Hey guys! Sorry it took me a bit over a week (last time, it was nearly months; I'm getting faster at updating!) but here it is! Oh and a mega huge shoutout to Marril96 who was awesome enough to write me a review. :D Thank you!

I looked at the clock for the 30th time in two hours. The long hand finally landed on the 12 and I took off my lab coat. "I'm off shift!" I announced to everyone in the room. Which was no one save for me and a dead guy's thumb.

I left my lab and clocked out. I went to the locker room and grabbed my bag and jacket. Some of the other "lab rats" were coming in, now that shift ended and usually I would talk and gossip with some of them, but today I was in a hurry to leave. Well, get to another part of the building.

Closing my locker, I started to leave, but was stopped when I ran straight into Henry.

"I'm so sorry, Henry," I said, flustered. "It was an accident."

"No problem. What's the hurry?"

"Nothin. Just gonna go find something to eat before rush hour."

Henry smiled down at me. "Skye… every hour in Vegas is pretty much rush hour. You've been here for like, 2 weeks. I think you would know that by now."

"Excuse me. I'm Southern. I'm a tad slow at adjusting to the fast pace of this city," I drawled in a thicker Southern accent than usual, making me sound like a redneck.

Laughing, Henry moved to go to his locker. "Well, sorrrry," he chuckled. "Get adjusted faster though. It's gonna be useful here."

"Noted," I said, then left.

I headed back upstairs and ran into Catherine. "Cath! Where's Nick?"

She looked at her watch. "Wow, is it already-?"

"Yup, I'm off shift now. Where's Nick?" I repeated, patiently.

"Interrogation room 2. Brass was in here earlier." Cath said, and she started walking with me there. "Ya know, Skye, I have a feeling that you're going to be harsher and tougher than Brass in there."

"Most likely," I admitted. "Just be lucky Greg isn't there. He would've had Nicky stuffed in a box being shipped back to Fort Worth."

Catherine laughed a little. "You're talking about our Greg? Greg Sanders?"

"Stuffing my buff Texan cousin into a box… Yeah, maybe not; but yeah, our Greggo," I smiled.

"All right. Well, there he is. I've got to head back up and check on Erica."

I hadn't seen her since the whole incident hours earlier. "Good idea. I think she's fine. Or giving the appearance that she's fine."

Cath shrugged. "Try to not beat him up too much. I need to see him later on."

"Ok." I opened the door to the viewing room. I peeked in to see Nick on the other side of the one-way mirror, head on the table. "I'll do my best," I told her as she walked away.

I looked at Nick for a moment, then entered the interrogation room. Nick didn't look up and I went to the table. I didn't know if he was sleeping or sulking, so I just slammed my hand down on the glass table near his head and he shot up straight.

"What the-"

"Hi, cousin," I said, in monotone.

Nick looked like a mix of two emotions: relief and fear. "Hi, Skye…" He paused, then said, "Did you tell Erica?"

"Tell Erica what?" I roared. "That you're sorry for cheating on her by having sex with a two cent hooker?"

Nick seemed to shrink. "…Yes?"

"No, I did not tell her!"

"Why not?"

I leaned towards him, my eyes narrowing. "Because, Nick-" I spat out his name. "You're not sorry."

Sitting up, Nick put his elbows on the table and looked at me. "I am sorry."

"No, you're not."

"And why am I not sorry for cheating on my girlfriend?"

"That's why. For cheating on your girlfriend. You're not sorry! You're just sorry you got caught."

"I am not! I seriously am sorry!" Nick insisted, sounding angrier, which just fueled my own temper.

"You're sorry you got caught!" I yelled. "You're not sorry about cheating on her, are you? I mean, you're Nick Stokes, Fort Worth heart throb, used to getting any girl you wanted. Why would you feel sorry for cheating on Erica? You don't care. You just wanted sex and because Erica was smarter than the rest of those bubble-brained chicks you've got; she didn't let you into her pants."

Nick lost it, he got up; the chair flying back. He reached over the table and grabbed one of my arms tightly in his strong hand. "Skye Adrianna Stokes! You've gone too far. You don't know me, you never did! You don't know Erica either. Don't judge me, Skye."

"I can judge you, because I do know you. I know Erica. She's my best friend. I can judge you since I can see for what you are right now… A man-whore." I said, looking straight into Nick's dark eyes.

Nick's hand flew up to hit me, but like when we were kids; I quickly dodged his hit, and with my free hand, slapped him hard. "You know it's true, Nick! Otherwise you wouldn't have cheated!"

My slap sent him reeling back, he let go of my arm and glared at me, his cheek turning red. He didn't have anything to say.

A moment of silence passed, our anger in the air.

"Why do you even care? It's not your business. It's mine and Erica's."

"It's my business because Erica's my best friend and you cheated on a stripper that's dead now. Don't you think that at least makes it my business too?"

Nick looked betrayed. "So you don't even care about me? I'm your cousin! We're bound by blood, we're family. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

His question, if anything, pissed me off more. "Of course it means something to me. But you make me wish I weren't related to you. A member of the family cheating on his awesome girlfriend for sex. Brilliant, Nicky. Just fantastic!" My voice dripped with venomous sarcasm.

"See, you don't care about me. About what I'm going through."

"How can I see what you're going through? You're just a… you just ruined something with a genuinely awesome chick. Erica was my favorite of all the girls you've dated. I would've had a cousin-in-law that I actually liked. Nick, I just can't see from your point of view because I don't feel sorry for you. I just don't."

Nick looked even more guiltier and had more regret in his eyes. "So, just great. My own cousin doesn't even care enough to ask if I was ok, if I'm just fine with being involved in a murder case. Family rocks."

"I know you're ok, because you're sulking and because you're still alive. Luckily for you, this is my favorite Queen shirt and I don't want blood on it. Plus the whole 'fine with being involved in a murder case' thing, well, you wouldn't be in that mess if you didn't decide to be a slut yourself and go find a tramp to sleep with."

I knew my words hurt and cut him deep, because Nick had to look away to his feet and was utterly silent. I started heading to the door. "Nick, after you and Cath left in the elevator, Greg told me what happened. And you know what?"

"What?" Nick mumbled.

"I wasn't even that surprised. How horrible is that?" I stated. "Oh, and when you left, I looked to Erica and I could see that you hurt her bad. It was the saddest look I've ever seen on a person's face. And what pissed me off most was the fact that you caused it. You alone. Congratulations, Nick! You've ruined everything."

Nick looked crushed.

I couldn't resist one last blow as I put my hand on the doorknob. "You've ruined what you and Erica had and now you've got no girl. Too bad that hooker died. But then again, what would she do? You probably didn't even mean anything to her. Unlike Erica… Now, I've got to go see how she's doing. I'll leave you with one last question. That's it. Just one question and you can think about it for awhile, since you've got a bunch of time to think about it."

"What?"

"Was everything; ruining your relationship with Erica, getting caught, having your hooker die, getting caught in the web you made… was it worth it?" I asked.

Nick looked serious as he thought and I slipped out of the room.


(Greg's POV)

Skye left the room and jumped, spotting me. "Oh! Greg, God, you scared me."

I smiled a little. "Sorry. I tend to scare people sometimes."

"Are you serious?" Skye asked, sarcastic.

I nodded then looked to Nick, who was sitting in his chair again, head in hands.

"How long have you been there?"

"Since you got in there," I stated. "I saw you and Cath in the hallway, so I decided to be a creeper-spy and follow you guys. I waited til she left and you got in there, then I went in here to watch the show. It was… spot on, really. Didn't know you had it in you… to tell off your own cousin."

Skye blushed. "He deserved it. All of it."

"He did. My own arguments fell short of yours. I haven spoken to him, but that just about cut him down; so I don't see the point of saying anything to him," I said.

We both looked to him, standing side-by-side. "I can't believe he ruined everything with Erica." Skye murmured.

"I checked up on her. She's ok. At least that's what she insists on saying. I'm not sure what to do. Take her out to dinner and take her mind off Nick or leave her alone for a bit."

Skye pursed her lips as she contemplated that. "I don't know, Greggo. It depends."

"How do you know?"

"It's what girls do. We think about it and want to do nothing and be around no one for a bit afterwards. Or we want to keep our minds off the fact that we've been dumped or cheated on."

"How would you know?

Skye looked at me. "Cuz I've been through it. Not as traumatic, of course; but being cheated on sort of sucks, ya know?"

Uh, no, I actually wouldn't know. I haven't dated any chick long enough to be cheated on. "Yeah… I can't believe you've been cheated on though. Who would want to cheat on you? Crazy guy."

"Linebacker on our high school's football team. Cheated on me with the co-captain of the cheering squad." Skye looked totally indifferent about it, shrugging.

"He missed out then. But why the co-captain? Why not the captain of the cheer squad?"

Skye grinned. "Because I was the captain."

"Linebacker, right? Why not the captain of the football team?"

"Cause that'd be incest and disgusting. The captain was Nicky."

"Of course, why didn't I think of that? Both of you guys captains." I laughed. "But hey, whatever. His loss."

"Yeah. I moved on. Hopefully Erica can do the same."

Getting serious, I nodded. "Yeah. I don't know how to handle a sniffly crying heartbroken little sister. I can handle a giggly happy love-struck little sister."

"Well, be prepared with tissues, patience, and ice cream." Skye started heading to the door.

"Yeah." I said, as I followed. We left the rooms and started to head back to the lab. "Oh, and here." I gave Skye a little tape from my pocket.

She took it and frowned, looking at me. "What is it?

"The recording of what went down in there. Just yours, that is. I left Brass' in there. But I didn't want them to hear and stuff. The rumors are already spreading like a Cali wildfire, I don't want that to be heard either. More for your sake than Nick's."

Skye dropped in into her bag. "Thanks, Greg."

"No problem."

"Ya know, Greg…" Skye said as I walked with her to the elevator. "It's just the beginning of everything. This is going to be long."

"And rough," I added.

She looked thoughtful.

"But cheer up, Skye. We'll help Erica out through this if she wants us. Things are going to get better."

She smiled then said, "Yeah… But things get worse before they get better."

"Maybe we can break that fact."

"Maybe. I'll see you tomorrow. Or maybe later. I'll drop off a tub of Chunky Monkey ice cream," Skye smiled, getting into the elevator.

I smiled back. "Thanks."

"Good luck."

"Thanks again. I have a feeling I'll need it today."


That's all for today! Oh yeah and just one more thing: Reviews are love. :)