Fic: Brother Dearest, Chapter 1 (CSI, Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders)
Title: Brother Dearest, Chapter 1
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Nick looked around the busy lobby of the airport. The reception area was flooded
with people coming and going, but finally he spotted a familiar face.
“Mikey! Over here!”
The other man finally spotted him. He left his bags on the floor and grabbed Nick
into a bone crushing hug. Nick pulled back a bit to look at him.
“You look a lot better than you the last time I saw you.”
“Divorce does that.” Mikey responded. “It’s getting crowded, let’s go.”
When they had packed his bag to the trunk, they headed to the direction of
Nick’s apartment. “So, how long are you staying?”
“Two months, maybe two and a half.”
“And then you’re going to San Francisco.”
“Yep. Now that you mentioned it, I could have just rented my own place. You
don’t need to-”
“Hey, it’s not like I have people lining up to use my guess room.”
“I just don’t want to wear off my welcome.”
“You won’t. How was everything back home?”
“Everythings good. Mama and dad are healthy. We… we had a discussion
before I left.”
“About what?”
“We better talk about it when we get to your place. I don’t want to risk
traffic safety.”
Half an hour later they arrived to Nick`s apartment complex and found a
surprise visitor waiting at the front door.
“Greggo?”
“Nicky….” Greg`s eyes were bouncing between the two men. “…and Nicky…”
“Close.” Nick chuckled. “Nicky and Mikey. Mikey, my co-worker Greg Sanders.
Greg, my brother Michael Stokes.”
“Oh.. I can see the family resemblance.”
“That`s what everyone says.”
“Seriously.” Greg grinned. “He looks like a younger, hipper, hopper, not so
much tie-me-down-and-spank-me-with-a-guidebook version of you.”
“He’s my older brother.” Nick corrected, and didn’t look very amused.
“Hey, one year! It’s not that much older.” Mickey laughed. He offered his hand
to Greg. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. And Nicky….”
“Yeah?”
“You left in a hurry, didn’t you?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Did you forget something?” Greg pulled out a worn leather wallet and gave
it to Nick. “It was in the locker room, under the bench.”
“I didn’t even notice I left it. Thanks, G.”
“You’re welcome. And now I’m going to get some sleep. Good night.” Greg
gave them a small wave and left.
“Good night? It’s almost ten in the morning.” Mickey wondered.
“For the nightshift this is night.” Nick explained.
“And that was your co-worker. How long have you worked with him?”
“Years. But he started as a DNA tech, so he spent most of the time in
the lab.”
“He seemed like a nice guy.”
“Yeah.”
-------------------------------------------------
“Nice to see your culinary skills are intact.” Mikey teased, with his mouth full of
Mushu pork. The table was filled with take-away containers and both men were
slouching comfortable on the couch.
“Shut up and eat. Did you say you wanted to talk about something?”
“Yeah. I already talked about it with our folks and they took it pretty well.
I didn’t want to tell you over the phone.”
“Tell me what?”
“I’m not sure how to start this… It’s about my divorce. Me and Grace… we
decided to file for the divorce together, we both understood that it wasn’t
supposed to go this way…”
“What are you talking about?”
“I had some suspicions about myself for years, and so did Grace. Finally one
night we just talked about openly. It was just that simple.”
“You talked about what?”
“Why our marriage didn’t really work out. She was so calm and understanding
about it, that it was almost embarrassing.” Mikey paused. “I admitted that…
I was never that interested in women. I was interested in men.”
“You mean you’re…”
“Yep.”
“And you had to spend seven years with your wife before you figured that out?”
“No, I think it was just last effort to get rid of it. Of course it didn’t work.”
“How did everyone take it?”
“Mama took it pretty well, and dad too. Well… dad doesn’t know how to act
around me when we’re alone, but he’s trying.”
“Well, that’s… that’s…” Nick stammered.
“That’s what?”
“That’s good.”
“Your fine with it?”
“I guess. It just takes some time to get used to it.”
“You want to change the topic?”
“Yeah, this one is too heavy for Chinese food.”
“Football?”
“Are you still allowed to talk about it?”
“Hey, I can still kick your ass to the next year, so watch it!”
-------------------------------------------------
Nick’s next shift ended in an unusual way. Ten minutes before his shift was
supposed to end, he was called to the lobby. He scanned the space and
spotted Mikey on one of the couches in the waiting area. He was laughing
to something his companion had said. Nick twisted his head to see the
other man. It was Greg. He was obviously just coming from a scene and his
kit was on the floor next to the couch.
“What’s going on here?”
“Nothing.” Greg was still giggling. “I run into Mikey when I was coming
back. Anyway, I’ll leave you two alone. After I`ve dumped these to Laura`s
table, I`m a free man.” He grabbed his kit and headed to the trace lab.
“I had an early meeting with some colleagues, so I though I drop by to see
if you’re free for breakfast.”
“Yeah, sure, if you can wait ten minutes.”
“Great, I’ll wait here.”
Ten minutes later Nick walked back into the lobby and experienced a severe
case of Déjà vu. Mikey was sitting on the same couch talking to Greg. The
only difference was Greg’s clothing. He was now in his normal clothes,
looking like he was ready to go home.
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.” Mikey didn’t even look at Nick. His eyes stayed fixed on
Greg. “Are you sure you can’t come for breakfast?”
“I got stuff to do, but call me later.”
“I will.”
Greg left and Nick gave his brother a long look. Something was definitely
going on.
TBC