A/N: I only own Mia, as always. Charlie is a uniform, who doesn't really exist. Everyone and everything else belongs to CSI and CBS and Guns and Roses. All Spanish in the chapter is translated at the bottom of the chapter. I'll try to be good about updating this regularly, but I make no guarantees because of school and work. Anyway, on with the story. :)
Chapter 1: Inherent Discoveries
Grissom and Mia arrived at the Tangiers to find Nick outside with Brass, shocked at the happenings. Mia stormed over to the two of them. "How the fuck does he get kidnapped from a fucking casino?" she asked angrily. Grissom shook his head. Tact never was her thing.
"I don't know," Nick said sadly.
"Where the fuck were you?"
"Fourteenth floor," Brass said. "DB in Murder Central."
"Greg got kidnapped from Murder-fucking-Central?" she snapped.
"Mia, calm down," Grissom said. She cut a sharp glare his way. "We'll find him."
"What if we don't?" she asked insecurely. Grissom shook his head again.
"We will find him." She nodded, sighing softly.
"I already called in 'Rick and Catherine for you," Brass interjected. "And Ecklie's on his way."
"Oh, of course," Mia snapped. "I hate that fucking guy."
"We all do," Nick replied quietly.
"Nick, what happened?" Grissom asked.
"I had to go get more lifts from the Denali. There were two uniforms outside the room, one in with him. I came back upstairs, and the three uniforms were dead and Greg was gone."
"I've already alerted hotel security," Brass said. "We're getting the tapes now." Catherine and Warrick walked up to the scene, tired and with kits in hand. "That didn't take long."
"We were only sleeping," Warrick said.
"So, what's going on?" Catherine asked.
"Greg's been taken from the scene," Grissom told them. "This is top priority tonight."
"Got it. Let's head up to the scene before attention gets worse." The group nodded, and Nick threw his arm around Mia's shoulders.
"I'm really sorry," he said softly to her. She shook her head.
"For now, let's focus on getting Greg back," she told him. "You and I can wait." He nodded with a frown, keeping his arm around her as they walked up to the scene.
Greg groggily opened his eyes, feeling the bouncing underneath him. It didn't take him long to realize he was in a van. Where he was going or what he was doing there was proving to be more of a challenge. How he got there was another question entirely. He remembered hearing something outside while he was talking to Charlie, one of the uniforms. One minute, Charlie was saying something. The next, everything was silent. Greg had gone to turn around, or at least he thought he did. He vaguely remembered a cloth being forced over his mouth until he woke up in the van.
A giant bump rattled him, causing him to realize that his numbed hands were bound behind his back and that the pain in his shoulder was due to his position. He groaned quietly, trying to move a little and failing miserably. Another big bump helped him move to his side, restoring blood flow to his arms somewhat. He wiggled his fingers as best he could, sighing softly as he continued to try to figure out where he was.
The van was moving pretty fast, he figured, which meant they were still probably on the initial run away from the scene. Either that, or they were on the highway. The more Greg thought, the more he realized it was probably the latter of the two. If you'd just kidnapped someone from a casino, why would you draw more attention to yourself as you left? Greg sighed softly, trying to clear his head and keep thinking.
The windows on the back of the van had been blacked out, causing him to wonder just what kind of van he was in. It looked like a rented van or company truck or something. He looked for an inside latch to the door, but couldn't find one. The only other person in the van seemed to be the driver, which made Greg wonder. Just who was holding him hostage, and why was there only one person with him?
Ecklie walked into the scene, standing in the doorway behind the tape. "How did this happen?" he asked calmly. Five heads snapped up from the scene to look at him.
"I'm sorry!" Nick spouted off quickly.
"How did this happen?"
"I had to get more lifts from the truck. When I came back, they were dead and Greg was gone." Ecklie nodded, silent. "I'm sorry."
"Let's focus on getting him back. No one's in trouble here." Ecklie looked over at Mia, who was crouching over Charlie's body. He sighed softly. "Grissom, can we talk for a minute?" Grissom nodded, standing from his crouch and walking away.
"What do you think that's about?" Catherine asked. Nick and Warrick shrugged while Mia remained silent, working on the body. The other three glanced at her before looking back at the scene and getting back to work.
"How's she doing?" Ecklie asked, glancing back in the room.
"Who, Mia?" Grissom replied. Ecklie nodded. "I don't know. She was angry, but I'm pretty sure she's not anymore. I think she's just scared and worried." Ecklie nodded again. "Why are you asking?"
"Do you think she's stable enough to work this case?"
"She'll be fine. She's good about putting her problems and emotions aside to get the job done." Ecklie nodded again, glancing back in at her.
"I hope so. It's bad enough Sanders is missing. We don't need her going off the deep end too."
As the group finished processing, Nick walked over to Mia. "Mia?" he said softly. She looked up at him slowly. "Lo siento." She shrugged, looking back down.
"No preocupe," she told him. "Está bien." He nodded, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"¿Estás terminado?"
"Sí."
"Venga con nosotros. Estamos llevando ahora." She nodded, quiet. "¿Tú estás bien?"
"No sé."
"Recuperaremos."
"Sí, yo sé."
"El estará bien."
"Yo sé." Nick nodded slowly, and she finally looked up at him again. "¿Pero, qué si no está?"
"Nosotros lo cuidaremos de."
"¿Qué si podemos no?"
"No sucederá." She nodded slowly.
"Grissom y Ecklie fueron hablando sobre mí.," she said. Nick arched his eyebrows.
"¿De veras?"
"Sí."
"¿Por qué?"
"Ecklie quiso estar seguro que podría trabajar el caso."
"¿Por qué?"
"'El no quiere que mí yéndome el lo hondo.'" Mia provided the air quotes, and Nick shook his head as he helped her stand. "Quiero patearlo en el escroto." Nick laughed.
"¿No eres todavía en la libertad condicional?"
"No. Fue sólo por seis meses."
"Agradable. ¿Así que quieres ser despedido?"
"No, pero le odio." He shrugged.
"Mejor él que yo." She laughed softly.
"¿Quién habla no te odio?"
"Tú."
"¿De veras?"
"Sí."
"¿Cómo figuras?"
"Porque no gritas en mí."
"No es tu defecto." He shrugged.
"Yo siento mal," he said as they reached the Denali.
"No. Si estuviste allí, estarías muerto."
"¿Cómo figures?"
"Pienso que este tipo fue específicamente después de Greg."
"¿Por qué?"
"El esperó hasta que dejaras. El escogió su tiempo de golpear. Además, pienso que la escena inicial fue preparada, para atraerle probablemente dos. El le siguió tipos y atacó."
"¿Por qué él?"
"No sé, Nick." She climbed into his car, riding with him back to the lab.
"How are you, really?" he asked softly. She shrugged.
"Same as you," she replied. "Worried, scared. Only, I don't have the hope you do. I'm not as optimistic. I've seen mundane situations go sour. Hostages get killed, even though the perp was with us in negotiations. Women get raped because a guy had nothing better to do. Kidnap victims tortured into shame, hatred, fear. All for no reason. Children killed because one spouse hated the other. People getting shot just for walking down the street. You think Vegas is sick and depraved? Think about L.A."
"Yeah."
"You lose all hope in mankind. All hope for living. Especially when your home life matches."
"So, your life sucked out there?" She shrugged.
"Depends on the part you're asking about. I had decent friends. Just my love life." She paused, thinking. Nick chuckled.
"Why are you telling me all this?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I don't know. My therapist makes me talk. I guess that translates over to you."
"Whatever works." She nodded, saying nothing. Nick continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye as he drove. "I'm really sorry, Mia."
"It's not your fault, and if you keep apologizing, I'm going to hit you." He nodded, falling silent as they rode back to the lab.
"Where are Nick and Mia?" Catherine asked.
"I think they're heading back here together," Warrick said.
"He's dead."
"What makes you say that?"
"Come on. You know that she's gonna kill him for that."
"She knows it's not his fault."
"She's insane, and in love with Greg. There's no way Nicky's getting off easy."
"Wow, you're still a bitch when our numbers are down," Mia snarled as she walked in. Nick followed her quietly while Catherine said nothing. Grissom walked in and looked at his employees.
"We have to stick together on this," he told them. "We can't have arguments and issues. So put everything aside, for Greg's sake." Everyone nodded. "So, where are we?"
"QD has the note," Nick began. "And they're tryin' for a handwritin' profile or somethin'. Note never specified a ransom, and appeared to possibly be directed at someone, but who is the question." He put the memory card from his camera into the system, uploading the photos as Mia began to speak.
"Blood is in DNA, Bobby has the bullet casings and the bullet from the wall," she said.
"Archie has surveillance from the casino," Warrick said.
"Here's the note," Nick interjected. Everyone snapped their attention to the screen. "Now and then, when I see her face, she takes me away to that special place. And if I stare too long, I'd probably break down and cry."
"Why does that sound familiar?"
"I don't know," Catherine said. The group looked at one another, confused. After a while, something clicks in Nick's head.
"Oh, I got it!" he said. Everyone looked at him. "It's lyrics from a song. 'Sweet Child O' Mine."
"So, our target is someone's child?" Warrick asked.
"It's a thought," Grissom said. Mia sat down, putting her head down.
"Fucking toying with us," she muttered under her breath. Nick put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him, annoyed. He squeezed her shoulder gently, and she sighed.
"It still doesn't answer who," Catherine said. "Who did it and who are they targeting?"
"And why are they using Greg to get to them?"
A/N2: Translations:
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry. It's okay."
"Are you finished?"
"Yes."
"Come with us. We're leaving now. Are you okay?"
"I don't know."
"We'll get him back."
"Yeah, I know."
"He'll be okay."
"I know. But, what if he's not?"
"We'll take care of him."
"What if we can't?"
"Not gonna happen."
"Grissom and Ecklie were talking about me."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Ecklie wanted to be sure I could work the case."
"Why?"
"'He didn't want me to go off the deep end.' I wanted to kick him in the scrotum."
"Aren't you still on probation?"
"No. That was only for six months."
"Nice. So, you want to get fired?"
"No, but I hate him."
"Better him than me."
"Who says I don't hate you?"
"You."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"How do you figure?"
"Because you're not yelling at me."
"It's not your fault."
"I feel bad."
"Don't. If you were there, you'd be dead."
"How do you figure?"
"I think this guy was specifically after Greg."
"Why?"
"He waited until you left. He chose his time to strike. Plus, I think the initial scene was staged, probably to attract you two. He followed you guys and attacked."
"Why him?"
"I don't know, Nick."