A/N: What? Two stories in two days, have I gone mad?! The truth is I've always been mad :3 Ok so the Idea for this came after watching the pilot of season 13. It was made clear Russell wasn't much of a gun person and I thought, well, neither is Greg, so I thought that could be a good basis for a story for some Greg and Russell friendship / bonding. So I hope you like :)

Summary – When Greg and Russell go to investigate a noise at a crime scene, Greg must face his worry about guns and Russell helps him through.

Guns Aren't Great

"What was that?" Russell said his eyes frantically scanning the ceiling as he followed the sound. He and Greg had been investigating the death of a young woman at her house for about forty minutes now.

"I don't know, but we probably should find out" Greg said slowly standing up from the body, he too focusing on the ceiling.

"No, we should wait for the cops" Russell said sternly as he called in for back up, they were told cops were at least twenty minutes away.

"But they could have escaped by then!" Greg protested.

Russell shushed him to indicate he needed to keep his voice down. Sara had warned him about Greg's severe need to protect civilians, and how the younger man was not one to stand around when someone was in danger and he could have done something to prevent it, the Stanley Tanner incident being the pinnacle.

"Well, we don't have any protection" Russell pointed out.

Greg raised an eyebrow and pulled the right side of his jacket back slightly to reveal an unexpected sight. "Well I guess we're lucky today was the one day I actually packed up" he said removing the standard issue gun from his holster.

Russell was shocked to say the least. Greg was very mild mannered and Sara and Nick had told the supervisor no matter how much they tried, nothing would normally persuade Greg to carry his gun.

"Nick would be proud" Russell said raising an eyebrow.

"No, because you're not going to tell him" Greg said with a slightly pleading look. "Now, let's go check it out" he said placing a new magazine in the weapon and waiting for the satisfying click. "Stay close to me, ok?" Greg instructed his supervisor. It was strange for him to do so, but right now he wasn't seeing Russell as his boss, but a friend he needed to protect.

"What? You're not going to play hero? Tell me to stay here and hide?" Russell joked, although he was touched by Greg's concern for him.

"No, I never understand why people say that" Greg said with an incredulous look "I mean I'm the one with the gun, the defence. So you should stay with me, not just stay behind unprotected, that's just stupid"

Russell was kind of shocked by Greg's logic, but it did make sense. He also got the feeling the kid was just rambling a little because he was nervous, or perhaps even a bit scared. They could still hear the faint banging of the floorboards as someone paced around above them.

"Greg we don't have to…" Russell started.

"Yes. We do." Greg interrupted. He took out his torch in his right hand and then crossed it underneath he left which was holding the gun, just as he had seen so many of his teammates do over the years. He started to slowly walk out the room, Russell following him. "Just so we're clear and you don't sue me later, I've never actually fired a gun unless it was at the shooting range" Greg whispered as they creep up the stairs.

"Well, I haven't had to fire my gun out in the field for over ten years, I haven't even been carrying it for the past few" Russell replied.

"So basically, we're screwed" Greg said with an incredulous look.

"Basically" Russell agreed as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Stay behind me ok?" Greg whispered and then put a finger to his lips and jerked a thumb towards the room the noise was coming from.

Russell nodded but something felt wrong. He was supervisor; he should be protecting Greg shouldn't he? His colleague…his friend… He knew if anything were to happen to Greg the others would never forgive him, especially Nick and Sara.

"Greg wait" Russell hissed grabbing Greg's arm, the younger man turned around "give me the gun, I'll go"

"No, I have to do this" Greg said with a hint of sadness "You don't get to be a CSI for your whole working life and not have to point a gun at someone. I need to do this, and prove to myself more than anyone I can handle these situations."

Russell sighed, he wished he could convince the young man otherwise but in the short time he'd known Greg he knew once the kid had his mind set on something, he wouldn't give up. "Ok" the older man conceded, and they continued to creep forward.

They stopped outside what they assumed was the bedroom doorway and stood either side of the frame. Russell knocked on the door.

"LVPD, if there's anyone in there open up or we'll be forced to come in" Greg said with upmost confidence, Russell couldn't help but smile proudly.

"Well, they asked for it" Russell whispered as he reached for the door handle, Greg stepped back, his gun raised.

Russell pushed the door wide open and Greg stealthily entered the room. A man no older than twenty was trying to climb out the window.

"Stop!" Greg called as Russell entered behind him, ready to jump to Greg's aid "get down and put your hands behind your head"

The man did not reply just reached for his pocket and pulled out a gun of his own. Greg's eyes went wide. Russell got ready to step in.

"Sir, put the gun down, get down from the window and we'll talk. That's all we want" Greg said, his confidence not wavering much at all. Russell decided to stay quiet and let Greg handle the situation, it was what the younger man wanted and he was doing a good job.

"I didn't mean to" the man yelled with tears streaming down his face "I never meant to hurt her, I loved her!" he started to raise the gun with a shaky hand.

"Sir…" Greg warned. Russell put a hand on the younger man's shoulder ready to pull him out of harm's way.

"I'm sorry Roxy" the man whispered "I'm sorry!" he yelled and with that he raised the gun to his head and shot himself in the temple.

"No!" Russell cried and Greg jumped in surprise.

The supervisor ran forward but the young man had already fallen out the window. Russell grabbed the edge and looked down breathing heavily. The young man's still corpse lay sprawled out on the lawn. He turned back to Greg who still looked utterly shocked, and he had not yet lowered his gun. Russell walked over to him and tried to take the gun, but Greg's grip only tightened and the older man could see his hands shaking a little.

"Hey" Russell said gently "Hey Greg its ok, let go now" he said encouragingly. Greg let his grip loosen and Russell took the gun. "You ok?" he asked placing a tender hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Yeah" Greg said quietly, finally taking his eyes away from the window and looking at Russell "Yeah I'm fine."

Russell sighed "I'm sorry Greg, but you can't save everyone you know" Greg nodded. "But hey, you handled the initial response well and you stayed calm and professional. You did a good kid and I'm proud of you." he said with a smile.

Greg smiled back "Thanks Russell"

Russell patted him on the back and then put an arm around Greg's shoulder, guiding him from the room. "Come on, you look like you need a break, I'll get Finn to come and finish here" he said.

Russell was truly proud of the young man, just like he was with his son. He hoped that Greg could now look to him more like a fatherly figure rather than a boss, because he would be proud to have the younger man as a surrogate son.

So basically I really liked writing this one, I really love Greg and Russell's interactions on the show. Obviously I love Greg's character and Russell is just ace XD so I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing :)

Reviews and prompts help the inspiration flow ;) xx