Title: Greg Sanders, Crime Scene Investigator
Author: Clockstopper
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG-13 for this chapter, but I'm think overall NC-17
Warning: Wip
Summary: This takes place in the Lab Rat Universe, two years down the road. Nick and Greg are living together and still in love, but with a few snags.
Spoilers/Warnings: None because AU.

***

Chapter 1:

Nick picked up the paper from the printer.

Looked it over and frowned. Sara was not going to like the results. They didn’t fit for her suspect. Not that he had power over how it was going to turn out, but usually the CSIs didn’t care that it wasn’t your fault they didn’t get what they wanted.

He was weary to even page her with the results, but he knew that he had to. She needed the information so she could go out and try and find a new suspect. Someone that fit the DNA. Or maybe invalidate the DNA and still keep her suspect.

So he paged her and waited for her to show up. Started on Sofia’s results when Ecklie came in with what he thought was a charming smile, but Nick just thought was scary.

“Stokes, can I have a word with you?” He said.

“I’m kind of busy.” Nick said, most of his attention focused on the task at hand.

“It’ll only take a second.”

Nick sighed and put down his tools. Looked straight at Ecklie, impatient look on his face and he tapped his foot slightly to keep from yelling.

“How have you been?”

“If this is a social visit, I have work to do.” Nick said though he knew it wasn’t a social visit.

Ecklie didn’t do social visits.

“Look, I know you and Sanders are together. I’d have to be stupid not to. You live together and it’s not like it’s a secret around the lab.”

“Your point?”

“I know that his switch to swing shift is probably a little hard on you. So… there’s an opening on days, for the both of you. I could switch you both to day shift… if you wanted to that is.”

Nick wasn’t sure why the switch to day shift was important now. Ecklie was the Assistant Director. Sure he did his job during the day, but lately he hadn’t done anything remotely CSI worthy since he became the Assistant Director.

He’d been trying to get Nick on days since Nick started working at the crime lab. And now he was offering it with the added bonus of getting to see Greg more often.

Sure they lived together, but ever since the switch, they hadn’t seen each other all that often. Over time over lapping on each other’s free time and if Nick wanted to be rested enough to get up and go to work on time, it usually meant sacrificing time with Greg to do so.

He wasn’t even sure why the switch happened. Only that it had and Greg had been pissed for a whole two weeks afterward. He worked the case with the CSIs and sure the appearance of a fingerprint was startling and they’d gotten the wrong guy, but they had done everything by the book, no short cuts and Nick resented the implication that they had.

He was part of the team. Maybe it had taken him a little while to realize that, but he was. He processed the evidence that the CSIs used to get people convicted and if someone was questioning them, they were questioning the whole lab.

And even when it turned out that they had done everything right, Ecklie still broke them up. No doubt because he had some sort of power trip that he had to use to take Grissom down a peg and Nick thought that was highly unprofessional.

But they’d dealt with it. Maybe they were pissed, but they dealt with. And if Nick didn’t see Greg as much as he was used to, it just meant that the time they did have together was all the more special.

“That’s not for me to decide.”

“Well of course you’d have to talk with Sanders about it. I wouldn’t expect anything less. I’m just saying that the option is available to you. To the both of you.”

“I don’t know. I happen to like working on night shift. I’m comfortable here. And Greg wouldn’t switch to working with someone he didn’t know.”

“I’m sure Sanders would do what was best for his personal life.”

Nick frowned.

“That’s where you’re wrong. When it comes to his job… Greg takes it very seriously.” Nick said.

“I never said he wasn’t professional. I merely stating that perhaps there are more important things to him.”

“You don’t know him all that well otherwise you would know that his job is very important to him.”

“More important than you?”

Nick scowled. It wasn’t Ecklie’s place to ask questions like that.

“Just think about it.” Ecklie said.

He smiled one more time before leaving the lab and Nick glared at his back. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, but soon Sara was coming in, puzzled look on her face and she tapped on the desk in front of her.

“Nick… evidence?”

“Huh?”

“You paged me saying that the evidence was done.”

It took Nick a second to figure out what she was saying before he sighed and shook his head.

“Oh, right… um… don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“The DNA didn’t match our suspect, right.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Nick said as he handed her the results.

He was still pissed though and it showed on his face until Sara was asking him what was wrong.

“Ecklie. He offered me and Greg positions on day shift.”

Sara looked shocked and a bit puzzled at that.

“Really? You’re… are you going to take them?”

“I’d have to talk to Greg first, but I don’t think so. God, he has the nerve to come in here and say that it would be better on our ‘personal lives’ if we decided to take these positions. Like it wasn’t his fault we’ve got a problem with our personal lives to begin with.” Nick said.

“Is there a problem?” Sara asked.

Nick looked up her a bit startled.

“No… no not really. I mean I’d like to see him more. We both work so much overtime and it just… we’ve been doing this for months, but I’m not sure how much longer I can take this before I snap. It’s ridiculous.”

“You’ve got that right.”

“We were a good team.”

He wasn’t sure what Sara would say to the we thing. He almost thought should look at him questioningly. But he watched her sigh and shake her head.

“Yeah, we were.”

~*~

“You’ve never forgotten Nick’s birthday.” Warrick said.

Greg laughed as he snapped a picture of their crime scene.

“Warrick, besides the fact that we worked together for almost four years before we got together, four years in which there was a birthday cake every year on his birthday, you can’t compare the two. You just met this girl. You’ve been dating for like three months. Nick and I have been together for two years. It’s different.” Greg said.

“Well she was already on my ass for the weird hours I’m working. Now she’s got more ammo.”

“We do work some pretty strange hours.”

“How are you and Nick adjusting?”

“Well considering he works some pretty strange hours too and we’ve had like six months to get used to it… okay.”

“Just okay?”

“It’s hard. To be working at the same place and never see each other. Some times… some times we fight.”

“You never fought before?” Warrick said.

He looked extremely doubtful about that and Greg couldn’t blame him. Two years together and they were bound to fight some time.

“We fought, just not the kind where one of us is sleeping in the guest bedroom.”

“Yikes, that’s rough. I bet it’s usually you too.”

“It was Nick’s house before I moved in. Just makes sense. Anyway, it’s not often, but it’s more often than it should be. I think we’re both just exhausted from work and not seeing each other.”

“Man, that sucks.”

“We’re dealing. We both love our jobs too much to not try and deal with it.”

“Still sucks.”

Greg laughed.

“I’m not going to disagree with you.”

~*~

Greg walked into the house, quiet as he could because he didn’t want to disturb Nick. He had to be in the office in a little while and Greg didn’t want to wake him.

He’d had to work double overtime, again. Had to take his evidence to the day shift lab tech who always seemed to be a little twitchy that Greg had to wonder how he even got his job. He’d seen Nick, but most of that was spent sleeping in his car. It was all beginning to drag really bad.

He was used to taking his evidence to Nick. Used to getting in a little flirting that would make Nick blush while he flirted back. Used to stealing quick kisses before going back to work. Used to the efficiency Nick had when he was doing his job. He was just used to Nick.

But he’d had to get unused to Nick for the past six months and that was proving to be a little harder than he thought it would be. He knew the team splitting up would be hard. Knew the hardest part would be giving up all the time he had with Nick, but he’d tried to go into it looking for the silver lining.

Six months had gone by and Greg knew there wasn’t a silver lining. Just a lot of political crap that he couldn’t even beginning to figure out. They were just trying to do their jobs. Just trying to find the bad guys and even then there were politics.

It was the first time that Greg wished Grissom had been a little more political. That he had paid a little more attention to the enemy he was making with Ecklie, but Greg couldn’t blame Grissom.

Greg took of his clothes, got into his pajamas and crawled into bed. Nick was resting peacefully, but the minute the bed dipped, Nick moaned and turned a bit. Snuggled close to Greg before he was opening his eyes, slowly and sluggishly, and looked at Greg, smile gracing his face.

“You’re home.” Nick said sleepily.

“Yeah. Sorry I woke you.”

“It’s okay. I was trying to stay up to see you anyway.”

“Oh really.” Greg said with a leer.

“Not for that.”

Greg pouted.

“Stop… look… Ecklie came by the lab today.”

“Oh.” Greg said a bit distractedly.

“Yeah. He offered us positions during day shift.” Nick said.

“Both of us?”

“Yup.”

“Oh… so…”

“If you want we could do it.”

“You don’t want to?” Greg asked.

It seemed like a golden opportunity. On the surface at least. But Greg didn’t know anyone on day shift and he didn’t think the circle would approve of Nick moving out.

“Not really. I like night shift Greg. And yeah, we don’t get to see each other that much anymore and that pisses me off, but…”

“It’s cool. We don’t have to move to days.” Greg said.

Nick frowned, brow furrowing and he shifted until his head was resting on Greg’s shoulder.

“You want to move to days.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have too.”

Greg sighed.

“Look it’s just that… it’d be easier. We’d get to see each other more. Probably wouldn’t fight as much.”

Nick squirmed a bit but didn’t move.

“But we don’t have too.” Greg said.

“I would have thought you didn’t want to. I mean give up working with Catherine and Warrick. I know you don’t like working with people you don’t know. Especially day shift.” Nick said.

“Well, yeah, I just… I don’t know. I’m thinking of how ideal it all sounds, but I know if we started working days we’d get bored with it and probably snap at each other more. And I know Jacqui would threaten you with physical harm if you switched to days.”

Nick laughed.

“So… we’re riding this out.”

“We’ve been riding it out for six months. Neither one of us has left. Guess we’re doing pretty good.” Greg said, his arm wrapping around Nick to hold him closer.

“I wouldn’t leave.” Nick whispered.

Greg knew that though. Knew that this thing with him and Nick which had lasted two years wasn’t going to end anytime soon. They were hitting snags, but relationship did that. He knew Nick wouldn’t leave and he knew he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t either.”

TBC