Thank you for the reviews Lil Badger 101, Marymel, Foxfire832001 and The Sangheili Mutant! I hope you enjoy this next chapter and have time to review :D x
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"So, what's the deal with the wheelchair?" Nick asked Sara once they were alone.
Sara stopped what she was doing and looked at Nick. "He just needed to stop walking around for a little while, his leg was giving him a bit of trouble, but it's nothing to worry about." She told him with a reassuring smile.
"He told me he was fine earlier... Did you take him to the hospital?" Nick asked her, one arm leaning on the table.
"Yeah I did." Sara told him and looked down, carrying on with her work.
"Well why did he tell me that he was fine then?" Nick asked her, shaking his head in confusion.
Sara stayed quiet.
"Sara?"
She looked up to him and let out a sigh. "He doesn't want to disappoint you. Happy now?" She asked and gave a disapproving look, with a small smile on her lips.
Nick frowned. "Disappoint me? Why would he be disappointing me?" Nick questioned.
Sara spun around to face him. "Because you're such a macho man, that he feels weak compared to you. He sees you as his older brother that he looks up to and wants to make proud!" Sara told him with a big smile. "He doesn't want to let you down."
"But I am proud of him." Nick said with a bit of a smile. "He's never let me down."
Sara shrugged. "You know Greg; he can't do enough to please people."
Nick looked away from her, hurt that Greg felt he couldn't be honest with him. "Mmh. Well he's already done enough to please every single one of us. And he needs to know it."
X
"Hey man. What's goin' on? I thought you weren't meant to be walking round?" Nick asked as soon as Greg opened the door.
He smiled as he let Nick in. "It's hard to move around in that thing, especially in here, there's not enough room."
"Huh, well sit down man; I'll go get us a drink." Nick told him and waved him down to Greg's sofa.
Greg shook his head. "No it's alright; I'll get 'em."
Nick reluctantly let Greg go to the kitchen but he stood in the doorway.
"What do you want?" Greg asked as he went in his fridge.
"Whatever you got, man." Nick told him with a smile.
Greg nodded and got them a drink. Just as he was reaching up to get some glasses his leg gave way and he dropped down onto the counter and Nick ran to his side. "Woah, you alright?" Nick asked as he put his hand on Greg's arm to sturdy him.
Greg shook his hand off and looked away, "Yeah, I'm alright." He took his hand off his counter, but immediately put it back.
"G, man, go sit down." Nick told him with concerned eyes.
"You know what..." He pulled a chair from Greg's kitchen table over to Greg, "sit down here."
With a hard stare at Nick, Greg sat down. Nick sat next to him and then they sat together in silence.
"You know... You don't have to try and impress me." Nick spoke up, looking up to Greg.
Greg glanced up to him before quickly looking down again. He didn't say anything and Nick pursed his lips. "I take it you spoke to Sara." Greg said quietly and rolled his eyes.
Nick nodded. "Yeah. She said you didn't tell me your leg was bothering you because you... look up to me and you don't want to let me down."
"I do look up to you, and I don't want to let you down." Greg told him.
"Well, why do you think you would let me down? I don't understand. And there's no reason for you to look up to me."
Greg laughed. "Yes there is. You're one of the best CSIs in the country, you can handle anything, you can get any woman you want, you're nice to everyone and everyone loves you. They're just a few reasons."
Nick shook his head. "Greg, that sounds like you're describing yourself. You know, I look up to you."
With a scoff, Greg spoke up, "No you don't."
"Yes I do, Greg. You're a great guy. Whenever anyone works with you, they're always in a good mood, you were there for everyone when Warrick died and you helped everyone pull through. I think we'd have all fallen apart if you weren't there."
Greg offered up a small smile. "Thanks, but you don't mean it."
"I do. Every word. So stop being an ass and let me go and get you that wheelchair for you. You're not walking anywhere." Nick told him.
"It's in my room." Greg told him. There was no point in arguing with Nick. If Greg hadn't had told him, there was no doubt in Greg's mind that Nick would have searched his whole house for it.
"Right, get in." Nick ordered him, to which Greg complied. "Now wheel yourself in there and I'll bring the beers."
Nick followed him in and Greg moved himself onto his sofa. He looked over and saw Nick looking at him. "What?"
"Watch the game or play soccer on your worn out old play station?"
Greg smiled. "Whichever you prefer."
Nick grinned. "Well then it's game on."
X
"Hey Nick!"
Nick turned around to see Hodges waving him into his lab. "What's up?"
"Why is Greg in a wheelchair? Is he okay?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah, he's fine Hodges, don't worry about him. And don't mention anything to him about it; I don't think he wants to talk about it, alright? He just needs to keep some weight off his injury for a while." Nick explained to him and gave him a soft smile.
Hodges nodded. "Oh, I just thought that maybe he was hurt more than we thought before. If he needs anything, I wanna' be there for him."
Nick smiled. To say when Greg first started, when he was in the lab, when Hodges picked on him all the time, nobody would have thought the two would become such good friends. "Don't worry, he's fine, but if he needs anything, he knows you got his back." Nick told him and patted his back as he walked off.
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Greg had told Russell why he was in the chair so had been out on lab duty whilst everyone else went to their scenes. He was just putting some blood samples in the machine when he heard 'Two shots fired!' And soon, as stated, two shots went off. The sound made Greg drop the samples, so the glass smashed on the floor and shattered. He looked around in a panic and then looked down. There was blood on his hands. He looked around again and he was there, where he'd been shot. He was there again, reliving every moment. His breathing increased and he could feel himself begin to shake. Sweat began to bead on his forehead and he was frozen in fear.
"Greg?"
"Greg? Can you hear me?"
His head finally snapped up to the voice calling his name. Hodges.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he knelt down so that he was level with Greg.
Greg shook his head slowly. "There's... there's blood. It's on my hands..." He told Hodges unclearly.
Hodges looked down and turned his shaking hands over. "There's no blood on your hands. Look, there's nothing there." He said softly. Greg looked down and Hodges was right, there was no blood there.
Greg looked up to him with tears glistening in his eyes. "There was, I saw it."
"Okay, it's alright, it's gone now." Hodges told him with a smile as he rubbed Greg's back comfortingly. He'd run from his own lab across the hall when he saw Greg drop everything when the gun was fired.
"Sorry, I just, the gun... I thought..."
Hodges held up his hand. "Stop right there. There's no need to apologise or explain yourself, alright? I get it."
Greg looked down and saw the smashed glass and blood on the floor. "Oh shit." He said quietly as he rested his elbow on the desk in front of him and rubbed his hand through his hair. "I'm such an idiot."
"No you're not. Don't worry about all that, I'll clean it up. Did you have back up samples?" Hodges asked, trying to solve the problem.
Greg nodded and hastily wiped a tear away from his face, hoping Hodges or nobody else had seen it.
Hodges smiled. "I knew you would have. You've not changed one bit." Without making a fuss, Hodges began cleaning the glass up off the floor and Greg looked at his hands, trying to stop them from shaking.
Once he'd finished Hodges rubbed Greg's shoulder friendly before starting back to his own lab. "Hodges!" Greg called and turned his head. "Could we, you know, keep this between us?"
Hodges smiled and nodded. "Of course."
Greg sighed. "Thank you."
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Hope you all enjoyed it, if you did, or didn't, please leave a review! x