Title: Battlefield
Author: Jedi Princess Clarrisani
Beta: Stalker of Shadows
Additional Helpers: galuxkitty and puppytraining
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Paring(s): Nick/Greg, Grissom/Sara, Warrick/Tina, wishful Catherine/Warrick
Rating: NC-17
Total Word Count: 25, 184
Tag: The storm's been brewing for some time now.
Summary: With a serial killer on the loose and Greg's job on the line, Nick finds himself caught up on several battlefields – professional, personal, external and internal…
Disclaimer: Do not own. If I did, you would have found several shots of Nick and Greg in the background creeping out of the supply room after their long bouts of absence…

------

"I'm just saying, man, I don't think this is a good idea."

Greg shrugged, slipping off his lab coat and hanging it in his locker, glancing at Nick out the corner of his eye. "You think I don't know that?"

Nick frowned. "Then why you…"

"I'm a CSI, Nick. I'm supposed to be in the field. I earned it." Greg shrugged, closing his locker door. "Ecklie keeps making me run the lab, even with Wendy and Henry, and I'm sick of it. If this keeps up, I'm never going to make CSI 2."

"Okay, you've got a point there." Nick leaned against the locker door, rubbing the back of his neck while watching Greg. "I don't see why you can't just go to Grissom."

"Have. He says his hands are tied." Greg shook his head as he leaned back against his own locker door. "Ecklie outranks Grissom, Atwater outranks Ecklie, so I'm taking my complaint to Atwater."

"I just don't see how this is going to work. You could be risking your job. Not to mention get Ecklie on your back."

"Ecklie's already on my back, Nicky." Greg scowled down at the floor. "I told him to ease off, he told me I was a tech with field training who only got a chance cause I kissed Grissom's arse. That my qualifications are as a DNA specialist, and since I'm one of the best in the country, I should be working the lab."

"Cath thinks that since you've been in the field the lab's profile has raised. Besides, G, your qualifications are lethal in the court room."

"Tell that to Ecklie." Greg shot a glare at the door. "And that's exactly what I'm going to tell Atwater."

"Okay man. Your funeral." Nick pushed himself off the locker, pausing. "You tell Griss you're gonna do this?"

"Nope." Greg shrugged. "I figured he'd try and stop me."

"Yeah, he would. He doesn't like it when people go over his head."

"I'm going over Ecklie's head." Greg sighed, rolling his eyes. "I asked Griss, he did nothing. And I better go if I want to catch Atwater."

"Good luck." Nick watched as Greg headed for the door. "I still say this is a bad idea."

* * * *

Nick was just heading for bed when the phone rang, and with a sigh he moved to pick it up. He knew who it was even before he heard Greg's voice, and judging by the time Nick knew that the younger CSI must have finished his meeting with the sheriff.

"So how'd it go?"

"Better than I expect, actually." Greg sounded tired yet relieved, and Nick couldn't help but feel the same, silently glad Greg had called. Nick wouldn't have been able to sleep otherwise, wondering how it had gone. "Atwater listened to what I had to say, made me answer a few questions, then said he's going to hold an inquiry. He thinks that all CSIs should be in the field." He paused. "I think he was also looking for an excuse not to give me a pay bonus."

Nick laughed. "Fair enough. So you told him you should have one?"

"If I'm in the lab, yeah. I took a pay cut to get out in the field, and I let Atwater know it." He chuckled. "I also told him that if it keeps up, I'll find a lab that let's me to my job as a CSI. Not like I haven't had any offers. Showed a couple of the letters I have to him."

"Blackmail." Nick chuckled, grinning. "What'd he do?

"He didn't like the idea of me leaving, for one. That's when he said he'd look into it."

"And if he doesn't? You wouldn't really leave, would you, G?"

The pause on the other end of the phone gave Nick his answer, the smile fading from his lips.

"Greg…"

"I can't go back to the lab, Nick." Greg gave a frustrated sigh. "I was suffocating in there. I was going nowhere. The field…? There's a future there. I feel like I'm going somewhere, and there's always something new to learn. In the lab I only ever learnt new things when they came out. The field is all about discovery."

"Yeah, G, it is." Nick rubbed his eyes, putting the thought of Greg leaving Vegas to the back of his mind, knowing that there was no chance of getting any sleep now. "So where are you?"

"Home. And I'll probably be in late tomorrow."

"Why?"

"I figure that if I arrive in time for assignments, I'll have less chance of Ecklie cornering me."

"Fair enough." Nick worried his lip, glancing at his clock. "Hey, how about after shift you and me go get a drink. Then you can give me the whole story."

"Sounds good. I'll take you up on that."

"Cool. You're paying for your own, by the way."

Greg laughed. "Never said I wasn't going to. But if you're offering…"

"No."

"Hey, worth a shot." Greg chuckled. "Catch you later, Nicky."

"You too, G."

Nick hung up the phone, staring at it as he ran the conversation over in his mind again. Nope, no way he was going to get any sleep, not with the thought of Greg leaving in his mind. All Nick knew was that Atwater had better pull through.

* * * *

"Did you hear?" Sara smiled tightly as she slid into a seat at the break room table. "Atwater is looking into Ecklie's treatment of the crimelab."

Catherine looked up at her. "Where did you hear that?"

"Ecklie. He was on the phone and I happened to overhear."

"You were eavesdropping." Nick accused.

"No, not really." Sara shrugged. "He sounded kind of ticked off, so I listened in in case one of us had screwed up again."

Warrick snorted. "You really have some faith in us, don't you."

"I was only being cautious."

"Yeah. Right."

"I was!"

The conversation halted as Grissom entered, shuffling and scanning the assignments. He glanced at them over the top of his glasses before looking back down at the assignment slips.

"As you've probably heard, the lab is under investigation. I'm not sure of the actual circumstances, but I want you watching your backs. No mistakes." He handed a slip to Catherine. "Woman found dead in her car in Henderson. Cause of death is unknown. Take Sara."

He turned to Nick. "Body found washed up at Lake Mead. I want you and Warrick working this one. And no bets."

Nick and Warrick exchanged an amused smile.

Grissom looked up, frowning. "Where's Greg?"

"Here!" Greg slid into the room, shrugging sheepishly. "Avoiding Ecklie."

"Mm-hm." Grissom raised an eyebrow. "He was looking for you earlier. Wanted you to run some of dayshift's DNA since the labs backlogged."

The corner's of Greg's eyes tightened as he forced a smile, dropping into the seat beside Sara. "Which is why I was avoiding him."

Grissom eyed him for a moment before holding up a slip between two fingers. "B & E on the East Side. You'll have to work solo as I'm still running the Richard case. Think you can handle it?"

"If it's a straight B & E, sure."

"Okay." Grissom handed Greg the slip. "Remember, watch your backs."

"You got it." Warrick slapped Greg on the back. "You need any help, you call and I'll have your back."

"Thanks, Rick."

Nick gave Greg a thumbs up as he followed Warrick out of the room. Greg's first solo. Nick knew he'd handle it. Besides, if Greg pulled it off, all the more to hold against Ecklie.

* * * *

"I bet the guy thought he'd get away with it. Gloves, wiped everything clean, hair net." Greg smirked as he leaned back in his seat. "Idiot had a cold."

Nick laughed. "Oh, you've got to love ‘em when they do. I once nabbed a guy who'd killed a kid cause he sneezed. If he hadn't he might have gotten away with it."

"You'd think they'd work it out." Greg sipped from his drink, gesturing to Nick. "How'd your case go? Identify the body yet?'

"Nah. Jacqui's still running the prints. Did find the murder weapon though." Nick looked down as his glass. "Tyre iron. Found it tossed near the pier closest to the DB. No prints, but Wendy's checking it for DNA. She's backlogged, though."

"Guys on Days were always as slow as shit." Greg rolled his eyes. "I could run their results and yours in a night, come back in the next shift, and it'd be backlogged again."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "They need someone else on Days."

"Like that would ever happen." Greg shook his head. "Wendy, Hodges and Henry do the best they can. I mean, Henry's still a rookie and Hodges is a prick, but Wendy does pretty well for herself."

"Yeah, she does." Nick smiled. "You got a thing for her, G?"

"Who? Wendy?" Greg pulled a face. "Hell no. I mean, yeah, I've dated her, but I was the one who never took it any further."

"Oh yeah? How come?"

"I guess she wasn't my type."

Nick smiled behind his glass. "Either she is or she isn't, G. No guess work required."

"Fine. She isn't." Greg shrugged it off. "So if you want to make a move for her, go ahead."

"Nah. I'm not really that into Wendy." Nick paused. "I think she enjoyed cutting my shirt off me, though."

Greg choked on his drink, laughing. "I think any girl would enjoy cutting your shirt off, man."

"There'd be some who wouldn't." Nick smiled. He knew he shouldn't say it, but… "How about you?"

Greg looked up. "How about me what?"

"Would you enjoy cutting my shift off me?"

Greg stared at him a moment, Nick watching him closely and noting the way Greg's eyes widened, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks. Clearing his throat, Greg averted his eyes. "So, eh… you and Warrick have a bet going over your DB?"

Avoiding the question. Interesting. "Yeah. We always do, G." Nick sat back, looking around the bar and taking in the other patrons. "We both got COD wrong, so it's double or nothing over the suspect. I say jealous lover; Rick says business deal gone wrong."

"Could be robbery or blackmail." Greg smirked. "And if you're both wrong and I'm right?"

Nick blinked. "You, eh… want in?"

"I cracked my case. Get Griss to deal me in and yeah, I'm in."

"Okay." Nick smiled. "Next shift I'll talk to Griss. He's still on the Richard case, and Sara and Cath are all systems go on theirs, so unless another case comes up I'll get you in." He paused. "Initial bet was a C-note."

"Get me in, and I'm in." Greg smiled, swirling the lasts of his drink absently around the bottom of his glass, glancing out the window as a patrol car shot past, lights flashing and siren following in its wake. "Anything to keep me out of the lab."

"Ecklie try to get on your back?"

"When isn't he on my back?" Greg rolled his eyes. "Not sure what Atwater told him, but it's got him paranoid. He's trying to use it as an excuse to keep me in the lab."

Nick frowned. "How's that?"

Greg looked at him. "DNA lab's backlogged. It doesn't look good for Ecklie's image, so he wants me in there cleaning up."

"Ah." Nick chewed his tongue, casting his gaze around. "Well, if you get stuck in the lab you could use it against Ecklie."

"If I get stuck in the lab I'm in trouble." Greg sighed, burying his head in his arms. "I got my report back."

Nick's frown deepened. "Report?"

"Progress report. Evaluation. Whatever you call it." His hands clenched into fists as his voice tightened, becoming bitter. "I'm failing, Nicky."

Nick blinked. "How?"

"I'm not completing enough cases." Greg looked up at him over his arms. "I'm, as they say, under achieving. I've got a month to prove I'm capable, otherwise I get a pay cut or worse."

Nick felt his stomach knot. "They want to fire you?"

Greg sighed heavily, straightening. "I'm CSI 1, Nicky. They're not going to promote me if I don't complete the required quota, and I've closed a hell of a lot less than I'm supposed to have by now."

Nick shook his head. "They can't fire you because Ecklie has you in the lab."

"Ecklie doesn't log that I'm in the lab. As far as official records go, I clock in, I do nothing all day but take up space, I pick up my pay cheque, and then I clock out."

"Why doesn't Ecklie log it?"

"To avoid paying me extra." Greg scowled down at the table. "I'm in shit here, Nicky. I work the field, Atwater has nothing. I get stuck in the lab… I lose my job no matter what happens."

"Jesus." Nick rubbed his eyes, swallowing hard. "Tell Grissom."

"I already told you I–"

"Tell him." Nick looked up at him, fixing him with a hard look. "Tell him the whole story, G. The eval, logs, Atwater, everything."

Greg set his jaw. "He won't help, Nicky."

"Better safe than sorry." Nick reached out, grabbing one of Greg's hands in his and squeezing it. "He likes you, and he of all people knows we can't afford to lose you. Tell him."

Greg continued to stare at him, but Nick couldn't help but see some of the tension leave Greg's face, and Nick felt his own leave when Greg squeezed his hand back in silent reply.

Nick didn't see Greg the following night, as Grissom had sent the younger with Sofia to check out a missing persons case in Henderson. At the end of shift Nick found himself sitting in Grissom's office, the elder man watching him over the top of his glasses. After a moment Grissom sighed, leaning back in his seat.

"How much has Greg told you about his problem, Nicky?"

Nick looked up. "The Ecklie thing?"

Grissom nodded.

"Almost everything." Nick shrugged. "The lab, the eval, Atwater. How he could lose his job."

Grissom nodded again, setting his jaw. "I'm afraid it's become a little more complicated. Before Greg came to see me earlier, I received a letter from the board requesting that Greg is assigned permanently back into the lab."

Nick blinked. "Permanently?"

Grissom nodded. "On Days."

Nick felt his stomach knot, felt the colour draining from his face. "They can't, can they?"

"His evaluation was poor, Nick." Grissom sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "While he closes all his cases, he has only completed a third of the required quota for a CSI 1 for the year. Every time he is taken off a case, so is his name, and unfortunately I didn't realise how often this had been happening until it was too late."

Nick had a bad feeling about this. "What do you mean… too late."

Grissom set his glasses on the desk. "Ecklie has signed his approval to the idea."

"What!?" Nick stood, fighting to keep his temper in check. "But Griss, it's Ecklie's fault–"

"I know, Nick. Sit down." Grissom waited until Nick was seated before continuing. "It won't be happening immediately. I phoned Atwater a little while ago to inform him of the situation, and he's planning to take it to the Mayor. CSIs, and good CSIs, are hard to come by, and we cannot afford to lose Greg from our team."

Nick nodded, chewing his tongue. "So what's going to happen?"

"For now, nothing. Atwater is going to delay the move with red tape, and I'm going to keep Greg in the field." Grissom nodded toward the phone. "He and Sofia just wound up their missing person case. Husband turned up drunk in the back alley of the Paris. If no new cases turn up, I'll be assigning him to you."

Nick nodded. "Rick and I could use his help, sure."

"Good." Grissom caught Nick's gaze. "Keep a good eye on him, Nicky. With all the added stress, Greg is at high risk of burning out, and if he wants to stay in the field we cannot afford to let that happen."

"Yes sir."

* * * *

Nothing stayed secret at the lab, and by the next shift all the CSIs knew the basics of what was going on. While no one said anything to Greg, he seemed uncomfortable beneath their gaze, eyeing them wearily during assignments and somewhat relieved when Grissom officially signed him onto Nick and Warrick's case.

On their way to fill a search warrant at the suspect's house, Warrick filled Greg in. Their vic had been identified as Andreas Georgalas, an athlete who'd flown in at the last minute to partake in a triathlon, only he had never shown up for the official sign up.

Georgalas had been staying at a fellow competitors home, one Richard Willrock, whose fingerprint had turned up on the tyre iron on closer inspection. No one had seen Willrock for three days – he wasn't answering his door or phone, and no one knew his whereabouts.

That's what they were going to find out now.

Willrock lived in an upscale housing estate about a 10 minute drive from the strip, and upon arriving they found Brass waiting for them with the warrant. As the police moved in, Nick moved to stand next to Greg.

"Griss tells me you closed another case."

"Guy's credit card led us right to him." Greg paused, frowning. "Well, not quite. Had to follow the blood trail. Guy got smashed in the face by some girl he groped."

Nick chuckled. "Yeah, some guy's can't take no for an answer." He paused. "Bet's triple or nothing, by the way."

Greg looked at him. "How's that?"

"Competitive rivalry." Nick nodded toward the house. "I say skipped town; Rick says holed up."

"I say guy didn't do it."

Warrick looked over at him. "His fingerprints were on the murder weapon, Greggo."

"Killer could have worn gloves." Greg shrugged. "My sixth sense tells me we should be looking for another body."

"So you think Willrock's dead."

Greg nodded.

"So…" Nick grinned. "You in?"

"I'm in."

"Nice." Warrick mimicked Nick's grin. "More money for me."

They looked up as Brass ambled over, a grim look on his face as he joined them. "Well, no sign of our suspect, just a whole new twist." He pointed back toward the house. "Ransom note on the table, addressed to the PD. I left it for you guys."

"Okay, thanks." Nicked gestured for Greg and Warrick to follow, the three grabbing their kits and heading into the house. The air inside the house was musty, indicating that no one had been inside for some time. The blinds were closed, and a half-eaten breakfast sat on the kitchen counter.

They divided up the house – Nick took the upstairs, Warrick downstairs, while Greg took the parameter. After an hour they had completed their walk-through, finding nothing evident to suggest foul play.

"Whoever it was came in the front door," Nick said, gesturing toward the front entrance. "Which means Willrock knew the guy."

"Or," Warrick said, "there's no guy and Willrock staged the scene."

Nick looked at him. "You're stretching."

"Evidence supports it."

"Lack of evidence."

"Exactly."

"We're missing something." Greg picked up the bagged note, frowning as he cast his gaze around. "There should be evidence of something, right?"

"Right." Warrick gave Nick a weary look before turning to look toward the front entrance. "I'm going to print the front door."

"One step ahead." Greg gestured to his kit. "Doorbell, and both interior and exterior handles."

"Brass' prints are probably on that." Nick glanced up. "I'm going to go print the bedroom door in case someone other than Willrock was in there."

Warrick turned to Greg. "You check for prints outside?"

Greg nodded. "No access to the eastern side, cobble path on the western, no prints on the sills. Backyard is too overgrown. No prints out there either."

"So the guy kept the front yard tidy, but neglected the back." Warrick raised an eyebrow. "He's all about appearances."

"Which is why I don't think he'd stage his kidnapping like this." Nick sighed, tugging at his gloves. "Let's go over this place again. Rick, kitchen and lounge. If Willrock had a guest, you should find evidence of it."

"You got it."

"I'll take the training room and office. Greg?" Nick smiled as the younger looked at him. "Bedroom and bathroom."

Warrick laughed as Greg groaned, the junior CSI moving like a man resigned to his fate. Warrick slapped Nick on the back.

"That's cruel, man."

* * * *

Four hours later they were back at the lab, Warrick running prints, Nick developing photos and Greg delivering samples and logging evidence. Nick was already resigned to the fact they had probably hit another dead-end as he headed to the layout room with pictures in hand, slowing as he spotted Greg by the table, body tense as he glared at the man in front of him.

Ecklie.

Shifting to a position where he could hear and not be seen, Nick listened.

"I don't really care what case you're on, Sanders," Ecklie was saying. "I'm sure Brown and Stokes are more than enough to handle it."

"Grissom thinks they need a hand," Greg said, setting his jaw. "It's complicated. The more people on the case, the sooner it will break.'

"I doubt you'll do much to help them." Ecklie's voice was level, calm, giving Nick a clear image of Ecklie's expression despite not being able to see his face. "Fact is, Sanders, I need someone to run the DNA on the O'Conner case."

"Then get a DNA tech." Greg looked down at his paperwork, writing in another sample onto the log. "Why they're there."

"I need someone who won't make mistakes." Ecklie shrugged. "It's a high profile case, and you're the best in the country."

"New York thinks that too. They say that's what gives me so much potential as a CSI." Greg looked up at him. "I guess that's why they keep trying to recruit me."

Nick saw Ecklie's body tense, although his voice showed no sign of it. "I'm the one who has to approve any transfers, Sanders."

"Grissom signs them."

"And I approve them."

Greg looked at him for a moment before shrugging, going back to work. "I could always just quit and reapply."

"You'd need a reference."

"Grissom, Catherine and Brass."

By now the frustration was creeping into Ecklie's voice, causing Nick to smile. "If you don't run the DNA, Sanders, I'll cut your vacation quota and deduct from your pay. Your evaluation will support it."

"Should I remind you that I'm a member of the union?"

Silence. Nick smirked. Stalemate. Hearing a soft step behind him, Nick looked back to see Grissom moving away, Nick frowning. How long had Grissom been standing there? Shrugging it off, Nick stepped into the layout room.

"Hey G, you finished…" He let his voice trail off as if seeing Ecklie for the first time, allowing a confused expression to slide across his face. "Can we help you, Ecklie?"

"No. I just needed to speak with Sanders." Ecklie gave him a tight smile before moving toward the doorway. "I'll let you get back to work."

Nick watched him leave before turning back to Greg, noting he glare Greg was shooting after the man. Worrying his lip, Nick moved to Greg's side and slid a hand up to squeeze Greg's shoulder, feeling the muscles tense beneath.

"You okay, man?"

"Yeah." Greg sighed, closing his eyes and slumping. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know what that was about." Nick slid his hand from Greg's shoulder to the back of his neck, gently massaging the still tense muscles and noting how Greg leaned into his touch. "Don't let him get to you, G."

"He's not." Greg opened his eyes, looking up at him. "Just getting sick of the way he always manages to corner me."

"No worse than Grissom when you've pissed him off." Nick gave a tight smiled, nodding back toward the doorway. "Griss heard too, by the way."

Greg blinked. "He did?"

"Yeah. Don't know how long he was there, though. He snuck up on me." He shrugged. "Griss and Ecklie will probably have it out, later."

"I'll pay for a front row seat to that."

Nick chuckled, gently squeezing the back of Greg's neck before letting his hand drop, instantly missing the contact. He really shouldn't be taking advantage of moments like that, but he couldn't help it. Clearing his throat, he held up a manila envelope. "Got the photos."

"More than I've got." Greg sighed, shaking his head as he looked down at the collection of sorted evidence in from of them. "You ever had a case full of so many dead ends?"

"Syd Goggle and Paul Milander were the biggest ones." Nick saw Greg's startled look. "We all dwell on them. Because we couldn't put the pieces together quick enough they kept finding and attacking more victims."

Greg nodded. "Both ended up dead, right?"

"Mm-hm." Nick glanced at the evidence log. "So what do we have?"

"Big fat nothing so far." Greg shrugged. "I left some stuff with Hodges and Wendy, but they're both backlogged. Bribery didn't even help." Greg smiled. "And I always thought Blue Hawaiian could get me anything."

"Sometimes even the best bribes don't match up to the threat of a pay cut." He nodded toward the log. "How far did you get with that?"

"Only a couple of things to go. Should only take me a couple of minutes."

"Right. Okay." Nick set the photos down on the layout table. "I'll just go check on Warrick. See if he's got anything. Then I'll be right back."

Greg nodded, picking up his pen. "Who's in the print lab tonight?"

Nick frowned. "Franco, I think."

"Jacqui, hm." Greg scooped out his phone, checking something on it and raising his eyebrows. "It's the 17th. Beware of the PMS."

Nick laughed. "Will do, Boss."

If Nick had a dollar for every time Greg was right about something, he would have been a millionaire years ago. Sure enough, Jacqui Franco had been short tempered, and the lack of findings did little to help matters. Nick and Warrick were both glad to find an excuse to get out of there. The excuse, however, was not one they were happy about. It also meant that Greg was right about something else, and, unfortunately for them, the winner of their bet.

A body matching Richard Willrock's description had just washed up on the shore of Lake Mead, and upon arriving, they visually identified their suspect although they would need prints before the ID could be officially confirmed.

"Damn," Warrick rubbed his eyes as they headed back into Vegas, shift having ended over four hours ago. "Just when we think we've found our guy."

"Back to square one," Nick confirmed. "Although we have a bullet to go with this time."

"How much you wanna bet the gun's stolen," Greg said from the back seat.

"Against you? Nothin'." Warrick looked back at him. "You just cleaned me out."

Greg smirked. "That's what you get for betting against a genius."

"Whatever, G." Nick couldn't suppress his grin, casting his gaze around their surroundings as he drove. "Well, both our vics have one thing in common. Both bodies washed up at Lake Mead."

"Yeah, but Willrock was still alive when Georgalas was killed," Warrick said. "Robbins put Georgalas' TOD at roughly eleven days ago. Willrock has only been missing for three."

"Unless somebody is lying," Greg said. "Who was it that said they'd seen the guy?"

"The trainer," Nick answered. "Said Willrock showed up for training, took off early, hadn't seen him since."

Warrick frowned. "Did we ever get that background on the trainer?"

Nick shook his head. "Brass is still working on it."

Greg frowned. "You thinking the trainer is a suspect?"

"Everyone's a suspect, Greggo." Warrick tugged at his wedding band, frowning down at it. Nick saw him.

"You need to ring Tina? Let her know where you are?"

"No. She'll know I'm on a case."

"Keep her from worrying."

"She doesn't anyway. Not anymore." Nick must have been looking at him funny, because Warrick gave him a reassuring smile. "Hey, things are cool. Don't worry, bro."

Nick gave him a reluctant look before turning back to the road. "Yeah, well, if you ever need anyone to talk to…"

"You'd be the first I'd call." Warrick reclined back in his seat. "You've got enough to worry about." He glanced back. "And that goes double for you."

Nick saw Greg twitch slightly, the younger staring out the window. In the rear-view mirror Nick couldn't help but notice how tired Greg looked – more so than he normally was after such a long shift. Grissom was right in saying this was a dangerous time for the younger – lesser men would have already snapped by now.

If anything, this was going to be an opportunity to see how much the CSI 1 could take, and while Grissom was no doubt secretly viewing this as an experiment, Nick was going to be the safety net.

Not that he minded.

"So apart from being found at Lake Mead," Nick said, breaking the silence, "what else did our vics have in common?"

"They were both triathletes," Greg answered.

"And both entered in the big race next week," Warrick continued. "And from what I could gather, both were in the favourites to win the thing."

"Yeah, they were." Nick frowned. "Maybe we should start looking at it from that angle. Find out who the favourites are."

Greg frowned at him. "You think someone's killing off the competition?"

"Yeah." Nick set his jaw. "I do."

* * * *

Two nights later Nick again found himself in Grissom's office, only now Catherine had joined them. Nick knew that earlier that night Catherine and Sara had broken their case, and Sara was currently tying up any of the loose ends. Catherine had entered Grissom's office over half an hour ago, no doubt demanding to know what was going on. Evidently, Grissom had told her everything.

"So there's nothing we can do," she was saying, frowning up at where Grissom was mulling. "It Atwater doesn't find anything, we lose Greg to Days."

"But if Atwater does find something, which he can only do if Greg's in the lab, Greg still loses his job as a CSI because he hasn't worked enough cases." Nick saw Catherine's frown deepen as he spoke, Nick turning to look up at Grissom. "Lose/lose situation."

Catherine looked up sharply. "Is Greg aware of all this?"

"Completely," Nick answered, sighing heavily. "And Ecklie's been on his case about running the DNA on the O'Conner case."

"Well he can forget that." Catherine glared up at Grissom. "Have you spoken to Conrad?"

"I have." Grissom rubbed the bridge of his nose, frowning. "I believe it is his personal opinion that Greg should have never left the lab."

"He had to, Gil." Catherine shook her head. "He was finding it hard in there, we both know it. That was why you gave him that second chance."

Grissom nodded, dropping into his seat and meeting her eye. "I believe Ecklie didn't realise at the time how much everyone relied on Greg being in the lab. In fact, I think he saw Greg as expendable, as just another lab tech."

"He's much better in the field," Nick spoke up. "He's got an eye for detail. And he always has the techs in mind when he collects samples."

"It's true," Catherine said. "I've even heard Hodges comment that he prefers Greg's samples to anyone else's."

Grissom nodded, his forehead creasing with deep worry lines. "It's not what we or anyone else thinks about Greg in the field, it's what Ecklie thinks. And it's clear to me that he wants Greg in the lab, away from us."

"Meaning," Catherine continued, "that he'd be away from his friends and support. He'd be on his own."

Nick frowned. "Has Greg ever been on Days?"

Catherine looked at him. "Not that I'm aware of."

"He hasn't." Grissom sighed, sitting back. "Which brings us to another problem. Are either of you aware of why Greg was never rotated like many of the other techs?"

Catherine and Nick both shook their heads.

"Before Greg was offered a place here, he worked at the San Francisco crime lab. He and Sara knew each other in fact." Grissom smiled faintly only to have it fade. "When I was arranging the transfer with San Francisco's Graveyard Supervisor, Carl Smythseton, Carl made it clear that Greg should not be put on Days, and made a note of it on the transfer papers."

"Papers that should still be in Greg's file." Catherine nodded, frowning. "Did Smythseton say why to not put Greg on Days?" MO< "Apparently Greg is, as Nicky would call it, a night owl." Grissom shot Nick a small smile as he continued. "His mind is more active in the later hours of the day, and he is able to focus more and work better during the night. On Days he is slower and less pleasant."

"Yeah, I've noticed that." Nick frowned. "The other day when we were processing the scene where the body washed up, he got quieter and more serious. He looked dead on his feet."

Grissom nodded. "Carl, when he first hired Greg straight from Stanford, was good friends with one of Greg's professors, who actually pointed out that Greg worked better during night classes than days, and had a tendency to complete his assignments to the highest standard in the early hours of the morning."

"Highest standard." Catherine looked up. "Knowing Greg, the standard would have been high anyway."

Nick nodded. "Agreed."

Grissom smiled tightly, looking down at a piece of paper in front of him. "Are either of you aware that Greg has been published in several forensic journals?"

Catherine shook her head while Nick nodded. Nick grinned. "I've, eh… kinda been collecting them."

Catherine smiled. "Why does that not surprise me."

Grissom smirked, leaning back in his seat as Nick gave Catherine an innocent/confused look. Turning to Nick, Grissom smiled. "But do you have his articles from College?"

Nick blinked. "He was writing in College?"

Grissom nodded. "His professors believed his work to be of such high standard they sometimes, with Greg's permission, published them in the University journals and publications. I even have a couple." He pointed toward his bookshelf where they could see several books bearing the Stanford crest. "And he still writes. Two months ago he had published an article outlining common mistakes CSIs make when collecting DNA evidence and the ways techs can amend that."

Catherine leaned back in her seat. "I think we all need to read that article."

"And his current one," Grissom tapped a finger against the paper in front of him, "the ways CSIs can minimise contamination and maximise results during the collection process."

Catherine frowned. "You have the article?"

"I'm Greg's proof-reader. I also help him with any research." He smiled, shrugging. "Sometimes it's easier for a Doctor to gain access to material than someone who is not."

"Then why doesn't Greg do a thesis?" Catherine asked. "He's more than capable."

Grissom sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I only recently convinced him that he should. And found a way for him to complete it without him needing to leave Vegas." He looked up at them. "He was going to publish his article, then begin researching. However, he was waiting until he reached CSI level 2 before he began in earnest."

Nick blinked. He hadn't known about this, and judging from the look on Catherine's face, she hadn't either.

"So," Catherine said softly, "we have two problems. A) Greg needs to be a CSI to finish the article, and B) he needs to reach CSI 2 to begin work on his PhD."

"Jesus." Nick slumped heavily in his seat, feeling as if a giant weight had fallen upon him. "And there's the fact he can't work Days… why the hell didn't he tell us any of this?"

"He was planning it as a surprise." Grissom picked his glasses up off the desk, polishing them absently. "And I believe he didn't want people to think he was receiving special treatment."

"Which he is," Catherine said with a tight smile.

Grissom glared at her out the top of his eye. "Greg also tends to keep things to himself. I'm sure no one other than myself and Brass know he has a younger brother and sister."

Nick straightened. He hadn't known that at all. It was almost an information overload – he was learning so much about Greg in the course of a few minutes, more than he had learnt in all the years of working with the younger man. Greg was someone he had always viewed as being open and honest about everything, but it turned out he had a personal, private side that he kept to himself.

Chewing his lip, Nick mulled over that realisation. There just could be more to Greg than he had thought, and he wanted to know everything. He wanted to know the other side, the private side…

"Nick?" He looked up, spotting Catherine and Grissom watching him with amusement. Catherine reached out and patted his arm. "Keep your mind on why we're here, Loverboy."

Grissom chuckled. "I think his mind was, Catherine, just not on the actual problem."

"True."

Nick brushed Catherine's hand away as he felt his face heat up. He shifted in his seat, clearing his throat. That was probably one of the key things he hated about Catherine and Grissom – they were too good at spotting the evidence and putting the puzzle together.

"So, eh… what are we going to do?"

"I think it's more what can we do." Catherine looked over at Grissom. "Gil?"

He watched her for a moment before setting his glasses down on the desk. "Greg and I discussed it earlier. While there is currently no solution, the main goal is going to be keeping Greg in the field long enough to qualify to undertake the exam."

Catherine shook her head. "That's over a year away, Gil. He's only coming up on two years. The minimum is three."

"Not necessarily." Grissom smiled faintly. "Greg's situation has never been standard. His qualifications are as a DNA specialist. He was trained using real cases, not simulated ones most trainees have. He taught himself the theory. He reached CSI 1 through proficiency, not examination."

Catherine nodded. "So the rules are different for someone like him. How long?"

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Minimum two years."

Nick scoffed. "Two years? Damn. I mean, not that he hasn't worked for it…"

"Now that sounds like special treatment." Catherine narrowed her eyes. "Greg know?"

Grissom nodded. "He's known for a while."

"And what was his reaction?"

"Back then, jubilation."

"And now?"

Grissom set his jaw. "His first question was how his evaluation would affect it, which is to add at least another month. Secondly, how to keep him in the field."

"Which is where I come in." Catherine looked at him knowingly. "You want me to talk to Ecklie."

"Please." Grissom looked at Nick. "Meanwhile, Nick will keep an eye on Greg. If he shows any sign of bending under the pressure, tell me immediately."

Nick nodded, giving a small salute. "Yes sir."

When the third body washed up on the shores of Lake Mead, they knew they had a serial killer on their hands. Triathlete, entered in the big competition, and again one of the favourites, Denis Burson had, like the second vic, been shot. Only this time, it was a bullet to the temple.

"Doubt there'll be water in the lungs of this vic," Warrick said as the coroner van pulled away.

"I just want to know how the press hasn't got hold of this." Greg looked at him, frowning. "Someone keeping them quiet?"

"Mayor." Brass answered. "He's sponsoring the event. He wants to attract more sports events and athletes to Vegas. A few murdered triathletes are bad press."

"I'll say." Nick shone his torch over the ground where the body had been, then up over the water where the light reflected back. "Any info on the trainer?"

"Kasey Baxter." Brass glanced back toward the road, frowning. "Been in Vegas for two months now. Considered to be the best athlete trainer in Western America. Trains quite a few big names." He looked back toward them. "Has someone to account for his whereabouts at all times."

"So it's not the trainer." Warrick frowned. "Leaves the other competitors."

"Only a thousand or more." Brass shrugged. "It's a big event."

"Mm-hm." Nick frowned. "We need to narrow the search."

"They're being dumped in the lake with no piers anywhere close by." Greg shone his torch back toward the water. "Means our guy might have a boat."

"Yeah. Yeah, he just might." Nick felt a sense of hope wash over him at the notion of having a decent lead. "G, call all the boat hire places in Vegas. Get a name for every boat hired at least three days before each body dump and cross check with the names of the athletes."

"You got it."

Nick turned to Warrick. "Call the Lake Mead Rangers. We need a log of everyone coming and going. See if they've logged anything suspicious."

Warrick nodded. "What are you going to do?"

Nick looked at Brass. "Our vic was at a motel, right?" Jim nodded. "I'm going to go check out his room. Maybe this time our suspect left a piece of himself behind."

* * * *

He hadn't, at least not obviously. They needed to cross check with the evidence collected at the Willrock murder to be sure. If anything, there was another ransom note, and a vast amount of cleanliness. Nick was starting to wonder if their vics were clean, or if their killer was cleaning up after himself. Having known some triathletes back in Dallas, Nick believed it to be the latter.

Having closed the evidence log with a heavy sigh, Nick stood and stretched, glancing at his watch. It would be another two hours until the end of shift, and until he got his results back, Nick had nothing to do.

Warrick was still out with Brass, hunting down an incommunicado ranger, but Greg was at his desk going over the boat rental records he had until he could get the rest in the morning. Nick decided to go check on his progress and lend a hand until something else came up.

Stepping into their office, Nick dropped the evidence log onto his desk before glancing over at Greg, frowning when he found the other slumped over his desk, his head buried in his arms. Chewing his tongue with faint worry, Nick moved over to him.

"You okay, Greg?"

"Mm." Greg sighed, raising his head just enough for Nick to see his eyes. "Just taking a break."

"Yeah. Same." Nick glanced out into the corridor, frowning at the people bustling around. His frown deepened as he spotted Ecklie further down the corridor, Nick turning back to Greg. "Hey, how about we go for a walk around the parking lot. Always makes me feel fresher after a long shift."

Greg straightened. "Nick, it's freezing out there."

"That's the point."

Greg stared at him, Nick positive that Greg was going to turn the idea down, so he was slightly surprised when Greg shrugged and stood, scooping up his jacket from the back of his seat and heading for the door. Nick followed, falling into step beside him as they headed outside.

Greg remained silent as they walked, the night cool but not enough to chill. He sighed heavily, eyes to the pavement, Nick watching him out the corner of his eye. Eventually, Greg raised his eyes to look at Nick, smiling tightly.

"Nice mess I've got myself in, yeah?"

Nick nodded, hooking his thumbs into his belt as he cast his gaze around. "Cath knows now. And Griss told us about your articles."

Greg set his jaw. "And the PhD, no doubt."

Nick simply nodded.

"Thought so." Greg let out a soft sound akin to frustration. "Been digging my own grave and never even realised."

Nick chewed his lip. Greg was one of the few people who would mention ‘grave' in a conversation with him, and while Nick has always appreciated that, in this context he did not. Shaking it off, he looked back at Greg. "You did what you thought was right, G. You help people who need it, you write cause you like it, and you're going for a PhD because… well, you're a friggin' genius."

"So eloquent, Nicky." Greg chuckled, eyes sparkling in the faint light. He sobered. "As much as I want you to keep building on my ego, that doesn't take away the problem. I'm screwed no matter what I do."

"We'll find a way out of it, G." Nick reached up, squeezing Greg's shoulder. "Atwater knows. And I'm sure Brass does too now."

"I'm sure the whole lab knows." Greg rolled his eyes. "I was a lab rat, Nicky. I know how fast gossip spreads in there."

Nick shot him a sly smile. "Won't be so fast now you're not there."

"Don't underestimate the power of Bobby." Greg tossed him a wink having spotted Nick's surprised look. "He does it subtly. You ask the question, and he answers indirectly. You just need to know the code."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know the code."

"One of the fist things Jacqui taught me. And I got to teach it to Hodges and Archie." Greg shrugged, Nick noting how he had shifted closer so that their bodies were brushing as they walked. "I can't go back to the lab, Nick. I'll lose it. My mind, I mean. Ever since the explosion, I…" Greg sighed heavily, head dropping. "I can't go back to the lab."

Nick frowned. It had been a long time since Greg had spoken about the explosion. No doubt it was never far from his mind, the scars an ever present reminder of how close he had come to losing it all, but Greg had seemingly bounced back. But Nick knew better than that.

He still saw Greg flinch at fire, or break out in a sweat if something exploded at a crime scene. It was also one of the reasons Greg hated carrying his gun – the mere sound of it enough to leave him shaking. Not that Greg ever told anyone about it. In fact, Nick believed that Greg thought no one knew.

It was because of this Nick knew that he himself would never fully recover from the Gordon case, and that Greg would never again be comfortable in the lab.

"We don't want you to go back , either," Nick said. "Besides, you've qualified as a CSI, and no one can force you back into the lab. You don't have to sign the paperwork."

"If I don't sign, I'd lose my job altogether."

Nick set his jaw. "Which would you prefer?"

Greg looked up sharply, staring at Nick for a moment before he nodded in resignation. He sighed, seeming to inch closer to Nick as they slowed, Greg glancing back toward the lights of the crimelab. "I'd prefer it to all blow over and to have Ecklie drop it, but I doubt that is going to happen."

"Yeah." Nick gripped Greg's shoulder tighter, noting the faint worry lines on the other's face. Greg had always looked younger than he really was, and even at 32 he still looked in his mid twenties. But under the pressure his true age was beginning to show itself. "Don't let it get to you, Greg. It'll work out. We've all been in tighter spots than this and we pulled through. You wait. In a couple of years from now we'll all be sitting back laughing about this."

Greg set his jaw. "I don't see you laughing about Kristi Hopkins."

Nick winced. That was true. Sighing, he slid his arm around Greg's shoulders and began moving back in the direction of the crimelab. "I'm just saying, man; don't let it get you down. Do that and they win. We're all backing you up."

Greg sighed heavily, nodding. "Yeah, I know. I just feel seriously screwed right now."

"It does seem that way. Best thing you can do is push it to the back of your mind and keep working. If we can crack this case, things may sort themselves out."

Greg looked at him. "How's that?"

"High profile. Mayor's involved." Nick winked at him. "Solve this, save the Mayor's arse, and if he asks if you would like a favour…"

Greg's smile turned deviant, eyes sparkling as he gave a low chuckle. "Guess we better break the case then."

"Mm-hm." Nick frowned as he spotted a familiar SUV pull in ahead. "Warrick's back."

"Yeah. Hopefully he's got something." Greg glanced up at him. "You doing anything after shift?"

Nick frowned, dropping his arm from Greg's shoulders as they neared the lab. "No. Why?"

"I scored some free tickets to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest the other day. Want to come with?"

Nick blinked. "You sure you don't want to find a date or something?"

Greg shook his head.

"Okay then. That'd be good. Just tell me where and when."

"You got it." Greg smiled at him, looking up with hopeful eyes toward the other who stood waiting for them on the sidewalk. "Please tell us you have something."

"I have something." Warrick smiled tightly as he looked at Greg, then up toward Nick. "Got ourselves a new suspect. A Toni Carpenter. Local athlete. His car was spotted at Lake Mead within twelve hours of each body discovery."

Nick nodded. "Entered in the triathlon?"

"That's what we need to find out."

Greg gestured for them to follow, leading the way back into the lab and their office. Dropping into his seat, Greg called up the triathlon registry and flicked to the ‘Cs', grinning as he tapped the name. "Toni Carpenter. Age 19. Placed 2nd in the Reno triathlon last month."

"Current location?" Nick asked, leaning over his shoulder.

Greg looked up at him. "Henderson, Nevada."

* * * *

Greg lingered back as Nick, Warrick and Brass moved in on the home of Toni Carpenter, Greg watching from next to the car as they knocked on the door. As they waited for a reply, Nick shifted to glance in the window. There was no movement, even as Brass knocked again. Warrick checking his watch.

"After 6," he looked up. "Maybe the guy has an early training schedule."

"Maybe." Brass cast his gaze around, stepping back off the porch. "Our guy lives with his parents. Guess they have an early training program too."

"They may, Jim." Nick smiled tightly. "Wouldn't be the first time a whole family got into a sport. Father and son running, Mum driving support…"

"Yeah, yeah." Brass moved back toward his Taurus, eyes flicking over toward Greg. "Either way, it's going to be a couple of hours until a judge wakes up to give us a court order."

"I'm going to head home, check on Tina." Warrick smiled tightly. "She's been asking me a lot of questions lately. Don't think she trusts me."

"Welcome to the joys of wedlock." Brass clapped him on the back. "Your girl… works with her ex, right?"

Warrick nodded. "Why?"

"Turn what she says around on her. Keeps ‘em quiet for a while when you do that."

Warrick chuckled. "Talking from experience there, Brass?"

"That's for me to know."

Nick smiled, chuckling as he watched Brass climb into his vehicle, Nick looking over at Greg. "Looks like we've got some time off, G."

"So I heard." Greg opened the rear door of the Denali, swinging himself up. "You heading home?"

"I was thinking of taking you up on your offer." He looked back as he slipped in behind the wheel. "If you're still up to it."

"Make a good change. Take my mind off things." Greg smiled as Warrick climbed in. "Work it out once we get back to the lab?"

"Mm-hm." Nick shot Warrick a hard look as he saw the other hide a smirk. "We could all use a break."

"Yeah." Warrick's eyes sparkled. "We could."

They did need the break, especially Greg. Nick watched Greg throughout their ‘outing', noting how much brighter Greg was outside the context of their jobs. Greg's eyes sparkled as he laughed and joked with Nick, Nick more than happy to play along.

The movie itself had turned out to be better than expected, Nick forgetting about everything as he lost himself in the film, regretting the moment that it ended and making a mental note to re-watch the first film next time he had a chance, even if he only watched it for Orlando Bloom.

As they walked out of the theatre, Greg yawned and stretched, wincing as his neck cracked. Rubbing it sheepishly, he shrugged. "Getting old."

"If you are, I am." Nick prodded him. "So was it worth it? The movie, I mean?"

"Oh yeah. Johnny Depp is hot." Nick must have looked as startled as he felt as Greg grinned at him, widening his eyes in feigned innocence. "C'mon, Nicky. You've got to agree."

Nick cleared his throat, averting his eyes. "Prefer Orlando Bloom."

Greg laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "Yeah, he's hot too. A bit girly for me, though."

Nick smirked. "So are you."

Greg winked at him. "I guess I am. Like girly guys, Nick?"

Nick felt his cheeks heat up as he shot Greg a bemused look as they approached their cars. "Like drunks, Greg?"

Greg shook his head, grinning. "Honestly, I prefer Texans."

Nick averted his eyes as he felt a flash of excitement shoot through him. "Ah-ha. Well… we better go home and grab some shut eye before work. Need to crack this case before another athlete dies."

"Yeah. Guy had to leave us something. We just got to find it."

"Mm-hm." Nick slowed, glancing around as he stopped in front of his Denali, which was parked beside Greg's Jetta. "You going to be all right?"

Greg chuckled. "I'm a big boy, Nicky. I can drive myself home."

"Yeah, I know, just…" Nick looked at him, reaching up to squeeze Greg's arm. "You've been under a lot of pressure lately. I worry about you sometimes."

"I've still got some sleeping pills from the explosion. I've been taking them. Don't worry yourself; I'm making sure that I'm getting enough sleep." Greg looked down at Nick's hand, smile slipping from his lips. "I won't burn out."

"Good." Nick averted his eyes so not to look at Greg's face. He looked so vulnerable, so… Nick couldn't.

"Nick?"

Nick looked up, meeting Greg's eye. "Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Nick swallowed, eyes drifting down to where he was still touching Greg's arm. "I want… I…" He sighed, looking back up toward Greg. "Can I kiss you?"

A look of relief flickered over Greg's face as he laughed. "Always the gentleman, Nicky." He stepped forward, resting a hand on Nick's chest and pressing his lips to Nick's ear. "You don't have to ask."

Nick pulled back to look at him, noting the amusement sparkling in Greg's eyes. Nick returned his smile, bringing his hand up to Greg's neck, gently caressing the hairline as he leaned forward. Greg met him halfway, lips pressing together tentatively before Greg coaxed him into a deeper kiss, one Nick returned eagerly.

Nick had often fantasised about this kiss, but as often happens, the fantasy was off the mark. The taste of coffee wasn't as strong as he imagined, nor was Greg one to submit. In fact, Greg was more than willing to battle for dominance, something that sent an eager shiver through Nick as he wondered if it would be the same in bed.

The hand Greg still had pressed against his chest slid upward, coming to rest behind Nick's neck. With his free hand Nick pulled Greg closer, bringing their bodies flush together. This time it was Greg who let out a shuddering breath, the hand behind Nick's neck tightening as he kissed Nick harder.

Ever so reluctantly Nick drew back from the kiss, finding his breathing heavy as he pressed his forehead to Greg's, not wanting to relinquish his hold on the other just yet. Greg leaned into him, stealing another kiss before pulling back. Nick opened his eyes to find Greg watching him through half-lidded lashes, Nick swallowing hard as Greg trailed fingertips over his jaw, a small smile on the younger's lips.

"Better get home," Greg said softly. "Need to get some sleep before work."

"Yeah. Yeah, we do." Nick unwillingly stepped out of Greg's arms, placing one last kiss on his lips. "I guess I'll see you in a few hours."

"Mm-hm." Greg fished his keys out of his pocket, disabling the Jetta's alarm. "Bye, Nicky."

"Bye, G."

Nick swung up into his Denali, settling into the driver's seat and returning Greg's wave as the other drove away. Nick started the SUV, pausing to close his eyes and rest his head back against the seat. He swore he'd never been so hard just from kissing in his life.

* * * *

Nick knew there was a slight bounce in his step as he entered the lab that night. Stepping into the locker room and nodding his greeting to Warrick, Catherine, Greg and Sara as he opened his locker, Nick was already running the case over in his mind. Brass hadn't called about their warrant, so Nick was going to need to chase him up. In the meantime, they would–

"So," Warrick said, breaking Nick's train of thought. "How'd the date go this morning?"

Catherine looked up. "Date?"

"Who had a date?" Sara asked.

Warrick smirked, gesturing between Nick and Greg. "These two."

"Really." Catherine crossed her arms over her chest, eyes sparkling. "So how did it go?"

Nick narrowed his eyes. "Who said we had a date?"

"What would you call it?" Warrick asked.

"Friends going to a free movie," Greg replied, the conversation not seeming to faze him, much to Nick's relief. "People do still do that, you know."

"Mm-hm." Catherine's eyebrows rose. "So what did you do after the movie?"

"Went home to bed."

"Whose?"

"Our own," Nick answered, glancing around at his colleagues. "What made you think it was a date?"

"Oh come on. You two have been flirting with each other for years." Sara shrugged, closing her locker door. "Besides, you are being way too casual with this."

"Yeah." Warrick chuckled. "It was a date."

Nick closed his locker door, turning toward his best friend. "So the other week when you and Catherine went out to dinner was a date too, eh?"

Greg smirked.

Warrick levelled his gaze on Nick. "I'm married."

"Not the point, my friend." Nick waved it off, noticing Sara hide her smile behind a hand. "You, Cath, dinner. Sounds like a date to me."

"And," Greg piped up, "You two have been flirting with each other for years."

Sara laughed. "They've got you there, Warrick."

"Yeah. Right." Warrick glared at Nick. "I still say it was a date."

"Who? You and Cath?" Nick winked at him. "Yeah, we know, Rick."

"You and Greggo." Warrick moved to prod Nick in the chest. "Explain this one, bro: Why have you both been so perky this shift, hm? I doubt the movie was that good."

Nick frowned, glancing over Warrick's shoulder as he saw a movement. Saved by Brass. Nick brushed Warrick off, looking toward the new arrival. "Jim? What's wrong?"

"We have our court order," Brass said, expression dark. "Judge wasn't going to give it. Said we didn't have enough on Carpenter to warrant one."

Warrick raised an eyebrow. "What changed his mind?"

Brass set his jaw. "I was in his office not even 15 minutes ago when I got a call from O'Riley. Dead body just washed up at Lake Mead. Looks like another athlete."

Greg swore softly as Warrick punched his locker, Nick sighing heavily and reaching up to rub his eyes. Great, just what they needed. Another murder.

"Wait a minute." Sara frowned. "You guys pulled a serial killer?"

"Yeah." Warrick set his jaw. "Bastards damned clever, too. We've got nothing."

"Career case." Catherine smiled faintly. "Look good for you if you break it."

"Yeah. We know." Nick sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Murders are getting closer together, so our guy might start getting sloppy."

"We hope," Greg muttered.

Nick shot him a quick look. "Okay, let's divide and conquer. Greg, go with Brass and check out the Carpenters."

Greg nodded, giving a small salute.

"Rick, chase up the rangers. Find out what cars have been at Lake Mead lately."

"See if Toni has been there," Warrick finished. "What you going to do?"

"Check out the new DB," Nick smiled tightly. "Maybe our killer left us something."

* * * *

Nick gazed down at the body as David Phillips finished examining it. Nick listened as David recited his findings – single gunshot to the head, unable to determine range. Vic died instantly, meaning it was unlikely to be water in the lungs. He set his jaw. The murders were getting closer together as the competition neared, and they still didn't have enough evidence to pin their suspect.

And every time an athlete died, the worse it looked for them. They had to find their killer soon, before the competition, or risk losing them as they moved onto the next state and competition. But so far they had nothing. Nick was getting frustrated.

"Can you pinpoint time of death, David?"

David looked up at him from the temperature, eyes wide. "The water cools the body quickly, but I'm estimating between 4-6 hours. Won't be sure until we get him back to the morgue."

"Mm-hm," Nick frowned, shining his torch around. Someone had to be witnessing the body dumps. The mere fact they were washing up so quick meant that the dumps were occurring relatively close to the shoreline.

Nick moved toward the waters edge, shining his torch over the ground in search of something that might help with their case. Half an hour later, David long gone, Nick headed back to his Denali empty handed and agitated. If there was one place a CSI never wanted to be, it was at a dead end. And as Nick was the primary, everything was on his shoulders.

Arriving back at the lab, Nick headed straight for the morgue, Doc Robbins confirming all of David's findings, although they would need to wait for further test to be sure of the entire story and actually identity of their vic.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Nick moved back through the lab, looking up at the sound of his name and smiling faintly. "Hey Bobby."

"Gave the results from your bullets to Greg," the other said, eyes looking Nick over quickly. "Thought I'd tell you myself. Traced the striations back to a gun used in a murder two years ago."

Nick nodded, stepping closer. "And?"

"Well, the gun was never recovered. Case is still unsolved."

Nick sighed heavily, crossing his arms over his chest. "Right. Okay. Well, Doc Robbins has another bullet for you to check. Pulling it out of our vic now."

Bobby nodded. "I'll check ‘n' see if it's from the same gun."

"Yeah, do that. Thanks." Nick felt his frustration grow as Bobby walked away, Nick running a hand through his hair and shaking his head. Another avenue closed. This was getting worse and worse. They hadn't gone through every option as yet, but now they were really clutching at straws.

He stepped into the layout room to find Greg and Warrick sifting through evidence and papers, both looking up as he entered. Warrick straightened, jaw set.

"Anything at the scene?"

Nick shook his head. "Identical to the others. Get anything from the rangers?"

"Toni Carpenter's car was seen at Lake Mead around 2pm yesterday."

Nick frowned. "Daylight?"

Warrick nodded. "Yeah. Daylight. Our guy's getting cocky."

"I'll say." Nick looked at Greg. "How bout you, G? Anything at the house?"

Greg smirked, pulling an evidence bag closer and handing it to Nick. Nick glanced down, turning it in his hands so he could read the label: chloroform. Nick looked up at him, Greg winking.

"Shelf in the garage. Plain sight."

Nick set his jaw as he studied the jar inside the plastic. "This could explain why there was no sign of a struggle. They come up behind you and put a cloth of this over your face, and you're out in seconds." Personal experience, but he wasn't saying that.

Warrick nodded. "We'll need a tox screen on our most recent vic. See if there is any chloroform in his system."

"I'll run it myself." Greg shrugged as they looked at him. "Running evidence for Ecklie is one thing; running evidence for my own case is a completely different story. Besides," he gestured toward the lab, "Wendy is seriously backlogged. Run the tox screen myself and we effectively jump the cue."

"In the meantime having Wendy and Henry drool all over you," Warrick teased.

Greg smirked. "Not my fault I'm so irresistible."

Nick cleared his throat, trying to bite back his smile. "Greg, go do that screen. Rick, finish sorting the evidence. See what else turns up. I'm going to go chase up some warrants to search the houses of our vics. If there's chloroform in their system, we have something to look for."

"The handkerchief or rag," Warrick said with a grin. "We find the rag…"

"We can get epitheliales off it," Greg finished, looking up at him. "That'd be pay dirt."

Nick nodded his agreement. "Well, sooner we move the sooner we can get going. Back to work."

Nick had felt like jumping for joy when Greg had bounced into the lab with the results of the tox screen: their victims blood was positive to the presence of chloroform. Even Warrick had seemed relieved, glad to finally have a direction. And with the new findings, Nick was able to secure their warrants.

They had divided up; Warrick and Brass taking Willrock's home and Bursen's motel room, while Nick and Greg took the one farthest from the lab – their latest vic, the recently identified Timothy Marsden. They ended up pulling a double as they had searched the houses again, this time knowing what tell-tale signs to look for. And now they knew, they were obvious.

"How do we miss things like this?" Greg asked as he slipped the handkerchief into an evidence bag, looking over at where Nick was recovering a small strip of torn fabric from the heath. "We searched the first two places from top to bottom."

"Just the matter of narrowing the search, G." Nick pulled out his pen, labelling the bag. "We were looking for blood, weapons, signs of a struggle. Now we know better, we can find what we need."

"Right." Greg slipped the evidence into his kit, straightening and stretching, stifling a yawn. "You realise I'm going to be maxed out on overtime again."

"You and me both." Nick closed his kit, nodding toward the door. "Let's go. I think we've got everything we can from here."

They packed up, Nick resealing the house as Greg set their kits and evidence into the back of Nick's Denali. Shielding his eyes from the sun, Nick gazed around, noting how secluded the home of their latest vic was, meaning that there was little chance that the neighbours would have noticed anything. Sighing, Nick moved to join Greg, reaching up to rub the back of Greg's neck. Nick smiled tightly as Greg looked at him.

"We're probably going to have to work through tonight's shift before we can crash, G. Think you can handle it?"

"Done it before." Greg sighed, eyes drifting toward where the sun was already beginning to dip. "I just hope we find something that'll pinpoint our killer directly."

"Yeah, I know. Everything we have so far is just coincidental evidence." Nick raised an eyebrow. "We eh… could always grab a couple of hours sleep before heading back to the lab."

Greg blinked, a small smile playing across his lips. "What, right here?"

Nick shrugged. "Any objections?"

"No." Greg smirked, closing the back of the Denali. "One condition, though."

"Mm?" Nick met his eye. "What's that?"

"We both sleep on the back seat."

Nick laughed, moving to the back door and opening it, gesturing for Greg to follow. Nick pulled himself inside, tugging his phone from his belt and setting the alarm to allow them enough time to drive back to the lab before shift officially started.

Greg pulled the car door closed as he settled in beside Nick, tugging off his CSI vest and dripping it onto the front seat, Nick soon following suit with his own vest and gun. They shifted, moving until they were both lying down, Greg complaining that cars needed to be redesigned with room for grown men to lie. Nick asked why – Greg had just smirked.

Nick sighed, closing his eyes, enjoying the feel of Greg's body pressed against his own. He smiled as he felt fingers in his hair, opening his eyes to find Greg watching him. Nick brought a hand up, trailing his fingertips over Greg's cheek, feeling a soft shudder as Greg smiled.

Nick met him halfway in the kiss, sucking in a deep breath as once again he found himself in a battle for dominance. This time there was no taste of coffee, instead an ever so faint minty taste Nick put down to the bubble-gum Greg had been chewing a while ago. There was no hesitation, Nick savouring the feel of Greg's mouth against his, lost in the duel exploration and discovery.

Nick trailed a hand down Greg's back, tracing the line of Greg's spine with his fingertips, feeling the muscles twitch beneath his touch. Nick frowned as he felt Greg move to drape a leg over his hips, twisting so that he was straddling Nick from above. He found himself trapped below the younger, Greg never breaking the kiss as he pinched a nipple through the fabric of Nick's shirt, causing him to hiss.

Only then did Greg break the kiss, Nick opening his eyes to find Greg watching him through half-lidded eyes, Nick unable to stop the shuddering breath from escaping him. Greg smiled, trailing a finger down Nick's chest and casually flicking the buttons open, Nick making a mental note to ask later how the hell he had done that.

His questions evaporated as Greg lowered himself to place an open-mouthed kiss on the V of Nick's neck, Nick's head falling back as he lost himself in the sensation. He gasped as Greg reached up with one hand to flick his thumb over Nick's nipple, sending a sharp burst of pleasure through Nick's body.

He forced himself to keep his eyes open, holding Greg's gaze as the younger slowly made his way down Nick's chest, continuing to worship Nick's body as he made his way down. Nick swallowed hard to keep from moaning as Greg made an appreciative sound, hand smoothing over Nick's abdomen. Nick decided at once that all the time in the gym had paid off.

Nick's breath hitched in his throat as he felt the tug on his belt, Nick trailing his fingertips over the soft hairs on the back of Greg's neck as he felt his belt come undone. The button was subjected to Greg's ‘magic thumb flick', and Nick heard himself whimper at how loud the zipper sounded in the closed confines of the SUV.

Nick lifted his hips to allow Greg to pull his jeans and briefs down, freeing him. Greg shifted, settling down to kneel on the floor, moving one of Nick's legs over his shoulder so that he was positioned between Nick's legs. Nick let out a shuddering breath as he watch him, Nick's fingers digging into the seat below him as he waited for Greg to make his move.

He didn't have to wait long, Greg meeting his eye and smirking, leaning forward to lave his tongue over the underside of Nick's erection. Nick groaned, heading falling back as his eyes fluttered closed, moaning as he felt a warm wetness surround his length. He opened his eyes to find Greg deep-throating him, Greg's face lost in an intense expression of concentration as he dragged his lips slowly upward, tongue flicking over the tip.

Nick's hips bucked upward as he tried to drive himself further into that melting heat, but Greg foresaw the move and held him down, seemingly content with torturing Nick. He reached down, catching a handful of Greg's hair and trying to encourage him to quicken the pace. Greg chuckled around him, amplifying the white heat building in his abdomen.

The world slowly vanished from his mind, Nick's entire focus on those lips and tongue, Greg seeming to want to drag it out in comparison to Nick's growing need. All Nick knew was that when it hit, it hit hard and before expected, Nick's back arching against the seat as he released down Greg's throat.

He became aware slowly, finding Greg straddling his hips with a silly grin on his face. Greg shrugged, eyes sparkling as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Nick's, allowing Nick to taste himself. Nick drew Greg closer, returning the kiss as Nick continued to come down from his orgasm.

Nick sighed as Greg continued to press down onto him, dominating. Nick decided to turn things in his favour. He reached down between Greg's legs, cupping his crouch and squeezing. Greg broke the kiss with a yelp, losing his balance and falling down against Nick. Nick caught him around the waist, using the momentum to drop Greg down against the back of the seat beside him.

Nick pulled himself across and pushed himself up, bringing himself to straddle Greg before the younger could recover. Greg glared up at him as Nick laughed, Nick kissing him hard. After a moment he felt Greg's hands on his back, trailing down before circling back up beneath Nick's shirt.

Nick reached down, finding the clasp of Greg's belt and tugging it free. He fumbled with the button, again making a mental note to have Greg teach him his trick. He gave an internal laugh of triumph when it came undone, Nick making short work of the zipper before sliding his hand inside Greg's boxers and closing his fingers around Greg's erection.

Greg broke the kiss with a sharp gasp, body jerking beneath Nick's as his nails dug into Nick's back. Nick pressed his lips to Greg's throat, nipping and sucking at the skin, enjoying the short, sharp keening gasps that escaped the other. Nick drew back, continuing to pump Greg's length as he took up a position similar to the one Greg had had only minutes before.

Drawing Greg's jeans and boxers down, Nick replaced his hand with his lips. Greg groaned as Nick got his first taste, savouring the musky, salty taste before dragging his lips down over the velvet texture. He focused his attention on torturing Greg as much as Greg had him, trailing his fingertips lightly over Greg's balls and rewarded with a shuddering breath around his name.

He trailed his tongue along the underside before taking Greg whole, relaxing his throat to take Greg's length, knowing that he was proving that he had done this before. He cupped Greg's balls, squeezing and releasing them in time with the movements of his mouth, holding Greg down with one hand as the younger man bucked against him.

The tightening of Greg's hands in his hair was Nick's only warning before Greg came, Nick pulling back slightly so that he could swallow without choking, licking Greg clean before he released him. Nick looked up toward Greg, noting how the other was slumped lifeless against the seat.

Nick pushed himself up, straightening his clothes and doing up his pants, although he left his shirt open. He then redressed Greg before pulling himself up onto the seat, Greg turning his head toward him and sliding a hand up behind Nick's neck, drawing him into a chaste kiss.

Nick smiled as he and Greg curled up together, Greg taking advantage of Nick's open shirt to trail his fingertips lightly over the skin. Nick sighed contently, kissing Greg on the forehead and slipping a hand under the hem of Greg's shirt, stroking his abdomen.

"Hey Nick?"

Nick opened his eyes, looking down at Greg. "Yeah?"

Greg turned his head to meet Nick's eye. "Would you call me crazy if I said I loved you?"

Nick smiled, brushing a strand of hair from Greg's eyes. "No, I wouldn't call you crazy for that."

Greg grinned. "I love you."

"I love you too." Nick kissed him, pulling him closer. "We better get some sleep."

"Yeah." Greg closed his eyes, snuggling against him. "We should."

"Mm-hm."

* * * *

Warrick looked up as they entered the evidence locker with their new samples, Warrick nodding his greeting as he want back to logging his own collection. Nick and Greg lay out their evidence, Nick glancing at Warrick's and frowning.

"What you find, Rick?"

"Everything I missed first walk through." He gestured to the individual bags. "Torn jacket, handkerchiefs, tea towels. Found a set of car keys, too."

Greg blinked. "Car keys?"

Warrick held them up. "BMW. Our vic drove a Jeep."

"Well, they're definitely out of place." Nick nodded toward a slip of paper. "What you got there?"

"Now this you're going to like." Warrick picked it up and held it out to Nick. "Found it by the phone. Seems our suspect calls first and arranges to meet out vics."

Nick looked at him as he took the slip, Greg leaning over his shoulder and reading out loud. "Toni call by, 9pm."

"Finally. Something solid." Nick grinned. "How about the other? More notes?"

"Nope. It was the only one. But the guy had notes everywhere."

Greg frowned. "Was this Burson or Willrock?"

"Burson." Warrick looked at him. "Why?"

"Hotel room?"

"Yeah."

Greg looked at Nick. "Who'd stick notes all over a hotel room? I mean, aside from the guy in Memento."

Warrick and Nick looked at him.

Greg waved it off. "Movie you've got to see before you die. But seriously, who?"

"Denis Burson." Warrick shrugged. "Seen stranger things."

"Brass looked over that room, didn't he?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, but I went back later."

"Ah." Nick glanced at the evidence he and Greg had collected, narrowing his eyes. It was nowhere near as good as Warrick's as far as he could see, but they'd have to wait for all the results from testing. "Better get this stuff to Wendy, Hodges and Jacqui. See what we can find."

"I'll take the stuff to Wendy." Greg shrugged when they eyed him. "What? Jacqui's PMSing and Hodges is getting under my skin about the Ecklie thing."

Nick raised an eyebrow, shaking his head as he smiled. "I'll take Hodges then."

"Great. Leave me with the moody woman." Warrick rolled his eyes. "I get enough of that at home."

Greg frowned. "Everything okay, Rick?"

"You worry about yourself, Greggo." Warrick picked up the bag with the keys, reaching over to clap Greg on the shoulder. "Besides, Nick's only going to Hodges so the guy can drool all over him."

Nick shot him a glare. "Hodges does not drool over me."

Greg smirked. "I'll get Archie to tape it sometime so you can watch it."

"I'll pay for a copy of that." Warrick grinned. "See you guys in a few."

* * * *

Nick had been wrong about working through the shift. Before the end of the night they had found themselves in the break room twiddling their thumbs waiting for the lab results that wouldn't be done til the next night, Grissom coming in and sending them home for some much needed sleep.

Nick had lain awake for some time, mind on the case and Greg. Everything was riding on this case, and Nick had seen Ecklie hovering around Greg not long before Grissom had sent them home. In fact, Nick had a feeling that was why Grissom had sent them home. Greg had said nothing, but the sparkle had been dead in his eyes as the three of them had left the lab and gone their separate ways.

Nick didn't know exactly when he had fallen asleep, but he woke abruptly at the trill of his phone. He flayed in the semi-darkness of his bedroom, fingers closing around the offending object on his bedside table. Hitting receive, he glanced quickly at the number before bringing it to his ear.

"What's up, Rick?"

"Greg with you?"

Nick frowned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his other hand. "No, why?"

"Been trying to call him for the last two hours. He's not answering either of his phones."

"Why you trying to call him?"

"You don't know?"

Nick felt his stomach knot. "Know what?"

"Ecklie cornered him earlier. Said if he didn't work the O'Conner DNA he was going to suspend him."

"What!?" Nick sat up, ignoring the sharp wave of nausea the movement brought on. "He can't do that!"

"Yeah, I know. I think that's why Griss cornered Ecklie later. Anyway, been trying to call Greggo to see how he was and he's not answerin'."

Nick let out a long breath, running a hand through his hair and forcing down the lump in his throat. "Maybe he's just asleep."

"Well, he must be a pretty damn deep sleeper. I've been poundin' on his front door for half an hour now."

"You're at his apartment?"

"Yeah. Which is why I called you." He heard Warrick let out a long breath. "Greg gave out two keys to his place – one to you and one to Sara, and there is no way in hell I'm calling Sara."

"Yeah. Yeah." Nick slid from his bed. "I'm on my way. Be there soon."

"Don't break any speed limits."

Nick was lucky in the fact that he and Greg lived in roughly the same area of Vegas. In fact, Nick sometimes drove passed Greg's apartment building on the way to the lab. Nick knew it was no coincidence Greg lived so close to the lab, just as Sara did. Sara only lived a few blocks away, and Grissom a little further than that. Catherine lived the furthest away, while Warrick was the happy median.

Nick pulled his Denali in beside Warrick's, hoping out and wincing at the harshness of the sunlight even with his sunglasses on. He made sure he locked his car before heading inside, taking the stairs two at a time and stepping out onto Greg's floor.

He found Warrick leaning against the wall beside Greg's door, Warrick glancing at him as Nick removed his sunglasses and hooked them onto his belt, fishing the keys to Greg's apartment from his pocket. He smiled tightly at Warrick as he stopped before Greg's door, sliding the key into the lock and turning it easily.

"Archie has a set of keys too, you know," Nick said as he opened the door. "He only lives a block away."

"I would have called you anyway," Warrick followed him inside. "You know what's going on. More than I do."

"Mm-hm." Nick peered around the apartment, smiling at the lingering scent of hair products and the strong smell of coffee. The tv was off, but the stereo was on albeit silent. The light from the aquarium threw long shadows over the semi-dark room, blackout curtains pulled tightly closed over the windows. The down lights in the kitchen were on, Warrick drifting in that direction as Nick moved to peer in the bedroom door.

The bed was made, blackout curtains closed over the glass of the balcony doorway. Nick noted that the bedside lamp was on, Greg's phone resting on the table. Nick moved toward it, glancing at the screen and noting the number of missed calls.

"Nick!"

Nick looked up sharply, the urgency in Warrick's voice causing him to hurry back into the main living area. He found Warrick in the kitchen behind the counter, Nick's eyes widening as he spotted the form slumped on the floor beside where Warrick was kneeling.

"He's alive," Warrick said, slight waver to his voice as Nick dropped down on Greg's other side, a sick feeling forming in the pit of Nick's stomach. "There's tequila on the counter, bottle almost empty. I saw some sleeping pills on the sink."

"Yeah. He told me he was taking them. They were left over from the explosion." Nick reached out, finding Greg's neck pulse and noting the rate.

"From the explosion? Shit, that was back in '03. They'd be passed their used by date by now. Jesus." Warrick reached into his jacket. "I'm calling the paramedics."

"No!" Nick reached across, grabbing Warrick's arm. "Let him sleep it off."

Warrick's eyes widened. "But Nick–"

"Sara almost lost her job from a DUI. Imagine what'd happen if Ecklie heard about this."

"Yeah. I get it." Warrick set his jaw, looking down at Greg. "Be just the excuse he needs to toss Greggo back in the lab. Say he can't handle the stress of the field."

"Exactly." Nick sighed heavily, brushing the hair gently away from Greg's face. "I don't like it, but Greg would never forgive us if we called in help. This will have to stay between us."

"My lips are sealed." Warrick nodded to the side. "Move him to the couch?"

"It's a plan."

Together they gently lifted Greg, moving him into the lounge and laying him on the couch. Nick gently eased a pillow under Greg's head, setting himself down on the edge of the middle cushion and looking down at Greg. Surely Greg would have known better than to mix alcohol with his medication. He was a scientist, a CSI – he dealt with cases like this everyday. It was a good thing Warrick had been trying to contact Greg or he may never have been found.

He looked up toward where Warrick was easing himself back into a seat. "Hey Rick, what time did you start calling?"

Warrick met his eye. "Couple of hours ago. Why?"

"Shouldn't you have been home? Asleep?"

Warrick winced. "Yeah. I should've."

Nick frowned. "Warrick…"

"Tina threw me out." Warrick sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Got home, we had another fight, she told me to get out and I did."

"Jesus, Warrick. Why didn't you call?"

"Was going to. Just thought I'd check on Greg first."

Nick sighed, running a hand over his eyes and setting his jaw. Warrick could be as self-sacrificing as himself, sometimes. Nick had known that things weren't going well between Warrick and his wife for some time. Warrick had refused to say anything, and Nick knew that Greg had become an excuse for Warrick to hide behind.

"I wish you'd said something sooner."

Warrick shook his head. "You had enough to worry about."

"I don't care, Warrick. You should have said something." Nick shot him a firm glare. "Jesus, man, I'm supposed to be your best friend."

Warrick ran his hands over his eyes, brushing them back through his hair. "Yeah, I know. I guess… I just didn't want anyone to know. I rushed into the marriage and… I just wanted to prove it would work."

"You didn't have to prove anything." Nick looked down at Greg. "Neither of you do."

Warrick leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at Greg. "He is going to have one hell of a hangover when he wakes up."

"Yeah. He will." Nick's eyebrows rose. "His own fault. He should have known better."

"Can't blame him. All the shit he's been through lately." Warrick set his jaw. "Come on, bro. Tell me what's going on."

Nick narrowed his eyes. "Only if you tell me the whole thing between you and Tina."

"Not much to it." Warrick shrugged. "I caught her cheating with her ex, she denied it. Our shifts don't line up. She spends more time with her friends than with me. Spends all our money on films, shows…"

"I head you fighting on the phone at one point." Nick frowned. "So what was the last fight about?"

Warrick looked at him. "Shoes."

He blinked. "Shoes?"

"Yeah, shoes. Her having too many, and me not taking mine off when I go inside."

"Shoes." Nick chuckled. "Man. What a thing to break up about."

"Happens." Warrick tugged at his wedding ring, frowning. "I think we were just looking for anything to fight about. All we've been doing lately: fighting. But she's going to need to think twice if she thinks she's getting the house."

"Yeah. That's your place."

"Sure is." Warrick straightened. "I'm going to put in for a divorce. Been thinking about it for a while now."

"Well if you need a place to crash you know I've got a spare room." Nick smiled. "And you've got a key."

"Everyone's got a key to your place, man." Warrick chuckled. "So, what's the deal with Greggo?"

Nick wasn't sure what he was and wasn't supposed to say, but he told Warrick the basics of the problem – Ecklie, Atwater, the report, the articles and PhD, the O'Conner case. He omitted a few things, but only things he knew Greg wouldn't want everyone to know, such as Grissom being his proof reader. Warrick already accused Greg of kissing arse.

When Nick finished, Warrick slumped back in his seat, generally stunned by what Nick had said. He swallowed hard, working his jaw a moment before he spoke. "Damn."

"Twisted, eh?" Nick said.

"Yeah." Warrick nodded toward Greg. "I'm surprised he didn't OD sooner."

"I've been expecting something like this." Nick reached out with one hand to smooth Greg's hair. "Just hoped it wouldn't happen, that's all."

"You always hope things like this never happen." Warrick shook his head, pushing himself up. "He'll probably wake up soon so I'm going to go stick some coffee on."

"The smell alone would wake him up," Nick joked.

Warrick laughed. "Yeah, it would. Surprised he hasn't ODed on caffeine yet."

"Probably has."

"Probably."

Nick watched as Warrick moved into the kitchen, Nick turning to look down at Greg. He hadn't moved for the whole time they had been there, and adding it up, Nick estimated it to be somewhere around four hours since Warrick started trying to contact their youngest colleague. It was hard to be certain how long Greg had been out, but it could be close to seven hours, meaning that he just may wake up at any time.

A couple of years ago, before Greg had been given permission to do any real field work, he and Nick had found themselves at a forensics convention together. Due to the limited hotel rooms they had ended up sharing, Nick discovering Greg could only sleep for between five to six hours. It was below the recommended limit of eight, but that was Greg.

He brushed a fingertip lightly along a dark ring under Greg's eye, frowning. Greg had said that he was sleeping, but evidence led Nick to believe otherwise. He had to admit Greg had slept well yesterday – Nick had too. Nick set his jaw, pushing aside the thought of asking Greg to sleep with him. He had no intention of moving so fast; he didn't want Greg to think he was taking advantage.

He paused as he saw Greg's eyelids flutter. "Hey Warrick. He's coming around."

"Good. Coffee's almost done."

Nick shifted so he was facing Greg completely, gently cupping Greg's face with one hand and brushing his thumb over Greg's cheek. "Greg. Can you hear me?"

He smiled as he saw eyelids flutter again, cracking open slightly. Nick ran a hand through Greg's hair, bringing it back to caress his forehead. "Hi."

Greg looked up at him before sighing heavily, eyes closing with a faint wince. "Nick…"

"Right here, G." Nick straightened, sliding a hand down to find one of Greg's and squeezing it gently, his smile widening as he felt Greg squeeze his back. "How you feeling?"

Greg groaned softly. "Like shit."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, I'd imagine so."

Greg's eyes fluttered open again, looking up at him with faint confusion. "Why're you here?"

"Warrick called me when you wouldn't answer your phone or come to the door."

Greg frowned. "Warrick?"

"Right here, Greggo." Warrick knelt next to the couch, setting the coffee down on the carpet as he reached out to squeeze Greg's arm. "You gave me quite a scare."

Greg looked at him, frowning. "What happened?"

"What do you remember?" Nick asked.

"Coming home. I was pissed at Ecklie, so I dragged out the hard stuff."

"Tequila," Warrick said.

Greg nodded. "I started getting ready for bed, fed my fish, tossed some Placebo into the stereo and took some sleeping pills…" His eyes widened. "Oh shit."

Nick and Warrick exchanged a knowing look as Greg reached up to run a hand over his eyes.

"Shouldn't have done that. God… I… I should know better than that. Christ." He looked up sharply, eyes wide. "You didn't call anyone, did you?"

Nick shook his head. "We're the only ones who know."

"Thank god." Greg slumped, relief spreading over his features. "I seriously owe you guys."

"Yeah. You do." Nick looked up sharply at Warrick's comment, seeing the smirk on the other's face. Warrick reached out, running Greg's arm. "You can repay us by helping us crack this case, showing Atwater what an ass Ecklie is."

Nick tried to suppress his grin. "Wouldn't be hard."

Greg laughed, wincing and reaching up to hold his head, closing his eyes.

"Made you some coffee," Warrick said. "I'd offer you some painkillers, but…"

"It'd only make things worse," Greg finished, easing himself up into a sitting position. He tucked his legs under him, gesturing for the coffee. "I still don't know how I could be so stupid. I mean, medication and alcohol? Not exactly the best of bedfellows."

"You were pissed at Ecklie," Nick reminded him.

"Yeah. That'd drive any man to it." Warrick handed him the coffee. "You just get over this hangover. Need you at the top of your game."

Greg nodded, holding the coffee between his hands and sipping from it. He shifted again so that he was leaning against Nick. Taking another sip from his drink, he sighed and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on Nick's shoulder. Nick smiled, putting an arm around Greg and pulling him closer. Greg tilted his head to smile at him, a smile Nick returned. They looked up as Warrick laughed, the other sitting back.

"Oh you two are so together."

Greg smiled, looking at him. "Don't spread it around, okay?"

"Like I'd need to. Half the lab thinks you are anyway." Warrick glanced at his watch. "Still a few hours til shift starts."

"You need some sleep," Nick said, eyeing him. "G's not the only one who needs to be at the top of his game."

Warrick narrowed his eyes but said nothing, glancing at Greg and raising an eyebrow. "Mind if I sleep in your chair?"

"Take the bed. Not like I'm going to be using it today." Greg looked at Nick. "You sleep any?"

"Couple of hours." Nick watched as Warrick stood. "Before Rick rang me."

"Want the couch?"

Warrick chuckled. "He's got you sleeping on the couch already, Nick."

Nick shrugged. "Not like I've been in the bed yet."

"Want it?"

Nick looked at Greg. "Where you going to be?"

Greg pointed straight down at the couch, Nick turning to look up at Warrick and smile innocently. Warrick laughed, moving in the direction of the bedroom.

"See you guys in a few."

Nick frowned as Warrick disappeared, looking down at the sound of his name. Greg took a long drink from his beverage, nodding after Warrick.

"He and Tina are separating, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Yeah, they are." Nick turned to face him. "You going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine, Nick." Greg shook his head, sighing heavily. "The hangover will be gone in a few hours. And trust me, I won't be doing it again anytime soon."

Nick nodded, sliding a hand behind Greg's neck and trailing his fingers lightly over the skin. He felt Greg shudder beneath his touch, Nick smiling as he leaned forward to press his lips to Greg's forehead. Greg grinned, taking another long sip from his coffee and scooting forward.

"You need to sleep, Nicky." Greg smoothed his palm over Nick's cheek. "We all need to be at the top of our game. Especially you."

Nick nuzzled Greg's palm, closing his eyes. "I just wish we were getting somewhere with this case. I'm surprised the Mayor hasn't been on Grissom's back yet."

"He has. Gil just hasn't said anything."

Nick opened his eyes to look at him. "On first name basis with the boss, G?"

"Outside work, yeah." Greg hid his smile behind his mug as he took another drink from his coffee. "He still makes me nervous, though."

"He makes everyone nervous." Nick watched Greg finish his coffee, setting the mug down on the coffee table. "Warrick told me about what Ecklie did to you. The suspension thing."

Greg cringed. "Didn't know anyone heard."

Nick nodded, setting his jaw. "Why didn't you tell me, Greg?"

"Honestly?" Greg looked up at him. "Grissom told me to forget about it. He told me not to tell anyone."

"Rick said he saw Griss go after Ecklie."

"Yeah, he did. Said if he caught Ecklie threatening a member of his team again, he'd put in a formal, written complaint." Greg smirked. "Then Gil called Atwater."

Nick chuckled. "Griss calling Atwater voluntarily. Wish I could have seen that."

"Hard to believe, I know." Greg shrugged. "I'm not sure what Atwater said. Griss wouldn't tell me. All he said was to ignore Ecklie."

"What Griss usually says." Nick stifled a yawn, not wanting to admit how tired he was becoming as the adrenaline wore off. He kicked off his shoes, swinging himself around to stretch out on the couch, chuckling when Greg instantly joined him, clinging to his side. "You going to be right to work tonight?"

"Yeah. Already starting to feel a lot better." Greg smiled sheepishly. "Still a bit woozy."

"Well, you go easy when we get to work. Rick and I will try to keep Ecklie off your back."

"Easier said than done." Greg sighed heavily, closing his eyes. "Warrick got a place to stay?"

"My guest room." Nick closed his own eyes and let out a shuddering breath as one of Greg's hands slipped under his shirt, caressing his abdomen. "Easy, G. Don't start anything. Warrick could come out at any time."

"Adds to the thrill." Nick opened his eyes to find Greg smirking, eyes sparkling mischievously. "Don't worry, Nicky, I won't start anything. I just like touching you."

"Oh?" Nick brushed his lips over Greg's. "Why's that?"

"Guess it's just my way of telling myself this is real." Greg glanced up at the back of the couch, effectively avoiding Nick's eye. "I've had a thing for you for a while. Just never thought… well, you know. We'd actually end up together."

"Yeah. Know the feeling." Nick sighed, closing his eyes again as he rested his forehead against Greg's. "I love you."

"Love you too." Greg kissed him, curling tighter against his side. "Sorry I scared you."

"Awwww."

Nick jerked awake, eyes darting open to find Warrick standing over them, a half grin/half smirk on his lips. Warrick laughed, green eyes sparkling as he winked. "You guys are so cute."

Nick felt Greg move against him, a pillow disappearing from behind his head. Nick laughed as Greg launched the cushion at their friend, Warrick not fast enough to avoid catching it full in the face. Greg muttered to himself before burying his head into Nick's shoulder, Nick reaching up to playfully ruffle Greg's hair, earning himself a jab in the side.

Nick looked up at Warrick, smiling. "Told you he wasn't an early riser."

"By our standards." Warrick laughed at Greg's muffled "fuck you". "Almost time for work."

Nick untangled his arm from around his boyfriend, glancing at the time. "Should have our test results this shift."

"Depends." Greg pushed himself up on one elbow. "How much was Hodges kissing your arse yesterday?"

Nick frowned. "A lot. Why?"

"We'll have our results before we walk in the door. He's probably waiting in the carpark for you."

Warrick laughed. "Wouldn't put it passed him." He looked at Greg. "How you feeling, Greggo?"

"Better." Greg eased himself up, allowing Nick to sit. "You put the coffee on?"

"You house, your coffee. Figured I'd just let you do it."

Nick laughed as Greg threw a second cushion at the taller, Warrick blocking this one. Nick and Greg eased themselves up, the three falling into a ‘morning' routine. Greg made a start on ‘breakfast', while Nick and Warrick headed out to their SUVs for a change in clothes.

As they ate they discussed Warrick's situation, both Greg and Nick offering to help Warrick grab anything he needed from his place. Warrick told them of his plans to sell his place – something he'd been thinking of since before his marriage, and now he really wanted to as a way of distancing himself further from his marriage life.

Greg hitched a ride to work with Nick, Warrick only taking his own car in case something came up. They entered the lab together, attracting some looks from the other personnel. As predicted, Hodges ducked out of his lab as they approached.

"Handkerchiefs and tea towels all proved positive to traces of chloroform," he said. "And the piece of fibre you found," he turned his attention fully on Nick. "Cotton, most likely from women's clothing. In particular, a blouse or dress."

"Thank you, Hodges." Nick took the sheet from him. "Appreciate it."

"You need anything else, just drop it in. Your case has top priority."

Warrick glanced at Nick as Hodges moved away. "He definitely has a thing for you, bro."

"He's just kissing arse." Nick shook his head, flashing a smile at Greg. "I'm taken, anyway."

They stopped by Wendy next to again find their results waiting and to be told that their case was top priority. And again, evidence of a woman.

"DNA on the handkerchiefs and tea towel were each of your vics, excluding Georgalas. And there was a second donor. Same person touched all the items." She handed Greg the sheet. "XX. Unknown."

"Thanks Wendy." Greg looked up. "Jacqui give you the car keys?"

"She did. Results should be back any moment."

They moved on to Jacqui, the older woman pointing an accusing finger at Greg as they entered her lab. "You have been avoiding me."

Greg made a ‘Who? Me?' face. "No I'm not."

"You've been avoiding me all week. You, Archie and Bobby." Jacqui crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing him. "You've charted my cycle into the schedule on your phone, haven't you."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Oh yes you would." Jacqui picked up a manila folder, holding onto it and glaring at him. "I'm not giving you your results until you own up."

Greg rolled his eyes. "Fine. I have."

"And…"

Greg glared at her. "I gave Archie, Bobby and David H a copy."

Jacqui smacked him hard on the side of the head with the folder before handing it to Warrick, turning her back on where Greg was rubbing his injury. "Two prints on the keys. One came back unknown. The other came back Geoffrey Carpenter."

Nick looked up sharply from where he was leaning over Warrick's shoulder. "Carpenter?"

"You heard me." Jacqui tapped the computer screen. "I checked his history. No prior convictions, but he's on the database after he was arrested in '89 on suspicion of drug possession. He was cleared, though."

"Any relation to Toni Carpenter?" Warrick asked.

Jacqui nodded. "Geoffrey is Toni's father. It's all in the file."

"Thanks Jacqui." Nick moved back toward the door, gesturing for Greg and Warrick to follow. He smiled as he saw Wendy heading their way. "Got the results?"

"Same unknown female, and a Geoffrey Carpenter."

"Father both places," Warrick said softly.

"Family affair?" Greg said, still holding his head and shooting a glare back at the print lab. "Unknown female might be the mother."

"Possible," Warrick admitted.

"We need to go over all the evidence," Nick said, nodding his thanks to Wendy as he headed in the direction of the break room. "Need to track down the car, too."

"Maybe Brass can help," Greg said, gesturing ahead. "Looks like he's waiting for us."

Brass turned to face them as they entered the break room, the captain blowing on his coffee to cool it before taking a sip. His eyes never left them as they dropped their results on the table, Brass dropping into a seat.

"Have anything?"

Nick glanced at him. "Evidence to say Geoffrey Carpenter might be involved. And an unknown female, possibly his wife."

"Marnie." He shrugged at their questioning looks. "Did a background check on the family."

"The background check include what vehicles they drive?" Warrick asked.

"I checked to see if any of them own the BMW to go with our keys, if that's what you mean." Brass put down his coffee, retrieving some papers from his inside jacket pocket, dropping one onto the table. "Geoffrey and Marnie own a silver 2005 5 Series BMW. Sold it two days ago to a used car dealer. We're having it brought it."

Warrick glanced at Greg. "Guess I know what we're doing this shift."

Greg smiled.

"Any word on the Carpenters', Jim?" Nick asked.

"Nothing. Have the whole PD out looking for them, though." Brass scowled. "Not to mention the Mayor on my arse. Three days until the event and he wants it sorted by then."

Nick saw Greg frown thoughtfully and turned toward him. "What's up, G?"

"The unknown female sample." Greg nodded back toward the evidence locker. "When we searched the Carpenter's house I grabbed some hair brushes."

"Good move." Warrick grinned, leaning back. "We'll get Wendy to compare DNA from Marnie's brush to the unknown female."

Brass set down some more papers. "Phone records from the last three weeks, and a list of all their real estate."

Nick frowned. "You check the real estate?"

"No one home. Including at the small house at Lake Mead."

Nick looked up sharply. "Boat house?"

Brass nodded. "Still waiting for the warrant."

"Now there's a lead." Warrick looked at Brass and raised an eyebrow. "How long until you can get a warrant?"

Brass sighed. "Boat house is in Marnie's name."

"Need her DNA," Greg said. "Tie her to the scene…"

"…get our warrant," Nick finished.

"Considering the Mayor's involved, I'm surprised it's so hard," Greg said.

"Welcome to politics." Brass shook his head. "Marnie Carpenter used to be Marnie Keats. Her old man was up there with Sam Braun."

Nick frowned. "The Carpenter's don't have that much money."

"Father didn't approve of the marriage. Cut them off." Brass leaned back in his seat, sipping from his coffee. "Not enough to stop red tape, mind you. Need to have solid evidence that Marnie is connected to go within 100 feet of the boat house."

"Great." Nick sighed, rubbing his eyes. "So we've got to hope the DNA does match."

"In the meantime, you can search the car." Brass glanced at his watch. "Should be here soon."

* * * *

When the team had been split up with Greg on Graveyard and Nick and Warrick on swing, Greg had primarily become Sara's apprentice. And, out of the whole team, Sara loved processing cars the most – something she had taught Greg to do well. It was without question, then, that once Greg delivered the hair brushes to Wendy, he was put in charge of processing the BMW.

Nick had set himself in the seat by the work bench so he could keep one eye on the search and the other on the records Brass had given them, Nick glancing up from time to time as Greg and Warrick worked the car. Nick frowned as he highlighted another call, tapping the other end of the pen against his teeth.

"Toni definitely called each of our vics before they were murdered. And all the calls came from his house, not his cell."

"Keeps the family in the equation," Warrick said, using a cotton swab and phenolphthalein to test the carpeting. "Negative for blood."

"Could be the vics were killed at Lake Mead," Greg suggested. "Car's clean. I think the detailer got to it before we did."

"Wouldn't put it passed them to have had it detailed before they left it at the dealers." Nick sighed, setting down his pen. "It's going to come down to the DNA."

"If we get nothing, we're screwed." Warrick sighed, straightening and pulling off his gloves. "What I want to know is why they sold the car."

"Or better yet: where are they." Greg narrowed his eyes. "This close to the big race, they should be around."

"You can guarantee they'll be at the race." Warrick moved to lean over Nick, looking down at the call records. "No possible new vics?"

"Nope. No calls after Marsden."

"Could be they're calling from somewhere else," Greg pointed out.

"That's very possible." Nick frowned, glancing at the BMW. "Another question is where they got the car."

"Maybe daddy dearest didn't cut the daughter off after all," Greg suggested.

"Nick." They looked up to find Grissom standing in the doorway, the man beckoning with one finger. "I want to see you in my office."

Warrick frowned as their supervisor vanished into the corridor. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing that I'm aware of." Nick frowned, confused over the summons as he set his things down. "Finish searching the car. Be back in a minute."

Nick's confusion remained as Grissom gestured for him to shut the door and take a seat, the confusion steadily growing as he sat squirming under Gil's calculating gaze. Grissom took off his glasses, setting them on the desk in front of him and leaning forward, hands clasped before him.

"What happened before shift today?"

Nick shook his head. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"You, Warrick and Greg arrived together today, and you have been very cautious around them. And Warrick has been observing Greg."

"Warrick's having issues with Tina." Everyone knew that.

"And Greg?"

Nick blinked. "Huh?"

"You and Warrick have been watching him very closely, today." Grissom eyed him. "Be honest, Nicky. Greg had a hard shift yesterday. Did the three of you go out drinking?"

"Not exactly."

"Nick…"

Nick sighed heavily. He had learnt long ago that, with Grissom, telling the truth was a lot less painful than being caught in a lie. He rubbed his eyes, knowing Greg was going to kill him over this. "Warrick got tossed from home so he called Greg to see how he was going. When Greg didn't answer, Warrick called me cause I have a key and we both ended up spending the day there."

"And why didn't Greg answer his phone?"

Nick set his jaw. "He, eh… was passed out on the kitchen floor."

"I see." Grissom's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Nick worried his lip. "He, eh… kinda mixed some meds with alcohol. Not intentionally, he just… was worked up."

Grissom sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose, Nick knowing a migraine was coming on. Grissom's blue eyes watched him, narrowing. "It's as I feared. He's on the verge of breaking, Nick."

"C'mon, Griss, this means nothing." Nick leaned back, shrugging. "I mean, it's not like we haven't all done it."

"I haven't," Grissom eyed him. "Have you?"

Nick chose to keep his mouth shut. He had after Nigel Craine. Brass had found him when he'd called in to check on Nick, but kept things silent: no paramedics, no reports, no paper trail. Nick still owed Jim for that one.

"The other reason I called you in here is because I received a phone call from the Mayor wanting an update on your progress." Grissom picked up his glasses, polishing them. "He wants the case solved prior to the triathlon. If it isn't… he wants me to take over."

Nick set his jaw, scoffing. "No pressure."

"I declined, but I also told him that I'll step in if you needed help."

"No, we're right. Just waiting for some DNA results so we can gain access to a possible crime scene. Need the evidence to gain a warrant."

"And in the meantime you're processing a car."

"Pretty much done on that. Detailers."

"Gifted at destroying evidence." Grissom frowned at the sound of raised voices outside the office, the door opening, causing them to look up.

Catherine looked inside, gaze finding Grissom. "Gil, get to the garage. Conrad's after Greg again."

Nick was out of his chair in an instant, hurrying down the corridor beside the two supervisors. As he neared the garage he identified Warrick's voice, the man on the verge of yelling. Ecklie's replies were cool and calculated, while Greg's were clipped and irritated. Nick's step faltered when he saw them. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Warrick and Ecklie so ticked off, but the flash in Greg's eyes and the set to his jaw was foreign to Nick. It was… scary, to be honest.

"Conrad." Grissom led the way into the garage, placing himself between Ecklie and Greg. "What's going on here?"

"I was just reminding Sanders of his commitments," Ecklie said.

"What commitments?" Greg shot back. "My commitments are to Grissom and the field."

"Your commitments are to this lab." Ecklie levelled his gaze on him. "And your duties are to run the DNA on high profile cases when I ask you."

"He's a CSI, Conrad, not a lab technician." Grissom set his jaw. "And he's working a high profile case."

"He's the only one I trust with the O'Conner DNA."

"Then I guess you have a problem."

"My problem is that certain members of this department keep forgetting that I'm Assistant Director. It's my job to make sure that the right people are doing the right job."

Greg snorted. "And my ‘right job' is in the lab, is it?"

"As it is, yes." Ecklie shrugged. "You're the best DNA technician in the country. I feel your talent is being wasted in the field."

"It's a talent that makes him so good in the field." Grissom narrowed his eyes. "Everyone in this room knows what's really going on, Conrad. Greg is staying in the field. He cannot afford to go back in the lab, especially not right now."

"Then I guess it's a shame I need him there." Ecklie's expression was set. "I told the Mayor I would have my best people on the O'Conner case."

"I told the Mayor the same thing," Grissom smirked. "And the Sheriff wants Greg in the field."

Ecklie watched him for a moment, eyes narrowing as he glanced at Greg, then back to Grissom. "I see. So I was right to believe the inquiry was about Sanders."

Grissom nodded. "Greg knows where he wants to be."

"And it isn't in the lab," Greg said. "I'd sooner take the transfer to New York than go back in the lab."

Ecklie scoffed. "What makes you think New York will be any better?"

"Detective and supervisor Mac Taylor guaranteed a field position on his team. And I already know a couple of the CSIs from conferences. Besides," Greg smirked, "my sister is in New York."

Ecklie's eyebrow rose. "The same sister you were once held accountable for kidnapping when you were teenagers? Interesting how that bit of information was buried so deep in your file. What did Smythseton make you do to erase that bit of information?"

Greg's eyes widened at the implications, fists clenching at his sides as he took a step forward. "You son of a bitch."

Ecklie smirked. "Considering it wasn't the only piece of information omitted. Let's see. If I recall the real reason you transferred to Vegas was due to a dispute with a CSI. Assault, if I recall. And then there was the incident at Stanford, also missing from your file. I really had to dig deep to find that information. What professor handled that one?"

"You fucking bastard!"

Warrick caught Greg by the back of the jacket as Greg moved on Ecklie, Nick stepping forward to grab Greg's forearms, placing himself between Greg and his target.

"Not the perfect CSI everyone thinks you are, are you Sanders?"

"That's enough, Conrad." Grissom looked back. "Nick, you said you couldn't do anything until you had your DNA results?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Take Greg home. I'll have Jim call you when he has the warrant."

Nick nodded again, and caught Warrick's eye, the two led Greg from the garage as Catherine moved to stand beside Grissom. Greg was tense beneath Nick's tough, eyes never leaving Ecklie as he allowed them to lead him to the locker room to gather their things. Nick set his jaw as his gaze swept around them, spotting several heads duck down and making Nick wish that the lab wasn't made of glass walls.

For the most part everyone looked stunned; they had never seen Greg lose it like this before. Some were sympathetic and worried – mostly Greg's friends in Jacqui, Bobby, Archie and Hodges. Greg remained silent as they left the lab, Greg climbing into Nick's SUV without a word.

"You call if you need anything," Nick said to Warrick.

"You too, bro." Warrick rapped knuckles with him, glancing quickly at Greg. "Take care of him."

Nick nodded, climbing into the Denali. He watched Greg out the corner of his eye as he drove, Greg sitting gazing out the window, brooding. Nick sighed, looking ahead again and worrying his lower lip. He knew Greg wasn't off the case – Grissom just wanted Greg as far away from Ecklie as possible. No doubt Gil (or Catherine, at the least) would be on the phone to Atwater, and Nick hoped it would all be sorted out soon. Greg really was breaking.

"Jennifer and I skipped town, I got busted for having ecstasy in college, and the CSI in San Francisco was harassing me and Sara."

Nick looked at Greg sharply. "You knew Sara before Vegas?"

Greg nodded, rubbing his eyes. "We were friends."

"I see."

"And I never slept with anyone to keep all that from my records."

"We know you didn't, G." Nick reached out, patting Greg's knee. "He's not worth losing your job over."

Greg sighed, closing his eyes and resting his head back against the seat. "I never made myself out to be perfect, did I?"

"Not at all. You just have better control and less obvious flaws than the rest of us, that's all." Nick smiled as they pulled into a park outside Greg's apartment complex. "I think you're perfect."

Greg laughed. "Your opinion is bias."

"Yeah, it is."

They left the Denali, Nick locking it as they headed into the building. Nick smiled as Greg's hand found his in the elevator, Nick giving it a reassuring squeeze as they waited for the doors to open. They remained silent even when they entered Greg's apartment, Greg dropping Nick's hand and disappearing into the dark. Nick closed and locked the door, carefully making his way inside in hope of not walking into anything.

He found Greg in the bedroom, bedside lamp on next to where Greg lay facedown on the bed, head buried under a pillow. Nick smiled, removing his shoes and jacket, easing himself onto the bed and stretching out beside Greg. He rested his head on one arm and reached out with the other, smoothing small circles over Greg's back and hearing him sigh heavily.

Greg shifted, bring his head to rest on Nick's shoulder and wrapping his arms around him. "I almost lost it tonight."

"No one blames you." Nick kissed his forehead, smoothing Greg's hair. "Ecklie went too far."

"I still shouldn't have lost it. I have more control than that."

"You can't be in control all the time, Greg." Nick sighed. "You are allowed to show how you really feel sometimes."

"Not in front of Ecklie I'm not." Greg sighed, pushing himself up to look down at Nick. "Why is it that you know me so well as to know I'm holding back?"

"I've been watching you for years, G. I know a bit about you. Although…"

Greg raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Is ‘Greg' your full name?"

Greg laughed. "No, Nicholas, it's not. I was born ‘Gregory', but no one but my father has ever called me that."

"Yeah. I know how that works." Nick slid his arms around Greg's waist as the other straddled him, hands on either side of Nick's head. "Why is it that I always end up underneath you?"

Greg smirked. "Because subconsciously you like it?"

Nick snorted. "I prefer being above you."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Greg brushed his lips against Nick's, sliding a hand under Nick's shirt to find and tease a nipple. "Only one way to find out."

Nick let out a shuddering breath as Greg kissed him, Nick catching hold of the hem of Greg's shirt and pulling it up, Greg breaking the kiss long enough to pull it off, reaching to tug Nick's own shirt off thereafter. Nick slid his hands down Greg's sides, circling them back up, faintly feeling the unevenness of the skin where he knew Greg was still scarred from the lab explosion so long ago.

Nick sighed heavily as Greg leaned down, Nick gasping as teeth grazed a nipple. Years of wanting spread through him, and the feel of Greg's denim clad erection against his thigh sent a sharp, burning tingle though Nick that pooled in his abdomen and groin. At once Nick felt that he couldn't get them naked soon enough but he forced it back.

He caught Greg's chin with one hand and dragged him upward to kiss him hard, using the other hand to cup Greg's rear, pulling him down while thrusting upward, griding their erections together. Greg broke the kiss with a yelp, falling against Nick and shooting him a hot glare, Nick smirking and tugging at Greg's belt.

"Jeans. Off."

"Yours too." Greg replied, stealing another kiss before sliding from the bed. Nick quickly undid his own belt, fingers fumbling with the buttons and zipper as he trembled with lust and excitement. He was no virgin, with women or men, submissive or dominant, but this was Greg – the man he'd been wanting for almost eight years now. His mind was too foggy to work it out exactly, when Greg had come to Vegas.

Nick lifted his hips and slid his jeans and briefs off, unclipping his phone from his belt and placing it onto the bedside table before tossing his clothes aside. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up to find Greg watching him. Nick's own gaze wandered to take in Greg's naked form, reaching out to catch hold of Greg's arm and draw him down onto the bed.

"Whatsa matter?"

"Nothing." Greg smiled as Nick sat up. "Just never thought I'd ever see you naked in my bed."

"Never thought I'd be naked in your bed." Nick kissed him, bringing his lips around to find the pulse on Greg's neck, sucking the place and feeling Greg shudder, hands sliding into his hair.

Greg turned his head, eyes closed. "Nicky?"

"Mm?"

"Would you let me…?"

Nick pulled back, Greg's eyes opening to watch him. "I believe you had something to prove." He saw Greg's eyes narrow and smiled. "You can, G. But next time…"

"We'll see." Greg chuckled, reaching out to the bedside table and tugging open the drawer, retrieving lube and a condom.

Nick chuckled. "Always prepared."

"Well you never know." Greg kissed him. "Like you haven't."

"You're right. I do."

It fascinated Nick that they were talking in unfinished sentences and yet fully understanding each other. He ended the conversation by catching Greg's lips in a firm, hot kiss, Nick sliding an arm around Greg's shoulders and drawing him back down onto the bed. They shifted until Greg was nestled between Nick's legs, bodies unconsciously rocking together as hands explored. Nick wasn't sure when Greg had reached for the lube, he just knew he had when he felt a slick finger brush against his entrance before easing inside. Nick gasped against Greg's mouth, arching against him, cherishing the slight burn.

He was caught up between kissing Greg and focussing on the gentle movements of that finger inside him that was soon joined by another, the burn intensifying. Nick moaned softly, gripping Greg's shoulders tighter and focussing on the kiss so he could ignore the increased burn when that third finger slipped inside. He knew Greg was searching even before a sharp flash of pleasure shot through him, Nick breaking the kiss with a cry. Greg chuckled, kissing Nick's throat and nipping at the skin.

"How you doing?"

"I'm fine." Nick moaned, closing his eyes. "Want you in me, G. I can take it."

"So I realise." Greg kissed Nick gently, smiling. "I want to be in you."

Nick reached to the side, plucking the condom up off the bed, trembling fingers tearing the packet open. He saw Greg watching him as Nick reached down, Greg hissing between his teeth as Nick rolled it on. Nick hooked a hand behind Greg's head, burying his fingers in those untameable strands and pulling him down into a kiss.

"No excuses now."

"Guess not."

Greg withdrew his fingers, Nick moaning slightly as he drew his knees up, widening his legs to allow Greg better access. Greg shifted, lining himself up and resting the head against Nick's opening. Their lips met in a fierce kiss, Nick fisting Greg's hair and pulling away slightly.

"Come on, G."

Nick gasped as he felt Greg pressed inside, Greg kissing him hard as he shifted, slowly working his way in until he was completely buried. Nick gripped the sheets with his free hand, waiting for the burning to ease, Greg breaking the kiss to rest his head on Nick's shoulder. "Jesus you're tight."

Nick waited until the burning was bearable before rocking his hips, Greg raising himself slightly as Nick wrapped his legs around Greg's. They peered into each other's eyes as Greg began to move, slowly and cautiously at first until he found a rhythm. He quickened his movements, shifting the angle and sending a sharp burst of pleasure through Nick, causing him to throw back his head with a cry.

"There. Right there."

Greg smirked, targeting and hitting Nick's prostate with every thrust, Nick's breaths now coming in harsh gasps as he arched off the bed. He groaned as he felt fingers encircled his weeping erection, pumping it jerkingly as Greg continued to thrust, Nick losing himself in the pleasure, his orgasm hitting him hard. He heard himself cry out as he rode the blinding wave, distantly hearing an echo before he passed out.

When he regained awareness he was still panting heavily, Greg collapsed above him, yet to pull out. Nick reached up to run his fingers through damp strands where Greg's head lay on his shoulder, Nick pressing his lips to Greg's forehead. "You okay, Greg?"

"Never been better." Exhausted yet sated eyes fluttered open to look at him, a sheepish expression on Greg's face. "Can't move."

"Then don't." Nick closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around the man above him. "I like you there."

"Told you." Greg sighed contently. "Love you, Nicky."

"Love you too, G."

Nick groaned at the sharp trill of the phone, glancing around the still darkened room in search of the thing that had yanked him from his sleep. Greg still lay on him, but was now more curled against Nick's side, at some time having come free. Spotting the phone, Nick reached for it as best he could without moving Greg, closing his fingers around it and hitting receive.

"Stokes."

"Just me, Nick." He could hear the smile in Brass' voice. "I just had a call from the lab. Turns out Marnie Carpenter's DNA matches our unknown female. I'm on my way to get the warrant now."

"That's great news, Jim." Nick grinned. "I guess we'll meet you at the boat house."

Brass told him the address. "I shouldn't be long, so give me an hour at the least. Bye Nick."

Nick ended the call, keying in Warrick's speed dial and waiting. After five rings a sleepy voice answered. "Brown."

"Just me, Rick. DNA matched and Brass is on his way to get the warrant. We're meeting at the boat house in roughly an hour."

"Bout time we had a decent lead."

"Agreed." Nick gave him the address and said his goodbyes. Nick hung up and put the phone back, smiling as he heard Greg sigh. "Got our DNA, G."

"I heard." Greg lifted his head, smiling. "I think we're about to break the case, Nicky."

"I hope so." Nick kissed him. "After this I want a routine B&E and maybe an accident. Nothing big."

Greg nodded, stifling a yawn. "An hour til we got to be there?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Greg wrapped his arms around Nick, rolling onto his back and dragging Nick on top of him, grinning. He placed a soft kiss on Nick's lips. "Your turn."

* * * *

Warrick glanced at his watch as they approached, Nick knowing they were late. After what Greg had so aptly called ‘his turn', they had cleaned up with a shower – a shower that had lasted half-an-hour. They had then grabbed a quick snack before driving to the boathouse.

Warrick's eyebrows rose. "I don't even wanna know."

Nick smiled tightly, nodding toward the boathouse. "Been inside yet?"

"Waitin' for you." Warrick fell into step beside them. "Tell you one thing – there's a boat at the pier."

"Dibs on the boat." They looked at Greg who shrugged sheepishly. "I like processing boats."

"Ah-ha." Nick looked at Warrick. "Guess we get inside."

The boatshed was fairly basic: room for a boat to be brought in and worked on, double doors for the trailer and tow car. Tools and fishing gear sat around on the shelves, but Nick's attention went straight to the gun resting on the bench. He pulled on his gloves, making a b-line for it.

"Oh you wouldn't be that stupid." Warrick joined him as Nick carefully picked it up, checking that the safety was on. "Leave a murder weapon in plain sight?"

"Maybe they believed no one would come in here," Brass said, joining them. He swept his torchlight over the ground as Nick bagged the weapon. "No obvious blood."

"Easy to clean up in here," Nick pointed out.

Nick and Warrick began searching the room, finding several blood pools but all tested negative to human blood. Fish blood, most likely. A wider search found nothing for them to go with, Nick's hopes fading as he ducked out onto the pier, making his way to where the boat sat – a boat the Carpenter's should not be able to afford on their salary.

"Get anything, G?"

A head popped up, those large brown eyes finding him and sending a shiver through Nick. Greg grinned as he stood, a blood tester in hand.

"Positive for human blood." Greg glanced down. "And there's a lot of it."

"GSR?" Warrick asked.

"Positive for that too." Greg looked up. "Found our crime scene."

"Finally." Warrick pulled himself onto the boat, eyes widening as he looked down. "You have got to be kidding me."

"What?" Nick followed him onto the boat, disbelief washing over him as he cast his gaze over the floor. He set his jaw, shaking his head. "A lot' is an understatement."

"I don't get it." Brass leaned against the side, looking in. "They took so much care to cover their tracks, then leave the weapon in plain sight and don't clean up the crime scene?"

"Like you said – maybe they thought no one would find it." Nick gestured down at the boat. "Can we get this taken back to the lab?"

"You won't be able to bag it," Brass said, smirking and pulling his phone from his belt. "I'll get on it."

"Thanks, Jim."

"Now this is a decent lead," Warrick said with a smile.

"Yeap." Greg grinned. "Don't think we have long now. Oh, and I found this." He picked up a camcorder. "Batteries are flat."

"We'll give it to Archie." Nick sighed, smiling. "Finally."

* * * *

Four hours later they were back at the lab, the boat sitting on its trailer in the garage. Greg had been reluctant to enter the lab, but it became clear that Ecklie was nowhere to be found. Nick could see the tight set to Greg's jaw and tenseness to his build as they finished processing the boat, sending numerous samples to DNA to test against their vics.

Nick looked up as Bobby entered the garage. "Have something?"

Bobby nodded, smiling. "Bullets all match the gun you found at the boat house. Jacqui also said to tell you that the prints on the gun are a match to Geoffrey Carpenter."

"Wife kidnaps them, husband kills them," Warrick said.

"And used the son as bait," Greg said, leaning over the edge of the boat to look down at Bobby. "What about Archie?"

"Waiting for you in the A/V lab." Bobby looked up at him. "Just thought you should know everyone's on your side. And Jacqui, Archie, Dave, David, Albert and I were wonderin' if you wanted to go out for a drink after shift. Been a while since we all went."

"Using me as an excuse, eh?" Greg smiled, shrugging. "Sure, I'll come. Try and get Dave P plastered again."

"Arch is bringing his camera." Bobby grinned. "Meet you after shift."

Nick smiled tightly as Bobby disappeared out the door, quenching his annoyance. He'd been hoping to have Greg to himself after shift for a repeat of earlier, but he knew that there was no room for jealously. He didn't want to drive Greg off when they were just beginning.

"So," Warrick said. "We've got solid evidence that Marnie and Geoffrey are involved."

"Toni's still up in the air," Nick finished. He sighed, looking out the door. "To the A/V lab?"

* * * *

They found Archie waiting for them, his eyes automatically falling on Greg as they entered. Greg waved him off, dropping into the seat beside him. Nick moved to stand behind Greg, Warrick behind Archie. Archie waited until they were all settled before smirking.

"You guys got yourselves a twisted one." Archie keyed up the footage. "Watch."

Nick leaned over Greg's shoulder as the home video came up, Nick frowning as Georgalas and Willrock appeared. The footage was from one boat to another, Georgalas and Willrock talking as they fished. As the footage continued they began to argue, the fight continuing as they returned to land. As CSIs and tech watched the fight turned physical, Warrick swearing softly when Willrock snatched up the tyre iron, hitting Georgalas over the head.

The footage continued as Willrock panicked, quickly dragging Georgalas to the boat and proceeding to take the body out, dumping it into the water. The film only stopped when Willrock was back inland and driving away.

"Wow." Greg looked up at Nick and Warrick. "You guys were right. Willrock killed Georgalas."

"I think that's grounds for you to give us back our dough," Warrick teased.

"So someone on the Carpenter's boat saw the murder," Nick said, resting his hands on Greg's shoulders and staring at the last frame of the video. "Why not turn the tape in to the police?"

"Maybe they figured it was a good idea," Greg said, "and copied it. And since Willrock killed first…"

"…he was the first to be killed," Warrick finished. "All we need now is the blood samples we collected to be matched to our vics, and we have Marnie and Geoffrey."

"Chances are Toni will go free," Nick pointed out.

"They were using Toni's car," Greg pointed out. "Their BMW is in our garage."

"Toni's car won't be much good to us. We're going to need one of the parents to say he was in on it." Nick gave Greg's shoulders a squeeze before stepping back. "Almost time for the triathlon. I'm expecting the Carpenters' to show up in the next 24 hours."

"I might go join the watch," Warrick said. "Got nothing better to do until we find ‘em."

"I'll run our findings by Griss." Nick glanced at his watch. "Gil should be in his office by now. Catch you guys later."

* * * *

Grissom wasn't in his office, Nick loitering around as he waited for the supervisor to return. He saw the lab rats come off shift, Greg in their midst as they left the lab. Greg had told him that he had a ride home, so now Nick just had to worry about the case and avoiding Ecklie – the man not seeming to be around.

Looking up, Nick spotted Grissom vanish in his office door, Nick quickly finishing his coffee and rinsing the mug, hurrying after him. He knocked on the door, Gil looking up sharply from a report he was reading and waving him in. Nick smiled, closing the door and moving to drop into a seat.

"How's the case?"

"Why I'm here." Nick smirked. "Boat house proved to be our big break and crime scene. We have the murder weapon, means and possible motive, and solid evidence on two suspects. We just need them to be found and brought in."

"That's very good, Nick." Grissom smiled, leaning back in his seat. "I heard you had footage."

"Of the original murder. Our second vic, who was our original suspect, killed our first vic. One of the Carpenter's caught it on home video."

"Now you just need to question them to find out who."

"That's right."

Grissom sighed, a small amount of relief playing across his features. He thought for a moment, pursing his lips before meeting Nick's eye. "You should know I contacted Atwater about what happened earlier. Conrad is on three days suspension for poor practice and breaches in privacy."

"I noticed he wasn't around." Nick frowned. "So, eh… what's happening with Greg? That cleared up?"

"In terms of him being forced onto dayshift, yes." Grissom shook his head. "His evaluation is still a problem. He will need to work and close a significant number of cases in order to reach the recommended standard, and it will take him a little longer to reach CSI 2."

"I'm sure he'll accept that."

"Two more things, Nicky. Firstly, successfully closing your current case will bode well for the three of you, and may go toward mending Greg's record. Secondly," Grissom met his eye, "there is the matter of what happened in the garage. Greg and I are going to need to have a long talk about disrespecting superiors."

"Oh come on." Nick frowned, leaning back. "Ecklie asked for it."

"Greg still should not have lost his temper. One other thing." Grissom looked at him pointedly. "I want you to assure me that yours and Greg's relationship will not impact on your professionalism."

"I don't even want to know how you know." Nick sighed, nodding. "We're all professionals. We won't do a Sara."

Grissom chuckled, Nick knowing that Grissom knew he was referring to Sara's frequent attempts of public displays of affection at crime scenes. At one pint she and Gil had kept it strictly out of sight, but things were slowly changing.

"Well," Gil said, leaning back. "We just need to find a way to get Catherine and Warrick together."

"Already working on it." Nick winked at him, standing. "I might head home. Haven't been there in almost three days."

"Know the feeling." Grissom shrugged. "You learn to leave some things at their house. Saves on the extra driving."

"Noted." Nick grinned. "Now I've just got to wait for PD to find our suspects."

"I'll update the Mayor." Grissom smiled tightly. "Out of your hands at the moment."

"At least until I get that phone call. See you, Griss."

The wait turned out to be roughly 12 hours. Swinging by the lab to pick up the DNA results from Wendy, Nick met Warrick and Greg at police headquarters. Nick confirmed the DNA findings to Brass before the detective headed into the interrogation, Nick joining his colleagues on the other side of the glass to gain his first look at Toni Carpenter.

He was tall, roughly six foot, with the strong build of an athlete. His dark hair was cropped short – most likely to stop drag in the water – and his eyes were pale green. He was fidgeting in his seat, glancing toward the door like he wanted to be elsewhere.

"PD found them at the police check heading into the race signup confirmation," Warrick told them. "Parents are in separate holding cells. Brass figured he'd get more out of Toni."

"Big race, Vegas triathlon," Brass said, dropping into the seat opposite Toni. "Strong competition. Lots of money."

"I don't do it for the money," Toni said. "I do if for myself, you know. Prove I'm good at it. And I am. Good at it, I mean. Was going to win this one."

"Lots of guys with quicker times," Brass pointed out, glancing at the list in front of him. "Bookies were saying it would be too close to call. Many strong athletes involved. Let's see: you, Andreas Georgalas, Timothy Marsden, Denis Burson, Richard Willrock…"

"Dead," Toni said sharply. "Those guys are dead."

"Yes, they are." Brass leaned forward. "What do you know about that?"

Toni shrugged. "Just what I saw. On the news, I mean."

"See, that's a problem, Toni. It wasn't on the news. But you wouldn't know that, would you. I think your old man said you were camping? Strange thing to be doing with a triathlon coming."

"Had to focus the mind. Dad says getting away from distractions lets me concentrate fully on the race and I'll do better."

"Mm-hm." Brass raised an eyebrow. "So how did you know those guys were dead?"

Toni remained quiet, avoiding his eye.

"C'mon, kid. I have handkerchiefs with your mother's DNA, a gun with your father's prints, chloroform from your house, blood on your boat, and your car was seen at Lake Mead before every body was discovered. Tell me what you know. Did you kill those guys?"

"Not Andreas." Toni shook his head. "Richard killed Andreas."

"And how do you know that?"

"Saw him." Toni made a motion with his hand like he was holding a camera. "I was filming them."

"Why?"

"Andreas asked me too."

"And why's that?"

"He was going to play a prank on Richard. Knock him off the boat into the water, that sort of thing. He wanted me to film it so we could all laugh over it later."

Brass nodded. "But something went wrong."

Toni nodded. "They started arguing. When they got back to the shore they… they started to fight. And then Richard…" Toni voice broke as he shook his head.

"And then what? You got angry? Decided to go for a little revenge?"

"No, no. No." Toni shook his head. "I wanted to take the tape to the police. I showed my parents and they told me to wait."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"So you waited a while, Willrock found out about you and your parents killed him?"

"No one knew I had the tape."

"Okay, explain it to me." Brass leaned back, frowning. "If Willrock didn't know about you, then how did he, Burson and Marsden end up dead?"

Toni's gaze dropped. "The odds."

Brass looked at him. "Go on."

"When Andreas disappeared, everyone figured he wasn't in the race and the odds changed in my favour. My parents…" Toni swallowed hard. "We were having money trouble. They even had to sell their car."

"So it is about the money."

For a moment there was nothing, then Toni nodded, closing his eyes. "They needed me to win."

"So what happened? What did they do?" Brass leaned forward. "We'll protect you from them, so you can tell us. They can't hurt you, kid."

Toni nodded, absently cracking his knuckles. "They made me call Richard. Tell him I wanted to catch up before the race. Just a coffee. Mum came with me, and while I was talking she, you know, put stuff on him. Then she called Dad and we put him in the car and went to Lake Mead. They make me wait in the car."

Brass nodded, leaning back again. "Did that to all the guys, eh?"

Toni nodded. "It was just meant to be Richard."

"But it worked so well they went for the other two."

"Yeah." Toni averted his eyes. "I talked them out of doing it to more. Said the police were getting too close. Mum freaked, so Dad took us camping."

"Thank you." Brass smiled easily. "Not very often we get honesty in here. You willing to sign a statement with everything you just said?"

"Yeah." Toni shrugged. "I… don't really want to be around my parents anymore. It kinda freaked me out."

"Got somewhere to go?"

"Mm-hm. Grandpa's." Toni smiled. "He's been wanting me to go live with him, but Dad wouldn't let me. They didn't get on very well."

"I see. Well, let's go see about that statement, shall we?"

Nick sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "It should not have been that easy."

"Kids going to go down for aiding and abetting to four counts," Warrick said. "He should have turned in that tape."

"He freaked out," Greg pointed out. "It was his parents that screwed up."

"Yeah, but the kid's 19. DA will think he should be able to think for himself."

"He was a little simple," Nick observed. "I wouldn't be surprised if his parents made all his decisions for him."

"Case closed," Warrick said, leading the way out of the observation room. "Damn I could go a holiday."

"Can't we all." Nick chuckled. "You sorted anything out with Tina?"

"Yeah, actually." Warrick shrugged. "She agreed to a divorce. In fact, she already had the papers. Sat down and signed ‘em already. All we gotta do is wait for them to go through."

Greg looked up. "So it's going to be an easy divorce?"

"In a manner of speaking." Warrick rolled his eyes. "She wants the house."

"House is yours," Nick said.

Warrick smirked. "House is on the market."

"Oh you bastard." Greg laughed. "You're selling it out from under her?"

"Sure am." Warrick shrugged. "In my name anyway. And I never signed anything to say she would have joint ownership."

"Laws on your side," Nick said.

Warrick shrugged, looking at him. "Hope you don't mind if I crash at your place for a while."

"No, go ahead. I'll probably spend most of my time at Greg's anyway." Nick sighed. "Griss suggested I take some spare clothes and things to Greg's so I don't need to always go home for things."

Warrick's eyebrows rose. "He talking from experience?"

"I don't want to know," Greg said, hands over his ears. "The whole Gil/Sara thing still hasn't sunk in yet."

"Kinda like the whole thing with you guys." Warrick smirked. "Had Sofia quizzing me on it while we were on watch. Also wanted to know if you really tried to punch Ecklie."

Nick frowned. "There's a leak at the lab?"

"Brass, Cath, Gil and Al are on very good terms," Greg said. "Between the four of them they know everything. Brass would talk to Sofia."

"Brass has a thing for Sofia," Warrick added.

Nick chuckled. "Message received." He looked around as they left police headquarters. "Oh, G? Gils wants to talk to you about the Ecklie thing."

"Yeah, I know. He called. "Greg rolled his eyes. "Guess I know what I'll be doing once I get back to the lab."

"Shouldn't take long," Warrick said. "He'll yell at you, you'll feel bad. Then you can guilt Nick into sympathy sex."

Nick scoffed as Greg smirked.

"Who needs to guilt him," Greg said. "All I have to do is pout and he's all over me."

"Excuse me?" Nick shot him a glare. "You're the one who can't keep his hands to himself."

Warrick laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he grinned. "Talk about opening the floodgates. So this is what all the sexual tension led too."

Greg leaned against Nick, whispering in his ear. "Guess what'll happen when he and Cath get around to jumping each other."

Nick laughed, whispering back. "$20 says Cath makes the first move."

"I've always thought Warrick, so you're on."

"What you guys saying?" Warrick glared at them. "My ears are burning, so I know it's got to be about me."

"You're just paranoid," Greg said.

"With friends like you, no one can blame me."

Nick laughed, dropping his arms around Greg's shoulders and hugging him closer, smiling when he felt Greg's arm slid around his waist. "Not sure about you guys, but I say we head back to the lab, write our report, then beg Griss for a night off."

"We earned it," Warrick agreed.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Greg said. He sighed, leaning against Nick. "I'm just glad it's over."

"Not like it was all bad, G." Nick said, eyeing Warrick who had that ‘aww, you guys are so cute' look on his face. "Got your first taste of a serial killer."

"First of many," Warrick said, stopping beside his SUV. "Makes you appreciate the B&Es for a while."

"I'm looking forward to a B&E," Greg agreed as he and Nick slowed next to Nick's Denali, parked between Warrick's vehicle and Greg's Jetta. "All I want for the next month."

"Hopefully it's all we get." Nick reluctantly let go of Greg, planting a soft kiss on his lips before pointing a finger at Warrick. "Don't say it, Rick."

Warrick smirked. "Wasn't going to say anything." He shrugged it off. "You guys already know you're cute."

"Nick," Greg said. "Give me your gun so I can shoot him."

Nick laughed, shaking his head as he opened the door of his Denali. "See you guys back at the lab."

THE END

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