Title: Joining Forces
A/N: Here is chapter 3. Ya'll aren't gonna like me after the end of this chapter but I will try to upload chapter 4 within the next week b/c I have a short break from classes. Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story.
Chapter 3
At about 7am both Nick and Tony groaned as their phones screamed at them. Tony raised an eyebrow at Nick's ringtone, "Country Girl shake it for me…" rang out through the bedroom as Nick shrugged and ignored it. Tony sighed and reached for his phone.
"Yeah Boss? Um…is Nick with me?"
Nick popped an eye open and nodded at him that it was ok to tell.
"Yeah, he's here…or I'm here…whatever, we're here together. Yes Boss…yes Boss. We'll be right there Boss."
Nick snorted as Tony hung up.
"Man…I've never seen you so quick to obey anyone before. It's kind of a nice change."
Tony gave him a mock-glare.
"Stuff it Nicky…we got another crime scene. Why can't people find dead bodies at a decent hour...like noon?"
Nick laughed as Tony grumbled the whole time they got dressed, and the entire way to the scene. Nick was still shaking his head with a grin as they got out of Nick's truck. They both froze in their tracks at the sight before them. A local officer was tied face first to a tree, but his head was tied backwards and his mouth pried open. Nick's face darkened and Warrick rushed over to keep him from snapping at the officer's milling about.
"What the hell happened Rick? We just saw him yesterday morning…I had coffee with him and his wife the other day. Oh God…has anyone told her yet?"
"Nicky…calm down man. Brass is heading over there now to tell her. He says you can go over this afternoon to do the interview with Tony here. Doc says he was tied there since before the rain started yesterday. He drowned Nicky…slowly according to Doc."
Nick growled and started pacing as Tony and Warrick both watched him, worried, but for different reasons. Nick glared at the ground before looking at Warrick again.
"He has two little girls Rick…this isn't right. Was there another damned note?"
"Yeah…this one said, "One of you will be next."
"Aww fuck…not this again…I can't do this again Rick."
Warrick reached out to try and calm Nick down but the other man stormed over to talk to Grissom. Tony turned to Warrick with an almost thunderous look.
"What did he mean when he said again?"
Warrick sighed and told Tony what had happened when a serial killer had kidnapped Nick and buried him alive. Tony wanted to run over and wrap Nick in his arms and protect him, but he knew that would probably just get him hit right now.
Later on…
The two teams sit in Grissom's conference room with pizza and sodas courtesy of Jim Brass. He was hoping it would settle some of the team's nerves. Gibbs was watching the CSIs with that calculating look of his. He turned to Grissom as he realized something.
"Your team has been fidgety and jumpy since we found that note…what is it about this particular note that's making them act this way?"
They all looked at Nick who just nodded. Grissom told the NCIS team about Nick's ordeal, and that he had only been out of the hospital for about 2 months at this point. Nick couldn't take hearing it described again and bolted from the room. Warrick and Tony looked at each other and, with a nod from Tony, Warrick went to find Nick. Grissom continued with the more difficult part.
"There was a crack in the case and Nick got swarmed by ants. He was barely breathing when we pulled him out of the ground. The doctors said that even one more minute without oxygen and we could have lost him for good. This note has hit all of us hard, but Nick more so."
Gibbs looked at a very stiff and scowling Tony and gave him a single nod. That was all it took for Tony to race from the room, where he literally ran into a panicked Warrick.
"Nicky's gone…I can't find him anywhere!"
Tony's whole world narrowed and spiraled around him as he tried to make sense of it…and failed.