Hola! Thanks for my reviews, here's a quickie for y'all lovely peeps!
ZOMG! Forty chapters! (is it dragging? me worries :(...) anyhow, lets get a BIG response for the BIG four-oh, yeh? ;)
Sorry for mistakes, love you lots!
Read. Enjoy. Review.
Chapter Forty # Pleasure and Pain #
Jim Brass never used to take days off. In the past, when a rare day off did come, he would usually get on his motorbike and ride all day. Or watch a day full of television.
However, since his daughter Ellie had come back into his life bringing his young grandson Chase with her, his whole attitude had changed.
He took days off whenever they came his way, and spent most of his spare time with Ellie and Chase.
That was where he was, at Chase's third birthday party, when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
When he saw the work number he clenched his teeth together.
"Gangpa no!" Chase pleaded when he saw the phone that he had come to associate with the absence of his grandfather. "No do da phone!"
Ellie caught her father's eye and he winked at Chase.
"I'll tell them to mind their own business." He pressed the accept call button. His voice was complete ice. "There better be aliens attacking the Pentagon."
"How about Zandro Cardoza attacking the crime lab?"
Jim sat up. "What?"
Ecklie's strained voice crackled down the phone. "He must have used some sort of gas, Jim, and he's not negotiating right now."
"Tell me our guys got out?" Jim ran a hand over his jaw.
"There are all of the grave shift technicians still in there, along with two women from swing shift, Finn, Sara and…Loeila and Reuben."
"The twins?" Brass' heart fell through his stomach and onto the floor.
"Brass, we need you here, now."
Jim massaged his forehead. "Okay, okay…is everyone else there?"
"Nick and Greg don't know yet, they have a robbery in the desert, we're trying to reach them now but…"
"Okay… I'll be in soon."
"No!" Chase wailed as Brass hung up. "Gangpa!"
"Dad-"Ellie started.
"Ellie, you know that I want to be nowhere else but here, but our perp has taken invaded the crime lab, there are people in there, kids in there."
"Gangpa I wan you be ad my birday!" Chase looked up at Brass with tearful eyes.
"Tell you what, next week I will take you and your mommy somewhere special, just the three of us. I promise. And I'll buy you three more presents."
"Be cayfool!" Chase pouted, kissing his grandfather's cheek and settling into his mom's arms.
Jim felt a churning mix of guilt, horror and dread flooding his heart, his head, his gut.
And the overriding thought in his head kept pounding around and around.
Greg didn't know.
CSIVCSIVCSIV
They laughed so hard that tears leaked out of their eyes. Nick gripped the steering wheel even tighter.
"Honestly Nick, that was the funniest case I have had in years. I am telling you man, animal cases are the best!" Greg managed to say through his laughter.
"I cannot believe that the farmer didn't realise that the-"
"Oh my god I have five missed calls from Russell, six from Finn and ten from Morgan." Greg murmured suddenly. "Something's wrong…"
"Why the hell didn't your phone ring, why didn't my phone ring?" Nick frowned.
"No signal." The phone was already at Greg's ear. "Morgan?"
Nick watched as Greg's face paled.
"Wh-wh-what?"
"Greg?"
"You're not serious, please Morgan you're joking." Greg's voice was suddenly hoarse.
"Greg what's wrong?" Nick asked, worry rising in his throat.
"No…"
In a single syllable word that could be described with any verb that Nick knew, his younger friend expressed so many feelings.
Horror, fear, disbelief, dread, hurt, pain, distress…
Vulnerability.
"Greg?"
"Everyone's in there?" Greg whispered. "You're sure that there're in there?"
There was a pause.
"Morgan… we're coming. No, the case is solved."
Greg hung up the phone and stared straight ahead for a moment, before looking at Nick right in the eye.
"Zandro Cardoza is in the crime lab…everyone's still in there."
Nick's mouth dropped. "The twins?"
"In there." Greg nodded. "Nick, we need to get straight back to the crime lab."
"We're already going there, Greggo." Nick reminded him softly.
"Nick we need to be there." Greg's voice rose a little.
"Greg, calm down." Nick started.
"Calm down!" Greg cried. "Nick, my kids are in a building with our colleagues and a freaking psychopath!"
"I know, Greg, I know!" Nick insisted.
He cursed every god known to man as he flicked on the siren.
CSIVCSIVCSIV
Zandro Cardoza stared at his ten captives as they started to come to. In the ten minutes it had taken them to even stir he had dragged each of them into reception. With one a minute, he was quite pleased.
He took off the gas mask and set up his cameras, knowing that they would feed down to the monitors that he had set up for Russell's enjoyment below.
Then he sat in the shadows and waited.
It was funny, how they all started blabbering and blathering on at once.
Pathetic.
"I would be quiet if I were you." He said dangerously, putting a cowboy hat on.
Appearances are everything.
Silence fell and he studied each face. He saw mostly fear, a little determination and fight here and there.
He studied the faces of the toddlers and frowned. While the little boy looked rightly terrified, the little girl was different.
He crouched down in front of her but her expression didn't change.
"You look pissed off, kid." He remarked.
She looked even more disgusted than she did before.
"Tell me how you feel. Come on, kiddo. Tell me what you're thinking." He grinned darkly.
"Tired of bad mans."
He blinked. He wasn't expecting that. "What do you mean?"
"Bad mans keep huting us. Bad mans should go away. I don' lie you!"
Cardoza scowled. Already the child was getting on his nerves. He swung his gun casually towards her face and instantly the blonde woman next to the toddler leaned down.
"Lola, be quiet, honey." She murmured, sheltering the little girl slightly with her body.
"And what would your name be?" he leered in her face.
"Finn." She answered tightly.
"Well he-llo, Finn." He crooned, enjoying the shiver his words sent down her spine.
"Hello, Cardoza." She returned anyway.
"I'm impressed by your girl balls." He laughed. "But don't talk to me unless I specifically ask you to."
He turned and swung the gun at a brunette woman. "And you are?"
"Olivia."
"What do you do?"
"CSI." The woman whispered. "Dayshift."
"You're not Russell's…" he mused. "Anyone else here not Russell's? Answer me truthfully!"
Another woman raised her head. "I'm from days."
"Name?"
"Madison."
"You two. Stand up, walk to the door."
He felt glorious as they floundered to do so, arriving at the elevator and waiting.
"Push the button, Maddy." He ordered. As she did, he continued to speak. "You two can leave now."
They fell into the elevator and the doors closed on their frightened faces.
"See the guilty relief?" he asked his remaining captives. With no other warning he opened fire on the doors, ignoring the two toddlers' screams. "Fixed. So… you're all Russell's? There's no need to talk, just nod."
Each head obediently bobbed up and down and he smiled. "Good. But there're too many of you here. You, you, you and you, stand up."
Hodges, Mandy, Henry and Xiomara all stood and he pointed to the elevator.
"If y'all shut up, I won't shoot. Deal?"
No one spoke and the three stepped into the elevator. The second the doors closed they moved to the edges of the elevator, but to their relief no bullets pounded into the metal.
Studying his remaining captives, Cardoza was happy.
"Now, we know Finn and Lola. Who are you?"
"Archie."
"Sara."
"Reuben."
"Good." He stared at the fidgeting boy and walked over to his kit. He threw a rope at Sara. "Tie the kid up."
"Please-" the brunette started, but ignoring how much he enjoyed her begs he shut her up with another threat.
"You would rather I shot him?"
She closed her eyes and took the rope, pulling the tiny boys long sleeves over his wrists before lightly looping the rope around.
Sara closed her eyes as she felt the cold metal of the gun in the back of her head.
"Tighter."
She leaned forward, whispering in Reuben's ear. "It's okay, Reubs."
He leaned back towards her and the man smiled.
Reverberating rings rocketed through the lab and he scowled at the phone, before pressing speaker.
"Helloooo?"
"Cardoza, this is Sherriff Ecklie-"
"You want me to talk, you get Russell."
"I'm right here." Another voice added. "What do you want?"
"Hmm, nice question. A lot of things, Russell. But you know what, you're a pain in my ass and this is my pain relief. So don't expect your naïve surrender so soon."
"Why don't you let the kids go, Cardoza, they're no part of this?"
"Harsh." He snorted. "It doesn't matter what happens to Sara, Archie and Finn, then."
"I didn't say that Cardoza."
"Just watch, Russell. It's not too hard."
He pulled Archie to his feet, only to kick the man so hard that he skidded backwards across the floor and smashed into the wall of the ballistics lab and remained limp on the floor, his neck at an awkward angle from the impact with the wall.
"Wimp." He snorted, walking over to Sara. "Stand up."
She did hastily, her fingers lingering protectively over Reuben's trembling shoulders. Then he grabbed the back of Loeila's jacket and hoisted her into the air, thrusting the wriggling child into the woman's arms.
Sara wondered if her heart would ever be able to thaw from the frozen crystals of fear that this man had reintroduced to her heart. Even as fear of death arrived she felt alive, every muscle in her body primed for survival.
Her ears picked up the sobs fighting to come out of Loeila's pursed lips. The three year olds' arms were tightly secured behind her head, and her own arms cradled the little girl's vulnerable body. As the toddler nestled her face into Sara's neck, Sara murmured wordless comforts to her.
"Finn, stand up for me." Cardoza said easily, and Sara clenched her teeth.
He was enjoying this.
"Tie Sara's hands. Good and tight, her survival depends on it."
Finn obeyed, staring into Sara's eyes as she did. The silent conversation between them was unnoticeable to their gleeful oppressor.
Get the kids out.
Survive.
Tighter, it's okay.
I'm sorry.
"Right, now sit." As Finn did so, Cardoza fixed a handgun between his teeth and picked up a longer section of rope, tying Lola to Sara tightly. Then he looped another rope around Sara's neck, putting two fingers between her soft flesh and the harsh fibres, wrapping the rope around the one binding the woman to the girl and finishing it off as a noose around Lola's neck.
"Perfect."
"Sara!" the voice was barely audible.
Good girl.
"What is he doing?"
"I don't know, sweetie." Sara breathed back. In seconds she fell to the floor, groaning as she hit the floor. He'd tied her legs together. He dragged her feet first to a window and yanked it open, lifting her up with incredible strength and perching her on the windowsill.
Then he pushed her off.
CSIVCSIVCSIV
Greg and Nick pushed their way to the front of the building in time to see Sara and Loeila fall. Their screams of horror merged with others, others who loved the woman and others drawn by the spectacle. As suddenly as it had begun the motion stopped, and both men turned to the screens that were playing from the back of an old van.
The image showed Finn, holding onto a rope and leaning back with all her weight, her feet anchored against the wall. Blood seeped from her hands to the rope, but it remained steady.
Greg held his breath as Morgan held him.
Sara's still form lowered slowly to the floor and he raced forwards.
There was no one else in the world.
"Lola! Sara!" he cried brokenly, tearing at the endless knots. He gave up after seconds as Brass bent down with a pocket knife. Sara opened her eyes and shuddered, before rolling over and throwing up.
One of Loeila's big brown eyes opened and she immediately started to scream. "DADDY!"
Greg scooped her off of the floor and into his arms. "Lola, Lola, oh god… Sara, are you okay?"
She nodded, accepting the swarming paramedics' inspections. "Finn, Reubs and Archie are still in there." Her voice was hoarse, her eyes tearful. "There was nothing we could do, it happened so fast."
"No one's blaming you." Russell, Nick and Ecklie said at once.
"Look!" Wendy cried, pointing at the screen.
They raced back over in time to see Finn clutching her bleeding hands as Cardoza smacked her around the face, accidently discharging his gun as he did so.
With a speed none of the adults deemed possible, Reuben Sanders was up and away. When Cardoza looked up he frowned.
"Oh Reuben? I play hide and seek with bullets!"
When there was no response, no one exhaled.
Cardoza growled angrily and started to stalk the nearby labs. The CSIs watched as he prowled into DNA. They watched as Reuben tried to skirt around him, as he was grabbed by his ear.
They watched as he threw a test tube full of a corrosive into Cardoza's face.
They watched as the agonized, furious man pulled his gun on Reuben.
A low battery signal appeared on the screen and it died.
A gun shot silenced the murmurs.
A silence sounded.
"D…Daddy?"
CSIVCSIVCSIV
Archie lowered the gun with trembling hands, calling out in a shaking voice.
"Reuben?"
"Achie!" the terrified cry replied. "Finn, him off!"
Finn and Archie ran to the moaning form of Zandro Cardoza and pulled him away, ignoring the bullet wound Archie had just inflicted on the man's hip.
Reuben flung himself into Finn's arms and she froze.
"Archie, wire."
Understanding the potential implications, the man bolted for the emergency exit, practically throwing Finn and Reuben before him down the stairs.
An agonized roar chased them down but they beat it, sunlight illuminating their injuries for what seemed like all the world to see.
"Reuben!" Greg cried. "Finn, Arch!"
He was the first to reach them, the electrifying fear of a father losing a child stimulating each muscle. A five way mangled hug followed, shortly before the paramedics rushed forwards.
As Greg sank onto the pavement, he felt small arms around him. He leant into Morgan unashamed as tears leaked from his eyes.
"Morgan…I might…"
"What?" she whispered.
"I can't do this anymore…" he sobbed, feeling utterly broken.
She frowned. "Wh-what?"
"I might have to quit my job."
Well, a quick resolution! (Well, ish) There is a purpose, I have a plan (school work is rubbing off) so sorry if it seemed rushed.
Like I said for LBYE, updates will be slow as work takes priority til june, I'm sorry.
Reviews will help me pass my A Levels ;)
Seriously, though, if you enjoyed it (or not) tell me why (or why not), coz this is just as much your story as it is mine!