Fic: Four times intwenty four hours.... (1/5)
Title: Four times in twenty four hours… A continuation of ‘Upping the Ante’
Author: Dee
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 2915 (16152 in total)
Pairings: Gil/Nick
Characters: Gil, Nick and various team members and an OMC
Warnings: Fluff and, I think, v.v.AU. Start of some serious SS bashing.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: In my dreams they are like, totally mine!
Beta: jayceepat and podga for their invaluable help in the Americanisation of the fic and their insightful comments - which I may well have ignored! I thank high_striker for his wonderful icons. I am indebted to them all. Any errors are mine.
A/N 1: This is Part Four of Eight of an ongoing saga. It follows on from Upping the Ante, BFF and Facing Up. It will help to be familiar with these as they form part of the whole! Please note the rating change.
Four times in twenty four hours…. A continuation of Upping the Ante
Neither Gil nor Nick realised until after they'd finished that call that Nick had called Gil, 'babe'. For weeks Nick had referred to Gil as 'babe', when he'd thought about him. Gil was incredulous for all of five seconds, 'babe'.....he could be a 'babe'......especially Nick's. He laughed out loud.
The call hadn't been for anything other than for Gil to hear Nick's voice. And then to arrange breakfast after shift. Gil could tell him about Catherine's visit to his office and especially about her warning about Sara. That wouldn’t be a surprise to Nick who'd been advising Gil for months to exercise caution with Sara. Nick was more astute than Gil had given him credit for.
Near the end of the shift the team started drifting back in. Warrick had been haranguing Nick as to who Nick had called 'babe' on his cell. Nick's, 'that's for me to know and you to find out' had spurred Warrick on; of course, he had no idea at all.
Greg and Catherine came back with a mountain of evidence and more suspects than they wanted or needed for a drug related murder. Catherine was calm and professional, Greg as wired as one of the suspects.
Sara was the last to return and still had 'very bad mood' plastered over her face. She was given a wide berth. She unloaded her evidence and, unusually for her, went to the locker room to get her stuff and leave. Nick was in there, alone.
"What's this shit with you and Grissom then, Nick?" She spat the question out and in half a second Nick had labelled her tone 'obnoxious'.
"I have no shit with Gris, Sara. I’m friends with him."
"What? Why are you? What have you got?"
He very nearly said 'manners'. "I was not aware that I needed some sort of permission, Sara, to be friends with anyone, let alone Gris." He managed a little sarcastic tone to his voice.
"Well it seems to me he's favouring you, you get to see him out of work, why should you and no one else?"
He couldn't resist it. "No one else, Sara?"
"He's going out with the others...and not me?"
"I’ve no idea, I‘m not his keeper." Well he nearly was, he hoped, but he wasn't about to tell her that, now was he.
"He takes you home when you're ill, takes you out to markets, what are you.....dating?" She was screaming now.
Before Nick could answer, 'Well, as matter of fact', (he wouldn't, but he was sorely tempted), the locker room door swung open and he heard Gil.
"Sara, my office, now."
"What - don't want me talking to your 'special friend’?"
"My office." Gil was as angry as Nick had ever seen him and he could 'sense' a hush descend on the lab behind Gil. If they all kept quiet they'd hear what went on in the office and there wasn't a person in the lab who didn't know that, and, of course, wanted to hear.
Gil turned and left, Sara threw down her jacket and followed him out. They went to his office.
"What on earth has got into you, this is a place of work, not a playground. Your behaviour is unacceptable, not just to me personally, but to your co-workers. It will stop now Sara or there will be consequences..."
"Are you threatening me, Dr Grissom?"
"Absolutely not Ms Sidle, I'm promising you. You are a member of my team, and have abilities as a Crime Scene Investigator that mean you could be great, but your personal insults and slights to both me and your colleagues make you appear unprofessional and unfit for the work you do. I‘ll give you one month, that's four weeks from tonight for you to think about your position here at Las Vegas and seriously modify your behaviour towards us all and if there is no improvement then I will recommend that your employment is terminated. Do you understand?"
Sara looked as if she'd been hit; physically assaulted. She stood there neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Do you understand?"
She nodded this time.
"I’ll follow this up with a written notice for you and put a copy on your file."
Sara nodded again and turned to leave his office.
"I haven't finished yet. I know that I’ve never, once, given you any indication that you were anything other than a colleague to me. I’d hoped that we could’ve been friends - that will not be the case. You may go."
Sara stormed out the office and returned to the locker room to retrieve her jacket and purse. Nick was sitting on the bench. "I hope you're satisfied, you're as fucking useless at the job as a pile of crap, so you creep around Grissom to find favour." Sara stuck her finger in his face. "Well I'm on your case now and you'll be sorry, do you hear, sorry. You’re nothing. Worthless; we all know it here - even your beloved Grissom is only trying to let you down gently….you little shit." And she left. Unbeknown to her, Warrick was just around the corner of the locker room and had heard every word.
"Hey man, she's a real piece of work when she's riled!" He said this as he moved to stand by his own locker with his back to Nick, and then heard Nick make an odd sound. "What, man?" He turned to face Nick and was immediately concerned. He could see that Nick was very nearly ready to crack up. He bent down in front of him. "What is it, man? Take no notice of that bitch, she's not worth it."
Nick couldn't look up and was desperate to get out.....away from here. He shook his head and managed to gain some control. "I’m okay.” It was all he could manage to say, but he stood up and left the room.
Warrick had never seen Nick so....distraught.....and was up and following him in a second. Catherine was outside walking towards the locker room. "Follow Nick, now, don't let him leave." He pointed towards the exit to the parking lot. Catherine was instantly alerted by Warrick's demeanour - he was usually Mr Laid Back - so she did as instructed.
Warrick ran to Gil's office, where Gil had already started to write up his notes in respect of Sara. "Gil, there's something really wrong with Nick - you need to come."
Gil was up and moving towards the door, even as Warrick spoke. He followed as Warrick ran back towards the door to the parking lot. In the lot, they both heard Catherine shouting at Nick and Nick shouting back.
"Warrick told me to keep you here and if I have to throw myself under the truck that's what I'll do."
"Fine. You do that because I'm leaving." The two were eyeball to eyeball and Nick had his hands on Catherine’s upper arms. Nick could easily have pushed Catherine aside, or to the ground, in the blink of an eye.
"What on earth has got into the staff on my shift? Nick, leave Catherine alone, let go." Nick did, immediately, and looked instantly contrite.
"Oh man, I'm sorry Catherine, Oh god; I haven't hurt you, have I?"
"No Nicky, Nick, I'm fine but what's got into you?"
"That bitch Sara Sidle." This was Warrick's contribution. "You should have heard her tear Nick a new one, after she came back from your roasting, Gil....she's a vindictive son of a....."
"Right. Thank you Warrick, do me a favour - go back in now and write down exactly what you heard and saw, would you, please?"
"No sweat."
"Catherine, are you okay?" At her smile and nod he continued. "Could you get us a couple of coffees here?"
"Of course." Before leaving she rubbed Nick's arm and smiled at him. He managed a weak smile back.
Nick was leaning against the driver's door of his truck. Gil waited a few moments until they were alone and out of earshot.
"It's not about us, is it?"
Nick shook his head and his tears, held back just a few minutes ago with very great difficulty, started to slide down his face.
"Nick, it's okay, I'll take care of you I promise, I love you, you know that, don't you?"
Nick didn't know anymore, what if Gil really did think he was useless, he had once before, so he could do again. He couldn't nod his head to this - but he didn't shake it either.
"Look; I could go kill the bitch now, but I'd end up on death row and you'd never get the compass and dead or not, she'd have won."
This comment earned a hiccoughed laugh and he wiped at his eyes and face with his sleeve.
"She said I was 'useless' Gil, 'fucking useless'."
"You know, I know, the whole lab knows that you're not.....and you know, even Sara Fucking Sidle knows that you’re not."
Nick was shocked, Gil never used profanities, well not very often, and then only with good reason. Catherine came around the truck then, carrying two mugs steaming with hot coffee. "Well Nick, it seems that Archie heard her too, while he was in the bathroom. I've asked him to write it up, Gil." She gave them their coffees.
"Catherine, I'm really sorry, I wouldn't have run you over, you know."
"Well that's good to know Nick, apology accepted but after hearing what she said....." She smiled at Gil's eyebrows being raised. "I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd wanted to run HER over. Sorry Gil, but come on, she's a piece of work and then some."
"Thanks for the coffee, Catherine." Gil said, dismissing her. After she'd left he said. "Leave your truck here today, I'll take you home and pick you up tonight."
"Will you stay awhile?"
"Thought you'd never ask. But I need to finish up the paperwork for this debacle, while it's still fresh. Do you think you could write up what she said?"
Nick thought about it, he actually didn't want to get anyone into trouble, but man, she was so far out of line - Nick groaned - but he'd still made a complete fool of himself.
"No, you’re not."
He looked at Gil, he hadn't spoken, well he thought he hadn't.
"You just thought you were an idiot, didn't you? I've got you pegged Nicky Stokes, I can read you like a book. A very good book, a bestseller, the best book I've ever read, and hope to re-read again and again.,"
"Wow."
"Wow yourself. Now, come on, Catherine wants to mother you, well I hope that's all she want's to do - she'll have a fight on her hands if she wants to do anything else."
From despair to happiness in the space of minutes, wasn't Gil getting good at this interpersonal stuff, Nick thought, as he followed Gil back into the lab.
Day shift were milling around and most of the graveyard personnel had gone home. Warrick and Archie were (separately) writing up their accounts of Sara's outburst. Nick was in the DNA lab writing his report. Gil finished his initial report, the one he'd already started and then added what had happened afterwards. It was Sunday morning so he waited until it was a reasonable nine o'clock and then called the sheriff at home.
He recounted the incidents and his actions, and Gil didn't ask for her to be suspended, pending dismissal, the sheriff suggested it first. He'd never liked Sara Sidle; she railed against authority, his authority, and was disrespectful to all and sundry as was amply demonstrated by her unprofessional behaviour with people she was supposed to work with. Good riddance, he thought, to bad rubbish.
Gil was actually sad, at her behaviour; he knew she had problems too. But in her mind she was the only person with problems and she expected to be given leeway, all the time, because of them. She was also an excellent investigator, if you took away the live victims, they got in her way. Hell, Gil himself was not the best people person in the world, Nick probably was (but, he was biased), but Sara made him look loquacious.
‘Loquacious’, he thought; that was a good word to end this shift on. He had been intending to say so much to Nicky over breakfast. He still might, he'd have to see how the land lay first, but he was sure what he had to say would make Nick extremely happy; in fact he was absolutely certain.
He picked Nick up from the break room, where he was watching a news report. He seemed fully recovered, but Gil knew that he was a master of disguise. Gil could read him, not perhaps as easily as he'd claimed earlier, but he was learning - fast.
"Do you still want to stop for breakfast?" Gil asked.
"I do. I'm not that hungry to be truthful, but I will not let her, allow her, to disrupt my life. I've had enough, man, I've got to start as I mean to go on, strong and confident, 'don't let the bastards grind you down' is my new motto. Who said that?"
"You did."
"No, isn't it a saying?"
"Possibly, come on." Gil could have hugged Nick there and then, but with the day shift up and running around them, he thought better of it. They went to 'their' diner and ordered a light breakfast.
Neither had seen Sara's truck as she'd pulled out behind them from where she'd been parked on the street by the lab. She was now parked some way away from the diner, but, using her binoculars she still had a good view of Gil's truck, and the doorway of the diner. She knew that Nick's place was only a few minutes away from here and she bet that that was where they would be going next.
Nick adopted his 'therapy approach' over their breakfast, and Gil listened, attentively, as he recounted what had happened and how he'd felt. Gil felt nothing but pride for the man in front of him. He wished he could gather all the shift around and tell them just exactly what Nick had endured in his life and how he was sweet and generous, and beautiful and so......Gil was startled at his own choice of word.
He'd thought that Nick was 'fuckable'. He had never thought of a man in those terms ever before and yet as he sat here with Nick looking at him inquisitively......"Sorry, Nick just a random thought - it distracted me." He was sure he was blushing and, oh god, he was getting hard in his pants....
"You okay, man?"
He smiled at Nick; he wasn't going to tell him just yet, that 'they' had just had a major breakthrough. “I'm okay Nick, and you know what? You are too, you're coping with what's happened tonight; you're coming to terms with your past and you're preparing to face the future with a confidence I bet you didn't know you had."
"You say the right things to me Gil, man, I'm sorry, but I've just got to say that 'I love you'." Nick was...glowing...well almost.
"Don't apologise for loving me, please, Nick. Come on, I'll pay up, let's go."
Nick had a feeling, a good feeling, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew that it was important. Gil paid, tipped generously, and they went out to his truck. Gil pressed the key fob to open the doors and Nick stepped up to the passenger door to open it. Gil came up behind him and moved him round to face him. He was, quite definitely, going to kiss Nick there and then - but felt a firm hand in the middle of his chest.
"I am NOT going to share my very first, sweet kiss with Dr Gilbert Grissom in the middle of the day in the middle of a public car lot!" A smiling Nick looked straight in the lust filled eyes of Gil, and Gil pulled back and suddenly seemed to realise that that's exactly where they were.
"Thank god one of us still has some higher brain functionality. Come on, your 'babe' needs to take you home."
"Shall I drive?" It was safe to say, that despite the outward composure Nick was displaying, his insides were doing loop the loops as good as any roller Gil had ridden.
"Yeah." Gil was grinning like a loon.
They jumped into their respective seats and both sat staring forward on the short journey to Nick's condo. Gil kept taking deep breaths and Nick was holding his, releasing it and then taking a deep breath. They were so close and still too far away. They'd waited for so long - surely they could manage five more minutes. Well, they'd have to anyway.....
Nick screeched the truck into his space. They jumped out, and hurried to Nick's door. Nick fumbled with his keys, both men were laughing now, nervous but happy, eventually the door was opened, and they stumbled over the threshold. Nick slammed the door shut and they faced one another, and just stood there looking at each other. Both felt foolish, but this was a momentous moment for both of them and they knew it.
End of Part One
Author: Dee
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 2915 (16152 in total)
Pairings: Gil/Nick
Characters: Gil, Nick and various team members and an OMC
Warnings: Fluff and, I think, v.v.AU. Start of some serious SS bashing.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: In my dreams they are like, totally mine!
Beta: jayceepat and podga for their invaluable help in the Americanisation of the fic and their insightful comments - which I may well have ignored! I thank high_striker for his wonderful icons. I am indebted to them all. Any errors are mine.
A/N 1: This is Part Four of Eight of an ongoing saga. It follows on from Upping the Ante, BFF and Facing Up. It will help to be familiar with these as they form part of the whole! Please note the rating change.
Four times in twenty four hours…. A continuation of Upping the Ante
Neither Gil nor Nick realised until after they'd finished that call that Nick had called Gil, 'babe'. For weeks Nick had referred to Gil as 'babe', when he'd thought about him. Gil was incredulous for all of five seconds, 'babe'.....he could be a 'babe'......especially Nick's. He laughed out loud.
The call hadn't been for anything other than for Gil to hear Nick's voice. And then to arrange breakfast after shift. Gil could tell him about Catherine's visit to his office and especially about her warning about Sara. That wouldn’t be a surprise to Nick who'd been advising Gil for months to exercise caution with Sara. Nick was more astute than Gil had given him credit for.
Near the end of the shift the team started drifting back in. Warrick had been haranguing Nick as to who Nick had called 'babe' on his cell. Nick's, 'that's for me to know and you to find out' had spurred Warrick on; of course, he had no idea at all.
Greg and Catherine came back with a mountain of evidence and more suspects than they wanted or needed for a drug related murder. Catherine was calm and professional, Greg as wired as one of the suspects.
Sara was the last to return and still had 'very bad mood' plastered over her face. She was given a wide berth. She unloaded her evidence and, unusually for her, went to the locker room to get her stuff and leave. Nick was in there, alone.
"What's this shit with you and Grissom then, Nick?" She spat the question out and in half a second Nick had labelled her tone 'obnoxious'.
"I have no shit with Gris, Sara. I’m friends with him."
"What? Why are you? What have you got?"
He very nearly said 'manners'. "I was not aware that I needed some sort of permission, Sara, to be friends with anyone, let alone Gris." He managed a little sarcastic tone to his voice.
"Well it seems to me he's favouring you, you get to see him out of work, why should you and no one else?"
He couldn't resist it. "No one else, Sara?"
"He's going out with the others...and not me?"
"I’ve no idea, I‘m not his keeper." Well he nearly was, he hoped, but he wasn't about to tell her that, now was he.
"He takes you home when you're ill, takes you out to markets, what are you.....dating?" She was screaming now.
Before Nick could answer, 'Well, as matter of fact', (he wouldn't, but he was sorely tempted), the locker room door swung open and he heard Gil.
"Sara, my office, now."
"What - don't want me talking to your 'special friend’?"
"My office." Gil was as angry as Nick had ever seen him and he could 'sense' a hush descend on the lab behind Gil. If they all kept quiet they'd hear what went on in the office and there wasn't a person in the lab who didn't know that, and, of course, wanted to hear.
Gil turned and left, Sara threw down her jacket and followed him out. They went to his office.
"What on earth has got into you, this is a place of work, not a playground. Your behaviour is unacceptable, not just to me personally, but to your co-workers. It will stop now Sara or there will be consequences..."
"Are you threatening me, Dr Grissom?"
"Absolutely not Ms Sidle, I'm promising you. You are a member of my team, and have abilities as a Crime Scene Investigator that mean you could be great, but your personal insults and slights to both me and your colleagues make you appear unprofessional and unfit for the work you do. I‘ll give you one month, that's four weeks from tonight for you to think about your position here at Las Vegas and seriously modify your behaviour towards us all and if there is no improvement then I will recommend that your employment is terminated. Do you understand?"
Sara looked as if she'd been hit; physically assaulted. She stood there neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Do you understand?"
She nodded this time.
"I’ll follow this up with a written notice for you and put a copy on your file."
Sara nodded again and turned to leave his office.
"I haven't finished yet. I know that I’ve never, once, given you any indication that you were anything other than a colleague to me. I’d hoped that we could’ve been friends - that will not be the case. You may go."
Sara stormed out the office and returned to the locker room to retrieve her jacket and purse. Nick was sitting on the bench. "I hope you're satisfied, you're as fucking useless at the job as a pile of crap, so you creep around Grissom to find favour." Sara stuck her finger in his face. "Well I'm on your case now and you'll be sorry, do you hear, sorry. You’re nothing. Worthless; we all know it here - even your beloved Grissom is only trying to let you down gently….you little shit." And she left. Unbeknown to her, Warrick was just around the corner of the locker room and had heard every word.
"Hey man, she's a real piece of work when she's riled!" He said this as he moved to stand by his own locker with his back to Nick, and then heard Nick make an odd sound. "What, man?" He turned to face Nick and was immediately concerned. He could see that Nick was very nearly ready to crack up. He bent down in front of him. "What is it, man? Take no notice of that bitch, she's not worth it."
Nick couldn't look up and was desperate to get out.....away from here. He shook his head and managed to gain some control. "I’m okay.” It was all he could manage to say, but he stood up and left the room.
Warrick had never seen Nick so....distraught.....and was up and following him in a second. Catherine was outside walking towards the locker room. "Follow Nick, now, don't let him leave." He pointed towards the exit to the parking lot. Catherine was instantly alerted by Warrick's demeanour - he was usually Mr Laid Back - so she did as instructed.
Warrick ran to Gil's office, where Gil had already started to write up his notes in respect of Sara. "Gil, there's something really wrong with Nick - you need to come."
Gil was up and moving towards the door, even as Warrick spoke. He followed as Warrick ran back towards the door to the parking lot. In the lot, they both heard Catherine shouting at Nick and Nick shouting back.
"Warrick told me to keep you here and if I have to throw myself under the truck that's what I'll do."
"Fine. You do that because I'm leaving." The two were eyeball to eyeball and Nick had his hands on Catherine’s upper arms. Nick could easily have pushed Catherine aside, or to the ground, in the blink of an eye.
"What on earth has got into the staff on my shift? Nick, leave Catherine alone, let go." Nick did, immediately, and looked instantly contrite.
"Oh man, I'm sorry Catherine, Oh god; I haven't hurt you, have I?"
"No Nicky, Nick, I'm fine but what's got into you?"
"That bitch Sara Sidle." This was Warrick's contribution. "You should have heard her tear Nick a new one, after she came back from your roasting, Gil....she's a vindictive son of a....."
"Right. Thank you Warrick, do me a favour - go back in now and write down exactly what you heard and saw, would you, please?"
"No sweat."
"Catherine, are you okay?" At her smile and nod he continued. "Could you get us a couple of coffees here?"
"Of course." Before leaving she rubbed Nick's arm and smiled at him. He managed a weak smile back.
Nick was leaning against the driver's door of his truck. Gil waited a few moments until they were alone and out of earshot.
"It's not about us, is it?"
Nick shook his head and his tears, held back just a few minutes ago with very great difficulty, started to slide down his face.
"Nick, it's okay, I'll take care of you I promise, I love you, you know that, don't you?"
Nick didn't know anymore, what if Gil really did think he was useless, he had once before, so he could do again. He couldn't nod his head to this - but he didn't shake it either.
"Look; I could go kill the bitch now, but I'd end up on death row and you'd never get the compass and dead or not, she'd have won."
This comment earned a hiccoughed laugh and he wiped at his eyes and face with his sleeve.
"She said I was 'useless' Gil, 'fucking useless'."
"You know, I know, the whole lab knows that you're not.....and you know, even Sara Fucking Sidle knows that you’re not."
Nick was shocked, Gil never used profanities, well not very often, and then only with good reason. Catherine came around the truck then, carrying two mugs steaming with hot coffee. "Well Nick, it seems that Archie heard her too, while he was in the bathroom. I've asked him to write it up, Gil." She gave them their coffees.
"Catherine, I'm really sorry, I wouldn't have run you over, you know."
"Well that's good to know Nick, apology accepted but after hearing what she said....." She smiled at Gil's eyebrows being raised. "I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd wanted to run HER over. Sorry Gil, but come on, she's a piece of work and then some."
"Thanks for the coffee, Catherine." Gil said, dismissing her. After she'd left he said. "Leave your truck here today, I'll take you home and pick you up tonight."
"Will you stay awhile?"
"Thought you'd never ask. But I need to finish up the paperwork for this debacle, while it's still fresh. Do you think you could write up what she said?"
Nick thought about it, he actually didn't want to get anyone into trouble, but man, she was so far out of line - Nick groaned - but he'd still made a complete fool of himself.
"No, you’re not."
He looked at Gil, he hadn't spoken, well he thought he hadn't.
"You just thought you were an idiot, didn't you? I've got you pegged Nicky Stokes, I can read you like a book. A very good book, a bestseller, the best book I've ever read, and hope to re-read again and again.,"
"Wow."
"Wow yourself. Now, come on, Catherine wants to mother you, well I hope that's all she want's to do - she'll have a fight on her hands if she wants to do anything else."
From despair to happiness in the space of minutes, wasn't Gil getting good at this interpersonal stuff, Nick thought, as he followed Gil back into the lab.
Day shift were milling around and most of the graveyard personnel had gone home. Warrick and Archie were (separately) writing up their accounts of Sara's outburst. Nick was in the DNA lab writing his report. Gil finished his initial report, the one he'd already started and then added what had happened afterwards. It was Sunday morning so he waited until it was a reasonable nine o'clock and then called the sheriff at home.
He recounted the incidents and his actions, and Gil didn't ask for her to be suspended, pending dismissal, the sheriff suggested it first. He'd never liked Sara Sidle; she railed against authority, his authority, and was disrespectful to all and sundry as was amply demonstrated by her unprofessional behaviour with people she was supposed to work with. Good riddance, he thought, to bad rubbish.
Gil was actually sad, at her behaviour; he knew she had problems too. But in her mind she was the only person with problems and she expected to be given leeway, all the time, because of them. She was also an excellent investigator, if you took away the live victims, they got in her way. Hell, Gil himself was not the best people person in the world, Nick probably was (but, he was biased), but Sara made him look loquacious.
‘Loquacious’, he thought; that was a good word to end this shift on. He had been intending to say so much to Nicky over breakfast. He still might, he'd have to see how the land lay first, but he was sure what he had to say would make Nick extremely happy; in fact he was absolutely certain.
He picked Nick up from the break room, where he was watching a news report. He seemed fully recovered, but Gil knew that he was a master of disguise. Gil could read him, not perhaps as easily as he'd claimed earlier, but he was learning - fast.
"Do you still want to stop for breakfast?" Gil asked.
"I do. I'm not that hungry to be truthful, but I will not let her, allow her, to disrupt my life. I've had enough, man, I've got to start as I mean to go on, strong and confident, 'don't let the bastards grind you down' is my new motto. Who said that?"
"You did."
"No, isn't it a saying?"
"Possibly, come on." Gil could have hugged Nick there and then, but with the day shift up and running around them, he thought better of it. They went to 'their' diner and ordered a light breakfast.
Neither had seen Sara's truck as she'd pulled out behind them from where she'd been parked on the street by the lab. She was now parked some way away from the diner, but, using her binoculars she still had a good view of Gil's truck, and the doorway of the diner. She knew that Nick's place was only a few minutes away from here and she bet that that was where they would be going next.
Nick adopted his 'therapy approach' over their breakfast, and Gil listened, attentively, as he recounted what had happened and how he'd felt. Gil felt nothing but pride for the man in front of him. He wished he could gather all the shift around and tell them just exactly what Nick had endured in his life and how he was sweet and generous, and beautiful and so......Gil was startled at his own choice of word.
He'd thought that Nick was 'fuckable'. He had never thought of a man in those terms ever before and yet as he sat here with Nick looking at him inquisitively......"Sorry, Nick just a random thought - it distracted me." He was sure he was blushing and, oh god, he was getting hard in his pants....
"You okay, man?"
He smiled at Nick; he wasn't going to tell him just yet, that 'they' had just had a major breakthrough. “I'm okay Nick, and you know what? You are too, you're coping with what's happened tonight; you're coming to terms with your past and you're preparing to face the future with a confidence I bet you didn't know you had."
"You say the right things to me Gil, man, I'm sorry, but I've just got to say that 'I love you'." Nick was...glowing...well almost.
"Don't apologise for loving me, please, Nick. Come on, I'll pay up, let's go."
Nick had a feeling, a good feeling, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew that it was important. Gil paid, tipped generously, and they went out to his truck. Gil pressed the key fob to open the doors and Nick stepped up to the passenger door to open it. Gil came up behind him and moved him round to face him. He was, quite definitely, going to kiss Nick there and then - but felt a firm hand in the middle of his chest.
"I am NOT going to share my very first, sweet kiss with Dr Gilbert Grissom in the middle of the day in the middle of a public car lot!" A smiling Nick looked straight in the lust filled eyes of Gil, and Gil pulled back and suddenly seemed to realise that that's exactly where they were.
"Thank god one of us still has some higher brain functionality. Come on, your 'babe' needs to take you home."
"Shall I drive?" It was safe to say, that despite the outward composure Nick was displaying, his insides were doing loop the loops as good as any roller Gil had ridden.
"Yeah." Gil was grinning like a loon.
They jumped into their respective seats and both sat staring forward on the short journey to Nick's condo. Gil kept taking deep breaths and Nick was holding his, releasing it and then taking a deep breath. They were so close and still too far away. They'd waited for so long - surely they could manage five more minutes. Well, they'd have to anyway.....
Nick screeched the truck into his space. They jumped out, and hurried to Nick's door. Nick fumbled with his keys, both men were laughing now, nervous but happy, eventually the door was opened, and they stumbled over the threshold. Nick slammed the door shut and they faced one another, and just stood there looking at each other. Both felt foolish, but this was a momentous moment for both of them and they knew it.
End of Part One