Title: Kiss Your Tears Away
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Nick Stokes
Series: 1) The Word Is Out, 2) In the Light of Day, 3) Property, 4) Flames of Hell, 5) Bottles and Broomsticks, 6) At the Killing Edge, 7) Into Your Arms, 8) Uncharted Territory, 9) Out of the Woods
Warnings: Mentions of rape/torture and ongoing series.
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Nick Stokes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Nick was awakened from what had been a sound sleep by what sounded like a cry. Instantly, he was wide awake, sitting up in bed and blinking, every sense alert and ready for whatever might be coming at him. He waited, barely daring to breathe, for the sound to come again.

When it did, and he realized what it was, he was out of bed and running towards Greg's room without even having to think about what could have happened. Greg was screaming; Greg needed him. That was all he needed to know, all that was in his mind.

It only took him a few seconds to get to Greg's side; the younger man was thrashing around in his sleep, lying on his back, flailing as though he was trying to push some invisible entity away from him. Nick grabbed his arms, trying to quiet Greg before he woke up.

Nick could only wince at the thought of the pain that Greg would more than likely awaken to; moving around the way he was while he was lying on his back could only irritate the burns, not to mention all of the bruises that Shane had inflicted on him.

Greg screamed again, the sound seeming to bounce off the walls of the room. "Stop .... don't .... please, don't .... it hurts ..... Nicky!" The last word was more a scream than a name; Nick almost cried out himself as the sound cut into his heart.

"Greg! Greg!" He shook the young man's shoulders, gently at first, then harder. "Greg, baby, wake up! Come on, wake up!" Whatever nightmare Greg was caught up in, he couldn't let it go on, not if it was making him scream like this.

Without warning, the young man's eyes opened, staring sightlessly into his own. Nick realized in a fraction of a second that Greg was still trapped in his nightmare -- and he could guess well enough what it was. He had to bring Greg back into the real world as quickly as possible.

"Greg, baby, come on, wake up," he pleaded, his voice softer this time. "It's me, Nicky. Come on, baby, come back to me. Everything's okay, Greg, I'm right here." His voice broke on the last word; it was almost impossible to keep himself from bursting into tears.

The panicked note in Greg's voice moved him to tears; he'd never heard anyone sound so utterly terrified. The fact that it was Greg who sounded that way only made his heart ache all the more -- as well as the fact that he hadn't been able to prevent what had happened.

"Shhh, baby, it's okay," Nick whispered, sitting down and pulling Greg into his arms. Immediately, Greg burst into tears and buried his face against Nick's shoulder, his thin arms wrapping around Nick's waist and clinging as though he would never let go.

"He wouldn't stop, Nicky," Greg whispered, the words coming out disjointedly between sobs. "The more I begged him to, the more he wanted to hurt me." He lifted his tear-streaked face to Nick's, his lips trembling. "He said I should have died in that lab explosion b-because --"

Another sob cut off his words; Nick pulled him close again, moving one hand gently down the young man's back, waiting for him to continue with what he'd been saying. But even if he didn't, Nick could guess what Greg was going to say. He could almost hear Shane saying the words.

He didn't want Greg any more, simply because of the burns on his back. Burns that, if they were treated properly and given the chance to heal, would only leave small scars. Scars that wouldn't affect how Greg looked in any way, unless someone was searching for them.

"He s-said I was a .... a scarred f-freak," Greg whispered, his face still against Nick's shoulder. "He was right, Nick. I'll have those scars all my life. I don't ever want to take off my shirt again. Not where anybody can see them. I don't want anybody to see what I look like."

Anger exploded in Nick's mind; all he wanted to do was scream out his own rage against Shane, to make the words that he'd said to Greg go away. Instead, he tamped his anger down, taking Greg's face between his hands and making the young man look at him.

"Don't you ever believe that, baby," he whispered, his gaze holding Greg's. "You're the most beautiful man I've ever seen. Yeah, there might be a few scars, but they won't be bad ones. Nobody's going to notice them, Greg. And I don't care about them."

"You will if you have to look at them," Greg told him, the last word a sob. "Or if you have to touch them. It's not like you can just pretend they're not there. They'll always be there. And I --" He raised a hand to wipe ineffectually at the tears that were still falling.

"What, baby? What is it?" Nick asked gently, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears on Greg's face. "I don't care about a few scars. I fell in love with you, Greg, not with your body. I love the whole package. If a few scars are part of that, then I'll love them because they're yours."

"But every time you touch me, you'll have to feel them," Greg whispered, closing his eyes, a few more tears streaking down his cheeks. "You'll know they're there, even if we're in the dark. They're never going to go away, Nicky. Not completely. You shouldn't have to touch that."

"Oh, baby." Nick couldn't keep himself from wrapping his arms around Greg and holding the young man close against him. "Do you think I could ever not want to be with you? Do you honestly think I wouldn't want you just because of a few little scratches? You think wrong."

Greg opened his eyes to stare at Nick, searching the other man's face as though he was looking for any sign of a lie. He seemed to be struggling to find the words he wanted to say; Nick waited patiently, feeling that he had all the time in the world to hear what Greg needed to tell him.

"I'll always have the memories of what he did to me," Greg finally whispered, pulling away from Nick and looking down at his hands clasped in his lap. "I'm scared that I won't ever be able to let anybody make love to me -- or even touch me again. Not after that."

"I wish you didn't have to deal with that, Greg," Nick said softly, wishing that he had the words to comfort Greg and ease his fears. "But I hope you can trust me enough to let me be with you. It doesn't matter if that happens in a week, or a year, or a lot of years. I can be patient."

"You shouldn't have to be that patient," Greg whispered, not looking up, diamond-bright tears starting to fall again. "You deserve somebody who can be with you now, not somebody who's so fucked up that you'll have to spend who knows how long waiting for them."

"That's a choice for me to make," Nick told him, reaching out to raise Greg's face again. Greg was crying openly now; the sight of the tears on his cheeks broke Nick's heart. He hated to see Greg cry, hated to see him hurting in any way.

Slowly, gently, he slid his arms around Greg's waist again, moving closer to the young man. Without a word, he kissed the salty tears away from Greg's cheeks, then pressed kisses against his closed eyelids, his forehead, his chin, and finally, the softness of his mouth.

He wanted to spend the rest of his life doing this, Nick thought to himself as Greg curled into his embrace, resting his forehead against Nick's shoulder. He wanted to always be here to kiss Greg's tears away, to hold him, to keep him safe -- to love him.

"Nicky, can I --" Greg's words faltered, then stopped. He shook his head, his thin arms winding around Nick's waist, clinging to him as though he was sort sort of lifeline. "Never mind. It's kind of silly. I think I can go back to sleep now. Just leave the light on, okay?"

Nick shook his head, disentangling himself from Greg's arms and standing up. "I've got a better idea," he said, bending down to slide one arm around Greg's back, the other under his knees. It was easy to pick the young man up; Greg almost seemed to weigh nothing in his arms.

"You're going to spend the night in my bed -- tonight and every night, until you feel like you want to sleep in your own room," he whispered into Greg's ear as he carried the young man into his own bedroom. "I want you right there next to me."

"B-but ...." Greg started to protest, but Nick only shook his head as he deposited Greg on his bed, then sat down beside him. He slid his arms around Greg's slender waist again, gathering the young man into his arms, speaking softly as he did so.

"Greg, I don't want to have to wonder if you're okay, or if you might need me," he murmured, the words suddenly tumbling out in a way that he hadn't thought they could. "I want to have you in my arms, to be able to kiss your tears away if you cry, or help you if you're hurting."

Greg looked as though he was going to shake his head, to refute Nick's words -- but after a few moments, he only nodded, sighing and snuggling into Nick's arms. Nick closed his eyes, stroking Greg's hair, feeling the tension seep out of his body.

This was where he wanted Greg to be; it was where he belonged. Here in this house, in his bed, safe in his arms. He didn't know what the future might hold for them, but for the moment, everything was as it should be -- and he hoped that it would stay that way for a long time to come.

***

Next story in series - Security Blanket.