Here's the last chapter! But the next story is already finished and I have a few new ideas I'm working on right now, too, so stay tuned ;)
Thanks for reading and hopefully enjoying the story!
Big Love,
pikapikatchu
Three hours later, Russell asked Greg to meet him in his office. "Hey Greg, please sit down."
"What's this about?" Greg asked with quite an insecure look on his face as he did.
"I need to talk to you about Ackles."
"I figured. And to be honest, I'm not quite sure what to think of it all. Maybe he's not cut out to be a CSI."
Russell raised both of his eyebrows. "You didn't talk him into it, did you?"
Greg laughed humorlessly. "Do I look suicidal?"
The supervisor frowned. "What?"
"Why should I talk... You're talking about something completely different, aren't you?"
"...Sure hope I do. What are you talking about?"
Greg sighed. "I thought he told you what he told me. Seems like he told the guys who attacked us to spare his life and instead take mine."
Russell's eyes widened in shock. "Well I guess that explains why he quit."
"...Ackles quit?"
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you if you knew why... You obviously do. Did you say to him you don't think he's cut out to be a CSI?"
The CSI hastily shook his head. "He dropped that bomb on me a few hours ago and stormed off. I didn't even get a chance to talk to him."
"Well, I think this might be for the best, anyway."
"Why?"
"I mean, if he tells criminals to murder his colleagues... We can't really trust him, then."
"Russell, he's been terrified of criminals ever since he got here. He was just scared."
"And you weren't?"
"...Of course I was, but..."
"Yet you didn't tell them to kill him. You were looking out for him while he stabbed you in the back."
"Don't over-dramatize this, Russell. I was as shocked as you when he told me, but... He was doing a great job. He just needs to work on this issue, and..."
Russell shook his head. "I don't feel comfortable sending you off to another crime scene with him. It's too dangerous. The job's dangerous enough, we don't need anyone in our team encouraging criminals to hurt us."
Greg was torn between being glad his supervisor was standing up for his safety and being mad at him for not trying to help Ackles in any way. When he walked out of Russell's office, he heard noise coming from the locker room. It was Ackles, putting his belongings from his locker into a box. "...Hey Ackles."
Ackles glanced over to Greg before continuing. "I'll be out of your sight in a moment."
"You know, I really enjoy working with you. You're a great CSI, I hope you realize that."
Ackles released a humorless chuckle as he closed his locker. "You don't have to say that. I know I screwed up. I hate myself every day for it."
"Well, that's good, isn't it? You know you made a mistake. You can learn from that and do better next time."
"...Next time. There'll be a next time?"
"There are CSIs in this lab who never had one life-threatening situation in their whole carreer, while others..." He shrugged.
"This didn't even happen on the job! ...I'm sorry, Greg. I just... I don't think I can deal with that. Ever since I started working here... I walk out of the house thinking this could be my last day. It's too much to take. I don't want this anymore."
Greg could sympathize with this a lot. He had days like that, too, ever since he's gotten into dangerous situations himself. "You could work on that one, too. You're not alone with this. Everybody has their fears, how you deal with them is what counts."
"Yeah well, I obviously didn't deal that great. Do you trust me after that? Do you want to keep on working with me?"
Greg sat down on the bench. "I'd give it another shot, yeah."
Ackles shook his head. "You shouldn't. I don't want you to get hurt."
As he was listening to Ackles, Greg kept wondering if he'd be okay with his colleagues working with Ackles. He was willing to take the risk, but wasn't sure if he'd like his colleagues to take it. "So what's your plan? You quit, and then?"
"I don't know, maybe get back into an office."
Greg nodded. "Will you stay in Vegas?"
"Probably not. I need a fresh start, you know?"
The next day, Nick was back at the graveyard shift. "Hey Greg." He patted his shoulder as he walked past him in the break room to fix himself a cup of coffee. "You want one, too?"
"No thanks, I'm good. Welcome back," Greg said with a rather tired smile on his face.
"...You're sad that Ackles is leaving, huh?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, I mean... how he's leaving... it just sucks."
"I know." Nick put his coffee mug on the table and sat down. "But letting him stay wouldn't have been a good idea, either. I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing anyone from the team is out at a crime scene with that guy."
"I know."
"Did they find the other guys who attacked you?"
Greg nodded. "Oh yeah. Once Lowell realized how much time he could face in prison for the attack he betrayed every one of them." He chuckled. "Cut a few years off his sentence but he'll still spend a lot of time in prison."
"That's good news." Nick noticed the gloomy look on his friend's face. "It's gonna be fine, Greg. Ackles will find a new job he'll feel more comfortable with."
The tired smile on Greg's lips turned into a sad one. "I know. But it's not fair. He has been working for a few weeks, then got attacked... I don't know if I would've stayed on this job, had this happened to me only a few moments into the job."
"I think you would've. Because Ackles didn't have what you did."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Me." Nick smiled at him. When he did, he received a genuine, happy smile from Greg.
Ende.