Title: Time Slips Away
Author: Jaxson K.
Pairing: Nick/Gil
Disclaimer: I own Nothing!
A/N: This is set at some point in the future.

Nick sat on the deck thinking about work. He was going back after taking some vacation time, and called Greg for an update. Greg told him that everything had been relatively quiet while he had been gone. Greg went on to say the he had managed to keep up with most of the paperwork so Nick wouldn't have too much to do when he returned. Nick knew he had made the right decision in making Greg his assistant supervisor.

When Catherine had announced her retirement and had named Nick her successor, Nick in turn named Greg as his assistant. There were several new faces in the lab now, and Nick did his best to keep up. Wendy had gone to San Francisco and was working in the field. Hodges was a CSI Level 2, soon to be Level 3, Archie had left the lab and started his own computer security company, Mandy had become a leading expert in fingerprinting and was busy with lectures in addition to her work with the Vegas lab. Ray was wanting to go back to teaching, and Super Dave took over when Doc Robbins left.

Nick missed the folks that were gone, and was glad to hear from the ones who took the time to look up old friends. He missed Jim Brass most of all. Jim had finally retired, bought an RV, and was traveling the U.S. He called from time to time to check on Nick and Gil, and Nick was glad of that. Sara sent a card every now and then, but those cards came less frequently these days.

Nick had to smile when he went into the house. He could hear Gil fussing at the computer in the office. Gil swore that the new technology was out to get him. Nick made his way down the hall and peeked in the office. Gil sat there fuming and trying to get back to the screen he had accidentally navigated away from. Nick smiled and marveled at the sight before him. Gil sat there with his snow white hair and his ratty old bath robe. Nick noticed that Gil seemed to have gained more weight and more wrinkles. But, Nick couldn't say too much because he was paunchy and had more than a few gray hairs himself.

Nick made his way to their bedroom to take a nap. As he lay there dozing, he marveled at the fact that so much time had gone by since he and Gil had gotten together all those years ago. He never would have thought back then that they would have lasted this long, but here they were. God knows they had been through some serious stuff, but there had been some really beautiful times, too. Nick still thanked God that he still had Gil. As sleep claimed him, he thought about how quickly time slips away.

END