Home of Greg Sanders Slash Fiction
by buffyangel68
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7:15 THAT NIGHT
The dream came again; the one that had been gone so long, he'd begun
to believe it would never return. The pain, the helplessness, the
fear were all as present as they had been when it happened. He
struggled, battling so aggressively in his mind that his limbs jerked
and his head tossed in reality, but nothing changed. The dream
progressed as it always did. The words that eventually burst from his
lips were mumbled, but the scream was loud and clear.
"No... no, not again... God, no... stop... make it stop... Ahhh!"
"Nick?"
Waking suddenly, Nick whipped his head back and forth, gripping the
arms of the recliner as if the feel of the soft upholstery was
grounding and soothing to him. He looked to the sofa, expecting to
see Greg half sitting up, questioning why he'd been ejected from his
nap so rudely, but the younger man was kneeling beside the chair.
"Huh? What?"
"You're okay. Easy."
"Greg... man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up..."
"You didn't. I've been awake for... a few minutes."
"Long enough to have some tea, obviously."
"Half a cup. I put it down and... ran back in here... when you
yelled. Nightmare?"
"Uh... yeah."
"About when you were... a kid?"
"No... no, I never dream about that. I don't remember it, so... no
dreams."
"You don't remember? Why?"
Nick hesitated, unsure he wanted to get into it, but he eventually
responded, sensing that Greg was seeking connection and to put his
own lost memory in perspective.
"No clue. I think I blocked it out."
"Defense mechanism."
"Sounds right."
"Do you want to... talk about the dream?"
"It's nothing. It hasn't showed up in so long... Remember the cable
installer... the guy who was stalking me?"
"Your fall. Perfect reason to... have bad dreams."
"It went so fast in real life. I know I went out the window... I can
still feel the wood split... and the glass shatter against my back.
Then I woke up in the hospital. In between there's just blackness. I
don't remember hittin' the ground. Maybe that's why the dream goes
the way it does. That fall never ends. I just drop forever..."
"Wonder why it... came back now?"
"Don't know. I had my arm in a cast then too. Maybe my mind's
connectin' the dots..."
"Don't you hate... when it does that?" Greg joked, favoring Nick
with a light smile.
"Most definitely. You up for some soup?" Nick asked, lowering the
chair's footrest so he could stand up.
"I can get it. You hungry? I can... make you a sandwich."
"After that dream... I don't think so. Maybe later. Greg... can I
ask..."
"The lab? I barely knew what happened... at first anyway. I thought
maybe... I got scratched or... cut a little. In the hospital... after
the explosion... that's when it hurt."
"Cath still beats herself up over that."
"I know. That's who she is. I told her it... wasn't her fault... a
hundred times at least."
Nick was about to respond when the phone rang. He rose quickly,
striding to the kitchen to pick it up. Greg followed more sedately,
opening the cabinet to find a can of mushroom soup and searching in a
drawer for the hand-crank can opener while he listened to the one-
sided conversation. From the corner of his eye, Nick saw him wince
through the first couple of turns. Frowning, he took the device from
Greg and opened the can himself while he talked, handing everything
back once the lid was off.
"It's only... 7:30. You should still be... I know that. I know that
too, but... Okay. Yeah. Yeah, he loved it. Twenty bucks? Oooh...
sorry, boss man. Hey, never bet against Warrick. Maybe he's given up
the casinos an' all that, but the instincts never die... Okay. Yeah.
About half an hour'd be fine. Nah, we won't be ready to crash 'till
about 9:30. Okay. See you then."
"Grissom's coming over?" Greg asked over his shoulder as he dumped
the thick condensed soup into a sauce-pan, added a little milk and
turned the burner on low.
"Around 8."
"He's not sleeping?"
"I tried to chew him out. He brushed me off. Said he doesn't sleep
like everybody else an' didn't I have other things to worry about."
"That's our boss. What'd he want?"
"To know why you can sign. You wouldn't tell him while you were still
in the hospital an' it's been drivin' him crazy. He sounded
determined."
"Oh. I don't know... if I should tell him."
"Why not?"
"He might not like it. He doesn't think... anybody can read him... or
tell what he's thinking. He doesn't know... I watch him."
Nick tensed but hid his sudden anxiety well.
"You do?"
"All the time. He's my... mentor. He teaches me, encourages me...
slaps me upside the head when... I make mistakes. He's kind of
oblivious... to my hero worship... but I think I... like it better
that way."
"You think he'd get uncomfortable around you?"
"Exactly."
"You know what I think? You're sellin' him short." Nick countered. He
grabbed a soda out of the fridge and walked back into the living
room. Greg heard the TV click on and a nature program start in the
middle of a sentence about penguins. As he tended the slowly warming
soup, the young man thoughtfully pondered Nick's words.
------------------------------
8:10
"Hey, Gris. Come in." Greg greeted the older man, staying decidedly
in the background as Nick opened the door.
"Hi, Greg. You look good. The voice is better, too."
"Stronger all the time. C'mon... sit down."
Greg led Gil to the couch and plopped beside him studying his
fingernails, unable to decide how to start. Eventually he made a
beginning, though a voice in his head berated him for lameness.
"So... the signing thing."
"If you really don't want to tell me, I won't push... but I am
curious."
"I'm just worried... you'll be mad."
"Mad? Why would I be mad?"
"Because you're a... very private person. You don't notice... but I
watch you a lot."
"And you saw what the others didn't."
"I could tell something... was bothering you. After a while I...
figured out it was... your hearing. I started taking ASL classes...
so I could step up... and help you. I wanted to be ready... in case
the doctors... couldn't do anything."
"Greg... my God, I don't know what to say..."
"I know this is... awkward. It's okay. If you want me... to transfer
to... another lab or day shift... I will, I promise..."
"Whoa, you're getting way ahead of yourself, here. Tell me why you
were watching me."
"I learn from... what you do when... nobody's paying attention. Cops,
Ecklie's team... sometimes they relax... slack off when they... think
nobody's looking. Not you. I wanted to be... up to your level... so
you'd be... proud of me."
This admission rocked Grissom back on his mental and emotional heels
for a long moment. Finally, the noise of water running and dishes
clicking in the kitchen sink spurred him out of his vapor-lock.
"I am. I may not be able to show it, but I am. You're a consummate
professional, you're probably the best DNA tech in three states, and
I don't want you to transfer anywhere. I need to be sure you
understand something, though..."
"You're not perfect. I know. I've seen you get mad... when a kid gets
hurt... and the worse your hearing got...the more scared you were.
You're human... but it never interfered... with the job. That just
made me... respect you more."
"Wow. Courageous, unselfish, intuitive, compassionate... I think I
should start learning from you, Greg."
"No argument here." Nick agreed as he strolled up, drying his hands
on a dish-towel. Greg grinned and looked at the floor. Grissom stayed
until almost nine o'clock, talking to both men and subtly reassuring
himself that both were doing what was necessary to heal both their
physical wounds and those that were not so easily repaired. When Greg
began to yawn, Nick gently ended the visit, only a minute or two
before Gil himself would have done so.
"I was waitin' for that. Bed-time, Greggo."
"I'm fine." He retorted, hiding another huge yawn behind one hand.
"Right. You can have the bathroom first. Get goin'."
Greg scowled, but rose and moved off to follow orders.
"He's endearing when he regresses." Gil commented wryly.
"Yeah... he's actin' like a grade-schooler, alright. That's how I
know he's gettin' better."
"I almost forgot, Catherine left me a voice mail. The things you
asked for are out in my car."
"I'll walk you out."
------------------------------
CASCADE, WASHINGTON
"Chief? Blair, you home?"
Dropping his keys in the bowl that sat by their apartment door, Jim
Ellison nudged his remarkable hearing up a notch or two and located
his lover's heartbeat coming from the space that was once a separate
bedroom, but now served as office and work space for both men.
Pushing Blair Sandburg's pulse slightly into the background, Jim
detected sniffling and sobs and immediately headed for the office,
intent on learning what the problem was and easing the younger man's
pain if at all possible. He found his partner seated at the desk in
the far corner of the room, hunched over his laptop. "Hey, babe. I
heard you crying. What is it? You okay?"
"Yeah... it's my cousin Greg."
"The one in Vegas?"
"Uh-huh. I... I just got an e-mail from a friend of his... one of the
investigators he works with."
"Not good news, I'm guessing."
"Greg... he was assaulted two weeks ago. Two men beat and... and
raped him..."
"Oh, God... If he didn't send the message... did he make it?"
"Yeah, he survived... thank God. He was... according to his friend,
Greg didn't know how to tell me. He knows I worry about him... too
much, usually."
"You, a mother hen? Nah. Who'd believe it?" Jim teased gently,
wrapping his arms around Blair and drawing him close. "Does he say
why they waited this long to get in touch?"
"They didn't know about me. Nobody thought to ask him about his less
than immediate family until this happened."
"He's okay?"
"Yeah, The message didn't go into much detail. It basically said he's
out of the hospital and home." Blair said, looking up at his lover
and wiping away tears. "I need to go see him... make absolutely sure.
I won't feel right if I don't check things out in person."
"No problem. You can have the phone first."
"First?"
"The Captain has to approve the vacation time before I take it."
"But... you don't have to come. You're right in the middle of that
gun-running case and..."
"Are you kidding? I won't let you face something like this alone.
Besides, contrary to what my ego might like to believe, the Cascade
PD can easily do with out me for a week. Go call the university and
rearrange your schedule. I'll start packing."
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TBC.......
