The Now

Nick gasped and bolted upright on the bed. Immediately he felt his chest protesting, but he tried to ignore it as he got his bearings.

He'd fallen asleep, and judging by the darkness, it was well into the deepest part of night. Images flashed through his mind, the gun fire and noise and danger he'd seen. He replayed what he saw of the hitmen. Even as he thought about it now, Nick's heart beat quickly, especially as he remembered Paige.

She just took action. She didn't stop a second to be surprised, to be afraid. She had just fired back.

Nick's eyes adjusted to the darkness, enough to see the still form next to him. Paige seemed . . . content. Her eyes were closed gently, not clenched by nightmares as he expected. One hand was beneath her head, comfortably supporting it as a small smile graced her lips.

And that made Nick smile.

She had to be tired. As Nick thought about it, she had been protecting him for the last little while, watching out for him and making sure he was okay.

Granted, he didn't feel totally okay, but he'd get better. He braced a hand against his chest and got to his feet.

Paige had been watching the outside before, with her gun in hand. Nick found the gun now on the floor, no doubt forgotten as they kissed earlier. Part of him wanted to take it, for the security it provided. But as his eyes flickered to Paige, he didn't see the need.

He went to the window and stared out into the night. He saw tiny flashes of light, from small bugs and also the stars. Nick could hear the bugs too, and just the evening wind moving the trees.

It was peaceful, even though the dark made Nick a bit nervous. He didn't like being blind to what may be watching.

He frowned as he stared ahead. He had to do something about this whole thing. Not just for him, either. He wanted to help Paige. She was as much in danger as he was. In his heart, he believed she deserved better. She needed to be out of this.

There was just the question of how.

How do you combat an enemy you can't see? For some reason, The Predator came to mind.

Be invisible yourself, Nick thought. Not just that. Set the trap.

It sounded simple, but he had no idea what he was really up against. The vagueness of the whole situation, especially Paige's employers, made him nervous.

Paige stirred, rolling over on the bed. But she didn't wake, and Nick was glad.

He moved away from the window and to a coffee table. A pad of paper lay there, and Nick quickly wrote a note on it to the CSIs. He knew calling was out now, but he had to get word to them. He didn't want them to worry, or get involved. He didn't want them put in danger.

They deserved better than that.

Greg was quiet as the others talked about the crime scene. Sara kept trying to find some good in it, some hope, but the rest of them were pretty dismal.

"We didn't find any blood from Nick," Sara said. Catherine shot her a look that made Sara defend her stupid comment. "Well, that's a good sign. He's not any more hurt than before."

"Sara," Warrick said, "Nick's still out there with Paige and almost getting killed."

Grissom cleared his throat. "Based on the scene, it looks like Nick was attacked. Maybe Paige too. Somehow, they survived."

"And maybe fought back," Warrick added. "We found several rounds from machine guns, and 14 from a 9mm. The guns by the two DBs match the majority of the rounds."

"Which means the 9mm rounds most likely came from Paige," Catherine said. Warrick nodded. "So what was Nick doing during all this?"

The CSIs stopped talking as they chewed on that question.

"He's still recovering," Grissom said, wagging a finger in the air. "And Paige took him straight from the hospital. He didn't have a gun, and so probably took cover."

Suddenly their little conference was interrupted, as the receptionist came in with a FedEx package.

"It's for Greg," she said, handing it to the lab tech. Greg blinked, a bit surprised. The label said it was from Landon Biotech.

"Huh," Greg said with a shrug. He quickly opened the package, even though the CSIs were ready to move on. All that was inside was a sheet of paper.

Greg's eyes scanned over it. Then he read it, word for word, before interrupting the conference and putting the letter on the table.

He didn't say a word, but soon each of the team read over it.

Greg,

I thought sending this to you as a lab would get by anyone looking for me. Phones are out, especially after almost being killed.

I don't know what to do, other than stop this. Paige isn't what I thought she was. I have to help her, so we all can get past this.

I don't know how long it'll take, but please be careful. Don't get involved, and tell Grissom, Sara, Warrick, Catherine and Brass the same.

These people—whoever is after us—we can't underestimate them anymore.

Be careful.

Nick

There was silence as the message sunk in. Greg couldn't help but feel dejected, maybe even rejected. Nick was all right, it seemed, but he didn't want their help. Nick even acknowledged how much danger he faced, but still. . . .

"Damn," Grissom swore. It drew a look from them all, not because of the irregularity of Grissom to express anything, but because something in his tone told them more.

"What?" Catherine dared to ask.

He shook his head.

"Officially, this ends our investigation," Gil said. Immediately the others started to object, but Gil just spoke over them. "He's no longer a kidnap victim. He's gone now by his own will."

"I'm not just going to let him be out there on his own, with no help from us," Sara said, her voice daring Grissom to say otherwise.

"I'm not saying that," Grissom said. "I plan to help him however I can too, even though it's apparent he doesn't want us in danger. I'm just saying that this is no longer an official case."

"Meaning, we help on our own time," Warrick filled in. Gil nodded, and reached for a stack of files.

"We still have work to do."

"How are you?" Nick asked her. Paige glanced away from the dirt road that led away from the cabin.

"Fine, thanks," she said. Nick sighed and stared ahead at the road.

"So what's next?" he asked. "I mean, we can't hide forever."

Paige sighed this time. "No, we can't," she said. "But you can stay low until I fix this."

"Gee," Nick started, "it's nice to be included." He hated how things were going already, and so early in the morning. Why did Paige have to be so difficult? She was acting like the heroic but stubborn martyr, and he didn't care for it.

"You're still hurt, and you'll just be a target," she said, her hands gripping the steering wheel tighter.

Nick rolled his eyes and ran a hand over his smooth dark hair. "Uh, I was a police officer for a few years. It's not like I've never fired a gun."

"At a live person?" she challenged. Nick didn't answer. "This isn't what you think it is. It's not so simple, and it's not easy to kill someone, even if they're after you."

She's protecting me, even from the dirty work. He wasn't keen about the idea of dirty work, whether he did it or she did, but he definitely didn't like being coddled.

"Just let me do my part, okay?" he said. Nick sighed out in frustration and crossed his arms.

"Fine." Paige took a deep breath. "Then we're going to the top."

a/n: Sorry about the delay. I've been . . . well, excuses don't matter. I'll keep writing as I have time. I aim to finish the story relatively soon, so prepare for the end.