FF_2/2/2009

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.

A/N: The end of the building collapse, but more surprises to come.

Remember My Name

"At least I thought they were done. And then I felt… I felt my hand twitch. Whatever they'd given me was wearin' off. I didn't think they noticed, but it didn't matter." He paused again.

What do you mean, Nick? Why didn't it matter?" It was Grissom who asked the first question.

"They were watchin' the time. The leader just said it was time for another dose and one of the others handed him another syringe. He injected me again and that was that." Nick held back the tears. He was struggling to fight back the feelings of helplessness he'd felt.

"He hit me a few times, cut me some more. I… I was tryin' to… to keep my mind off the pain. I could hear the others talkin' in the background. They were arguin' about an e-mail. One of 'em said the guy sendin' it had proved himself with the text message. The guy he was arguin' with said that the file was the most important thing. The whole plan would fail if the file didn't work." Nick looked up. He could tell what he'd said made more sense to the others than to him right now.

"Nick, do you know what the program was for?" Again it was Grissom who asked.

"Yean," Nick paused for a long moment, his eyes closed.

"Nick?" Billy asked gently.

Nick opened his eyes. He looked straight at Billy when he said, "The program was to simultaneously set off all twelve detonators."

"Are you sure there were twelve? We only found remnants of eight." Ecklie asked anxiously.

"Yeah," Nick said, "I'm sure there were twelve."

"How can you be sure?" Ecklie argued. "If they just told you…"

"Shut up," Nick exploded. "I know there were twelve because they made sure I saw each and every one of them, ok? They wanted me to know I had no hope. So they made sure I saw them all includin' the one right above me with the countdown on it." There was silence in the room while Nick pulled his hand free from Billy and moved it over his eyes. He was shaking and trying hard not to completely lose it.

Megan let the silence settle for a few minutes. Then she moved up next to Nick. When Billy started to get up so she could have his seat, Megan put her hand on his shoulder, holding him in place. She put her other hand on Nick's arm gently.

"Nick?" she questioned quietly.

Nick just shook his head without speaking. He was still trying to fight back the pain and terror. Nick struggled to think past it. He slowly moved his arm from his face. He made no effort to wipe the traces of tears from his cheeks.

"Does anyone have a pad I can borrow?" he asked hoarsely.

Vartann silently handed Nick his pad and pen. Nick quickly sketched on the pad. When he was done, he turned it around. It was a sketch of the crime scene. He spoke quickly and unemotionally. "This is where the body was." He pointed to another symbol. "This is where they shot Tuck." His hand shook a little when he pointed to the next symbol, but Nick ignored it. "Here's where I was." He finally pointed to a symbol that was repeated a dozen times. "These indicate where the detonators were located."

The others stared at the diagram. "Damn, man!" Vartann exclaimed. "How the hell did you survive?"

"Was Archie able to trace the text message?" Nick ignored Vartann's question for the moment.

"Yes," Grissom replied. Ecklie shot him a look, but Grissom ignored it. "He traced it to the new North LV Correctional Facility, cell block fifty-two."

Nick stared at him. What he said next shocked most everyone in the room. "So Nigel Crane altered the text message and sent them the file for the detonators." Nick sighed and looked at Vartann. "I guess that answers your question."

"How?" Vartann spoke before anyone else. Grissom closed his mouth to listen to Nick's answer.

"The only way I'm alive is because the program didn't work the way they wanted. The outside detonators had to go off first. But, since they were monitorin' what happened, the timin' had to be split-second." Nick flinched at the questions shot his way.

"They were monitoring what happened? How?" Brass demanded.

"How do you know what cell block Nigel Crane is in?" Grissom was angry. He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

Nick figured it would be easier to answer Brass first. "They had some kind of recorder there. They never told me where it was, just that it was there. Apparently my so-called old friends wanted to see me die. They didn't want just a play-by-play. It must not have been destroyed in the collapse, though."

"How do you know that?" Ecklie asked.

"Because how else would the impostor know it was safe to show up?" Nick said.

The group thought about that for a few minutes. Then Ecklie muttered, "I'll tell my CSIs to look for it in the building."

"Nick," Nick met Grissom's intense gaze. "I'm still waiting for an answer."

A/N: Hm. How does Nick know what cell block Nigel Crane is in? :) Guess you'll have to wait and see.