Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.

Warning: English is still a problem for me… maybe I made them swear a little in here. Don't know what to definite as swearing or not, really. We're pretty 'liberal' when it comes to that here. Those beeps on the Discovery channel is the silliest thing I know. Everybody knows what they're saying. So what's the point? ... get's dizzy with wonder… Why?!…

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! But, I have an excuse. I went to Prague! It was wonderful…

Living with a Monster

Chapter 5: Breaking apart

Nick and Greg sat on their couch next to each other, with their feet on the coffee table. Since the car crash a few weeks ago, relationship hadn't changed very much. It was hardly a real relationship anymore. They acted more like they were each others roommates instead of each others boyfriends. Nick spent a lot more time at work and at a gym than he used to. He got a few nasty cases; a guy who apparently took his own life by swallowing pieces of broken CDs, a girl who were starved to death because she was locked up in a closet by her mother and a couple of killed, pregnant prostitutes. Greg spent more time with other friends. Julian and Jimmy's wedding got closer and closer, and Greg found out that he might as well help them out. So in the end, they didn't spend very much time together. But when they did, they tried to act as normal as possible.

"I bet if you had parents who encouraged you, you would've ended up… I don't know, maybe… Maybe a cowboy! You could be a guy with horses and a ranch and the whole package. Or… You like birds, right?" Nick nodded. "I bet you would've ended up something like Grissom-"

"-Like Grissom?" The Texan lifted an eyebrow while he listened to Greg's more or less weird ideas.

"Yeah, like Grissom. Just like him, like he is with all his bugs. Just with birds instead of bugs. Oh I can see the whole thing. You could get hired by… Animal Planet!" Greg continued his ramblings, but Nick didn't do what he usually did when the blonde started doing that.

Nick got a little irritated with Greg for saying that, because he had wanted to work within law enforcement even though he had had many more unrealistic dreams, so he decided to attack the other man back, "as if becoming a DNA tech here in Vegas was your biggest dream-"

The DNA tech continued "Nah, I admit it, Vegas was a dream, but the tech job was more a coincidence really. But at least I did something of my own choice, not something my parents or any other of my family would like me to do. To be honest with you, I'm getting a little bit sick of the lab."

"Oh? Why?" Nick was a little surprised. He had thought Greg was happy with his job, a job that gave him a great opportunity to do more or less what he wanted; the analyzing didn't take that long time, if he didn't get a whole lot of samples. Reading porn and playing music were everyday activities for the man.

"Grissom asked me the same thing, but I just told him some crap Grissom seemed to understand. I mean, how can you really talk normal to a guy who spends his spare time racing with beetles? Dude, he must have had a weird childhood. Seriously, is it that weird I get nervous by that man? And have you noticed how he just sits there-" Greg drew a breath, and threw a popcorn in his mouth.

"Greg, stop." Nick got needed to know what the other guy thought of. "What do you want to do if you're not going to work in the lab anymore?" That could mean their relationship could get even more damaged than it already was, with the fact that they both worked graveyard. Nick wasn't really ready to let go of the other man yet. The truth was that he also got a little angry with the Greg. How could he just do something like that, without discussing it with Nick first? The change could affect everything, even though the blonde still worked graveyard.

"I didn't say I wanted to quit working in the lab, I'm just getting a little bored with the anal swabs and analyzing toothbrushes all the time! And I thought that I maybe-" he bit his lip, as if he was afraid of what the Texan thought about his idea, "I could try to get promoted to a CSI."

Nick remembered the first time his boyfriend joined them out in the field. It had ended with a disaster. Greg had frozen up totally when he saw the bleeding bus driver, and the whole lab had gossiped about his slip up later. And not in a good way, either.

"- and I've already spoke to Grissom, and he says that of I get a little training with you guys, and if I can find-"

"Slow down! You already talked to Griss?" Nick stared disbelieving at Greg who seemed much exited with the idea.

"Yeah. And as I was about to tell you, he told me that if I take that test, and if I can find a replacement in the lab-" he kept talking as he never sensed that something was wrong.

"We've never talked about that, Greg!" Nick got up from the couch and put his hands in front of him.

"No, I know, but it won't matter! From an economic point of view, it wont matter for me, and-" Greg drew a quick breath before he continued his defense, "I've been meaning to talk to you about it, but seriously Nick, you don't really have anything to do with my choice of career, because that should defiantly be my decision, not yours!" Nick looked like he was about to protest, but Greg kept going. "And, we don't even have a real relationship anymore, Nick! You're never home, so I always end up spending my days with Julian!"

"That's not entirely my fault, Greg! I've never said I didn't want you to try and get promoted, that's entirely your overactive fantasy which has made that bullshit up! And I don't want you to be with that Julian guy," Nick stated.

"You know what, Nick? You don't get to decide that! You don't get to decide anything, not anymore!" Greg turned around, as if to leave the apartment, but Nick stopped him. He grabbed the other man's shoulder, and turned him back around again. By now, Nick had managed to get a dark shade of scarlet on his face.

"Don't, don't touch me for fuck's sake, Nick!" Greg released nicks grip on his shoulder, and shoved it off. He was furious now. He wanted to leave, run away from the man in front of him. And this time, Nick hadn't got his job or something similar to hide behind.

But Nick wasn't finished. "Do you really think you're the only one in this relationship, Greg? Do you?" Nick grabbed the blonde's shoulder again and shook it. He desperately wanted to understand what the relationship meant to him. "Huh!? It's not all about you. It never was! We're two in this, Greg!"

Greg didn't manage to focus on the Texan's words, all the could think of was the gripping hand on his shoulder.'

Standing in front of the door, desperate not to let Nick leave.

Din helvetes jævla kuksuger

That calm face.

The assault against his face.

The contact with the floor.

Nick leaving.

Nick loosing his mask.

"Let GO!" Greg screamed, and shoved Nick away, into the coffee table.

Nick couldn't quite understand Greg's aggression, so he got even angrier with the other man. So he moved in for an attack, aiming for Greg's face once more.

Greg, being able to see where this would end, grabbed the gym addict's arm and got it away before it connected with his face, and stood there, shocked at what Nick just had tried to do again.

He shook his head in disbelief and walked backwards towards the hallway.

"Don't, Nick."

"Don't."

"He apparently kills his victims somewhere else, wipes off all evidence and gets another victim from the same park. A bank recorded it twice by their security camera, but we were, as you all know, unable to identify the man. We were also unable to locate any traceable footprints, or foreign DNA. All the kids were throughout tortured at least physically. Since the autopsy also mentioned severe malnutrition, means that he keeps them alive for a while, approximately two weeks."

"There is also sign of sexual abuse. The mark on each of the girls' neck had a puncture mark, but we were unable to find anything in their blood system that tells us they were sedated when they got kidnapped. There might be witnesses who has seen something, but hasn't come forward with their information yet. Maybe we can make a more accurate phantom drawing of the guy. Brass is working on that. Thats' all we've got. But we need to find this guy."

"We need to find this guy fast."

A/N: thanks for reading, guys!

Thanks to those who reviewed my last chapter! Those people are - happyharper13, Cheezecurlz, Ama.Dear, sasukesmyemo394, Cassius and jazzy. And I will also have to thank those who put me on their favs/alert lists!

Thanks!