A/N: Thanks to my beta TangledPencils who did a great job on this chapter, as always. Also to Mma63 and SuperSquash for their reviews. Mma63 - I hope this chapter is out soon enough for you, lol, even without the chapter alerts.

Fire and Water

by Nicol Leoraine

Chapter 15

Not for the first time in the last hour Nick wished the bullet hadn't grazed him. It wasn't like him to whine about the pain, hell, he could handle the constant stabbing in his side, what he hated was the fact that it stopped him from being the one climbing down to Travis. He was eager to know his friend's state, but Grissom's climbing skills weren't the best and the older criminalist had already had to stop several times because his foot slipped. That resulted in Nick having to grab the rope harder and pull, to steady Grissom. The motion of course required the use of some of the stomach muscles that were in that fleshy part of Nick that was hurt. Damn.

So it was no wonder that Nick wanted to be the one doing the climbing. He imagined it couldn't hurt him more than this.

Of course, Nick knew that what he really despised right now was his own vulnerability. He was out in the open, his back turned to the place where the sniper had vanished. His hands were both on the rope, so his gun was resting in its holster. And there was no one to warn him, back him up. So yes, Nick would much rather have the pain but be going down the hill out of range of the sniper, than being up here in pain and feeling the crawling sensation of knowing his unprotected back had a huge figurative target painted on it. Screw the pain.

Cursing that he let himself be persuaded by Grissom to stay there, Nick shot another nervous look at the car and the rocks behind. His ears strained to catch the sound of the sniper, and he couldn't stop from jumping nervously at the tiniest noise that came from behind him. Under any other situation it would be ridiculous, but the throbbing in his side reminded him that this wasn't a game, that there were real bullets involved.

The double pull on the rope in his hand make him turn back to the edge. It was the signal from Grissom that he'd reached the bottom, or that at least he was at the ropes end. In the next moment, Nick felt the weight on the other end of the rope vanish as Grissom untied himself.

Relieved that he no longer had to hold the rope, he let it fall to the ground. He turned to face the uphill slope, and nervously scanned the area, looking for any movement. Not seeing anything, he grabbed his flashlight and made it to the edge, as far as the ground let him, then shone the light down to the place where Travis lay, hoping to see the man was regaining consciousness.

But as the light shone on the place, Nick let out a surprised curse.

Travis was gone.

xXxXx

Silence was the only thing he sensed. An awfully scary silence all around him. And darkness. The feeling of his body returned slowly, creeping back stealthily. The pain lurked near, he could tell, but right now it didn't trouble him. What made his heart beat faster in panic was the silence.

Was he deaf? No, he could still hear the beat of his pulse, the blood running through his temples. It sounded like rushing water, like a waterfall flowing through a steep narrow gorge, or perhaps waves crashing on to rocks at the beach. It was so loud he licked his lips, thinking he'd taste the salty water of the sea. All the motion did was wake up the muscles in his face and he let out a groan when the pain came shortly after. The sound of rushing water turned into the sound of the wind, crunching noises and other unidentified sounds that made Travis' skin crawl.

The memories hit him hard, still mixed up and scrambled, but there in spite of his wish to erase them once and for all.

Jamie... the car wrecked... sounds of shooting? And oh yes, his favorite one, the jerry can full of gas exploding only afew yards from him. That would probably explain the troubles with his hearing, the ringing that persisted in his ears and the pounding headache. But it didn't explain the other sounds that were now harshly invading his consciousness.

Travis slowly opened his eyes, for a moment only blinking and trying to focus the double image into a clear one. At least partially successful, he carefully tried moving his limbs. Wincing as the movement awakened more bruises he grimaced. The worst seemed to be his ribcage, which was good news, in a way. Travis knew what broken ribs felt like and he also knew he could handle it, as long as he didn't make any quick movements. Trying to find some help with a broken leg would've been a much bigger problem.

Slowly, Travis turned so he was now lying fully on his back and facing the rocky slope and the road above him, trying to find out where that crunching sound was coming from.

Despite the bells clanging in his ears, he heard the voices first, his eyes quickly following the sound as he spotted the dark form slowly climbing down, toward him.

Travis froze, unable to move, unable to even blink. His breath caught in fear of giving away his position.

Who was the man coming to him? Was it someone to help or harm him?

The image of the ambush he drove into made a sudden appearance in Travis' mind and he gritted his teeth from crying out in anger. Did they want to check if he was really dead, or finish the job?

Well, he wasn't planning to idly stick around long enough to find out. Grimacing from pain, his breath hitching, Travis slowly and silently got off the ground, standing up on his unsteady legs, albeit a little hunched. He looked around then back up at the man who was making quick progress in the climbing. He had to act fast and use the element of surprise in his favor – that was the only way to survive.

xXxXx

Grissom let out a relieved sigh. Finally, he was at the bottom. Pulling twice on the rope to let Nick know about it, he proceeded to untie the rope. He could feel the bruises around his waist where the rope bit into his flesh when he slipped, but he knew a hot bath and a night in his bed would cure it much easier than if he had taken a fall down the treacherous hill. He wanted to call out to Nick and ask him if everything was alright up there, as he too had a bad feeling about leaving the younger man in so vulnerable a position. But they'd decided not to make unnecessary noise, in case the sniper was still somewhere near.

Grissom turned on his flashlight and slowly headed toward the place where Travis should've been. But he wasn't. Grissom froze. The frown on his face as expressive as it could be as he caught his breath in shock.

"What the hell-" he started to say, but didn't finish. Another flashlight from above him lit up the scene and he caught a movement to his left, just before something connected with his side. For the second time in so many hours, Grissom was sent sprawling on the ground, only this time, he wasn't tackled for his own safety as Grissom quickly realized when the first fist landed on his face, closely followed by the second. He barely managed to raise his hands in defense.

"Travis, no! Stop it!" Nick bellowed above them and the attack stopped as quickly as it started, leaving both men panting heavily. Grissom opened his eyes, blinking away the white spots in his vision.

"Travis?" he asked, confused. Why the hell would the man he came to save be trying to pummel him to death? And upon seeing the said man nod in equal confusion, eyes staring almost crossly from concentration, he thought 'And how is he even able to do it?'

"Can you... get off of me?" Grissom then gasped out, realizing that one of the reasons he had trouble breathing was the man practically sitting on his chest.

"W-who are you?"

"Gil Grissom-" he gasped out and took a deep breath once Travis rolled off of him, "Las Vegas Crime Lab."

"Nicky's boss, right?" Travis mumbled and swayed and Grissom quickly grabbed him before he could fall back on him and pin him to the ground with his weight.

"Yeah. Are you all right?"

The only reply he got was a snort and Grissom sighed. Of course it was a dumb question. Travis looked as if he'd walked out of the ring after ten rounds with Muhammad Ali. When Grissom shone the flashlight on him, every piece of skin that wasn't covered with clothes was bruised or scratched. But based on the fact that through all this Travis still managed to tackle the CSI and give him few of his own bruises, Grissom thought he would survive. Of course, there could be some internal injuries, but there was really no way to determine these. So Grissom asked the question.

"Do you think you're capable of climbing up this rock pile or would you rather wait here for a rescue team?"

This time he got an answer.

"No way in hell am I staying here," Travis grumbled and to show he meant it, he stood up. "Are you coming or do you need some time to re-coup, old man?" Travis added with a smirk and Grissom couldn't stop the scowl. Travis didn't see it though, he was already shuffling toward the rope.

"I will really have to talk to Nick about his friends," Grissom muttered under his breath as he followed the other man.

"Nick?" he called out and instantly a beam of light hit him in the face. Grunting, he shaded his eyes and looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Is everything okay up there?"

"Yeah," another one worded reply and the beam of light was thankfully pointed at Travis. "You ready to come up, Travis?"

"Dude, I was born ready," the other man replied and with Grissom's help tied the rope around himself, though this time they had to be careful so the rope didn't put too much pressure on his ribs. After several tries, they finally managed and Travis was ready to go.

"Just don't forget to send back the rope," Grissom told him without much humor as Travis gave him a sloppy salute and started climbing.

xXxXx

Jim Brass wasn't someone to fool around. He didn't like to see his people in danger, but what he hated even more was if said people got into harm's way all by themselves. Right now, anger mixed with fear as with every passing minute they were unable to localize either CSI, he knew the chances of finding them alive became smaller. He still hoped that the two criminalists had simply turned off their cell phones because they didn't want to be interrupted during whatever investigation they were doing, but he knew that even Catherine's daughter Lindsey wouldn't believe that.

So that left only one option. They were in trouble. Sending a patrol car to search the several hundred of acres of Red Rock Canyon wasn't the fastest way to find them. He needed some help.

"Can a turned off cell phone be tracked?" Sara asked, standing by the table in the conference room. The table was currently covered with a geographical map of Red Rock Canyon, kept in place by the cups of coffee or soda in the corners. Four people were standing around and staring at it, just when Jim Brass walked through the door.

"What if it isn't turned off, just out of reach? The rocks in the Canyon could easily block the signal," Greg spoke up and frowned at the plan, as if the two men would miraculously appear right in the middle of it.

"Hey, Jim, any news?"

"So far nothing. I just came to see what you'd come up with."

"Nothing. Why the hell did you even turn off yourcell phone, Brass?" Warrick growled, clearly distressed by the detective's actions. Jim's eyebrows went up and he looked at Warrick, showing only a small amount of the irritation he felt.

"Because I had to. It's a rule at the hospitals, and my witness was still in the ICU. Don't try to pin it on me, kid. Gil and Nicky took it into their heads that they'd go and play detectives, and God knows, once I find them I will let them know it was a mistake. But for now, stuff that anger of yours somewhere and let's concentrate on finding them. Now…any bright ideas?"

Warrick continued to scowl at Jim, but he didn't say a thing. The rest of the team stared at the two men with surprise. They weren't used to seeing them argue, and it was a true sign of how distraught Brass was.

"I might have an idea," Greg piped up from the corner and all eyes turned on him.

"Well then, go on Greggo," Warrick encouraged him, for the moment ignoring the detective.

"Nick's car has a GPS Now, the signal can be blocked by a canyon wall just like the cell phones, but we don't have to know where they are now. Nick's car is sending off data about the car's location every few minutes to one of the satellites if the GPS is turned on, which in turn is sending it to the central system. We can have the coordinates of where they were before the signal was lost."

"Remind me to buy you a coffee once we find them, Greg," Sara said with a smile.

"Nah, I don't drink that cheap dishwater you call coffee, so I'll pass. Although, if you're going to buy some of my special Blue Hawaiian I'll be happy to accept…but that would cost you, darling," Greg replied with a grin, even as he sat behind the computer to try and locate their wayward colleagues.

TBC

Anyone still reading this fic?