Title: Everything we can
Author: insanegolfur (Andrea)
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: K+
Summary: Greg is still trying to deal with emotional toll of the job.
Disclaimer: I own no one. I know no one. Any similarities to anything are purely coincidental.
Author's Note: As you can see in my profile, the last fic I wrote was about 3 years ago and for a different fandom. I was recently reminded at how much I love this pairing and I had a bit of time on my hands so I thought I'd try it out. Please let me know what you think. Con crit is always welcome.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly opened the door. He tried not to let cases get to him, but so far, he really sucked at it. It had only been a few months since he made the transition from "lab rat" to CSI, but he thought that by this point he would have learned the tricks of the trade. He didn't know these people. He never met them, didn't know of them before he arrived at the scene, but he wanted to do everything to give them peace and closure.
As he headed toward the locker room, oblivious to everything around him, occupying his mind was the image of that woman lying in a hospital bed, paralyzed from the waist down, and not being able to tell her anything. They hadn't caught the person responsible for her condition and that chances of doing so were very low, but that wasn't something you should share.
"We're doing everything we can," is what they were trained to tell them.
Yeah, right. What happens when "everything we can" still leads to nothing?
He didn't know how he got there, but he plopped down on the bench in between the lockers, leaned forward head in his hands. Not long after and hand appeared on his shoulder.
"Everything okay, Greg?"
Slightly startled, he looked up to find Nick standing over him. He was just as disheveled and exhausted looking as he was, but seemed to be very composed.
"Rough case," he answered.
"Been there. Want to talk about it?"
He sat there, blank look on his face. "How can we just sit there and lie to people? 'Will you be able to catch the guy?' they ask. 'We're working on it,' we say. When in all honesty we've done everything possible and are at a dead end."
Nick sits next to him and takes a deep breath. "G, I've learned the hard way that you can't always be the hero. In cases like these, never forget because at a time you least expect, something shows up that will help break the case."
He turned his head and stared at him for a moment or two, nodded and hung his head. They sat in silence for a few minutes. He reached over, grabbed Nick's hand, brought it to his lips, and gave it a gentle kiss.
"Are you ready to head home?" Nick asked.
"I just need to get out of these clothes."
"'kay. I need to talk to Grissom. See you in 15?" He nodded.
Fifteen minutes later, there they were, arm in arm walking to their car and in that short little walk, all was right in the world.