A/N: Ah Elena, I'm not trying to kill you and I don't hate you...your reviews are always so sweet! LMAO

Sorry for the late entry, haven't been on the computer today.

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Nick shut his eyes. He was in too much pain to fight. He didn't want to see the bullet exploding out of the gun barrel and come flying at him. He didn't want to see his death. It didn't matter if he was immortal or not, he was not ready to face his death. Especially when he was about to die at the hands of kid. Of all the screw ups he'd accomplished, this was definitely the one that would follow him throughout the centuries. Death by preschooler!

Suddenly the kid cried out in pain. Nick opened his eyes to see what had happened. Someone was there! He couldn't see through the pain-filled haze in his eyes, but someone was there. Someone had stopped the kid from blowing his head off. The kid made a whimpering sound and grew quiet. Whoever his savior was, was now kneeling beside Nick. Nick could feel the presence, but the pain was blocking his vision.

"Nick? You okay, Buddy?" Greg's soft voice was the best thing Nick had ever heard. Since the guy was technically dead, Nick figured he could safely say that Greg's voice was angelic. His own freaking guardian angel. Who would have ever thought that of Greg Sanders?

Nick shook his head, trying to rid the fogginess. The pain was getting to him. He was embarrassingly wacky, even when it was in his own head.

"Nick?" Greg whispered, sounding worried and anxious. Suddenly Greg disappeared into the shadows. Nick reached out for him, wanting the comfort of his friend, as his eyesight remained muddled.

"Nick!" Sara was suddenly at his side. She was looking like she stepped out of an abstract painting, but it was Sara. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's a kid." Nick chuckled only to be rewarded with a sharp stabbing pain in his side. He grabbed at the injured area, feeling the warm dampness that told him that he was bleeding again.

"Kid?" Sara repeated, looking around to see that a kid was huddled in a ball a few feet away. "That's who was after us? That's who shot us?" Sara frowned unbelievingly. "You've got to be kidding. What happened Nick?"

Nick grimaced, trying to focus on Sara's face. Between the strange lighting and his own funky eyesight, Sara was blurry, at best. "He was about to shoot at you. At least, I think it was you he was going to shoot. I tried to take the gun from him, but the little bugger is meaner than a snake. He got me in the ribcage. I think he did some damage to my knife wound."

At that, Sara bent down and lifted his shirt. Sure enough, she could see the crimson stain spreading through the bandage. It was oozing out the edge of the tape and trickling down his stomach. "Look's like you pulled the stitches open."

"Little creep did it." Nick pushed her hands away and righted his shirt. "Weird, but it messed up my vision. I can't see too clearly." Nick shook his head again, trying to repair his vision. He was happy to see that it was a little better.

"What happened to the kid?"

"Don't know. After he rammed my gut, he got the gun from me. Evil little creep. He had the gun in my face. I was about to die, then Greg came out of the shadows and saved me." Nick confessed a moment before biting his tongue. That was a stupid thing to say! As far as Sara knew, Greg was dead.

"I think you must have hit your head, Stokes." Sara sighed sadly. Reaching over Nick; she took the rifle from where Greg had placed it. She gasped as she heard footsteps approaching. Aiming the gun into the darkness, she nearly fired at Richie as he dashed into the dimly lit area.

"Whoa!" He halted, hands up as if to ward off her attack.

"Nick's hurt." Sara frowned at the man.

"I'm okay." Nick tried to rise, relieved that his vision was returning to normal, Richie wasn't nearly as blurry as Sara had been. Richie looked him over and shrugged. There was nothing he could do for him. "This kid is what we've been hiding from."

"A kid with a high powered rifle." Richie corrected, looking over the gun as he took it out of Sara's hands. "He's subdued; let's see about your friend over there. I'll watch the kid, you go see about your friend. "

At the mention of Catherine, Sara and Nick hurried over to her while Richie kept an eye on the sniveling child. He waited for a report back, not wanting to take his eyes off the child. Who knew what other weapons the kid might have on hand? He didn't think he would ever live long enough to not be shocked at something like this. Life seemed to throw you curveballs every once in a while.

"She's alive." Nick informed him. "Doesn't look hurt but she's unconscious. Most likely, she was drugged to keep her quiet."

"Well, let's get her and the kid out of here." Richie nodded. "Get you both to a hospital."

A loud crash reverberated through the building followed by a cry of pain. "Warrick!" Sara jumped to her feet, charging in the direction that it seemed to be coming from.

"Sara!" Nick was up and on his feet, hurrying after her. He paused, torn between going after her and staying with Catherine.

"Go get her! I'll deal with these two." Richie barked. Nick nodded and took off after Sara.

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"So, this is who killed me?" Greg appeared next to Richie a moment after Sara was out of sight. He looked down at the weeping child looking distressed over the thought. "He killed me?"

"Killers can come in all shapes and sizes." Richie frowned before bending down to lift the child into his arms. "Let's get your friend out of here."

Greg went over and carefully lifted Catherine into his arms. He was surprised at how easily he could do it. Someone who seemed as tough as Catherine did seemed like they should weigh more. "Wonder what Grissom will think when he hears that this is the killer."

"I think he's as much of a victim as anyone here. Coy Morgan is behind this." Richie disagreed, cuddling the child to him. The child whimpered and snuggled against him as any frightened child would. "That monster has traumatized this kid."

"So what do you suggest we do with him?"

"We get him some help. Put him somewhere they'll understand what he's been through, that what he did was not his fault." Richie declared as he began to make his way through the rubble.

"What about Nick and Sara?" Greg hesitated, looking back the way he'd seen his friends go. He wanted, more than anything, to go after them. This was why he'd fought so hard to get out of the lab, he wanted to be involved with what the others were doing.

"Let's worry about these two." Richie ordered before reminding him. "You can't be seen by this one or the other woman. You are dead, Greg."

Greg didn't like the reminder. He looked down at the woman in his arms. What would it be like to never see her again. He still had a lot to learn and Catherine had a lot to teach. He would miss her. Resigning himself to the loss, he shifted her in his arms and began to follow Richie.

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"Sara! Stop!" Nick caught up with Sara, grabbing her arm to force her to stop.

"Warrick. We've got to get to Warrick! Catherine is safe! He doesn't need to confront this man! Let's just find him and get him out of here before someone else gets hurt!"

"Sara, he'll be fine. Let's just catch up with Richie and help get Catherine to the hospital." Nick held tight as she tried to squirm out of his grasp.

"No! Not until we get Warrick! We've already lost Greg! I can't bear to lose Warrick too!" The raw emotion in her voice gave Nick pause. He had seen Sara cry and he'd seen her upset, but he'd never seen her like this. She was…..near hysterical.

"Sara…."Nick began, but a strange noise pulled their attention in a different direction. Nick knew it was the now familiar sound of swords clashing together. "Warrick." He muttered, irresistibly drawn to the noise. He knew it was Warrick. His best friend was somewhere near, engaged in a life and death battle. Someone was intent on killing Warrick and there was nothing Nick could do. Without a word of argument, he followed Sara onto the metal catwalk that led to where Warrick was.

Now that he was this close, he had to be there. He had to see that Warrick was going to make it. He looked down and frowned as he dropped Richie's sword to the ground below. Sara glared at him with irritation but he simply shrugged. He hadn't even remembered picking it back up. It wasn't a big loss; he wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. He knew that if this guy beat Warrick, then he would be no match for the man.

From the catwalk that they stood on, they looked down on Warrick's battle with Coy Morgan. The room was insanely bright compared to the darkness of the places they'd been. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to this new shock of light.

Sara couldn't believe what she was seeing as her eyes adjusted to the light. Warrick was engaged in a sword fight with another man. A sword fight? Surely, her ill-treated eyes were deceiving her. It was the twenty-first century, people did not have swordfights! Suddenly the sights and sounds blended together and registered in her brain. This was, indeed, happening! She gasped as the sharp blade of his opponent slid into Warrick's side.

Warrick's white wife-beater quickly turned crimson on that side when the blade pulled free. He grunted but lunged forward for his own counterattack. His blade sliced across the other man's arm.

"Warrick!" Sara surged forward, pulling her gun out of the clip on her hip. She was determined to jump into the fray to help Warrick. Strong arms suddenly wrapped around her. She was pulled against a hard chest.

"No Sara. We can't interfere."

"But….it's Warrick. He's hurt." Sara whined, her eyes never leaving the fight below them.

"He knows what he's doing." Nick's lips were close to her ear as he held her still. "We can't interfere, it's against the rules. He's better off if we leave him alone. He can't be distracted by us."

"Rules? What rules? Rules to what?" Sara hissed angrily. She knew she could get free from Nick's restraining hold. All she would have to do was ram her left elbow backward. It would connect directly into his now reopened injury.

She wouldn't do that to Nick. She and Nick both knew that. She couldn't willingly cause him any pain. Therefore, because of that, she had to settle for just watching Warrick from where they stood.