Chapter Fifteen

When Grissom had turned around and shot an apprehensive look his way, Nick had known instinctively what he was about to say. He could see it in his eyes. However, Nick was not going to let him do it. It wasn't that he was trying to be heroic or something. If anything, he was being logical. After all, he wasn't the one who knew the way out.

"Go! You know the way out! I'll be right behind you! Promise! You have to get those girls out of here!" Nick shouted over the roar of the flames.

Thankfully, Grissom did not protest his orders. He merely nodded before turning to head down the stairs. Nick could feel his heart pounding hard against his rib cage as he watched Grissom make his way carefully, clutching the frightened form of Allison Alcott tightly to his chest. He shifted his gaze down to the own small bundle he held in his arms. Matthew had squeezed his eyes shut and had handfuls of Nick's shirt gripped tightly in his tiny hands as if holding on for dear life. The boy was visibly trembling with fear so Nick brought him even closer to him, hoping that it might provide a stronger sense of security.
If he had been alone, Nick might have been scared. The rising flames, the billowing smoke, and the intense heat might have frightened him. He might have feared that he'd never find his way out of this firetrap. But he did not have time for fear. Not when this small boy was counting on him to save his life. For Nick, there could be no stronger motivation than that.

When Grissom reached the bottom of the stairs, Nick began his descent. Acutely aware that time was not on his side, he moved quickly and barely allowed his foot to land on the step before he moved it to the next one. Reflexes born of hours and hours of sports practice served him well. He took his eyes momentarily off his feet in time to see Grissom turn and begin to make his way towards the exit.

Without warning, Nick suddenly went crashing to his knees and fell forward. He threw out one hand to prevent himself from falling all the way to the ground and crushing Matt underneath his weight. He stayed like this for a few seconds in an attempt to catch his breath.

'Must have missed the last step. Nice time to be falling on my face.' Nick muttered to himself.

Nick tried to push himself to a kneeling position so he could get back on his feet, but the moment he tried to do so, he became instantly aware of an intense pain in his gut. Momentarily blinded by it, he unconsciously let go of Matt so that both hands could clutch his stomach. Matt immediately curled up into a ball, hugging his feet to his chest and burying his face into his knees.

What was wrong with him? In addition to the pain, he could now feel an odd tickling sensation spreading down the lower half of his body and he became conscious of the fact that his hands were wet. With a feeling of great dread, he pulled his hands away from his stomach and peered down to look at them. They were stained red.

Blood. His blood.

'No. Oh, no. Not this. Not now.' he thought anxiously.

Panic-stricken, he looked up, hoping to be able to shout out to Grissom for help, but Grissom was nowhere to be found. He had taken Nick's promise to be right behind him seriously and had trudged on through the flames, leaving Nick uncertain of the way out. He was all alone.

Or was he?

Levi suddenly appeared on his left holding a gun and things started to make sense. Cradling Matt in his arms had left his stomach exposed and Levi had shot him. He hadn't heard the gun go off over the roaring of the fire. It seemed that Levi was intent on making him pay for his interference.

"Poor Mr. Stokes! Left here to die alone! I guess Mr. Grissom cared more about saving his own skin than making sure you got out okay!" Levi shouted as he moved closer.

Still on his knees, Nick panted, trying to stay focused on the man in front of him rather than the overwhelming pain he was in. He noticed that Levi's face was bruised and bloodied. He was bleeding from numerous cuts all over his body and he was limping slightly. It appeared that Nathan had indeed caught up with Levi and had unleashed all of his rage and pain upon the man he had once considered a father. But if Levi was standing before him, where was Nathan? A wave of anger and sorrow swept over Nick as he feared the worst.

"Where's Nathan? What did you do to him?" Nick yelled, his face contorting with rage.

"Like the others, he has been judged and punished." Levi smirked, pleased at the response his words had on Nick.

"You killed him! How could you do that after you claimed to love him so much? I guess you really didn't care anything about him!" Nick spat out angrily.

Levi strode forward, the gun held tightly in his hand. "I was prepared to give that boy everything! To show him a new world that was full of joy! But he threw everything, all that I had done for him, back in my face! He betrayed me and everything I stand for! Nathan was not worthy of my love!"

Both men were so consumed with fury that they seemed to be unaware of their surroundings. The fire was going strong now, complete with a mind of its own, but they paid no heed to it. They were locked in an angry battle of wills.

"You betrayed him! You made him a murderer! You tried to make him a monster just like you!" Nick's heart was pounding rapidly and despite his injury, he felt ready to throw himself at the man before him and show him the true meaning of pain.

Levi shook his head in pity. "Even now, your feeble mind cannot grasp the greatness of what I have done. I believe the problem is that I started too late with Nathan. His mind had already been corrupted when I met him. I tried to help him change, but in the end, it could not be done. Perhaps if he had been younger I would have had more success with him."

Levi stood about two feet from Nick and had raised the gun, poising it just inches from his forehead. Nick stared back into his face unflinchingly. He watched as Levi shot a glance at the trembling form of Matthew Alcott.

"Perhaps I shall start over again with this boy. Now that he's an orphan, he could really use a strong father figure. Just think of all that I'll be able to show him." The crazed glint was back in Levi's eyes as he said this. Nick shuddered at the thought of Prosper twisting the innocent mind of Matthew and making him into something altogether horrific. He wasn't going to let him do that. Not while he still had a breath in his body.

Without warning, Nick launched himself at Levi and knocked the man backwards. A struggle for the gun immediately took place as Nick tried to wrestle the gun away from Prosper's hands. The men clawed at each other in an attempt to gain the upper hand. Nick jammed his elbow into his Levi's face which caused the man's hand to loosen its grip on the gun. Nick watched as the gun slid a few feet away. He tried to move in its direction, but as he did so, Levi landed a punch in Nick's stomach, causing the CSI to cry out loudly in pain.

Immediately, Nick rolled away and curled up in a fetal position in an attempt to protect his wounded area from further assault. His breathing became ragged as he tried not to black out as the waves of pain washed over him. It was like nothing he had ever felt before and he fought desperately to keep himself from screaming again. It was completely paralyzing which allowed Levi to scramble to his feet and pick the gun up again.

Levi stood over Nick with the gun pointing at him and his finger resting lightly on the trigger. "This is the end for you, Mr. Stokes! I warned you from the very beginning to stay out of my way!"

Nick gritted his teeth in defiance and did his best to rid his face of any pain and fear he was feeling. If this truly was his final moment, he wasn't going to give Levi the satisfaction of showing any sign of weakness.

This time, Nick heard the unmistakable sound of a gun going off, but instead of being plunged into darkness, Nick watched in surprise as Levi's body fell to the ground. Nick whipped his head around and saw Nathan standing a few feet away holding a gun in his outstretched hands. The boy's face was pale and bloody. He had a deep, gaping wound in his abdomen that had covered his whole lower left side in blood.

Lowering his gun, Nathan stumbled over to Nick. The older man was not able to contain his surprise and relief. "He said that you were dead!"

Nathan gave him a faint smile. "He was wrong."

Nathan bent down and struggled to help Nick to his feet. He then went over to Matthew and stooped to pick the little boy up. Nick was taking deep breaths, trying to gather enough strength to continue his trek through flames when Nathan appeared at his side and placed Matthew in his arms.

"The door is straight ahead. Go straight. Always straight. I'll be right behind you." Nathan said loudly in Nick's ear.

As if on some kind of autopilot, Nick walked in the direction Nathan had indicated. One foot in front of the other as fast as possible. He paid no attention to what was on the right or the left of him, but he kept his eyes focused straight ahead of him.

Nathan staggered forward, hoping to follow in their wake, but he legs collapsed from under him and he went crashing to the ground. Every last ounce of his energy had been spent trying to find Levi and prevent him from hurting anyone else and he had done his job. Nathan looked up and watched with relief as Nick and Matt disappeared into the swirling smoke. They would make it. Of that, he was confident. A tiny smile crossed his face as his eyes closed for the final time.

Nick was trudging forward to the best of his ability, acutely aware of how the pain in his gut was growing with intensity. Try though he may, he could not ignore it. He had not gone more than twenty feet when the world suddenly seemed to swim before him. His legs were becoming more wobbly with each step he took. Still, Nick pressed forward, his strong determination to survive pushing him to the limit.

As he took another step, he didn't quite raise his foot up enough and the tip of his shoe skidded across the floor. This threw him off balance and brought him to his knees. Once down, his body did not seem to want to get up again.

'No! You can't stop! You have to get up! You have to save this little boy! He's counting on you!' he told himself fiercely.

He tried to drag himself to his feet, but the room was spinning so badly that he wasn't sure which way was up. Closing his eyes, he steadied himself and managed to get to his knees, Matt was still in his arms. With a cry of frustrated determination, he got to his feet and opened his eyes. He took a step forward and then another one.

Tired. He was so tired. All he wanted to do was sit down and rest. He could feel his strength fading too. Where was the door? How far was it? Surely he had to be near it. After all, the room wasn't that big. He told himself that he could make it a few more steps. He would make it a few more steps. If he just kept pushing himself, he would reach the door at any moment.

But in the end, his sure will could not save him. Finally, his body gave out. Overcome with pain and fatigue, Nick fell to the ground and the yellow and orange flames faded into oblivion.