The drive Greg felt earlier suddenly vanished when he got to the door of Nick's office. He was getting nervous. What would he want to say to him? He should've thought about that before he got here. Should he come back later?
The door opened. Too late now, he thought.
Nick stood in front of him, looking at him. "You want something?"
Okay, just say no and leave, Greg kept thinking to himself. No, he needed to do this now.
"Actually... yeah, I want to talk to you."
" 'Bout what?" Nick said, leaning against the door frame.
"Well, I..." Greg noticed that someone was watching them. Turning around, he saw Archie, Bobby, Henry and Hodges standing there, trying to eavesdrop on the two. "Let's get inside," he said, guiding Nick into the office.
Nick sighed. He really didn't want to see Greg right now. "What is it?"
"This wasn't my fault, Nick." Greg thought he should cut to the chase right away, and not beat around the bush like he usually does.
"Okay." Nick sat down. "Is that all you want?"
Greg looked at Nick in disbelieve. Why did he behave like that? "He could've killed us, Nick! I had no choice."
Nick laughed humorlessly, but didn't say anything.
"What's so funny?" Greg asked annoyed.
"You know, if I didn't know it any better, after today I'd think you have something to do with this."
"...Excuse me?" Greg was confused. Did Nick mean what he thought he did?
"You let this... monster walk out of there tonight without even TRYING to stop him! You even escorted him to YOUR car so that he could drive away with it!"
It really hit Greg hard. "Do you really blame me for this? Because I didn't want to risk three lives? He could've killed us!"
"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Greg," Nick said without looking at Greg.
"You know, Nick... Mere hours ago you feared your behavior could ruin our friendship, remember? I'm glad you don't have these fears anymore," Greg said sarcastically and left the room.
Nick sighed. What was he doing? Deep inside he knew Greg did the right thing. He knew he would've done the same if the roles were reversed. At least he hoped he would've, because anything else would've been insane. Why was he being such an asshole, then?
"Ray, Catherine said you closed your case, right?" Greg asked his older colleague.
"I did. You want some help with your case?" Ray replied.
Greg went into the break room with a smile on his face. A fake one, after what just happened with Nick he wasn't feeling like smiling, but he didn't want anyone to know.
"The ropes we found at the scene, as well as the uniform, have Wood's DNA on it. I also found a scarf with his saliva on it, probably what they used to gag him with. There were two other donors on these things. Monroe and James." Greg handed Ray the DNA test results and pictures of the uniform, scarf and the ropes.
Ray took a look at the pictures. "That's an army knot. Was anyone of them in the army?"
Greg opened a folder. "James served for seven years before joining the police."
"Could mean he was the one who strapped Wood down. But with both their DNA on it we can't know for sure."
"Well, I have been thinking. Why would Wood go back to the scene only to leave evidence behind?"
"That's a good question, Greg. As a cop he should know that we can't use them in court, but it would indeed be stupid to help get us on the right track when he murdered Wood."
"Well," Greg cleared his throat, "Brass said James fled alone, right? It's just a theory, but maybe he was pissed that they just left him there with Brass? Maybe he wants to take revenge on them for betraying him?"
Ray nodded. "That's a good theory, but how does Monroe play a part in this scenario?"
"He had wounds on his face and arms. I'm pretty sure it's cuts and a chemical burn. Lye, maybe?" Greg handed Ray pictures of the body. "He probably tried to fight James off and got the cuts this way. And now that James killed one of his friends, he helps us identify him as the killer."
"That's a long shot, but possible. Did he say anything helpful to you in that warehouse?" Ray looked at the pictures.
"No, the only thing he had in mind was to get out of there. I think he placed the evidence in there when we arrived at the scene, so he hid and waited for a good opportunity to get out. When he saw me getting closer to his hideout, he came out and tried his luck."
"Did you find anything else at the scene? New evidence?" Ray wondered.
"Yeah. Nick and the officer heard noises shortly before Wood came up to me. We found a cigarette butt and shoe prints back there. It's a few feet away from the warehouse, so it could be irrelevant. I'm still waiting for DNA on the cigarette butt."
Nick went into the room with a coffee cup in his hand. "What are you two doing here?"
Greg ignored him, but Ray answered, "Discussing the case."
"...Our case?" Nick asked when he looked at Greg.
"Nope, you're off the case," Greg replied in a cold way, still not looking at Nick.
"What do you mean?"
Greg gave Nick a 'are you serious' look. "I asked Ray to help me, you're off."
"Why would you do that? You know how important this is for me!" Nick was getting angry. He had no idea why Greg would do this, despite him acting like a jerk towards him. He didn't take Greg too serious earlier, when he implied that their friendship was ruined by Nick's behavior.
Ray felt uncomfortable being caught in the middle of this.
"A friend might care how important this case is to you, Nick. I don't." Greg stood up and headed for the door.
Did he just say that? Both Nick and Ray thought.
"What?" Nick asked puzzled.
But Greg didn't answer, he just left the room.
"Hey, wait!" Nick went after him.
"What is it?" Greg tilted his head back in annoyance.
"What do you mean, you don't care? Since when are we not friends anymore?" Nick really had no clue.
Greg sighed. "Jeez, Nick, I don't know! Maybe since you said I screwed up at that warehouse? Maybe since you don't trust me anymore?"
"I never said that..." Nick tried to talk himself out of it. Of course he did, but he saw how angry Greg was. Previously he assumed whatever Nick said to him, Greg would calm down eventually, like he always does. He didn't know he crossed a line with what he said.
Greg rolled his eyes and turned around.
"Wait!" Nick grabbed his arm to stop him from walking out on him. "Okay, maybe I did. I'm sorry. I was angry because we let Wood get away, but that doesn't mean I don't care about our friendship!"
"You know what, spare me the excuses! You can't just use me as your punching bag over and over again and think everything's fine once you apologized!" The pain in Greg's eyes was almost too much for Nick to take.
"Greg, I had no idea you feel that way... I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to..."
"Don't. I'm sick of it! You had no idea? I just TOLD you yesterday that you keep pushing me away and now you're doing it again! Congratulations! You pushed hard enough!" Greg tried to talk as quiet as possible, but it wasn't quiet enough, since Ray heard everything.
After Greg walked off, Nick went back into the break room with a shocked look on his face.
"Are you alright?" Ray asked concerned.
Nick sat down at the table. He was bummed out by what Greg just said. How could he not see what he did to Greg with his behavior? "I really messed up, huh?" He looked up to Ray.
"He'll calm down eventually. But he's right." Ray sat down next to him.
Nick looked surprised at Ray. He knew he messed up, but he wanted Ray to say that it's not that bad.
"Well, what you said to him at that crime scene is inexcusable. Especially after everything that's happened, you know how fragile he's been in the last months. Everyone has a breaking point, and you just reached his. What did you expect?"
"You know... Everyone acts like it only happened to him! It happened to all of us! Why don't I get indulgence from anyone?"
"I think Greg's been very lenient with you in the past days. Let's be honest here, Nick. You acted like a jerk, and I think you know it. Greg tried his best to be there for you, but you didn't make it easy for him." Ray knew he didn't know everything that's happened between them, but he was a good observer and knew Nick well enough to get a good picture of what happened.
Nick sighed. He was too tired to argue with Ray, especially since he knew he was right. "How can I make it up to him?"
"Well, personally, I'd try to give him some space at first. When he's cooled off, go talk to him. Tell him you know he did the right thing. Tell him you're thankful he saved your life. I really think he needs to hear this from you."
Nick looked up in surprise. Ray was right. Greg probably saved his life and Nick didn't even realize until now.
"You've been friends for over ten years, he'll forgive you eventually." Ray patted Nick on the back and left.