"What's happening?" Catherine cried out.
"I don't know," Warrick said as he kneeled down next to Nick, Brass doing the same to Greg. "Nicky, what's going on man? What's wrong?"
Nick was shaking so violently that he couldn't respond, and neither could Greg. Their eyes were shut tightly, and neither one of them could breathe. The paramedics quickly joined Warrick and Brass at Nick and Greg's sides, but they couldn't help much because they were shaking so badly. Everyone was talking at once, so no one was understandable. Everything had gone from calm to hectic, and was only getting worse. The men kneeling on the ground feared Nick and Greg were going to suffocate from the muscle contraction in their chests that weren't allowing them to breathe. Everyone began to yell at each other, making matters worse, when Grissom got their attention.
"Hey," he said, but not loud enough. "Hey!" he yelled, getting everyone to shut up and look at him. "Do you hear that?"
Everyone strained their ears, and uopn doing so, heard the soft buzzing noise that Grissom was talking about. "What the hell is that?" Brass asked.
Grissom didn't answer. "Drag them back," he said, bending over and firmly taking one of Nick's shaking ankles. "Drag them back towards the bunker."
Warrick took Nick's other ankle and the paramedics grabbed Greg's, then they carefully but quickly pulled the shaking men back in the direction they had come in. After being dragged roughly four feet, the seizures stopped. Nick and Greg laid flat on the dusty ground, breathing heavily to catch their breaths. Their eyes were still shut tightly, but with each breath their bodies began to relax more. No one said anything; they all just circled around them and watched as the two men slowly regained their composure.
"What the fuck just happened?" Nick asked breathlessly.
"Lanser has apparently installed a shock fence," Grissom replied. "If you and Greg go too far, it shocks you into seizures."
Both Nick and Greg had a paramedic checking them out with the few tools they had with them. "Like a dog fence?" Greg asked.
Grissom nodded. "Yes, just like that. He must have implanted something in you. He probably put it in your food."
"That bastard never fed us," Nick said, shaking his head. "He must have done it while we were sleeping. There's gotta be a way to shut the fence off though, right?"
Grissom already had his cell phone out, waiting as it rang. "Archie will be here soon to figure it out."
But Brass couldn't wait that long. While Grissom began explaining the situation over the phone to the A/V tech, the police captain stormed across the hot desert ground to the cruiser Lanser was being held in. Paying no attention to the objecting of the officer stationed at the car, Brass pushed past him and to the door that Lanser was on the other side of. He threw the door open, grabbed Lanser by the collar of his shirt, and yanked him out of the car. He slammed the door shut before forcefully throwing Lanser up against it and holding him there.
The scene that was unfolding was now being watched by everyone else, who were all luckily close enough to see what was happening, and far enough away to feel safe from the fury of James Brass.
"Time to stop fucking around," Brass said. "What did you do to them?"
Lanser smirked. "Your friend over there already figured it out," he said, motioning to Grissom with his head. "They can't go any farther than three feet from where they are right now."
"How did you know I figured it out?" Grissom asked as he joined Brass over at the police cruiser.
"I saw you get everyone's attention, and it was your idea to drag them back," Lanser answered. "It doesn't matter who figured it out. There's only one way around it."
"We have the best technician on his way over here, so save him the trouble and just tell us," Brass said.
Lanser nodded at Nick and Greg. "Bring me over to them. I want them to hear this."
"We can hear you from here jackass," Nick yelled over for emphasis.
"Bring me over there," Lanser said to Brass. When the captain didn't respond, he added, "I'm handcuffed. And there's so many more of you than me, I can't try anything. I'll explain this to you, then come back to my nice little car."
Brass looked at Grissom, and neither man saw a problem with this. Brass and the officer each took hold of one of Lanser's arms and lead him over to where Nick, Greg, Warrick and Catherine were sitting on the ground with the paramedics standing close by. They had patched up Nick's shoulder, but there wasn't much more they could do without the necessary tools in their ambulance and at the hospital, so that would have to wait.
Brass pulled Lanser to a stop a few steps away from Nick and Greg. "Okay," he said, "explain."
Lanser smirked down at the two men he had tortured for over a week. "One of of you is going to have to die for the other to get past that fence," he said. Nick and Greg exchanged annoyed glances while everyone else seemed shocked by the news.
"It's another one of his games," Greg said. "That's what he's been doing to us, putting us through these tests to see which one of us would kill the other to save ourselves. It hasn't worked yet."
"He's right," Lanser said. "That's exactly what this, although I had it planned differently. I wanted to have it as kind of a King of the Hill type deal, where you two would have to fight to keep the other out long enough for them to die."
"How would that help?" Nick asked.
"I put a sensor in both of you that is reacting to the change in conditions of the fence, and therefor causing the seizures," Lanser explained. "They're also hooked up to each other. Your previous seizure was so bad because both of you were past the fence at once. You see, my game was designed so that you would be shocked, but only just enough to hurt. You would still be able to try and get back across the fence, as the other one is trying to keep you out until you die."
"Again," Nick said, "how would that help?"
"The sensor is active because of your heart rate. When your heart rate stops, the sensor stops. When one sensor stops, the other one stops. So you see, as long as you're both alive, you're both stuck on that side of the fence."
Brass sighed. "Looks like we're going to have to wait for Archie to shut the fence down."
Lanser shook his head. "If the fence is tampered with, both sensors go off until they both die."
"How long will it take for one of us to die?" Nick asked, getting shocked looks from everyone but Lanser.
"About five minutes," Lanser said, "of pure pain. It wouldn't be as bad as that last one, but it'll still hurt. A lot. And it'll only get worse as your body gets weaker."
"But it won't matter," Greg said, but to Nick instead of Lanser. "Because that's not how we're getting around it. Archie or someone else will figure it out."
Nick made no reply. He looked down at the ground beneath his feet, thinking silently to himself what they were going to do. If Lanser was right, as he very well could be, Nick was getting his speech ready for why he should die instead of Greg. He knew that it would be in vain though, especially with the people around him. His boyfriend, best friend, and three of his other closest friends. Not to mention two paramedics who didn't seem ready to let anyone die.
Archie arrived twenty minutes later. After be briefed by Grissom and with some tools in hand, he set off to find the power source of the fence. He figured that if he just shut off the source, it would be okay. It only took him about five minutes to find it, in Lanser's makeshift apartment in the bunker, and when he did he called Grissom, who was with everyone else outside, save for the officer Brass had sent with the tech.
"I found it," Archie reported happily. "There's only one wire I can cut, so this must be it."
Grissom nodded. "Okay, so cut it."
Archie gently took the wire in his hands, and since he was below ground in the bunker, he couldn't see the immediate affect of it. Grissom thought that Archie had cut it because Nick and Greg both started shaking again, just as bad as last time. They fell onto their backs and started convulsing, despite everyone around them's best efforts to keep them steady.
"Stop Archie!" Grissom yelled into the phone.
Archie released the wire before he had done anything. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Nick and Greg had another seizure. What did you do?"
"I just touched the wire," Archie said, "nothing more."
"Damn it," Grissom cursed. "Lanser said any interference with the fence would shock both Nick and Greg. He said if it was tried to shut down, the sensors would shock them until they died. Do you think that's possible."
"Yes," Archie replied without having to think. "But that means there's no way around it. Why wouldn't he have just killed them if they were going to die anyway?"
"Because he wants one of them to try and kill the other," Grissom said, looking at the two men who were recovering from their seizure. "If one of them dies, the sensors shut down."
Archie was quiet for a minute before he said, "That's possible Grissom. He may be telling the truth."
Grissom sighed heavily. "That's what I was afraid of."
