Mrs. Stokes screamed. "No, not my Nicky." As the shot when off and they lost the picture. The Judge held onto his wife both were crying freely. They had lost their son.

"Oh god. What have I done." The Judge said to himself.

Catherine wiped the tears from her eyes. She would not believe that Nick was dead until they had proof. They were scientists and never assumed anything.

"Your honor, Mrs. Stokes. We don't know what happened. Nick may still be alive. Archie is there anyway you can get the feed back?"

Archie got up and checked the equipment he shook his head no. "Sorry Catherine it's the equipment on the other end. "

She sighed. "Well it was worth a try. Unfortunately the only thing we can do now is wait," Catherine said and she sat back down.

The Judge and Mrs. Stokes settled down. Sara and Greg each brought over a cup of water for them. They all sat down and did the last thing that any of them wanted to do … and that was wait.

Nick stood there gasping for breath as Brent aimed his gun at him. 'Well this is it, all this only to be shot in front of his friends and family. He hoped that they would get on with their lives and not suffer from his death.'

"Say goodbye Nick." Brent said.

He closed his eyes and waited for the fatal shot.

Bang!

Grissom had made his through the hallway; he had just heard the voice of Judge Stokes. He was close. He had just stepped into a doorway when he heard fighting. He slipped into the room as Brent stood up with the gun in his hands and heard Brent say.

"Say goodbye Nick."

Just as Grissom stepped into the room he kicked a piece of wood on the floor. Brent aimed the gun quickly in the direction of the noise, he saw Grissom standing there with his gun. Brent fired as Nick tackled him. Grissom flew backwards with the impact of the bullet.

Warrick and Brass had finally received assistance and were able to go help Grissom. They ran down the hallway when they heard a gunshot come from the room that Grissom went into.

Nick wrestled Brent on the floor for the gun. The exchanged blows finally Brent got fed up and punched Nick in his bad leg. Nick screamed out in pain and let go of Brent. Brent hit Nick in the face with the gun it and he fell over. Brent stood up and placed the gun to Nick's head just as Brass and Warrick entered the room.

"Freeze Las Vegas PD!" Brass screamed as the both of them aimed their guns at Brent.

Brent grabbed a handful of Nick's hair and pulled him up. He then put Nick in a chokehold with the gun to his temple.

"You guys better back off or he's a dead man." He pushed the gun harder into Nick's temple.

Nick struggled to breath. He grabbed at Brent's hands, but he was weakening from the lack of air and from the fight. He looked at Warrick and Brass, pleading to get him out of this mess.

"There's nowhere for you to go Brent. Why don't you just let him go?" Brass suggested.

"No way. Me and Nicky here have some unfinished business to attend to. Now lower your weapons." Brent said as he forced Nick to move towards the door.

"I'm sorry Brent but we can't do that. If you shoot Nick then we'll shoot you. You don't want to die do you?" Brass asked.

"I'm not afraid to die."

"Then why are you hiding behind a hostage?"

"It's like I said. We have unfinished business. Now move away from the door."

Brass and Warrick looked at each other then at the door. Grissom was still lying there after being shot. It was uncertain what his injuries were. They both moved away from the door, but never lowered their weapons.

Brent forced Nick towards the door; Nick tried to fight him but only got a crack to the head with the butt of Brent's gun. The crack wasn't hard enough to knock Nick out but only strong to stun him into cooperating.

Warrick held his gun tighter. 'God help this guy if I get my hands on him. He will never hurt anyone again.'

Brent and Nick had made it to the door and where just about to step out when Grissom jumped up behind Brent and grabbed him. Nick pushed the gun away from his head and dove to the floor.

Brass and Warrick closed in on Brent and Grissom. They grabbed Brent by both arms and handcuffed him, but not before Warrick gave him a couple of punches to the gut.

At that time four task force members ran into the room. Brass looked at them and spoke.

"Get this piece of garbage out of here." He pushed Brent over to them.

"You haven't seen the last of me. You better tell Nicky boy to be careful."

Brass walked up to Brent. "Is that right? Well Brent, I don't think a jury is going to have any problem putting you away for a long time." He turned to the other officers, "Now get him out of here!"

"You." Brass pointed to another officer "Call for an ambulance. We have two men in here that are in need of medical assistance."

The task member spoke into his radio and received an acknowledgement he looked at Brass.

"The paramedics will be here shortly."

"Thanks!"

Brass turned around to see Warrick and Grissom kneeling by Nick who was still lying on the ground unconscious. Grissom was holding his right shoulder. He had taken a bullet there. It didn't look like the wound was too bad, but looking at Nicky, he was in bad shape. His leg was bleeding freely and there wasn't a place on his face that didn't either have a bruise or a cut. His breathing was labored; Brass figured he probably had a few broken ribs.

The paramedics arrived within minutes. They ran right over to Nick, they put a fresh bandage on his leg, put him on an IV and gave him oxygen. They would have x-rays done at the hospital to check his ribs.

The paramedics checked Grissom's shoulder. It turned out that it was only a flesh wound. They put Grissom's arm in a sling and escorted both men out to the ambulance. Grissom refused to be put on a gurney so he walked. Nick, who was still unconscious, was wheeled to the ambulance.

Warrick and Brass followed Grissom and Nick to the ambulance and helped load them in. Warrick looked at Brass and said.

"We better call Catherine and let them know what's going on. I'm sure they are worried sick by now. It looked like at some point they lost the feed."

"You're right Warrick. I'll call Catherine."

The conference room was silent. Every person sat there and stared at the cell phone that was resting on the conference room table. Each one of them had the worst possible scenario going through their minds. They had seen Nick get shot or at least they thought they did. If only someone would call and tell them what was going on. Then it happened. The cell phone rang.

Catherine nearly jumped out of her seat when she heard the cell phone ring. She grabbed it and answered it.

"Willows."

"Catherine its Jim. We found him, he's alive."

Catherine closed her eyes and let the breath out that she was holding. She looked up at everyone and said.

"They found Nick. He's alive."

Everyone got up and hugged each other. Mrs. Stokes was crying tears of joy.

Catherine continued her conversation with Brass. "Jim what happened? We saw Nick get shot."

"Nick wasn't the one that got shot. It was Gil." He responded.

"What! Is he OK?"

"Yea. The paramedics said he'd be just fine. It was only a flesh wound. Nick, however, is a different story. He was pretty roughed up. He was unconscious when they took him out of here. They are taking both of them to Desert Palms. We'll meet you there."

"OK Jim we'll see you there." She hung up the phone she took a deep breath and started to talk. "The gunshot we heard. It wasn't Nick that was shot, it was Grissom."

Everyone looked at her; she put her hand up to tell them to let her finish.

"He's fine. It was just a flesh wound. Nick, however, is a different story. He is alive but was roughed up pretty badly. He was unconscious when the paramedics were taking care of him. They took both them to Desert Palms. Brass and Warrick are going to meet us there."

After several days in the hospital Nick was finally released and allowed home. Warrick had picked him up from the hospital and drove him home. When he arrived he opened the front door he heard,

"Surprise! Welcome home Nicky!" All his friends and family were there waiting for him. He smiled and turned back to Warrick.

"You knew they were going to do this … didn't you?"

"You bet." Warrick laughed.

Catherine and Sara walked up to Nick and each gave him a kiss on the cheek. Grissom walked up next, shook Nick's hand and then gave him a hug. Grissom didn't know it, but the hug meant a lot to Nick. Greg and Brass moved in and gave Nick a hug as well.

As Nick moved farther into the room, he walked up to his parents. His mother had tears in her eyes. He walked over kissed her cheek then gave her a hug. He looked over to his father who had a look of concern in his eyes.

"Cisco, I'll be fine. I'm happy you stood your ground with Brent and a son couldn't be any luckier to have a father like you."

The Judge took Nick into a hug and said. "We love you very much Nick, and we couldn't be any luckier than having you for a son."

Everyone watched the exchange between father and son. It was a happy moment. Then Warrick cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Well with everything that has happened and with your recovery and all we all chipped in to get you this gift." He handed it to Nick. Nick took the gift and unwrapped. It was a watch.

"Wow thanks guys, but I already have a watch." He said.

Greg answered. "Nick that just isn't a normal watch. This watch has a GPS system. We know that you value your privacy, but this watch will make us feel better knowing that you are wearing it. We will not infringe on your privacy, but with Brent's threat we just want to make sure you are safe. I hope you aren't angry with us."

Nick looked at Greg then the rest of them. "Well I'm not sure how to take this, but with everything that's happened to me lately I think that this is a good idea. Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. If you'll excuse me for a sec I'm going to go and get some fresh air."

"Do you want some company?" Sara asked.

"No thanks. I'll be back in a sec."

Sara nodded as Nick went out the front door. He stood in his front yard taking in the fresh air and realizing just how lucky he was. He had his friends and family around him. He had fought Brent and won, he was still alive and Brent was in jail and couldn't hurt him anymore. Nick took another breath of fresh air before walking back into his house.

Unfortunately Nick didn't see the black SUV parked down the street watching him.

To be continued or not……….

Well there you have the conclusion to Leverage. I really appreciated all the encouragement and support that everyone gave me during this story. Please review and let me know your thoughts on the last chapter and whether or not you want to see a sequel. Remember honesty is the best policy. Take care!