Author's Notes: This is a short chapter, compared to my previous ones...I've been super busy with work and personal issues, and I've got a broken arm, which is making is exceptionally difficult to write. I'm hoping, though, to get a break from work tomorrow (since it's supposed to be my day off, although I'm on call) and then I can write some more. If not, maybe Sunday.

Thank you to all who have replied, I appreciate every single one of you! Please continue to let me know what you think, it increases my desire to write.

This one goes out to Emmithar, because she always manages to convince me to write, even when it's the last thing I want to do, not to mention all of the free advice she gives me, lol.

Jenny

Chapter Four:

I want you to come home.

Her request had been so simple, yet so complicated. He wanted, so badly, to just agree, tell her he'd take the next flight back and they could try to pick up where they had left off. Deep down, he knew it wasn't that simple, and the more he thought of it, the more uncertain he was that he'd even want to go back to Vegas.

He had grown up in Vegas, not in the physical sense, he was raised in California, but he had matured while living in Vegas, working with the only people he had ever been able to consider friends. He knew the day he left his parents home that he would never return. He had moved to Vegas with a degree in Chemistry, ACS certified, and found a job working with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and had instantly known Vegas was his home. He had made a pact less than six months after moving to Sin City, that he would never leave.

Apparently, things change. Now Houston was his home, and even though his missed Las Vegas, his friends, his job...there was no way he could go back now. It would be too hard, he had hurt too many people. How could he go back to Catherine, Warrick, Nick, and Grissom and tell him that he was sorry for walking out, that he had left and made a wonderful life for himself, yet he was going to come back and stomp all over theirs once more?

Despite the apprehension he felt at the idea of facing them once more, he couldn't help wanting to please Sara. She had looked so hopeful once suggesting his return, and in return, he had shattered the little trust she had left for him.

Instead of telling her he'd think about it, or even saying 'yes' or 'no', he had remained silent, changing the subject after a few minutes of tense silence. He had watched as she reconstructed the wall she kept around herself, he had watched as the hurt disappeared from her eyes, replaced with a cold, hardened look she usually reserved for work. In those few moments, he had broken the final brick in the foundation of their friendship.

Even if he decided to go back, it would probably be too late.

He watched as it began to rain, leaning his head against the cool glass of his apartment window. Below him, people began to hurry off the streets under covered sidewalks or building entrances, headlights on cars flickering on like lightning bugs. He cursed softly as he realized he had left his car windows cracked to keep the heat from bring too unbearable once it was time for him to leave again. He grabbed his umbrella and keys, not wanting to let the water totally ruin the interior of his Acura, and opened his front door.

He never would have expected to find Sara on the other side, and as he ushered her in, he completely forgot about the open windows in his car.

"How was your weekend away?" Nick asked, pulling Sara in for a hug Monday evening, "You look like you got a bit of sun."

Sara smiled, "I went to their company softball game yesterday, it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed catching up with Ryan, and I learned some really surprising things."

"Such as?" Nick asked, pulling his vest from his locker, "You aren't going to move there, are you?"

Sara shook her head quickly, "No, of course not! But I did learn who Ryan's business partner is."

"Is it someone we know?" Nick asked, his forehead crinkling in concentration as he tried to think of anyone from his childhood had started a new business recently. Karen and his parents usually kept him pretty up to date with people from his past, and no one with any business skills, that he could remember, had stayed in Texas.

Sara nodded, "Oh, believe me, it's someone you know very well."

"It's me." Greg said, stepping from the shadows to reveal himself to a shocked Nick.

"What are you doing here?" Came three startled voices, one from Nick, and the others from Warrick and Catherine, who had just walked into the locker room.

Nick pushed Greg up against the locker, "You son of a bitch!" He yelled, his hands trembling with fury, "You think you can just waltz back in here, after--"

"Nick, Nick!" Sara said, pulling Nick's hands off of Greg, "Nicky, calm down...I brought him back. I ran into him in Houston, and I convinced him to come home."

Nick slammed his fist into a locker, not even noticing the small dent it made into the metal, "After all of this time? Now! I suppose you want your job back, right? And your girlfriend?"

"What Nick's trying to say," Catherine said softly from the doorway, her eyes still wide with surprise, "Is that we're surprised to see you back. I thought you didn't want anything to do with us?"

Sara shook her head, "Guys, lay off of him. It took a lot for him to come back, at least be civil."

"No, you know what?" Greg said, backing away from the group, "I shouldn't have come back, I'm sorry, let's just forget about it."

"No!" Sara exclaimed, grabbing Greg by the arm, "You promised to come, you have to stay."

Greg shook his head sadly, pulling his arm out of her grasp, "No, I promised I'd come and feel it out, I never said I'd stay. I told you this was a bad idea, Sara, I'm just going to go back to Houston," He turned to Nick, "And, no, I don't want my job back, or my girlfriend. I didn't expect you to all stop living just because I was gone."

He made a move to exit, but was stopped when Warrick reached out for him, "Hey, man, at least give it another try. After shift, let's all grab a bite to eat and just talk. We all owe it to each other to at least talk about everything that's happened, even if we can't resolve it."

Warrick looked to Catherine and Sara, who both nodded firmly, then to Nick who, after a few moments of hesitation, gave his own nod of approval. Seeing everyone else thought it was a good idea, Greg reluctantly agreed to meet them after shift. It may be a small step, but it could possibly be the first step to recovering his lost friendships.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood...okay, no I wasn't, but I wanted to let you know that I was serious earlier, when I asked you to come home."

"It's just not as easy as it sounds...I can't just pack up and move back to Vegas, I've got a job here, a life here. Las Vegas is the past."

"Then just come for a visit. Just consider it, Greg. The others would be so happy to see you. We've all been so worried about you."

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the most cheerful reunion, but then again, Greg's departure hadn't been so cheerful itself.

The harder Sara tried to concentrate on getting her work done, the more impossible the task seemed to be. All she could picture was Greg sitting in her apartment, alone, contemplating his decision to come back to Las Vegas with her. The idea of him leaving again was so hard to bear, despite the apprehension she was feeling at the idea of them all having breakfast together. Why did things always have to be so hard?

She jumped when a hand was placed on her shoulder, and she spun around to come face to face with Nick, "Hey, I've been calling your name for 5 minutes."

"Sorry," Sara mumbled, looking down at the microscope she had been leaning over, trying to remember what she was looking at, "I was caught up in this...fiber."

Nick shook his head, flashing her a smile, "You were thinking about Greg, it's okay. We've all been thinking about him, this must be one of our most unproductive nights ever."

"It's just...I don't know how to feel. I want to be happy, but I'm also scared." Sara sighed, "It took a lot for him to decide to come back for awhile, I just want to make sure it was worth it."

Nick nodded, giving her a tight hug, "It's going to be hard, you loved him, Sara. It's not going to be like it was 7 months ago, a lot has changed since then," He pulled away, wiping a tear that had cascaded down her cheek, "Just remember to give him some space and not to expect too much, and don't worry about it. Whatever happens, happens."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that." Sara replied with a forced smile, motioning towards her microscope, "I really should do my analysis on this fiber."

Nick started walking towards the door, "Grissom just got back from the interrogation, so be on the look out for him, I'm sure he'll want to talk to you."

"Any luck on the case you and Catherine are working on?" Sara asked, relieved for the change of subject, "Kid is still proclaiming her innocence?"

Nick nodded, rolling his eyes, "If the DNA results come back positive, we've got enough to arrest her on four counts of murder."

"Four?"

"The boyfriend died this morning." Nick said solemnly, "She didn't even blink when we told her, it was as if she didn't care about him at all."

Sara shrugged, "People who can kill their parents and their child in cold blood often don't feel remorse and guilt like we do. If she didn't care that her baby was dead, why should her boyfriend be any different?"

A look of disgust passed over Nick's face as his eyes darkened, "I'll never understand how people can be so cruel."

"That's because you're one of the good guys," Sara said quietly, giving him a sad smile, "Keep an eye on Cath, okay? This case is starting to get to her, you can see it in her eyes."

Nick nodded, leaving Sara alone with her thoughts once more. Looking back through the microscope, her thoughts drifted to Greg once more.

"Okay, I'll come, but I'm warning you, it won't be pretty."

"They're not as petty as you think they are, Greg. I'm sure they will all be happy to see you."

"I'm not so sure about that, but like I said, I'll come anyway. I'm not making any guarantees that I'll stay, but I'll give it a shot...now you can't say that I've never done anything for you."

"I would never say that to begin with."

"I know."

She had been thrilled that he was coming home with her, it never occurred to her that Nick, Warrick, or Catherine would be angry, although she herself had been angry at first. After the confrontation in the locker room, she was starting to second guess her idea for him to try and rekindle the friendships he had abandoned months ago. Maybe he was right, maybe it was too late.

TBC