Ray and Nick were walking up to Brass who was standing next the dead body of Jeffrey Penn.

Ray pointed his flash light on the dead body. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say he was stabbed..." looking at several stab wounds, Ray couldn't help but say this.

"Are those defensive wounds, Ray?" Nick asked, pointing his flash light on Penn's hands.

"Yes... Nick, do you smell that?"

"What?" Nick bended over to the body, trying to smell what Ray was pointing out.

"I think that's shampoo." he touched the hair. "I think he still got some shampoo in his hair, but it's dry."

"Did the swing shift process the bathroom in Mrs. Browns house?" Nick got up, facing Brass.

"I don't think so. They checked it, but it was clean, they had no reason to take a closer look." Brass said, taking out his cell phone.

"Well now we do." Ray got up and looked at the two men. "It's very likely that this man was killed while he was taking a shower. That would explain why they didn't find his blood at the scene."

Brass called Catherine to go to Mrs. Browns house and check the bathroom, but she already had some interesting news for him. "Hey Catherine, we think we know where Penn died..."

"Okay, I'll send Sara. But I just got a call from Detective Vega. Another body was found..."

"Okay, Greg. I hope you know that the only reason you're here with me is that everyone else was busy. I want you to take it slow, you're still hurt." Catherine said, giving him a serious and concerned look.

Greg smiled at here. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

They both walked up to Detective Vega who was already waiting for them together with David.

"Hey guys. Time of death approximately five hours ago. It looks like a heart attack, but it could also be poisoning." David pulled the thermometer he used to check for liver temperature out of the body.

"Then where does all the blood come from?" Greg pointed his flash light on the bloody shower curtain.

"He has no wounds, I don't think it's his..." David kept on processing the body.

Catherine pointed her flash light on the shower curtain as well. "It's attached pretty sloppy... And there's something that looks like a piece of another shower curtain..." she picked it up with a tweezer. "You know, maybe Penn was wrapped and moved in this curtain... Let's swab the blood and then bag the curtain."

The blood on the shower curtain came back to Jeffrey Penn. They also found trace of dirt on it, probably from where Brass found the body. So now they had a suspect that was trying to kill as many cops as possible and had a habit of bringing objects from his older murders to the new crime scenes. They had absolutely no clue who he might be and why he does this, but they were sure it was only a matter of time until the next murder or attempt to kill cops.

The CSIs all have been working for hours now and it was time for Nick and Greg to go home and take a break.

"Greg" Catherine walked into the locker room. "Are you sure you want to go home? Brass is taking care of protection, but I'd feel better if you went into a hotel room instead..."

Closing his locker, Greg turned to face Catherine. "No, Catherine, it's fine. I don't even need protection. I don't think he'll come back to me, would be stupid of him, don't you think?"

"What? You want to go home already?" Nick almost yelled at Greg. "I thought you agreed to sleep at my place for the next few days!"

"Yeah I know... But I just don't think it's necessary." there was the slight discomfort showing in his face again, but this time Nick noticed it.

Catherine put her hand on Greg's shoulder. "Please, Greg. Just go with Nicky. This guy's really dangerous and we have no idea if he'll come back or not. I don't want to take that risk."

Greg sighed. He knew they were right but something inside him just didn't want him to go home with Nick. "Alright... But only for a few days..."

After picking up some of his stuff from his apartment, Greg drove home with Nick. Nick was making the guest room ready for Greg while Greg was in the kitchen fixing them something to eat.

"Okay" Nick walked into the living room, turning on the TV. "The room's ready."

"Thanks, Nick." Greg walked over to the couch, putting the plate with a sandwich in front of Nick on the coffee table and sitting down.

"How's your rib doing? Still hurting?"

"It's better. The pain killer's kicking in." Greg gave Nick a smile.

"I hope you're careful with the sleeping pills when you're taking pain meds, Greg." Nick got up to get himself a bottle of beer and Greg a bottle of water.

Greg rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not taking any sleeping pills right now."

"I'm just saying... I don't think I've ever seen you taking pain killers or sleeping pills before."

Greg leaned back, worn out from work and everything that's happened in the past few weeks and sick of questions about his wellbeing being asked. "What's your point, Nick? I'm in pain and I don't sleep well. Why shouldn't I take these pills? That's what they're made for."

"Man, what's going on with you? Why aren't you talking to me? I can see you being troubled and worried and I can't help you if you don't talk to me!" Nick didn't plan to, but he just had to led it all out.

"What do you want from me? It's been a few rough weeks, that's all. I did talk to you about my troubles and they're gone now..." Greg didn't even look at Nick, just stared at the sandwich in front of him.

"And the attack last night, that didn't bring any of these feelings back up again? Or the shooting?"

Greg just kept staring at the sandwich and didn't say anything. He felt his eyes tear up but crying in front of Nick now was the least he wanted.

Nick saw Greg fighting back tears. "Listen, I'm just worried about you." his voice calmed down again. "We all are. We noticed something about you has changed in the last few months, after this all happened. I thought you were back on track again and then this attack happened..." Nick gently put his hand on Greg's shoulder. "I just can't stand seeing you like that... and I want you to know I'm there for you if you need me."

Nick just sat there, ate his sandwich, drank his beer and watched some TV. He noticed Greg not even touching his food, but he didn't say anything. Although he really wanted to say a lot more to him, he decided to just drop it for now and try to act as if nothing happened.

They sat together for a while, both pretending to pay attention to the TV program they were watching, but both got lost in their thoughts.

Nick thought about ways to help Greg deal with his troubles better. He tried to decide on whether it was best to keep him distracted from it or make him talk about it. He knew the latter would be the more difficult way for both of them, but he thought in the long run it would help Greg more. Nick himself was not the type to talk about his troubles too much, but he wanted others to talk about their feelings. He always knew that him not talking about it didn't really help him much, but it was just the way he learned to deal with it. But Greg has always been different. He wanted to talk about stuff like that, the important and less important problems in his life. And he usually told Nick about it all. The only time he didn't was when Warrick died. Greg figured that Nick took his death the hardest and he didn't feel the need to burden Nick with his pain, too.

Greg on the other hand thought about what to say to Nick. He wasn't really sure about his feelings about the attack and everything else that happened, so how could he then tell Nick about it? But he felt bad about the argument they just had and he wanted to do something about it. Normally he wouldn't fear that an argument like that may ruin their friendship, but right now he had thoughts like that. He wasn't even sure where they came from.

After several minutes of silence between the two men, Greg decided to say something, anything to reassure him that, if something's broken between them, it's still time to fix it.

"You know..." as Greg broke up the silence, he gave Nick an insecure smile. "Before the attack I really felt good. I felt comfortable being physically close to you or Ray or any other man, I was able to fall asleep without the pills, I didn't have an anxiety attack for weeks... I just felt good and save. And then..." he looked down to his hands.

Nick just sat next to him, not keeping his eyes off Greg, and not saying anything. He just wanted to listen to him.

Greg slowly leaned back, running his hands through his hair and releasing a deep sigh. "It's probably stupid, but I feel so vulnerable. I'm really scared, Nick." the insecure smile turned into an expression of helplessness.

In this moment Nick realized that Greg had this face expression the whole time for months now. It was really subtle but now that he saw no other face expression covering it up, Nick was sure it has been there since the day at the video store. Nick's heart was pumping through his chest as he saw Greg starting to cry. He himself felt helpless because he had no idea how to ease Greg's pain. After thinking about a dozen things to say, he finally settled with "Then why did you want to go back to your apartment?". Nick knew it was the wrong question to ask, but he couldn't bring himself to say something else.

"I thought this would be the best way to handle my fears, you know? Confronting them by going back to where it happened. I'm not sure I would've pulled through with it, though... Just talking about going back there makes me shiver..." Greg said with a forced laugh that quickly changed back into the helpless face.

He rubbed his with tears filled eyes with his hands. "I hate this. I hate that this all happened and I hate that I can't deal with it better!" the sad tone in his voice turned into anger when he said that.

"What are you talking about, Greg? There's no right or wrong way to deal with something like that. No one should have to deal with it, but you're doing just fine. It may take some time, but you'll get through this." Nick scooted closer to Greg, gently placing his hand on Greg's lower arm and gently squeezing it. "I know you'll get through this."

Greg smiled at Nick, but again his smile didn't stay long on his face and he quickly gave him a sad, helpless look again. "I just feel weak. I should be stronger..."

"Greg..." Nick turned Greg's face with his hand towards him. "You are strong. You continue with your life almost as if nothing's happened. And now you're opening up about your feelings. You're really strong and dealing with it the best you can." Nick could feel Greg starting to shiver a bit but wasn't sure whether it was because of all the emotions coming up or because Nick got too close to him again. Nick decided to let go of Greg and scooting an inch back, giving him some space. "It's normal to feel weak and powerless after something like that happened... But that'll go away soon, I promise." Nick smiled at Greg.

"I hope so..." Greg rubbed his sleep deprived eyes. There was so much more he wanted to tell Nick but didn't know how to do it. He knew Nick was interested in hearing it all, but he couldn't bring himself to start talking again. He tried to but then decided not to. Maybe later, he thought. "We should go to bed now..."