Trouble in cell block A
By MBsinger
I own nothing having to do with CSI which is the property of CBS and its folks.
Setting: After Grave Danger, a few weeks after Nick has returned to work.
Summary: Catherine and Nick are assigned to a suspicious death at the women's correctional facility. While they begin to process the cell where the victim lived, there is a minor scuffle and Nick is taken hostage until their demands are met.
A/N – Don't worry, I won't do anything too serious to poor Nick, he's been through enough. There are no pairings in this story, at least none that I plan for right now.
"Nicky, you're late."
Nick waited until he reached his supervisor before replying. "Hey, Catherine. Sorry about that. Dec. got a little wordy today in our session."
"How's the counseling going?"
"Fine." He had to laugh when he received the same look from Catherine that he might get from one of his sisters which said 'you're not done with that explanation.' "As she put it, things are coming along fine and I am progressing nicely. I will probably be uncomfortable with bugs, in tight spaces, and dark secluded places for a while, but that is to be expected. Blah blah blah. I wish she would learn a different tune."
"Are you really talking to her, or are you just saying whatever will get you back to solo work as quick as you can?"
"I'm talking to the doctor, mom. And between you and me, I am sick of feeling the way I do. I want to get back to my view of normal, but I am not really where I would want to be to be doing solo work, Cat."
"And where is that, Nick?"
"Where I can really trust the officer to watch my back without checking on them. If I don't get to that place, then my attention is divided, and I can't do my job properly."
"I understand, Nick, and it's good that you recognize that. Right now, I'm not ready to let you out of anyone's sight either. It's affecting Warrick too, because he gets sent out with someone I trust to watch his back. I am not having any of my guys getting out of someone's sight any time soon. But for today, you're working with me."
"Where to, boss lady?"
"The women's correctional facility. One of the inmates died, and it didn't appear to be from natural causes."
"So when are we going?"
"When Vega gets here, he's coming with us."
"Bringing out the big guns, huh?"
"Yea, well, to be honest, I tried to get Sara for this. Don't get me wrong, I know you can handle it, but in this place, I'm not generally the one going to be viewed as eye candy, you are."
"Well I'll just have to stick close to my big bad boss lady to protect me."
"You bet. And who are you calling big?"
"Hey Vega, how's it going?" Glad to have the detective at just the right time to get him out of a minor sticky situation.
"As well as can be expected, I guess. How are you doing?"
"The duct tape and string that they keep handing me seems to be keeping me together so far."
"Maybe that counselor you're seeing can help you find a working sense of humor in there somewhere."
"That assumes that I had one in the first place."
Det. Vega just smirked as he shook his head. "So true. I know I've said it before, but I am glad to have you back, Nick."
"Thanks."
Catherine just hung back from the two men. It certainly was good to have the young CSI back at work. It was getting too serious in the lab with him out for those weeks. Every time someone passed his locker, it was a quiet reminder of why he wasn't at the lab. It was still a little quieter in the lab during shift, but it was getting better, thanks to Nick.
When his parents had taken him home to Texas for a few weeks, the rumors had started flying that he had handed in his resignation and was remaining in Texas. It wasn't until Nick left a message for Catherine and Ecklie through the switch board that the rumors stopped, for the receptionist posted the message for all to see – "I will be returning to Las Vegas this weekend, and be back in the lab on Monday. Got cleared to return to work to assist on cases. Say hi to the gang for me. – Nick Stokes." She suspected that one of the gang contacted him about the rumors that were flying around, and he left this very public message as a means to let everyone know that the rumors were just that.
That was about two months ago, and it looked like he was indeed making progress, but she was certainly going to give her CSI whatever time he needed to get back in the saddle.
The three officers reached the gate and after showing proper identification they were allowed through the gate. They were escorted through the one cell block to the home of the deceased. Nick did his best to ignore the cat calls aimed his way, and kept his eyes either on his companions, or on the floor in front of him. He received his fair share of attention from women, but this was different. Here, now, he felt like a piece of fresh meat, and he was not comfortable. When they reached their destination he quickly walked in to the cell to begin processing the living quarters, leaving the initial questions to Catherine. It was the best way to insure that he was out of most people's eye sight.
About twenty minutes after they arrived at the scene, a loud ruckus was heard, and alarm went off. Nick looked to Catherine and Vega to see if either knew what was going on. The blank look did not give him the confidence that this was a test or false alarm. Then he heard one of the guards call to them to leave the cell block, and that they would make sure to keep the cell locked and off limits for their return.
Catherine waved to Nick, who gathered his things to leave the jail cell. Catherine, with her arms through one of Nick's, quickly walked towards the exit of the cell block. Just before they were able to reach the exit, the gate closed, locking them in the cell block. A noise behind them caused them to turn around to see that the doors to a couple of cells had been opened and the inmates were exiting their cells.
Catherine called out to the guards to let them out. She was picking up the attitude of the inmates and they did not look too friendly to her.
"What is going on here?" Vega called out to the guard that he had previously been talking to as they had arrived. But a different voice answered his inquiry.
"Relax officer, we hope that this will all be over soon, with your co-operation."
Vega saw Nick jump as he was grabbed from behind. He called out, "Hey, let him go!" but he could do nothing more about it. Both he and Catherine were now surrounded by about 15 inmates. He watches as a few of the inmates held on to Nick, while one of the body builder types hit him across the face to knock him out. "That should stop his struggling." She said.
"Nicky!" Catherine tried to get to her partner, but was blocked.
Then a voice was heard from somewhere up above. "Shay! Knock it off. We don't want any more injuries here. That is not why we are doing this, and that is not going to accomplish our goal. Sorry about that, he'll be fine, I'll see to it. And there will be no more of that." They saw a woman descend the stairs and as she kept talking they realized that she was the one in charge here.
"I see you're waiting for my next move, so why don't I just tell you what we want to happen, and then go from there. I am never one for beating around the bush. We currently have control over the gates to this block. The ones who are out of their cells agree with what we are trying to do here, the others will remain locked in their cells until this is over. We are not trying to get out of here by any other means but through the proper legal channels. What we want is for someone to look into this place. Lora is not the first one even in this block to lose her life here needlessly. The conditions here are awful, and we just want to feel as safe as we can here. Shay kind of changed my plans here by knocking pretty boy out, so he will stay here with us until we hear from you two. We do not expect this to be done quickly, but we want the ball rolling. Every time someone has mailed out a letter or an email of complaint, someone here intercepts it, and then they become the next victim. It doesn't always mean loss of life, but it is intolerable none the less." She looked to the two officers in their midst.
Catherine spoke up and addressed the leader directly. "Can I speak to you privately?"
"Sure."
"That is not a good idea." Both Shay and Vega said at the same time.
Catherine and the other woman turned to each of them and assured them that they would be fine. The inmate told her friend Shay to make Nick comfortable in the empty cell on the extra bed, and to allow the cop to watch what they were doing.
"Okay, you and I are alone. What did you want talk to me about out of ear shot from my friends."
"Listen, I'm not going to try to talk you out of this, because you don't know me well enough to trust that when I say that I will look into this I will. But if you are going to go through with this, realize that one, this will probably add years to your sentence and ineligible for parole. You may even be subjected to solitary as a troublemaker."
"I realize that."
"I want you to allow me to stay, in my partner's place."
"Why?"
"I don't like his odds for staying safe here."
"No one will touch him. I'll even lock him in the cell, if that will make you feel better."
"No, that would be even worse."
"Why? What are you trying not to tell me?"
"Did you hear in the news a few months ago about an officer being kidnapped?"
"Yea. You mean this is the guy who was buried alive? Why tell me that? It shows me how much you want to protect him and that you should work harder to get this going faster."
"With me in here, Nick will get this going quickly enough, because he will feel guilty for leaving me. Do you remember the circumstances for his abduction? That poor boy was buried alive for 12 hours, in a clear plastic box. He's a strong man, and is getting better, but obviously he now has a problem with claustrophobia. I don't want him to have to go through that. He's been through enough."
"I understand where you are coming from, but he stays here. You have my word that he will be under my protection. And before you start to protest again, listen to my reasoning and realize that my mind is made up. If I go through with this trade as you propose, when he gets out, if that cop has any caring bones in his body, he will take Nick to the hospital since he lost consciousness for a few minutes. This will postpone everything and the cops are in charge. I don't want that. One of my friends here is a nurse. She has a real soft spot for victims, as she was one for a long time. All I have to do is let her know who he is, and he will not be touched. A lot of the girls here listen to her, more than me, even. Don't worry, we will do our best to take care of him while he is our guest. But I suggest that you get going, because the faster you leave the faster you can get back and get him out of this situation."
"I want him out of this situation right now."
"I know, but we can't all get what we want. And what we want isn't too much to ask, is it? We just want to be treated fairly and humanely."
"I will be back. If, when I get back, I find that he has been harassed, or hurt in any way, you will have a lot to worry about."
"I have no doubt. Get back soon, because the sooner you do get back the sooner we can all go to sleep at night without having to worry about what might happen when the lights go out."
On her way out, Catherine checked on Nick. He looked to be sleeping peacefully. She had a feeling that he was no longer unconscious, but had shifted to sleep, which the troubled man desperately needed. She nodded to Vega, as two people escorted them out of the cell block.
Catherine made her way directly to the warden's office. She found the woman with several officers strategizing on how to handle this situation. "Warden"
"Ms. Willows, I'm glad you are all right. Your release will make this easier."
"I'm afraid not. I'm about to make your decision a little more difficult. If you can find a simple, peaceful solution, then do it, but they do have my partner in there with them."
"So now it's a hostage situation?"
"Yes, but it's a little more complicated than that. That CSI down there is Nick Stokes." One of the officers in the room must know Nick because he groaned as if knowing what Catherine was going to say next. "Let me just remind you what that man has been through. He is still recovering from being buried alive by some lunatic who used him to make a statement against the police and CSI. It was a random act, meaning that they weren't after him specifically, just someone to use to torture the LVPD and lab. What wasn't in the papers was that the coffin he was buried in was clear, so that he could see the earth around him. He had an oxygen supply, but the fan only worked when the light was off. Whenever any one of his concerned co-workers pushed the button on the web site that this sicko set up, so that we could see that he was still there and moving around, the light would go on and the fan delivering him needed oxygen went off. I won't go into detail about his being covered by bites from all the red ants that got into that box."
Catherine made sure to make eye contact with everyone in the room. "I want to make this clear, we will work to get him free, but I don't want it to be by some assault. In case its not clear, Nick was popular and well liked by everyone before he was kidnapped, and now we are very protective of him. If you do anything to set him back, just know that your life will instantly become more difficult because I will make sure that any incident that happens here will be under my jurisdiction. That's not a threat, just information you need to know."
"What is it that they want, we won't negotiate to release anyone."
"They aren't asking for that, actually. I know what they want, and the woman in charge said that if I told anyone unnecessarily, it might backfire on us. So I will look from our side to see what can be done. I will be back here as quickly as I can, and I am leaving Vega here to make sure I know what's going on here. Vega, I'll be in touch and be back as soon as I can."
"We're really going to leave our boy down there?"
"I'm not happy about it, but I don't see where we have a choice right now."
"Okay, I'll keep an eye on him and this situation, from here." He said quietly as he walked the senior CSI to the door.
"I know you will. Make sure that woman there keeps her promise to keep him safe, if not this place will be the least of her worries."
Down in cell block A, Jen called out to another woman from the cell block. "Erin, can I see you for a moment?"
"Sure." Erin said as she walked to the cell with the CSI in it. "What is it, Jen?"
"I need you to do something for me."
"What?"
"I need you to take care of this guy, and to watch out for him. I need him to stay safe."
"Why? What is this really about? Did that CSI lady threaten you?"
"In a way, but I can handle it and understand it. She's looking out for this guy, she just said that if we cause any more damage to this man than what has already been done, well you see how that goes."
"He is cute…wait, more than what's been done to him? What did she mean by that?"
"He was brought here because it seemed like a rather safe assignment. Do you remember hearing about the CSI who was kidnapped and buried alive a few months ago?"
"Yea, you mean this is that guy? Wow, he must be a strong one to be back on the job this quickly. Why did you keep him, why not one of the others? That poor man has been through enough. I got locked in small closets by my ex, and that was bad enough, but what he was put through? This could really not be good for him."
"I know, but this will make her think twice about letting them just assault the block. And that's why I need you to take care of him. Help him to understand that he will be treated like our guest, and everything that that means."
"Okay, I'll do it."
"You sure you can handle it?"
"Yea, I mean talk about being victimized. His situation makes mine… well I'll do what I can for him. Maybe helping him might help me."
"That's the spirit. His name is Nick. I appreciate you looking out for him. The rest of the girls will listen to you."
"I know. But I am going to need some things for him."
"You're going into nurse mode."
"Yea, but that's what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Yes. What do you need?"
"Well I'll need some bottled water, the first aid kit, an extra blanket and some of the food that we stock piled. In order for him to not feel trapped and claustrophobic, he will need comforts available at his fingertips. One of the worst things about being trapped like that is that you can't get what you need. He'll need these comforts."
"You'll get what you need. I'll see to that. Now go, he will probably wake up soon." Jen watched as her friend went into the cell to look after their 'guest.' She hated to feel that this was necessary, but didn't feel like they had any other choice.
To be continued...