Title: Still Waters
Summary: Gil and Nick explore their
relationship while keeping the rest of CSI in the dark.
Archive: anywhere just let me know
and my page: www.angelfire.com/weird2/butterflywings
Rating: R for mention of rape. (for now might be some NC-17 stuff later and that will have a special
warning)
Pairing: Gil/Nick
Series/Sequel: Sequel to Hidden
Depths (www.angelfire.com/weird2/butterflywings/stories/CSI.html
)
Warnings: contains spoilers for all
of current season, major
ones for Snuff
AN:
As I admit my limitations for coming up with intriguing CSI plots I’m using
what Gil and Nick did in Snuff (canon) and putting a twist on it. Hope it twists enough for ya’ll.
Nick was excited. It was his first night out in the field. After the week spent at home
‘recuperating’ and the two weeks after where he just processed in the lab, he
was really ready for field work. Not that the
last three weeks had been perfect. There had
been lots of nightmares, a few panic attacks (to his embarrassment one happened at work
and another resulted in Grissom leaving work early to come home) and general skittishness
out in public. He still didn’t go out
alone after dark, he always carried his gun when he left the house, some of the paranoid
tendencies that he had had after his last attack came back with a vengeance. Everyone at work had been really great, most even
going so far as to flick the light when they came into the room so as not to startle him
(except for Eckle who was the one that started the panic
attack in the first place and now sported a broken nose and an even bigger grudge). For Nick going out into the field on the day he
chose symbolized him taking more control of his life.
Actually in the battle to exert control over his surroundings he had become almost
obsessive-compulsive about the house and yard. It
drove Gil nuts, but in a way he was happy to put up with Nick’s eccentrics as long as they weren’t
harmful. It was also unspoken that they spend
most of their off time at Nick’s.
In fact their relationship mentally
was going fine. Both had become closer and
learned more about the other in the weeks that they had been together then they had about
most people in their life. On the other hand
their physical relationship was at a stand still. All
they had done so far was light necking, it had been a mutual
decision to take things slow, one that they both found frustrating and exhilarating at the
same time. ~Enough time to think of that
later, now I need to concentrate on this crime scene, and not that sound Gil makes when I
nip right under his left ear….~ Nick
visibly shook himself and got down to work on photographing the scene. He didn’t however manage to erase the smile on
his face, which Grissom picked up on and couldn’t help smiling in return. Grissom approached him purposefully making noise so
as not to startle him.
“Finished with the photos?”
Nick nodded, “yeah, yeah
I’m done. You can move the box now.” Nick waved a hand at body in the tool box from the
back of some truck. “You know Grissom
most people try not to let ants into their spaces, now you’re carting a whole colony
into work? It’s gonna be nasty until we
finish this case and fumigate.”
“Nick, they’re evidence. Besides they’ll be kept in an enclosed
environment.”
“Yeah well in my experience ants
are crafty creatures that manage to get in and out of everything. At least it’s not a nest of scorpions.” Nick shuddered.
“Well I do have some experia- wait what do you have against scorpions?”
“Sometime I’ll have to
share the stories that came from having a scorpion infestation for a summer.”
Grissom blinked in shock,
“scorpion infestation in your home?” Nick
just smiled and walked off.
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Nick was happy when the bugs were
killed. Back when he was younger, maybe 10 or
so he had watched a special on ants, including the man-eating ones. For weeks afterward he would have nightmares that
ants were eating him alive and when he opened his mouth to scream they just poured down
his throat. Nick shuddered,
he would never understand Grissom’s fascination with insects. His first night of field work was more stressful
then he thought and he was happy to be home, even happier that
Gil was with him. “That was a nice
pick-up with the spur. I don’t think it
would have occurred to me.”
Nick shrugged, “I used to ride,
a lot actually. It was just out side your
field of knowledge.” Gil pulled Nick
forward into an embrace kissing him, well passionately is clichéd but true in this case. They stumbled their way over to the couch and
spent, to them anyway, a very lucrative 20 minutes making out.
Breaking apart, both with silly grins
on their faces, Gil said almost breathless, “you do realize that we’re acting
like teenager’s making out on couches like all we’re made of is hormones?”
“Sounds like a good mid-life
crisis to me.”
Gil groaned, “don’t remind me.” Nick
pulled him in for another kiss.
“You shouldn’t worry about
it, I think you’re great and you look great. Besides
better late then never.”
“What mid-life crisis?” Gil pulled back affronted.
“No, jeeze horny teenager that’s only made of hormones.” Gil chuckled into Nick’s neck and they both
felt assured by the normality, at least for them, which permeated the air.
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The next day Nick was walking by a
lab door when Warrick called him in. Catherine and Sara were also present. “Hey, Nick, I noticed you and Grissom are
getting pretty chummy lately. That’s a
pretty nice assignment working with him on that ant hill that used to be a body, versus
some nasty snuff film.”
Nick snorted, “yeah you would think so, actually those ants give me the heebyjeebys.” Nick
shuttered.
“Man, you are the only person I
know that can say heebyjeebys and get away with it,” said
Warrick.
Catherine looked at him a little
startled by his dislike for ants, “what do you have against ants?”
“Just they’re these
freakishly small creatures that hurt like the dicken’s
when they bite, they can eat a man whole, I used to have nightmares when I was little
about being devoured by a giant mass of ants. They’re
–they’re just so freakish! Did you
know that if you weighed all the people in the world and all the ants in the world the
total would be about the same? Tell me that isn’t freaky!”
Grissom came into the room, “I
think I’m rubbing off on you.” Nick and Grissom both blushed, “Why else
would you be spouting off bizarre insect facts?”
Sara exclaimed, “You mean
that’s true?”
Nick pouted insulted, but not really
hurt by their lack of faith, “I do know things, guys.
Things that Grissom hasn’t taught me.”
“Dazzle us Einstein,”
Grissom said. It was all in good fun and it
help relieved some tension that had been building up from being in the field, around all
those people.
So Nick took a depth breath and began to speak, “you being in love
will
tell who softly asks in love,
am
i separated from your body smile brain hands merely
to
become the jumping puppets of a dream? oh i mean:
entirely
having in my careful how
careful
arms created this at length
inexcusable,
this inexplicable pleasure--you go from several
persons:
believe me that strangers arrive
when
i have kissed you into a memory
slowly,
oh seriously
--that since and if
you disappear
solemnly
myselves
ask
"life, the question how do i drink dream smile
and
how do i prefer this face to another and
why
do i weep eat sleep--what does the whole intend"
they
wonder. oh and they cry "to be, being, that i am alive
this
absurd fraction in its lowest terms
with
everything cancelled
but
shadows
--what does it all
come down to? love? Love
if
you like and i like,for the reason
that i
hate
people and lean out of this window is love,love
and
the reason that i laugh and breathe is oh love and the reason
that
i do not fall into this street is love."
E.E. Cummings.”
They all stared and blinked, unsure
of what to say Grissom finally spoke, “Umm Nick?
What was that?”
“What do you mean what was that? It was a poem by E.E. Cummings, seemed
appropriate.” Grissom blushed.
Grissom cleared his throat, “yes
well we got a match on our face reconstruction.”
Nick looked, well pleasantly
surprised, “really?”
“Yeah,
really. Now c’mon we have a ranch
to visit.”
Nick paused on his way out the door. “Ranch? Which ranch?”
Grissom was already gone and Nick jogged out, calling after him, “what ranch?! Grissom?” Catherine, Warrick and
Sara just exchanged looks.
“One of these days I’m
going to remember to ask him about this bizarre English knowledge of his,” Sara said.
Warrick
waved his hand, “probably had week long series about famous authors on A&E or
something.” Sara couldn’t help but
giggle, which got Catherine started and before the three knew
it they were all shaking with laughter.
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The sun was just risen
when Nick, Grissom and Brass showed up at the ranch where the victim had worked until he
had gone missing. Nick sighed, “I
can’t believe that we’re at the Las Vega Ranch.”
Brass looked at him in puzzlement. “Why?”
A mirthless chuckle escaped from
Nick’s lips, “You’ll see.” The
three approached a scene where a group of cowboys watched a man practice riding a bucking
bronco. A man approached them.
“Howdy, I’m Pete Banson, but most people call me—Saint Nick!?!”
Brass eyed the man like he’d
lost his mind, “most people call you Saint Nick?”
Nick just sighed and turned to face
Brass and Grissom, “he’s talking about me, I did some
work for Petey, back about 5 years ago.” Nick walked up to Petey
and pulled him into a hug. “It’s
good ta see ya man.”
“Sure is, Saint Nick. I didn’t know you were back in Vegas.”
“Oh yeah, well I’ve lived
here for 2 years actually. I work for the
“Oh yeah hired him about two
years ago, guys called him Stumpy, ‘cause of , well ya know…”
“The Down
Syndrome?” Grissom asked.
“Well yeah I guess, he was a
good worker though, came in mucked out the stalls, didn’t complain or anything,
disappointed when the little guy just up and disappeared on me.”
“Hey, Petey,
ya mind if we take a look around?” Nick asked.
“No, no problem, look all over
the place. Real sorry to hear he’s
dead.”
Nick and Grissom were walking into
the barn when Grissom said, “Saint Nick?” and raised an eyebrow at Nick.
“Don’t even go there, Gil,
just don’t even go there.”
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Grissom had left the barn after
questioning Vasquez, the man that replaced Randy on the ranch. He had finished up and was going back inside the
barn to see if Nick was done when he heard two men in there talking.
“Look, Rattison,
I left rodeo work because it was just a hobby. I
just did it for the money. My real passion is
helping people. You don’t help a hell of
lot of people by riding around on some bull.”
“And picking around corpses is
helping people? You’re a cop out Stokes. Everyone else might’ve thought you were the
best thing since BBQ, but you and I both know you dropped out because you couldn’t
face me.”
“Rattison,
I don’t have the time or the inclination to do this.
You think whatever you want, I got what I came
for.” Grissom was waiting for Nick
outside the barn.
“Let’s get Brass and leave
okay?” Nick just nodded, looking a little
pale.
Nick slid into the backseat of the
Tahoe and was surprised when Grissom slid in beside him.
Even more so when Grissom signed, ‘are you okay?’
‘Yeah, I think so. Situation just shook me up a bit. Being alone with Rattison.’
‘I would have come in you had
needed me too.’
‘You heard?’
‘Not deaf
yet.’
‘That’s just great.’
‘Nick it’s
okay for you to be afraid. It’s only
natural. Look I just have one question: Saint
Nick?’ Except instead of using the sign
for Saint and Nick’s sign name he made the sign for Santa Claus. They both burst out laughing.
Brass glanced into the rearview
mirror and shook his head at the site of Gil Grissom laughing so hard he was crying. He would never understand that man.
Butterfly in Kikongo
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