Hey guys! New story arrived :) This one will (hopefully) answer all the unanswered questions the previous stories raised. I hope you enjoy it, I really put a lot of effort in this story and hope you'll all be pleased with it!

Have fun!

Big love, pikapikatchu

Three weeks have passed since Matthew Willis was found dead with a note for Greg on him. The note said 'You're welcome, Greg', and the CSIs were trying hard to find the murderer. They didn't make any progress in that case, though. Greg tried not to let this get to him too much, but he did worry about it. Who would murder Willis for him? And why?

"No, just leave it on the desk. I'll do it tomorrow." Greg was talking to Nick on the phone when he walked into his apartment. The phone call distracted him a bit, which caused him to overlook a bottle sitting on his coffee table. He also didn't hear the radio playing at first. "It's not urgent, just let me do it tomorrow and go home. Yeah, I'm sure, I..." He finally noticed. The sensation of fear conquered him and he quickly walked out of the apartment. "Nick... Stay at the lab, I'll be right back."

"Are you sure?" Nick gave Greg a rather mocking look.

"...Pretty sure. What, you think I hallucinated this? There was a bottle on the table and the radio was on."

"Maybe you forgot to turn off the radio or something." Nick rubbed his eyes. He's pulled a double and was tired.

Greg shook his head. "No. I think someone's been in there..."

Nick sighed. He felt like Greg was overreacting, but given the recent events – Matthew Willis' death – he was willing to believe him. "Alright, let's check it out." As he patted him on the back, Greg moaned in pain. "...Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"Nah," Greg said with a painful smile on his face. "It's just my back..."

Nick nodded. "Maybe a doctor should check it out."

Greg shook his head. "I'm sure it'll go away. Guess I'm just getting old," he joked.

"You look a little tired."

"I get enough sleep, but I don't wake up rested." He shrugged his shoulder.

Nick figured Greg might be really worried about this. "Okay, after I made sure that there are no monsters under your bed, I'm sure you'll get some rest."

"There, nothing here." Nick inspected Greg's apartment and couldn't find anything unusual.

"...What?" Greg walked over to the coffee table. "...No bottle..."

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't hear any music, Greggo. You're absolutely sure the radio was on when you walked in?"

"Of course I am! …I mean... I heard it."

Nick patted Greg on the shoulder. "I think the sleep deprivation's getting to you."

"It's not deprivation, I..." Greg had a disturbed look on his face.

"Alright..." Nick sighed. "Take this." He handed Greg his gun.

"What? No, Nick, I don't need a gun. I already told you, I..."

"It'll make you sleep better. Just take it. You won't have to use it but it will feel good to know you could if you had to."

Two days have passed and Nick's trick with the gun didn't seem to have helped Greg get any more sleep. "You look awful, man."

"...Thank you, Nick." Greg rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, sleeping with a gun only made it worse. I didn't get any sleep. I kept thinking about why I need a gun in the first place and went through all kind of scenarios in my head. Take it back." He took the gun out of his locker and handed it to Nick.

"You only tried two days! Maybe you'll get more comfortable if you..."

"No, I'm serious. I don't want a gun in my home. It's scarier than whatever I might need protection from."

Nick rolled his eyes as he laughed. "Whatever."

"No, I'm serious. I know how to use a gun, but still..." They just came back from a messy scene and both CSIs got their clothes dirty. Back in the locker room, they got changed. When Greg pulled off his shirt, he moaned in pain again. "I have absolutely no idea where this pain comes from... Maybe I need a new mattress."

Nick looked surprised. "I might have an idea."

"Hm?" Greg turned around to look at Nick.

"You got a big nasty bruise on your back, Greg."

"What?" Greg asked puzzled.

"It's long and thick! What happened?"

"I don't know... I don't remember hurting my back." Greg put a clean shirt on and walked with Nick into the evidence room.

"Let me take a closer look," Nick said while grabbing his camera.

"It's fine, Nick. Don't worry about it."

While Nick took a picture, Russell and Brass silently walked in, watching the two.

Nick showed Greg the picture on the camera. "Looks like someone hit you with a stick or something."

Greg rubbed his back thoughtful. "That explains the pain, I guess."

"But where does the bruise come from?"

"I'd remember if someone hit me with a stick, don't you think?" Greg replied sarcastically.

"When did the pain start?" Russell chimed in.

Just now, the two realized they weren't alone in the room. "Three days ago when I woke up."

Brass and Russell shared a look.

"Any chance you're sleepwalking?" Nick asked.

"Not that I know of, I..."

Russell interrupted him. "Would you follow us into my office, please?"

Nick, Greg and Russell sat down while Brass closed the door. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna say it..." Brass cleared his throat. "Last week, Neil Novak escaped out of prison..."

Both Nick and Greg had a shocked look on their faces. The man that almost raped and murdered Greg was free again?

"No, this... how..." Greg sighed. He didn't know what to say. He just sat there, looking around his colleagues rather helpless.

Nick got off his seat angrily. "Last week? And you're telling us only now?"

Russell sighed. "They didn't tell us until a few hours ago, when you were still at your crime scene."

"How could this happen?" Nick asked. He felt rather helpless, too.

"We don't know the specifics of his escape yet. We don't know where he is, but we're assuming he's trying to leave the country."

"He won't. He'll finish what he started..." Greg said rather emotionless.

"Greg, I don't think..." Nick wanted to try to make Greg feel better.

"You know I'm right. You know what he said to me..." After a short pause, Greg continued. "I should've talked to him," he mumbled to himself.

"What?" After Nick didn't get an answer, he tried again. "What was that, Greg? Why should you have talked to him?"

Greg just looked on the ground and didn't react, so Brass answered Nick's question. "Novak asked to see Greg again."

"What? When?"

"About a month ago."

"Why would he... and... How come I only hear about this now?"

"I didn't want to annoy you with this," Greg finally started talking again.

"You know you wouldn't have annoyed me. We could've talked about this."

"There was nothing to talk about, Nick. I already made up my mind about it, I didn't want to see him. No need to burden you with this."

Nick shook his head. "You should've talked to me about it." He had an angry, almost disappointed, look on his face. "Matthew Willis, the guy we found with a note that said 'You're welcome, Greg', has that anything to do with Novak?"

"That was three weeks ago, Nick. How could he possibly have anything to do with this?" There was a hint of annoyance in Greg's voice. He was frustrated.

"We can't rule his involvement out just yet, Greg," Russell reckoned. "He might have someone working for him. It was easy for him to get one of the prison guards to work for him and help him attack you, who says he can't make people work for him from inside jail?"

Greg rubbed his eyes. "This can't be happening again..."

Brass and Russell shared a look. "Greg, could you come with us, please?"

Greg got off his seat. He didn't even ask any questions, there was too much going on in his head right now.

"Where are you going?" Nick had a lot of questions, though, and was annoyed that they just left him standing there.

"I need to examine his bruises. You can come with us if it's okay with him." They all looked at him, Greg just nodded, obviously lost in his thoughts again.