Chapter 4: The Discovery
The few days went by quickly. Nick started to feel better each day and was back to how he was before Nigel in no time. He started his exercises up again, doing them twice a day like Dr. Carson told him to do, once when he first woke up and once when he was getting ready to go to bed. He was starting to believe what everyone was telling him, that it wasn't his fault, and started to be more open with them. Nick started to get ready for work.
Once he was at work, he went to the break room to see what Grissom would tell him to do. He looked around the break room, and noticed that Grissom was not there at the moment. He must be early for once. He sat down on the couch and waited for Grissom to show up. While waiting he remembered that he forgot to do his exercises today, so he did them. He took off his sling, and started to move his shoulder in all directions, until he felt pain. He was concentrating so hard on his exercises, that he didn't hear the door open, and see Grissom walk in.
Grissom was running late, and quickly walked to the break room. Once he got there, he noticed that Nick was taking off is sling. Grissom wondered why Nick would do that, and quietly watched him. Grissom noticed that Nick started moving his shoulder in all directions and realized that Nick must be doing physical therapy exercises. Quietly, he walked in and sat on one of the chairs waiting for Nick to finish.
Once Nick finished he looked up and noticed that he was not alone any more. He saw Grissom sitting on a chair and wondered how long Grissom was there. Putting his sling back on, Nick waited for Grissom to speak.
"Hey Nick, today I want you to start out working with Sara on the new case she has. She is in the fingerprinting lab. Just remember to take it easy, alright. I'll be in my office if you need me." Grissom informed Nick.
Nick left the break room and headed towards the fingerprint lab. He wished that Grissom didn't pair him up with Sara because Nick knew that Sara would be able to tell when and if he lied. He entered the fingerprint lab and went over to Sara.
"Hey Sara, Grissom told me to work with you on your new case. He didn't tell me anything about the new case, so could you inform me what it is about?" Nick informed. Sara looked at him and realized that he was just trying to get her thoughts away from the fact that he was injured. Sighing she answered him.
"The case is about a murder that happened in one of the casinos at the strip. The victim was shot three times, once in the head, once in the chest, and once in the thigh. The shot in the head was not a through and through, the other two were. It seems to be the same M.O as the murder of Mr. Everest. I have collected the bullets from the crime scene and morgue. Let's compare them to the bullets found at the Everest murder. We may have a serial killer on our hands. I want you to start comparing the striations of each bullet to the others. Tell me when you are finished." Sara informed. She saw Nick start to rub his shoulder in pain, but didn't say anything, waiting for him to be honest about it.
Nick felt a throb of pain in his shoulder, so he started to rub it, forgetting that Sara was watching him. He sighed, and collected the bullets and went over to the microscope to compare them. It was hard to do with only one hand, but he didn't complain. Working slower then he would have if he had both hands to work with, he carefully started to compare them. After around, a half of an hour, Nick was finally done comparing the bullets. He found that each bullet was an exact match to the next, except for one. There was one lone bullet that did not match the others at all. He wrote down his findings and shared them with Sara. Once he was finished explaining to Sara, he went to find Grissom.
"Grissom, I need to talk to you."
"What is it Nick?" Grissom questioned.
"Well, Sara had me compare the bullets from her scene, to the ones found at the scene where Mr. Everest was shot. I looked at each bullet carefully and matched all but one. There is one bullet, from today's scene, that doesn't match any of the other ones. So I think that we have a second shooter. Could you have Brass look at Dawson's file to see if he has any partners?" Nick informed.
"Sure thing Nick, I'll tell Brass. Why don't you go back to the lab and run a search on the lone bullet to see if you can find the gun?" Grissom replied.
Nick left and went back to Sara. He noticed that as soon as he came back, she left. Nick started the search and relaxed in the chair. His shoulder was acting up again, so he started to massage it, trying to work out the knots and relieve the pain.
Sara went to find Grissom. She was very annoyed at Nick for not saying anything about being in pain. When she found Grissom, she waved him over.
"Grissom, I need to talk to you."
"What is it Sara?" Grissom questioned.
"It's about Nick." Sara replied.
"What now?"
"He thinks that he has to hide his pain all the time. When he was in the lab with me, I saw him wincing and rubbing his shoulder in pain. I kept quiet to see if he would tell me about it, but he never did. GOD DAMN IT! Can't he see that we just want him to be better, and we are not going to be upset with him if he shows his pain? Why does he have to be so difficult?" Sara ranted.
"Sara calm down, now let's head over to the lab and see what he's up to. If he looks to be in pain, I'll handle it ok. The last thing he needs right now is for you to be frustrated at him." Grissom reasoned.
They headed over to the lab where Nick was, and went in it. They saw him sitting on the chair rubbing his shoulder with is eyes closed. Tapping him on his other shoulder, Grissom tried to get his attention. When Nick opened his eyes, Grissom looked sternly at him.
"Nick, what did I tell you about hiding your pain from others?"
"Not to do it and you will be mad at me if I do." Nick answered in shame.
"Well what are you doing right now?"
"Hidingmypain." Nick quickly answered in one breath.
"What was that?"
"I'm hiding my pain."
"Why didn't you tell Sara you were in pain?"
"I didn't want to be a burden. I didn't want to seem weak."
"NICK, YOU ARE NOT A BURDEN AND YOU ARE NOT WEAK. YOU WERE SHOT AND ARE RECOVERING FROM THAT. IT TAKES TIME TO RECOVER. Please Nick remember that, you are one of the strongest people I know." Grissom stated loudly. "Now next time tell us when you're in pain, and we will understand that you need a break. Go to the break room and take your pain killers. While you're doing that, think about how you would feel if you were in our position, watching your friend hide their pain from you. You don't need to suffer alone." Grissom watched Nick get up and leave. Once Nick was out of hearing range, Grissom sighed.
Once Nick came back, Grissom had left. Sara was still there working on the fingerprints found at the scene. Nick quickly went over to Sara with his head low, and told her that he was sorry for not being honest with her. He went over to the computer and glanced at it. He noticed that there was a match. The bullet came from a gun registered to Nigel Crane. Nick gasped. He printed the sheet out and showed it to Sara. He noticed that he had started to shake. 'How could all of the cases be related? Were they all trying to get him? Was he safe?'
Sara read the sheet and felt faint. She looked at Nick and saw how badly he was shaking. Walking over to him, she gently started to massage his back, trying to calm him down. She knew that Grissom needed to see this, and could tell that Nick needed a break. Heading towards the break room, slowly guiding Nick, she looked around trying to find Grissom. Gently helping Nick sit down, she went to get him a glass of water. Coming back, she gave him the glass of water, and sat down next to him rubbing his hair to try and calm him. Sara heard the door open and looked up, it was Warrick. She waved him over, and showed him the sheet.
"Here, this is what Nick found on his search."
"Oh my god, how did Nigel Crane's gun get used in a murder, if Nigel is being held in the police office right now." Warrick exclaimed. "We need to tell Grissom and Brass. What if Nigel escaped? He could hurt Nick again."
"I know, can you keep an eye on Nick while I fill Grissom and Brass in?" Sara asked. She left once Warrick nodded.
Sara looked around the lab trying to find Grissom. Once she found him, she explained what Nick saw during his search. Grissom gasped and quickly called Brass in order to make sure that Nigel was still in custody.
"Hey Brass I need to talk to you."
"Yea what is it?"
"Nick found who owned the other gun in our murder case. It is registered to Nigel Crane. The thing is the murder happened today, when Nigel was in your custody."
"Oh no that's not good, there has to be a mistake. Let me go and make sure that Nigel is still here. I'll be right back, hold on…Grissom we have a problem."
"What happened?"
"The guard keeping watch on Nigel was killed, Nigel escaped. He's on the loose. I will get dispatch to search for him, but most likely he'll head your way, wanting to finish what he was doing to Nick. Nick is in danger now, don't let him out of your sight. Call me as soon as you hear anything ok." Brass informed.
Grissom told Sara the news and she fainted. Grissom sighed and picked her up, carrying her to the break room. He laid her down on the couch and looked at Warrick and Nick. He told them the news and Nick started shaking again. Warrick started muttering under his breath angrily. Grissom looked at Nick and sighed.
"Nick, you are going to have to be incredibly careful until Nigel is caught again. He may still be after you. I want you to stay in the lab until he is caught. What ever you do, don't go any where by yourself. That way, if Nigel finds you, you will not be alone and he will be easily captured. Promise me you will listen." Grissom ordered.
Nick sighed but nodded. He knew that he was the safest here, but he thought that if Nigel could get in Nick's attic, he could easily get in to the lab.
A few hours later, Nick was still in the break room. He was talking to Catherine Willows. Suddenly the lights went off, and the room was pitch black. Knowing that something bad was going to happen, he started to panic. He heard creaking footsteps on the floor above, and followed them. He noticed that Catherine had her gun out, so he took his out. The footsteps stopped and so did Nick. He heard a crash and looked around. The ceiling had collapsed right next to him. Nick heard another crash and realized that Nigel was here.
"Nick, I see we meet again. Now let's do it differently than last time. I want you and your friend, to come here." Nigel started waiting for Nick and Catherine to follow his command. "Good, now kneel on the ground with your backs to each other. That's it."
Nick and Catherine quickly followed what Nigel said. They noticed that he could not tell that they had their weapons out. They felt him tie rope around their wrists, binding them together tightly. Nick heard Catherine wince in pain, and couldn't stand seeing her hurt.
"Let her go! It's me you want!" Nick screamed. Nigel laughed and kicked Nick in the gut. Nick gasped in pain.
"Ha that serves you right for talking back to me. Now you only made me madder at you. I didn't want you to get hurt, but now you left me no choice. Say good bye to life Nick!" Nigel laughed.
Nick heard a gun being pulled out and screamed bloody murder trying to get some ones attention. He heard Nigel cock the gun and before Nigel could pull the trigger, Nick was stood up and kicked the gun out of Nigel's hand. Nigel screamed and raged at Nick. He pushed Nick hard and Nick fell on to the rubble. Gasping Nick got back tried to get back up, but with his hands tied he couldn't. Nigel laughed and advanced onto Nick again.
Catherine couldn't take in anymore and screamed. She screamed as loudly as she could, trying to get some one to come. All she managed to do was to get Nigel advancing on her instead. Nigel slapped her and grabbed her by the neck. She started to kick out at Nigel hoping to hit him. She heard a gasp of pain and she dropped to the ground.
"Now look what you made me do! You are almost as bad as he is. You made me hurt you. This is all your fault. Now I'm going to have to hurt him." Nigel stated. Catherine started to protest, only earning a slap from Nigel because of it. "Now, now none of that missy."
Nigel went over to Nick and kicked him again, this time aiming the kick at Nick's shoulder. He heard Nick scream and laughed at him. He was so focused on hurting Nick that he never realized that Catherine quickly slipped one hand out of the bindings, and got her cell phone, calling for help. Catherine had her hand back in the bindings before Nigel noticed anything was wrong.
Catherine was proud of her self, she was able to call for help with out Nigel noticing. She saw him kick Nick again and screamed as loudly as she could. Nigel turned and advanced on her. Nigel noticed a gun beside her, and picked it up. He aimed it at her and was about to press the trigger when he heard Nick stand up behind him. Turning around quickly, Nigel aimed the gun at Nick and fired. Nick heard the bullet come towards him and ducked. Nigel fired again and again and Nick kept dodging the bullets, but one grazed him, barely hitting him in the ankle. He gasped but stayed standing up. He heard another gun shot and quickly dove to the ground. Nick gasped in pain and stood back up. He saw Catherine huddled in the corner, and heard her crying. Keeping his eyes trained on Nigel, Nick slowly walked over to her. He got there and sat down next to her. Nigel followed him and was picking up another gun, when the door burst open and someone shot a gun at him. Nigel gasped in pain and collapsed to the floor dead.
Brass arrived to the lab as quickly as he could after hearing Catherine on the phone. He was worried. He ran into the lab and heard gunshots. He hoped he wasn't too late and that they were still ok. Ran towards where the sound was coming from and burst through the door. He saw Nigel advancing on Nick and Catherine, picking up another gun. Quickly, Brass fired his gun at Nigel and heard his gasp of pain. Brass turned on the light and noticed that he had killed Nigel. 'At least now Nick will be safe.' He quickly went over to where Nick and Catherine were and called an ambulance. He had to make sure they were ok. Kneeling down next to them, he realized that their hands were bound together behind their backs. After he freed them, he told them that Nigel was dead and that they were now safe from him forever. He comforted them until the ambulance arrive. Once they were safely in the ambulance, he called Grissom and told him what happened and what he knew about it.