Summary: A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.
Disclaimer: This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.
Author's Note: Thanks again for everyone who is reading and I am glad you loved the last chapter. It was my favorite to write! And there was a question in the title in one of the reviews that I would like to answer. It is supposed to be without the "E" because Ken is stealing their breath away from them and he is asking for their breath. Proper English would have me put an "A" in front of it I guess, but I didn't want Ken to be proper. I got the title from him and that is it I suppose. Sorry if it is turning people away, but that is the title. Thanks for mentioning it though. I appreciate any feedback or questions about anything. But anyways, enough of me. Go see what happens to our Nicky! Does Brass and Grissom make it? Go, go, go! Have fun!
Breath for me
Written by: duffshel
#15
There were two cop cars in the parking lot when Brass pulled into it. He had turned off his sirens and lights two blocks back. All the rooms were dark except for two, one on each opposite side. Brass pulled up next to the other cops. Grissom wasted no time in jumping out of the vehicle.
"Do we have any idea where they are?"
A young man, no older than 30, walked over to were Brass and Grissom were standing. He looked nervous. This was something new to most of the department.
"I went in and talked with the manager in the office," the officer pointed to a tall man standing in a white shirt by the other cars, "He only has to people staying, one elderly man named Don Meedle and an out of stater, Tom Steeler."
Grissom tensed at the name, "Which room!"
The young cop jumped at the hissed demand from the head CSI. He didn't know if he should respond to it, but a look from his superior officer, the cop began to talk.
"He is staying in the far room over there," he pointed to the far right one, "I was told he was alone, but that the manager thought he saw someone join him."
"What is your name, son?" Brass asked as he looked towards the room.
"Andrew Kehls, sir. Do you need me to take up a parameter?"
"Yes, that would be good. I want this place covered in officers within the next minute. No one leaves this area. I want everyone held in. Get Mr. Meedle out of his room and keep him in a car. And sirens off till I say different!"
Andrew nodded and ran to talk with his partner and the other two cops from the other car. Brass watched the young man walk away and couldn't help, but feel a pang of fear for the other two young men they were trying to save. He turned to talk to Grissom, to establish a plan, only to find empty space. With a groan, he took off after the other man.
"Gil! What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? I am going to get my guys!"
"But you don't know what is going on in there or what kind of weapons he has. You cannot walk in there blind. At least let me go first. Pull your gun."
Grissom wasted no time and was right behind Brass as they walked towards the lighted room. Their footsteps got quicker once they began to hear the muffled sounds of distress and struggle from within the room. Brass waved the CSI towards the other side of the door as himself and put his hand on the door knob slowly.
"Be ready," Jim whispered as he turned the knob.
It surprised both men that the door was unlocked. Brass didn't waste any time in wondering about this moment of luck. He pushed open the door and burst into the room, gun leading.
"Vegas P.D. Freeze and put your…" Jim's voice trailed off.
Gil ran across the threshold right behind Brass. His eyes took in the scene before him. It was something he would have never been able to prepare himself for.
"Nick!"
Ken released his grip on the belt when the two other men ran into the room. Nick fell back against the bed with a dull thud. There was no movement from any of his limbs. No noise was heard from him. Warrick pulled on his cuffs even more. Hope flared through his body.
A look of complete and utter disbelief covered Ken's face. He had just finished killing the man underneath him, but was still hard. There new people should not be in his room at that moment. He had completely missed what the one said. Hell, he couldn't even see them clearly in his lust driven frustration.
"He has a gun!" Warrick yelled to warn the other two.
Brass immediately lifted his gun and pointed it at Ken's head. He would shoot with no questions if the killer did anything stupid. "Hands in the air, move away from the bed."
Many thoughts were running through Ken's head as he finally heard and saw the officer yelling instructions at him. He was still completely shocked on how he had been found. There was no trail to follow. Ken was not supposed to get caught. It was odd to be on the other side of the threats and guns.
He stood slowly from the still body on the bed. There would be no time at all to celebrate his male first take down. Both of the new comers had their guns pointed right at him. In that instance, Ken regretted leaving his gun on the dresser, about five feet from the bed.
"Who are you?"
Grissom tore his eyes off of Nick to stare at the killer, "I want my guys back!"
Ken's eyes lit up, "So, you're the great Gil Grissom. It would be an honor, but I still managed to grab two of your men and kill one right under your nose. You are not as great as I was hoping for."
The sandy blonde haired man stood at the edge of the bed with his hands raised slightly in the air. He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. Grissom looked like he wanted to kill him with his bare hands. This was all greatly amusing. Ken only wished he had a chance to try his belt on the thicker neck of Warrick.
"You are too late. I don't know what you are planning to do. Nick is already dead. You lost."
This comment caused Gil to look back at the Texan on the bed. The man hadn't moved and Gil couldn't see his chest moving at all. It sent cold chills throughout Grissom's entire body. He could not lose the younger man.
Brass also couldn't stop himself from looking at the bed. Nick's pallor was light and slightly blue. It didn't look good. The younger man was as good as dead from what he could tell.
Ken took advantage of both men being distracted by their colleague. He could see his gun and it was within jumping range. With a quick step to the right, Ken had his hand wrapped around the handle of the gun. He pulled the safety off as he lifted it to aim.
"Look out!"
The deep voice of Warrick roared into the room. Ken barely had time to process what was said when his body was thrown backwards in a cascade of pain. Two guns were smoking from across the room. Brass lowered his weapon once he saw both bullets hit Ken square in the chest. Grissom kept his up and ready.
Ken fell backwards hard. The air rushed out of his lungs as he stared up at the ceiling. He felt, more than heard the footsteps of the cop as he walked to stand over the dying serial killer. Ken never did like the man's face.
"Thomas Steeler, you are under arrest for the murders of all those girls and the attempted murder of Nicholas Stokes. You have no rights and I would like you to remember my gun still has more bullets."
Ken's eyes went wide, "Thomas? You know my name? But how can…" His breathing slowed and his eyes rolled back into his head.
Brass paid no more attention to the unconscious man. He turned to watch Gil grasp at Nick's shoulders and pull him upright. The belt was still tight around the poor boy's neck. When he went to help, Warrick stopped him.
"Jim, please! You have to get me out of these fuckin' things! I need to get loose!"
With a nod of his head, Brass walked over to the frantic CSI. Warrick didn't seem to want to hold still, but Brass still managed to get his key into the lock. The cuffs opened with a snap. Jim was surprised he was able to stay on his feet with the other man pushing past him with a heavy limp.
Warrick jumped onto the bed right next to Grissom. His right hand flew to touch his partner on the forehead. The other man's body was still warm, but the skin was losing all it's color. His breath caught in his throat as he looked into Grissom's face.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Grissom removed his fingers from where they rested against Nick's throat, "He isn't breathing."
!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+
Catherine was about to pull into the parking lot of the Sleepy Inn when she was cut off by the speeding ambulance. As she watched it race towards the open door filled to the rim with cops, any choice words were caught in her throat.
Greg sat up in the backseat and pulled himself forward, "That doesn't look good."
Both women chose to ignore the newer CSI's comment. An ambulance would be needed on the scene no matter if someone was injured or not. It was just procedure. Catherine slowed her car down for the police officer waving her down. She got her ID ready to show when another ambulance came storming up behind her. The tires squealed as it whipped around her to join its partner.
"That really can't be good."
Sara turned to face Greg, "Just…don't say anything for a minute. Okay!"
Greg stared into Sara's eyes. He could see the fear and tension they held. If he could see his own at that moment, he was sure his looked the same. This was the biggest thing to happen to him since he started working in the field as help. Both of the guy's he looked up to were in this hotel room with paramedics struggling to get into to.
The SUV was allowed to pass and Catherine wasted no time in pulling up to the room. She hadn't gotten any calls from Brass or Grissom, but from what they heard over the police radio, there were shots fired within the room. No one knew at that time who was injured, but that ambulances were needed as soon as possible.
All three jumped out of the car, no one bothered to grab anything. They simply wanted to get into the room and see what was going on. Sara took the lead and literally pushed cops out of her way. Greg stayed close to Catherine. It was crowded when they got into the room.
Catherine spotted Brass standing off the side, by the bathroom doorway, "Jim?"
Her eyes scanned what she could see around other people. The corner of the bed was visible and a booted foot. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Brass has moved closer to her.
"Its Nicky."
Grissom had heard Catherine walk into the room, but he was not leaving the side of the bed. The cheap carpeting shifted under his knees as he moved. Warrick was breathing heavily next to him. The tall CSI's hands were hanging on hard to Nick's right one, not caring about the dried blood from Nick's fingernails. Grissom was rubbing his thumb on the skin of the pale forearm that was visible.
Warrick was looking no where, but his brother's pale and blue face, "Come on man. You can do it. Come on man…don't leave me. You are stronger than this. Don't leave me!"
The paramedic pushed down in a count of ten. His voice sounded calmer then Grissom thought it should. A female paramedic sealed her mouth over Nick's and breathed deep into the still man's lungs. Grissom would have to remember to tell Nick about the pretty little red head that performed the oral CPR. He glanced down at his watch. It had been four minutes since Brass and he had broken into the room. There was no guess at that moment how long Nick hadn't been breathing before them.
"The pulse is barely readable, but we found it finally. Get him breathing! We're losing him. We need to move him."
Warrick jumped at the senior paramedic's voice. He was not going to let go of Nick's hand for anything in the world. His man's skin was getting cooler under his hand though he hoped it was just that his hand was just getting hotter with this stress.
A gurney was wheeled into the room. Brass motioned for the officers to clear the room, but left Catherine and the others alone. He knew they would not leave until Nick did. Two of the cops bent down and pulled Ken up. The killer was a deep weight in their arms, but Brass wasn't sure if he really was dead or not. He just wanted the man out of the room now that an ambulance was there.
"I want three cars on him and do not leave him alone at the hospital ever. I don't care if he is in coma, do not leave him uncovered. I will be there as soon as I can."
Andrew nodded his head as he walked out behind the down man, "He will not leave my sight, boss."
Brass moved over towards the bed and laid a hand on Grissom's shoulder. The head CSI was shaking slightly and murmuring something under his breath. He needed to get both men away from the bed so the paramedics could do there jobs and get Nick out of there.
"Gil, I need you to stand up and move back."
Grissom took a deep breath and complied with the orders he was given. His knees were like jelly. There was still no sign of Nick being able to breath on his own. The female, her tags said Karen, was still pushing her air deep into Nick. His attention was turned to Warrick as Brass tried to remove him from the side of the bed.
"Come on 'Rick. I need you to stand. They need to get to him. He is going to get help, but you need to move."
"No, no! I am not letting him go. I promised I would see him out of this! No!"
Taking a deep breath, Grissom walked up to Warrick's left side and helped Brass pull his hand away from Nick's. They both had to bodily pull the black man away and supported his weight. He was strong and both men had to struggle to hold him. Greg jumped in and grabbed Warrick from behind around the waist.
Warrick went limp within their grasps as he watched Karen and her guys lift Nick onto the gurney. He could feel the salty tears that were streaming down his face, but didn't care enough to do anything about it. All he wanted right then was to see Nick take a breath on his own.
"I have to go with him! I need to be there."
"You are going to go. I am going to go with you. You are injured and are going to need medical attention as well, Warrick. Come on," Grissom soothed as he guided Warrick from the room behind the gurney, supporting much of his weight from his bad leg.
The wheels creaked as they hit the cement outside the room on the sidewalk. It was what shook Catherine out of her daze. She watched Gil lead Warrick from the room and looked around at the remaining team members. Sara was crying softly and Greg looked to be fighting his own tears. She was going to have to be strong for them. It was hard.
Brass interrupted her thoughts, "You three should go as well. I will have this room blocked off and I will call Eicklie so he can get someone here to start processing. I will meet you guys at the hospital when it is cleared."
Catherine nodded and grabbed Sara by her hand. Greg followed the two women like a lost puppy. He didn't know what to do with Nick and Warrick so messed up. They were always strong, never down.
"Come on guys. We are going to the hospital."
!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+
Karen hooked up the IV and started the flow of fluids into the still man's body. She didn't know who he was, but from the actions of the other two men in the vehicle, he was important. His heart rate was almost nonexistent, but her boss, Kyle, was still working hard on getting him to breath. As long as they had the beat, they could bring him back. From what she could tell, he hadn't been breathing for under ten minutes. She had saved people from longer times than that.
The difibulator paddles were set and ready for use. Kyle didn't want to have to shock this guy if he didn't have to. His compressions were working so far to help the man's heart continue pumping. Karen took her spot back at his head and pumped the air mask. They needed to get through whatever was holding this man back from waking.
Warrick clutched at the blanket they had draped over Nick when they got into the ambulance. His knuckles were as pale as his face. There was a pain in his chest that he couldn't describe and it wasn't from the cuts Ken had been kind enough to give to him. He refused treatment on his leg until Nick was going to be fine again.
"Gil, he's going to make it. This is going to be over. Nicky's going to be okay."
Grissom lay his arm over the trembling man's shoulder, "Yeah, he will. He is going to prove to us how strong he is, again."
Kyle sat up quickly and gestured to Karen to stop her work. His face was lit up with a smile. The still man arched up and gasped for air.
"He's breathing!"
TBC….happy now?…J