Chapter 5 by Shacky

Greg woke up promptly at 8AM the next morning. He grinned when he heard Nick was still snoring away on the floor. At least he was getting some good rest Greg thought and felt relieved. He quickly got up and put his plan into motion calling Catherine. When the supervisor heard his idea, she was more than willing to do her small part to help put it in action.

After a quick shower, he didn't want Nick to wake up alone, he hopped back into the kitchen. He tried to scrounge something up for a quick breakfast before their little adventure, when he heard the soft knock on the door.

Greg walked over and opened the door quietly, not wanting to disturb his sleeping man, who was sprawled out on the floor.

"Hey Catherine, thanks for pulling this together on such short notice."

"No problem Greg, anything I can do to help, ...uh... why is Nick sleeping on the floor out there?" Catherine gave Greg a questioning look, but Greg thought he would keep their late night incident to themselves.

"Oh Nick, was having a hard time relaxing in his bed so we had a sleepover and played games until he finally just conked out. He looks so relaxed out here I dared not try to wake him or move him."

"He does look a little better, how was the first night home?" She asked, genuinely concerned.

"Um, it went good. I got him to eat some dinner, then we played some PS2 until he finally fell asleep. I felt better where I could see him." Greg was being half truthful, because he could rest better when he could see Nick, but Catherine didn't need to know Nick was afraid to be alone in his room. That would stay between the two friends.

"So, what are these big plans for the day with this?" Catherine asked, as she handed over the special order Greg put in an hour ago.

"I thought that it might do Nick some good to get out of here for a couple of hours today, if he feels up to it. I thought we'd drive up to Lake Mead, take in some fresh air, open space, have a picnic lunch. Thanks so much for bringing this stuff over. I really didn't want to leave him alone." Greg said, as he looked back over at his friend.

"That's understandable, and anything else I can do to help, you let me know. Oh, and I put in a bottle of bug spray since you guys will be outside. Nothing to spray directly on Nick, that could aggravate the skin, but something to put around the ground and the blanket. It supposedly blocks anything from getting in."

"Thanks Cath, I never even thought about that for some reason. Gosh, why didn't I?" He chastised himself.

"Hey Greg, don't worry about it, it's not something we usually think about, but I figured better safe than sorry now."

"Thanks again, and Warrick's coming over tonight to stay with him, he really needed to get some rest, he looked beat." Greg said, fishing for a little info on his other friend.

"Yeah, he was pretty tired after all those days at the hospital, thanks for staying with Nick last night. I don't think Warrick was up to it yet."

"Hey, I'm his friend too, and I want to help, so anything I can do, just let me know, okay?" Greg walked over and gave Catherine a quick hug.

"He's good, we're all good. Now we just need to get Nick all healed up and help him now."

"I know, doesn't make it any easier knowing when almost. . ." then Catherine stopped herself, knowing this was exactly the point Greg was getting across to her.

"I need to get home. You two have a good time today, but don't let him overdue it." Catherine still handed out the orders like the supervisor she was.

"Yes Mom, and I'll have him home before bedtime." Greg teased back and Catherine smiled that grin that Greg hadn't seen since before this whole nightmare started.

"Have a safe drive and I'll see you two soon. Bye." She gave Greg a quick kiss on the cheek and was gone just as quickly as she came.

Just as the door shut Greg heard grumbling coming from the floor where Nick was starting to wake up.

"Was that Catherine I just heard?" Nick asked through a sleep thick voice.

"Yeah, I asked her to drop something off for me. How did you sleep?"

"Well, I feel better. Like I actually got some rest if that's what you mean. I must admit those pills did help." Nick really hated giving into that fact, but it was true.

"Just remember they're only temporary, so what do you want for breakfast? How does some scrambled eggs and toast sound? Then I have a special surprise for you."

Greg was beaming, so Nick knew he had something planned. "Sounds pretty good. Are you gonna tell me the second half of the or do I have to guess?"

"Oh I'll tell you after you shower, go on, I'll make breakfast, and not one joke about my cooking abilities mister or no butter on your toast. So go clean up, and it'll be ready when you get back." Greg quickly put the basket full of sandwiches and pop in the refrigerator to keep them chilled until they left.

"Ok, give me ten and I'll be back." Nick got up a bit unsteady at first and shuffled his way towards the bathroom and his shower.

When Nick came back to the kitchen he could smell his breakfast cooking.

"Do I still need to guess or are you going to tell me what Catherine was doing here?" Nick questioned.

Greg looked up at Nick, and handed him his medication for the morning to take with his breakfast.

"No back talk about the medicine, just the essentials this morning." Nick looked at he pills with only mild distain but picked them up and took them anyway.

"I just thought you might like to get out of the house for awhile today. Nothing too stressful, just a little drive, a little water, a picnic lunch, how does that sound?" Greg asked, hoping his gesture wouldn't be for not.

"Really? Where to man?" Nick's curiosity was definitely piqued now.

Greg braced himself against the kitchen counter and looked up with a serious expression.

"There's this little spot up at Lake Mead I used go to and sometimes still do when I want to get outta my head. Remember what's good with the world, or just kind of think, you know? I uh ...I used to go there quite a bit after the, you know, after the explosion. I uh ...didn't know if I would ever be able to come back. I used to drive up there and just think and sit. I'd stare at the water, and sometimes it really helped. I though maybe I could take you up there today and just kind of relax. We could get some fresh air."

Nick just looked up at him, a little stunned for a moment. Greg never ever talked about the time after the explosion and he had no idea Greg thought about never coming back. The place where Greg Sanders went to clear his head must be a special place.

"That sounds like a great idea G, I think I could use a little fresh air."

"Great." Greg looked up genuinely surprised and happy at Nick's agreement to go. "Great man, I had Catherine drop by some sandwiches and soda and stuff in case you said yes. So whenever we get done hear with breakfast and cleaned up, we can head on out of here." Greg seemed enthused about their adventure.

An hour later after the dishes were picked up and put away, the SUV was packed up with a few things they might need. The two were on there way for a day of sun and relaxation.

Greg drove and headed South on Highway 582 towards Henderson, and then turned East onto Highway 564. Within an hour, they were pulling into Greg's spot, right around the Las Vegas Bay Area of the Lake. It was on the Western

Side of the Lake, not too far from Vegas itself. Nick had to admit that Greg had found quite a beautiful peaceful spot. Away from most of the tourists and boats, and people in general. Plus it had a spectacular view of the Lake, as far as the eye could see was blue water, and Nick breathed in the fresh air like his life depended on it.

"Go ahead and find a spot to sit," Greg yelled over to Nick. "Just let me grab these couple things, and I'll be right over."

The young CSI grabbed a blanket for them to sit on, the picnic basket that Cath had packed and the cooler for their drinks. Then he went to join his friend under a nice shade tree he had picked out that stared out right over the water.He brought over the bottle of bug spray and held it up and started spraying around the blanket. At the strange look from Nick, Greg tried to explain.

"Hey, better safe than sorry, man. I don't even want a knat coming within 25 feet of you. Speaking of, did you grab that epi-pen the doctor gave you just in case?" Greg forgot to check before they left the house to see if Nick had grabbed it. Like he said, he didn't want to take any chances at all with being outside.

"Yes Dad, it's right here." Nick grabbed it out of his pants pocket and showed Greg, who was giving him his best insulted look.

"Just trying to look out for you man, can't be too careful right now." He was serious though, he didn't want to think what another bug bite of any kind could do to Nick right now.

Greg grabbed a bottle of iced tea and handed one to Nick and then grabbed one for himself.

"I thought it might be a good idea to get out in the open for awhile. I used to come out here quite a bit, after, uh, you know, "BANG'!" Greg made a wild gesture with his hands, even to this day he didn't like to use the word explosion.

"You know I almost didn't come back to the lab." Greg said quietly, admitting a secret he hadn't shared with anyone before.

"No, G, I didn't know that. Did you tell anyone else?"

"No, I had to think it out for myself I decided. I was so scared, I mean literally scared to be in the lab for a while. I always doubled checked everything for the longest time. I began to second-guess everything I was doing in the lab, my ability to do my job, my ability to be part of the team. " Greg was speaking from the heart, and Nick understood that he was trying to get something across to him.

"But then I would come out here, and if I got off work at just the right time. I could get here just right when the sun would come up over the water. I loved my job, I loved what I did, and I loved working with you all. I realized that there was no way I couldn't come back, because that wasn't me. I wasn't going to be scared off by an accident." The memories took him back to a place that Greg didn't like being, but he thought it would help Nick understand he wasn't alone.

"You know Greg, I never knew you didn't consider coming back. I'm glad you decided to stay, it wouldn't have been the same without you." Nick was sincere, it was like watching his little brother graduate from college.

"Well of course it wouldn't have, I'm the life of every party." Greg laughed.

"Of course, how could I ever forget that." The smile on Nick's face felt good.

"Then sometimes when it got hard, when I thought maybe I made the wrong decision. I would come back out here. The time I failed my first proficiency I came out here and spent hours just thinking "What the hell have I done? Why did I think I could ever leave my 'Lab'?"

"You should be proud Greggo, you made it happen, all by yourself. You're a real CSI now, and still a hell of a Lab Tech. That's a lethal combination in a courtroom."

Greg chuckled at that comment, he had been told that several times. "I just hope that you don't let what happened to you destroy you like it almost did me. We were so scared Nick, I don't think you understand that part, you couldn't. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for you, and if you need to talk." He grinned and handed his friend a sandwich.

Nick grabbed the sandwich, although he wasn't real hungry. He looked over at his friend and thought maybe he was right.

"Greg, I can't tell you how many times I thought ..."

Nick visibility shuddered at the memories and couldn't bring himself to contiune. Not yet.

Greg thought that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."Hey, we don't have to talk about it. Just know if you need to, or when you are ready, you have lots of people ready and willing to listen. You will probably be sick of us all by within the next couple of weeks."

"I really don't think so," Nick grudgingly admitted. " I don't want to be alone... doesn't that sounds crazy?" Nick looked away for a second, but forced himself to continue. "I need to be reminded I'm not alone, and I like hearing the noise, voices..."

Nick's voice grew quieter. This was difficult and his old habits of bottling everything up kicked back in.

"You won't have to worry about that." Greg knew everyone had their shift with Nick until he kicked them out. They figured he would know when he was ready for his privacy back.

Nick sat on the ground, and allowed his lungs to fill with fresh, crisp air. He never knew if he'd feel this alive again after his whole ordeal and even though he sensed that Greg needed to talk about things, he just wasn't up for it. Everything was too ...fresh and raw.

Talking, people always thought discussing things were a way to heal wounds...it just was never his way. Move on. He wanted to forget, and re-hashing his experiences inside the box wasn't going to help him now. If he just concentrated hard enough, then he would start to salvage parts of his personality back. He looked over at Greg and knew the kid needed this as much as he did. He smiled slightly, the younger man was really trying.

"I made it out Greg. Everything's going to be fine. I mean, look? I'm out at the Lake sharing a sandwich with you and I'm going to heal, it will just take a while." Nick knew he wouldn't heal overnight, but he was feeling a better that he was out of the hospital and with his friends again.

The Texan swallowed, it still seemed like his friend had some reservations. Of course freaking out last night was bound to give the kid doubts. "I'm sorry about last night. It's...well, I just kept seeing that damn light in the darkness. It was so freakin' bright, and it was so stifling in there...I...just... ..couldn't stand it being on all the time."

Nick took a shaky breath. He wouldn't share any more. All it did was rattle him. He just hoped that little bit of information would let Greg feel a bit better about things.

"I'm so sorry we kept that light on so long, if we had any idea what it was doing to you, we wouldn't have, but we just had to ..."

"Wait, what are you talking about? How did you know about that light?"

Nick's tone was troubled and his body had visibility tightened up, and up that point Greg realized he had opened his mouth once again without thinking.

"I, I'm sorry Nick, I thought you knew. I was sure someone had told you by now." Greg resigned to the fact that he would have to tell Nick the whole story now by the scrutiny of the Texan's glare.

"Shit man, I just assumed." The nervousness is Greg's voice was coming through.

"Well, I didn't and I would like someone to explain it to me. How did you know about the light Greg?" Nick knew his words were coming out harsher then he meant too, if wasn't his friends fault, but only Greg could give him the answers he wanted know.

"Not long after we knew you were missing we got a small packaged delivered to the Lab. It was a web feed and we popped it into the computer. On the screen, it said 'you can only watch'. When he clicked, there you were. Greg felt defeated having being the one to tell this to Nick, but he deserved to know.

At Greg's words, Nick visibly paled. He felt so violated. It wasn't like he hadn't been through hell, but knowing that they had all seen him. He felt humiliated, like an insect under Grissom's microscope. He wanted to look at Greg and tell him it was all right, it wasn't his fault he didn't know, but he couldn't. He was too ashamed and deep down angry at the moment. He waited for the lab tech to continue. He knew there was more, and he knew he didn't want to hear it, but he wanted to know what everyone else did.

"If we had any idea that it was doing that to you, or taking up so much battery, we wouldn't have. But, it was the only way we could see you. We had to know you where all right. See you were still alive." Greg said the last words so softly Nick had a hard time hearing them.

"Someone was always in there keeping their eye on you, making sure you were all right." Greg had a hard time hiding his own trauma of witnessing Nick's plight in the box. The memories still haunted him to no end.

"Hey man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come down on you." He put his arm around Greg's shoulder and gave it a squeeze to make the younger man look at him.

"I just didn't know. Needless to say this comes as a shock. And you're right, I can't imagine how helpless you all must have felt." He was trying to reassure Greg he wasn't upset at him, but deep down he felt somewhat angered that no one had bothered to tell him in the past four days they all watched him suffer, cry, scream in panic, and didn't tell him. He hadn't felt that violated since he knew Nigel Crane had been watching his every move in his own home. He felt himself pull back from Greg a little. He just wanted a few moments to think about the information just given to him, and how to handle it with Warrick and the rest of the team.

"In a way, it saved your life, because that was the only way we knew how to find you. Grissom had been uh... watching the screen, when your face started to change. He could see you look down and squirm. Grissom panned in towards the cracks in the glass and could see them moving and realized they were ants. He waited until one of them crawled in front of the camera and took it's picture."

Somehow that though made Nick chuckle. Grissom taking pictures of ants as he was being eating alive by those things. He listened as Greg continue his story of that night.

"He found his book and identified it as a certain fire ant, which are very rare apparently in Nevada and only keep to tree and plant nurseries. We found every tree and plant nursery in the Las Vegas area. Archie and I compared the web cam transmission radius with the black box mileage we got from the kidnappers SUV and only two were within the overlapping land. Then it all happened so fast. Sara remembered that the kidnapper's daughter, Kelly, worked with plants and ran and grabbed her file, and found the nursery she worked in. She came running back into the room and pointed to exactly where you were." Greg told his story as detached as possible, but it was hard not getting caught up in the stressful moments again.

We went there with every available cop car, fire truck, responder unit we could, which was the entire department I think. Hell even Ecklie was there."

At that Nick looked up at Greg.

"You're kidding?" He was surprised to here he even helped out.

"I told you Nick, everyone was looking for you, we weren't gonna lose you when we were that close to finding you. And as bad as it may seem, if it wasn't for that camera and those fire ants, we may never have known where you were." Greg was trying not to make Nick feel any worse or embarrassed than he probably already did.

"Thanks for telling me Greg, I'm not mad at you." He wasn't upset at Greg, at least he had been truthful and let him know what had happened.

"I just feel bad Nick." Greg confessed, as he wiped away a couple of tears.

"I bring you out here to get your mind off of all of this, relax and enjoy some fresh air. Then all I did was add to your troubles."

"G, you didn't add anything, only one person is responsible for this and he's dead. I'll recover man, I always do." Nick smiled one of his 100 watt grins, and Greg instantly felt better.

What he said was true, but he would get his answers from someone. Warrick, Grissom, and Catherine. He wanted to know why no one told him this.

"I am glad you brought me here, I needed to get out for a while. I must admit the sunlight feels good, now how about we finish those sandwiches."

The two ate in companionable silence for the next hour. Enjoying the breeze off the lake, the fresh air, talking about Nick's fishing trips when he you growing up back in Texas. Reliving the case about the Scuba Diver up in the tree not too far from where they were. Nick was growing tired quickly and his caretaker could see his eyes growing weary.

"Hey, you ready to head back man? Warrick should be at your place soon, plus you look a little sleepy." Greg was trying not to sound overbearing, but he didn't want to wear his friend out.

"Yeah I am a little tired, let me help you here." Nick stood up but wavered somewhat.

"You're kidding right? Get in the truck and sit down, I'll get this. I'm here to help you, so let me do my job."

"Ok ok, I'll be in the truck waiting for you bossman." Nick was worn out, but he was trying hard not too show it too much.

Greg threw the stuff in the back of the SUV and hopped into the driver's seat. "I guess I'll let you pick the music for the drive home, and yes, that is quite an offer from me so don't mock me."

Nick smiled a little and put in an old country CD he hadn't listened to in quiet awhile. However, he could barely keep his eyes open. They pulled out onto the main road and when Greg looked over to ask Nick if he needed to stop and get anything, he was fast asleep.

"Hey man, wake up." Nick slowly opened his eyes, not knowing he had even drifted off.

"What, are we home already?" Nick asked through a fog of sleep.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you doze the whole way home. Come on, let's get you inside. Looks like Warrick is already waiting for us. I hope I don't get in trouble for keeping you out too late."

"Don't worry, I'll tell him I make you take out, he won't yell at me."

"It's not you I'm worried about right now." Greg looked a little concerned that he would scolded by the older CSI when they got inside."Come on, let's head on in before you fall down man."

tbc...

Author's notes:

Thanks for the continued support of this story. We really tried to keep it as real as possible with character interactions as well as what we wanted to see evolve. As far as the medications that Nick is on, he takes all his pills for the ant bites, but has not touched the ant-depressants. We viewed it would be his style to shy away from those, however, he does take the anti-anxiety ones when pressed to. Hope every still enjoys this, as it will continue to progress, and Nick will have his ups and downs as he tries to get on with his life. It just might be tougher than he realized.

This was the easiest place to break up the chapters. Calm before the storm and all.

Thank you: Kristen and Shacky

Two more chapters by Kristen up next.