A/N: Heyy guys! So this one wasn't technically from a prompt, it was from an idea I had a couple of hours ago and I had some time to kill so I wrote it down XD I would like to thank Marymel for unintentionally giving me the idea for this. I got it after reading her story "A Good Man" Which you should all read! ;) It got me thinking about how little Greg and Brass interact on the show, which is a shame I personally feel. So this little story comes from the episode were Brass got shot many seasons ago (sorry I forgot the name) and I always found it odd how it was Greg who stayed at the hospital with him, so here is my interpretation of that! Enjoy :)

Summary – After Brass was shot, Greg was the one at the hospital, why exactly was that? Thoughts and feelings from both Brass and Greg's POV.

Why He Stayed

Greg sat in one of the chairs in the hospital outside of the Captains room. At first the younger man questioned why he was there. This wasn't much like him at all. True, working in a Crime Lab his job was to question things all the time, but normally when it concerned one of his colleagues he would be right by their side, so why was he having doubts now?

Greg had met Jim Brass on his first day at the crime lab, back when Brass was head of CSI. The man had said very little to Greg and mainly left Grissom to help the young man find his way, which Greg had to say he didn't mind. Grissom had struck Greg as a kind hearted person from the start, even though he was a little odd, but so was Greg. But Brass had scared Greg for lack of a better word. He reminded Greg a lot of an old school principle just waiting to throw you in detention. He had that stern look in his eyes and lips always sealed tight as if he might start shouting unexpectedly at any moment. If Greg had a problem in those first months of being at the lab, he would always go to Grissom; he daren't even knock on Brass' door.

Brass seemed to get on really well with everyone, except Ecklie of course, but then again who did get on with the miserable bastard. Anyway, this had surprised Greg. Not really of Grissom and Catherine, because he supposed they had been friends with Brass for years, but it did surprise him how the older detective seemed friendly with Nick, Warrick and Sara. Maybe it was fatherly instinct, Greg wasn't sure, but all he did knew was Brass had never really shown that instinct towards him.

Greg had to admit, he was rather immature for his age. Well, he didn't mean to say immature, he liked to think of it as old enough to know better but young enough to do it anyway. He wasn't sure that Brass had the tolerance though, maybe that was the connection. Warrick, Nick and Sara were all grown up, professionals, who knew how to be dead serious when it counted. Well, mainly Sara, Greg had seen the way Nick and Warrick acted when they were drunk after all. But Greg, he wasn't like that. Yes he could be serious but he still liked to put a little fun into work; to the young lab tech it seemed like Brass liked to be serious all the time. Whenever Brass was around and Greg said something not normally deemed as intelligent, he would often catch the detective giving him a very unimpressed look.

Or maybe it was just the fact Greg wasn't really a CSI yet. When you work with someone out on the field, like Brass did with the others, a strong bond is formed as you have to look out for each other constantly and always be in control. Greg had never had that experience with Brass. The only time they really spoke was if Brass asked him where one of the others were because he couldn't find them. It made Greg kind of sad.

So he once again asked the question, why was he here?

Because he is Greg Sanders, and Greg Sanders will always stand by someone he considers a friend even if the feeling was not necessarily mutual. The young man wanted to be able to say he and Jim Brass were friends, he liked the idea. The older man was tough, wise, and even though he appeared to say little whenever he did it always made an impact, and he always knew what to do. Maybe Greg was too young for his liking; they probably had little in common. After all, Greg suspected he wasn't that much older than the detective's daughter.

Anyway, Greg knew that even though Brass may find it strange of first that he of all people had stayed, he knew the detective would appreciate it. Brass was not a cruel man after all; just a bit scary sometimes…Greg would not want to be a suspect under his interrogation.

So Greg waited, he would wait for Brass to wake up and make sure he was ok, because that's just the kind of person Greg was. He cared, even if they did not necessarily care for him in turn, as Nick often told the younger man sometimes he was too nice for his own good. No, he knew Brass did care, like Greg even, in his own strange way of course. Brass was one to speak his mind after all and if he did not like Greg he would have surly said so.

Greg just hoped that sooner or later, the detective would realise just how much the younger man was willing to be there for him.

When he woke up and Grissom told him, Brass was shocked to say the least. He of course understood that the team had cases to solve so that didn't bother him at all, nor did Greg staying with him at the hospital; it was just…strange, was all.

Ever since Brass had first met the kid all those years ago, he hadn't wanted much to do with him at first. Greg was only into his early twenties, and the then head of CSI had no idea how to talk to someone that age. He was only a few years older than Brass' estranged daughter…so that also didn't help. The Captain hadn't meant to come off cold, like he didn't like the kid, he was admittedly a very impatient man and didn't feel he had the time to babysit the newcomer, but that didn't mean he resented Greg. The kid was really weird sometimes, sure, but he was young and was allowed to get away with some of that stuff, even if Brass sometimes disapproved. But he had to say he admired the way the kid could snap between being goofy and being serious when he knew it was required of him.

Brass often talked freely to Grissom and Catherine, they had been friends for years. He had clicked pretty well with Nick and Warrick after mentoring them for so long, and he had liked Sara when she joined too. She was very feisty and good at being in control, as Brass liked to think about himself. But he never saw much of the Sanders kid. He was always in the lab somewhere else in the building whilst Brass was always in his office or with the other cops.

Sanders, he always called him Sanders, never Greg. Brass always called the others by their first name, but not the kid. He felt they didn't knew each other well enough perhaps, or perhaps if the detective did start calling him Greg, that would mean he would have to openly admit they were friends. He didn't mean that in a bad way, he was worried about admitting it to himself, not everyone else. Because he knew if he admitted it to himself, that would mean he'd have to look out for the kid too. It already made him nervous enough looking out for Nick, Warrick and Sara, but looking after Greg….the innocent, defenceless, would-never-hurt-a-fly kid…well it might just be too much.

The detective cringed as he thought of the day Greg's lab had blown up. If there was anyone less deserving of something like that, then it was the young DNA tech. Brass may have not known the kid well, but he knew Sanders meant a lot to the others, so that made him upset for them as well as with them, even though he'd never admit it. Sensitivity was not his forte. Greg always seemed to bring a bit of brightness to everyone's day, and Brass had kind of missed that when the kid was in hospital.

Brass didn't want Greg to think that he didn't like him; on the contrary, he liked the kid very much, but he felt like he didn't have to say it out loud. He felt like Greg knew. Their friendship was silent, rarely seen, but it was still there, like a mutual agreement.

Brass walked down the halls on his first day back to work, going to Grissom's office. A certain lab rat form DNA was walking in the opposite direction reading file. The kid lifted his head a moment before they walked past each other and Brass smiled at him in thanks. It was a small, gentle smile that maybe no one else might have seen, but Greg did as he gave a similar smile in return. And then they walked past each other because a smile was all it did take, and Brass was satisfied.

Greg Knew.

Wow my first ever chapter/story written without any speech! XD I loved writing this story. I think their definitely need to be more Greg and Brass friendship moments in the show, and I loved writing for Brass as I've never really tried it before, I hope he wasn't too OOC? Secondly, I don't remember which season it was Brass got shot, so If Greg was already a CSI by then I apologise because I know I kept referring to him as a lab tech.

So yeah, do drop me a review and my next one will be from a prompt! (Greg whump as requested my McGeeklover ;)

Peace out!