A/N: Thank you all for the feedback! Here it is, then; the second chapter. Anywayzzz, enough with the babble. Yes.

Disclaimer: All rights for the song here goes to its rightful owner. That is LIVE.

Within the Shelter of the Night: Doubts of the Clueless

The radio was on. The subtle sound of a smooth rock ballad filled the break room with a silent rhythm. The volume was low, only barely hearable as it sounded from the radio on the counter.

Everybody has a ghost

Everybody has a ghost who sings like you do

Yours is not like mine

But it's alright, keep it up

Nick Stokes let the lyrics flow by his acknowledgement, not really listening to the words nor the music as he browsed through the newspaper, now and then taking a sip from his coffee. He didn't know who had brought the radio into the break room. It hadn't been there before but at least it brought some living into the place. The lab had been like a morgue lately, no pun intended. He didn't know what it was, but sometimes it freaked him out. He couldn't remember the last time the place had felt so... empty.

Boy looses rib in New Orleans

He can't help eyeing up the whores

under the bridge

Boy looses rib and lets a hellified cry...

Nick sent a little glare towards the black box sitting on the counter. Talking about mood lightening. With a sigh and a shake of his head he turned back to the paper laying on the table in front of him.

Behind him, the door swung open as Sara marched in, walking straight to the coffee pot. "Morning," Nick greeted as he glanced up from the paper.

Her brown hair flew in the air over her shoulder as she jerked her head to look at him. "It's five a.m.," she stated matter-of-factly.

He shrugged. "As I said, morning." His gaze was already focused back on the paper, reading even when he spoke.

Sara didn't answer him as she grabbed herself a mug from the counter and poured it full of coffee. It was then that she paid attention to the silent music dancing in the air. She glanced at the radio with a frown. Her face was a question mark. "Where did that come from?" her voice broke through Nick's thoughts. He lifted his eyes at her.

"You tell me. Santa Claus?"

"Seriously, Nick. Think about --" Sara told him as she moved to the chair opposite to Nick. Her eyes stayed on the radio as she did so. All of a sudden she fell silent, not finishing what ever it was that she was going to say. Her face took a thinking expression.

It was Nick's time to frown. "What?"

Her eyes darted to him as her mind snapped back to present. "Oh, what?" Her hand gave a little wave in the air, belittling, as she remembered what they were talking about. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. It's just that..." Her voice trailed off as her gaze locked back to the radio.

The song had ended and a chirpy morning host started to blabber. "Listen," Sara spoke after a pause. As her eyes turned to Nick, their look was serious. Her tone was soft. "Do you think everything is okay with Greg?"

Her words took him by surprise. They seemed so out of place there in that small room, hanging in the air between them. He shifted on his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. He didn't know how to respond so he just mouthed: "What do you mean?"

"Just that..." Her fingers wrapped around the mug, her eyes cast down at the table as she continued. "I saw him earlier and he seemed a bit... I don't know. He was on the phone, and it was a bit weird. What he said. There was something that bothered me about it, and when I started thinking about, well, you know, what this place has been like lately, I just realized --"

"Whoa, Sara, slow down a bit," Nick cut in. "What are you talking about?"

Her head jerked up, her eyes leveled with his. For once, Nick could see genuine concern in her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was steady. "Nick, when was the last time you heard him play music?"

With his brow furrowed Nick leant back in the chair, thinking. He honestly couldn't remember.

***

The next night both Nick and Sara stared over the table at the form of the young lab tech. Apparently, Greg didn't notice as he just continued listening to Grissom as he went on about the latest case. They watched him, searching for something within the surface, but still not quite finding what they were looking for.

He was tired. Everyone could see that. The exhaustion that glowed from him was clearly visible, the dark circles that outlined his eyes weren't left unnoticed by anyone, but that wasn't it. Sara and Nick both knew that there were something else to it than just that.

He smiled. He joked. But the smile didn't reach his eyes, the smile left his eyes dull and sparkless. His jokes were only half-hearted, as if he was only bothered to make a joke because it was expected. Even now, as he replied to Grissom with a snide comment, he was holding back. Nick and Sara glanced at each other.

By every minute, it was becoming clearer and clearer to them that everything wasn't right.

"I bet it was the butler," Greg smirked at Warrick who just rolled his eyes.

A death glare was shot from Grissom's behalf. "Could we be serious about this for a second, if you don't mind, Greg?"

The tired smile disappeared as he pulled on his serious face. It didn't seem that hard to do. "No problem, boss."

"What about his wife," Warrick continued. "She didn't seem too mournful."

"And that makes her guilty?" Greg cut in. "Things happen. No use crying about it."

He wasn't smiling.

Nick and Sara glanced at each other. For a second, his harsh words caused an awkward silence into the room. "What?" he finally grunted, shifting on his chair. "I was just stating the obvious." They were all still staring at him, even Grissom. "Right, anyway," he bolted up from the chair, obviously getting uncomfortable with the situation. "Got some evidence to process. Excuse me."

As the door closed behind him, the others were left in an amazed stillness. Sara gave a knowing look to Nick. "What did I tell you?"

Grissom looked at the two of them with a frown. "So it isn't just me?" Everyone in the room turned to look at him.

Catherine spoke out all of their thoughts. "What?"

"I thought that it was just me imagining things but... It just seems that lately Greg has been a bit..."

"...off," Warrick concluded. Grissom's eyes darted at him. "Why haven't you said anything?" he asked, his voice accusing.

Warrick's brows shot up. "Why haven't you said anything? You just said that you've noticed it too."

"I --" Grissom's mouth open and closed again as he searched for an answer. "I... don't know. I guess I just assumed..." His voice trailed off.

Sara glanced at the closed door. "I guess we all just assumed."

***

The sun was rising over the horizon as Sara pulled her jacket on in the locker room, grabbing her back before she spun around on her heals and exited through the door into the corridor. Her mind was filled with thoughts as paced through the corridor towards the front door. Thoughts about Greg. His behavior still bothered her. It hadn't eased her mind the least that everyone else seemed to think that something was wrong, too.

Her hand rose to rub on the bridge of her nose. The Friday had flowed by swiftly as she'd concentrated on work. But now, a weekend off was waiting for her. She had been trying to get alone with Greg all day, to talk to him, but something always came up.

The sunlight grazed her face as she stepped outside. She took a second to enjoy its warmth before starting to walk towards her car.

She was just bending down to open the door when something caught her eye. She turned her head to the side, spotting a man walking a little further away. A smile curved her lips as she recognized him. "Greg!" she gave a shout. The man's head whirled around. "Hang on a sec!" She shoved the car keys back into her pocket and started to jog towards Greg who was standing beside his own car. He smiled at her as she reached him. "What is it, Sara?"

"Well..." Sara started, hesitant at first but then growing more certain. "Would you like to have a cup of coffee. Maybe some breakfast?"

His eye brows arched up. "Now? With you?"

His amazement made her smile. "Yeah," she nodded. "With me."

***

The diner was quiet at that hour between breakfast time and lunch. A couple of men were sitting by the counter and eating, an old woman was sitting in the corner booth reading a magazine, but otherwise the place was empty. Greg and Sara were sitting in the window booth with their coffees and foods in front of them on the table. A slow country song could be heard through the humming of the air conditioners.

Sara watched the younger man over the edge of her coffee cup. He was hunched over his plate, slowly poking on his eggs, once in awhile taking a bite. He wasn't looking at Sara but at the plate in front of him. Sara took a mouthful of coffee, letting it warm her from the inside for awhile before asking: "Aren't you hungry?"

Greg glanced up at her. Obviously he'd been lost in his thoughts. "Huh? -- Oh. No. Yes. Um... I mean, it's not that. I just..." As he spoke, his eyes wandered to the window. With a sigh he put the fork down and pushed the plate aside. "I guess not. Sorry."

She didn't know what he was apologizing for but she didn't say anything. For awhile they just sat there in silence, and she watched him as he just stared out of the window, leaning his chin against his clenched fist. There was something in his eyes then, something sad, that made Sara feel.... helpless. And curious. "So," she started, just to open the conversation. Maybe later on she could direct it to subjects she really wanted to talk about. "A free weekend ahead, huh?"

A small smile tucked on the side of his mouth. "Yeah, for once." He sounded somehow... relieved.

"Yeah, me too." That was all she could think of to say. "Anything special planned?" she continued after awhile of thinking.

Then, she was sure of it, his expression changed. The small smile faded completely as he suddenly closed up completely. His body straightened up and his eyes lowered to look at the coffee cup in his hand. "No. Why?"

She was taken aback by his sudden defensiveness. "Umm... No reason. I was just thinking." For a second there she'd thought that this might get somewhere, that they could have a nice conversation and she might finally find out was going on, but his sudden mood change told otherwise. He gulped the last remains of the coffee and started to stand up, glancing at his watch. "Look. I gotta go. There's somewhere I have to be." A smile flashed on his face as he gathered his things. "Thanks for the breakfast company, Sara. It was really nice." With that he turned around and started walking towards the door, leaving Sara to open and close her mouth like a goldfish, surprised.

"Greg..." she finally managed to utter, but it was already too late, he was already out of the door and walking back towards his car.

This things was starting to bother her more and more.