Dedication: To CarlyBabes1234. To be honest, before your review, I forgot this fic even existed. So, thanks for your awesome review and thanks for reminding me that this fic existed.

Title: Childish But Mature
Rating: Very Strong PG-13, borderline R.
Summary: He was no longer the lab rat. And he had her to thank for that.
Author's Note: Hooray for longer chapters! And...is Ecklie higher on my shit list now? Uh, can I get a hell yes? Anyone with me?
Spoilers: None.

Aiden had only planned on being in the lab for a couple weeks, until Greg found a replacement. Then, she was going to join the graveyard shift on the field. But he adjusted to the field so well. And she didn't have the heart to take it away from him. Especially after the way he reacted, once he told her that this was her surprise. He picked her up and twirled her around, embracing her in the biggest hug she'd ever received, and it made her day. She'd made his day and he made her day in return, so they were even—but Aiden would never dream of doing what Chandra had, and yanking Greg's dream from under his nose. He'd find a replacement before long, anyway. He wouldn't stick her as the lab rat for too long. Even so, she didn't want to go back to days. She liked graveyard, and she got along with everyone, so it worked out fine.

Besides, it wasn't that bad. She got paid more, for one, and she never dealt with Ecklie, so, she was doing great. She was still adjusting to the change in her schedule, but still, it wasn't that bad. She ran a hand through her hair and waited for the machine to give her the results she was looking for. "Yep, waiting is fantastic. Fantastic and fun..." she looked at her ID tag. Luckily for Greg, she was qualified to do this job. If not, he'd be stuck there, bored and waiting like he used to. And Lord knows, Greg didn't do bored well. Especially not alone and bored, because he couldn't make a joke to break the silence. She closed her eyes for a second, when a very cold hand touched her neck. "What the hell?" she shouted, whirling around, where she was met with Greg's laughing eyes and jovial smile. "You trying to kill me, Sanders?"

"I work in a crime lab. If I wanted to kill someone, I wouldn't choke them. Too much evidence..." he winked and sat down beside her. "What're you up to?"

She glared at her friend. "Having a tea party. Wanna join?" she rolled her eyes. "Why in the hell are your hands so cold? And what are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you be working?"

He shrugged and grinned at Aiden's sudden whirlwind of questions and snide remarks. "Sure, I'll join, because I just got back from collecting some evidence from a scene in a freezer, I came to see if you wanted to take your lunch break and go get some coffee, and no, I shouldn't be working, because I'm on my lunch break and want to go get some coffee..." he answered her questions all at once. "I have some good news for you. Come on...what do you say?"

She glared playfully at him, shook her head and yawned. "I can't, Greg. I'm really busy..."
He prodded her shoulder a little. "Come on. You need a break, Aiden. You're gonna collapse or something. Just come to get some coffee with me down the street..." he pouted.

She pursed her lips and held her index finger up. "Yes, Greg. Just a minute, okay? You've gotta just let me get these results and I'll be right out. I'm desperately in need of a cup of coffee, anyway..." she waited impatiently for the machine to beep, and when it finally did, she looked at the results and her face turned ghastly white. "That sick bastard..."

Greg shrugged and peered over her shoulder. "What happened, Aiden?" he asked. "Is everything all right?"

She shook her head and pointed at the results in her hand. "You know that case Warrick and Cath are working? The rape and murder of that fifteen-year-old girl? Look at this..." she pointed at the paper in her hand. "This is the semen taken from the rape kit and this is the victim's DNA. Ten tallies in common, Greg. Ten tallies. They're related...closely related. The suspect is probably the girl's father..."
Greg's eyes widened, then he shook his head in disgust. "People are so sick..." he put a calming hand on Aiden's shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, although it was obvious that she wasn't. He'd heard through the grapevine that sometimes, Aiden took cases a little too personally, but this? She was seconds from tears, and her face was as white as a sheet. "Why don't you go get your stuff from your locker? I'll take these results to Cath and Warrick, tell Griss you're taking a break, and then I'll be right there; we can go to lunch..."

Aiden nodded and hung her lab coat by the door, making her way to the locker room. Thank God for Greg. God knows, had she been alone right then, the situation would have been about ten times worse. She sat down on the bench in the locker room and waited for him to join her. Once she sat down, she got to thinking—which was a dangerous thing to be doing. At least it was dangerous for Aiden. She started wondering what it would be like, working scenes with Greg. They definitely had a strong bond, and as morbid as it sounded, working scenes with him would be fun. And he'd be there to hold her back in scenes like the one Cath and Warrick were on, when she'd be likely to rip the suspect's head off.

It was definitely fortunate that she'd transferred to the graveyard shift. Grissom was a far better supervisor than Ecklie, and Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Sara and Greg were far easier to get along with than the stiffs she was working with before. Her mind was racing a million directions, and by the time Greg came into the locker room, the sick mind of the rapist was the farthest thing from her mind. She grinned and looked up at him. "Ready to head out?" she asked, grabbing her coat from her locker and throwing it over her shoulders.

Greg nodded and took his coat from his own locker. "Yeah. I have news that will make your day, anyway. So, let's get out of here, huh?" he asked, nodding his head toward the door. "A little coffee always improves a mood..." he put his coat on and they walked out into the early-morning air. "So, anyway..."
Aiden looked at Greg's car and then back to Greg. "Are we going to take your car or mine?" she asked, stopping Greg mid-sentence.

He looked at her and shrugged. "Mine's really testy right now. Would you mind terribly if we took yours?" he asked her, hopefully.

She shook her head and took out her keys. "Of course not. We going to William's Place?" she asked, getting in the drivers seat. "Or Dunkin Donuts, since it's closer to breakfast time, anyway..." she shut the door, buckled herself in and waited for Greg to sit down.
Once he sat, shut the door and buckled himself in, he answered her question. "I don't care. Your choice. William's is closer. And cheaper. But it doesn't bother me either way..." he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. He just wanted to tell her what was on his mind. It would make her day, and judging by her expression a little while ago, she needed her day made.

She nodded and backed out of the parking space. "William's it is. Hey, thanks for being there a minute ago. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't. I'd have probably been in a ball, sobbing on the floor until Cath or Warrick came to get the results..." she joked, flashing Greg a quick glance out of the corner of her eye, then quickly turning her attention back to the road.

He shook his head and smiled softly at her. "It was the least I could do. I know that you'd do the same for me, had I been in that position, and I also know that the best way to get your mind off of an emotionally harrowing case is to go and get a cup of coffee with a good friend..." he leaned back in the seat. "Plus, seeing someone you care about that shade of white is kind of scary..."
She half smiled and glanced at him again. "You think, working with the dead, you'd be used to white faces, eh? Guess not..." she pulled up to the curb beside William's Place and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Ah, being outside of William's always makes me hungry..."
He chuckled and nodded once he got out of the car. "I think that's everyone's reaction..." he walked in behind her. The place was near dead. But then, it was three in the morning, and most people were either asleep or out on the strip, at bars or in casinos. And there they were, barely twenty-nine, and in the middle of a coffee shop on their early-morning lunch break. 'One thing's for sure,' Greg thought to himself, 'this is a job you've gotta love to stick with.'

Ordering was simple, once they were seated, since the graveyard shift waitress knew both of their usuals, and so they were left to talk while their meal was being cooked. "Hey...so, what exactly was it that you told me about 'something that could make my day,' anyway, Greg?" she asked, taking a sip of the coffee the waitress had brought with her.
He grinned and took a sip of his own coffee. "Oh, right, that!" he nodded and winked at her. "Well, you know how when you took over in the lab, you made it abundantly clear that it was only temporary, right?" he asked, reaching over for a sugar packet to put in his coffee.

She nodded and raised an eyebrow. "Right. But I told you that you could take all the time you needed to find a replacement. That I wasn't about to leave you hanging..." she added a little creamer and sugar to her own coffee. "And I'm sticking by that..."

He held his index finger up, trying to get a chance to finish. "Aiden, wait. You don't have to leave me hanging. I found a replacement. A woman I went to college with...Mia Dickerson. She starts tonight, and you start back on the field on the next scene, too...your first graveyard scene..." he took a sip of coffee and waited for Aiden's reaction.
She beamed with delight. "Are you serious? All right! I was getting so bored in there! Thank you!" she walked around the table and hugged him tightly. "You're right...that did make my day..." she kissed him on the cheek and gave him another quick hug, before making her way back around the table and sitting back down. "I can't wait to get back on the field again. It's only been a month, but it seems like a lifetime!" she beamed. She couldn't wait to get back on the field, nor could she wait to work a scene with Greg. She sounded so morbid, but the two of them together could make any situation fun. They'd managed to make an otherwise excessively boring seminar in Nowheresville, Vermont fun. If they could handle that, they could handle anything.