Praise me for getting this out, because I should be doing homework. But I am determined to get a chapter out at least once a week so here.. Hope you like it.
About the other character: I have made my decision, and you will not know what it is for a few more chapters I don't think.. So.. Just to let you know that some of you will be happy about it, some of you will not. Either way.. Here's the next chapter!!
Disclaimer: Don't own nothing except for Ben and Don.
Oh, and because I did not have enough time to properly make sure all typing errors were correct, there may be a few. I did scan it though. I figured you guys would prefer a few mistakes over not getting the chapter for a few extra days… Tell me if I'm wrong please.
Grissom lowered his head while he leaned on the table. On that table, sat the phone that had ensured them that Greg was in a very bad situation. Up until that point, they had hoped that maybe Greg's kidnappers weren't very violent, as they had seen in rare occasions, but the phone call told them otherwise.
The conversation kept playing through everyone's mind, what the man had said, and then the unmistakable cry of pain issued from Greg. The sound would no doubt haunt them until they found Greg, possibly longer if they didn't find him alive. But everyone pushed that out of their mind, because as of now, he was alive and by the sound of the kidnapper, he would remain that way.
Though, there was also no doubt that the kidnapper would not hesitate to use violence, so finding Greg as soon as possibly was vital.
Nick stood quietly over in a corner while everyone else started to speak, offering their opinion on what the next step should be. Nick, didn't want to speak. In fact, he almost felt that he couldn't even open his mouth without getting sick. So, he just stayed to himself, thinking about Greg and how they were going to get him back.
"Well, someone should get on Greg's file to make sure there's no one that looks like they would have a grudge against Greg," Grissom stopped and sighed deeply, "Though I'm sure this is another one against the lab in general."
The words "another one" rang through everyone's mind, reminding them immediately of the last time they went through this, and their gaze slowly shifted to Nick, who was still standing quietly in his corner.
Nick didn't look any of them in the eye. He didn't know who had it worse, him, who had been kidnapped himself and the very idea of someone he cared about being kidnapped and going through what he went through, or them, who already had to watch someone they cared about suffer. He didn't really care though, because either way, they all had one goal, no matter how much this situation was hurting them individually.
They gave him a worried look, but continued on the situation at hand.
"Then, get this tape to Archie. See if there is anything there, and check on the last tape I gave him." Grissom rubbed his eyes, already sensing how difficult this was going to be for the team.
"The important thing is that we stay strong and do as much as we can, but until we get more evidence, it may start off unbearably slow. Stay with it and just.. Just do what you can.""
Everyone soaked Grissom's words in, knowing he was right. Only a minute later, they all left in search of some way to feel productive, but most importantly to keep their minds busy on something other than what Greg was going through.
It had been long enough after Don's attack on him that Greg had regained control of himself, and had managed to control the pain as well. He wasn't sure how, but figured it was all mental. Of course, he was still drenched in pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was, and he thought it was because he kept thinking of his friends. Once he discovered that he was being filmed, he found a way to look as decent as possible.
Greg laughed a the thought now, after Don and Ben had left and he was alone again. Here he was, his shirt completely ripped off, bruises and cuts covering his stomach and blood dripping all over. Then there was the fact that his shoulder was on fire. He was fairly certain that his collar bone was broken, or at least cracked.
But now, he thought to himself, the team has something to go on.
It did make him feel better to know that they were working together to find him. Of course, he had only heard Grissom's name mentioned thus far, but as he remembered how the entire team came together when Nick was kidnapped, he felt certain that they were all here for him too.
The thought filled him with hope, which he knew was what he needed.
Greg laid his head against the cold wall behind him, and allowed himself to relax as much as possible. Which proved to be not so good, because as he felt his body relax, more pain came filing in, but he didn't care; he knew his body needed rest if he expected it to put up with all that it was more than likely going to have to endure.
Just as he felt his eyes drooping, the door to his chamber opened. He expected to be looking up at Don again, but was instead greeted by Ben's face. Greg could not be sure that this was a better alternative, but judging from Ben's reaction's to the early events, Greg had a feeling Ben was much more lenient than Don.
Greg looked at Ben through his half-opened eye lids, but Ben avoided his gaze. Another sign that Ben was not as harsh as Don, Greg thought happily to himself. He knew very early on that he would need to start looking for weaknesses in his kidnappers, but because he had primarily been around Don, he hadn't been coming with much at all.
Ben was holding something and was heading for the table across from Greg. The same table that had held the bat used to break his collar bone. He continued to watch Ben, who never looked anywhere near Greg.
Finally, Ben laid whatever he was holding on the table, and then slowly moved over to Greg, who prepared for the worse, though positive nothing too bad was coming.
Ben, without looking at Greg, got to his knees before Greg. Then, slowly Ben brought his eyes up to Greg.
Greg looked straight at Ben, surprised. He had noticed just how Ben looked earlier, but now he could see that Ben had to be in his late twenties, and didn't look at all violent. In his eyes, Greg saw fear and.. Pain.
Greg continued to watch Ben, who was now reaching into his pocket. Greg didn't really think about it at first because he was so busy pondering Ben, but suddenly felt a twinge of fear knowing that whatever was in Ben's pocket could be very bad news for him.
Luckily, Ben's hand, now out of his pocket, help white cloth and a bottle. Greg felt his breathing neutralize some.
Ben slowly turned the bottle over on top of the cloth, then brought it shakily up to Greg's torso. Greg hissed with pain as the alcohol came in contact with his cuts, but couldn't help but feel thankful for it, knowing that it needed to be done. And of course, he didn't expect anything like this from one of his kidnappers.
Ben continued to clean up Greg's injuries, wincing every time Greg flinched or made any noise that signified that it was hurting. He knew that Ben was doing his best to seem tough and act like this was nothing, but Greg knew otherwise.
Once he was done, Ben took the bloody pieces of cloth and place them in a bag. He packed up his supplies, then headed back to the table. Greg figured that he was about to leave, knowing that Ben was not at all comfortable around Greg, but instead, Ben turned around from the table, holding a tray.
"You uh, you hungry," he asked in a shaky voice.
Greg watched him for a moment, shocked again at this turn of events, but nodded eventually.
It hadn't occurred to him until now just how hungry he was. But as he thought about it, it had been well over 24 hours since he last ate.
Ben walked to Greg and again kneeled in front of him. The smell of the food floated to Greg who felt his mouth start to water like mad. He was really hungry. Ben sat in front of Greg, still holding the tray, but looking befuddled. He gaze went from Greg's face, to his bounded hands, wondering the same thing Greg was: how was he going to eat it without the use of his hands?
"How?… Well, what am I.. I can't feed…" Ben's eyes continued to dart from Greg's eyes to his hands.
"Well, why don't ask Do… the other guy," Greg corrected himself, realizing that the only reason he knew their names was because he was pretending to be unconscious while Don was talking to Ben on the phone.
Ben must have noticed, but Greg wasn't sure. However, when Ben stood up and left the room, Greg froze, sure he was going to be punished for knowing Don's name.
From another room, Greg heard Don yell "Of course you're not going to hand-feed him, you idiot child!"
Then, without warning, Don came flying around the corner and into Greg's room, closely followed by a very distraught looking Ben. Don rushed over to Greg, holding something in his hand. He stepped over the tray of food then reached for Greg's right hand.
Greg had no idea what to expect. He prepared for the worse, but was again relieved as he felt the bound on his right wrist fall off of him. Don then furiously stood up and looked down at Greg, who didn't dare move his newly freed hand with Don standing in front of him looking that mad.
"You better be happy you getting anything at all, boy," he sneered through clenched teeth, "You mess this in anyway, you'll feel it, and then you won't get anymore food, you got it?!"
Greg nodded his head nervously.
Don turned to Ben in one quick, fast movement.
"Now do not bother me again unless it is something important. You know I'm busy…" Don turned back to Greg, showing off a twisted grin. "Getting the package ready to send to your little friends. Of course, we have a little more filing to do before I actually send it off. So eat up, Gregory, you're going to need your strength."
With that, Don turned and walked out of the room, leaving a very nervous Greg, and a very nervous Ben.
Greg had lost most of his appetite at that point, but figured Don was right. He had no idea when he would be given the opportunity to eat again, and knowing that he was more than likely going to be going through a lot soon, knew that he needed to give his body as much as he could.
Greg took his free hand, and reached out for the tray. He tried his best to reach it, but it was just barely out of his grasp. On his last attempt to reach it, which was failing just as miserably as the previous attempts, and was also hurting him considerably, noticed that Ben was now coming towards him, and actually pushed the tray into Greg's outstretched fingers.
With the tray now in Greg's hand, he looked up at Ben. Ben's eyes were connected with Greg's, and showed large amounts of pain, and fear. Greg began to think about Ben again, wondering what was with this kid. But Ben turned away, and walked out of the room.
Greg sat there, thinking about Ben more before bringing the tray to his lap and slowly pushing the food into his mouth.
Why was Ben so different? He was definitely young, and didn't seem like a very violent person. Then there's all the pain in his eyes. And pain. Why pain? Then it hit Greg; Maybe Ben was also kidnapped by Don! Of course, he would have been convinced to behave because of all the rights Don gave him. Still, it didn't make much sense to Greg. Even if Ben was abnormally well-behaved for a kidnapped person, Don did not seem dumb enough to leave him here alone while he kidnapped Greg.
Greg could have thought it all out while shoveling food in his mouth for the whole day, but was not given the opportunity when Don came around the corner again, holding a camera.
Greg felt his stomach flip and his head ache, knowing exactly what was about to happen.
She slammed her hand on the desk hard. She couldn't think of anything else to do. She saw Catherine look over her shoulder with a motherly look, but she didn't acknowledge it. This whole case was proving to be many roads with dead-ends. Sara knew what Grissom had said about it being slow until they got more evidence, but this was much too frustrating.
Greg was somewhere out there, in pain and God only knew what else, and there was nothing anyone could until the kidnappers decided to give them more hints that Greg was being tortured for some stupid reason that no one knew of.
Sara slammed her hand on the desk again, then flung her head into her hands. This time however, Catherine got up and placed a hand on her back.
"We'll get him back," she said quietly. "I mean, it's Greg we're talking about. He.. You just can't picture him gone forever."
The words weren't that sentimental or in anyway comforting, but Sara found that they still helped. Catherine was right, she had seen Greg for so many years now, smiling and making stupid jokes. It was just impossible that anyone could get rid of such an amazing person.
Sara brought her head back up, feeling better. She smiled sadly up at Catherine and continued going through Greg's file which showed nothing out of the ordinary. Not surprising, Sara thought to herself, who would have anything against Greg?
Of course, Nick had been attacked twice by people who had no reason at all to attack to him personally.
Sara sighed and kept looking until the phone interrupted her thoughts. Sara and Catherine both looked at each other, not knowing what to expect.
Catherine got up slowly, and walked over the phone.
"Hello," she said cautiously, Sara listening intently.
Catherine's face immediately changed, and Sara knew it wasn't the kidnapper.
"Alright, I'll be there in just a minute."
Catherine hung up the phone then turned to Sara.
"They just got a package up front without a return address," she said gravely.
They both dashed out of the door and to the front desk where a few cops were standing by a scared looking man. On the desk sat a medium sized brown box.
"How did it get here," Catherine asked as she slid her hands into gloves.
Judy, the desk lady, pointed over to the man being held by the police. Sara moved to him.
"Where did you get the package?"
The man immediately chimed in.
"This morning, I went to get the newspaper and I saw this. I don't know why, though. I never got any of the Crime Lab's main before. I figured whatever it was might be important if it was being sent to you guys so I thought I would bring it up here personally," he choked out, sounding flustered.
"Look, I don't know how it got there or anything, I swear. I'll answer whatever questions if you need them.."
"Yes, sir. That will be necessary for our investigation. Take him to Brass' office. Thank you for you cooperation sir."
Sara was sure the man was telling the truth. It was actually a very good way to get a package to the crime lab without any camera's or paper trails. Sara felt the worry multiply as she knew that the kidnappers were very smart. She want over to Catherine who was now opening the package. Catherine reached into the box and pulled out a DVD that had "Dear Gregory" written across it.
Catherine and Sara exchanged looks, then took the box and DVD back to the lab. They found the others and told them what happen.
"Ok, so I take it you found nothing?" Grissom asked Catherine who shook her head.
"Ok, well take the box back to Jackie and see if she can get any prints, then Hodges," he paused then in a different tone of voice continued, "I'm sure you all can guess what this probably is. If you don't want to see it, then stay out the AV Lab. Everyone else, follow me."
He started off towards the lab, followed by the entire team. None of them sure they wanted to see the DVD, but found themselves shakily walking behind Grissom anyway. Memories of Nick screaming and fighting in his box filled their minds, but this time, it wasn't live. Not sure if that was a good thing or not, they decided to figure it out after they saw the DVD.
Grissom put it in, and everyone sat in silence as Greg, hands and legs bound, cuts and bruised covering his bare chest and face. He sat still, looking down at his knees. Then, a figure, completely covered by dark clothing, face hidden behind a ski mask came into the screen holding a gun and a knife.
The team watched in horror as the man walk up beside Greg and the team found themselves having to look away from the screen as the man continuously beat Greg, bringing in different tools to help him mutilate Greg more. Until finally, the gun was brought back out…
Hahaha! Wow, I feel unbelievably evil right now! I hope this will keep you all happy for a little while because I probably won't be able to get the next one out until at least next weekend. Honestly, I shouldn't have been able to do it because I have mid-terms for the next two weeks. So please be patient. Anyways, comment if you can, and by the way, I do plan on letting you all know what was on the tape but I couldn't do it today that story was getting much too long, and I know you all don't like that. Oh, and doesn't Ben just sound like a good thing for Greg?! Hehe. Ok, buh-bye!