"Hey."

"Hey, man. How's it going?"Nick asked as he arrived at his scene, where Greg already was.

"Alright, DB inside and one on the back garden. Russell said it could be connected to his case." Greg told him, holding his camera in his hand.

"Great, there's a lot of kids about, looks like they've been playing on the street. Any of them see anything?" Nick asked grimly.

Greg sighed and shook his head, "No, but the little guy out there with his scooter found the bodies; his best friend" he said nodding down to the body just next to his feet, "and his father."

Nick winced, "Why is the world like this? Where's mom in all of this?"

"I don't know. Brass is interviewing everyone he can on the street, but looking around the house, at his photo frames, I don't think mom was around." Greg told him sadly.

Nick nodded, "Alright, let's get on with it. The sooner we're done, the sooner we find this asshole."

CSI

When they had gone back to the lab, Greg was sent into Russell's office. "What's up, Boss?"

"Sit down Greg." Russell told him, and waited until he did before continuing. "Your doctor called, you didn't show up to your appointment this morning."

Greg frowned at him, "I didn't have an appointment this morning" he told Russell confused.

"Yes, you did. He said this is quite a few times you haven't turned up now."

Greg sat quiet, "I didn't mean to if that's what you're implying."

"Of course it's not Greg. It's just you can't be forgetting these appointments; they're important." Russell told him as he leant on his desk.

"I know, I won't let it happen again."

"Well I'm giving you a weeks holiday so you can sort yourself out."

"What? Russell, there's no need." Greg told him, "Seriously, I'll make another appointment and I'll go see him."

Russell shook his head, "No Greg, you're having these days off, just have some time to rest at home, alright?"

Greg stood up angrily and walked out the room without turning back.

CSI

"Hey, where you going?" Nick asked him as he saw Greg walking out of the lab, pulling on his jacket.

"Home." Greg replied, not turning around.

Nick frowned and jogged up behind him. "Why you going home, man? You alright?"

"I'm fine! I've told everyone this a hundred times but no one pays any attention to what I say!" Greg said as he spun around to face him. "And now I've got a week at home, sitting on my ass because everyone thinks I'm incapable of doing my job."

"Greg, no one thinks that." Nick told him as he went after him again through the parking lot.

Greg scoffed. "Well you do, you told Russell I shouldn't be working as much as I am, and now he's sent me home, so..."

Nick sighed as Greg climbed into his truck. "Hey, I didn't say that because I thought you couldn't do your job, I was looking out for your health."

"Whatever, I'll see you next week." Greg said to him as he started his engine and quickly pulled out of the lab.

CSI

Greg leant back in his seat with a sigh. As he drove home, he decided to take a detour and drive a little longer to clear his head. However as he drove by near the strip, he drove by multiple bars and looked down at his dashboard. The time was only 12:15pm, the time Vegas was alive. He pulled up outside one of the bars and went inside.

As he went in, he was immediately met by cheerful laughter and rowdy people. He made his way over to the bar and ordered his first drink. After only ten minutes he ordered another, and another. And then another.

Soon he couldn't even talk properly to the group of girls he'd met in the last bar. Wait? He wasn't even in the same bar as he was before, how did he end up in the club he was in now?

He shook his head and downed another drink, enjoying not having a care in the world. And after that, he ordered another round of drinks.

CSI

"Hey Russell." Nick shouted as he got back from his scene and saw his boss coming out of one of the labs. Russell stopped and smiled as Nick came over to him.

"Hey Nick, what's up?"

"Why'd you send Greg home? He seems pretty pissed off about it." Nick told him as they walked through the lab.

"Yeah I know," Russell told him, "I gave him a week off because his doctor called me, wondering why Greg hadn't been to his appointments the past few weeks."

"He's missed his appointments?" Nick asked concerned as they entered Russell's office.

Russell nodded as he sat down, "Yeah, so I thought he'd be able to pull his act together if I gave him some time off, but he didn't seem to like the idea."

Nick leant on the wall near the door. "Well I'll go see him tomorrow; hopefully he'll cheer up a bit."

CSI

Back at Greg's apartment

Greg fell onto his bed, on top of one of the girls he'd met during his night on the town. She giggled as he pressed his lips against hers and started pulling her top up over her head. They broke apart from their kissing and she pulled her arms down, her top now flung on the floor.

"We need to take your pants off." She told him as they panted wildly, Greg starting to unbuckle his pants. She leant up and pulled his shirt apart, revealing his heaving chest.

Greg shoved his pants off his ankles, his boxers following closely behind, and the girl had started pulling her own pants down too. But then another woman appeared behind Greg and whispered something into his ear.

He turned around and they started kissing fiercely, and the three of them carried on in a drunken stupor.

CSI

The next morning, Nick called around at Greg's and knocked on his door. He wasn't surprised when he received no answer, noting that his car wasn't in its usual spot. Just as he was about to leave the door opened, but to his surprise a woman came out, scraping her hands through her hair.

Nick quirked an eyebrow at her, "Excuse me, Ma'am, is Greg in there?"

She looked up to him and nodded with a small smile, "Yeah, he's in there. He's a little tired though." She told him with a giggle as another girl came out and joined her.

Nick nodded and screwed his nose up a little, "Right, thanks for that." He looked at the other woman appear from inside with a shocked face, "Excuse me ladies."

He went into Greg's apartment and looked around, seeing Greg's jacket on the floor, along with his shoes that had been kicked off.

As he got to the end room, Nick knocked loudly. "Greg?"

When he got no reply he opened the door and saw Greg sprawled out on his bed, discarded pieces of clothing scattering his floor, including a light pink pair of panties, which he could only assume were belonging to one of the girls that he'd just met.

He walked over to Greg's bed and banged on the headboard. "Hey! Wake up!"

Greg grunted and tried to bat Nick's hand away, "Stop being loud."

Nick looked down at his friend and shook his head, Greg never got this bad. "What was that girl's name that just left here? And the other one?" He asked.

Greg covered his eyes with his hand as Nick turned on the light. "Aah, I don't know, they weren't even in here."

"They weren't in here? They just left your apartment and from the looks of it they left something's behind too." Nick told him as he found a bra on the floor too.

"What's your problem?" Greg asked him quietly.

Nick didn't answer him just bent down to pick up the condom wrapper that was on the floor. However it wasn't just the wrapper. "Shit Greg, did you use a condom?" He asked his friend, pulling his arm down from his face. "Tell me, Greg."

"I don't know, what does it matter?" Greg asked him as he screwed his eyes up.

"It matters because there was one on the floor unopened and you might have got one of those chicks pregnant." Nick told him, throwing it in his face. "What are you gonna' do if one of them comes back here in a month and tells you you're gonna' be a father? Did you think about that when you were screwing with them?" He asked him.

Greg just rolled over on his bed and pulled a pillow over his head. Nick leant forward and pulled it from over him. "I'm gonna' call back round later, make sure you've cleaned this place up. And put some damn clothes on." He told him as he walked out and slammed Greg's bedroom door, and headed off to work.

CSI

Greg woke up about four hours later, rubbing his head as he looked around his bedroom with squinting eyes. He looked on the floor and saw the discarded underwear scattered around. He untangled himself from the covers and stumbled his way to his bathroom, picking up some boxers on the way. After relieving himself in the bathroom, Greg made his way into his living room and through to his kitchen.

He poured himself a glass of water and sat down at his kitchen table, head resting on his hand. As he took a drink of water there was a knock at the door. Grunting, he was just about to get up when the door opened anyway. He turned his head to see who it was and saw Nick shutting the door behind him. "Don't bother about me, just let yourself in." Greg said to him sarcastically as he offered a small smile to his friend.

Nick smiled back at him but lost it a little when he came in the kitchen and leant on the side. "I bet your head's killing, am I right?"

Greg raised his eyebrows in answer to Nick's question and shut his eyes tired. "You were really bad when I came earlier." Nick told him.

"Well I might have had one too many drinks." Greg replied, with his eyes still shut.

Nick looked in his kitchen and saw the orange pill bottles by his fridge lined up. "You taken the meds you need to?"

Greg cracked open his eyes and looked over to the bottles. "Can you pass me them?"

Nick went over and slid them along the table. "Which ones do you need?"

Greg leaned back in his chair and scraped his hands through his hair, making it stand up at different angles. "All of 'em."

Nick picked up the others and brought them over. "Have you got even more than last time I came? There are about six different things here."

"Yeah, the doctor suggested I take some other things." Greg told him, swallowing a handful of pills.

"What else could you possibly need?" Nick asked him with a frown.

"Eh, you know..." Greg said to him, flicking his eyes up to look at Nick.

Nick looked at him confused for a minute and picked up the bottles on the table, looking at them labels. He picked up a few, not understanding what was inside them, but then he saw one he recognized. "Antidepressants?"

Greg gave a short nod and looked down at his water. "Don't get any ideas, I'm not depressed, I just, my doctor thought I should give them ago."

Nick sat down next to him and put the bottle down. "You must have said something to give him the idea that you needed these."

Greg looked at him and shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know, he gave them me a few weeks ago." He told him nonchalantly.

Nick studied his friend who suddenly wouldn't look at him. "You know if there is anything going on, you should let him know, and me."

"I know. But there isn't so there's nothing to tell." Greg said to him.

Nick pursed his lips, realising that he'd hit a nerve and decided it was best not to mention it any more. He looked at his friend and suddenly noticed how evident his ribs were against his skin, and his shoulder blades were sharp sticking out. "You look like you need a good meal down you."

Greg flicked his eyes up to Nick's and then looked down again. "I can see every bone on your body, man." Nick continued.

"Anything else you want to pick fault with whilst you're here?" Greg asked him irritated, with a hard glare.

Nick put his hands up and shook his head. He was silent for a moment until he spoke again. "When's your next doctor's appointment?"

Turning his head around to look at the calendar on the wall behind him, Greg answered "Thursday."

"You want me to take you?" Nick asked him.

"No, I'll take myself." Greg said to him, "But thanks anyway."

Nick smirked. "What? What's funny?" Greg asked him.

"Where's your truck?" Nick said to him.

Greg frowned and rubbed his hand over his face, "I don't know. I must have left it at a bar somewhere."

Nick laughed and patted his friend's shoulder, "Go get dressed, we'll go pick it up."

Greg smiled slightly and stood up, "Thanks."

"It's alright. Now go get some pants on." Nick told him with a laugh.

CSI