Title: Cracks in the Veneer
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: Crimes, mission_insane
Prompt: 1, Trespass
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, unfortunately, just borrowing him for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg wanted to curse aloud as he paced the living room of his apartment, wishing that he didn't feel so trapped in his own home. He didn't dare go out; he was supposed to have a police escort everywhere he went, just in case his stalker tried to attack him.

Of course, the cops who were watching him were to stay at a discreet distance, keeping him in sight, but not interfering with his life. He wouldn't need them around when he was at work, but they were going to be in his home, keeping him protected until this guy was caught.

He hated feeling as though he was under a microscope, Greg thought to himself, scowling as he walked to the couch and sat down. The cops weren't even in his apartment at the moment, and he already felt as if he had eyes on him all the time.

It was the only way Jim Brass would allow him to stay in his own home, a little voice piped up in the back of his mind. And it was the only thing he could do, unless he wanted to leave his own home and stay in a hotel until his stalker was behind bars where he belonged.

He had no way of stopping this guy on his own, and it obviously wasn't safe for him to try to wait it out and hope that his stalker would simply get tired of the little game and leave him alone. Things had progressed far past that point, and it was time to call the cops in.

Greg didn't like to admit that he couldn't take care of himself in this situation, but if he was truthful with himself, he was terrified of how close this man had been able to get to him. He didn't want this to keep on escalating -- he'd seen the aftermath of cases like this before.

He didn't want to become one of those statistics, one of those people who was murdered by some person who had fixated on them. He was going to be one of those people who came through this experience with the satisfaction of knowing that he'd put a stalker in jail.

If only it was that easy, Greg thought with a shiver. He'd been shown just how easy it was for the man who was stalking him to get into his apartment, to trespass in his personal life, to find out everything about him with seemingly little to no effort.

It was terrifying to think that someone could trespass into his life like that. Greg closed his eyes, trying to suppress the shaking that threatened to manifest. He had never felt so vulnerable, so helpless, so unable to protect himself from an unknown threat.

The scariest thing was that he didn't know how this person had managed to get into his apartment -- or why they were so focused on him in the first place. He supposed they could have seen him at a crime scene, but somehow, that didn't seem likely.

Of course, they could be someone from his past, from when he had been more or less a carefree club kid who hadn't thought about the fact that he might attract some of the more undesirable denizens of Vegas. He hadn't thought about kind of thing; he'd just been having a good time.

But no, those days were long gone for him. He hadn't been out to clubs to party for a very long time. And if this was some person who had fixated on him from those days, it didn't make sense that their obsession with him had taken so long to come to the forefront.

He hated feeling this naked and vulnerable, knowing that there was nothing he could do to protect himself from this person other than hide behind the cops. But this had escalated to the point where he knew it wasn't something he could handle by himself.

All he wanted was for this to be over, Greg told himself, leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling. He felt like a rat in a maze, as though he was being carefully herded towards the place his stalker wanted him to be -- and he had no idea just where that place was.

Somehow, he couldn't help feeling that he was being manipulated, moved inexorably towards a place that his stalker wanted him to be in. That was a terrifying feeling -- and no amount of police protection was going to make it go away. That feeling surrounded him; it permeated the very air.

Greg raised his head to look around his living room, wondering how it would feel when there were two cops here to guard him. It wasn't as though the police department could really afford to have two cops assigned to him at all times, but he was one of their own, in a way.

No one was going to let anything happen to him, he told himself, trying to keep his inner voice strong and reassuring. But he couldn't help feeling vulnerable, and wondering if the sensation of being watched was ever going to go away. It still sent a cold trickle of fear down his spine.

This person had managed to get into his home, to trespass in his personal space. If they could do that, what else were they capable of? They might even now be laughing at the fact that he was trying to keep himself safe by having cops around. They might think nothing of that protection.

What if his stalker was out there right now, watching him? What if he was under surveillance, and the next time he went out, even just to go to work at the crime lab, he made himself a target? The shivering started again at the thought, making Greg wrap his arms around himself.

He'd managed to keep himself calm and rational about this ever since it started, but that was getting harder to do as time went on. The cracks in his veneer were starting to show -- and Greg didn't know how much longer he could keep up that appearance of outward calm.

He felt naked, vulnerable, helpless -- all the things that he didn't want to feel. He wanted to keep himself strong, but it was hard to do when he felt at such a disadvantage. This guy knew everything about him -- yet he knew nothing about the man who was stalking him.

He wasn't going to let this bastard get to him, he vowed, sitting up and clenching his fists at his sides. He was being ridiculous; of course the cops could protect him, and together with his colleagues at the crime lab, they would find out who this person was and bring them to account.

What if he was being watched right now? The thought made his shaking get worse, and he had to struggle to control it. The last thing he wanted to think about at the moment was the fact that his stalker could possible see him and know how rattled he was.

Greg closed his eyes, taking one deep breath, then another. His home wouldn't be invaded again. The cops were here to protect him, and he as being much more vigilant than he'd been before. There was no way this person was going to trespass into his personal space again.

Bad enough that it had happened once. Knowing that someone had been inside his home, some stranger who had a weird obsession with him, made him feel more vulnerable than ever, as if he'd been stripped completely naked in front of the person.

That was probably one of the things they wanted to see, Greg told himself, shivering again. Maybe the man had already seen him naked; if he was watching the apartment, that was more than likely, considering that he didn't always pull his shades down when he should.

Another thought occurred to him, one that nearly made him cry out aloud in horror. What if his stalker had been in his home when he himself was here, and watched him sleep? That didn't even bear thinking about; it was too frightening to even contemplate.

Taking another deep breath, Greg got to his feet. The cops would be here soon, and he was only making himself feel more unsettled by letting all these ideas get into his head. That was exactly what his stalker wanted -- to put him on edge, to make him feel victimized and violated.

He wasn't going to give in to that. He wasn't going to let the fact that this man had trespassed into his home once make him feel as though it would happen again. The cops would keep him safe, and they would catch this guy. He had to think positive, had to believe they would prevail.

Glancing out of the window, Greg heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the two cops who would be here today getting out of their car and walking through the parking lot. Hopefully, this would be over soon. He didn't know how much longer he could go without cracking under the pressure.

***