Title: Gossip
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: writers_choice
Prompt: #493, Speculation
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my 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.

***

Ryan scowled as he headed for the front door of the crime lab, with Greg only a few steps behind him. They were both silent as they made their way out to Greg's car, each of them lost in their own thoughts. The scowl on Ryan's face intensified with each step he took.

He had heard the speculation going on in the locker room, even though he'd tried to ignore it. Too many people were starting to wonder if he and Greg were something more than close friends and work colleagues, and he was getting tired of having to deny the truth.

Did everybody on the CSI team think that the two of them were deaf, that they couldn't hear the speculation that was going around? Just the thought of people talking about them when they were within earshot made Ryan seethe. It was rude, he told himself angrily.

Besides, nobody had a right to speculate about his private life, or Greg's. So far, they'd done a good job of keeping their relationship hidden -- at least, he thought they had. They might live right next door to each other, but that didn't prove a damn thing.

It was because of that Morgan bitch, he thought sourly. She was the one who was trying to drive a wedge between him and Greg; she apparently thought that if they argued about this, that they would stop working together as partners, and she could insinuate herself into Greg's life.

That wasn't going to happen, even if he and Greg weren't together as a couple. He had no doubt about that; Greg had a definite distaste for her. He tolerated working with her in the lab, but he kept as far away from her as he could. He wasn't going to get personally involved with her.

Ryan was jerked out of his thoughts and back into the present when Greg slammed on the brakes before he headed out of the parking lot, then looked over at Ryan with a sheepish expression on his face. "Sorry," he mumbled, shaking his head. "I shouldn't let this crap get to me."

"It's getting to me, too." Ryan sighed, resting his forehead against the window and closing his eyes. "We know who started this shit, but it's not like we can go to Ecklie and demand that she stop spreading rumors. He'll take her side of things in a heartbeat."

"And it's not like we can admit that the rumors are true," Greg said with a sigh. "If we do, then he'll move one of us to another shift, and we'll have hardly any time together. Plus, we won't be working together, and if we're not, then I don't want to stay at the crime lab."

"Neither do I," Ryan said softly, reaching out to place a hand on Greg's knee. "We can't let this make us start arguing, Greg. That's what she wants. She wants to rip us apart -- as friends, and as anything else she might think we are. She's throwing mud to see what sticks."

"Let's hope nothing sticks," Greg said, sounding worried. "I don't want to leave the crime lab, Ry. I will if we have to, but I've been there a long time. I don't really want to do anything else. I love my job, and I don't want her to be able to force me out of it."

"She won't," Ryan told him, shaking his head. "No matter what happens, Greg, we'll figure out a way to keep our jobs and still be together. I'm not giving you up as a partner at work -- and I'm damn sure not going to give you up in the rest of my life, either. Never."

Greg's response was to turn his head for a moment as he stopped at a red light, flashing Ryan a smile that took his breath away. How could he worry about anything in his life when the man he loved smiled at him like that? That smile was enough to chase all of his cares away.

Ryan squeezed his boyfriend's knee gently, wishing that he could pull Greg into an embrace. Of course, that was impossible here in the car; he would have to wait until they got back home and were safely behind closed doors before he could let his emotions show freely.

They'd probably have to be a lot more careful about where they went from now on, and how open they were with each other in public, he thought with an inward sigh. It would be a complete disaster if Morgan saw them together, and went to her father with that information.

Of course, it would be her word against theirs -- but Ecklie would believe that bitch over anyone else, Ryan thought angrily. She could tell him the grass was purple and the sky was orange, and he'd claim that she was telling the truth even though he knew it was a lie.

She had started all of the speculation at the lab, Ryan was sure of it. There was no other person there who would try to out them; even though he was fairly sure that Nick already guessed about their relationship, he'd kept quiet about it, not saying a word.

He trusted most of the people they worked with -- but Morgan was a different matter. She apparently wanted Greg so badly that she would do anything to get him out of the picture -- but it wasn't going to be that easy for her, he vowed, his fists clenching in his lap.

People could speculate about his relationship with Greg all they wanted to, but no one had any proof. All they knew was that the two of them were very close, and that they were next-door neighbors. They had no way of knowing that the relationship went any further than that.

It wasn't unusual for two people who worked together as closely as he and Greg did to form a bond that might seem like it was much closer than just friendship. Anyone who questioned that was an idiot, Ryan told himself firmly. It wasn't strange at all for partners to be so close emotionally.

What would they do if their colleagues found out about their relationship? Ryan had no idea if Ecklie's rule about people who worked together not having personal relationship would be enforced or not, but he couldn't help feeling that it would be, to its fullest extent.

And if that happened, then he and Greg had no place in the crime lab. He wouldn't give up working with his boyfriend; he wasn't going to deal with worrying about Greg whenever he was at work, possibly in dangerous situations, and he knew that Greg felt the same about him.

Maybe the gossip would die down, since they obviously weren't going to add any fuel to the fire. If they were quiet and circumspect, and didn't let all of the rumors flying around get to them or make them angry, all of those rumors were sure to fade away.

He didn't doubt that Morgan would try to keep that speculation alive, but most of the people who knew him and Ryan well didn't seem to be that interested in adding to the rumors. It was only people who judged them by outward appearances who might indulge in a smear campaign.

Ryan sighed softly, closing his eyes again. They would deal with all of that when and if it happened. If they were lucky, the rumors and speculation would fade within a few days, and they wouldn't have to worry about it. He fervently hoped that would be the case.

"Try not to worry about it, Ry." Greg's voice was soft, the words barely a murmur. "I don't think anybody really cares whether we're a couple of not. It's just her trying to stir up trouble. And she doesn't have any proof, so there's only so much damage she can do."

"I guess you're right," Ryan agreed, taking a deep breath. "And anyway, there's nothing we can do about it, right? Except keep being discreet. We'll just have to lie low and not go out so much. That's not going to be so hard to do, really. I'd rather stay home with you."

"I feel the same way," Greg told him with a smile. "Come on, babe, cheer up. This'll blow over sooner rather than later. Nobody can do anything but speculate, and they'll get tired of it after a few days and find some new thing to obsess over. We'll be a nine days' wonder."

"Let's hope that happens, and that all the speculation about us stops soon," Ryan said. "I'm not comfortable being in the middle of all this. I hate it when people talk about me -- especially about my personal life. We're not celebrities. Our lives shouldn't be fodder for gossip."

"I think it's like that with people you work with, no matter where you happen to work," Greg pointed out as he pulled the car into their parking lot and turned off the engine. "We'll just have to put up with it until it calms down, Ry. And it will. Gossip doesn't last forever."

"I sure hope this won't," Ryan said as he unbuckled his seat belt and opened the car door. "We've got enough on our plate without having to worry about having problems at work. I just hope all this speculation goes away quickly. I'm already tired of dealing with it."

"You and me both," Greg told him as they headed towards his apartment. They'd have to be careful about not being close outside of their homes, Ryan thought with another sigh. He didn't like the idea of having to watch what he did and said all the time.

They'd even have to be circumspect at times like this, because they never knew if someone could be watching. It was going to be a pain in the ass, and Ryan wondered if he and Greg would remember that they couldn't be as openly affectionate in public as they usually were.

But when they were at home, with the doors firmly closed and the curtains drawn, they could do anything they wanted. They didn't have to avoid gossip in their own home. That thought made his footsteps quicken, his heart racing as he thought of what they do once that door closed behind them.

***