Previous part of A Friend, A Mentor, & More.

***

A quick shower at Greg's and a change of clothes and they were off to another day at work. Only something was new. There was now something good about Greg and Nick's day. They knew each other, they understood each other and they were both happier then they had been in ages.

"How was last night?" Sara poked her head into Greg's DNA lab. She held up her hand to stop him before he started apologizing again.

"I don't want to hear that Greg, I told you that everything was ok. And I'm sorry I busted in but you know that until we catch this guy…" She let her sentence trail off and changed the subject. She gave Greg a fabulous grin and stole his stool. "Now, let me know what happened last night." She urged. "You obviously stayed at Nick's house…"

"Yea…" Greg said cautiously, not sure what to tell Sara. "I…I feel asleep on his couch. We-we both fell asleep." Greg talked slowly.

"And?" Sara asked expectantly. "Come on Greg! Let it out."

"Well, uh…" Greg looked unsure. "We kinda, we…we might have kissed," He finally got it out.

"And?" Sara asked again.

"And what?" Greg's head shot up from his microscope. "What else is there to know? Then we both fell asleep." Sara was looking at him suspiciously but decided not to push the issue any further.

"Aw man. Sleeping isn't what I had in mind."

"Well, if you remember correctly; a few hours later, I acted like an idiot because I had just woken up. Then I walked into the hallway looking for Nick but instead, found Nick, you, Captain Brass, and a few cops."

Sara bit the inside of her lip. "Fair point, but we're only looking out for you."

"I know and I'm sor-"

"I don't want to hear that you're sorry." Sara firmly told him again. "I told you, its fine. Now continue, what happened after I left."

"Um…" Greg thought for a minute. "Nick went and grabbed our phones," he nodded at Sara. "Then he said that we both needed more sleep. So we went back to sleep. He woke me up this morning and…" Greg trailed off, remembering the kiss. "And…and then we went back to my apartment so I could shower and change clothes. Then we ended up here." Greg shrugged and grinned at Sara.

"Greg, I can't believe you won't give me details!" Sara teased.

Meanwhile

"Nick?" Grissom came into the layout room with a tall man in tow. Nick looked up from his case and then stood up when he noticed the other man.

"Nick, I'd like to introduce you to Eric Delko; one of the Miami CSIs here to work Greg's case." Grissom excused himself quickly as his phone went off.

Nick automatically stiffened when Grissom mentioned Greg's case. His actions weren't lost upon Eric who stood Nick's hand and gave him a warm smile. "I've heard a lot of you, Nick. Greg just can't stop talking about you." He told him graciously and then continued when Nick shot him a questioning look.

"I… I'm Greg's next of kin. We're not related but we were great friends during the years he was in Miami." Eric explained. This didn't do much to sooth Nick's conscience, mainly because the Texan had focused in on the phrase "great friends."

Seeing this, Eric quickly corrected himself. "No, we weren't- we never dated. I'm straight." He laughed good-naturedly as Nick visibly relaxed and smiled.

"It's good to meet you," Nick told him sincerely, no longer feeling the need to size up the Miami CSI.

"Good to meet you too," Eric gave him a huge smile. "Like I said before, Greg can't stop talking about you. I talked to him on the phone before I left and he seemed happier than he had been in a while."

"Before you left?" Nick cocked his head, "Greg doesn't know you're here?"

"Nah, not yet. I thought I'd surprise him. Could you help me find his lab?"

…

"Am I interrupting something?" Nick was at the lab entrance with a happy smirk on his face.

"Uh, no, Greg was just walking me through some follicle patterns." Sara quickly

.

"Oh really?" Nick raised his eyebrow and looked at Greg for confirmation.

"Y-yep, yea-huh. Follicle patterns. Yep." Greg grinned sheepishly.

"Sara, Greg, I'd like to introduce one of the two CSIs from Miami." Nick said courteously. Sara and Greg both straightened up as Nick motioned for someone to come into the room.

"ERIC!" Greg yelled and stumbled off his chair to throw his arms around Eric. "How are you? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" He asked breathlessly.

Eric returned the hug but then stepped back to get a good look at Greg. Some dark circles around his eyes and faded bruises but the lab tech was definitely happy, albeit nervous. Then again, Greg had always been a bundle of nerves, whether good or bad.

"I wanted to surprise you! I haven't seen you in a few months, it was definitely time," Eric told him, clapping a hand on Greg's shoulder.

"You already met Nick," Greg noted, excitedly, "This is Sara Sidle."

"CSI Sidle, yea, we spoke on the phone a few times." Eric shook her hand.

"That's right, nice to meet you in person." Sara said politely.

"Who's the other CSI?" Greg asked curiously.

"New guy, you haven't met him yet. Horatio was reluctant to let him come but he was already finishing up a conference here so there wasn't much of a choice in the matter." Eric shrugged, "He should be here soon." He peered out into the hallway. "Wait, there he is! Ryan! Over here!" He called.

Sara & Nick were introduced to Ryan Wolfe, a new Miami CSI. "And this is Gr-" Eric turned but there was no one there. "Well, there was someone here. One of my old friends, he works here now."

"He probably just got paged," Sara offered, knowing that Grissom had been stalking the lab for the past hour waiting for results.

"I'm sure I'll meet him later," Ryan gave a wide smile that left Sara a little unsettled. When she turned to see if Nick had the same reaction, he wasn't there. The Texan had apparently copied Greg's disappearing act.

Grissom rounded the corner and called Ryan away to meet the rest of the shift. Sara turned to Eric. "What the hell just happened? And where did Nick and Greg go?"

"I heard Nick mutter something about Greg and then he headed off in that direction," Eric turned towards the hallway but no one was there.

"The men's bathroom is that way; let me know what you find. I need to talk to Grissom, let me know when you find them." Sara said sternly before leaving Eric in a now empty hallway.

…

The second Nick noticed that Greg was gone, he knew something wasn't right. None of this was right. Greg was fine and then he had just vanished. He could have only gone in the other direction, so Nick followed the trail. Quickly checking into every lab and layout room until coming to the bathroom.

"Greg?" He said softly, pushing open a stall door and nearly dropping to his knees at the sight.

Greg was vomiting heavily into the toilet; he didn't even seem to be breathing. Nick closed the stall door behind him and dragged Greg back from the toilet, keeping his head elevated.

"Greg! What's wrong? Breathe Greg. Come on, you need to breathe." Nick felt relief when he felt Greg take a huge breath and grab onto his shirt so hard that it hurt.

"Nick…" Greg was now sobbing into Nick's shirt. He couldn't stop; he had to get out of here. Everything was closing in on him and holding tightly onto Nick was draining his strength.

"You're fine Greg, I swear, you're ok. I 'm not going to let anyone hurt you." Nick told him fiercely.

"The Miami CSI. The other one. It's him." Greg quietly cried into Nick's chest.

***

"Greg? Nick?" Eric opened the door the men's bathroom and saw all stalls lined up. Someone was crying in the handicap stall. He slowly pushed open the door and-

Nick was holding a shaking and sobbing Greg against his body. Or was it the other way around? Both? Greg's knuckles were white from his hold on Nick but Nick had his arms wrapped around Greg.

"Get in and lock the door," Nick said quickly, trying to pacify Greg and come up with a plan at the same time.

"What's going on? What is it? What's wrong with Greg?" Eric tried to look at Greg but the tech's eyes were tightly closed.

"Your other CSI." Nick growled but his expression softened when Greg stiffened at the reminder of the other man.

"Ryan?" Eric asked, still not understanding…Oh. "What? You can't…No, that's not right. That can't be right. It doesn't make any…" Eric stopped. It did make sense. Ryan had been in Vegas when Greg had gotten raped. He was there for the first part of his two-part conference. Then, when the rapes had occurred in Miami, Ryan had been back in Miami. Now he was back in Vegas.

"I know, I know." Nick said through gritted teeth. "Go find Grissom and Sara. Now."

In less than two minutes, Eric was back at the handicap stall with Grissom and Sara in tow. Sara was ready to rush towards the two of them but Nick held up his hand to stop her. There would be time for all of this later. Right now, what would comfort Greg the most was knowing that this bastard was behind bars.

"It's him, the other CSI. That's why Greg left. He recognized him. Griss, you gotta do something." Nick pleaded.

"Greg?" Grissom knelt down. "Who exactly did you see?" Greg opened his eyes and looked at Grissom, who seemed taken aback at how frightened he looked.

"Eric called him over….I don't remember the name….He came around the corner and I…I ran. It was him." Greg told him, his voice shaking. He didn't look up, didn't take his eyes off of Nick's apparently very interesting shirt.

Greg knew what he had seen. It was the other CSI. He didn't know anything about him but unless that guy had an evil twin, Greg's rapist was the other Miami CSI.

"Grissom?" Nick asked, waiting for something to take place.

"I'll have Brass put him in custody right away." Grissom told them.

But of course, Nick should have known things never happen that easily.

Captain Brass came into their stall and saw the two men sitting on the floor. 'Finally on the same side of the stall,' Nick thought pathetically.

"He was waiting in Greg's lab." There was silence in the small stall. Greg stiffened again and Nick squeezed his hand to remind Greg that he wasn't in the lab. To remind Greg that he was still ok.

Brass continued, "Then he ran. He dropped a case full of syringes which are being run through tox. We're searching everywhere. We also contacted Horatio Caine of Miami for more background information." He nodded towards Eric.

"If he goes back to Miami, they'll take him into custody." He told them expressionlessly, no other way to describe what had just happened.

"You need to get Greg out of here." Grissom told Nick hurriedly. He took off his CSI jacket and Sara took off hers. Nick helped Greg up, the young man exhausted and scared beyond belief.

"He can't go back to his house," Grissom continued. He handed his CSI jacket to Nick and Sara put hers around Greg's shoulders. "Just in case this guy's on the look out, which, he probably is.

"I'll take him to my house." Nick said sternly, taking a hold of Greg's hand again.

…

They reached the door and of Nick's house and the Texan let out of a sigh of relief when he felt that the door was still bolted and locked. When he unlocked it and walked in with Greg, the alarm signaled that no windows were broken. There was no way anyone could be in this house.

"You're safe Greg." Nick whispered. Greg hadn't talked since they had left the lab. He really wasn't up for talking; he felt sick and just wanted to sit down. Greg also didn't want to be left alone and Nick noticed. Greg had taken to following Nick into every room as he double-checked them.

"Come here," Nick said softly. He gently took Greg's waist and pulled the lab tech closer. "You're going to be ok; we just need to stay here until Grissom tells us. But you know how determined Brass and his men are. Everyone is twice as efficient on this case because it involves you. They're going to get him, don't worry about that."

Nick gave Greg a small kiss. He wrapped his arms around Greg and let him rest his head against his shoulder. Another small kiss on the top of Greg's head and Nick pulled back.

"Let's get you cleaned up ok? I don't want you getting sicker," Nick smiled and led Greg to the bathroom. Noting Greg's nervous expression, Nick continued, "I'll leave the door open and wait outside. How's that? If you get nervous, just peek past the shower curtain." Greg gave a shy smile, surprised at Nick's attentiveness. Nick took his hand and led him into the bathroom.

Greg emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, having taken the fastest shower in history. He had a towel wrapped around his waist but he couldn't find his clothes. He had left them right on the sink...

"Nick?" He asked quietly, still looking around the bathroom, not realizing that Nick's name was the only word he had said since they had been in the bathroom at the lab.

"Right here." Nick was leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door.

"I took your clothes. No offense, but they smelt a little…well, yea," Nick shrugged. He held out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. "They might be a little big for you but that's alright. It'll be comfortable."

Greg took the clothes and smiled again, noticing that Nick had changed into a pair of almost identical sweatpants.

"I'm going to take charge here ok?" Nick stood up when Greg came out of the bathroom again, donning a pair of too-big sweatpants and a t-shirt that fit a little better.

"Nick?" Greg asked, still not noticing that all he was saying that Nick's name.

"I just want you to relax. You can't make yourself sick. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. So until Grissom calls, we're just going to relax. A lot of resting, movies, video games, card games, et cetera. Ok?" Nick asked.

Greg nodded obediently. If Nick thought it would be a good idea to relax, then Greg would relax.

"Come on then," Nick gave him a warm smile, took his head, and led him into the bedroom. There was a small television sitting on the bureau of the far side of the room, where the Back to the Future main title was paused. Greg smiled at Nick. "I thought we'd continue our marathon, even if we fall asleep again." Nick told him.

Nick sat in the middle of the bed and leaned a pillow against the headboard. He held his hand out to Greg who took it without hesitation. Together, they lay down in the middle of the bed, Greg's head resting against Nick's shoulder and their hands intertwined.

With Nick near him, Greg was asleep to fall asleep quickly. He believed what Nick had told him about being safe. The intensity in Nick's eyes when he said he would never let anyone hurt Greg. It made Greg feel safe. Nick made Greg feel safe, welcomed, and…loved. Now they were lying together, in Nick's bed, just resting.

The way Greg figured it, his day started perfect and then ended perfect again. Now all he had to do was ignore whatever had happened in the middle.

***

Nick had woken up before Greg but didn't have the heart to get up just in case he moved the wrong way and woke him up. Greg finally seemed peaceful. Or at least, peaceful enough. He was lying on Nick's chest with his head nuzzled into the crook of Nick's neck. His hair hadn't been attended to after the shower and had consequently acquired soft curls over the night. These curls were resting right below Nick's cheek.

It was so quiet and soothing that Nick almost forgot Greg's troubles. The problems that had become Nick's due to association. NIck wouldn't have it any other way.

Almost as if Greg heard Nick's thoughts, the blonde started moving in his sleep. Not so much moving as he was twitching against Nick's body.

"Greg." Nick whispered, pushing the curls away from Greg's forehead. "Wake up Greg. It's just a nightmare."

Greg's eyes shot open and he sat up in the bed. Nick quickly wrapped his arms around Greg's waist and rubbed the shocked lab tech's back.

"I'm here, you're fine. It was all a bad dream." Nick said soothingly. Once Greg realized that he was in Nick's house and with Nick, he calmed down considerably. "That's it..." Nick whispered as Greg relaxed into his arms. It didn't last long.

"I want it to stop." Greg was shaking now and Nick couldn't do anything to stop it.

"I'll keep you safe." Nick told him, tightening his hold on Greg and tugging him back down onto the bed. He covered them both with blankets and made sure he could feel Greg's breathing. It was fast and erratic.

Nick had his chest against Greg's back and took deep, slow breaths. After a minute or two, Greg was able to match these breaths.

Greg turned around to face Nick and gave him a kiss. "Thank you."

...

The next time Nick woke up Greg wasn't in his arms. The absence of warmth panicked Nick but he told himself not to overreact. Looking around his room, Nick was relieved to see that Greg wasn't far at all. He hadn't enough left the room.

Wrapped in one of Nick's blankets, Greg was examining Nick's bookshelf. It was filled with everything from fiction and comics to textbooks and criminology journals. He cautiously took a book off the shelf and smiled when he read the title.

"That's one of my old college textbooks." Nick said quietly as he got up and stood behind Greg, who reacted with just a tiny jump. He put his hands on Greg's shoulders and raised the blanket where it had started to slip.

"I had this one." Greg responded and leaned back into Nick's chest. "It was my favorite because it explained everything in such a great way. It's one of the reasons I went into DNA."

"You had the same book in college?" Nick asked.

"Well, high school. Sophomore year." Greg shrugged, putting the book back on the shelf and running his fingers over the title.

"Wait a minute..." Realization dawned on Nick. "You had college chem 101 when you were sixteen?" Nick could practically feel the heat emanating off of Greg's body.

Greg turned around and sure enough, there was a deep blush on his face. "It was an advanced school."

"How advanced?" Nick asked, purely out of curiosity. Greg didn't look Nick in the eyes and scratched the back of his head.

"Greg?" Nick tried, again, giving him a smirk and a quick kiss to get the answer out of him.

"Very advanced." Greg admitted. He didn't think his face could get any redder but apparently, he was wrong.

Nick grinned and kissed Greg again, making sure he knew that Nick was more proud than amused.

"I have smart boyfriend. He's the smartest guy ever. And so cute too." Nick whispered in a singsongy voice and kissed Greg, this time letting the kiss last a little longer.

"How smart are you?" He teased. "Should I be intimidated?"

Greg looked up with wide eyes. "Nick!" He said in a shocked tone.

"I'm just kidding, I love the fact that you're ridiculously smart. And hot. And funny." Nick told him.

"You're smart too!" Greg insisted.

"Not like you in that mad scientist way." Nick laughed good-naturedly.

Greg kept going though, "No way, you're brilliant! Especially in that practical, always-knows-what-to-do MacGyver way. You're always seeing these awesome angles to your cases that half the other CSIs wouldn't even think of!" He stopped suddenly when he realized he was on the verge of rambling.

"Thanks for the compliments. Do you want to compromise and just say that we're both brilliant?" Nick asked as he walked with Greg into the kitchen. "Although I did like the MacGyver reference..."

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Not exactly time for dinner but they both needed to eat something. Due to their schedules, everything they did would be off by twelve hours anyway. That's just what the nightshift did.

The playful banter had ended but Greg still seemed to be enjoying himself as he helped Nick make omelets for their meal. It didn't stop him from jumping when Nick's phone rang.

"Stokes." Nick answer expressionlessly, his tone had the tiniest bit of stiffness to it.

"Yea...no, we're both fine...Eating some breakfast...We slept..." Nick walked over and opened his cupboard, "No, there's stuff in here. Not a lot but at least another day or two, I had meant to go to the market over the weekend but never got the chance...Ok, yea, just let us know...Ok...Ok, here he is." Nick held out the phone to Greg. "It's Sara." He told him.

"Sara?" Greg's voice was quiet and soft. "No, we're ok...Omelets...Just relaxing...Ok...Bye." Greg's voice seemed to get quieter as the call went on. His whisper was barely audible by the time it ended.

"She said there's a plan in the works." Nick said conversationally. "She'll let us know when they have more information. Also, Grissom wanted to make sure we had enough food. Someone might come in the next day or two with food."

Greg nodded, "She just wanted to see how I was," He supplied.

"And how are you?" Nick asked quietly, sitting down at the table next to Greg.

"Nervous," Greg shrugged, "But I'm with you. That makes all the difference." He said slowly, making sure Nick understood how important that was to him.

"I feel the same way." Nick said sincerely.

"Did she say anything else?" Greg asked.

Nick hesitated, not sure how to put it. "We...we might have to leave Vegas. I mean...it's up to us but Brass seems to think it would be a whole lot safer." He waited for Greg to respond. The lab tech was musing over the dilemma, using his fork to picked at the remnants of his omelet.

"It...It sounds like it would be a good idea." Greg said slowly. "Where would we go. I mean, California won't work I mean. It's not exactly ideal at the moment and my parents...my parents they don't know." Greg said, embarrassed.

"Greg, that's ok." Nick took Greg's hands. "My parents didn't know about what happened to me either. Its...its hard to talk about it. And a lot of people don't share it with anyone. I know that I didn't. And if Catherine hadn't confronted me, I'd still be living with it on my own. Trust me Greg, that's not the way to go. I called my mom the day after the meeting. I talked to her and my father. Now they know everything." Nick smiled, content at the progress he had made just in the last few days.

"Everything?" Greg asked. He squeezed Nick's hand in anticipation for the answer.

"Everything." Nick confirmed and felt Greg's whole body relax.

Nick grinned and kissed Greg's temple, "So...have you ever been to a real Texas ranch?"

***

"Nick...Nick!" Greg whispered urgently.

"Whatsit?" Nick murmured, his eyes squinted open and turned to where Greg was sitting on the bed, facing away from him. He reached out and put a hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Nick," Greg said again, "Listen..."

"To what?" Nick asked but Greg didn't need to answer because Nick heard it.

It was knocking. Someone was knocking.

Wide awake now, Nick stumbled out of bed and looked out the bedroom door into the hallway. It was empty but there was still knocking.

Greg followed Nick out and they both hurried to the front door as the knocking became more urgent. He paused in the front hall as Nick inched towards the door and looked through the peep hole, squinting to see through the dark night.

Letting out a sigh, Nick turned back to Greg, "It's Warrick," He informed Greg while unbolting the door and letting Warrick inside.

"Hey man, way to scare the shit out of us." Nick told him, trying to choose between feeling relieved and feeling pissed. Warrick had to have a good reason.

"I know I know, I'm sorry." Warrick came in, closing the door behind him. "I need to explain but I need to do it quickly. We have about ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" Nick asked incredulously. "Ten minutes until what?"

"I'll explain while you're packing. You need to start packing. Now." Warrick said pointedly.

Nick took the hint and started walking back to the bedroom. He got out two duffel bags from his closet and began throwing clothes into them.

"Here's what happened. This douchebag," Warrick shot a look at Greg but he was too busy staring at the duffel bags to look up, "tried to contact someone to find Greg. He ended up calling one of the undercover cops who, in turn, ended up contacting Brass."

Warrick paused, as a look passed between Nick and Greg. Nick just nodded at Greg and then continued packing.

"Now, Ryan thinks that Greg is getting kidnapped and brought to him. He knows that Greg is with someone, but he doesn't know who it is. He insisted that whoever was with Greg be separated from Greg and put in a separate vehicle so that Ryan would able to, I guess, deal with him later." Nick started to interrupt but Warrick held up his hand.

"I know it's a bit confusing but we're going to kidnap both of you. In separate vans. It's a precaution and Ryan will be on the radio with the undercover cop, getting the progress. We don't know if he'll be waiting or watching anywhere so we're going to kidnap you both. And then there's a safe location where a car is waiting. Did you even decide on a safe place yet?" Warrick was now looking at Nick for an answers.

"I...I called my parents and told them it was a possibility." Nick told him. "I'll call them on the way there. It'll take us about fifteen or sixteen hours to drive. That's enough of a warning."

There was another knock on the door and Warrick signaled to Nick. Greg picked up a duffel bag while Nick carried the other. Through the peephole, Nick saw Brass.

"Ready boys?" He asked hurriedly.

"They're ready to go. How much time?"

"I'd say about thirty seconds." Brass checked his watch.

Nick slid his hand into Greg's and squeezed it. This earned him a very nervous look (not quite the expression Nick had been hoping for) right before Brass ushered them out the door. The cool Las Vegas night air hit them quickly. Nick immediately regretted not grabbing a jacket for Greg or himself.

Warrick grabbed Nick's shoulders while Brass kept a loose hold onto Greg. They didn't know if they were being watched and they had to play the part, even in the slightest aspects.

There were two dark vans outside of Nick's house. Greg got into the back of the first one and lost the feeling of Brass holding onto him. Now Greg was just standing in a pitch-black van trunk. He closed his eyes and started to just control his breathing in and then out again. This continued until the van started.

"Greg?" Someone whispered.

A single light was turned on and Greg opened his eyes. He was shocked to find out that the trunk of the van held Brass, Sara, and six other cops.

"Sara." He said, relieved. He was even more relieved when Sara gave him a hug.

The radio attached to Sara's belt crackled to life. "V-1, this is V-2. Come in, V-1." Warrick's voice came over the radio.

"This is V-1, Prisoner One is secure. How about Prisoner Two?" Sara responded professionally, smiling at Greg.

There was a bit of commotion in the background before Warrick responded.

"Prisoner Two is just fine, albeit a bit sarcastic. Prisoner Two wants to know why he didn't get to be Prisoner One." Warrick's light laugh and Nick's response lifted the mood.

Greg sat down with Sara on the floor of the van and waited for the ride to be over. He hugged the duffel bag as if it was going to get up and run. He was just so tense and didn't know how to stop his hands from shaking. Nick knew how to stop Greg's hands from shaking, the same way Greg knew how to stop Nick was shaking after a nightmare.

The next thing Greg knew, the van had stopped and the doors had opened again. He looked up and was relieved when he saw Nick come into the van trunk.

"Greg?" Nick asked, not sure what to do when they were surrounded by coworkers and cops. One look at Greg's face told Nick all he needed to know. He quickly raised Greg off the floor and enveloped him in a hug.

"Nick." Greg sighed and forgot everything around him. Just the feeling of Nick with his arms around him.

Sara gave a sad smile at the sight in front of her. She was happy they had both found each other but the circumstances under which the relationship had happened weren't the best. She was confident that they would be able to get through it. All they needed was just two more days, tops, to catch this guy.

Warrick looked down, not wanting to pry on the moment going on in front of him, in front of everyone in the van. He was glad Nick had finally found someone.

The rest of the feelings of the van were unanimous. The cops were touched by the sight and were now even more determined to catch the bastard that was ruining this couple's life. They were both so young and there was no reason why they should have to go through this. No one should ever have to experience it.

Sara reached out and lightly touched Nick's shoulder. "Come on guys, You have to go."

There were a few last minute instructions about checking in every three hours until they reached the ranch and then they were on their way. It was a rented truck with a full tank of gas. Nick took the first driving shift as they left the lights of Las Vegas behind them.

Greg refused to sleep for any of Nick's turns driving so they were left with either radio, silence, or conversation.

Radio was out, especially since it was the middle of the night and they would soon be headed into the middle of the desert. Neither of them wanted silence so they talked. For almost sixteen hours, Greg and Nick talked about anything but work.

Each time they had to check in with Sara, they switched turns driving. Whoever wasn't driving, had to ask questions to keep the driver awake. Mostly though, it was Greg, asking Nick questions about his family and the ranch.

"Ok, this is where it gets confusing. Right at the fork." Nick said out loud as he turned the wheel to the right.

"Are we close?" Greg asked sleepily. It had been eight at night when they started driving and now it was almost noon. They were both ridiculously tired and just needed to get to the ranch to sleep.

At the beginning of the trip, Nick had called his mother, who had (according to Nick) taken everything in stride. She told Nick that she would have everything ready and waiting for them. Nick wasn't even sure what "everything" was that his mother needed to prepare.

"Very close." Nick answered. "You're going to see a mailbox up ahead but there's not going to be a driveway. It's all cornstalks." He started, and then grinned when he saw the confused look on Greg's face.

"It was my grandfather's idea for confusing the old traveling salesmen," Nick explained, "There's one point where a group of cornstalks actually form a gate."

"Oh!" Greg grinned and he suddenly became giddy at the prospect of seeing a cornstalk fence.

"Here it is, hang on. Switch seats." Nick stopped the car and got out. He fished his hands around some cornstalks and unlatched the gate.

Greg stared wide-eyed as a group of looped together cornstalks swung back and revealed a dirt road. He drove through it and then stopped to let Nick back in the car.

"Whoa..." Greg was lucky it was just a dirt road, otherwise he would have gotten so distracted by the farm that he would have crashed the truck into something. There was a big house that was surrounded by stables and two barns.

"What did you expect?" Nick laughed.

"Uh...I don't know." Greg admitted.

"Pull up to the main house. Then we get say hi to the parents and then get some shut eye." Nick instructed.

As they drove to the house, Greg noticed two figures sitting on the front porch. He began to get nervous again. There wasn't the ideal way to meet the parents. Greg didn't mind that Nick had told his parents everything, it was actually comforting in a way.

"They're not about to interrogate you, you know." Nick said with a small smile on his face. "And we're safe here. They know not to tell anyone that we're here."

Greg took a deep breath and nodded. He wanted to believe Nick...and he almost did. But..he couldn't shake the fact that he was still scared beyond all reason. He would continue being frightened until Ryan was caught by the department.

Another deep breath and Greg parked the car. Nick got out first and waited for Greg to get out.

Jillian and Bill had watched the truck drive up the road for the past few minutes. They had discussed Nick's call a few times already that morning. Jillian's heart went out to Greg once she saw him get out of the car. He was pale, ragged, and looked horribly tired. Her heart swelled as her Nicky held out his hand to Greg, who took it firmly and they headed towards the porch.

She got out of her chair and met them halfway on the steps, giving her son a huge hug. She waited as Nick went to his father with a handshake but got a hug instead.

Nick stepped back and took Greg's hand again. "Mom, Dad, this is Greg Sanders."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Stokes, Mr. Stokes." Greg said nervously, swallowing and holding out his hand to Jillian first.

"Oh, nonsense dear." She gave him a huge smile and gathered him into a hug. Bill did the same.

"Welcome to our home." Bill said sincerely, noting the way his sons eyes lit up when he said that to Greg.

"Do you boys want to eat first or catch some shut eye?" She asked, practically dragging Greg and Nick inside the house.

"Well,..." Nick looked over at Greg, who shrugged, "I guess a meal now would be good. We only had time to stop at gas stations."

"You can't really live off Fritos." Greg added, surprising even himself with his comment.

"No, you can't," Jillian agreed, "Alright then boys, I hope you brought your appetites with you from your fancy city. It's time for a proper Texas lunch."

***

Nick woke up to a very interesting sensation that hadn't happened in a while. Something big and furry was leaning up ont the bed and licking his face.

"Ugh Maverick, it's really early boy." Nick mumbled and pushed the golden retriever off the bed.

He groaned when he saw the clock, he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep to make up for what he had lost. He sighed and turned over to look at the other side of the bed where Greg was still sleeping, curled up under their shared blankets.

Originally, Nick had been worried because he knew his childhood bed was only a twin. His mom just winked at him and had said that everything would be fine. Sure enough, when Greg and Nick got up to the room, a cot had been pushed against the twin and queen sheets covered them both so it looked as though it was actually one bed.

Greg stirred from the movement. He opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Nick, who smiled back and moved closer to Greg. He tugged Greg towards him, giving him a small good morning kiss and they both sighed in contentment at the comforting contact.

"It's still early. We only got a few hours, we can always go back to sleep." Nick offered.

"Mmmm..." Greg's eyes had closed again but he just made a noise to acknowledge that he heard Nick. "It's up to you. Still tired," He said but then added, "Maybe not tired enough to go back to sleep." He mused, opening his eyes again.

"We can get up now, grab some more food and then maybe even get an entire night's sleep later." Nick joked.

"Sounds great," Greg reluctantly pulled himself from Nick's grasp to get up for the bathroom. He steadied himself on the wall and leaned down when Maverick bounded over to him.

"Calm down boy," Nick said sternly, eyeing the eager Maverick.

"He's fine," Greg grinned and sat down on the bed to pet the silken fur. When Greg sat down Maverick sat down as well and sniffed Greg's offered palms. He licked them, giving his approval and nuzzled Greg's knee. "How long have your parents had him?" He asked.

"He's mine actually," Nick admitted.

"Really?" Greg turned around, now curious. He had been to Nick's place loads of time but never remembered seeing a dog or any dog items.

"Yea, I sent him out to live with my folks about a year or so ago. It was during one of the periods where all I had were double shifts and I just couldn't take care of him. He loves it out here but whenever I come visit and whines when he knows I'm about to leave."

"Oh, poor boy," Greg murmured; he wouldn't want Nick to leave either. He could sympathize with Maverick.

When Greg got up to go to the bathroom, Maverick got up as well. Greg tested his theory, sitting down on the bed again. Sure enough, Maverick sat down right in front of Greg.

"Looks like you have a guard dog." Nick grinned.

Sure enough, Maverick followed Greg the rest of the day. He sat outside the bathroom for Greg, tailed him down the steps and out the porch. Whenever Greg's thoughts began to wander, Maverick distracted him and nudged his hand, asking to be petted.

Being on the ranch with Nick and his parents was enough to give Greg a steady sense of calm. He found himself not looking over his shoulder as much as he did just when he was in Nick's apartment or back in Vegas. The whole ranch had a soothing effect on him

Especially Nick's parents, who were two of the nicest people Greg had ever met. Jillian Stokes, Greg was convinced, was one of the greatest women alive.

This thought came about when Nick excused himself to the bathroom. Greg had rarely been out of Nick's sight since Ryan had showed up again. The absence of Nick made Greg's palms sweaty and his breathing labored.

Maverick immediately noticed and whimpered. He nudged Greg's hands but the lab tech found himself staring at one of the bookshelves in the ranch's living room. He knew he was safe, or at least, he knew there was a very slim chance of anything happening.

"Honey? Are you alright?" The comforting tone of Jillian Stokes caused Greg to look up and force a smile.

He tried to nod too but that didn't work as well. "Yes Mrs. Stokes, thank you." He whispered.

Jillian gestured for him to follow her. He obligingly got up and followed her out onto the porch with Maverick close behind him, hitting his hand with his wet doggy nose.

It was right in time for the sunset. Greg felt some of his anxiety disappear as he sat down next to Jillian to watch an array of colors sinking in the sky. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see a smiling Jillian.

"You know dear, I can't promise you that everything will be alright...but I can promise you that Nicky and everyone else are doing their best to make everything alright." She told him gently.

Greg didn't realize that he had leaned in and tightly hugged her until he felt her hug back. She smiled sadly, knowing everything he had gone through. "Oh dear, you're safe here." Jillian, giving him a little squeeze.

"Greg? What's wrong?" Nick came out of the front door and immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. He say down next to Greg, putting a hand on his knee.

"Nothing's wrong dear, we're just having a little heart to heart." Jillian pulled away from Greg, allowing her son to embrace his boyfriend. Nick kissed the top of Greg's forehead and they just watched the sunset together, not even noticing that Jillian had gone back inside the house.

Their few minutes of relaxing was brought to an end by Nick's cell phone ringing.

"It's Warrick," Nick looked at Greg was seemed to be holding his breath. They both sat up straight and Nick put the phone right to speaker.

"Hello?"

***

Friday Night (aka: the day before (aka: a few hours after Nick & Greg left Vegas))

Jim Brass was not happy. They were down a CSI and a lab technician all because of some asshole who still was avoiding arrest. And to top it off, Brass had three CSIs in his cop car. Not cops. But CSIs.

Don't misunderstand, he loves the CSIs and is impressed by them on a daily basis. However, this was a police car that was currently in pursuit of a high profile criminal. Brass would feel a lot better with other cops in the car.

They had just gotten a call from one of the tenants on Greg's floor. He had been walking past Greg's apartment and saw the door was open. He pushed it open slightly and saw that the entire place had been ransacked.

Sara moved her foot to open the door even more. The apartment was a disaster.

"Damn it." Warrick followed Sara into the apartment. Books and magazines littered the floor and papers were all over the counter.

"Yea, you said it." Sara started fingerprinting the door.

"There's no way in hell Greg can be let back in here without a little cleanup." Eric sighed.

"Do we even have to tell him about it?" Sara asked hopefully, stealing a glance at Brass.

"No can do boys and girls." Brass shook his head. "However, we can let Stokes know first. He can at least clean the place up a bit before Sanders comes back."

"Wait a minute. They've been spending all their time together anyone," Warrick pointed out, "Maybe Greg won't even want the apartment anymore." He mused. "What do you think?" He turned to Sara but she wasn't listening.

She was too busy staring the counter.

Greg's calendar planner was open. It was open to the coming weekend. The sexual abuse meeting was written on the open page.

"He wouldn't dare..." Sara whispered.

"What is it?" Warrick and Eric came over to see what she was talking about.

"Shit."

"Crap."

Brass glanced at the planner as well, "Oh wow boys. Looks like we're in for an interesting Saturday.

...
Saturday

"I hate this." Sara kicked middle console that she was sitting behind in the squad car.

"I'm right with you," Warrick kept watch out of the window.

Eric just nodded, not even bothering to turn and face the other CSIs.

Eric, Sara, and Warrick were all sitting in the back seat of Brass' cop car like kids on a road trip. They weren't allowed to actually be in the stakeout that was going on outside of the community center. Therefore, they were forced to stay in the car and they were extremely unhappy about it. They were less than unhappy, they were just plain frustrated.

Brass was inside talking to the founders of the sexual abuse group. Dave and Robert were understandably nervous about the situation. Brass assured them that everything was under control but it wasn't enough.

Sara was busy playing with her badge and Warrick was staring out at the street when the car door opened. They both turned but all they saw was an open door and Eric running towards the corner.

They quickly exchanged a glance and went stumbling out of the car, following after the Miami CSI. A cop was outside the community center, he came out for a smoke break and saw the CSIs sprint away.

Only a few seconds later, about ten cops and Brass were following them down the street.

Eric rounded the corner and tackled Ryan, he started just pummeling him. Punches flew and Warrick and Sara didn't even try to stop him. They just leaned against alley and watched. Or, at least, they watched until the cops pulled Eric off of him.

"What the hell is going on here?" Brass yelled, as his cops held Ryan and Eric away from each other. Warrick and Sara stood protectively near Eric, making sure that if there was another opportunity to get Ryan, they would be in on it.

"Uh...he threatened me?" Eric tried. He shrugged sheepishly and avoided eye contact with Brass.

"Yep, I saw the whole thing." Warrick leaned against the squad car and winked at Sara.

Sara looked from Brass and Warrick, who were both waiting for her response. "He saw Eric in the car and wow. It was just like he was blinded by um..rage. And he came running towards the car and...then he saw a cop outside the center and ran for it and-"

"You guys have five minutes to get your stories straight." Brass told them sternly.

Brass started to lead a handcuffed Ryan away from his CSIs. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if this guy had gotten into that meeting. Maybe it was pretty this way, even if CSI Delko had blown off some steam on Ryan.

Sara and Warrick were understandably happy but still tense just being around the criminal that had hurt their friend. Eric had walked away to phone the Miami lab.

"You want to? Or should I?" Sara grinned.

"It's up to you." Warrick offered.

"You do it, " Sara nodded," Knowing Greg, he probably doesn't even have his phone on him."

Warrick gave a huge smile to the two CSIs in front of him and pulled out his phone.

"Hey Nick? Yea...We got him, man. We got him."

Nick dropped the phone, his head shot up and he looked Greg in the eyes. His eyes were shining so much that Greg nearly let out a sob.

"They got him." Nick stood up, pulling Greg with him. He grabbed Greg in a huge hug and swung him around in a circle. "Oh god," He held on tight to Greg, feeling Greg hold him back just as hard, "They got him..."

***

"Nick…" Greg's voice brought Nick out of his trance. It wasn't really a trance though, Nick was just holding tightly onto Greg. Finally, there was nothing of which to be frightened. Ryan was captured; he was in the LVPD's custody. Greg was safe and Nick couldn't have been more relieved.

"Nicky?" Greg said again, this time with a smile on his face, "Warrick is still on the phone," He reminded him.

Pulling away, Nick blinked a few times before he registered Greg's words. "Oh!" Nick gave Greg another huge grin and a quick kiss before letting him go.

"Warrick?" Nick fumbled with his phone, hastily trying to put it back up to his ear. Maverick loped around Nick and Greg, wondering what caused all the excitement.

Nick listened for a minute before agreeing with whatever Warrick had said. He sat down on the steps and patted the spot next to him. "Speaker's going on," Nick told Greg.

Greg came and sat down next to Nick, curiously watching the phone and waiting for Warrick to speak. Maverick came and sat with his head on Greg's lap.

"Hi Greg," Warrick's voice came through loud and clear.

"Hi," Greg said happily.

"As far as I know, you two will need to come back as soon as possible."

"Aw 'Rick, we just got here." Nick told him.

"I know that Nick, but Greg needs to come and identify Ryan," Warrick continued talking but Nick had noticed Greg tense up at the sound of Ryan's name. Nick took his hand and squeezed it in reassurance.

"Even with the DNA evidence that we're going to have, Grissom just wants everything to make this case as strong as possible. Also, whenever you feel you're ready Greg, I know that we already have a statement from your case, but you'll need to talk to Brass again considering everything that's happened in the last twenty-four hours…" Warrick suddenly sounded sheepish.

"What's happened?" Nick asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.

"Well…I mean. It all ended well, but Eric ended up beating up Ryan." Warrick admitted.

"Is Eric ok?" Greg's eyes were now wide with worry.

"Oh god yea, Eric's fine. He's happy that he was able to get in a few punches before the cops showed up. Of course, now he's in trouble with the LVPD and his Miami superiors."

Greg smiled in relief and some of his tension lifted.

"How did you guys end up getting him?" Nick asked.

There was silence on both ends of the phone.

"Warrick?" Nick picked up the phone, making sure it was still counting seconds. "Are you there?"

"Yea, I'm still here. I'm just trying to uh… Well, Sara says that we can't really put this off," Warrick mumbled over the phone. There was a some static and then Sara's voice came over the line.

"A call was put in concerning Greg's apartment." Sara told them slowly, not wanting to lay it on Greg all at once but there wasn't anyway to avoid it. "Ryan had broken into it," Greg's hand involuntarily squeezed Nick's. The Texan slid closer to Greg, taking hold of both of his hands.

"I mean, we straightened up the best we could but it doesn't change the fact that-"

"-Greg wasn't going back there." Nick interrupted politely, in a very civil tone of voice. During the ride to Texas, Nick and Greg had discussed living arrangements. They had both agreed that they probably couldn't sleep all too well without each other. There's no way Greg could go back to living in his apartment now that he knew that Ryan had been in there.

Greg could practically hear the smile in Sara's voice as she continued. She had been hoping Greg would move in with Nick.

"One more problem solved then!"

"What did he take?" Greg asked quietly.

"As far as we can tell- nothing," Sara told him. "Your planner was open to the community center meeting this morning and we were able to wait it out and snag him before he caused any problems."

"Is everyone at the meeting ok?" Nick asked, urgently. He had only attended one meeting but he had connected with the other members and the founders. They had done so much for him in such a small timeframe.

"They're all fine, only the two men in charge were informed about Ryan during the wait." Sara told him. "So we, Warrick, Eric, and myself, were waiting outside because, of course we weren't allowed in,"

Greg smiled at the indignant voice of her voice.

"The next thing that Warrick and I knew, Eric had left the car and taken off after Ryan. Needless to say, well, he caught him."

"Wow," Nick said, obviously impressed.

"Yea, that was pretty much my reaction," Sara agreed, "So Ryan's in custody now. When are you guys headed back?"

Nick glanced at Greg, who just shrugged. They had been in Texas for less than seven hours and now they had to head back.

"I guess we'll start back as soon as we can. Probably after dinner," Nick told her, "But this time we're doing it properly. Stopping every few hours to get some rest and food."

"See you then," Sara ended the call.

"You think it'll take about a day then?" Greg asked quietly. He wanted to mentally prepare himself for what was going to happen once they reached Vegas.

"About that, yea, but this time we're going to need to stop every two hours or so," Nick mused, a slight shine in his eyes.

"Why?"

"Because now we're going to have Maverick with us. He's going to get restless in the car," Nick grinned as he saw the smile on Greg's face.

"Really? We're taking him back with us?" Greg asked, excitedly.

"Of course," Nick leaned over and scratched behind Maverick's ears. "I don't even think he'd let you out of his sight at the moment."

"Boys? Dinner's ready whenever you are," Jillian stood at the front door. She turned to go back into the house but paused when she noticed the change in the boys' demeanors. "Nick?" She asked cautiously.

Nick stood up, pulling Greg with him." They got him Mom, we're able to go back to Vegas now."

"Oh Nicky," Jillian smiled and gathered them both in a hug. "Oh that's just fantastic." She told them, muffled through their shirts.

"I'm really sorry Mom, but we're going to have to leave right after dinner." Nick told her apologetically.

"That's perfectly fine Nicky!" She gaped at his apology. "All that matters is that you're both safe."

After dinner, Nick put their unused duffel bags back into the rental truck. Greg kicked dirt with his shoe and shyly glanced up at Nick's parents.

"I…I just want to thank you. Both of you. Thank you for everything. I know we were only here for a little while but it means so much to me. Really, for both of us," Greg told them softly, giving hugs to both Jillian and Bill.

"Of course, dear," Jillian told him lovingly.

"We hope to see you back here soon," Bill said pointedly, causing the tips of Greg's ears to turn pink.

Greg's estimations had been correct. It took them almost exactly twenty-four hours for them to get back to Vegas. They had stopped for a little bit almost every two or three hours, allowing Maverick out for a run. Sometimes they stopped at diners or other highway road stops.

"Do you want to head right for the lab?" Nick asked Greg, already knowing the answer.

"Let's get it over with," Greg tried to sound confident. Nick reached over and squeezed Greg's hand. He called Warrick and Sara to tell them that they were on their way.

So Nick quickly dropped of Maverick in his backyard. He was reluctantly to leave close proximity to Greg but after a few pats and a game of fetch, they were free to go.

Stepping into the lab was a completely new experience. Everyone was quiet and cautious when they saw Greg coming. Everyone knew now. The odd part was that it didn't matter to Greg that people knew. Sure, it was a little embarrassing but now Ryan was behind bars. And now Greg had Nick; that truly made all the difference.

Or maybe it was Greg's lack of sleep that caused his nonchalant attitude. Yea, that was more likely.

"Hey, Greg," Sara came up and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Everything's ready," She gestured to the nearest room where Greg would have to pick out Ryan in a lineup. None of it made any sense to him but if that's the way it was going to be done, he wasn't about to argue.

His mind was muddled from the lack of sleep and nauseous feeling was slowly emerging with every step he took towards the door.

"I'm right here, you're going to be ok," Nick whispered in his ear. He grabbed a tight hold of Greg's hand and followed him into the room.

That quickly, Greg saw Ryan. It was clear and so precise that Greg thought he was dreaming. Everything really was almost over. Not including sentencing but no one could even try to build against a case with such a large amount of evidence.

"Three," Greg said out loud, "Number three," He said a little quieter, realizing how he had practically shouted it the first time. The longer Greg stared at Ryan, the worse his head started to feel. Ryan wasn't even looking towards anything, he was just staring blankly straight in front of him.

"Nick…" Greg whispered, "I need to get out of here."

Nick glanced over at Brass who nodded his approval for Greg's request. Nick quickly ushered Greg out of the room and into a nearby chair.

"Greg?" Nick's face came into focus in front of the lab tech. "Greg, you don't need to do anything else. Let's go home."

Home. That's it. That's all Greg had been waiting for. He needed to go home and be with Nick. Nick continued to soothingly talk to Greg as he led him out of the lab. It didn't take Greg long to realize that the more Nick talked, the quicker his nausea receded.

Greg wasn't sure how much time had passed. All he knew now was that he was lying down in a bed and he was showered, his hair damp and smelling of a clean clear scent. He was dressed in a pair of comfortable boxers that did not belong to him. Nick's arms were around his waist, holding onto him as if it would be the end of the world if he let go.

Everything was going to be ok now. It had to be ok. Greg was positive about this.

***

Epilogue
Two months later

Nick woke up in his absolute favorite position. He was wrapped around Greg who was wrapped around him. They were both tangled in light sheets and then covered by Nick's comforter.

He was able to remove himself without waking Greg but that didn't help him with the fact that he would eventually have to wake the lab tech.

"Greg? Come on babe, it's time to get up. Calleigh is going to kill me. I swore to her and Horatio that I'd get you into the lab in time for you to say goodbye. We're not going to have enough time and we'll end up at the meeting late," Nick pleaded with his sleepy partner, who was now currently wrapped in the comforter and lying on his side of their bed.

"I'm up, I swear," Greg mumbled and pulled the cover over his face.

"Oh no you don't," Nick had a wicked smile on his face. He pulled on the sheet and caused an already teetering Greg to go over the edge of the bed.

"Nick!" Greg looked up at Nick in shock but Nick just shrugged.

"Don't give me that look. Eric said I had to do whatever I deemed necessary to get you up to say goodbye. Remember when he left last time to go get Horatio and Calleigh? You slept right through that," Nick pointed out.

"Yea, but I knew he was coming back that time…" Greg muttered and gathered the sheets around him. "I was just about to get up and- uugh Maaaveriiiick…" Greg moaned as Maverick loped into the bedroom and sat almost on top of Greg. He was now slurping kisses all over Greg's face.

"Aw, he's just saying good morning," Nick smiled affectionately as Greg reluctantly got off the floor and washed his face in the adjoining bathroom, "I think he likes you. Can't blame him though," Nick mused under his breath.

...

-Flashback (insert cheesy synthesized 80s music)-

...

Eric had called his superior, Horatio Caine to come out to Vegas to make a statement for the case. The Miami ballistic expert, Calleigh, also came with him but that was mainly to check up on how Greg was holding up.

Nick hadn't realized that Greg had worked other places before finally settling down in Vegas. He was so young when he was hired that it never even occurred to Nick that he would have had the time. Greg had graduated early and had gotten hired right away by Miami-Dade. Then he moved onto New York for a few months before going back to his hometown of San Francisco. Then, after almost two years out of college, Greg had been accepted to the top program in the country: Las Vegas.

The Miami-Dade crew had arrived quickly and immediately sought out Greg's lab with Nick, who had taken to spending all his breaks in there.

"Greg!" Calleigh came into the lab and swept Greg off of his chair.

"Calleigh!" Greg hugged her tightly. He hadn't seen her since he'd left Miami.

Greg stepped back to welcome Horatio and Eric. He was watching Nick out of the corner of his eye. Nick just took his spot on the stool opposite Greg's vacant seat and watch the interaction in front of him. Eric nudged Greg to watch as Calleigh descended on Nick.

"Eric tells me that you're a southern boy?" She looked him over, sizing him up.

"Yes ma'am," Nick grinned.

"Are you taking good care of Greg? Because if not, I am a ballistic expert. And a CSI. You know as well as everyone else how well a CSI is able to hide a body." She threatened. Calleigh turned and grinned at Greg. He was staring, wide-eyed in shock and horror.

"Calleigh!" Greg exclaimed.

"What? I'm just looking out for you." Calleigh teased when she saw Greg's exasperated look.

"That's what I'm here for," Nick grinned. He picked up Greg's hands in his own, turned it over and interlaced their fingers. He felt Greg squeeze his hand and smiled at him.

"Well then, start looking out because you guys are going to get more visitors as soon as the CSI trace conference starts in Vegas," Calleigh told them.

"Visitors? What are you talking about?" Greg sat back in his chair and sealed up an evidence bag.

"Did you inform New York on what happened?" Horatio spoke in a calm voice.

"Um, no," Greg answered, confused, "I mean, I didn't want to tell anyone to begin with and..." There wasn't anything to add and Greg's whisper just faded away.

"Mac and Stella found out. And they're not happy," Eric told him.

"Oh crap," Greg smacked his palm against his forehead and brought it down to wipe his face. Nick looked confused and took hold of Greg's hand again. "Please don't tell me that they told-"

"They did," Eric interrupted.

"Who? Who did they tell?" Nick asked.

"Mmmy andm mlack" Greg's other hand was covering his mouth so his answer came through as an incoherent moan. Nick just laughed and took Greg's other hand off his mouth.

"Danny and Flack," Greg groaned. "Danny is a CSI in New York and Flack is one of the department's homicide detective. They are very...uh..."

"Protective." Eric supplied.

"Oh," Nick sat up straight. He liked them already. Anyone who had Greg's interests at heart was a friend of his.

"Not that Greg got into much trouble when he was in New York, well not a lot of trouble anyway. He was like their kid brother. I remember they would always be bugging him about meeting his boyfriends to haze them and make sure to give them a talk."

"Annoying." Greg muttered and started playing with his own fingers against Nicks.

"They were just looking out for you," Calleigh shot back.

"Wait, they're not going to visit right?" Greg's eyes snapped up. "Flack can't visit, he's not a CSI. There's no reason for him to come to the conference...Right?" He asked hopefully.

"Not sure but that doesn't stop him from trying. And someone has to keep Danny under control. Stella and Mac can't get away from their cases and they're both afraid that Danny's going to do something he'll regret." Calleigh explained.

"He better get in line." Nick muttered but then looked up to see three pairs of wide eyes and Greg's loving gaze.

Calleigh leaned over to Greg, "I like the way he thinks..."

...

"I'm telling you, I have no idea. He said left, left, right, all the way down, right again, then a left into Greg's lab," A bespectacled man looked up and down the hallway. Another man who was a little taller than the first was just shaking his head.

"Face it Danny. We're lost. Let's just call Eric and see where he is," The man tried to reason.

"No way. We can do this…I think…" Danny didn't sound too sure of himself but took off in another direction.

"Can I help you guys?" Nick had overheard their conversation and poked his head out of his current evidence lab.

Danny stopped startled, causing the other man, who Nick could only assume was Flack, to collide into his back.

"Jeez Danny…" Flack rubbed his face.

"Hi, yea, we're looking for Greg Sanders. I mean, we got directions but we kinda got lost on the way."

"Danny and Flack?" Nick asked.

"Yea…" Danny's eyes narrowed.

Nick laughed good-naturedly. "I'm Nick Stokes," He held out his hand and shook both of theirs.

"I'm Don Flack, he's Danny Messer," Flack jerked a thumb towards Danny.

"It's great to meet you. Greg's down this way," Nick called over his shoulder as he began walking in the direction from where they had come.

"Wait, so you're the infamous Nick Stokes?" Danny's mood had brightened up considerably since they weren't lost anymore.

"Infamous?" Nick suddenly got very nervous. "You didn't happen to talk to Calleigh by any chance, did you?"

"Don't worry about it," Flack told him, "She said that she approved of you, that Greg is very happy with you and….something else but I'm sure it wasn't that important." He shrugged.

"I told you not to threaten him," Calleigh was standing outside of Greg's closed lab, watching the three men walk down the hall. "And I mean that. He's got enough on his plate and Greg trusts him."

Flack and Danny grumbled a bit but were soon ushered into the lab by Calleigh.

"Thanks," Nick told her absentmindedly as he watched Greg reunite with his New York friends. They were very considerate of Greg, hugging his gently, making sure he didn't have any outstanding bruises or pains. Flack looked stern when he began talking but then Danny piped in and seemed to be convincing Flack to lay off of the labrat.

The two New Yorkers ended up not staying long in Vegas. The conference was only two days long and Flack wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place.

...

The trial was as bad as Nick had anticipated. They had a collected and submitted all the evidence without a problem but once they were finally able to get a date, it was a week away.

A week was plenty of time for Greg to get substantially nervous about being in the courtroom. Without fail, every night, Greg woke up in a cold sweat and ended up accidentally hitting Nick.

"You're safe here. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," Nick murmured nightly and held Greg close to him, allowing the blonde to breathe in the familiar scent and calm down.

After Greg hyperventilated in the courtroom, Grissom had made the executive decision that there was no need for Greg to be present. It was wearing him out and making him sick.

It was a good thing that Greg wasn't there when Ryan spoke because Nick had a hard time keeping his temper. There was no reason for what Ryan had done. He was just bored and enjoyed watching his own concoction drug take over his victims.

His tone of voice was sickening. It didn't contain any kind of remorse, just a blank curiosity, as though he was answering questions at a lecture. Everything he had done was properly categorized and written down. God, it made Nick shake so violently; he was so glad Greg wasn't witness to it.

Nick knew that the trial would produce a guilty verdict but that didn't stop him from silently cheering when the jury's unanimous vote called for a death sentence.

Sara was waiting with Greg outside of the courtroom. Nick had wanted Greg to go to work and maybe just keep busy but Greg's hands were shaking so bad that he couldn't even open an evidence bag.

"Nick?" Sara questioned him quietly. Greg looked up when Sara had said Nick's name.

"Nick?" Greg whispered, frightened. It was too close of a proximity to Ryan inside the courtroom for him to be relaxed.

Nick pulled Greg up off of the hall floor and hugged him to his chest, burying his head in Greg's hair.

"Oh god, Greg, you're safe. He's gone." Nick cried with relief, his tears were soaking Greg's hair and Greg's own tears were going through Nick's shirt. They were both going to be fine, they were safe now, with each other.

...

-End Flashback—

...

"NICK!"

Nick was immediately pulled out of his thoughts by the pillow that hit him square in the face. Greg was grinning and holding another pillow, ready to throw again incase Nick didn't respond.

The Texan ended up not responding except for a pensive look. Greg dropped the pillow and came over to the bed, kissing Nick on the cheek.

"Nicky?" He asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Greg," Nick turned and looked at Greg, giving him a sincere smile, "I was just thinking."

Greg grinned, he knew what Nick was thinking about but didn't think there was any need to dwell on it. They had both been through a lot but things had been getting better. He took Nick's hands and led him out of their bedroom.

"Come on then, thinking later. Now, we're definitely going to be late for the meeting. Not my fault this time," Greg didn't turn around to face Nick as he practically dragged him out of the house. He felt Nick squeeze his hands and the smile on Greg's face grew tenfold. Greg could get used to bursting from happiness.

FIN

***