Title: Shattered
Author: innocent choir girl shannyfish (From Out of the Lab/LJ GeekFiction)
Summary: Someone is out to get Las Vegas' CSIs and Sara Sidle is their first victim. What happens when there are no leads to a suspect? Takes place during Season Seven.
Category: Ship Ahoy! Gil/Sara
Genres: Angst, Character Study, Drama, Established Relationship, Friendship, Hurt Comfort, Suspense
Characters: Jim Brass, Gil Grissom, Catherine Willows, Warrick Brown, Sara Sidle, Nick Stokes, Greg Sanders
Warnings: Adult themes
Rating: R
Chapter: 6 "Fragile"
Author's Notes: Spoilers contained in heavily for "Grave Danger" from Season Five.
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Nick knew his plan could be hard on Sara, but he also knew it was the best way of keeping her alive. Any other way would expose her to the elements, pests, wild animals, cars, sick minded people, or even sand from the desert being blown about. In her current condition she didn't need any of it. With this plan, he'd also be able to leave a trail. But before he put Sara into an acting factor into his plan, he wanted to try to make things better by cleaning her wounds out. He only hoped the man holding them would let him.
Sleep was one thing that Nick was happy that Sara was doing. At first she had whimpered a lot, but then she had stopped and had just been sleeping. He only hoped that that meant she wasn't in so much pain. He figured he could hope that anyway. The footfalls he heard made him hold Sara tighter as they became louder. The man entered with a mask and a bloody knife, which Nick could only guess the man had used on Sara.
"What's the plan, Nicky?"
He hated how it sounded. He made it sound like they were such good friends, but the man was actually going to make him feel like the bad guy in the process of trying to save one of his best friends. "First I need to get Sara into a bath and clean her up, and then we can go over everything we need for the plan."
"Sara's fine."
"Sara needs to be clean," Nick insisted and then quickly added, "It's part of the plan."
"Tell me the plan, Nicky…"
Nick knew that any normal person would think he was crazy, but to him knowing what Nevada's nature and people did to hurt people made him feel it was the only way to keep Sara alive. "We need to get a casket and an oxygen tank…and then a few odds and ends."
"And here I thought we weren't going to kill her…"
"We're not."
"Buried alive!"
Nick nodded, "Give Grissom a clue and how long until the oxygen runs out." He could tell by the way the man's eyes curved that he loved the idea. He just didn't want Sara to wake up while she was inside. It was too hard, Nick knew that from experience. He'd make sure she was at least comfortable and calm.
"Tomorrow, we'll get the items."
Nick just nodded, okay with waiting one more day. "Then can I get Sara bathed and ready tonight?" He tried to keep level, to keep his voice and face as friendly as could really be forced. He just hoped the guy bought it.
"Now."
The man motioned to the door, and Nick carefully yet quickly picked Sara up and headed for it. He didn't want to hesitate and miss the precious opportunity to clean her up. He carried her, so that her body was close to his as a comfort that the man couldn't do anything to her.
He was led down a short dirty hallway to a small bathroom and was immediately locked in. "God damn, this place is just barely bigger than an airplane bathroom," Nick mumbled to himself as he looked around at the filthy room.
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Her cries hurt him, but Nick continued to clean the wounds and then rinse them clean. He could tell that she wasn't comfortable, but it was going to help her in the long run. Nick held back his own tears as he watched the bloody water wash down the drain. When he turned off the water, he sighed and thought that there were at least a couple things to be thankful for. The bathroom had looked tiny, cramped, and completely dirty…but the dirt could be washed away. He had found a couple of towels including a wash cloth. The medicine cabinet was also filled with a couple useful items.
The terry cloth on her back felt like needles, but Sara tried to relax and let Nick dry her limp body. She had first been a bit embarrassed to be naked in front of him, but then had realized that Nick knew what women looked like naked and she trusted him. There was no threat of him using the situation against her later on. "I'm cold," she whispered. Nick had told her it was warm, but it hadn't felt very warm to her when the water was going. The towel being wrapped tightly around her and then her body being pulled tightly to his chest made Sara wonder how far gone she really was. Nick seemed worried…scared maybe? She wasn't quite sure.
"I'm gonna warm you up as soon as I fix your back," he told her as he pulled the supplies to the back of the toilet using the tank as a table top. He lined up his treasures. A roll of medical tape, some gauze, Neosporin, and Nyquil. It was basic stuff, he was just thankful that these basic things were there. It made their lives easier. He took the Neosporin and screwed the cap off and started to squeeze it out and onto his fingers before starting to apply it to her back. When he saw her pulling away from his fingers, Nick frowned, "I'm sorry."
"Not…your fault," she said between biting her lip to keep from whimpering or crying out. She wasn't sure how well she was doing, but she was trying at least.
After her back wound was covered in the medicine goo, he placed some gauze over it, trying to cover it as much as possible. He wanted to make sure it would have a lot to go through before it bled through the gauze. As soon as it was in place, he used to tape to keep it secure. He helped her dress back into what clothes she had and kept the two towels he had managed to keep dry. He used the damp one to try and help Sara dry her hair. It was short, and he could tell she was upset about it. He knew it could be fixed once she was safe. "I want you to trust me."
"I trust you," she responded as she shivered from the cold.
He took one towel and wrapped it around her shoulders and then used the other to put it over her head, not wanting too much heat to escape from her head. "I want you to take these," he said holding out two Nyquil green gel caps. He pocketed some of the others and just hoped they worked like he wanted them to. "It'll help you sleep."
"Nick…"
"Please?"
Sara just looked at him for a moment before popping them into her mouth and turning on the sink and getting a sip of water using her hands as a cup before swallowing them down. She stood back up and fixed the towel on her head, so it was wrapped. She still felt cold, but she felt better…clean…
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TBC…