Hey guys!

Here's a new story of mine! With Nick being absent on the show for a few eps, I figured this was a good show to get you guys your Nick-fix for a while ;)

Enjoy!


"Hello Dr. Reyes." Greg sat down on a couch in his psychiatrist's office. He's been here once a week for quite some time now but skipped the last three sessions.

"Greg, I'm surprised to see you." She smiled at him as she sat down on a chair. "How are you?" Dr. Reyes was a very talented psychiatrist. She had her own practice for almost 25 years now. Victims of sexual violence frequented her.

Greg nodded. "I'm good, I guess."

Her smile got bigger. "I doubt you'd come here if that were true. You skipped the last few appointments, did something come up each time or did you just not feel like talking?"

The CSI took in a deep breath before answering. "I just thought I didn't need to come here anymore. I was feeling great, you know?"

She nodded. "You were doing great. Your mood swings were getting better, right?"

He nodded. "I was able to fall asleep without thinking about bad things. I was eating well, my relationship with my friends was good..."

Reyes noticed that Greg was trying to say what was on his mind, but the words wouldn't come out. "Greg. Something brought back the memories, right?"

"It was a really silly thing. You know, officer Spencer... I told you about him. He's a very friendly guy. He always asks me how I'm doing. And a few days ago, he asked if I was seeing someone. In front of everybody."

"Who's everybody?" She leaned forward.

"Nick, Brass, a bunch of officers..."

"What did you tell him?"

Greg released a short laugh as he shook his head. "I could've just said no and leave it at that, you know? Nobody would've asked any more questions. Instead, I got nervous. I felt like they were all watching me when they really didn't. So I just walked away."

"Why? What did you feel when he asked you?"

"Shame, mostly. Fear, too, I guess."

She nodded. "I thought we've already established that there's no need for these feelings."

"Easier said than done," he said with a sad chuckle. "The last woman I've dated I couldn't even kiss without thinking about Novak, so I didn't even attempt another try at a relationship. I'd only disappoint her, anyway."

"Disappoint her how?"

"Well you know how these things work. Everybody expects something from their partners and..."

"But don't you think there's a lot of women out there who would be patient with you?"

Greg nodded with a sad look. The way his last relationship turned out, he had lost hope. "I'd probably have to date a few of the impatient ones before I find someone like that. I'm not sure it's worth it." He shook his head. "I know what you want to say. But I don't feel like that all the time. I'm just a little down in general, that's why I'm so pessimistic about this right now."

"I hope it's just a phase, Greg, but I really think you should get back out there, you know? Go on a few dates, enjoy a woman's company."

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"A few first dates can't hurt, right? It could be just what you need to get your confidence back. And you'll have an answer to questions like Spencer's." She smiled at him.

Greg chuckled. "Or I could make it up."


Greg talked with Dr. Reyes about that subject for the rest of the session and it helped her feel a lot better about it. But still, he was feeling bad for the way he reacted towards Spencer's innocent answer. "I don't know. Maybe I should apologize..." Greg got out of Nick's car with a sad, guilty look on his face. Nick brought the subject up again, not knowing that Greg had already talked about it in therapy.

"Why? You did nothing wrong. Spencer had it coming, he's a prying creep," Nick said determined as they walked inside a diner to get some takeout for their lunch break.

"Maybe he just meant well."

"Yeah maybe he shouldn't have asked you about your love life with three police men standing around."

"He couldn't have known it's been non-existent for the past months. And I could've reacted differently."

"Sure, but..." Nick walked into the diner first and instantly stopped talking at the sight that presented to him. "Greg." He stopped before the younger CSI could enter. He quickly drew his gun.

"...What's going on?"

"You don't have your gun with you?" he whispered to Greg.

"No," he said while taking a peek inside. All he could see was blood everywhere.

"Alright, then go outside and call for backup and the medics."

Without knowing what exactly was going on, Greg hurried outside to do what he was told.


On his way out, Greg saw a police officer walking up to the diner. "Hey!" He ran up to him to quickly explain what was going on without being too sure, himself. The officer told him the same thing Nick just did before entering. When he reached the car to get his radio, there were three shots heard. After his desperate call for backup, he wanted to run back inside, although emergency protocol demanded an unarmed CSI to stay away.

Luckily for him, a patrol car pulled up before he reached the entrance. "What's going on?"

He quickly filled them in as the two officers got out of their car, running towards the diner. At the same time, the police officer who walked in before, came back outside, looking at Greg in a weird manner.

"Hey, Astin!" one of the officers said to their colleague. "What happened in there?"

Without looking at the fellow police officers, officer Astin walked up to Greg and pushed him against the patrol car.

"Where's your gun?!" he yelled at Greg while putting handcuffs on him.

"...What are you doing?!" Greg asked confused.

"Astin, what the hell, man? He's a CSI!"

"So he says! He and his accomplice ambushed me! Almost got me killed!"

"What?! ...Where's Nick? Is he alright?!" He tried to turn around.

"Shut up!" officer Astin yelled as he shoved the young CSI against the car again. "Get this scum out of my sight!"

While backup finally arrived and checked out the diner, the officers checked Nick's car. They walked over to Greg and officer Astin. "...Astin, we found his I.D. inside the car. He is a CSI."

Officer Astin had a shocked look on his face. "...Doesn't necessarily rule him out as a suspect, does it?"

"Over here!" An officer walked outside the diner to wave at the paramedics while officer Astin got the handcuffs off of Greg.

Greg gave him an angry look. "Now where's Nick?" he asked while the paramedics rolled someone out on a gurney. "...Oh no." He ran over to his unconscious friend. "What happened to him?!"

"Two gunshot wounds," the paramedic replied. "We're taking him to Desert Palms."

Greg just stood there in shock, trying to comprehend what was going on. "Is he going to be alright?"

The paramedic gave him a discouraging look. "We'll do everything we can."

"I wanna go with him."

"You can't, there's not enough room inside the ambulance."

"Alright," Greg replied, still in shock. It took him some time to come up with the idea of taking Nick's car and driving to the hospital with it. "I'll meet you there, Nick. You're going to be alright, okay?" he said to his unconscious friend, trying to believe his own words.

The ambulance drove off while the officers were talking to Astin, trying to understand what happened. "He was shooting at me so I fired back. I had no idea he was a CSI..."

Greg overheard officer Astin say this. He walked up to him. "You did this? You shot him?!"

"Hey, he shot first!"

"Why would he do that? You're a cop in uniform!"

"He shot at me, anyway!"

The CSI didn't want to believe that Nick would shoot at anybody without asking questions first. Not without being threatened. "Arrest him!"

"...What?" the other officers asked confused.

"He shot at a CSI. Arrest him!"

"I'm sorry, we can't do that..."