A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the feedback on the last story, glad you liked it :) Sorry it's been a little while, I've had a busy week! This was quite a complex prompt from Avirra so I'm going to give you it to read XD

Greg has been talked into carrying a gun because the area is known for rattlesnakes. The killer is still at the scene and takes down another CSI. Greg aims his gun at the killer, but then hears the rattle - making him have to choose between keeping his co-worker safe or risking being bitten.

Summary – Greg has to choose between keeping himself safe, or risking his life for a friend.

Snake Bite

"Greg, where's your gun?" Sara asked as she, Nick and Greg got out of the Denali "I thought I told you to bring it"

"You did" Greg replied "And I brought it"

"Well, then why isn't it in your holster?" Nick asked, pointing at the empty leather pouch.

"Sara said I had to bring it to the crime scene. She never said I had to have it with me once we were at the crime scene." Greg replied, folding his arms in a smug triumph.

Sara gave him an unimpressed look "Nice try smart ass, but I told you why I wanted you to carry tonight!"

"Yes, you told me we were going to this area of the desert where these supposed speckled rattle snakes were hanging around" Greg said rolling his eyes "I distinctly remember because Grissom lectured me on them for like a half hour afterwards. But I hardly see how a gun will defend me against a snake!"

"It's better than no protection at all" Nick pointed out and Greg found this hard to argue with "You really need to get use to carrying it, Greg. It will make you feel safer I promise. If anything were to happen to you because you didn't have your gun we'd be devastated…"

"No!" Greg cut him off "I know what you're doing, you're trying to guilt trip me…" he said vehemently. Nick and Sara had somehow agreed to just look at the younger man with their best puppy dog looks. "No! Stop that…" Greg warned, but they wouldn't let up. Eventually, Greg grew impatient "Fine!" he conceded and threw his hands up in exasperation before going to retrieve the weapon. Sara and Nick shared a high five in victory.

The three CSI's grabbed their kits and started walking the short distance over to the dead body of a hiker who had been spotted by a passing helicopter. It was a dark and chilly night in the Nevada desert, and Greg just wanted to get the processing over and done with.

After David had given them his initial report, and told them they were looking for a gun of some kind, Nick helped him remove the body and then the CSI's were left to collect their evidence.

"I'm gunna go look over this way" Greg mumbled, still pretty mad at being forced to carry his gun when he really didn't want to. Nick and Sara just shared a look as they watched the younger man pull out his flashlight and trudge away.

"Maybe one of us should talk to him?" Sara suggested. She hated seeing Greg so mad when he was usually so bright and bouncy, and she guessed she could understand why he felt the way he did.

"Okay, you go" Nick said.

"What? Why me!?" Sara hissed. They both knew how Greg acted like a stubborn child when he was being grumpy.

"Because he'll just want you to hug him and maybe throw in a quick kiss and he'll be fine!" Nick insisted. "Tell him you think guns are hot or something…"

Sara just rolled her eyes "Fine, I'll go" she conceded, and Nick patted her on the back apologetically before the female CSI started heading over to Greg.

Greg meanwhile had moved a ways away from the rest of the crime scene, and was mumbling to himself about feeling even more endangered with a gun, rather than feeling safer. He felt it was a bad omen to be carrying the weapon around, just inviting people to try and hurt him.

"Greg!"

The young CSI turned to see a dim light approaching him and recognised the female voice to be Sara's.

Suddenly, another figure appeared behind Sara. At first Greg wondered if it was Nick, but the dark shadow didn't carry a light and seemed determined to remain hidden, keeping his presence unknown to Sara. Plus, the figure appeared to have appeared from behind a rock, so unless Nick was playing a really bad prank, Greg figured Sara could well be in trouble.

"Sara, behind you!" Greg called back.

Sara gave a confused frown and went to turn around when a strong arm suddenly wrapped itself around her throat. Sara gasped and dropped her torch, immediately gripping onto the arm and trying to prise it off her; she was already finding it hard to breath.

Greg knew he had to do something. I knew it, I knew this would happen! He thought to himself as he pulled the gun from his belt and pointed it at the strange figure. Luckily the man was inches taller than Sara, so Greg could take a clear head shot.

"Let her go!" Greg yelled "let her go or I'll shoot!" but the stranger seemed too distracted by his mission to incapacitate the female CSI. "I'm warning you!" please listen, Greg thought defeated, but still he was ignored.

Greg stopped moving forward and raised his gun, pale finger on the trigger. His hands were shaking too much and he feared he wouldn't get a clear shot. I can't do it, I can't do it, I can't do it he started to panic.

Greg thought the situation couldn't get any worse, when all of a sudden a dull rattling sound coming from around his feet began to taunt the CSI. Greg's eyes managed to grow even wider in fear.

The snakes!

His head was telling Greg to run, run like hell before he got bitten or something, but he knew he couldn't leave Sara and if he didn't act now then she was going to die. So, Greg aimed his gun, and after one deep breath, he pulled the trigger.

He watched as the stranger let go of Sara with a cry of pain and then fell the floor. Greg was surprised when he found himself doing the same. There was an excruciating pain in Greg's left leg as he let out an indignant cry and then fell to the ground, clutching at his now bleeding leg.

Just when Sara thought she was going to lose consciousness, with her vision going black and her breaths growing less frequent, a piercing bang broke out across the near silent landscape, and her attacker relinquished his grip with a scream and fell to the floor. Sara whipped around to look at his unmoving body and staring eyes. He was dead; a bullet wound bleeding from his head.

"Greg! Sara!" she looked up again to see Nick running towards her sounding highly freaked. He'd heard the gunshot go off and immediately started running, praying his friends were alright. "Are you okay?" he panted once he reached Sara's side, not even seeming phased by the dead man on the ground.

"Yeah, thanks to Greg" Sara replied.

"Where is he?" Nick asked.

"He's over…" Sara turned, but then stopped, and both CSI's looked in horror at the sight of their younger friend struggling to sit up straight on the ground as he clutched his leg.

Nick and Sara soon become unfrozen and ran over to Greg's side. They arrived to find the younger man with tears of pain streaming from his eyes which were squeezed shut and his teeth were gritted together to probably stop himself from screaming. Both older CSI's looked in horror at the blood which was oozing from Greg's leg.

"G, what the hell happened? Did you get shot too?" Nick asked worriedly as he dropped to his friend's side.

"Snake…" Greg managed breath in response.

"Shit" Sara cursed as she knelt down and rolled up the leg of Greg's jeans, and there, just as she had feared, was two puncture wounds very plausibly caused by snake fangs. The wound was already becoming swollen and discoloured "It's okay Greg, we're going to take you to the hospital and everything's going to be okay" she tried to reassure him. Nick was calling for an ambulance.

"That bad, huh?" Greg said with laboured breaths. He was already beginning to sweat and was shaking a little.

"Help's on the way, buddy" Nick said once he got off the phone, and sat beside Greg, rubbing his back soothingly.

"Snake venom…" Greg muttered "Of all the ways to go, and it's snake venom…"

"Hey, don't talk like that" Sara said firmly "You're not going to die, Greg" there was a slight wobble to her voice and tears in her eyes.

Greg nodded and then rested his head against Nick's shoulder as he closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain. Nick wrapped his arm around the younger man protectively and wished he could take the pain away.

"I feel sick" the young CSI said after a while, and he suddenly jerked to the side and started vomiting harshly onto the ground.

"It's okay Greg, let it all out" Sara said soothingly. She couldn't help but think this was her fault, and she just prayed that Greg would make it through.

Two hours later, and Nick and Sara were at the hospital waiting for a doctor to come and tell them they could sit with Greg. Because the doctors had managed to act fast and drained the venom from Greg's blood stream, the young CSI was likely to be okay, just left feeling tired and a little nauseous for the meantime. When the doctor did finally arrive, Nick and Sara didn't have to be asked twice if they wanted to go and see Greg.

The young man was lying back in the pillows, his eyes looking sluggish and tired from exhaustion. The wound had a bandage on it and was still swollen, but it would go down in a few days. Sara walked over and gave Greg a sad smile as she brushed the hair back off his slightly clammy forehead.

"Aren't you going to say I told you so?" Greg croaked.

"No" Sara replied "You carrying your gun may have saved me, but it didn't really help you"

"Are you okay?" Greg asked worriedly, remembering how scared he was when he saw Sara practically choking.

"She's fine" Nick answered "Whilst we were waiting I actually managed to convince Sara stubborn Sidle to get herself checked out"

"It's a miracle" Greg teased and Sara gave him a lopsided smile.

"I'm fine all thanks to you" Sara said "You saved my life, Greg. Thank you"

"Anything for you, Sara. You're my best friend" Greg replied.

"Hey!" Nick chimed in.

"Best female friend, you're my best female friend" Greg said and Sara laughed.

"That's better" Nick said folding his arms with pout.

"Would you say…I was your hero?" Greg asked Sara.

Sara pretended to consider this "Yes"

"So… would you say… I deserved a kiss?" Greg asked with a cheeky smile.

Sara bit her bottom lip "Yeah, I guess so" she smiled and leaned down to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Ew, guys, still here!" Nick reminded them waving his arms, and the other CSI's laughed.

"Aww do you feel left out? You wanna kiss me too, Nick?" Greg teased.

"Erm, no I'll pass" Nick replied.

"Can't believe it took me being bitten by a snake just for you to kiss me" Greg said quietly as he closed his eyes as the morphine began to take over.

Sara smiled "Mmm there might be more to come, so long as you promise me you'll get a hundred percent better"

Greg grinned wearily "Deal"

Take that as friendship, take it as my first bit of Sandle, or take it as Nick being jealous, I don't mind XD Love writing about the relationship between these three, hope you enjoyed!

Up next, the mighty Morganders!

Please Review :) xx