Title: Varying Shades of Grey
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas /CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 52_challenge
Prompt: 6, Black and white
Warning: on-going series
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 Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Nothing that he was dealing with was etched in black and white.

Greg frowned as he sat on the couch, staring down at the magazine open in his lap without really seeing it. He hadn't been concentrating on what he was reading.

No, he had been thinking about the eerie presence he'd felt around him at the last few crime scenes he and Ryan and worked. The one that he couldn't seem to escape.

That presence was always there, no matter where he went. The only place that it didn't seem to follow him was to the crime lab; when he was working there, he could concentrate on what he was doing, and he could focus on the things that were important.

Well, it didn't follow him home, either, he told himself, and that was a very good thing. But when he was here, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

That worried him more than he could say. He didn't want to forfeit his relationship, or his peace of mind, to whatever this might be that was haunting him.

Whatever it was, Greg knew that it wouldn't simply go away.

He was going to have to deal with this, and either exorcise it, or confront it face-to-face and have some kind of understanding with it. Those were his only choices.

He shook his head, wondering why he was thinking this way. What was he doing? he asked himself. There was no way he could "talk" to this presence. He wasn't even sure if it was real, for heaven's sake. For all he knew, he was just being paranoid and imagining it.

Though Ryan had said that he'd felt it, too -- so it couldn't just be his imagination running away with him. No, it had to be more than that.

Was he right about what he thought he could sense around him?

A shiver went down his spine at the thought. He didn't like thinking that there was some kind of presence that watched him on a constant basis.

How long would it be before that presence invaded the home he shared with Ryan, if it was around him while he was working? That couldn't be far behind.

That was really the last thing he needed -- he didn't want to feel that they were being watched while they were together, relaxing, or worse, when they were in bed making love. He didn't want to feel that they were being viewed, observed, and maybe even judged.

Just the thought brought a burning blush to his face. No, he definitely did not want whatever this might be to come into their safe, comfortable home.

But how could be make sure that it didn't?

Greg sighed softly, closing his eyes and giving up on trying to pay attention to the magazine in his lap. He had no idea how to confront this .... whatever it was, and he was sure that Ryan didn't, either. And also, there was yet another angle that he hadn't considered yet.

What if it wasn't some kind of presence, but a person who was watching him surreptitiously? What if it was one of the criminals he'd put away, who was now out of jail?

That thought sent yet another shiver down his spine. If that was the case, then he had a lot more to worry about that being paranoid about feeling a presence.

He knew that criminals were released from prison all the time -- and that several people who he'd helped to put away had been paroled. But he didn't think that any of them were stupid enough to come after him. As far as he knew, most of them weren't even living in Vegas any longer.

But that didn't mean that some of them couldn't seek revenge.

If that was the case, then what could he do to find out definitively if it was a person who he felt watching him, or if it was something else, something less black and white?

He knew that this was the idea he should go to Russell with; it would sound less crazy than him saying he could feel a "presence" and that his grandmother had passed clairvoyance on to him. He had to admit, that would make anyone look at him oddly.

Even though that was the truth, he didn't think it would go over too well with his boss -- or with the people he had to work with. He would probably be laughed at.

Russell might be willing to entertain the notion away from work, but when they were in the crime lab or at a crime scene, he usually went by the book.

But at least Russell didn't see things in black and white, either.

That was the kind of clear vision that he needed right now, the kind that Russell could offer. Maybe he could help with putting all of this into perspective.

Though even as Greg told himself that, a part of him doubted what he was thinking. Yes, Russell was a clear thinker, but he didn't know what it was like to sense this presence, to feel that he was being observed, to know that there was something hovering around him.

Or was that just his own paranoia taking him over? He sighed, shaking his head, wishing that he wasn't so close to the situation and could view it more dispassionately.

Still, he would talk to Russell about this. He felt that he needed to.

Should he talk to Sara, as well? Greg considered that, then discarded the thought. No, Sara saw things in black and white too much of the time. She wouldn't be any help here.

Neither would Nick. He might halfway believe in what Greg was saying, but in the end, he would lean more in the direction of science than the occult.

No, he wouldn't find any support from the people he worked with. They would probably try to make light of what he felt, or they would think that if there was a possibility of someone watching him, it was someone he'd dealt with before, someone firmly of this world.

But what he felt wasn't that black and white, and Greg knew it. He was sure that there was something more to this, and he was determined to find out if he was right.

The only problem was, there was a chance that finding out could put him -- and even Ryan -- into the path of danger, which was definitely not what he wanted.

How could he get some definitive answers without taking some risks, though?

The truth was, he couldn't. Greg sighed again, then took a deep breath. Well, he would have to find the answers by himself, that was more than obvious.

He could talk to Russell about this, but in the end, he was on his own. Nobody other than Ryan really believed in the paranormal, much less thought that he had some gift from his grandmother that made him more sensitive to it than most people. They'd think he was crazy.

Maybe he was, he told himself, sighing again. Maybe this was really just his own paranoia at work, and the paranormal had nothing to do with it.

But he didn't really belive that. He couldn't. Not with all that he'd felt.

Unlike others, he couldn't view this situation in black and white. There were too many shades of grey, varying and contrasting. He was right in the middle, too close for comfort.

For him, this wasn't black and white, an easily identifiable problem that he could solve after he'd thought about it for a while. It was something that came from deep within himself.

Greg wasn't sure just what he would do, but he knew that he had to talk to Ryan more about this, about his grandmother and all that she'd been able to sense, and about how he knew that her abilities had been passed down to him. They had to talk more in depth.

Ryan understood that this wasn't just a black and white situation. He was the one person who Greg could trust, the one who he could go to with anything.

Now that he'd told himself that, he actually felt better. He knew that he could count on his boyfriend for support, no matter what he might say or do.

Ryan would always be there for him. Ryan would be his rock.

Of course, Ryan might still think that he was a little crazy, but he knew that the other man loved him enough to believe in what he said.

No one had ever loved him like that before, and Greg was more grateful for his boyfriend's support than he could ever put into mere words. Ryan wasn't someone who would back away from him just because he was caught in a situation with a lot of shades of grey woven into it.

They still had to talk about this, but Greg was starting to formulate a plan in his mind. A plan that would give him a definitive answer -- or at least, he hoped so.

He didn't think it would be dangerous, but there was no telling what could happen.

Well, he'd talk with Ryan about it more before he made a final plan and put it into action, Greg decided. He didn't want to rush things. He needed to be sure about what he would do.

More than anything else, this situation wasn't black and white. There were a lot of varying shades of grey, and he didn't know whether they would end up being light or dark.

He just hoped that he and Ryan would make it through on the bright side.

And that they could put this behind them soon and get one with their lives together, he told himself, feeling yet another shiver trickle down his spine.

He ws tired of being caught in this situation, and he knew that Ryan was, too. He just wanted to find out what was causing this feeling he had, confront it, and find a solution.

Greg could only hope that the solution would be one that they both could live with.

***