Title: Mi Corazon
By: kyrdwyn
Pairing: Gil/OMC
Rating: PG
Series: 1) I Never Stopped
Disclaimer: CBS, Alliance Atlantis, Anthony Zuiker, and a whole bunch of other people are probably tracking me down for playing with their toys without their permission. I make no money off this.

***

Waking up to find another body in his bed was an unusual feeling, but not unpleasant. It had just been too long he thought as he lay there with his eyes closed, the heat of his companion warming his back. He knew that he should get up soon, work was waiting, but he didn't want to move. He'd missed this, the tangled bodies and dreamless sleep that followed lovemaking. Missed the first dreamy moments in the morning when he felt safe in the arms of another human being. He'd missed Robert.

Turning over, he looked at his lover. Robert was on his stomach, head turned toward Gil. The green eyes were closed, but Gil could remember the look in them as they'd stood in the living room, both realizing that even after all this time, the bond was still there. A soft kiss on the hand in understanding had led to a joining of mouths, then bodies, in passion.

Gil lay in the bed, letting his eyes drift over Robert's body. He knew it would shock a lot of people to learn about Robert. But he couldn't help what he felt toward the other man. He never had.

They had met over a dead body. An odd way to start a relationship, but that's what happened. Gil had been sent by the Los Angeles coroner's office to a crime scene to gather the initial information the office would need in determining time and cause of death. Robert was the first officer on the scene, a beat cop responding to the shrieks for help of the woman who found the body. As such, Gil had to talk to him to get his exact time of arrival. He hadn't thought much about the man then, more interested in getting the body back to the morgue, but he had noticed that the cop hadn't bristled at Gil's questions. A lot of other cops didn't like it when Gil started asking when they had arrived and if they had handled the body. One had accused Gil of being an undercover agent for Internal Affairs, not listening when Gil patiently tried to explain that he needed to know the information because that would help him with his work.

Robert had simply answered the questions while jotting down Gil's information in his notebook. It was his personal quirk at crime scenes, writing down the name and rank of every person who was inside the tape. From rookie to coroner to the chief of police, if you were at a scene that Robert Delgado was at, you were in his notebook.

Their second meeting had been at a bar after work, when Gil had been dragged out by some of the other coroners and Robert was there with his shift buddies. Robert had recognized Gil and drawn him into conversation when it looked like Gil was going to sit in a corner and watch everyone else unwind. They'd discovered some mutual friends, mutual interests, and spent the rest of the night talking, with various colleagues coming and going from the table.

After that, it had become a habit to meet at the bar. They became good friends, inviting each other over to watch sports on TV or just to have a beer without the noise and smoke of the bar. There weren't any overt gestures of attraction between them, not with Robert being a cop - a profession not known for its tolerance of homosexuals, but both knew it was there. Neither acted on it until the Richardson case.

It was a child murder they were both assigned to. Sarina Richardson had been beaten by both of her parents and then left to die in their backyard, chained to a doghouse. According to a few neighbors Robert interviewed, that was not unusual. Her parents often left her out there.

It was one of Robert's first cases as a detective. He'd looked sick when Gil arrived at the scene. Gil knew why when he saw the body. The paramedics hadn't moved the little girl and the dog chain was still around her neck, leading to the house. Gil had to stop and suck in a breath, appalled by the conditions in the back yard. His eyes met Robert's and he saw the horror reflected there.

Gil wanted to remove the collar and give the young girl some dignity in her death. But he knew the crime scene boys would kill him. So Gil had to do his work, all the while wishing he were somewhere else. He could feel Robert's eyes on him the whole time, and took strength from the man's regard. Finally Gil stood back behind the tape, waiting for Robert and the crime scene guys to release the body. He still couldn't look at the girl. He was relieved when the collar was removed for processing at the crime lab, and more relieved when he and his assistant were able to cover the girl and put her into the van to take back to the morgue. As cold and heartless as people thought the morgue could be, it was still better than that bleak backyard.

After his shift, after he'd finished cataloging every internal and external injury that little Sarina Richardson had suffered in her young life, Gil had been exhausted, physically and emotionally. He'd gone back to his apartment and just sat on his couch, staring at the wall. He wanted to go to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes he saw Sarina wearing that ugly collar. When the knock sounded at his door, he was both relieved and bothered. Relieved because he had something to do. Bothered because he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with anyone right now.

Opening the door, he was met by Robert's haunted face. Smiling wanly, Robert held up two six packs of beer. One was his brand, the other Gil's. The two of them sat on Gil's couch, feet on the coffee table, killing their six packs as quickly as possible to forget what they had seen that night.

It started so innocently - a brushing of hands as they both reached for a new bottle. An electrifying touch. Blue eyes met green, a spark in both. Dropping his gaze, Gil sat back and opened his bottle. He could feel Robert's eyes still on him. Gil was too nervous to raise his own from the floor. Robert gently reached out to take Gil's hand, almost forcing Gil to look at him again.

It was inevitable, the meeting of their mouths. Passion blazed through the two of them, the result of months of attraction and the need to reassure themselves of life after the horror of the night. Yet the passion was tempered by uncertainty on both their parts, making it a much more sensual experience.

Afterward, as they lay in Gil's bed, neither said much. Both were stunned by what had happened between them. Yet neither could deny it, nor did they want to.

Now, as he watched Robert sleep, Gil was still amazed by his reaction to this man. In the years since their parting, there had been men and women whom he had been attracted too, some he had tried for a relationship with, but none of them came close to creating the feelings he had felt when with Robert.

Robert sighed, and Gil's mouth quirked in a smile. When Robert's eyes opened, Gil was still smiling. He smiled back. "That particular expression is never good to wake up to, Gil."

"Why not?"

"It means you've been thinking."

Gil shrugged. "Just remembering the first time," he said.

Robert's smile turned contemplative and he shook his head. "I would have never figured you for such a sentimental man, Araña."

Gil leaned closer. "Only where you are concerned, mi corazón," he whispered before his lips met Robert's.

***

Next story in series - La Otra Persona.