The task force slowly made its way to the abandoned factory. They remained hidden; they didn't want to start a firefight especially with a hostage inside. Warrick, Grissom and Brass stuck together. They made it to the back of the factory. The schematics they were given had shown that there was an employee entrance. So far the schematics were right on the nose.
They hid behind some old wooden skids and waited for the task commander's sign to go in. Since the swat team was involved they took command. They could see men moving in and out of the building. So far they saw a total of eight men and that was just on their side.
As Grissom knelt there waiting in the dark, he remembered how much he hated guns. He was a scientist first and he respected life. This was the second time in as many years that he would be using his gun to defend Nick. The first time was at a suspect's house. They had arrested the wrong person. When he went back into the house to check on Nick. He found Nick staring at the barrel end of a gun. The distraught wife held Nick at gunpoint and during that little stint had confessed that she had murdered the victim. He was able to coax the gun from her. Something told him though that this wouldn't be as simple. Nick was part of his family and he would do what he needed to do in the end, to get him back and out of danger.
Warrick looked at Grissom then at Brass and thought to himself 'they both look so calm. How could they do that?' He thought back to the day of the abduction and the look of fear in Nick's eyes. He would do anything to help Nick. He would even lay his life on the line. Nick was always there for him especially when he was working through his gambling problems. Nick was always right there: listening, never saying a word, never criticizing. That's how Nick was. Nick was the listener of the group, he never complained about anything and he took everything in stride. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure Nick made it out of there alive.
Scenes like this were way to familiar for Detective Jim Brass. He had been in this situation far too many times to count. Some came out good, others came out badly. He was praying that this would be a good situation. Nick was a good kid and he deserved every chance to get out of there alive. He had held himself accountable for Nick's abduction in the first place. If he had been doing his job nothing would have ever happened and they wouldn't be here in this predicament. He looked over at Warrick and Grissom, he knew that all of the CSIs considered themselves a family, and he would do what he could do to keep that family together.
Brass heard three beeps in his ear from his radio. That meant move in. He tapped Grissom and Warrick on the shoulders; they turned to look at him, he pointed towards the doors and said, "Move in."
Brent walked into the room with his ski mask in hand.
"It's just about 8pm. Are we ready?"
"Yea, we're all set."
Brent walked over to the wood box and looked in. He could see Nick just lying there still as could be. If he didn't know better he would think that he was sleeping. He couldn't let the star sleep through the whole show. He reached in and slapped Nick in the face.
"Wakey, wakey you don't want to miss the excitement now. Do you?"
Little did Brent know that Nick was just pretending. Nick was just about free. Any moment he would be loose.
Nick moved his head back and forth to show that he was awake. This had pleased Brent.
"Good. Now that you are awake we can see if your father did what he was told."
Brent put on his ski mask and gave the sign to start the conference.
The screen in the conference room came alive and once again one lone figure was in the middle of the screen with the wooden box in plain view.
'This is it.' Catherine said to herself. 'You guys better be there or I don't know what's going to happen to Nicky.'
Brent spoke up. "So Judge, when will Michael Mitchell be arriving in Mexico?"
Just as Brent said that gunshots were heard in the background.
Catherine and the rest of them looked at each other. They knew what was happening. They only thing they were worried about was how the masked man was going to react.
Brass, Warrick and Grissom had made their way into the building so far they were lucky. They only had to subdue and not kill. The others weren't so lucky. So far they had been undetected but were surprised by a guard. The guard had sounded the alarm. Now it was a free-for-all.
Brent had just begun the videoconference with the judge when gunshot rang out. He yelled out to everyone in the room.
"Go and see what's going on."
The guards had left the room on Brent's orders to see what was going on.
Brent turned back to the screen. "So as I was saying Judge, when will Michael Mitchell be arriving in Mexico?"
When Nick heard the gunshots he was excited, this could mean only one thing. They found him. He worked his hands out of the ropes. The first thing he did was remove the blindfold. He carefully lifted his head a little to see where Brent was. Brent was in front of the screen talking to his father and the others. Next, Nick removed his gag and then bent over to untie his feet. He slowly stood up in the box.
Catherine and the others could see what was developing behind Brent. They saw Nick untie himself and stand up in the box.
The Judge finally answered Brent. "Michael Mitchell will remain in prison and will never be arriving in Mexico."
This infuriated Brent who pulled out a gun, "Well Judge you just killed your son." Brent turned around only to be tackled by Nick who dove from the wooden box.
Warrick, Brass and Grissom's main job was to locate and free Nick. They were just closing on Nick's location when five more guys came around the corner. Brent's men started firing immediately. They had no choice but to take cover.
Brass shouted over the gunshots to Grissom, "Go find Nick, we'll keep you covered on this end."
Grissom didn't need to be told twice. He gave each man a look that said 'be careful and come back alive' and then he was gone.
Nick had heard what his father said and was happy that his father hadn't given in to Brent's demands. When Brent turned around, he tackled him. They rolled on the floor. Nick was finally able to get the upper hand and punched Brent in the face a few times.
Brent pushed Nick off of him and onto the floor. Brent jumped on top of him and punched Nick the face a few times. Nick was able to push Brent off and get back on his feet. Both men faced each other. Brent ran at Nick, Nick dodged the attempt and threw Brent into the wooden box. The box fell over in a heap. Brent let out a scream of frustration and grabbed the chair that Nick sat in and threw it at Nick. Nick dodged it but then was tackled again by Brent.
Brent punched Nick in the face three more times before Nick was able to get the upper hand.
Everyone in the conference room was standing. They could see Nick fighting for his life in front of them. The Judge and Mrs. Stokes just held onto each other both silently praying that their son would be the victor.
Sara, Catherine and Greg watched all wishing that they could be there helping Nick, but they were doing that here as well. They had to keep the masked guy busy and they did just that. They gave Nick and Grissom the time they needed.
Nick continued to fight for his life. He took all of his frustrations, his anger, his fear, and his anxiety out on Brent. When he said that Brent stirred up a hornet's nest he had no idea. Normally Nick wasn't a violent person, but he had been pushed to the edge and was teetering there without a net. He was going to fight and fight hard. The fight continued back and forth, each man having the upper hand for a moment then loosing it.
Grissom slowly continued through the factory. He didn't know how many more men were around. He could still hear the gunfire going back and forth from where he left Brass and Warrick. Deep down he knew that they would be fine, but on the surface he was worried.
The fight was still coming up on the screen in the conference room. Everyone in the room could see that Nick was starting to weaken. They could hear the grunts coming from each man as they fought each other. Catherine realized that if they could hear them, then Nick should be able to hear us.
"Come on Nicky. Keep fighting. Help is on the way. Don't give up."
Nick stopped for just a split second he had heard what Catherine said. He perked up. His friends and family were there supporting him he wouldn't, no couldn't let them down. He fought with a new determination.
Judge Stokes understood what Catherine had done and followed suit.
"Nick, son we are very proud of you. Keep fighting son. Help is on the way."
Everyone in the room conveyed their own message and still Nick fought on.
Grissom made his through a hallway; he had just heard the voice of Judge Stokes. He must be getting closer. He stepped up to a doorway and heard fighting.
Nick had just pushed Brent to the floor once again. Brent got up and ran at Nick, Nick grabbed him and punched Brent in the stomach two times. Then grabbed the ski mask and ripped it off Brent's head.
Now everyone in the conference saw the man with the mask. It was Brent Mitchell. Michael Mitchell's older brother.
Brent screamed, "You are going to regret that Stokes." He threw the other chair in the room. It hit the video equipment. The camera was teetering to the side. It was close to falling over.
Catherine cursed silently to herself. She hoped that they wouldn't lose the feed.
Nick answered. "Yea why don't you come and show me?"
Brent screamed again like a wild man and came at Nick. Nick once again dodged him and Brent went crashing to the floor. As Brent was just about to get up he felt something near his hand. It was his gun. He grabbed it and aimed it at Nick.
"Say goodbye Nick."
Everyone in the conference room gasped. They heard a gunshot go off as the camera fell.