Home of Greg Sanders Slash Fiction
Title: Northern Vacation
Author: Tayla
Fandom: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation/Sentinel crossover
Pairing: Gil/Greg, Jim/Blair, Greg/Blair, Gil/Jim
Rating: NC17
Category: Drama, Romance, Smut
Status: Complete
Archive: Please ask first.
Feedback: Yes, please. All constructive criticism will be graciously accepted.
Email: [email protected]
Authors Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/tayla36/index.html
Series/Sequel: I'm already working on a sequel called "Vegas Vacation"
Disclaimers: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its characters belong to Anthony Zuiker and CBS broadcasting company. No infringement is intended and the author makes no profit.
The Sentinel and its characters belong to Pet Fly Productions and Paramount Network Television. No copyright infringement is intended. The author makes no profit and exists solely on the accolades from fellow fans.
Authors Notes: Written in response to Peja's "Secret Fantasy" challenge.
In the universe of this story, Gil and Greg have been a couple for about five months.
Blair has gone through his academy training and has been a detective and Jim's 'official' partner for two years. They have been a couple for about a year.
Thanks to my beta readers Melodie, Bobbie, RapierWit and kyrdwyn
Summary Grissom teaches a forensics seminar in Cascade, Washington and takes Sanders along to help. Afterwards they go camping with Jim and Blair.
Spoilers CSI episode "Slaves of Las Vegas" Sentinel episodes "Pilot (Switchman)" "Sentinel, Too" and "The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg" and my own CSI fic "Just For Today"
Warnings: Whole lotta Slash going on here, folks!! There is some voyeurism/exhibitionism and partner swapping sex in the great outdoors.
Northern Vacation
By Tayla
Part One
Tuesday May 21,2002 9AM, Cascade Washington Conference Center
(Gil's POV)
"Good morning. My name is Gil Grissom. This is my assistant, Greg Sanders. We're here to conduct this three-day seminar on the role of forensic science in police investigations. We'll be concentrating mainly on homicide investigations. I know that most of you are Homicide or Major Crimes detectives. I'm a forensic scientist. The science behind everything that I do is sometimes complicated, but you don't need to understand all the science, that's why you have criminalists. You do need to understand how the forensic investigation ties in to the rest of the detective work that you all do on a regular basis�"
I continued with my lecture as I scanned the faces in the room. Some looked interested, some looked bored. There was even one fellow in the back row that was snoring. I hate when that happens. I've been told that my seminars are interesting. In fact people that meet me at seminars are quite surprised that I'm not so personable once I get off the stage. The guy in the back row isn't so impressed. I've given this same seminar a dozen times in the past few years. The words just roll out of my mouth by rote, while I continue to appraise my audience. But my voice faltered when I came to a face that I thought I knew.
It had been almost twelve years. He had less hair and more 'laugh lines' than the young man that I had known. Was it him? He noticed my attention and his face broke into a broad grin. My god, of course it was him. That grin still had the power to make my knees weak. I realized I had stopped talking and Greg was looking at me strangely. "Sorry," I apologized to the crowd. "I just saw a face that I recognized." I looked down at my notes that I almost never use anymore, found my place and continued with the lecture.
(Blair's POV)
I looked at my partner out of the corner of my eye. "What are you grinning at?" I whispered to him, sentinel soft. His grin just got wider. "I'll tell you later." he whispered back to me. I turned my attention back to the lecturer. Something about this man had captured Jim's attention and I felt a twinge of jealousy. Judging by Grissom's comment about seeing a face he recognized I surmised that Jim was at least acquainted with the man. But judging by the smile on my partner's face it was more than a simple acquaintance.
Jim didn't smile like that for just anybody. In fact the last time he smiled like that for anyone but me, an old lover of his had been in town. A male lover. And he was smiling at this man the same way. I glanced over at Jim and saw that he was squirming and fidgeting in his seat. I bet that if I had Sentinel senses, I would be able to detect pheromones coming off the big man. The jealousy flared again and I frowned down at Grissom. Jim was still smiling slightly, so I tried to look at the criminalist with a less critical eye, trying to see him as Jim did, if they had been lovers.
Grissom was managing to make forensic science interesting; but then again I can get interested in any subject. Always trying to fill up the brain. Much as I loved being a detective, I missed my academic life, and these police seminars allowed me to indulge my love of learning. I put my multi-tasking abilities to work and kept part of my mind focused on the lecture, while the rest of my mind focused on the lecturer.
He had a natural grace and a flair for teaching that I had to respect, being a former teacher. He was holding the interest of these hard bitten, cynical cops easily. Except for Henri snoring in the back row, but he had an excuse. He had been on stake out most of the night. I noticed that Rafe hadn't even shown up. Henri should have followed his lead and just stayed home today. Snoring through a lecture was just so not cool.
Anyway, back to Grissom. Physically he was quite attractive. Almost six feet tall with piercing blue eyes. Curly salt and pepper hair, almost white at the temples, gave him a distinguished, older man vibe. But the occasional smile he displayed gave him a younger, almost boyish appearance. Then I noticed that he only seemed to smile when his eyes met Jim's, and the jealousy flared again. I turned my attention to the other man on the stage.
He was setting up various displays that I assumed would be part of the seminar after Grissom got through with the introductory material. Visual aids were always a good teaching tool, whether the student's were six or sixty. The other man was young, younger than I was, with brown eyes and short brown hair. When he turned his head I could see that there was a stripe shaved into his hair above his left ear that gave him a kind of a punk appearance, and I grinned.
This man might be a kindred spirit, using his hair as a statement of his individuality. I wondered if this young man�Sanders? Was that his name?�was more than just Grissom's assistant. I wondered just how well Jim and this Grissom guy knew each other. I wondered if I would get the chance to know Grissom and Sanders better. Damn, my imagination was really running away with me. Just because my partner and I were screwing, didn't mean that every pair in law enforcement that I ran into was screwing. I had a sudden incongruous thought about the nature of partnership, and the trust that builds between two people that face life and death together on a regular basis.
Hmmm, that could be an interesting research topic and I wondered how feasible it would be for me to start discreetly interviewing detectives and see how many of the people I knew were involved in homosexual relationships with their partners. Yeah, and I wondered how long it would take for someone to deck me.
Anyway, back to Grissom and Sanders. Were they or weren't they? Maybe. I noticed that Sanders seemed to cringe every time Grissom smiled at my Jim. He wasn't any happier about it than I was. Well, it was time to put some of my newfound knowledge to good use. What evidence did I have? Item one: Grissom and Jim smiling at each other across a crowded room. Oh man, I sound like a bad romance novel. Item two: At the beginning of the lecture, seeing Jim had distracted Grissom enough that he had to refer to his notes. Well that's not unusual. Jim is a striking man. Item three: Jim was grinning like an idiot and squirming in his seat. Item four: Sanders was glaring daggers in our direction every time Grissom smiled at Jim. Item five: My eyes were turning greener every time that Jim smiled at Grissom. I knew it wouldn't hold up in court, but I jumped to the conclusion that Grissom and Sanders were knocking boots and Jim and Grissom had knocked boots some time in the past. And if Grissom and Jim didn't stop grinning at each other neither of them would by knocking anybody's boots that night. I sighed to myself.
It was going to be a long couple of days.
(Greg's POV)
As soon Gil called the lunch break, I saw the detective that he had been smiling at all morning stand and make his way to the podium. God, he was tall. And buff. Legs for days were shown off to good advantage by the faded jeans he was wearing. And the tight black T-shirt clung to his massive chest and tight abs like it was painted on. I almost forgave Gil for the staring that he had been doing all morning. The detective stuck out his hand to greet Gil, and I was shocked as hell when Gil let himself be pulled into a one armed hug against that granite chest. The longhaired hippie type guy that had followed the guy to the stage didn't look any happier about the hug than I was. I assumed that these guys were partners.
Hippie dude stood there with his arms folded across his chest glaring at Gil and Superman and if looks could kill, I'd be shopping for a new lover. Of course the looks I was giving this stranger could have scorched metal. They broke the hug, but Gil didn't let go of the guy's hand.
"Gil, how've you been?" The stranger spoke.
"You mean recently, or the whole twelve years since we've seen each other?"
Was that MY Gil? Flirting? There was no mistaking that light teasing tone that I usually heard only when we were alone together. What the hell?
Superman chuckled, and then he stiffened as if he could feel his partner's eyes drilling holes into the back of his head. "Um�Gil this is my partner Blair Sandburg. Blair, this is Gil Grissom."
"You know I did catch his name. Unlike some of us, I was actually paying attention to the lecture." Superman cringed a little at the tone of Sandburg's voice and I thought 'yes, score one for the little guy.' I took a closer look at the little guy. He was a bit shorter than I was, maybe five feet seven. He had gorgeous deep blue eyes and curly chestnut brown hair down to his shoulders. Hair that long was unusual to see in a police detective and I had a sudden urge to run my fingers through it. Whoa, where did that come from? I'm trying to stay mad at Gil for ogling muscle man, and here I am ogling hair boy.
Gil put out a hand to greet the younger man and then turned on that boyish grin that he shows so seldom. The icy look on Sandburg's face melted a bit and he returned the greeting, smiling shyly at my Gil in response. Didn't I feel like the odd man out? I cleared my throat noisily. Gil glanced at me over his shoulder just in time to see the glare that I tried to wipe of my face. He motioned me forward with an offhand gesture, like he was summoning a servant and my guts froze up.
"Jim, this is my assistant, Greg Sanders. Greg, this is an old friend of mine, Jim Ellison."
"Hey." I nodded rather sullenly and ignored the man's attempt at a handshake. Gil shot me a puzzled look like he couldn't understand why I was upset. And I suppose he didn't understand. His people skills are really abysmal. I suppose he didn't realize that he and Ellison were throwing off major sparks all morning. And I suppose he didn't realize that I would find that disturbing. I suppose he didn't realize that every time he smiled at this tall, built, handsome, charming detective, it made me feel ugly and small and insignificant.
Damn, what the hell was wrong with me? In a few short moments, I had gone from jealous and angry to sad and pathetic and verging on tears in front of my lover and two perfect strangers. Oh hell, I sound like a bad romance novel. I tried to redeem myself with conversation. "So, how do you and Gil know each other?"
Gil interrupted. "Why don't we catch up over lunch?"
Ellison smiled. "Good idea. You guys up for Italian?"
Ellison and Gil continued to chat as they headed toward the door, assuming that Sandburg and I were following them. I looked at Blair and saw my own jealousy mirrored in the detective's eyes. He met my gaze and understanding seemed to flow between us at that moment. He gave me a small ironic smile.
"We better catch up with them before they get to the truck, " he said.
"Yeah." I agreed. "It's entirely possible that they won't realize that we're not with them and leave without us.
(Jim's POV)
"So, how did you guys meet?" Blair repeated the question that Sanders had asked earlier. My lover's eyes were flashing anger as he looked at me for the answer. Man, he gets upset when he doesn't know something.
"It was in 1990, while I was just about finished at the police academy in Washington. I was finished with the other course work and the weapons training."
"Which you aced, of course." My partner butts in.
"Of course" I agreed cheerfully. "For forensic training, cadets were sent out to various police departments."
"So they farmed you out to Las Vegas?" Blair's natural curiosity was getting the best of him. He asked questions as easily as breathing.
"No. I was working in San Francisco at the time." Gil answered. "I was in charge of CSI training for the SFPD. The academy sent me four cadets to put through the wringer."
Greg put his two cents in. "So you guys became friends?" He sounded skeptical. I couldn't blame him. At first glance it didn't seem as if Gil and I had anything in common.
"We got along pretty well. I was a lot older than the other cadets were. I went to the police academy after being in the army for ten years."
"He started hanging out with me for self-preservation. Remember Jim? Those kids were driving you crazy."
"Oh yeah. Not one of them over twenty-one. And all they could think about was getting done with work, going out and picking up chicks."
"And apparently, you were of a different mindset." Sanders spoke up, giving me a sarcastic grin over the rim of his glass.
I ignored the innuendo and answered, "Yeah, I was actually trying to learn something."
"Oh, so you were trying to be teacher's pet?" This comment from Blair, who was also grinning evilly across the table at me.
Talk about youngsters getting on my nerves! Blair and Sanders seemed determined to give us all heartburn with their sniping comments. I turned my attention to Gil, trying to ignore the chill coming at us from the two younger men.
Christ, it was good to see Gil again. He still looked good. His hair had gone gray, but it was still thick and curly. I used to love sinking my hands into that hair. So I have a hair fetish. He was also a little thicker around the middle than he had been, but he was never as active as I was. He was an intellectual. So I have a weakness for intelligent men, too.
We spent the whole meal talking. A little bit about old friends we used to have in 'Frisco that neither of us had kept in touch with, but mostly about interesting cases we had seen. We had more to talk about than we used to. Neither one of us had been fond of talking back then. Our relationship had been more about letting go of work, not discussing it. But since these Sentinel senses had come online, I had a better knowledge of forensic science. Blair sometimes calls me a walking crime lab.
That's another change from twelve years ago. Blair. He has made a profound difference in my life. He's taught me to open up. To not keep my feelings bottled up. I don't think Gil ever got to know the real me. I was always withdrawn and repressed. So was he.
But today we were both being chatty. Something's happened in his life to open him up a bit, too. I wondered if it had anything to do with the young Mr. Sanders. Judging by the scowls I was getting, Greg was not happy about sharing Gil's attention.
I glanced over at Blair to see how he was doing. He wouldn't look at me. Uh oh. I was in big trouble. My lover was not a happy camper. I reached for his leg under the table and he pulled away from me. That's when I realized I had really been ignoring him all morning. I didn't mean too. I was just so pleased to see Gil again. I guess I always regretted that my relationship with Gil hadn't lasted, that I hadn't been good enough to make it work. Somehow I didn't think that Blair would be sympathetic about that. After all, if Gil and I had worked, Blair and I wouldn't be together. Then I had another realization. There was no way that Gil and I would have ever worked out, even if we had both been open and giving all those years ago.
Blair and I were fated to be together. He was my salvation, my destiny, and my reason for living. Jesus, I sound like a bad romance novel. But I do believe that. We are soul mates and our Sentinel/Guide bond is stronger than any other fleeting romances either of us have had in the past. I had to remind Blair of that. I guess I had a lot of making up to do if I didn't want to wind up sleeping on the couch tonight.
I started making plans in my head on how win back Blair's affections. Maybe a bubble bath. Maybe a backrub, I can turn him into a little puddle of goo with one of my backrubs. Or maybe I'll just let him stay angry. Provoke him with stories about Gil and me until he gets jealous enough to take it out on my ass. Angry jealous sex is just as good as mushy romantic sex.
Everyone thinks that Blair is this easygoing, laid-back, neo hippie kind of guy but I know better. Something is threatening his territory and he's not going to let that pass. I don't think that I'm going to get away with the bath and the backrub. Blair's going to have to assert his ownership to feel secure in our relationship. It's going to be an interesting evening at the loft. I hope I'm able to sit down tomorrow.
(Gil's POV)
As we headed out to the truck after lunch, Jim seemed to be much more solicitous of his partner. I realized that Jim and I had dominated the conversation in the restaurant, and we had been speaking almost exclusively about our past together. Sandburg had to be feeling left out and jealous. Jim had tried to drape his arm around Sandburg's shoulders, but the younger man had shied away from the touch. That's not a good sign. I hadn't intended to come between Jim and his lover, and I was assuming they were lovers. There was just too much anger and jealousy there for them to be simply partners.
Then I really thought about what I was seeing. I watched the interaction between the two, and then I watched Greg's retreating back as he walked around the vehicle to get in the other side. For a well-educated, intelligent man, I can be a real idiot sometimes. I took a closer look at my young lover's face as I got into the back seat beside him. As opposed to Sandburg's reaction of anger and jealousy, my Greg looks upset and sad. I look a little closer. His face is flushed, he's pointedly not looking at me and he's blinking more often than he should.
Oh God, he's trying not to cry. My unthinking, unfeeling behavior has driven him to the edge of tears. I am an idiot. Greg is the best thing that has happened to me in my miserable life. In the past I had rejected him. Twice. And he still wanted me. He still wanted to be a part of my life. Once I let him in I discovered that despite our age difference, we had a lot in common, like our education and science background. We had a lot more in common than Jim and I ever had.
And we had plenty of differences too. Not unusual considering that there was almost twenty years between us. The differences made life interesting. Much more interesting than my relationship with Jim had been. I had to face it. My 'relationship' with Jim had been nothing more than two mildly attractive, but emotionally repressed men getting sweaty. It had nothing to do with love. It wasn't even about friendship. He was a nice enough guy but when he went back to Washington, there were no tears. Neither one of us made any effort to keep in touch. That's not friendship. That�s just a fling.
On the other hand, if Greg were to leave me, I do believe it would devastate me. In a few short months he has totally taken possession of my heart. Apparently he hasn't realized it yet, if he thinks I would throw him over for a man that I made no effort to keep twelve years ago. I need to fix this fast.
"Greg?" I say softly, trying to preserve some privacy. Which was quite hard to do, considering Jim and Sandburg are right there in the front seat with no conversation to distract them from what's going on back here. Greg stares straight ahead. "Greg, please look at me." He rolls his eyes toward me without turning his head. "Greg, please?" He finally looks at me. "I'm sorry." I say it with all the sincerity in my heart. He looks skeptical. "I didn't mean to ignore you." His eyes start to soften, but he's still upset. I try harder. "I'll make it up to you." Now he looks intrigued. I've captured his imagination. I lean over so I can whisper in his ear. "I'll let you fuck me." I think I hear Jim chuckling in the front seat. Damn, that man has unnaturally sharp ears. But my raw comment has had the desired effect on Greg. He closes his eyes and shudders. He's told me before that I'm too stiff and proper. Not spontaneous enough. I've been working on that. Maybe a little semi-public display of affection to make him really happy. I lean in a little and nuzzle into his neck. I know Jim can see us in the rearview mirror, and Sandburg would just have to turn his head, but he seems more interested in staring out the side window. I can hear Greg's sharp intake of breath as I nibble on his earlobe and run one hand up the inside of his thigh to cup his crotch. He's starting to get hard. I whisper again, "You can use the handcuffs if you want to." Yes! He lets out a little moan and his cock jumps to full erection under my hand. Frankly I'm a little surprised at myself. This is what being with Greg has done for me. He has aroused my creativity, a side of myself that I usually channel into my work to sharpen my investigative skill. Now I use my creativity in my everyday life. Surprise, I actually have a life now, and it revolves around this intelligent, vivacious, bright-eyed, young man. Damn, I sound like a bad romance novel.
(Jim's POV)
We make it back to the conference center and the rest of the afternoon goes smoothly. Henri has stopped snoring and has decided to join us for the class. Gil steps up to the podium and picks up where he left off before lunch and Sanders is fiddling with the visual aids.
Smoothly. Right.
Except for the fact that my partner, my friend, the love of my life is sitting next to me doing his best to imitate an iceberg.
Well then, I'll just have to thaw him out.
I move my leg over into his personal space and nudge his knee. He just moves his leg away and otherwise ignores me.
I wait a few minutes, then try again. This time I lightly step on his foot. He pulls his foot out from under mine, glares at me, and then ignores me. This is going to be harder than I thought.
I wait a while and try one more time. I shift in my seat, toe my shoe off and run my sock foot up under his pants leg. I know he can't shake me off without causing a bit of a scene. But it's my bad luck that Gil calls a break just then, allowing my partner to escape my attentions.
I get up to stretch my legs and go looking for a cup of coffee. When I get back to my seat, Blair's stuff is gone. I search out his heartbeat and find him in the back row, sitting next to Henri. He sees me watching and gives me an evil grin. I wonder if he practices that in a mirror.
"Hey, Big Guy," he whispers at me, cause he knows I have my hearing turned up. "I'm gonna sit back here with Henri and catch him up on what he missed this morning." Oh yes, much more difficult than I thought. I can't wait to get home tonight. The couch is starting to look better and better.