Hey look, it's chapter 3! Hope you readers like it so far, I only got 1 review so far, so I don't know. Reviews are cool, hope you enjoy!
VEGAS
Greg sat in his chair and twiddled his thumbs, completely absentminded to whatever was happening around him. Catherine had informed everyone about twenty minutes ago that the FBI team that they worked with before would be joining them again for this case. Of course everyone was happy about the news, everyone except him of course. Wendy and Hodges, who Greg found out not too long ago were now actually dating, were super excited. Archie was glad he would get to see Penelope Garcia again; she had charmed him the last time she was there. Sara and Catherine were glad they would get to see JJ and Emily Prentiss. Even Doc Robbins was somewhat excited. Then there was Nick, love-struck Nick. He would get to see his new boyfriend, Derek Morgan. Greg scoffed and slapped his hands down on the table. I still can't believe he betrayed me like that, I really thought he loved me. He quickly wiped away a tear that threatened to fall. He sighed and sat back in his chair. At least I'll get to hang out with Spencer again, he's cool. He looked up when the break room door opened. He grimaced when Nick walked in, the last person he wanted to see. He wanted to act like he was busy, but he realized that he had nothing in front of him. Shit! I need to get out of here.
"Greg?" Nick asked when Greg was about to bolt for the door.
Greg stopped mid-stride. Dammit, missed my chance. He slowly turned and faced Nick. "What?"
Nick frowned a little and looked down for a moment. "Are you ok?" he asked quietly.
Greg snorted a little and looked away from Nick. "Well, let's see. Last night you dumped me for a guy you knew for a week…and you got him to dump HIS boyfriend in return. I'm tired, I have a headache, I can't eat, and the man that I still freaking love wants to know if I'm ok?!" He glared at Nick. "You do the math, Nick."
Nick frowned again and looked at the floor. He felt terrible for the way he had treated Greg. "I want us to still be friends, Greg, even if it means I have to earn your trust all over again."
Greg shook his head and walked towards the door. "I can't do this right now, Nick."
"Do you at least have somewhere to stay?" Nick asked.
"I found a new apartment this afternoon," Greg said. He hadn't been able to sleep, so he decided to go for a drive. While driving, he found a new building with apartments to lease. He decided to check one out, and he found it quite comfy. He immediately signed a lease. "I'm moving my stuff in after work."
Nick nodded. "I'm going to miss you, Greg."
"Oh, like hell you are," Greg snapped, walking out of the break room. He frowned, knowing that he hadn't meant to be that mean to Nick. Yes, he still loved the man very much, but perhaps he wanted him to feel pain as well. He found himself standing in the doorway of Catherine's office.
"Hey, Greggo," Catherine said, looking up from some paperwork. "You need something?"
"I was just wondering if there was anything to do right now," Greg said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I need to get out for a while."
"Need a distraction from Nick?" Catherine asked with a small smile?
"You could say that," Greg said quietly.
Catherine frowned. "Did you two have a fight or something?"
"Well…he, um…he dumped me, really," Greg said.
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry," Catherine said. "I guess that explains why Sara wouldn't speak to him all morning, she's very protective of you."
Greg smiled a little at that. "Yeah, she's got my back."
Catherine stood up and sighed. "Well, Dr. Langston and I are going to meet up with the FBI team at the airport. Would you like to come with us?"
"Yeah, that would be great," Greg said, following her out of the office.
"The others were going to stay at a hotel, but we decided it would be best if they stayed at our homes for a few days," Catherine said as they walked towards the elevator. "That way there wouldn't be much traveling involved if something came up right away. Is that ok with you?"
"Yeah, that's fine," Greg said. "I got a new apartment this morning that I need to move my stuff into still, but it should be fine." He pushed the button for the elevator and followed Catherine inside. Spencer can stay with me. At least I'll have someone to talk to who feels the same way I do right now.
The jet had landed and was coasting to a stop. The members of the team were now shuffling around the plane, gathering their luggage and other things. It had been a quiet ride. Rossi was reading a book while Garcia sat across from him knitting a hat. Hotch had been reading a case file, but eventually fell to watching JJ and Emily fail epically at trying to beat Spencer at a card game. Derek had sat in the back corner with his headphones, making it a point not to try and get too close to Spencer with the women around him. Once the plane had landed, he maintained a safe distance from the younger man.
"Ok, Catherine and Ray are going to meet us in the airport," Hotch said as everyone got off the plane. "We're going to have to split into two different vehicles."
"This is going to be fun," Garcia chimed in. "I get to see that nice little computer lab they have set up again." She looked over at Spencer, immediately regretting the part where she said it would be fun. I guess this won't be much fun at all for him. She quickly linked her arm through his and gave him one of her best smiles.
Spencer cracked a small smile in return and led her into the airport. He was hopeful that with all the other people he would be able to avoid Derek and Nick. "Maybe you and I can visit that ice cream shop again."
"We go there and I will be at your services for the rest of eternity," Garcia said in a serious tone, making Spencer laugh a little. She ignored the stare that Derek threw her way when it happened.
"Hey, there, everyone," Catherine called out as she saw the team approaching them.
Hotch smiled at her and set his bag down to give her a hug. "Catherine, how are you?"
"I'm good, how about yourself?" Catherine asked with a smile.
"Good," Hotch answered. "We're all here," he said as he gestured to the rest of the team.
Everyone started saying hello and shaking hands and giving hugs. In the midst of the giant hug-fest, Greg looked over and saw Derek giving him a weird look. This is going to be awkward. He turned his attention away from Derek and looked over at Spencer, who was giving Dr. Langston some statistic about airports. He hasn't changed one bit. He smiled and walked over to the young genius. "Hey, Spence."
Spencer looked over at Greg and smiled back. "Hey, Greg, how have you been?"
"I'll get back to you on that," Greg said, hugging the man. He sensed Derek's eyes boring into his soul when he did this, but he didn't care. Besides, Spencer looked like he needed a hug. "You look like I feel right now."
"Right back at ya," Spencer said, pulling away from the hug. "I heard we're staying at houses instead of a hotel."
"You heard correctly," Greg said, walking next to Spencer as the group began to move for the parking lot. "I got a new apartment this morning, you can stay with me if you want."
"Sounds good," Spencer said. "I can help you move your stuff if you want."
"I'd like that," Greg said. He felt a little better already having his friend next to him.
The greeting Hotch's team received at the lab was like a high school reunion. Sara came out with a smile to see Emily and the two women exchanged hugs. Wendy and David Hodges were running around practically hugging everyone. Archie came flying out of the AV lab to say hello to Garcia, and he presented her with a cd. Doc Robbins came up from the morgue to greet Rossi and Hotch.
"Well, I'm glad you two finally took my advice and went out on a date," JJ said happily to Wendy and Hodges. "I told you last time you would make a good couple."
"Yeah," Hodges said, looking at Wendy. "Finally someone who understand me when I write love letters in Klingon."
Greg raised his eyebrow and looked away from Hodges, the man never failed to amuse him. He had been chatting with Spencer when he noticed Nick emerge from the break room. It took about a half a second for him to spot Derek and approach him. The two men hugged rather suggestively, irritating Greg. He also took to notice that Nick wouldn't look at Spencer, just as Derek wouldn't look at him. At least he feels guilty about something. He looked over at Spencer and noticed the distraught expression on his face. He put his hand on his arm. "Hey, you ok?"
Spencer looked at him and then down at the floor, a gesture that Greg knew he did when he was ashamed or upset about something. "I will be," he said quietly.
Greg was about to speak again when Sara came up and put her arms around both him and Spencer. "We're all calling it a day for now," she said. "We'll start reviewing the case tomorrow, but for now we're going to get some dinner. Would you guys like to come along?"
Spencer smiled a little and Greg nodded. "Sure thing, then I can finish early with moving my things."
Sara, Emily, Greg, and Spencer began to move towards the elevators. Greg nonchalantly put his arm around Spencer's shoulders. Perhaps it was just a gesture to make Nick jealous? He peeked over his shoulder to see both Nick and Derek staring at him, unreadable expressions on their faces. I could make a habit of this. He grinned to himself as the group stepped into the elevator.
Dinner had been fun. JJ, Wendy, and Hodges had also wound up at the same restaurant and the all sat together at one big table. Stories and jokes were passed around, and even Spencer got in a few comments of his own.
"You know, the term shrimp originated in the fourteenth century," Spencer said, pointing at Hodges's plate of shrimp scampi. "The word actually means to contract or wrinkle or shrivel up."
David looked at Spencer with a confused look on his face. "I thought it was just because they were small."
"Well, they do only grow to about thirty centimeters," Spencer said.
"All I know is that they come from the ocean and they taste good," David said, sticking his fork in his mouth.
"Oh, they can be found in fresh water too," Spencer said in excitement. "They stay close to the bottom though, and they can swim backwards."
Greg grinned the whole time and tried to hold back his laughter, as were the other women at the table. Eventually David got up to use the restroom, and Greg nearly fell out of chair laughing.
"What?" Spencer asked, clearly confused.
"Nothing, it's just fun to watch someone else make Hodges look dumb sometimes," Greg said through his laughter.
The other women couldn't help but laugh as well, even Wendy. "How much do you want to bet the next time he sees a shrimp he's going to watch and see if it swims backwards?" she asked, sending everyone into another fit of laughter.
It was still pretty early when they finished dinner. Greg and Spencer walked to Greg's car. "This isn't going to fun, moving stuff," Greg said.
"Is it because we're stopping at Nick's place?" Spencer asked. The look on his face suggested that he knew Derek would be staying there as well. "We'll just have to try and be quick."
Greg nodded and started the car. This is gonna suck majorly.
The men arrived at Nick's apartment and discovered Spencer was right, Derek was staying there. He stared awkwardly at Spencer when the two men walked in. "You need any help?" Derek asked.
"No, we'll be quick," Greg said quickly, walking to the bedroom with Spencer behind him. The two men quickly packed up the rest of Greg's clothes and belongings, such as his cds and movies and whatever random things he had in the bathroom. He noticed that Derek and Nick made it a point not to touch each other while the other two were there. Soon everything was loaded into the car and the two men were headed back up to the apartment for one last bag and for Greg to give Nick his key back.
"No, keep it," Nick said when Greg tried to hand him the spare key. "In case of an emergency or something."
Greg sighed and put the key back on his keyring. "Fine, I'll see you at work." He turned to pick up the last bag when Nick grabbed his arm to stop him. He looked back at him. "What?"
"Um," Nick said. He was at a loss for words. He suddenly wanted to say anything he could to get Greg not to leave.
"Didn't think so," Greg said quietly, pulling out of Nick's hold. He walked over to door where Spencer was standing, the last bag in hand.
Derek moved as if he was going to say something to Spencer, but no words came out. He watched sadly as the two men walked out and shut the door. He looked over at Nick, who was standing there with an expression of hurt and guilt on his face. "Nick?"
Nick looked over at Derek. "I didn't expect it to be this hard."
Derek nodded, he knew Nick was talking about letting Greg go. He felt the same way about Spencer. He missed the younger man spouting out random information that nobody really cared about. He missed holding him, comforting him after a rough case. He wouldn't be able to do that anymore once they got back home, he knew if he and Nick stayed together that Spencer would leave. "Neither did I," he said quietly in return.
Once in the car, Greg sighed and leaned his head against the steering wheel. He wanted to cry, but he wouldn't do it in front of Spencer. He looked over when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Spence."
"You ok?" Spencer asked sadly. The trip had been hard for him too.
"Yeah," Greg said quietly, sitting up straight again. He turned the car on and pulled out of the lot, glancing one last time at the place where he used to be happy.
TBC
Ok, I thought this chapter was a little scattered, but I was trying to cover a whole day in one chapter. The next one should be up within the next two days. Hope you like it so far! Trick number 1 that I have up my sleeve comes out in the next chapter. Review please.
