A/N: Thanks so much for allthe reviews:-)

This one was a little hard to write, because of the lack of medical knowledge on my part. I had to do a research - which was real fun. I hope you´ll enjoy the story as much as I did writing it.

Trapped

by Nicol Leoraine

Chapter 4

When Nick touched the handle, he knew something was wrong. He felt the power running through him with painful clarity. He wanted to scream, to pull away, but his fingers didn´t listen. They curled around the handle, gripped by the current and Nick´s whole body was held firmly in the deadly trap.

Grissom realized what´s going on in the moment Nick´s body jerked and he acted on instinct. He knew every second counted, as well as he knew that there was no way to turn off the power. Touching Nick was a risk he couldn´t take, but looking around, he didn´t saw anything he could use to pull the CSI away. He took a deep breath and without another thought of the danger, he threw himself at Nick.

Grissom felt the electricity run through him the same moment he connected with Nick, but it didn´t last as his momentum carried both of them toward the floor, Nick´s deathly grip on the handle broken.

The fall wasn´t gentle. Grissom felt the impact as he landed on his once dislocated shoulder. He gasped in pain and for a minute could only stare at the ceiling. Then, even that wasn´t afforded him. The light went out as suddenly as it came on, leaving them in utter darkness. But at least it was a catalyst. Grissom jerked, pulled out of his stupor, and moved as quickly as he could. He grabbed the still shining flashlight and knelt next to Nick.

He shone the light at the CSI´s ashen face at the same time reaching for the carotid on Nick´s neck. Nervously repositioning the fingers when he couldn´t feel the beat, Grissom swallowed. There was nothing.

His hands trailed down to Nick´s sides at the level of the lowest ribs, waiting for a movement, but Grissom already knew there wouldn´t be one. Without as much as a pause, he put the flashlight away and started CPR. Placing his hand on Nick´s chest, he made sure the bottom of his palm was located two fingerbreadths below the sternum, then covered it by the second palm and pressed directly down. He repeated the movement fifteen times, then quickly moved to the head and two times breathed out air into Nick´s mouth. He then returned to chest compressions, repeating the action every fifteen seconds.

During all this, he couldn´t stop thinking that this just couldn´t happen. That he should call for help, that they wouldneed much more than just basic CPR to save Nick. But he couldn´t lose time trying to locate the cell and fumble with the tiny buttons, even though he knew how time was of the essence in cases like this.

His shoulder throbbed mercifully by the time he leaned over Nick to breath some air into his lungs, when he stopped. Head low above Nick´s mouth, he listened and this time prayed that it wasn´t just his hearing going wild. But no, he could hear the soft hiss and as he watched, he saw Nick´s chest rise.

With a trembling hand, he reached to check for a pulse and couldn´t stop a gasp when he found it. Grissom waited, making sure it wasn´t just his senses playing with him, then uttered a not very Grissom like expletive and took several deep breaths to try and calm his own heart.

"You´re alive," he mumbled and reached for his phone. It was time to call for help.

xxxx

Warrick angrilly shut the cell and glared at Catherine.

"I can´t reach any of them!"

"You tried Brass?" Catherine asked, getting a bit nervous herself. They were standing before the big steel gate with a security booth and fence all around. The gate was supposed to be open, but it wasn´t. They also couldn´t get anyone to answer their cells and it made them fairly suspicious.

"I tried everyone, Cath! Nick, Grissom, Brass... even Sara damn it. The operator stated they´re all out of reach. Which doesn´t make sense."

"Maybe the building is protected from any signals?" even saying that, Catherine looked dubious.

"It´s still weird. The gate should´ve been open. And dispatch hasn´t heard from any one of them for quite a time." Warrick moved to the car and without warning blared the horn. Catherine jerked but didn´t comment. She knew Warrick wasn´t very pleased by her offer to drive out and help the guys, but the night was calm and they just finished a case that took them most of the last week. What she hadn´t told him was about the nervous feeling in her stomach. She couldn´t place it but she knew sitting idly in the lab wouldn´t make it go away.

Warrick grumbled all the way, until Catherine threatened to kick him out of the car, but everything changed once they reached their destination. Now it was Warrick whose instincts screamed at him, and he couldn´t stop them.

"Shouldn´t there be a guard if the gate is closed?" Catherine asked. They didn´t had any details on the case, that was the problem. Maybe there was a realtively good explanation for it. Resigning, Warrick gotinside the car and started gathering information.

Meanwhile, Catherine started exploring, much like she was processing a scene. She could see several tire trackson the dusty ground. They were no doubt succesful in getting to the scene, so she assumed the gate was closed after their entry. That alone was a troublesome thought.

While Warrick was heartedly conversing with someone from the Security company that was assigned to Faston, she tried to pinpoint the source of the buzzing sound that accompanied her from the moment she left the car. Frowning, she let her flashlight roam the fence, until it stopped on the big sign which read - Warning! High voltage! Don´t touch the fence.

With raised eyebrows, she walked back to Warrick and had him ask the Agency if the fence was supposed to be under power. Warrick waited for a moment, then threw her a curious look.

"They said no. They turned off the power when the last employees left the building."

Without a word, Catherine went to the back of their car and rummaged inside, until she pulled back a screw-wrench. She walked toward the fence but stopped three yards before it.

"Watch it," she warned and threw the screw-wrenchat the fence. It connected and fell to the ground, but not before they saw the sparks. Catherine and Warrick exchanged looks.

"We can still use the gate," Warrick commented, his eyes glinting and Catherine knew she wouldn´t like it.

xxxx

"No signal!" Grissom uttered in disbelief. He squinted at the display but the words didn´t change. He practically thrust the phone back into his pocket, even though he could gladly smash the thing against the wall. The sudden hiss from his left brought him back to the problem.

"Nick?" Grissom gently shook him, hoping for a reaction, shining the light right into Nick´s face as the CSI moaned.

"That´s it, wake up."

Nick could hear the coaxing and felt the light invading his head. He tried to turn away, to return to the blackness. Something told him it would be much nicer then the light. But the voice kept calling at him and Nick moaned. He wanted to tell whoever was there to just leave him be, but he couldn´t even open his mouth. It felt like rubber. Thinking about it, his whole body felt like rubber.

"Nick! Now is not the time to sleep." The stern voice hissed and Nick realised it belonged to Grissom. What the hell was Grissom doing there? But what was more important - how could Nick have fallen asleep in front of his boss?

That thought provided him the adrenaline needed to open his eyes, only to close them again.

"Shut the ligh´," he mumbled, hardly managing his tongue.

But Grissom deferred and Nick let out a sigh.

"Nick? I really need you to stay awake," Grissom said, the concern clear in his voice. That was rather confusing to Nick and he blinked, trying to see Grissom´s face.

Why was it dark? All around them, only the flashlight provided any illumination. And why the hell was he lying on the floor?

"W-what happ´nd?" he asked and tried to sit up, only to fallback with a grunt. He hurt. Damn, he felt as if his whole body was on fire. He felt queasy and his heart was beating hard inside his chest.

Grissom saw the panic in his eyes and laid his hand on Nick´s shoulder, trying to keep him still as well as provide a calming influence. The last they needed was Nick going into shock.

"It´s okay Nick, take it easy. How are you feeling?"

"M´ chest hurts. Feels like som´thing hit me," he mumbled, one hand already reaching up. Grissom grimaced, knowing it was his own doing. But a bruised chest was still better than death and Grissom heard of worse cases when the rescuer managed to break several ribs in the effort to save the life.

"Do you know what happened?" inquired Grissom, trying to ascertain Nick´s state of mind as well as needing him to realize they werestill not out of danger.

Nick frowned, trying to recall and his frown deepened, when he blurted out:

"Faston. The research institute. We were looking for a body?" he asked and suddenly he remembered the lights coming up, him reaching for the handle, then the burning sensation...

"Oh shit!" he swore, then he moaned as the memories came back, along with the pain. "Ahh," Nick´s hand shot up, and he curled onto his side, cradling it close to his chest, but not quite touching anything.

"What is it, Nicky?" Grissom asked, alarmed by the reaction, but then he realised what the was problem and let out a sigh. He forgot to look at Nick´s hand.

"What the hell´s - going on?" Nick hissed between gritted teeth. The feeling in his hand came back with a vengeance and he cursed whoever was responsible for it. What started as a tingling sensation turned into white burning pain. He remembered once as a kid putting his fingers into a plug. He clearly remembered the feeling of something holding his hand. It was almost impossible to pull away but he managed. It left his heart pumping hard in his chest, that weird sensation of adrenaline and fear coursing through his body. At first he hadn´t felt anything. He looked at his fingertips and they were only slightly red. Shrugging it off as much as a ten year old was capable of, he went out to play with his brother. But after a moment, the pain came and he ran back to the house, straight toward the kitchen. He remembered that he kept his fingers in a glass with water for several hours, because every time he tried to take them out the water, they started burning. He acquired a small set of blisters but they went away, leaving new, pink skin. That was many years ago.

The pain he felt now was worse, partly because it covered a bigger surface, partly because he had no water. And to make it all even better, the whole hall was like a discotheque. The lights went on and off, blinking at a dizzying speed that could made an epileptic go into a Grand Mal seizure in mere seconds.

"I think someone is playing with us, Nicky," Grissom spoke out of the blue and Nick shot him an incredilous look full of pain.

"You think?"

Grissom nodded and reached out.

"Let me take a look, Nick."

The ten year old in Nick screamed no. He knew it would hurt. But Nick wasn´t a kid anymore and he reluctantly held out his hand. But before that, he needed to get into a more comfortable position. He satup, wary of the bruised chest. "Just how the hell did that happen?" Nick asked himself.

Grissom gently took the hand and inspected the red, swollen flesh. There were already blisters developing. Pushing slightly at the skin, he got a painful yelp from Nick and the hand was quickly extracted from his grip. He was still relieved to see the skin blanched.

"Ouch!" Nick scowled at him. "That hurt."

"I know. Sorry. But I needed to know the reaction."

"Huh?"

"If the skin blanches at the touch, it means it´s only first or second degree burns. That can go without scarring, if it´s not too deep. It´s quite painful but in a way, it´s a good thing."

"How can that be good?" Nick argued.

"Third degree burns usually aren´t painful, because the nerves have been destroyed," Grissom explained. "But I think a doctor is a more qualified person to make a diagnosis, so how about we get you to a hospital?"

"Nah, I think the first aid kit in the car will be enough," Nick said, trying to ignore Grissom´s frowning face.

"Nick, maybe you don´t remember, but I had to practically tackle you to break the contact. When I did, I couldn´t find any pulse and you weren´t breathing. I had to do CPR. I am sorry, but that´s probably the reason your chest hurts." Grissom paused, giving Nick time to absorb the information. The CSI stared at him wide eyed, unable to utter a sound.

"It´s a miracle that we´re now talking, Nick, but you still need to get checked out."

"I-I was d-dead?" Nick stuttered. He couldn´t hide his shock at the fact and he didn´t try. The closeness of the death made him almost dizzy.

"Nick, you´re alive. Concentrate on that, because I will need your help."

Nick blinked and nodded. He felt as if he were in a dream, somehow numb. If not for the persisting pain, he would believe it.

"Okay," Nick said bluntly. "What should I do?"

Grissom knew it wasn´t closed. Nick would probably get back to the subject - hell, he had a feeling he should say something more about it. But as he said to Nick, now was not the time nor the place and his first priority was to get all his people into safety.

"We need to find Sara and Brass, then get the hell out of here before anyone else gets hurt. We can send in a special team once we´re outside the building. The phones don´t work in here - maybe the building has some type of shielding. Are you feeling alright Nick?"

"After everything you said? Just great, man. Help me up?" Nick extended his good hand and Grissom pulled him up, steadying him when he swayed.

"What was wrong with the doors, anyway? Why was I shocked?"

Grissom thought that was a very good question. He didn´t think about it because his attention was turned solely on Nick, but now that he asked...

Making sure Nick could stand on his own, Grissom walked toward the door, careful not to get too close and not to touch the handle. Now he could see what had escaped him before. There, in the slot for the ID card were attached two wires.

"It was a trap?" Nick spoke from behind Grissom, incredulous.

"Booby trap," he corrected.

Nick snorted.

"No kidding," he mumbled and shrugged off Grissom who hovered a little too close for his liking. "I can manage, thanks."

Grissom merely shrugged and headed for the staircase. Once reaching the door, though, they both stopped, Nick slightly panting and Grissom needing to assure himself that this door wasn´t just another trap. Though they already came through it, the power was off at that time. But look as he might, he couldn´t see any wires. The slot for the ID was on the other side of the door, obviously so in the case of fire or emergency the employees had at least a chance to get away, without needing to search for their ID cards.

Still it took courage to reach for the handle. Grissom used the back of his hand just in case so that his fingers couldn´t curl around the handle. But there was no power running through it and Grissom let out the breath he was holding, though in the next second he couldn´t stop the curse coming from his lips.

"It´s locked," he said and looked at Nick, whose face just went a shade paler.

TO BE CONTINUE

Feedback is always welcome, folks. Tell me what was good or wrong.