Chapter Nine

After dinner, Greg began to feel nervous. He hoped that Sara was right and Grissom would forgive him for being temporarily insane. It only took listening to Sara to make him realize that was just what had happened. He couldn't really just throw his job away over this. He didn't really want to quit and he knew that he had to have been nuts.

"You okay?" Sara glanced at her passenger as she drove.

"Hmm," Greg jumped a little, "oh yeah. I'm just hoping that Grissom buys the insane thing. I don't see how he could not. Really, I must have just lost it for a little while."

"I'm sure he will believe you, Greg. You've been submitted to a lot of stress and I'll go with you to talk to him. I believe you," Sara assured him.

"Good," Greg relaxed a little.

"You're positive this is what you want though, as soon as we get to the lab, there's no turning back," Sara told him.

"Are you trying to scare me away?" Greg asked.

"No," Sara shook her head, "I'm just making sure that you're not being influenced by me."

"I'm not. I really want to do this. I was crazy to think I could just throw my career away. I'm so close to being a CSI 1. I've wanted this for a few years now, and I won't ruin it because I'm terrified of going to another scene," Greg assured her.

They arrived at the lab a few minutes later and Greg lead the way inside. Sara followed him to Grissom's office, where, no big surprise, he was inside. It was still quite early for their shift, but Grissom and Sara were always the first people there. Sara knocked on his door and he looked up at the pair and told them to come in.

Greg started before Grissom could say a word, "I guess you've found my letter by now."

"Yes," Grissom nodded slowly, "and let me guess, that's why you're here?"

"Yeah," Greg nodded.

"And I'm here for moral support," Sara added.

"Grissom, I don't really want to quit," Greg blurted.

"I sort of figured that," Grissom said matter-of-factly.

"I wasn't in a very good state of mind when we talked. I mean, I'm still very much afraid of going into the field, but I realized that I was nuts to quit over this. I can't throw away all the work I've done, all the help you've given me. I'm so lucky to even have this job. The last thing I want to do is leave, and I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you," Greg said.

Grissom allowed several seconds to process this before speaking, "Greg, you have no need to apologize. We may have butted heads, but I understand that you have to be under an incredible amount of stress. Whenever you're ready to come back to work, and medically cleared, I will have your position open for you."

"Thank you so much!" Greg was now smiling broadly, "I really mean it. I'm going to go see if Nick or Warrick is here."

Grissom and Sara were left alone in his office, and there was an uncomfortable moment before either one spoke.

"So, how is he doing? You would know better than I. He's not exactly been friendly around me lately," Grissom finally broke the silence.

"Well, what do you think? He's been really stressed out. One minute he's normal and joking around, the next he's someone else completely. You saw that side and it's not pretty. I think he's just afraid, like he said," Sara explained.

"Yeah, I guess," Grissom nodded, "you think he'll be okay when he gets back?"

"Maybe. I don't really know. He'll probably be a wreck the first few nights, then I think he may be able to get back in the swing of things," Sara said.

"How about you?" Grissom asked.

"Me? I'm fine," Sara seemed confused.

"Just asking, you seemed pretty stressed yourself for a while. I'm glad to hear you're doing okay," he replied.

"Thanks for being understanding. Greg was worried you'd be upset, I told him it was going to be fine, but you made it easier for him," she changed the subject again.

"I know that after a life and death experience, your mind can be your worst enemy," he said, "you can have a very messy emotional state and you'll do and say things you don't mean."

"Yeah," Sara nodded, knowingly, "how do you know?"

"Remember Sid Goggle? He tried to kill me. And once, a long time before I knew you, I was shot at," Grissom said, "how about you?"

"The lab explosion," Sara said, hoping he wouldn't ask if there was more.

"Oh, how could I forget? So both of us know what Greg is going through to an extent," Grissom said.

"We just have to be patient and understanding," Sara said, "I better go see if he needs me to take him home."

"Okay," Grissom returned to whatever work he had been doing before they interrupted him.


"I hate this whole split," Greg announced when Sara entered the break room, "Warrick and Nick are both out working a case."

"It's hard to get used to," Sara sat across from him, "I expected we might lose Catherine at some point, she wanted to be a supervisor, but I never expected to lose them too."

"I know, I seriously think Ecklie was just being spiteful. I don't know why, he was promoted, he could have just left Grissom alone," Greg shook his head.

"That's apparently not Ecklie's style though," Sara said, "but this probably isn't the place to talk about him anyway. You know there's ears all over this lab."

"True, and I should probably be getting home so you can be back for shift," Greg glanced at the clock.

"I was about to say that," Sara smiled and stood, "so how long do you think before you'll be ready for work?"

"I don't know," Greg said, "a little while. I need to get a hold of myself before I think about coming back. I guess I might need counseling."

"It can't hurt to look into it," Sara tried to hide the look of disgust on her face. She was still not thrilled about having been forced into seeing a PEAP counselor. Being pulled over and nearly given a DUI had been enough to scare her out of her drinking habits, but the lab had insisted that she go see a counselor. She supposed it had been beneficial, but she was still a little bitter about it.

"I don't know what else to do. I think I need some help," Greg shook his head tiredly.

"First I think someone needs to get a little sleep," Sara said, "sounds like you probably didn't get much last night."

"No," Greg admitted, "I didn't."

"Sometimes, just getting a good night's sleep can help you out," Sara told him.

"Yeah, I suppose that I haven't had a good night's sleep in a while," Greg yawned, "maybe I will feel better in the morning."

"And if not, you can always look into counseling," Sara added.

"Well thanks for everything you've done for me," Greg said.

"I'm glad I could be here for you. I would have really missed you if you left the lab. I know it may not seem like it, but I do like having you around," Sara let him know.

"You've been amazing to me," Greg told her, "I know I used to have that crush on you, but I really didn't know you all that well. I only knew what I saw of you in the lab. You are really a great person."

Sara smiled, "Thanks, Greg. It's nice to know that you think that of me. I know you probably get treated like you're just the goofy comic relief, but I can see that there's a lot more depth to you. I can see you're a good person too."

A/N: Sorry about the length in updates. I got a job and I've been too busy/tired to write much. But I am taking a week off for a family vacation and we won't be gone the whole time, so (MAYBE) I can write some more for you guys. Thanks so much to you loyal readers, I am always so grateful for you guys!