A/N: Wow, thanks for all the great reviews, sorry if I didn't manage to reply to some of you, the site has been acting up all week. Also thanks to my Beta TangledPencils who pointed out some mistakes and helped me correct them, lol. Hopefully, you'll find this chapter just as enjoyable as the last one.

Sorry if the formatting sucks, but the site didn't allow me to upload anything but plain text.

Fire and Water

by Nicol Leoraine

Chapter 16

His side was screaming from the abuse but Nick couldn't stop and take a rest because there was a good chance that Grissom wouldn't make it up the damn rock. Even Travis had had trouble with the last few feet. Anchoring the rope hadn't seemed so hard earlier when Grissom was climbing down, but climbing back up was a little trickier and it required Nick's help. He bit down on his lip to stop the moan that threatened to escape and pulled on the rope, his heels digging into the gravel. One, two, three... Nick counted each pull, timing his breathing in between, as his jaw clenched with the effort.

Finally, he could see Grissom's head peeking up from the edge and after one more pull the man was back on solid ground, dirty, gasping for breath and shaking from exertion. But he was there, untying the rope from around his waist and Nick could finally rest. With the way he felt now, lying down sounded like a great idea, but he dismissed it with a weary snort when he remembered why he felt that way. He let the now useless rope fell from his hands, and was surprised when he felt the sting. Looking at his palms, he saw two deep rope burns. Sighing heavily, he jerked his thoughts back to the situation they were in and walked toward Grissom, who was just getting up.

"I think I could use some time in the gym," Grissom remarked, shaking his head slightly while trying to stretch out.

"I wouldn't have guessed you're a fan for weights," Nick joked lamely as he brushed the sweat from his face. Grissom threw him one of his looks, but refrained from any comments when he saw how tired the other man looked.

"You pulled me up by yourself?" he frowned and instantly looked around for Travis, finally spotting him sprawled on the ground, leaning against the car in much the same place where Nick was hiding earlier from the sniper. He appeared to be either sleeping or unconscious.

"He made it three steps from the edge and crashed. He's got some broken ribs, the pain must've been killing him but he made it up," Nick explained, seeing Grissom's look.

"Broken ribs? And he climbed up this?" If nothing else, Grissom had to give it to the man. He must've had quite a high toleration for pain.

"He's been doing sports his whole life. Ya gotta get used to it," Nick commented, hissing as they started walking toward the car. "Just hope he didn't puncture a lung or something, or we are screwed"

"What about you?" Grissom asked and pointed at Nick's side. The bandage he'd applied before was now dark with blood, some of which had run down onto Nick's pants. "Guess that pulling us up didn't help much to stop the bleeding."

"I'll be okay," Nick replied and turned away from the older criminalist's watchful eyes, choosing to redirect the concern to the worst injured person of the trio.

"Hey, Trav? You still with us"

"Huh?" the man blinked and looked up at Nick with bleary eyes. "Man, you alright?" Nick asked with growing concern, which was instantly waved away.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure man, I just took a quick nap. You know how I enjoy these adrenaline sports"

"Well, I hope that your insurance applies to adrenaline sports then, because your car forgot to take a chute before jumping," Nick joked and Travis gave a soft snort, aware that laughing wouldn't be the smartest thing right now.

"Man, your humor sucks," he said and only then noticed the other man standing behind his friend. "Ah, I see your boss made it up too. Now that we're all here, we can go and find the bastard that killed Jamie and sent me off the road," he said, grumbling as he tried to get to his feet without Nick's help.

"What are you talking about"

"Come on, Nicky, you told me you got that guy. He's unarmed and injured. How hard can it be to catch him?" Travis saw the doubt in Nick's eyes and knew what he would say even before he opened his mouth. Travis wasn't ready to let him though and continued, his voice taunt with an edge of desperation to it.

"Nick, you know what Jamie meant to me. She didn't deserve that kind of death," Travis' voice hitched, but he continued, his eyes silently pleading for understanding. "I swear I won't do anything stupid. Hell, I just want to catch him, then you can call the cops and bury him in some damn cell for all I care. But I need to do this, Nick. I need to catch him. Tonight. Before he packs his bags and flees to another city. Please"

Nick opened his mouth, ready to protest, but he couldn't. He saw Jamie's body in his mind's eye, the carving on her forehead, the pale blue lips, and the empty eyes. Then he saw the other victim, the one without a name. But somewhere, there was probably a wife with kids, worrying and waiting for a man that will never come home again. Above this all though Nick saw the face of the killer that called himself Master, that grin on his face, the arrogant confidence even when he should've been shaking with fear as the two guns were pointed at him. His resolve wavered and instead of saying 'Travis that's a stupid idea', he turned to Grissom, his intention clear.

"Maybe we-"

The older CSI, who until now had just silently listened, wasn't willing to stand by idly and let them do what they wanted.

"No! We are not going after that guy!"

"Why not? We can get him."

"Did you hit your head Nick?" Grissom all but shouted, the stress of the last few hours clearly visible on his face. "Just look at yourself! You were shot, you're still bleeding. Your friend here is in even worse shape. He shouldn't be even moving, and you are talking about climbing these rocks in the dark and tracking a killer who obviously had some military training?" Grissom shook his head and angrily pointed at Travis.

"He already made a mistake and we almost paid for it with our lives. I am not letting you make another one. Either we are all going down that road and try to get a signal and call help, or we are all staying and waiting here. No splitting up. And no climbing,"Grissom finished emphatically, and sucked in a deep breath. Nick was looking at the ground, obviously he'd got through to him, but what troubled him was Travis. The man was defiantly staring at Grissom, his whole body seething with anger.

"What right do you have?" Travis growled in a low voice and took a threatening step toward Grissom. Nick instantly looked up, but didn't move. Grissom also stood unmoving.

"Jamie was my wife. And that bastard killed her in cold blood. He marked her, like some animal. You can't stop me from going after him"

"No, you're right. I can't stop you. But I can stop Nick. And if you have any brains left, you'll realize that you can't find anyone, not in the state you're in!"

"You wanna bet?" Travis spat and pushed himself away from the car, stumbling toward the rocks where Nick told him the killer vanished. The two CSI's watched his wavering steps and Nick was about to go after him when he felt the hand on his shoulder.

"Nick," It wasn't a warning, more like a plea and Nick rolled his eyes.

"I am not that stupid, Griss." Without saying anything else he pulled out of Grissom's hold and crossed the short distance between him and Travis.

"You coming with me, Nick? Or are you staying here with your boss?"

"You know, Grissom can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I think he's right."

"Not you too, Nicky," Travis said with disgust and turned away, but Nick grabbed his arm, effectively halting his movement.

"He's right," Nick insisted, turning so that he was facing Travis. "That guy is long gone. I didn't injure him enough to stop him, not if he was capable of climbing up these rocks as fast as he did. And don't forget that this was an ambush. He ran you off the road. He was familiar with this place. And do you really think you can track someone at night?"

Grissom followed this from the distance. He heard Nick's comment about him and his jaw clenched, but then he realized what Nick was trying to accomplish and he suddenly felt relief. Nick was on his side now, not on Travis'. He was back in the team. That made everything so much easier. So Grissom watched how he worked his magic and slowly convinced Travis that this wasn't the right time or place, but that they will catch the killer. And for the first time in the last hour Grissom really believed it. When the two man stopped talking and Nick turned to him, he nodded.

"We are about to head for some help. What about you, Griss?" Nick asked, his voice hoarse from all the talking. He desperately wanted something to drink, but didn't have the energy to make it all the way back to the car. "Can you grab me the water, please?" he added, then tried to clear his throat.

"Just a second," Grissom called out and headed to the car. But to Nick's surprise the older man took out an evidence kit and opened it, grabbing for a pair of gloves and some other things he couldn't really see because Grissom blocked the light from the flashlight with his body. In the next minute Nick watched as Grissom searched the ground with the flashlight, only to kneel down next to a small pool of blood.

"What the hell is he doing?" Travis asked, confused and little pissed by the delay. Now that he wasn't all gung ho to catch the killer, he felt the urgent need to get his body flat and possibly take some aspirin. All the adrenaline vanished from his body and now he only wanted to rest. He felt bone tired.

"Gathering evidence," Nick replied, feeling a stab of guilt that he hadn't thought about it himself. Sure, there was small chance that the 'Master' would return and scrub all his blood off the gravel, but he could easily take his gun and vanish with possibly the only thing that had his fingerprints. So Nick didn't comment when Grissom finished and came up to them, an evidence kit with the now bagged gun in one hand, the drink for Nick in the other.

"Thanks," Nick mumbled as he took the bottled water and gulped down almost half of it before stopping himself and offering it to the others. Grissom was the last to drink and he tucked the empty bottle into the side pocket of the kit.

"I know there's a parking lot maybe a mile and half up this road, there should be a phone for emergency calls. But I think we should go down, back towards the city. The guys from the lab should already know we are missing. By now, they could be on their way here." Grissom waited, expecting to hear a protest from Travis, but the man simply looked at the road and shrugged.

"Okay for me." When Nick nodded too, the trio started walking down the road in silence, each of them finding talking as an activity required too much energy.

xXxXx

It took him even less time then he thought it would. The stars in the sky shone brightly, leading him to the right path and from then on, it was easy. The wound in his arm pulsed in time with the anger he felt. Such a stupid mistake to make, and now he was wounded. He should've known the two cops wouldn't be as easy a prey as the rest of his victims. They knew he was there and ready to kill, while he was mostly used to people unaware of the danger they were in.

But that would change. He wanted new prey and he knew just where to find it. Two more to go then the man who had paid him would be free. And he would have fulfilled his commitment, getting the rest of the money.

The cabin appeared in the shadows and the Master's steps became faster. He needed to get away from Red Rock Canyon before those cops managed to call for help. After that, most of the roads out would be closed by police barriers and he wasn't up to explaining what he was doing out here in the middle of the night.

The key to the door was where he'd left it the last time he'd been here, hidden under one of the smaller stones by the wall. He quickly entered the small hut and pulled off the dark sheet hiding his bike. His hand brushed against the metal with loving care then he pushed the bike out in the open, put on the helmet and light jacket that was waiting ready on the only chair, and closed up the cabin. He had to push the bike several yards up the path before he could sit on it and start it up, but when the engine came to life, he couldn't stop the satisfied smile. It always paid off to have a back up plan.

The cabin was only two miles from the main road leading from the canyon, the same one he'd come from, but he knew that even if the cops responded immediately to any calls for assistance, they were still behind him. For a second he played with the idea of turning back and finishing his job, hell it wouldn't be so hard, not with the element of surprise back on his side, but then he decided against it. Too much time had passed and he didn't know what the two men had been doing since he'd left. No sense in taking more risks tonight. He still had to take care of some things, one of them a boy called Jonah. He definitely didn't forget what the boy had done, how he'd endangered his plan with one stupid movement.

The Master revved the engine and within seconds, the bike was flying toward the city. He'd ridden the bike for only ten minutes, when he saw the lights. He blinked, at first thinking that it was just the stars reflecting on his helmet, but then he realized that the stars didn't shine blue and red and he quickly stopped the bike, narrowly avoiding a skid as the tires screeched against the road. Once he stopped, heslid off the bike and looked for a place to hide. He spotted some bushes growing near the edge of the road. In the light of the day they wouldn't hide much, but at night they would suffice. Pushing the bike towards them, he hid it first, then carefully crawled into the undergrowth, hissing as he felt the little spines scratching his skin. He growled a curse but fell silent as he not only saw but also heard the wailing of the sirens. Not a moment later, two police cars flew past him. He waited till they vanished behind one of the curves, then with a grimace crawled out of the bushes. Five minutes later, when he was riding his bike on the High Roadto Las Vegas,the helmet was the only thing that hid the smile on his face.

TBC