Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few days. I've been out of state visiting family, and then ff.n started being stupid. But the good news is...I had plenty of time to write on my new chapter! So, here you are!

Chapter Three: Bring Me to Life

--Two Days Later--

Leila had her eye stuck so close to the microscope that if it got any closer, the microscope may have been confused as part of her body by an innocent bystander. Just to her left, about five inches away, Greg stood looking at something under another microscope, and neither of them could hear anything, due to the blaring of 'Bring Me to Life' by Evanescence in the background. She was grateful that Greg needed loud music to function, because she did too, and she always seemed to do better around music. As she waited for the machine to spit the DNA test results out of the printer, so she could page Catherine and Warrick to tell them to pick the results up, she sat in the office chair and hummed along to the tune of the music.

She looked over at Greg and realized that he was deeply immersed in whatever it was he was doing. What she wouldn't have given in that moment just to have walked up behind him and told him what she was thinking, but she knew that it was neither appropriate nor fair. Greg was recovering from something harsh, that someone shouldn't ever have to go through, and she understood that he wanted to keep his distance. Still, she couldn't help but stare at him. Even in that long, white lab coat, he looked amazing. She was off in her own world, gazing contently at the wonder that was Greg Sanders, when the extremely loud buzzing sound of the printer behind her interrupted her trance. She scoffed and grabbed the paper from the machine.

She looked at the results and took out her cell phone to dial Catherine's pager number, then after she did, as she waited for a reply, she went back to staring at Greg. As she looked a little closer, and from a side view, she noticed that his hands were trembling uncontrollably. She stood up and walked over to the radio, turning it down and then walking over beside Greg, putting her hand gently on his arm, so she didn't alarm him too terribly. She remembered seeing Greg's horrified face when Catherine had startled him a couple days prior, and she never wanted to see him like that again. Gorgeous eyes like his didn't deserve that kind of terror. She could only imagine having looked into his eyes right after the explosion. She probably would have wanted to cry.

How can you see into my eyes like open doors
Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb.
Without a soul, my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,
Until you find it there and lead it back home.
Wake me up inside, wake me up inside,
Call my name and save me from the dark.
Bid my blood to run, before I come undone.
Save me from the nothing I've become.

He flashed her a curious glance. Sure, she'd startled him a little, because any unexpected touch was startling to Greg at that point, but a touch as gentle as Leila's didn't bother him too badly. "Yeah?" he asked with a gentle smile. He was grateful for someone with Leila's amount of sympathy.
She looked at him and gave a sort of offering, to try to calm his nerves a little. "Do you...I noticed you shaking..." she paused nervously. "And well, I was wondering if you needed a shoulder massage...if maybe the shaking was just from nervous tension or something like that?" she asked sweetly.

He looked at her, kind of surprised. The last time someone had offered to give him a massage, he really couldn't remember. But, he wasn't one to turn down a massage from a beautiful woman. Plus he was really grateful for her, because it was just what he needed at that point. "Sure..." he grinned and looked around. "Where do you want me to sit?" he called attention to the fact that he was almost five inches taller than she was.
She thought for a second and looked at the clock. "Do you want to take a break after Catherine comes to pick these results up? Then I can give you a nice fifteen minute massage in the break room?" she suggested, wondering if he'd be willing to wait a little while.

He nodded and pushed his hands together, trying to stop them from shaking. He couldn't stand it. There was so much stress on his poor twenty-eight year old body that he was about to break. Grissom told him that the shaking was going to go away, but every time Greg looked at his hands, they were still shaking uncontrollably. Maybe he'd meant that it would go away when he had a woman like Leila massaging his shoulders. He grinned at the thought of Leila's hands touching his shoulders. Well, almost his shoulders, anyway. His AFI t-shirt, over his shoulders was close enough for his taste, even though the actual skin on his shoulders would be nice.

Once Catherine arrived, the conversation she had with Leila about the test results was honestly a blur to Greg. He was far too fascinated by the professional manner in which the woman he'd been staring at, out of the corner of his eye, for the past two minutes, was carrying herself. She was very professional, but she kept the same attitude that Greg had, always making jokes and trying to make her coworkers laugh. Catherine walked away laughing out loud at something Leila had said, but Greg didn't exactly know what, and then she approached him. She smiled sweetly and asked, "Are you ready for that massage?" with a slight wink of one of her beautiful brown eyes.

Greg nodded and flashed a sweet smile, following Leila to the break room, taking his lab-coat off and sitting down in a comfortable chair. "Thank you so much for this...seriously, it's something I really need right now. I owe you..." he thanked her, leaning back in his seat and waiting for the soft touch of Leila's hands on his shoulders.
Sure enough, it was soft and gentle, but enough to send a sensation throughout his entire body. She moved her hands around, rubbing his shoulders and neck, and he could feel a lot of the tension and aching go away, and after a while, he could even feel his hands stop shaking. It was amazing what a little touch could do to a man. Entirely amazing, at that. He was really beginning to feel something for Leila, and it was beginning to take over his little physical crush on Sara.

Now that I know what I'm without, you can't just leave me
Breathe into me and make me real, bring me to life.
Wake me up inside, wake me up inside.
Call my name and save me from the dark.
Bid my blood to run, before I come undone,
Save me from the nothing I've become.
Bring me to life, I'm living a lie, there's nothing inside. Bring me to life...
Frozen inside without your touch, without your love darling.
Only you are the life among the dead...

Leila walked around Greg and took his right hand in both of hers. "Maybe this will relieve some of the tension in your hands..." she held his large hand in her hands and started to massage it, then after some of the tension calmed down, she repeated this with his left hand. "Is that better?" she asked with a sweet smile.
He looked at her and nodded. He definitely felt the shaking starting to vanish. He hadn't felt so relaxed in nearly a month; he could even move his arms without his hands trembling, and the relief he felt was amazing. "Thank you so much, Leila...this was--is--amazing..."
She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. The smile on his face was so flawless. His smile suited him far better than a frown or any other distressed look he'd been wearing since she met him. "It's really not a problem. All you have to do is ask, and I'll give you another one..."
He nodded and moved to stand up. "Seriously, though. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough...this is the first time I've really stopped shaking since...you know..." he got lost in her eyes for a second, but glanced away almost instantaneously. Sure, Leila was beyond amazing, but he wasn't quite ready for someone like her. Ok, maybe he was ready, but he wasn't deserving of her.
Leila, though, didn't see it that way. She saw Greg as an amazing man; someone she didn't deserve. Be that as it may, though, she wasn't done with Greg's massage yet. She could see that he desperately needed it. "You know, I wasn't finished yet..." she winked at him. "That is, unless you want me to stop..."

Greg abruptly sat back down. He had never been so grateful for a friend like Leila. Then again, he hadn't really gotten the chance to be that grateful, but, at any rate, whoever had come into his life from then on, they would never even halfway compare to Leila. "Thank you so much...you don't even begin to understand how great this feels, Leila..."
She grinned and started in rubbing Greg's neck again. Although he was a lot less tense than he had been, a lot of stress still rested itself in those gorgeous shoulders of his. So, Leila carefully pushed her fingers against his neck, making sure for her own sake that she touched his soft, messy, blonde hair at least once. She continued this for fifteen minutes, and only stopped when Grissom, Nick and Sara entered the room, apparently on a manhunt for Greg. At first, neither Greg nor Leila noticed their superiors entering the room. But, when Sara cleared her throat, they jumped and turned their heads.
Sara had her lips pursed, looking quite omnipotent, while Nick grinned proudly at Greg. Grissom, though, finally broke the awkward silence. "Greg, I need a DNA profile on this blood A.S.A.P.," he held up a plastic bag, containing a reddened cotton swab.
Greg sighed and stood up. "Sure thing, Griss..." he took the bag and turned to Leila. "Well, it was nice while it lasted...thanks, Leila..." he grinned at her and turned to the door. "I owe you one...tell me when you need a massage, ok?"
Leila laughed a little and nodded. "Sure thing...I'll hold you to that one..." she smiled as he left the room, followed by Nick and Grissom. Sara, on the other hand, stayed behind with her younger sister. Leila gave Sara a glance, as though she knew what was going on in her mind. "Sara...it was just a massage. I calmed down his shaking..."

Sara nodded and rolled her eyes. "And...there was no physical attraction there? As in absolutely none?" she asked, almost as though she knew the truth in Leila's head and heart.
Leila bit her lower lip and nodded a little bit. "Yes, he's attractive...you know I go for guys like Greg...but it's not a good idea to fall for the guy I work with, right?" she looked to Sara and shrugged.
Sara glared condescendingly at Leila and crossed her arms. "Leila...I just so happen to be engaged to Nick...he's a coworker...have you forgotten that?"
A glare glanced Leila's face as well. "I have something to prove, though...I'm new here, and I don't want to get the reputation of a lazy, love struck little girl..." she shrugged.
Sara laughed a little and shrugged. "Leila, you're not lazy, and it's okay to be love struck. Greg is a good guy...he's always been one of my closest friends..." she explained to Leila. "I honestly expected you to go for him, and not Warrick or anyone else..."
Leila shrugged and smiled a little. "He's a completely amazing guy...I honestly don't understand how he's still single, Sara...he deserves a good girlfriend..." she shuddered at the thought of Greg with someone other than her.
Sara laughed and stood up. "You're working closely with him...you two will get to know each other really well..." she reminded Leila. "Sooner or later, the sexual tension or whatever it is going on with you two, will get too hard to handle...you know it as well as I do."

All of this time, I can't believe I couldn't see,
Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me.
I've been sleeping a thousand years, it seems.
Got to open my eyes to everything.
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul,
Don't let me die here, there must be something wrong.

Leila shrugged and shook her head. "I can't let it, then..." she bit her lower lip and tried to disguise the delighted shriek going off in her mind. "Sure, it'll be tough, but life ain't easy..."
Sara rolled her eyes and walked off, a slight laugh in her voice as she said, "Whatever you say, Leila...you just have it your way, ok?"
Leila scoffed. Who did Sara think she was? Sexual tension between she and Greg, ha! The thought made her laugh. Ok, so the idea wasn't exactly insane. Greg was a very attractive guy, and she was at least a semi-pretty woman. But, knowing her luck, Greg already had a girlfriend, or someone he liked the way she was beginning to like him. She couldn't believe that she was even thinking about Greg in that way, though. She barely even knew him. But, she could tell that he needed a friend, and that was something Leila could do. She smiled, stood up and went to keep Greg company in the lab, while he toiled over whatever sample Grissom, Nick and Sara had given to him. It was the least she could do, after all.

Bring me to life...wake me up inside, wake me up inside.
Call my name and save me from the dark.
Bid my blood to run, before I come undone,
Save me from the nothing I've become.

~~

Author's Note: Too cheesy...way too cheesy, LOL! If this gets any cheesier, I'm going to start over.