Title: Realization
Author: carinascott
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Genre: Slash
Pairing: Warrick/Gil
Characters: Warrick Brown, Gil Grissom, and Jim Brass
Rating: FRAO
Summary: Gil is hurt in an explosion and looks for his lover in the aftermath.
Spoilers: All Seasons (just to be safe)
Warnings: none
Status: Complete
Disclaimer: I don’t own, please don’t sue.
Author Notes: This bunny was nagging me at work today, begging to be written. And then I realized that I haven’t written for Warrick/Gil in a while, so I’m fixing that oversight. Hope you guys enjoy!

~*~

As Gil sat in the back of the ambulance, being bandaged up, he realized how close he had come to losing his life. It wasn’t his death that scared him. He had never been scared of the thought of dying. No, he just wasn’t ready to leave Warrick. He loved him too much and he wasn’t ready to let that ended.

“All finished sir,” the young paramedic said, as she finished tending to his wounds.

“Thanks,” Gil replied to the young woman. As he stepped out of the ambulance, Jim Brass walked up behind him.

“How you doing Gil?” Jim asked as he put his notepad away. He could ask Gil any questions he needed to at the lab.

“I’m fine, Jim.” Running a hand over his face, Jim looked at his friend, “Have you—“

“Yeah, around the corner,” Jim interrupted, pointing to the side of the building across from the crime scene.

“Thanks,” Gil replied as he hurried off in that direction.

---

As he rounded the corner of the building, he paused. There sat his lover leaning against the building, head hung low, almost hidden by shadow.

Gil neared his lover quietly, knowing Warrick was probably upset with him for this latest occurrence.

“Ricky?”

Silence.

“Please Warrick, say something.”

Silence.

Standing next to his seated lover, Gil tried again. “I know I should have listened to you and not followed the officers inside until they had secured everything. I know it was against protocol, but I really didn’t want to waste time getting this bastard off the streets. Please Ricky, don’t be mad.”

Silence.

Kneeling next to his lover, Gil eyed him closely. He noticed the small tremors that wracked his lover’s body. Concerned overwhelmed him and he reached out to turn Warrick’s face towards him. When Warrick didn’t pull away, Gil lifted his face and whispered, “Please Ricky. Look at me.”

After a few moments of hesitation, Warrick opened his eyes and looked at Gil. The pain that glistened in the unshed tears gathering in Warrick’s eyes made Gil gasp. Then Gil pulled a shaking Warrick into his arms, rocking back and forth, whispering words of comfort in his ears.

“I’m here Ricky; I’m still here.”

As if a damn broke, Warrick began to sob uncontrollably, relying on his lover to hold him up. Gil’s heart broke as he comforted the man he loved more than life it self, hating that he had caused his partner so much pain.

They stayed like that for a long while, until Warrick’s sobs began to subside.

“Please Gil, don’t ever do that again,” Warrick said, voice barely above a whisper.

Breaking apart only enough so he could look into those eyes he had lost himself in so many times, Gil replied, “I won’t Warrick. I promise never to do that again. I’m so sorry.”

Leaning in to his lover, Gil took Warrick’s lips in a passionate kiss. They kissed for a long time, reaffirming their love for one another, imprinting on their souls that the other one was still alive, binding their hearts together once more.

When they finally broke apart, both panting, Warrick leaned back against the side of the building, pulling Gil to sit beside him. Lacing their fingers together, Warrick began to talk.

“When I heard that explosion, saw those flames and shards of glass, I was certain I had lost you. In those few brief moments, my world fell apart. It was like I was missing a piece of me. You know what they say about people who have lost a limb feeling phantom pain? Well, I know what they mean. In the half hour it took before they finally found you, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. There was this pain sitting in my chest that wouldn’t move, and no matter what I did it was still there. Then Jim told me they had found you and I still felt this agonizing pain. Not because I wanted you to be gone, but my mind just couldn’t process the fact that you were still alive. After the heartache I had experienced in the past few minutes it was like my body went into defense mode. Like if I didn’t believe you were alive then I wouldn’t have to go through any more pain once Jim realized they had made a mistake. And I know Jim would never tell me something like that unless he was certain, but my common sense wasn’t functioning right then.  Even seeing you as they rolled you out on that stretcher and the doctors began working on you didn’t change that. I think the pain grew even worse, because I realized just how excruciating my life would be if you weren’t here by my side. I don’t think I could survive losing you. And even if I could, I wouldn’t want to,” Warrick said, tears slipping down his cheeks.

Wiping the tears from his lover’s eyes, Gil kissed Warrick on the lips. “I’m sorry Ricky. I never wanted to put you through that. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. When that bomb went off, I knew I was dead, but that wasn’t what I feared. The thing I feared most was not waking up to you tomorrow. I was not ready to leave you, never will be. I have never felt so in sync or in love with anyone in my life. It’s like you are part of my soul, and thinking of being without you, even in death, was just too much. I swear to you Ricky, if it is in my power, nothing will ever take me away from you. I love you, Warrick.”

“I love you too, Gil,” Warrick said as he ran a thumb along Gil’s lips, before kissing him tenderly.

---

Jim was looking for his two friends. He had sent everyone ahead, with the promise that he would escort Warrick and Gil back to the lab. Rounding the corner, Jim smiled.

Leaning against the side of the building, sat his two best friends, holding hands, lost in their own little world. Turning around, Jim waited in front of the building, giving the lovers a few more minutes of privacy.

THE END