A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for the feedback on the last story, and a lot of you seem to like my idea of Greg meeting Ryan, so watch out for that soon :) I'm just really in to writing these short stories at the moment. I hope you're still enjoying them!

This prompt comes from CSI001, who requested Greg telling Nick he has Cancer. I am aware this is a very sensitive subject for some people, so I hope I handled it with enough care. I wanted a really angsty and moving piece, I hope I achieved that.

Summary- Nick notices Greg has been really ill, but the youngest CSI struggles to share his devastating news and tries to come to terms with it.

Bad News

Nick wondered if he was the only one who had noticed.

Greg had been extremely quiet the past week or so, this was the first sign for concern. Normally, the team would have trouble getting the trainee CSI to stop talking about trivial things when working, but now they were all but begging him to speak. The next sign was the tired look in Greg's eyes. His normally glinting brown orbs seemed almost clouded with tiredness, read rings prominent on the young CSI's unusually pale skin. Nick would often catch Greg wincing in pain when they were at a crime scene, maybe grimacing or raising a hand to his head. The last and most worrying sign was all the weight the youngest CSI seemed to have lost, weight he couldn't afford to lose. Nick feared if he even touched Greg, the young man might just snap in half.

Nick was really worried about his young friend. Something was clearly wrong, Greg was clearly ill and he was obviously trying to hide it. However, trying to hide something when all your friends were CSI's proved to be a near impossible task. Nick decided to confront Greg about it later on. The Texan hoped that being the young CSI's best friend would mean Greg would open up to him. In fact, Nick couldn't help but feel a little hurt that Greg hadn't talked to him so far. He thought the young man trusted him and could tell him anything. Apparently not.

One night, Nick, Grissom and Greg were all stood around one of the light tables going over the details of a case. Nick tried to listen to whatever it was Grissom was saying, but he couldn't help but keep giving worried glances to Greg, as the young man leaned heavily against the table, his eyes drooping dangerously closed.

"Greg?" Grissom said. He'd asked the young man a question but he'd failed to answer "Greg!" he said again.

The youngest CSI wavered on his feet for a second before starting to fall forward. Nick went wide eyed in shock and went to help the younger man, but Greg managed to place his palms on the table to steady himself.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled "I blacked out for a second but it's cool now" Greg said dismissively placing a hand on his hip. "What did you say?"

Nick looked at him disbelievingly "Greg! You can't ignore the fact you just…"

"It's my life and I can do what I want, Nick!" Greg yelled angrily before storming out the room.

Nick looked over at Grissom with worried eyes, and he could see that his supervisor also looked a little on edge. He too had noticed the change in Greg recently. "Go after him, I'll finish up" Grissom said. Nick gave him an appreciative smile before hurrying off down the hall.

The Texan found the youngest CSI lying on the break room floor, looking up at the ceiling intently.

"Mind if I join you?" Nick asked, but he didn't wait for an answer as he lay down next to Greg. "What are you looking at?" he questioned.

"Nothing really" the young man mumbled in response. "If I lay down it doesn't hurt as much"

"What doesn't hurt?" Nick asked concernedly.

"Nothing" Greg said quietly and rolled his head to look at the wall away from Nick.

The Texan sighed and sat up "Greg, come on we've been best friends for years now. You can tell me what's bothering you" the young man remained silent "I'll get it out of you somehow" Nick threatened "Maybe I'll sing to you…something from my country collection, yeah"

"Oh God, please don't" Greg moaned as he covered his ears.

Nick laughed; the old Greg was still there somewhere. "Well, then talk"

"I don't know if you've noticed but I haven't exactly been sleeping lately" Greg said as he rolled his head to look at Nick. "Or eating properly… and getting bad headaches…and that really sucks"

"Yes I have noticed, but why is that Greggo?" Nick pressed.

"I…" the young CSI wanted to tell him so badly, to finally get the burden off his chest. But he couldn't, he didn't want Nick or any else to worry about him like he knew they would. Nick could see the tears building in Greg's eyes and he put a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. "I don't know if I can tell you" he finally said in a shaky voice. "It's too hard"

"Hey, I can handle it" Nick told him encouragingly. "Please Greggo, I'm worried about you. I just want to help and be there for you. Everything has been running through my mind on what could be wrong and it's escalated form like the flu, to an eating disorder to… I dunno drug abuse or something. Every bad possible scenario has run through my mind and it's driving me crazy"

"What about Cancer?" Greg asked quietly as he looked into Nick's eyes and let a tear slip. "Did you think of Cancer?"

Nick was silent for a moment before he scoffed. He refused to believe what Greg was implying "Nah you're too young for that...right?" he added worriedly. Greg just looked at him with sad eyes "Greg, you've pulled some pretty crazy shit, but this ain't funny" Nick said quietly still refusing to believe it.

"I wish it was a joke Nick… but it's not. I wish I was too young, but I'm not" he sat up and looked at the Texan whose eyes were wide with shock and he looked a little pale.

"No…" Nick said shaking his head. "That's not fair Greg, that's not fair" He's so young. Nick thought He's so kind and caring, there's not a bad bone in his body .He doesn't deserve this… He's my little brother…

Greg gulped "Tell me about it" he said with a very minor smile. "I was feeling really unwell about 3 weeks ago, I went to the doctor, thinking he'd just tell me it was some kind of stomach bug, he'd give me some pills and I could go home and get on with my life. But no...Boom, I have Cancer, and my world just gets turned upside down" he sniffed and started to cry as he looked down at the floor.

"I'm so sorry Greggo" Nick said running a hand through the younger man's hair before pulling him into a bear hug. He could feel just how bony Greg was now and that worried him even more "God, I'm so sorry" he said again as Greg began to sob into his shoulder.

"I don't want to die Nick" the Texan heard the young man mumble into his shoulder as Greg gripped onto his big brother as if he were his last life line. Greg started to sob loudly "Please, I don't want to die!"

"Hey, don't you dare talk like that" Nick said as he gave the young man a squeeze. "You are not going to die. Greg Sanders don't let nothing or nobody get the better of him. Greg Sanders doesn't give up, he fights, he fights and he won't ever give in"

Greg pulled away and wiped his eyes, taking some shaky breathes to try and calm himself down. "I-I'm sorry"

"Nothing to be sorry for G" Nick told him "Ecxept maybe not telling me sooner. You shouldn't have had to cope with this all on your own. I could have taken care of you; I will take care of you"

"I know but, you guys have your own problems" Greg said "I didn't want to be a burden"

This upset Nick. He cupped the younger man's cheek with his hand "Greg, you are so important to me. You could never be a burden. I love you like a little brother and I will be there for you whenever and wherever you need me. In fact, come stay with me for a few days, yeah?"

"Okay, thanks Nick" Greg said with a small smile. "You're going to go into way over protective mode now aren't you?" he added with a lopsided smirk.

"Yep, sorry buddy" Nick said placing an arm around the younger man and giving his shoulder a quick squeeze. "You're so thin, Greg. When was the last time you ate?" the Texan added concernedly.

"I try, but even the smallest thing makes me sick" the young man said placing a hand on what was left of his stomach.

"Maybe it's because you're not eating that you feel sick" Nick pointed out. "You didn't just nearly collapse in there over nothing. I'm gunna fatten you up good…and I'll even let you have my bed."

"No, Nick I couldn't do that" Greg protested.

"No arguments" the Texan said raising his hand "As your acting doctor, I say you need some proper rest"

"Nick, with you as my doctor I don't stand a chance" Greg joked and Nick nudged him in mock offence. They sat in silence for a moment before Greg spoke up again "The doctor said they caught it early, so there's a good chance with some treatment, I'll be okay"

"That's great G" Nick said with a reassuring smile.

"But…you know what's stupid?" Greg said. Nick shook his head. "The thing I'm worried about most with the treatment...is losing my hair." He said with an awkward look at Nick. He'd expected the Texan to laugh at him or something, but instead he looked like he understood. "It sort of defines who I am around here" Greg continued "You know, changing my hair, that's my thing. I dunno, I guess I just won't feel like I'm me anymore"

"No one will think of you differently Greg" Nick reassured him. "We all care about you too much and we'll support you through thick and thin. We won't walk on egg shells around you, we just want to help." He paused for a moment "Speaking of 'we'…I take it you haven't told the others yet"

Greg shook his head "You're the first person I've told, not even my parents."

"Well you should tell everyone else, and I'll be there to support you when you do" Nick told him in a no arguments manner.

"Thanks Nick" Greg said with a small smile and they hugged again, the youngest CSI needing to feel his big brother's comfort. "I knew you'd be there for me. You're my best friend Nick, I hope you know that"

"Of course I do" the Texan replied "You're my best friend too, and like I say, anything you need"

Greg pulled away and gave him an appreciative smile. "You know what I would give anything in the world for right now?" he asked, placing a hand on his stomach.

"To be cured?" Nick said sympathetically.

"Actually, I was going to say chocolate chip pancakes" Greg said with a small smile and Nick laughed.

"Sure thing buddy. Come on, I'll take you, my treat" The Texan said as he helped the younger man up off the floor. "You going to be okay?" Nick asked placing a hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Yeah, just you watch" Greg said with a smug grin "I'm gunna kick cancer's ass"

"Atta boy" Nick said with a smile as he gave the young man an encouraging pat on the back.

For the first time since finding out about his illness, Greg finally felt more at ease. He would soon tell the others and his parents about what was wrong, and he knew they would be as supporting and caring as Nick was. He would have the treatment and fight against the demon inside.

And, in the end, Greg Sanders won.

So… I hope that was okay, this was a really hard one to write, so I hope it had the right effect.

I'm running really low on prompts guys :'( I would love more, your ideas are great!

Please Review :) xx