Chapter 2: Unwanted House Guests

Shift was coming to an end, and with the exception of the nightshift, everyone else had left. There was an eerie silence through the building. Even Greg's music could not be heard. It wasn't an awkward moment, though, as it happened often.

Suddenly two men came busting through the doors, guns in hand. One man locked the door and chained it shut. The other went looking for hostages.

Sara heard the commotion and looked down the hallway. She saw a tall man walking down towards her, looking her in the eyes. She backed away from the door, hoping that he would not find her. She stood by the filing cabinets and watched as the man entered the room. At first he did not see her and continued to look around the lab. But he spotted her and grabbed her arms. The tall man dragged her to another room, the lounge, and handcuffed her to a chair.

" You won't be going anywhere now will you, little missy?" he said with a sneer.

He walked out leaving her alone in the darkness.

Butterflies filled her stomach when it finally hit her that they were all in trouble.

" What the hell? Let me go!" shouted someone. She recognized the voice as Nick's. Another man came in with the squirming Nick.

" Stop moving around or I'll shoot you," the new man threatened.

Nick stopped moving and let himself be shacked to the chair. Within a couple minutes, the entire nightshift was handcuffed in the lounge. Each person's face was full of fear and bewilderment. The room was deathly quiet, except for the muttering between the two kidnappers.

Grissom finally gained the courage to speak to the kidnappers.

" What do you want from us?" he asked.

There was no response from either man. Grissom asked again.

" What do you want from us?" Grissom raised his voice slightly, trying to get the attention of the men.

" Shut up. You want to know why you're here, Mr. Grissom? Do you remember me? Or my brother? Does James Benedict ring a bell? You put my brother away for a stupid crime and made our lives a living hell. You ruined our lives. We can't go anywhere with out someone recognizing us. So now that Richard's out, we decided to pay you and your team a little visit, if that okay with you Mr. Grissom," James said, his voice full of resentment and hate.

" Look," Grissom started.

James interrupted Grissom, " There is no look, Mr. Grissom. You are just going to have to pay the price."

With that, James and Richard left the room. Grissom looked at his team who where confused at what had happened.

" What… What the hell just happened?" Nick asked.

" What are going to do?" Sara asked.

They all looked at Grissom for an answer. But Grissom had no answer for them, no words of wisdom, or assurances: just a blank stare that scared all of them.

Warrick had heard about Richard before. He remembered Grissom's case. Warrick had only been at the lab for a year and was still relatively new to everything. Grissom had been irritated at the case because the scene had been clean. No prints, no hair, just the smell of bleach had filled the air. He was so close to giving up until he found a witness, who helped identify Richard and put him away for several years. Warrick had heard that when Richard went to court, he had no remorse for what he had done, and just smiled when the verdict came in.

It was some time before either James or Richard came back in. They came in with some equipment in hand.

" What are you doing with those?" Grissom asked.

" Wouldn't you like to know? I guess you just have to wait and see," James said.

Grissom gave up trying to get anything out of them men.

"Mmhmm," the team heard them say.

Richard walked over to Greg and took off his handcuffs. Greg looked over to Grissom with a confused look.

" You're coming with me," Richard said, pulling Greg along.

" Lay your hands off him," Nick said.

" I told you, I would shoot you, don't think I won't" Richard threatened again.

Nick shut his mouth and watched as Richard took Greg out of the room.

James walked over to Catherine, who stiffened in her seat, and took the handcuffs of her as well. She realized that she would also be leaving the group and hoped she would at least be with Greg. She had a sick feeling in her stomach and her knees shook as James led her out of the room. They walked down the hallway to conference room. James stopped her outside of the room and did not go in. She looked inside and saw Greg sitting on the floor, huddled in a corner. Richard was standing next to him his fist raised ready to fight. Suddenly it grew dark. James put a blindfold over Catherine and led her inside the room. James pushed her down against the wall and she hit her head against it.

Then she heard a scream. It was Greg. She could hear a fist hitting something, and Catherine knew it had to be Greg. She reached up to pull the blindfold down but was stopped by James.

"Don't think about it," he whispered.

There was another scream and then another. Catherine couldn't bear to hear him plead for them to stop.

" STOP!" she yelled.

One of the men slapped her across the face and swore. Catherine's face burned like fire from the slap. Richard ripped the blindfold off and both men left the room, locking it behind them.

Catherine looked at Greg and saw him laying on the ground his mouth and nose bleeding freely. He had his hand over his head, as if to try and stop being hit. He was crying out of fear and pain. His sobs shook his whole body.

Catherine's stomach dropped at the sight of him crying. She scooted over to him and held him in her arms. Greg cried into her shoulders like a small child.

" Shh," Catherine soothed, brushing her hands through his hair, " you'll be okay, I promise."

Greg wiped away the blood from his face with his shirt, turning the once white shirt a dark crimson color. He rubbed the back of his head and found a large lump. He felt it and winced. His hand was red with blood from the wound on his head. He became light headed and passed out. Catherine tried to wake him."

" Greg, hon, you gotta wake up," she said, shaking him slightly.

There was no response from Greg. Catherine sighed and hoped to god that someone would come and let them out.