A/N: Spoilers ahead! You've been warned! Not meant to be slash, but it could be read that way.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot (bummer), and since this is a oneshot... That doesn't mean much. Please review!
Mutual Grief Counseling
Oneshot
Greg awoke to a desperate pounding outside his door. He glanced at the clock. 4:07 pm. Who the hell could that be? he wondered.
Greg made his way into the living room and squinted at the sunlight that fell across the room. He scooped up some pajama bottoms and slid them over his boxers. The pounding was relentless. He whipped the door open with a grunt.
Greg didn't know exactly who he expected, but this didn't even register on the possibilities list. Nick's eyes were bloodshot, his clothes wrinkled and stuck to his skin from sweat, and his hand was bloody.
"Nick?" Greg's mask of annoyance fell. "What are you doing here?" Nick looked him in the eye with a long, hard stare that chilled him to his core.
"I just…" Nick's eyes softened and he studied the floor.
"Come in." Greg led him to his couch. "Make yourself at home. I'll brew some coffee."
Nick plopped to the couch, and for the first time, Greg wondered if he had been drinking. He doesn't look drunk, thought Greg. He looks exhausted. After that thought crossed his mind, it only took another two seconds before he figured out what this was all about. Warrick.
With the coffee machine started, Greg seated himself beside Nick. He didn't smell like alcohol. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Tears began streaming down Nick's face. "I thought I knew everything about him," started Nick. "I wish I would have known about the divorce. I could have been a better friend."
Greg felt his heart contort in agony for the man beside him being consumed by grief. "You were his best friend, Nick." He could feel his own tears prickling the corners of his eyes as he tried to comfort Nick. "And you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for."
Nick pulled Greg into a tight bear hug. "I just miss him, ya know?" He did know. He may have not been Warrick's best friend, but Warrick was still his friend and coach.
"You aren't the only one who lost someone important," whispered Greg. "I lost a teacher; Hodges lost a role model; Grissom lost a surrogate son, Catherine…" Greg trailed off. He wasn't sure what the status of Warrick and Catherine's relationship was, but he was pretty sure Catherine had a key for more than getting him clothes.
"It's so unfair," sobbed Nick.
Greg reached a tentative arm around Nick's back to rub his shoulder. "At least you got him, Nicky."
Nick tried to laugh but choked out another sob instead. "Doesn't make it any less fair," he answered. "I always thought we were helping the victims' families get closure by getting the guy. Never imagined that the truth could hurt this much." Nick wasn't the only one who felt betrayed by the system that the team worked so earnestly to uphold.
The coffee machine beeped and the boys parted. "Stay for some coffee," offered Greg on his way to the kitchen.
Nick followed. "Cream, no sugar please," he squeaked.
Greg smiled and sat the mugs at his small table. Nick sat opposite and forced a smile to his face.
"I almost shot him," whispered Nick. "Maybe I should have."
Greg vigorously shook his head. "Warrick wouldn't have wanted that. You would have been stooping to his level. You did the right thing, Nicky. You got him and he'll be spending a long time in prison, maybe even the death penalty for killing an upstanding member of society."
Nick laid his head back in attempt to stop the tears from falling again. It didn't work. "Warrick was good. Billy Joel says only the good die young," he whispered.
Greg cracked a smile. "I didn't know you country bumpkins knew anything about rock and roll." Nick cracked a smile as well and before he knew it, he was full on laughing. The wisecrack wasn't really that funny but it was enough to keep Nick's mind away from Warrick. Soon enough Greg joined in the laughter.
"Thank you, Greg."
Greg smiled. "I do what I can."
"You're way better at grief counseling than that woman the city's paying for."
Greg smiled a little. "She isn't so bad," he offered. "You just have to give her a chance."
"You've talked to her?" asked Nick.
Greg suddenly felt embarrassed and stared at his coffee, refusing to meet Nick's eyes. "Well yeah," he answered hesitantly. "Everyone else is going through their own grief right now. I didn't think it would be fair to pile mine on top of theirs."
"I didn't think of it that way," said Nick. "It has to be double hard for you." Greg looked at Nick with questions written all over his face. "Sara, I mean." Greg let out a long sigh. "She was your best friend, right?"
Greg nodded and returned to staring at his coffee. "It hurts still that she just left," he whispered. "I can't even imagine how Grissom must have felt." Nick's eyes were shining with tears again and Greg suddenly realized his own face was wet.
Nick pulled Greg into another bear hug, and Greg relaxed against his chest. "She did what she felt she had to do," soothed Nick. "It didn't have anything to do with you, or even Gris."
Greg kept trying to tell himself that. Maybe if he had been a better friend to Sara, she wouldn't have left like she did. Having different shifts made any sort of contact, let alone friendship almost impossible. Greg knew she was under a lot of pressure and he should have treated her better. I should have been there for her, he scolded himself.
"Stay here tonight." The words were floating in the air by the time Greg realized they'd fallen out of his mouth.
"I'd like that," answered Nick. Greg smile was sincere. It even reached his eyes. "You're the best grief counselor on the planet."
Greg laughed and wiped a sweaty palm across his eyes to stop the tears. "Humanitarian, DNA expert, CSI funny guy." This earned another laugh from Nick. Greg looked up at Nick.
"I think we'll be okay," murmured Nick. Greg nodded. "At least I have you and Cath." Greg smiled again as Nick released him from the hug.
"I'll drive you to work in the morning," said Greg. "Tomorrow, we'll come back here and you can get your car."
Nick nodded. "Sounds like a plan, Greggo."
Greg walked down the hallway. When he returned he held blankets and a pillow. Nick walked over and helped him with the pullout bed.
"If you're up before me, help yourself to any breakfast you find. And if you're in the mood for a shower, bathroom is the first door on the right." Nick nodded in understanding. Greg gave Nick one last pat on the shoulder and wandered to his own bed.
As Greg pulled the covers over himself for the second time that day, a small smile crept onto his face. At least the team has each other. He still felt sad, but somehow content. I've accepted it.