A/N: I know I said I'd post on Thursdays, but this installment is ready a little early. It's a little short and it's a little slow, just a bit of the team dealing with what happened to Nick.

Disclaimer: If I owned anything, why would I be posting it here?

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Greg grimaced as he looked at Nick. Once again, Nick had found a new degree of looking pained and miserable. In the six years he'd known him, Nick always seemed to find new and exciting ways to get hurt. Now, he lay back against the white pillows, white blankets covered him and white gauze covered his chest and shoulder.

"It's a miracle the knife didn't do worse damage." Grissom was saying. "Basically, if you're going to be stabbed, that's the one place you can get stabbed that doesn't do any major damage. If the angle of the knife had been one degree different, we would be visiting you with Doc Robbins."

"'urts like hell." Nick admitted with a small smile.

"I'd imagine it does buddy." Warrick spoke up. He was leaning against the wall farthest from Nick. He had stayed back, acting aloof, but he was anything but. Greg knew that he was angry and worried still. The tension seemed to radiate from the big man.

"So what do we do?" Catherine asked from her seat beside the bed, where she sat holding Nick's hand. She still looked pale, but she looked good compared to Nick.

"We get the bastard!" Sara fumed. The conversation continued from there. Everyone seemed to have an idea of what should be done. Grissom mapped out the plan. Warrick remained silent. He said nothing; he just stared at the bandage on Nick's chest. Greg knew something was up. Warrick was not one to sit back and let others decide when it came to getting the perpetrator of a crime. Some sort of plan was formulating in his head. Greg worried that it would lead to trouble.

"I'm staying here with Nick." Warrick announced. Gil paused, studying the man quietly before nodding his consent. At the nod, Warrick added, "And so is Greg."

"Warrick, I realize you're upset, but I can't lose all of my CSI's over this. With both Nick and Catherine injured, I've got two down. We all need to work on this. The man who did this needs to be caught. He needs to be stopped."

"He will be." Warrick declared and Greg had a strange feeling that he had been right, Warrick was going to go after the man himself. Looking around, he saw that he was the only one that believed Warrick. Perhaps Nick did, but he did not seem to care one way or the other at the moment. He was barely lucid. He looked half-asleep due to the painkillers that had been pumped into him.

"Warrick-" Gil frowned his disapproving Grissom frown. It did not work on Warrick this time. In the past, the disapproving Grissom frown could turn anyone into a melting puddle of goo. This was a different Warrick; the frown didn't seem to faze him. This wasn't Warrick, CSI. This was Warrick, Immortal Warrior. Greg saw the difference and was awed. In all the years they had known one another, he had never seen the real Warrick, only a facade. The real Warrick, the warrior, was someone entirely different. He was someone to fear, if crossed. Greg was suddenly glad that Warrick was on their side.

"Greg and I are staying here." Warrick repeated, pushing off from the wall he had been leaning on. He surged forward, almost menacingly. Gil studied him as he studied anything that intrigued him. His expression didn't change as the larger man loomed over him. He had no fear of Warrick. Greg doubted that he ever would. To Grissom, they were all specimens to study under a microscope, nothing more.

"Okay. You two have the rest of this shift to stay with him. However,…..I want you both ready to work at the start of tomorrow's shift. Sara and I can handle tonight." Grissom finally nodded. "We'll head back to the lab after we get Catherine home."

"I'm not going home." Catherine informed him, drawing everyone's attention to her as she stood. "I'm ready to catch this guy."

"Catherine." Gil shook his head, clearly upset that everyone seemed to ignore the fact that he was the boss. He wondered when he had lost his authority. He clearly remembered a time when they all jumped to do his bidding. He would have to figure out what had changed the dynamics of the team and put it back in order. This was not a democracy. He was the leader and they were supposed to do what he said.

"I mean it, Gil! You didn't see this sicko! He was….licking Nick's blood! We have got to get him!" Catherine shuddered at the memory. "Please Gil….Don't bench me on this one. I will not be able to sleep until this freak is caught!"

"Okay." Reluctant as he was, Grissom knew better than to strike up a battle of wills with Catherine Willows. Especially in front of the team. He didn't think he would ever win when up against this stubborn redhead. "But you're only in the lab. Sara and I will do the legwork."

"Fine by me." Catherine agreed, knowing that she had no right to be part of this particular case, being that she was a victim. She would accept any part she was given, as long as this monster was caught.

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He had not killed the man. He hadn't even turned him. The damn man, Nicky, had survived and was now well ensconced in the hospital, protected and watched. He'd screwed up. If that woman had not of distracted him, he would have had his fun and then turned the man. As soon as he'd awoken as an Immortal, he would have taken his head.

It had been a while since he'd taken a head. It was getting harder and harder to find the new ones. It was just as hard to find the weak ones. Coming across Warrick Brown had been a stroke of luck. Perhaps this was turning out to be a stroke of bad luck. He'd screwed up.

Not only had he failed in taking the man's head, but he'd managed to put the man on guard. He imagined that he had managed to reawaken Warrick's desire to play the Game. In doing all this, now he had the attention of what looked to be a great warrior.

He had to be careful now. The mortals were going to be prepared for him now. Warrick and the other Immortal were going to be hunting for him. He had a decision to make. Did he go forward with his plan? Or should he cut his losses and run?

No! He couldn't let this man escape. He could not let this man slip through his fingers. He'd tasted his blood and he'd liked it. He wanted to finish this. He wanted to taste Warrick's blood too. That was why he had come all this way. He wasn't going to leave until he had both of them. They would both die. The kid too. Perhaps the kid would be the key. If he could get the kid, then the others would fall.

Yes, the kid had to die first. The younger they were, the more upset the elders got over the death.

Now that Grissom has been taken out of the running as Warrick's Watcher, the guesses are all over the place. I'm still not tellin!Muhahahaha!

Anyone into fanvids? I'm feeling the need to make a CSI/Highlander vid.