After I had a near and complete meltdown, Catherine allowed me to wash up and get changed. Since I anticipated shedding more tears throughout the night, I didn't reapply any makeup. I also chose my oversized Texas A&M hoody as my security blanket and topped it off with a baseball cap so that I could hide my face if I felt the need while I was at the lab. She still hadn't told me what had happened to Nicky, but I knew from the stories he had told me that house calls from a supervisor were never to deliver good news.

My nerves were frayed and my imagination was running wild because Catherine was eerily calm while she drove her SUV back to the station. She insisted that she drive me there and that someone from the team would drive me home. I didn't have to see my shaking hands to know she was right. But the silence inside her truck was deafening and making me feel even more antsy.

Once she pulled into a parking spot, I reached over and grabbed her hand as she cut the engine. I'm sure that she turned her head to look at me, but I wouldn't place any bets on that being a fact because I kept my eyes focused out the windshield when I asked, "Before we go in… how…? How bad is it? PLEASE tell me that much."

She placed her left hand over mine that was gripping her right wrist tightly. "It's bad, Nicco, really bad. But…" I turned to look at her as fresh tears started to fall. "But it isn't the worst. At least, not yet."

I heaved in what I had hoped would be a relieved sigh, but instead it came out as a sputtered sob. Catherine then wrapped her arm around me and tried to console me. I'm sure she said more kind, compassionate and comforting words than I would have been able to conjure up if she and I were to exchange places, but I didn't hear any of it. Instead, I only heard my own racing thoughts.

That means Nick isn't dead, right? I mean THAT would be the worst news, right? It has to be. What's worse than death? Disfigurement? Nah, he'd still be my gorgeous Nicky even if he had half of his face ripped off. But if he's only hurt, why are we here? Why aren't we at the hospital?

"Nicco? Sweetheart? Can you hear me?" Catherine asked as she cradled my face in both of her hands. I wasn't sure that I would be able to speak, so I just nodded. She smiled then softly said, "Okay, good. Then let's get inside so Gil and I can fill you in on the situation, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered as she brushed the tears on my cheeks away with her thumbs.

"Okay."

She then got out of the truck, so I turned to open my door. For some reason my hands wouldn't move out of my lap. My limbs felt like dead weight, but I did jump when I heard the passenger side door open. Since I had already promised Catherine that I was ready to hear what she had to say, I really didn't want to let her down. I tried my best to compartmentalize my feeling so that I could put on my game face and get out of her truck to try to get through all of this.

But all of that bravado seeped away when I turned my head and my eyes met the most beautiful set of green eyes that I had ever witnessed a man to possess. Before I could even fully register his face, Warrick was apologizing and saying, "Nicco, I am SO sorry."

"For what? You were at an assault, so you couldn't have hurt Nick."

"That's true, but…"

"No buts," I interrupted. "Can you please help me get inside so Catherine can explain everything to me?"

"Of course, I can."

He then took a step back so that I could swing my legs around to get out of the truck. Much like I had predicted, I stumbled slightly as soon as I was on my feet because my whole body seemed to be feeling some of the effects of shock without fully succumbing to it. Thankfully Warrick was right there to catch me. Once he had me upright, we shared a look because he thought I was joking about needing his help to get inside.

Even though I know my feebleness surprised him, Warrick made no comments. Instead, he escorted me into the building. As soon as we got through the doors everyone that saw us went eerily quiet. Great, everyone in the lab knew why I was here, except for me. That made me want to find out the truth even faster, but Warrick was setting the pace. I didn't want to make it look like I was rushing him or trying to get away from him, so I forced myself to keep in step with him.

As we passed each office and lab en route to… I think we were headed to Dr. Grissom's office, people would either give me a sympathetic look or they would abruptly turn away from me. Those reactions caused my anxiety to spike. But I didn't want anyone to see how nervous I was feeling, so I just took in a few deep breaths and tried to keep my facial expressions as neutral as possible.

He's not dead… he's not dead. He can't be. He isn't… No, he isn't dead, I silently chanted to myself as we continued down the corridor.

The door to Dr. Grissom's office was open with him and Catherine waiting inside. Warrick stopped us about a foot away from the door and turned me by my shoulders. I really didn't want to look up into his face and started to hide under the brim of my ball cap. But I couldn't be a coward right now. I then took my cap off and forced myself to meet his eyes.

"I have to go look into some leads, but if you need anything… anything at all, let me know, okay?"

I smiled softly at his offer then lunged forward to hug him. While still holding him tightly I replied, "Thanks Warrick. Thank you for everything you're going to do."

With that said, I turned and walked into Dr. Grissom's office. Both he and Catherine stood up from their seats and offered their right hands to shake mine. I transferred my hat to my left hand and briefly grasped each of their hands. The formal nature with which they were greeting a was making me feel even more ill at ease. But then again it also made perfect sense, given the gravity of the situation, for them to revert to their more formal, professional procedures.

"Nicco, why don't you take a seat," Catherine offered, pointing to the empty chair beside her.

I simply nodded while I followed her instructions. She moved her chair closer to my own so that she could place her left hand over my right hand. Both of my hands were gripping my cap tightly in my lap, but I loosened the hold of my right hand so that I could hold her hand while we had this discussion.

"Miss Radisson, I'm very sorry that we had to wake you…"

"Nicco," I interrupted. "Please, Dr. Grissom, please just call me Nicco."

He smiled and briefly nodded before continuing, "Very well. Nicco, I apologize for having to wake you, but something has happened to Nick."

"Yeah, I assumed as much. But what is it? Is he hurt?"

"Given the circumstances, it would be safe to assume that. But we don't know for sure. All that we know is that he disappeared from his crime scene and appears to have been abducted."

"Abducted? But how? I thought you have officers at an active crime scene to ensure the CSI's safety. How did this happen?"

"You are correct. We ARE supposed to have police present keep us safe which is why that part of the incident is under investigation through the LVPD's Internal Affairs Office."

"Alright. Then who took him? And why?"

"Also, very good questions…"

Catherine squeezed my hand to get my attention. Once I turned my head to look at her, she said, "But unfortunately, we don't have any answers for them yet. Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Nick? Has he mentioned any cases that have seemed odd or had anything suspicious surrounding them?"

I shook my head and heard my voice break as I answered, "No, he hasn't mentioned anything like that. The only one of us who's had issues with anyone lately is me. But you guys already know all about that."

"We do," Catherine stated softly. "The other thing we were hoping you could help us with is getting a hold of your... his parents. They haven't answered the numbers Nicky has listed for them as his emergency contacts."

"What numbers have you tried?"

Dr. Grissom passed me a sheet of paper so that I could see that information. I sputtered out an involuntary laugh around the fresh tears that were falling before I said, "That one is mom's cell number. She really only uses it for work so she leaves it in the kitchen overnight to charge because she doesn't want it to wake her up. The other is their old landline. They had to change it just before I moved because of a case on dad's docket. I'm surprised he hasn't updated it. I know Nicky has the new number because he's called them since it changed."

"It was probably an oversight on his part. I'm sure I still have Eddie listed on a few things that I've forgotten about for Lindsey. So? Would you…?"

"OH! Yeah, of course. Sorry," I answered over the rest of her question. I quickly took the pen that Dr. Grissom was offering and then scribbled it down on the paper and handed it to Catherine.

"Thanks Nicco." She stood up then said, "I'll go and try to get a hold of them."

After she left the room, she left the door wide open. I guess that meant we were through the meat of the discussion. Not sure what to do or what would happen next, I turned to question Dr. Grissom. He looked like he had forgotten that I was still in the room because he appeared to have gone back to work. Either that or something on his desk was extremely interesting and had him deep in thought.

I'm sure I've had the same look on my face more often than not recently, so I didn't want to interrupt his train of thought. Thankfully I was saved from the embarrassment of awkwardly addressing him by Greg calling out my name in a hushed yell.

He motioned for me to come to him. Since Dr. Grissom wasn't objecting, I got up and moved towards the spot where Greg was standing.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" He questioned as he pulled me into a hug.

I shifted so that my cheek was on his shoulder then whispered, "Don't ask. I don't want to break down in the middle of the lab just yet."

He patted my back and let me lean out of his embrace as he answered, "I get that. Well, while you're waiting to hear an update, why don't a get you a cup of tea or coffee?"

"Coffee sounds good. If I have tea, it will probably put me to sleep."

"Well… I know an office where you can crash if you need to have a nap."

I very nearly accepted that offer, but then a flash of the last time I had slept in that office passed through my mind's eye. I wasn't sure if I was ready to confront those memories yet, so I shook my head to silently decline.

That didn't feel like enough of an answer so I took in a deep breath and quietly added, "No, coffee sounds like a better plan. But thanks."

"No problem. Alright, follow me."

I already knew the way to the break room but I was fine with trailing behind him. If he couldn't see me then maybe he wouldn't try to chat with me or start any small talk before we got to our destination. Again, as we moved through the hallways, people either seemed to stop talking abruptly or started whispering as we passed their offices, so I put my hat back on, shoved my hands into the front pouch of my hoody and kept my eyes laser focused on Greg's feet.

Don't cry, Nicco. Don't you dare cry here again. They'll find him. He'll be fine. Be strong. Crying isn't going to get him home.

As I mentally coached myself, I noticed that the tiles on the floor changed. I tentatively lifted my head to check where we were now. I even let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding when I had confirmed that we made it into the break room.

Greg must have heard my relieved sigh because he said (with his back still turned towards me), "Sorry if it feels like everyone's talking about you."

"It's okay. I would be doing the same thing if I was in their place." He turned and gave me surprised, wide eyes. "What? Just because I'm feeling shocky doesn't mean I can't be honest."

"Shocky?" he questioned with a laugh.

"Yes, and sleepy so… Coffee please."

He fully turned around when he heard the slight whine in my tone. I had walked closer to him so he was able to wrap me in a friendly hug. Even though I had chatted to Warrick since I had been in high school, Greg and I seemed to have clicked from the first time we met in an interrogation room. We'd even joked about what a hilarious story that would be if we were dating each other. But it was just as funny when we told people the origin story of our friendship. Even though I didn't really have much free time, I still found myself watching old movies with Greg every once in a while, and truly felt like I could call him a close friend.

"Okay let's get some caffeine into you."

"I second that."

We both reached for the coffee pot at the same time. Greg ended up with the handle in his grasp first, so I backed off. He knew how I liked my coffee because sitting around drinking coffee and talking, usually him telling me fantastical stories about Las Vegas during the mob ear was how we spent most of our time together after or instead of watching movies. Nick even joined us on a few occasions, which helped me to solidify my relationship with both men. They both had each other's back, as well as mine, so we were able to keep each other's best interests at heart. Don't get me wrong, Greg was a great friend, but my heart belonged to Nick and Nick alone.

"Damn. This thing is usually never empty," Greg grumbled to himself. He didn't try to address me at all as he moved to rinse the carafe before he started to refill it. I'm sure he thought he was being stealthy and covert, but I totally caught him checking the time more than once.

"Greg? DO you have somewhere you need to be?" Very slowly he turned around to face me as I threw my hand over my mouth. "Of course, you do! Here, I can make the coffee, you go back to whatever you were working on." He opened his mouth to reply but closed it without uttering a sound. I scowled saying, "Unless… I can go with you while you find me a new babysitter."

"No! Nicco, it isn't that. It's just, we… the team that is, we… we kind of agreed it would be best if we didn't leave you alone right now. Y'know for moral support?"

"If you…? Oh, Greg that is so sweet, but your energy is better spent looking for Nicky than it is trying to make me feel better." I claimed the glass coffee pot from him adding, "I'll feel guilty if I keep any of you from looking for Nick. Please, Greg? Go, do your job. Don't worry about me. I'll have a couple of pots brewed in no time for all of you, okay?"

"Only if you're…"

"I'm sure," I quickly jumped in. "Please, just go… Find my Nicky."