Title: 2010-2020: 2012
Author: Dee
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gil/Nick
Series: 1) 2010-2020: 2010, 2) 2010-2020: 2011
Characters: Gil Grissom, Nick Stokes, and a few other familiar and unfamiliar faces along the way!
Warnings: AU and fluff!
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: In my dreams they are like, totally mine!
Unbeta-ed: All mistakes will be mine
A/N 1: An occasional series about ten years in their lives.

***

Nick booked his flights on the internet but didn't bother about accommodation...he'd find somewhere when he got there...that was if it was necessary. He packed a duffel bag with just enough clothing for a week together with a few basic necessities. If he needed anything else, or he'd forgotten anything, he would buy it when he arrived.

He flew from Vegas directly to London Gatwick with Virgin with a four hour layover and then on with Thomson Flight directly to the island. Skiathos, Greece. When he arrived he got a taxi into town and the taxi driver knew of a cheap room he could rent...his brother had the perfect room!

It was perfect for him; small but clean with his own bathroom and a balcony with a view over the town and down to the harbour...he would need to be a mountain goat to negotiate the little streets and alleyways but he'd manage; as long as he memorised how to get back.

He unpacked and took a quick shower, dressed in shorts and tee shirt and went to find somewhere to eat. He found a taverna in a back street that was nearly full...so he reckoned it must be good. He had a Greek salad, moussaka and a small beer and ate and enjoyed every scrap off his plates. They gave him a complimentary baklava cake for his dessert.

Having paid his bill he bought a couple of bottles of water and cautiously returned to his room...with just one head scratching right or left moment he managed to find his way. He took another quick shower and cleaned his teeth...got into his bed under his crisp cotton sheets and promptly fell asleep...for eleven hours.

His full bladder woke him and he stretched and then groggily made his way to his bathroom...pissed and returned to his bed. He'd arrived on the island without a strategy...strategy was a fancy word for a plan and he hadn't got one of those either. He hadn't got a clue what he was going to do and as he lay there in his comfortable bed he thought that he had better plan something...on the other hand wouldn't he just be better off if he just did it and relied on his wits to see him through? That way he wouldn't have to plan anything...just turn up...

That was it. He'd got the address so he'd just go and knock on the door. If he was still there. What on earth would he do if he'd got fed up of waiting and moved on somewhere else...or more pertinently, someone else? After all he'd said he wouldn't wait forever... His long journey would be a fool's errand. He suddenly jumped out of bed and went to his shower and turned it on the full blast, the cold water hitting his warm skin like a thousand electric shocks, but luckily it warmed up quickly. He quickly jerked off...didn't want to be tense.

After showering he went in search of breakfast...he couldn't do anything on an empty stomach although conversely, the thought of doing it after having eaten made him feel sick. He had a coffee and a croissant. Then asked the waiter if he knew where the address was. Luckily he did and some odd directions later he found himself climbing up above the harbour...or old port as the waiter had called it to a small square and then an alleyway off the square.

He found the house and it was painted, as most of the little houses were in white and blue, but it was new and in pristine condition, unlike some of its neighbours. He knocked the door and an elderly lady answered a minute or two later.

When he asked for him she insisted he come inside and have a drink of fresh lemonade and from her very halting English he established that he was not at home but working. He worked on the beach on Saturdays and Sundays and in a bar on Mondays. He smiled at the elderly lady as she told him but in fact inside he was incredulous.

A famous entomologist and a master of forensic science working on a beach and in a bar. When he said he was leaving and making some changes in his life he wasn't kidding.

Gil Grissom. Beach bum.

When he at last managed to leave Eleni's house he really did have to make a plan. He walked back towards the town and walked along the harbour and sat in a taverna that looked the most appealing, he ordered a soda and then he saw exactly what he needed. A quad bike. He wasn't foolish enough or brave enough to ride a motor bike but he reckoned he could manage with four wheels.

When he'd signed all the documents and paid the rent for three days he was given a quick lesson, a helmet and a map. He sat for a few minutes studying the map and found the beach he was looking for and studied the route. Fairly simple given the fact that there was only one main road that ran the length of the island and all other minor roads, to the beaches or to the mountains, ran off it.

He was heading for Kanapitsa Beach.

He set off quite carefully but he soon got the hang of it and there wasn't much traffic anyway. He missed the turning the first time but turned around and came back and followed the road up a winding hill and down a winding hill and arrived at the track to the beach. He manoeuvred the bike onto the track and then pulled over and sat there for a few minutes. Now was not the time to get cold feet he told himself. Hell. He'd flown about ten thousand miles and he was within a couple of hundred yards...

He drove slowly toward the beach and a taverna and parked up. He went into the taverna and looked at the menu and decided on a fresh orange juice. When it was made and he'd paid he started to sip it and sat in a seat by a rail that overlooked the beach. It was a narrow sandy beach lined with one row of sun beds and had a small wooden jetty that looked about ready to collapse into the shallow water. They was a large blue hut advertising water sports and that, Eleni had said, was where he worked.

The door of the hut was open and there were canoes and pediloes and a speed boat gently bobbing near the shore. Two deck chairs were positioned on the little porch in the shade, but they were empty. He sipped his orange juice and watched and waited his stomach churning over and over and then he saw him...and he nearly dropped his glass.

He was surely twenty pounds lighter. His hair was at least twice as long as he'd ever seen it and was an unruly mop of pure white curls. His white beard was trimmed back but he hadn't shaved his cheeks or his neck as he had when he was at work...well at work in the States. His chest hair, what there was of it, was also white but for some reason despite his white hair Nick thought he looked younger and healthier and happier than he'd ever seen him. He was tanned a gloriously golden colour. He looked so good...except for his shorts which were a strange pattern of orange, green and brown palm trees. Now they were hideous.

He was taking the money for a canoe ride and helping with life jackets and giving a quick guide to what they should do and then he pushed the canoe and the young couple out of the shallow water and on their way. He watched for several minutes as they took some time finding a rhythm but when they did and were truly on their way he smiled happily and went back inside the hut.

Nick started breathing again and wasn't sure why he was still alive or conscious since he wasn't aware that he had been breathing. He took a long sip of his orange juice and tried to compose himself...but his heart was pounding in his chest, his stomach churning and his mouth, despite the recent fluid, was bone dry.

‘Christ', he told himself, ‘I'm forty-one not a fucking kid'. He could do this. He finished his juice and stood up and walked purposefully down to the beach and the hut. Just as he reached the hut the man he'd come looking for came out drinking water from a small bottle. He turned towards him and his hand dropped down still holding the bottle and his mouth dropped open and he stared...a look of absolute disbelief on his face.

"Hey." Nick said, trying and he thought succeeding, with a casual tone. But Gil didn't respond at all he was still standing, staring, open mouthed.

"I came to see if you're still single. Are you?"

Gil nodded.

"Me too...now. Billy dumped me. Said he got fed up of me."

Gil dropped the water bottle to the sand and with too two long steps came up to Nick and encompassed him in a bear hug. Tight. Strong. All consuming.

Nick felt as if he'd come home. As if in this man's arms was where he had always belonged.

***

They must have remained in each other's arms for some minutes and another man came out of the hut laughing at them.

"This is the man I love, George." Gil admonished his friend who laughed even more and slapped Gil on the back. To Nick he said. "George is not keen on gays. I don't think he believed me when I said I was. I might get fired now."

"You going to fire me, George? I am queer."

"You stay but no fucking on my beach." He was still laughing.

"It's a deal. Nick, I have to stay here until the last person leaves the beach, can't miss an opportunity to make a buck." He winked at Nick and nodded towards George.

"That's okay. I can watch. You. I cannot believe how much you've changed. It's been, what, eight months?"

"Yes. Nine months, two weeks and three days. I've been counting every day waiting for you. Hoping against hope you'd come over to me and here you are right in front of me and I'm a changed man...in more ways than one. We need to talk, Nick. Before anything happens we need to talk."

"Okay." Nick laughed. "Well that's a change right there, you never were much for talking before."

"No. You're right. I have changed...fundamentally and..." Two young men had approached Gil and he turned to them. "Hi. What can I do for you?"

They wanted a pedilo and Gil sorted it out. Nick sat down on the porch steps and felt the sun on his body. He was in shorts and tee but pulled the tee off, setting it aside.

"You look good. Still working out?"

"Yes. But so do you."

"A healthy lifestyle. Good food. Plenty of exercise and I'm happy. Makes a big difference."

"Happy without me?"

"As much as I could be; I still had hope."

"But for how long?"

"I was going to wait for a year. I figured that would be time enough for you to decide."

"Yeah. You were saying about your fundamental changes."

"Yes, I was about to say... Nick, this is my life now." He gestured with his hand and arm around the beach, the bay, the island. "I am not going back. Not now. So you have two options. Three."

"I have?" Nick wasn't really surprised...why would Gil want to give this up when it plainly suited him so well.

"Three." Gil spoke confidently. "Walk away now. And it's over before it begins..."

"...but it's already begun, hasn't it?"

Gil looked at Nick and then nodded. "Yes, you're right." He then seemed lost in thought.

"The other two options?" Nick reminded him.

"You, we, have a long distant relationship...you visit when you can."

"Or, I move out here?"

"Yes. But I won't ask you, Nick. You must make that decision yourself."

They sat in silence for a few minutes

The couple in the canoe came back and Gil helped them out and retrieved the life jackets. Nick watched Gil and thought about the options he had. He'd come all this way...he wasn't going back empty handed. He knew that much.

Gil joined him on the step and smiled at Nick. "I never said ‘hello, how are you'?"

"I'm good."

"All the old faces?"

"Older, but good."

"And Billy left?"

"Yeah, dumped me. Can't say I blame him, my mind was always elsewhere after you came back and he knew. I regret what I did; it wasn't fair to him."

"You told him." Gil assumed that was what had happened.

Nick shook his head. "No, I never did. It was bad enough that I did it anyway without rubbing it in...it would have hurt him more if I'd confessed. Although..."

"Although?"

"He never accused me but maybe he guessed anyway. I was working up the courage to tell him and leave when he beat me to it. In the end it was as if we'd run the course and I wonder if it would have happened anyway even if you'd never come back to Vegas."

"For what it's worth I don't think you would have cheated if it was a solid relationship to start with...I was just the catalyst. Had you ever cheated before?"

"No. I have always classed myself as a good guy...a faithful...a loyal partner."

"You are."

"But I'm not, am I?"

"You cheated with me and you've followed me half way...well, a quarter ways around the world. I would call that pretty faithful."

"And you would trust me?"

"With my life, Nicky. With my life."

Nick smiled. "I used to feel great when you called me Nicky, all those years ago. Made me feel special."

"And now it doesn't?"

"I'm a bit old for a kid's name, don't you think?"

"No, I don't. I see a young man in his prime who has come looking for me. How did you find me? Eleni?"

"Yes."

"She's a great lady. My second Mom. Really takes care of me."

"But you take care of her, don't you. If I got it right you painted her house and plastered it and repaired windows. And painted inside too."

"It was the least I could do...she will only take a pittance from me. I have my own room and bathroom...she uses an outdoor bathroom, even when it's cold. She changes my bedding twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays and gives me a clean towel every day. She makes breakfast and dinner...but on Saturdays and Sundays I eat dinner there..." He pointed to the taverna where Nick had had his orange juice. "I get a cheap rate. I had satellite installed and pay for it and get internet through that and Eleni can watch television until two and three o'clock every morning...but she's always up by six. We're an odd couple."

"And you work here and in a bar?"

"That's right. I work Monday nights because the regular guy has the night off. I teach three boys English once a week on Wednesday afternoons. One is very bright but a lazy ass and two are not so bright and need extra lessons but they do work really hard. And I have my pension. But I save most of that...I just have no need to spend money. I bought a scooter and that gets me around....you know the big road is only fifteen kilometres long? That's about the sum of my life right now."

"So no more forensic work or entomology?"

"Ah. I still consult by e-mail...giving advice and checking evidence and I still research and write articles. I've been commissioned by the RCMP to write a training manual for their officers; the guys who live in remote areas and have no access to immediate forensic services. A D-I-Y CSI manual!" Gil laughed, as did Nick, who also shook his head at the notion that Gil could still get work out here...seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

"Oh, and one last thing...I'm writing a book."

"You've done that before."

"Not this I haven't. It's a murder mystery...a work of fiction." He announced with a flourish. "I sent a couple of chapters to a publisher in New York and they said they'd take first refusal on it. I've got it all sketched out and I've written about three quarters; and they paid me five grand..."

"...I don't believe it! You writing a novel?"

"I know and do you know I even have an idea for another one." He laughed. But then got serious. "If you decide to leave and come here, Nick, I can take care of you...you won't need to work."

Nick laughed. "You make it sound a very nice prospect."

"I do, don't I?" And Gil laughed with him. "Just so you know."

"Thanks."

They sat in silence again for few minutes and Nick watched a little boat come up to the jetty and pick up passengers.

"That's the water taxi...goes to Skiathos town."

"It's a pretty relaxed kind of place."

"It is; it's very quiet in winter...when the tourists leave, end of September, many of the people leave too...they run the businesses during the season and go home to the mainland when the last of the tourists leave. They come back April time and the tourists start arriving in May...I haven't done July and August but I believe the island nearly sinks with the weight of the out-of-towners. But they rely on the tourists to live...simple as that."

Nick smiled. "Thanks for the quick guide to Skiathos. I'm only here for a week..." Gil looked shocked...horrified even and Nick hastily explained his reasoning. "I didn't know if you'd still be here waiting for me, did I? Or if I could find you. So...I'll be with you for this week and go back and think about it all. I have a lot of leave days to take so I can come back...soon. I'm the supervisor now. Catherine's part time...covers leave and that."

"It's a lot for you to give up for me. Consider carefully."

"I will." But the way Nick smiled at Gil gave Gil hope in his heart.

It was six before Gil finished work and they gossiped about the people they knew and Gil told him about his book. Gil had bought a salad for lunch and shared it with Nick as they sat on the deck chairs on the little porch. Gil also plastered Nick was suntan lotion.

The men were easy with one another; it was as if they'd never been apart and Nick's mind was made up, quite categorically, well before six o'clock. But he didn't tell Gil. But when Gil was busy he was busy, too, plotting how he could go about starting his new life.

They ate an early dinner in the taverna and then rode their bikes back to town. As Nick followed Gil on his scooter he thought about their meeting. They hadn't kissed they'd just had the one hug and yet it was as if they'd never been apart.

Before they reached the town, Nick had absolutely made up his mind. It would be a huge...an incredible life changing experience to move to this tiny island from Vegas. But he could not, would not, give up Gil Grissom. He knew that they belonged together and that he would, at the very least, give it one hell of a try.

If Gil could make such a staggering change to his life...and flourish so spectacularly...then he'd have to give it a go. He could and he would.

Even with Gil's work they spent all their time together, including sleeping and making love at Eleni's house....and on several secluded beaches at night.

For four days Nick kept his decision a secret; although he was sure he did try listing some pros and cons in his mind...but being with Gil was always the overriding con and trumped all, and any of his other concerns.

When he told Gil of his decision, to Nick's astonishment, Gil wept.

***