"No! That's what this guy wants, for you to go! Grissom it's to dangerous!" Sara protested.

"You can't be serious man, we can't let you go," Warrick agreed.

The group burst out in more protests, none of them accepting what Nick had said.

Nick put his hands up, raising his voice to gain attention, "There's no other choice. The drop instructions say that I have to go alone. It's not like we have any negotiating power. I have to go."

"No you don't! We have the money, you can't just play into his plan," Sara objected.

"This is Clara's life we're dealing with! I can't afford to piss this guy off when he has the switch to the bomb in his hands Sara!" Nick yelled.

"She's right though Nick, what if it's you he really wants?" Greg added.

Nick turned and glared at him, "Do you have a better suggestion Sanders?"

"Hey! Don't go getting mad at Greg, he's just concerned about you. We are all," Warrick said, trying to keep calm.

"If you all care about me so much, then you'll let me go!"

"Hey! Stop it! All of you!" Catherine cut in, standing up and glaring at the group, "Listen to us! We don't have time to fight like this. Grissom, is there any way we can go around this? What's the plan?" She asked, giving him a concerned look.

The night supervisor who had been standing in the door frame cleared his throat,

"I think, that if we want any chance of getting Clara back, then we have to play by the instruction rules," Sara opened her mouth to say something, but Grissom continued to talk, "I know it sounds like a bad decision, but ultimately it is Nick's. It's his choice, and all we can do is support him," his eyes wandered around the room, meeting each member of his teams.

"Thanks Griss," Nick said quietly.

"We'll be there for you Nicky," Catherine replied.

Warrick nodded, getting out of his chair to hug his friend. Greg nodded his support, and the they looked to Sara.

"Just be careful," she whispered, tears filling her eyes, and Nick went over to hug her.

From the outside the building looked normal, empty and dark for the time of night it was. Inside it was a bustle of activity, with police officers, bomb squad and the SWAT team running around making last minute plans.

"Test…can you hear me Stokes?" a voice crackled in the CSI's ear.

"Loud and clear," he replied.

Nick finished taping the wire to his chest, adjusting the ear piece. He was wired and live, so where he went, the team could hear him.

"Camera feed's a go," Archie called out.

The pin on Nick's vest transmitted the image to the TV. He put his hat on and walked towards the group of people anxious to see him off. Grissom looked him over, handing him the duffle bag of money.

"Remember, don't give him anything till you get the location," the supervisor reminded him.

The younger CSI nodded, and the team observed the nervousness his eyes displayed.

"Bring her home Nicky," Catherine said, giving him a hug.

"I will," he simply said, as the rest of the team wished him luck, hugging or patting him on the back. He opened the door and headed for his truck.

The two block drive to the drop site was nerve racking. He was sweating profusely, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. He tried to take slow breaths to control his speeding heart rate, but it wasn't working.

"Nick? Can you hear me?" Grissom's voice suddenly spoke in his ear.

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the noise. Quickly he regained some composure,

"Yeah I can."

"How are you holding up?"

"Fine," he lied.

"You're nearly there Nicky, just hold on ok? It will all be over soon."

"I'm trying. I've gotta go, I'm here."

He stopped the truck but was unable to move for several seconds, his grip still frozen on the wheel. Finally, he opened the door, grabbed the bag and hoisted himself out of the vehicle. It was dark, the area populated only by run down buildings. There were lots of places for this guy to hide, and he didn't like it. Taking slow deep breaths he forced himself to walk to the front of the car, standing in the glow of the headlights.

"Anyone here?" he called out into the darkness, his accent sounding unusually thick from the fear in his voice.

Silence. He wanted to get back in the car, to be somewhere that he knew was safe. But the thought of Clara made him stand his ground.

"Are you here? It's Nick Stokes with the crime lab," he called out again.

He heard footsteps to the right, and out of the shadows emerged a figure.

"Right on time," the man remarked. Nick thought it was odd that his voice sounded unaltered.

"Where is she?" the CSI demanded, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Not so fast there Mr. Stokes, there is the matter of the money first."

"I've got it right here. You'll get it when you tell me where Clara is."

"You mean to tell me you have all five million in that bag? What did you do? Rob a casino?"

"Tell me where she is!" Nick barked.

He heard a gun click and realized the figure had one pointed at him.

"I make the demands here. Now toss the bag over and I'll tell you where your precious girl is. Do it now!"

Nick shuddered but did as he was told, tossing the bag close to the man. Never taking his eyes off the CSI, the figure kept the gun trained on him as he unzipped the duffle. He fingered the money, and then looked back at Nick.

"Seems real enough. I underestimated you," he said sarcastically.

"Where is Clara?" Nick snarled, his voice low, trying to control his anger.

"She's in an abandoned building on Stark street."

"Which one?"

"You're the CSI, you figure it out."

"You son of a bitch! Tell me where!" Nick yelled.

The man waved the gun at Nick, "You come near me and I'll blow you away, and you're girlfriend. I gave you the street, you find her. May I remind you that you now have just under twenty minutes to do so," the figure laughed evilly, starting to fade back into the shadows.

"Nick the bomb squad is on it's way there. Just get out of there now!" Grissom crackled in his ear.

Throwing one last angry glance at the man, Nick hurried back to his truck, speeding away in the direction of Stark.

"Tell me they're following him!" he demanded into the wire.

"PD is tailing him, but we can't make a move until we know the bomb is disarmed. For all we know he could remotely detonate it," Grissom answered.

Nick threw on his flashing light on the passenger side window, taking a corner at high speed.

"Nick slow down! I know you want to get to her, but you can't do it alone. Just get there alive!" Grissom ordered.

But the younger CSI wasn't listening any more, just driving as fast as possible to find the woman he loved.

"Take a right here!" Sara yelled, as she hung onto her door handle. Brass swung the car onto the next street as sirens rang out all around him. He threw the car into park as they reached Stark and jumped out, calling out orders to other officers.

"Sara! You and I are going to take that building. If you find her, call it then get out. We don't have long till the bomb goes," Brass told her.

She followed him towards the building and entered the darkness. She had gone with Brass as soon as the street name had been called in. The other team members were on their way as well, or already searching buildings with PD.

Nick ran up to the first officer he found on the street, one of many running in and out of alleys, doorways and entrances.

"Did they find her?" he asked frantically.

"No, not yet."

Grissom somehow materialized by his side, "We've got nothing yet, but we've got nearly everyone looking for her Nicky."

"I want to know the minute they do."

"Of course."

"Clara!" Sara called out, shining her flashlight all around. She had lost sight of Brass but knew he was still in the building. She rounded the hallway corner, and saw a closed door. She tried the handle, and it swung open. Sara gasped.

"Clara!" she breathed, running over to the figure on the chair.

She was tied to the chair, her face scratched, her arms bound and bloody. Tears ran down her cheeks and a look of terror was in her eyes. The bomb strapped to her waist counted down the five minutes they had until it went off.

"Hold on Clara, we're going to get you out of here," Sara reassured her as she undid the gag in the other woman's mouth.

Clara sucked in a deep breath as the material was pulled from her mouth, "Get…me out…of here," she said weakly.

"I've got her!" Sara yelled into her radio, squatting down to get a better look at the bomb.

"Please…untie me…" Clara pleaded.

"I can't move you now. We've got to wait for the bomb squad, sorry…just a few more minutes," Sara replied, as more tears rolled down Clara's face.

"Could you…could you loosen my wrists?"

Sara didn't really see how this could do any harm, so she moved around to the back of the chair, beginning to work on the ropes binding the hostage. Yet as soon as she started to untie them, the bomb began to beep rapidly. She stopped, dropping the strand of rope and moving back to face Clara.

"What did I do?" she panicked.

"It just skipped a minute!" Clara screeched.

Sure enough, the red numbers counted down two minutes until the moment of doom.

Brass and PD suddenly burst through the door, and both women looked up.

"Sara! You both alright?" he asked.

"Where's bomb squad?"

"Right behind us."

"We need to get the hell out of here."

Nick ran towards the building Sara's call had come from, when he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and whirled around.

"You're not going in there!" Warrick held him back.

"Let me go!"

Two officers appeared beside Warrick and as Nick tried to break his friend's grip, they also held him back.

"I said, let go!" he nearly screamed at them.

"Listen to me Nick!" He glared at Warrick, "What good are you going to do for her in there?"

"I need to be with her!"

"Think about it man! What good are you going to be to Cassie if you both get blown up?"

Nick stopped, the thought hitting him hard.

"Thought so," Warrick said, more calm, handing Nick a radio, "You can listen, but let's do it from a safer distance."

He let go and the officers did as well. They began to guide him back to the barriers, but as soon as they got a few steps ahead of him, Nick looked back, then started to run again.

"Nick NO!"

"I've got her!" Sara's voice broke across the radio waves as Grissom listened.

"Where are they?" he questioned the first officer with him.

"One building over, we have to evacuate."

They ran down the halls of the one they were in and out onto the streets. Grissom expected to see Sara exiting as well but he didn't. Greg and Catherine ran up to him, all of them holding their radios in anticipation.

"Sara, where are you?" Grissom attempted to contact her.

There was silence for a few moments, then; "I'm with Clara. Bomb squad just got here."

"Get down here now!"

Clara watched Sara on the radio, her eyes pleading with her not to go.

"Get her and Brass out of here now!" a member of the bomb squad ordered, as a police officer tried to escort Sara out.

"Sara!" Clara called to her, "Tell…tell Nick I love him….tell Cassie I love her too…" she sobbed.

Brass pulled on Sara's arm, "We have to go," he whispered.

"Tell them yourself. You're gonna be ok…" Sara answered, as she began to leave the room.

"Get out now!" another member of the squad hollered at them.

Several tense seconds ticked away as Grissom waited for Sara to respond.

"Sara," he tried again.

Finally he heard her response; "We're on our way down."

"Nick! Get back here!" Warrick bellowed as he caught up to his friend, grabbing hold of his arm.

"Let go of me!" Nick continued to run, trying to tear Warrick's grip off his arm.

Unsuccessfully, Nick was forced to slow down as the other CSI's grip proved stronger.

"Get back over here Nick! You don't know what you're doing!"

"You don't know what you're doing!"

"Do you honestly think you can help her!"
"I don't know! I just want to be with her! Is that so much to ask!" Nick yelled, tearing his arm out of the grip, wrenching open the door of the building.

Warrick jumped into the doorway, blocking the entrance.

"Don't make me hurt you 'Rick. Get out of the way," Nick warned.

He could see more cops running towards them and shoved at his colleague.

Warrick glared at him, "Go back Nick."

"No! Move Warrick!" Nick threatened, rubbing his fist menacingly.

"You wouldn't hit me. Now don't make me hurt you. Go back man," Warrick tried calmly.

"I'm giving you one more chance to move…"

Sara, Brass and the police officers reached the first floor, all now bolting for the doors.

Upstairs, Clara prayed that the bomb squad standing around her could dismantle the hated thing strapped to her. She heard the technician breathe heavily as he snipped at a wire. She closed her eyes as he removed the straps and she was free. Suddenly she was being wrenched towards the door, then swept up when she couldn't run fast enough.

Grissom looked back as he was rushed back further beyond the barricades that had gone up. Catherine gripped his hand, her face etched with worry. Someone called out that they needed to move back further, that the bomb would take the building down if it went.

Tick, tick, tick…and suddenly a massive explosion rocked the ground under them all.

To be continued…

Thanks for all the great reviews! I finished another paper, so I had time to do this! I'll try to post more soon! -L