Title: It Ain't Pretty
By: it-glitters
Pairing: Greg/Nick
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Series: 1) And Across Town, 2) Rough Start, 3) Simply, Words Stall, 4) Out to lunch
Summary: Nick and Greg make a go at a meal.

***

Greg couldn't wait to get home – he had been working a lot, and he wanted to be well rested for Saturday. But when he reached his apartment he found an unexpected visitor.

The man had the look of an ex-con.

"You Greg Sanders?"

"Yeah," he replied nervously.

The man pushed him up against the wall – so much so that Greg's toes barely grazed the ground.

"I'm a friends of Ally's. She told me about what you did. Who the fuck do you think you are – treating a woman like that?"

Greg gripped in vain at the man's fingers on his neck. He couldn't have spoken even if he had wanted to.

There was a shock as the remaining air left his lung as he received a knee to his gut. The man released him from his grip and let Greg slide to the floor. There was another kick – and another. Greg wondered if his neighbors could hear any of this – at least one of them had to be home. He didn't think about it anymore when a kick to his face rendered him unconscious.

....

"Greg, honey, can you open your eyes?"

He grunted and attempted to open them. His mouth was dry. He motioned to the familiar voice that he needed a drink – he hoped she understood. A moment later he felt a straw pressed against a lip and he sucked on it gratefully. He tried again to open his eyes – they were too bruised to get them open very far – but he managed to recognize Catherine sitting by his bed.

"Hey Cath," he croaked. "Where am I?"

"Desert Palms – do you know how you got here?"

"Something about a guy, but I don't remember much after the kicking started."

"One of your neighbors called the police when she heard yelling, but we didn't get there in time to catch the guy. She gave a pretty decent description, but we're still gonna need to question you about it."

"Who's on my case?"

"Me and Nick."

"Oh." He didn't know what to say. He wondered why Nick wasn't there too.

"Nick has been at your apartment since you got here. He won't let anyone else near it."

Greg cringed. He hoped Nick was inside his apartment – there were a few things that he wasn't ready to explain to Nick – or the whole department.

"He hasn't gone inside, we figured it all happened outside," Catherine stated.

"Oh." That assuaged his fears. He didn't really need the stress of a full investigation into his private space.

"Greg, I have to ask you – do you know this guy? Do you know why he attacked you?"

He really didn't want to delve into the whole story, but now it was out there and it would be better to tell Catherine the truth now then to let her waste her time trying to figure it all out.

"There was this girl – a friend of a friend – that I've been sleeping with. Rather was. It was supposed to be a no-strings attached, fun thing. I don't want to get into it, but we both liked it, a little, you know, wild." He knew that Catherine was pretty open about sexual things, but he still couldn't stop the blush creeping up his bruised face. "But I swear, it never got out of hand. I swear. I would never..."

Catherine put her hand up.

"I know you, I believe you. So what does this all have to do with the man on your doorstep?"

"He never said who he was, just that he was a friend of hers. He looked like an ex-con, and I think I saw prison tats. But, then again, it all happened so fast." He grimaced in pain when he tried to move. He could feel his eyes drooping as the pain medication released itself into his body from the IV.

"Greg, I just need the girl's name before you fall asleep."

"Ally Lindz."

***

Next story in series - Crash.