Brass looked over to Nick, who was standing several feet away from him, behind the police tape. "What do you want from him?"

"Do you know him?" the hostage taker asked.

"I do."

"Then go and ask him. I'll call back in five minutes and you'll better have an answer I like." He hung up the phone.

Brass walked up to the CSIs.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked when she was Brass' face impression.

Brass sighed. "He wants to trade hostages..."

"Well that's good, isn't it? What does he want in return?"

"Nick... For two hostages."

They all looked confused. "...Why Nick?"

"I'll do it," Nick said without thinking it through for just one second.

"Wait. No," Catherine chimed in. "What does he want from Nick? We can't just let him go in there, not knowing what to expect!"

"Catherine, I'm doing this. I have to," Nick replied.

They were discussing this for a few minutes when Sara said, "Would you guys please stop for a minute and question why they want Nick? How do they know him?"

"It doesn't matter!" Nick said, "I'll safe two people by doing this and can check on Greg! I need to know if he's alright."

Catherine shook her head. "What if you're walking right into a trap?"

"They're in there for hours and didn't kill anyone. Why should they start with me? I'm doing this, end of discussion."

"That's good to hear, Jim," Gus said before he hung up.

Nick? Why would he want to get Nick into this?, Greg thought.

"Please don't drag him into this," Greg said to him, "What do you want from him?"

"Shut up, that's none of your business."

They opened the doors. Three hostages were standing there. Two walked out, the third one was patting down Nick before he walked in, making sure he had no guns on him. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, though. The hostage and Nick walked into the bank together. The first thing Nick did when he entered was nod to Greg and look quite concerned when he saw the bruises on him. He walked towards the hostage takers and when he saw them, instantly recognized one of them.

"Hello, Mr. Stokes. Would you please raise your hands for me? I know the hostage already checked for weapons, but I'd like to do it myself, too."

Nick did and Gus patted him down.

"Great, no weapons, like I expected. I'm not sure if you remember me. You're the reason one of my friends is in jail. You worked his case. I gave him an alibi, but because I served time in jail before you didn't believe me."

"Yeah, I remember," Nick replied.

"You claimed there was evidence for him to be the murderer, but I told you it was planted there by his ex-wife. You didn't believe me."

Nick nodded. "So why am I here now?"

The hostage taker threw a DVD to Nick. "Watch this. It shows his ex-wife confessing that she planted the evidence."

"...Okay." Nick was a bit confused. Was that all the hostage taker wanted from him?

"Good. You have five minutes with your friend before you have to leave."

Nick was surprised. He'll let him go. He expected to have to stay with them as a hostage. Thinking about Greg, that he had to stay in here alone, he wasn't sure he was glad he'd be able to leave in a few minutes. He walked over to him. "Hey."

"Hey," Greg said with a smile on his face.

"How are you holding up?" He sat down next to him.

Greg nodded. "Don't worry about me. It's not as bad as it looks. How's Ray?"

"He'll be fine." Truth was, Nick didn't know. Ray was in bad condition when he was on the way to the hospital and they haven't heard from him since. But he wanted to comfort Greg. "Why did they do this to you?"

Greg shook his head. "The hostage takers didn't do this. They're not violent, actually..."

"...Did they do this?" Nick pointed at the two masked men. Their hands were tied behind their backs.

"No. The hostages did."

Nick turned around to look at the hostages. They all looked like normal people. He couldn't find a reason why these people would beat up two CSIs in a hostage situation. "...Why?"

"Ray said they have Stockholm Syndrome. They identify with the hostage takers. They keep telling them sad stories about how the police did them wrong..."

Nick didn't know what to say. All the time he worried the hostage takers could hurt Greg, and now he had to worry about the hostages as well.

"I don't feel good about leaving you alone in here. Maybe I could talk to them and stay..."

"Are you out of your mind?" Greg said, almost laughing at the ridiculous idea. "I'll be fine, you have to leave."

"Maybe they're up for a trade. I'll stay so you can go," Nick suggested.

Greg shook his head. "I can't let you do that. Besides, they let you go for a reason. They want you to watch that DVD."

"Anyone can do that. I'll ask them..." As Nick got up, Greg grabbed his arm.

"Don't," he said with a fearful look on his face. "Just do what they want, okay?" He gave him an obviously fake smile. "And then everything will be okay."

"Greg, I... Alright. ...I think the time's up," he said as he saw the hostage taker signing him that he had to leave. "We'll get you out of here, okay? It's gonna be fine." He gently squeezed Greg's arm.

"Watch the DVD. I'll call Brass about it in half an hour, you got that?" Gus said.

While the others were still at the scene, Nick was in the A/V lab with Archie.

"What exactly does he want to tell us with this?" Archie asked. "She's obviously been forced to say all of this."

"Reed's trying to contact her, but so far she didn't find her," Nick replied. "Why do you think she's been forced to say this? She could be crying because she regrets."

"No, I don't think so... You think she's still alive?"

"...What?"

Archie zoomed in on a mirror reflection in the right corner of the screen. "Look. They're pointing a gun at her. Maybe they killed her after her... 'confession'."