An Unfair Act of Vengeance
Notes: I like this chapter a lot, but it took quite a bit of time to put everything into words. The reviews have been great, and unfortunately my updates might start slowing down as things get busier for me… Hope you enjoy it, and please keep the reviews coming, they really help me focus!
Summary: Dr. Alberts uses Nick and Grissom against each other. Catherine interviews Kelly Gordon and the rest of the team finds out about Walter Gordon's accomplice. He knocks Grissom out, and the CSI supervisor wakes up to find the other two long gone. He is forced to drive back to the lab, and is found by Catherine.
"What would you do for your "guy" Mr. Grissom?" Dr. Alberts mocked as he held the barrel of his pistol at Nick's head.
Grissom stood frozen. Howdid he getinto my house? How the hell am I supposed to help Nick out of this? But the gunman interrupted his thoughts.
"Maybe you haven't had a whole lot of experience with someone who is holding a hostage, but with Nick's life on the line I'd think you'd at least answer my question."
"I don't know what I'd do…" Grissom replied honestly.
"Then I think it's about time that we find out." Alberts stated calmly.
"G-Griss… d-d-don't…" Nick was silenced as the psychiatrist's gloved hand covered his mouth.
"Don't tell me that you're fully incapable of feeling anything Grissom… It would be a true shame for Nick to have to suffer even more for your personal faults. Now, let's get started…"
Grissom forced himself to stay calm, but it was becoming difficult to hide the concern he had for Nick's safety… He would have to remain like this for his CSI's sake, as well as for his own. His whole team had seen what he was capable of… they had seen what he had done to his patient, Victor Freid, and he wasn't about to let that happen to Nick…
Catherine was hurrying towards the door, and nearly knocked Warrick off his feet. Both had been too concerned about their destinations to be watching for anyone, but Warrick quickly turned to follow the older CSI.
"Where are you heading off to?"
"I have to meet brass at Kelly Gordon's place…"
"Kelly… Gordon? Isn't she still in jail?"
"Nope, she was paroled, but she isn't a suspect…" Catherine realized that Warrick still didn't know about the tape… "Come on, I'll explain it all on our way there."
Warrick's mind was still reeling with surprise… A second voice… Damn… How could you keep that from us Grissom? He forced himself to at least appear calm as they walked towards Brass and the young blonde woman.
"Ok, we don't exactly have a lot of time here, Miss Gordon. I'll get right to the point, do you know a Dr. Carl Alberts?"
"W-why do you care about that creep? He was a friend of my f-father… I couldn't stand him; my father rarely saw him though… Why are you asking me about him?"
"He's a suspect in an ongoing case; sorry, I can't discuss it further with you."
"Please, I n-need to know… did he do something to Nick?"
"Why would you say that?"
"He was creepy, and always pushed for revenge…"
Catherine looked at Kelly Gordon and could see the woman was trembling… This wasn't good. Dr. Alberts was being given too much time…
"Ok, thanks for your help and cooperation." She motioned for Brass and Warrick to follow as she turned to leave. "Brass, we need every cop available out there looking for Dr. Alberts. We need to get him into police custody before something really bad happens. Warrick, we should get back to the lab… there has to be something we haven't gone over yet…"
"Ok, Grissom, lets see how much young Nick here means to you… Would you be willing to say… get on your knees and beg for his life?" Grissom could see the viscous smile through a hole in the man's mask, and he knew the man wouldn't hesitate to kill them both…
He reluctantly got down to his knees, but this was something new to him… he had never begged for anything in his life, let a lone another person's life… He looked into the other CSI's eyes, and knew he didn't have much time to come up with something before the other lost it…
"Oh... cat got your tongue Grissom? Maybe you need to see your friend go through some more pain before something pops into your head… And while I don't have any cats, I do have these handy little pliers…" He chuckled as he removed his hand from Nick's mouth, and pulled out a small pair of metal pliers from his pocket. He cracked a large smile when he saw the older man grimace. This would be nothing.
"Open your mouth!" he hissed at the Texan, and sighed with contentment at the jolt his harsh words had sent through his victim, and at the fact that he had opened his mouth. It was easy now. He managed to close the metal teeth around Nick's tongue with ease, and chuckled as the man cried out as his tongue was pulled from his mouth, making it impossible for him to make any intelligible noise.
Grissom immediately reacted to the Texan's moans. "Get away from him, now."
"Oh, so that made you feel like talking, huh? Maybe this'll make you talk even more!" Nick cringed at the harsh words, but the other mens'words were soon drowned out as he felt his tongue being pulled even further from his mouth.
"Stop it, leave him alone!" Grissom was practically shouting.
"You really need to learn how to beg, Grissom, and if you start shouting I'll have to end this sooner than I hoped to for you. Of course I'd then take Nick for a 'nice' ride, and have some more fun… So, if you want to help your 'buddy' out, you'd better start playing along."
Grissom took a few deep breaths… "Please, let him go… he doesn't deserve this."
"You're quite right, Grissom, he deserves worse. He deserves to feel the pain and misery that he inflects on so many people. And I'm here to make sure that he pays in full." He released Nick's tongue, and Nick felt a sudden kick to his legs before he lost balance and fell to the floor.
"Nick, are you ok?"
"He'll be fine, for a while at least, but its time for you to do me another couple of 'favors' now, fist I want you to take these handcuffs, and cuff your CSI's hands behind his back."
Grissom looked at the pair of handcuffs that had been tossed to him. His eyes followed the path of the gun straight to Nick's head, and unwillingly cuffed Nick.
Greg listened intently as Sara filled him in on the tape, but he wasn't sure if he cared… all that mattered was that they had to find Nick before it was too late. The "Crime Stopper" article had been a dead end. Not much could be determined from the handwriting, and there hadn't been a single print on the piece of paper…
His eyes wandered out into the hallway only to see Catherine and Warrick hurrying towards them.
"Please, please, tell me that you guys found something…"
"Sorry, Catherine, but we came up completely empty-handed." Sara responded gloomily.
Grissom had been forced back onto his knees, and he found himself facing Nick who was also on his knees. Come on Nick, just look up, I swear everything will be fine. He let out an inaudible sigh…That's easy for me to say… I'm not the one with a gun pointed at the back of my head…
"Well, Grissom, we're running out of time, but I've got one more thing planned. I want you to get up right now, and go into your office." The words made Nick look up at his supervisor…
Nick looked fearfully into Grissom's eyes. Please, please… don't leave me… Don't leave me alone with him… don't abandon me… Tears were forming in his eyes. He could still feel the cold end of the barrel pressed tightly against the back of his head; apparently Grissom saw this as well, and he aversely stood to leave.
He found himself unable to look at the young CSI as he walked slowly down his hallway and into his home office. He waited, unable to do anything as silence engulfed his entire house.
"He's gone Nicky… he abandoned you, just like everyone else abandoned you when you needed them most… and now you're going to pay for all the pain you've brought to people over the years…"
Nick could suddenly smell something sour, and looked nervously at the syringe that had appeared in Alberts' hand. The liquid inside was clear, but regardless of its harmless looking nature the CSI knew that this man was going to put him through hell… He cried out in pain as the syringe was rammed unceremoniously into his arm.
Grissom jumped when he heard Nick cry out. He looked around desperately, but the only items in the room were dozens of books, and few miscellaneous items on his desk. It didn't matter how, this guy was going down. He heard footsteps approaching the door, and was still trying to come up with a plan when the door burst open. His reaction was instantaneous.
Dr. Alberts grunted as the CSI rammed him into a wall. He couldn't help but smile. This guy was older than he was, and definitely didn't stand a chance physically. Even Nick or Warrick Brown didn't have the strength to take him down, but it would make this even better. He brought the gun down hard and fast against Grissom's exposed neck.
Grissom hit the ground hard. A sharp pain coursed through his neck, and he rolled onto his back only to look up at the man who had worked so diligently to ruin their lives…
"Time's up Grissom. I'm taking Nick away now, and I'm sorry to say that you won't be seeing him in person again. At least not alive, so I hope you're glad that you abandoned him when he needed you most, just like everyone else on his team." Grissom glared at the man, unable to conceal his utter hatred. I'm not going to let this happen, I can't let him take Nick… He wasn't sure how he did it, but he summoned all his strength and thrust his heel right beneath Dr. Alberts' knee.
He let out a grunt, surprised at the kick to his leg, and he distantly heard his gun go off. When he finally managed to regain his focus he saw the older man lying on the ground clenching his arm in pain, blood was quickly flowing over his hands. A smile once more found itself embedded in his face. With a quick punch the CSI was unconscious, and he left the room to quickly finish the job.
Grissom wasn't sure how long he had been out, and gritted as the pain returned in his arm and neck. He forced himself into an upright position, and managed to roll up his shirtsleeve. He sighed, the bullet had barely nicked him… Then he froze… His wound wasn't important, his pain was completely irrelevant… all that mattered was Nick. He clawed at the walls for support, and made into his living room only to find it devoid of all life… He fell onto the sofa, and reached for his cell phone only to find it smashed to bits on the table. Then his eyes saw fell onto a small piece of paper. He once more forced himself to focus on finishing his task… His hand grasped the paper firmly, and he managed to pull it close enough to read.
How will you, and your team be able to live with themselves after what you've all put Nick through? Hell, I'm really only finishing the job you've all been busy starting for me. It must be hard, everything seems to happen to him doesn't it… First his babysitter molesting him when he was only nine years old… Mrs. Hendler, pointing that gun in his face just because he managed to put the pieces of a crime together before anyone else… Being thrown out a window and having someone living in his attic watching his every move… All the way up to randomly being abducted by my belated friend… Just know this; this time it wasn't some random act. Though, I hate to say it, he didn't deserve this as much as you and the other dimwitted fools on your team. At least he cared about the lives you guys ruin every single day. Just like some CSI ruined Walter's life; he was my closest friend. You destroyed him, so now I'm going to destroy you, and your team, by taking away the one CSI that never got what he deserved from anyone. Perhaps, someday, I'll even tell you where his body will eventually be put to rest…
Grissom found it impossible to fight the tears… how had he let this happen? But, a voice in the back of his head urged him to get up. Crying over this wouldn't help Nick, and after everything that had happened in his home there had to be some type of evidence… He pushed himself off the couch, somehow ignoring the pain that encompassed most of his body. His hand calmly lifted the phone on his wall, but when he couldn't hear a dial tone he knew that Alberts had cut the phone line… There was only one real choice left…
The supervisor found himself outside, and couldn't see a parked car, or light in any of the neighboring homes. He awkwardly climbed into his SUV, and was glad to find the keys were still in his pocket. Several minutes later he was hobbling through a familiar parking lot.
Catherine swore as she hastily grabbed her cell phone from the passenger's seat. She could count on one hand the number of times she had forgotten her phone, and she knew that she was pushing herself harder than usual. She slammed her door, and turned back to the lab only to see Grissom stumbling in the middle of the parking lot. Without a moment's hesitation she ran up to her supervisor and was overcome with shock to see his arm bleeding, and a darkening bruise on his neck…
"Grissom what in the hell happened!"
"C-Catherine, he… he took… he took Nick… f-from my place…"
"Oh my God…" Catherine didn't bother to say anything else as she fished her cell phone out of her pocket and called Brass.
Within minutes she was standing in front of Grissom's house with Greg and Sara preparing their gear while the police cleared the rooms. They were going to be going over everything with a fine tooth comb. That bastard isn't going to get away clean this time… Catherine let the thought energize her, and the three headed inside.
Warrick sat uneasily in the hallway of the hospital while waiting for the doctor to come out of his supervisor's room. The man had needed stitches badly, and had lost quite a bit of blood… He looked at his watch and resisted the urge to call Catherine… They need to focus on that scene, and I swear I'm not going to be the one that distracts them from finding the one clue that'll let us find Nicky…
To Be Continued…
Next Chapter: Nick finds himself in the trunk of a car, and finds it hard to fight off the side effects of the poison he was injected with. Catherine, Greg, and Sara process Grissom's house, Greg finds the note left by Dr. Alberts. Doc Robbins gets back, and goes out of his way to try to comfort Nick's family when they hear what happened at Grissom's house. Nick's condition doesn't improve any as the car reaches its final destination…