Thanks for the awesome help and tips Holly I'll be sure to put them into account for the next chapter!
~Inside Nick's apartment~
Nick woke up with a pain filled moan, looking around his apartment and wondered what the hell had happened. When another groan filled the room Nick looked to his side and saw Korey. All the memories started coming back and he moved over to Korey to rouse her awake.
"Korey? Korey come on wake up!" Nick urged.
"Mmmmh." Her eyes fluttered open a crack as she looked up into the concerned face of Nick.
"They took Greg," He informed her sorrowfully.
Korey sat up too fast and suffered the consequences as the room started to spin. Her head felt like nails were being pounded into it.
"Take it easy, we both took a pretty bad beating to the head." Nick helped her sit up against the wall, sitting down himself beside her. "We have to get him back Korey. I can't lose him again," Nick said turning to her.
"And we will, but first we have to find out where Sean's taken him." Korey slowly eased herself up from the floor and Nick followed suit.
"Where would Sean take him?" Nick asked once they were standing.
"If I were Sean, I'd take him back to the Sanctum so that I could watch George punish Greg for betraying him." She answered.
"Punish Greg how?" A hollow feeling penetrated Nick's gut that Greg's punishment wasn't going to be grounded for the rest of the year, like most fathers would do to their son's.
Korey sighed and walked away from Nick, back into the living room.
"George is one of the shifters with an extra ability. He has the ability to manipulate people's minds and he can also look into their heads and see any memory he wants as if they were his own. From what I've heard around the Sanctum George has all ready used his ability on Greg to see what you and Greg collected from Tina's crime scene. When George looks into someone's head the person experiences an unbelievable amount of pain resulting in most commonly a bloody nose and a really, really intense migraine." She finished.
Nick leaned up against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. "C-Could…could Greg…die?" He barely managed to choke out.
Korey was facing away from Nick and she sighed, regretting what she was about to say.
"Yes, and the worst part is that George will be relentless. Even though Greg is his own son, his own flesh and blood, he will make sure that Greg suffers through the most agonizing torture he can think of." She turned to face Nick, watching him slide down the wall with tears in his eyes.
She walked over to him and sat down in front of him.
"This is all my fault," He whispered, tears falling down his face.
"No its not! Even though I only met Greg a few days ago. I can tell that he is a kind loving man who would do anything to protect the people he loves. If protecting them means having to lose some blood, he's willing to do just that if that means that you're safe." She said trying to sooth him.
"That's exactly my point! Greg said it himself 'I would die to protect you', and I'm terrified out of my mind that he's going to do just that!" Nick wept, pulling his knees up to his chest like a scared little child.
"That doesn't have to be the outcome, we can still save him and the longer we sit here crying about it, the bigger the possibility of Greg being your next crime scene!" She almost shouted, trying to knock some sense into the man before her.
Nick looked up at her with tears still running down his face, but a look of determination in his eyes. "Your right." He climbed to his feet against the wall, wiping the tears from his eyes.
He walked past her and picked up his gun from behind the couch.
"Take me to the Sanctum." He requested. Korey rose from the ground and walked over to Nick who was checking the barrel of the gun to see how many bullets he had left. It was still full.
Korey instantly knew what his plan was.
"It's going to be a lot harder to kill George and Sean with a gun. They have loyal followers Nick. As soon as they see a gun they will kill you on sight!" She insisted.
"Let them try and catch me." He turned to face her, spun the barrel back in place and placed the gun back in its holster.
"You really do love him don't you?"
"Yeah I do . . . and I'll do whatever it takes to have him safely back in my arms." Nick replied firmly.
Korey was about to speak, but a knocking on the door behind them interrupted her. Nick walked over to the door and looked through the peak hole, seeing Grissom standing on the other side. Fearing that Korey's warning of Greg being his next crime scene had come true he quickly unlocked the door, pulling it towards him.
"Grissom what happened?" Nick was almost too afraid to ask.
"Are you aware that there's a crime scene right outside your window?" Grissom asked. Nick gave him a puzzled look, turned around and walked over to the nearest window facing the street, pulling the blinds back. He looked down at the streets and saw the flashing lights of an ambulance and police cars; he also saw Warrick and Sara looking over a black van with the glass from the windows sprayed out across the street.
Nick turned back to Grissom who had stepped into the apartment and was looking around at the destruction in the living room.
He turned to Nick with a concerned look on his face. "What happened here Nick?" Nick moved to answer, but Korey beat him to the punch.
"Nick and I had a little too much fun last night. Hi I'm Korey Stevenson." She introduced herself. Grissom nodded and noticed that she was sporting a split lip and she had a nice sized goose egg on the side of her head.
Looking over at Nick he saw that Nick was also looking worse for wear.
"It was a nice story Korey. But I want the truth!" Grissom replied, looking at the both of them with an accusing glare.
~Greg~
When Greg returned to the land of the living he was welcomed by a brilliant white light and distorted voices.
"…Patient…awake…General…" Greg's vision was cloudy and he felt light headed. A blotted shape came into his line of vision, barely managing to make out that it was a face with a mask over their mouth.
'Am I in the hospital?' He thought to himself.
"…Base…experiment…" at hearing experiment for some reason his memories of last night came back and he suddenly started to panic. He thrashed around in what he discovered was an examining chair, with his wrists and ankles securely strapped down. He also noted that he was shirtless and there were wires connecting to his chest keeping track of his heart rate that was rapidly increasing.
"He's becoming more lucid doctor," Said a female voice.
Greg could now make out seven different people in the room, all dressed in long white lab coats. He could also see that the room he was in looked a hell of a lot like an airplane hangar because he could see a military jet stationed a few feet away from him.
"Glad to see our patient is finally awake," Said a new voice. Greg turned his head slightly, seeing a man wearing a suit walking towards him with two men in army cameo on either side of him.
"He just woke up. I was just about to start." He held out his hand and a woman handed him an empty syringe.
Greg watched as the man took the cap off the needle and brought the needle down to his exposed forearm. Greg began to squirm and the two military men, who were now at his side with the suited man, held him firmly down, immobilizing him.
The doctor was able to locate a vein and insert the needle. Greg flinched and hissed as the doctor waited until the vial was filled with his blood. When the vial was full, the needle was taken out and a band-aid was placed over the puncture mark to stop the blood from pulsing out.
The doctor handed the vial back to the woman who brought it over to a counter and marked the blood vial with 'patient X'.
"Well Mr. Sanders, since it would appear that you're going to be our guest for quite a while. Why don't we get properly acquainted; my name is General Thomas, and you my dear boy are going to America's greatest defense." He said proudly.
"Last I checked I didn't enlist, now get Dr. Needles away from me and let me go!" Greg demanded.
General Thomas laughed, taking a step closer towards Greg, so they were face to face.
"I would treat me with respect if I were you Gregory, because I'm the one who's in the seat of power, and I if I were to tell 'Dr. Needles' as you so kindly named him, to make you an unemotional living robot, he would have to do so, and trust me he does have the technology to do just that." He threatened.
General Thomas backed away from Greg and turned to Dr. Needles.
"Begin the procedure," He ordered. The doctor stepped forward and placed two wires connecting to a brainwave activity monitor on Greg's head.
"I'm told you have the ability of telekinesis that is brought on by emotional stress." The machine was turned on and Greg's brainwave activity was put on display. Another set of wires was placed on his chest; Greg didn't see the machine these wires were attached to, but he had a feeling of what type of machine it was.
Greg looked at the people around him and tried to find even a little bit of compassion for his life; he found compassion in the woman that had taken his blood from the doctor. She refused to meet his gaze and he could see the regret written all across her face.
"You don't have to do this." He begged her.
The woman finally looked at him and sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry," She said regretfully, refusing to look him directly in the eye.
"You may begin doctor," The General ordered impatiently. Dr. Needles nodded his head and turned on the machine that was connected to the wires on Greg's chest. The affect was instantaneous. The machine turned out to be an electro shock therapy machine. Sparks of electricity ran through Greg's body and he thrashed around in his restraints and didn't even try to hold in his screams of agony.
Dr. Needles checked Greg's brain wave activity and shook his head at the General.
"Increase the voltage!" The General demanded. Dr. Needles went over to the machine, turning the valve to increase the voltage. This only caused Greg to scream louder and his heart rate to increase. The woman who Greg had tried to get help from, walked away from the horrific scene, heading outside to get some fresh air, trying to calm herself down. She could still hear the heart wrenching screams of the man inside and she really loathed herself for being part of the reason that that poor man was being tortured.
When she had signed on to be a part of this science project, she knew that she would have to help make a living human become an unstoppable killer, and yes she also knew that in order to do that, the subject would have to undergo an incredible amount of pain, but she never expected the huge feeling of regret and sorrow that filled her when the subject had begged her to stop his insane torture.
She had wanted to, but she had a family to think of and her husband had recently lost his job along with the debt they were in, she just couldn't do it. This position had her earning $1,000,000 at the end of the experiment. She didn't know when the experiment would be over, but she really needed the money so she would have to put her emotions aside and finish the job.
With a collected sigh she walked back into the building. The sight that met her was one she would never forget; all of the machines in the room, including the ones hooked up to the subject, were floating in mid air along with, incredibly enough - the jet, but what really made her jaw drop was the sight of three of her colleagues dangling in the air, desperately trying to get down.
The General stood in amazement at the sight before him. With a weapon like Greg Sanders, his army could easily penetrate all of their enemy forces. Not only that, he himself would have unbelievable power! But while the General was dreaming about all the powerful opportunities in his future the electro shock therapy had taken a toll on Greg's heart and as a result the organ stuttered and stopped.
The objects and people that were dangling in the air suddenly collapsed back to the ground.
The sound of the endless beep brought the General out of his dream state, looking to the machine and saw that Greg was flat lining. Dr. Needles was hovering over Greg and shouting out orders. A young man, that couldn't have been older than 23, wheeled the defibrillator over to the doctor.
Dr. Needles quickly squirted some gel onto the paddles, rubbing them together while the other doctors removed any metal on Greg. The doctor placed one fully charged paddle on the upper right side of Greg's chest and the other on the lower left. The doctor quickly plugged the paddles in, the required shock was shown and the race to save Greg's life was on.
Greg's body jumped up from the chair he was restrained to. His chest arching up towards the paddles with each charge to his chest.
"C'mon Doc bring him back! I'm not done with him yet!" The General ordered. The doctor increased the voltage and gave Greg another life saving shock.
Two minutes passed when the doctor concluded that the defibrillator wasn't going to bring Greg back, he moved on to CPR. Setting the paddles down the doctor pinched Greg's nose and administered two breaths that were one second each then made a fist and began pressing down on Greg's chest.
The whole procedure took three minutes. Three minutes that Gregory Hojem Sanders was officially dead to the world. Thankfully Greg let out a loud wheezing breath of air. His eyes popped open, life returning to his face.
Dr. Needles checked Greg's heart rate and was pleased to see it was returning to normal.
"I think that's enough for one day doctor. Sergeant. Carlos, Sergeant. Menox, unbound Mr. Sanders and take him to his cell." The General ordered. The two sergeants did as they were instructed, unbinding Greg, lifting him up from the chair. Greg was too weak to struggle. They pulled him to his feet, placing wrist and anklets on him, dragging him off to his cell.
~Back inside Nick's apartment~
"I know it sounds insane, but I'm telling you the truth!" Nick insisted after he had finished telling Grissom exactly what had happened, seeing the disbelieving look in his boss' eyes.
"I can prove what he's saying is true." Korey added, stepping forwards.
"Normally I am able to give new, crazy ideas a try, but I seriously think the two of you need to have those goose eggs of yours examined." Grissom explained in a concerned tone.
Korey walked over to the wall that had Nick's kitchen on the other side and placed her hand on the wall. "Just watch this, please?" She begged, trying to get him to believe her.
Grissom sighed and nodded his head, agreeing to indulge them. He stared at her blankly, thinking she was completely off her nut.
Korey looked back to the wall, shifting her hand right through the wall so it was sticking out the other side in the kitchen. Grissom's eyes widened in surprise. He walked into the kitchen and was amazed to see a hand waving at him from the wall. He almost had a heart attack when Korey walked completely through the wall and stood before him smiling smugly.
"Do you believe us now?" She asked. Nick entered the kitchen and stood beside Korey, waiting for the shock to leave Grissom. Hardly anything shocked Grissom, but seeing a woman walking through a solid wall like it was nothing was enough to make him question his sanity.
When Grissom had gathered his wits he finally spoke. "I guess Hodges was telling the truth as well then." He sheepishly spoke, feeling bad for telling Hodges he was out of his mind.
"What do you mean?" Nick asked curiously.
"Last night a group of men broke into the lab and stole the evidence on the Tina Lothspeich case. Hodges was finishing up some backlog and he told me that when he was walking into the break room to get some more coffee, Greg and five other men suddenly came out of the wall like they were walking out of a door. The men stopped in surprise and after they got over their initial shock, one of the men, who he assumed was the leader, raised his gun and the four other men followed suit. Greg shot forward, pushing Hodges out of the way and received a bullet in the shoulder. Greg told Hodges to run and he did just that," Grissom concluded.
That explained how Greg got the bullet in the shoulder. He was protecting Hodges. Nick realized.
"We checked the surveillance from inside the evidence room and confirmed that six men, Greg included, had in fact stolen vital evidence which is still missing." Grissom informed them.
"Why would Greg steal evidence?" Nick thought out loud.
"Because his father told him to, because in the evidence that you and Greg collected had the identities of all the shifters in the Las Vegas area. The only way he was able to get Greg to do that was by threatening to kill you Nick." Korey answered.
Grissom's phone suddenly rang; he fetched it from his pocket answering it. "Grissom."
"Griss." Sara answered. "We have a witness down here saying she saw five men dragging an unconscious young man; fitting Greg's description, out of Nick's building into the black van. She said a few seconds later a limo and another van pulled up, opening fire on the black van. Apparently two men in army cameo were the shooters. Then a man and the young man, who was unconscious at the time, got out the black van and were escorted over to the limo. She couldn't see who was in the limo, but she did manage to see the two military men bind the unconscious young man and dump him in the trunk of the limo. Then they all drove off . . . the man dragging Greg disappeared." Sara reported.
"Good work Sara. I'll see you down there." Grissom hung up, looking back at Nick and Korey. "Five men were seen dragging Greg out of here into the black van downstairs. Apparently two men in army cameo opened fire on the van and four of the men inside were killed, excluding Greg and the man who had been dragging him. The man holding Greg got out the van exchanging Greg with some military men. The fifth man walked away once Greg was in the trunk." Grissom summarized to the two people in front of him.
"Sean's already made the deal." When she was met by confused looks, she elaborated. "Sean sold Greg to the military so that he could be made into a killer."
Nick's fist clenched in anger at his sides. He was really itching to put a bullet in Sean's head, after he was finished torturing him for doing that to man he loves.
"I want to talk to this witness." Nick spoke through clenched teeth.
"I'm not sure that that is such a good idea Nick…" Grissom cautioned.
"I don't care what you think Grissom! Greg is going through hell because he's trying to protect me! I need to be put back on this case Griss." Nick demanded in an angry desperate voice.
Grissom looked deep into Nick's anxious, pleading eyes and saw all the love and determination that was harboring there. How could he have missed that which was so obvious now? He knew that even if he didn't allow Nick to help out with the case, Nick would take it upon himself to find Greg on his own and possibly get himself killed in the process.
Coming to a decision he looked back at Nick. "All right, but you can't let your feelings for Greg cloud your judgment. You've already allowed them to cloud your judgment once before, and if it happens again you're off the case for good." Grissom threatened.
"Thank you Griss! I promise you won't regret this!" Nick wanted to shout and leap for joy, but he settled for giving Grissom a quick hug, which startled the older man, and an award-winning smile.
"Since your back on this case, I guess I can allow you to speak to the witness." Grissom gave in.
~Inside Greg's cell~
The anklets that were attached to Greg's wrists and ankles were activated to shock him if he tried to use his shifting or telekinetic abilities, so trying to escape was out of the question, unless he wanted to become a human electric rod . . . again!
His cell was really just a huge glass dome that was the size of Greg's old lab with air holes drilled in giving Greg the feeling of being an actual lab rat. Inside the cell there was a small cot with one thin blanket and a pillow. A toilet and sink sat in another corner, along with a single metal chair.
Greg was really starting to get claustrophobic of all these cells people kept shoving him in.
Greg was lying on his cot, staring up at the ceiling when he heard someone tapping on the wall of the cell. He looked towards the source of the sound, seeing the woman he had tried to get to help him, standing there holding a tray of food. Greg rolled himself up from the cot, the anklets making this a very difficult task. He trudged over to the wall she was standing behind, watching her cautiously.
She pressed a button and a loud static sound came forth, signaling that the speaker was on and a conversation could begin.
"I brought you some food, thought you might be hungry." She lifted up a lid and slid the tray of food into a container. Greg opened the container from inside the cell and retrieved the tray of food, or what Greg thought to look like slops of different colors. He made a face and set the tray aside on the floor.
"I'm not hungry," He mumbled monotonously. He turned away from the woman, heading back to the cot when she spoke again.
"You really should eat something, I know it doesn't look very appetizing, but its full of all the nutrients you need, and you should really eat something to keep up your strength," She tried to encourage him.
Greg stopped in his tracks and laughed humorlessly. "Keep up my strength? So you can what?" He turned around and trudged back over to her. "Turn me into a monster? I'd rather die. So take your food and shove it up the Generals the ass!" He stated with a hard face.
She looked into Greg's eyes and saw an endless amount of anger, but she also saw sorrow. "I know you're angry-"
He stopped her right there. "Angry?! I'm a prisoner! I've been forced to give blood and shocked to quite literally death! All to help your crusade in making a monster! So No, I'd say I'm a little bit more than angry! Pissed off and Murderous…but way beyond angry! So as I said before, take your food and leave me the hell alone." He exploded with anger.
His body was quivering in rage and if he wasn't in a cell with anklets preventing him from using his powers, he knew that he would use his abilities to not only kill the woman in front of him, but everyone in the hangar as well.
Before all this had begun Greg wouldn't have ever thought of hurting another living being on purpose, but his soul had hardened from all the crap he had experienced and he found his morals to have shriveled up and blown away.
He wasn't the same Greg as he was before.
"I never wanted to be a part of this experiment, but my family needs the money." She tried to reason.
"I'm sure that if your family knew where this money came from, they wouldn't want any of it. I can understand you needing the money to support them, and hell I can even understand the lengths you're willing to go for them, but did you ever think that by doing what you're doing here, could be putting them in even more danger? How do you know that the moment this 'experiment' is over, the General isn't going to have everyone here killed to cover his trail, including killing your family?" Greg asked her.
The woman seemed to be thinking it over and she shook her head as if in denial. "The General gave me his word, and I haven't even told my family about any of this." She insisted.
"Do you really think he cares? I'm willing to bet the man would have his own family killed if he saw the need." Greg retorted.
"No, you're wrong!" But Greg could easily tell that she wasn't believing what she was saying.
"You know I'm right, so please I am begging you to help me get out of here and back to the people I love." He begged.
"I want to…but I can't." She replied.
"Fine then, but do me one favor, if I do die again don't let them bring me back because I would rather die then become the monster the General wants me to be." Greg meant what he said; even though he would never see Nick again, he didn't want to live a life where he wasn't himself.
"Hey enough chatting! Dr. Wesley needs to speak with you." One of the guards shouted over at her.
The woman nodded, looking back at Greg. "I wish there was something I could do to help you," She whispered.
Greg trudged closer to the intercom and whispered back.
"Tell Nicholas Stokes, of the Las Vegas Crime Lab . . . that I'm sorry I couldn't get back to him . . . and that I love him," He said, holding back the tears that wanted to escape. He knew that the possibility of him ever seeing Nick again was 1 in a million, and if he did turn into a monster or was killed he wanted Nick to know how much he cared for him and always would, even in death.
"I'll tell him . . . I promise." She replied, stepping away from the intercom and turned the machine off, walking away from the cell with a revelation of what she had to do.
~Outside Nick's apartment building~
Nick had just finished questioning the witness when he received some very good news from Brass. Sean had been found. Apparently after selling Greg, Sean had gone back to his apartment and was planning on skipping town with half a billion dollars, but luckily they had caught him just as he was trying to climb into a taxi.
Nick was now on his way back to the lab to question Sean himself. Nick was still concerned that Sean would find a way to escape, since he did have the ability of shifting, but he was hoping that Sean was smart enough to realize that even if he did escape, his face would be on wanted ad's everywhere and would realize that staying put would be the smartest idea.
Nick entered the lab and hurried past everyone to get the interrogation room Brass was in, waiting for Nick to arrive so he could begin the questioning.
He entered the room, Sean and Brass both looking up at him. "Good, now we can start." Brass said, turning back to Sean who had a smug smile on his face. Nick took his seat next to Brass and folded his arms across his chest, glaring Sean down whose smile only widened.
"Hello again Nick by the way, how's the head?" He asked condescendingly.
"Nothing compared to the way you're going to feel if you don't tell me where Greg is." Nick replied in an angry tone.
Sean sat back in his seat and popped his neck. "I guess we're going to be here for a while then . . . because I'm not telling you squat!" He replied with a smug grin.
"Oh you are going to tell me Sean, because if you don't, it is in my jurisdiction to arrest you for breaking into this crime lab and stealing evidence and as I recall this will be your third strike." Nick placed a manila file on the metal table in front of him, flipping the file open to show that it was Sean's criminal record.
"Took me a while to dig this up, but I got to say the time was worth it! You were first arrested for battery assault then arrested again for robbing a bank with a loaded weapon. You have over a hundred aliases and it would appear that you're wanted in several states too. I'm willing to cut you a deal, tell me where Greg is and I can have your sentence shortened." Nick bargained.
Sean's smug smile had disappeared and had reappeared on Nick's face.
In an instant Sean had jumped out of his seat and attempted to swing at Nick. The guard in the room dashed to Sean and held him down to the floor. Nick walked over to Sean and squatted down beside him.
"Didn't that look like an attempted assault on a police officer Brass?" Nick asked.
"I would say so Nick, and we've got footage to prove it." He replied with a smile. Nick looked down at Sean and smiled wider.
"Looks like you just got your third strike buddy!" He smirked, looking up at the guard. "Take him to a cell and have at least four guards guarding him, just in case he tries to escape." The guard nodded, lifting Sean up from the ground.
Sean struggled as he was dragged away from Nick and just as he was about to be escorted out of the room he broke. "Okay! I'll tell you whatever the fuck you want!" Nick smiled and looked over at Brass who was smiling too.
"Seat him back down, we're not done with him yet." Nick ordered. The guards did as they were told, handcuffing Sean back to the table.
Nick and Brass sat back down on the opposite side. "Now that you're finally cooperating we can get down to business."
A/N: There you have it chapter 11! I hope you enjoyed it because if you did please, please review! Because reviews motivate me to write faster!
Also I only recieved 1 single review for the last chapter guys so please if you do happen to read this chapter please oh please take the time to write a review! I'm begging you!