A/N: Hey guys! Wow, lots of feedback on the last story, you guys really love Morganders! ;) And now, for a sudden change in mood with this angsty piece, via request of McGeeklover who asked for suicidal Greg. So be warned, there is discussion of dark and sensitive matter.

Summary – Nick is horrified to find Greg unconscious… and even more so when he spots the empty bottle of pills… (Angsty, Warning Inside)

Lying In the Bed You Made

"Greg!" Nick called as he knocked on his friend's door.

Greg hadn't turned up to work that evening. It was the day after he was told he'd failed his proficiency, and the new DNA tech had quit, leaving Greg back in the lab once more. Nick understood the young man was probably upset and didn't want to face anyone that day, but they were both going to get in trouble with Ecklie if Nick couldn't drag Greg down to the lab soon.

"Greggo! Open this door or I swear I'll kick it down!" Nick yelled. The Texan may have sounded annoyed, but he was actually filled with deep concern.

Eventually, Nick gave up and placed his hands on his hips with a thoughtful sigh.

Suddenly, a thud sounded from within Greg's apartment, and Nick's eyes grew wide with fear as he pressed his ear against the door, but there wasn't any further movement.

"Greg!" Nick slammed his palm against the door before pulling back and kicking the structure harshly. It took a few tries, but the Texan eventually broke through.

Nick's heart sank and his breathing hitched at the terrifying sight before him. Greg, his best friend, his little brother, was on the floor lying on his side, unconscious.

"Greg" Nick breathed, rushing forward. After calling for an ambulance, he lifted the young man's upper body into his chest "Greggo? Can you hear me?" Nick was begging with him as he shook the younger man's shoulders, but Greg elicited no response.

It was then, with an even greater pain to his heart, that Nick noticed the near empty bottle of aspirin, and the half empty bottle of Vodka which had rolled under Greg's coffee table.

"No…" Nick whispered as the tears of realisation yet denial began to well in his eyes. Greg wouldn't do that to himself, he wouldn't….he couldn't… "Greggo wake up, please wake up" Nick sobbed as he buried his face in the young man's hair, gripping him tightly and not willing to let go.

"N-Ni…" a barely audible sound caught Nick's attention. He pulled back to see Greg with his eyes half open, and his lips slightly parted.

"Greg? Oh God, G, what have you done? What have you done to yourself?" Nick asked with a shaky voice as she stroked back his friend's hair "How many did you take? C'mon Greg, please, how many?"

"N-n-no" Greg stuttered, as he weakly tried to push Nick away, but the pain in his stomach was too much, and he began to lose consciousness once more. For what he hoped would be the last time…

The gesture only made Nick cry harder. Greg was trying to push him away, he wanted Nick to let go…to let him die …

When the medics arrived, two of them had to pry Nick away from Greg's limp body. Nick couldn't believe it. He'd literally felt the life of his little brother slipping away in his arms, and what hurt even more was it was because Greg wanted to die…and Nick didn't even know why.

Greg had been in a coma for three days. The night he'd been brought to the hospital was all a blur to Nick now. He remembered a doctor trying to explain that his best friend needed his stomach pumped after tainting it with a lethal cocktail of alcohol and drugs.

Nick still couldn't comprehend it. Greg had tried to take his own life…not given any indication something was wrong before making such a heart-breaking decision. Nick was never going to forgive himself, he should have known something was wrong, he should have tried harder to be there for his little brother…and then he could have saved Greg all this pain.

The rest of the team knew, but they were trying to remain ignorant. None of them wanted to believe that sweet, bubbly, bouncy Greggo could ever have such dark intentions towards himself. But Nick had been there, he'd held his dying friend in his arms, and so to him it was all so real.

His other friends had been taking it in turns to visit Greg, but Nick refused to leave, not until he saw his little brother wake up and knew for sure that he was alive. He didn't want to ever let Greg out of his sight again from fear he'd just keep trying to die until one day he succeeded.

Nick sat holding Greg's cold and still hand in his own shaking one. The young man's skin still had a yellowish tint to due to the effect on his liver, and the red rings around his eyes were yet to fade. Nick just prayed every day that went by that Greg would wake up, and smile his goofy smile, his big brown eyes shining.

It was Catherine's turn to go and visit, and she was troubled to see Nick still there, the same lost expression on his face.

"Nicky, you need to sleep" Catherine said, gently placing a hand on his back; the poor man was still shaking.

"No, I-I can't leave him" Nick replied. "H-he'll try again"

Catherine sighed. It broke her heart thinking about what Greg did to himself, and she hated what it was doing to Nick too "Well at least eat something" she pleaded "C'mon we'll go to the cafeteria"

Nick sighed; he supposed he needed to keep his strength up for Greg's sake. "Fine" he mumbled, and Catherine gave him a grateful smile a she lead him from the room.

Nick got some soup and Catherine told him she wouldn't let him leave until he'd finished every spoonful. Sometimes Nick loved and hated her mothering ways at the same time…

"Nicky, listen…" Catherine started cautiously; she knew there was never going to be good time to tell him this. "When we searched Greg's apartment, we found this" she pulled a video recorder out of her bag and placed it on the table "Before Greg…took the pills, he left a message on here and…well we've all seen it…I just wanted to let you know, and it's up to you if you want to see it too"

"Does he explain why?" Nick asked quietly.

Catherine nodded "It's up to you if you want to watch it"

Nick nodded although he was undecided. He didn't think he could look at Greg in what the young man believed would be his last minutes, but Nick's own morbid curiosity would soon get the better of him.

After Catherine left, Nick was sat back in Greg's room when he decided to watch the video.

Greg was sat on his living room sofa shaking; he looked so unbelievably pale, with tears streaming from his red eyes.

"I know it's customary to leave a note, but my hands are shaking too much to even hold a pen. Yesterday I can safely say was the most humiliating day of my life. I was so ready to be a CSI; it was a dream which I worked so hard for, that was supposed to set me free. I mean I wanted it so badly… but I blew it…I blew it big time, and now I'm never going to get the chance again, not since the replacement walked out."

"I've done some pretty stupid things in my life, but last night was probably the worst. I feel I have no career left, no future left because of it…but worst of all, I let you guys down. I took all the effort and support you gave me and just threw it back in your faces with a childish mistake. I don't know how I can face you all after that."

"So, Grissom, my leader, thank you for giving me the chance, you're the wisest man I've ever known. Catherine, my second mom, I'll never forget the care you gave me. Warrick, my mentor, you taught me all I have to know. Sara, my comforter, you were always there for me and you always listened, and Nick, my protector, you've always looked out for me and did all you could."

"I once told Grissom that one of my Papa Olaf's favourite sayings was 'One must lie in the bed one has made', and now that's what I have to do, accept that I screwed up…but I don't know how to move on. Tell my parents that I love them and I'm sorry I disappointed them. Goodbye."

"Oh God" Nick sobbed as he brought a shaky hand to cover his mouth as the video ended. He couldn't believe. Greg seriously thought he had nothing left, that they would all be ashamed of him.

"I'm sorry"

Nick snapped his head round to see Greg looking at him, through half-opened glassy eyes. The young man had woken up to hear himself speaking on the video, and to see Nick crying for him, it had made him realise he had a lot more left than he thought.

"Greg!" Nick said with a smile as he wiped his eyes "Oh God, I don't know whether to hug you or strangle you"

"A hug would be nice" Greg said quietly and Nick immediately scooped the younger man up into his arms and buried his head in Greg's hair. "Please don't cry over me" Greg whispered as Nick continued to sob "You weren't supposed to see me like that"

"I don't care, if I hadn't have found you, you'd probably be dead!" Nick said "Please, please tell me that's not what you really wanted"

Greg gulped as he pulled away "It was what I wanted" he said quietly.

"W-why didn't you s-say anything?" Nick asked, regaining some control over his emotions.

"It wasn't your problem" Greg replied "It was my own, stupid, messed up mind that made me feel that way. I'm not your responsibility."

"No, but I make you my responsibility" Nick said firmly "You're like my little brother Greg, and to see you like that having no clue what you were going through, it tore me apart. It tears me apart just seeing you when you're sad, let alone sui…." He chocked, unable to say the rest of the word.

"I-I'm so sorry, Nick" Greg said with a shaky voice as tears began to stream down his face "I was just feeling so lost, and embarrassed, and guilty because I'd let you down…"

"Greg, you could never let us down" Nick said, placing a hand on the back of the younger man's head so Greg was forced to look at him "We all make stupid mistakes, we all get embarrassed. You know what happened the first time I went in to autopsy?"

Greg shook his head "W-what?"

"I vomited on the coroner and then fainted" Nick said with a small smile, it seemed ridiculous now. "And I thought I was never going to be able to face him or my job ever again. But I went into work the next day with my head held high, and my friends were really helpful and sympathetic. Did you think we wouldn't care if you were gone?"

"I-I don't know" Greg stuttered.

"You're the one who makes us smile, G, you help keep this team together. We'd have just fallen apart without our whizz kid around" Nick said honestly.

Greg smiled at him "I-I'm sorry, Nick. I-I clearly wasn't thinking straight. I'm glad you saved me, really I am, and I'm never going to try anything this stupid again. I-If I ever have a problem from now on, you're the first one I talk too"

"I'm glad to hear it" Nick said with a smile, and pulled the younger man into a tight hug once more.

Nick would keep a very close eye on Greg over the next few weeks, but Greg stuck to his word and talked to Nick whenever he was struggling at work. Nick was overjoyed to have his little brother back, and he was never going to let him go.

I found this quite hard to write actually. Obviously Greg is way OOC because I don't think he'd ever consider such a thing, but I guess the main thing was making him realise his value.

More prompts would be brill!

Please review :) xx