Ryan wasn't deeply religious, but he knew karma had a part in this.

There really was no other reasonable explanation.

"Come on." Greg called from over his shoulder.

"Why are you dragging me with you?" Ryan walked quickly to catch up with his friend as Greg turned a corner. He tugged on his baseball hat, the material scratchy against his skin. He should have known something was wrong when Greg told him they were going to be dressed completely in black, despite the hot sun of summer glaring down on them.

He watched as Greg tried to move inconspicuously through the throng of people. Or as inconspicuously as one could move when wearing all black in the middle of the day.

Because these kinds of things happen all the time in San Francisco.

Though, Ryan was at least thankful that he could wear sunglasses. Greg seemed to forget that he didn't live here, where people would recognise him like Ryan did.

"Because you're my best friend." Greg replied as if it was the most obvious answer. Because to him, it honestly was. Plus, if he did get in some sort of trouble – which he expected and knew he would – he didn't want to go down alone. He just neglected to mention those small details to Ryan.

Negligible things, really.

"Why are we whispering?" Ryan wiped the perspiration off his forehead, drops of sweat rolling down his cheeks. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt and jeans. Again, all black. But Greg seemed fine in those pants that wrapped around his legs. He had to borrow one of Ryan's shirts, not having packed a black one himself. But of course Ryan didn't mind at all. Especially when Greg had to keep tugging it back up, the shirt frequently trying to slide off Greg's shoulder, exposing Greg's skin.

Too bad Greg said he didn't need sunscreen. Like a long sleeved shirt would protect against the harsh rays of the sun. Who was he kidding?

"Because he might hear us." Greg motioned with his hand for Ryan to follow him into the sports store, putting himself against a wall and his friend following suit. The man was clever. But Greg knew he could be cleverer…Because cleverer was actually a word. Still, he had to be wary because that sales associate looking at them as if he and Ryan were insane, could possibly tip the man off.

Greg proceeded around a clothes rack with caution. Kneeling on the ground and peering through the jerseys.

"Why are we stalking him?" Ryan asked as he saw some employee giving them an odd look. As if two people going into a store was something you normally didn't see. He gave the employee a menacing glare, inwardly chuckling when the guy scurried off. That would teach him to stare at Greg.

At them, he meant. At them.

"We're not stalking him…We're just following him closely, Ryan." Greg pulled Ryan down to his level, manoeuvring around the jerseys as the man was coming back their way. This was going to be tricky. He put a gloved hand over Ryan's mouth, stifling any protests. Waiting for the man to leave the store until he removed his hand. "That was the guy I told you about. The one I caught following us yesterday." Because Greg had an eye for those kinds of things. He was very observant. "But more specifically, he was paying close attention to Nick."

Ryan almost sighed at the loss of contact between his mouth and Greg's hand, even if it was gloved. It was still Greg's hand. But his mourning was swift when Greg brought up that name again. That was when the situation finally registered with him. He knew he had this tendency to follow Greg whenever he beckoned Ryan, but not for some other guy Ryan didn't even know.

Because the whole thing was damaging to his pride.

But since he was, he definitely wasn't doing it for some guy named Nick. What kind of name was that, anyway? It didn't even have an even number of syllables. Ryan was a solid two syllables.

"Very closely."

"What the hell, Greg? We can get in trouble for this." Ryan wanted to pull out his hair, trying to keep his hands from strangling Greg. But he didn't have the time while he was still following Greg out the store. "Not to mentioned killed." He whispered harshly in Greg's ears.

"I didn't want to tip him off that we were on to him." Greg sighed at Ryan's antics. They were obviously undercover.

"We?! Who's we?!" Ryan made himself mentally count to twenty. That was a nice even number. Anything to slow his breathing. "Does your uncle know about this?"

"Of course, he does." Greg quickened his pace, the man trying to escape his line of vision by hiding in the busy street. "He just doesn't want me to tell him."

"Greg." Ryan forced the air out of his lungs as he nearly ran to catch up to Greg. He couldn't believe what he was voluntarily putting himself through. Especially when no one knew what they were doing. Time and time again, Ryan would think he knew better by now. Next time he'd just chain Greg to his bed.

Greg's bed, not Ryan's.

"No time for your speeches. You can reprimand me later." Greg glanced over his shoulder, reaching for Ryan's hand when he saw his friend lagging behind. "We're losing him."

Ryan ignored Greg's implications, his mind on the hand that held his own. Dragging him through the streets. How did it come to this? "What about Sara?"

"I left her a note that I'm at your house."

"She's going to kill me."

"Shh…He's stopping." Greg turned around to Ryan, a finger covering his lips. He was pressed against a wall, intermittently peering into an alley the man had entered. "And Sara won't kill you…At least I don't think so."

Like that was supposed to be reassuring. "Every time, Greg. Every single time and it never fails. She blames everything on me."

"No, she doesn't."

"Yes, she does. Don't argue with me. You're just not there to see it."

"Stop being so paranoid."

"Sorry…" Ryan couldn't believe his own words…Word. "What am I apologising for?"

"You could get us caught."

"What?" Ryan shook his head at the complete nonsense coming from Greg's mouth. They'd be dead at this rate, never mind caught. "This is dangerous….What if he's dangerous?"

"Your mom's a cop." Greg tried to reason.

"That doesn't mean I am." But Ryan did remember his mom's spare firearm on the second shelf from the top in her closest at home. The man they were following looked shady enough for it.

"But…" Greg turned away from Ryan, intent on walking into the alley. Only to end up colliding with someone. A really good smelling someone.

"Are you okay?" Ryan quickly walked beside Greg, who was slowly backing away from the stranger. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder, moving in front of Greg to check if he was okay. Turning to glare at the person who bumped into Greg.

Greg dismissed Ryan's concern, immediately recognising the person he bumped into. "Mr. Stokes. Funny to see you here."

"Funny, I ran into you." Nick smiled, wishing Greg would drop the prefix. Stokes would have been fine. And Nick would have been even better. "Sara's looking for you."

"Really?" Greg knew Sara would find out sooner or later. It was really only a matter of time. He just hadn't expected to hear about it from Nick. A Nick, for some reason or another, looking strangely nervous. As if he was waiting for something.

"She said she couldn't get through Ryan's-"

"That's me." Ryan interjected, finally able to take a look at the infamous Nick Stokes. "I'm Ryan Wolfe." He straightened his posture, trying to stand taller as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, I, umm…" Greg wiped his hands on his pants, hoping Ryan didn't notice him acting like a complete idiot. "This is Ryan Wolfe…" He pointed to Ryan and then to Nick. "Ryan, this is Mr. Nick Stokes."

Ryan looked at the man warily, only moving to shake the hand Nick presented to him when Greg nudged him. "Is he why we were chasing after that guy?" Ryan asked incredulously, not even bothering to whisper. He wasn't the least impressed with the older man.

"What guy?" Nick asked; concern in his tone.

"Ryan…" Greg nudged him again, slightly glaring at Ryan. He couldn't believe his friend was bringing that up.

"Sorry…"

Nick was about to ask again, when he heard a small click behind him. "Get down!" He shouted as he pushed Greg and Ryan to the ground. His weight restricting a soft body as he heard the gunshots fly overhead. He supported the head of the person below him, cradling it in his hands as he heard the panicked cries of the crowd. The noise finally scaring the shooter away.

He didn't think the shots would last long as it wasn't the best idea to open fire in broad daylight. The cops would be here, soon, too.

Ryan laid flat on the ground, covering his head, pressed into the cement. Sunglasses broken in half and by his left elbow. He didn't mind the gravel scraping against his skin if it saved his life. Like Nick did when he pushed them out of the way.

He lifted his head, edging toward Greg while still keeping his body on the ground. The sound of sirens in the air as he saw Nick slowly getting up. Resting on his knees and breathing heavily as he looked down at Greg, who had his eyes tightly closed.

"Greg." Ryan quickly crawled to check over his friend, laying a hand on his arm. "Greg, open your eyes." He released a sigh in relief when Greg's brown eyes peered up at him. Ryan moved to help Greg when he tried to sit up, grateful when Nick began to support Greg, as well.

Greg looked at Nick in unconcealed awe as Nick gently lifted him from beneath his arms. He was thankful for another pair of hands supporting his back because it felt like his body was going lax. "You saved my life." Gunshots forgotten, he was hit hard by the realisation that he was literally in the older man's arms. Or at least in between them. But Greg decided it didn't really matter when he saw that blinding smile present on Nick's face. "I don't know what to say."

"And then he tells Greg to say yes when he asks if he can take Greg out to lunch tomorrow." Ryan scoffed at the memory. Leaning further into the chair as sucked his teeth. "Who does this guy think he is?"

Sara didn't bother to reply, knowing the question was rhetorical. Ryan was ranting. Circumventing the reason why he held so much dislike for the man who seemed to be sweeping Greg off his feet.

In this case, it wasn't figuratively speaking.

"Yeah, he saved our lives and I was too dazed from almost being shot to think about it, then. But now I'm in my right mind. I can see through him." Ryan shook his head knowingly, using to fingers to point at his eyes. That Nick guy was so transparent it was like looking through glass.

Recently cleaned glass.

"The nerve of that..."

Ryan wasn't jealous. No, he wasn't even remotely close to feeling jealous. In fact, he was so far from being jealous, that Nick could walk back in and Ryan would hold his urge to put a restraining order on him for sexual harassment.

Because those few seconds were entirely too much time for Nick to be spending on top of Greg.

He should call the police and report Nick. That man shouldn't have been giving Greg that coy smile. And Greg shouldn't have been looking at Nick with that look in his eyes. Following the other guy's every movement like he was some kind of god or something. Even if Nick was tall and had dark hair and…

No, Ryan wasn't jealous.

He was just making an astute observation.

Sara could practically see the gears turning in Ryan's head. It wasn't any wonder why he and Greg were best friends. They both acted like the world was against them.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Ryan's petulant tone, turning to make sure the break room door was closed, which it was. She didn't want Greg walking in on the conversation. He and Grissom were due back, soon.

"You know I had to practically push that guy off Greg?" Ryan continued, not giving Sara a chance to answer. He assumed she knew the question was rhetorical, but he was too outraged to really care, anyway. "You'd think you'd let go when the person could stand on their own two feet. It was like he was debating whether or not he should resuscitate Greg...And Greg was fine."

Sara nodded at Ryan; in between listening to him and something else she didn't have a name for at that moment.

At first, she thought that Greg having his first crush was cute. Sure, he flirted here and there, but he was just a friendly person…Sometimes too friendly. But she never thought that Nick would actually respond to that…Friendly side of Greg. Contrary to Greg's belief, she did bring the subject up with Grissom, which in retrospect didn't really help matters.

Live and let love, he said.

What did that have to do with anything? Grissom seemed to forget that Greg was still a kid. And Nick was still about three years his senior. Never mind how Grissom knew about one person liking another when Sara had been around for four years. What did Greg know about love?

Apparently little if he couldn't even tell that his best friend was head over heels for him…Even if Ryan didn't quite see it that way himself. Though, it was kind of funny that he refused to say Nick's name aloud.

"Ryan-"

"I had to push him off." Ryan repeated, not really believing what he had to do. Because he shouldn't have to things like that. It seemed his glare didn't work on this guy. "I had to literally push him off my best friend, Sara. Of course, he looked at me funny, but at least I got him off Greg."

Once, Sara had tried to directly ask Ryan if he liked Greg as more than a friend…And he ended up avoiding her. It was only last summer, but it was during a sleepover Ryan and Greg had at Grissom's house. Which she somehow ended up supervising.

Grissom claimed he had some conference to go to. If she didn't know he had an interest in entomology, she wouldn't have believed the cockroach race thing. Who in their right mind raced cockroaches?

Better yet, who in their right mind went after someone who raced cockroaches?

"I've haven't spent that much time at the PD since I was kid and I had to follow my mom around. And I wasn't even questioned with Greg…At least that guy was separated from him, too."

Sara was interrupted from her musings at the sound of Ryan's voice. It seemed like he was still ranting. At least he still wasn't still on the gunshot part of his ramblings. Thankfully, there were no casualties and only a few injuries. Though, it's not that Sara wasn't concerned about it. Because she was honestly afraid when Nick called her from the station. Greg and Ryan could have died. And the thought scared her more than she wanted to admit.

As much as Greg was that annoying little brother type, she in turn was that annoying big sister type.

She just couldn't tell Greg that.

"And they still wouldn't tell me what's going on."

Sara engaged Ryan in a brief staring contest, simply waiting for him to speak. "Oh…" She was surprised when she realised he was looking to her for answers. "We already knew Nick was being followed and PD has been watching him since he came here. You and Greg just got mixed in the crossfire."

"That's why it didn't take long for the sirens, then." Ryan remarked more to himself than to Sara. "So…You knew about it, already?"

"Nick mentioned a man that he'd thought he'd seen more than a few times. Grissom and I just decided not to mention everything to Greg." They really didn't think Greg would go so far as to chase after someone by himself.

Ryan didn't count.

"But I guess we forgot about his penchant for getting in trouble." Sara wouldn't hold Ryan in contempt, this time. As his best friend, Ryan knew better than to follow, much less encourage Greg. She still had time to chew him out later. And she would do it to Greg, too. Just because he was absent-minded sometimes didn't mean that he was excused.

Ryan nodded in agreement, though he knew she was alluding to him. She and Ryan were pretty close, but not as close as she was with Greg. He was actually surprised she hadn't threatened him, yet. Maybe the events were still processing in her mind. Because last time he and Greg got in trouble, he was afraid she really was going to cut off his fingers. That thing called logic tried to assure him that she wouldn't, but that thing called fear wasn't exactly listening.

Just because Sara didn't reveal that side of herself to Greg didn't mean it didn't exist.

He kept trying to tell Greg that.

Sara cocked her head, faint voices coming into the room. "Hold on for a second, Ryan."

"Can you-"

"Shh…" Sara quieted Ryan as she heard faint footsteps through the crack of the door. She stood from her seat, moving toward the door and within better range, trying to hear the two voices now present in the main office.

More importantly, she was trying to hear Grissom's voice.

"You're not going to tell your sister-in-law, are you?" Greg took a seat on the desk. He had almost forgotten about his mom. Almost. Because if she'd found out about him nearly getting killed, he wouldn't see the light of day until he was forty.

He knew better to think she was joking about things like that. Especially since she still tried to drive him to school…Going as far as removing the battery from his car. At least his dad put his foot down for that one. He usually cracked under the pressure of facing his mother.

It took a man's man to stand up to that woman.

And then some.

Grissom pretended to be thinking, finally shaking his head, much to Greg's relief. "I'll let you do that yourself." Trying not to smile at the trepidation in Greg's expression. The attempt quickly abandoned, turning into a frown as he realised that Greg's expression was well warranted.

If his sister's first visit to his house was any indication.

He was lucky Sara was nice enough to house his bugs temporarily…Until his sister left, that is.

Greg didn't even want to think about actually having to face his mom and admitting that he'd knowingly put himself in danger. He was her only child and the only child she was ever going to have.

But at least he was still alive.

Maybe she wouldn't lock him in his room this time.

"I'm still disappointed in you, though."

Greg sighed, holding his head in his hands. If there was one thing he couldn't take, it was disappointment. It was the only thing that could truly make him self-conscious. Especially when it came from his uncle.

"But…"

Greg looked up when Grissom spoke, again. He didn't anticipate the but. Which was unusual for him because the but's were always a good thing. Well, most of the time, anyway.

"Only because you didn't tell anybody what you were doing." Grissom tilted his head, blinking his eyes as if he suddenly remembered something. "Sara was actually worried, you know?"

"I was not." Sara interrupted the conversation, only realising her mistake too late when she found her head peeking through the door that was now more than slightly ajar.

Grissom raised his eyebrows, questioning the validity of her protest. "Good timing, Sara." Moving over when he saw Greg nearly jumping off the desk.

"I knew you loved me, Sara." Greg walked to Sara with his arms open, not in the least hurt when she scrunched her face and tried to pushed him away. .

"Greg, get away from me." Sara narrowed her eyes at Grissom while she tried to fend off Greg, barely able to keep him at arm's length. She couldn't believe he would say something so…So not true but in reality, still the truth.

It didn't make sense in her head but it still served as some kind of dissent.

Greg only responded with a large smile. He knew she couldn't get enough of him. It was true love at its finest. He finally relented when she let him rest his head on her shoulder. Satisfied when he moved away from her.

Grissom adjusted the glasses on his face, pointing to Sara. "I need you to watch over him." And pointed to Greg, who stood comfortably beside her. "I have to go back the station to meet with Brass." He paused, as if his attention was caught by something new. "Are you going to be all right?"

Both Greg and Sara nodded their heads, thinking Grissom was speaking to them. But turned quickly to the sound of a new voice. Ryan, who walked in quietly, was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"I'll be fine, Grissom." Ryan moved his gaze from the older man to Greg, one eyebrow raised. "Just fine."

Greg was startled, forgetting Ryan was released from the station before him. He swallowed the sounds that were threatening to come out his mouth, moving to stand behind Sara. Seeing Grissom walk out the main door from the corner of his eye.

Ryan had that entirely too calm voice. That unnatural voice that Greg knew was something not to be taken lightly. He silently cursed when Sara moved away from him, leaving him open to Ryan. She made herself comfortable in a chair, crossing her legs.

All she needed was the popcorn.

He started to move back when Ryan began to approach him. In a short amount of time, finding himself pressed against something. He was stuck between a wall and…a quickly advancing Ryan.

Sara only continued to watch, that smug look marring her face again. It wasn't like she was doing any good from the sidelines.

Greg knew his more or less uncharacteristic behaviour around Nick spurred many questions for Ryan. Those kinds of questions Ryan wouldn't stop prodding him about until they were answered. It was probably the least Greg could do since he had in fact risked Ryan's life, too.

But he still didn't like the way Ryan was leering at him.

For some reason, this chapter seems ridiculously short. But this time, it's not just me. Six days to write three more chapters. Do I believe myself when I say five is done? I don't know, but I do think it's a good question.

Thank you for reading and thank you to silverrayne666 for reviewing.