A/N: I don't own CSI. What?! Haha. Enjoy.:)

"Is he awake yet?" Greg asked the nurse as we approached the curtain that separated Tommy Herren's room from a different little kid. The nurse looked up at us.

"Who?"

"Tommy Herren." I answered, narrowing my eyes.

"No, ma'am. There's only Tammy Herren, the 4 year old girl recovering from an explosion…" she said, looking at me like I was crazy. "She's awake, if that's who you're looking for."

Greg and I exchanged a glance before nodding to her and entering the second half of the room. Sitting up in bed, was indeed a little girl. You could just tell by her softer looking face. Her hair cut resembled a little boy exactly. "Hello," she spoke up. Her voice sounded like a girls.

"Um, hi Tammy," Greg said uneasily, and we shared a look of pure confusion.

"No, it's Tommy," the little girl said, rolling her eyes. "Mommy and Daddy said my new name is Tommy."

"Oh," I said softly, looking at the girl. "Why is that your new name?"

"Because I'm the new Tommy," she said simply, smiling and taking a sip of apple juice. "When Tommy went to heaven, Mommy said that I was his replacement."

"Oh my God," Greg whispered, turning away for a second.

"Do, um, do you remember anything, Tommy?" I asked carefully, sitting down in a chair.

"Yes," she said, nodding and frowning. "Mikey opened my window, but I wanted to sleep."

"Okay," I said, writing all of this down quickly. "Anything else?"

"Yes!" she said, looking at me with wide eyes. "He tried to grab me out of bed, but I started to hit and kick him like how we wrestle. Then daddy grabbed me, but I thought he was Mikey, so I bit him." She made a face. "He bled a little. Mommy leaned down by the bed and tried to grab me that way, but I pulled her hair. Then Sierra crawled up there and started scratching them. And that's all I 'member."

She finished and looked at me proudly. "I gots a good memory," she claimed, smiling to herself.

"Yes, you do, Tommy," I said uncertainly, feeling like this entire case had become a whole new level of weird. "Listen, I hope we get to see you soon, but we gotta go, okay?"

She nodded and grinned. "I lost my tooth."

My eyes flew to the top tooth, which was missing from her smile. "Did you now?" I asked, looking over at Greg. "When did you do that?"

"When I bit Daddy," she said simply, looking down. "I feel real bad about that, miss."

"It's okay, Tommy. We'll see you later," I smiled, waving at her as I motioned for Greg to come with me. After taking one last glance at Tammy, he followed me out.

"That's sickening," he said, shaking his head. "Whoever Tommy is, he died, and so the mom tells the little girl she's Tommy? And then what?"

"They stick her in that grandfather clock, think we'll miss it, and then blow the place up. But why'd they want to kill her?" I asked, scratching my head in confusion.

"Maybe she was a bad son," Greg answered, shrugging as we exited the hospital. "Only one way to find out."

"Evidence?"

"Duh."

….

"Mrs. Herren, we've got enough evidence to place you in the middle of the crime," Captain Brass spoke. I sat in the chair next to him, watching her carefully.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Tommy's a strange name for a girl, isn't it?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"It's an original name," she sniffed, looking to the left of the room.

"No, not at all," I answered, leaning back in my chair. "Tammy is the original name of your daughter. Did you not want to change it? Or had you not gotten there yet?"

Her eyes flickered up at me. "Tammy always wanted to be called Tommy, after her younger brother."

"Who fell down a flight of stairs and died from head trauma last year, Mrs. Herren," I said, checking the file. "And Tammy, your daughter? Well, she tells me she's his replacement. And someone had to cut her hair."

The mother was speechless, staring at the table with wide eyes. "And someone had to move her into Tommy and Michael's old room. Not to mention buy her boys clothes and-"

"Shut up!" she sobbed loudly, making me blink in surprise. "I did it, okay?" she growled, glaring at me.

"Care to explain?"

"Tammy and Tommy were twins" she said, wiping her eyes. "When he died, I just…looked at Tammy like Tommy. I figured if I raised her as a boy…she would just sort of become one."

I shook my head at her. "Well, she didn't. And that made you mad. So you stuck her in a clock and tried to blow her up?"

The mother's head turned, looking out the window to where her eldest son sat in the waiting room. "I made Mikey help. Please don't get him in trouble," she whispered, her eyes becoming watery once again. "And my husband, he came up with the idea to stick her in the old clock that used to be in our bedroom. He built the bomb."

Her confession was too much for me. I stood up, cocking my head to the side. "Oh, don't worry Mrs. Herren," I said, pushing my chair in. "You and your husband won't have to deal with making sure Tammy looks like a boy anymore. Prison will distract you."

I gave her one last glare before leaving the room, shutting the door quietly behind me. I hurried to the break room, hoping Greg had brewed a pot of coffee recently. He was leaning against the counter, clearly haven just gotten there before I had.

"They're sick." He said, shaking his head.

"Way to state the obvious," I breathed, running a hand through my hair and checking my watch.

"Wanna grab breakfast?" Greg asked, like he knew what I was looking at.

I shook my head. "No, I'm tired. But you are my ride home, so it's all up to you…"

He just placed a hand on the small of my back, guiding me forwards, towards and into the locker room. He took off his vest, throwing it into his locker along with his gun. I followed suit before stopping to look at him. "What?" he asked, watching me carefully.

"You think Tanner will come?" I whispered, the thought now really hitting me.

He was silent before looking up at me. "No. He's just trying to scare you."

"Yeah, you're right. He's not stupid, he knows if he tries anything his ass is behind bars…" I mumbled, a bewildered feeling crossing me. "Right?"

"Right."

"You sure you're okay?" Greg asked me.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine," I reassured him. "Door will be locked, chill."

"Lexi, you have to promise you'll call me if anything's wrong." He said, looking me in the eye.

"Greggo, I promise." I snickered, and he rolled his eyes and looked away. "Thanks though. For the ride. And everything."

He nodded. "Anytime. I'll see you tonight?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Yeah. Bye!" I called, stepping out of his Denali, walking clumsily through the wet grass of my apartment building. I looked inside before opening the door, and saw a very distressed man speaking with the woman who usually sits at the front desk and watches TV. What was her name? Rachel?

"You have to tell me where my son is," he begged, looking around anxiously.

"Sir, I told you. I haven't seen them."

"How can you have not seen them?" he cried, throwing his hands in the air.

"You're looking for Aiden?" I asked loudly, trying to get his attention.

He spun around, his eyes meeting mine. "You know where he is?"

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Jail."

"What?" he roared, looking around the building.

"He shot and killed a teenage girl."

"Thanks for telling me," the man grumbled, before he stormed out of the building and purposely brushed shoulders with me.

"He is one grumpy dude," the lady muttered, returning to her TV set. I stifled a laugh and headed up the stairs to my apartment building. Digging for the key in my pocket, I heard a giggle come from around a corner.

"Hello?" I called out, looking around worriedly. When I got no response, I stuck my key in the door and pushed it open.

There was a brief moment where I held my breath and looked around the apartment, expecting Tanner to jump out any moment like he did in San Diego. When he chased me down for the very last time, when he broke into my apartment and had a temper tantrum, taking it out on all of the old pictures I had painted.

My phone rang, and I jumped. I fumbled to grab it from its holder, and flipped the top open.

"Smith."

"Hey, so glad I got the right number!" a cheery voice said from the other line. I gulped and closed my eyes. "How are you, Lexi?"

"What do you want now, Tanner?" I yelled angrily into the phone.

"I want you back, Lex," he said soothingly, as if he knew what would make me come crawling back to him.

"Not a chance," I hissed, about ready to hang up the phone.

"Okay then," he sighed, as if I was being a pain. "You've decorated well though, Lexi. I love that vase on the kitchen counter. Remember when we bought that at the farmers market?"

My eyes flew to the kitchen counter, where the teal colored vase sat. "Beautiful roses, too. Who gave those to you?"

"Where are you?" I demanded, the feeling of loneliness and desperation washing over me. I walked around the building, kicking open closets and nearly yanked the door handle off my bathroom door.

"Oh, you are so cute when you're angry," he cooed, and I looked out the window. "The vest looks good on you, Lex. So does the messy ponytail. It just screams 'I don't have time to get ready for work because my loser boyfriend picked me up'," he laughed into the phone, as if he was just the funniest thing.

"Where are you, Tanner?" I whispered through clenched teeth. Footsteps sounded through my hallway, such a familiar sound to me. The weight those footsteps had put down, it reminded me of a place, of a time.

San Diego.

"Boo."

His creepy whisper sent chills up my spin, just as my door was kicked open. And in front of me, stood Tanner. Same old weird smile and everything. "Get out." I tried, backing up.

He just chuckled, shaking his head. "We should talk, Lexi," he insisted, shutting the door behind him, although it didn't really shut all the way since he'd gone and broken it.

I should have called Greg. But now it was too late, and if he wanted to talk, we would. "Then sit down, Tanner," I sighed, offering him a seat at my counter as I sat down. "We'll just work things out. Want breakfast?"

"Sure," he answered, nodding and sitting down. I couldn't believe he was falling for this.

I stood up, pulling out the pancake mix. "Blueberry's still your favorite, right?"

"Oh, yes." He said, sounding very happy. I took the box of blueberries out of the fridge, working on cracking eggs into a bowl.

"What do you want to talk about, Tanner?" I asked lightly, pouring the cups of pancake mix into everything and glancing over at him. "It was kind of a rough day at work, so…"

"Why did you leave me, Lex?" he asked bluntly, his eyes begging me to meet them.

"You were cheating on me," I said quietly, stirring the mix together.

"Yes," he admitted. "But I apologized. Why couldn't you accept my apology?"

"Tanner, did you know that you are very good at repeating things?" I asked, feeling like I was talking to a three year old. "When we dated, you turned the TV off at 9:34 every single night, like a repetition."

He laughed. "Yeah, you called me your 'OCD Boyfriend'."

"I did," I said, looking over at him. "Which is why I feel you will repeat what you did to me."

He watched intently as I poured pancake mix into the pan. "And you think your little boyfriend is any better?"

I turned around, leaning against the stove. "He's not my boyfriend." I said coldly, glaring openly at him. "You should know, you watch me enough."

"I saw you kiss him," he snapped as he slammed his hand on the counter. "I miss that between us, Lexi."

"Sorry," I sighed, turning back to my pancake, which needed flipping.

"If you're not dating, why are you together here?" he cried, and I watched as he pulled pictures out his pocket. He laid them out across the counter quickly, and pointed at the first one. "That was a week ago!"

It's a shot of Greg and I, along with Russell. We're standing at the scene of the old couple's murder, and we're all laughing at something. "We were on that case together, with our supervisor."

"What about this then?" he asked worriedly, and pointed at the second one. Greg, holding me steady as we walked out of the house. I'm clutching my stomach.

"How did you get this one?" I whispered, my eyes wide in confusion.

"I followed you," he said simply, shrugging. "But look here! You guys kissing in front of New York New York! And the same night, you guys kissing in his car!"

I stepped away from the pictures. "Please stop following me." I said abruptly. "Get out of my apartment."

He just looked up at me before laughing. "You seem to think I'm just going to skip on out of here," he said, looking at me up and down. "Wrong."

Before I knew it, he had thrown me into a wall, despite the counter that had been separating us. "Please Tanner," I choked out, feeling on the verge of tears. "Leave me alone."

He pressed his lips to mine, and I could feel tears running down my face. I turned my head away, enraging him. "Stop, Alexandra."

The feeling of familiarity took over, and I vowed then that I would not let him do what my father once did to me. "No, Tanner," I growled, now face to face with him. "You stop."

I gave him a swift knee in the groin, causing him to double over in pain. I took the chance to sprint into my bedroom and grab my gun, pointing it at him as he entered. "You won't do this twice, will you?" he whispered as he stepped closer.

"Damn you, Tanner! Stay back!" I yelled, and he just laughed before stepping backwards.

"I'm out, Lexi. But I'll be back." He said, grinning and winking at me before causally walking out of my apartment. I rounded the corner and followed him to the door, making sure he had actually left.

As soon as I heard the footsteps going down the hallway, I collapsed. Tears ran down my face, sobbing being the only thing heard throughout my apartment. I looked back to where I had been pinned against the wall and sobbed harder before I remembered. Greg.

I dialed his number as fast I could, wiping away tears as I heard a groggy, "Sanders."

I sobbed into the other end of the phone as I fought to find the right words. "You said to call if there were any problems," I forced out as I tried in vain to stop crying. "I'm calling."

I didn't explain further to Greg because he hung up. At first I'd thought he was going to leave me where I was or something, so I just gave up. I lied down on the ground, my tears now drying up on my face. My frustration level was through the roof. In San Diego, I was strong and independent, never took anyone's crap. But here…it just wasn't like that. I seemed to be finding myself hurt or damaged, which pissed me off.

My door flew open, and I didn't really care at that point. If Tanner was returning to me, he could kill me. I just wanted to be left alone and-

"Lexi?" a voice whispered. I sniffed, and sat up, looking into Greg's concerned face. "What the hell happened?"

I fell into his arms, the tears returning. "He came back, Greg. Tanner came back."

He sighed, resting his chin on my head. "I'll call Brass-"

"No, Greg, he didn't hurt me," I promised through my tears. "He's just so…crazy. He's not Tanner anymore. I tried to reason with him and-"

"Lex," Greg whispered, hugging me tighter. "It's over. He's gone, and we're gonna find him."

"And do what?" I sobbed. "Get him for breaking and entering? That'll get him lots of time in prison."

Greg seemed to contemplate this before sighing.. "You're gonna stay elsewhere," he mumbled, sounding like he was talking to himself instead of me. "Just go in your room and get some clothes, okay?"

I nodded, a certain numbness taking over me. I stumbled into my bedroom, rummaging through my drawers and pulling out clothes to sleep in as well as wear to work that night. After shoving them in a bag, I grabbed my curling iron and makeup bag, throwing them in as well. "Okay," I said quietly, my mind whirling. "I got my stuff."

Greg slid an arm around my wait before walking out of the apartment with me, shutting the door as best as he could behind us. "You okay?" he asked me, now taking the moment to look me over.

"Yes," I said, wiping away the tears on my eyes. "I'm fine, really."

There was silence as he walked me down the stairs, ignoring Rachel at the desk and immediately heading out the door. "I'm sorry all this keeps happening to you."

I was sitting in his Denali, and he had just sat down next to me. "It's not your fault, Greg." I said, shaking my head. "Please don't think it is for any reason."

"The shooting, the explosion, and now this?" he cried, looking over at me. "And no one's to blame?"

I shrugged, sliding down in the seat. "If it weren't for you, I imagine things would be a lot worse." He just smiled to himself, and we pulled into his house's driveway. "You live down the street from me?"

"I guess," he sighed, walking over to the passenger's seat and helping me out. "You hungry?"

"No," I laughed, kissing his cheek. "But that was sweet of you to ask."

He blushed and we walked up his driveway, and I looked around. This was a way nicer neighborhood than my apartment building, why hadn't I looked here?

His house looked brand new. I figured it wasn't, but still. There was an upstairs, but the entire house just looked beautiful. Well, not beautiful, but well-kept. I wanted his house.

"Do you now?" he asked, laughing. I mentally slapped myself.

"Did I say that out loud?" I blushed as I climbed the stairs he was leading me up.

"Yeah," he laughed, and steered me over to a room, with a queen sized bed sitting in the middle of it. "You're sleeping here."

"Okay then?" I laughed nervously, and inhaled the scent. This was his room. "No. You're sleeping here."

"No." he challenged, crossing his arms. "You are."

"It's your room, Greg. I refuse to be a burden." I snapped, glaring at him. "Stay."

I went to walk down the stairs, but he grabbed me around the middle and pulled me back over. "No way. You stay."

There was a moment when we just stared at the bedroom, challenging the other to step inside of it. He finally gave me a push inside before sprinting down the stairs. "Dammit Greg!" I called after him, crossing my arms and standing alone in the room.

I figured I should just deal with it, and sighed as I headed towards the shower.

Stepping into the warm water, I sighed as the feeling of relief finally settled over me. Peace. Greg had given me peace. I continued to wash my hair as I thought back to this morning's incidents. I wanted to hit myself as I remembered doubting Greg coming.

I carefully got out of the shower, drying off and throwing my more or less "modest" pajamas. Long pants with my "Phoenix Crime Lab" shirt that I'd worn countless times back in Arizona. I felt awkward climbing into Greg's bed, and lay awake for a few minutes, thinking back to my prior crime labs.

Arizona. The incredibly hot sun. But my friends. Emerie, who I hadn't spoken to in months but was by far the best friend I'd ever had. Adam, who I loved like a brother. He reminded me so much of Nick it scared me. And Derek, my Supervisor. The guy who had ran me out of Phoenix.

San Diego. Grace, a fellow CSI who tried to seem friendly to me but always told my co-workers nasty things about me. But Ryan, my only true friend in San Diego. The one who had stopped Tanner the first time, when he tried to break into my house. I would have to call him soon, ask him how work was…

And I was asleep.

The voices from downstairs were becoming increasingly annoying.

I stepped out of Greg's incredibly comfortable bed, squinting my eyes at his alarm clock and saw that it was 7:00. I groaned and listened as my stomach growled.

I opened the bedroom door and looked down the stairs, the voices becoming louder. I groggily went down the staircase, gripping onto the railing as I did so.

"God, would you just stop worrying?"

I stopped dead in my tracks at the sound of Morgan's voice. What was she doing here?

Greg snorted. "Yeah, like that's easy."

"You're obsessed," she decided.

I took my cue to hurry down the rest of the stairs, and knowing my hair was a complete mess, threw it up in a rather casual ponytail. "Hey!" I said, smiling at the two of them.

"Glad to see your awake," Greg said, relief apparent in his voice. "Tomorrow night you get the couch."

"Hey now, who demanded I sleep in their room?" He shrugged at my question, then looked over to Morgan.

"Tell her, Morgan."

"Tell me what?" I asked, leaning against Greg.

"They got Tanner Durfee," Morgan answered, biting her lip. "He admitted to breaking into your house and throwing you into a wall."

"You told me you didn't get hurt," Greg snapped, turning to look at me.

"I didn't," I said, shaking my head. "It didn't hurt at all."

"You are such a liar-"

"And he's confessed to the murder of Mrs. Walker."

Her sentence struck me to be the weirdest thing I'd ever heard. "What?"

"Yeah, totally caved. So he'll be in prison for a long time…"

"That's great!" I said enthusiastically. "Really fantastic. Means I'm going home in the morning." Greg just kind of looked away, as did Morgan. "You're not telling me something."

"No, it's just something we were going to ask you," Morgan said unsurely. "A request, really."

"We want you to move out of your apartment building," Greg said quietly. "It's dangerous, Lexi."

"As is any house in Vegas," I said with a shrug. "I'm fine there."

"Just…consider it?" Morgan asked, picking up her bag and waving to me. "I'll see you guys in a few hours." We waved to her as she left the house, and I crossed my arms as I looked over at Greg.

"You know I'll be fine." I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"Look, I just wanna make sure, okay? And there are a lot of vacant rental houses around here."

"In the meantime, I'll have to be around my apartment, which according to you, is basically my death sentence." I said, raising my eyebrows at him. "Right?"

"You can always stay with me, Lex," he answered, running a hand through his hair and looking away.

"Just until I move into another apartment?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Just until them." He promised, and I grinned.

"Then we have a deal. Roomies?" I asked, outstretching my hand. He took it, shaking it firmly.

"Roomies."

Oh gosh, they're roomies?:O

Okay, so I really do promise this will be one of the last times for a long while that I make Lexi a victim. I always feel like she's getting hurt, and it irritates me, but I use it to my advantage by developing Greg and her relationship.

Oh, and what did you think of the weird ass Tammy/Tommy situation? I kind of liked it, tried to put myself in the twisted minds of the CSI writers.

More fluff next chapter, I promise!:)

No reviews last chapter though?:( #sadness.

Oh wow. I just hashtagged in an author's note. Hot damn am I a rebel.(:

REVIEW! If you're going to follow, REVIEW!:D