Before I get any flames and complaints, I did warn you from the get go that updates would take awhile. As it is, I'm using my lunch break at work to post this, so I hope you all appreciate how hungry I am right now. Either way, hope you're enjoying, and if so, here's the next chapter of …

What It's Worth

By Goody

"You have ten seconds, Cowboy," Dallas warned as he clicked off the safety of the gun touching Nick's temple.

"It must still be in the house," Nick concluded after racking his brain and coming up with nothing. "We don't have it, I swear. Please, let him go, I don't know what you're talking about. We didn't find any disk," Nick continued pleading, as he abruptly pulled over since he couldn't focus on driving with Memphis's huge hand cutting off Greg's air supply.

In the back Greg's resistance was getting weaker. His cuffed hands flailed to find something to grip, without success, and Memphis's body was too close, he couldn't get his legs up to do any sort of damage. As the pressure on his throat continued the edges of his vision began to darken and he felt his thoughts slowing with his heart.

"You fucking little bitch," Memphis hissed, not relenting as he slammed Greg's head back once more.

"You swear on his life?" Dallas asked, gun still trained on Nick. "You never found a disk upstairs?"

"Upstairs? We never even went upstairs. We processed the ground floor, exit and entry, we were never upstairs, I swear. We don't have it!" Nick swore and watched desperately as Dallas decided if he was lying.

"Memphis, let him go!" Dallas finally said with authority. "Memphis! Let him go, they don't have it!"

Memphis reluctantly released Greg, whose eyes had been rolling into the back of his head. He immediately fell forward, landing in an awkward position half on the floor and half in the seat where he began coughing violently as he struggled to breathe. The coughing stopped after a few deep, wheezing breaths and he found he was exhausted as he laid his head on the seat and closed his eyes.

In the front Nick reached around to help support him with a hand on his shoulder and was shouting for his attention, "Greg? Greg are you okay? G, talk to me, please."

Greg lifted his head slowly and nodded, coughing once more before speaking in a barely audible voice, "I'm all right … I'm okay Nick."

Meanwhile, their two kidnappers appeared to be going through a crisis.

"Dammit," Dallas swore again. "So you never processed the upstairs?"

Nick took his attention from Greg and shook his head, "No, it was two other CSIs, we only did the grounds and downstairs."

Inside Nick was hopeful - if they didn't have what these guys were looking for then it was plausible they would just let them go - they hadn't seen their faces or knew their real names, so without this disk they wanted so badly, things may have been looking up.

"Keep driving," was all Dallas instructed, and with a final look at Greg, Nick did just that.

As Dallas was thoughtful up front, in the backseat Memphis was calming down. Greg stayed crouched on the floor for another long two minutes, trying to breathe normally, deeply, without the searing pain, but it wasn't going well. Memphis watched Greg for a few seconds before transforming back into his usual, confidently cruel self.

"All right, that's enough - get off the floor," Memphis demanded, reaching for Greg's upper arm to pull him up. But fear made Greg faster and he pulled away, back as close to the door as possible and as far away from the monster beside him as he could manage.

"No," Greg said, half a plead, half a demand as he shrunk away from the bigger man's touch.

"You don't trust me Greggo? And I thought we were becoming so close," Memphis teased, but didn't try to grab him again.

Greg glared at him, coughing again as he moved to sit in the seat once more, still as far from Memphis as possible. His anger was up a little more, it briefly won over his fear and he replied, "Don't call me Greggo, we're not that close."

Greg couldn't stand to look at this man anymore and turned to stare out the window even as he felt the gun barrel at his temple again.

"You know, I bet …" Memphis was about to continue when Dallas interrupted loudly.

"Memphis, can you shut up a second? I'm trying to think here," Dallas pointed out, clearly much more disturbed than Memphis that they hadn't found the disk they had firmly believed the CSIs would have.

Memphis looked annoyed but did as asked and pushed a little further away from Greg, much to the relief of both the CSIs.

A few more silent, tense minutes passed before Dallas announced, "Pull over here. Right here, then turn off the car."

Nick did as instructed and watched as Dallas reached over and took the car keys, put them in his pocket and got out of the car. Nick and Greg watched him while Memphis kept his gun trained on them both, seemingly bored.

This time Dallas opened up Nick's door. His gun was drawn but he didn't motion for Nick to get out, instead he slammed the gun handle into the side of Nick's face, and said insincerely, "Sorry."

Greg lunged forward when Nick fell over, "Hey!"

But Memphis's hand was immediately on his chest, pushing him back.

In the front, Dallas put his gun away and took out a pair of handcuffs of his own. As Nick groaned and slowly sat up, Dallas snapped one cuff around his wrist, looped it through the steering wheel and then snapped the other in place, trapping Nick in the driver's seat.

"Sit tight," Dallas instructed as Nick pulled on them once and realized they probably wouldn't budge. "Memphis, come on."

Before he got out, Memphis took a firm hold of Greg's hair and tilted his head back so he could whisper in his ear, "Don't miss me too much."

Greg knew better than to reply this time and Memphis laughed and pushed his head forward with mock affection as he got out of the car.

Head still down, Greg was shaking so bad he couldn't make himself look up.

"Are they leaving?" he asked, trying not to hope too much.

Nick looked out the window, "No, they're talking. I think they're deciding what to do with us."

"You okay?" Greg asked, indicating Nick's eye.

"I'm fine," he replied, having already shrugged off the strike.

"They're going to kill us, aren't they?" Greg asked suddenly, voice hitching mid-sentence.

Nick turned around as much as he could and tried to make eye contact, "Greg, we're not going to die!" he yelled to emphasize his confidence in the matter, but he saw how it made Greg flinch and he looked apologetic as he said again, softer, "We're not going to die. They're not going to kill us, they still have their masks on."

"What?" Greg asked, confused.

"They wear the masks so we can't identify them and those things aren't comfortable so if they were going to kill us they would have taken them off. If they're still wearing them, chances are they're going to let us go," Nick said calmly, firmly believing this was true.

Greg looked out the window; the two gunmen were clearly arguing, about what they couldn't hear, but they did still have their masks on. He took comfort in this.

"Yeah, okay, I get it," Greg replied, his voice quiet and hoarse from fear and the near strangulation he had barely escaped alive.

Nick's cringed from the sound of Greg's voice, a cruel reminder of what he had already gone through, "Greg, come a little closer, I want to take a look at you."

Greg hesitated and shook his head as he mumbled, "I'm fine."

"Windows are tinted, they can't see us. Come here, please," Nick requested again.

Greg nodded and pushed himself forward until he was sitting on the front seat armrest. His legs were still in the back, but he and Nick were almost face to face now.

Nick's eyes immediately went to Greg's neck and eye, which were both quickly bruising. The faint beginnings of the outlines of that monster's fingers were starting to show on Greg's neck and Nick's anger reappeared.

"That bastard," he hissed.

Greg shook his head, "It's not that bad, I've had worse, right?" But his tight, scratchy voice gave away the real extent of the injury, and the shakiness of his voice relayed his fear.

"Greggo, we're going to get out of here, alive. I promise," Nick said. Greg could only nod non-commitly, wishing he had that kind of confidence.

"So, what do we do now?" Greg asked, eyes immediately being drawn to the window to make sure their kidnappers weren't coming back yet.

"We wait. They'll have to let us go, we don't have what they're looking for. They're probably just deciding the best way to do it and make sure they don't get caught," Nick pointed out, firmly believing what he said. The way he saw it they had two options, either fight these guys or go along with them. For now they seemed professional, organized, if not a bit violent, and even though practically every cell in his body wanted to strike out at these men, and get Greg away from them, he decided to trust that they would be rational and just let them go. So far he had done everything they asked, no objections, and they were still alive. But for how much longer he didn't know.

There were other options. Nick could try to hotwire the car and take off, he may be able to reach the right wires if he twisted enough. Or Greg could unlock his door and make a run for it himself, try to lose them in the darkness, but with their attackers only fifteen feet away and visibly armed, both these plans didn't seem like they would end well.

So Nick would wait, and hope these men were reasonable if nothing else, and pray his choice wasn't going to get them killed.

In his mind Greg was also musing over their situation and a horrible thought struck him, "Nick, Warrick and Catherine must have this disk they want. What if they let us go and go back to do the same thing to them?"

Nick looked thoughtful and worried for a second, but shook it off, "We'll worry about that when we come to it G. For now, we'll focus on ourselves."

"But … they're coming back," Greg tensed and Nick turned to see it was true, Dallas and Memphis were walking back to the car, guns still present. Dallas headed for the passenger door and Memphis went to the back where Greg was once again sitting.

"Come on Stud," he said gleefully as he grabbed Greg's arm, "We're going for a little ride."

"What? No!" Greg fought to stay in the car; he struggled and put a leg up against the door to at least slow down Memphis's progress as he dragged him out. This just made Memphis chuckle as he twisted and then pulled Greg's arm again, easily jolting him from the car and sending him toppling to the ground.

Never releasing his hold, he pulled the gasping Greg along, away from the car, and commented as he chuckled, "I had no idea you had any fight in you, kid. Just full of surprises, aren't you?"

In the front, Nick was shouting, "Wait! What are you doing? Let him go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Dallas said, falsely apologetic as he leaned against the open passenger door. "Your boy's coming with us. Memphis, check if he has a cell phone."

"No, please don't do this," Nick pleaded, pulling roughly at the handcuffs and steering wheel to no avail.

Dallas ignored his pleas though and turned for Memphis to finish searching Greg's pockets. Eventually the big man found Greg's phone and threw it to him. Dallas caught it and put it in the passenger seat.

"Do you know the phone number to that?" Dallas asked as calmly as if they were doing a bank transaction.

But Nick wasn't listening, his focus was on Greg who was being dragged farther into the treeline by Memphis and almost out of sight. This time Greg could not remain passive, he was too scared, of these men and of being separated from Nick, where he felt at least partially safe.

He struggled to pull free of Memphis's grip on his shirt, and even kicked him relatively hard in the shin as he yelled, "No! Let me go! Nick! Nick!"

His cries stopped when Memphis punched him in the stomach, hard. He was bent over gasping, having the fight and air taken out of him. As Memphis continued to pull him away, Nick saw it all.

"Greg! Let him go, please. I'll do anything you want. Take me instead, I'll go willingly, I don't care, just don't hurt him," Nick continued pleading. "Please, leave him alone, don't do this."

Dallas seemed to be getting tired of Nick's griping and laid out his point to make him focus.

"You'd be too much of a handful Cowboy, you're staying put. Now look, you have two choices, either tell me the phone number to this cell, and we'll call you to tell you how to get him back, or don't tell me and you'll never see him again. Which is it?" Dallas demanded.

Nick swallowed, shaking as he was forced to accept that he would not be able to persuade these men to let Greg go, "494-3261," he answered.

Dallas smiled, pleased and punched the number into his own cell phone, "There that wasn't so hard. Now here's what's going to happen, you are going to get our disk back for us. I don't care how you do it, steal it, find it, tell your buddies and get them to help you look, whatever. But there's a blue compact disk in that house and you're going to get it. In four hours I'm going to call this phone and give you instructions on where to take it. Do not bring me a fake or a copy, I will know the difference and I will be checking its authenticity before you get your boy there back, in one piece if you're lucky. So there you have it - no disk, no Greggo, at least not alive. Talk to you in four hours."

"Please, I'll get it, I swear. Don't hurt him, please," Nick begged one final time, trying to touch any humanity Dallas may have.

It didn't seem to have worked. The gunman smirked, "That's all up to you, Cowboy. Clock starts ticking when we pull out of here. Oh, and you might be needing this," Dallas threw a small key on the floor of the passenger seat. "I'm sure you'll figure out someway to get to it."

Before Dallas walked away, smiling, he popped the car's hood and casually pulled out the ignition wires, then waved as he calmly disappeared. Nick continued to yell at him, pleaded for him to come back, to change his mind, but Dallas was deaf to his pleas.

Meanwhile, Memphis and Greg had come to the gunmen's car, which had been hidden behind a rock formation and some trees. Memphis whistled as he pulled the gasping CSI along and towards the front seat. Once there Memphis opened the glove compartment and took out a bandana. Taking a firm grip on Greg's arm he then walked him to the back of the car and opened the trunk.

"No," Greg tried to pull away immediately but Memphis's hold was strong and the large man pushed him against the side of the car so he couldn't move.

"Now don't you go jumping to conclusions, Stud. You see, since I'm such a nice guy I'm gonna let you make a choice, probably your only one, so enjoy it," he pushed the bandana into Greg's mouth, "See, you can either enjoy the long ride gagged in the trunk, or," he moved the bandana to over Greg's eyes, "unconscious in the backseat. The choice is yours."

The bandana was taken away and Greg was left to look at Memphis's cruel smile as he waited for his decision.

"Please, you don't have to do this. I haven't seen your face, I won't tell anyone what you did, just let me go," he whispered. It was as loud as he could talk after Memphis tried to strangle him.

Greg's pleading eyes widened even more when Memphis's fist connected with his stomach, causing his lungs to stop working properly as he doubled over and tried to pull in air.

"There I go, trying to give you a choice and you just keep rambling away like I hadn't even said anything. That's rude Greggo, without a doubt. As for letting you go, no can do, you're a good old fashioned hostage to make sure your partner brings us what we want. In fact, you're my hostage, which means you do what I say," Memphis announced as he pulled Greg into a standing position again so they were eye to eye. "Now you gonna choose?"

Trying to think despite the absence of oxygen, Greg looked at the backseat, it was clean and uncluttered, and then the trunk, which was smaller and had a few items in it.

"Why can't I be gagged in the backseat?" Greg chanced to ask, actually making Memphis laugh.

"Because I'm not stupid, and if you don't pick I'm going to do it for you," Memphis promised.

Greg didn't really have to think about it. His mind was brought back to all the crime photos he'd seen of bodies stuffed in trunks, of people who had suffocated inside. He couldn't recall a single body they'd ever found in a backseat.

"The … the backseat then," Greg answered, coughing one last time.

"Good choice," Memphis chuckled again as he slammed the trunk closed.

Greg closed his eyes and waited for what he knew would be coming, relieved that Nick at least couldn't see him. The punch was hard but the pain was brief - Greg was unconscious before he hit the ground. And hit the ground he did since Memphis made no attempt to stop his fall. Whistling again, Memphis picked Greg up easily and laid him on the floor of the backseat after tightly blindfolding his eyes. They had a blanket prepared for just such an occasion and when he finished covering Greg with it Dallas had returned.

"You think he'll do it?" Memphis asked as he shut the door and moved to the passenger side.

Dallas chuckled, having no doubt in his mind, "I'll think he'll die trying if he can't. Cowboy's got a loyalty gene, I can tell."

"Good enough."

They both got in and Dallas started the car. He had to turn around and drive out the way they had come to get to the road, which meant they had to drive by Nick who was still trapped in the SUV. They waved politely, laughing at his frustration and took off down the road.

In the SUV, after they pulled away, Nick was memorizing.

"P2S5-T2V, P2S5-T2V, P2S5-T2V," he chanted over and over as he shifted his legs around onto the passenger seat and tried to pick up the handcuff key with his feet. After several unsuccessful tries he became truly frustrated as he felt the time and space between himself, Greg and the kidnappers increase even more. Eventually he was able to drop the key onto the seat and pushed it closer to the edge of the cushion. He was rushed, panicked, and nearly knocked it off the seat again, but forced himself to calm down and push the key more slowly. Once it was as far as possible he stretched and shifted until he could grab it with his teeth and drop it into his hands. It was awkward trying to get the key in the lock, and he was rushing, not thinking clearly in his panic. First it was upside down so wouldn't work and as he reversed it, it slipped and fell.

"Dammit."

He probably would have cried if he hadn't caught it with his knees. The steering wheel turned enough that he could grab it with his hands again and he forced himself to breathe and do this right. As soon as the first cuff was undone that was enough. Not bothering with the second, he snatched up the cell phone and started dialling.

"Come on, come on," he urged as he pushed open the door and popped the hood of the car once more.

"Willows."

"Catherine? Catherine it's Nick. He's gone Cath. Greg's gone, they took him," he rushed out, too terrified to realize she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Nick? Slow down, what do you mean he's gone? Who took him?" Catherine asked, clearly starting to join in his fear.

"The men who killed the Wallers, they attacked us. They hid in Greg's SUV, they were looking for some kind of disk that they left in the house. When they realized we didn't have it they took him. They're gonna kill him if we don't have that disk to them in four hours," Nick reported as calmly as he could manage, but saying it out loud was hard, it made it more real and inside he was panicking. This became even worse when he saw the ignition was totally destroyed, "Damn it! I can't even follow them." A long pause as he breathed, tried to control himself and his fear, "They said I'd never see him again if they don't get it. They'll kill him Cath, they won't hesitate."

"Oh my god. We'll find him all right, don't worry. Are you okay Nicky, where are you?"

Nick didn't care about himself, he wanted rescue choppers and police crews out looking for Greg, but still replied, "I'm fine. I'm stranded on the road out, just drive straight, you'll find me."

"Okay, we'll be right there, just sit tight. I'll call Brass on the way," she said.

It sounded like she was about to hang up and he stopped her, "Wait, I got the license plate, try to get out an APB, it's P2S5-T2V."

"I got it. We're on our way, just sit tight, we'll find these guys," Catherine promised and then she was gone, undoubtedly making the calls that would put in motion the steps needed to get these guys caught.

Nick considered making the follow up calls, telling Brass and Grissom what had happened, but he had faith Catherine would handle it, and to be honest he didn't think he could repeat it again, tell everyone what had happened - Greg was gone.

That phrase alone repeated itself over and over in his mind and what had just happened began to sink in. Two killers had stolen someone very important to him, a friend, someone he cared about, and if they didn't get some worthless piece of plastic in four hours, he could die. They would kill him over a piece of plastic. It was almost too ridiculous to believe but it was the frightening truth of exactly what some people's lives were worth these days.

Instead of rushing into action like Nick knew he should, he sat silently in shock, falling against the side of the car until he hit the ground.

"God, Greggo. I'll find you, I promise. Just stay alive. Keep yourself alive, please."

He sat for a few minutes in silent contemplation before he heard the sirens. They were a signal to compose himself and meant the chaos was about to begin. He checked the clock - 3: 45 AM - they'd given him four hours. By 7: 45 this should all be over and he should know if he would get his friend back alive or dead, or even at all. Putting on a façade of composition he pushed himself off of the SUV to flag down the police and prayed they were all up to the challenge.

- - - - - - - - ---------- - - - - - - - - - - -

Twenty five minutes later Nick was exactly where he had started, he just had more company. Warrick and Catherine had arrived in ten minutes with a few black and whites from the original crime scene. They had calmed Nick down, got more of the story out of him, descriptions, details, and now they were processing the SUV as they waited for a medic to come check him out.

"I'm fine," he had insisted about his black eye, but they wanted to be sure.

Fifteen minutes after that Grissom, Brass and Sara had arrived. Everyone asked how he was doing, and he assured them he was all right, but would be better when they found Greg, which everyone focussed on doing. Greg's kidnapping had quickly become the only case of the night and the whole team would be working together on it. What frustrated Nick was that he wasn't doing any work.

"Grissom, we all have to get back to that house and find this disk they're looking for, right now," he insisted again, but Grissom shook his head.

"Nick, no, you're going back with me to the lab. Sara, Warrick and Catherine can find the disk, don't worry. You're needed elsewhere," Grissom said firmly.

"But if we don't find that disk …" Nick began, but Grissom interrupted.

"We'll find it, but on the chance that we don't we need a backup plan to find Greg. Now when these guys call back they're only going to want to talk to you, which means we need you at the lab so we can trace and record that call, you understand?"

Nick nodded, he did understand. He had been too focussed on one thing and hadn't been able to see the bigger picture like Grissom - this didn't all depend on the disk, it depended on the kidnappers and them gathering everything they knew about them.

"All right, let's go then. Archie's waiting at the lab to set us up," Grissom said, indicating Nick should follow him to his car.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Yeah, I'm coming."

Before he left he turned around and watched as Sara and Catherine combed through Greg's SUV. It felt wrong that one of their own vehicles was a crime scene, as wrong as everything else that had happened that night. It wasn't long before Warrick came up beside him, clearly concerned about his friend.

"You want to talk about it?" Warrick asked.

Nick shook his head, "Thanks, but no. There's no time. I'll talk after we find him."

"All right, take care of yourself. We'll find that disk, don't worry," Warrick suggested.

"If only it was that easy," Nick commented. He turned around, Grissom was waiting. "I'm out of here, I'll catch you back at the lab."

"No problem," Warrick said and watched him go, knowing there was a thick layer of pain and regret under Nick's composed façade, but also knowing now was not the time to delve into such things. They were on a tight schedule, and they all knew emotional consequences had to come second, so he waved as Nick drove away with Grissom and then got in his own car to try to find a computer disk that could save a life.

Amazing what technology could do these days.

TBC

This fic has been so much fun to write you have no idea. More will be coming … uh, yeah, I'm not going to make any promises actually. But there is more. I've got most of the writing and proofreading done, it's the internet access that I'm limited to.

But enough about me, how about my reviewers. You amazing, wonderful people you.

Kenzimone – lol, I've never really thought about bad guys being fun before, but you make a very good point. I also like the equal number of evil and good guys in this one, and believe me that Memphis's fascination with Greg does not cease throughout the entire fic, it's quite fun really (for us).

Emmithar – I know, I'm a jerk for not updating quickly, but I did give ample warning at least. Hopefully the wait just makes the updates even better! Thank you though, because it is good to be back. Of course Greg gets the short end of the stick, why else would we be here? I would definitely be somewhere else if Greg wasn't getting pummelled in some way. I was thinking of doing a brake slam on Nick's part, but that could cause accidental gunshots and it's a little early for me for life threatening injuries, those have to wait for later chapters, because I'm evil. Thanks for reviewing.

Shacky20 – Hey, I have to say, I am never surprised but always so happy to get reviews from you. I could feel your excitement and happiness in the review and that really made me smile. Good to know my interactions are still interesting, dialogue is my favorite thing to write in a fic, though the angst is my fave part to read. It's odd really. I must thank you for all the praise, especially since you're usually a slasher, and much like my last fic, this one will be full of Greg angst/pain and Nick angst/feeling useless. And as I've said, I really enjoyed writing this fic, so I think you'll enjoy reading everything that's to come. Thanks for reading and tell your friends.

Red Tigress – Thank you, and yes, Memphis is creepy, and really only gets worse as time goes on. But I won't ruin anything, you'll have to wait and see.

Espina Oscura – Well, you have definitely come to the right place for Greg angst, so sit back and enjoy, these next few chapters (whenever I get them posted) would probably fulfill anyone's cravings.

IceQueen1 – Thank you so much. Of all the reviews I got so far I think I liked yours the best, just cause you obviously appreciate the work I put into making the story realistic and not corny, and don't just drool over the angst. I agree, there's a lot of stories out there that kind of lack reason or logic, and I find if there's no motive for actions it really takes away from the fic. So thanks again for praising my plot, it's very appreciated.

Bree1387 – To be honest, I was pretty excited to see another story from myself too. I was sure I was gonna do an LotR fic next, but this idea wouldn't go away, so I guess you all lucked out. Unless you're also an LotR fan of course.

takimiromy – You usually don't like these fics? What other kind of fics are there? Either way, thank you very much.

Sandersfan – I have apologized for the update times, but I will do so again, so sorry. And the reason I'm not posting the whole thing is I have one chapter left to do and I want to be able to go back and change any lines or details that may not fit with what I have left to write. And I'm also an obsessive compulsive proofreader. I won't post a chapter until I can read it through without changing anything and that takes awhile. But thank you for your amazingly kind compliments. They are so appreciated. As for proper use of the english language, it's no big really, I use it all the time after all.

James' Grl – well I love you too … but I do feel the need to see other people. Lol, just joking, thanks for reviewing.

Twitch666 – Don't hurt him? Are you kidding me? Why else would we all be here. Glad you're enjoying, the suspense really doesn't let up at any point, but yeah, Greg will be hurt. Just the way life goes, for Greg.

Sillie – hey there, I'm doing my best. Good to hear from you, you're doing a great job with labrat central BTW – it's the only C2 I visit.

SilverBlood666 – ah, thank you. I love being on alerts, good to hear the roughness and angst is just right. Thanks for reading.

Many wonderful and heartfelt thanks to all my other reviewers as well, Jewelbaby, SpiritedEstel, rikkairora, rozzy07, lovesdigsdmanded, suus, higherbeingfriendsfan, boboskiwatin, Hestia 82, ladyjr16, crimsonblackrose, Mma63, Hikaru Kosukazu, static-disturbed, gator-girl, and new creation. Sorry I don't have time to respond to you all.

No idea when I'll get more computer time, but I'll try. Thanks for reading. Later days, Goody.