This story follows up on "I'm Sorry". Please read the story before you go on with this one :)
You can find it at my profile or here: .net/s/7035507/1/Im_sorry (just put the fanfiction-url in front of it, I can't publish it that way, I'm sorry!)
"He's probably going to be acquitted...
He was under the influence of the wrong medication, he wasn't in his right mind...
His psychiatrist says he's not dangerous anymore...
He wants his job back.
He has connections in the lab and a good lawyer..."
Greg woke up on this Thursday afternoon, thinking about what Catherine said to him yesterday. A week has passed since Greg shot Julian in the right arm.
Julian was probably going free. There might not even be a trial. Julian will prove that he was intoxicated when he was at Nick's.
He claims he had an unusually adverse reaction to his new medicine. Instead of making him better, the drugs made it much worse than it would've been without them. In Las Vegas courts, cases of involuntary intoxications are treated like temporary insanity. Therefore, he should be acquitted by the jury, if the case is going to trial.
Greg didn't know what to think about that, how to feel about it. Ever since he shot Julian, he was kind of apathetic. It was all just too overwhelming.
Catherine said that, if Julian got his job back, he'd probably not work the same shift as Greg. Probably. Not too comforting, he thought. Julian didn't claim he was taking the new drugs when he was constantly hitting on Greg, kissing him. He just couldn't believe that Julian wasn't going to be punished for what he did.
His mind told him it's okay. If he really was insane at the time he did all of this, then he doesn't belong behind bars. His heart, though, was saying something else. He didn't want to see Julian ever again, but knew he had to, whether or not he got his job back.
Nick opened the door to let Greg in. He wanted to check on him before he went to work.
Due to the mild concussion Nick had he took a few days of sick leave. He would come back to work tomorrow.
"Hey. Hungry?" Greg asked as he showed Nick the burgers he bought.
Nick smiled. "Sure. Come in."
They went over to the couch to eat. The first time he was back in the apartment, after what happened, it was a weird feeling for Greg. Now, it was okay, normal even.
"You're ready to get back to work tomorrow?" Greg asked.
"Mhm. I was ready last week, but I just couldn't convince Catherine." He laughed.
"She just worries about you. We all do." After a short moment of silence, Greg continued. "Listen, there's something I need to tell you."
Greg knew Catherine would tell Nick tomorrow about Julian probably being acquitted, but he wanted to be the one to tell him.
"That's bullshit!" Nick said outraged. "He knew EXACTLY what he was doing!"
"Well maybe it was the medicine, we don't know that."
"He's a sick psycho who uses this as an excuse, that's all!" Nick jumped off his seat. "He can't come back to work for the lab! That's insane!"
"What are you yelling at me for?" Greg said in a calm, sad voice. Of course Nick wasn't yelling at him, but he was a bit sensitive these days.
"I'm sorry, I'm not yelling at you, I'm just mad!" he said, still yelling.
"Me, too. But yelling's not going to fix anything."
Nick sat down again. "When they ask for our statements, we need to tell them everything about Julian. That he was persistently asking you out, and all that kind of stuff."
Greg sighed. "Of course. But you know as good as I do that it doesn't really matter what we say. Julian has one of the best lawyers in Vegas, he'll get what he wants."
"But why should he get his job back?"
"Catherine said his father is friends with the lab director, and if he's acquitted, then there's no reason for him to lose his job, I guess..."
Nick leaned back as he sighed. "That sucks, man. It's not fair."
"I know," Greg said softly. "Are you gonna be okay?"
Nick nodded. "Yeah, sure. I can't promise I won't kill him once he's back in the lab, though."
Greg smiled. "That's not a good idea. It's gonna be fine. Julian would be insane to try anything ever again."
"Greg... He IS insane."
When Greg entered the lab, he was greeted with lots of pitying faces. Looks like everybody heard about Julian, he thought.
Being in a rather neutral mood when he walked in, he now was pretty annoyed. To top it all off, he was greeted with the same pity by his colleagues as he entered the break room. "Hey guys," he said, trying not to show his annoyance.
"Hey," everyone said both pitiful and in an upbeat voice.
He walked over to the coffee machine.
"Here," Henry said as he handed him a coffee.
Greg gave him a smile, trying to hide his real feelings. He sat down.
Mandy put her hand on his arm. "Are you going to be okay?"
Greg sighed and nodded.
She squeezed his arm as she stood up and smiled. "We have to get to work. But we're here for you, if you need anything..." she said as she and the other lab rats left the room.
How will I get through this day? He thought annoyed. He buried his head in his arms he just put on the table.
"It's okay, let it out..." Mandy said as she started stroking Greg's back. She came back in because she forgot something, but when she saw Greg like that, she thought he was crying.
"I'm fiiiine..." he said angrily, still his head in his arms.
"What's wrong?" Ray asked as he walked in. He had yesterday off and somehow was able not to hear the latest lab gossip yet, so he had no idea that Julian was probably going free.
"Oh god, not you, too," Greg said annoyed.
Mandy quietly told Ray about it as she kept stroking Greg's back.
Ray nodded. "Mandy, could you give us a minute?"
Mandy left, giving Greg another empty phrase to try cheer him up.
"Thanks," Greg said smiling as he lifted his head again.
"Sure." Ray fixed himself a cup of coffee. "It's no surprise to me that Julian's trying the insanity plea. He'll probably win. How do you feel about that?" He sat down next to Greg.
Greg shrug his shoulders. "I don't really believe that his meds caused his behavior."
"It's possible, though. There have been similar cases with the kind of drugs he took. I looked into it."
"Yeah but... Julian was way too intrusive before he claimed to have taken the new drugs. How will he explain that in court?"
"There's a difference between being intrusive and being a dangerous stalker. I told you about his crush on me, right? He never gave me reason to believe he might be dangerous."
Ray was probably right, Greg thought. Maybe it was his own fault that he felt threatened by Julian. Maybe it was even his fault that Julian was so pushy. Of course it wasn't true, but Greg thought that. Like victims often do, he blamed himself. "Tell that Nick. He's outraged that Julian might work for this lab again."
"I'm anything but a fan of Julian, you know that. But maybe it's the right thing to give him his job back. If it's not his fault that he acted that way, why should he be punished for it?"
Ray was right. Greg hated him for being right right now, but he knew he was. It was easier for Ray to see that, though. He wasn't the one who was harassed by Julian. He wasn't the one who had to shoot at Julian to keep him from hurting Nick. It was easy for Ray because he wasn't emotionally involved in this. But Greg was. Nick was, too. And it was hard for both of them to see past the fact that Julian tried to kill them. The 'why' didn't really matter to them right now.
"I'm just kind of scared to face him again..." Greg said with an uncomfortable smile. It was hard for him to admit that.
"You'll be fine," Ray said with a smile on his face. "You're stronger than you think."
Okay, I know some of you will probably not like the fact that Julian might be acquitted :) But I checked this, it's possibly in a case like that! I'm not sure if he would really get his job back, I couldn't find any info on that. But please keep in mind, it's a fanfic, and stranger things have happened on TV shows... lol I hope it's okay for you guys :)