Author's Note: Wow, I used to be on this site as Stripped, neon, riot_girl_0018...a lot of other names. I guess when the site decided to delete all my Good Charlotte stories from the misc. section, I got kinda pissed and abandoned it for fandomination.net, so I could actually post my Good Charlotte stories. But, now I'm back, and ready to post CSI stories again, LOL! Hope I wasn't missed too badly.
Title of Story: Return to Self-Loathing - Based on a Mest song
Author: jaded unmotivated darkflame - Liz
Brief Summary: Greg/OC -- Greg is losing himself after the whole explosion incident...and an extreme caseload is no help in that matter. But when a new criminalist/DNA tech comes to the lab, he finds more than relief from some of the caseload - at least for awhile. May have N/S, G/C (I'm actually a shipper for G/S and W/C, but I'm trying a lil something new. Wish me luck, LOL) and W/OC innuendoes.

Introduction: Your Promise

Leila grinned widely as she stepped off the plane and went to get her luggage. She'd missed her big sister for so long, it was killing her. Her sister was the best friend she'd ever had, and not seeing her, even though she was only doing so for college (she'd just recently graduated with a double major in forensic science and anthropology, just as her sister had), was tough for Leila to stomach. But, as Leila's birthday present, her sister had pulled some strings and begged her boss, so now Leila was hired to work with her, and they could have the same friendship that they always used to when she was growing up. She took out her cell phone as she dragged her luggage to the front door of the airport, and dialed her sister's number to see if she was already there waiting for her. But, as soon as she dialed the first three numbers, she smiled as she saw her sister's car waiting in front of her.

If Leila had ever smiled that wide in her twenty-two-year life, she could scarcely remember it. She rushed to the familiar Chevy Tahoe and knocked on the front driver's side window. She could almost see her sister's beaming face as the window rolled down. Sure enough, there sat her sister, beaming at her, her brown eyes sparkling at the sight of her younger sister. "Leila!" she opened the door, got out and wrapped her arms around Leila in a warm, welcoming hug. "What took you so long? We've been waiting for you here...for almost two hours..."

Leila looked over to the passenger's side, to see what her sister was talking about when she had said 'we'. What she saw was a black haired, brown-eyed man that she'd never seen in her life. "Hi, I'm Leila-..."
The man replied to her with a grin. "I know, your sister has told me all about you..." he told Leila. "You really do look just like her, it's not just something she said..." he shook his head.
Leila shook her head too. "Nope, I've always looked a lot like my sister. It's a major part of the Sidle charm, the fact that we all look a lot alike..." she looked at her Sara.
He nodded and laughed a little. "Yeah, but no matter what Sara told me, I didn't think I'd be looking at this much of a mirror. Take out that nose piercing and change those baggy clothes, and you'd make it look like I was watching Sara look in a mirror right now," he looked from Leila to Sara. "I'm Nick Stokes, by the way..."

Looking for answers to all the questions no one knows
Bleeded and begged, asked you for nothing but something showed
Your uneasy eyes the sweat on your forehead, everyone's pointing your nervous out.
You're restless and weak, time to start over. There's nothing to keep them from knowing this now.
Nothing to keep them from knowing this now.
Promises, shattered pieces, memories of nothing.
Cowardly you'll face this all alone.

Leila offered Nick her hand to shake. "So you're the perfect boyfriend Sara's always telling me about over the phone..." she grinned at him and looked to the blushing face of her sister.
Sara shook her head and held out her ring finger. "Correction...he's the perfect fiancé that I haven't exactly told you about yet..."
Nick's jaw practically hit the ground and he blinked twice at Sara. "You haven't told her yet? I'd expect Leila to know everything before even Catherine! Hell of a way to find out..." he let his shoulders drop.
Leila shrugged and looked at Sara. "She knows that I like to hear big, important news in person, that's all. I'll assume that's the only reason she hasn't told me yet..." she looked at Sara hopefully.
Sara nodded and bit her lower lip, looking at Leila in apprehension. "There's one other...little...ok, big--thing I have to tell you..." she explained, putting her hand on her stomach.
Leila let out an ecstatic shriek, immediately getting the hint. "Sara Christine Sidle...you aren't? Am...am I gonna be an auntie?" her jaw was nearly on the ground.

Sara smiled wide and nodded. Nick, on the other hand, was shocked and appalled at the fact that Leila was finding all of this out for the first time. "You're meaning to tell me that Sara hasn't told you any of this yet?" he asked, with a look on his face that could make anyone laugh.
Leila shrugged and thought for a second. "Oh my God...THAT'S why you had to get off the phone so quickly three days ago? You said you had to run to the pharmacy...to pick up a pregnancy test?" she threw her arms around her sister and gave off a beaming smile. "Or...was it?"
Sara nodded and hugged Leila just as tightly as she was being hugged. "Yeah, I figured you may want to hear it face to face, so we could freak out like this..." she paused and pulled out of the hug, looking her younger sister in the eye. "You're not mat at me, are you Lei?" she asked. A look of relief crossed her concerned face when Leila shook her head profusely.
Nick got out of the car, finally, and walked around to the girls, picking Leila's luggage up and setting it in the back of the car. "This sister bond is exactly what Sara told me it was. You two never get mad at each other..." he looked at Leila. "Do you?" he asked.

Leila shook her head. "Nope. We've never been mad at each other...except when we were younger. Like, when Sara was thirteen and I was going through my mischievous threes stage...and I got into her stuff all the time," she laughed at the memory of Sara's thirteen year old face, all scrunched up and angry. "But that pretty much went away when I went into high-school, and Sara was starting in San Diego..."
Sara laughed and nodded. "Leila realized that she couldn't live without her big sissy, and she called me one day, crying and begging for me to come back home..." she let out a slight laugh.
Nick grinned and watched the reunion. "So, I take it, I'm going to be seeing a lot of Leila, aside from in the lab?" he asked. "Not that it bugs me or anything, just want to be prepared..."
Both girls nodded as they headed into the car, to go to Sara's apartment, where Leila would be staying until she found a place of her own.

You're finding your truths are nothing but lies still no one knows.
You see yourself run, but I see you crawling to face the truth.
Your hesitant now, your heart must be burning, ripping and tearing, your insides are numb.
Restless and weak, time to start over, and nothing can keep them from emptiness now.
Nothing can keep them from emptiness now.
Promises, shattered pieces, memories of nothing.
Cowardly you'll face this all alone.

~~

Greg watched the clock attentively, praying for the hour hand to tell him that he could go home. But, as long as the sky-high pile of evidence in front of him kept beckoning to him, he could look at the hour hand on the clock until his eyes popped out of his head, and nothing would happen. He cleared his head and went back to work, running DNA profiles, matching samples and all the lab tech stuff he ordinarily did. Even though he loved his job more than he could describe, ever since a month ago, when his life had almost ended in an abrupt second, his heart just hadn't been in it. He was on the verge of a breakdown, and he didn't have any idea how long it would take for him to get to that point.

All of a sudden, a huge crash from behind sent Greg up and out of his chair in a frantic attempt to shelter himself from any incoming blast. He shook his head quickly, in realization that it was only the chorus of 'The Leaving Song Part Two' by AFI, blaring from the radio about five feet behind his head. Taking a deep breath in through his nose, he decided that it was about time for him to take a break. Just for a little coffee, and then he'd probably feel a lot better. To the conference room, he told himself, turning the radio off and rushing to the conference room. He sat at the table, waiting for the coffeepot to do its job, and apparently, his past week's worth of sleepless nights caught up to him, and he was fast asleep on the table.

You know how this will end, cause the pain inside your head is cutting yourself thin.
Nothing to do now when you're buried underground. Your promise haunts you now.
Promises, shattered pieces, memories of nothing.
Cowardly you'll face this all alone.