Happy Enough by SLynn

Disclaimer: Any character you recognize, not mine.

Notes: Thanks for the great reviews Lamborga, Em, fortytwo03, TVrocks and Sillie! I'm glad I'm not completely off base with this story, I think that's what's concerned me most.

Chapter 5: Irrational

"You're going to catch pneumonia."

"Least of my worries," Greg said just above a whisper without turning to greet Catherine as she came and sat down beside him.

"Greg, I don't know what's happening in your life. I'm not going to try and understand, but I wish you'd talk to someone. Whatever it is, whatever is happening, we'll all be here for you."

"Are you guys having like secret meetings to discuss me now?" he fired back, sounding far less angry then he actually was. Lately, but especially since the 'history' talk with Dr. Abbott on Monday, he found his moods swung wildly and without control.

"It's not like that, we're concerned."

"So yes, you are."

"Greg listen…"

"No Cath, you listen." Greg interrupted jumping to his feet, "I've had a bad week. And I know everyone's worried because I nearly stopped breathing on Monday, but it hasn't happened again and it isn't going to. It's fine. I'm fine. Please drop it."

"It's not just that. This started well before Monday."

He looked a bit taken back but wasn't convinced.

"You haven't been yourself in weeks Greg. You're working too hard. You've got too much on your plate right now. No one expects you to learn this all overnight, it takes years to get good at it. No one expects you to be perfect or to do everything in the lab and everything in the field. You're setting very unrealistic goals for yourself and no one is going to blame you if you say you need a break."

"That's not true."

"Gil does not expect this of you."

"No, he expects me to take my work seriously. And I do. And I have been since I've been given this chance. I don't want to mess it up."

Greg sat down again, suddenly feeling very tired.

"You're not going too."

Greg rested his head to his knees feeling his breath becoming labored.

"Ah man," he said more to himself.

"What is it?"

"This is like… a plague or something… I'm like… a one-man… plague."

"Where's your inhaler?"

"In my locker… jacket pocket," he said.

"Combo?"

"I don't… lock it," he said the wheeze in his lungs becoming more pronounced.

She nodded and turned to go.

"Cath…Cath," he called out twice before she'd heard him and turned round again. "Don't… tell… anyone… please."

She nodded again and left.

Greg did a better job of controlling his breathing this time round. It's all he'd allow himself to think about. Just breathing. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Of course it also helped that this time he wasn't in the middle of a crime scene worried about what his boss would say or how much evidence he might have sat in. Catherine was back in under five minutes.

"Here," she said as she handed it over.

Greg took two pulls off of it and then continued breathing as he'd been taught. Catherine hadn't left.

"I'm better," he said after a few more minutes. "It's easier now. Thanks."

Catherine thought otherwise. He did sound better, but he mostly definitely was not back to normal.

"I can wait."

"No really, go back. If we're both gone for too long… people will talk."

Catherine laughed.

"Where've you two been?" Nick's voice sounded out from behind them both.

"Told you," Greg said flatly.

"Seriously man, Sara is pissed. She thinks you've skipped work to go clubbing or something."

"Yeah well… I had to take a break."

Nick looked at his friend, really looked at him and it dawned on him.

"Again? Man, did they switch your meds or what?"

"Don't know," Greg replied.

"I don't think these are allergy related," Catherine put in.

"What, you think he's attention seeking? Because really, with that hair…"

"This is serious Nick. I think they're stress induced."

"Greg's fine, you're overreacting."

"He's not fine. Look at him."

"If you're both going to just talk about me like I'm not here, I might as well go," Greg spat out causing a small fit of coughs to erupt from him. Despite the coughs, he made his way back into the building and towards the lab.

"There you are," Sara called out upon seeing him, obviously still very much as pissed as Nick had warned.

"Not now," was all he said and kept walking.

"Greg," she said ignoring his request completely, "I thought you wanted to learn this, that you wanted to get out of the lab. It's not all field work and interrogation. This is part of it too. Running off to do errands or whatever it is you were doing in the middle of the shift isn't exactly the way to prove yourself around here."

"I wasn't trying to get out of doing my job, okay. I just needed some air."

"That's not an excuse. Your job is…"

"I know what my job is," he said rounding on her, Greg's voice louder then he intended. Sara actually took a step back.

"What's going on?" Grissom called out as he stepped round the corner. He'd heard their voices all the way from his office. It was disturbing. He'd seen just about everyone in the building come unglued at one point or another. Sara and Catherine. Warrick and Nick. Sara and Nick. But he'd never heard Greg raise his voice, unless he'd been singing along with what he termed 'music'.

"We were just discussing the case," Sara tried to cover.

She hadn't meant to be so confrontational and she knew she might have just pushed to hard. Greg wasn't himself lately and more then anything he probably just needed a friend. She wasn't very good at that sort of thing but it wasn't too late to try.

Grissom didn't look convinced but before he could speak the sound of a cell phone cut him off.

Greg looked a bit surprised to find it was his, checked the ID screen and excused himself as best he could. Sara and Grissom both looked a bit taken back that he just walked away from them, but they didn't stop him and they didn't follow.

"Greg Sanders," he said into the phone as he stepped as far down the hallway as he dared. He wasn't trying to avoid the altercation, but this was important. He just wanted to be out of listening range.

Sara and Grissom both watched as Greg nervously bounced from one foot to the next only twenty feet away, head down and only occasionally looking up at either of them. Blame the bad connection inside the building but Greg, despite lowering his voice, was still speaking loud enough for both of them to catch what he was saying.

"No, it's no problem. I work nights."

Sara turned away. She felt like she was eavesdropping. Grissom did not. He was too worried not to listen.

"Okay, so what does that mean?"

Another long pause in which Greg continued to do a few turns before leaning back into the wall.

"What time?" he asked into the phone, momentarily looking up and catching Grissom's eye. "No, that's fine."

Greg turned his back completely from the both of them now and in a much lower voice that Grissom just barely caught asked "When will the results be back?"

Sara turned back round as she heard Greg coming back towards them both. His face was set in an unreadable expression that didn't look natural on him.

"I'm sorry about that," he said to them both, "And I'm sorry I yelled."

"No, it's nothing. Its fine," Sara answered in return. She'd forgotten what they'd been yelling about in the first place.

"Do you think I could take the rest of the night off?" Greg asked Grissom, not really looking so much at him but at Grissom's feet.

"Sure," he answered with a slight nod.

"Thanks," was the only reply he got as he turned and headed to pick up his things. Greg hated asking favors, hated that he knew Grissom had heard most of what he'd said and he hated the fact that both of them were now scrutinizing him like he was a piece of evidence. Grissom would be trying to put two and two together now, if he hadn't already been trying before.

But work didn't seem that important right now.