Title: Unearthed
Author: gothikmaus
Fandom: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Category: Hurt/Comfort, ficlet
Summary: As far as anyone knew, he was just one of Nick's co-workers, someone he was on friendly terms with, but nothing more. So it had only made sense for him to stay behind as the ambulance drove away. That didn’t mean he had to like it.
A/N: Inspired by prompt #22 of this prompt list I found on Tumblr: "They won't take you away from me ever again."
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and all related characters are property of CBS. I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.
Greg's hands were balled into fists at his sides as he watched the ambulance drive away. It had taken all his willpower to stay still and not shove either Warrick or Catherine aside and climb in with the gurney.
He should be riding to the hospital with Nick. He should be sitting at his side, holding his hand and telling him everything would be all right, he was safe now. But no one even knew they were an item, no one was supposed to know, what with Ecklie breathing down their necks and looking for any excuse to give Grissom hell. As far as anyone knew, he was just one of Nick's co-workers, someone he was on friendly terms with, but nothing more. So it had only made sense for him to stay behind with Sara and Grissom, Brass and Ecklie, staring at the flashing lights as they disappeared into the night.
Greg got it. That didn’t mean he had to like it.
He had thought being forced to work on different shifts was bad enough – they barely even saw each other some days – but then Nick had been kidnapped and buried alive, fucking buried alive, and Greg couldn’t do anything but watch, watch him as he struggled to keep his sanity, as he fought not to give up hope and surrender to desperation, shove a gun into his mouth and pull the trigger. He still shuddered at the thought of all the things that could’ve gone wrong: what if they had arrived too late? What if they had blown him up while trying to get him out of the box? What if they had never found him?
And after everything Nick had gone through, Greg couldn’t even be by his side to comfort him.
He gritted his teeth and stomped away without a word.
***
Greg hovered in the corridor for a while, waiting for the other visitors to leave. Only Nick’s parents were still in his room: his mother was fretting over him, eyes red and puffy but a relieved expression on her tired face; his father was standing a little farther away, eyes never leaving his son.
He sighed. There was no way they would be leaving Nick’s side, so he might as well go in.
"Hello."
Three pairs of eyes were instantly on him, and for a moment he regretted his decision. But then he saw Nick's smile and nothing else mattered.
"Greg."
"Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Much better than a few hours ago. Mom, Cisco, this is Greg. We work together."
Greg nodded toward Nick's parents, feeling awkward under their scrutiny.
"Judge Stokes. Mrs. Stokes."
"You can take a break if you want. Eat something, get some rest," Nick said, looking from his mother to his father. "Greg will keep me company."
His mother looked like she wanted to turn down the offer at first, but after a quick glance in Greg's direction, she seemed to change her mind.
"All right. Let's get something to eat at the cafeteria, you must be starving," she told her husband, taking his arm. "We'll be right back," she added, turning toward Nick before they left the room.
As soon as they were alone, Greg sat down in the chair next to the bed and reached for Nick's hand.
"Seriously Nick: how are you?"
Nick sighed and closed his eyes, burying his head a little deeper into the pillow. His skin was covered in welts from the ant bites, and it pained Greg to think how much they must have hurt.
"I... I don't know." He was silent for a while, and Greg didn't press him. "I really thought I was going to die in that box."
Greg's hold on Nick's hand grew instinctively tighter, but he quickly relaxed his grip, afraid of hurting him. He wanted to say something, something grand like 'They won't take you away from me ever again,' but he realized just how stupid that would sound. The truth was, he had been completely helpless during those endless, excruciating hours. Even his contribution to the investigation had felt inconsequential: he had wanted to do more, so much more, but he was just a CSI 1, everyone else was much more experienced and skilled, and he had been relegated to menial tasks. How could he even think he would be able to protect Nick if – Heaven forbid – something similar happened again?
"Greg?"
He looked up. Now was not the time to dwell on self-doubt: Nick needed him, and he had to be there for him.
"Yeah?"
"I never got to record my message for you."
Greg felt his heart swell in his chest.
"You... You were going to?"
Nick gave him a tired smile.
"Of course I was. I... I thought I would never see you again. And I wanted you to know how much I love you."
The breath stuck in Greg's throat and, for once in his life, he didn't know what to say. So he simply leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to Nick's.
"That would've been a hell of a way to let the cat out of the bag," he eventually said as he sat back up, eyes shiny and a small smile curving his lips.
Nick let out a soft laugh and squeezed his hand.
***
Greg made sure Nick had fallen asleep before he left his room. He saw Mrs. Stokes sitting in a chair in the corridor and walked up to her.
"He's sleeping."
She nodded.
"You're more than colleagues, aren't you?" she asked after a few moments of silence.
Greg didn't know how much Nick had told his parents – hell, he didn't even know if he was out to his family – so he decided to give her a vague answer.
"We're friends."
Mrs. Stokes smiled.
"Don't worry, I already suspected. A mother knows when there's something wrong with her child."
Greg bristled.
"There's nothing wrong with Nick," he said, a little harsher than he had intended.
"Bad choice of words, sorry," she apologized. "I meant to say I could see Nick was struggling with something when he was a teenager, but he never said anything. He's the kind of guy who always wants to do the right thing, please everyone around him."
Greg smiled: that sounded like Nick all right.
"I guess he was afraid of disappointing us. And I'm not going to lie: it was a bit of a shock when I first realized my son might be..."
"Bisexual?" he eventually said, when it was clear she wasn't going to finish the sentence.
She nodded again.
"But he's still my baby boy, I will always love him, no matter what."
She looked in the direction of his room, her eyes softening.
"We're going back to Texas in a couple of days, but he'll need much longer to get over this."
She turned back to Greg and held his gaze.
"Look after my son."
-----
January 2022