A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They made my day! I was a little worried how the last chapter would be recieved. I'm glad you liked it. Now the next chapter. A bit of Greg angst, and more of NICK HIGH! You love me!

Chapter 38

That night Greg had a nightmare again, much like the ones the he'd told Warrick about, it was one of the dreams that had scared him the most while he was locked in that vile little room. But somehow, it was…distorted. It didn't look near as real as it had with the drugs. When he was in the room, the dreams would be perfectly normal except for him floating and the fact that his friends were attacking him. There had been no distortions or abnormalities. He had wondered why the dream that was so realistic had been the one he knew was a hallucination. But this one, it was greatly distorted from before. This time, they were all attacking him, but there were two Warrick's, and the second was trying to stop the others from hurting him. He would lunge at, them away from him or attacking those who couldn't be pushed away. Eventually they all stopped and turned on Warrick. They attacked him, hitting and kicking until he went limp, a bloody mess.

"Noooooo!!" Greg woke, bolting straight up. Warrick jumped out of sleep, instantly alert.

"Greg?"

"nononononono…"

"Greg, Greg, look at me. It was a dream. Okay, it was a dream."

"A a dream?" That must have been one horrible dream.

"That's right, it was a dream. Just take a deep breath." he complied and after a few minutes of Warrick talking to him he was breathing normally and calmed down, though still a little edgy. He ground the heels of his hands into his eyes again as if to rub out the images.

"What was the dream?" Warrick prompted. Greg took a long shuddering breath and let it out quickly.

"It was like the others, you guys attacking me, but it was a little different. There were two of you and you were fighting against the others. Trying to make them stop. Eventually they killed you and I woke up."

"You see, you're already starting to combat the dreams."

"What?"

"You know that we would never do that, and it's starting to affect the dreams. You had one of us there trying to protecting which is what we would try to do. You should just get the rest of us in there fighting with me, you know, Archie would be a good addition too, he was a great and powerful power ranger once." Greg smirked.

"Good idea. Can I have my movie?" Warrick smiled. He wasn't sure whether Greg would remember or not.

"Absolutely, got it right here." he popped in the movie and kept the volume low so they wouldn't get in trouble. Greg made it about a third of the way through before he was sleeping like a log peacefully. Warrick shut it off and sank into his chair quickly following suit. Neither woke until morning. Greg woke first feeling quite refreshed, which surprised him. Warrick was still out like a light. He hobbled his way and made a restroom trip before hobbling back. He stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about what had been happening, trying to work his way through it. He found himself getting emotionally worked up after a while so he stopped. Warrick was still asleep. He was bored.

"Warrick. Warrick." Nothing. Greg scowled and looked around. There was a stack of pens, who knew what for, on the table next to him. He picked one up and without aiming tossed it at Warrick. It his shoulder but he didn't react. Greg threw another and another. One hit his stomach, the other his leg and he still didn't stir. Heaving a sigh he picked up another and chucked it aiming more carefully. It beaned him right between the eyes and he jerked awake to a Greg smiling mischievously.

"Got bored huh?" he asked, looking at the pens lying around or on him.

"Yes. You snore too."

"I'm sorry. Ready for breakfast?"

"No, not yet. We could finish the movie maybe?" the truth was he'd gotten himself scared again trying to work his way through the emotions and he was desperate for a distraction now. It was a little too early to move into Nick and Archie's room. It took him a bit to calm down though he thought he'd hidden it well since Warrick didn't seem to notice. Once he had he was shocked when he heard himself chuckle at the movie. He saw Warrick give him a subtle sideways glance and smile but said nothing. He was making progress. Each day he woke still safe and protected by his closest friends, he felt a small bit of the weight on his shoulders lifted away. He was far from over this, but he could feel himself moving forward and that was what mattered to him. Before he knew it the movie was over.

"What'd ya think?"

"I liked it."

"Good." Catherine came in suddenly with a bag of food. It was hard to do and he couldn't maintain it for very long but he gave her the biggest smile he could muster. It made her day.

"You brought me food. Now this is service!" she smirked at him.

"Who said anything about it being yours? I'm hungry." his face dropped. He pouted and gave her the best brown eyed puppy look he could, which was a well oiled, perfected look.

"Alright alright. Enough with the look, it's yours anyways."

"Thanks Cath. He pulled out two breakfast burritos" Warrick looked about confused.

"Where's mine?"

"Huh, it should be in there somewhere, I got you this bagel thingy with lots of cheese and meat." Warrick dug through the bag again. Nothing. He sat back annoyed.

"It's not in there."

"Oh, I'm sorry Warrick. They must have got the order wrong." Warrick feigned being distraught. They smiled at him.

"Well, I have to go home and get a shower. I'll get breakfast on the way back."

"Bye." Greg called.

"Bye Greg." Catherine watched as Greg closed his eyes for a moment took a bite, the shuddered with a slight grimace.

"Does it work, the beach thing?"

"Most of the time, I guess this morning I'm having a little trouble. I was thinking about what happened earlier. I thought if I could think about it, I could face it. Guess I was wrong, I freaked myself out."

"Greg, just because you get a little freaked doesn't mean you can't do it. You thought about it, you were facing it. It's good you didn't try to go through it all, that would overwhelm anyone."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Think about it. When you first woke up, you wouldn't say a single word, you were so overwhelmed, for good reason, that you hid under the blankets for a week."

"I didn't realize it'd been that long."

"but the point is you over came it and came out. Now look at yourself. You're talking, you're smiling again, and you're facing it. It won't be easy and it will take time, but you're trying, which means you can get through this."

"Thanks Catherine, you're right." They ate their breakfast, talking about other stuff, happier things, just enjoying each other's company. The time passed quickly and he soon found himself with a satisfied stomach and ready to change rooms.

"Can I go to Nick and Archie's room now?"

"Sure, everything is set up, they brought in another bed. I'll get the wheelchair."

"I can walk. I promise, I won't collapse. I'm just sore. Please." he gave her another puppy look and she gave in.

"fine, but if you get too tired, I'm getting a wheelchair."

"thanks." he slipped out of the bed, making a pit stop at the restroom before they began their trek. It was nice to be up and walking again, even if his muscles complained to him. He'd been getting a little restless for physical movement. Catherine's phone rang and ignoring the no cell phones rule, she answered. They were about halfway down the hall that the room was located in when a door slammed loudly. Greg jumped stumbling over his feet, still awkward with movement. Catherine held his arm to steady him while he looked at his feet to make sure they stayed under him barely having said hello.

"Oh good Lord" he looked up and gawked. There was Nick, hobbling down the hall, completely nude except for the bandages on his hand, shoulder, and knee, making little progress, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"THE ALIENS ARE COMING THE ALIENS ARE COMING!" he continued to shout it over and over. As two orderlies ran after him desperately trying to corral him back into the room.

"I'll call you back." she hung up and put a better use to her phone. Another patient, a little old lady out for her morning walk, saw Nick coming and shrieked, hobbling in the other direction, comically faster than Nick was going. By the time they got him back into his room, Catherine had lost all semblance of composure, laughing hysterically, barely breathing.

"I changed my mind. I like my private room. Let's go back." he blurted once she was breathing again.

"Sorry Greggo, Archie already knows you're coming. You're stuck." he huffed.

"Fine but I'm not admitting to know him. They've clearly got him in the wrong ward. The loony bin would suit him better."

"Oh come one. You'll never be bored." Catherine jibed as they began walking toward the room again.

"Yeah but my being bored isn't what I'm worried about. It's Nick being bored that I'm afraid of." they entered the room silently, incapable of looking at Nick directly. He was back in bed, with a gown on again. Thank heavens, and was fussing with the staff as they tried to get him settled enough to go to his last scheduled surgery. Greg saw two beds and though it was clearly the one Archie occupied, he was currently showering tell tale by the sound of running water, he took the one farthest from Nick.

It was good to see him alive and well, though he was half insane, but they were clearly going to need a buffer zone if he was to maintain the 'I don't know that crackpot' policy. Catherine sat between the two beds, staring at her shoes, the only thing she could do to remain composed with Nick still in the room. Greg was getting settled when he suddenly looked at the wall.

"Umm…Cath, I don't think running from aliens is all Nick's been doing." she looked at the wall surprised. On it, in silly string was a gigantic smiley face made out of hot pink, blue, green and the default yellow. Over the door in hot pink were the words SO MANLY. There was also a peace sign and a yin and yang sing that were smaller but just as well done. They gaped.

"How did he do that?" they looked at Nick, one shoulder tightly bound, the other hand completely immobilized.

"Magic. I'm magical that's how I dun it." Nick replied with his drunken Texas slur again. They shook their heads at him as they rolled him out on the way to the OR.

"Well I think I know where he got the aliens idea, besides the morphine." Greg pointed to four seasons of various Star Treks and two seasons of Farscape.

"I can't believe Archie would risk those with Nick on morphine. He must have been desperate." Catherine pulled out her phone again and took pictures of Nicky's 'wall art' before the janitor, who explained that they were cleaning in while Nick was in surgery when he'd cried like a baby at the suggestion of such an audacious crime. When Archie came out of the bathroom freshly showered, the graffiti still present, Greg couldn't resist.

"Hey look! The colors got brighter with the shower!" Archie gained the look of utter and pure horror, hobbling back to the bathroom mirror like an old man. When he returned, he glowered an Greg evilly.

"Get. Off. My. Bed."

"Not a chance, I don't know that loon and I'm not sitting next to him. He's your room mate anyways. You sit next to him." they continued to bicker but Archie eventually lost and got stuck with the middle bed. Catherine spent the day refereeing for their bickering, which was far from serious fights. It was just something to keep their minds off recent events.

Everyone was glad that when Nick returned from a successful surgery hours later he was konked and remained that way all day. It was a short reprieve. Throughout the day, Archie would take advantage of Greg's restroom breaks to take his bed back, unfortunately, Greg would always get it back in the same way. In the end, Archie was back in the middle for the night. Greg was looking at him with a smug look when she left and Nick seemed to be asleep, but she had her doubts. She was overwhelmed with the feeling that the moment the lights went out, there would be two people shrieking bloody murder, and it wouldn't be Archie.

A/N: You like?