AN: I apologize for the gap between chapters but life has a way of catching you off guard and I've been dealing with an Uncle that has had multiple strokes, two heart attacks in the last weeks, and to top it off, tonight the hospital managed to 'lose' him without telling us they'd shipped him off to the nursing home that he'll be in till he relearns to eat and swallow on his own...please keep him in your prayers...enjoy the story and I promise, I'll post as often as I can.
She reached out and touched his arm the moment Grissom stepped away "Nick, look" she swallowed hard "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry…I" she stammered "I didn't mean to hit you so hard" her hand moved up toward the side of his face where it still stung. "S'okay Sara" his hand covered hers "at least I don't have to worry about whether or not you can take care of yourself" he smiled reassuringly. He squeezed her hand gently then slowly released it as Grissom returned "Okay, here's what we know" he waited until he had everyone's attention. "For some reason we're surrounded, my guess, besides the two that Nick and Sara saw, there are probably others already on board" he lowered his voice "What we don't know is why" and that rankled him to the bone. "I think I'm safe in assuming that at least half the cops here will have come armed so whomever is behind this has to know there's going to be a show down when this takes place" he felt the wheels in his mind rolling at double speed "my guess, they're either bringing weapons or they've already stowed them away on board and I don't think we're going to get much of a chance to find them. He knew immediately that the odds were already stacked against this going down without massive bloodshed and a multitude of wounded or worse.
"Gris, we could try to warn everyone" Warrick began as he stood protectively behind Catherine. "And start mass hysteria?" Catherine turned and looked up wide doe-like eyes staring at him "Look" Grissom interrupted, "we don't know what their intentions are or when this is going down but something tells me we won't get thru half the crowd. "Unless we broadcast over the loudspeaker" Greg's hand shot up in the air but just as quickly dropped as five sets of eyes turned on him like he was completely insane "Again, that would only cause mass hysteria and a good portion of Las Vegas' Finest have probably already tipped a few" Sara kind of snickered when she said that knowing her history with liquor. "Not to mention we'd be tipping our hands to anyone planted in the crowd" Nick reminded them.
"We need to find Ecklie, the Mayor and the Chief of Police first" Grissom turned toward the group. Sara looked at Nick as if she was about to say something when he shook his head "I know this goes totally against protocol Gris but in all honesty, we're the only ones that know what's coming down right now and we can't all be caught together" his eyes locked with the older man's "Your suggestion Nicky?" he was letting the younger man play this out. "We send Greg" who turned to him, jaw dropped to protest "just hear me out" Nick put his hands up to avoid confrontation. "Greg can find Ecklie, The Mayor and the Chief" again he saw Greg start to open his mouth "Do you have a gun on you Greggo?" he turned, hands on his hips in the ever defiant Nick Stokes mode. Greg shook his head "Didn't think so" he turned back to the team.
"We split into teams and settle in somewhere and have anyone that can see and shoot straight do the same" Grissom nodded but turned as Sara shook her head "Problem Sara?" she stepped between Nick so she could be heard "I think we should split up" she turned feeling Nick's eye bore into her head "Bad idea Sar" he shrugged in apology then continued "Greg doesn't have a weapon, if God forbid it goes down before we have back up, we won't lose leverage" he turned to apologize to Greg since he knew it didn't come out right . "Greggo, not that you're not an important part of the team but right now, we need all the guns we can muster and we can't afford to lose a single one" Greg nodded and smiled "Guess I'm your Go-To-Guy" he tried to lighten the mood. Once again Sara moved forward "If we split up, we have a better chance" Nick was already shaking his head as was Grissom "If we break off in teams, we have each other's backs" he corrected her and saw her feet splay, hands on her hips as she moved up toe to toe "So, I have Nick's back, Catherine has Warrick's back ….just who has yours?" she hadn't seen Jim Brass come looking for his friends. "Look Sara" Grissom touched her shoulder "I'm not questioning anyone's abilities tonight" he spoke softly "but right now I happen to agree with Nick" she wiped her lips against the back of her hand. Your point is valid but in this case, I agree that teamwork is of the utmost importance and it's better if we know someone as our backs. She stood where she had planted her feet. "And again I ask you Grissom, who'll have yours?" Jim Brass coughed then finally spoke up "Who needs to have who's back?" he was a little stunned as everyone motioned for him to lower his voice.
"Nick and Sara noticed something off the starboard side" Grissom whispered "Nick already had one run in with two thugs that are somewhere up there" he motioned to the second deck "Something's going down, we're surrounded by teams on wave runners" he saw Jim looking around "Trust me Jim, Catherine and Ric have already confirmed this" he knew they had precious little time before something took place. "Greg's going to find Ecklie, the Chief and the Mayor and tell them what we know" he swallowed "we'll need as many armed cops as we can get" Jim chuckled but stopped at the confused look on Gil Grissom's face "Gil, this was a party, how much do you think most of them" he motioned back toward the ballroom "already had to drink tonight?" Gil took a deep breath "Forewarned is Forearmed Jim" Catherine hesitated wondering just who quoted that one. "I'd rather take my chances and warn as many of them as we possibly can without causing a riot then to let this play out without trying" Jim knew he was right.
"What do you want me to tell them?" Greg interjected and waited on his boss for further instructions "Just tell them what we already know, tell them Jim and I will be down here on the starboard side" he turned to Nick and Sara "You two, get back upstairs and try to find somewhere to lay low till this goes down" he looked to Cath and Ric "you two, take the Port side, find a safe place and we wait to see what happens" he felt in his gut the outcome couldn't be good. "All of you, be careful, we still don't know what or who we're dealing with" Greg turned to leave then quickly turned back "If anything does go down guys, watch your backs" he winked at Catherine and Sara, patted Nick and Warrick and was about to do the same to Grissom when he thought better of it and waved as he quickly disappeared into the ballroom.