TITLE: The Birthday Surprise
Author: sexycazzy
Beta: murgy31
RATING: PG-13
CHARACTERS: Gil/Nick
FANDOM: CSI
GENRE: romance/slash
Summary: Grissom plans a birthday surprise for his Master.
Warning: submission, domination, bdsm
Writer's Note: I don't own any of the characters, they belong to CSI and its team. :( This is a new edited (and beta'ed!) version of The Birthday Surprise - hope you enjoy reading! I wanted to say special thanks to podga (for the first beta'ing) & angus_honey for their encouraging words and made me decide to look for a beta reader, and to murgy31 for her wonderful beta'ing! As always, I welcome any feedback.

Grissom is in his office, the bugs and specimen jars that littered his office, providing sanctuary from the insanity of the lab. He is browsing the internet in search of a hotel for the one week’s vacation he’s arranging for Nick and himself.

 He hears the door opening, and looks up to see Catherine.

"Did you hear what Ecklie did?" she asks.

"Yes?" Grissom replies, but inside, he tries to not chuckle, because he already knew what Ecklie did.  He spoke to him earlier, to ask him for a week off work. Grissom also asked for Nick to have a one week off work, too, and explained why.

"Ecklie came to me just now, and told me that I could take a week off." Catherine shook her head, looking surprised, and her strawberry blonde hair swinging from side to side. "Not like him at all! Do you know why?"

Grissom shakes his head, but actually he knew why. Ecklie began thinking of the advantages of putting the whole team on stand down, as Gil was speaking.  He wanted to take a vacation, but didn't want to arise any suspicions between the team. 

 Grissom remembered the day Ecklie found out about him and Nick.

 Grissom was afraid that Ecklie would ask either him or Nick to leave. It was then that Grissom found out that Ecklie and Jim were in a relationship for three years. Ecklie understood their situation perfectly and chose not to change the composition of the team as long as their co-workers remained in the dark about his relationship with Jim.

Catherine shrugs, "Well, that will give me more time to spend with Lindsay."

"Yeah, that will be good." Grissom nods.

"So, what about you? What are you doing?" Catherine asks.

Looking at hotels on his computer screen, Grissom smiles, before saying, "Planning a surprise for Nicky's birthday."

Catherine squeaks with excitement, and walks over to the desk to see what Grissom is planning.

* * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, Nick was in a lab with Greg. He is waiting for some results from a case he is working on. He watches Greg working, and smiles. He remembers when Greg first started working at the labs, and he thought that Greg was a high school student, because Greg looked so young, wearing a patterned shirt, and loose jeans, with spiky hair.

Nick gives a quiet chuckle, and then he begins to think about his lover. When he was trapped in the box, after being kidnapped, all he could think was of Gil Grissom, and he remembered regretting not telling Gil that he loved him. When Grissom and the rest of the team rescued him, he wasted no time in telling Gil that he loved him, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Gil returned his feelings.  Their relationship moved pretty quickly, Nick moved into Grissom’s house, and they have been together for six months now. He is pretty happy to be living with Grissom, but there is something not right.

He sighs heavily. Nick really loves Grissom, with all his heart. Nick knew about Grissom and his visits to Lady Heather, and had been bracing himself for when Grissom finally revealed his need to be a submissive. Granted, Nick loves being a Master, but he felt that he might have rushed into a Master and submissive relationship, and in the last few days, he have been starting to feel overwhelmed with the role, and is starting to lose confidence in himself and in the relationship. Nick knew that he needed to talk to someone about it, he couldn’t talk to Grissom, and certainly, he won’t ever talk to Lady Heather, because he is very jealous of her and the sessions she had with Gil in the past.

“Nick?” Greg asks, and Nick realizes that Greg have been talking, and looks up.

“I’m sorry, man. Just been thinking…..” Nick says, “….what have you been saying?”

Greg gives a reassuring squeeze on Nick’s shoulder, telling him it will be okay, not really knowing why Nick looked so sad, and then progressed to give Nick the results.

* * * * *

 

A few days before their vacation, the team throws Nick a little party for his birthday. Grissom stands slightly apart from the rest, smiling at Nick’s delight and excitement as he opens each present. Grissom can barely contain his excitement over his own gift for Nicky, as they walk out to his truck.

"Man, that was a great party! I am almost full, from eating cake!”  Nick laughs. He turns to Grissom and asks him if he is okay. Nick knows that Grissom normally doesn't like parties. He is pleased, though, that Grissom was there at the party. It is the first birthday that Nick spent with a lover.

Grissom shrugs, "I was just happy to see you being happy and excited, Nicky." Nick smiles, and leans closer to Grissom, kissing him fully on the lips, "Love you, always." Grissom blinks, because it is rare that Nick kisses him at work, and in public too. Then Grissom beams at Nick, and then he quietly says, "Love you more, Nicky."

Nick’s heart tugs, always, at these words, which shows the deep love Grissom has for him.

Grissom opens the passenger's door, for Nick, gestures him to step in, and then Grissom walks around to the driver's seat, as Nick slips into the passenger's seat.

Soon, they arrive home.

Earlier, Grissom gave Brass the spare key to the house, and asked him to help set up the surprise and, now he opens the door slowly, a little nervous about Nick’s reaction to his surprise. He hoped that Brass followed the plan that he outlined. He didn’t need to worry, because the living room is just as he imagined it.

There are rose petals everywhere, and many red candles cast a warm glow around the room.  A bottle of champagne and flutes stand on the coffee table. There is an envelope propped against the bottle.

Stepping into the living room, Nick gasps in awe. He looks at Grissom, who smiles at him.

Nick has never felt so much love for Grissom as he does at that moment. Nick has been in relationships before, but usually, they only last a couple of months, and usually, never lasted long enough to make it to his birthday. Nick is usually alone on his birthday. This year, Nick is not alone, he is with Grissom, someone he loves so deeply. His eyes begin to well up with unshed tears.

"H..how?" Nick stammers, wondering Grissom managed to organize all this when they’d both been working together all day.

"I asked Jim." Grissom replied.

Nick smiles, Jim is a good friend of theirs and apart from Grissom, Nick is the only one who knows about his relationship with Ecklie.

Nick pulls Grissom closer to him, putting his arms around him. Grissom nibbles at the soft skin at Nick’s neck. Nick moans, and lifts Grissom’s chin and leans in to kiss him fully on the mouth.

Nick and Grissom pulls apart, Nick’s face full of joy, and Grissom’s heart soars at the sight.

"Happy Birthday, Master."

Grissom takes the envelope and hands it over to Nick.

"What's this?" Nick asks, as he takes the envelope in his hand.

Grissom rolls his eyes, "Why don't you find out?"

"Hey, don't look like that!" Nick teases. Grissom looks mildly dismayed, as Nick laughs.

Suddenly, Grissom is feeling nervous, as he watches Nick open the envelope, excitedly like a little boy. He hopes that Nick likes the surprise, and will not be annoyed with him for taking the incentive to surprise his Master. Grissom wanted to take Nick away, and let him have his wicked way with him. 

Nick takes out a couple of plane tickets to Florida. He looks up at Grissom, his mouth hanging open.

"I just thought we would go for a vacation."

"Oh, hell, Grissom!" Nick exclaims, moved by the fact that Grissom, who rarely if ever goes on vacation, actually arranged one week in Florida for the two of them. He drops the tickets and hugs Grissom tightly.

Realizing something, Nick lets go of Grissom and asks, "Is this why Ecklie gave us all a week's vacation?"

Grissom blushes, and lowers his head, "Yes, but I only asked for you and me, not for Catherine or Greg. But he wanted to go on vacation with Jim, so to avoid any suspicions; he decided to give us a one week off."

Nick beams, feeling a bit overwhelmed, because Grissom arranged the surprise, for him….HIM.

Nick stares into Grissom’s eyes, as he steps closer. Grissom is a bit tense, as he watches Nick coming closer to him. He wonders if Nick is annoyed with him for arranging the surprise, without his permission.

Nick leans over Grissom, and whispers into his ear, “I love you. Thank you for the surprise.”

Grissom relaxes, but it doesn’t last long, when Nick speaks again, “However, I think you deserve a little spanking, for not asking my permission.”

Grissom blinks, and feeling a bit dejected, as Nick steps back, and Grissom notices the glint in Nick’s eyes. Grissom realizes that Nick is teasing him, and relaxes again.

“My beautiful Gil, I can’t wait till we go to Florida, to have my wicked way with you!”

Grissom gives a quiet chuckle, “Me, too.”

Nick sits on the ground, legs crossed, and gestures for Grissom to kneel.

Grissom kneels in front of him, and Nick takes a hand from Grissom, and intertwines their fingers together.

“Shall we drink?”

Grissom nods. He takes the bottle and pours the champagne in the flutes. He hands a glass to Nick, and takes the other for himself.

Nick takes a sip, and Grissom follows. Grissom is wondering what Nick is thinking about, because Nick is quiet now.

Nick watches his lover, knelt in front of him, and feels proud. He knows that he will have to talk to someone soon about his difficulties with being a good Master for Grissom. But Nick wants to be Grissom’s Master, because he loves Grissom, and wants to take care of him all his life, to make sure that Grissom have everything he wants.

“Gil, I love you, always. I..I will never forget this, my beautiful Gil.” Nick pauses, as Grissom looks up, smiling with joy, “I promise you, I will be the best Master that you will ever want, and you will never feel the need to go to someone else.”

Grissom is rather taken aback, wondering where his lovers’ speech came from. He looks at Nick, looking for something in his face, and Grissom realizes that Nick is struggling with his role. He is startled, Grissom didn’t want Nick to feel uncomfortable, and goes to stroke Nick’s face.

“Nicky, if you feel…I mean…” Grissom struggles to get the words out.

Nicky belatedly realizes that he betrayed his true feelings. He instantly feels guilty and sets out to reassure his submissive.

“Gil, listen to me. I love you, and I love being in control, I love to have you under my thumb….” Grissom laughs quietly, “….and yes, it is true, that I am having doubts about that aspect of our relationship, but I promise you, we will get over them, together.”

Grissom puts his head on Nick’s chest, and Nick allows it.

“I am happy being here with you, Nicky. I love you too, more than you can imagine. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable about our relationship, and I can be the lover, without having that aspect. I just don’t want to be without you, ever again.”

Nick is surprised at Grissom’s long speech, because it is rarely for Grissom to expose his emotions like that. Nick holds Grissom in his arms, and tells him that it will be okay.