Title: Never Give Up
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Gil Grissom
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5_prompts, Written in the Stars challenge
Prompt: E10, That's not going to happen
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 Gil Grissom, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.
Series: 1) Welcome To Hell, 2) Live Through This, 3) Racing Against Time, 4) Rip Him To Shreds, 5) Killing Lies

***

Gil advanced slowly, walking ahead of the rest of the team, hoping that the ominous silence all around him wasn't the sound of death. He didn't want to even entertain that possibility. No, Greg was alive. He was here somewhere, and they would find him and take him to safety.

He wasn't going to even consider the possibility that Greg could be dead, silenced forever before he had the chance to acknowledge how Gil felt about him. He couldn't bear the thought of coming this far to find Greg, only to have his love snatched from his grasp.

That wasn't going to happen, he told himself firmly, gripping his gun more tightly. He didn't want to use that small weapon of destruction, but he would if he had to. For Greg. He would do anything that he was called upon to do, if it meant getting Greg out of this place.

Brass motioned him back; Gil nodded and did as he was told, letting the policeman take his place at the front of their little column. It was best if someone who knew more about what they were doing took the lead, but he intended to be no more than a single step behind.

Had they gotten here too late? Had Greg's abductors taken him somewhere else, some place where they would never be able to find him? For just a moment, Gil could feel his heart sink down to his heels; it seemed possible that Greg was out of their reach again.

But at that moment, he heard a soft moan from what appeared to be a cavernous room at the end of the hallway they were in; all of them stopped for a moment, looking at each other in mingle apprehension and hope. That moan had sounded an awful lot like Greg's voice.

In spite of the fact that he knew he should be more cautious now that they were fairly sure Greg was in that room, Gil couldn't keep himself from hurrying forward, right on Brass' heels. If Greg was indeed there, he wanted to get to the young man first, to be sure that he was all right.

How could he possibly be all right? He'd been kidnapped and possibly brutalized; there was no telling what those men might have done to him. But that sound was almost concrete proof that he was at least alive, which meant that he could recover from this.

All he wanted to do was to find Greg, get him out of here and to the hospital, and then take him home and keep him safe and protected. He wanted to make sure that nothing bad would happen to Greg again, that they would be together and secure for the rest of their lives.

Realistically, Gil knew that he couldn't promise that. Greg was a CSI, and even after this, he was fairly certain that the young man wouldn't want to leave his job. Greg wasn't the kind of person who would let one bad experience keep him from living his life to the fullest.

But he would promise Greg anything; he would promise Greg the moon and stars if the love he felt could be returned. Gil couldn't know if that would happen or not; he had no idea how Greg felt about him. But as long as there was life, there was hope.

Brass stepped into the huge room, calling out to whoever might be there. "LVPD! Drop your weapons!" Gil followed him, barking out the same words, looking from side to side. But from what he could see, the room appeared to be empty, abandoned by anyone who had been there.

All except for one person, the one who had moaned aloud. As his eyes focused in the dimness, Gil's heart felt as though it had suddenly leaped into his throat; he was sure he recognized the slender, naked figure bound face down to some kind of stone altar.

He almost dropped his gun as he ran across the room, pulling his knife from his pocket as he did. Greg. It was Greg lying there, his wrists and ankles bound, a gag in his mouth to keep him quiet, though Gil didn't know why his captors would have seen fit to do that, considering where they were.

As quickly as he could, he cut through the ropes that bound Greg's ankles, then his wrists; he turned the young man over, drawing Greg into the circle of his arms before he reached up to remove the gag from Greg's mouth, longing to brush a kiss over those swollen lips.

Gil managed to hold himself back from kissing Greg, but he wouldn't let him go. Not until the paramedics got here, not until he'd carried Greg out of this house of horrors and delivered him safely into the hands of doctors who could tend to his wounds.

"You came back for me," Greg whispered, his words barely audible. Gil had to bow his head to hear what the young man was saying, but the words were like music to his ears. Greg recognized him. He hadn't been harmed to the point where he didn't know what was going on around him.

"Of course I did," Gil murmured, at once hoping that no one could hear what he was saying, and not caring if they did. Soon, everyone who knew him would know that he and Sara were in the midst of a divorce, if they didn't already. And they would know that he was with Greg.

That was, if Greg felt the same about him. He wasn't going to force his young love into accepting him; all he could do was hope that Greg returned his feelings, and if he didn't, then Gil would bow out gracefully and spend the rest of his life alone, mourning the love that he could never have.

But somehow, he didn't think that was going to happen. He was sure that his story with Greg would have a happy ending; but this wasn't the time to think about endings. This was only the beginning of their story. Only the first in a series of steps that would lead them into the rest of their lives.

"I never gave up," Greg told him, his voice so low that his words were still only audible to Gil. "I knew you would find me. I kept telling myself that this might be the day it was time for me to die, but I couldn't give up hope. I knew you'd be here. I knew it."

"And here I am," Gil whispered, longing to bend his head, just a few inches, and press his lips against Greg's. The look in those dark eyes told him that a kiss would be welcomed; for once in his life, he was going to throw caution to the winds and do as his heart dictated.

When his lips touched Greg's, Gil knew that this would never be enough. He would always want more; he would spend the rest of his life wanting to hold Greg in his arms, to touch him, to kiss him, to be with him. He would never get enough of this man, not if he lived for all eternity.

"I thought I was going to die here," Greg whispered, his lips barely moving against Gil's. The older man pulled back slightly, focusing his gaze on Greg's face, listening to what he had to say. "But you got me through it, Gil. I knew you wouldn't let me die."

"That's not going to happen," Gil said softly, raising one hand to wipe away the few tears that were slowly streaking down Greg's pale cheeks. "Not on my watch. You're safe with me, Greg. You always have been, and you always will be. Now and forever."

With those words, he turned to Nick, who was standing next to them with a blanket they'd brought to wrap around Greg. Gil lifted his love into his arms, making sure that he had a firm grip on Greg before he headed out of the huge room and back down the hallway to the front of the house and freedom.

***

Next story in series - Just When I Needed You Most.