A/N- Well here it finally is, the final chapter. I meant to post it earlier in the week but forgot. Sorry! I want to thank everyone for the glorious reviews you all left. I am so glad to know that something I do as a hobby is appreciated so much by others. So I hope this last chapter is a satisfying enough ending, it is a long chapter. :)


Greg was just about to leave the meeting to grab lunch when he heard his name called out. He turned around and saw the sweet face of Marie gazing at him.

"Yes?"

"Uh, the others aren't able to go out to lunch today but I was wondering if you still wanted to go. I know I skipped breakfast and I am starving," she said coyly to him.

He had been out to eat a couple times with the group now and was fine with that but being just with her, he was a bit shy about. "I'm not sure."

"Please?" She pleaded with her big eyes and he caved. He knew she was harmless. She was not like Robin Weaver. "Okay, where to today?"

She broke into a smile. "The Rib Shack across the street? Walking distance?"

His stomach growled as if on cue. "Sure that sounds good."

While they ate they talked about their jobs. He learned that she had gone to University of Colorado in Denver and got her nursing degree there. She often took trips to Las Vegas and liked it, so that was why she ended up moving here. He filled her in on his education and career in the LVPD Crime Lab.

They finished up their meal and walked back to the office building. "Looks like it is going to storm," he commented as he looked up at the darkening sky.

"Yeah hopefully the bus will be here before it starts down pouring," she sighed.

"The bus?" He questioned.

"Yeah my car is in the shop so I am taking the bus," she told him.

"I can give you a ride home, if you want," he offered.

"Yeah? That would be great. I hope it's not out of your way."

"I have no plans for the rest of the day so it's okay. I just was going to go home and rest some. I feel a headache brewing, usually happens after a session due to stress."

"Well, I do not want inconvenience you then if you need to rest."

"No, I said I would take you and I will," he told her.

She went ahead and told him where she lived. She lived a good half-hour from the doctor's office building and in the complete opposite direction of where he lived. It had started storming and the driving conditions were getting worse. It was not helping his brewing migraine any.

"There's my apartment complex, on the left," she pointed out to him before he passed it by. She showed him where to park. She noticed he scrunched his eyes shut and rubbed his temples as he put the car in park. He had been quiet on the drive there.

"Yeah headache is worse, isn't it? I got some ibuprofen in my place. If you come up I can get you some. It will help a bit," she suggested.

He looked out the window at the drenching rain and lightning and then at her innocent look. He had a slight fear of going into any stranger's place but he had to push those fears aside if he was ever going to have any normal future. She was not like the crazed woman who had locked him up. He knew that and had to trust that.

"Okay but we better run fast because it is nasty out here," he finally said.

She smiled, glad he was able to trust her because she had her own issues in even asking him into her place which she put aside. "Okay, I'll go first, just follow me."

She opened the car door and ran toward the building to the stairs and ran up. He got out and followed after her. He met up to her just as she opened the door. They went inside quickly to get out of the rain. Despite their running they were both still soaked.

They both dripped on her tile floor. "My God! It's like a monsoon out there," she said as she held her arms around her, shuddering from being wet and cold.

She looked at him and noticed he was scoping out her apartment. It had a decent size living room and a nice kitchen. He could tell she had moved there recently as there were still a couple boxes sitting in the corner, looking to be unpacked but it was fully furnished otherwise.

"Nice place you have here," he mentioned as he looked back at her.

"Thanks, it's nice for what I am use to." She ran a nervous hand through her wet long hair.

"It probably was not the best idea to have you come in after all, now that you are all wet, too," she commented as she noticed his t-shirt sticking to him.

He looked down and had not realized how wet he was too. "Oh yeah, well that is okay."

She felt bad that he got wet. "You know, I have a clothes dryer and you can dry your shirt and wait, you can borrow one of my umbrellas when you leave. I hate to have you get sick."

He thought about taking her up on the offer because he did not want to get sick either, but he remembered his scars and how he still had trouble seeing his own reflection in the mirror. He cleared his throat. "Uh, no. That's um… I'm fine."

She looked at him and saw some fear in his eyes and suddenly realized why. "If you are worried about me seeing your scars, I've already seen them."

He cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

She grinned. "I'm a nurse! I was there when you came into the ER last time. I guess you do not remember me," she pouted a bit, guessing she was not memorable.

His face flushed a bit. "Oh, sorry I do not remember much from that evening once I got to the hospital. I did not realize you were on duty."

She softened up and came closer to him. "I have my own scars too, from where he stabbed me. Granted it's not as bad as yours are but again, I'm a nurse and I've seen worse. It does not bother me. You have nothing to worry about," she smiled.

He was still a bit skeptical and she could see it. "Look, I'm going to change into dry clothes. You can go into my kitchen; the pills are by the sink. I have water in the fridge. And if you want you can stick around until the storm passes. The clothes dryer is in the closet in the hallway; feel free to put your shirt in it. I have some towels in there too. It's up to you. If I don't see you when I get back, I'll assume you left and then I'll see you at our next group session." With that she walked off into her bedroom, leaving him standing there somewhat dumbstruck.

His head was still throbbing and having to drive in that weather was not a good idea. He rolled his head around and sighed. He went into the kitchen and found her pill bottles. He smirked when he saw a bottle of prescription Lexapro. She was on anti-depressants too. He supposed they all were. Doctors prescribed them way too often these days, but in their cases it was probably correctly prescribed. They had both been through traumatic events and were bound to suffer from some depression.

He took three ibuprofens, knowing two was not strong enough. He opened her fridge and noticed it was mostly empty but for some leftovers and beverages, mostly being bottled water. He grabbed one and took a swig with his pills.

He walked over to her patio door and saw the storm still raging on. He frowned and turned away from it and went down the hall. He found the closet door and opened it up. Her washer and dryer and some towels were there just like she said they would be.

He grabbed a towel and ran it over his head to dry off his hair some. He felt a slight shiver run through his body from the wet shirt he had on. He decided to take his shirt off and just let it dry for a couple of minutes and hopefully put it back on before she came out. Even though she had seen him before without a shirt on he was still uncomfortable with the idea of it.

He was just about to open the dryer to pull the shirt out when Marie came out dressed in shorts and a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. Her hair was still slightly damp.

She looked him over. "Uh, I see you decided to dry off."

He quickly took the towel he was holding and held it to his chest, as he turned red in the face. "Um, yeah I was just getting my shirt out now." He felt his heart racing as his uneasiness around her got to him.

She watched him fiddle with the dryer door to open it and pull out his shirt. She had a feeling what was going through his mind. She laid her hand on his arm.

He flinched and pulled away from her and then looked at her with apprehension.

"Greg, I'm not going to do anything to you. You have nothing to worry about," she said to him cautiously.

He pulled his shirt back on and turned his back on her. "I better get going." He started walking away.

"You know what Dr. Rayon would say right now?" She yelled after him.

He stopped where he was and sighed. He turned around and looked at her, her eyes showing understanding.

"He would say I can't keep avoiding things forever," he scowled.

She smirked. "He's told me that a few times too. Stick around until the storm passes. I can pop in a movie or something. Just relax. I would kind of like the company anyway. I have not been here long enough to make many friends, just a few acquaintances from work."

He looked down, feeling a bit foolish now. "Okay, sure. I really should not drive while my head is still pounding like it is anyway."

"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable on my sofa then. Close your eyes for a bit if you need to. I'll just sit over here," she said as she walked over to her lounge chair, but not before grabbing her laptop off her kitchen table.

Greg went over and sat down on her sofa. It was pretty comfy, better than his actually, he thought. He watched her as she opened her laptop up. "Oh don't mind me, just doing a quick email check. I'm still in contact with people from home. They wish I did not move away but they understand. I have not had as many nightmares since I moved here. I just feel safer for some reason."

"In Sin City?" He quipped.

She chuckled. "I know, odd but true. It's nice to know someone in the police department now, though." She gave him a sly smile.

"Hmmm, I guess it is good to know a person in the medical field too, although I know a few already, I guess," he surmised.

"Yeah I suppose you would with your work." She went back to looking at her computer screen.

He went ahead and closed his eyes for a bit.

When she finished going through her emails she looked up and noticed he seemed to have fallen asleep, so she decided to keep playing around on her computer.

There was a loud crack of thunder that made Greg wake up. He looked over at Marie still on her laptop. "That storm is not letting up," he said to her as he straightened up.

She looked up at him. "Oh you are awake. Yeah I was looking online at the weather; flash flood watch out and severe storm warning."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked out the window. "It's sort of dark out."

"Well you slept for about a couple of hours, so it is later now but still not night exactly."

He looked at the clock on her DVD player. "Oh wow, sorry about that. I did not mean to fall asleep," he said sheepishly.

"It's okay. I just chatted on my computer with a friend," she said as she closed her laptop.

"Okay." He looked over at her side table and saw an older photo of her with he assumed was her parents. He pointed to it and asked, "College graduation photo?"

"Yes, last good photo I have with my parents together. My mom died of breast cancer 10 months later."

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that. What happened to your dad?"

"He's still alive but he is in Iraq, a Major in the Army. Been over there for 3 years now. He got to come home for a couple of weeks while I was in the hospital but had to go back. We email each other almost daily. He hated that he could not stick around for me once I was out of the hospital," she said somberly.

"That's rough. I know my parents stuck around for a couple weeks after my attack. Now after my suicide attempt, well I really scared them. They just left 4 days ago."

She looked at him with a shy curiosity. "What was it like?"

He furrowed his brows. "What was what like?"

"Almost pulling the trigger," she said softly.

He realized she must have had suicidal thoughts at one time too. "I know I was scared as hell. I actually surprised myself when I finally went to pull it. Part of me thinks I waited so long to do it because I was hoping someone would come and stop me, which is what ended up happening." He stopped there, thinking back on it.

She noticed he seemed lost in his thoughts. "And the other part of you thought what?"
His brown eyes looked sadly at her. "The other part of me could not stand looking at myself in the mirror anymore. I hated myself for getting into that situation. I could not sleep or eat; I just did not want to exist anymore. I did not even think much about how my death would affect others." He looked down at his hands and shook his head.

She came over and sat next to him. He gave her a sideways glance in wonder.

"You know I had very similar thoughts, but in my case I thought about my dad. He had lost my mom only 5 years ago and then he is over there in Iraq, risking his life everyday for me. I could not do that to him."

"Are you an only child?" He asked her.

"Yes I am. You too?" She looked surprised he asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess that makes you a better person than me. I did not think much about how my parents would feel," he said solemnly.

"No, I do not think it makes me better just more aware during the moment. If I had not though about my dad, I might not be here right now."

"Well it looks like we have a few things in common then. We both are only children, survived terrible attacks, and are here after all that," he smiled at her.

She returned the smile, blushing a bit under his gaze. Then there was a big crash of thunder and suddenly the power went out. She looked around the much darker room and cursed. "Aww damn it. I hope it does not stay out long." She looked at him. "I really hate the dark since…well you know."

"Ah, well it is only 5 pm, it might be back on before it is dark outside," he told her, noticing her rubbing her arms all of the sudden.

"I hope it is," she shivered suddenly. She gazed at him. "You know I remember it was raining and so cold at one point when he left me alone. I could never tell what time of day it was, he had me blindfolded the whole time so I would not be able to identify him."

He nodded in understanding. "She kept a dim light on but it was always cold on that concrete floor. She wanted me to see her but then again she did not plan on me living."

Marie looked down at her hands. "I think he did not care either way if I lived or died. I think he was just obsessed with me and wanted to show me I was his and he could have me whenever he wanted. He just kept me locked up in that shed, there for whenever he came for me until he decided to just stab me and leave me to bleed to death. I was lucky to be found alive by a farmer."

He noticed she was slightly shaking. He knew that fear and felt for her. He slid his arm around her back and drew her closer to him.

She looked up at him, finding the caring and understanding in his warm eyes. Her eyes moistened up some and she laid her head on his shoulder.

He continued to rub her back. He could not believe how comfortable he felt with her. He never thought he could comfort another so soon after his own ordeal.

"This sucks," she said suddenly.

Startled by her words, he pulled his arm away.

She looked at him and laughed. "Oh no, not you, the power being out and this storm. You know you are free to leave whenever you want to. I assume your headache is better now."

"Yes it is gone but I don't want to leave you alone while the power is still out. I would not feel right about it," he told her honestly.

She blushed a bit and smiled. "Well I appreciate that." She yawned suddenly.

"Sorry, I am usually sleeping around this time. You should know. You work graveyard shift."

"Yeah, I'll need to get back to my old sleeping schedule soon, hopefully. Look, I'll just stay here on the sofa if you want to sleep. I got my iPod in my pocket to keep me entertained while you sleep. If the power comes back on I will wake you and then I will probably be on my way," he offered.

"You really are a sweet guy, aren't you?" She smirked.

It was his turn to blush. He cleared his throat. "Yeah but don't let word get around." He finally grinned.

"I'll see you later on then, sweetie," she giggled when he rolled his eyes at her.

She got up and disappeared behind her bedroom door. His cell phone vibrated and he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Greg, it is Grissom. Am I calling you at a bad time? That storm is bad out there."

He looked at Marie's door. "No, the time is fine. The power is out here but nothing I can't handle. What's up?"

"Well, Ecklie told me he spoke with your doctors today and they told him you were ready to head back to work. He came to me and voiced some concerns but I convinced him you would be fine. So guess what? You can start back to work on Monday if you are ready."

"Really? Wow, thanks Grissom. Yeah Monday will be great. See you at the regular start time then?" His voice carried his enthusiasm.

"Yes Greg and congratulations. I look forward to having you back. Stay out of that storm and I'll see you Monday." Grissom was truly happy for Greg.

"Thanks again, Gris. I appreciate it. Good night." Greg closed up his cell phone and smiled to himself. He looked back at the bedroom door and smiled. He leaned back his head and felt the best he had felt in ages. His future looked brighter than he ever thought it would again.


That's all folks! Now if you really want I do have an evil (lol), angsty (my specialty) idea for a sequel to this but I'll see if anyone would be interested in me writing one. My last attempt at a sequel was not as successful as the original so I am hesitant to write one. Thanks for reading!