CSI HEADQUARTERS

"Ok guys, take your final looks, 'cause I'm finally leaving for the night." Greg said with a big grin plastered on his face as he leaned against the break room door. Usually when he had a grin like that when he was up to no good, or he would be making trouble later.

As usual, everyone was gathered around the break room table talking about their earlier cases, and discussing evidence and what not.

"Dream on Lab Rat!" Sara threw back at him, hinting a playful smile to show her teasing. She had been sipping her coffee, and reading the newspaper while half-listening to the conversation her co-workers were having, occasionally throwing her own opinion into the mix. She had to admit it felt good when they agreed with her, but she was couldn't hid her disappointment that it was not Grissom agreeing with her and giving her a nod of approval while adding an opinion of his own.

Detaching himself from the doorframe, Greg sauntered over to where Sara was sitting, and spun her chair around to face him, causing her to jump a little in the process. Leaning in close, he threw her that oh-so-famous smile, and moved toward her ear, as if no one knew what he was going to say to her, and whispered, "Babe, all you need to do is say the word, and I'm yours for the taking!" Greg backed up about two steps in time to see a stunned looking Sara quickly recover. He knew that if she were really mad, which she was probably getting close to, that he'd get beaten to a bloody pulp for it, so that why he backed up about another half step.

Calmly, and quite shockingly, Sara got up, and gracefully made her way over to Greg and before he could even tell what happened…'BAM'. Sara had somehow managed to push Greg down to the floor with an extremely great deal of force that would be sure to leave a bruise.

"Baby," She started in a deep seductive voice, "You need to keep on dreaming, and I'll tell you why: Because it's NEVER going to happen!" Sara told him in a stern voice before brushing past a very confused Greg who was doing a great impression of a fish.

Seeing an opportunity to direct the attention away from being humiliated, Greg re-pasted the huge, sly grin back on his face, and said in a deep, sexy voice, "Oh yeah, she wants me. She just has to slow down long enough for that beautiful idea of mine to catch up to her…what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah. Her wonderfulness!"

Seeing everyone shake their head, with smiles on their faces, he started to get up when he noticed that he was blocking everyone's only exit. "No, don't worry, I'm fine. Pease, you really shouldn't strain yourself trying to help me out, please, I'm fine." He talked to himself as he got up and brushed the dirt off his pants, and, just like everyone had reason to, everyone in the break room thought he might have taken a harder fall because he was acting mental again.

"Sorry Greggie, but if you never ask, people are never going to know that you need help. Also, you kinda deserved it. You know better than to mess with her when she's pulled a double shift." Catherine told him in her motherly voice as she helped the young lab tech dust the rest of his body off.

"No need Cath, I'm seriously good." Greg finally, after he was done cleaning himself, walked back to his original position at the door. He threw the CSI's one final wave over his shoulder and called out, "Later guys, I'll catch ya'll tomorrow. As he began leaving the Crime Lab.

"By Greggo." Everyone called as they saw him leaving the building, only getting a slight wave in return.

GREG'S APARTMENT:

By the time Greg made his way home, after many detours, it was nearly 9:00 A.M. Shifting in the driver's set of his 2007 Black Denali, Greg started to feel a little sore on the spot he had landed when Sara had pushed him. "Great, this is definitely going to leave a bruise. And not a small and bearable one either!" He groaned as he slid out of his car, wincing slightly, set the alarm, and started to make his way up the steps that made him feel as if he was climbing Mount Everest. Greg dragged his body up to the front door, and slid his key into the gleaming gold lock that secured his door. He made a little mental note that he hated the pale, light blue color that was painted on his door, so he would go to the store later and pick up some paint he liked. Yeah, Greg was thinking that some wild and outrageous color would make him feel better. He was so exhausted, and relieved to be home that he didn't even attempt to watch the local news like he did every /hr

NEWS REPORT:

We interrupt you morning program to bring you a very important message. We have recently learned that a convicted felon from the San Clemente prison has recently escaped the secure, and tight lock prison. He's been missing for three days now, and witnesses from a San Clemente car rental agency reported to having rented him a car, and he was said to be heading near the Las Vegas area. His name is Slade Dawson, and he is a highly dangerous criminal that was linked to the 2000 murder of 2 people in a club that was once known as 'Dirt'. If you have any news on his whereabouts, we urge you call your local police department and pass on your information. We are advising that everyone remain cautious and keep all of your doors and windows tightly locked. It's important that if you do not feel safe at home, call a friend or family member to stay with you, or stay at their house. That's all for this important message, this is Ruby Loera saying good night, and be safe."

Moving sluggishly through the apartment, Greg never noticed the 'only a mother could love face' that kept flashing in the corner of the TV screen with a phone number under the picture. Almost in a drugged out daze, Greg just picked up the remote and turned the TV off without so much as glancing at the screen. This type of behavior was quite common for Greg this time of day, so once again moving sluggishly to the back of his apartment, he made his way to the bedroom and over to his bed which he practically wanted to marry right now.

"Damn, I need a day off! Working double shifts for three days in a row sucks!" Greg flopped himself down against his giant, California king size bed just as a dreadful thought entered his mind, "Crap, I'm still in my clothes." He groaned out as his body sunk into the extremely soft mattress that beckoned him into a world of peaceful slumber. Groaning again, Greg rolled himself over and sat up with a small frown on his face. He pushed himself over to the edge of the bed so he could get a better view of where he had thrown his nightclothes when he had been in a hurry this morning. Once he gave the room a thorough scan, he saw that his clothes laid in a small heap by the closet door, he mulled it over for a moment before, pulling his shirt over his scarred back, and tossing it on his night clothes, next he pulled his jeans off and those two were thrown in the small pile, he just decided that he would sleep in boxers for tonight, it was so much easier. The moment he was done removing the offending articles of clothing, he turned his light off, and threw himself on his bed, falling into a coma like sleep. hr/hr

LATER THAT DAY

POW...

Rolling over, Greg opened his sleepy eyes to see that it was nearly 5 p.m., when he heard the loud sound. Grabbing his blankets, he covered his body with them, and rolled over to face the bathroom door, and tried to get a few more hours of sleep.

POW...

There is was again, what was falling, or hitting against something else, he thought as he pulled a pillow over his head, and snuggled deeper into his blankets, he was going to ignore it for more sleeps sake.

POW…CRASH

"Ugh, what the hell?!" He yelled into the pillow, throwing it off his head, along with the covers thrown across his body. Begrudgingly he got out of bed, and made his way to the living room to find the source of the noise. When he reached the living room, he looked in, and saw it was just as he had left it, the locks we still firmly in place, and nothing looked to be disturbed.

"What the-?" The rest of the sentence was cut shirt when he heard another crash coming from his bedroom. Greg whirled around, and stared at the empty hallway as if it held all the answers, but nothing moved. Panic slowly began to rise in his chest, and tip toeing as soundlessly as he possibly could, he walked into the kitchen to retrieve a knife he had sitting in a holster on the small island in the corner. He gripped it firmly, but that didn't stop the trembling of his hands, as he walked cautiously back to his bedroom.

When he reached the door, he peered in slowly, and looked around, but it to was as he had let it, but he couldn't remember closing the bathroom door, and he could see beneath the door that the light was flicked on, and if he held his breath he could swear he heard someone talking in there.

Suddenly another bang came from within the closed bathroom. Greg jumped when he heard an irritated growl from within saying, "God damn it! Where the hell does this kid keep his drugs?!" That voice. "Fuck! Morphine, ok, I can make this work, think, what else does he have? Ah! Vikadin! Ok, I can do this!" That voice. Greg suddenly paled as he heard what the man was saying, because deep down, he knew what was coming.

i"Shit, what do I do, what do I do?!"/iGreg was now beyond panic mode, his body stood frozen, so he couldn't even runaway, he just kept drawing shallow breaths of air. His eyes wildly scanned the bedroom, hoping to find an escape, when suddenly he saw his phone on his bedside table. i"Phone! Shit, who do I call. Grissom!!"/iAs fast as his body would take him, without making noise, Greg made it over to his phone, and quickly dialed the number he knew by memory.

RING…

"Come on, come on." Greg whispered as he waited for the other line to pick up. He knew his boss would send help immediately, and would guide him threw this, he just had to stay calm, and wait for the line to connect. Sliding up slowly, and holding the phone to his ear, Greg tip toed to his closet, so he could hide in there, when suddenly…

SQUEAK

Removing his foot just as fast as it had landed on the board, Greg's entire body froze, and he kept his eyes glued on the other door. His heart rate began rising as he saw the knob begin to wiggle, and he all but died, when the door slid open to reveal his every nightmare.

To say that the man before him was caught a little bit off guard would be an understatement. He was almost as shocked as Greg, when he saw him standing there, and then he became alarmed when he saw the phone pressed to his ear.

"Hello Sunshine, and who might you be calling?" He asked tauntingly, and his grin got even bigger when he saw Greg shiver. "What, I don't get a welcome back hug? Well that's not very nice is it?" Faintly he could hear, that someone on the other end of the phone had answered, so he chose his next words carefully, he couldn't come all this way, and have his plan ruined now, no, this was just the beginning.

"S-S-Slade." Greg stuttered, lowering the phone. Slade noticed that he eyed the door, and just taking a precaution, he moved to step in front of it. Still he could hear someone talking on the other end of the phone, they sounded a bit panicked now, but Greg didn't even look down to see the other line was connected.

"Well you remembered. I'm flattered sunshine." Again, he pasted that smile on his face that churned Greg's stomach until he thought he was gonna pass out.

"How can I forget the man that tried to kill me?" Greg almost yelled back, but his words were laced with fear, so they didn't have any effect on his opponent what so ever.

iFear is something that controls your mind, when you give it that power…/i

Slade suddenly broke out in a huge grin that if made wider, his head might have split in two. "Now, you always leave out the important part. It was somewhat your fault. You can't deny that. All I wanted to do was get in and kill your boss, and get out, but who was the one that had to come running after me? You. No one told you to play hero boy. So for that sassy little comment. I'm gonna have to hurt you like you hurt me."

No as an after thought, Greg looked down at his phone and suddenly yelled, "GRISSOM!!" But no other words were able to come out as he tried to duck past Slade and run for the door, but his plan was evaded as Slade caught him around the waist, and tackled him to the bed. The phone landed with a loud clatter on the floor, but the caller remained on the line, and Greg could now hear Grissom's frantic yelling for him to answer his calls. "HELP!" He yelled again, that was the only thing he could do with an almost 200 pound guy laying on top of him, and trying to restrain him.

Slade then back handed Greg, so he could get him quiet, he glanced down at the phone and saw that it was still on the line, and that made him frown, this was his and Greg's little party, and he didn't want a third wheel to be getting in the way.

"If you move so much as inch in any direction ,you'll wish I'd have killed you all those years ago." He made direct eye contact with Greg as each word left his mouth, and slowly he got off of the bed, and bent down to pick up the phone. "I'm sorry, but Greg's a little busy at the moment, why don't you try him back a little later." And with that, he slapped the phone shut, and threw it on the bed. Taking his eyes off the scared boy on the bed, Slade looked around the small they were in. It was a typical bedroom; posters on the wall of various bands, clothes thrown here and there in small growing piles, just then he looked at Greg again, clad only in a pair of boxers. Bending down, he picked up a pair of raggedy jeans an old faded band shirt from the floor, and threw them at Greg. "Get dressed sunshine, we're going on a little field trip."

Greg scrambled to his feet, and quickly put the clothes on, and looked up at Slade who was now on the far side of the room. Without even thinking he made a mad dash for the door, and ran full force, but still it was in vain. Slade once again tackled him to the floor, and it was only then that he saw a syringe sticking out of his pocket.

"You had to go and run, I thought we could do this the easy way, and you could walk out of here by your own will power, but you had to run." Slade grabbed a handful of Greg's hair, and brought him up close to his mouth, "Your so stupid!" And with a lot of force he slammed Greg's head into the floor, making him se more than just stars, and spots. "I didn't want to do this, cause I know it can be a bit painful, but like everything else in this scenario: Its your own fault" Slade uncapped the syringe that had been sticking out of his pocket, and brought Greg's head up close once again, "Sorry sunshine." Fast, and uncaring, he plunged the needle into the side of his neck, and let his head fall with a 'thud' on the floor again.

It was as if every nerve in his entire body was on fire, or worse, what was worse than fire? Greg moaned in pain, or at least he thought he did, he couldn't be sure of anything right now. He felt the faint sense of being carried, but his mind didn't dwell on it long as a new round of pain started racking through his body. His limbs trembled, and he felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat. After what felt like an eternity, he could sense that he was being placed on something hard, and things we being tied around his body, but the pain was still there, and this time he knew he moaned out loud, and all he could hear beyond that was a faint chuckle from someone close to his right side. In his mind he was begging for that sweet dark oblivion to come and comfort him, and he could almost smile when his prayers were answered and his blurred vision started to fade, but not before he felt someone place a small kiss on his forehead, and then all was black and silent as his mind was finally but to ease.