An: I own nothing.. Right… you know that. Making no money here.
Greg sighed and rubbed his temples, she had a point; he shouldn't have lost his sense of humor. But the fun loving, joke making, strange shirt wearing, wanting to impress his boss Greg, was lost when the lab exploded. Now he is the slightly claustrophobic, paranoid, and still wanting to impress his boss Greg.
Sofia had a point and he hated the fact that she was right. He was starting to obsess with the case. He wanted to know why Grissom sent him to the burn unit, he knew that Greg wasn't comfortable doing it, still a bit touchy after the explosion 2 years ago, scars are still there and so is the idea it might happen again. Greg stood and opened his locker. Grissom was testing him still. He screwed up royally on his first final proficiency. Then again on the Sherlock case, he still didn't know why Grissom passed him.
Greg slammed his locker shut and left the locker room, leaving the lab to go home to get a few hours of fitful 'sleep'. He got into his car and drove home. He parked, walked up to his door unlocked it and went in. He closed his eyes and leaned against the closed locked door, sleep really did sound good at the moment. He needed a few hours to recharge then he would go back and be at it again. He walked to his bedroom and collapsed on his bed. He wanted to let his emotions to die away. To be like Grissom, unemotional, it would come in handy for cases like this; the cases that would trigger his fears, his memories, and his pain.
He kicked off his shoes and stared at his ceiling. Fire still scared him, it probably always will. He had to get out of the lab, Archie understood why, Jacqui understood, hell, even Hodges understood why. He'd make excuses to leave while tests were running, come back in a safe amount of time. He still hated Hodges though, probably always will. He falls asleep with the thought of killing Hodges and hiding the body and conning Ecklie into bringing the team back together.
He dreamed his normal dreams, showing up to work naked, seeing his mother smiling at him on his graduation day. Then the nightmares began: the pain in his back, the heat, the smell. He'll never forget that day. He's now awake, still staring at his ceiling; he looks over at his alarm clock. It took him an hour get to his nightmare.
He got up and walked into his bathroom. Stripping his shirt off, he looked in the mirror. He appeared normal enough, he was on the skinny side but he can work out and make that go away. Turning his head he looked at the right side of his neck, one small scar going into his hair line, still he looks normal. He turned and walked back into his bedroom. He had always liked the three sided mirror, his mother gave it to him when he moved to Vegas. He turned so he could see his back in one of the mirrors. Small scars all over his right shoulder blade, from turning away from the hood, the glass fragments mostly. He still had some scarred tissue from the burns. That brings his mind back to Tara Matthews.
He wishes that she will not feel the pain. He would never know what it would be like for her, but he felt in his heart that he could relate. He went to his closet and pulled out an old shirt, wild pattern and put it on. He looked in the mirror and smiled as he buttoned it.
He would talk to Grissom about his problems later. He felt motivated to figure out what happened to Tara, he felt he could call her by her first name now. He sat down on his bed and put his shoes back on. Walking down the hall he grabbed his keys and left his apartment. He smiled and got into his car. He decided that he could salvage the rest of his day, if Grissom hadn't gotten mad at him for not talking to him about his feelings, he might help Mia with backlog. He smiled. He liked that plan.