The desperate cry stunned everyone in the store, guns were drawn immediately towards the restroom. Nick quickly took in the scene and his heart plummeted to the floor. Inside the small restroom, Greg was standing rooted to the spot, his palms outstretched defending himself, probably paralysed with fear as the kid who presumably had hidden, backed him slowly against a wall, his gun pointing unsteadily toward Greg's stomach. It was clear this kid was terrified and had no idea what to do, seeing the other officers with their guns drawn toward him, he quickly shifted Greg in front of him, who did not protest. All Nick could see was sheer terror in the eyes of both the kid and Greg.

"I'll shoot him!" The kid screamed again, his gun constantly wavering unsteadily.

Nick tried to look Greg straight in the eye who seemed to be looking beyond Nick at nothing. Nick knew Greg was probably reliving some kind of flashback and he needed to get him to focus. Suddenly though those soulful eyes connected with his, and although still fearful Greg indicated he knew what to do with a slight nod of his head. He was ready, a silent understanding passed instantly between the two men.

"I'll shoot him, I'll blow his cop brains out all over the floor!" The kid continued to threaten, clearly becoming more deranged. It was now or never.

Nick instructed the kid calmly "Lower your weapon. If you shoot that man, this will not end well for you, lower your weapon and let him go"

As Nick said 'go' Greg took his cue, ducking slightly to the left, to give Nick a clear shot. It was split second stuff, but Nick's bullet hit the kid squarely in the shoulder, harmlessly sending him sprawling to the floor in some pain but no life threatening injuries. Greg moved swiftly away and the officers quickly moved in.

The whole situation had lasted no more than about 3 or 4 minutes but Greg was understandably shaken. As soon as that gun had been pointed at him, his surroundings, the frightened kid holding the pistol all disappeared and were immediately replaced by memories he had tried his hardest to repress of being beaten and tortured. That brief flashback had left him completely paralysed for a few crucial seconds but finally he saw Nick. As soon as he saw Nick standing calmly, his weapon drawn, he quickly remembered it wasn't a ruthless serial killer holding him hostage, just a frightened kid with no idea what to do or even handle a weapon. His hostage training came flooding back to him, it had been one of the first things he had insisted on in his training package, and his eyes had met with Nick's and everything was OK again.

Nick, however was not OK, in fact he was absolutely furious and angrily rounded on the officer responsible for clearing the scene. "How the hell could you let this happen?" He shouted

"I checked in there, saw the window and assumed he was gone, he must have been well hidden" The officer retorted, clearly not in the slightest bit bothered his carelessness had placed Greg in a dangerous situation.

Nick was unimpressed but wisely decided to walk away, knowing he could not be held responsible for his actions if he continued to look at the officer's smarmy face, he would get his punishment for failing to do his job, that would just have to suffice.

He found Greg outside being comforted by Miss French " Are you sure you're okay honey? You don't look too good" she said kindly handing him a coffee.

Greg accepted it gratefully "thank you"

"No problem sugar" She said walking away as Nick approached

Nick noticed Greg was clutching the disposable coffee cup as though his life depended on.

"Hey you alright?" He asked full of concern for his friend.

"Yeah, I'm OK just a little shaken" Greg replied, glancing at Nick.

Nick nodded, "Yeh, I'm sorry about that Greg. I can't believe that happened today of all days, you did really well though, proud of you"

Greg eyed Nick sceptically " Really? Standing there like a lemon not daring to breathe?"

"Absolutely! Of course it was a shock, anyone would have reacted like that, at first, it's only natural" especially after what you went through Nick thought privately "but you pulled yourself together, remembered your training and despite your obvious fear, you did everything right and got away unscathed."

"I shouldn't have gone in there though, after seeing those blood drops" Greg pointed out.

"Bullshit" Nick replied " You had no reason to fear going in there if that officer had done his job properly and cleared the entire scene, then you wouldn't have been put in that position" Nick seethed.

"I guess" Greg shrugged.

"Anyway" Nick said "what on earth was that dude still doing in there anyway, he had already got what he wanted!"

"Oh I do have a theory about that actually" Greg smiled.

"Pray do tell" Nick grinned at him

"Well, I think he had some wild elaborate plan to avoid the CCTV by the door so decided to leave via the restroom"

"So if that was the case, then why was he still hiding out in the johns?" Nick asked, still puzzled.

"Uh I think he misjudged the size of the window and his booty was too big to fit through the window" Greg said quickly, stifling his smile by raising his coffee to his lips.

He caught Nick's eyes though and could hold it in no longer, the two men laughed long and loud, Greg spraying coffee everywhere as he snorted through his laughter just as Grissom approached.

"Well I'm glad to see you're clearly OK Greg" He said arching an eyebrow at the pair about the joke he had obviously missed. "We were worried for you in there"

"Sorry Griss" Nick said still grinning at Greg.

"Greg you still need to finish up in there if you're OK to do that" Grissom instructed.

" Absolutely" Greg replied, quickly sobering up to the job again.

"And Nick you'll need to give a statement about the shooting" Grissom added.

"Later Greggo" Nick said high- fiving him as the two went to do their jobs.

Some time later, when all the tasks and paperwork were complete, the two men were preparing to go home after an eventful night. Greg packed up his stuff, watching as Nick changed his shoes, deciding whether or not to tell him or not, he decided to just go with it.

"Nick can I tell you something?" He said tentatively

"Yeh sure buddy" Nick said, not even glancing up as he tied his laces.

Greg leaned uneasily against the lockers. " I got a letter yesterday. From Jack"

"Yeh, Jack, Jack who?"

"Robins" Greg said carefully, watching Nick's reaction.

Nick stiffened, his full attention on Greg now. "Shit Greg" He said softly

"I know"

"Did you read it, what did he say?"

"That he wants to see me" Greg whispered.

"What! Son a bitch!" Nick exclaimed "I hope you told him where to shove it!"

"Yeah" Greg said slightly taken aback by Nick's venomous reaction. "I tossed it in the trash"

"Good, best place for him" Nick said dismissively

"Yeah" Greg said absent mindedly "but you don't think I should?"

"Do you?" Nick asked incredulously

"No, no of course not, its just that after what happened tonight, I thought about it again and maybe I could get some kind, some kind of..."

"Closure?" Nick almost spat

"Yes" Greg said unwilling to meet Nick's angry eyes.

"Jesus Greg, this guy killed some innocent couple, got some of our colleagues killed and let his sadistic boyfriend kidnap you! What could he possibly say that you need to hear?"

"I don't know..I just think...I need to see him before he dies." Greg replied not even convincing himself.

"He's not going to give you any answers. Honestly Greg I don't think it's a good idea. Promise me you won't go?"

"I don't know" Greg said hurriedly packing his bags not making eye contact. "I don't know if I can promise you that Nicky" he said walking away quickly.

"Greg!" Nick shouted after him "I'm telling you, it's not a good idea! Please don't do it Greg"

but Greg was already out the building, Nick's pleas falling on death ears.

Greg quickly got to his car, and just sat for a couple of minutes. Why was he even considering it? Nick was right surely no good could come of it, so why did he have this nagging doubt it was just something he had to do? Why had tonight triggered that feeling? He sat back, slumping his head against the headrest. He hadn't expected Nick to respond quite so furiously, he knew his friend was only looking out for him but it bothered him that he had been so angry. Why? Was there something Nick wasn't telling him? He kind of wished he hadn't even mentioned it to Nick now, it was just something he had thought about on the ride back from the grocery store. He just couldn't explain it but he felt an odd compulsion to go.

Easing the car into gear, he mulled it over on the drive back home, by the time he pulled into his parking garage, he still was no closer to a decision. He was officially exhausted and just wanted to crawl into bed, but he spied the scrunched up ball of paper in his waste paper basket as soon as he entered the house, like a beacon calling out to him. He reached in to grab it and smoothed it out again on the table, reading the details. He would come to a decision tomorrow, after a solid few hours sleep, his decision would be clear in his mind. Yes that's would he do, he would sleep on it. He left the letter where it was on the kitchen table, leaving it shimmering in the now dawn light that was flooding through the windows.