Just an FYI, I'm sort of making this up as I go along so updates will not be posted regularly. I'll try to update once a week though, but as I'm a university student getting ready for an internship in a week, updates may become less frequent. And many thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites on this story!

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Hopefully you enjoy chapter 4!

The next morning dawned gray and cloudy as a rainstorm loomed on the horizon. Hannah helped her parents load their suitcases into the trunk of the rental car. Her parents had managed to secure a small, private jet for their flight home. Their flight back home to Tennessee left soon, and they just wanted to get to the airport to make sure their precious cargo had been handled with extreme care. Hannah knew it was one of the few instances her parents really used their wealth to any sort of advantage.

"We'll call you once we get home," her mother hugged her.

"Have a safe flight," Hannah hugged her tight. "Let me know when you and dad decide on the arrangements. I'll come home once you let me know."

"You could just come with us today," her dad suggested as he shut the trunk.

"I sort of have plans this morning that I don't think I want to cancel," Hannah replied vaguely.

"Would those plans happen to involve that young CSI?" her mother questioned.

"You're going to spend time with the guy who let your sister get killed?"' her father asked in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Dad, he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger," Hannah reasoned. "If you had taken just five seconds yesterday, you would've realized that he's hurting over Ashley's death as much as we are, and he didn't even know her. He has to live with the memory of watching her die."

"He also has to live with knowing he could've done something to save her," her dad argued. "Did you know that he never even tried to save your sister? He just stood there and watched her get killed. He's no hero, Hannah. Stop acting like he is."

"I'm not," Hannah glared at her father. "Ashley's death is bothering him more than you realize, dad. He fell asleep in my car when I gave him a ride home yesterday. He had a nightmare just as I started to wake him up. He's reliving Ashley's death over and over when he's asleep."

"Brian, she has a point. Besides, you heard what was said yesterday. He was unarmed, and the man who killed Ashley shot at him too. It had to be a terrifying situation for him."

"Now you're defending the man who let Ashley die?"

"Mom, dad, please," Hannah interjected. "Don't start arguing. I promise you that Greg isn't a horrible person. He feels awful about what happened to Ashley, and he feels so guilty about her dying."

Her father simply turned toward the car, telling her over his shoulder, "I'll have your mother call when we finally make it home."

Hannah knew the conversation was over. Her father would, for now, remain angry at Greg. Her mother seemed unsure of what to say or do so she simply got into the car. Hannah remained standing in her driveway as she watched her parents leave. Once they were out of sight, she hurried to get ready to leave.

She had worried about Greg all night after knowing he had nightmares about Ashley's death. It amazed her to know just how a stranger could be so affected by her sister's death. A part of her wondered if being around Greg was helping matters. Especially after how upset he had been the evening before.

Those thoughts were quickly pushed away as she left to go back to Greg's apartment. When she arrived, he opened the door almost as soon as she knocked. She noticed he still looked as upset as he had the day before, but he was smiling very faintly. Hannah laughed when she took a look at his blonde hair. It stuck out in almost every direction. Somehow, it made him look even younger than he really was.

"What's so funny?" Greg questioned.

"Your hair," she laughed again. "You look like you just got out of bed."

"I honestly did about half an hour ago."

"You look tired," Hannah commented. "And how are you feeling? I know my dad beat the hell out of you yesterday."

"Yeah, well, you saw yesterday why I haven't gotten much sleep lately," he commented quietly. "I'm still a little sore, but I'm okay."

That wasn't what Hannah wanted to hear. She hated knowing how much Ashley's death was affecting him. Greg looked around the room as though he was trying to avoid her gaze after admitting the truth. It made Hannah feel even worse knowing that her father's actions were still causing him a little pain. She decided to quickly change the subject.

"Do you still want to go out for breakfast before I take you back to get your car?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Let's go."

She let Greg choose where they ate. It surprised her that he chose Frank's. It was a restaurant she frequented. She wondered how many times she had probably passed by him in the small restaurant without even noticing. Greg became quiet and withdrawn once they arrived.

He never ordered anything to eat once they took a seat in a booth. Only a cup of coffee. Hannah felt bad for ordering a little bit of food, but she hoped that maybe she could talk Greg into sharing it with her. She knew he needed to eat something.

She sensed that Greg wasn't in the mood to be that talkative just yet. The waitress returned with their coffee. It was only then that Greg chose to speak.

"You didn't say anything, but I hope this place is okay with you," Greg looked at her from across the table. "I mean, I know it's not exactly a fancy place or anything."

"Do I look like the kind of girl who wants to eat at a fancy place?" Hannah questioned with a laugh. "I'm sure I look so fancy in this faded long-sleeve shirt and jeans with tears in them."

Greg laughed. "Okay, you got me. I guess I was afraid you were only going along with my choice so I wouldn't feel bad."

"It's fine, Greg," she assured him.

"So, I've been wondering," he suddenly changed the subject. "You said your family is from Tennessee. So what made you decide to move all the way out here?"

"I spent my twenty-first birthday in Vegas, and I fell in love with the city while I was out here. Well, I fell in love with the city's history. It's so fascinating. I actually moved out here once I graduated from East Tennessee State University a few years ago."

"I'm guessing you were a history major of some sort then?"

"Nope," Hannah shook her head. "I was a Parks and Recreation Management major. Now, I'm a park ranger for Valley of Fire State Park."

"No way!"

"I'll never understand why people are surprised to find that out," Hannah laughed. "But yeah, that's what I do. What about you? How'd you end up as a CSI?"

The question came out before Hannah realized what she asked. Greg's expression momentarily darkened. Hannah feared she had asked the wrong question. Maybe bringing up his career wasn't such a good idea. For a couple minutes, Greg never said anything. Hannah nearly tried to change the subject just as Greg spoke.

"I started out as the DNA lab tech," Greg finally answered. "After a few years, I decided I wanted to get out of the lab so I asked Grissom about becoming a CSI. I barely made it though."

"What do you mean?"

"I failed my first proficiency," Greg sighed. "Nobody told me that it wasn't a good idea to use the bathroom at a crime scene without clearing the bathroom first. Well, they told me, but only after the fact. Grissom had to fail me for that, but he let me have another chance."

"He must have really believed in you then."

"The whole team did. They were all so excited when I finally became a CSI."

"It has to be a tough job," Hannah tried to keep the conversation going. If Greg was willing to talk this much, maybe he would open up more about what happened to Ashley.

"Nothing in the world can prepare you for seeing the aftermath of human brutality," Greg said before taking a sip of his coffee. "The rest of the team have been doing it so long they're almost desensitized to it. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it, especially after what happened to Ashley."

Hannah reached across the table and rested her hand on his. Words seemed unnecessary for the time being. Greg held her gaze for just a few seconds before looking down at the table.

"Well, well," a man suddenly stood beside their table. "What do we have here, Greggo? A morning date?"

"I guess that explains why he took the day off, huh?" the dark-skinned man beside him joked.

Hannah watched as Greg faintly blushed at the other men's comments. He slowly pulled his hand from under hers.

"And you are?" Hannah looked at them.

"Nick Stokes," the first man answered then nodded toward the man beside him. "And this is Warrick Brown. We work with Greg."

"Don't you two have work to be doing?" Greg suddenly asked.

"We worked all night. We took a break to get something to eat," Warrick answered.

"So, are you going to introduce us to your lady friend?" Nick asked Greg.

"Guys, this is Hannah," Greg said slowly.

"Nice to meet you," Hannah smiled at them.

"Likewise," Nick smiled back.

She wondered if they really knew who she was. Greg failed to mention her last name. She guessed it was because they wouldn't know who she was if they didn't know her last name.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend," Warrick chuckled. "Where have you been hiding her?"

"Yeah," Nick chimed in. "Were you afraid she'd leave you for one of us because we're cooler?"

"Oh, ha-ha," Greg faked a laugh.

"Lighten up, Greggo," Nick said without a laugh. "You two lovebirds have fun."

As the duo walked away, Hannah couldn't stop herself from laughing. Greg looked even more embarrassed than he had when Nick first said something.

"They don't know who I am, do they?"

"Obviously not," Greg replied.

"Is there a reason you didn't tell them my last name?"

"They don't have to know everything," he looked at her. "I hope they didn't offend you."

"Offend me?" Hannah scoffed. "I thought it was funny! They must be good friends of yours for you to let them joke like they did."

"I've known them both since I started working in the lab. They're like older brothers to me. They give me a hard time, but they do their best to look out for me."

"Oh, I get it."

"Get what?"

"You didn't tell them my last name because you're afraid they would think I'm trying to advantage of you once they realized who I am."

"Something like that," Greg shrugged.

The waitress arrived with Hannah's food, cutting off the reply she was about to give him. After the waitress left, Hannah felt bad for eating in front of Greg.

"Greg, when's the last time you actually ate something?"

"I don't know," he said tiredly as he eyed the food on her plate.

"Will you at least try to eat something now?" she asked. "You can't keep living on very little sleep and no food. You're heading for disaster that way."

"I'll be all right," he tried to assure her. Hannah saw through it though.

"Come on, Greg, don't be like that," Hannah grinned, picking up a piece of bacon and holding it up. "No man can resist bacon. Try. I dare you."

She stifled a laugh as she continued to hold it up. Greg seemed to realize she wasn't going to take no for an answer and reached to take the piece of bacon from her. Hannah smiled as he ate it.

"Told you," she laughed. "It's impossible to resist bacon!"

"You're something else, you know that?" Greg tried not to laugh.

"I'm just being a friend, Greg."

Greg felt much better after they left Frank's. His undeniable hunger eventually made him listen to Hannah's insistence that he try to eat something. The drive to the lab was just as silent as the one to Frank's had been. The only difference was that the silence was a lot more comfortable. Greg's mood had lightened considerably since spending time with Hannah. Even the lingering thoughts of what happened to her sister didn't bring him down as much as he thought they would. He knew Hannah wanted to know about what happened, but she never tried to push him for any details. He wanted to tell her, but his fear of how she would react kept him from it.

"Well, this is your stop," Hannah said, pulling into an empty parking spot at the lab. "Would you be interested in hanging out again sometime?"

"You'd want to?"

"Sure I would," Hannah answered. She grabbed a pen and piece of paper from her purse and quickly wrote her number down. "Give me a call sometime."

Greg took the piece of paper from her and put it in his pocket.

"And call me if you ever need someone to talk to. I don't care what it's about. I'll be there to listen if you need someone, okay?"

"Thanks," he smiled at her. "Well, I'll let you go, but I'd definitely love to hang out again soon."

"See you later. Take care of yourself, all right?"

The concern in her voice made Greg wonder why Hannah cared so much about him. He felt he didn't deserve her caring about him like she seemed to.

"I'll try," he said before getting out of her car.

He watched her back out of the parking space and leave before turning around to go inside the lab. It might be his day off, but they couldn't keep him away from the lab. He wandered through until he passed the AV lab. Archie, the AV tech, waved at Greg when he spotted him. Greg stepped inside the room to talk to him.

"Aren't you supposed to be off today?" Archie questioned.

"Yeah, but I had to come back to get my car. I thought I'd come in for a few minutes. What are you doing?"

"Checking surveillance footage on The Strip," Archie pointed toward the computer screen. "I've been trying to figure out how many angles we have of that drive-by that happened last night."

"Drive-by?"

"It's been all over the news today. It happened late last night. Two people killed. One in the hospital, barely alive. Nick and Warrick have been working nearly nonstop since last night to collect evidence and talk to witnesses."

"So that's the work they said they had to be doing," Greg remembered.

"Yeah," Archie answered then grinned. "Nick mentioned that he saw you earlier. He said you were out with a girl this morning."

Greg rolled his eyes. "I swear nothing around here stays private."

"Why do you sound so surprised by that? I thought you would've figured that out a long time ago. So, who was she?"

"I'll let you get back to work," Greg ended the conversation.

He left before Archie could say anything else. Once in the hall way, he noticed the other lab techs giving him odd looks. He knew then that his breakfast with Hannah was definitely known to pretty much everyone. He wondered if Grissom knew. Greg told himself he didn't need to worry about that. He wasn't breaking any rules by spending time with Hannah.

Something compelled him to head over to the trace lab. It was a decision he regretted almost instantly when he stepped inside the room.

"A little birdy told me you went out on a date this morning," Hodges grinned when Greg approached.

"Yeah, where is that little birdy anyway?" Greg questioned. "It seems to be telling everyone. I'd love to shoot the damn thing."

"Kind of hard to shoot something when you don't carry a gun."

Greg gave him a look that would have probably set the lab tech on fire if he had pyrokinetic abilities. Hodges held his gaze. The two fell into an angry staring contest that neither one was going to lose without a ton of effort.

"Before you two decide to kill each other," a voice chimed in from the doorway. It was Sara. "You should both remember you work in a crime lab. And I need Hodges to run an analysis on this powder Catherine and I found at the scene of a robbery."

Greg looked at Sara with a look that was just a tad less angry than the one he had given Hodges. Sara ignored it and handed an evidence container to Hodges. Then she focused on Greg.

"I thought Grissom told you to take today off?" Sara asked him.

"I'm not on the clock, Sara," Greg couldn't keep the angry edge out of his voice. "I had to come back and get my car."

"Only after he went out on a date first this morning," Hodges put in, carefully taking the lid off the container Sara had handed to him.

"It wasn't a date!" Greg glared at him. "Nick and Warrick really need to learn to keep their mouths shut."

"Well, I'm in no mood to argue about what it actually was," Hodges spoke up then pointed to powder he carefully extracted from the container. "Now, get out of here and leave me alone. I've got work to do."

Greg rolled his eyes before exiting the lab. He didn't have to turn around to know Sara followed him out. He heard her walking behind him.

"Greg," Sara's voice was a lot softer than it had been in the trace lab. "Can we talk?"

"If you're going to ask me if I'm okay or tell me you're sorry, then forget it," Greg snapped, keeping his back to her and continuing on down the hallway.

"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay," she said sadly as she trailed after him. "Because I know you're not."

Greg stopped walking so abruptly that Sara almost walked into him. She took a step back and looked at him.

"I know you're not okay because you've barely talked to any of us since…" she trailed off. A few seconds passed before she spoke again. "Just don't let it consume your life, all right? We've all had that one case that haunts us more than the rest. You can't carry it with you all the time. It isn't healthy. You have to let it go."

"Don't talk to me like you know what I'm dealing with."

"Greg," Sarah sighed heavily. "I'm not trying to say I know what you're going through. What I'm saying is I know how it feels to witness something that makes you wonder how you'll ever move past it. Things will get better."

"I hope so," Greg replied, his voice a lot calmer. "I'm sorry, Sara. I don't mean to be so hateful."

"You're dealing with a lot," Sara gave him a sympathetic smile before giving him a quick hug. "I know it's not like you to act like this."

"I hate feeling like this."

"Nick and Warrick said you seemed pretty happy with that young woman earlier. They told me her name, but I forgot it."

"Her name is Hannah," Greg answered without even thinking. "We had breakfast together. That's it."

"Hannah?" Sara gave him an odd look. "You're not talking about Hannah Newton, are you? Greg, have you lost your mind?"

"That's exactly why I didn't tell Nick and Warrick what her last name is," Greg said pointedly. "I knew it would be taken the wrong way. She gave me a ride home yesterday, and she came back to pick me up for breakfast before bringing me back here to get my car."

"Did she question you about her sister?"

"No," Greg shook his head. "She didn't. I think she wanted to, but she never asked directly."

"Are you sure she's not just trying to give you a guilt trip?"

"She's not like that, Sara," Greg assured her. "I swear."

"You know it's only a matter of time before everyone finally figures out who she is, right?"

"It's not like I'm dating her," Greg shot back. "She gave me a ride home and then went out to breakfast with me this morning before bringing me back here to get my car."

"Just be careful, okay?" Sara warned.

"You act like she's going to lure me into some sort of trap to get revenge for her sister," Greg almost laughed at the absurdity. "Since when did you care so much about who I'm seen with anyway?"

"Since I know you're not in the best shape emotionally," Sara stared him down. "You're vulnerable, Greg. Don't let her take advantage of you."

"Unbelievable," Greg rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to let her take advantage of me?"

"I don't think you're stupid," Sara defended. "I do think that maybe you should have another talk with the department psychologist, though."

"How dare you!" Greg said bitterly, his voice carrying down the hall enough to make a few passersby stop and stare. "I told you I'm fine!"

"Greg, please just hear me out," Sara grabbed his arm gently to stop him as he turned around.

He yanked his arm away from her grip. "Leave me alone!"

Greg bolted out of the lab without another word. Between Nick and Warrick telling everyone about his breakfast with Hannah to Sara trying to make him feel like an idiot for spending time with Hannah, he felt like everyone was suddenly second guessing everything he was doing. If they weren't hovering over him or asking him if he was okay, they were giving him sympathetic looks and trying to determine whether or not he should have been cleared to return to work so soon. Greg didn't know how to make sense of everything anymore. He just wanted things to go back to normal, even when he knew things would never be normal again.