A/N: Shorter chapter, I know. Sorry. Usual disclaimer, see chap. 1, the usual. A tiny bit of angst in this chap, towards the end, but it gets resolved quickly. At this point, I want it to focus on the beginnings of their relationship, not the ghosts of their pasts. Enjoy!

"Walking down the street and I hardly know you"

After Ryan had showered and changed, he sat in the room idly flipping though the channels on the T.V. and trying to ignore Greg's horrendous singing. Greg had decided to take a shower after Ryan, and during his shower, Greg felt the need to belt Aretha Franklin songs at the top of his lungs. Ryan winced as he heard Greg warbling "Respect" incredibly off-key.

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Find out what it means to me!"

"Greg, shut up!" yelled Ryan over the horrific singing.

"Just a little bit! Just a little bit! Sock it to me! Sock it to me! Sock it to me! Sock it to me!"

"Greg, if you don't shut up soon, I'm going to come in there and shut you up myself!"

"I'd like to see you try, Wolfe!" called Greg in a singsong voice before launching into another song. "Cause you make me feel, you make me feel, you make me feel like a natural woman."

"GREG!" roared Ryan, getting up and banging on the bathroom door.

"Chill, man, I'm done," said Greg calmly, stepping out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Ryan blushed and averted his eyes as Greg whipped off the towel and pulled on a clean pair of boxers. "Hey, Ryan," called Greg as he meandered over to his duffel bag and peered into it. "We should do something tonight. Go sight-seeing or something."

"Sight-seeing?" repeated Ryan incredulously, mind whirling at the thought of spending time with Greg. "Ok, why not? Where do you want to go?"

"I dunno," said Greg as he pulled on a pair of jeans. "I was thinking we could go to Millennium Park, then maybe swing over to Navy Pier. Do you think the Lincoln Park Zoo is still open? And the Sears Tower?"

Ryan glanced at the clock, which proclaimed the time as 3:27. "I dunno; I'll check." He called the front desk while Greg finished dressing. "Alright, so the Sears Tower closes at 6:00, so we'll probably want to go there first. The zoo is open til eight, and then we can hit up Navy Pier."

"What about Millennium Park?" pouted Greg, rummaging through his bag for his hair gel.

Ryan gave him a look. "It's all the way on the other side of town. Besides, the front desk said that it's better in daylight. We'll go some other time, I promise."

"Alright, I guess…" said Greg, still pouting slightly as he spiked his hair. He glanced at it critically in the mirror. "Man, I haven't spiked my hair like this in while. I almost forgot what it looked like."

"Why haven't you spiked it recently?" asked Ryan as he looked at his own flat hair.

Greg shrugged. "When I became a CSI, I was trying to be more professional. I used to be all about Marilyn Manson shirts and crazy hair when I was a lab tech, but I tried to tone it down."

Ryan narrowed his eyes at Greg in sudden concentration. "You were a lab tech?" he asked, then brightened in recognition. Striding over to one of many suitcases, he pulled out an old issue of Forensic Journal. "I knew I had heard your name someplace," he exclaimed, brandishing the magazine. "Your article about protein markers was incredible."

"Thanks," said Greg modestly, flopping on to the bed.

"Greg, you're like a legend," continued Ryan excitedly. "Every forensics conference I've been to, whenever they mention DNA, your name comes up. You were probably the top DNA tech in the country before you were twenty-eight years old!" He paused and looked at Greg curiously. "What made you decide to become a CSI?"

Greg smiled but a muscle twitched in his jaw. "Oh, you know how it is. DNA got boring. I wanted to be out there collecting the DNA that I'd been analyzing for the past ever."

"But something had to change your mind," insisted Ryan, sitting on the bed next to Greg.

Greg's eyes hardened and seemed to take on a dead look. "The lab exploded."

"The…what?" said Ryan slowly, unable to believe it.

"The lab exploded. A coworker left the fume hood on with a volatile substance in it, and it blew up."

"Were you…in the lab at the time?" asked Ryan, still unable to fathom it.

"Yeah," said Greg quietly with a wry smile. "I was thrown through the window by the blast."

"Were you hurt?"

Greg swallowed hard, then said, voice barely above a whisper, "Yeah." He blinked once, twice, then said, "It was time for a change, you know?" He grinned at Ryan. "Some things were meant to be, right?" He hopped off the bed. "C'mon, we don't want to be late to the Sears Tower."

"No, no we don't," said Ryan slowly as he got off the bed as well.

Greg gave Ryan a look. "Look, man, I didn't die, ok? I'm still here and I'm fine. Better even. I know how short life can be now." He gave Ryan a grin. "Now hurry up before I leave you here!"

"Not on your life, Sanders!" said Ryan with a laugh. "I've got both room keys!" He ran out the door with Greg chasing after him.