Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad you like the story so far! And to show you how thankful I am, here's chapter 2! Enjoy!
"Have there been any weird events in your apartment lately?" Russell asked while taking pictures of Greg's bruised back. "Ever had a weird feeling at home?"
Greg shook his head.
"Wait, of course there have," Nick chimed in. He was leaning against the wall of the evidence room with his arms crossed.
"Like what?" Russell asked while looking over to Nick.
"What about your toothbrush?" Nick asked Greg.
"Don't be ridiculous." Greg shook his head again.
"What's with his toothbrush?" Brass was getting interested, too.
Greg rolled his eyes. "After a night at a bar Henry and Hodges crashed at my place. The next morning, my toothbrush was gone. I'm sure Hodges did it."
"Did you ask him about it?"
"He says it wasn't him, but he was drunk. Who knows what he did, maybe he flushed it down the toilet."
Russell, Nick and Brass shared a look.
"What about your broken car window?" Nick suggested.
Greg shrugged as he put his shirt back on. "I figured Willis did it. Why do you even ask, Russell? And why do you care about the bruises on my back?" While Russell explained that they feared that Novak might be behind this somehow, Nick looked down on the ground. He already figured out what this all was about. Greg would have, too, had he been more concentrated. Greg laughed a bit humorlessly. "So you think Novak or someone he's paying was inside my apartment?" Neither one of them needed to nod or answer that question, the looks on their faces said enough. "That's ridiculous. How could anyone have caused these bruises on my back? Don't you think I would've woken up?"
"How did you feel when you woke up three days ago when you got the bruises?" Russell put the camera away and grabbed an evidence envelope.
He looked a bit confused at the three men. He didn't really understand why this was relevant. "Okay, I guess..."
"Nah, that's not true. You looked horrible yesterday and kept on yawning. You were obviously tired and said you weren't feeling well," Nick corrected his colleague.
Greg gave Nick a look. "Okay, so? I'm a little beat lately, how does that have anything to do with Novak?"
It was obviously hard for Russell to say the following words. "I'm... uh... I'm gonna need to take a few strands of your hair now, Greg..."
Greg jumped off his seat and took a few steps back. "No, that's not necessary."
"Greg..."
"There's no need to, alright? No one's been in my apartment! It's fine!"
"You woke up with bruises on your back, not knowing where they came from. There's a dead body with a dedication note for you... And at least two weird occurrences in your home." Brass cleared his throat. "We have enough reason to believe that someone might've been in your apartment and drugged you." Nobody wanted to say it out loud. They all suspected that. It would be the only explanation for how Greg got those bruises without even noticing. They all hoped they didn't need to say it, but Brass realized it would be the only way to talk Greg to his senses. He didn't feel the need to mention that Novak did something like that before to one of his victims. Greg would find out about that later.
"You also told me two days ago you thought someone's been in there..." Nick had a guilty look on his face. He didn't believe Greg then. Now he wished he would've.
Greg started shaking. The thought that someone had access to his home without him even noticing was bad enough. But the thought that he was drugged and had no idea what this person did to him was even worse. He sat down as he tried real hard to keep himself from crying.
"It's gonna be okay, Greg. He won't even get the chance to hurt you. I won't let that happen." Nick gave him a sweet smile.
Greg sat at the table in the break room rather thoughtful. He didn't even notice when Nick walked in. "Hey."
Greg startled a bit. "Hey Nick."
"What'cha thinking about?" Nick walked to the fridge. He tried to act as normal as possible.
"Russell asked me to write everything down I remember. I'm trying to figure out when it all started."
"Any idea?"
"I remember the first time I felt this weird after waking up like it was yesterday..." He sighed.
"Really? When was that?" Nick got something to eat out of the fridge and sat down at the table.
Greg looked at Nick. "The day I woke up in my bed with Spencer."
"No way."
"It was the same feeling as yesterday. And the same as..." Greg stopped himself.
"And what?"
"Nothing..."
"Greg. Have there been other days when you felt like that?"
The look on Greg's face was a mix between sadness and despair. "Two days... But nothing weird happened, I just woke up feeling beat and sick. Almost hungover. But how is it even possible? There is absolutely no sign of forced entry. We must be wrong."
"I sure hope so." Nick smiled, reminding himself of when he had a stalker living in his apartment. There wasn't any sign of forced entry back then, either. "Are you gonna be alright?"
Greg shrugged his shoulder. "I feel violated, you know? There was someone in my apartment and... I don't even want to think about it." Nick nodded. He knew what it felt like to know someone was inside his home, watching him. After a short, rather uncomfortable silence, Greg continued. "Anyways, I have to write everything down for Russell... Weird feeling to let him know about Spencer. I'm not sure he'll understand."
"What are you worried about? He'll understand, I'm sure."
Russell walked in. "Tox screen is back. Henry performed a test on your hair... It was positive for Flunitrazepam."
Greg had prepared himself for this. He knew there was a possibility, but it still hit him like a brick.
"Roofies...? That would explain why you don't even remember being drugged," Nick concluded. "How are we gonna find out who helped Novak?"
"And why? Why would he want to mess with me like that?" It all didn't make sense to Greg. Why would Novak take his toothbrush, undress Spencer and put him in Greg's bed and smash in the window of his car?
Russell promised Greg that they would find out who was working with Novak and what Novak was planning, but he found it hard to believe Russell. He usually was an optimistic person, but when it came to situations like that, he easily lost hope. He didn't want to waste too much thought about something he couldn't change, though. He had something else on his mind right now.
Nick just came back from a scene and parked his car in the lab's parking lot as he saw Greg walk out of the lab. "Hey," he said as he got out of his car. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere, just... out," Greg replied while walking past his colleague.
"Greg, I don't think it's a good idea for you to..."
Greg interrupted him. "I'm just leaving for half an hour."
"We still don't know where Novak is. I don't think you should..."
"Nick, come on. He's been out of jail for a week and nothing happened."
Nick looked at his watch. "Why don't you wait for me, huh? I'll come with you in an hour, alright?"
Greg rolled his eyes. "You don't have to. I'm meeting Spencer, I think I'll be fine with a cop around... at the police station."
"Him? Why?"
"Why do you think I want to meet him? I feel like an idiot. He kept on assuring me that he had no idea how he ended up in my bed that night and I didn't believe him."
"Can't you just call him or something? E-mail him, maybe?"
Greg gave Nick a smile. "I won't stay inside all day just because of Novak. I know you wouldn't, either."
Nick had no chance to persuade Greg to stay inside. He met Spencer at the station, but Spencer didn't want to talk about this at the workplace, so they went to get some coffee. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Spencer asked while they strolled down the streets. Greg didn't exactly plan to go for a walk with Spencer, but Spencer obviously had other plans.
"Well... I don't know how to say this... Uhm... you remember Neil Novak?" It was hard for Greg to talk about this, he was really embarrassed about how he treated Spencer that day.
"The guy who...? Yeah, I remember. Why?"
"He, uh... He somehow escaped from prison and..."
"What? Oh no!" He gave Greg a long, tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Greg!"
"It's okay... That's actually not what I wanted to talk about..." He slipped out of Spencer's hug. "I owe you an apology."
"Why?"
"The day you woke up in my bed... there's actually an explanation for it."
"...I thought we got that behind us, Greg..."
"No, I need to apologize. It turns out, someone working for Novak somehow drugged us... That's how it happened."
"...What?"
Greg nodded. "You'll have to talk to Russell about that day. They want to find out who did this to us. I'm really sorry..."
"Oh my god, that's... horrible... That's why we felt so weird that day?"
He nodded again. "Are you gonna be alright with this?"
"It's a creepy thought... I mean, that guy even took off my pants, that's... creepy."
Again, Greg nodded. Then, he realized something. Whoever drugged them could have known about the difficult relationship him and Spencer had at that time. Why else would they take his pants off and put him in Greg's bed? He had a weird feeling about Spencer, fearing he might actually be the one working for Novak. "You know... I should head back to the lab and..." Greg was interrupted by a loud bang. "...What the hell was that?" He looked around.
"Greg..." Spencer collapsed into Greg's arms.
"...What...? Spencer, what's wrong?" Blood was running down Spencer's arm. He had been shot in the shoulder.
