Deceptive Intentions
by Nicol Leoraine
Chapter 14
The momentary stillness was cut short as both Nick and Dummont dangerously swayed. Dummont took a faltering step back, but there was only air and he grasped at the only thing within his reach.
"Nick!" The cry left his mouth mere seconds after he pulled the trigger. Grissom watched the scene before him unfold in slow motion. He thought it was the only chance. He heard Dummont ordering Nick to put his gun down, he heard the angry shout when Brenda kicked him in the gut. He saw the girl stepping away from harm, saw Dummont grabbing her and sending her sprawling to the ground. The knife glinted as Dummont lashed out and Grissom knew there was no time for a warning. Nothing short of a bullet could stop the crazy man from killing.
Grissom pulled the trigger.
But something went wrong. Dummont wasn´t supposed to move the way he moved. It took a second but Grissom saw the reason and his mind went numb. The eyes looking back at him in surprise didn´t belong to Dummont.
When Nick collided with Dummont, he managed to kick the knife out of his hand. But he wasn´t prepared for the bullet flying at him. Dummont jerked when the shot went straight through his shoulder. Nick felt the impact but the pain didn´t come. Just surprise as Dummont grabbed at him. Nick could only look at Grissom in shock as the killer lost his balance and pulled him down.
Grissom watched, almost fascinated as the two bodies started their rapid descent down the stairs. Just a bunch of limbs, the men cried out every time they hit the stair or the wall. Grissom only too late realised that if they didn´t stop, he would get caught up and probably knocked down like a bowling pin. Jumping out of the way at the last second, Grissom landed at the bottom of the stairs just in time to see Nick stopping his descent against the wall, Dummont next to him. Somehow in the fall, Dummont still managed to maintain his grip on Nick´s shirt.
Grissom pointed the gun at Dummont, trying to catch his breath and desperately seeking any sign of life from Nick. Both men lay still, not uttering a sound as Grissom slowly approached them.
"Nick?" Grissom said , his voice soft although he wanted to scream. The only response came in the form of a cough, and it belonged to Brenda. Grissom didn´t dare to turn and look at her in fear that Dummont just pretended to be unconscious.
"Brenda? Are you okay?" he shouted and felt a partial relief when the girl replied.
"Y-yes. I-is he dead?"
"No," Grissom replied sourly, seeing the rise and fall of Dummont´s chest. He slowly walked to Nick, his gun never leaving Dummont´s still form. Grissom knelt down and put two fingers on Nick´s neck, wanting to convince himself he didn´t in reality kill Nick. But the pulse was there, beating strongly, and Grissom let out a relieved sigh.
"Nick? Come on, I need you to wake up," he spoke to his fallen friend, trying to ascertain the severity of his injuries. He only prayed that the bullet aimed at Dummont didn´t hit Nick.
The moan and the blinking eyes stopped him in mid movement. He was never happier to see those two brown eyes looking at him, however dazedly.
"Gris?" Nick mumbled as the blurry figure leaned closer. "What the hell..." he gasped, feeling the various bruises coming alive. "Shit," Nick mumbled and for a moment closed his eyes.
"Nick? Don´t fall asleep on me," came the harsh reply and despite the headache, Nick opened his eyes.
"What happened?" Nick asked and turned his head, trying to alleviate the pain. But instead of the cold wall, his eyes fell on the unconscious figure and suddenly it all came back to him. With a gasp, Nick pulled away from Dummont, batting away the hand still gripping his shirt. Grissom pried the fingers open, while his other hand pushed Nick back to the floor.
"Don´t move. You took a nasty fall down the stairs. You could´ve injured your back or neck."
"Let me," Nick growled. "My back is just fine," he hissed and backed away from Dummont. Once he couldn´t go further, he leaned against the wall.
"Is he dead?"
Grissom once again stated that no, Dummont was still alive. The moan coming from the man was evidence enough and Nick jerked. Grissom leaned over the killer, checking his state. He saw the red stain growing on the man´s shoulder and debated whether to try and stop the bleeding or not, but the bleeding didn´t seem too serious and Grissom definitely wasn´t in for tending to the killer. He checked him over more to ensure himself that Dummont didn´t have more weapons. He suddenly regretted the absence of handcuffs.
"Brenda?" Nick asked and Grissom risked a look up the stairs. Following his look, Nick saw the girl sitting on the highest stair, holding a piece of cloth over her neck. The paleness on her face was even more pronounced by the angry bruise on her cheek and the blood on her clothes, but at least she was alive.
"You the CSI guys?" she asked in small voice. Grissom´s eyebrows rose quizically and Nick grinned in reply.
"Just wanted to say... thanks."
"You´re welcome," Grissom said simply and turned as he heard a noise.
"Whoa, don´t shoot," Jim Brass said as Grissom´s gun trailed towards him. "We´ve got him. It´s alright now," the detective assured them, nodding to two officers who were already kneeling next to Dummont, assuring themselves he was not a danger anymore.
"Davie, call it in. The ambulances are already on the way, boys. Should I say this was the stupidest thing you did?"
Grissom opened his mouth to agree with Brass, scowling at Nick, but Brass stopped him.
"I meant it for both of you, Grissom. You are no better than this one."
With that, Brass headed to Brenda, leaving the two CSI´s alone. Grissom turned at Nick, who had some trouble to hide his smile. But it faltered as soon as he saw the angry look on Grissom´s face.
"You-" Grissom opened his mouth but didn´t know what to say. He just stood there, feeling all the anger and fear joining and throwing a party inside his heart. He still couldn´t get the image of Nick, shot with his own gun, out of his head.
Nick must´ve seen it, because he too opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"Gris?" he finally managed, and the man before him visibly jerked.
"Don´t." Grissom hissed and turning on his wheels, stormed from the building, leaving behind two confused officers and a startled Nick.
Brass found him standing outside the hotel, leaning against his car with a frown on his face. He walked up to him and waited in silence for a moment, then cleared his throat.
"They are taking Nick in for a check up, but he should be okay. Mostly bruises and a graze on his left arm," Brass spoke, trying to bring Grissom out of his thoughts. It worked as Grissom´s head shot up.
"He was shot!" the CSI snapped.
"Like I said - just a graze," Brass didn´t understand why it angered Grissom when just a moment ago he looked almost oblivious to what was going on with Nick. But as he watched the man closer, Brass realised that Grissom was looking rather pissed - and guilty. A weird combination to say the least. "Dummont had a gun?" Brass asked suddenly.
"No," Grissom shook his head, and Brass grimaced at his next words.
"I was the one pulling the trigger."
"The bullet must´ve gone through Dummont´s shoulder then caught Nicky in the arm," Brass noted and shook his head. "Shit Grissom, it wasn´t your-" but Brass stopped. He didn´t like the look in Grissom´s eyes and he was sure Nick wouldn´t like it either.
"Don´t be too hard on the kid. He was doing what he thought was right."
Grissom was already heading towards the ambulance where Nick was taken care of, but he stopped.
"What he did was plain stupid," Grissom growled. "He could´ve been killed."
"Well, the apple doesn´t fall far from the tree," Brass muttered,loud enough for Grissom to catch it.
"What does that mean?"
"Only that you didn´t had any more sense than Nick, rushing here like that. I told you the same as you told him - stay put and wait for backup. I think you both should get your hearing checked out, cause you sure as hell don´t listen." Brass don´t wanted to bark at Grissom, but he couldn´t help it. When he saw the anger in the other man´s eyes, he knew that Nick would get more than he could take right now. And it was not like Brass wasn´t pissed at Grissom.
Now they both stood in silence, regarding each other. Finally, Grissom let out a sigh.
"I still need to clear this up" he said to Brass before walking to the ambulance. The detective followed him with his gaze, until Grissom climbed in next to Nick. Then he walked towards the other ambulance with the still unconscious Dummont and nodded at the EMT that they could take off, sending a car to follow the ambulance, while one of the officers rode inside with the killer.
Still not the end, folks
A/N: First of, big thanks to my beta who sent the chapter back to me in record time, thus allowing me to update really soon:-)
Also big thanks to all who took the time and reviewed - I appreciate it. You´re encouraged to review this chapter too:-)
Don´t miss the last chapter, it should make everything clear LOL