An Unfair Act of Vengeance

Notes: Well, I hope you like this chapter as much as the others. It is mostly focused on Nick, but the others still play major parts. Hope you take the time to review, and I'll try to reply as soon as I have time! Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write them! The next chapter ought to be posted Friday night, and I'm almost done with the next couple of chapters!

Summary: Grissom and Warrick find Nick, but they find the situation difficult to handle. Meanwhile the team finds more disturbing news from the Phoenix PD...

"Hey Sara, Gil wanted you to give me an update, so how is the case going?"

"It's going just fine, Catherine, I've got some suspects. The only problem is that it may be gang related."

Greg looked over the report, and it was beginning to get to him... ten patients missing, as well as five workers... not to mention hundreds of unexplainable bruises on patients... this was going to get ugly...
"Hey, Griss, check this out."

Their eyes landed on a single picture frame that had apparently been smashed against the wall... Warrick carefully flipped it over to see a picture of Nick and his father smiling happily. Grissom stepped closer, and in the bottom corner he could see that someone had scribbled 'Pancho' in the corner... He slowly pulled out his cell phone and placed his call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Catherine, it's me, Gil... Do you happen to know anything about Pancho's role from 'The Cisco Kid'?"

"Gil, what in the world does 'Pancho' have to do with anything?"

"It's about Nick, Catherine..."

"No, I don't think I've ever even heard of 'The Cisco Kid'..."

"Oh, you mean his doofus sidekick that's always bumbling around?"

Catherine jumped at the voice behind her.

"Jeez, David, give someone a bit of a warning next time... now what were you saying about Pancho?"

"Oh, he's just a real goofy screw up... my family used to watch it a little."

"Oh... well... thanks for the info..."

"Catherine, you there?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just ran into Hodges, and he enlightened me about Pancho."

"What did he say?"

"He said Pancho was some sort of doofus, kind of goofy, and what not..."

"I was afraid you were going to say that..." He whispered as he hung up.

Catherine stared blankly at her phone once Grissom hung up... I don't know what's going on, but it can't be good...

Grissom and Warrick finally built up the courage to go down the short hallway towards Nick's bedroom. Warrick stopped as Grissom held up his hand, and motioned for him to be quiet. Then he heard it... they could hear some kind of muffled sobbing coming from the bedroom just ahead. The supervisor quickly closed the distance between himself and the door, and pressed his ear against it. He knew this was definitely invading Nick's privacy, but if that would let them help him then it was worth it...

"I'm s-s-s-sorry... I'm so sorry... I know I was never good enough... I know I let you all down..."

It was too much for Grissom to take as he listened to his CSI breaking down in the other room, who was once more closed off from everyone by a simple door... He knew what was going on now, though, just not why... Nick was ashamed of himself, and was too afraid to face anyone. He knew how much Nick felt he needed to please others, and if the man thought everyone would be ashamed and disappointed in him... At least I know for myself now. Something inside of him had simply refused to accept what he had heard before about his friend...

Warrick edged closer as Grissom began to test the doorknob. He had barely heard Nick's voice, but he had heard it well enough to know that they had all let their friend down... I'm going to help fix this... He needs us, and I'm going to find a way... I've got to find a way to help him...

He stared intently on the picture of him with the rest of the team. His sobs were accompanied by the intense pain that shot through his body.

"I... never belonged here... I-I've screwed up everything... he... he was right all along..."

"Nick..."

His head snapped up and he immediately cowered away, not letting himself actually look at them. They're not supposed to be here... just something else I've screwed up... He tried to rub the tears from his eyes, but he couldn't fight them off. He had spent his entire life trying to be strong, and he just couldn't do it anymore.

Warrick didn't hesitate. He rushed past his supervisor, and moved in towards Nick. But, once he saw Nick recoil in fear he stopped. The man lying there in front of them was now holding his arms up defensively, and they couldn't even catch a glimpse of his face...

"Warrick, just step back... give him some space..."

"I can't just..."

"Yes, you can, and you have to."

Warrick slowly began to comply. There was nothing he could do if Nick was terrified of him... I did this... I hurt him; he needed my help, and I wasn't there for him...

"Nick... come on Nick. Look at me. Please, I just want you to look up..."

There it was again... that simple, uncaring voice... That voice that held no emotion... I suppose I'm not even worth caring about... not anymore...

He sighed. He had no ideas on how to handle this situation... he had never known quite how to react to Nick. It doesn't matter; you've got to help him. It could be now or never...

"Nick... we want to help you. We want you to be able to move on, but we can't help you if you keep shutting us out..."

"S-save it... Grissom... why can't you just say it? I know I let you all down; I know you all see how badly I've failed... at everything..."

"No Nick. Maybe it doesn't always show, but please believe me... I'm proud of you Nick. You've never let me down..."

"Of course I have! You can't even tell me the truth right now... you're just afraid because you think... You can't b-be proud of me... You've hardly ever given me solo cases... you've never had the guts to tell me that I'm not good enough. All you've ever done is felt sorry for me. First with Hendler, then Crane... and then all of this... you've never... You know I'm a failure..."

"Stop. Just listen to me, Nick. You're right when you say that I haven't been fair. The truth is that you've been ready for more than I thought you should take. I've held you back, and it wasn't fair for me to do so. Just know, that I am proud of you..."

"No... why don't you just admit it for God's sake? I can't even... he won... I lost... I don't have anything left; I let it all go..."

"Nick, you still have us; you'll always have us. No matter what happens, we'll always be there with open arms..."

"Like you were before?"

"We're sorry about what happened Nick, but it's hard for us too. After what happened to you... you started shutting us out even then. No one knows how to talk to you anymore; no one knows what to say... I know we let you down, but I promise you... it'll never happen again."

"I can't... it's too hard... trust is just..."

"I understand Nick. I know it must be hard for you to trust anyone anymore, but life is full of risks we can't afford not to take..."

He still couldn't look up at them... He couldn't face them; he knew they were disappointed... No one throughout his entire life that really mattered to him had ever truly been proud of him. His team had been no different...

They watched helplessly as Nick's sobs grew quicker and deeper... His face was pale, and they watched as he began to cry even harder. Suddenly Grissom moved forward, and carefully pushed the man's arms out of his way.

He flinched when he felt the warm hands close over his cheeks... His entire body was quivering, and he quickly shut his eyes.

Grissom pulled the unwilling man's head up and towards him.

"Open your eyes Nick. Just do it. No more excuses, just open your eyes."

His mind raced... there was nothing left... he slowly allowed his eyes to open, but regretted it immediately.

Grissom forced himself to remain steady as he looked into the younger man's dark eyes. There was no mistaking the despair and shame he saw mixed with an unbearable amount of pain...

Suddenly everything stopped. His mind stopped racing, and all he saw were his supervisor's eyes...

"I'm so sorry..."

"I know you are, Nick, but you don't have to be. I know you wanted to do more to help us find you, but I... we... know that you did more than your best. You made us proud."

He couldn't fight it... the voice he had been fighting in the back of his mind broke free. I can trust him... I know it... Without realizing it he felt his sore arms reach out and clasp themselves around the man kneeling beside him.

Grissom didn't know what to say as he felt himself being pulled weakly towards Nick's still trembling body. His eyes watched awkwardly as he felt the bandages on the other's arms wrap around him. He slowly let go of Nick's face, and moved closer.

Warrick sighed in relief when he saw Nick suddenly hug Grissom. It was probably the last thing he'd expected the cornered man to do... Just stay back... give them their space. He'll come to me whenever he's ready...

"Hey, Greg, what'd you find out from Phoenix?"

"Hey, you two. Uh, nothing good, actually. There are ten patients who are still unaccounted for, five employees missing, and a whole bunch of patients with bruises that don't appear to be self inflicted."

"Well, we've got one employee accounted for..." Catherine mused

"You mean the deliveryman?"

"Yeah, Greg, and we can assume that a second employee was posing as a repairman here..." Sara added slowly.

"Great, so there are still four people out there working for this guy, and we have no clue as to who they are pretending to be."

"That sounds about right Greg, and I don't think we should risk keeping Nick alone. If they're even one tenth as sadistic as Alberts I don't want to know what they might try to pull..." Sara commented slowly.

"Well, aren't Grissom and Warrick with Nick now?"

"Yeah... they are Catherine." Sara answered quickly.

"Ok, you guys, I'm going to go call Warrick, since I know Gil's phone is turned off. Greg, you, start looking for any clues that might lead us to them, and, Sara, you get to find Brass and question this delivery guy and Sofia and I will take on Alberts..."

"Sure thing, Catherine. Hope you get some good news!"

Warrick couldn't hold back the slight smile as he watched Nick cling to their supervisor. It was a good sign that he could actually make human contact without at least flinching, let alone cowering into some sort of corner... He's going to make it through this... if we just give him enough time... he'll come around again... His thoughts were disrupted as he felt his cell phone begin to vibrate in his pocket. A quick glance back at the other two made it clear that neither really recognized that he was even there. He slipped back out into the hallway, and walked outside before answering his phone.

"Hey, Warrick, I've got some bad news..."

"What is it Catherine?"

"There may be four more guys out there who could possibly be after Nick."

"Damn, and we get that news now..."

"How is Nick?"

"He's… better. We were uninvited guests for quite a while, and we looked around a bit. Then we found Nick in his room, and after some talking he finally managed to look at us, and he's been holding Griss hostage in a hug for at least the last ten minutes... while simultaneously crying into his shoulder."

"That's a relief, but I still don't think he's ready to hear about any more possible danger, not yet. Give them some time, but stick around and keep your eyes open. I talked to Sofia, and she's arranging to send some police over, so they'll be there in maybe an hour. How did he react to you?"

"Uh... well... honestly, he didn't react too well. I'm not sure if he's ready to see anyone else quite yet. I have to admit, with Griss, I was flat out nervous that he'd send Nick right into an institution..."

"We just don't give him enough credit, Warrick, and when it comes to most of the important stuff he finds a way to make his points and to make them stick..."

They watched the monitor closely. It was almost like something right out of a movie...

"Looks like my bet is going to be a winner."

"Nah, I mean, Eric, there's no way that guy can recover after everything that's happened to him..." .

"Well, no offense to you, Jack, but I got my fingers crossed that Eric is gonna be right. It'd be a lot of fun watching the boss break him for good..."

"See, Jack, at least Danny is on my side..." Eric replied jokingly.

"Well, I'm with Jack on this one; no one can come back from that kind of stuff..."

"Ah just shut up Tom..." Jack retorted sarcastically.

"Ah, let's just watch; this guy's blubbering is quite entertaining..." Danny piped up once more, eager to see what would happen.

"Here you go Catherine. These are the files of your missing employees."

"Thanks." she replied as the secretary left to return to her post in the main lobby... Her eyes quickly scanned the names.

"Okay, Sofia, I need you to send the following names and pictures to the officers heading over to Nick's place, and then put out an bulletin on them as well."

"Okay, so we need one for... Eric Kelner... his brother, Daniel Kelner... Jack Silper... and one for Tomas Hindley..."

"Yeah... hopefully we'll be able to find them in at least a few days..."

"I'll get back to you on that, Catherine... and I'll have them send Alberts over, so we can ask some more questions, in say... half an hour?"

"Sure thing. It may take me some time to come up with the right questions anyway..."

To Be Continued...
Next Chapter: Grissom stays with Nick, but Nick still can't face the rest of the team. The police arrive, and Warrick decides to leave, since Grissom won't leave Nick's side. Catherine decides the situation can't wait, but is confronted by the sheriff who gives her even more unexepected news. Meanwhile Sara and Brass take on the deliveryman, and Warrick and Sofia question Dr. Alberts. The interviews lead them to Grissom's office where another surprise is set up for them.