Title: In the Light of Day
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Nick Stokes
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: R
Author's Note: Mentions of rape.
Series: 1) The Word Is Out
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 Nick Stokes, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Nick squeezed Greg's hand, his eyes never leaving the younger man's face. "Talk to me, baby," he whispered, his eyes filling with tears. "When did he start abusing you? How long has this been going on? And where can I find the bastard so I can kill him?"

Greg tried to smile, to make Nick's words less of a threat. But it was hard for him to do that; there was a part of him that felt the same, and had for a while. He hated the way Shane treated him, as though Greg wasn't his boyfriend, but merely a toy to be broken and then thrown away.

Nick wouldn't treat him that way, Greg told himself before he pushed that thought away and slammed a mental door on it. He couldn't date Nick. If he did, one of them would have to switch to day shift, and he knew that neither of them would risk having to do so.

Nothing would make him give up working with Nick. If Nick wasn't there when he went in to work, then there was no reason for him to be there, either. As much as he loved his work in the lab, he lived for those moments when Nick was there and they were near each other.

All he wanted was to be able to throw himself into Nick's arms, to be held and kissed, touched and comforted. But that wasn't going to happen. He had to be satisfied with their friendship; Nick wasn't the kind of guy to want anything more from him.

"It wasn't that bad when Shane and I first started, you know," he said softly, closing his eyes and wishing that the story he had to tell hadn't turned out so badly. "I think he really cared about me at first. Until he .... He got into a lifestyle that I didn't want to go along with."

"Lifestyle?" Nick questioned, a frown furrowing his brow. "Good god, Greg, you're not talking about --" He left the question hanging, pausing as though he expected Greg to either confirm or deny what he was thinking. Greg didn't have to be a genius to know what was in his mind.

"Yeah. He was into S&M," Greg murmured, hating to say the words out loud. "He was the S part of it. He didn't get that heavily into being a dominant at first, and I thought it was fun. I've always been a bottom anyway, so it seemed like a good way to spice up our sex life."

"When did he start hurting you?" Nick asked quietly, gripping Greg's hand more tightly. His gaze moved down Greg's body, as though he could still see the bruises and welts on the young man's ass and the backs of his thighs, even though he was under the covers again.

"A couple of months after he got into the scene," Greg admitted, wondering if Nick would do the math to figure out how long this had been going on. He'd been with Shane for nearly a year now, and the nightmare that his life had become had started over six months ago.

"How long has that been now, Greg? Six months? Seven?" Nick's voice was soft, but Greg could hear the steely edge behind the words. Nick wasn't going to stop questioning him until he heard the whole story, even if Greg made it obvious that he didn't want to talk.

He was starting to feel a little fuzzy from the morphine; languor was seeping through his veins, so if Nick wanted to know more, he'd have to ask the right questions quickly -- or wait for a time when Greg was more focused and capable of spilling out his story.

"Greg, when did this stop being a relationship and turn into something ugly?" Nick asked softly, his gaze focused on the young man's face. "And don't tell me it's not. You wouldn't have those bruises on your ass if that bastard actually cared about you."

"I-I don't know," Greg whispered, tears that he couldn't hold back beginning to streak down his face. "He kept getting more and more dominant, but I thought I could handle it. Until --" He stopped abruptly, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes tightly shut.

He didn't want to tell his best friend about the night everything had changed. The night that he'd come home and Shane had deadbolted the door, grabbed him by the hair, and dragged him into the bedroom. The night that Shane had raped him for the first time.

How long ago had that been? Five months? Six? Greg wasn't sure; his head was starting to spin, all of the memories tangled up with the present. He had no idea how long his life had been a living nightmare that he'd had to hide from the people he worked with.

"H-he raped me," Greg mumbled into the pillow, unsure of just which night out of hundreds he was referring to. Being violated physically had become an almost daily ritual for him; he was at the point where he tried to simply close his eyes and pretend that he was somewhere else.

He had let Shane take his body, and all the while he'd thought about Nick. Nick wouldn't treat him like this. Nick would take his time and make love to him slowly; Nick would kiss him and slide inside him gently, taking him like a lover, not a possession.

"When, baby? When?" Nick's whisper was urgent; his voice was already starting to sound disembodied, as though it was coming from a long way off, even though Nick was sitting right here beside him, holding his hand. "Tell me when he hurt you, Greg. I'll make him pay. I promise."

"All the time," Greg whispered, the tears falling faster. "Every n-night. For m-months." The morphine was starting to kick in now; his eyelids felt so heavy, and it was a struggle to keep talking. "Nicky, stay with me ..... don't leave me ..... please ...."

"I won't leave you, baby." Nick's voice was soft in his ear, seeming to reverberate through his brain. "I'll be right here when you wake up, Greg." Nick squeezed his hand again, the pressure of his fingers warm and reassuring. "You don't have to be scared. Just go to sleep."

Greg managed a wan smile before his eyes closed, giving up his struggle to stay conscious. As long as Nick was here, everything was going to be okay. Shane wouldn't be able to get to him, not while Nick was keeping watch. And he trusted Nick to keep his promises. He always did.

Nick sat there for what seemed like a very long time, watching Greg sleep and feeling his heart break a little more with each breath that the young man took. He didn't even want to think of what kind of pain Greg must be in; he'd seen just how bad those burns were.

But it seemed that Greg had been suffering from something much worse than the burns on his back -- and for much longer than anyone who knew him could have guessed. How long had that Shane bastard been abusing him? And why had Greg let him do it?

That was a question he didn't need to ask himself, Nick thought with a sigh. Greg had said it himself -- though not in so many words. He was a bottom, and Shane had taken unfair advantage of Greg's natural submissive tendencies.

It wasn't a case of Greg letting Shane use him -- it was a case of Shane taking advantage of Greg, physically and emotionally. Greg was tall and thin; he barely weighed anything. Nick could pick him up and carry him easily; he'd done so before.

Shane was closer to Nick's height and weight; he could easily overpower Greg. It was no wonder that he'd forced Greg to endure what must have amounted to torture. Nick closed his eyes, gripping Greg's hand tightly, not wanting to think of what he must have suffered.

Well, it was going to stop here and now, Nick told himself firmly. He wasn't going to let Greg go back home when he was discharged from the hospital, no way was he giving that bastard the slightest chance of being around Greg, of hurting him again or even touching him.

Greg was coming home with him. He had two bedrooms in his apartment; it would be the easiest thing in the world to fix one of them up for Greg, to bring some of his own things over and let him stay there until Shane was out of his life for good.

Nick knew just how he was going to manage that -- he would have a little "talk" with Shane, and let him know in no uncertain terms that Greg was no longer available to be brutalized and violated. He would make it clear that Greg was protected now, by someone who loved him.

The admission startled him; his eyes widened as the thought struck him. Did he love Greg? Of course he did. But there was a big difference between simply loving someone, and being in love with them. Nick knew that in his case, it was the latter.

He had felt his heart stop with fear when he'd heard about the explosion in the lab and been told that Greg was injured; his first thought had been that his life would no longer be living without Greg in it. It didn't matter that Greg was so much younger, or that he might not feel the same.

Greg meant everything to him. The people they worked with might only think they were close friends, but his feelings for Greg had evolved into something more a long time ago. He'd been taking his time, admiring the young man from afar, waiting for the right time to reveal his feelings.

And then Greg had gotten involved with Shane, and Nick's world had collapsed around him. He had tried to avoid Greg at work for a while, but he hadn't been able to do that for long; he loved Greg far too much to stay away from him, even if it was for the best.

Now, everything had changed. In Nick's eyes, Shane had given up any rights he might have to be with Greg by mistreating him -- and he was going to pay for that, Nick vowed, his free hand clenching into a fist. He would pay dearly for every second of the pain he'd made Greg suffer.

Nick stretched out in the chair, reluctant to close his eyes. He wanted to sit here all night and watch Greg sleep, just to assure himself that the young man was all right. Tomorrow, in the light of day, he would carry Greg out of here -- and into a brand new life for both of them.

***

Next story in series - Property.