Title: When I Saw Him
By: 10th-letter
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: R
Summary: Greg looks back at his first day working with the LVPD and when he first laid eyes on the man who would later change his life.

Looking back, I should have known. How many times had I fallen for an amazing accent and killer brown eyes? Too many, really. I’ve been with him for years now, and nothing has matched that first incredible day when I first laid eyes on him. It was amazing. I know it sounds like some cheap movie cliché, but it really was like hearing birds chirping overhead. It was my first day working at the Criminalistics Bureau of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. I had gotten great grades at Stanford and graduated at the top of my class, but this was my calling, really. I would get to help put away bad guys daily. And all I had to do was match their DNA. I know, I know. How many kids sit back on their swingset at ten years old and say, in that high-pitched pre-puberty voice: “I wanna be a DNA analyst when I grow up!”? Well, I did. But, if you’re reading this, then chances are you know who I am. It was the boyfriend’s idea to post this on the internet. Not sure why, really. You’d think after what happened to him the last time something personal was posted about him on the internet, he’d be all against it. Oh well.

My name is Gregory Hojem Sanders and this is my story.

Wow, that sounded really melodramatic. Let me start again.

Hey, I’m Greg Sanders. This is the story of the first time I laid eyes on the sexpot known as Nicholas William Stokes. Or Nick to his friends. Or Sexy Cowboy to me. Or just Fucking Gorgeous.

Yeah, so, where was I? Yeah. I had just gotten the job at the LVPD Crime Lab and had met my supervisor Doctor Gil Grissom. The guy was a legend, this is going to sound really nerdy of me, but I used to read his papers in bed after lights out dreaming of a life in forensics. The guy was a God. So when I met him, I was kind of surprised by how gentle he was. Looking back, now that I know him well enough, I can laugh at his first words to me.

“Hi, Dr.Grissom. I’m a huge fan of your work. Your paper on the use of phenalthaylene in cracking the cold case of a fifteen year old abduction was practically gripping. Wow, I sounded like a fanboy. I’m sorry.” I said, stretching out my hand to shake his.

He smiled and shook my hand. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Sanders, welcome to the team. I’d love to stay and chat more, but my Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches need to be fed. If you’ll excuse me.”

He basically bowed. Seriously. Bowed. But that was nothing compared to when I met Catherine Willows.

I should’ve been surprised that her blouse was so low cut working in a crime lab, but now that I know her background, I’m really not all that shocked. I had just slipped on my labcoat for the first time and was trying not to grin that much when she came into the lab. I may only be partially heterosexual, but my eyes do get drawn to boobs. I’m only human.

“See something you like?” she asked, her voice sultry and smooth.

“I – um –I-“ I stammered.

She actually laughed. “It’s alright, kid. I’m married with a daughter. I was just kidding around. Name’s Catherine Willows. You must be the new DNA tech. I have to say, you’re a lot cuter than the old one.”

I vaguely remember blushing and muttering a thank you.

“Have you met everyone else yet?” she asked.

“No. Just Dr. Grissom. He made some comment about his cockroaches and ran off though.”

“You get used to that. Just be careful when you open up the fridge in the break room, he keeps his experiments in there. C’mon, I’ll show you around.” Catherine grabbed me by the hand and dragged me around the lab, introducing me to the other lab techs. One of them, the A/V tech, Archie winked at me as we left. Although, I think that was more out of some geek code than anything else. She pulled me into the break room where I saw two guys sitting next to each other. One tall, black guy and the other, well, I could only see the back of his head.

“Hey guys, new meat. This is our new DNA tech… What did you say your name was again?” she asked.

“Greg Sanders.” I said, extending my hand to the first guy to stand up, the big, black guy.

“Hey man, nice to meet you. Warrick Brown.” He shook my hand, damn he had a strong grip. “How’re you liking it here so far?”

“It’s nice, a little hot, but I’m from California, so I’m used to it, you know?” I said, nervously.

Warrick smiled. “California, huh? And you’re out here in Nevada? What about all the hot beach babes?”

“Oh, all that bleach blonde hair and fake boobs get old quick.” I joked. Then the other guy spoke. He turned around and looked in my eyes. I wish I could say my first thoughts on seeing him were eloquent, but really, all I was thinking was “Holy shit he’s hot!” He walked over to me and looked at me with this huge, rockstar grin on his face.

“So you came to Las Vegas to find true love?” he asked with this incredible southern accent.

“What can I say? I’m a romantic.” I replied. He laughed and shook my hand.

“Nick Stokes. Nice to meet you, Greggo. I only started here a few months ago myself. Transferred from Dallas. Maybe we can show each other the ropes.”

“Cool. Just don’t tie me up like a rodeo steer, Tex.” I joked. Nick faked offense and led me out of the lab. I heard Catherine say to Warrick something along the lines of “Did Nick just check out the new DNA tech’s ass?” I was too busy focusing on the fact that Nick had his right arm draped over my shoulders. As he led me around the building and showed me all the various labs.

~~~~

It’s been eight years since that day and Nick and I are now officially boyfriends. We hit a rough spot a while back, but we worked it out. He told me to write this because he wanted me to look back at how far we’d come. He said he wanted me to get retrospective because he had something he wanted to tell me. I hope it’s good. I mean I think I saw a ring box in his dresser drawer the other night, but I’m not sure. His sister’s birthday is coming up.

If you had asked me, twenty years ago if I thought I would be happily dating the most incredible Texan to ever wear the accent, I would have laughed. Of course, back then I laughed at everything. I was a weird kid. But that’s a story for another day. If you play nice, maybe I’ll tell it to you.