Author's Note: hello again! i have decided that, in honour of the snow day/day off schoolgoing on in Sudbury (where i live) today, i will post the next chapter a day ahead of schedule :) read, review, and enjoy:):)

Chapter 2 – Bad News

Grissom was sitting back in his chair tiredly as he waited outside the review room with Sara and Catherine for Warrick – having given him a ride there, Grissom had to wait until he was done so that he could give him a ride over to the arson call where Greg and Nick were starting to process the scene.

Grissom glanced down at his watch; it was 9:30 a.m.; Warrick was due out any time and Nick was due to arrive.

At that second, two things happened: Warrick finally emerged back out into the hall, a pleased smile on his face, and Grissom's cell began to ring loudly. Shushing the others when they started to question their newly evaluated co-worker, he answered the call.

"Grissom."

"Hey Gil, you and your crew better get down here." The voice on the other line belonged to Brass, who sounded more than a little on edge. "We've got a car arson on our hands."

"Sorry Brass, but today's our review day, and right now only me and Warrick are in the clear; Nick, Sara, and Catherine are still waiting to go in."

"Is Nick there with you?" Now he wounded oddly hopeful.

"No, but he was helping Greg out for a little while at a house arson just outside of town, and then he's going to be driving over. Why?" He heard Brass sigh and he frowned as he waited for an explanation.

"Like I said before, you and your crew, which includes Cath and Sara, better get down her and you better step on it; we've got a body and a possible kidnap."

"Brass, I told you they had review today and that –"

"I've already called the Board of Reviews and explained the circumstances and they've rescheduled the remaining reviews for next week." Grissom's frown deepened.

"What circumstances?" There was a long pause at the other end as Brass tried to think of the best way to work up to the grim news he had to break.

"What was the address of that house arson?" he asked suddenly.

"If memory serves, it was 42 Gilmore Drive. Why do you ask?" Another sigh, this one sounding more tired and regretful.

"The address of the car arson is 42 Gilmore Drive, Gil; the licence plate on the burning car belong to Greg Sanders, and the abandoned car across from it: Nick Stokes.

They were in the back of what was probably a seat-less cargo van and were on the move; that was all that Nick could come up with from his vantage point: blindfolded, with his hands duck-taped behind his back, tape over his mouth, and joints already plenty sore from sliding around the van's floor and hitting its walls every time they hit a bump in the road or turned a corner. He didn't remember being shoved in here , so best he could figure was he had passed out from lack of oxygen when the bag was put over his head – his theory proved right when the fuzziness and lightness feeling in his head kept him from being able to sit up.

Pulling his legs back between his arms so that his tapped wrists were in front of him, he pulled the tape off his eyes and his mouth with a quiet hiss at the sting, waiting impatiently for his eyes to adjust to the darkness as he tried to look around him for Greg. When he could finally see, he spotted the outline of an unmoving form curled up in the far back corner of the van, and he started to crawl towards it, as quietly as possible so as not to alert the driver to his consciousness.

"Greg," he whispered as he finally reached his side. Carefully, he pulled the tape off Greg's mouth and eyes. When the younger CSI still didn't open his eyes or make any movement, Nick reached a slightly shaking hand forward, searching for a pulse on his neck. At that moment, Greg's brow furrowed, and he frowned slightly with a quiet grunt.

"Cold fingers," he mumbled, slowly opening his eyes to looked up at him. Nick couldn't help but smile slightly, at the joke and in relief that he wasn't going to be stuck in this mess alone.

"It's not my fault that this tape's cut off the blood-flow to my hands. So, how're 'ya feeling?"

"Really light-headed," Greg answered, trying but failing to sit up. Placing his hands on his shoulder, Nick kept him from trying again.

"Easy now. Same thing happened to me when I came round. It's because we both passed out when those guys stuck bags over our heads. It'll pass in a minute."

"So, where do you think we are?" he asked when his dizziness had passed and Nick had helped him to sit beside him up against the wall.

"As far as I can tell we're in a moving van on a road outside the city, 'cause we keep hitting some damn big potholes." Greg laughed half-heartedly before falling into a scared silence once more.

"How long do you think it'll be 'till Grissom and the others find out we're gone?" he whispered, his voice more quiet than Nick had warned him that it had to be. Nick could tell that what his friend needed right now was reassurance from someone who had already been in a situation like this before, so he decided to be a little less than completely honest. He glanced down at where his wristwatch should have been, figuring that one of their captors must have taken it.

"Well, Warrick's done by now, and so Griss is gonna try to call my cell to remind me to get downtown so that Warrick can take over, and obviously the guys that tooks us have my cell or destroyed it, same for yours, so when he can't reach us, he'll want to know where we are and will start at the arson scene where he'll find two cars with no people in 'em. In short, it won't take him long at all to have the entire LVP station working on finding us. So just take it easy, and don't get too worried; we'll be outta here and submitting a report to Ecklie and a statement to Brass by the day's end," he said, trying but failing to sound confident, cheerful even, for Greg's sake. Even so, Greg accepted what Nick had said for what it was and smiled appreciatively, though Nick couldn't see it.

"I hope you're right Nick," he whispered with a deep sigh. Nick nodded in agreement.

He hoped he was right too.

A/N: chapter 2 may have been a little short, but chapter 3 is a long one, so the faster you review, the faster i can get up the next big chunk of the story (hinthint) who knows, maybe i'll post it today as well - maybe... please review:)