An Unfair act of Vengeance

Notes: It took me a while, but I got it done, I think the grammar should still be fine. I'm starting the next chapter soon, but it could be a while before it comes out. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well, and thanks for the great reviews!

Summary: Catherine gets attacked in the CSI locker room. Nick is held at gunpoint and forced to tie himself up. The CSI team is once more at work, yet the evidence continues to point back at Nick.

"Why don't you just answer the question Nicky?" He smiled viciously at the visibly scared CSI. "Tell me why you were crying…"

Nick looked with recognition at the tall, bulky man hidden beneath those same black clothes. He couldn't answer; his entire body shook as he imagined the bullet that would inevitably find a place somewhere inside of him.

"Hey, dumbass, when someone holding a gun to your head asks you to do something you do it, no matter what it is!" Nick flinched at the man's cruel words, clearly knowing that this guy wouldn't hesitate to hurt, or kill him.

"My boss… and my friends…" Nick whispered quietly.

"That's better… I don't see why you care about those stupid little bastards; they're going to get you killed one day. Don't you get it Nicky? Everything bad that has happened to you because everyone on your team considers you expendable…"

He shook his head… It isn't true… They care about me… At least Warrick does. He's my best friend… They're like my second family…But what if that still doesn't make me mean anything to them. He couldn't help but think that maybe they didn't really care about him. Maybe they did consider him expendable, and they only acted as if he was their friend so that he'd have to go into all thedangerous situations rather than them.

"Catherine!"

"Yeah?" Catherine asked at Brass and Sophia as they hurried down the hall after her.

"We got the number of the guy that called in the first body at that crime scene." Sophia reported briskly.

"What, no address?"

"Nope, apparently someone pushed the wrong button, and the computer never recorded the address, only the phone number, here it is." Brass replied curtly. Neither detective had been very happy to find that some more evidence on the case was compromised.

"Oh my God…" Catherine's eyes went wide as she saw the number. Her legs began to give out, and Brass had to grab onto her arm to keep her from falling.

"What's wrong Catherine?" Sophia asked sternly, her eyes looking down at the piece of paper with the phone number on it.

"I-it's Nick's number…" she whispered, and both Brass and Sophia looked stunned at the news.

Warrick had seen Catherine talking to Brass and Sophia down the hallway, and ran up to them when he saw her stumble and begin to fall. When he finally reached them Brass just handed him a piece of paper, and went on trying to take care of his friend. Warrick looked down at the paper. 555-0190. That's Nick's number, why is this such a big deal? Then his eyes focused on the rest of the print on the paper. His own legs began to feel numb and weak as herealized that this meant that Nick had called the police to inform them about the body… Which meant that Nick must've killed the first victim… or at least Officer Dayton, and then turned the knife on himself… By the time he managed to think that ithad to bewrong somehow, Catherine had already stood up, and was shaking her head.

"Warrick, do you know where Nick is?"

"H-he was going to go to talk to Grissom…"

"And, where's Grissom?"

"I think he's still with Archie…"

Catherine took off before Warrick could finish, and she nervously pulled some lose strands of her hair out of her face before she entered Archie's workstation. She found him pacing back and forth, biting his nails.

"What's wrong Archie?"

"O-oh, Catherine, I think something bad has happened… Nick found out about the other voice on the tape, and he was furious… Grissom left a few minutes ago… I feel so bad…"

"Whoa, wait a second… What tape, what other voice?"

Archie seemed to regain his usual self for a bit as he remembered what Grissom had told him. The words still echoed in his mind. You don't tell anyone about what just happened Archie. This is between Nick and me; I've got to leave for my plane now. Just remember, don't tell ANYONE, or I'll make sure you pay for it one way or another.

Catherine sighed, visibly annoyed that he wouldn't answer. She decided to take another approach.

"Do you know where Nick is now?"

"I t-think he went to the locker room, but I'm not sure…"

Catherine burst out of the room, and ran as fast as she could to the locker room.

"Oh come on Nicky, just open your locker… I went through a lot of hard work to give you the present that's waiting inside."

Nick hesitated, but when the masked man menacingly thrust his gun right against Nick's forehead he complied. The door slid open easily, and he began to tremble even more when he saw dozens of copies of the 'Crime Stopper' article about him taped all over the inside of his locker. His breathing got deeper, and he knew he was about to lose it.

Catherine burst into the locker room half expecting to see Nick dead, but was surprised to see that the room was empty. She walked up to the single locker that was open, and fought back tears when she saw the sides of Nick's locker covered with the "Crime Stopper" article that Nigel Crane had submitted all those years ago. She never got the chance to scream when she felt someone grab her roughly from behind. She grabbed at the arm around her waist, before she decided it was futile. Whoever was attacking her was way too strong, but at least she could give her team the proof they'd need to nail this bastard.
Please forgive me Catherine… If you only knew, please forgive me… Nick silently begged, he wished his friend could hear him, but she couldn't. He winced as he felt her fingernails dig into his arm. The gun was still pointed at the back of his head, while another hand procured a white rag drenched with what smelled like alcohol. Nick could already guess it was ether. He was starting to suspect that whoever was holding that gun had left his voice on that tape…
Catherine still tried to struggle, but when her eyes caught sight of a white rag heading towards her mouth she knew it'd be over soon. Then she caught a small gleam, and her eyes went wide when she saw the familiar ring on the man's finger. Oh God Nicky, what are you doing?

Tears swelled in Nick's eyes when he saw his friend lying unconscious on the hard, cold floor. He turned and looked back at the gunman.

"Please, don't hurt her, please…"

"Oh, she isn't the one who is going to be hurting, and you really ought to be more worried about what happens to you."

"And… w-what would that be?"

"Maybe I'll explain it to you, why don't we take a little walk?"

Nick walked slowly out into the hallways, trying hard not to think of where they were going.

"Hallway is c-clear."

"Good, now let's move, fast, and I think you may want to know that I'm armed with more than just this gun."

Nick was led down a series of empty halls, and gulped as he found that they were headed towards the morgue. Within minutes they were inside the empty morgue.

"Go over to the wall and remove one of those panels underneath the counter." Nick slowly complied and looked surprised at thenarrow, emptyspace he now saw. He had never known that such a space even existed, but right now he wasn't sure he wanted to know what was about to happen to him. He could see the sickening smile of his abductor, and the man threw Nick a roll of duct tape.

"Start with your legs."

Nick reluctantly began to wrap the tape around his ankles, and he couldn't figure out why this guy was making Nick do all this… It didn't make any sense…

"Ok, your legs are good, now for your hands you can stick the roll on that bar over there and don't be shy about getting that tape really tight."

"W-why are y-y-you d-doing this?" Nick barely managed to get the question out.

"Because you've earned it, Cowboy! Oh, and I sure hope you don't mistake this for some random act, because I plan on enjoying how much you're about to go through."

Nick began to wrap his wrists with the duct tape by circling them around the bar that held the roll. After a few dozen times around he felt a gloved hand stop him.

"Now tear the tape with your teeth, and then I want you to tear off another piece and put it over your mouth. If you comply, you won't get hurt… as much…" He laughed mercilessly as his prey roughly tore the tape with his teeth, before he managed to rip off another piece and reluctantly secured it over his mouth.

"Now if you don't mind, hop on over to the table." Nick turned slowly, but never got the chance to avoid his attacker's leg. He groaned as he hit the floor. He could feel his tears falling down his clenched jaws, and he just wished it would end. Where the hell are you David? Why isn't there anyone around when I actually need them? But he was brought back to reality as he felt himself being pushed towards the empty space below the counter. His eyes were wide with horror as he was pushed deeper into his new grave. He looked back at the man kneeling down on the floor nearby.

"Now go on and slide the panel back into place as well as you can…" He flashed another one of his evil smiles, and Nick began to shake violently as he was forced to place the panel back into its proper position, surprised to find small handles on the inside of the panel.

David walked into the morgue, and looked around. Something felt wrong to him… He looked at the table, and saw a roll of duct tape resting on a side bar meant for towels. He picked it up, and then set it down on the table. He moved over to the counter to catch up on some paperwork. With the Doc gone I guess I'd better get this all done… I wonder who left that tape here, no one should've been in here without me… Oh wells, there isn't anything I can do about it… And why does something still feel wrong in here? He was finding it hard to focus on his paperwork and set his pen down. Only to watch it roll off the table and onto the floor.
Sara was fighting back tears when she slammed the locker room door open. Why did Nick have to make everything harder? I know he's been through so much more than I can imagine, but to go this far… She stopped at the sight of Catherine lying on the ground.

"I need some help!" Sara cried out as she rushed over to the unconscious CSI. She looked for any injuries, but only found some blood on her fingers. A quick look underneath the bench showed a white rag that reeked with some type of alcohol smell. She heard the door swing open behind her and turned to see both Greg and Warrick staring in disbelief.

David bent down on his hands and knees to look for the pen, but he couldn't see it anywhere. This is freaking ridiculous! A pen can't just disappear, at least I hope not…

"Sara!" Mia called out from the lab as the CSI rushed down the hall.

"What have you got?"

"I just ran it, the results are printing out now. Computer found a match, we just have to wait and see who attacked her…"

Mia quickly grabbed the paper, but when she read the name she looked stupefied. I-I think I'll rerun the sample, this has got to be a mistake."

Sara looked at the paper even though she already knew from Mia's reaction that it was Nick's blood. She hurried out of the lab and found Greg and Warrick in trace with Hodges.

"It was ether wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Sara, how did you know ?" Greg asked hastily.

"It was Nick's blood."

"Wait, this means that everything that has happened so far has been done by Nick…"

"We don't know that 'Rick." Greg said, his voice suddenly a bit defensive. "Someone else could easily be framing him."

"I hope you're right, Greg." Sara said, but she couldn't hide that she thought it was unlikely.

David looked back towards the counter when he suddenly noticed a small gap between the paneling and the floor. That isn't right… What the hell? He began to pull the panel out, and he shoved it to the side only to see his pen lying right next to Nick who was silently sobbing and whimpering as he tried to rip the tape that held him with all his remaining strength.
To Be Continued...
Next Chapter: I plan on this one covering Catherine's reaction when she wakes up, and the team's decision to get Nick evaluated by a psychiatrist sooner, Nick is still weary from being shoved under the counter, but finds that the doctorlooks familiar.Warrick sits through the evaluation with him, and Nick grows angry when he feels that they are both pinning what happened on him. Greg fights with Sara and Catherine over how the situation is being handled, and can't believe that his friend's are so quick to say that Nick must've done it.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!