Finding Him

"Oh my God, 36 hours?" Warrick asked, dazed. "Only 36?"

"Yeah … the poison is lethal. You have to understand that if you don't find him quickly-very quickly-he isn't going to make it."

"Okay Wendy, thanks. Now, can you give me a file with all the components of this poison?"

"Already done. Here Grissom."

Grissom took the file and read it quickly. He saw thirteen different poisons, including thallium and arsenic, some of which were impossible to get if you weren't a lab tech. "But Hodges was," Grissom thought to himself. But, he realized, all the components on the paper couldn't make the poison and the cure. Then he saw two substances and the words 'unidentified chemical' beside them.

"Damn it …" he whispered. "What are we going to do?" he asked out loud.

Grissom was the person who always came up with a solution, who always had a plan, so when he asked the rest of the team what to do, they knew that it meant there was no other way.

"I don't know …we don't have anything. God, all I know is that we need to save Greg no matter what." Nick replied ."But I do know that I'm scared "

"Me too. Funny, because I can't remember ever being afraid. But I am now."

"Guys, don't lose it, okay? We've got to stay focused on the job-we can't give up, alright? Lets see what we've got."

"What we've got? CATHERINE, WE HAVE NOTHING!!!" Nick yelled, at the end of his rope. "We have nothing …we can't save him ...God how I hate that bastard!"

Shocked, the rest of the team remained quiet. They couldn't think; they felt empty, guilty …like all of the hope had just disappeared. For the first time they felt that they couldn't do anything. And this feeling was awful. They hadn't lost hope when they saw Nick buried alive, and they remained strong when Greg had been kidnapped the first time. But now the hope in their hearts was gone, and they didn't think that it would ever be back. What could happen in the next 36 hours that could help them save their buddy? Nothing. Totally, completely, absolutely nothing. The biggest punishment for them was to feel so powerless, and knowing perfectly well that Hodges was aware of that-that was what he wanted. That bastard took advantage of their love for each other. Lord, how could they be such idiots … how could they not have seen how obvious it was that Hodges wanted revenge on them?

Every CSI in the room was thinking the exact same thing. They all felt so guilty, even though none of them had done anything. They didn't hurt Greg. They didn't know that this would happen, and simply step aside. No. But yet this was their fault, because they couldn't help him.

"So," Catherine, uneasy, broke the silence. "What are we going to do?"

"This is so hard...I know that I can't do anything, but I feel that I can save him …" Nick spoke. "I mean, there has to be something that will help us. I can feel it. We all know that Greg is a fighter and I don't want to start again with the things we did when he was in a coma. Sara taught us to trust him, and there is no way we're going to just abandon him now, got it?"

"Yeah, Nick, I agree with you. And I trust Greg-we all do. We just need to go back to work. Quit feeling sorry for ourselves and moping. For him. To find him." Catherine said, the determination obviously strong in her voice.

"Your right-I'm in." Warrick replied.

"Me too. He would do the same for us, so let's go gang, we have someone to save." Grissom told them .

And the hope was back.

"Why the hell we were thinking that we can't do anything?" every CSI asked himself. "It may be hard, but we do know one thing for certain- we can't-won't- just give up without a fight."

…

After two hours of hard work, Catherine thought that she had found nothing. She scanned another random paper, her eyes quickly flying back, as she read the paper again. Her hand was shaking, her heart beating wildly. Hodges had a second house . Maybe, just maybe, with an absolute miracle...maybe Greg was there.

"God please, please, let me be right" she whispered in her head and ran into the next room.

"Guys, guys, I found something! " she yelled. "Come here now!"

Grissom and Nick, Warrick at their heels, entered the lab, hope evident in their eyes.

"What is it? " Nick asked, barely able to breath.

"Hodges has a second house! Somewhere in the east side of town. Maybe we can find something in there. "

"Let's go then, quickly."

A man from cleaning services was just outside the lab, listening to the conversation between the CSIs. He pulled his cell out, dialing a number.

"Boss, Dean here. They are heading to your house ."

"Thanks, Dean. They're in for a little surprise ," Hodges laughed evilly .

…

Brass was just entering the lab when he saw all four CSIs rushing out the door .

"Hey guys, where is the fire?" he asked, and then instantly wished he hadn't when he saw the hurt look on their faces. Greg was missing, and everything to do with him was way more important than any fire. "Something with Sanders?" He tried again.

"Yeah. Brass, you can come with us, we might have found Greg or at least something about him. Hodges has a second house." Grissom said.

"Alright, I'm going to call my guys and I'll go with you. Come on then, let's go get him."

They didn't need any more urging. Nothing else mattered now, Greg's safety was their only concern. What they didn't know was that Hodges was one step ahead of them, because he had Dean and Jim who told him every move they made.

….

Hodges knew that eventually they were going to find out about his second home, so he already had a plan. He wasn't stupid. Everything was ready for them.

David looked at Greg, who was lying unconscious on the hard, cold floor. He had decided. Seeing Greg's white face made him smile, and he rose from the chair he was sitting in. It was time for the last part of his revenge.

….

Nick drove silently but fast. The sooner the better, and if he had to tick off a few drivers then so be it. He knew exactly how Greg was feeling, he had been kidnapped and he knew that it was worse than anything anyone who hadn't experienced it could imagine.

Suddenly they were there, and had drawn their guns .

"Police! Open up!" Brass yelled.

There was no answer, and the police men broke the door. It fell aside, revealing the interior of the house, which, surprisingly, was actually very beautiful. The CSIs didn't notice however, as all their thoughts were on Greg.

"Hodges? Get out!" Nick yelled .

But the house was empty. No movement. Nothing. They were about to leave when Catherine saw a red stain on the otherwise spotless white carpet. When she approached the place where the spot was, she saw a little door on the floor.

"Guys! Come here, hurry!" she called.

Sensing her urgency, Nick and Warrick came quickly and helped her to open the door. They looked inside and saw something. No, not something...someone. Someone.

They saw the man that all of Las Vegas had been looking for. Greg was lying on the hard ground. She entered and put her hand on his neck, searching and praying desperately for a pulse……

…

Hope you enjoyed it ! thanks to Lindsay (my beta !.

And , of course , to you , my dear reviewers , I received 15 reviews for the last chapter ... wonder how many I will receive for this one ...

Please r&r

Danielle