This story follows up on my other stories. Please read the other two before you start reading this one or else you might be a little confused what's going on :) thanks

You can find it at my profile or here:

first story: "A day at the video rental store"

.net/s/6502149/1/A_day_at_the_video_rental_store

second story: "An eye for an eye"

.net/s/6506034/1/An_Eye_For_An_Eye

third story: "Boom"

.net/s/6516243/1/Boom

fourth story: "The game is on"

.net/s/6773108/1/The_Game_Is_On

fifth story: "Nexus"

.net/s/6776115/1/Nexus

(just put the fanfiction-url in front of the urls above and you're good to go. I can't publish it as a real link, I'm sorry!)

Seven days ago, Nick and Greg were taken hostage by officer Randall. He shot himself in the head and ended up in a coma. He used Nick's gun to shoot himself, which caused both Nick and Greg some trouble with internal affairs. Greg was cleared right away. Detective Keenan, the man from IA investigating the case, was sure he had no involvement in Randall's injury. Nick, on the other hand, was still a suspect. And because of this, he was on the edge all day for the last week.

Greg had no idea how to deal with Nick. He knew avoiding him wasn't the best idea, especially since they had to work on a case together. But Greg just kept the conversations professional and shallow and tried to avoid being alone with Nick when he could. So far it went good. But it didn't feel good. It didn't feel right. They are friends, why should they avoid having a chat?

But Greg didn't know what else to do and Nick was too angry to even think about that. He didn't even notice how Greg tried to keep a distance between them. They were still staying at a hotel because the guy who terrorized the police department knew where they lived. It was still not safe to go home.

But today Nick didn't care. He was tired of sleeping in a hotel room. He just wanted to go home. He put his gun and his badge in his locker when Greg went in.

"Hey," was all Greg could get out of his usually so talkative mouth.

Nick nodded, not looking at Greg. He didn't realize how rude this kind of behavior was, but he didn't really care, either. "Hurry up, I'll drop you off the hotel."

Greg's car was still in the shop. With all that's happened he simply forgot to pick it up. Just now he remembered that this was on top of his to-do list. "...Drop me off? Aren't you going home?"

"Yes I am. That's why I'm not staying at that hotel any longer."

"What?" Greg closed his locker. "But this guy could come back any time and do who-knows-what!"

Nick turned around to face Greg. "I'm not afraid, Greg. I got a new gun yesterday and I will use it when I get the chance." Since Nick's private gun was evidence after being used in a homicide, he had to get a new one.

Use it when he gets the chance? What the hell was he talking about? He didn't use to be that kind of person! Greg knew how hard it was for Nick to cope with shooting one of the bad guys at a crime scene, but in his own house? "You can't be serious. Come on, Nick. We'll think of a way to feel safe in our own home again when we're not tired, exhausted and unstable, alright? But this gun... It won't help you with this guy. He'll see it coming, he'll be prepared."

"Unstable?" Nick laughed humorlessly. "I'm not unstable, alright? I just won't sit around and wait for this guy to make a move. I want to go back home and nothing will make me change my mind."

"When I wanted to go home after the attack it was you who convinced me to stay at your place, remember? Why don't you follow your own advice?"

Nick laughed again. "Great advice. That's the reason I'm not supposed to go home, in the first place, remember?"

This really hit Greg hard. He felt guilty about this and anything else, anyways, no need for Nick to shove it in his face. Just get the hell out of here. Let him go kill himself, Greg couldn't help but think that it was the best idea to leave Nick alone. But he didn't want to. He was worried about him.

"You're angry. I get that. I'm angry, too. But letting yourself get killed is not a good way to deal with it. Please, Nick, don't go home."

Nick averted his gaze off Greg. "You know what, find someone else to drive you to the hotel."

Greg couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about Nick. He knew exactly what he was going through. He was going through it a few weeks ago. The only difference, Greg thought, was that he had a friend to lean on to. Nick didn't because Greg couldn't be there for him. He wanted to, but he had no idea how. Nick could convince Greg to go home with him because he thought he was safe there. And then Nick's living room was set on fire. Greg thought it was his fault, that this terrorist was after him. If he'd gone home instead to Nick, Nick's home wouldn't have been a target, he thought. His thoughts were spinning around that subject over and over again. How did this guy know Greg was going home with Nick? It all didn't really make any sense. But more important was to him, how could he help Nick? What was it that Nick needed? A good cry? Throwing his fist against a wall? Some alone time? He had no idea.

As he was lying on his bed, rolling around, trying to get at least a couple hours of sleep, his phone rang. Oh god, I hope Nick's fine, he thought.

"Hello?" he said tired. "Oh, hey mom. No, you didn't wake me up, it's okay. Mhm. No, mom, I'm fine. You know I'm always happy when you do, but you don't need to come visit. I'm too busy right now, anyway. No, I'm sorry, in a few months, maybe, but I really can't right now. Hm? No, really, I'm fine. I just had a fight with a friend, is all. With Nick. Yeah, from work. Listen, mom. I just came home from work and I'm really tired, I'll call you back tomorrow, alright? Okay, bye. I love you, too."

Greg's mom was worried. He could hear that. Not only by what she said, but also by how she said it. Which made him worry about her. He didn't want to upset her. That's why he didn't even tell her about the last hostage situation. She was calling him every few days to check on him, anyways, no need to give her another reason to pack her bags and come to Vegas. And he didn't want that. He didn't NEED that. Well, actually having his mom around was a good feeling. She was a very nice, warm person. But he didn't like the way she was always looking concerned at him, crying at night when she thought he couldn't hear her and stuff like that. It was best for both of them if she stayed at home, he was sure.

He couldn't get any sleep. That phone call didn't help much, either. And then his phone rang again. "Mom, I told you, I'm fine."

"Greg, it's me."

Nick. It was Nick. Greg promptly sat up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. He didn't show up."

"Good..." Greg said in relief.

Both were silent for a minute.

"So... You can't sleep, either, huh?" Greg asked insecure.

"Greg, I'm so sorry for... well, everything I said and did in the last few days. I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay..."

"No, it's not. I said horrible things. And I need you to know I didn't mean it. I'm sorry I let my anger and frustration out on you."

"Nick, we're all on the edge right now. Really, it's okay. I accept your apology."

"I just... The pressure's too much. IA really think I shot Randall, and Keenan wants to prove it. I just don't know what to do."

"You didn't do anything, Nick, so they won't be able to prove anything but your innocence. Don't worry about it."

"I really hope so."

"And how does it feel being back home?" Greg tried to change the subject.

"Honestly... That's part of the reason I can't sleep." Nick laughed. "I keep startling up when I hear something that turns out to be nothing, just the noise that's always there, but I don't usually notice it."

"Then why don't you drive back to the hotel? I'm sure they'll have a spare room. And if they don't you can always crash in my room."

Nick smiled. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Nick arrived at the hotel. They had lots of spare rooms so he checked back in. He didn't get the room next to Greg, but on the same floor. After bringing his stuff into the room he decided to check if Greg was still awake so he knocked on his door.

The door opened. "Hi."

"Hey Greg... Still awake?" It was a rather weird situation. It just felt weird, having a fight and then apologizing over the phone.

"Do you want to come in or... are you going to sleep?" Greg asked, not sure which answer he'd like better.

"Well I... Do you want to go to bed?"

"No..." Greg smiled. "I can't sleep, anyway."

"Alright..." Nick went in.

"Are you feeling better?" Greg was worried about Nick. He didn't sound good at the phone and he didn't really look good now, either.

"Well..." he sighed, "That depends. Did you just accept my apology to get rid of me or because you really do?"

This made Greg laugh a bit. "Of course I meant it when I said it! We're cool, don't worry."

"Good..." Nick gave him a smile and sat down on the bed. The room was rather small, it just had a bed, a desk with one chair and a bathroom. "And how come you can't get any sleep?"

Greg sat down next to Nick. "There's just too much going through my mind. My mom asked me to come home for a while..."

"How's she handling all of this?"

"She doesn't even know half of it. She knows that this guy's threatening the police since it's been all over the news. She doesn't know that he's been in my apartment or what happened at the lab," Greg explained.

Nick looked surprised. "Why didn't you tell her? I know she'd be worried, but I think she has a right to know."

Greg shook his head. "She doesn't need to know that. I don't want to upset her."

Nick nodded. He actually wanted to tell him that he needed to tell his mom, that she needed to know, that it was her right to know and get upset. But he didn't want to start a fight again. "And do you want to go to California?"

"I don't know. I guess it wouldn't be the worst idea to just leave this madness behind, right? But I can't. We need every man we can get at the moment."

"You mean at the lab? Come on, Greg. If you think it'll help you, just do it," Nick suggested.

"No, I can't. And I won't. Maybe when they caught that guy and are not swamped with work anymore, I'll take a few days off, but doing it now would be selfish." The more he was talking about it, the more attractive this idea seemed to be. Just leave Vegas for a few days and forget about all of this. But there was no way Greg would really consider doing this. He knew he was needed at the lab right now.

"I guess there's no way to change your mind, right?" Nick smiled.

They stayed up for another hour. They were talking about lots of things, but not about their fight, the terrorist they had to deal with for weeks now or anything else like that. They were just having a good talk, trying to forget all their troubles for awhile.

When Nick left, they only had a few hours before they had to go to work again, but they were trying to use this time to get some sleep.

Nick was walking down the corridor to his room. When he arrived there, he noticed an envelope sticking to the door. It had "Have fun" written on it. Nick smirked. He figured someone had mistaken his door with somebody else's. He picked it up, went into his room and opened the envelope.

'Too bad your friend didn't come home tonight, I had a surprise waiting for him. But don't worry, the next week will be exciting.'

Nick was confused. Is he getting paranoid? He was thinking about that guy threatening the police. Did he send him that? Or did someone really mistake his room with someone else's? He couldn't be sure so he called Catherine and told her about it.