Privacy by SLynn

Disclaimer: It's all mine, because yeah, this is what I'd do with my free time if I actually owned these characters.

Chapter 9: Too Little Too Late

After finally getting to sleep Greg had his first nightmare about the incident. He woke up positive someone was in the house. It was just after noon and he checked every room in the house. He was rechecking their closet when Sara woke up.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing," he answered shutting the door but not coming any closer.

He was a mess. Sara wouldn't have believed he'd slept at all if she hadn't seen him doze off with her own eyes.

"Come back to bed," she called over to him, moving back the covers and sliding over.

Greg did so but was hesitant. He didn't think he'd be able to sleep. Sara had tried, had really tried to talk him out of some of his guilt but hadn't been able too. Not yet at least.

Sara pulled him to her the moment he climbed in beside her. Wrapped her arms around him so tight, so secure and kissed him once on the forehead. She could feel his body relax some, the tension lifting.

"Do you think I'm going to hell?" he asked softly.

She was a bit surprised by it. The suddenness the question. The randomness.

"I guess I'd have to believe in hell first," she returned.

"You don't?" he asked again, his voice sounding a bit closer to normal.

"I don't know what I believe."

He seemed satisfied with that answer.

"But," she continued, "I believe in good and evil. Right and wrong. In peoples capacity for both. You're a good person Greg."

"Sara…"

"No," she cut him off, "you are. You're kind. You're always concerned for others feelings. You make people smile. You stick up for your friends."

Greg said nothing, just traced circles on her stomach with his index finger as she talked. It was soothing to hear her talk.

"You forgive people for their mistakes."

"I recycle."

"Yes, there's that," she said with a laugh. "The point is you're not a bad person. If there is a hell you are not going to it. This one thing does not make you a bad person. You were protecting yourself. You were protecting me."

"I just can't see it like that."

Sara nodded, understanding in part. She'd never killed anyone. She'd fired her gun before, shot someone once, but never killed.

"I wish I could make you."

"Me too."

Sara smiled sadly and pulled him closer.

They'd fallen asleep like that, him leaning onto her and draped in each others arms. Sara woke up first this time, three hours later. She'd called Grissom and told him they wouldn't be in. He hadn't asked any questions but she figured he knew enough to guess the reasons.

Greg got up a half an hour later. He silently made his way into the kitchen and got himself a glass of water before joining Sara at the table where she'd been having coffee. He still looked bad.

"I'm not sure it's the son anymore," Greg said after taking his first drink of water.

It took her a second to catch up with him.

"So the sister?"

"Well, she was there that day but we can't prove she'd touched the dressing. And she didn't have anything to gain. She was trying to reconcile, get back in good with them. Angela Thomas was not in the will."

"Which brings us back to the son," Sara concluded. She wasn't sure why Greg was talking about this now, but he seemed better for doing so.

"Yeah, but no. That's a lot of people to kill just to get even with daddy."

"Who else is there?" she asked.

"Well, the nanny Danielle Carson. She might have been holding a grudge. Long hours, little pay. It gets to you after awhile."

"Has she been interviewed?"

"Once. I think Warrick wants to bring her back again. She gave the daughter over to Shania Warner's mother two days ago, but she's still around. I was thinking we could go in early; see if we have anything new. Maybe go back to the crime scene."

"I called us in for the night," Sara said not quite believing he was ready yet.

"Why? I'm okay."

Sara just looked at him with disbelief.

"I'll be okay," he amended. "I can't just stop doing my job."

That night Grissom was not happy to see them, either of them. Sara tried to pull him aside and explain, but he wasn't having it. He'd been glad she'd called in, thought Greg needed at least the night off. Time to pull himself together, time which he still looked to be needing. When it became clear that Greg was really putting in an effort to get over it, he relented. If Greg wanted to be at work maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

Whatever interviews Greg or Warrick had wanted to conduct would have to wait. They had two fresh crime scenes to get to that night. Warrick and Sara would be taking a suspicious death at Caesar's while Nick and Greg were looking into what looked like a murder-suicide.

Before Nick could even ask Greg told him not too.

"Let's just pick something else, okay? I'm all talked out on it right now."

Nick nodded but couldn't think of anything else to say.

"How was your date?" Greg asked after a moment's silence.

"Amy's sister," Nick mumbled under his breath, shaking his head as he did so.

"She didn't seem that bad," Greg said with a laugh.

Nick cast a disbelieving look his way.

"Okay so she was kind of rude. But a lot of people thought Amy was too and it was just shyness."

"I never thought Amy was rude. Neither did you."

"Yeah but Warrick, Catherine and Sara all did. So did Archie, Bobby and Jacqui. It's you and me against the lab on that one."

"But they don't think that now."

"Because it isn't true and they know her now. Plus she's comfortable, it's a big adjustment. Don't get defensive, I like Amy. I'm not trying to take a stab at her. I'm just saying that you should keep that in mind when you're dealing with her sister. And her family. Not everyone has your knack to feel at home in any situation."

Nick nodded his head.

"When did you get so damn smart about these things?" Nick asked him after a moment.

"I've always been smart you just never listened to me before."

Nick pulled the SUV up to the scene. They didn't speak any more just gathered up their gear in silence before heading to the detective on duty, Diane Ortega. She was new but didn't waste time with formalities. After getting the details they headed into the house.

"Wasn't expecting this," Nick said flatly upon finding three bodies instead of the two they'd assumed.

"So," Greg said after they looked the scene over, "I'm thinking she comes home early, catches them in bed, freaks out gets the gun. Bang, bang. Freaks out some more and kills herself in the bathroom."

"Looks about right to me," Nick said, starting to take pictures now.

"Neighbors found them," the new detective said from the door, "Marsha and David Jones."

"So that is?" Nick said indicating the third body.

"Daniel Bishop," Greg supplied having dug the identification out of his wallet.

"Can't say I wouldn't react the same way," Detective Ortega said from the door.

"So catching your husband in bed with another man is enough reason to kill him?" Nick asked her skeptically.

"First off, I'm not married," she said with a small smile, "and second it wouldn't have to be a man. I'd probably be just as enraged if it was a woman."

Greg said nothing, just went to the bathroom to get a better look at Marsha Jones. He didn't like all this talk of killing. Doing his job was one thing, moralizing was another. He couldn't do it right now.

He took a few pictures of the body, before leaning in closer for a better look. There was no exit wound which was unusual considering. No blood splatter either. Without moving her, Greg leaned in closer to see if maybe it was just out of sight. When he did he heard something, something he shouldn't be hearing. Greg grabber her wrist and felt it, noticed now that it was twitching slightly.

"Get an ambulance now," he yelled out to the next room, "she's still breathing."

"What?" Nick said racing over and peering into the door.

"She's still breathing," Greg repeated not sure what he should do with her.

Detective Ortega was already on her radio phoning it in. As she finished David came into the room.

"What's going on?" he asked looking at Nick.

"David didn't pronounce them yet?" he asked Ortega, completely ignoring David's question.

"They were obviously dead," she countered growing defensive.

"Obviously not," Nick returned not bothering to mask the irritation in his voice.

"What am I supposed to do in here?" Greg called out, his voice slightly panicked. They could fight about it later.

David joined him in a heartbeat.

"Help me lay her down," David said pulling on his own gloves.

Greg didn't argue. Normally he wouldn't touch a body at a scene, major no-no, but she wasn't a body yet. Right now she was still alive.

"Looks like she missed," David said looking at the temple wound.

"How?" Greg asked.

"Happens a lot. She probably didn't hold it right up to her head. Gun might have malfunctioned. Fired at half velocity, there's no telling right now but the bullet is still in her."

Greg watched David work, doing the little he could to stop the blood flow and lower her blood pressure. Nick was still having words with the detective in the next room. He wished they'd knock it off already, but understood Nick's anger. They'd trampled all over protocol thanks to her. They shouldn't have set foot in the place until the victims had all been pronounced but had never been told that they hadn't.

Then there was the fact that he was now actively helping to destroy a crime scene but there was no helping that.

"You okay?" David asked seeing Greg looking a little green.

"I'm not use to them being alive," he admitted, "it's almost easier the other way."

"Tell me about it."