Title: CSI Shadows From The Past
Author: Youn-Hee
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Warining: WiP
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I make no profit form this story, the characters from C.S.I Las Vegas does not belong to me. This is all fiction! Pure fantasy!
Summary: What do you do when you can no longer feel safe in your own house?

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Gil Grissom, a C.S.I level 3 and boss over Las Vegas Crime lab's nightshift entered the small canteen and greeted the group of people waiting for him. "This is what I have for you guys, Warrick and Sara, you're on the case of a missing person. Nick and Catherine you're on the case of a D.B, possible rape." Gil handed over the cards with the details of each case to his team. "Why are we always stuck with the boring cases?" Sara Sidle, one of the newest additions to the Las Vegas team, made a face as she the read through the details, trying to get some sympathy from her C.S.I partner Warrick. "Hey Griss, it seems I'm a partner short at the moment." Catherine Willows, an ex-stripper and single mom, said raising an eyebrow. "This is the third time this week Nick turns up late." Warrick Brown, one of C.S.I Las Vegas most skilled criminal scene investigators, sighed and rolled his eyes as a flush faced Nick Stokes entered the canteen.

"Sorry I'm late. I got stuck in traffic." Nick explained panting as he'd run the last meters from the parking lot. "Yeah, sure Nick. You were stuck in something alright." Warrick teased his colleague. Nick just shook his head but was unable to hide the grin forming on his lips. "So what's new?" the ex-frat member asked looking at Gil. "You would have known that if you were here in time." Sara said with a small smile.

"Hey, are you guys planning on standing there all day? Or are you actually going to start working some day soon?" Greg Sanders, lab technician extraordinaire, asked as he poked his head in through the door. With a goofy smile plastered all over his face, he gave out a small laugh as he had managed to make most of the C.S.I team jump in surprise. "GREG!" Catherine and Sara whined in unison scowling at the spiky haired lad. "Then why are you still here Greg?" Grissom asked the young technician, his voice may have seemed harsh if not for the small smile forming on his lips. "Guys let's not keep the crime scenes waiting." Gil said moving out from the canteen with Sara and Warrick at his heels. "Are you coming partner?" Catherine said grabbing her jacket from an armchair. "Yep." Nick said doing the same. As he passed Greg, still standing in the doorway, he grinned mischievously making the talented technician duck his head, blushing.

Catherine shielded her eyes from the blazing Las Vegas sun, as she squatted next to their vic., Julia McKenzie, a twenty three year old female, found dead in the backyard of her house, by one of her neighbours. She snapped some shots of the body lying on its back. "Hey Cath, I found some sperm on our vic, I'll swab it and give it to Greg. Maybe he can get some DNA samples. Give us some clue of who our perp is." Nick said placing the cotton stick back in its packing and marking it. "I found skin under her nails..." Catherine said swabbing under the vic's fingernails. Nick came and squatted next to her. "You can tell from the bruises on her body, she struggled. The perp put a scarf over her mouth to muffle her screams." She said telling her partner what she had managed make out from the evidence. "You see this here?" Catherine pointed at a small triangular wound on the woman's right cheek. "Looks to be from a jewel of some kind." "A ring maybe?" Nick said looking closer at the wound. "Look at the bruising on her throat. The perp tried to strangle her." Nick said disgusted over how people treated each other. "Yeah maybe, the coroner will know more." "I found some hair on the body, black so no match to our vic." Nick grabbed the tweezers and collected the hairs. "Bag it and send it to Greg." Catherine said leaving space for the coroner to collect the body.

Back at the lab Nick pushed the door open only to face the back of the strangely dressed lab technician, fully engrossed checking some kind of fluids in small bottles. "What are ya doing Greggy?" Nick said laughing to himself as he noticed the blond man flinch in surprise. Walking up to him and looking over the blonde's shoulder, Nick tried to get a better vision of what the C.S.I wannabe, as Nick liked to call him, was doing. Trying hard to concentrate, Greg bit his lower lip as he tried hard to place a drop of fluid into another bottle with the help of a pipette. Noticing how concentrated he was, Nick laughed inwardly as he decided to make it even harder for the younger man. Blowing into the spiky haired man's ear, Nick grinned foolishly as Greg turned around and gave him an irritated glare. If looks could kill, Nick would have been a very dead man. Greg shook his head, but couldn't stop himself from smiling coyly as Nick gave him a killer smile, one of those who made you weak at the knees, kind of smiles.

"Hey Greg could you run a fingerprint in the computer for me, see if you find a match? It's from our missing woman's car." Warrick asked entering the lab. As they were standing close, too close, together than was normal, both Greg and Nick quickly moved away from each other, no traces left of what had been going on just seconds ago. "Yeah sure." Greg said clearing his throat, which had become strangely dry all of the sudden. "How's your case going?" Warrick asked looking at Nick, who seemed startled as Warrick addressed him. "Ehm...Good...actually I was just stopping by to give Gee, something to work on." Nick pointed at the bags containing the hair and sperm sample. "Check out the DNA will ya?" The Texas breed C.S.I asked glancing at Greg before making a quick exit.

"I just got the answers back from the lab, the DNA from the hairs were no match to the sperm found on our vic. But the scraping under her nails matched the sperm." Catherine said scanning the papers she had collected from Greg. "But we're still back at square one." Nick sighed tiredly rubbing his eyes. "It's late Nick. Let's call it a night; I need to pick Lindsey up from my sister's now anyway." Catherine eyed her wristwatch; she was already ten minutes late. "Yeah, a goodnight's sleep is just what I need." Nick agreed, suppressing a yawn.

As he pushed the front door open, he frowned as he was met by the sound of someone shooting. Cautiously walking closer to where the noise came from, he gripped the handle of his gun, ready to pull it out. "God! Greg!" He scolded as he saw the younger man sitting on his couch, feet resting on the coffee table and playing the newest edition of Grand Theft Auto. "Hey you're home! I just got this from the store. I just love this game!" Greg exclaimed almost hysterically as he pushed feverishly on the buttons on the controller. Shaking his head, Nick scanned through his mail, lying on the counter. Feeling exhausted from a hard days work, the brunette sat down heavily next to Greg on the couch. Glancing to his side, Greg noticed his boyfriend's listless face expression and put the controller on the coffee table and turned off the TV. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked leaning back onto the couch. Nick turned and faced him, giving him a small smile. "No..." he said leaning forward placing a small but affectionate peck on the smaller man's cheek. Smiling dreamingly, Greg raised an eyebrow, what had brought that on? Nick beckoned him over and Greg crawled closer to him on the couch and rested his head on Nick's broad shoulder. He could feel the square jawed man inhale deeply and relax against him. As an arm was placed around his shoulders, Greg snuggled closer, welcoming the warmth, the safety of his boyfriend's arms around him. "So wanna tell me about your day?" Nick asked quietly looking over at Greg smiling and prepared himself to tackle the smaller man's ramblings.

As the sun shed its light over an already lively Las Vegas, the thirty three year old C.S.I stretched and yawned widely. Glancing over at the right side of the bed, he couldn't help but to chuckle at the way Greg was laying, comfortably on his side, hair poking out in every angle of the world and with the duvet only covering from his waist and down. Nick carefully slipped out of the bed, as he didn't want to wake his lover, and padded in to the bathroom. Putting on the water in the shower, he let it warm up until he stepped inside. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Nick stepped out of the shower, grabbed his toothbrush, put toothpaste on it and walked back into the bedroom. "Hey." A husky voiced Greg greeted him, still in bed and leaning comfortably against the headboard. "Hey yourself." Nick managed to reply a bit muffled as he was in the middle of brushing his teeth. Greg grinned widely as he jumped out of the bed, looking mischievous; Nick frowned as the blonde advanced on him. Leaning forward Greg placed a kiss on the freshly shaved cheek of his Nick. "You're late for work." He said before he continued his way to the bathroom, taking the towel wrapped around his boyfriend, with him.

"Guys, what do you have?" Nick greeted Cath and the coroner Dr. Al Robbins as he finally showed up for work. He ignored the raised eyebrow that he got from the Dr and Willows, and focused only on his job. "When the body was found, she had been dead for a couple of days. There was no Rigor Mortis, so my guess, two or three days give or take. Two cracked ribs, bruises on both wrists and a fracture in the skull which was the cause of death."

Leaving the morgue, Catherine and Nick both welcomed the fresh air, as they returned to the crime lab. "Want to tell me why you were late? Again?" Willows said, scanning through the coroner's report. "What can I say Catherine, traffic was a bitch this morning." Nick joked half heartedly; he knew she could tell he was lying anyway. "Our vic has no relatives that are still alive and breathing except for a boyfriend." "So where's the lover boy then?" Stokes frowned. "And why hasn't he reported her missing?" "He's down at the morgue identifying the body. We should go and talk to him. Hey, how's your case going?" Catherine stopped to talk to Warrick and Sara as they passed them by. "Well we're not so sure any foul play has taken place. There's no evidence of a crime being committed." Warrick sighed a bit frustrated. "Brown, Sidle! I ran the fingerprint in the computer for ya; it's a match to your missing person." Greg said coming out from the lab with a sheet of paper in his hands. "So did I solve your case?" He asked looking smug, slipping past Sara so he stood closer to a certain brown haired C.S.I. Ignoring Sanders question, Brown and Sara read through the answer from the lab, confirming a match between the fingerprints and their missing woman. Leaning a bit closer to Nick's ear, Greg whispered, grinning. "Sorry for the towel earlier." Nick ducked his head smiling. Catherine who had watched the small scene exchange between the two men, couldn't help but to wonder if there were more between those two then what they let on? Snapping out of her thoughts, she dismissed any possibilities of Stokes and Sanders being an item, as the technician left and not even receiving as much as a sideway glance from Nick. "The fingerprint just strengthens our theory of no foul play being used. And there were no signs of struggle in the car." Sara said looking at her partner who nodded in agreement just as his cell phone went off.

"Brown." He barked as he answered the call. After a few nods and Okays, he hang up. "Our missing woman was just found alive on the outskirt of Las Vegas, driving a hired car. She was leaving her boyfriend." Warrick gave out a laugh. "That explains it all." Sara pursed her lips together, yet another case that got the marking 'SOLVED'. "So how's yours coming along?" Warrick said, smugness written all over his face. Nick chuckled, "It's coming along slowly. We've got a boyfriend to interrogate." He said, but his concentration was not on Warrick as he spoke but further away, to be more precise the lab. His eyes were fixed on the lone figure dressed in a lab coat, leaning against a counter and seemed to be reading a magazine about whales. Getting the feeling of being watched, Greg looked up from his reading, only to meet the gaze of two chocolate brown eyes. Nick gave him a small smile and Greg smiled back under lowered eyelashes.

"Tim Sorensen? Nick Stokes and Catherine Willows, we're from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Could we ask you some questions?" A man with dark black hair and in his early thirties looked up and nodded. He seemed to be shaking and looked very nervous as Catherine sat down next to him. "I know what you are going to ask, you found my DNA at the crime scene right?" Tim said rocking back and forth in his seat. "I didn't want her to die. Things got out of hand!" the boyfriend said, his voice getting more and more hysteric. "Julie was waiting on us, Jack and me when we came home from our night out at the bar. We were so drunk and Julie wouldn't stop yelling about how I neglected her and how sick and tired she was at me coming home drunk, late at night. So I hit her hard, she fell to the ground unconscious." He confessed, fingering the ring on his left long finger. "Who's Jack?" Catherine asked. "My friend and Julie's ex-boyfriend..." Tim's voice trailed off. Nick looked at Catherine raising an eyebrow. "I wanted to call the paramedics but Jack stopped me, saying I would probably go to jail for hitting her. He dragged her out to the backyard and the next thing I knew he was...he was putting a scarf over her mouth. Julie woke up and tried to fight him off...I just stood there watching him kill her...rape her." Tim hid his head in shame as two police officers came and led him away.

"When was the last time you saw Julie?" Catherine narrowed her eyes as she eyed the man sitting in front of her. Jack Haley cocked his head and looked back arrogantly at the two C.. "Dunno, maybe two three days ago." He shrugged his shoulders. "Why? Don't you remember on what day you raped and killed an innocent woman?" Nick questioned his voice cold. "I don't know what you're saying. I've killed no one." "Cut the crap, Jack. Your friend told us everything. The DNA sample we took from you earlier is a definite match to the sperm and skin found on our vic." "She fought back that explains the cuts on your cheek. You wanted her to stop so you banged her head against the ground, killing her." Catherine said showing x-ray plates, of the fracture in the skull. "You're busted man." Nick said smugly.

Feeling satisfied with solving the case, Nick poured himself a cup of steaming hot coffee and sat down on one of the couches in the canteen. "Hey Nick! Here's an envelope for ya. The receptionist told me to give it to you. See you tomorrow, and don't be late this time." Catherine smiled and left. The vibrating noise of his mobile, telling him he'd just received a text message, made him jump. He smiled as he recognised the sender's number, Greg.

Found a bottle of honey. It gave me an idea of what you can do with it...=) Something that has to do with rubbing and licking. Hurry home and maybe I'll show ya.

Greg xxx

Laughing at the technician's dirty mind, Nick tore the envelope open, as he was in a hurry to get home. What he saw sent shivers down his spine. Out fell three pictures taken from above at his home, of him and Greg, making love on his bed, the pictures were blurry but their faces could still be recognised. He couldn't stop his hands from shaking as he read the note written across the back of one of the pictures, it read in thick black letters:

MANNERS NICK, MANNERS

The voice of Nigel Crane echoed through his head, staring at the pictures it dawned on Nick that the stalker had somehow managed to get into his house again! Greg! His mind screamed as it dawned on him, Greg was home alone! Jumping up from his seat, Nick practically ran to the canteen door, blinded by fear, he didn't notice Warrick who was about to enter. Warrick stopped in his tracks as Nick ran past him, heading for the main exit. "Hey Stokes! What's the rush? Where're you going?" He shouted after his friend. Shaking his head, Warrick entered the canteen. Frowning he noticed the pictures lying on the table along with Nick's cell phone.

Doing the dishes, Greg sang along to the radio playing Linkin Park's newest single. Drumming on the saucepans he dreamed about being a rock star, he didn't notice Nigel Crane, who had been sent to jail for stalking Jane Galloway and Nick a few years earlier, enter the kitchen. Turning off the music, Nigel watched as the young man flung around, shocked by seeing a stranger standing in the kitchen. "Who are you?" Nick's new friend asked him, looking puzzled. Nigel could clearly see the fear in the young man's eyes. "I'm a friend of Nick's." the stranger explained, his voice sounded strangely excited. "I let myself in... I'm here to see him. Is he at home?" Greg swallowed hard as he shook his head. "No..." his voice cracked. "I...I could give him a call, if you want. Tell him you're here." Greg said moving over to the phone placed on the counter. The next thing he knew, the stranger had grabbed him by the hair and banged his head against the counter. Pulling Greg to his feet, Nigel flung the thinner man into the nearest wall. "WHY!" Nigel screamed hysterically. "Why did you have to come and take him away? You don't deserve him, he doesn't even like blondes!" Nigel kicked out in fury catching Greg right in the ribs. A sharp pain at his side, made Greg inhale sharply. The blood trickling down his forehead blurred his vision, as he fought hard to stay conscious. Nigel grabbed him by the hair and pulled the blonde roughly to his feet.

Nick brought his car to a sudden stop as he pulled up to his house, drawing his gun; he jumped out of the vehicle and started running up to the front door. "Nick! Stop!" The voice of Gil Grissom, reached his ears. He felt someone hold him back. "Nick this isn't the right way to handle it." Warrick said dragging him back to the arriving cars. "Get out of my way Warrick! What are you doing here?" Nick demanded to know, as Gil, Catherine, Sara and Jim Brass stepped out of the cars along with a few police officers. "I saw the pictures Nick, and the note." Warrick explained. "Nicky, calm down. You need to keep a straight head." Gil said trying to calm the younger man. "No! I need to get inside!" Nick almost shouted and ran up to the front door. "Stokes wait damn it!" Homicide Detective Jim Brass, shouted setting out after him.

Flinging the front door open Nick stopped dead in his tracks as Nigel was standing a few meters away with a gun pointing at a badly hurt Greg. "Nigel you don't want to do this!" Nick tried to reason with the cable installer and ex-convict. "Yes I do Nick! He's bad for you. He makes you do stuff! Filthy stuff!" Nigel shouted tightening his grip in Greg's hair, making his hostage wince in pain. "Let him go, Nigel." Nick pleaded, his eyes meeting Greg's; the fear in his boyfriend's eyes was unbearable. "Put away the gun!" Jim Brass shouted as he came to stand behind Nick, gun drawn. Nigel looked around in fear as police officers filled the door opening, all ready to take him down. "I'll kill him!" He warned putting his gun under the lab technician's chin, ready to shoot. "I have to get rid of him, Nick. You'll understand someday." Nigel said starting to pull at the trigger. Greg closed his eyes in fear, tears escaped down his cheeks. A deafening sound of a bullet being fired echoed through the hallway...

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