Title: Untitled
By: Caroline Crane
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG

"So I hear you used to play."

Travis shrugs, flashing that humble smile of his, but Nick's not buying it. Not when Travis showed up at the annual game wearing his old minor league jersey, like he wants everyone to know exactly what the new guy's bringing to the team. "Just a couple seasons in the minors. Then I blew out my knee and went back to college."

"What'd you play?"

"Shortstop, mostly." Travis isn't looking at him; he's messing around with his glove – his own, of course – and Nick can't decide if he's showing off or not.

"Yeah? I played college ball. A&M. Centerfield."

Another smile, and when Travis looks up Nick gets the feeling he's being laughed at. He can't prove it, but he knows how to read people and he's positive there's something mocking in Travis' grin. "So I guess the day shift doesn't stand a chance against us, huh?"

A second later he's gone, glove in the air to catch the ball Warrick tosses him. Catherine's watching him, laughing when Warrick calls out, "Nice catch," and then something about a secret weapon. And Nick's not jealous, but he doesn't get why everyone's making such a big deal out of the fact that the guy spent a couple years in the minors. It's not like they haven't won every year since Nick's been in Vegas, and they never needed Travis to do it.

"Getting pointers from the pro?"

Nick flinches at the sound of Greg's voice, tearing his gaze away from Travis' new fan club to glance to his right. "So he played for the minors, big deal. I could have gone pro if I wanted to, you know."

"Yeah?" And now Greg's grinning at him, the same look Travis gave him a few minutes ago and Nick knows he's being laughed at. "So why didn't you?"

"Because I wanted to do something that would make a difference," Nick answers, and it's not like it's a lie. He was a good ball player, but he was a better cop, and at the end of the day being a cop and later a CSI made him feel like he was doing something useful with his life.

For a second Greg just looks at him, and Nick braces himself for the joke he knows is coming. But it never comes; instead Greg shakes his head and shoves something hard into Nick's chest. "You left your glove in my car, superhero."

He pats Nick's shoulder once before he heads across the field, but Nick catches his grin before he walks away.