Come Down To Me (2)
Title: Come Down To Me
Author: Nat
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gil/Nick. GSR (But not in that bad way...)
Author's Note/Warning: Been working on this one for awhile, no specific warnings or spoilers in this chapter...but I will keep you alterted as they appear. And they will. So keep checking these warnings before each chapter if you want to be on the safe side. Brief mention of Kristy Hopkins.
Disclaimers: No, I did not make any of these characters up. All of that cred goes to CSI and CBS. But I still think they should hire me.
Summary: Gil Grissom has some pretty deep, dark secrets. He turns to Nick when there is no one else he can trust.
If Nick Stokes was the only person Gil Grissom felt like he could trust, he sure had a funny way of showing it.
In the weeks that had passed since Nick had helped Gil tend to an injury that he didn’t care to explain to Nick, Gil went about business as usual. It should have put Nick at ease, but it didn’t. In a way, it made him feel used. Because when it came to work, Gil surely didn’t show Nick anything remotely close to trust. Nick had begun to wonder what he would have to do to convince Gil that he was as competent as Warrick or Sara, if not more so.
Nick’s disgruntled energy wasn’t completely lost on Gil, even if Nick did his best to hide it. Even though Nick Stokes may have seemed like an open book, there was something elusive about him that intrigued Gil. And in a not so subconscious way, playing on Nick’s desire to impress him was a roundabout way of peeling back Nick’s layers.
“Warrick, bank robbery. Take Sara. Catherine, possible overdose The Little Chapel …”
“Who called it in? Elvis?” Catherine interrupted Gil, who smirked at her cynicism. He handed her a slip and sent her on her way before turning to Nick.
“Nick and I will take a 419 in the desert. Looks like a hitchhiking gone wrong.”
Nick took the slip and nodded. Everyone else had cleared the room, and Nick felt a sudden rush of bravery.
“This mean you’re gonna talk to me?” Nick’s voice was hushed but intense as he questioned Gil.
“Excuse me?” Gil stopped shuffling the files on his desk and looked up at Nick over the top of his glasses.
“Well, I just mean, if we are gonna work this scene together. You may have to talk to me. Or…make eye contact even.” Nick leaned into Gil, referring to the fact that Gil had been outstandingly distant and cold to Nick since the day he had asked him for his favor.
“You’re being over sensitive, Nick.” Gil shot down Nick’s attempt at clearing the air. Just like that. And he brushed past Nick to move to the garage. “Let’s go, Nick. We have a long drive.”
Nick followed along like a puppy dog at Gil’s heels. He silently dreaded the long drive and entertained the idea of asking if he could switch Warrick for the robbery….but he endured.
The long ride felt ten times longer in the relative silence of the Yukon they were driving in.
“Ever come out here to hike?” Gil finally asked, making small talk.
“Nah. Too flat. Not much point.” Nick answered, wondering why it was that would Gil would care where he hiked.
“So where do the two of you hike?” Gil continued, prying into Nick further.
“The two of us?” Nick turned to him slightly.
“You and Mandy.”
Nick chuckled to himself, shaking his head.
“I went hiking with her once, Grissom. Usually I hike alone.”
Gil looked at Nick, as if he were trying to decide if Nick was lying to him. Nick was remotely entertained by his assumptions.
“What? What…are you jealous? I mean, next time I want to hike, I can call you…” Nick turned to Gil and returned his smirk. Gil laughed mildly, both of them knowing that wasn’t at all what Gil was getting at. Gil glanced back towards the road before Nick, and his eyes opened wide as he braced himself in the seat.
“Nick!”
Nick turned back to the road just in time to see the coyote that had wandered onto the road and was perched just feet in front of the truck.
“Shit!” Nick hissed through clenched teeth as he yanked the wheel in one swift movement, swerving off the road to avoid the animal as he threw his right arm across Gil’s chest, pushing him back into his seat as the car began to spin out on the gravel. Nick muttered expletives under his breath as he worked, one-handed, to maintain control of the car. The car fishtailed back and forth, Nick managing to keep it upright…but not managing to keep it on the road as it skid off and landed sidelong against a guardrail with a huge wretching sound. The car rocked to a stop in a cloud of dust and Nick could barely manage to remove his hand from the wheel. He turned to Grissom, who was still being pinned into the passenger seat by his own arm.
“You alright, Grissom?”
Gil was wincing in pain, and Nick couldn’t quite make out why. They had been tossed around significantly, but he didn’t think it had been enough to cause any serious damage.
“Yeah.” Gil managed. Nick attempted to restart the car, but he had killed the engine.
“Damnit. I should have just hit the damn, stupid animal.” Nick was frustrated as he turned to Gil and attempted to liven the mood. “Don’t tell Sara I said that, alright?”
Gil attempted a slight laugh and grin as he continued to wince.
“You sure you’re alright?” Nick was concerned by the fact that Gil still seemed uncomfortable.
“I said I’m fine, Nick.” Gil opened the passenger side door and stepped out of the car to survey the damage. He pulled his phone out and dialed the lab. Nick moved to climb out on the passenger side as well, since his door had been pinned shut. He struggled to climb over the console.
“I’m fine, too, Grissom….thanks for asking…” he muttered under his breath, as he heard Gil asking to have a truck sent. Nick fell clumsily from the car and then walked the perimeter to observe the damage. He looked back down the road and could see several rubber marks on the road as he judged the movement that the car had made. He heard Gil hiss slightly over his shoulder as he glanced back to check on him. He was leaning against the hood of the car.
“Grissom, if you’re hurt, call Cath and tell her to send an ambulance, too. You don’t wanna take any chances.”
“Damnit, Nick. I told you I’m fine.” Nick took a step back as Gil raised his voice unexpectedly. He stood there for a moment watching Gil attempt to stand up straight as he dropped a hand from the place on his chest that he had been seeming to favor.
“Let me look at it.” Nick was stern as he walked towards Gil. Gil countered backwards, but was soon pinned between the car and some trees along the side of the road.
“Nick…” Gil’s voice had dropped into something more vulnerable, but he still worked to get Nick to just leave him alone, putting a hand up as Nick approached him. Nick grabbed at his wrist to move the hand aside, and Gil hissed in pain again. Nick stood still, his fingers still wrapped around Gil’s wrist. Gil’s eyes rose to meet Nick’s, as if he had just said something he shouldn’t have said even if he didn’t speak at all. Nick gently opened his fingers and turned Gil’s wrist over. He used his other hand to push the sleeve of Gil’s jacket slightly up his forearm.
“Grissom…”
Nick’s voice was thick with empathy as he studied Gil’s wrist. Covered in bruises that, even in the dark of night, Nick could tell had been made by a hand. There were seep purple finger marks long his wrist. Without pausing, Nick took Gil’s other wrist and pushed the sleeve - observing the same mark. He held Gil’s wrists gently as he looked up to meet his eyes. It took Gil a moment to look at Nick, knowing there wasn’t much he could do to explain this one away. Nick’s hands were gentle as he let go of Gil’s wrists. He stepped closer to Gil and managed to lift Gil’s shirt from the bottom with little resistance from Gil, who knew he was caught. Nick lifted the shirt as high as he could, leaning slightly to observe Gil’s abdomen which had a huge, deep purple spot of bruising…almost in a triangle. Like a shoe. Nick swallowed hard. He realized that he had probably agitated that contusion by pressing against Gil in the car. But there was no way he was what had caused it. Nick lowered Gil’s shirt and stood to look at him.
“Who did that to you?” Nick’s voice was soft…it was the voice Gil had heard Nick exhibit when he was trying to get information from a young witness. It almost broke his heart, much in the same way that seeing Gil’s wounds had done to Nick. But Gil stood still, silent.
“Grissom…who did that to you?”
Gil looked away for a moment.
“The same person who messed your back up? Huh? Grissom?”
Gil was trying to not hear Nick. He turned slowly back to Nick.
“That was an accident.”
Nick chewed the side of his lip. He was angry, confused…and not about to let Gil off the hook.
“And this?” Nick took Gil’s wrists again, and Gil recoiled at his touch for a moment. “You gonna tell me you fell down the stairs?”
Gil pulled his wrists away from Nick in a quick and powerful tug.
“I’m going to tell you to drop it, Nick. Just drop it.”
Gil began to turn away from Nick, as if he meant to get back in the car. Nick took a firm hold of his shoulder and spun him back to face him, whether Gil wanted to or not.
“I’m your friend, Gil. I’m not gonna drop it. Whoever is doing that to you…”
“Loves me.” Gil interrupted Nick quickly, surprising them both. He paused before he continued. “She loved me, Nick. She just has some things to work through. That’s what love is. Helping each other.”
Nick let go of Gil’s shoulder as Gil admitted more to Nick than Nick would have ever expected him to. He shuddered for a moment, then tucked his hands into his jacket as he noticed the shill in the air for the first time. He gestured at Gil’s bruising.
“That…that is not love, Grissom.” Nick was indignant and annoyed. And Gil took another step into him, unwilling to let Nick have the last word.
“And you’re the expert? When’s the last time you loved someone, Nick? I mean, other than someone you had to pay to sleep with? Other than someone that got herself killed for messing around with you.”
Gil’s unbelievable mention of Kristy made Nick’s stomach turn. Suddenly he was face to face with a man who seemed like a stranger to him. Who the hell did he think he was? And he knew Kristy was more than a whore to Nick.
“Fuck you, Grissom.” Nick hissed at him. Nick moved to the car and opened the back door, grabbing his bag from it before he slammed the door. Loudly. He turned and started walking down the road, in the direction they had come from.
“If you walk off this scene, Nick, I will write you up for insubordination.” Gil was shouting to Nick as he walked into the darkness, pulling his phone out to call Warrick for a lift. He didn’t turn back to Gil, but called his bluff as he continued to walk away.
“Yeah. You go ahead and write me up. I dare you.”
Nick disappeared into the dark, and Gil sunk back into the passenger seat…shocked by his own behavior.
Author: Nat
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gil/Nick. GSR (But not in that bad way...)
Author's Note/Warning: Been working on this one for awhile, no specific warnings or spoilers in this chapter...but I will keep you alterted as they appear. And they will. So keep checking these warnings before each chapter if you want to be on the safe side. Brief mention of Kristy Hopkins.
Disclaimers: No, I did not make any of these characters up. All of that cred goes to CSI and CBS. But I still think they should hire me.
Summary: Gil Grissom has some pretty deep, dark secrets. He turns to Nick when there is no one else he can trust.
If Nick Stokes was the only person Gil Grissom felt like he could trust, he sure had a funny way of showing it.
In the weeks that had passed since Nick had helped Gil tend to an injury that he didn’t care to explain to Nick, Gil went about business as usual. It should have put Nick at ease, but it didn’t. In a way, it made him feel used. Because when it came to work, Gil surely didn’t show Nick anything remotely close to trust. Nick had begun to wonder what he would have to do to convince Gil that he was as competent as Warrick or Sara, if not more so.
Nick’s disgruntled energy wasn’t completely lost on Gil, even if Nick did his best to hide it. Even though Nick Stokes may have seemed like an open book, there was something elusive about him that intrigued Gil. And in a not so subconscious way, playing on Nick’s desire to impress him was a roundabout way of peeling back Nick’s layers.
“Warrick, bank robbery. Take Sara. Catherine, possible overdose The Little Chapel …”
“Who called it in? Elvis?” Catherine interrupted Gil, who smirked at her cynicism. He handed her a slip and sent her on her way before turning to Nick.
“Nick and I will take a 419 in the desert. Looks like a hitchhiking gone wrong.”
Nick took the slip and nodded. Everyone else had cleared the room, and Nick felt a sudden rush of bravery.
“This mean you’re gonna talk to me?” Nick’s voice was hushed but intense as he questioned Gil.
“Excuse me?” Gil stopped shuffling the files on his desk and looked up at Nick over the top of his glasses.
“Well, I just mean, if we are gonna work this scene together. You may have to talk to me. Or…make eye contact even.” Nick leaned into Gil, referring to the fact that Gil had been outstandingly distant and cold to Nick since the day he had asked him for his favor.
“You’re being over sensitive, Nick.” Gil shot down Nick’s attempt at clearing the air. Just like that. And he brushed past Nick to move to the garage. “Let’s go, Nick. We have a long drive.”
Nick followed along like a puppy dog at Gil’s heels. He silently dreaded the long drive and entertained the idea of asking if he could switch Warrick for the robbery….but he endured.
The long ride felt ten times longer in the relative silence of the Yukon they were driving in.
“Ever come out here to hike?” Gil finally asked, making small talk.
“Nah. Too flat. Not much point.” Nick answered, wondering why it was that would Gil would care where he hiked.
“So where do the two of you hike?” Gil continued, prying into Nick further.
“The two of us?” Nick turned to him slightly.
“You and Mandy.”
Nick chuckled to himself, shaking his head.
“I went hiking with her once, Grissom. Usually I hike alone.”
Gil looked at Nick, as if he were trying to decide if Nick was lying to him. Nick was remotely entertained by his assumptions.
“What? What…are you jealous? I mean, next time I want to hike, I can call you…” Nick turned to Gil and returned his smirk. Gil laughed mildly, both of them knowing that wasn’t at all what Gil was getting at. Gil glanced back towards the road before Nick, and his eyes opened wide as he braced himself in the seat.
“Nick!”
Nick turned back to the road just in time to see the coyote that had wandered onto the road and was perched just feet in front of the truck.
“Shit!” Nick hissed through clenched teeth as he yanked the wheel in one swift movement, swerving off the road to avoid the animal as he threw his right arm across Gil’s chest, pushing him back into his seat as the car began to spin out on the gravel. Nick muttered expletives under his breath as he worked, one-handed, to maintain control of the car. The car fishtailed back and forth, Nick managing to keep it upright…but not managing to keep it on the road as it skid off and landed sidelong against a guardrail with a huge wretching sound. The car rocked to a stop in a cloud of dust and Nick could barely manage to remove his hand from the wheel. He turned to Grissom, who was still being pinned into the passenger seat by his own arm.
“You alright, Grissom?”
Gil was wincing in pain, and Nick couldn’t quite make out why. They had been tossed around significantly, but he didn’t think it had been enough to cause any serious damage.
“Yeah.” Gil managed. Nick attempted to restart the car, but he had killed the engine.
“Damnit. I should have just hit the damn, stupid animal.” Nick was frustrated as he turned to Gil and attempted to liven the mood. “Don’t tell Sara I said that, alright?”
Gil attempted a slight laugh and grin as he continued to wince.
“You sure you’re alright?” Nick was concerned by the fact that Gil still seemed uncomfortable.
“I said I’m fine, Nick.” Gil opened the passenger side door and stepped out of the car to survey the damage. He pulled his phone out and dialed the lab. Nick moved to climb out on the passenger side as well, since his door had been pinned shut. He struggled to climb over the console.
“I’m fine, too, Grissom….thanks for asking…” he muttered under his breath, as he heard Gil asking to have a truck sent. Nick fell clumsily from the car and then walked the perimeter to observe the damage. He looked back down the road and could see several rubber marks on the road as he judged the movement that the car had made. He heard Gil hiss slightly over his shoulder as he glanced back to check on him. He was leaning against the hood of the car.
“Grissom, if you’re hurt, call Cath and tell her to send an ambulance, too. You don’t wanna take any chances.”
“Damnit, Nick. I told you I’m fine.” Nick took a step back as Gil raised his voice unexpectedly. He stood there for a moment watching Gil attempt to stand up straight as he dropped a hand from the place on his chest that he had been seeming to favor.
“Let me look at it.” Nick was stern as he walked towards Gil. Gil countered backwards, but was soon pinned between the car and some trees along the side of the road.
“Nick…” Gil’s voice had dropped into something more vulnerable, but he still worked to get Nick to just leave him alone, putting a hand up as Nick approached him. Nick grabbed at his wrist to move the hand aside, and Gil hissed in pain again. Nick stood still, his fingers still wrapped around Gil’s wrist. Gil’s eyes rose to meet Nick’s, as if he had just said something he shouldn’t have said even if he didn’t speak at all. Nick gently opened his fingers and turned Gil’s wrist over. He used his other hand to push the sleeve of Gil’s jacket slightly up his forearm.
“Grissom…”
Nick’s voice was thick with empathy as he studied Gil’s wrist. Covered in bruises that, even in the dark of night, Nick could tell had been made by a hand. There were seep purple finger marks long his wrist. Without pausing, Nick took Gil’s other wrist and pushed the sleeve - observing the same mark. He held Gil’s wrists gently as he looked up to meet his eyes. It took Gil a moment to look at Nick, knowing there wasn’t much he could do to explain this one away. Nick’s hands were gentle as he let go of Gil’s wrists. He stepped closer to Gil and managed to lift Gil’s shirt from the bottom with little resistance from Gil, who knew he was caught. Nick lifted the shirt as high as he could, leaning slightly to observe Gil’s abdomen which had a huge, deep purple spot of bruising…almost in a triangle. Like a shoe. Nick swallowed hard. He realized that he had probably agitated that contusion by pressing against Gil in the car. But there was no way he was what had caused it. Nick lowered Gil’s shirt and stood to look at him.
“Who did that to you?” Nick’s voice was soft…it was the voice Gil had heard Nick exhibit when he was trying to get information from a young witness. It almost broke his heart, much in the same way that seeing Gil’s wounds had done to Nick. But Gil stood still, silent.
“Grissom…who did that to you?”
Gil looked away for a moment.
“The same person who messed your back up? Huh? Grissom?”
Gil was trying to not hear Nick. He turned slowly back to Nick.
“That was an accident.”
Nick chewed the side of his lip. He was angry, confused…and not about to let Gil off the hook.
“And this?” Nick took Gil’s wrists again, and Gil recoiled at his touch for a moment. “You gonna tell me you fell down the stairs?”
Gil pulled his wrists away from Nick in a quick and powerful tug.
“I’m going to tell you to drop it, Nick. Just drop it.”
Gil began to turn away from Nick, as if he meant to get back in the car. Nick took a firm hold of his shoulder and spun him back to face him, whether Gil wanted to or not.
“I’m your friend, Gil. I’m not gonna drop it. Whoever is doing that to you…”
“Loves me.” Gil interrupted Nick quickly, surprising them both. He paused before he continued. “She loved me, Nick. She just has some things to work through. That’s what love is. Helping each other.”
Nick let go of Gil’s shoulder as Gil admitted more to Nick than Nick would have ever expected him to. He shuddered for a moment, then tucked his hands into his jacket as he noticed the shill in the air for the first time. He gestured at Gil’s bruising.
“That…that is not love, Grissom.” Nick was indignant and annoyed. And Gil took another step into him, unwilling to let Nick have the last word.
“And you’re the expert? When’s the last time you loved someone, Nick? I mean, other than someone you had to pay to sleep with? Other than someone that got herself killed for messing around with you.”
Gil’s unbelievable mention of Kristy made Nick’s stomach turn. Suddenly he was face to face with a man who seemed like a stranger to him. Who the hell did he think he was? And he knew Kristy was more than a whore to Nick.
“Fuck you, Grissom.” Nick hissed at him. Nick moved to the car and opened the back door, grabbing his bag from it before he slammed the door. Loudly. He turned and started walking down the road, in the direction they had come from.
“If you walk off this scene, Nick, I will write you up for insubordination.” Gil was shouting to Nick as he walked into the darkness, pulling his phone out to call Warrick for a lift. He didn’t turn back to Gil, but called his bluff as he continued to walk away.
“Yeah. You go ahead and write me up. I dare you.”
Nick disappeared into the dark, and Gil sunk back into the passenger seat…shocked by his own behavior.