A/N: Hello everybody! Thanks so much for reviewing the last story :) I hope this one is really dramatic, angtsy and pulls at your heart strings a bit ;) Cupcakes1020 asked that Greg sacrifices himself for Nick when they're trapped in a burning building. Feels galore! I hope you enjoy.

Warning: Character Death….*hides*

Summary – Greg arrives at the crime scene to find the house on fire, and in order to save Nick, he must make the ultimate sacrifice. Angsty!

It Burns

Where the hell is Greg? Nick thought disgruntledly as he scanned the bedroom which contained the bodies of the dead couple. The place was a blood bath, and there was no way he was going to be finishing anytime soon if he didn't get some help. Greg was supposed to have been there about a half hour ago, but he was yet to show his face.

Nick sighed with discontent as he placed his kit down, having no idea where to start. Surely this is more of a job for Finn… he complained to himself, as it appeared that was the only release he was going to get, unless Greg turned up, at which point Nick might go for a long coffee break and leave the younger CSI to it.

The Texan worked in silence until the floorboards started to creak behind him as someone else less than anonymously entered the room.

"So, you finally decided to show up…" Nick asked accusingly as he turned with his hands firmly on his hips, ready to give Greg a piece of his mind.

Only it wasn't Greg, but a complete stranger. Out of instinct, Nick went for his gun, but it appeared that the other man's reflexes were faster as he lunged at Nick and tackled him to the ground; Nick's gun went scattering across the floor. The CSI fought and struggled with the man now pinning him down, but the stranger was stronger, and he pulled a rag out of his pocket before holding it over Nick's mouth and nose.

The CSI tried to cry out for help, but his voice was too muffled and growing weak and Nick could feel his whole body getting limper as whatever the hell the man had put on the rag made him drowsy. Soon, Nick couldn't move any part of his body, and was simply fighting to just keep his eyes open.

"There's too much evidence" he just about heard the stranger say as Nick's hearing was extremely stifled. "Which means this house has gotta go, and you gotta go with it"

Nick felt one last sudden bout of fear ripple through his body before he couldn't hold on anymore. Everything went black, and the last thing he heard was the man chuckling wildly above him.

Leaving the CSI behind, the killer got to work spreading gasoline he'd brought all over the bottom of the house. He'd be free soon, off to some other country were the damn cops would never find him; he wasn't a murderer as far as anyone else was concerned.

Once he was done, the man stood in the doorway of the house, a single match poised between his thumb and finger. He lit it, and twirled it around once just to admire the flame; hard to believe such a small thing can solve all my problems.

"Bye, bye, Mr CSI" he said with a grin of malice before letting the match fall to the ground.

And he left, as the lounge of the doomed house went up in flames.

Nick's gunna kill me! Greg fretted as he finally made his way to the beaten track where the house which was their crime scene stood alone. Greg hadn't seen any other homes in quite a while, so he was already filled with a certain feeling of dread and enigma.

His alarm hadn't gone off to wake him up for his shift that afternoon and then he'd got caught up in traffic. He felt bad, because by the sounds of the briefing he got from Russell the scene was really bad, and Greg didn't doubt for a moment that Nick would punish him for being late somehow.

Greg frowned at the sudden flow of fog which seemed to be coming out of nowhere as he got closer to the house; it had been perfectly clear just moments ago. It was getting rather hard to see, but as Greg rounded the last corner he found the source of the problem, and it made his stomach drop and his heart feel like it had stopped.

The house was ablaze, and Greg knew, with great horror, there was a chance Nick was still inside. The younger CSI stopped the car and jumped out, running towards the building, all sense really leaving him as he worried about his friend.

"Nick!" Greg cried, hoping the older man had had a chance to escape and was outside somewhere; but there was no reply. "Nick, please!" he called again in desperation, but he knew he was just filling himself with false hope.

Greg jumped into action after that. He called for backup, but knew he couldn't risk waiting for them; for all he knew…Nick was already dead; no, Greg shook his head as he couldn't bear the thought.

Greg took in one last breath of reasonably fresh air before placing his arm across his face and jumping into the building. He could feel the smoke already beginning to fill his lungs and the heat was unbearable. Since the lab explosion, fire had been Greg's biggest fear, but he knew he had to push that aside now because Nick was depending on him.

The CSI remembered Russell telling him the scene was in the bedroom upstairs, so that was probably where Nick was. Greg had to jump over the first few steps as they had already been burnt away, and he could feel the structure getting weaker as they groaned beneath his feet. He hurried up, ducking and dodging as he did so to avoid the ever growing flames.

"Nick!" Greg called out again, but it wasn't as loud as he was hoping because he had to stop and cough. The smoke was already getting to him and his eyes were watering, but still he soldiered on.

Eventually, Greg found the bedroom, and he was both relieved to find Nick, but terrified by the fact he was unconscious. The flames were making their way to the top of the house so Greg knew he had to act fast.

"Nick, Nick can you hear me?" Greg asked as he dropped to his friend's side and tapped his cheek in hope of some response.

A small groan escaped Nick's lips and Greg took this as a good sign; he was alive.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm gunna get you out of here" Greg said determinedly as pulled Nick's arm around his shoulder and then steadily lifted him so they were standing again.

Nick was barely coherent, but the danger of the situation soon hit him as he realised the house was on fire and Greg had turned up to save him. Still feeling weak from being drugged, Nick had to lean quite heavily on Greg for balance, but he tried hard to walk as Greg steadily but rather hastily guided him from the room; they didn't have much time.

Getting back down the stairs was the most difficult task, and they almost fell at one point, but Greg managed to push Nick against the bannister so he could use it to get down.

"We're almost there, you're doing well" Greg assured his friend, though he sounded like he was starting to struggle now with little breath left.

They finally reached the bottom and the door was in sight – they were almost free. However, the flames had only gotten bigger since Greg arrived, and the younger CSI looked up in horror as he heard a low groan come from the ceiling. One of the beams was about to fall, and it would block there only means of escape.

"No!" Greg shouted with great willpower and he leapt forward just as the beam fell.

"Greg!" Nick managed to call as he lost sight of his friend for a moment due to the debris, but then he saw Greg's hunched over figure as he'd caught the beam on his shoulders and was using them and his hands to prop it up.

"Go!" Greg called to his friend, his teeth gritted as the beam was an immense weight on his slender figure, but the adrenaline of the situation gave the younger man enough energy to hold on for just a few more moments.

"No, I'm not leaving you!" Nick argued.

"Nick, we don't have time!" Greg retorted "Go, now!" he said with more authority in his voice than he'd ever said to Nick before. "I'll be fine, I promise" he added more gently, but he was really starting to strain now with the weight.

"Okay" Nick said quietly, hurrying past Greg and beneath the beam, heading out the door.

Nick looked back, and a cry of horror escaped his lips as he watched Greg finally give in beneath the weight, and his friend fell down to the ground, beam and all, and the house was completely consumed by flames.

"No, Greg!" Nick yelled, and he was ready to run back into the house, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around him. "No, no let me go!" Nick continued to shout "Greg!" he fought with the paramedics which were holding him back, but the whole experience had weakened him.

Eventually, Nick had to allow himself to be dragged away, and all he could do was watch helplessly as some firefighters stormed into the building. Nick was in hysterics, hyperventilating madly, and tears streaming down his face. He wanted to sleep, he wanted to let unconsciousness take him so he could hide from the pain, but he needed to see Greg.

After a few agonising minutes, probably what felt like the longest in Nick's life, one of the firefighters emerged from the building with Greg hanging limply in his arms.

"Greg" Nick said again, but it was quiet and croaky as he tried to escape the medics again, but he was weak.

He watched as more medics huddled around Greg so Nick couldn't see him anymore. One of the medics shook her head and frantically called for the difribullators to be brought over; that meant Greg wasn't breathing. That was the last straw, the last push Nick needed before he finally willed himself to get out of the medics grips, and they seemed to let him go, almost as if they knew…

"Greg!" Nick called his friends name again as he pushed through.

The sight terrified him, shook him to the core. Greg, burnt and blackened by the flames, just stared up at the sky, eyes wide and emotionless. The medics try to shock him, one more time, one last chance, but nothing happens. The medic curses under her breath.

"Call it" she mumbles sadly.

"No" Nick whispered, shaking more than ever "No, you can't, you can't give up on him!" but he appears to be ignored.

"Time of death, fifteen oh eight" another medic said, and they brought a cart out to take Greg away for the last time.

"Nooo!" Nick screamed as he lunged forward, scooping up Greg's still body in his arms and rocking them back and forth. "No, Greg, you can't leave me" he begged in a lost voice, and it broke everyone's heart. "Please little brother, you can't go…" but Greg doesn't respond, and deep down Nick knows he never will.

He grew angry all of a sudden "Why did you do that!? You should have just left me you idiot, you should have left me!" he shouted with great hatred, but then he lost it all over again and buried his face in Greg's charred and ash ridden hair. "You promised me you'd be okay" he sobbed loudly "You promised!"

Nick stayed on the ground, rocking Greg, because he wanted his friend to know he was there, like he was just going to sleep.

"I love you, Greg" Nick whispered as he placed a soft kiss on the younger man's forehead.

And they stayed there for what seemed like hours because Nick couldn't bear to let go. He didn't see the point in moving, if he died right there he didn't care. Greg was gone. Nothing would be alright ever again.

Okay, let me explain XD Cupcake gave me the choice to keep Greg dead or alive, that was part of the prompt, and the reason I decided to let Greg go this time is because a) I've never really written character death before and wanted to see what I could do with it, if I could handle it well etc., and b) because I wanted to shake things up a little, I've done a lot of hurt Greg stories were he's survived so far, and I felt the need for something different. So, I hope you understand XD

Also, I meant Nick's last words as a sign of brotherly affection, but take it as slash if you want, I don't mind ;)

Keep prompts coming!

Please Review :) xx