Title: Cross the Line
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: Crimes, mission_insane
Prompt: 8, Fraud
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg stomped into the lab where Ryan was working, a scowl on his face and his hands clenched at his sides. Ryan looked up, raising an eyebrow at the expression on Greg's face -- his boyfriend looked like nothing so much as a tall, thin thundercloud.

"What happened, babe?" Ryan asked, his voice quiet. There was no one around, so he was sure that no one would hear the endearment, but it was best if they kept words like that to a minimum here at work. Still, it felt as though this situation called for one.

"It's that bitch Morgan," Greg hissed between his teeth, moving to the counter and reaching for the samples he was working with. His gestures were short and choppy, very different from his usual graceful movements, Ryan noted. That was a testament to how angry he was.

"What did she do?" Ryan asked with a soft sigh. She had been bothering Greg more than usual lately; she apparently didn't know how to take no for an answer, and labored under the delusion that Greg actually wanted her. Vain hope on her part, Ryan thought with an inward snort.

"She accused me of being a fraud, of not really being gay and not being involved with a guy, just because I've dated women in the past." Greg turned to Ryan, his scowl intensifying. "She claims that I'm just trying to cover up the fact that I want to be with her."

"She really is delusional." This time, Ryan let the sigh come out, louder than he'd intended for it to be. "Why is she so focused on you? I know it's because you're gorgeous and sexy and she wants you, but accusing you of lying about being in a relationship is just stupid."

"She's apparently getting desperate," Greg said, wrinkling his nose in repugnance at the thought. "When she first started working here, I thought she was kind of attractive -- until I realized how egotistical she is. It's hard enough to work with that attitude. I wouldn't want to date it."

"Besides, you're taken," Ryan said firmly, his gaze meeting Greg's. "There's no way I'm going to let that slut lay one pinkie on you. If she tries, I'll rip her eyeballs out and stuff them up her ass." He knew that he couldn't follow through on that threat, but he relished the idea.

"Like I'd date her, even if I was single," Greg added, making a face. "Ugh. I don't even know what I ever saw in her. She wears so much makeup you'd have to poke through six inches of greasepaint to touch skin. It'd be like screwing around with Bozo the clown."

Ryan couldn't hold back a laugh at Greg's assessment of the other CSI, but he agreed wholeheartedly. "Okay now, it's not her fault that she looks more like a hooker than the prostitutes we have to bring in for questioning sometimes. Monkey see, monkey do."

Those words made the scowl on Greg's face dissolve into laughter; he leaned over the counter, giggling, as Ryan laughed along with him. "You're right, Ry. Comparing her to a monkey is the truest thing anybody's ever said about her. But a monkey would be better company."

"I can't believe she accused you of being a fraud just because you've been out with women before." Now it was Ryan's turn to frown and shake his head. "She's really getting desperate to have some kind of relationship with you. I can't help wondering if she'd spy on you."

"If she does, then we're in big trouble," Greg said with a sigh. "She'll go running straight to her dad, and tell him that we're together. And that'd be the end of us working together. She'd make sure of that. Or she'll try to blackmail me into having something personal to do with her."

"If it comes to that, then we'll deal with it," Ryan told his boyfriend, reaching out to touch Greg's shoulder. "I'm not going to put up with any blackmail attempts, thought. She's underhanded enough to do that, but we don't have to let her get away with it."

"I'm pretty sure that if she finds out about us, she'll try her best to separate us at work," Greg said, sounding glum. "I couldn't work here any more if I'm not working with you. I don't care if I'd have to look for another job, or even if we had to move away from Vegas."

"If that bitch causes something like that to happen, then we wouldn't want to work here any more, anyway," Ryan pointed out. "No way am I working with somebody like her. It's bad enough that we have to watch our step now, but if she's low enough to do that ...."

His voice trailed off; he knew that their nemesis was low enough to do just that. She had been trying to get her hooks into Greg for a while, and Ryan had no doubt that she would keep trying. And she would fail in every attempt, he told himself.

Greg wasn't interested in her, not in any way. He didn't even like working with her, and went out of his way to avoid doing so, just as Ryan did. Fortunately, since he and his boyfriend were partners at work, their paths didn't cross hers very often.

Hopefully, she would stop bugging Greg before she crossed a line; he could only hope that she would find some new object for her obsession. Preferably someone who didn't have anything to lose by reporting her for sexual harassment, which he was starting to think should happen.

It probably wasn't the best idea to bring that up to Greg, Ryan thought to himself -- his boyfriend would more than likely do that the next time she annoyed him. Greg usually kept a cool head about most things, but this was really starting to get to him.

"If she is, then we'll deal with it when it happens," Greg said with a sigh. "There's really nothing else we can do. But if she tries to blackmail me into dating her, then we'll have to come clean. We won't really have a choice. We can't let her get away with that."

Ryan nodded, knowing that his boyfriend was right. If that happened, then their world would come crashing down around them -- and they would more than likely have to leave their jobs. That wasn't something that he looked forward to doing, if it came down to that.

But they would still have each other, no matter what happened. Even if they had to leave the crime lab and get transfers elsewhere, they would manage. As long as he had Greg in his life, then he could do anything, get through any situation. Nothing was impossible with his love by his side.

They would just have to remember that if there were tough times ahead. All they had to do was stick together, and everything would work itself out. And even if that bitch kept trying to make trouble by doing something as silly as calling Greg a fraud, they would get through it.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall, relieved to see that it was nearly time for them to clock out and go home. He didn't want to discuss this here, where anyone could come into the lab at any moment. This wasn't something that needed to be overheard.

"Let's talk about this at home," he said softly, turning to Greg and waving his hand at the clock. "It's almost time for us to get out of here, and I think we need a break. From work, and from her. Some distance might make you feel better."

Greg nodded, sighing and shrugging his shoulders. "It doesn't matter what she does or says," he murmured, in a tone that was only meant for Ryan's ears. "She'll never get me to have anything to do with her. I'm yours, Ry, and I always will be. No worries there."

"I wasn't worried," Ryan answered with a smile, wishing that he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend. "I never will be," he added as the two of them shrugged out of their lab coats and headed for the door. They could talk about this -- and hopefully, the problem wouldn't cross any lines.

***