Title: Someone to Love
By: kyrdwyn
Pairing: Gil/OMC
Rating: PG
Series: 1) I Never Stopped, 2) Mi Corazon, 3) La Otra Persona, 4) Desayuno, 5) His Business, 6) The Argument
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.

***

The bar wasn't that crowded for a Friday night. Robert had no trouble finding an empty table. He ordered a beer from the waitress and sat back to wait for his date to arrive.

"Captain Delgado."

He turned to see a young man standing behind him. The lights in the bar were dimmed, but not enough to hide the brightly patterned shirt and spiky hair.

"Mr. Sanders. How are you?" Robert got up and extended his hand to the young lab tech. "And we're off duty, you can call me Robert," he added with a smile.

Greg gave a brilliant smile back. "I'm good. Just enjoying my night off. Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Robert sat back down. Greg took the seat next to him. Robert was inwardly amused at the way Greg was looking at him. He waited, wondering if young Sanders was going to try hitting on him. He'd suspected, from the covert looks Greg gave when Robert was in the lab, that the chemist was interested. Robert didn't know if Greg knew for sure that Robert was homosexual, or was just fishing.

"So, what you do think of Las Vegas?" Greg asked.

"It's not Los Angeles, but it has its good points. Good people, good police department. I miss the beach, though."

Greg paused in sipping his beer and looked at Robert. "So why'd you transfer, if you prefer Los Angeles so much?"

Robert shrugged. "Wanted something different." Different? No, I wanted something -- someone -- familiar. Gil.

"Las Vegas is definitely different."

"Oh, yeah."

"Not a bad thing, though. A little more open than, say, Salt Lake City."

Robert raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, científico, I can't see you in Salt Lake City."

Greg smiled again. "College road trip. Me and a few buddies took it on a dare." He paused. "What did you call me?"

"Científico…it's Spanish for 'scientist'."

"Oh. Cool." Greg inched closer, a subtle move that Robert probably would not have picked up, if he hadn't been expecting it.

"So, what makes people in Vegas different from people in L.A.?"

"The hair," Robert said without a trace of emotion in his voice. Greg stared at him, not sure if the older man was kidding until laugh lines appeared on his face, followed quickly by a smile. Greg laughed and Robert joined in.

"Okay, seriously…"

Robert shrugged. "It's hard to compare, científico. People in Vegas seemed to have absorbed the energy here. Even the criminals. Los Angeles is a whole other culture."

Greg nodded. "We are a little different here in Vegas."

"A little?"

"Hey! I could make comments about Los Angeles cops, you know."

"I'm not a Los Angeles cop anymore."

Greg just smiled, and Robert smiled back. He had to admit, Greg was an amusing conversationalist; and it had been a long time since Robert had been flirted with. Sanders was definitely interested in Robert. A few years ago, Robert might have been interested in Sanders. But that was before Robert had realized, thanks to his sister Lupe and her endless matchmaking, that the only person he really wanted was Gil -- and he'd lost the chance with him due to his own stupidity.

Greg winced as the live band started up, a country band with a very twangy steel guitar. "Hey man, this place gets noisy when they start in on the Alabama songs. Wanna find someplace quieter?"

Robert took a sip of his beer to give him a moment to think. He needed to let Greg down easily. He didn't get a chance to speak.

"Is this seat taken?" a familiar voice broke in. Both Greg and Robert looked up to see Gil standing there, a closed expression on his face, a half empty bottle of beer in his hand. He sat down next to Robert, opposite Greg.

"Grissom, hey. I didn't know you were into the country scene man."

Gil took a sip of his beer. "I'm not."

"Oh." Greg looked at Robert, confused. Robert was frowning at Gil.

"How long have you been here?" Robert asked Gil softly, in Spanish.

"Long enough," came the English reply. "Please, don't let me interrupt your evening, though, if you have other ideas."

Greg frowned at Gil, wondering what Robert had said to him. He also wondered how many beers Gil had downed before coming over to the table.

"I don't have any other ideas for the evening."

"Funny, sounded that way. I wouldn't want to be a third wheel here." Gil started to get up from his seat, but Robert put a hand on the man's arm.

"There's nothing to be upset about," Robert said quietly, in Spanish again.

"Who says I'm upset?" Gil asked blandly. His eyes belied the quiet English words. Reflecting out of the blue orbs was anger and hurt. With a hint of insecurity.

Greg managed to keep his lower jaw in place, when it really wanted to find a sport on the table to rest. This was so totally not Grissom. He sounded like he knew that Greg had been hitting on the police captain - and he was pissed. Yet he wasn't pissed at Greg -- he was pissed at Robert. For Greg's flirting?

The proverbial light bulb went off over Greg's head as he watched Robert lean closer to Gil, murmuring softly in Spanish, and Gil leaning away, not looking at the other man. Oh hell, Greg thought. I was just flirting with my boss' lover. His next thought was how the hell did Grissom not show up on gaydar? Greg shook his head -- that was a silly question. The Great Wall of Grissom -- a stone façade that only cracked when the case got tough or the evidence was solid. Nothing personal was allowed to sneak through the mortar and stone.

Greg mentally shook his head. He would be the first to admit he had a thing for older men. Something about them -- probably their life experiences -- made them better lovers than men his age. They weren't as impatient, weren't as eager to move on to another experience. He'd had a crush on Grissom for a while, but never acted on it. As far as he knew, Gil was straight. He'd dated women.

Sighing, Greg finished his beer. Shot down twice tonight, in a way. He'd known, before Gil arrived, that Robert was going to turn him down. Greg appreciated the fact that the police captain was going to be diplomatic about it. But it still hurt. And now to find out that he could have had a chance with his attractive boss…

Greg leaned forward, looking Gil in the eyes. "I'm sorry, boss. I didn't realize Robert was taken." He stood. "See you tomorrow at work."

"Científico…" Robert's voice held a questioning note. Greg understood the unspoken question. He shook his head.

"Not my place, man. Not my place." He disappeared into the crowd.

Robert relaxed a little with Greg's reassurance. Granted, the number of people who knew about he and Gil was larger than he would like, but they all seemed to be willing to remain silent for Gil's sake. Robert knew it wasn't for him.

"Maybe you should have gone with him."

Robert slammed his bottle down on the table. "He's not my type."

"The 'científico' sure seemed to be."

"You're drunk," Robert accused.

"Not nearly enough."

"Like you never thought about young Mr. Sanders that way."

That got Gil to look at him. Robert caught his breath -- the anger and insecurity in Gil's eyes was intense and astonishing. In their eight years together in L.A., Gil had rarely gotten upset when others had flirted with Robert. He'd never been worried that Robert would leave him. Why was he so upset now?

"He is my subordinate," was all Gil said in reply.

"That's never stopped people before."

"He's not you."

Robert's hand stopped with his beer halfway to his mouth. "Araña…"

"Look, Robert, if you'd rather be with someone else, then just tell me."

What the hell is wrong with him? "Do you want me to leave?"

Gil rolled the bottle between the palms of his hands, his eyes focused on the brown glass. "I don't think I could survive losing you again, mi corazón," he finally whispered in Spanish.

Robert tilted his head slightly, resisting the urge to pull his hurting lover into his arms. The bar was too crowded for such an open display, so he settled for covering Gil's hand with his as he leaned forward to speak quietly.

"My sister Lupe is a hopeless romantic. Over the past sixteen years, she has tried to set me up with more potential wives than I can count. They were all nice women, but I never went on more than one date with any of them. I finally had to tell Lupe that I wasn't interested in women." Robert smiled. "Lupe didn't stop trying to set me up, she just changed focus."

Gil tried to pull his hand away. He didn't want to hear about Robert dating other men. Over the years, Gil had stayed away from that, preferring to appear normal and date women, until he realized it wasn't fair to any of them. His heart hadn't really been in it.

Robert held Gil's hand tighter, instinctively knowing that if he let Gil withdraw now, he'd lose him. For good.

"Lupe asked me to baby sit one night. When she came home, I was sitting on her couch, reading an article about the way you'd turned around the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Well, not reading, more like staring at the photo." He smiled. "Lupe asked me who you were."

Gil remained silent. He remembered that article. It had run about seven years ago. At the time he'd wondered if Robert would see it. That thought had been the only reason he'd agreed to the photograph. A secret hope that Robert would get in touch with him.

"She saw through whatever explanation I tried to give her. Lupe realized that I was in love with you. Nine years after that fight, and I was still in love with you. I was just too afraid to do anything about it. Too afraid to call, to write, to visit. Even with Lupe after me."

Gil was looking at Robert now, his eyes less guarded. Robert leaned forward, his lips inches away from Gil's ear.

"For over twenty years you've held my heart, Gil. The only way you can lose me is to stop loving me."

Gil turned, eyes suspiciously wet, but the anger and jealousy were gone. Robert recognized what replaced them. Hope and joy.

"You are my heart, Robert," he whispered back. "You always have been."

Across the bar, Greg continued to watch the two. It looked like they had made up. Or were at least on their way to making up, he thought as they paid the tab and left the bar.

Greg sighed, and wondered if he'd ever have someone to love and love him the way Robert and Gil seemed to love each other.

***

Next story in series - Shut Up and Kiss Me.