So sorry it took me so long! I'll try to update the last few chapters quicker :)

Enjoy!

On the next shift, Greg was assigned to a solo case. He was supposed to go to the hospital, a man was taken in with a suspicious wound. He developed a sepsis and was rushed to the hospital with a high fever. Brass was waiting for Greg at the hospital.

"Follow me," Brass said while walking Greg to the patient.

When they walked up to him, Greg couldn't believe his eyes. It's a small world, he thought.

"That's Mike Trenton, he has a stabbing wound on his..."

Greg interrupted him. "Left thigh."

Brass looked surprised at him. "How did you know?"

"Why didn't you report this?" Brass asked angry. They were standing outside the hospital room.

"Julian asked me not to. I tried to look for them on my own, unsuccessfully. If I would've found them, I would've told you."

"Great. The guy shows up two weeks later and might DIE from this wound. If you would've come forward right away, this would be a lot easier now."

"I know. I tried to convince Julian, but he..." Greg sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Alright. Get back to the lab, send someone else to take this case. And tell Julian I'll talk to him later."

The first thing Greg did when he came back to the lab was tell Catherine about this. She sent Ray to collect evidence from Mike Trenton and had a long conversation with Greg about integrity and sense of duty. It's not like she told him anything new, though. He knew it was wrong to keep quiet about the incident, but he wanted to be loyal to Julian. Thinking back at it, he had no idea why. Julian didn't deserve it, but it probably was more than just loyalty that back then. He was somewhat afraid of Julian, and when he told him about why he had a temper, felt kind of sorry for him. But still, he regretted his decision now.

Talking to Catherine about this was bad enough, but now came the worst part: telling Julian.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Greg walked into the break room. Julian was taking another coffee break. He didn't try to impress Greg with quick results anymore.

"Mhm," he said without looking up from his magazine.

"I had to tell Brass about the guys you beat up..." He sat down opposite Julian.

Julian stopped reading, but didn't look up just yet. "You did what?"

"The guy with the knife, he was taken to a hospital. His knife wound, the one you caused, got infected. He's in critical condition... I had to tell Brass!"

Boy, was Julian furious right now. He did his best to stay calm, though, because he thought it was a chance for him to finally gain Greg's trust back. He nodded. "Okay."

Greg looked confused. He expected something different. "Are you alright? It's okay if you're angry with me, just say it."

"I'm not." He looked up from his magazine and smiled. "Maybe it's time they all know about my past..." He had a look on his face that made Greg feel bad for him.

"You don't have to tell them everything. Just tell them what happened. They threatened you with a knife and you fought back." Greg didn't think Julian could get fired because of his sob-story about his childhood, but he thought he was uncomfortable telling Catherine or Brass about it.

"You think that'll be enough?"

He nodded. "Don't worry, just tell the truth."

"Are you gonna tell them I provoked them?"

"No."

"But... You can't lie for me!"

"I won't. I'll just tell them what happened, that they talked to us first. One thing led to another and then they threatened you with a knife. That's what happened."

Julian gave Greg a smile. "Thank you."

When Greg came home from work the next day, two days after Julian paid him a visit, he finally noticed something in his apartment was different. He wasn't sure if he was imagining things now, but he thought his armchair had been slightly displaced. Also, some of his food in the fridge seemed to be missing, and he couldn't remember eating it.

"Hey Nick... uhm... it might be a weird question, but do you still have my spare key?" he asked him on the phone.

"I guess, why are you asking?"

"Could you look for it and tell me if it's still there?"

"Did you lose your key again?" he asked with a laugh while looking for the key. "Yepp, still here. You want me to come over?"

Greg sighed in relief. "No, thanks. I didn't lose my keys."

"Then why are you asking?"

Greg told Nick about Julian's visit, but left out the part where Julian attempted to 'show' Greg he could still trust him, but just that he was there and acted weird. He also told him about what seemed to be different in the apartment.

"And now you think he was in your apartment?"

"I know it sounds stupid, but... Ah, I don't know, I guess I'm becoming paranoid now," Greg said jokingly.

Nick didn't laugh, though. "Maybe you should change your locks again."

"No. There's no way he, or anyone else, has access to my apartment. I probably forgot I ate the food missing, and the chair, maybe it got moved when I..." Greg stopped talking as he noticed something else being different.

"Greg? Are you still there?"

"Okay... The food and the armchair, that can be explained... but..." Greg picked up a picture standing on a book shelve. It was a picture of Greg and Nick. "He's been in here, Nick."

"Are you sure? What is it?"

Greg explained to Nick what he saw. The frame's glass was smashed, exactly where Nick's face was. "He said he thought you were the reason I didn't want to be friends with him anymore... He's crazy!" It took Greg that long to realize that. He felt really stupid now. It's not that he couldn't see it, he just didn't want to believe that Julian could actually be dangerous, although proven otherwise on more than one occasion. With everything he sees everyday on the job, he was still able to be naïve enough to try and see the good in the worst people.

"And there's no chance Julian might've done this two days ago when you were with him in the apartment?"

"No, he was only in the hallway, not the living room."

"Any chance you did this yourself?"

"I doubt it... I think you were right. He's stalking me... What am I supposed to do now?"

"Well, first, try to stay calm. And sec..." The phone call was interrupted.

"...Nick?" Greg asked, but he wasn't on the line anymore. He tried to call him again, but he didn't answer. He had a bad feeling about this, and this time, he thought, he should listen to it. He decided to drive over to Nick and check if everything's alright. Julian was supposed to be at the lab, doing overtime, but Greg wanted to make sure he was there by calling Hodges. "Hey. Is Julian at the lab right now?"

"Yeah, why?"

Greg was relieved. "Okay, thanks." He hung up without explaining anything. Still, he decided to check on Nick.

He knocked at Nick's door and it opened. He didn't expect to see what he was about to.

"Nick!" Greg ran over to him. Nick was lying on the floor, with bruises visible on his face. He was bleeding. "What happened?" Nick was coming in and out of consciousness and wasn't able to tell him what happened, but it wasn't necessary. He would find out soon enough.