Author's Final Note: Many thanks to Emmithar for reading, reviewing, and providing much needed suggestions for this story. Thanks to all of you for reading and submitting reviews. Feel free to review this last section - a next story may depend on it.

CHAPTER SIX

Greg sat at the edge of his bed. He had attempted to get up, but hadn't managed to move very far. He felt a hell of a lot more battered than he did six hours ago, and the bruises from his most recent "incident" were beginning to make an appearance across his torso. His head felt as though it was going to split open as he reached for the bottle of Advil he'd placed on the nightstand before he'd gone to sleep. Ugh. Two weeks? He hoped that this headache would not last that long.

Swallowing the pills dry, he willed his body to stand and fumbled to pull a clean pair of jeans and a hoodie from the chest of drawers. It wouldn't be long before Nick arrived, and there were a few things he needed to do before his friend showed up.

While he was not a messy person by nature, despite what others assumed, his apartment was tiny and became cluttered very quickly. Groaning, Greg cleared the coffee table and made sure the sofa was free of extraneous clothes and other crap.

He'd managed to toss the last items into his bedroom closet before he heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, grab one of these will ya," Nick practically shoved the six pack of beer into Greg's hands as he walked through the door. "I thought I was going to drop something halfway up the stairwell," his voice trailed off as he came to a stop, his eyes glancing around the apartment.

"Dude, I think you've been robbed."

"What?" Greg was confused; most of his concentration had been on keeping the beer from slipping out his hands.

"Seriously G, where's all your stuff? The kick-ass stereo system, the game consoles, all your CD's?"

"Oh. I had to downsize when I moved to this place two years ago. I couldn't fit all that crap in here. I had to get rid of a lot of furniture too." He haphazardly relinquished the beer on the coffee table, moving towards the kitchen to grab some plates and paper towels.

Greg knew that Nick was watching him, he could see it out of the corner of his eye how the man stared with one eyebrow raised. The Texan could tell that he was hiding something, that space wasn't the only reason he had downsized. Shifting uncomfortably, he changed the topic.

"What movie did you bring?" He motioned to Nick to make himself comfortable, and reached for the DVD.

"Does it matter? Lots of gratuitous sex and violence. Isn't that enough?" He grinned at Greg who just chuckled in response.

"Sound good to me." He slipped the DVD into the machine and settled onto the sofa with a beer.

It had been a long while since either of them had paid much heed towards a movie. That much could be easily seen in the way they paid attention, and though Greg was grateful for the distraction Nick had offered the movie itself wasn't much to talk about. They had managed to consume all the pizza and were working on the last of the beers, and the plot less movie was not doing much to hold their attention.

"So, are you going to tell me why you moved?" Nick looked at Greg questioningly, and the younger man just shrugged in response.

"Lawyers are expensive. I needed to make a lifestyle adjustment." He hoped that Nick would be satisfied with his response, but Greg knew it was wishful thinking. The investigator sitting next to him would not be happy until he had the full story.

"But that was over two years ago, and the lawsuit was settled."

"Yeah, but not before I had to hire a lawyer, deal with all the depositions, and take care of a million other legal matters. I needed some fast cash, so I sold a lot of stuff, and then I needed to find someplace cheaper to live. Like I said; lawyers are expensive."

Greg avoided Nick's gaze. This was not a topic he liked discussing with anyone. He preferred to keep it private and hadn't even gone to his parents for financial help.

"I'm just thankful that I got reduced legal fees because of the Union." Greg looked directly at Nick, and could tell he wanted to ask more. He could see the hesitation in his eyes.

"What about your book? Weren't you going to get that published?"

"Yeah. I had meetings scheduled with two publishers, but I guess they don't like getting stood up."

Both men were quiet for a moment. The indirect reference to Warrick's murder was enough. There was no need to explain why Greg never made it to those appointments.

Nick was first to break the silence.

"I miss him, you know. Long before he died, we stopped hanging out like this." Nick gestured to the pizza box and beer bottles.

Greg didn't know how to respond. He just looked at his forlorn colleague and waited for him to continue.

"After a bad shift, we used to just go out for beers and talk about anything other than the case." Nick looked up at Greg. "You were right on the money that time when you referred to Tina as Yoko."

Greg involuntarily smiled despite the melancholy topic. It was a rough case for Nick, and Greg was surprised that he'd remembered that comment he'd made under his breath.

"Nothing's been the same has it?"

Greg looked up to see Nick staring at him questioningly.

"No. it hasn't." They were both quiet again.

"Sara and I used to go out after shift too. In the beginning, when I switched to the field, she really made me feel part of the team. Especially when we were all split into two shifts. She stopped when she and Grissom started dating. I mean, her leaving is not the same as losing Warrick, but I miss her." Greg looked down at his hands. Wasn't this night supposed to be fun? Instead, the two of them had managed to dredge up less-than-happy thoughts.

"Do you think Riley feels like part of the team?" Nick's question seemed to come out of the blue, but Greg completely understood. "We haven't exactly been the most welcoming group in the past year."

"Shit. I think she probably feels more of an outsider than I ever did." Greg ran his fingers through his hair, his fingers lingering on the bandages on his forehead. The air of grief amongst the surviving members of their team was thick, and they hadn't done much outside of work to make her feel welcome.

"She seems pretty tough, at least acts that way, but it's got to bother her a little, right?"

"Yeah. Plus, this is a new town for her too." Greg looked at Nick who was leaning back against the armrest of the sofa. "You know what? We are really selfish assholes"

"Yes we are. We should probably do something about that." Nick laughed. "How about we make these nights a team staple? Invite Riley, Catherine and Ray on a regular basis?"

"Sounds good to me." Greg grinned. "Next time, let's meet at your place. I don't think I can fit three more people in my living room."

Nick gave him a lopsided smile. "Well. It certainly is cozy."

Greg laughed and tossed a sofa cushion at Nick. "I hate this fucking place, man."

Nick laughed, blocking the pillow from hitting him dead in the face; the melancholy mood broken. Perhaps things weren't going to be as bad as he had first suspected.