Title: Lab Work
Author: Tara Keezer
Rating: Hard R
Summary: In an alternate universe, crime labs are privately owned, and nonviolent offenders pay their debt to society as indentured servants. Beginning of the ISD 'verse.
Disclaimer: Zuiker and company own all the CSI franchises and characters. I own two elderly gay ferrets.

~*~*~

"Aw man. Not Gruesome Grissom." Nick shook his head and looked up at his assignment officer. "I hate going to his place."

"What can I say? Guy asked for you, guy gets you." Warrick Brown handed the requisition slip over. "You know the drill. He wants you there tonight, eight o'clock sharp. And he said you should wear something conservative."

"Damn."

"What's the problem, Nicky?" Warrick moved around his desk and sat down. "From what I hear, it's light duty."

"It's not that. It's --" Nick took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair in a careless pose. "It's just that I was trained by the best, and all he wants me for is --"

~*~*~

"-- that carpet." Grissom gestured toward the swatch in question. "Once you're done gathering trace on it, I want you to work on the victim's clothing."

"Yes, sir," Nick replied morosely.

His tone was apparently enough to alert Grissom to a potential problem, because the good doctor looked up at that. "Is something wrong?"

"Well. Yeah." When it was apparent that Grissom was waiting, Nick plunged ahead. "I don't get you, Doctor."

"What don't you get?"

"Why won't you use me the way I want to be used?" At Grissom's puzzled expression, Nick added, "I was trained by Lady Heather, for god's sake. I can give you a blow job that'll have you singing the Hallelujah Chorus for the next month, and all you want me for is lab work."

"Ah --"

"I had my choice at sentencing, you know. I didn't have to go into that program, but I wanted it. Wanna know why?" A small part of Nick's brain was trying desperately to get him to shut up and shut up now, but he was on a roll and didn't want to stop.

Grissom looked a little helpless when he said, "No, I don't. And I don't --"

"It's because I wanted to pay off my debt as quickly as possible. Sex sells, and it sells really well."

"Oh." Comprehension dawned in Grissom's face. "And whenever I have you here, you're not out whoring yourself for a short-term gain, is that it?"

"Right!" And then Grissom's words hit Nick. "No! Okay, maybe. But I want to get out of the system before I'm too old to enjoy life."

Grissom looked at Nick over those damned wire-frame glasses, making Nick squirm half in discomfort and half in horniness. "I should think you'd want to get out of the system with a set of viable skills that will support you for the rest of your life -- not just while you're still pretty."

"You -- you think I'm pretty?"

Grissom rolled his eyes. "Get to work Nick. If you finish early and do your work well, I'll let you show me just how good your blow jobs are."

~*~*~

Midway through Nick's shift at Grissom's lab, Captain Brass of LVPD showed up. If Nick had been able to melt through the floor at that moment, he would have.

After giving him a long, hard look, Brass asked Grissom, "Did the county run out of lab techs for you?"

"No. Why?" Grissom didn't look up from his microscope.

"Just trying to figure out why you have one of Lady Heather's boys working for you." Brass didn't even try to hide his contempt, and Nick wondered if he could hide under the lab bench until the man went away.

"You have a problem with my staff?"

"I just didn't figure you for the type," Brass said, nodding at Nick. "Stokes is more an uptown boy, you know?"

At that, Grissom frowned. "No, I don't know. What I do know is that he has a thorough grounding in science, and he's damn good at collecting trace."

"You're kidding." When Grissom didn't so much as crack a smile, Brass stared in disbelief. "You're not kidding, are you?"

"I don't kid about my lab, Jim." Grissom put his glasses back on and leaned sideways against the counter. "Nick is here because of his science background, not because he spent six months getting trained by Lady Heather."

That startled Nick. He honestly thought Grissom was unaware of his history.

"You asked for him because of his science training?" In this, Nick and Brass were of one mind that Grissom was completely off his nut.

"Of course." Grissom noted the twin looks of puzzlement and grudgingly added, "Okay, the first time Nick showed up here, it was a mistake. I called the county with my specs, but they had someone new working the computer system. She pulled up my requirements based on education first instead of interest, and that's how I met Nick."

"Didn't you wonder about that when he showed up in leather pants and a collar with a D-ring?" Brass was amused now, and he shot a non-hostile glance at Nick.

"I was a little busy," Grissom said, patently uncomfortable.

"At what point did you notice he wasn't exactly what you requested?"

Nick spoke up then, his amusement overcoming his discomfort at being around the man who had arrested him two years ago. "About four hours into the shift, when I asked how much longer foreplay was gonna go on."

Brass burst out laughing, and Nick grinned widely as Grissom blushed. "Jesus, Gil. Only you. Is he kosher with the state?"

"Yeah. I got him certified that night, just to be on the safe side." Grissom busied himself at his microscope. "Did you stop by for a reason, Jim?"

"You mean other than to give you a hard time about Stokes?"

Grissom glared at Brass. "Yes. Other than that."

"The DA wants to know if you have an answer on the Braun case yet."

"No." Grissom sighed and removed his glasses again. He chewed lightly on the stem then said, "I should have an answer tomorrow, once DNA comes back on that scarf we found."

"I thought you were getting your own DNA set-up."

"I will, just as soon as I can find a tech to run it," Grissom answered. "County doesn't have anyone in the system, and I've been drawing a blank at the forensics boards."

"There's a convention coming up next month," Brass said with a wink. "Maybe you'll get lucky."

Grissom gave him a stern look. "Don't even think about it, Jim."

Brass held his hands up and was the picture of innocence. "Would I do something like that?"

"In a heartbeat, especially if it helps put Ecklie's lab out of business." Grissom turned a thoughtful gaze on an empty spot in his lab. "Of course, if one of those techs breaks the law, I expect that you'll make sure he or she is apprehended and made to pay their debt to society."

"Oh, of course." At that, Brass gave Nick a small, almost friendly nod and headed to the door. "I'll stop by tomorrow night."

~*~*~

"Master?"

"Gil or Grissom, Nick, not 'Master.'" He looked up from his paperwork. "Is there a problem?"

"No problem."

When Nick said nothing more, Grissom raised his eyebrows. "Then you're standing here instead of working, because --?"

"I finished my work." When Grissom didn't react, Nick lowered his voice and looked at him through his eyelashes. "I finished my work early, and I did a good job."

"I don't --" Grissom blushed bright red. "Oh. You know, you don't have to --"

"You promised, Dr. Grissom." Nick went to his knees gracefully. "And in the three months I've been coming here, I've never known you to break a promise."

"But --"

"I'm good at what I do." Nick raised his hands to Gil's crotch and got busy with the fastenings. "Lady Heather made sure of that."

"Nick --" Gil sat there, neither moving away nor helping.

Nick tugged gently on Gil's half-hard dick. "Most important of all, I like what I do."

With that, Nick sucked gently on the tip of Gil's dick and smiled as best he could when he heard Gil's moan. The moment wasn't exactly what he'd been fantasizing about since he met the man, but as far as Nick was concerned, it was a goddamn victory.

He traced the veins in Gil's dick with his tongue as he started recalling every single one of Lady Heather's lessons on the art of performing fellatio. Nick was certain that unless he was pitch perfect this first time, Gil would never let him get this close again, which would be a crying shame. The man's dick was the eighth wonder of the world, and Nick thought it was a crime that it spent so much time hidden beneath plain boxers and chinos.

Gil was starting to get into it, if the hands he put on Nick's head were anything to go by, and his growing enthusiasm was enough to spur Nick on to even greater efforts. He took Gil in deep, and when the tip touched the back of his throat, Nick swallowed, the way he'd been taught. It was enough to bring Gil to the edge, and Nick kept him there for an endless moment before swallowing one more time.

The incoherent babble that accompanied Gil's orgasm warmed Nick's heart. After he swallowed down everything Gil gave him, Nick sat back on his heels to enjoy the sight of his temporary master trying to collect his wits and hoped that maybe, just maybe, the good doctor might call him to his home one day.

~*~*~

Author's Note: Okay, here's the deal. I have too many CSI bunnies floating around in my head right now, and I don't have time to feed another one. I'm opening the ISD 'verse up to anyone who wants to play in it. The rules and backstory can be found at isd_verse (join now! it's free!), and I ask that you post your stories there as well as any other communities for which they might be appropriate.