Title: Taking Time
By: Tiffany F
Pairing: Gil/Nick/Greg
Rating: AO
Series: part of the I Swear series
Summary: Gil was upset. He could have done something different, couldn't he? ***SPOILERS*** Season 7 Monster in the Box. Part of the "I Swear" universe. Set between Welcome Home and Rings Bind Us. I don't own them and don't claim 'em.

Nick found Greg changing in the locker room and paused in the door just long enough to enjoy the view without being obvious. Greg was changing out of the suit and into his work clothes for the night. The Texan grinned and made his way quietly up behind his younger lover. “Now that’s a sight I wouldn’t mind seeing on our bed at the end of shift,” he whispered. “How much?”
 
“For you,” Greg replied, grinning, “free, providing you manage to convince our hard-nosed boss to come along.”
 
“That could be arranged,” Nick said. He straddled the bench and raised his voice. “I’m a little concerned about Grissom, man; I think he’s obsessing again.”
 
“Why?” Greg finished buttoning his shirt, closed his locker and sat down facing Nick. “What have I missed?”
 
“Nothing definite but I overheard him talking with Sophia about how we could’ve had a month to work with this new crime scene,” Nick said, lowering his voice again. “And how we could’ve had more time if he hadn’t gone away.”
 
“We’ve got to do something,” Greg said. “But what can we do?”
 
“Nothing here because Hodges is dogging Grissom’s office like every ten minutes and I don’t think he’d appreciate anything else,” Nick said. “So can you do a recreation of night one by the time Grissom gets off work?”
 
The younger man nodded. “Absolutely, I’ll be able to get out of here early and have everything taken care of for you,” Greg said. “Will there be anything else?”
 
“Yeah, but I’ll tell you later,” Nick replied, his eyes darkening with lust. “I’ll just have to surprise you.” He grinned and left.
 
Greg watched him go, admiring his lover’s ass in his jeans. “Or maybe I’ll just surprise you,” he muttered, plotting.
********************
 
Gil was looking through the miniature crime scene again when someone tapped on his door. “In or out Hodges,” he sighed, not looking up.
 
“Hey now,” Nick said, shutting the door behind him. “Is there something I should know about? Should I be worried?”
 
“Nicky,” Gil said, pulling off his glasses. “That man has been haunting my office all night and I’m getting sick of him.”
 
“I think you’re just getting sick period,” Nick replied. “You’ve done all you can, Gil; you need to go home and rest. Come back with fresh eyes tomorrow.”
 
“This is all my fault, Nick, I need to work on this,” Gil sighed. “There has to be something that I missed.”
 
Nick sighed and moved over towards Gil’s desk. “Gil, listen to me, at least come with me for a cup of coffee,” he said. “Just an hour, take a break and rest your eyes; do you want to get a migraine your second week back?” He moved in closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Let me take care of you, Gil. Come on, please?”
 
Gil leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. “I guess you’re right, Nicky,” he finally said. “Just let me pack up my bag and I’ll be ready to go.”
 
“Thank you,” Nick smiled.
********************
 
“I thought you said coffee, Nicky,” Gil said, looking over at his lover as they parked in their garage.
 
“I did, I just never said where,” Nick replied, smirking. “Now I want you to go shower and then come to bed. Let Greg and me take care of you.”
 
“Okay, Nicky, I bow to your superior morals,” Gil said, a hint of a smile in his voice. He dropped his things on the sofa and made his way to the second floor where he could already hear water running in the master bathroom. He’d missed his boys so much while he was away and now that he was home, Gil didn’t want to leave again. He stripped and stepped into the shower that was set at his perfect temperature. He sighed and picked up his soap and a wash cloth. Now he knew why Greg had gone home early. His Texas partner had set him up yet again, and somehow, Gil just couldn’t find it in his heart to be upset.
 
Gil spent a good half hour in the shower just letting the cares and woes of the shift wash down the drain with the dirt from the day. Then he turned off the water and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist and took his ring from his shelf in the cabinet and slipped it on his left hand. He knew he had to figure out a way for them to all wear their rings all the time. Gil had gotten so used to the weight on his hand that he found himself looking down at his hand at odd times to figure out where it was. He also knew it was only a matter of time before someone noticed and worked out what was going on.
 
“Greg,” Gil said, looking around at their bedroom. “This is too much.”
 
“Not for you,” Greg said, running a hand down his bare chest. “Nothing is too much for you, ever Gil.”
 
Nick pressed up against Gil and ran his hands down to his lover’s waist. “We love you, Gil,” he whispered, kissing Gil’s neck gently. “And we just got you back; we don’t want you working or worrying yourself to death.” He undid the towel and moved Gil towards the bed.

Greg rolled to the side and up onto his knees. “So what should we do first?” he purred. “Massage or would you prefer option number two?”
 
“And what is option number two today, Greg?” Nick asked, picking a couple of rose petals off his knees. “And the flowers are a little too much.”
 
“Nothing but the best for Gil,” Greg replied. “And number two, Nicky is where we kiss and suck and lick every inch of Gil’s body until he’s moaning and writhing under us and then we take him, slowly and lovingly until he can’t think or walk straight.”
 
Gil groaned and rolled over onto his back, spreading his legs and arms, offering his body to his partners. Nick and Greg looked at each other and smiled. Greg moved over to Gil’s left while Nick stripped off his boxers and took Gil’s right. It had been a while since they had done this to Gil and it took a couple of minutes for their coordination to return.
 
He moaned as two pairs of lips feathered over his face, tickling but not giving him the contact he so desperately wanted. As he reached for them, his lovers caught his hands and pressed them back onto the bed.
 
“Shh,” Nick whispered, breath ghosting over Gil’s neck. “Let us take care of you; this night is for you and only you.”
 
“No,” Gil replied. “It should never be about just one of us.”
 
Greg laughed and licked around Gil’s ear. “It never is,” he said. “We love taking care of you, especially since you don’t want to take care of yourself.”
 
“We’re all equal here, Gil,” Nick said. “Do you need to talk to us? What’s bothering you so much?”
 
The younger men made eye contact and snuggled down against Gil, each resting their chin on his chest and looked up at him. Gil started chuckling. “We should buy you collars, you’re both so good at those puppy dog eyes,” Gil snorted. “I guess I’m just trying to work through the emotions involved with this case. If I’d told you to open the box, Nicky, then we would have had the full month to work on it.”
 
“Hey, we’ve been over this before,” Nick said. “You can’t see the future any more than the rest of us can. And you can only do so much. If you hadn’t taken a serious vacation you would have gotten sick and we could have lost you. Even with the short time frame you still managed to find the answers we needed. There was nothing in the model than indicated we needed to check the fireplace. You couldn’t have prevented this, no matter when we opened that box.”
 
“I want to believe you, Nick, Greg,” Gil sighed. “But some part of me is saying that I screwed up.”
 
“That’s the Ecklie voice,” Greg said. “Don’t listen to it, Gil. Please don’t because then you’ll just get more gray hair and as sexy as it makes you look, you don’t need to be worrying yourself to death. We will find this guy. Now, it seems to me that we promised you something special.”
 
“One track mind,” Nick snickered.

“You’re one to talk, you almost jumped me in the locker room,” Greg replied.
 
Gil laughed and reached for Nick. They’d find the way, and the answers, eventually and together.