab…."

"Then why should we wait for them to contact us? Besides, if they were gone, our lab rats would have told us already. Believe me, they're in there, and I'll go in there too, and if the guys who shot at my man are in there this will end in a fucking bloodbath."

Ryan looked at her while she frantically tried to open the emergency door. "Have you finally left the world of the sane people now?"

"Now? Yes. Okay, this won't open. I need a window. Do we have a toilet on the bottom floor?"

"The men's bathroom, yes…."

Nicole nodded, "Good. Come on, give me a hand."

Ryan frowned, "You wanna climb through the window? No offense, Nicole, but the window is small, and you're not exactly an elf…"

She looked at him, "I know, but thanks for reminding me. Nevertheless, I'm a dancer, and I will get through this window. Whereas you… you won't."

Ryan chuckled, "I know I won't, but I tell you, you won't either. Wanna bet?"

Nicole grinned, "You? The world's worst gambler? You wanna bet with me?"

"If you win, I owe you a dance this weekend. If I win, you will stay here and let SWAT do this. Alright?"

Nicole frowned, but then smiled, "You better buy some new dance shoes…. So, where's the window?"

Ryan pointed at the window on the corner. It was small; a child could have gotten through it, a top model too. Valera, maybe. But Nicole? Okay, she wasn't fat or anything, but still, this window? "If you get stuck, don't scream. They might hear you."

"Aren't you the funniest kid on earth? Come on, give me a hand."

"I'd better give you some butter to put it on the window frame. Maybe that would help." He grinned, but nevertheless leaned against the wall and gave her a bunk-up. She stood on his shoulders. Ryan couldn't see what she was doing, but suddenly, she was gone. He turned around and just saw her feet disappearing.

Thirty seconds later, she was opening the emergency door, grinning, "Bei mir bist du schön… please let me explain…(1) You owe me a dance."

"How did you do that? I mean, you're like three times…"

"Fatter than the window? I love you too. Come on, let's go and save some lab rats asses."

"I didn't mean… Yeah okay, come on. Time to be the heroes for once."

"Great. Shall we split up?"

"No, no. Let's stick together. What did Frank say, the first alarm came from DNA?"

"Yap. And then Trace and the morgue. What do you think?"

Ryan frowned, "Well, if were a criminal, I'd lock them up in the morgue, set a guard there and have the rest linger around in Trace and look for the suit. If that's what they're after…"

"I mean, how many other possibilities are there? We're both sure this is our guys."

Ryan shrugged, "Yeah. But it could be any other madman from any other case…"

"Yeah, but it isn't."

"Okay. So, there are two possibilities. Trace and Gun lab."

"Gun lab?"

Ryan nodded gloomily, "Always think of how this started. Robbery into a gun shop."

"Yeah, but isn't the gun lab like… secured?"

"Of course, but you never know… So, where do we start?"

Nicole wiggled her nose. "I'd say we try and get into Trace lab. If we can't get the guys, we need at least to get the evidence…"

"Shouldn't we look for our people first? I mean, there are prolly cops somewhere in here, we could need help…"

"Good idea. So you go and look for our people, and I go to Trace lab."

"I thought we wouldn't split up?"

"No, you said we wouldn't split up. I never agreed." She grinned, "Give 'em hell when you meet 'em."

Ryan smiled back, "When we'll meet them. Let's stick together, Nicole. We have better chances to win if we meet them together. And you know I'm right…."

Nicole sighed, "Okay, okay. For once, we'll be together at the great showdown…"

Ryan grinned, "Yeah. We will. But before one of us dies, will you answer me a question?"

"Shoot."

"How did you get through the window? I mean, seriously, you are…"

"Fat?"

"Ehm... well not exactly fat…"

She laughed, "Oh, I'm so gonna miss you if you die in there. Listen, you know me and your uncle's window climbing girlfriend are close? Let's just say, she taught me some basic tricks to get through windows. Believe me, I could get you through that window…"

"I doubt it. But hey, I learned things from Ron; you learned things from Ann…"

"Yeah. We could be the 2010 Bonnie and Clyde if only we weren't fighting for the good side." She smiled, "And now, let's kick some serious ass…"

"Yeah, before we then get our own asses kicked because we're breaking the rules…"

---

Both made their way to Trace lab, and were greeted with the sight of three man rummaging through every drawer in the lab. They were talking French. Quickly they hid behind the translucent glass walls of the room and listened. Ryan watched Nicole. He knew she was fluent in French and tried to read from her face what the bad guys were talking about. After a few seconds she nodded and showed him four fingers. So there were four guys. Ryan guessed the forth was somewhere watching hostages. But he could wait. While Nicole continued listening, Ryan scanned the guys. They were carrying guns, but all of them were lying on the table where Travers normally did his work. So, if they were fast enough, they could get to them without them even having the time to grab their guns. He nudged Nicole and showed her what he meant. She nodded again and reached for her gun. Ryan held up three fingers and counted down.

At the count of three, Nicole got up, kicked the door open and screamed, "MIAMI DADE POLICE, put your hands in the air!!!!"

The three men turned around, two had their hands in the air, but the third one, a relatively small one, immediately dived for the table with the guns, and managed to grab one. But before he could point it at Nicole, Ryan already had pointed his gun at him, "I'd put that down if I were you… If you move as much as a finger, I'll shoot you. Now, put that gun down and go down on your knees…"

"Same goes for you, laddies! Down on your knees…" Nicole murmured.

Ryan let the guy out of his eyes only for a second, but that second was enough. The guy aimed at Nicole and shot. Ryan reacted out of instinct when he took a shot. The guy went down. Ryan immediately turned to the other two guys, who hadn't moved. Mainly because Nicole was still standing there, pointing her gun at them. "See, you better listen to the man, cause he's not kidding… Down on your knees!!!"

And finally, both men went down on their knees. A minute later, they were handcuffed and sitting on the floor. Ryan had searched them rapidly, but they hadn't found the piece of suit. "Is it anywhere on the tables?"

Nicole shook her head, "Can't find it…"

Ryan looked up, "You're alright, yeah? He didn't hit you?"

Nicole laughed, "We handcuff them, you frantically look for your evidence first and only then ask me if I'm not hit? Don't you think I would have died by now if he had hit me?" She pointed at the wall behind her, "There's your bullet. The guy was worse than Natalia; she at least does hit something after all…"

"Okay, good. Now, on to the next problem… Where is your partner??" Ryan addressed the two men.

"You 'ave just killed him…"

"I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about the fourth one…"

"Sere is no forth one…" the older man replied.

Nicole grinned, "Mon ami, je vous ai compris très bien, et je sais qu'il y en a un quatrième. Et je conseille chaudement de me dire où il se trouve parce que sinon, je vais vous casser la gueule. Avec plaisir... (2)

The man looked at her and said, "Il est à la morgue. Avec les otages." (3)

"Thank you very much." Nicole turned to Ryan. "Morgue. With the hostages. Do you have handcuffs on you?" Ryan shook his head. "Okay, wait a second." She rummaged through one of the drawers and brought out a pair of handcuffs. "Okay, there we go." They handcuffed the guys. "You stay tight, boys, we'll be right back with your little friend."

Ryan grinned, "And don't try anything stupid… We'll call some of our friends outside." He opened the door for Nicole and then became serious again. "Are you sure there's only one downstairs?"

"Yap. They definitely referred to only one more."

"Okay, good. And why exactly does Travers keeps handcuffs in his drawer?" He grinned when asking this question.

"To handcuff annoying CSIs to the doorknob when he doesn't want to be disturbed."

----

They silently made their way to the morgue and were greeted with the sight of an extremely tall and slim man. He carried a machine gun and was scanning the area. Ryan pulled Nicole further back so that they were out of earshot. "Okay. He's carrying a machine gun. Shouldn't we go out and call back up?"

"Yeah, probably… I think our guns might fail epically against him…" Nicole sighed, "But I don't want to call back up. I wanna nail him down and ask him who shot my man, and then go and trash the one that did."

Ryan shrugged, "It was probably him. Travers told me the guy who shot at him was left handed. And he carries his gun in his… where are you going?"

"Trash the guy!"

"No, no, wait!!!" He pulled her back. "You want an epic fail? He's got a machine gun!!"

"And I got fury! He shot my guy, I wanna shoot him!"

"He's gonna shoot you before you can even point the gun at him. Nic, listen, you don't do Travers a favour if you get shot. At least I hope so. Come on, let's get out, let's call some guys with bigger guns than ours, and once we get this guy, you can do whatever you want to him, I won't look. How does that sound?" Of course, he had no intention of letting her do what she wanted, but as long as she believed him and stopped acting like a nutcase, every lie was fine. "Come on, Nikky."

She looked at him, and then nodded, "But only if I really can get my hands on him."

"I'll even hand you some pliers…" He smiled a bit, and took her hand. "Just because I'm afraid you'll run away again like you did earlier."

"And here I thought you would try to make the best out of our romantic time together."

---

They had just made their way to the entrance hall when suddenly shots echoed.

---

Bei mir bist du schön – Andrew Sisters. Don't own.

French: "My friend, I have understood you, and I know there is a fourth one. And I recommend you to tell me where he is, because if not, I'm going to trash you. With pleasure."

"He's at the morgue. With the hostages."

EVIL cliffhanger. I hope you somehow did like this chapter. As I said, one hell of a writer's block. Please do review. I normally don't beg, but... Well, today I do.