Title: No Easy Task

Chapter 6

The three CSIs stood a safe distance behind Brass at the command center. The detective paced back and forth as he waited for someone to answer inside the bank. But he could only go so far because the phone was tethered to an audio system simultaneously recording and playing the call for others to hear. He'd been letting it ring for a few minutes now and his eyes glanced from the bank's glass doors to Nick's colleagues. A shake of his head in their direction notified them that there was still no connection to the inside. "We're not getting anywhere," he muttered to himself.

It was then that Grissom's phone rang. He stepped away for a moment and answered hoping he'd be more successful than Brass in getting a better picture on what was going on. "Any news, Catherine?"

"Grissom, this guys unstable. Emotions are all over the place. Nick was talking to him for a few minutes trying to get him to talk to the police. Almost had him calmed down, then he lost it."

"What do you mean?" Catherine sounded like she was on the move, no longer in the lab. "Where are you?"

"Greg and I are on our way over. Listen, he found Nick's phone and freaked. The line went dead. We have no better idea of what's going on now than you do." Her next words caused him to close his eyes momentarily and take a calming breath in. "I think he may have gone after Nick again."

Not wanting dwell on that thought, he responded, "Anything else?"

"No."

"We'll see you when you get here." Grissom ended the call and walked over to Brass to bring him up to speed. Warrick and Sara hovered in the back, just close enough to listen to the update.

Brass was about to put the phone down when he got an answer.

"Yeah?" The voice on the other end was tense and apprehensive.

Considering that the line had been ringing for so long, it caught Brass off guard, but he recovered quickly. "Hey. My name is Jim Brass. I'm a detective with the Las Vegas Police Department. Listen, we're trying to figure out what's going. What we can do to help you, help the people in side with you. Can you tell me your name?" There was a smile to Jim's voice, as if he was catching up on old times with a buddy.

Seeing that Brass had gotten an answer, Grissom, Sara and Warrick went over to the audio system, all three trying to share a set of head phones so they could eavesdrop on the conversation.

"You want my name?"

"Sure. It'd be the polite thing to do. Don't want to refer to you as 'hey, you.' You can call me Jim." Brass continued with the pleasantries. He hoped to gain his trust. He already knew the man's name, but he wasn't about to upset the him by letting him know they already had a good idea on what had been happening inside.

The big guy sighed into the phone. "Jack."

"Great. Jack it is. Listen, Jack, if we get cut-off for any reason, just know you can pick up the phone and it'll ring directly on my end, okay?" There was nothing but silence, so he continued. "So, people outside the bank said they heard gunfire in there. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

He received a curt reply. "No."

"Good. Is anyone else hurt? We just want to make sure we can get anyone who is hurt some help."

"Yeah. Yeah. There's two dead." The voice was apprehensive, but one thing Jim Brass knew was that this guy was young. The apprehension told him this probably wasn't a hardened criminal, maybe the first crime this guy had ever committed. Although, why that would be robbing a bank was beyond him. But the fact that he was responding was good. It was like pulling teeth, but he was gonna keep going.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Jack. Who is dead? Can you tell me how many others are there with you? Are they okay?"

"Look, I'm not going chit chat with you guys all morning. There's two of them in here with me. Some guy and a woman. Now you need to tell me what you're gonna do for me."

"Well, what I want to know is what you want for us to do for you?" For now, Brass would let him think he was there to work for him.

"I take it I'm just not walking out of here a free man, am I?"

"No, Jack. I'm sorry. Unfortunately, we can't walk away that easily. Is there anything else I can do for you? Someone I can call for you?" He continued to try and gain his trust.

"No. I don't know."

"Listen, I don't want to rush you too much. But in the meantime, you said there where two other people in there with you? Yeah? Do you think you could let them walk out? I'll stay on the phone with you until you can figure out what you need me to do for you."

"No, way. I let them go, you storm in with guns and it's over for me."

"No, Jack. We're not storming in anywhere. We want to make sure those people in there with you are okay. That you're okay. Can you tell me if they're okay?"

The line was quiet for a few moments. Jack was afraid to say one of his hostages was shot. Shot by him. But not knowing what else to do, he responded anyways. "The lady is fine. They guy got shot." That sentence caused all three CSIs to look at Jim. That confirmation, coming from the hostage-taker himself, was like a kick to their guts.

Brass held in a chuckle at what Jack's definition of fine was. "The guy that got shot, can you tell me where?"

"Shoulder."

"Okay. Is he conscious? Can you tell how bad it is?"

"I don't know, okay. Guy got shot in the shoulder, he's bleeding. I'm not a doctor. I don't know how bad it is."

"Would you be willing to let them go?" He had to keep asking the question, maybe he'd eventually get a 'yes.' "That way we can get them medical attention? We heard the woman with you may be pregnant. She works for the bank and she never made it out with her coworkers. They're worried about her as I am sure you can understand. We'd like to get them some help. It would be to your benefit."

"Well if you know I got the pregnant woman in here, what else do you know? Did you know the guy in here was a cop?"

Brass did his best to sound surprised. "A cop? No, Jack. That's news to me. I didn't know. But I'm glad you're sharing this information with me. Shows me you want to work with me here. The more info we share with each other, the better, right?"

"I don't believe you."

"Come on, Jack. What did I ever do to make you think I'd lie to you? We'll work with you. It'll be easier to work with you if you show some good will and let them go, especially if they're hurt."

"Nah, man. Nah. I'm not ready to do that yet."

"Okay. Okay. You thought about what you want? Maybe we can exchange something for a hostage. Hey, you hungry?"

"What? Do you think I'm just gonna exchange one of them for a sandwich or something?" He couldn't believe they thought he was that dumb.

"I was just getting hungry myself, Jack. Making sure you weren't hungry too."

"I'm not ready to deal yet man." Then he hung up. Jim knew they were in trouble if this guy didn't even know what the hell he wanted.

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Nick heard every word of Jack's conversation with Brass. Wasn't too hard to imagine Jim's own questions and responses. He even imagined Brass using his usual quick wit. He was glad it was Jim on the other end. The man seemed to have a calming effect on the young man. But he was done talking to him. Now he was just roaming the lobby again.

Nick was getting complaints from his stomach, a definite queasy feeling had settled in. He hadn't eaten anything in about 12 hours now, so he knew nothing was going to come up if he started heaving. But heaving of any kind would do a number on his ribs. He was also starting to get a little tired. Probably from blood loss. He'd lost a good bit of blood already, but was sure the bleeding had almost stopped. He hadn't felt that wet feeling spreading as much since Mary wrapped her sweater around his shoulder. That thought caused him to look to his right. Mary was restless next to him. He knew sitting on the hard ground for, what, like two hours now had been uncomfortable for him. How must she have felt in her condition?

"You okay?" He did his best not to attract attention.

Mary gave him a sheepish smile. "I really have to pee. I don't think I have gone this long without a bathroom break."

Nick felt for the woman. But he knew she wasn't going to ask Jack for permission to go to the bathroom, not that there was one to access from the lobby.

"Jack?" Nick sounded as apologetic as he could. The man turned in his direction.

"I'm sorry, but, Mary, she really needs to use the bathroom, man." Mary looked at him in shock. Where was she going to go? Why was he drawing the man's attention to her?

"What? You want me to let her piss in the corner?"

That earned him a horrified look from Mary. Nick picked up on it and continued. "No, Jack. I think you should let her go, man. She's pregnant. She's gonna have to go to the bathroom like every hour on the hour. It's the way they are. It'll be easier for you to just send her out."

Jack began shaking his head, but Nick pressed on before he could say anything else.

"Have you thought of anything you need? Maybe you can exchange that for her, you know?"

He took a second to think. "I want outta here. If I'm gonna get caught anyway might as well make a run for it. If they catch me, they catch me. And one of you is coming with me."

Nick knew he wouldn't get far, but he wasn't about to share that with him. He sat up straight and tried to act like he understood Jack's plan, if you could call it that. "Okay. Okay, man. I get that. If you take one of us, take me, okay?"

Jack snorted. "Somehow I don't think you'll be the easier one to deal with."

"I would be Jack. I would be. Look at her. She's about to give birth. Like I said, she'll be needing to pee all the time. Probably start crying and drawing attention to you wherever you go. Plus, she can't move very fast. Just look at her."

All eyes seemed to focus on Mary, making her very uncomfortable.

"I can probably move faster than she can, but I'm in no condition to fight you on anything. Plus, like you said, I'm a cop. I know what they'll be planning. If what you want is out, I'll get you out. They won't put another cop in danger. You're safe as long as you're with me." To most, the words spilling from his mouth would sound like bologna. It sounded like bull to him. But Nick had a feeling Jack was buying it. He was listening. If he could at least get Mary out of here, it would all be worth it. He wouldn't play hero, not until she was away from Jack.

Jack turned away from them for a moment to think. Again he walked back to the window to peek through the blinds. From where he stood, he looked back at Nick and nodded. "What do we do?"

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It had been forty-five minutes since they'd had any contact from Jack. Catherine and Greg had long since arrived, joining the others in their vigil. They all anxiously waited for some word. S.W.A.T. had wasted no time and had positioned themselves in several locations. Two sharpshooters were positioned on the rooftops of neighboring buildings, with clear views of the bank. Two sets of officers in full-out protective gear were poised on either side of the glass and brick building, on the look out for any activity from the front doors. Other tactical officers were placed strategically around the building ready to receive and carry out orders from their superiors.

When the phone finally rang again, Brass ran to assume his position as the happy-go-lucky negotiator. Catherine and Grissom shared a headset while the rest of the graveyard shift looked on.

"Hey, Jack. Longtime no talk. Have you figured out what I can do for you?

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"I figured it out. I want a car. No tricks. I don't care what you said before. I want to get out of here otherwise you got some trouble with the hostages."

"Now come on, don't say things like that, Jack. We won't cause any problems for them."

"Well, then, that's it. I want out. You catch me later, so be it. But I'm getting outta here with one of them. You follow me, they're dead." The kid was doing his best to sound tough for the veteran detective.

"I hear you Jack. Listen, it'll take me sometime to put together some transportation for you. In the meantime, how about an exchange? One of them for the transportation? I'll even throw in some lunch while you wait. Make sure you guys have provisions for your trip. What do you say?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Okay. This is great, Jack. Who will you be letting go?" Brass didn't even have to ask the question. He knew the answer. And from the looks on the CSIs' faces, they knew too.

"The woman." It was what he was expecting to hear. No way Nicky would let anyone else stay behind in this situation, especially a pregnant woman.

"Okay. So here's the deal. I'll get started on a car for you cause I got nothing but marked cop cars here now. And I'll let you know when I get it. Give me 20 minutes and I'll have a box of drinks and stuff placed in front of the doors. No tricks, okay. I'll even put some first aid stuff in there for the guy. The lady will come out, slide it into the bank and she'll then come to us. Sound good to you?"

"Okay. Yeah."

"Good. You're a man of few words, Jack. Anyone ever tell you that? A little favor to ask, though, since we're both working so well together. How about you let me talk to the guy real quick since you're gonna take him with you anyway. I just want to make sure he's okay."

Brass thought that last request had cost him the line of communication they had established. The silence was deafening. Then he heard Jack mutter 'want to talk to ya.' He heard a muffled grunt, surely from Nick, and after a minute, he was rewarded with a very sweet sound. Nick's voice.

"Hello?" He sounded a little worse for wear, but he was alive.

"Nick. Boy am I glad to hear your voice."

"Yeah, me too."

"You okay?"

"Kinda."

Not wanting to eat up precious time, Brass stopped all thoughts of the injured man. "Listen, we got a pretty good idea what's going on. The guy in there, he's a young kid from the sound of it."

"Yeah." As much as he wished he could give them more details, he figured single word answers were the only thing Jack should hear him give.

"We're not letting him take off with you. Pay attention, in a nut shell, here's the plan."

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Nick now sat to the left of Mary. Not wanting to sit back down in the spot already stained with his blood. It was Jack's "inexperience," for a lack of a better word, that had allowed him to stay on the phone as long as he did. It was Jim's experience that allowed him to get as much information to him in such a short amount of time. After they hung up, Jack told them about the plan for Mary to pull in the box of provisions and leave. By his estimation, that should be happening any moment now.

Mary continued to squirm on the floor. But that didn't stop her from giving him sad, appreciative glances, knowing full well that it was because of him that she would be leaving. She held his hand as they waited. It was then that they heard Brass again on the bullhorn.

"Jack, we have an unarmed officer placing the box in front of the left door now. When you're ready, let's do as we planned. We're close to getting your vehicle."

Jack peaked through the window farthest from the door and spotted a man placing a box out front. He looked to Mary and instructed her to go.

Mary looked from Jack to Nick. She squeezed his hand and he responded in kind, letting her know it was okay for her to go.

"It'll be okay. You'll be sure to call me when you have that baby, you hear?"

Mary smiled and nodded. Afraid to lose the little control she had over her emotions, she leaned towards Nick and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Nick."

Her sincerity brought a lump to his throat and he nodded, afraid to let her know she was welcome for fear he'd lose it too. He lifted her hand and allowed him to use his to get up from her sitting position. She walked slowly to the front door and waited for Jack to push the desk to the side. Mary looked back at Nick one last time before opening the door. As best she could, she bent down to pull the box inside. Afraid that Jack would change his mind, she scurried out the door. With her out, Jack wasted no time in pushing the desk back in place.

Nick finally let out the breath he had been holding in.

Tbc

This chapter got a little longer than the rest. Hopefully the flow was good.

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