And now Chapter 17 of Held in Contempt…..

As Nick faced Brent he could feel the sweat building on his brow. He hadn't been face to face with him since his kidnapping a month or so ago. Brent smiled at Nick's unease.

"Nice of you to join us Nick." Brent said holding the judge.

"Like I had any choice, your goons kind of convinced me. Where are Grissom and Warrick? We said all of the hostages."

"Well I lied. Grissom, Warrick and yourself will be my guests."

Nick jumped towards Brent in anger, but was held back by Reed and Davis, who each had an arm. "You son of a bitch." He said in contempt.

"Aren't I?" Brent smiled. "Reed cuff him for me. Nick I suggest you cooperate or your friend up there gets it between the eyes."

Until Brent had mentioned it, Nick didn't realize that Warrick was just inside the building with a gun up to his head. He composed himself and relaxed. Reed pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Nick's hands behind his back. Brent pushed the judge down the stairs and grabbed Nick.

"Just like old times hey Nick."

"Yea well it sucked then and it sucks now." He grimaced as he felt Brent push the gun to his temple.

Brent looked over to Reed and Davis, "Let's go."

The four men made there way back up the stairs. As they got closer to the entrance Nick could feel a pair of eyes staring at him. He looked over to the right of the door and saw Warrick standing there with Ryan. He was glad Warrick was safe, but where was Grissom?

They made it back into the building. Ryan dragged Warrick over to the group of men that just walked in.

Warrick was in shock when he saw who escorted Nick and Brent into the building; it was Officers Reed and Davis. 'What the hell, they were supposed to be protecting Nick and here they were working for Mitchell all this time!'

Officer Reed could see the surprised look on Warrick's face and laughed, "I see that we fooled Mr. Brown here." Reed walked up to Brown. "Do you know how easy it would have been to kill your friend here?" Reed grabbed the back of Nick's neck and pulled him closer to them. "He's lucky that we were under orders to bring him here or he'd be dead already." He released Nick.

Warrick struggled to get away from Ryan, he didn't know what he would accomplish since his hand were cuffed behind him.

Brent was in heaven. He had been dreaming of this moment for over a month. He was going to make Grissom, Warrick and Nick pay for his incarceration. It started off as business, but now they had made it personal. Oh the plans he had for them.

Nick looked at Warrick then at Brent and said, "Well you have me now what do you want?" he wanted to get their attention away from Warrick.

"All in good time Nick, all in good time. Let's get back to the courtroom."

Both Warrick and Nick were each flanked by two men and were escorted into the courtroom. The other armed men that helped move the hostages followed them as well.

The anticipation was killing Grissom. Normally he was a very unattached, unemotional person, but all this was getting to him. Instead of his scientific mind coming out, he found his mind wondering. 'What was going on outside? Were the hostages released? Was Warrick O.K? Was Nick here and did he exchange himself for the hostages?'

Grissom's head jerked around to the back of the courtroom when he heard the code knocked on the door. Both of his guards had their weapons aimed at the door just in case, as did Michael who had just been sitting there quietly up to that point.

When the doors opened he could see Warrick being pushed through flanked by Ryan and Officer Davis! Just behind him was the one person he had hoped he wouldn't be seeing…Nick. A smirking Brent and Officer Reed escorted him. 'Damn!' he thought.

Nick looked directly at Grissom when he walked in. He was happy that neither Grissom nor Warrick had been hurt up to this point. He knew that Brent had a violent streak if pushed.

Brent grabbed Nick by the arm and pulled him over to Michael. Warrick and Grissom followed them across the room. Nick looked from Brent to Michael, 'Was he supposed to know this person?' Nick thought.

"Nick let me introduce you to my brother, Mike. You know the one I tried to free in Dallas. Mike this is Nick Stokes."

Nick looked at Mike after the introduction was made Nick could see the family resemblance.

Mike looked Nick up and down. "So you're the one my brother was in jail for?"

Nick remained silent. Michael stepped up closer to him. Nick inadvertently stepped back and right into Reed and Davis who both grabbed one of his arms. They pushed him back towards Mike.

Mike grabbed Nick by the jaw and pulled him closer. Warrick and Grissom started to slide out of their seats. It was their intention to help Nick or at least distract them, but before they were able to get too far they heard a click of a gun behind them. Both men turned and saw Ryan standing over them. They inched back into their seats and continued to watch Mike and Nick.

Nick struggled to get out of Mike's grip, "Between you and your father your family has done nothing but give us grief."

"Hey man, I wasn't involved until your brother involved me. So don't put this on me." Nick said defiantly.

"That was the wrong answer." Mike went off and punched Nick in the stomach. Nick bent over as the air was knocked out of him, "Did you want to try another answer?"

Nick was forced to stand upright, "Sure I'll give it another go. Let me guess there isn't a right answer."

Mike looked over at Brent, but pointing to Nick, "This one has a smart mouth."

"You just bring it out of me I guess." Nick said.

This time Mike punched Nick in the face and took out his gun and placed it on Nick's forehead.

"He's here now, I say we kill him and the others then get the hell out of here."

Warrick and Grissom both tensed up and Nick stared wide-eyed at Mike.

"Put the gun away Mike, it's not Nick's time to die at least not yet." Brent said.

"What! You told me that once he was here we would blow him away."

"I changed my mind. I want him to pay for what his family has done to us. I want him to feel what it's like to be locked up for a month."

"Brent you are starting to make this personal. Let's just kill them now and get it over with."

"You bet it's personal. Now put the gun away!" Brent demanded.

Mike conceded and put the gun away, "You just got your life extended Stokes, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to have a little fun with you." He started to walk away but turned and punched Nick in the face.

Warrick grimaced and thought, 'Damn Nicky stop egging them on.'

Grissom watched in trepidation. Nick was this close to getting his head blown off. If it was one thing that Grissom didn't want, it was them becoming a part of a crime scene and not as the investigators.

Nick's head whipped back and he fell into Reed and Davis. Nick silently cursed himself 'Keep you mouth shut you may live longer.' The two men pushed him upright.

Brent walked up to Nick grinning. "If I were you Nick I would keep my mouth shut. Mike has a worse temper than me."

"Yea well I'll try to remember that." Nick responded.

Brent looked at Reed and Davis, "Why don't you put him over by his friends."

They hauled Nick back over to the defense table and sat him down in the remaining chair. He could feel the stern looks from his friends.

"Nick, are you O.K?

"Yea Warrick, I'm fine, nothing I haven't already been through."

"What the hell were you thinking Nick?" Grissom asked with serious look in his eyes.

"Grissom believe it or not I was thinking. I know these guys I have dealt with them before. It wouldn't have mattered how I answered or if I answered at all. They would have still gotten their licks in. At least I was able to get in what I thought, but don't worry my lips are now sealed. I'm not going to push my luck."

"Well there's the problem Nick. You are under the assumption that we have any luck left. At this point I would have to say that there is no gold at the end of our rainbow." Grissom pointed out.

Nick smiled and whispered to the both of them. "We have more luck than you think."

Brass, Catherine, Sara and Greg all watched and were stunned to see Officer Reed cuff Nick then escort both him and Brent up into the courthouse.

"Son of a…" Brass stopped since there were ladies present. Though the two women that were in front of him had probably heard and seen it all.

"What the hell just happened?" Sara asked. "Did I just see what I thought I saw?"

"If you saw Reed and Harris cuff Nick and bring him up to the building with Mitchell, I saw the same thing." Greg said.

"…And all this time and we thought Nick was safe. He had the chance to say something to us why didn't he. We were all standing right here. " Catherine wondered.

Suddenly a voice spoke from behind the group. They all turned to see a tall older man with salt and pepper hair wearing a blue windbreaker over his suit. "Perhaps I can answer a few of your questions."

Brass looked at him then said, "Just who the hell are you?"

The man smiled he was used to this treatment; it was part of the job. "Agent Tennison F.B.I."

Well there you have it Chapter 17. I hope you all enjoyed it. Did I happen to mention I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow and won't be able to update for 2 weeks. Nah…..just joking. I hope to have Chapter 18 out by tomorrow night. Take care and have a nice evening. Oh, and don't forget to review. You know how I like seeing those.