Happy Enough by SLynn

Disclaimer: Any character you recognize, not mine.

Notes: Thanks to come in the next chapter, but I wanted to warn you up front. Here there be rough waters. Tread lightly. I'm glad everyone likes the mix of humor and sadness, but the next two chapters have virtually no laughs that I can recall. I can only say that it will get better. Just not soon. Thanks again!

Chapter 16: Truth and Consequences

His head felt like it had been used as a war drum.

Hearing the phone ring, still dark out, he got up and fumbled round his room until locating the offender. Squinting at the clock, half-past four, he thought maybe Amy was having another crisis in the lab. It would be the only reason to call.

"Greg Sanders," he mumbled, sitting back onto the bed and rubbing his eyes.

Trying to wake up enough to speak coherently, nothing Hodges said was making any sense.

"No. I don't know. You must have misdialed."

Greg tried to adjust to the little light there was in the room.

"Well, the list is alphabetical. Sanders and Sidle are close if I'm remembering how that works," he said growing weary. Why couldn't Hodges just admit he'd called the wrong number?

"Are you on crack or what? Why would I have Sara's…" Greg's voice trailed off as it came back to him. Turning to look, sure enough, there was Sara asleep in bed beside him.

"What?" He'd forgotten he was having a conversation. "No. You dialed wrong. Try again."

Greg hung up the phone and put it back on the dresser where he'd found it.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, rubbing his hands over his head.

Not two seconds later Sara's phone came to life again.

Picking it back up he walked around the bed and sat down at Sara's side.

"Sara," he said in a loud whisper.

"What? What is it?" she asked, sitting up rubbing his arm.

He handed her the phone. He didn't bother to explain what had just happened, it would take to long.

"Sidle," she said into it, sitting up further and pushing away a bit.

Greg took it as a hint and stood up, pacing the room.

"Hasn't rang all night, what've you got for me?"

Even in the darkness Greg could see the look she'd given him.

"Huh. Match? Good. Hold on to it, I'll be in soon."

Sara hung up the phone and said nothing.

"I'm sorry," Greg offered. "It was dark and I thought it was mine."

He turned round as she got up, not wanting to stare and feeling completely out of place.

"No worries," she said, her voice a bit sharper then he'd been use to hearing. "I've got to go. He just got a match in CODIS on that case from last week with the transvestite."

Greg followed her out of the bedroom towards the front door.

"Are we going to talk about this?" he asked, as she put on her jacket and searched for her keys.

"Can't right now," Sara answered, avoiding his eyes. "I've got to get in to the lab."

He nodded curtly, biting his lips to hold his tongue.

"I'll see you tonight," she said.

"Yep," he called back as she smiled once and left.

If he'd felt alone before, it was nothing like the feeling he know experienced.

Greg had done his best to get through the day, but it hadn't been easy. He'd gotten very little sleep or rest, a result of his only feeling slightly better when he was in motion. That afternoon he'd gone in for his second bone marrow test since beginning treatment and Dr. Tracey had not looked happy at his appearance. She'd expected the shaved head, most patients chose to do that once hair loss began, but he seemed off to her. After promising her repeatedly that he'd go straight home and to bed, he instead went to the lab.

He hadn't gone there to work.

He was much later then he'd planned on, completely missing the staff meeting. Not that he was sorry for it, he wasn't looking forward to everyone's second opinion on his new look. Greg needed to talk to Sara.

Trying the break room first, he'd almost gone inside when he'd heard something that stopped him dead in his tracks.

"That's not what I heard," he could make out as Nick's voice. "I heard that you spent the night."

"Well, you heard wrong. Nothing is happening between Greg and me."

Sara.

"He's a good guy," Warrick was saying now. "He's always had a thing for you, what's wrong with him?"

Greg wasn't sure he wanted to hear anymore of this but couldn't turn away.

"I'm not discussing this with you two, drop it. I don't know where you even get this stuff in the first place. Greg's a flirt. He's always been a flirt. I humor him, that's it."

He couldn't listen to this. Not after last night. Greg turned so quickly he hadn't seen Catherine there, nearly toppling her over in his haste.

"Greg, what's the hurry?" she asked with a good natured laugh.

Judging from the suspicious lack of voices now coming from the break room, they'd heard Catherine.

Greg shook her off and briskly walked down the hall.

Behind him he heard Catherine asking one of them what had happened, but didn't even try to listen for an answer. He just left.

A few hours later and she showed up at his place.

"I'm not drinking tonight," Greg said not bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice as he opened the door.

"I've come to talk."

"There's no need. I've heard enough."

"Can I at least come inside?" she asked.

Greg seriously thought about telling her no. He didn't want her here and he didn't need her. Instead, he just walked away himself, leaving the door open for her to follow.

"When do you get your results back from the bone marrow test?" she asked, standing uneasily just inside the doorway.

"Next week."

Greg sat himself down in his only armchair, faced slightly away from where she presently stood. Not willing to quit she sat as near as she could to him on the couch.

"Why are you here?"

"You know why I'm here," she fired back.

"Humor me."

Sara couldn't look him in the eyes after that. She had to make this right somehow.

"You weren't supposed to hear that back at the office."

"Why not? At least now I know the truth, right? Only thing that matters."

"That wasn't the truth. That was what I had to say."

"Why?" he asked, turning to her, really leaning in to get a good look at her face.

"For starters, think how it would look. I couldn't just say that I'd spent the night here Greg, they'd never understand that."

"I don't believe that. You just didn't want too. Who cares how it looks."

She shook her head in frustration. This wasn't going exactly like she'd planned, but then again she hadn't planned any part of last night either.

"You should, I do."

He stared at her in disbelief.

"Think. I'm your trainer. I write reports on you and your progress. What would that look like? What could that do to both of our careers?"

Greg leaned back, knowing she was right, but caring very little about those things.

"You could have told them though," he said after a few minutes silence. "I can only imagine what Hodges has been saying, but you could have told Nick and Warrick the truth."

Sara didn't know where he was going with this. His voice sounded odd and detached. It wasn't the Greg she'd grown use to hearing.

"Nothing happened," he finished.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. Sara nodded and looked down at her hands. It was sinking in now how deep she'd hurt him.

"How could it?" he asked.