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A/N: Yes I probably am old enough to know better but just could resist. Greggo's line just sparked all kinds of thoughts in my mind and this is the first to escape. *grin*
"Nick, can I speak to you for a minute?" Grissom asked as the younger man walked past the break room. "In my office?"
Sara, Warrick and Catherine exchanged glances. They had no idea what could possibly be wrong; the night had been wild but Nick was working a tame but puzzling DB solo.
"Sure, Gris," Nick replied. "Just let me drop this stuff off at the lab with Greggo."
"Gil, is everything all right?" Catherine asked, not wanting any more problems to manifest themselves. She was already concerned about Warrick and his reaction to the shooting death with the young girl.
He looked at her, head tilted to the right, a puzzled look on his face. "Of course it is, Catherine," Grissom said. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know," she said. "Nick's been working alone all night and doing a good job from what I'm hearing and all of a sudden you want to talk with him."
"I think you're reading too much into this," Grissom said calmly. "I just have a question for him." He stood up and left the break room.
Catherine looked over at Sara. "You don't think he overheard you earlier, do you?" she asked.
"There's no way," Sara replied. "Bobby and I were totally alone."
"That doesn't always mean much around here," Warrick said. "Still, I don't think Gris will judge anyone based on rumors."
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Gil Grissom had been walking down the hall earlier in the evening, puzzling over a piece of evidence when he noticed Sara talking with Bobby just outside of ballistics. That in and of itself wasn't unusual, but something in her stance and manner made him pause. Normally Grissom would leave a private conversation alone, but he was curious. So he stepped to one side where he was out of view and watched. Not many people knew he could read lips, he was a man who kept his secrets that, but even he had to admit it came in handy at times.
At first he thought he read it wrong. There was no way what Sara was saying could be true. But then Bobby repeated it back and Grissom had to believe it. There was only one thing he could think to do, he had to talk to Nick.
********************
"You wanted to see me, boss?" Nick asked, poking his head into Grissom's office.
"Come in and shut the door, Nicky," Grissom replied. He took off his glasses and looked at his colleague. "Nick, I have a confession to make, I overheard Sara talking with Bobby today and I reacted badly. I need to apologize, to you and to Greg."
"Why, Gris? What's wrong?"
Grissom sighed. "I should have realized before it progressed to rumors around the lab," he said. "I could have prevented the gossip and protected you."
Nick stared at his boss, puzzled. "Grissom, exactly what are you talking about?"
"I have no problem with this, I only want to help you so neither of you are hurt," Grissom said. "I wasn't aware that you and Greg were in a relationship. I just want to make sure that no one is able to harm you while you're on the job."
The younger man looked like Grissom had slapped him. He was shocked and almost couldn't believe what his boss was saying to him. Then his mind flashed back to the conversation outside the DNA lab earlier that night.
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"Hey, Stokes," Greg called as Nick followed Archie into the AV lab.
"Yeah?" Nick asked.
"We got to talk."
Nick nodded. "Hey, did you I.D. that scraping from my vic's head wound yet?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's a common plastic, polyethylterephthalate -- P.E.T.-- Used in everything from garbage bags to magnetic tape to floppy disks," Greg said, his mind obviously on something else.
"Okay, thanks," Nick smiled and turned to join Archie.
Greg stopped him, "yeah, but that's not what I wanted to talk about."
"What, then?" Nick asked. He grinned when Greg motioned him into the DNA lab, the secret manner of the lab rat amusing him.
"Look, I thought that we had a relationship. What are you doing taking Archie out into the field, instead of me?" Greg asked.
Nick started laughing. "It's the right tool for the right job, man. You have to understand the world you're investigating." He turned towards the AV lab. "Hey, Archie."
"Yeah?" Archie asked, looking up.
"Hey, what's that star trek episode where the guy's got the forehead thingy, and the time portal?"
"In Classic, TNG, DS9, Voyager or Enterprise?" Archie asked immediately.
Nick turned back to Greg, still smiling. Greg sighed. Point taken."
********************
Grissom was shocked when the younger man started laughing, almost falling out of his chair. He wouldn't have thought that being found out would cause such a reaction. "Nick, are you all right?"
"Oh man, someone must have overheard part of the gripe session Greggo was having earlier and jumped to conclusions," Nick gasped. He wiped tears from his face and looked at his boss.
"Just like I apparently did," Grissom sighed. "I am sorry, Nick. I guess there's nothing to talk about. How's your case coming?"
"Hey now, Gris, back up man," Nick said. "Tell me why you were so quick to jump to that conclusion. What's going on that I should know about?"
"Nothing, Nick, I was just concerned about you," Grissom said, his face carefully blank. "I should have known better than to listen to random gossip. It's just that something like this can really hurt you in this field and I don't want that to happen to you."
Nick studied his bosses face, not used to seeing the older man embarrassed about anything. "Gris, talk to me. What's going on?"
"It's nothing," Grissom insisted. "Go back to work."
"I don't think it's nothing," Nick said, standing up and moving around to join Grissom behind the desk. He perched on the corner. "I think you're jealous."
"Nonsense," Grissom replied. He tried to pick up a folder to hide his growing embarrassment but froze when Nick grabbed his hand.
"Hey, Gris, man, it's all right," Nick said. He brought the hand to his lips and kissed the palm gently. "Trust me, I don't mind. In fact, I'm flattered."
"Wha, what are you doing?" Grissom asked.
"If you have to ask that, it's been too long," Nick replied. He leaned in and kissed Grissom gently. "I think I need to take you out to breakfast so we can talk some more."
Grissom was stunned. It wasn't that he hadn't considered a relationship with the younger man. It was more that he hadn't thought he had a chance. "I think I'd like that."
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No one caught it later when Nick slipped Greg twenty bucks. "How'd it work?" Greg asked, quickly pocketing the money.
"Like a charm, Greggo," Nick replied. "Like a charm."
Greg grinned. "So now you help me get Sara, right?"
"Yep, we'll work on that next shift. If I'm not too tired," Nick grinned. Yep, rumors had their uses after all.