So I should continue? It's jsut like my mum's like, oh forty chapters, isn't it dragging? Anyway, soz for the slow update, I'm v. Busy so they may be slow for a while. I'm sorry.

Wow, forty whole chapters? let's get the reviews up, guys :-) thanks !

I hope this chapter's okay.

Read. Enjoy. Review.

Chapter Forty # Rebelling Heroes #

Nick was woken by the shrill ringing of his cell phone. Instantly he scrambled out of bed and dove across the room, glancing briefly at the caller id before picking up.

"Tali? Have they found him?"

"No..." Tali's soft, vulnerable sounding reply made Nick's whole body sag. "I was just wondering... Could you come over? Please? I don't...I don't really wanna be alone. I think it would probably be better if we were all together..."

"Sure, I'll get Rosa to drop me off. I'll be there soon." Nick said, wincing at the emptiness of his voice.

A few minutes later he knocked on Tali's door. Both Rosa and his parents had offered to come in with him but he had politely refused so they left him be. The rain hadn't let up at all and the pounding rain pelted down with no sign of even slowing.

"Hi." Tali said softly as she opened the door.

Her lip quivered and her clean eyes, normally lined with make-up, pooled with tears.

"Nick..." She staggered forward and he caught her quickly, hugging her tightly. After a long moment they went inside and up to Tali's room.

Morgan was curled up on the bed and Archie was pacing the floor.

"Sara, Warrick and Ryan weren't allowed to come." Tali explained hoarsely, as if she'd been crying all night. "I... I've got something to admit. I called my brother. Asked him to look."

"Did he find anything?" Morgan asked hopefully.

"I don't know. Not yet."

Nick swallowed. "I...I'm really so-"

"Don't, Nick." Morgan begged, standing up to hug him. "Please don't... It's not your fault, don't feel like it is, please."

Nick nodded, he couldn't speak.

Tali's phone started to ring and they all looked up. Her eyes lit up at the caller id. "Ari? Did you find something?" Everyone held their breath as Tali swallowed and bit her lip. "Uh huh...yep...what should I tell them? Will they...are you sure? Thank you so, so much, Ari. Okay. Will do. Bye." She ended the call and looked at the others. "He found something. He said we should call the-"

Suddenly the lights flickered and died.

"-police." Tali finished.

"Call them!" Morgan said quickly.

Tali nodded and dialled the phone. Then she swore. "No service."

"Shit!" Morgan cried. "I don't have any either."

"Not even emergency calls?" Nick cried.

"No!" The girls responded in a panic.

"Shit, shit, shit! We'll have to drive to the police station." Archie panicked.

"How, my mom's car is in the shop and Ziva's at Ray's?" Tali cried.

"We'll run." Nick decided.

"We're not supposed to go out." Morgan bit her lip.

"We'll be fine." Nick insisted.

"Well that's what we thought yesterday." Morgan replied.

"We'll be fine." Nick insisted. "I came...prepared."

"What do you mean?" Tali asked suspiciously.

Nick pulled back his jacket. Tali's jaw stiffened and she nodded tightly. Morgan's eyes widened but she stood up.

"I'm with you."

"Me too." Archie nodded shakily.

They quickly yelled to Tali's mother where they were going and raced out of the door before she could reply. Ignoring umbrellas they covered their heads with their arms and started to run.

"Go through the trees, it leads into Tresser Park, its quicker!" Tali yelled. They veered left and started to run through the trees, slipping but not falling in the mud.

"Isn't there a river this way?" Nick asked.

"Its not very deep." Morgan yelled back.

" Oh my god!" Tali gasped, staring at the roaring water. She stopped still and stared at the roaring river. Nick, who was already up to his knees, turned around.

"Come on, Tali."

She looked up at him desperately. "Nick, I can't..."

"Greg doesn't have time!" Nick screamed over the river.

"I can't swim!" Tali screamed back.

"You won't have to, its up to my hips at deepest."

"Nick, I can't, I...I..."

"You're scared." Nick realised. He held out his hand. "I got you. Don't be scared of the water."

"Come on!" Morgan urged. She and Archie were already on the other side, soaking wet, but in one piece. Tali clenched her teeth and grabbed Nick's hand, slipping into the river with a scream. Nick caught her quickly and held her hand as they waded across the river, holding their phones above the water. A log that was being carried with the water crashed into them and they were knocked off of their feet and swallowed into the river.

Morgan screamed at the top of her voice, but Nick was quick to grab at the branches and roots in the bank, swiftly clutching hold of one so he could get back on his feet. He pulled Tali's hand and helped her to her feet, scrambling out of the icy water.

"I thought.." Tali gasped. "We lived...in a desert!"

"Let's...go..." Nick panted.

Archie and Morgan helped them to their feet and they started to stagger back through the woods and trees. They ran as fast as they could to the local police station, but the door was locked.

"Damn it!" Nick cried. He saw a police man running the other way. "Hey! I have information on a missing kid, Greg Sanders, I need-"

"I'm sorry, kid, we have five officers down, two missing and a gunfight five blocks away, no cop in a sixteen block radius has time, you need help, call nine one one!" The man ran off, leaving four distraught, soaking teens outside an empty station.

"It had to be today." Nick's remark came out like a sob. "Where is he?"

"Ari said that he thinks they're at a house in a ghost town, Butterfly Lake."

"Isn't that Catherine's house?" Morgan asked, staring across the street. "Do you reckon she'll let us borrow her car?"

"Worth a shot." Archie shrugged.

Half an hour later they were speeding out of sight of the town. Nick took a steadying breath, his hands tapping on the wheel. "Where are we going?"

"Straight on for thirty more miles, then take the right fork in the road. I'll tell you were to go from there." Archie instructed, studying the map. Nick's foot pressed harder on the gas and the speedometer moved up to ninety miles an hour.

About half an hour later they paused outside a deserted village. Since reaching the desert the rain had slowed, then stopped.

"We should walk in. There's a car there, they'll hear us." Nick pointed out.

"We should call the police first, from here." Morgan said.

"I will." Tali volunteered. "I'll be quick." She dialled the phone quickly. "Hello, I have information about Greg Sanders...I know where he probably is... In Butterfly Lake, the old abandoned ghost town... My brother dig some digging, he's like a PI...We're there now...okay...but- okay. We migh- fine. Goodbye."

"What?" Morgan asked, voicing all their concern.

"They said cops are on the way, they'll be there in ten minutes. The woman said not to go in."

"In ten minutes they could..." Morgan trailed off.

"I'm going." Nick opened the car door.

"Nick-" "This is my fault, I've gotta hel-"

"And what if you make it worse? What if they hear you and they shoot him?" Tali asked seriously.

Nick paused. Morgan silently opened the car door and walked around to be next to Nick. Archie stood up too. Tali sighed angrily and opened the car door.

"Let's go. Nick, give me the gun. Please."

"Ta-"

"I know how to use one, please, Nick?"

Nick nodded and passed the weapon over. They climbed over the fence and started to sneak quietly through the village.

"Shh!"

"What?"

"They'll notice you!"

"Sorry!" Greg whispered sheepishly.

"So, when they've finished reading the story, we gotta jingle the bells. Not too loud, just loud enough to hear just about." Nick explained. "It makes them think Santa's coming."

"Gotcha." Greg winked, his eyes sparkling. "This is so cool!"

"What? Conning a bunch of five year olds that Santa's real?"

"It's so Christmassy!" Greg grinned.

Nick laughed quietly. "Shh!"

The two boys listened for a long moment, before starting to jingle the bells gently.

"Grandma, jingles!" Madi cried.

"Yeah." Nick's mom said softly.

Suddenly Nick sneezed, and a bunch of children ran up to the window and looked out at Greg and Nick, horror and disappointment growing on their faces.

Instantly Greg sprang into action. "Oh my gosh, did you see? Santa dropped his bells, we gotta give them back!"

He snatched the bells of Nick and started to run, yelling "SANTA!" at the top of his voice. He disappeared into the trees and came back about a minute later.

"It's all good, Santa's put them back." Greg nodded.

"You saw Santa?" Emily frowned.

"Nope, I saw his elf...uh, Frodo. He's like Santa's messenger." Greg said modestly.

"That's awesome!" Jayden yelled.

"Nicely done." Nick said quietly to Greg, who grinned.

"They're happy."

Nick choked as he was wrenched back to the present. A large black car was parked outside of a tall town hall.

"Listen!" Archie hissed.

It was faint, muffled.

Screaming.

Fear.

"It's coming from the town hall." Archie whispered.

The four teens looked at each other, terrified of what they might find.

"Let's go."

CSIVCSIVCSIV

"No!" Greg cried as Jason came closer, taking off the handcuffs and turning him around so that Jason faced the door and Greg was pinned beneath him, his feet pushed against the wall. He couldn't help but glance at his clothes, apart from his boxers, in the opposite corner. "Don't!"

Jason moved into the bed and Greg tried to push away, screaming as loud as he could.

"HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE, HELP!"

Jason laughed, caressing Greg's chest.

"No, no, no, help me, someone help!" Greg cried desperatley.

Suddenly Maria's head snapped up. "Jason, listen, the alarm. Someone's here!"

"I'M IN HERE, HELP ME PLEASE!" Greg screamed.

Maria laughed. "There's no one there, Greg. No one there at all."

Jason's thick hands wrapped around Greg's neck, like Maria's had before, and he squeezed as hard as he could.

Greg choked and gagged, his tears stinging when the passed the gaze on his cheek.

The door flew open with a loud bang, and both of the adults gasped, along with the four teens at the door.

The first thing that Morgan saw was Greg, practically naked, pinned beneath the large man sitting on his hips, his head falling limply from the iron grip that the bastard had around his neck. His whole body was arched, like a dying swan. Graceful, innocent.

Maria ripped out a gun and pointed it at the group. "Come one step closer..."

Tali pulled out Nick's gun in return. "Get off of him. Now."

Everything was a blur, Greg couldn't see a thing. This was it, surely. He was hearing his friends voices, that must mean he had gone mad. Suddenly a loud bang shattered his blurry world, and the pressure that he could barely feel anymore released.

He took in a large gasp of air, but it felt wrong, it burnt his lungs. Either way he sucked in the air nevertheless.

"I won't miss again." Tali said coolly, pulling another gun out of her waistband to everyone's surprise, keeping one aimed at the cowering Jason and aiming the second at Maria. "Back. Off."

Jason slowly climbed off of Greg, backing away.

Morgan danced around the edge of the room, moving towards Greg as if he was the centre of the universe. For the moment he was.

Jason whipped around and a flash of silver rained down. Greg weakly put up his hands to protect himself from the knife but something else stopped the knife.

Grabbing the blade with both hands, Morgan twisted it as it flew, sending it spinning onto the floor. Adrenalin helped her ignore the severe pain in her bleeding hands as Nick looped his arms under Greg's. They ran from the room as fast as their tired legs would carry them, slamming the door in Jason's face, literally. Tali and Archie leaned against the door, bolting it and blocking it.

"G...Greg?" Morgan whimpered.

Greg's eyes were unfocused. He was staring into space, gazing at nonexistent stars.

Nick backed off. He felt that if he so much as touched Greg it would hurt his younger friend. He shrugged off his long jacket and passed it to Greg, whose frozen hands took it, his eyes staring blankly at the coat. What sounded like the Johnson's combined body weight smashed into the door and Greg jumped back into life with a small cry.

He started to hyperventilate, staring at the others as if it only just sank in that they were there.

"You...came?" he asked weakly.

"Of course." Nick scoffed, his voice heavy.

"Uh huh."

"You...you stopped them..." Greg slowly started to smile a little. He reached out and touched Morgan's hands. The ghostly smile vanished. "You're hurt."

She shook her head and flung her arms around her neck, drawing him in. Greg squeezed her back with all of the little energy he had.

The murmurs they exchanged were quiet enough so that only they heard, but to the two exhausted teenagers they rang clear as day.

"I thought, I thought, I thought..."

"You came, you came, you came..."

"Jesus, God, shit..."

"You came, you came, you came..."

"I love you, love you, love you..."

"Love you, love you, love you..."

A siren wailed in the distance, drawing nearer. Greg looked up at Nick as he put the jacket on with guilty eyes.

"I tried not to watch."

Nick just closed his eyes. "Unbelievable...Greg, don't worry about me, this is my-"

"No it's not." Greg interrupted, his lip shaking. "It's not your fault."

"Greg..."

Greg shook his head tearfully. "They didn't...you know...they were about to but you stopped them. I... I'm sorry I was an idiot and ran away."

"You're not an idiot." Tali said softly, ruffling up Greg's hair.

Greg let out a sigh. "Guys?"

"Yeah?" The others chimed automatically as they watched police car doors slam and the police start to run towards the building through the windows.

"I love you."

I really hope that was okay, please review.