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 17: Conversations

Greg went straight to Nick's house that morning. He and Sara had only spoken in half sentences the rest of the night as needed. They were meeting that day at three to talk with the Carson's about their daughter, but that was it. He'd only told two people before her that he was sterile. One was Dr. Jennings and the other was his college girlfriend Erika who had dumped him not long after that talk. And now Sara knew and Greg had no idea what she was thinking about and didn't think he could stand too know.

Thankful that Nick was also in a quiet mood, he just went straight to bed. Nick hadn't talked much since Monday night and Greg had been glad, but it was odd. He'd spent most of Monday trying to figure out what was wrong between Sara and him, and now Nick didn't seem to want to talk about anything. Greg made a mental note to ask him about it later, but much later. He didn't know how good he'd be with other people's problems considering how little luck he had with his own.

Greg went to bed but he couldn't sleep. He'd only slept Monday because he was so drained. Yesterday he'd gotten a few hours but today was different. Now he had nothing but time to mull it all over. And he did until it was almost time to get going. Greg dragged himself to the shower and got dressed on auto pilot. He was dreading seeing Sara again so soon but that couldn't be avoided. He was convinced that he'd know how she felt by what she'd say to him.

Dressing as conservatively as he could he got down to the station half an hour early. Sara was there already. They waited together in Brass' office in silence until the Carson's arrived each reviewing their notes.

They didn't have long to wait, Brass arrived earlier then expected with James and Tammy Carson. They were still distraught over their daughter's death and had many questions for the three of them.

Sara was glad to see that Greg was holding his own, more then that even. He answered everything easily enough, interjected only when he had to and was proving to be very personable something she never really got a grasp on. Most importantly, the Carson's seemed to like him the best. It was easy enough for her and Jim to see that he was going to get the most information out of them then either of them so they both backed off almost forcing him to do most of the talking. Greg either didn't notice it or didn't mind.

Finally they got around to asking their questions. This was going to be tricky. They didn't want to upset them by making them think their daughter was a murder suspect, but she was. She'd written that she was the one to poison the Warner party, but there was more to it then that.

"Did your daughter ever say that she wasn't happy working for the Warner's?" Greg asked to both of them.

"She'd had some problems with Mrs. Warner," Tammy Carson admitted, "said that she had her doing things outside of her job. Running errands, making meals, nothing too bad but it did bother Danielle. They'd just worked it out a few weeks ago. Mr. Warner even gave her a raise."

"Danielle was happy then?"

"Very," she went on. "she loved it there. She was always talking about how great Allyson was. Called her gifted. Danielle loved children."

"Is that why she wanted to be a nanny?" Greg continued to ask.

The Carson's looked to each other for a moment before James Carson spoke.

"No. Danielle had a tough time at college, needed a break. She was taking a few years off and wanted to get away so she took the job. She was studying to be a pediatrician."

"Did she have any special friends that you knew of here?" Sara asked now.

"No one she spoke of in particular," Mrs. Carson answered. "She was very busy with Allyson, practically worked twenty-four hours a day."

"We found this in her room," Greg said taking out the photo of Danielle with the unknown man, "Do you have any idea who it might be with her?"

They took the picture and passed it once between the two of them.

"No," Mr. Carson said handing it back, "Sorry, I don't know who that is."

"Did she mention anyone named Bobby to you?" he tried instead.

"Not that I recall," James Carson answered but his wife hesitated.

"I think there was a Bob that worked for the Warner's," Tammy Carson supplied. "Part time, maybe as a gardener. I know Danielle mentioned him a few times."

After that there hadn't been much more to say. They all thanked them for their time and assured them they would get the answers needed. It wasn't much but it was more then they had before. Brass escorted them out of the building leaving Greg and Sara alone once more.

"You did good," Sara said as they both put away their things.

"Thanks."

Done now, they had nothing else to do but stand and stare at one another. Greg couldn't tell what she was thinking, couldn't even guess. Neither could Sara.

"Why don't you come back to the house with me," Sara tried. "We've got some time before shift starts. We can talk, maybe have some dinner."

"I don't know," he began looking down at his feet. He didn't want another fight.

"Please Greg, just come home."

That did it. He looked up at her and smiled a bit. Relieved even. She still thought of it as home. That couldn't be all bad.

"Okay," Greg said with a nod.

Sara smiled back, also relieved. They could work through this. They had too.

Amy went straight from a late lunch with her parents to Nick's place. She was irritated and needed to see him. To see a friendly face would be nice right about now, especially his. Thinking he'd be asleep, it was still early in the day, she used his hidden key to let herself in.

"Sorry," she said finding him on the couch instead, "I didn't think you'd be up."

"Couldn't sleep," he answered.

"Bad night?" she asked joining him on the couch.

"Not really, just a lot of things on my mind," he answered again before really taking a look at her, "What's wrong?"

"Everything. I finally figured out why my parents are here."

Nick said nothing. He already knew.

"They want me to move back with them," Amy continued, too irritated to notice his silence. "They expect me to take some job they've lined up and just leave. Can you believe that?"

"What's the job?" he asked, knowing that too.

"It's with Stanford Medical doing research on drug therapy."

Nick didn't comment on it so again Amy continued.

"I mean, it is a good job. It's actually more like what I wanted to do when I graduated and it pays well, but still."

"You don't want to do medical research anymore?" he asked her, sounding almost hopeful.

"I don't know, I haven't thought about it in awhile. I know they're only trying to help but I wish they'd stop interfering."

"They just want what's best for you."

Amy stopped and looked at him. Something wasn't right here.

"I'm old enough to decide that for myself."

"I know you are," Nick agreed, "but have you even considered it? It sounds like a really good opportunity. It would give you the chance to lead. You shouldn't just rule it out automatically because your parents found it first."

"Okay," she began becoming annoyed, "first off, I do lead. If you haven't noticed before, I'm in charge in my lab. I have to figure things out for myself, do things for myself. I don't have anyone there to help me with that."

"Amy I didn't mean it like that."

"Well how did you mean it?" she questioned, but continued on before he could answer. "And how do you know so much about this new job? They talked to you about it first didn't they?"

Nick just looked down. He couldn't lie to her.

"I can't believe this," Amy said standing up, "you know why I didn't want you to meet them? This is why. My mother, it was my mother wasn't it? She told you what she thought would be best for me and you agreed."

"It's not like that," he tried, standing as well and coming over to her.

Amy just stepped back.

"No, it is. It always is."

"All I'm trying to say is that you should at least consider it."

"I don't need to consider it," she shot back. "I like what I do now. I'm happy here. You know, I don't know if I'll always want to work in the crime lab, but right now I do. It's challenging."

"But isn't this chance that you wanted?"

"Maybe once, but it isn't now. I'm twenty-three; I don't know what I want exactly out of life. Or if I did, I'm not so sure anymore."

They both stood silent for a moment. Amy to angry to speak and Nick not sure what to do.

"I'm going," Amy said finally, "If I stay here any longer I'm going to really say something I'll regret."

"Amy please," Nick said taking hold of her arm, "I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I just don't want you to pass up something that could be big for you."

He didn't have to finish with 'because of me'; she could read it in his eyes. Amy just gave him a weak smile and headed for the door. She made it two blocks down the road before she had to pull over. She could no longer see the road she'd begun crying so hard.

It was a first for her. Each time she'd introduced her parents to a guy she was seeing they'd end up talking her out of him, out of the relationship. They'd lecture her about her responsibilities, about her plans and about distractions. She'd always given in before but this time she thought it would be different. And it had been.

This time they'd talked him out of her.

Greg and Sara had a very quiet afternoon. They hadn't spoken much, but the silence wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been. They talked about little things when they did talk but none of it was about them. Mostly they talked about the Warner case and how they could get a list of their employees and such.

Finally, after preparing dinner together and sitting down to eat, Sara broached the subject.

"You could have told me before," she said. It wasn't mean or accusing, just truthful.

"I wanted too, I just didn't know how."

Sara nodded.

"Are you mad?" he asked because he really couldn't tell.

"I am that you didn't tell me, but not about anything else."

Greg didn't think he believed it and Sara saw that.

"Okay, put yourself in my position," she tried, "if I couldn't carry a child would you be mad at me?"

"No, of course not."

"What if I didn't tell you that?"

Greg saw her point.

"So I am kind of a jerk."

"No, you're not," she said smiling now, "I just don't understand why you didn't just tell me sooner. You could have saved us a both some sleepless nights."

"It isn't easy. I've only told one other person besides you and Dr. Jennings, and that didn't go very well."

"Who was she?" Sara asked, knowing that had to be the case.

"An old girlfriend," he said feeling himself blush and not able to control it. "She was, wow, how do I say all this?"

He laughed nervously and Sara just smiled at him and tried to be patient.

"We met at Berkley. Erika was my first real girlfriend. She was my first lot of things."

"I don't need the details," Sara said somewhat seriously.

"Good," Greg said letting out a breath.

"But you told her and what?"

"She left me."

Sara understood. They first person he'd trusted with that information had thrown him off. It made more sense now.

"I'm better off," he continued, meaning it. "I'd of never come here if we hadn't broken up. I'm glad that happened."

"Me too."

Greg smiled at her and took her hand.

"So you up to seeing Dr. Jennings with me tomorrow?" he asked.

Sara nodded and returned his smile. They'd be alright.