Title: Unwarranted Paranoia
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas /CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
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.

***

Greg couldn't hold back a smile as he thought of the past.

"What are you smiling at?" Ryan asked him, running a hand through Greg's hair. His smile mirrored the one on his boyfriend's face; he was obviously relaxed and happy.

And why shouldn't they be, after they'd awoken in the morning after making love twice last night? Greg asked himself, unable to hold back another smile at the thought of how he'd drifted off to sleep in Ryan's arms, feeling completely sated and happy.

He always felt that way when they made love, he told himself. Even when he had other worries on his mind, making love with Ryan could make them disappear for a while.

Ryan had that effect on him. Greg was sure that he always would.

"I was thinking about my grandmother," he told his boyfriend, turning his head to look at his lover. "I wonder what she would tell me about what we're dealing with."

"You mean the feeling that there's some kind of presence at some of the crime scenes we've been to?" Ryan asked with a slight frown. "Wait, no .... it's just that one, isn't it? I hope it's just one. I'd hate to think that you were getting that kind of sensation from other places we've been to."

Greg nodded, a look of uncertainty clouding his eyes. "Yeah, it's just the one place, but it's not just there," he mumbled, avoiding Ryan's gaze. "I feel like I'm being watched all the time."

Ryan's frown grew more pronounced, and he sat bolt upright in bed. "What do you mean, you feel like you're being watched?" he demanded. "Why haven't you told me this before?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry," Greg said, sighing softly and shaking his head again. "And I knew you would, Ry. You worry about me way too much. I didn't want to put that burden on you. We've both been working so much lately, and we've got a lot to deal with."

"You know I don't want you to carry around that kind of feeling alone," Ryan told him, his voice soft with worry. "Greg, you should have told me."

Greg nodded, sighing again, looking down at their clasped hands.

"I know," he said, unable to think of anything else to say. He couldn't defend the fact that he hadn't told Ryan every time he'd had that sensation of being observed.

But what he'd said was true -- he didn't want to make his boyfriend worry, or feel paranoid. Because a part of him wanted to believe that it was just unwarranted paranoia on his part, and nothing more. He didn't want to think that he was actually being watched.

Not that he hadn't dealt with that before -- but then, he hadn't thought that there was possibly some sort of supernatural element involved.

Now, he wasn't so sure. That was just the feeling he had.

"I want you to tell me whenever you get a feeling like this," Ryan told him, shaking his head. "Greg, we have to be able to talk to each other about everything."

"I usually do tell you when anything's bothering me," Greg said, wanting to be honest with his lover. "I just thought I was being paranoid, and that the feeling would go away. But it doesn't. It stays with me, and it feels like that feeling is even following me everywhere."

Ryan looked startled at those words; his green eyes widened, and his fingers tightened around Greg's, as if he was trying to hold his boyfriend even closer.

"I don't like the sound of that," he muttered, sounding worried. "Greg, you've got a kind of sixth sense about stuff like this. If you think you're being watched, then you probably are."

"Do you think I should go to Russell about it?" Greg asked, his eyes dark with worry. "I've thought about it, but I didn't want to make a big deal about something that could just be my own paranoia. But I've been feeling it more and more lately, and it's starting to worry me."

"I do," Ryan said succinctly. "And I think if you keep feeling that way, you shouldn't be going anywhere alone. I'm not going to let you risk your life."

"I don't have any intention of doing that, believe me," Greg told him, shuddering.

That was the last thing he wanted to do. He wouldn't take chances with his own safety -- or with Ryan's. They had too much going to for them, too much to live for.

"Okay, so let's go to Russell with how you're feeling when we go to work tomorrow," Ryan told him, pulling Greg into his arms and holding him close. "I'd rather people think that you might be paranoid than take the risk of that feeling being right and having something happen to you."

Greg nodded, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Ryan was right about this. They couldn't take chances. He should have talked to Ryan about this already.

But he was doing that now, so everything would work out.

It had to, he told himself fiercely. This feeling would go away. He'd find out that he was just being silly, and that sensation of always being observed could be explained away.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, letting himself relax into his boyfriend's arms and pushing any thought of being watched away, slamming an inner door on it. He wouldn't worry about any of this today. Not until they had talked to Russell.

It wouldn't be easy to explain his feelings to their boss, but somehow, he would do it. He didn't think that the older man would laugh at him. Russell wasn't like that.

At least, he hoped that was true. He didn't want to be seen as a flake.

Still, he couldn't help feeling that there was more to this than him just being paranoid. There was a presence hovering around him; he could feel it whenever he was out of the house.

Greg just hoped that the strange feelings he was having didn't follow him home one day -- because if some kind of presence entered their home, then he would really start to worry.

He'd think that he was going crazy, and so would everyone else around him.

No, he told himself. He wasn't going crazy. These feelings were real.

He just hoped that they wouldn't prove to be dangerous, as well.

***