Title: Court Date

By: Cathleen18

Pairing: Nick/Greg

Rating: PG

Summary: Nick and Greg get 'outted' in court. What would Grissom think?

 

***

 

"You're in a relationship with one of your co-workers, aren't you Mr Stokes? With a lab tech by the name of Greg Sanders."

That statement had been floating around in Nick's head since the end of their court date. He could still see the look on Grissom's face when he looked at him from the dock; disappointment. Disappointment for not being told - for being in a relationship with a co-worker - or that it came out in court, Nick didn't know, but he was sure he was going to find out at some point.

He splashed his face with cold water and walked out into the corridor with his head held high. Everyone stopped in their tracks to look at him. He glared at them but no one moved. He walked down the corridor, ignoring the whispering. However, on his way to Grissom's office, he was stopped by Greg.

"I heard what happened," Greg said, warily. "I'm sorry. I didn't tell anyone, I swear."

"I know you didn't honey," Nick replied, reaching out to hug Greg. He didn't care who saw. "We just weren't careful enough."

"Are you coming back to mine after shift?" Greg asked, looking like a little kid who was being shouted at.

Nick nodded and kissed his forehead. He side-stepped Greg and continued on his way to Grissom's office. As a thought struck him, he turned back around and said to Greg who was still standing there, "I love you."

Greg's eyes lit up. "I love you too," he replied, turning on the balls of his feet and bouncing back into his lab. Nick chuckled and went back on his journey to Grissom's office.

Warrick fell into step with him. "When did this corridor get so long?" Nick thought.

"So, I heard about you and Sanders," Warrick said.

"What else is new?" Nick replied sarcastically, shaking his head slightly.

"Nick, I'm not going to act like it's not a surprise, because it is, but I'm happy for you." Warrick clipped him on the shoulder before departing. Nick smiled brightly.

He finally reached Grissom's office and knocked lightly on the door. "Griss?"

"Come in Nick. I wanted to speak to you anyway," Grissom indicated the chair in front of his desk.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened in court today. I honestly didn't want the relationship to come out like that…" he trailed off when Grissom put up his hand.

"I don't care about how it came out. I just have a few questions." Nick nodded. He had expected this. "How long has this been going on for?"

"Six months, give or take a few days," Nick replied calmly, but feeling anything but calm.

"Is it going to affect your work now everyone knows?" Grissom asked.

Nick shook his head. "No. Greg knows that too."

"Well that's all I need to know." At Nick's surprised look, he added, "Who you want to be with has nothing to do with me. I'm happy for you." He didn't miss the look of relief in Nick's eyes. "Do you love him?" Nick nodded and smiled at the memory of the reaction from Greg out in the corridor. "So as long as you two are happy, I have no quirks about your relationship." Grissom looked at his watch. "Shift finishes in ten minutes and I have no more work for you to do, so you may as well take Greg and go home."

"Thanks Grissom." Nick stood up and left the office. He waved Greg out of the DNA lab and put his arm around his shoulder. "Come on G, we're outta here." He kissed Greg soundly, eliciting a whistle from Warrick who was passing by in the opposite direction. Nick blushed.

"I love you," Greg said.

"I love you too," Nick replied, leading himself and Greg out of the building and back home.

***

"Are you okay?" Nick asked the slightly scared Greg lying next to him.

"Ye-yeah, why wouldn't I-I be?" Greg replied, stuttering a little bit.

"You've just been a tad distant since we got home from work." Nick turned on his side to face Greg. He saw how Greg refused to meet his eyes. "Is this about what happened in court today?" He knew he'd hit the nail on the head, so to speak, when Greg shifted slightly and glanced at him. "I told you, I don't care if anyone knows." He rubbed Greg's arm lightly.

"How do you think the lawyer found out?" Greg asked, finally meeting Nick's eyes, making Nick feel better about the situation.

"I don't know. I can't think of how he would have. We were careful." Nick grinned down at Greg. "Anyway, now everyone knows we won't have to be so careful." He leant down and kissed Greg passionately. They both came up for air, and rather reluctantly, when Nick realised they'd die without it.

Greg, still looking a bit wary, said, "What happened to the case? I mean, I handled the evidence. Surely they were going to question…" Nick silenced him with another small kiss.

"Don't worry about it. He's still going to prison for the rest of his life. The DA got us through it."

"But don't your parents work for the law courts in Texas. This is bound to get to them along the line…" he stopped when Nick rolled onto his back and groaned in frustration.

"Greg, if my parents find out before I tell them, so be it! I don't care about anyone else! I love you and I'm going to be with you no matter what! Now will you drop it!" Nick almost yelled. Greg stayed silent for a while, but Nick knew. "Greg, what will it take for you to forget about it?"

Greg rolled onto his front, resting his head on Nick's chest. "Tell me what happened."

"Fine."

Nick sat at the dock, waiting for the suspect's lawyer to start questioning him. He'd already pledges his oath to the court, something he knew off by heart after saying it nearly a million times in his lifetime.

He watched as Carl Timpson stood up from behind his desk, shuffled a few papers till he found what he wanted and walked out into the large space before the judge.

"Mr Stokes," he started, "Can you tell me in your own words what happened on the evening of March 23rd?"

"I certainly can. I was called to a crime scene at a home in Henderson. It was a nice, suburban home; the kind you see advertised on the TV, but didn't know really existed. Anyway, I was warned beforehand at the extent of injuries the victim had sustained and the state at which the home was in. I entered the home and saw a blood trail. I followed it until I found the victim; beaten, tortured, raped and finally left for dead in her own living room. The coroner packed up and told me that he had estimated the TOD to be six-pm that evening. I collected all the evidence, following protocol to the T."

"And what happened after that?" Carl asked.

"I took the evidence back to the lab and logged it in." Nick sat patiently in his seat, waiting for the next question, growing impatient and slightly baffled when it took a while to come.

"You're in a relationship with one of your co-workers, aren't you Mr Stokes? With a lab tech by the name of Greg Sanders."

Nick blushed and shook lightly as the nerves he didn't know he had had taken over. He looked over to Grissom and saw disappointment. "Erm…I don't know how my personal life is relevant to the case," he said, amazed that his voice had remained calm and stutter-free.

"It's relevant, Mr. Stokes, when Mr. Sanders handled the evidence. As I am too aware, your boss isn't familiar with this relationship," Carl sneered when Nick looked at Grissom again. Nick knew he was in trouble.

"And that's when the DA bailed me out," Nick concluded.

"Wow. Nick Stokes actually for caught out for once. Mr. Predictable has become Mr. Outted-In-Court," Greg grinned when Nick poked his side.

"You were too," Nick retorted.

"Yeah, well, people expect it from me. Plus I haven't exactly kept it a secret that I like men just as much as women. Half the male population at work should now that by now. And they don't expect it from you."

"Yeah. I'm 'Mr. Predictable'. I heard you," Nick pushed Greg off him and rolled onto his other side, with his back to Greg.

"What's wrong with being predictable?" Greg asked, shuffling closer to Nick, so his front was pressed against Nick's back.

"It's just so…so…so boring!" he exclaimed with his eyes closed.

"Predictable is good. It means it makes you more interesting when you do something out of the ordinary." Greg placed feather-light kisses along Nick's shoulder and when he was certain Nick wasn't gonna hit him; he forced Nick onto his back and straddled him.

"Greg…what the-?" Nick was silenced when Greg leant down and kissed him hard.

"I love you too, by the way," Greg said quickly when they come up for air.