Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS. The story belongs to me. I am not making any money from this. :(

Title: April Fools Nightmare

Author: Peggy Schultz

Rating: R (for Violence and possible adult themes)

Timeline: Mid 4th season

Spoilers: "Stalker" and possible spoilers for all episodes up to the mid fourth season.

Pairing: Greg/OFC and eventual Nick/Greg

Summary: Nick thinks Greg is playing an April fools day prank. Is it a prank or is his life in real danger?

Prologue

Nick Stokes sat on a bench in the locker room of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He was directly in front of his open locker. He yawned as Warrick Brown entered the room. "Hey," he nodded to the taller man.

"Hey," Warrick said, "you alright? You look tired man." Nick watched as he opened his own locker.

"Yeah, I'm tired. I couldn't sleep this morning after I went to breakfast with Greg," Nick told him.

"Really," Warrick grinned. "Did you finally tell him you like him and then take him back to your place for a day of...."

"Very funny man," Nick glanced toward the door to make sure no one was standing near by to overhear. "Nah, Greg is still talking about Lisa."

"Man, you don't even believe she really exists anyway, why don't you just ask him out on an actual date instead of to breakfast?"

"Right and have him never speak to me again," Nick sighed.

"You really need to give him more credit Nick. He's seemingly open to anything, I don't think he would let it ruin your friendship," Warrick assured him. "Did you find out why he was so nervous and jumpy last night," Warrick changed his shoes in front of his own locker.

"Yeah, he's a good actor. He missed his calling, he should have studied drama instead of science," Nick sighed.

"What do you mean," Warrick looked at the younger man curiously.

"It was all just a very bad April fool's day prank," Nick replied running his hand through his short hair.

Warrick glanced at his watch. "You're kidding, its not even April first for another four minutes yet."

"Well he has tonight off, so I guess he decided to start the prank early. I'm not sure," Nick told him with a shrug of his shoulders.

"So was it the fact you fell for his prank that kept you awake or the prank itself?"

"I didn't fall for it. As soon as he started asking me questions I figured out that he was leading to a prank. It was a prank in very bad taste too," Nick admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. "He was asking me about Nigel Crane. He said that his supposed girlfriend Lisa told him she saw her ex-boyfriend in Vegas and she warned him to be careful. Apparently her ex had tried to kill her before and gets very jealous of her seeing other men. Greg said he saw a car following him. He had the nerve to ask me if stalkers normally follow the people they're stalking without even trying to make it look like they're not following them. Can you believe him?"

"That's quite a story man, are you sure it was a prank? He was very jumpy and anxious last night. I even heard him asking Grissom and Ecklie if there was any overtime available for him. He sounded as if he did not want to go home. He told Grissom that he could really use the extra money, but I didn't buy it. After Grissom and Ecklie refused the overtime he started looking for someone to go to breakfast with him, before he spoke to you he had even asked Hodges," Warrick said.

"Nah man, he practically admitted it to me. I told him that if he's playing some kind of April fools day prank that it was very inappropriate after my encounter with Crane. He looked horrified, I don't think he even thought about what happened to me when he planned the prank or he didn't think it would bother me. He apologized to me and said he shouldn't have said anything," Nick shrugged again.

"Are you sure he wasn't 'horrified' that he reminded you of the Nigel Crane incident and not because it was a prank? Think about it man, his pranks are usually not that extensive," Warrick said.

"I'll call him later and make sure he's ok," Nick sighed. What Warrick said made sense, but he didn't think it was true. He had been certain that Greg had made up having a girlfriend named Lisa, and if he had made her up the story must have been made up too. He couldn't help but wonder if his willingness to believe it was a prank was based on the fact he didn't want to be wrong about suspecting Greg made Lisa up.

To Be Continued...