A/N: Thank you again for your reviews! I appreciate them!

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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.

Title: Greg's Story

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"Yo, Greggo, you're up…" Nick said, glancing over at the younger CSI. "Well... if you want to, that is..."

Greg frowned. "See? That's my deepest fear, right there…" he pointed out, glancing around the camp fire at everyone.

"What…?" Nick asked. "That we call you 'Greggo,' rather than Greg…?"

"Guys…" Grissom said, clearing his throat.

"No," Greg replied, "That you won't take me seriously."

"But Greg," Catherine laughed, "Have you… heard yourself talk before…?"

"Catherine," Grissom again warned. "Come on…"

"Yeah, I've heard myself talk before," Greg said, staring at the fire. "And I know that I can be a little silly at times…" Glancing up at the group, he smiled. "Alright… very silly at times. But all of my joking aside, I… want to be a good CSI... like you guys. And unfortunately, a part of me is afraid that I will screw something up, because… I lack the experience that you all have."

"But Greg…" Nick trailed off. "We all started somewhere, too…"

"We all had a first case, and a first year…" Catherine told him.

"And we've all made mistakes at a crime scene before, Greg," Warrick added. "Every single one of us. Even Grissom, although he'd never admit it."

"Of course I would admit that," Grissom said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Because it's completely true. "We're not perfect, Greg. We make mistakes, we learn from our mistakes, and then we make new mistakes…"

Greg once again looked down at the ground, avoiding the gazes from his friends. "Speaking of perfection, it's strange, you know…? Sometimes I… miss being in the lab…"

"You do…?" Sara asked him, surprised.

"Well… sometimes. It's predictable. It's easy. Someone brings you a sample of DNA, you analyze it, and you kick back the results. Someone else hands you another sample of DNA, you analyze it, and you kick back the results. It's the same… and impossible to screw up…" he said.

Warrick cleared his throat. "Greg, lemme ask you a question, okay…? What do you like about being a forensic scientist?"

"I like… the challenge of it all… analyzing the crime scene… putting chaos into order… fitting the pieces of the puzzle together, putting the bad guys away…" Greg trailed off.

"And then what do you not like about it…?" Warrick asked.

"The fact that if I miss a piece of evidence, someone goes free," Greg admitted. "It isn't like that in the DNA lab. Again, in the lab, I just analyze what someone else brings me… I mean, what if… what if I miss something major at a scene, you know?" he asked, searching the faces of his colleagues for some sign that they understood what he was trying to say.

"Greg," Grissom spoke up, leaning back on his log. "Answer me this. What do you see?"

"What do I see…?" Greg repeated the question. Grissom nodded. "I see… a fire, smoke, trees, camping equipment…"

"You're missing the obvious, Greg…" Grissom told him.

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Greg continued. "What if I miss the obvious?"

"Look around you, Greg. What do you see…?" Grissom tried again.

"I see… all of you, looking at me…"

"That's right. And why are we all looking at you?" Grissom asked.

"Because… I'm talking…?"

"No, Greg," Catherine spoke up. "Because we care about you. That's what Grissom, in his roundabout way, is getting at. We're all here, because we care about one another. You're afraid that you will miss some sort of key evidence at a crime scene, right? Because you're still new on the job…?" she asked. Greg simply nodded. "Well guess what, Greg… you aren't alone. Sara, Warrick, Nick, Grissom, myself, and even Jim, Sofia, and Al… we're all a team, whether you are at a crime scene alone, or not. We're a team, a family. You're not in this alone, Greg," she repeated, "Because it is our job to back one another up. That's what friends, teammates, and families do. They look out for one another."

"And as far as taking you seriously," Nick added, looking over at his friend. "Well, I think that we all take you seriously… we might steal your coffee from time to time, or laugh with you, but… I know that we all have respect for you, Greg…"

"You… do…?" Greg asked.

Sara rolled her eyes at him. "Of course we do, Greg. You're one of us. You help make the days bearable, by providing some much needed comic relief…"

"Definitely," Warrick agreed.

"That's the whole point of this retreat, Greg," Grissom told him. "For all of us to remember that we're a family."

"We're like the Three Musketeers," Greg pointed out, "Except… there's six of us."

Everyone smiled, looking down at the cooking food.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Warrick spoke up. "Damn, I'm hungry. The food smells great, Grissom… when can we eat?"

"Now, I think," Grissom told him, grabbing some tongs out of one of the storage bins, and removing the food from the coals. "Just… give it a couple of minutes to cool-off, and then you can eat… drinks, napkins, and silverware are in the storage bins, help yourself."

"What… no room service…?" Nick joked, standing up and stretching.

"Hell no, Nicky, you're on your own," Warrick grinned, following him to the storage bins.

"I'll take a diet soda," Catherine said, remaining seated. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, fat chance, Catherine," Greg smiled, following Nick and Warrick away from the fire.

"Fine…" Catherine sighed, standing up and following the guys. "Sara, you coming?"

"In a minute," Sara mumbled, staring at the fire.

"You don't have to share, Sara…" Grissom quietly told her.

"I know, but… I think I will. After Catherine and Warrick go…we're all a family, right…? Well… a good one, I hope…" she amended, standing up. "Not like mine."

Grissom stood up, following his team to get the rest of the supplies for dinner.

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TO BE CONTINUED 