nickngreg | Fic: Life Changes 18/29 (Reply)

TITLE: LIFE CHANGES
RATING: NC-17 for this chapter
PAIRINGS: Nick/Greg
WARNINGS: Very adult content and language. Graphic sexual descriptions
SUMMARY: A casual remark can change a life
SPOILERS: None
BANNER: Created by Bflyw
DISCLAIMER: If you don’t recognize it, it’s mine. Otherwise, everything belongs to Bruckheimer, CBS and Zuicker.

Previous chapters can be found here

If this was a fairy tale, the last chapter would have ended, “And they lived happily ever after.”

This isn’t a fairy tale and Greg and Nick are very real, very passionate, stubborn, intelligent, irritating men. They had horrendous fights followed by fantastic make-up sex. They kept trying to get themselves evened out but every time one or the other got mad, the race was on. Every make up session left something broken and both of them bruised. They tried putting the bed in every possible position in the room but no matter where it started, the force of their love-making usually put it into a wall some where. Greg thought he had solved the problem when he moved the bed kitty-cornered into one corner of the bedroom.

As they were leaving Lowe’s again, this time with a whole sheet of sheetrock and more sheetrock nails, Nick told Greg not to feel bad. He had completely agreed with him that the corner thingy would solve their problem. Who would have thought they would be able to put the headboard through both walls necessitating repairs to two opposing walls?

Their final and biggest fight happened in the parking lot of the crime lab. Now that was truly ironic. They had both been adamant from the beginning that their relationship would never be manifested at their workplace. That had been amended the first week to exclude supply closets. Several weeks later, back seats in SUV’s with heavily tinted windows were added to the exclusions. Finally, a basement storage room was also included in their original agreement.

But neither of them had thought to bring up the parking lot. It happened because Nick and Greg were both working the same case. That was unusual. Catherine knew about their relationship and because of it, tried to make sure they never worked the same case. Technically, Nick was still Greg’s superior and one of his instructors and like Caesar’s wife, the honor and virtue of the lab was kept pristine and untouched; especially, after the fallout from Grissom’s clandestine affair with Sara.

Nick had known about it for some time and it was the main reason for his growing contempt for his one time idol and mentor. Nick could never get over the cold, callous treatment he had gotten after the Walter Gordon case and after his passionate affair with Catherine during which she had told him about Grissom’s treatment of her when she had a drink with Adam Novak after work one night, he had completely lost all respect for the man. It didn’t keep him from working until he dropped to find Sara when she was kidnapped and put in harms way by their MCS killer, Natalie. But he wasn’t sorry in the slightest when Sara was transferred to the swing shift and Grissom was offered the choice between supervisor of days and being broke back to a CSI 3 on the graveyard shift. He had taken the reduction in position and was now on the same level as Nick. Catherine had assumed the position of supervisor.

They had all been called out on this one; a tragic copy cat of the Columbine shooting. The body count seemed to rise with every one of these school yard shootings. This time 21 people; 19 students and 2 teachers gave their lives because of one sociopathic teen-ager.

They had divided the room into 6 separate sections and each of them was working a section. Greg was just to Nick’s right with Kelly, the new CSI who took Sara’s place on his left. Greg had just bent over one of the bodies when the kid suddenly came to life, slammed a heavy textbook into Greg’s head and rolled over grabbing at his book bag and trying to drag it towards him. He reached into the bag and pulled out a gun, leveled it at Greg and pulled the trigger. Fortunately for everyone, the gun jammed. Nick did a tackle like he hadn’t tried since his days playing college football and took Greg down and out. He managed to kick out at the same time and kicked the gun out of the kid’s hand. He checked Greg really fast and then turned to the boy on the floor. The kid was coughing up blood and foam. Nick looked around and pulled a jacket out of the book bag and rolled it up and put it under the kids head and turned his head to the side so the blood would run out and not choke him. He tried to talk to him to calm him down but it was pretty obvious that he was not going to make it. When the paramedics got there just seconds later, the kid told them he thought Greg was the shooter and he was trying to protect his class mates. Then he died.

Greg was shaking and Nick thought it was reaction to the book in the head and the near miss from the gun shot. It wasn’t until they were walking out to their car that he realized Greg was shaking with rage at him. Greg wouldn’t talk to him and instead of leaving it alone until they were home, Nick grabbed Greg’s arm and demanded to know what was wrong. Greg just exploded and screamed at Nick that he didn’t need him to protect him while he was doing his job. He, Nick, should have checked the kid first and maybe he wouldn’t have died. Nick yelled back that the kid was dead when the shooter put a bullet in his stomach and caused his spleen to rupture and he was only doing his job. Greg yelled back that he bet Nick wouldn’t have been so quick to act if it had been anyone else and he thought they agreed that while they were at work, their private lives were left at home. Nick grabbed Greg’s arm again and Greg shoved him against the car so hard you could hear Nick’s head hit the top of the door several feet away.

They were both so caught up in their own drama they didn’t realize they had acquired an audience until Catherine shouted their names in a voice that caught everyone’s attention. She read them both the riot act, told Greg that no one had brought up their private life except him and that Nick had done exactly what he was supposed to. She reminded Greg that he was still a CSI 1 no matter how many awards he got and Nick was a 3 and his superior in every way. It was Nick’s responsibility to care for the Las Vegas personnel under his immediate command and that was just what he had done. She then ordered them to go home and not show their faces back on her shift until they could act like responsible adults and suggested that Greg spend some of his time reading the manual again and acquainting himself with the duties for each level a CSI reached.

They got in the car and drove home with neither of them saying a word. When they got in the house, Greg turned to Nick and said, “Look, I’ll understand if you want me to leave. I know being in a full time relationship with me isn’t easy. I don’t expect you to damage your job over it.”

Nick looked at Greg like he had grown another head. He said, “Oh no you don’t, you son of a bitch. You aren’t getting rid of me. I’m in this for the long haul. We may fight like hell but I’m not leaving you. You’re stuck with me for the rest of your life so you just get used to it, grow up and accept that I’m part of your life from now on.”

Greg looked at Nick, his face crumpled and then his body. He just slid down into a boneless heap right in the middle of their kitchen floor. When Nick got to him, he was already crying so hard he was sobbing. Nick sat down on the floor beside his love, pulled him into his arms and started rocking him back and forth like a child in need of comfort. He was kissing his messy hair and telling him he had him and he wasn’t going to let him go but other than that, he just rocked him until the sobs started to dwindle off. Finally Greg sat up and asked Nick for a handkerchief. Nick grabbed the dishtowel and handed it to Greg telling him that with the amount of snot he’d cried into Nick’s shoulder, the towel would work better. Greg snapped the towel at Nick before he started wiping his face off and blowing even more snot into the towel. He started to hand the towel back to Nick who just opened the cabinet under the sink, pulled out the waste basket and told him he was not about to touch that towel and his shirt was probably going in the trash also.

Later, after a shower and some food, they went to bed and talked. Greg told Nick he had felt from the moment they got together that Nick would leave him like he’d left all the others and he knew he would never get over it when he did. Every time Nick had to rescue him or cover for him or make it pretty obvious that Greg would never measure up to him, he felt like the time when Nick got tired of him was coming closer.

Nick sat straight up in bed, reached over and turned on the table lamp and turned Greg over so he was looking directly at him. “The first thing tomorrow, we are going to look up one of those marriage counselors and make an appointment. We have got to learn to communicate better than we are right now. First of all, I have never rescued you. Catherine told you the exact truth and if you had been a CSI when Holly Gribbs was killed you would know that we all made a pact right then and there that our team mate would always be our first concern. I would have done the exact same thing if it had been Grissom the kid hit with the book. Second, I have never covered for you for anything other than telling Catherine that you would be a few minutes late for assignments because your lock stuck when you actually were combing your hair one last time. Third, who was the guy who realized there was something wrong with Phillip Lawson and fought for his reasons to the point where he almost got into trouble over it. Do you realize how many lives you’ve saved because you wouldn’t give up until you found a way to take that monster down. And finally, I just realized I’ve never said it to you and I should have from the very beginning. I’m head over heals in love with you Greg Sanders. If I could, I would buy you a ring and ask for your hand in marriage right this minute. But I can’t and I don’t know if we will ever live in a state, let alone a country, where I can. But I don’t need a ceremony to make me stay with you. I will be by your side, in your bed and a part of your life until we both draw our last breath. I will love you forever and that’s a promise.”
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In the years that followed, a lot happened to Nick and Greg. Greg made CSI 3 very fast and he and Nick were finally allowed to work together. Maybe it was the special connection between them but they became a formidable team. Their solve rate was over 90% and the awards and honors they received filled several drawers in their home.

They bought a house together 6 months after the high school shooting. It took them another 3 months of almost constant work on the house and the grounds but when it was done (of course no one who owns a house is ever done but it worked for the moment) they planned to have their commitment ceremony in their back yard. That fell through when they realized that the number of people they wanted to invite and those who hinted that they would really like to come when they found out about it would never fit in their back yard, not even if they included the whole downstairs. After a talk with Bobby Dawson and his partner Steve, they went to see Bobby’s minister. He was young and felt that God loved everyone no matter what their life style might be. They both felt so comfortable with him they asked him to perform their ceremony and eventually they both became members of his growing congregation.

The ceremony was beautiful and both mother’s cried buckets of tears as did Catherine and Wendy and Mandy and Judy and quite a few female detectives who had to face the fact that Nick Stokes was now permanently off limits. Nick was especially touched that Collin, Larry, Steven, Mitch, Gerald, David, Naomi and a couple of Collin’s crew showed up. Greg was very nervous meeting them for the first time. Nick had told him about his time in Atlanta and had held nothing back about his passionate two weeks with Collin or his flirting and more with Larry and Steven at ‘Body Heat’. Greg felt his heart sink when he saw Collin for the first time. He was one handsome man and he could easily see how Nick had been so attracted to him.

As it turned out, Greg had nothing to worry about. Collin had been drawn into the long time relationship between Larry and Steven and the three of them were very happy together. He told Greg he would always have a special spot in his heart for Nick but he knew when he saw them together, they were right. He and his partners invited them to come to Atlanta any time and stay with them but not to be surprised if they got hit on by their hosts. Greg surprised all of them by throwing his arms around Collin and giving him a passionate and sexy good by kiss. Collin’s partners grabbed him and told them they would be leaving before the sexy little slut convinced him to stay in Las Vegas.
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Time passed and in the days before Nick’s 49th birthday, Greg saw him slowly slip into a deepening depression. They had always had big parties on their birthdays and when Nick told Greg he didn’t want a party this year and that if Greg tried to pull a surprise, he would walk out. Greg realized Nick was serious and they spent his birthday alone together.

Greg woke knowing instantly that he was alone in their big king sized bed. He got up and went looking for his partner. He found Nick out on the deck, drinking a beer and watching the fish in their koi pond doing whatever it is that fish do.

Greg sat down beside him and took his hand. Nick looked over at him and didn’t even comment on the fact that Greg was stark naked on their deck at 2.00pm in the afternoon. Greg waited and finally Nick started to talk. He told Greg that he realized that their desire for children was not going to happen. They had so many strikes against them and his age was just the last nail in the coffin. He knew a gay couple, doing the hazardous work they did, with one of them almost 50 would set off every alarm bell there was at any reputable adoption agency. They had both agreed early on that they would never get desperate enough to consider anything shady because of their work.

Nick told Greg he was the one at fault, He wanted Greg to leave him, find himself a younger guy or a woman he liked and have the kids he knew he wanted before it was too late. Greg asked Nick if he had been happy the last 9 years. Nick turned and just stared at Greg.

“Happy? You’re kidding right? I’ve lived more and had more in the last 9 years than I’ve had in all the other years of my life.”

“Then why in the hell would your dumb Texas ass think we should break up just because we didn’t get everything we ever wanted. You idiot! Sure I want kids. I’ve never denied or hid the fact that I want to be a dad but more than anything else in this world I want you. I need you the way I need air to breathe.” Greg was getting angrier with every word he spoke.

He grabbed Nick by the arm, jerked him off the swing and shoved him through the French doors and into their kitchen. He pushed Nick over to their kitchen table and shoved him face down on the table. Nick was stunned. Greg had not been aggressive like this for years; not since their final battle in the parking lot. He was holding Nick down on the table with a hand on his back, muttering to himself while he rummaged thru one of their cabinets. Nick couldn’t hear every word but he caught enough to know he was in real trouble. Words like, ‘dumb-fuck Texas ass-hole’ and ‘thought he’d learned his lesson’ and ‘he’s gonna learn just who he belongs to once and for all’ and last but not least, ‘gonna fuck him through the table just as soon as I find something’. Greg let out a loud ‘AHA’ and pulled a bottle of cooking oil out of the cabinet.

Nick raised his head and looked at Greg with sheer amazement on his face. “Greg, you gotta be kidding. You’re gonna fuck me with cooking oil?”

Greg glared back at him while he was trying to get the cap off with one hand while using the other to hold him down on the table. “Well, it’s not like the first years when we had lube in every drawer in the house you know. I’m going to have to improvise.”

Nick almost laughed and said, “You know, we have a perfectly good bed in the bedroom and I know we have lube in the drawer. Wouldn’t you like to move this lesson into the usual classroom?”

Greg finally got the cap off, poured some of the oil on Nick’s butt and rubbed his hand over the puddle to get it coated and then rubbed his own very large erection. Nick thought to himself, “I wonder how I managed to miss that?” Greg spread the oil down over Nicks puckered hole and pushed one finger in.

Nick yelped in surprise. Greg was definitely not being gentle. Nick knew it should make him mad but instead found that an angry Greg was making him very interested. Nick never even realized that the depression he had been fighting for several weeks was nowhere to be seen. All he could think of was the hard dick poking at his back side and then sliding deep into his body.

Greg had often said that the reason he and Nick got along so well, among others, was the fact that they were perfectly suited to each other on a physical level. He, Greg, was an enthusiastic bottom. He loved the fact that all he had to do was brush his butt up against Nick’s groin and Nick turned into a drooling sex fiend. On the other hand, Nick was the most passionate, inventive top Greg had ever known or heard about from other male friends who were also bottoms. 95% of the time, their love making followed those lines. Occasionally Greg topped; after all, variety was the spice of life. And there were times when, as Nick put it, “A guy just wants to get rode hard and put away wet.”

This was different. This was Greg staking his claim, marking his property and finally teaching Nick that he was his for life. Nick was amazed to discover the kitchen table was still in one piece when Greg got through. Greg felt the necessity to teach Nick a few more times before he was done; once in the living room, on the couch with Nick on his hands and knees. Nick was amazed to discover that HE was still in one piece when Greg got through. There was a third lesson in their bed with Nick on his back hanging onto the headboard for dear life as Greg tried to crawl inside his ass. After that, Nick didn't care whether he was in one piece or not.

When Nick woke up several hours later to find his lover, his partner trying to swallow his very soft dick, he just let out a mixed chuckle/groan and said, “It ain’t gonna work babe, I don’t have a wiggle left in me anywhere. You’ve made your point again and again and again. I got it; we are joined at the hip forever. Now come up here and let me hold you while we sleep.”

He looked down at his dark eyed soul-mate and found those wicked dark eyes staring up at him. Greg let go of Nick’s cock and said, “You really think you’re wrung dry?”

Nick laid his head back down and replied, “It’s probably gonna be next month before I get feeling back in junior.” He didn’t see the wicked smile on Greg’s face as he slipped something big and hard and slick into Nick’s ass.

Nick almost convulsed, raised his head and tried to figure out what was going on because it was obvious from Greg’s position that it wasn’t Greg’s cock in his ass and then he felt the pulsating vibrations deep inside him flowing from his filled up back side through his suddenly awake prostate and right up to his brain.

“What the hell. I thought you threw that vibrator away a long time ago.” Of course, the words weren’t quite that legible. Greg smiled at his suddenly awake bed mate, wiggled his eyebrows at him and said, “New batteries.” Then he sucked Nick’s erect cock back into his mouth and finished what he had started.

For the first time in 9 years, Nick Stokes called in sick when he wasn’t. Technically he wasn’t sick. He just didn’t think that ‘fucked and sucked until he couldn’t walk’ would look good on his personnel sheet.