Title: The Life of His Dreams
By: Nation El-Diablo
Beta'd by The Missing Fairy
Pairing: Gil/Warrick/Greg
Warnings: first-time, (verrry mild incest/child abuse nothing graphic) violence, angst
Rating: NC17 or FRAO.

INTRODUCTION

Greg took one more look in the mirror and shook his head - he looked like he was turning tricks and he knew it. Sure he was alternate but this was way beyond slogan T's and studded bracelets. He sighed only one person in the world could convince him to do this and even then only by resorting to emotional blackmail.

"Last time, Aris," he vowed to the mirror. He grabbed his wallet, stalked out of his bedroom and went into the living room to face his audience. The look of joy and excitement in their eyes almost made him forget why he was mad at them. Aris jumped up and clapped her hands.

"You look amazing," she enthused, he glared.

"I look like a street walker," he griped at her. She shrugged.

"Gecko, come on you look like..." she shrugged. "Yeah you look like a streetwalker but on the plus side you're going to have your pick of anyone in the place." She finished with wide-eyed innocence. Greg rolled his eyes not convinced. Aris looked over at Katy for support, Katy shook her head affectionately.

"What's the problem Gecko? It's not like anyone from your work is going to see you is it?" she asked sounding reasonable.

Greg caved with a groan, "You know I wouldn't do this for anyone else don't you?" he stated in his defence, Aris hugged him.

"Yes but we're your sisters and you love us, so you'll wear the outfit and do the show because we need you" she said proudly tugging him towards the door.

~~

Greg swallowed the last of his beer and glared hatefully at the guitar in front of him, he heard a chuckle and looked up; Katy was standing there leaning against the wall. She had grown her hair since he had last seen her - it fell halfway down her back, she hadn't dyed it recently so it was a very light brown colour.

She smiled at him, "You'll be fine Gecko, besides you look great," she reassured, Greg smiled back at her.

"Just tell me once more how I got roped into this again?" he half teased, trying to hide his nervousness. Katy saw straight through it, she had years of practise and stepped forward pulling him into a hug.

"You got roped into this because you can't, never and will never be able to say no to Aris," she whispered into his ear, she gently ran a hand through his overly spiked and sprayed, dyed multicoloured hair. She let go of him slowly taking hold of his hands.

"Come on, the party can't start without us," she said leaving the green room. Greg sighed and mustered his courage before grabbing his guitar and waiting for his intro.

The band was greeted by huge cheers as they came on stage, even Greg who was only filling in as the regular lead and singing had broken his arm in a motorcycle accident. The band played metal and hard rock, they wrote some of their own material but also did some covers of others, throwing in the odd Nightwish song just so Aris could prove she could do more then screech. The concert shook the roof, as a local band they had quite a group of fans that hit all their concerts wherever they were. Coupled to that they were developing quite a cult and underground reputation so people were beginning to fly in to see them play. By the end of three encores they were finally allowed off stages even with the fans cheering for more, Greg was surprised he had expected them to take offence to having someone temping, but it seemed like they were just glad the concert had gone ahead anyway.

"You were amazing!" Aris shrieked at him as he entered the green room, she was still bouncing off the walls from the rush of the performance. She barrelled into him and locked him in a bear hug that knock the air from his lungs. Greg blushed under her praise; Aris was never one to mince her words so if she thought he had sucked then she would have let him know.

"Yeah kid, you can play with us again anytime, I gotta say I prefer you to J..." Dan - one of the drummers said pushing a beer into his hand when Aris finally saw fit to let him go. Greg's blush became more apparent going from pink to red.

"Aww, look we're embarrassing him," Katy cooed making the others laugh, Greg bumped her elbow playfully.

"Knock it off," he muttered. Katy grinned at him and winked.

"Why? You go such an endearing colour when someone pays you a complement. Hey perhaps I should phone the crime lab, let them know..." she mused, but a look from Greg convinced her that it would be a bad idea. Greg went to respond, but whatever he was going to say died on his lips as the green room went dark.

"What the...?" the rest of the sentiment was cut off by the sound of gunfire. Pandemonium broke out as the band tried to escape the phantom shooter. In the chaos Greg lost track of both his sisters, he never even saw the first punch before it connected with his jaw, he fell to the floor and felt the first kick; the second had him curling into a protective ball, the third to his head finally making him lose consciousness...

Aris made it to the back door and yanked the handle- it was locked. In a surge of adrenaline she kicked the door as hard as she could, she repeated the kick screaming first in frustration and secondly in surprise as the door gave way, her momentum caused her to fall; she landed badly and heard something snap in her ankle.

Katy never made either of the exits, the bullet impacted her shoulder and she fell where she stood.

CHAPTER 1

Gil knew it was going to be a long night as soon as he saw the DNA lab - missing ‘his' lab tech. He rolled his eyes, must be Greg's night off which at least meant no loud music, but it also meant no expensive coffee, no comic deviation and a lab tech who was little more then a machine who pushed buttons and even then got it wrong. He heard a groan behind him and turned.

"Greg's night off? Great I'm still working that rape and this guy just won't look beyond the obvious," Catherine moaned. Grissom raised an eyebrow; well at least he wasn't the only one who was going to be in a snit. He went to his office and picked up the calls that had already arrived and headed into the briefing room.

"Ok Nicky, Sara you got a 419 out on 43rd, Catherine you're still working the 426, Warrick DB off the Strip..."

"Hold on Gil," Brass said standing in the doorframe, "we've got a major situation out at one of the casinos - someone had it in for the band we've got four dead, six injured and someone with a lot of power making noises at the mayor already," he continued looking both stressed and pissed. Gil nodded and turned to the team.

"Let's go then," he led the way out the building ignoring the grumbling coming from Catherine at being pulled from an active case.

The scene was chaos from the outside in, reporters and news crews had already gathered like vultures and were broadcastings rumours as they had few facts at the present time. Inside casino security was backing up the police but they were still having trouble keeping the onlookers at bay. When Grissom and the others arrived they had to show their badges six times just to get in the front doors. The manager greeted them and took them down to the green room. The paramedics were still trying to remove the injured without completely destroying the scene. Gil saw a flash out the corner of his eyes, Sara was already taking prelim shots; he nodded his approval.

"Oh my God..." at Nick's startled statement he turned back and froze. He watched the paramedics lift a badly beaten, but still just about recognisable Greg Sanders onto a gurney.

"Greg...?" Warrick whispered in shock, Greg opened his eyes and looked at them, he tried to remove the O2 mask but the paramedic stopped him. Instead he shakily reached out a hand towards them. Catherine grasped it immediately and smiled down at him, she saw how this one gesture made him relax and accept the help.

"I'm going with Greg," she announced leaving no one in doubt that this was not up for negotiation; she glared at Gil, daring him to contradict her. He didn't he just nodded.

"Talk to the other vics, see who saw what and begin processing them," he said quietly before turning back to the lab tech.

"You'll be okay, Greg, I promise we will find out who did this," he assured him. The stretcher was carted off before anyone could say anything else. Gil looked fiercely at the rest of his team.

"This is the only crime in Vegas tonight. I want some good news to give Greg by the time we clock off tomorrow understood?" he got nods and looks of determination from every member and they went to work with more motivation then he had seen in a long time, documenting and cataloguing every single piece of evidence. Gil turned to Brass, who was still processing what he had happened.

"I think I want to talk to the band manager first," he said shortly. Jim nodded and led him out. They came to an office behind the stage; inside sat a middle aged man with a receding hairline and eyebrows that looked like two hairy caterpillars had taken residence on his face. He was clinging to a cup of tea as though it contained the answer to the meaning of life. Brass opened the door and the guy looked up listlessly.

"Mr Reynolds? I'm Captain Brass LVPD and this is Gil Grissom of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, we would like to ask you a few questions about what happened here tonight if that's okay?" the tone of his voice implying that they were going to ask them whether it was ok or not.

"Huh? What? Oh, sure..." Reynolds seemed to be a little slow and barely functioning.

"You're the managed of NI3 correct?" Brass asked, Gil raised an eyebrow in response to the bands name.

"Yeah, my God this is awful, I can't believe it..." he babbled, Gil cut him off.

"I understand that the band was having some sort of unofficial party when this transpired, correct?" Reynolds shook his head as though to clear his thoughts.

"Yeah, Aris is always hyped when she gets off stage, twice as bad if they go down like a storm as they did tonight. I normally attend, try and keep her inline but there was a scout in the crowd tonight - he was talking about a record deal, going big time just based on this one show. We were discussing the deal - you see the guy playing lead guitar and male vocals tonight isn't a regular, J was sick..."

"Right so what you're saying is that you were talking shop in here and weren't in the room when it hit the fan?" Brass clarified trying to get back on topic. Reynolds swallowed hard.

"First I knew of it was gunfire, we tried to get in but the doors had been barricaded - we cleared it as fast as we could but... but it was already too late" he sounded like he was going to break down by the end.

"Who's Aris?" Gil asked trying to keep the guy together.

"Aris? Arissa Sanders - she's the lead singer."

"Did you say ‘Sanders'?"

"Yeah, it's actually Sanders-Hampton but she hates the double barrel," he snorted, remembering one of her quirks. "She and Katy - our bassist are sisters, it was their brother who filled in tonight. I don't know his real name; they just called him ‘Gecko'..." This time Reynolds did break down, crying into his hands.

"Michael's going to kill me," as he continued to weep it became clear to them that they weren't going to be able to get any more out of him so they left. Outside Brass turned to one of the security officers wearing an NI3 band top.

"We're going to need a list of everyone who was in that room," he told the guard.

"Yes, Sir," was the clipped response and then he disappeared, presumably to get the list.

"Well at least that solves the mystery of what Greg was doing here..." Brass muttered making a note; he paused halfway through and frowned.

"Did you know he had sisters?" Brass asked Gil, Grissom shrugged and shook his head. "Kind of strange don't you think? The guy never shuts up," Brass stated, Gil thought back over all the conversations he'd had with the lab tech and frowned.

"In all honesty the only member of his family I remember him mentioning was his Grandfather, and I was the one to bring that up," the more Gil though about it the stranger it seemed. The security guard chose that moment to return, forcing Gil to push those thoughts to the back burner for the moment. The guard handed him a list and a handful of DVDs.

"Here's the list of the band; I don't know if these are of any help but it's the raw footage that was shot tonight at the concert - they were going to make a DVD of it." Gil nodded his thanks to the guard and turned his attention to the list. It seemed to be some sort of promotional pamphlet, which explained how he'd obtained it so fast. Each band member was pictured by their name with a short biography next to it. Gil flicked through and found that there was a cross through Johnny Lloyd's entry and a picture of Greg was in its place although the pamphlet announced him as ‘Gecko'.

"Well, this will make the ID's easier," Gil said turning back to the first page. He looked at the picture of the female lead singer, and immediately saw the family resemblance, even through the extensive piercings and bleach-blonde hair, the ends of which were dyed every colour of the rainbow. She had big brown eyes which he was used to seeing in the lab, but what really gave her away was, aside from the outlandish sense of ‘style' was her cheeky smile. He skipped down a couple of entries until he came to the bassist. Gil frowned, here the family resemblance was not as obvious, the face looking back at him was older then Greg, she had long brown hair and her eyes were green not brown, and compared to the rest of the photos she looked relatively normal. Brass looked over his shoulder at the pamphlet.

"Looks like the Adam's family portraits..." he muttered. Gil looked at him.

"Is that including or excluding my lab tech?" he asked lightly, Brass shrugged.

"Whichever you prefer."

CHAPTER 2

"Please, just tell me if they're here!" Aris chocked fighting the nurses who were trying to keep her on the bed. Aris was crying, running her black make-up in rivers down her face.

"Miss Sanders-Hampton you must calm down!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, but please calm down, take a few deep breaths you are going to make yourself ill," the doctor was speaking slowly and clearly to the distraught young women, Aris took a couple of deep breaths and visibly tried to get herself under control before speaking again.

"Look I'm sorry, please, my brother and sister were with me tonight I need to know if they're alright," Aris winced as a nurse manipulated her ankle. The doctor smiled sympathetically at her.

"I'll see what I can find out if you let this nurse give you meds and set your ankle," he negotiated. Aris nodded.

"Thank you," and then sat back against the pillows impatiently letting the nurses do their job.

"How is he?" Catherine asked the moment the doctor appeared from treating Greg, the doctor smiled reassuringly.

"He's pretty beat up, broken arm, mild concussion and he won't be able to speak for a few days," she told the CSI. Catherine was confused and concerned.

"Can't speak why?" she demanded mentally going over what she had seen of Greg for a clue.

"There are bruises around his neck, my best guess is that someone tried to strangle him," Catherine fell back onto the chair, the air rushing from her lungs.

"Why?" Strangulation was personal, a lot more personal then a maniac with a gun.

"Why would anyone want to do that to Greg?" she asked out loud, the Dr shrugged.

"I believe finding that out is your job" she said, "you can see him if you want but don't upset him. I hope you know ASL, " the doc said mysteriously.

"ASL? As in, sign language?"

"Yeah he's lucid and has been trying to tell us something," Catherine took that in and her features became more set.

"I don't but I know a man who does," she said coming to a decision and pulling her phone out.

~~

Grissom stood up and sighed the entire team was tense, Greg wasn't just another victim and what had happened here seemed to make no sense. Apart from large amounts of .45 rounds they were turning up very little trace evidence of who the attackers were so far. Given the amount of blood at the scene though it could be that the clues they searched for were hidden, multiples were always harder as you had to ascertain which pool of blood belonged to which victim.

The shrill ring of his phone bought his attention back to the present.

"Grissom."

"Gris, it's Catherine," her voice was wavering in a was that made Gil's stomach knot.

"What's happened? Is Greg okay?"

"I just talked to the doctor. Those bastards tried to strangle him," her voice cracked with anger at the end, Gil frowned a personal attack in this case indicated that Greg was probably the primary target. He could hear her taking a deep breath to try and regain control and he knew he wasn't going to like what he was going to say next.

"Cath, we're not turning much up here. You're going to have to process all the survivors for trace, start with Greg it looks like he was who they were focussed on."

"I'm going to need help then Gris, hospitals like things neat and sterile - the worse place for evidence and we have six victims in here."

"I'll send Sara to help you...." He was cut off.

"No, Gil. You, you need to come apparently you're not the only one in the lab who can talk with their hands," she said, Grissom was genuinely surprised.

"Really I wonder when and why he learnt that, but what relevance does it have?"

"He can't talk - his throat is too badly damaged" that anger was back again, he could hear it clearly even through the bad connection. He sighed, he wasn't good with people he knew that and Greg was always nervous of him. Throw in that he was his boss, the primary on the case and Greg's condition... he was going to need a chaperone to stop him from making a bad situation worse.

"Okay. I'll bring Brass, will try and do the statement at the same time," he informed her and hung up without waiting for the response. He walked out of the room he had been processing and found Nick outside swabbing a stain on the wall.

"Hey Gris, I found more blood on the wall here, it‘s on the outside so I'm hoping it was one of our suspects," Nick said in way of greeting, Gil nodded.

"Catherine called, Greg is conscious but in a bad way, I'm going up there with Brass, see what he remembers," Gris saw Nick open his mouth and anticipated his protest.

"I know Nick, you want to go, you all do but I need you guys here to process the scene, if we can't do it then Eckley will pull the case sighting emotional involvement on all our parts. If there is any news I will call," he finished firmly, Nick closed his mouth in a thin line and gave Gris a tight nod. Just because his boss was right didn't make it an any less bitter pill to swallow.

~~

Brass led Grissom into Desert Palms pulling his badge as he approached the reception desk. He attempted to smile at the girl sitting behind the desk looking bored but it looked more like a grimace.

"Hi I'm Detective Brass, I'm looking for..."

"Jim," Catherine's voice cut him off, he nodded at her and turned to the bored receptionist.

"Never mind," he said before joining Catherine and Gil.

"Catherine how's our lab rat?"

"He's not god, but it could be worse, a lot worse. I stopped in to see him but he got upset because I didn't understand him," she reported running a hand through her hair upset.

"Where is he?" Gil asked not bothering with meaningless sympathy.

"This way," she led them back to Greg's room and paused outside the door.

"I'm going to see if I can track down the other victims," she said, Gil looked at her enquiringly; he would have thought she would want to be here for this. She sighed.

"Look, I think three of us are going to terrify him. He's pretty shaken up," she explained and then left. Gil watched her retreat and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" he asked Brass sarcastically and opened the door.

Greg was lying in the middle of the bed, his face was a mess of bruises; his left eye almost swollen shut. His right arm was in a cast and his left was hooked into an IV. There was a distinct band of bruising around his neck from what looked like a ligature.

"Jesus Christ..." Brass muttered under his breath attracting the attention of the lab tech. Greg's eyes widened as he saw them, he started gesturing with his hands. To Brass it looked lick his arms were just flying about but Grissom understood the gestured, the CSI quickly crossed the room and sat on the side of the bed. He gently captured Greg's hands before the young man could dislodge his IV.

"Greg, GREG! Calm down it's okay, I know you weren't moonlighting. I talked to the band manager I promise, you're not going to be fired," he reassured him speaking in a calm soft voice. Greg's breathing had become ragged and tears were beginning to fall from his eyes. Gil held the young man's hands in his and kept eye contact with him, rubbing small circles with his thumbs until Greg gave him a weak nod. Grissom let go of one hand and reached up to wipe a tear off his face. Greg closed his eyes and shuddered with barely repressed embarrassment. He turned away from Gil's hand and started to sign again, this time in a more controlled manner.

::Sorry::

"What for?" Gil still spoke softly trying not to cause Greg to freak out again. Greg shrugged self-consciously and Gil sighed. He took hold of Greg's chin and coaxed him to look at him.

"Greg open your eyes and look at me," Gil waited for Greg to comply; it took a while for Greg to realise that Gil wasn't going to continue until he did. Gil sat patiently on the bed still rubbing soothing patterns on the young man's skin. The bed dipped as Jim sat on the other side, the movement finally prompted Greg to open his eyes. His gaze ticked slowly to Brass before focusing on Gil. Grissom smiled softly.

"That's better. Greg you have nothing to apologise for, this is not your fault, okay?" Greg bit his lip and nodded a miniscule amount.

::Do you know what happened to my sisters?:: Gil moved to the chair before answering.

"Arissa broke her ankle - she's having it set right now. Katy was shot in the shoulder but apparently all that metal you guys were wearing is as good as body armour," Greg listened to Gil's reply and felt the knot that had been in his stomach loosen, he felt like he could breathe again the relief making him light headed.

::Thank you::

"No problem, Greg."

"Greg can you describe to us what happened?" Brass asked still perched on the bed as there was only one chair.

::Sure but I didn't see much, I'm sorry::

"Hey, you've already been told about apologising once," Brass chastised causing Greg to stutter and Gil to look mildly surprised. Brass looked smug at the two.

"Hey, I'm a fast learner too, okay?" he defended, Gil grinned at him and even Greg cracked a smile. Brass sat back a bit, mission accomplished the guy in the bed now looked like the kid he knew.

"Look kid anything you can give us will help, you know how this works," Greg sighed and started to force himself back to the green room.

::I was at the entrance, I came in late. Aris hugged me and Kat was on my right. Dan was off on my left, he handed me a beer. Conner was at the back near the fire escape, he was playing air guitar. Gary was near him:: Greg closed his eyes trying to visualise where everyone else was. ::Winston and Sheeraz we concocting something alcoholic at a table near the window, Lisa and Deet were trying to tie their shoelaces together:: Greg smiled at the memory of two grown women crawling around on the floor trying to snag shoelaces. Brass took that down.

"For someone who doesn't remember much you're doing fine. Point of clarification, Deet is a nickname right?" Brass asked.

::Yeah, Desdemona well call her Deet, Katy is sometimes called Kat too:: he added realising that he'd switched names. Brass nodded.

"So then what happened?"

::It went dark, they had cut the power or something as the first shot was fired from behind me. The door was locked, I tried to find my sisters but I couldn't see. Someone hit me and I fell, then I was kicked. I don't remember anything after that:: his hands were shaking so baldy that by the end Grissom was having trouble distinguishing signs from shakes.

"It's okay, Greg you did great don't worry about it," Brass praised, Gil shifted uncomfortably.

"Greg I need to process you," he said gently, Greg nodded he had though as much but that didn't mean he was looking forward to finding out how the evidence that he got was obtained.

::I know but I can't move much::

"It's not a problem Greg" Gris assured opened the kit and setting things on the side. Greg bit his lip.

::Does the Captain have to be here?::

"No, I guess not, what's the problem Greggo?"

::I'm...that is I ... I'm embarrassed, the less people that know the better::

Gil frowned.

"I understand that but you must realise that the whole team is on this case," Greg looked genuinely surprised.

::Why?::

"Four homicides, six serious assaults and three counts of attempted murder aside? No-one attacks a member of my team and gets away with it," Gil said frankly. Greg frowned and looked at Gil sceptically.

::I'm not one of your guys:: Gil suddenly wished that he was better at reading people or could at least hear Greg's tone so he could take an informed guess at Greg's mood.

"You are joking, of course," he said deadpan.

"Uh Gil, you want to explain?" Brass had been getting increasingly confused by what they were discussing but what Gil had said last had been in an almost confrontational tone - something that Brass was sure the doctors would throw them out for. Gil took a deep breath.

::This conversation is not over:: he signed to Greg when he saw that he had his attention. Greg nodded.

"Hey Brass, do you want to go see if Catherine has found anything?" Gil asked trying to appear casual. Brass looked at the CSI and then the tech unsure why he was being asked to leave. He let it go for the moment; it wasn't like Gil was going to attack the kid.

"Sure I'll see you in a bit. Take it easy kiddo," he said to Greg as he left. Greg looked at Gil.

::What do you want me to do?::

"Just tell me if I hurt you or this is getting too much" Gil said snapping on a pair of latex gloves.

CHAPTER 3

"Hi I'm Catherine Willows, with the Las Vegas crime lab," Catherine introduced herself. The women on the trolley in front of her seemed tense. Catherine set her kit down.

"I would like to process you for..."

"No," the women in the bed cut her off. Catherine was a little shocked.

"Ms Sanders..."

"Hampton, it's Hampton and it's Mrs." she snapped, Catherine took a deep breath.

"Okay, Mrs Hampton the best chance we have of catching who ever hurt you and your family comes from having all the evidence," Catherine was trying to be patient, she had dealt with difficult victims before. The woman scoffed at her.

"Yeah, because you really care a lot about my family - after all you've only blown one of us up," she sneered. Catherine froze, she hadn't expected that.

"Mrs Hampton, that was an accident and no-one feels worse then I do about Greg getting caught in the blast," her voice was shaking slightly as she spoke.

"You're sorry, so that makes everything alright. Tell you what - if someone hurt your daughter and then wanted you help what would you do?" fierce green eyes fixed on with Catherine's blue ones. Catherine nodded and removed the gloves she had put on.

"Sorry to have bothered you, Mrs Hampton," she said as she left the cubicle.

Outside, Catherine lent against the wall and tried to calm down.

"Cath?" Brass' concerned voice made her open her eyes, she gave him a weak smile.

"Hey."

"How's it going?"

"Not good. We're going to need to get one of the others up here to process Mrs Hampton, probably Nick, he's good with people" she reported, Brass looked confused. Catherine snorted.

"It appears that she blames me for Greg getting caught in the lab explosion." She explained quietly. Brass winced.

"Ouch. I thought that you and Greg were good."

"We are, apparently it's a different story with his family," she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Okay, you phone Nicky, I'll go see if any of the survivors are prepared to talk," with that she collected her kit and headed off. Brass made the call and explained the situation, Nick was more then happy to have an excuse to head over to the hospital. Brass then entered the cubicle that Catherine had just been thrown out of.

"Miss Sanders, I'm sorry it's Mrs Hampton isn't it? Even though you still use your maiden name in the band" he said with a false smile.

"Well you know who I am, who the hell are you?" she sneered not a bit intimidated.

"I'm Captain Jim Brass with the LVPD - work with both your brother and Catherine Willows, and it's the funniest thing I didn't realise that Greg had a problem with Catherine, in fact I thought they were friends," he said sweetly, Katy rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well Greg is a soft touch," she snapped.

"So he needs a big sister like you to look out for him," he said as if coming to some great revelation.

"He's my son," she said quietly. Brass froze for a second.

"What you confessing to another crime?" he asked sarcastically, Katy rolled her eyes.

"Aris and Gecko - Greg are my kids. I adopted them when got I married," she spoke as if he was an idiot.

"Why would you do that?" he pressed and for the first time that evening Katy looked uncomfortable.

"That is so none of your business," she muttered. Brass grinned at her.

"Maybe, maybe not, but there would have to be a good reason for the CPA allow you to adopt your siblings. So naturally now I'm going to find out," he gloated, Katy swallowed heavily.

"What do you want?"

"Excuse me?" Brass said.

"What do you want to let sleeping dogs lie?" she explained.

"Lay off, Catherine," he warned.

"Done," she said quickly, Brass looked at her. She wasn't uncomfortable, she was scared. Brass nodded but made a mental note to pull the file anyway.

"Hi, I'm Catherine Willows I'm with the Las Vegas crime lab. I would like to process you for trace evidence," she smiled at the man in the bed. He grinned back at her.

"I'm Dan Langston, and not meaning to sound like a bad cliché but why to I recognise you name?" he asked, she cocked her head to one side.

"Ah probably because I work with Greg Sanders" she hedged hoping to get what she needed before he threw her out. He frowned.

"Greg...Sanders, I know Aris and Katy Sanders. Gecko? Gecko's first name is Greg? Huh, learn something new everyday. Anyway Gecko don't really talk about his work, just said he was a rat what ever that means," Dan frowned trying to piece everything together. Catherine sighed when his eyes went wide, today was going to be bad for her ego.

"You're the one who got him blown up aren't you?" he asked.

Catherine nodded.

"Shit, I hope you haven't seen the harpies yet," he exclaimed.

"Harpies?" Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"Katy and Aris - they aren't exactly fans."

"Yeah, I just met the elder one," Catherine said ruefully. Dan started to laugh and then winced in pain.

"Oh man, I would have paid to seen that, although I'm guessing Kat isn't feeling to well right now, you still have all your limbs."

"She threw me out. You going to do the same?" she challenged. Dan shrugged.

"Look, if it will make you feel better I can, but the way Gecko tells it you made a mistake - it was an accident. I've gotta say though, it's nice to finally meet the only person ever to cause those three to actually fight!" he sounded kind of awed.

Catherine winced.

"Well that's something to be proud of," she said sarcastically.

Dan shrugged.

"I call it how I see it. Look, Gecko forgives you and the other just want someone to blame - they'll get come round one they meet you. They find it impossible to stay mad at people they know."

"Well that's reassuring," she muttered digging through her kit for everything she would need.

~~

Grissom threw the last pair of gloved into the bin. He'd found quite a large amount of trace on Greg, including a fibre in his neck wound, the dye from his hair had combed out , Gil hoped it wouldn't compromise the sample too much. The lab tech was lying back on the pillows, he had been crying silently since Grissom had found and documented the bruises on his hips and upper thighs. He had debating asking if he needed to run a rape kit but the doctors would have mentioned that sort of injury to Catherine earlier. When he asked Greg if he should stop he had just shaken his head, but it was probably the hardest process he'd ever done. He perched on the side of the bed and stroked the tears off Greg's face; they were quickly replaced by more.

"Greg, please tell me what's wrong?" he asked softly, Greg just shook his head silently. Gil got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" he whispered.

::No:: Greg signed, Gil let out the breath he had not been aware that he had been holding.

"Greg, what's upset you, I can't help if I don't know."

::I'm being stupid and the drugs are taking away some of my control::

"Doing something stupid has never stopped you sharing it in the past," Gil said trying to keep a straight face, Greg let out a chuff or air that might have been a laugh.

::I'm ashamed::

"You have nothing to be ashamed of Greg, you have done nothing wrong and we will get the bastards responsible," Gil said with absolute confidence. Greg shuddered; being the focus of Gil's attention was a little overwhelming. As was the suppressed rage he felt rolling off his boss. He was glad he wasn't on the receiving end of that temper this time. Gil slowly worked a hand behind Greg's shoulders and used it to lift him up. He pulled Greg forward carefully until he had the lab tech cradled against his chest. Gil carded a hand through Greg's hair, since he'd combed it the gel had let go leaving it softer then Gil would have imagined. Greg had tensed when Gil first embraced him but now relaxed allowing the older man to take his weight. He wasn't sure what had caused this new touchy-feely Grissom but he wasn't going to object. Greg turned his head so his cheek was resting on Gil's shoulder and closed his eyes. Gil sat there for a moment running his hand up and down Greg's back. Greg fell asleep on Gil. The CSI didn't have the heart to put him back down just yet. So he kept hold. That was how Brass found them 10 minutes later.

"Something you want to share, Gil?" he asked sounding amused. His voice startled Greg awake, he looked at Brass and blushed when he noticed he was still in Gil's arms. Gil smiled at him before responding to Brass.

"No Jim, nothing I want to share. Come and give me a hand to get him back down," Gil said as he slowly manoeuvred Greg so he could help him back without hurting him. Brass came round the other side and braced Greg's back with one arm and assisted Gil. Once Greg was back on the bed Gil collected his kit and was preparing to leave when Brass decided to broach Greg about his discussion with Katy.

"Greg, were you ever adopted?" Brass asked directly knowing there was no easy way to discuss this. Gil stopped what he was doing and focused on Greg.

::I don't know::

"You don't know?" Brass sounded incredulous.

::Long story and not a pleasant one::

"Well Mrs Hampton seemed pretty clear," Brass pushed.

::Then she's probably telling you the truth, which means she has been lying to me for 10 years:: Greg turned his head to the side and looked very forlorn.

"Care to enlighten me?" Brass looked at the lab tech; he suddenly seemed very small, swamped in the hospital bed.

::No I'm tired::

"Okay, Greg. Feel better alright?" Brass said before leaving. Gris hung back a moment.

"You know you did that to Catherine and Warrick too," he pointed out.

::I won't tell them if you don't I thought it was politer then piss off:: Gil smiled.

"Sure thing, Greg. Get some rest okay?" He pulled the door closed on his way out.

~~

"Hello Ma'am, I'm Nick Stokes I'm with the Las Vegas crime lab..."

"Clothing is under the bed, I'm full of sedative and watching the monkeys climbing the curtains and not going to move sorry," Katy was slurring slightly because of the pain meds. Nick smiled.

"That's okay Ma'am just don't go to sleep on me."

"No problem."

Catherine met up with Gris, Brass and Nick in the main foyer. Nick was chewing on a bagel he'd picked up in the canteen.

"How'd you get on with the Harpies, Nick?"

"Harpies?" Nick choked; Catherine grinned and patted him on the back

"It's what the other band members call them?"

"You do realise that they happen to be Greg's sisters and victims in a serious attack don't you?"

"Yes but neither of those things mean I have to like them," she said.

"Are you Captain Brass?" a strong male voice asked from behind the group, they turned to see a formal man in his mid-thirties. He wore a tailored suit and was carrying a brief case.

"Yeah I'm Brass, who are you?"

"I'm here in as the aid to the legal representation of NI3."

"Legal representation a 2-bit band has a lawyer on retainer?"

"They are more then a 2-bit band, Sir and my company Hampton, Clark and Clare are responsible for the band name and the members. I am just here out of courtesy to inform the LVPD that all members of NI3 are being transported to Formyer Clinic at this address. Negotiations are being made to transfer Mr Sanders as well," With that the man handed Brass a card with an address and left.

"What just happened?" Nick asked looking over Brass' shoulder at the address.

"Good question" Brass replied.

CHAPTER 4

"You done?" Sara asked Warrick appearing out of the green room.

"Yeah for now at lest. Any news on Greg?"

"Someone law firm is trying to move him along with the rest of the band to a private clinic. He can't talk at the moment but they think he will make a full recovery with time."

"Can't talk? That must be killing him," Warrick joked, "well at least it's not permanent. Come on let's head back to the lab and start on this lot."

"Hey Nick - What happened at the hospital?" Sara asked as she entered the break room.

"Man you wouldn't believe it - this pencil neck showed up, informed us that the entire band were being moved and that Greg was included and then walked off, only to come back a few moments later and announced that Greg was staying put," Nick shock his head as he spoke still not quite believing it himself. Warrick collapsed into a chair stunned.

"So what was the outcome?" he asked, he didn't care about the band per say but he did want to know where Greg had ended up, Nick shrugged.

"The lab rat's at Palms and the rest were transferred in a fleet of ambulances. Brass is looking into the guy footing the bill to find out what his deal is but get this - the pencil claims that his employer is Greg's dad," the others didn't get a chance to respond before Brass appeared with the rest of the team.

"I don't care what this hot shot claims; he is not Greg's father," He announced with a smirk which indicated he knew more then he was saying.

"Okay, I'll bite then, who is he?" Sara asked for everyone.

"Michael Hampton, married Catherine Sanders ten years ago right after they finished college, a month before they both adopted the 12 year old Arissa but not Greg."

"Why not was he too old?"

"No they tried, but were denied."

"Why?" Grissom asked wondering how this could have any relevance to the case.

"Well that piece of information wasn't available, so being the thorough sort of a guy I am..."

"Not to mention as curious as hell," Catherine piped up.

"Not to mention being mildly intrigued," Brass conceded "I call some friends in the CPS who managed to track the case worker in California. Strangely enough she remembered the case; apparently it was Greg's reaction at the prospect of being adopted that put a stop to it."

"His reaction?" Nick said making little hurry up gestures.

"Yeah he said that he would rather kill himself" Brass finished seriously; he was met by five disbelieving faces.

"Our Greg, the lab rat with way too much energy, a passion for loud bad music, good coffee and a flare for dramatics threatened to commit suicide? Sorry Brass I'm don't buy it," Warrick said voicing what the others were thinking.

"Yeah," Brass said. "I bet you also don't ‘buy' that the kid was abused and that he had to testify at his biological father's trial," he continued. Again five jaws hit the floor and the room was deadly silent, after Brass dropped the file on the table. Gil, predictably, recovered first.

"Okay, so Greg wasn't adopted so what happened to him?"

"Well seeing he was already in college..."

"No way!"

"Seems he's actually understating the case when he says he's a genius. Anyway as here was already there and living off his own income the Hampton's had guardianship over him until he turned 14 when he got himself officially emancipated," the CSIs took that in silently a lot of this had turned their perceptions of the young lab tech on there head.

"Wait ten years ago? How old is Greg?" Catherine asked the room in general.

"You don't know?" Warrick asked disbelievingly, Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"Do you?"

"Yeah, he's...." Warrick stopped and thought about it. "No actually he always said he was young enough to party all night and old enough to know better."

"I'll give you a hint, Arissa is not only his sister but his twin," Brass said and then waited for them to figure it out.

"22? He's only 22?! That means he must have been 17 when he joined here. You hired a 17 year old?!" Grissom accused, Brass shrugged.

"He was 18 just, but he was by far the best candidate for the job" Brass defended.

"Christ he really is a kid. I didn't even know what a crime lab was at 22," Rick stated looking around at the other stunned faces.

"Yeah, ‘Rick I hear ya, I guess though that sort of background makes you grow up fast," Brass said sadly. Gris shook his head.

"We're getting tied up on the emotional here; we should be concentrating on the case."

"That's just it, Gil, we are on the case Drake Sanders - Greg's biological father escaped two days ago. It's possible that this was revenge attack."

"He escaped from where?"

"The high security unit in California. I've placed a guard on Greg and one at the clinic where his sister's are."

"Has anyone told Greg yet?"

"No, I'm guessing he's going to have some questions," Brass stared pointedly at Gil who nodded.

"As soon as we finish up here; ‘Rick, Catherine chase the evidence we have being processed, unfortunately we have to use Bryson from days for DNA as the swing/ grave and day shift spill over tech is currently in hospital. He's not as fast as Sanders and won't analyse the results as thoroughly, you're gong to have to check it thoroughly. Sara pull up the know associates of Drake Sanders - get in contact with the prison and check the visitor log. Nick- see what you can find on the rest of the band - grudges people might have, whatever, let's not just assume our primary targets without evidence. I want everyone to keep an open mind on this one, okay?" he got four nods and four determined looks. If someone was after Greg they were going to have to beat the best damn CSIs there were to get to him. He nodded at them and then he and Brass left for the hospital.

‘Rick sighed and looked Catherine.

"We better get started," he sighed and with that left the break room for the layout room. Catherine followed him whilst Nick and Sara headed out off in the other direction. Warrick dug out an evidence bag from the hospital and laid it out.

"Whoa, who was wearing that?" Catherine asked eye the outfit in shock. The trousers were black leather and laced up the sides from the ankle to hip. The top had long sleeves of PVC but the main body was black translucent netting, the whole outfit looked hardly big enough for any of the band members. Warrick looked at the bag and did a double take.

"Err... it's Greg's" he said reading the label a third time to make sure. Catherine raised an eyebrow and studied the clothing.

"What's that there?" she asked indicating a stain on the sleeve.

"I don't know but can soon find out," Warrick said swabbing it. The phenol drew a blank so it wasn't blood. They ALS over the shirt and got a shock with a goats head in a upside down pentangle appeared on the netting.

"Hmm... UV fluorescent paint?" Catherine commented on it.

"Not the only glow though..." Warrick said feeling sick, the stain lit up.

"Semen? On his shirt? What type of party was this?" Catherine asked somewhere between shocked and angry. Warrick swabbed the sample for DNA and shrugged.

"Let's find out whose it is first," he said but even as he did he had a bad feeling about the stain and what it implied. A glance at Catherine confirmed she was thinking the same thing.

"We don't know anything yet Cath - don't get ahead of the evidence," he warned she sighed.

"I know- I know it's just- Christ didn't he have a hard enough time anyway, why do this to him?"

"I don't know but when I find out who did what..." he left the sentiment unfinished but his tone left no room for misinterpretation. Catherine composed herself.

"Come on, the faster we're done the more time Bryson has to screw up," she said a little unkindly, Warrick snorted at the sentiment.

Sara stared at the computer screen keeping an ear out for the fax to finish. The prison had been more than happy to send over the visitor log after she muttered words like warrant followed by ‘procedural enquiry'. The more she read the more she wanted to kill the man, or throw up, or find Greg and hug him forever, or all three. Drake Sanders had been a cop; he had been married twice to the same woman, which explained the 14 year age gap between Katy and the twins. He had finally been arrested after Greg and Arissa had run away when they were 11. Arissa was pregnant as a result of her father's abuse and Greg had been so badly beaten that doctors couldn't say for sure if he was going to recover the use of his left arm. At the trial, the prosecution had shown that this was a symptom of prolonged abuse that local authorities had been ignoring given their father's position in the community. Greg had testified at the trial but Arissa was heavily pregnant by then and it had been deemed too stressful for her. The list of injuries he was accused of inflicting on the pair ever ignoring the incest was horrific. It made Sara wonder how Greg had turned out like he had. Her own home life had not been easy but not as bad as his and she knew she had issues about it.

The fax machine beeped indicating it had finished, she got up and retrieved the log, deciding to look at it after she had been through his file; hopefully the any names on the list might he a context.

Nick sighed and rolled his head to loosen his stiff neck, he had only been at it an hour or so but he was turning up dead end after dead end. It seemed the band was universally liked, there was no hint of scandal and they weren't even big enough for money to be a motive. The only thing that he had actually found in the media about the band in the past 6 months apart from advertising was an article on how the lead guitarist, Johnny Lloyds had broken his arm after racing Arissa around a rack on a motorbike - and even that hadn't hinted of foul play just oil on the track and bad luck. Nick's thoughts kept drifting back to Greg he kept wondering if this was a planned attack on him but then reminded himself that Greg was a last minute replacement - no one knew he was going to be there. Nick sighed and continued his way down the list.

Catherine sighed as she labelled the last sample.

"Right let's drop these in a DNA in A/V," she said sounding tired, Warrick nodded.

"You got it" he said heading out with a tray full of samples.

//##//~~

"Hey Archie, you had a look at that DVD yet?" Warrick asked strolling into the A/V lab. Archie paused the DVD in question and turned to face the newcomer.

"Yeah but there isn't a whole lot on there except blackmail material against Greg," he said jokingly, Catherine came in just in time to catch the last part of what Archie said.

"What's that about blackmailing Greg?" she asked wearily, Archie smirked.

"This," he said as he hit play. There band were halfway through a track, the camera panned over a packed hall of fans then onto each member of the band, who all acknowledged the camera in some way - albeit pulling a face into the lens. Finally it got to Greg who was in the middle of a solo. He was wearing the outfit that was now in the evidence room. It was so tight that it left nothing to the imagination, through the netting in the top you could clearly make out a nipple ring and part of a tattoo disappearing into the waist of his pants. That is until the black light flashed causing the demonic image to appear instead. The multi-coloured spikes of his hair had been heavily sprayed with glitter. Greg smiled at the camera, the smallest acknowledgment any of the band had made.

"Is it me or does he seem... withdrawn?" Warrick asked finally studying the DVD after getting over the shock of seeing a co-worker on stage looking like he should be arrested for what he was wearing.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess if you didn't know he had ADHD he doesn't look out of place but I've seen him dance round the lab in a show girls headdress before now," Catherine agreed. The band finished the song and the crowd cheered. On stage Arris turned and ran a hand down Greg's arm, smiling slightly when he looked at her.

"Whoa, what was that?" Catherine said. "Pull it back and pause it. Yeah there, what is going on between those two?" she asked staring at the interaction. Neither Warrick nor Archie responded, they just stared at the frozen frame on the screen.

"Who is that?" Archie asked, puzzled why it was such a big deal.

"His twin sister," Warrick said.

"That doesn't look very sisterly," Archie stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh, did they bomb or something?" Nick asked coming in and glancing at the screen.

"No, why do you think that?"

"Because she's trying to making him feel better" Nick said with a shrug like it was obvious.

"Oh well that's a lot better than what we were thinking," Archie said with relief, Nick frowned and looked at each of them individually then back at the screen, his eyes went wide as the penny dropped.

"You thought that they were... that's sick," he exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, you can see what it looks like," Warrick defended, Nick chuckled.

"Oh man, I'm going to have to tell Aris that, she'll have a scream," he said whilst giggling. The others started to chuckle as well.

"You ever think maybe we've been in the job too long?" Warrick asked sheepishly.

"Why? Just because we see an innocent gesture between a friend and his sister and our first thought is incest?" she rolled her eyes. Nick laughed again.

"Don't worry, Cath, you wouldn't have been the first to ask about them."

"How do you know?" Warrick asked suspiciously, Nick shrugged.

"Aris is even more talkative than Greg and she likes talking about him," he said before smiling sheepishly. "Besides she used to be a model, she's very bright and she's a classically trained singer..." he left the rest of the sentence unfinished mainly because of the chuckle Warrick gave him.

"Right so you happily would have listened to her all night long," he added knowingly causing Nick to blush.

"I wonder how Greg would react," Archie mused.

"We're not got to find out because we're never going to tell him what you thought right? At best he would just be shocked at worst he would completely pull away from Aris and I think that would kill them both. So our secret, right?" Nick said seriously. He got a series of nodding heads. "Good," he said before turning back to Archie.

"Did you manage to find anything from the recording of Johnny Lloyd's accident?"

"Not yet, I'll get back to you," he said turning back to the screen and getting back to work. Nick left the lab shortly after. Catherine shrugged her shoulders.

"Want to go see if Bryson has got anything yet except older?" she asked Warrick.

"Why not," he replied unfolding himself from the chair and sauntering out of the lab.

CHAPTER 5

"Ah, I was just about to page you," Bryson said by way of greeting.

"You got something from the scene?" Catherine anticipated.

"No. I haven't done them yet, I started with Greg's trace. Oh, don't give me that look, are you seriously trying to tell me you didn't do the same?" he chastised at their frowns.

"Look I've just finished it - the stain on his shirt..."

"Semen?" Warrick cut in.

"Not just semen - there were two donors both XY" he handed the report.

"Saliva" Catherine read from the report, Bryson nodded.

"Right, saliva came back as Greg's the semen as unknown. The sample from his fingernails had three XY why donors. One of which matched the semen" he finished.

"Wait, Greg said he was out cold - this proves he fought back. Why lie about it? He must have known we'd find out," Warrick said confused.

"I think I know why, I'm going to check in with Gris," Catherine said walked out of the lab. Warrick nodded.

"Anything else, Bryson?"

"Not really - tox came back low levels of alcohol and high levels of adrenaline nothing unusual."

"Did you compare the unknowns to the other band members or checked for familial DNA?"

"No do you want me to?" Bryson asked. Warrick swallowed the angry retort on the tip of his tongue. Greg would have run the tests as procedure but it was a ‘Greg' procedure not a departmental one. It was times like this when he was reminded they all treated Greg as a flake and a wannabe, but in fact he was the best tech in the lab.

"Yeah do that, let me know what you find" he said trying to sound calm. Bryson nodded and went back to work. Warrick headed for the break room and waited for Catherine to finish her call.

##//##//##

"Grissom."

"It's Catherine."

"What's wrong?"

"Where are you?"

"Stuck in traffic, haven't made it to the hospital yet- why?"

"Do you have a kit with you?"

"Do I have to dignify that with an answer?"

"You need to process Greg."

"I already did, Cath."

"I know but this time you need too.... You need to do a SAE."

"Catherine, what have you found?"

"Unknown semen mixed with Greg's saliva on the sleeve of his shirt, 3 unknown XY donors under his nails."

"It might have been consensual."

"Gris I saw him; ligature marks, crush larynx, facial bruising, fractures and multiple contusions and bruises say assault to me."

"I know, okay I'll keep you informed," he hung up and looked over at Brass who had been quiet through the conversation concentrating on the traffic.

"That did not sound good," he said prompting Gil.

"There is evidence that Greg was sexually assaulted. I need to get a rape exam done," he said feeling sick even as the words left his mouth. Brass nodded but his grip on the steering wheel turned white.

"That would explain the shrinking violet act we got last time. I'm going to have to talk to him about this Gil, but I'll leave so you can do the exam."

"Let's not jump the gun, the doctors would have said if they noticed anything."

"Would they have checked? He was conscious when he was brought in and we know him and we didn't notice a thing," Brass reminded him none too gently.

"This isn't your screw up, Jim, this one is solely on my shoulders," Grissom said as they finally made it into the car park. He got out and grabbed he kit as Brass killed the engine.

##//##//

"I'm begging you to reconsider Gecko, please let us take care of you," the voice emanating from Greg's room was male with a hint of desperation. Brass flashed his badge at the uniform o the door.

"Who is that in there?" he asked quietly.

"Michael Hampton. He was here when I arrived and the kid didn't want me to make him leave. Although I think he might have changed his mind Hampton's been in there at least an hour." The officer reported.

"Gecko, I just want you safe; protected is such a bad thing for a father to want for his son?" by this time Gil and Brass were by the door and could see into the room. Hampton was sitting in the chair looking haggard even in an Armani suit. Greg signed something in clipped gestures that made Hampton wince and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"How am I going to convince you that it was a drunken and stupid mistake? Please Gecko...Greg I didn't mean it then and I always have and always will want you, as much as I want Aris. I'm going to keep telling you until you believe me," he spoke quietly but with fierce sincerity. Greg refused to meet his eyes and made a short gesture.

"Gecko please..."

"I think he made himself clear," Gil interpreted smoothly, causing both Greg and Michael to jump. Michael recovered quickly and stood between Greg and the two men; the haggard, broken man gone replaced by a strong and confident lawyer.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Detective Jim Brass LVPD and this is Gil Grissom of the Las Vegas crime lab," as Brass introduced them Michael took his warrant card and inspected it. He handed it back but still looked suspicious.

"He told me he had already been processed, why are you here?"

"I just need to ask Greg some more questions," Brass smiled, but it didn't look like Hampton was buying it.

Michael turned to Gil.

"And why are you here Mr Grissom?"

"As an interpreter - the detective doesn't sign."

"Well I can do that, there is no need to waste the time of a CSI," Michael said smoothly.

"I think I'd prefer Gil, we've got a good working relationship going on. So thank you for the offer Mr. Hampton but why don't you go grab a coffee and I'll and have a chat with you in a few minutes," Brass said used to playing these games with lawyers.

Michael sat back in the chair.

"I'm not going anywhere, Detective Brass, as Greg Sanders lawyer I have the right to be present when ever you speak to my client," he crossed his ankles and appeared at ease. Greg jumped in before Brass could finish this verbal chess game. Greg signed something quickly that made Gil smirk and Michael frown. Hampton opened his mouth to argue but Gil again cut him off.

"I think you've just been sacked Mr. Hampton so please leave or I will have the officer outside escort you off the premises," Gris didn't raise his voice but left no one in doubt that he was not joking. Michael sighed.

"Fine I'll go to the canteen and see if they have any of that tea Greg likes," he said standing to leave. Gil stopped him.

"Since when does Greg drink tea?" he asked, Michael relaxed a little bit.

"He doesn't," he said shortly and left.

Gil raised and eyebrow at Greg.

"A test?"

::Not my idea sorry::

"Not a problem. I see how you could be confused about being adopted," Gil said lightly, Greg froze for about 30 seconds, not even breathing.

::You pulled my file::

"Standard procedure, you know that. Something it was confusing in some parts but first I have some bad news," Gil paused, not for effect but he just simply didn't have the words. He swallowed hard and looked at Brass for support suddenly unable to tell Greg.

"The thing is Greg; Drake Sanders broke out of jail two days. I don't want you to worry, I have a guard on you and another on top of the clinic's security where you sisters are," Brass spoke quickly to try and get it all out of the way at once. Greg went completely white and starting shaking. Gil put a hand on his cheek.

"It's okay, Greg, he can't get to you, and we will find him," Gris assured him in a low soft voice trying to calm the tremors. Greg slowly came through his minor panic attack.

::Does Michael know?::

"Not that I'm aware of,"

::You have to tell him right now:: Greg's eyes were wide and flicked between the two.

"Okay, Brass?"

"On it," Brass said following Michael. Gil turned back to Greg.

"I told Brass I wouldn't bring this up just yet but as he's not here..." he sighed trying to think of the right phrasing.

"Greg when were processed your clothes we found a stain on your top," Gil spoke slowly rubbing gentle circles on Greg's face. "We also found DNA under your nails from 3 XY donors. Because of this evidence coupled with you injuries I want too..." Gil trailed off as Greg began to sign.

::They didn't rape me if that's what you think. They were going too but they didn't have time. I'm sorry I didn't say what happened. I didn't want to remember:: Gil looked from his hands back to his eyes which were now hidden behind tears, he stroked his hair. Greg flinched from his hand but quickly covered his reaction. Gil frowned he was a little worried about just how good Greg was at putting up an act he doubted anyone less observant would have caught the move.

"I understand that you don't want to remember what happened Greg but we need to know," Gil looked straight into Greg's eyes, the boy looked both terrified and nauseous. Greg nodded slowly.

::Okay, but this may take some time:: Gil nodded but kept his hand running through Greg's hair.

"Take all the time you need."

##//##//

"Mr Hampton," Brass said as he approached the man nursing a cup of what the hospital called coffee. Michael looked up at him, Brass could visibly see the guys' defences go up- he went from tired, concerned parent and husband to court room lawyer in less than five seconds.

"Detective Brass," he said offering the seat opposite him.

"You can drop the ‘Lawyer Act'; I'm only here because my friend who's lying in the bed back there asked me to talk to you."

"What about?" Michael lost some of the open hostility and settled on guard suspicion.

"Drake Sanders broke out two days ago," Brass said bluntly. Hampton sank back into his chair.

"I know; why do you think I'm trying to more Greg to a more secure unit?" he said sounding genuinely upset, realisation dawned on Brass.

"That's why you had the band transferred..."

"If I had moved just my family they would have been suspicious of my motives, so I moved all of them. Of course Gecko kicked off - he told me he has his own health insurance policy and didn't need me hand outs, blah, blah, the usual..." he said and scrubbed his face with his hands. Against his better judgement Brass was beginning to feel sorry for the guy.

"Kids, huh?" Bras said sympathetically, Michael snorted.

"No, this mess is all on me. I made an unforgivable mistake with Greg once and I've been paying for it ever since."

"What happened?" Brass asked, Michael snorted.

"Still a cop huh?"

"Hey, buddy, I'm just curious, I used to be Greg's supervisor- he never mentioned his family," he raised his hands in a surrender, Michael sighed.

"Sorry. I'm not surprised he didn't mention us, he's very good at making noise - he can talk you in circles until you can't even remember what you asked him," He took a swig of the lukewarm coffee and grimaced at the taste.

"The thing is, the trial - Drake's trial - traumatised Greg he came out of that room shaking, Drake had lost it he screamed something at him, I can't remember the exact words but the gist was that Greg should have ‘kept his big mouth shut and he was going to pay'," he laughed humourlessly.

"Drake got his wish, it was a year and a half before Greg could bring himself to speak again," having finished his coffee Michael was angrily tearing the polystyrene cup to pieces. Brass' eyes went wide.

"Greg ‘I-can't-shut-up' Sanders was a mute?" He clarified trying to equate a silent child with the chatterbox he knew.

"It's why we all know ASL - that was Arissa's idea, one of her best."

"That worked?"

"Yeah, Greg wasn't trying to be difficult he was simply too scared to open his mouth..." Michael pushed the pieces of the cup to one side he waited for Brass to take that in.

"That still doesn't explain the animosity between you two."

"There is no animosity from me towards Greg; it's all the other way but it was asked for. I screwed up- what can I say? I was 24 when I married Katy and applied for adoption, I was in the same Frat house as Greg for God's sake, I got him in. I was trying to be a dad in the evenings and one of the guys during the day. Anyway a couple of nights after the trial I was in a bar with some of the guys just shooting the breeze. I was waiting for Kat to buzz me to get picked up and we got talking about my situation, they couldn't see why the star quarter back would adopt a kid who even then was a science nerd. Instead of defending him I told them it was a package deal that if I wanted the other two I had to take all three. Completely untrue of course but I didn't want to explain to a bunch of jokes about my son. I didn't know he was there, they did - thought it was the funniest thing ever. Turns out Kat couldn't get a signal and had asked him to find me," Michael sighed and looked at Brass.

"They actually thought they had done me a favour when Greg refused the adoptions. The ones I still see now regret it of course - now they've bothered to get to know him and I have no idea why I'm telling you my life's story- are you sure you're not a lawyer?" He finished, Brass shrugged.

"I was here," Brass replied. He got up.

"I've got to go talk to Greg," he said trying to keep his voice even though he had come to the conclusion that he really didn't care about this guy who had screwed up his friend, Michael nodded but didn't move as Jim walked away.

##//##//##

Greg was near tears by the end of his tale, he had stopped several times and Gil had to encourage him to continue, when he had finished Greg had turned away from him, too ashamed to look him in the eye.

Gil gently turned his face back.

"You did very well, Greg, don't look away from me. You have done nothing wrong," Gil was trying to cover his rage at the perpetrators so that Greg didn't see it, but he couldn't he was literally vibrating with suppressed fury. Greg eyed him cautiously.

::You're angry::

"Yes I am, but not with you," he assured the lab tech. Greg let out a sigh of relief that made the rock in Gil's stomach double in size. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jim reappear at the door.

"Greg, you up to answering Jim's questions?"

::Sure, I wouldn't want you to get into trouble for talking to me first:: Greg gave him a smile that was barely a shadow of his former grin, but it was enough to give Gil hope that he might get through this.

"Sure Jim, ask away," he said not translating exactly what Greg has said.

"Greg can you think of anyone besides Drake who might have a grudge against a band member or the band in general?"

::No sorry but you'd be better off asking Aris or Cat, they both know them better than me. Some of those guys I only met tonight::

"Okay, Michael kept referring to a Cat, who it that?"

::Katy- Cat's shorter to sign::

"Well that's one mystery solved. Does Arissa have a boyfriend or someone who might be jealous?"

::Not that I know of, she hangs out with Dan Langston a lot but I think they're just friends. You should ask her::

"What about you?"

::No, I don't have boyfriend either:: Greg smirked.

"Cute, what about a girlfriend?"

::No::

"Anyone in the recent past?"

::No::

"Really? I mean come on, you used to have a different girl every week, and you're telling me that none of those girls might be pissed at you?" Greg frowned and switched his attention to Grissom.

::You said I had done nothing wrong::

"No, Greg, you haven't, Jim is just trying to find out if anyone might have wished you harm," Gil assured him.

Greg looked less then convinced.

"Did anything seem unusual during the performance or around that time - anyone out of place? Anything?" Brass was getting frustrated and so pushing Greg for answers. His was getting very irritated and that was not helping Greg to calm down, in fact he was become more worked up.

::No I don't know; it was the first gig I've done in 5 years, I don't know what's supposed to happen and besides before the show I spent the entire time puking my guts out in the toilets:: Greg covered his eyes with his hand and was shaking.

"Jim, that's enough," Grissom said going from friend to pissed off supervisor in a blink of an eye. Brass sighed, aware he'd probably pushed it too far and definitely further then he would have done with any anomalous victim. Somehow he expected Greg to be a better witness but he was already doing more then most.

"What the hell?" Michael exclaimed stalking into the room, he glared at Brass and Gil as he sat on the bed next to Greg. He wrapped his arms around the shaking form and pulled him close.

"Hey Gecko, it's okay- they're going, they're going," he soothed tightening his grip, it was a testament to how worked up Greg was that he was able to hold him. He glared at the two men still standing in the room.

"They are leaving right now and they will not be returning," the unspoken ‘or else' hung in the air. Gris nodded and ushered Brass out. They reached the car park before either spoke.

"I'm sorry Gil, I was pissed at that lawyer and I know Greg is hiding something from us."

"You - he's hiding something from you and it's not me you should be apologising too," Gil said shortly.

"I know that too, I doubt I'll be allowed back in tonight, I'll come back in the morning before shift and do it," Brass conceded sheepishly. Gil sighed and turned Brass, glancing quickly over the Detective's shoulder.

"I would be very surprised if he will still be here in the morning," he said fixing his gaze on the hospital entrance. Brass turned following his line of vision. A limo had pulled up in the hospital doorway Michael was clutching Greg to his chest holding him fiercely whilst arguing with the doctors. Apparently Michael won because the doctor did nothing to stop him getting into the limo still carrying Greg.

"Great," Brass muttered under his breath.

CHAPTER 6

"Oh my God, but I hardly touched him!" Aris said between laughs.

"I know but that's CSIs for you," Nick said, he was sitting on the edge of her bed as he told Aris about Catherine's and Warrick's first reaction to the concert DVD. Arissa sighed and looked across at Katy, who was still out from the pain killers.

"You know if I had any idea who hurt us I'd tell you, right?"

"I know, don't sweat it we'll catch them," Nick said, running a hand through her hair. He lent into her slowly watching for any signs of reluctance. Their lips were a millimetre away when the door opened with a bang causing them to jump apart guiltily. Michael stormed in still holding Greg. Arissa's eyes went wide.

"Oh my God, what happened?" she exclaimed trying to get to the bed that Michael put him on. Nick caught her around the waist and stopped her, she watched as the doctor bustled over to check him.

"Papa, what's going on?" she pleaded with Michael.

"If they think I'm going to leave him to that wolf of a detective and his arrogant jumped up criminalist partner they have another think coming. Who are you?" he snapped at Nick suddenly noticing him.

"I'm Nick Stokes, sir, I work with Greg," Nick said calmly, although his accent had thickened somewhat.

"Really so another CSI? You can get out too, I'm not going to have my kids upset under the pretence of questioning" he fumed.

"Papa, no! Nick came to visit me because I asked him too, he's not her as a CSI he's here as my guest," Aris insisted, a movement in Michael's peripheral vision caught his attention.

::Nick's a good guy, Michael, I promise:: Greg backed his sister up. Michael sighed.

"I know when I'm beaten don't worry - one raised voice though and he's gone- got it?" he said warningly, three nods later he left. Greg grinned sheepishly.

::Hi, Nick::

"Greg, I don't sign, sorry,"

"He said hi- which is Gecko speak for ‘what are you doing here and why are you sitting on my sisters bed?'" Aris loosely translated.

"He can say all that with two signs? Wow, I never knew ‘hi' could mean so much..." Nick grinned at her and then at Greg. His smile faltered when he saw the damage done to his friend. He got off the bed and went over for a closer inspection.

"Jesus," he muttered gently brushed the hair away from Greg's forehead. Greg pulled away.

::It's not that bad:: he signed; Nick frowned and turned to Arissa, but kept a hand on Greg's arm. Aris rolled her eyes.

"He say's ‘it's not that bad'. Mind you, when he got blown up, he told us he- and I quote- ‘had a little accident work'," she informed Nick - he turned back to Greg in time to catch the lab tech glare at his sister. Arissa was unfazed by the visual daggers.

"What you have to understand Nick is my brother, while putting on an arrogant twat act where ever he can, actually has a skewed sense of self-worth. In actual fact he doesn't have seem to have any self-worth and under plays anything that happens to him as if he doesn't matter. For proof of this, pay him an honest compliment and observe the colour change," as she spoke, she kept her focus on Greg who was trying to disappear into the bed. Nick looked at him.

"Is she serious?"

::No::

"He says no but means yes," Arissa translated. Nick sighed and ran a hand through Greg's hair.

"You do realise it's common opinion that you are the best Tech in the States, don't you?" he said sincerely, genuinely curious if Arissa was correct. A blush crept up over Greg's face and neck.

"Told you," came a sing-song voice from the other side. Nick smiled and filed the reaction under mostly useless except as blackmail material. Obviously he gave away what he was thinking because Greg cringed and rolled away from him. Arissa slid off her bed and hobbled over to Greg's, she perched on the end and tried to roll Greg back.

"Aww, don't be like that Gecko, come one," she cooed as she pulled him back. Greg gave and let her roll him, as he came over he met her gaze head on. Nick could have sworn that in the few seconds that the two stared at each other an entire conversation had taken place. Tears formed in Arissa's eyes.

"Oh my poor brother," she whispered, she lent down and embraced Greg. This seemed to break the dam; Greg started shaking and tears trickled from his eyes. Aris started to try and lift Greg to a sitting position, but it was clear that with her cast preventing her from standing properly that she couldn't.

"Let me, Aris," Nick said softly going around to the other side of the bed; Aris nodded and reluctantly moved away allowing Nick to reach round Greg. He lifted the lab tech easily, Arissa move the bed to a sitting position. She climbed up next to Greg and pulled him carefully onto her lap. Greg rested his head on her shoulder and tried to slow his breathing, all the movement had awakened every injury he had even through the pain meds. Nick looked at the two tears leaked in his own eyes; he knew what had happened he heard the report from Catherine. He didn't know who the bastards were that had hurt them but he was going to find out. His gaze ticked to the door and he considered leaving.

"Stay," Aris pleaded, he met first her eyes then Greg's. Greg pointed at Nick ad then at the vacant part of the bed where he'd been a few moments ago. Nick hesitated.

"Oh surely I don't need to translate that," Arissa scolded lightly, Nick sighed knowing he was beaten and unlaced his boots. He hopped up on the bed, it was a tight squeeze and his arm was sandwiched between his side and Arissa.

She rolled her eyes.

"You can out your arm around us, we don't have cooties," she teased, Nick blushed.

"I didn't want to assume..."

"Look I'm about as tactful as a poke in the head with a sharp stick - If I don't like what you're doing I'll let you know. Until then..." she picked up his arm and dumped it around her shoulders. Nick smiled and gave her a squeeze before making himself comfy. He glanced at Greg who was grinning at him.

"What?" he asked, Greg signed something at him but instead of interpreting Arissa answered for him.

"No, but I'm hopeful," she said. Greg smiled and signed something else that made Arissa grin. She kissed the top of his head.

"Go to sleep," she whispered, Greg nodded but before he closed his eyes he swung his legs over Nick's effectively pinning both of them to the bed.

Arissa smiled.

"Take it as a compliment; even drugged he won't fall asleep unless he feels 100% safe," she advised.

Nick smiled.

"Why don't you get some sleep too, okay?" he suggested, Arissa smiled at him.

"Can I get a goodnight's kiss?" she asked quietly, already leaning in, Nick met her halfway and gently sealed his lips over hers in a slow gentle kiss. Neither of them noticed that Greg's eyes had opened; he smiled contently before drifting off into a restful sleep.

Several hours later Nick was woken when someone cleared their throat loudly. It took him a moment to work out why he was sharing a bed with a co-worker and the gothic queen. When he did he glanced round the room and noticed both Michael and Katy sitting by the bed. Nick winced when he saw their expression.

"Sir. Ma'am." he said trying to sound professional whilst in a puppy pile with their kids. He felt a movement on his side and turned to see that Greg had woken up and was signing, he felt relief that he wasn't going to have to face them alone.

::He's a friend, his name's Nick:: and he closed his eyes again. Nick turned back to the Hampton's they both looked from Greg to him, Katy glared.

"Let me guess- CSI and don't know ASL?" she sneered, Nick decided he liked her better when she was seeing monkey's in the curtains. Michael squeezed her hand stopping her from commenting further. Greg sighed loudly, opening his eyes and glaring at Katy. She huffed at him.

"Yeah, well, I don't trust the Las Vegas crime lab and I trust the CSIs even less - with reason I might add," she was speaking to Greg but glaring at Nick.

Nick tensed.

"Look, Ma'am, I don't want to cause a problem here so I'm going to..." he went to get up but was pulled back.

"Stay put," Aris finished his sentence for him yanking on the back of his shirt, she too glared at Katy.

"You are being unreasonable, Mama," she said, her voice quivering with tension.

"They blew up your brother!" Katy seethed.

"No, there was an accident and Gecko got hurt. It's a bit like my father organising us a gig where four of my friends dies and the rest of us are injured. So should I be blaming Papa for that?" she snapped.

Nick cringed he did not want to be involved in a domestic. Before Katy could respond Greg joined in, he signed something that stalled her. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Look, you might trust them, I don't, and I still want you to quit, Gecko we can support you," she sounded pleading but the way Greg reacted implied that this was a recurring conversation. He rolled his eyes at her and turned away.

"Gecko, please, listen to your mother..." Greg cut Michael off with short gestures. Katy instantly teared up, she took off. Michael glared at Greg.

"That was uncalled for," He chastised, Greg was shaking slightly; if Nick's hand hadn't been on his shoulder he wouldn't have noticed.

"Hey, lay off, okay?" he said to Michael, formality giving way to loyalty to his friend. He gave Greg's shoulder a squeeze, Greg looked at him and signed something.

"Greg, don't be stupid, you still need medical care," Michael snapped.

"Greg asked you if he could leave with you, Nick," Arissa informed him, bristling at Michael. "And he's not stupid," she glared at her adoptive father.

Nick looked at Greg and sighed.

"Greg, Mr Hampton is right...." Nick started but Greg cut him off. When he had finished Michael cast one look at him then turned to Aris.

"Do you agree with him?" he demanded.

"Papa, please don't be this way. I love you, but don't make me choose," she begged Michael, he studied her face.

"Are you taking the girls? They're outside," he whispered shakily.

"We're not going far and not forever, this is not the end of the world," she tried to explain.

"What's going on?" Katy asked, reappearing.

"The twins want to leave; they are going back to the apartment. Yes, they are taking the girls," Michael summarised, which helped Nick because he now understood what was going on.

"Mama, please I'm not moving out but you are tearing Gecko in two directions, and right now we need CSI on our side," she tried explaining to Katy when Michael didn't seem to buy it.

"And what about medical treatment?"

"Desert Palms is fine and we can both be discharged. Please don't make this a war; Gecko is leaving and I am going with him. I don't want us to be alone again," Aris finished with a whisper, she had the best puppy dog eyes Nick had ever seen, he then looked at Greg and amended that to the second best. Katy looked like her heart was breaking, Michael was the same. The Hampton's shared a look then Michael nodded.

"I'll have a car made ready, please don't leave before we return, we want to say goodbye," he said standing, the twins nodded and they left. As soon as they were out of sight the puppy dog looks disappeared. Nick waited until he was sure they were out of ear shot.

"How many times have you pulled that?" he asked. Greg had the grace to look sheepish; Arissa grinned.

"Can't remember, but it works every time," she said smirking. The door crept open again.

"Mama!" two girls shrieked and ran in.

"Luna, Solaris, careful, Gecko is hurt," Aris warned before they could pounce on the bed. The girls immediately started walking and settled down carefully on the foot of the bed.

"Gecko is hurt and yet you too have a cast," one of the girls observed. Nick was stunned.

"Identical twins," he muttered, remembering reading somewhere that some families had a genetic propensity towards twins.

"Wow, this one's observant" one of the girls said rolled her eyes.

"Luna!" Aris admonished, sounding shocked. Greg was trying to smother a laugh. Nick smiled at her.

"Sorry, I'm just surprised that's all."

"It's cool we're used to it. Who are you?" the other one asked bluntly.

"Solaris!" by this time Greg was biting into a knuckle in an effort not to burst out laughing.

"Nick, I am so sorry, I'd like to say that they are not always like this but I would be lying," Aris said embarrassed, Nick laughed.

"Don't worry. I'm Nick Stokes, I work with Greg."

"Cool. Who's Greg?"

"He means Gecko sweetie."

"Oh, why didn't he say so?"

"Long story."

"We like stories,"

"We don't have time. Look you need to go find Grandma and Papa, they're going to take you home so you can pack, we're going to stay with Gecko for a bit so bring what you want, some clothes and your school work!" the girls offered Arissa a grin before dashing off the way they came. Nick watched them go thoughtfully.

"How old are they?"

"The girls? They're ten," Aris replied warily.

"Huh..." Nick said taking that in.

"They're yours aren't they?" he asked hoping his voice was light, bur Arissa still froze.

"Yeah, yeah they're mine," she answered. Nick thought on that before speaking.

"He really is a bastard," he said with feeling, as soon as he spoke he felt the room ease like a rope had been cut, Aris laughed with relief.

"Yeah he really is. The girls though are mine - nothing to do with him, I'm fairly sure he doesn't even know about them and that's the way it's going to stay, they are a silver lining in a very dark cloud," she sighed fidgeting until she could turn.

"Here hold this," she said laughingly pushing Greg onto him. Greg didn't seem too perturbed; he just shifted across so he could lean his head on Nick's shoulder. Nick looked slightly surprised when Greg grabbed his arm and draped it round him like a blanket; he promptly closed his eyes and fell asleep. Arissa had gotten herself up and grabbed her crutches. She laughed at Nick's face.

"Perhaps I should have told you- Gecko loves cuddles - goes through phases were he can't sleep alone. Despite what my parents think, my brother does not trust easily, but he does trust well. It says a lot about you that he is so comfortable with you," she looked at Greg; love and respect evident.

"He's been through so much, in a way more than me. It just doesn't seem fair," she said sounding pained.

She handed Nick a notepad and a pen.

"In case he wakes up" she explained before leaving to go back and pack.

CHAPTER 7

Brass walked into the break room and felt the temperature drop.

"Am I persona non gratis?" he asked carefully, Catherine glared at him.

"I don't know, have you apologised to Greg yet?"

"I will as soon as I find him... hold the visual homicide guys," he said quickly when he looked like he was going to receive more ice daggers.

"I've been burning some shoe leather, I found one of the girls that Greg's been seeing - she was in the audience. She thinks that maybe she made a mistake in dumping him..."

"So you're snooping around our friend- that's a really not a good way to get back into out good books."

"Yeah well, our friend is hiding something and you know what that does to me," Brass defended. Warrick sighed.

"Yeah man, we just don't want to be digging around in the past of someone we know - everyone has skeletons, know what I'm sayin'?"

"I hear you, but the kid is hiding something and given his past - I just want to make sure whatever it is he's hiding isn't going to bite him in the ass," he sighed, Catherine melted a little.

"Okay, but we need to follow other leads as well. Maybe he's not scared; maybe he just doesn't want us to know."

"You could be right, but if the kid winds up killed because we, because I didn't dig deep enough...." Brass shook his head. He didn't even want to go there, even hypothetically.

"Don't worry man, it won't so you can stop digging," Nick said strolling in and grabbing coffee. Sara stared at him.

"Weren't you wearing those clothes yesterday?" she asked, Nick swallowed heavily.

"Yeah, I was at the clinic - Greg was upset so I ended up staying the night" he said hoping he sounded casual, after all it was true. She nodded but unfortunately Warrick wasn't satisfied.

"You went to see Greg or did you go to see Arissa?" he asked.

"What's it to you Rick? Anyway what I was saying is that we need to look away from the twins," he said casually.

"The twins? They're a collective now?" Gris said, Nick cringed internally at the slip.

"Yeah, Greg and Arissa - the twins," he said trying to sound casual, Grissom raised an eyebrow not buying it for a minute but didn't say anything else.

"Okay so if we take the twins," he looked pointedly at Nick, "out, who's left?"

"Well, the rest of the band, Katherine Hampton, Dan Langston, Gary Culitan, Desdemona Singh, Conner Athens, Winston Delfine, Sheeraz Yusaf and Lisa Gilbert - the last four being our corpses. The band manager who calls himself Bret Reynolds and their lawyer the acidic, Mr Michael Hampton," Catherine listed.

"Okay, let's start with the Hamptons, does anyone have a motive?"

"Michael is one of the best defence lawyers in town - the band is a side line, he only works for the very rich and is the only one who has ever come up against your evidence and testimony and won, Gil. As for the wife - she has a somewhat abrasive personality according to Catherine," Brass informed them.

"Nah, she's just protective of her kids," Nick defended. Brass' phone started ringing so he left without reply to take the call.

"Okay - let's see if there are any unsatisfied clients in Hampton's past and if so where they are now..."

"There is something else - the band were going to be offered a record deal with a high end production company, but it was conditional - they wanted Greg not Johnny Lloyds as lead guitar," Nick said remembering the conversation he had with the representative last shift.

"Really? That would give Johnny a motive to want Greg out of the way maybe revenge on the rest of the band if they chose Greg over him," Grissom conceded as Brass walked back in.

"Nick, where exactly were you last night?" he asked directly, Nick squirmed wondering if his sleeping arrangements had been reported.

"I was with Greg," he settled on.

"Okay let me rephrase - where is Greg? His guard seems to have lost him - and surprisingly so has Arissa's."

"What? How?" Grissom growled looking at Brass.

"Why didn't you guys keep track of them?"

"Because they left the clinic and didn't bother to say they where going," Brass aid getting defensive.

"That's a lie, you guys were nowhere in sight when we left - by the front door after signing out and it took half an hour to get through the paperwork Brass and I didn't see another cop the entire time I was there. In fact it slipped my mind that they should have been there," Nick defended.

Brass glared at him.

"You sure about this?"

"Positive; the twins didn't leave my sight then entire time," he insisted.

"Right, I'll have those jokers. Do you know where the Sanders two are now?"

"Sure they're at the... uh... Greg's apartment," Nick said still swigging coffee. Brass nodded and went to make another call.

Hodges passed him on the way.

"Good, you're all here, I got a result on the trace you pulled from Greg's neck," he announced.

"Well?" Grissom prompted.

"It's calcium carbonate imbedded on a linen thread."

"Chalk? How did chalk get in a neck wound?"

"It's not just chalk, given how important this case is to you.... I did a little more digging -it's plaster of Paris adhered to the fibre - like hospitals use to cast broken limbs. I sent it to DNA," he concluded, Grissom raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"I figured there might be epithelia's on it after all it did come from a broken limb," he snapped before leaving. Catherine sighed, how ever much she hated Hodges as a human being he was a damn good tech - the best while Greg as out of action.

"I'll go see what Bryson found, if anything," she muttered the last bit a she left the break room.

"I'm going to see if Reynolds has anymore to say," Grissom said leaving with Brass following him.

"I'll go see if the doctor found anything from the Y-cuts," Sara added also leaving. Nick was the focus of Warrick's gaze. After a few minutes when it became clear that ‘Rick was not going to start the conversation Nick spoke.

"What's on you mind man?"

"Just wondering if Greg knows you're hitting on his sister."

"Yeah, he does."

"And?"

"And what? Look what's the problem? Greg's cool with it, why aren't you?" he asked angrily. Warrick raised his hands in surrender.

"Look man, I'm just looking out for Greg, he's been through enough without having to deal with a friend and his sister getting down without him knowing," he defended. Nick sighed.

"Okay. Look man, what did happen - Gris is playing the actual details of Greg's attack quiet," Nick asked, still wondering about Arissa's reaction to him. Warrick looked at him for a long moment.

"The bastard didn't just beat him up..."

"What does that mean?"

"We found a stain on his shirt - semen mixed with Greg's saliva - do the math and add in his injuries and however you calculate it the answers not pretty," ‘Rick dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink and left Nick alone in the room.

"Bryson, you get anything from the sample Hodges bounced over here?"

"We're in luck - XY, not Greg but matched one of the unknowns from under his nails. None of the samples match the other victims or have any more then three loci in common with Greg." He said proudly.

Catherine sighed.

"We have a suspect," she said feeling like they were finally getting somewhere.

"Just give me something to compare it too," he said confidently.

"We will, don't worry," she affirmed, walking out with a new sense of determination.

CHAPTER 8

"I'll catch up with you later Gil; I've got to do something," Brass said heading for his own car. Grissom nodded and headed off in search of the band manager.

Brass knocked on the apartment door.

"Who is it?" a child voice asked, Brass frowned.

"Detective Jim Brass, LVPD," he said rechecking his notes to make sure he had the right address. He heard a security chain being slid across, Greg opened the door ushering the girl behind him. He eyed Brass warily and didn't move to let him in.

Brass sighed.

"Greg, I'm not here to have a go. I wanted to apologise - I was out of line at the hospital, I'm sorry. Can I come in?" Greg chewed on his lip for a second before nodding and stepping aside. Brass let out the breath he hadn't been aware of holding and glared at the officers outside the door.

"This time you don't go anywhere, understood?" he snapped, they nodded looking properly chastised; Brass nodded and stepped into the apartment. Greg looked nervous he had his arms wrapped around his waist Brass cringed knowing he'd added to the kid's anxiety Greg seemed to snap out of his frozen stupor and indicated that they should go into the kitchen. It wasn't what Brass had expected. The room was clean, tidy and organised. A small breakfast bar was set in one wall, Greg indicated for him to sit and pulled out two coffee mugs, he looked at Brass questioningly.

"Sure, but are you supposed to be drinking coffee?" he asked

"No he's not," came a voice from the door, Brass turned and smiled, a small girl stood in the doorway her arms folded across her chest, looking disapprovingly at Greg. She was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt, her long brown hair was plaited and hung down her back. Brass frowned.

"Weren't you wearing black jeans a minute ago?" he asked the girl, she smiled condescendingly at him.

"No, but Luna is," she said, as she spoke Luna appeared and walked over to Greg.

"Gecko, I'm hungry..." she whined, Greg smiled and reached into a cupboard he pulled out two bags of crisps, he handed the ready salted to Luna and held out the salt and Vinegar for Solaris to see. She nodded and he tossed that packet to her.

"Thank you," Luna said and wandered out. Solaris stared at Brass before asking Greg something in Norwegian; he stopped making the coffee for a second and gave her a nod. The girl smiled at Greg, glared at Jim and left the room. Greg placed a cup of coffee in front of Jim and sat opposite him. Brass sighed.

"Now I feel like and even bigger jerk - at the hospital I was frustrated with not getting anywhere and I knew you hiding something. I'm sorry I never guess you were trying to protect your family," he said feeling like a ham. Greg smiled and raised his coffee to his lips, but before he could take a drink a hand covered the cup and pushed it down. Greg sighed heavily causing Brass to laugh. Arissa sat down next to Greg and stole his cup.

"Detective Brass, I'm Arissa - I'm Greg's twin and if you think Papa is bad when he's pissed I promise you ain't seen nothing yet," she glared at him. Brass winced, he knew that Hampton had stirred up a hornets nest with both the Mayor and the Sheriff; he had both of them on his back warning him to lay off the kids and find out who was behind the attacks. He had been chewed out daily by both for the lack of progress. He pushed that thought aside, it was not Greg's fault - in fact he had a feeling that Greg would be appalled to find out the high-power wrangling being done on his behalf.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said before turning his attention back to Greg.

"Did you - either of you - see Johnny Lloyds at the show?" he asked

"No, but he's broken his arm, I doubt he would have been stupid enough to be in the pit and quite frankly from the stage you can't see the rest of the auditorium. How do you think I ever convinced Gecko to get up there?" she nudged Greg's arm as she finished - Greg glared at her in response, Brass nodded and sighed again.

"Well it was a long shot," he said resignedly sipping his coffee. He took the time to study Greg; the bruising on his face had become a mottled purple mess, the bruising around his neck stood out starkly against the pale pallor of his skin.

"So how you holding up kid?" he asked genuinely curious. Greg shrugged and smiled weakly at him.

"That's Greg language for I'm in pain, humiliated, in need of reassurance from my friends as well as my family but I don't have the confidence to ask for it," Aris filled in. Greg glared at her again and bolted out of the room. Arissa didn't seem phased by his sudden departure; she just shrugged and sipped her stolen coffee.

"He's embarrassed, sorry but I get so mad at him sometimes, he won't ask for what he needs. At the moment he doesn't have much of a choice so I'm trying to get the point across to him that his friends actually do give a damn. I think I might have to use a jackhammer to get it into his thick skull..."

"He thinks we don't care?" Brass sounded aghast.

"Well, Catherine blew him up, Grissom made him subject to a humiliating procedure, Sara barely gives him the time of day, you all treat him like a flake and you interrogated him as though he was a suspect. So, I guess the question is, do you?"

"Of course we do!" he snapped angrily, Arissa raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"Then why are you still in here?" she asked casually, Brass went to reply but changed his mind and followed Greg out. He found the lab tech curled up on the sofa, his knees drawn up to his chin. He looked up as Brass entered the room. His eyes went wide and he jumped up, the wince giving away that he shouldn't have done that, picked up a notepad, scribbled on it and handed it to Brass.

:I'm sorry she shouldn't have said that: Brass read the note and looked back at Greg who was once again looking nervous. Brass flicked though the pad, it seemed to be the way Greg communicated with the girls.

"I take in the kids don't sign, huh?" he asked handing the pad back to Greg. Greg shrugged before writing another note and handing back.

::Not yet::

Brass laughed.

"Fast learners too?" Greg nodded; Brass went back to the apology and reread it, in a swift movement he tore the page out. He gently placed the pad on the table.

"You don't ever need to apologise for your family - especially when they are just looking out for you," he said screwing the note up. Greg nodded but avoided eye contact with the detective. Brass moved closer and lifted Greg's chin with his fingers as he had seen Grissom do at the hospital. It was only then that the Captain could feel the tremors running through the lithe frame.

"Jesus, Greg. You're safe you know I'm not going to hurt you right?" he whispered, Greg closed his against the embarrassment, inwardly still cursing the drugs that took away his ability to control his emotions, and nodded. Brass looked at the young man in front of him. For the first time he realised that Greg was a similar age to Ellie. Similar in age but he'd turned out so differently - the thought propelled Brass to do something he would never have considered under different circumstances. He wrapped his arms around the lab tech and pulled him against his own body. Greg tensed when he felt arms tightening around him and tried to resist the hand that was trying to coax him to lay his head on a broad shoulder. Greg could feel the tears welling up in him and fought to maintain the shred of control he had.

"Greg, let go, you don't have to face this alone," Brass whispered, he felt Greg nod against his hand before pulling away. Brass felt disappointed that the young man didn't trust him enough to drop he defences. Greg picked up the pad.

::I'm okay. Thanks Brass:: Jim sighed and took that as his cue to leave.

"If you need anything phone... text me or any of us- we'll be here," he promised him solemnly. Greg nodded and walked him to the door. Brass turned to him and pulled out a card, he wrote his home and mobile numbers on it before handing it to Greg.

"24/7 Greg, even if you just want to talk - when you're voice is back anyway," he locked eyes with the younger men to make sure that Greg knew he was deadly serious. Greg took the card and nodded; Brass reached up and ran a hand through Greg's abnormally flat hair.

"You get a paper cut I want to know about it, okay?" he said. Greg nodded turning the card over in his hands. Brass nodded as though reassuring himself of something before opening the door and leaving.

Greg leant his head against the door and sighed loudly. Arissa appeared and studied him.

"You need to let to trust them, Gecko - without exception, every one of your friends I've met loves you," she said with certainty. Greg turned to face her.

::Maybe, but it should have been my choice, not yours. Don't make decisions for me; you of all people should know how that makes me feel:: Arissa gathered him into her arms.

"I know and I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you Greg," she whispered, he nodded but pulled away from her. He need time to think, time to breathe and sort out what had happened to him. He needed time to himself and that was the one thing he couldn't seem to get. Arissa sighed and watched as Greg quietly left and disappeared into his bedroom. She felt the tears form in her eyes; she knew that Greg desperately wanted to be alone to lick his wounds but she also knew that if he had it he was fix his walls and put his mask back on and never deal with what happened. That didn't mean however that being around his messed up twin sister and her daughters (themselves a reminder of unpleasant events, however much they loved them) was a good thing either, she reached for her phone and with shaking hands dialled Nick's number.

"Stokes."

"Nick?"

"Arissa? Are you alright?"

"Nick, I need your help," she hated how weak her voice sounded.

"Aris, you're not making any sense- are you alright? Has something happened to Greg?"

"Yes, no, sort of. Nick, I have to go home - the girls, they're too much for him. Oh God, I don't know what to do I can't leave him alone but we're hurting him being here," she was aware she was becoming hysterical but couldn't stop herself.

"Aris...Arissa! Calm down, breathe, girl, you're going to make yourself ill. I'm on my way over."

"No, Nick, listen Greg can't be alone, but we can't stay. He needs someone he trusts and someone who can understand him," Arissa explained trying to get herself under control. She could feel the tears falling and collapsed onto the couch. She was immediately engulfed by a set of small arms; she looked down only now realising that Solaris was in the room. She smiled at her and hugged her back.

"Alright, listen Aris I'll sort something but I think that Greg isn't the only one in need of support."

"I know that's why I'm going home."

"No offence, but the last thing you need right now are your parents."

"I have no where else to go."

"Stay with me."

"Nicky, I can't do that to you."

"Look, I have a spare room, it'll be tight with four of us but it'll work."

"No, Nicky, I can't put you out like that."

"It's no problem Aris; I'll pick you up at the end of shift ok?"

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"'Bye Aris, get some rest..."

"'Bye Nick..." she hung up the phone and looked down at her daughter. Solaris handed her a tissue.

"Thanks kiddo. I'm sorry this has been rough on you guys too," she said brushing her fringe, Solaris smile at her.

"Yeah but we'll manage - we're almost as tough as you," she said still smiling. Arissa kissed her forehead.

"Tougher, but I wish you didn't have to be."

"Yeah, well, that's you motto isn't it? ‘Life sucks'."

"It does indeed. Look, you've got a choice you and your sister can come with me to Nicky's place or you can go home," She told her daughter.

Solaris frowned.

"Okay... so why did you bring us?"

"Because I want you with me, silly! But I understand that you miss your home and your rooms. It's not fair of me to keep you moving especially with virtual strangers."

"I want to go home, mom, I love you so much so does Luna, but seeing you and Gecko in so much pain...it's hard..."

"Oh sweetheart, you don't have to explain I'll call mama and have her come pick you guys up."

"Will you call us?" Solaris asked in a small voice.

"Oh honey, I'm not leaving you! It's just until we get well. Of course I'll call you- you won't be able to stop me."

"I know, I think I can explain it to Luna, but you know what she's like - if it can't be dissected she doesn't get it."

"Don't be mean to your sister."

"I'm not, sorry. Look, let me go find her and we'll pack- again. I think you should talk to Gecko - he needs to get ready too," Solaris hopped up and left Arissa alone to wonder exactly when her daughter got so smart. Know that she was right Arissa grabbed her crutches and went off to find Greg. She slowly opened his bedroom door. He was curled in the middle of the bed in the foetal position. He was deeply asleep; she glanced at the bedside table. After three days it looked like he had finally taken one of the sleeping pills the doctor had prescribed. She crept back out, knowing that if she woke him he would feel bad as the drug would still be in his system. Instead, she phoned Katy and made arrangements for the Girls. In another half hour it would be safe for her to pack Greg's stuff for him. Then, all she had to do was wait for Greg to wake or Nick to arrive - which ever came first.

CHPATER 9

Nick hung up and met Warrick's gaze they had been in the layout room going over the new evidence when Aris had called, along with every other nightshift CSI. Gris looked at him expectantly.

"Everything's fine, she's just worked herself into a state," he said rejoining the group. Gil nodded then continued.

"Okay, the evidence is looking like the regular guitarist orchestrated this and we know it was he was also responsible for the attempt on Greg's life. He's also missing and our only suspect. Okay, Catherine, Sara we're going to search his apartment. Warrick you're on the DVD and security if he's in there find him and anyone he talked to. Nick, I want you to help Rick. Let's go," with the meeting over Nick waited for the others to leave.

"Rick can I have a word with you?" he asked in what he hoped was a casual voice. Rick's eye narrowed as the securitised him, but he nodded.

"Sure, man," Nick closed the door in an effort to give them some semblance of privacy. Rick frowned wondering what could be so important that Nick looked like he was going to his own execution.

"What's up?" he asked finally. Nick sighed and fell into the chair next to him.

"Okay, first of all, if I wasn't in a complete hole I wouldn't bring this up. Secondly I've known for a while and it's not a problem and I'm not trying to use this against either of you."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Nick, I have no idea what you're talking about," he cut in, Nick eyed him cautiously.

"You and Gris. Look, man, I saw you with him at the Blue Lounge - you were always on at me to come and see you and the night I did Gris was there and after your set I went to say hi but Gris got to you first and..."

"Oh..." was all Warrick could think of to say.

"Yeah, as I said, I wouldn't have bought it up but I need your advice - help if you're willing," he finished quickly. Warrick nodded thinking.

"I haven't played at the Blue Lounge for over three months. You've known all this time and you haven't let on?" he verified, Nick nodded; Warrick looked at his best friend with new respect.

"After that how can I refuse? What do you need man?" he asked, Nick let out a sigh of relief.

"It's Greg, Aris says that he can't relax with them there, but she doesn't want him alone..."

"You want me to talk Gris into staying with him?" Warrick interpreted. Nick nodded and waited while Rick though it out.

"I probably can't convince him to stay with Greg, but I think I can convince him to let Greg stay with us though,"

"If you can, I owe you one big time," Nick said, he let out a chuff of air. "I so thought you were going to hit me," he confessed.

Warrick smiled.

"I'll see what I can do, and Nick, you're my best friend and you continue to amaze me- why would I want to hit you for covering my back?!" he asked knocking Nick's arm with his.

"Come on, we need to get to the A/V lab," Rick said getting up. Nick followed after saying a prayer to which ever God got him through that conversation without losing a friend.

~~

"God, did this guy ever clean?" Catherine exclaimed glancing around the apartment. There were dirty clothes and plates all over the place, enough beer cans to build an SUVB and the entire place smelt like the gym bag Lindsey left in her locker over a summer break where the school's air conditioning had been off. Sara wrinkled her nose.

"Doesn't look like it. Well if nothing else we'll get a DNA sample."

"Let's see what else we can find," Gil said snapping on a pair of gloves. Brass smirked.

"Rather you then me," he joked earning him scowls from the ladies.

"Hey, Brass, I heard you upset Greg - you talked to him yet?" Sara said still throwing visual daggers.

"Yeah, I went round there. The kids a mess and I don't think he appreciated the mother-hen routine that the Queen of the Damned is doing," he informed them.

"Yeah, well that's what relatives do, and don't let Nick hear you call her that!" Catherine warned whilst dusting the table.

"You're kidding; Texan has hooked up with Dracula's Bride?"

"Yup, so play nice," Catherine grinned at him. Brass shook his head; he couldn't quite see what Nick saw in Aris, but each to their own.

"Hey, guys, look at this," Sara came out the bedroom clutching a small black book.

"What's that?" Gil asked walking over.

"It's an address book; it was down the back of the mattress. I'm guess it fell out of sight and he forgot it. It's got the band members listed and three other names; a Neil Balson, Tom Locum and Carlos Matinez..."

"Who are they?" Catherine asked.

Sara shrugged.

"I guess that's what we are going to find out," she said bagging the book. Gil nodded and went back to the living room. Brass took note of the names.

"I'm going to get those three run see if anything pops up," he said digging out a radio.

It was almost the end of the shift before they made it back to the lab. Warrick glanced up in time to see his lover heading into DNA; he looked over at Nick who nodded at him. Warrick sighed and walked out the A/V lab. Gil was coming out of DNA when Rick caught up with him.

"Hey Gris, can I have a word?" he asked realising that he sounded like Nick had earlier.

"Sure, did you find something relevant to the case?"

"Sort of. Can we talk in your office?" he prompted causing Gil to raise an eyebrow but he nodded and led Warrick to the office. Once they were both inside Gil closed the door. Noticing how the CSI had collapsed into a chair Gil braced himself for bad news. He sat down behind the desk.

"What's on your mind, Rick?"

"Nick knows," a simple statement that could mean the end of their careers.

"How did he react?"

"That's the thing, he's known for months."

"Why did it come up now?"

"He wanted some advice..."

"Advice? About what?"

"How to convince you to look after Greg," Warrick said and then held his breath.

"I'm not sure I follow..." Gil stated carefully.

"Greg isn't coping well with his sister but he can't be on his own and you're the only person outside his family that can understand him and that he trusts," Warrick explained. Gil nodded.

"I see and I suppose you told Nick that I would be difficult to convince?"

"Yeah and I also told him we'd have to take Greg to our place."

"Home turf advantage..." Gil agreed amicably.

Warrick smiled.

"Of course, I may have failed to mention that we were planning on bringing Greg home when he was better. So how about it? Want to start operation ‘woo Greg' early?" Warrick smirked.

"No," Gil said firmly confusing his younger lover

"No?"

"No. Of course we'll take Greg in because leaving him without any easy way of communicating seems incomprehensibly cruel but we don't push him. He was sexually assaulted, Rick, we don't want to scare him," Gil chastised; Warrick flushed, embarrassed that in his excitement he had forgotten the trauma the young man had been through.

"Damn, Gil, I forgot. I haven't even seen him since this all started," Warrick admitted.

"I wouldn't dwell on that, Rick; we'll go after shift and see if we can convince him to come with us."

"Sure, Gil, I'll go tell Nick," Warrick said still upset with himself for forgetting what happened. He left feeling ambiguous; he didn't want to lie to his friends but he couldn't tell him the truth, which was their hope that after they move him in, Greg would never want to leave. He took a deep breath and entered the A/V lab. As luck would have it, Archie was out of the room. Nick looked up hopefully.

"It's okay, we'll go get him at that end of shift," he said.

"Thanks, man, I owe you."

"No, you don't. No offence Nick, but we're doing this for him not you," Warrick said gently. Nick nodded and went back to the surveillance tape as Archie reappeared.

By the end of the shift they had identified the DNA off Greg's shirt as a match to one of the bottles taken from Lloyds' apartment. So now they had their primary suspect and motive, all that was left to do was find him. Brass had officers out hunting high and low. So far they hadn't found anything. The team left feeling drained and worried for their young friend from this point there wasn't much more they could do for him...

CHAPTER 10

Nick closed the door to his truck slowly eyeing the blue Sedan across the street.

"Something wrong, Nicky?" Gil asked coming over.

"Yeah that Sedan was in the same place when I left I swear," he said pulling his phone out and dialling. Grissom looked across at the car.

"There's a driver still in it," he commented. Nick nodded and hung up.

"Brass is on his way, probably with half the LVPD," Nick told them walking up to the apartment. Rick snorted.

"Yeah well Greggo's has a lot of friends, even if he doesn't know it..." he said, digging out his badge to show the officer on duty. The cop nodded and let them past, Nick knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a young voice called.

"It's Nick."

"Yeah? Prove it!" the voice sound light and caused Nick to laugh. Gil looked questioningly at Rick who shrugged he had no idea either.

"How would I do that and who are you?" Nick asked teasingly.

"I'm me."

"‘Yeah? Prove it!'" Nick repeated her earlier words causing a shriek of laughter.

"‘And how would I do that?'" the girl tried to imitate Nick's accent, reasonably successfully causing Nick to laugh.

"What's five times twelve?"

"In what base?" came the reply, now that got the attention of the other CSIs. Nick smirked.

"Luna, open the door!" he shouted triumphantly.

"Aww, nuts!" came the reply followed by the sound of the security chain being moved. Gris looked at Nick.

"How old is she?"

"Ten- and Greg's the smart one of the family," he told them, he smiled as the door opened. Luna smiled up at him, before letting them in. Solaris appeared behind Luna and smiled at Nick and then saw the others.

"Who are you?" she asked with guarded curiosity, she wasn't too worried as they obviously knew Nick.

"This is Warrick Brown and Gil Grissom," Nick told her, he bent down to her level "He's Gecko' boss," he stage whispered. Solaris nodded with sympathy.

"You poor man," she told Gil causing them to laugh. She grinned at making the adults laugh.

"Gecko's asleep - mom thinks he took one of the pills the doctor gave him," she said told them, Nick looked at her sternly.

"Did he?"

"Oh yes," she nodded with wide-eyed innocence. "He swallowed it right down along with his juice," she assured them. Warrick covered his laugh with a cough; Nick was desperately fighting a smile.

"Now Solaris, what would you're mother say if she knew you'd slipped Gecko a Mickey?" he asked in a serious voice.

Solaris though about the question for a second before replying.

"She'd say she wished she had thought of it first!" she announced proudly. Nick opened his mouth to chastise her further the thought about it.

"You're right she probably would, but don't in future if he has takes another one, not realising that you gave him one he would be very ill, okay?" he informed her.

"Nah, he'd just sleep long; between one and four would cause over sedation, five and over it's time to get dialling and he hadn't taken any, so probability was that he was going to start with the minimum dose," Luna said from behind him. Nick sighed knowing he was beat.

"Okay, where's your mom?"

"In the living room, so are Mama and Papa Michael so don't expect a warm welcome," Luna warned before leading them in. Warrick felt the temperature drop several degrees as they entered; Katy stared at each of them in turn, but seemed to be biting her tongue.

"I think that's our cue to leave," she said to Michael instead of addressing the CSIs.

"Not yet Ma'am," Nick told her.

"Why not?" she hissed angrily.

"Because I'm fairly sure that Drake is in a blue sedan parked across the street," Nick said causally as though this was an everyday thing. Katy's façade disappeared in a second.

"What? NO!" she shrieked running to the window and looking out. She turned back to the room shaking; the rest of her family seemed frozen in shock.

"Aris, come here, get the girls. Michael get Gecko..."

"Mrs Hampton, please calm down, the police are on their way, you and the girls are perfectly safe; there are officers on the door, you and the girls are safe" Nick tried to sooth her, but is had the opposite effect.

"You don't get it, he's not after us, he's after Gecko!" she shrieked at him running down a corridor, Warrick took off after here as they heard the sirens approaching fast.

~~

Katy burst into Greg's room and barely registered what was going on. Drake Sanders was standing over the bed with a large knife in his hand. She screamed, Warrick came in behind her already pulling his weapon.

"Drop the knife!" He ordered the convict, aware that now Nick and Gil were coming in behind him. Drake sneered at them, he grabbed Greg's shirt yanking him in front as a human shield. Warrick sneered, it was impossible to get a clear shot; it was a standoff. Warrick glanced down at Greg, who should be still out from the sleeping tablet but he noticed that Greg's eyes were slightly open, before any of the CSIs could react, Greg moved, using his cast to block the knife, he surged up, knocking Drake off balance and slamming him into the wardrobe, while Greg scrambled the other way toward Warrick, keeping low so that they still had a clear shot if needed. Gris grabbed Greg and pulled him out of the way as Warrick and Nick restrained Drake until the police came in. A few moments later the officers from the door burst in and led a still resisting but now cuffed Drake away. Greg was leaning heavily on Gil and breathing hard, he was still fighting the drugs even with the adrenaline rush.

"Rick, give me a hand" Gil commanded breaking the silence. Warrick secured his gun back in the holster but instead of helping Gil he put an arm under Greg's knees and the other across his back. It took little effort for him scoop he lab tech into his arms. Greg's eyes opened immediately. He made eye contact with Warrick's, the CSI smiled at him.

"Hey man, what's with the shaking? You're safe, okay?" he spoke gently to the young lab rat and was pleased when Greg smiled and nodded before leaning against his shoulder. Warrick tried not to let anyone see how happy he was that Greg trusted him as he carried the smaller man into the living room. Arissa was sitting with her head leaning against Nick's shoulder in one of the chairs. Katy had Solaris on her lap, next to her Michael had Luna.

"I guess this place is a crime scene now, huh?" Aris pondered to the room in general.

"I'm afraid so, I guess it's a good think you were leaving anyway," Gil replied eyeing the pile of bags in the corner of the room.

"It won't be for long, we just need to work out how he got in. He's going back to prison anyway," Nick reassured her. Katy looked at the three CSIs that were sitting around the room. Her daughter leaning on one, and Gecko being held by another and sighed.

"I owe you and most of your department and apology. Not to mention a thank you! I guess I just assumed that you were a threat to Gecko, we're a little protective..." she laughed at herself "I guess I should know by know to trust his judgement. I'm sorry," she said sincerely, Michael ducked his head.

"Yeah, what she said..." he muttered causing them to laugh.

"That's very kind of you Mrs Hampton..."

"Katy or Kat."

"-Katy- but I understand that you have been in a difficult situation, past experience has taught you not to trust local law enforcement - especially when it comes to the safety of Arissa and Greg. Let me assure you that my whole team is working on apprehending the people responsible for hurting you," Gil said formally, sounding a little awkward. Katy smiled.

"Wow, you must be a ball at parties," she said teasingly, causing Gil to freeze whilst Warrick and Nick tried not to laugh. It was the first time that any of them could see any resemblance between Katy and her younger ADD brother. Katy sighed and squeezed Solaris, who was falling asleep.

"I guess we better get going," she said more to Michael then anyone else. He nodded causing the girls to get up and find their shoes. As the girls got themselves ready, Katy said something in Norwegian to Arissa which made the girls pause what they were doing whilst waiting for a response. Arissa just rolled her eyes. Michael said something else, apparently backing his wife up. Arissa sighed heavily but nodded. Michael noticed that Greg had woken up and repeated the phrase to him.

::Yeah, yeah:: was the response. Whatever had been going on seemed to reassure the Hampton's, and they left, each taking one of the girls by the hand as they led them from the apartment to the dismayed cries of:

"We're ten we're not going to run into the road for pity's sake!" Arissa laughed at her daughter's indignant wails.

"We can leave too, the cops are going to stay and secure the scene. Greg you awake enough to walk?" Gil said retrieving the bag Arissa indicated was his. Greg nodded and got off Warrick, he managed to stand but still looked shaky; it was a bit like watching a foal taking their first steps. It caused the others to grin, Warrick shook his head affectionately, unaware that Arissa was making note of his every reaction to her brother. He stood and scooped Greg back up before he could fall over and hurt himself.

"You get the bag's, Gris, I've got the lab rat," he said lightly, he sent a smirk at Nick which was more of a gauntlet being thrown down. Nick grinned never one to back away from a challenge.

"HEY!" Aris squawked as he picked her up.

"What? I can't be out done," he said reasonably, grinning back at Warrick. Gil rolled his eyes at them and grabbed the other bag as well, following the CSIs out.

CHAPTER 11

Warrick carefully deposited Greg into the back of the Tahoe before getting in the front passenger seat himself. With his back to Greg he didn't see the confusion on his face. Gil slipped into the driving seat; he looked back at Greg and smiled at his obvious bewilderment but didn't say anything. Greg resigned himself to once again being in the dark and stared out the window at the passing city. The Strip made Greg smile; where else in the world would you find a fairy tale castle next to a big black pyramid? Or be able to visit Paris, Venice and New York all in an hour? He let his eyes drift close as they turned off. He didn't really know where they were heading but ‘Rick and Grissom were... well if not friends trusted co-workers. Around half an hour later he felt the Tahoe come to a stop, he opened his eyes to see they had pulled into a driveway of a town house. He got out quickly, scared that he had stayed still too long and Warrick would decide to pick him up again. He grabbed his bag in an effort to exert his independence and hurried to catch up with Gil. He tapped his shoulder to get his attention and waited for Gil to turn.

::Is this your home?::

"Yes, as I'm the only one of the shift who can understand you, it was the logical choice," he said, Greg winced.

::You don't have to do this I can...:: Gil caught Greg's hands between his and held them palms together.

"Greg, I know I don't have too, I want too," he glanced at Warrick who nodded his agreement. "We want too," he corrected, Greg frowned, and then his eyes went wide.

::We?::

"Let's go inside, Greggo, and we'll explain," he said. He let one hand drop to his side and took one of Greg's in the other before lading him to the door Warrick had opened. Greg allowed himself to be led into a living room and settled into an armchair. He waited patiently for Gil and Warrick to store his bag and secure the house before sitting down opposite him. They both looked abnormally anxious and at a loss as where to start.

Greg took pity on them.

::You were going to explain the ‘we':: he prompted, Gil smiled at him.

"I was wasn't I? The thing is Greg, Warrick and I ... that is we've ... umm ..." Gil floundered from the correct words. Greg decided to end his torment.

::You guys are seeing each other:: he stated. Gil nodded.

"I know that this is a surprise and I don't want this to be awkward for you. That said you are staying here at least until your voice recovers and we decided to tell you," Gil explained. Somewhere along the line Warrick had slipped his hand in to Gil's in a show of solidarity and support. Bother men held their breath waiting for a response from the lab tech. Greg didn't seem phased.

::Makes sense, this is your home, it would be hard to hide all traces of a relationship:: even though he didn't understand what Greg said, Rick relaxed when Gil did.

"This doesn't bother you?" Gil said clarifying, Greg shrugged.

::People love who they love:: he stated as if it was obvious, causing Gil to smile.

"That is a very enlightened attitude, Greg," he said, causing a blush to creep up Greg's face and him to look away, Gil smiled wider and so did Warrick. Greg glanced at them and he tried to curl up. Warrick saw this and his heart broke at how unsure Greg seemed. Rick couldn't help himself, he got up and went over to Greg, he crouched down to try and avoid seeming threatening but the lab tech was still tracking his movement warily. He gently ran a hand through Greg's hair noticing how the younger man tensed at the touch. Warrick kept one hand carding though the short bangs as he spoke.

"Greg take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe here," he slowly bought his arm around Greg's shoulders. He gently eased Greg off the chair to lean his head against Warrick's shoulder. Greg complied wrapping his arm around the CSIs neck. Right tightened his grip when he felt Greg responded. Neither of them had noticed that Gil had moved until he laid a hand on Greg's back. Greg jumped a mile and bolted out of the chair to the other side of the room. He was almost hyperventilating, pacing in small circles his arms wrapped around his chest.

"Greg, I'm sorry calm down," Gil said softly, inwardly reeling that his touch would have such an effect on the boy. When it became clear that words weren't going to get through to the lab tech Gil strode forward and wrapped his arms around him. Greg was shaking he looked between Gil and Warrick from the cage of Gil's arms. Something clicked for Gil and he worked out Greg's problem.

"Rick get over here and do a group thing," he said still keeping his voice barely above a whisper. Warrick complied, wrapping his arms around the younger man as well so that Greg was sandwiched tightly between them. Slowly Greg's breathing evened out and returned to normal as he realised that neither man was angry at him. He tucked himself deeper into their embrace causing Gil to smile.

"It looks like our lab rat is a cuddle addict," he teased lightly. Greg nodded looking sheepish. It then occurred to Greg that maybe they didn't want to hold him and he regretfully tried to disentangle himself. Warrick just squeezed him tighter.

"That wasn't a criticism, Greggo. Do you like this?" he asked and received a small nod.

"Good because we do too. Why don't you and Gil sit down and I'll order take out. You can even excise guest privileges and select the DVD, okay?" Greg nodded again, Warrick grinned - so maybe Gil didn't need to be around all the time, he thought as he went to grab the phone. Gil settled on one end of the couch and smiled as Greg dug out an action movie of Warrick's. He showed it to Gil, cocking his head to one side as if asking if it was okay. Gil nodded and received a huge smile as his reward, Gil realised that he would do anything to see that smile again and prayed that the boy never learnt that secret. Greg loaded the DVD and went to sit back in the chair.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? Come here," Gil indicated to the spot next to him, Greg moved and smiled shyly.

::I didn't want to impose more then I have already:: Gil sighed, he hadn't realised just how damn good that mask Greg had was. He made a note of the insecurity as something to work on; he threw an arm over Greg's shoulders pulling him tight.

"You are not imposing and I'll let you into a secret, I like hugs too, and however much we try I don't think Warrick will ever be comfortable enough to be able to sit on my lap," he said remorsefully. Greg grinned at him and moved as Gil pulled him to do just that. Greg pillowed his head on Gil's shoulder, and while he was not fighting the supervisor it took him a while to relax into being on his lap. Long enough for Warrick to reappear and sit next them, pulling Greg's legs across his lap. Gil took the opportunity to inspect Greg's injuries, he frown noticing that the run in with Drake had left Greg with a few more bruises. The cast on his arm also had a scar where Greg had blocked the knife, but it hadn't cut all the way through.

"I think we need to get this checked at the hospital" he said garnering the attention of the others. Warrick looked somewhere between thoughtful and homicidal at the reminder. Greg poked the gash a couple of times and shrugged.

::It's fine:: Greg grinned at Gil's look of dismay. Warrick laughed affectionately at the younger man knowing that Greg was just trying to get a rise out of Gil. A knock at the door stopped Gil from responding.

"That would be the food," Warrick announced getting up. Greg took the opportunity to slide off Gil's lap and sit on the couch next to him. Gil let him go mourning the loss of heat. He liked holding Greg more then he thought he would which was bad, he could easily become addicted to the feel of the lab tech. Warrick dumped the paper bag on the coffee table and went to get some plates. He didn't realise that Greg had followed him until he was in the kitchen. He turned and saw him in the doorway and jumped

"Man, you almost gave me a heart attack!" he gasped.

::Sorry:: Greg signed before remembering that Warrick wouldn't understand him. Greg dropped his arms to his sides and sighed in frustration. Warrick guessed what was upsetting him.

"Don't sweat it, Greggo, you'll get your voice back soon, but until they we're just going to have to play twenty questions," he said reassuringly. Greg smiled at him.

"So, let's see you came in here for something?" Warrick asked, Greg nodded and mimed drinking.

"Okay cool, you want drink. Right there's beer, juice, water and milk in the fridge, soda in the larder, as is the coffee. Glasses and mugs are above the sink. Help yourself but if you have beer put it in a mug and try and keep it away from Gris, he wouldn't be happy with you touch alcohol at the moment," Warrick said with a wink. He figured it would be easier for Greg to get what he wanted himself then try and explain. He went to leave the room with the plates and cutlery, as he passed Greg the lab tech caught his arm.

"Thank you," Greg's voice was weak and raspy, his throat obviously still very sore. Warrick knew he wasn't being thanked for the two-cent kitchen tour. He cupped Greg's face with his free hand, looking deep into the soulful brown eyes.

"Greg, you don't need to thank me, you got yourself free," he whispered, Greg looked away before meeting his eyes a second time. He nodded slowly but Warrick could see that he didn't believe it.

"Greg, I have never met anyone as strong as you. Somehow after all you've been through - a lot of which we still don't know - you still smile and have a joke ready. The more I find out about how hard your life has been the more I admire you," he said honestly. He watched the blush creep up Greg's face and go from pink to red to scarlet the more he spoke. Greg was positively squirming by the time he had finished. Greg's discomfort caused Warrick to smile.

"Not good with compliments, huh? I think you better get used to them, I have a feeling you'll be getting a lot more of them in the future," he predicted, grinning as Greg rolled his eyes. He left the tech alone and headed back to the living room. He smiled at Gil as he sat back on the sofa. He set the plates down next to the cartons and lent in to kiss Gil. Rick had only meant it as a chaste touch but as soon as his lips met Gil's a hand wrapped itself around his neck increasing the pressure. Warrick felt a tongue ask for permission to go deeper and he opened his mouth with a moan, letting the probing muscle in. They fought for dominance for a long moment before his own tongue was sucked back into Gil's mouth. They finally broke apart when the need for air became an issue. It was only then that they noticed they weren't alone. They turned to see Greg back in the arm chair, leaning against one side, his legs dangling over the other. He had a carton of chow mien balanced on his stomach and his attention was on the DVD, he turned when he felt eyes on his and offered them the carton. When neither of them move for it he shrugged in a sort of ‘your loss' way and went back to the film. He didn't seem the slightest bit phased that he had walked in on a co-worker making out with his boss like teenagers. It reassured Gil more then anything that Greg was as cool with this as he said he was. Rick was also surprised, complete acceptance was very rare. They didn't realised that they were still staring at Greg until he glared back.

::What?::

"Sorry, Greggo, we were just a bit surprised by you reaction or rather the lack of it. It's very unusual for people to be as accepting as you are; it's a testament to your character," Gil explained, enjoying the blush that appeared. Greg was definitely cute, no two ways about it, especially when he was embarrassed. Greg was now pointedly ignoring them and focusing on the TV. Gil lent back against Warrick and decided to let him be. For the time being at any rate.

CHAPTER 12

By the time the film had finished everyone was tired, Warrick and Gil had just got off shift when they had gone to collect Greg. Greg himself had fallen asleep in the chair, Gil looked at the slumbering figure and then at Warrick.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to wait," he confessed to his lover, both of them still watching him sleep.

"Having him this close but not as close as I want, it's painful in a real way," he said sadly. Warrick hugged him.

"I know, in the kitchen he was so close to me, if I just lent down I could have kissed him. I wanted to so much, and I think he would have let me. Gil, we aren't going to be able to wait much longer. We're going to have to tell him soon and just hope for the best," Warrick sighed. They got up and cleared the remains of the meal without waking Greg. Warrick gently lifted him into his arms, and carried him up the stairs to the guest room leaving Gil to get the lights. Warrick gently put Greg on the bed, he felt his breath constrict when he immediately curled up in a tight ball. He had never really thought about what Greg would be like asleep he never imagined that he would turn into the small insecure speck in front of him.

He pulled the covers over him and risked gently kissing his forehead. Gil appeared at the door, he smiled at the interaction before entering. He placed a bottle of water and the pain meds on the bedside table. They turned the light out and pulled the door too quietly.

Back in their own bedroom Gil sighed quietly as he caressed Warrick's cheek. Pain evident in his eyes Warrick moved so that he was close enough to Gil to feel his breath on his skin. Gil gently he lent in and closed the final distance between them sealing his lips over Rick's. The taller man moaned into the kiss, before rolling them over so he could pin Gil to the mattress. Warrick worked his way down Gil's neck, kissing and nibbling across hi collar bone he dipped his tongue into the hollow at the base of the older man's throat. Gil gasped and ran his hands through his lover's hair; Warrick smiled and continued his journey down Gil's body, mapping his skin with both hands and his mouth. He mover across his chest and engulfed the little nub he found there, sucking it into his mouth and teasing it with his tongue and teeth, loving the sounds that it made Gil produce. He tortured that nipple for a few seconds longer before moving to the other, replacing his mouth with his hand and worried the other to a hard peak. The soft moans that Gil was making were turning him on even more; he travelled lower, dipping his tongue into Gil's navel causing him to gasp louder. Warrick chuckled and swiped his tongue across the head of Gil's cock, finally breaking the older man's control. Strong hands pulled Warrick back up the bed,

"No, Rick not that, not tonight. I want to come in you," he uttered softly, Gil hardly recognised his own voice, it was thick with arousal, Gil flipped them so that he was on top, he reached into the drawer and pulled out a tube of lube, placing next to them. He rubbed Warrick's cock in long strokes and kissed his neck just behind his ear

"Please Rick, I want to be in you so bad let me," he whispered. Warrick smiled up at him and ran a hand down his cheek.

"You know you can, babe, any time you want me I'm yours," he whispered. It was one of the things Warrick loved about Gil, no matter how often they made love Gil always asked, always checked, nothing assumed and everything was a partnership. Gil lent down and kissed him deeply letting all his love show in that action. Without breaking the connection he reached across for the lube. He popped the cap and poured some into his hand, coating his fingers. Only then did he break the kiss, he sat between Warrick's legs. Warrick fisted the sheets and consciously slowed his breathing. Gil slowly ran a finger over his opening, gently massaged it feeling the muscles twitching and spasm. Warrick dropped his head onto the pillows as he felt the first finger entering him so slowly; this was the sweetest form of agony. Gil was a very careful lover and never rushed preparation, and by the end Warrick was always a gibbering mass of need. Gil slowly started thrusting, curling the digit round to find that special bundle of nerves that would excite his lover. Warrick let out a low moan letting Gil know he'd found it. As he added a second finger stretching him slowly pulling out and pushing back in over and over.

"Oh God, Gil, hurry up," Warrick groaned. Gil smiled and took Warrick in his mouth adding to the sensations. He co-ordinated his mouth with the movements of his fingers.

"Gil, oh Jesus, oh man," Warrick babbled feeling already close to the end. Gil smiled around his mouthful and added a third finger, he swiped the head of Rick's cock teasing tasting the salty pre-cum. Warrick moaned loudly and pinched the base of his dick to stop himself cumming too soon.

"Gil, damn it, I'm ready come on now," he growled pulling Gil up the bed for a searing kiss. Gil took mercy on his younger lover and removed his fingers and slicked his hard member. Warrick whimpered from the loss but then groaned as something large and blunt pushed against him. Gil pulled his legs up around his waist and pushed, sheathing himself in one long stroke. Both men groaned at the union,

"My God, Rick you feel so good, you're so tight," Gil started to thrust slowly at first but then building up speed. Each thrust hit Warrick's prostate causing him to see stars. Neither one of them were going to last long at this rate. Warrick arched up, meeting up of Gil's thrusts with one of his own pulling him deeper. All too soon Gil began to lose his rhythm. He stroked Warrick's engorged organ causing him to cum with a keening cry. As Warrick's muscles clamped down on him Gil's orgasm was wrenched from him. Gil collapsed onto of his lover gasping, Warrick held Gil, stroking his back until the tremors stooped. Gil groaned softly and rolled off Warrick gently pulling gout of his body. Warrick sighed from the loss but moving still required more energy then he had. After a few minutes Gil got up and padded out the bathroom. He paused at the door to smile at the contended heap of mush that was left on the bed.

He came back in with a damp cloth having already cleaned himself up. He gently washed his lover down laughing affectionately as Warrick purred happily at his ministration. Gil returned the cloth to the bathroom and on his way back he silently poked his head round the door to the guest room. He frowned discovering the room was empty. The bed had been made so it didn't look like he was planning to come back soon either. Puzzled as to where the young house guest could have got to he wondered back down the hall.

"Rick? Greg's got up, I'm just going to check he's okay," he whispered tugging on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"M'kay..." came the sleepy response. Gil rolled his eyes at him and left.

Downstairs Gil could smell good coffee brewing and there was a light on in the study. He opened the door to find another empty room, but this time there were signs of life, the computer was on. He went across to find that there was a messenger box open. He scrolled back up o the top of the conversation. It was obviously between Greg and Arissa; he started reading from the beginning.

The Mute: Hey
Hopalong: Hi, shouldn't you be sleeping?
The Mute: Probably, couldn't though
Hopalong: Why not?
The Mute: I'm in the guest room.
Hopalong: ... You didn't tell them did you?
The Mute: Haven't said anything in two days, mute remember, lol
Hopalong: Gecko, you know what I mean.
The Mute: Don't use that tone. I can't alright? I'm already being a pain in the ass.
Hopalong: No you're not. Where are the lovebirds anyway?
The Mute: Lovebirds?
Hopalong: Oh come on, you're telling me you didn't notice? Forget that of course you didn't you're love blind.
The Mute: (Shrugs) nothing to do with me. They're ‘asleep' - they work nights
Hopalong: Yeah so's Nicky. Gecko you need to let them know - if you start becoming exhausted they are going to notice, and they will want to help.
The Mute: Not that easy
Hopalong: Fine I'm writing that leaflet then!
The Mute: Don't you dare!
Hopalong: ‘How to care for your Greg'
The Mute: STOP!!
Hopalong: You're Greg is a very shy creature, always believing he is in the way and will not bother you for anything.
The Mute: Ok, point made stop!
Hopalong: Chapter 1: - Basic requirements of your Greg: Greg's require few things. The most important is the presence of another person or strong drugs to sleep during times of turmoil, preferably both. Whilst awake a bag of Blue Hawaiian Coffee (there's a bag under you're shirts) will keep your Greg a happy and content.
The Mute: Nothing I say is going to stop this is it? (I know it's brewing now, it's brewing now and is the only reason I'm forgiving your little foibles).
Hopalong: (I know you love me, where was I? oh yes) Chapter 2; Greg body language - arms around chest or knees drawn to chin both mean the same thing - your Greg needs a hug!
The Mute: ARRRGH! STOP! Ok I'm going to get coffee and hope you'll be done when I get back!

Gil smiled it was the most relaxed he had heard Greg since this all started, but it seemed that he didn't have the first clue about how to help Greg recover. As his supervisor that was bad, but given his personal feelings towards the young man it was inexcusable. The conversation was still active giving Gil an idea he quickly typed a message.

The Mute: Arissa, it's Gil Grissom, it's become clear that we don't know Greg well enough to help him. I must confess that I have read your conversation and as shamed as I am to admit it I believe we would benefit from the leaflet that you were threatening Greg with.

There was a long pause before she replied.

Hopalong: I will write you a ‘Greg for Dummies' guide, but I'm afraid that I have a question for you, one that will make me sound like an overbearing parent. I need you to be honest Gil - I know about you and Warrick, what do you guys want with Greg?
The Mute: Why do you assume that we want anything with Greg?
Hopalong: Nice try but 1. I SAW how you looked at him, 2. Warrick wouldn't leave him alone after Drake, 3. You both fawn over him (both of you) and while Greg can't see it everyone else knows he's beautiful both inside and out. Gil laughed, apparently aspiring CSIs were genetic.
The Mute: I love him. We both do.

Gil's breath caught waiting for the reply.

Hopalong with a shovel: Hurt him and they will NEVER find either body, I don't care how good your team is.
The Mute: We won't, send it to my work email?
Hopalong with a shovel: Sure, close this box off and say bye for me!

With that she left the conversation. Gil closed the box with a small smile on his face. Family approval obtained, now all they needed to do was seduce Greg, well once he found him. A gasp behind him solved one problem, he turned round to see Greg making like a deer in headlights, clutching a cup of coffee. Greg hastily took a sip of the drink.

"Sorry, I just needed to talk," Greg's voice rough and started to fail but he kept going. Gil got up and took a step toward him. Greg backed up quickly enough spill the coffee over his hand. Gil stopped and held his hands up. He recognised the expression Greg was wearing from the lab.

"You're not in trouble Greg, take it easy. Ah, you're doing yourself more damage. Put the coffee down and use you hands," Gil pleaded cutting Greg off when he opened his mouth. Greg put the cup down and looked back at Grissom. The coffee he spilt still dripping off his hand. Gil looked down and winced.

"You just spilt half a mug of coffee over your hand. You okay?" he asked concerned that Greg had scalded himself on top of everything else.

::Yes, it's not hot I had to cool it down::

"Of course, you throat, can I come near you?" he asked noticing that Greg was wrapping his arms around himself. He wanted to hug the stuffing out of the younger man, but knew that Greg was still skittish. Greg nodded in preference to signing. Gil walked up to him slowly, still aware of the slightly panicked look in Greg's eyes. He stopped close enough that he could feel the heat coming off his body.

"Arissa said goodbye before she left" he said softly Greg winced.

::I'm sorry I'll pay for the bill but my phone battery died so I couldn't text her and I...:: Gil had heard, or rather seen enough, he caught Greg's good wrist causing the lab tech to whimper, now he was touching him Gil could feel the tremors in the thin body. He couldn't help himself he pulled Greg against his chest and hugged him as hard as he could.

"Greg, don't be sorry and don't you dare think of paying for that bill, you're my guest and you are welcome to use anything you wish. Please calm down; Rick has already told you once, you are safe here in our home I promise," he whispered into Greg's ear.

"I'm such a freak," came the hoarse reply, Gil pulled back holding him at arms length, his expression stern.

"Never ever degrade yourself in front of me, Greg, I won't have it," he said firmly staring into the hazel eyes, Greg looked stunned at the ferocity of his tone and didn't responded.

"Okay, Greg?" Gil prompted; Greg continued to stare back at him. Gil was about to prompt him again when another voice interrupted.

"Gil, you're scaring him," a deep voice said. Gil's head snapped round, Warrick was leaning against the door frame, he was wearing shorts and a white t-shirt and clutching a mug of what Gil assumed was Greg's coffee. Greg also noticed him and seemed to melt with relief. Gil was taken back, he didn't realise that he caused this level of fear in Greg. He released his grasp on Greg's arms, turning his hands so he was rubbing slow circles on his shoulders. The lab tech took a stuttering breath and relaxed further. Warrick sauntered into the room and placed his cup next to Greg's half full one, listening to Gil's voice as he tried to repair the damage.

"Greggo, I'm sorry it was not my intention to scare you. I'm just... I see you as the fun, happy, young genius who can always be depended upon to not only do his job better then anyone else but to always lighten the atmosphere of the lab and keep both myself and my people sane. When I hear you talking like that - it hurts. It hurts to know that we can't do the same for you, that we have failed you so badly that you could even consider it. You're not a freak, Greg, and you're not dirty or tainted or a nuisance or trouble or any other of the many things I know you've been calling yourself. I just hope one day you will believe us," he said softly, actively trying not to fall in love with the blush that continued to creep over the young man's skin. Warrick stepped up behind Greg and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Greg, why do you think you're a freak?" he asked pulling the smaller man against his chest. Greg opened his mouth but before he could utter a sound Gil place a palm over it.

"Hand's Greg" he warned.

::No one else is incapable of being left alone, I'm not one of the band, but I can't do my job, oh, and my boss and colleagues just had to rescue me from my father the psycho who wants me dead. My eldest sister wants me to call her ‘mama' and her husband ‘papa'. Oh, and just to round things off before you dig it out of another file my biological mother committed suicide the day Drake was convicted:: Greg was both angry and upset by recapping what had happened and distraught that he couldn't get out of Warrick's embrace and hide no matter how hard he tried. The CSI had several inches and a lot of muscle on the lab tech that was also injured. No one said anything until Greg had worn himself out and hung limply, forcing Warrick to take his weight or dump him on the ground. Greg sighed and dropped his head, resolutely staring at the floor. Only then did Warrick speak.

"Okay, let's start at the top. No one thinks you're incapable of looking after yourself, past the fact that you can't talk. Your apartment's a crime scene man; you know you can't stay there. So you have to stay somewhere else, seeing as your twin sister seems to be hooking up with Nicky and you seem to have a problem with your brother-in-law; not that I blame you, staying with friends is you best option. As Gil can translate for you this is the obvious choice. As for work - your lab will still be there when you get back I already told you - you rescued yourself, we just stood around and watched. I can't comment on you mother or the situation with your family except to say that it is not your fault, never was and never will be. Finally if anyone should feel bad about what happened with Drake it's that dozy uniform that was supposed to be protecting you. Judging by the way Brass tore him a new one, I'm guessing he probably does," Warrick paused waiting for Greg to respond. When it became apparent he wasn't going to Gil approached him and nudged his head up using his chin.

"Greg what's upsetting you? Why are you so angry?" he whispered, his soft voice more insistence then any amount of shouting or aggressive demand. Greg blinked rapidly trying to dispel the tears gathered in his eyes. He signed a two word answer and then collapsed completely, wrapping his arms around him and trying to curl up until it was only a very worried Warrick holding him up.

"What did he say? Gil! What did he say?" he implored, Gil swallowed hard

"He said ‘no choice'," he met Warrick's eye guiltily.

"He hasn't really had a choice since all this started Rick - Michael forced him out of Palms - he literally picked him up and walked out the room. Then Nick refuses to take him back to the lab, we bring him here but did you ask what he wanted? I know I didn't," Grissom had been stroking Greg's hair soothingly as he spoke; Warrick sighed and hugged him tighter.

"No I didn't. I'm so sorry Greg I can't imagine how out of control you feel," he said truthfully to the back of the lab techs head. Greg nodded, he had cried himself out.

::At least you understand:: Gil could see the relief cascading down Greg's face he smiled.

"Yeah, I think we do, Greggo," he paused trying to think of the best way to bring this up. He sighed he wasn't a tactful person so he decided to try head on.

"I talked to Arissa - she said that you sleep better with someone else close by, is she right?" he asked the question gently, but Greg knew better then to lie. He nodded slightly causing Gil (and although he couldn't see it Warrick) to smile.

"Well then we better all head back upstairs, after all Rick and I have work this evening. You can come through to our room this is no need for you to struggle, Greg, okay?" he asked carefully, modulating his tone so that Greg knew it was a genuine offer. Greg nodded against Gil's hand and gave him a small but honest smile.

"Okay, why don't you guys come up when your ready, I'm sure that coffee is still in your systems," he said, running his hand through Greg's hair one last time before nodding at Warrick and leaving the room. Warrick ran his hand down Greg's arms and turned him around. He had felt the remaining tension leave Greg as the older man left.

"Greg, Gil likes you... a lot, I don't know how he manages to scare you this much but I promise - you have nothing to fear from him," he said honestly Greg nodded and pointed upward.

"Okay?" he asked, Warrick frowned trying to decode what Greg meant. Greg sighed and took a mouthful of stone cold coffee.

"Okay, if I stay in your room?" he eventually managed to elaborate; he smiled sheepishly at the exasperated look Warrick gave him.

"Of course it is, dummy. Before you leave here I am going to convince you that you are not in the way," Warrick vowed. Greg smiled and stepped forward as though to embrace the taller man but stopped halfway, not sure he would be welcome. Warrick rolled his eyes and closed the distances. Without pausing he dipped down and picked Greg off the ground. The younger man gasped at the suddenness of the move. Greg tried to pretend to be mad but ended up making himself laugh. Warrick grinned as the lab tech rubbed his face against a convenient shoulder.

"You're like a big cat, you are. Admit it, you like being carried," he gloated, Greg shrugged

"Not at work," he whispered hoarsely causing Warrick to laugh.

"No not at work, I promise," he agrees easily before carrying Greg upstairs.

CHAPTER 13

Arissa sighed as she logged off and rolled her shoulders.

"Why is it that my foot's in plaster but it's my neck that's stiff?" she muttered to herself.

"Way of the world I guess..." came a sleepy reply. She turned and smiled at Nick, he had obviously just rolled out of bed; his hair sticking out at all angles. He came up behind her and started to rub her shoulders. She moaned appreciatively.

"Mmm... you're good at that..." she sighed, Nick bent and placed a kiss on her neck lightly, Aris froze, causing Nick to frown.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, sure he hadn't misread the signals.

"I'm sorry Nicky I guess.... I need to know is this just another notch on your bed post?" she asked haltingly. Nick's hands stilled but didn't leave her shoulders.

"Greg, huh?" he said sadly without malice. Arissa smiled.

"He's my brother - I'm his first priority. He wasn't trying to interfere, Nicky, he just wants me to have all the facts before I make a choice," she tried to explain, Nick got what she was saying.

"Look, Arissa, I like you a lot, you're bright, funny, beautiful and compassionate and I think that we could be good together," he said quietly.

She smiled.

"Wow, you are good," she said turning around and, with Nick's help, she stood and fell into his embrace. She started kissing his neck.

"I'm sorry I had to ask," she whispered between the kisses.

Nick smiled.

"I know, it's okay," he assured returning the kisses whilst moving them toward the bedroom. Aris kept stumbling due to her cast causing them both to laugh. Nick grinned mischievously and then picked her up.

She smirked.

"You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet, don't you, Mr Stokes?" she said laughing before attaching her mouth to his neck. He groaned and almost dropped her. He felt a smile against his skin and she trailed her lips across his collar bone and laved the hollow under his Adams apple. Nick had never been so glad to see his bedroom door in his life. He fell into the room and staggered across it, barely making the bed before his knees collapsed. Arissa grinned as he dropped her onto the bed. She pulled him down on top of her and grinned, running a hand down his cheek.

"Hey, baby," she cooed before bringing his head down so she could kiss him. He went willingly, bringing his body down on top of hers. Nick coaxed Arissa up the bed before running his hand down her sides. He caught the edge of her shirt and dragged it up slowly; Arissa shuddered as his hands touched her skin. They broke the kiss long enough for Nick to pull her shirt free. Her hands worked the buttons on his shirt free; she tugged it off his shoulders.

"I need you, Nicky..." she whispered, caressing his chest down to his waist fumbling with his belt. Nicky quickly got the idea and reached down to push her sweats away. Within a few minutes they were naked and wrapped around each other. Arissa reached into the drawer beside the bed and pulled out a condom. Nick raised an eyebrow.

"How did you know?" he asked baffled.

She grinned.

"What tall, tanned Adonis wouldn't keep protection next to his bed?" her comment caused Nick to blush as he took the packet from her. She grinned and pushed herself further up the bed and spread her legs. She raised her eyebrow at Nick.

"Come on cowboy, take me for a ride..." she said in a sultry tone, Nick stared incredulously, not sure if she was serious, she managed to hold a straight face for all of three seconds before giggling.

Nick chuckled at her.

"Very bad line..." he said, she grinned up at him then pushed his shoulder, flipping them over so she was straddling his hips. Inwardly she congratulated herself on managing it without damaging anything.

She kissed him hard...

"I'm going to ride you so hard you're going to pass out; I'm gonna make sure that you can't look at me without getting hard. I'm going to wear you out, Nick Stokes, and you'll beg me to do it again," Arissa smirked as Nick moaned and plucked the condom packet from his hand. She ripped it open and rolled it on him. She grinned down at him before sitting back, impaling herself on his length. She gasped as he penetrated her and lent down to kiss him again. She moved her hips rhythmically, making Nick whimper. He planted his feet on the mattress so he could meet every one of her thrusts with one of his own. Arissa's head was thrown back, her hair cascading over her shoulders a look of bliss on her face. Nick reached up and ran his hands over her breasts, catching her nipples between his thumbs and hands.

"Oh, God, you're beautiful..." he murmured pulling lightly; he lifted his head and took one of the hardening peaks into his mouth. Arissa dropped down when Nick tugged her; he moved to her other breast and groaned as she rolled her hips.

"Oh God, oh man, Christ!" Nick whimpered, he thrusted up harder, on the third time he came shouting her name. He opened his eyes just in time to see Aris throw her head back, her entire body strained. She gasped once and collapsed half on the bed half on Nick. Groggily he rolled her sideways slipping out of her tight, wet heat. He tugged the condom off, tied the end and dumped it in the trash. He rolled back next to her and smiled contentedly as she snuggled into his side. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She kissed his chest and laid her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

"You're very quiet..." he said slightly concerned.

She sighed lightly.

"Sorry, I'm always quiet..." she said. "Don't tell me you're worried; you're amazing you must know that..." she teased.

Nick grinned at her.

"Thank you. You're not too bad yourself," he replied. She looked at him a little nervous.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked quietly, Nick frowned; she sounded unsure, like she half expected him to ask her to leave. He filed that away for future consideration.

"Only if you want. If it were up to me, I'd see you here every night" he replied feeling her relax against him.

"Thanks, Nicky," she mumbled sleepily, closing her eyes. Nick held her close and sighed, wrapping her in his arms and dragging the cover over them. He didn't want to think about the kind of heartache she had been through. His final waking thought was that Greg had been through it with her. The realisation sent a shiver down his spine.

~~

The first thing Warrick noticed was that Gil had changed the sheets, the second was that this was the first time in two years he had seen Gil wearing clothes in bed. Greg fidgeted reminding him that he was still carrying the lab tech. Greg was signing something at Gil. Instead of answering Gil smiled impishly.

"Rick, Greg wants to know where he is going to sleep. Want to show him?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. Warrick smiled and walked over to the bed. He gently deposited Greg next to Gil in the centre of the bed. He got in on the other side before the younger man had time to recover from the shock. When Greg did his head flicked from side to side wide-eyed, both Gil and Warrick tried to hide their amusement at Greg's boarder-line panic. Correctly interpreting Greg's next action they grabbed each other's arms caging Greg in before he could bolt out of the bed. They slowly coerced him to lie down between them. He lay on his side facing Warrick. The older man ran his hand through Greg's hair and felt him shake.

"Shh... Greg, relax, it's fine, I promise, just close you eyes and go to sleep," he murmured. Gil hit the switch by the bed, plunging the room into darkness. Greg jumped, the lack of light startling him further.

"Greg you're with friends, you are safe just close your eyes," Gil soothed; he felt Greg nod and settled down. Slowly the tremors stopped as the lab tech fell into a peaceful sleep. Gil and Warrick following him quickly.

~~

When Arissa awoke she found herself alone in Nick's bed, a glance at the clock showed her it was evening. She sighed assuming Nick had left her for work and sat up slowly. She was about to shuffle out of he bed when the door opened silently. She froze but then relaxed when she saw Nick coming in balancing a tray. He dropped the sneaking when he saw that she was awake.

"Hey..."

"Hey..."

"I made you breakfast," he said sheepishly.

"It smells great, but you didn't have too," she said looking down at the tray; she lent over and kissed him slowly. She smiled dreamily at him; she took a bite of the food and hummed in appreciation, before feeding a bite to Nick.

"This is amazing, thank you, even if I don't normally have breakfast in the evening," she teased making Nick flush.

"Sorry I forgot - nightshift worker..." he said by way of explanation.

"I know - the only thing I've seen Greg eating some weeks is Coco Pops," she grinned and then glances at the clock sighing sadly. "I guess you have to go to work soon" she said.

Nick nodded.

"Afraid so, sorry."

"It's cool; just... uh... keep an eye on Greg for me?"

"Aris, he has been signed off for weeks," he told her sounding confused. Arissa rolled her eyes.

"Man, he's played you guys better then I thought. Humour me on this, if he's there try to make him take a break at some point," she said pleadingly. Nick was surprised, Greg always seemed so open; but given what they were beginning to turn up. Maybe Greg was just a brilliant actor.

"Sure, I'll watch out for him," he'd been planning too as soon as Greg went back anyway.

She smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks, I mean, don't get me wrong he's no child and he's amazingly resourceful. When we were kids he took care of me, took the brunt of what Drake threw at us to protect me too. He's just hopeless at looking after himself," she said sounding both exasperated and affectionate.

"No problem, baby, he's my friend believe it or not," he teased her.

"I know he is, after all you like me and I'm just the XX clone of him," she grinned as Nick froze and then grimaced. "Thank you, now I need an ice pick to get that image out of my head..." he grumbled making her laugh. She kissed him in apology and he sighed.

"Okay, baby I'll be back later," he said leaving the room. Arissa smiled to herself as she ate.

"This one is definitely a keeper..." she thought.

~~

When the evening came Gil awoke first, which wasn't unusual he smiled when he saw that Greg had wrapped an arm around him, Warrick spooned up against the younger man's back. Even if this was purely innocent snuggling... He gently slipped out of the loose hold Greg had on him, but was still unsurprised when Greg's eyes flashed open. He saw fear flicker across his face before he worked out where he was. The fear was replaced by anxiousness. Gil smiled gently at him.

"Good evening," he said smiling when some of the worry cleared from Greg's features.

::Evening::

"Did you sleep well?"

::Like a log, thank you::

"You're welcome. I'm going to grab a shower, the alarm will go off in about half an hour," he said, Greg nodded and settled down, Gil didn't think he was going to get anymore sleep but he seemed happy to let Warrick hold him a bit longer. Gil left the room, his head feeling warm. When he returned he was gratified to see that he was right, Greg was still awake but hadn't moved. He smiled at him and then lent down and placed a kiss on Rick's cheek.

"Warrick, time to get up,"

"Okay, Gil..." came the mumbled reply.

Gil rolled his eyes.

"Now, Rick! I'm going to start breakfast and if you're not up in five minutes Greg is going to pour that glass of water over you right?" he said smiling at Greg. Warrick tightened his grip; apparently aware of whom he was holding.

"Aww... you wouldn't do that, would you, Greggo?" he whined. Greg grinned, dipped his fingers into the water and flicked it onto Warrick's face. Gil laughed as Warrick moaned.

"Alright, I'm up see - no need to gang up on me..." he moaned. Gil left satisfied that his lover would fall out of bed. Greg smiled at Warrick and headed off for a shower.

"Traitor," Warrick growled playfully at him as he left.

~~

Warrick came down a few minutes later and followed Gil's voice to the kitchen.

"No, Greg," his voice was firm, there was a pause.

"No, I mean it, there is no possible way you can expect me to believe that you are capable of work," Gil now sounded exasperated.

Warrick raised an eyebrow.

"You think you're up to it, Greggo?" he asked neutrally walking in.

"Yeah, I can talk enough to be useful," he still sounded very raspy. Warrick looked at Gil. Clearly his lover expected Warrick to back him up.

Warrick sighed.

"It's not a matter of being useful, Greg; it's more a case of whether or not you are fit enough, we don't want to delay your recovery," he explained gently. Greg looked pained.

::You don't understand. If you make me stay on my own - I... I...I don't do well on my own. Please, I can work faster the Bryson with on hand:: he looked upset by having confessed this. Gil looked over at his lover after he finished translating and could see he was melting. He sighed knowing that he was going to give in.

"You're hands off the NI3 case and obviously the Drake case. Agreed?"

"Thank you," he said weakly turning to face Gil. Immediately Gil could see why Warrick caved so quickly, the big brown eyes under those long lashes.

Gil rolled his eyes.

"You get tired you stop, okay? You crash in the break room if necessary but you don't work yourself to a standstill," Greg nodded his agreement earnestly.

"Okay, come on let's eat I have a feeling it's going to be along night..."

CHAPTER 14

Nick glanced into the DNA lab and noticed that it was only occupied by Bryson. Maybe Aris was wrong he thought heading into the locker room.

"Hey, bro'," Warrick greeted, as he entered.

"Hey, man," he said casually changing his shirt. He tossed his street shirt into his locked and heard a chuckle

"What's the joke, Rick?"

"You got a high collar shirt for tonight?"

"Since when do you care about fashion?"

"I don't, but Greg might want to know how you got that hicky," Warrick grinned as Nick paled and darted to the mirror. True enough on one side of his neck he was sporting an impressive bruise, he groaned and then paused.

"Wait, he's in tonight?"

"Yup."

"It's only been 2 days!"

"Yeah, well he pleaded his way through Gris - I gotta give him credit, I've never known anyone to manage that before," he admitted.

Nick chuckled.

"Got the amazing kick- puppy dog eyes and the quivering bottom lip treatment did you?"

"Yeah.... Wait how did you know?"

"He and Arissa tagged-teamed the Hampton's with the same trick. She says it's never failed."

"Wait, he knows he's doing it?" Warrick said somewhere between amused and pissed. Nick just laughed at his friends look.

"Knows, practised and perfected," Nick informed him with a slap on the back. Rick slammed his head into the locker for falling for it. Nick smiled sadly at him.

"Apparently, Greg could earn an OSCAR; Aris says that Greg has been playing all of us in a desperate attempt to protect himself from getting hurt. It seems like it's a habit he learnt when he was a kid. God I never want to think about what would drive a kid to become that good an actor," he said with a shiver, thinking back to his childhood. Warrick nodded taking that in; there was nothing that they could do about it now.

"We better get to briefing before Grissom shoots us," he said mentally pushing the issues involving Greg personally to the back burner.

Gil was already in the briefing room but none of the rest of the team was there. They snagged some coffee and waited. Nick now believed Greg was in - it was definitely not the normal tar in the pot. Sara came in a few moments later, she looked like she had been there a while Nick figured she probably had. Hot on her heels, Catherine stalked in dragging an amused looking Greg.

"Gil, I found this in the DNA lab," she said yanking Greg in front of her. She obviously thought that Greg had slipped in under Gil's radar. Gil raised his eyes from the papers he was holding and shrugged.

"Well, it was probably doing more good in there so put it back," he said deadpan, Warrick and Nick tried not to laugh; Sara (for once) looked like she sided with Catherine.

"Gil, it shouldn't be here at all!" she said in the tone she normally reserved for explaining human behaviour to the supervisor. Gil quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I agree, Catherine, but short of having it physically removed what do you suggest I do?"

"It is still here," Greg said roughly. Catherine looked at him stunned.

"Getting your voice back, way to go, Greggo," Sara praised from the couch, Greg grinned at her and signed something to Grissom, who caught his injured arm, studying it. The cast on his arm seemed shorter and had ragged ends.

"You know, I'm sure this was bigger the last time I saw it," he said pointedly, Greg shrugged.

::Could hardly sign and it was difficult to work. So I introduced it to a hacksaw:: Greg's grin became sheepish and he left. Gil shook his head at the young man's antics but was secretly pleased that recent events hadn't seemed to kill off all his spirit. He turned back to the team.

"Brass is still looking for Lloyd and his accomplices but until we get a new lead there is not a lot more we can do. Sara I know you've been running the names through every database ever conceived by man, keep on it, we need to find them. Nick, Warrick there's a DB in Henderson check it out. I know guys; stop with the looks, crime doesn't stop because we haven't got a result on Greg's case. Catherine a 419 off the Strip. As you have been made aware, we've got Greg back tonight to take the strain off Bryson - all cases that Greg's even remotely involved in go to Bryson, the rest to Greggo. Let's get to it," he left before anyone could ask him anything. Warrick and looked at each other and shrugged.

"I'm driving," Rick said as they were leaving. Sara and Catherine finished their coffee and wandered out. On her way to her case Catherine stopped by the DNA lab. Greg was working silently and even hindered by the cast he was still faster than Bryson. In some ways she was relieved; with Greg back they would soon clear the backlog. Bryson kept giving him sideways looks. Even though he was the older of the two he seemed to know he was outclassed. Thank God he only had the two cases to run. Unfortunately, it was also the two most important cases that they were running. She lent against the door for a second. Bryson looked up and smiled at her.

"Hey, Catherine," he said causing Greg to look up as well. Greg smiled and made a little ‘what?' gesture when Catherine continued to stare at him. She gave him a maternal smile.

"Don't over do it or I will drag you home and tie you to a bed," she threatened.

"Promise?" he rasped out making both of them laugh. She turned to Bryson.

"Keep an eye on him?" she asked the other lab tech.

Bryson nodded.

"Anything to save him from being tied down, if he even looks on the verge of passing out I'll wave Blue Hawaiian under his nose until it passes," he assured her, Greg grinned at him and Catherine rolled her eyes at them.

"Must be the chemicals..." she muttered wandering off.

Gil sat at his desk staring at the paperwork he should be doing.

"Hello, Gil..." came an oily voice that made Gil want to decontaminate his ears.

"Conrad," he said trying to be polite. Eckley stepped into the office and sat down opposite him.

"Did you want something?" Gil prompted.

"Yeah, we finished with Sanders' apartment. Looks like the perp. forced the window in the master bedroom. Sanders put up a hell of a fight - you statement said that everyone saw was Drake holding a knife to his throat right?"

"Correct."

"There were indentations in the wardrobe, looks like someone kicked it; the bed linen was ripped; there was fresh blood on the pillow - it's still in DNA but I'm betting it's Sanders',"

"Fresh blood? He didn't mention anything," Gil pondered out loud. Eckley chuckled snidely.

"Rumour has it, Gil, he hasn't mentioned much at all since the first attack," he said slickly. Gris cocked his head to one side.

"Really? I found he hasn't had that much of a problem," he corrected exaggerating slightly... perhaps. Eckley frowned realising that he'd missed something but shook it off.

"Anyway, I'd thought I'd let you know we're releasing the apartment and that we have enough to press an attempted murder charge," he said.

Gil nodded.

"Thank you, Conrad," he replied genuinely, before shepherding him out of the office. Eckley got the hint and left, Gil followed him and headed for DNA. He became well aware that Conrad was following him. He froze when he saw Greg.

"Sanders, you're not meant to be here," he said in surprise.

Greg shrugged.

Eckley recovered enough to be snide.

"Ah yes, talking still difficult," he said sounding falsely sympathetic. Gil decided to end this before Greg got upset and hit Conrad.

"Your apartment has been released Greg. We're pressing attempted murder charges."

::Will it stick?:: the penny dropped for Eckley and he left. Gil glared until he was out of sight before turning back to Greg.

"They should do. If I wasn't convinced of it I would have handled the case personally, regardless at what time he chose to attack," Gil stopped talking and switched to sign language.

::They found fresh blood on your sheets Greg, did Drake hurt you::

::Not really, he nicked me with the knife::

::You're showing me after shift. I knew I should have made you go to the hospital::

::I'm fine!::

"We'll see about that," Gil stated sceptically switching back to English before leaving.

Bryson gave Greg a reassuring squeeze.

"That didn't sound good," he said sympathetically.

Greg found a weak smile for him.

"Used to it," he said hoarsely, causing Bryson to laugh.

~~

Sara sighed; she was on her fifth cup of coffee since the official start of the shift an hour ago. She had been in for eight hours already. She couldn't sleep every time she closed her eyes she saw Greg on that stretcher at the casino, reaching out to them. She wasn't going to let him down now. With renewed zeal she continued to search the records. She was beginning to lose hope when something caught her eye; she paused the search. She allowed herself one small victorious grin before grabbing her phone.

"Brass? Sidle. I found something, Neil Balson; seemed he has an oral fixation and an obsession with his teeth - the idiot has a huge file out at a local dentist. He goes at least once a week so I'm guessing he would have gone just before the show. Gotta be worth a shot," she paused waiting for a response.

"It's an address in the suburbs, I'll pick you up," she said getting up and grabbing her jacket. She barrelled down the corridor towards Gil's office.

"Hey, I got a hit on one of the guys; I'm going to check it out with Brass."

"Okay, keep me informed," he said going back to his computers. Sara looked confused and a little put out.

"That's it just ‘keep me informed'. You're not coming...?" it was half question, half statement.

Gil looked back at her.

"Why? You can handle it on your own can't you?" he said impatiently

"Of course I can, I just thought that seeing as this is the only lead on the guys that hurt a friend you would be interested," she snapped before stalking off the way she came. Gil watched her go pensively; one day he would understand women. Not today though, obviously. He went back to the computer once more. Johnny Lloyds face stared back at him. He was missing something - a connection and it was driving him insane. He sighed he had gone through all the evidence from the case and he still hadn't found anything that connected Lloyds to the others. Gil sighed and threw his pen down on the desk. There must be some way of finding out if these guys .... The answer came to him and it was so simple he groaned and slammed his head off the desk. He got up and headed to DNA. Bryson was working on his own, Gil frowned.

"Where's Greg?"

"He finished all the cases he can touch. I don't know how he does it, mind you that is why he's the number one I the country I guess. So that coupled with the three text messages he's got from CSIs telling him to take a break I sent him to the break room," Gris raised an eyebrow, he was obviously in awe of the younger man.

"You believing his hype now?" he asked incredulously.

"No, but I believe the four job offers he threw in the bin today, even if he doesn't," Bryson nodded toward the trash can. Sure enough there were four envelopes, one grabbed his attention - post mark Quantico.

"FBI? He turned down the FBI?!" Gil sounded shocked.

Bryson nodded smiling ruefully.

"He thought it was one of the CSIs playing a joke," he informed him rolling his eyes.

Gil nodded and walked off.

CHAPTER 15

Catherine slammed the door of the Tahoe; she understood that there were other crimes in Vegas but she would rather stay on Greg's case.

Vega looked up at her.

"Nice to see you too, Catherine," he said vaguely amused. She took a deep breath it wasn't the vic's fault, or Vega's, that she didn't want this case. It wasn't really even Gil's but she wanted to be angry at someone and he was easiest.

"Sorry Vega, what we got?"

"John Doe, found by a girl on her way home, no ID on the vic and not obvious in the car."

"Okay, thanks, I'll take it from here- coroner on way?"

"David should be here any minute," he informed her. She nodded her attention already on the crime scene. She looked into the car parked on the side of the road. In the drivers seat was the corpse of a young Caucasian male. The bruising around his neck indicated strangulation. The guy had short cropped black hair. He was wearing jeans and a black band t-shirt. Catherine felt he blood turn to ice when she read the T. she didn't even know that NI3 were big enough to have their own clothing. She snapped off a shot and started her prelim.

~~

Nick looked up at Warrick - their DB had short blonde hair and was a white male in their 20s. He had been strangled: there was deep bruising around his neck. Nick took one more shot and then nodded at David.

"All yours," he said to the coroner. He looked over at Warrick who was looking in the trunk.

"Hey Nicky, what do you make of this?" he asked, Nick wondered around the car. In the trunk was a security uniform in a bag, the uniform was covered in blood splatter. They pulled it out carefully, underneath was a back stage pass to a spine chillingly familiar concert. There were traces of a white powder at the bottom of the holdall. They collected it for trace.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this man," Nick said

"I hear ya, bro'," Rick said bagging the uniform.

~~

Sara and Brass arrived at the dental surgery; the place was nice with a small garden out the front. They entered the blissfully air-conditioned building. The reception area was large with a small section outside various doors. There were only a few people waiting. They walked up to the reception desk and Brass flashed his badge.

"I'm Detective Brass, LVPD, this is Sara Sidle with the Las Vega crime lab - we're trying to track down a patient of yours by the name of Neil Balson. Could you tell us if he's been here in the last three days?" he asked, the receptionist bit her lip. She started scribbling on a note pad.

"I'm sorry, Detective, but I can't give out personal information on our clients," she turned the pad round as she spoke.
Exam 3: he's got a psycho friend with him

Brass read it and nodded

"Okay, but all I'm asking for is the last date he came into this facility," he scrawled as he spoke, Sara blocking the pad with her body.
Which way?
The receptionist indicated with her eyes

"I'm sorry but without a warrant, I'm not at liberty to tell you anything,"

"Okay, well, thank you anyway," he turned slowly.

"On the left," Sara breathed, Brass causally looked over; sitting in the left hand corner, hidden from the front door was the guitarist Johnny Lloyds, his cast looked in very poor condition. He was twitching and sniffing a lot. Brass sighed heavily.

"Tweaker," he muttered and surreptitiously drew his weapon, nodding for Sara to do the same. They were practically upon him, he looked up at them and his eyes went wide. He bolted up from the chair and barrelled into Sara. He pushed her over on to the floor, he went to run past her but she kicked out catching his knee, he went down with a scream. Brass was on him; he wrestled him into a pair of cuffs and read him his rights.

"Fuckin' bitch broke my leg!" he screamed.

Brass snorted.

"I didn't see it," the door to the exam room opened, Neil took one look at them and took off for he door. He didn't get far; obviously the Receptionist had called 911 as a patrol car pulled up outside. The officers got out and caught Balson before he got far. They slammed him into the hood of the car with more force then was probably required. Brass figured that it was just that cops (and CSIs) dealt with being that close to that many dentists.

"Let's get these jokers downtown," Brass sneered. He handed Lloyds of to one of the uniforms and turned back to Sara.

"You okay?" he asked concerned seeing her cradle her arm.

"Yeah, just sprained," she assured him. He grinned at her.

"Nice kick," he praised

"Thanks," she said as they walked out.

~~

Grissom walked into the break room, Greg was sitting on the sofa with his knees drawn up to his chest. Grissom looked at him - he was the picture of insecurity again.

Gris sighed.

"Greg? Can you come with me please?" he asked softly, Greg jumped up to comply. Gil tried to keep his exasperation to himself; he was going to rid Greg of this compulsion to please others at his own expense. He walked back to his office knowing that Greg was hot on his heels. They entered the office quickly, Gil sat on the edge of his desk and indicated for Greg to have a seat. Greg sat nervously, the chair was situated close enough to Grissom that he could feel the heat coming of the man. Gil glanced down the corridor to make sure it was clear. He then wrapped an arm round the young man and gave him a quick hug. Greg smiled his thanks as Gil moved back.

"Greg, do any of these names mean anything to you?" he asked showing him the list of Lloyd's co-conspirators.

Greg frowned.

::They were auxiliary security::

"Auxiliary?"

::Sorry, it's what the band call the security that the clubs and casinos provide. That band has their own because Michael is anally retentive when it comes to safety::

"Okay, thanks Greg. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Don't speak just to make a point, Greg," he chastised softly.

Greg smiled slightly and stared at the floor.

Gil ran carded a hand through the younger mans spiked hair. Greg leaned into the hand for a second and then froze suddenly. For several seconds he didn't even breathe and then he looked up and met Gil's eyes intently. Gil found the gaze disconcerting, he felt like his entire soul was being read he found himself drawn; the gaze was not hindered by the façade Greg normally hid behind. After a long moment Greg blinked and the spell was broken. Gil took in the frown on the young face and couldn't help but feel that his eyes had betrayed him.

::I think you, Warrick and I need to sit down for a long talk after shift:: and with that he got up and left. Gil swallowed hard, that was going to be a difficult conversation.

~~

"Are you sure about this, Jacqui?" Catherine demanded.

"Yeah I'm sure, Carlos Matinez; prints came up on a LVGC gaming card," she said.

"Hey, Jacqui," Nick said coming in.

"Doc Robbins said he sent my DBs prints over."

"Yeah, got a hit, another gaming card; Tom Locum."

"You're kidding?!" he exclaimed.

"NO! What's up with you guys? Why all the questions?" she snapped finally, sick of having her work questioned. The CSIs looked guiltily at her.

"Sorry Jacqui, but these are to of the four people suspected of the attack on NI3,-" Catherine explained.

Jacqui's gaze hardened.

"The ones that hurt Greg?" she demanded Nick and Cath nodded. "Then I'm glad they're dead," she spat surprising the CSIs with her venom.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Jacqui?" Nick asked in deadpan.

She looked sheepish.

"Sorry, but don't tell me you haven't had the same thought," she defended. Nick raised an eyebrow at Catherine and shrugged.

"She's got a point," he conceded before heading out. Catherine went to say something else to Jacqui but then rushed out of the print lab and into DNA. Greg was just about to start processing a swab.

"Greg, stop!" she commanded, he dropped the sample and took a step back. CSIs generally didn't stop you doing your job without a reason.

"Is that from either mine or Nicky's and Rick's DB?" Greg nodded

"Have you processed anything from either crime?" he shook his head in a clear no and Catherine started to breathe again.

"Good, don't - they're linked to the NI3 case, okay?" Greg nodded, pulled his gloves off and left. Catherine watched him go with a puzzled look.

Bryson shrugged.

"They would be the only new cases and he's already worked through everything else," he explained.

~~~

The CSIs gathered in the layout room with Jim and over Chinese discussed the evidence, including the trace and DNA. Hodges had pulled a double to clear some of the evidence from DNA to help out - something that shocked everyone.

"Okay, what did we get off the dead slime balls?" Sara said earning a look from Grissom.

"My slime ball died of strangulation; DNA confirmed his contribution to the stains on Greg's shirt. Plaster cast present on his T-shirt. Incidentally the T-shit was a slogan for NI3. Semen places him at the crime scene there we care about. Plaster and epithelia's on the inside of his shirt puts Major slime ball in intimate contact with him,"

"Our slime ball was one of the contributions was one of the donors under Greg's nails and off Dan Langston's pants. We got two donors from his nails - which we've match to the living slime balls,"

"Okay, major slime ball, known as Johnny Lloyds is a tweaker - was high on meth where we brought him in, damn near Frankenstein-ed his cell. Epithelia's and plaster put him on Greg and Arissa. Boots matched the print found in the green room and outside the car at the Henderson scene. Minor living slime ball - Neil Balson was carrying a zero-point-four, striations match the bullets pulled out of Katy and the dead victims. This means we have our Victims - Slime balls - Crime scene trilogy complete. We've got them, I'd just like to know why," Sara concluded. Gris sighed; he wished he would able to convince his team not to call them ‘slime balls' but he wasn't a fan of pushing string uphill.

"Well, let's go ask a living slime ball," Brass said, tossing a carton into the bin.

CHAPTER 16

"So what's the deal here?" the public defendant asked sitting down.

"No deal, we have all the evidence we need. We were just giving you client the chance to get in our good books by letting us know why," Brass said smoothly. The lawyer conferred with Lloyds for a minute; Lloyds sighed and nodded.

"They were going to drop me. I heard Reynolds say he could convince that little bitch to stay on as lead. I was pissed; he didn't even want to be there. I went off for a drink and ran into some of the Aux's. They were bitching, they reckoned they caught Gecko Frankenstein-ing - you know building stuff from crap? They assumed he was a tweak - but when they hit him up for a score he grassed them up. They lost their jobs because of him as well. We got talking, we got high we crashed the party - I swear I didn't know Neil was packing heat, we were just going to drag the bastard out, he was the one we wanted. But Neil went nuts started shootin' the place up! So we had to do him there. Then Arissa got the back door open, I still don't know how she did that. I tell ya, if we knew what his day job was we would have left him, he never mentioned he worked for cops," he spat out.

"So you, Locum and Martinez go in hold Sanders down, beat him up, sexually assault him and attempt to kill him - but that's okay because you're pal is the one who was out of control because he had a gun?!" Brass couldn't believe how stupid this guy was. Lloyds just shrugged. Deciding that he would never understand the inner workings of this deranged mind, Brass moved on.

"Why kill Locum and Martinez?"

"They were possessed, they were going to kill us, it was self defence," he yelled. Brass just looked at the pathetic excuse of a man in front of him; his life was over. Brass left the room. The CSIs and lab techs - including Greg much to his chagrin were on the other side of the glass. Greg was close to tears staring in at Lloyds. He jumped when Brass entered the room.

He spun and looked at them.

::I wasn't Frankenstein-ing, Luna and Solaris wanted to make a robot, I was trying to get a working prototype!:: he explained.

"We know you're not on drugs, Greg - we ran a tox screen on your blood - it's standard procedure," Grissom soothed.

Greg took a deep breath and nodded shakily.

::Can I go home now?::

::You can come back to our place, I don't want you alone; not tonight Greg:: Gil signed back, Greg nodded and went to punch out.

"Thank God, it's over," Sara muttered, watching him go.

"No clean ups just begun," Warrick said taking off after the lab tech.

CHAPTER 17

The drive home was silent, Gil had informed Rick of what had happened in his office and they were both very tense. Greg was exhausted and also anxious about what was to come.

They got in, locked the door and collapsed into the living room. They didn't say anything until they had finished the tea that Gil had made. Greg sighed and put his cup down.

"Why am I here?" he asked, his voice was getting stronger all the time. Warrick and Gil looked at each other unsure on how to answer they came to a unanimous decision to tell him the truth.

"Greg, you're here because we almost died when we saw you on that stretcher. We... we... what we feel for you goes beyond friendship, beyond what would be considered proper in normal company given your age, gender and our working relationship," Gil stuttered out, halfway through slipping a hand into Warrick's.

Greg took that in thoughtfully.

"I ...Wondered if it might be something like that. You, both of you touch me a lot," Greg flushed and muttered the last bit.

Warrick smiled.

"We like touching you, I, for one, love the feel of you in my arms," he murmured seductively. Greg flushed turned into a stronger blush and that was even though he was on the other side of the room to them.

"I don't know what to say... what you want me to say..." he confessed hating how young he sounded, he was curled in a ball and still felt hideously exposed.

"Well, you're not running away, which is a good start," Gil said optimistically before deciding that while they were confessing he might as well get it all out in the open.

"Greg, yesterday when I came downstairs I talked to Arissa. She sent me an email of things she thought we needed to know about you..."

::Oh God no, no no no no! Tell me she didn't-::

"She did Greg, and at the top of her list of ‘things to know before seducing you Greg' was your ... experience or rather the lack of it," Greg had covered his ears somewhere along the line trying to block out what Gil was saying. Warrick froze and stared at his lover.

"What are you saying Gil? That Greg's a..."

"Virgin? Yes, seems Arissa gives him the stories he tells. Greg please don't turn away there is no shame in it," Gil soothed; Warrick looked a little confused as what to do with this information.

Greg slowly looked over.

::Well at least you're not laughing:: Warrick couldn't help himself, he walked over to Greg and knelt down by his chair.

"Come here, baby," he murmured and opened his arms. Greg hesitated; this was the moment of truth, he had a choice he could choose to fall into Rick's waiting arms and give this thing ago, or he could choose to give into the terror gnawing at his insides, make one with the couch and stay alone but safe in his shell. Warrick waited patiently for him to decide not pressuring him either way. Greg made his choice and threw himself into the older man's arms. He hugged him fiercely vaguely aware of the kisses being bestowed on him and that they were moving. When he did emerge he found himself tucked up on Rick's lap with Gil pressed close.

He flushed.

"I don't know what to do now," he confessed.

"What do you want to do? This doesn't go any faster than you are comfortable with. So, the question is what to you want?" Gil spoke softly soothing some of the worries Greg had. Greg looked up into Warrick's eyes and bit his lip

"Kiss," he whispered.

"You want me to kiss you?" Warrick clarified, Greg braced himself for this to be one big horrible joke and nodded. He felt a hand on his cheek and opened his eyes to stare into Warrick's intense green ones.

"Relax, baby," he breathed and slowly sealed his lips over Greg's. Greg gasped at the first touch; the lips on his were warm and impossibly smooth. He felt like he was being electrified. He felt Warrick's tongue beg for entry and cautiously opened his mouth. Warrick's tongue caressed his own he thought he might die, it was the most intense experience of his life. When Warrick pulled back he whimpered from the loss. Rick looked over to see Gil looking ravenous, he chuckled lightly kissing Greg's ear.

"Ready for round two?" he whispered coaxing Greg off his lap and onto Grissom's. Gil stroked Greg's hair.

"Beautiful," he murmured before reaching down to taste Greg's mouth. Greg immediately catalogued the differences; Gil's lips were fuller, rougher but just as good, Greg was fairly sure he was going to explode. By the time Gil pulled back he as out of breath, he could feel Warrick caressing his thighs.

"I think it's time to move this to the bedroom..." Gil said. Warrick grinned and stood up leaving Greg ensconced on Gil's lap.

"I've got a better idea, Gil, hold onto him for a minute," he said then disappeared up the stairs. Greg tried to get off but Gil stopped him.

"Hey, you heard the man stop squirming," he turned the younger man's face and took his lips in another deep kiss. Greg, proving he was a fast learner wrapped one arm around Gil's neck and his good hand in his short hair. Greg's tongue battled Gil's not willing to be passive anymore. Encouraged Gil pulled him closed and ran hand down his thigh: he felt the muscles in the leg tremble as he touched them. He rested his hand on Greg's hip, pleased that the lab tech didn't seem too worried.

"Now that is hot," a deep voice from the doorway said in awe. They broke apart slowly, Greg blushed and Gil smiled at his lover.

"Ready now?" he asked jokingly. Rick grinned and nodded, Greg jumped up before anyone one could carry him. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it when he caught two warning looks.

::Where am I going?::

"He wants to know where he's going, Rick," Gil said evilly, knowing what Rick would do.

"Well, I could tell him, but I find it more fun to do this..." he grabbed Greg around the waist and hoisted him over his shoulder. He wondered up the stairs with his arms locked around Greg's legs. Gil sighed and followed his lovers out. He was surprised to find that Rick had taken Greg into the bathroom. He opened the door to find Greg sitting on the edge of the bath which was full of hot bubbly water and that the room was lit by candle light. He turned to look at Warrick and instead of the pride he though he'd see; he saw guilt written all over his face. The CSI was kneeling on the floor with a hand on Greg's knee. On closer inspection Gil could see Greg was on the edge of tears.

"I forgot how badly he'd been hurt," Warrick confessed and it all fell into place for Gil.

"Oh no, Greg, sweetheart, are you alright?" Gil asked crouching by his other side.

"I'm fine, really, don't worry," Greg chocked out.

Gil smiled at him.

"‘Your Greg and injury' - Greg's won't admit to injury, if one is discovered your Greg will inevitably be ‘fine' even if they have lost a limb, bleeding internally and stuck under a truck," Gil quoted.

"I am going to kill her, she shouldn't have given away my secrets," Greg muttered. "Warrick I'm okay, please don't look like that. This is fantastic, thank you," he added looking around the room.

"I wanted everything to be perfect," Warrick said ruefully, stroking Greg's cheek.

"It is. I'm touched," Greg insisted, well aware that he was damaging his voice further but reassuring his...lover? Seemed more important at the moment.

"Well, I think a warm bath is what you need right now," Gil said trying to get them back on track and shift the melancholy. Greg nodded and smiled at them. Gently Gil tugged the hem of Greg's T-shirt and pulled it up over his head. Greg flushed at they stared at the newly revealed skin. It would be uncomfortable for him to be the focus of one of the pair but both together was overwhelming. He couldn't help but feel they would find him lacking in someway. He tried to cover himself with is arms, but Warrick caught his wrists and stopped him Greg eyes his shirt longingly as it hung from Gil's fingers.

"You're beautiful," Rick whispered, deliberately not seeing the mottled bruises that littered his chest. Greg blushed but met him halfway when he leaned in for a kiss. Greg felt hands on his jeans but couldn't tell if it was Gil's or Warrick's that popped his fly open and dragged the zipper down. Hands removed his socks- definitely Gil's as Warrick's were buried in his hair. Then he was being coaxed to lift his hips so his jeans could be discarded. When he down to just his boxers he felt a presence at his back. Gil ran his hand over the scars causing Greg to freeze. Warrick stopped the kiss when Greg stilled and looked at him confused as to why the younger man suddenly looked so ashamed. He caught a glimpse of Gil's face; he was wearing a look of complete concentration and regret that Rick normally only saw at a particularly nasty crime scene. He wondered what could have caused it here. Gil met his gaze sorrowfully.

"I never realised how much damage we did Rick," he choked out, the penny dropped for Warrick and even though every instinct he had was told him to look at the evidence, he knew that to do so would destroy any trust Greg had in them. Instead he pulled Greg into a gentle embrace and kissed his neck.

"We'll kiss it better, Gil" he said over Greg's shoulder, vaguely aware at how corny he sounded, his eyes telling the older man to let it go for now. Gil nodded and mover forward into the hug both of the younger men, sandwiching Greg in the middle.

"I know, Rick," he murmured before reaching to kiss the dark man. Greg breathing was in shallow gasps, he could hear them kissing over his shoulder but couldn't move to see, which made it seem all the more erotic. Four hands ran down his body, a hand ghosted over his groin causing Greg to stop breathing entirely.

"These staying?" Warrick asked tugging the elasticized waist band. Greg swallowed hard - another choice with no reprimands if he didn't want it. He looked into the green eyes in front of him and turned to meet the blue ones behind him. He guiltily met Rick's eyes again and nodded before dropping his gaze to the floor. Warrick smiled gently.

"Baby, that's fine, no one wants you uncomfortable. Gil and I are going to leave you alone now, okay? Don't get your cast - well what's left of your cast - wet," With one more gentle kiss from each of them they left. Greg breathed a sigh of relief as the door quietly clicked shut. The bath water was still warm so Greg ditched the last of his clothing and slipped into the blissful water.

~~

"Well, that went better than I anticipated," Gil admitted, they were lying on the bed in shorts and t-shirts - as to not to put any pressure on their youngest lover.

"Yeah I gotta say I thought he'd freak; hell when you told me he was a virgin I freaked. I mean are what are we doing here Gil? He's so young and vulnerable, what if he feels obligated because he's staying here? Or that he can't say no because we're friends?" Warrick asked working himself up.

"Rick calm down, if he felt some sort of twisted obligation he wouldn't have stopped us from going all the way. As for young; no one is more aware of that then I am, he could be my son Rick, you have no idea how sobering that thought is. We'll take care of him; we love him and until he feels comfortable enough to voice his own wants then we are going to have to be observant and try to be sensitive to it. Or I can email Arissa," he added at the end to lighten the mood.

Warrick snorted.

"Yeah I can see that; dial up the young Miss Hampton - excuse me, my partner and I would like to know how to seduce your brother," he said factiously

"She'd tell you," a voice said huskily. "Although she'd threaten your balls just to make sure you were serious first," Greg admitted.

Warrick smiled.

"Hey, you just going to stand there hiding behind your sister or are you coming in?"

"Am I invited?" he asked sound very unsure. Gil was increasing finding himself wanting to track down everyone whoever contributed to make Greg this self- doubting. Thankfully Warrick was still able to function.

"Of course you're invited! How are we going to seduce you from over there?! Get your skinny pale ass in the bed" he demanded with mock outrage.

Greg grinned.

"Well you know I had to make sure you hadn't changed your mind. I mean after all I am the most obnoxious of the entire grave shift," the little speech was pretty much the end of Greg's voice. He rolled his eyes in frustration; Gil pulled him down between them in a sideways hug.

"It's only temporary and there are things you can do that you don't need a voice for," he said seductively.

Greg blushed but looked interested. He smiled at Gil and lent in for a kiss. Warrick wrapped himself around Greg's back kissing the shoulder he found.

Greg lowly ran his hand down Gil's side; he toyed with the hem as if unsure what to do next. Warrick had been following Greg's progress, it was obvious the boy was eager, he just didn't know how to proceed. Warrick mimicked Greg's action, running his hands down the lab techs sides. When he reached the hem of the shirt he toyed with it and slowly slipped his hand under, he saw Greg do the same and smiled - very fast learned.

He run a hand over Greg's chest and toyed with one of his nipples. Fro the noises Gil was making he guessed Greg was doing the same. He bunched Greg's shirt up under his arms, and reluctantly separated them to lift Greg's shirt off. Gil took his own off and the pinned Greg to the bed, he kissed him fiercely before latching onto his neck. Warrick added his shirt to the pile on the floor. He started to kiss Greg's chest as Gil worried on one of his hardening nibbles. Warrick worked his way down Greg's body, he got to the boxers and he slowly slipped a hand in and down onto the top of Greg's thigh, Greg froze and his eyes opened. Gil stopped torturing Greg to find out what was wrong. He rolled off Greg and grinned.

"Warrick, want to suck you, baby. I can see it in his eyes, he wants to suck you until you cum and swallow your essence. Can he, Greg? Can I hold you, baby, while Rick makes you feel good?" Gil breathed into Greg's ear. Greg closed his eyes, when he opened them again they were shrouded in tears.

"No, no you can't do that, at least not for three months," he chocked out

"Three months, what the hell are you talking about, Greg?" Warrick demanded. Greg closed his eyes and a tear cascaded down his cheek.

::HIV test. Three months::

"Oh, Greg, sweetheart, no," Warrick gushed. The bed shifted getting their attention, Gil had grabbed a phone.

"Gil, what are you doing?" Warrick hissed.

Gil glared at him

"Al, Gil... yeah I know, I should be asleep but I need to clarify something. Did you do CBCs on the two DBs from last night? Yeah I know they're calling them the dead slime balls, but you could try not to indulge them..... found it? Great what's it say? Okay, thanks can you send me a copy? Thank you, see you tonight," he hung up and immediately embraced Greg.

"He was clean, Greg, it's okay, I promise, he was clean," he soothed over and over. Greg gasped for air he suddenly felt so much lighter. Gil sat there rocking Greg until he had calmed down.

::Thank you - I know you're not supposed to do that::

"No, I'm not, but it was entirely selfish - I want to make love with you," he said teasingly. That got him a chuckle and a bigger bush. Greg stopped the laugh by kissing him. Warrick raised an eyebrow.

"Boy's a fast learner. So have you changed your mind?" he asked huskily. Greg frowned trying to remember the questions, Warrick smiled and crawled up the bed; he kissed once gently.

"Can I suck you?" he reminded the tech. Greg went an amazing shade of red, a glance at the lust and hunger in Gil's eyes made him go scarlet.

::You want too?::

"More than anything- please?" Warrick was beyond caring that he was begging. Greg bit his lip thoughtfully and then nodded. Gil beamed; he manoeuvred them so he was sitting against the headboard with Greg between his legs. Warrick kissed his way down Greg's front, he tongue fucked his navel when he got there and slowly continued down the treasure trial, he mouthed Greg's recovering erection through the material of his shorts, feeling the recovery time half. He eased Greg out of his shorts, for such a skinny he was over proportioned. It thrilled Warrick more then he liked, to know that no-one else had ever done this to the beautiful young man before and even more so to know the - if everything went to plan he would be one of only two people to ever know Greg's taste. He swiped his tongue over the head of Greg's member making him buck up. He chuckled and gently placed his hand son Greg's hips to keep him down; he took Greg in his mouth forming a tight circle with his lips before sliding down the shaft. He could feel the tremors of pleasure in the young man and decided he couldn't wait to hear him either, a quick glance up showed him that Gil was enjoying the show, he was stroking Greg's chest and sucking ho his neck. Greg was going to have one hell of a hicky in the morning - two if Warrick got his way. He turned his attention to the matter at hand err... mouth and set about bringing the boy off. He changed his rhythm, depth, speed, everything, he could tell that Greg was close. Suddenly there was a hand in his hair trying to pull him off his ‘hard' won prize. He just sucked harder desperately wanting to taste his lovers seed.

"He wants to swallow you Greg" Gil whispered his voice heavy with arousal. It set Greg off, and he came in long ribbons. Warrick continued to suckle him through the aftershocks. He released the spent member and crawled up the bed to share his flavour with Gil.

"He tastes so good" he crooned, Greg was still panting, sweat giving his body a sheen.

::Wow:: was his limit and that was finger letters.

"Was it good baby?" Warrick asked stroking his hair. Greg nodded and then took on a look of intense concentration. He trailed a hand down Warrick's chest and abdomen, tracing the twitching muscles, he tugged the boxers and helped Warrick out of the, he wrapped his hand around his dick with seemed impossibly big. He used Ricks own pre-cum as lubricant and the big man groaned when Greg tentatively bough a finger to his mouth and tasted it. It only took a few strokes from that gentle exploring touch to have Warrick coming. Greg watched fascinated by it. He smiled, pleased with himself. He turned in Gil's arms and reached up for a kiss. He was to repeat his actions on Gil but Gil stopped him

"No Greg, I want to cum in you..." he whispered. Greg paled he pointed to his mouth, and Gil shook his head. Greg looked puzzled. Gil kept eye contact as he ran a lubricated finger down Greg's back into the valley of his ass. He pressed lightly on the opening.

"In there," he whispered. Greg's eyes went wide; somewhere whilst Greg had been with Warrick, Gil had lost his shorts too and Greg could see his impressive erection. Granted he wasn't quite as big as Warrick's but still large. Greg turned his gaze on Warrick who was amused by his reaction.

::Is he serious?::

"Oh yeah..."

::Hurts?:: he asked nervously; he couldn't imagine it not.

"A little the first time, but we'll prepare you well, baby, and I promise you it's worth it," he assured him. Greg chewed his lip and then offered Gil a small nod.

::Stop if I ask?::

"Oh, of course baby, you should know that."

::Okay then:: Gil beamed at him.

"Thank you for this gift, baby," he kissed Greg passionately letting all his lover and affection pour out in it. He broke the kiss after a long moment and guided Greg into position on his hands and knees straddling Warrick. Gil used his eyes to ask the other CSI to make sure he didn't hurt their precious lover. Warrick nodded and stated stroking Greg, relaxing him. Gil gently massed the puckered opening bestowing kisses on Greg's back and neck all the time. He wanted Greg calm and relaxed before deepening the circles and slowly slipping a finger into Greg. The lob tech went completely still at the intrusion and for several seconds no one breathed. Finally Greg opened his eyes; his body relaxing to the intrusion, Gil slid more of his finger in and slowly started moving it in and out. When Greg started to meet his thrusts with his own, Gil added another finger. He twisted them and found the little nub of nerves that would allow Greg to enjoy this as well. Rick laughed at the incredulous look on Greg's face when Gil added a third finger, scissoring them, brushing his prostate. Finally, Gil decided Greg was ready, he slicked his own aching member and lined himself up. Greg tensed as he realised that this blunt pressure was not going away. Gil peppered him with kisses.

"Relax, baby, please, I don't want to hurt you," he crooned. Warrick reached up and drew Greg's head into a long kiss; he squeezed his half hard cock, distracting him as Gil slowly slipped in. Greg's eyes slammed shut.

"Relax, Greg, the more you tense, the worse it'll be," Gil said thinking that he would be lucky to survive more then a couple of thrusts at this rate anyway. As Greg managed to relax Gil slipped past the tight ring of muscle and slid in. Greg tried to control his breathing - he must be doing something wrong, no way was it supposed to hurt this much. Gil waited adding the occasional word of comfort to Rick's between kisses. After a while he could bare it no longer.

"I'm going to move now, Greg," he warned he slipped out by a couple of inches before sliding back in. he changed the angle each time until Greg shuddered indicating he had got it right. Eventually, Greg warmed to the experience and started to meet his thrusts, harder and harder until Gil wasn't sure which one of them came first. He came with a keening cry, spilling deep inside Greg. Greg, in turn cumming all over Warrick. Gil collapsed onto Greg, knocking him flat. For a moment he caught his breath. He gently pulled out of Greg and rolled to the side. He snagged a shirt from the floor and cleaned all three of them up. Finally he pulled the covers up around them, smiling as Rick spooned behind Greg. He pulled them close. Greg's final thought before sleep was how nice it felt in the middle of the mass of limbs.

EPILOGUE.

It had been three weeks since the attack on NI3 and the night shift were celebrating the final closure of the case. The Hampton's had, in an act of reconciliation, invited the entire night shift and their families over to their mansion. Gil sighed and found a quiet place to hide. He did like his co-workers and was quite relieved that the girls got on so well with Lindsey; it would make life easier seeing how Katy was trying to find neutral ground with Catherine. Gil sat in the library watching the out the window, he looked around at the books; the collection was extensive. And seemed to be separated into three main sections; music, law (not surprising, seeing as who lived here) and an entire section of science texts. Unlike the rest of the library all the science books looked brand new and untouched. There was a chronological progression to the chemistry texts, leading to forensics and, most recently, criminal investigation. The door opened silently and Gil was so engrossed in the books he didn't hear the newcomer until he spoke.

"Michael - trying to buy me I guess," Greg said smiling when Gil jumped, he didn't manage to sneak up on the older man often. Gil turned to Greg.

"What happened between you two? I'm sorry, Greg, but everything I've seen of him - up to and including warning Warrick and I that he'd buried us if we so much as made you cry - is what I would expect in an overprotective father," Gil said slowly trying not to sound confrontational.

Greg sighed.

"He didn't - doesn't - want me," Greg said seeming genuinely upset.

"Why do you think that?"

"I heard him - he told his friends that he loves Katy, adores Aris, I'm just the geek drawback to his perfect family..."

"No, no, Greg, it wasn't true. I just didn't have the energy to explain to a bunch of jocks and frat boys how amazing you are," Michael was standing by the door. "Please believe me. Christ, Greg, I was twenty-four for Christ's sake! I wasn't old enough to understand what I got into," he tried to explain, not realising that he was convincing Greg more and more that he had made the right decision.

Greg chocked back a laugh.

"You were twenty-four, Arissa was eleven! She had to dead with being raped, beaten, and pregnant and - and motherhood - and quite frankly she did a damn better job of it," Greg shot back, not realising that he had not mentioned a thing that had happened to him over that time.

"Yes, she did, and you had to deal with being tortured, torn apart, the trail and Arissa's problems all at the same time as well. I know I was a jerk, I have no excuse for it, but where I could help Arissa I did, even if all I did was foot the bill for counselling. As trivial as that was it was still more then I could do for you," he admitted. Gil very much didn't want to be here for this conversation but Greg had taken hold of his hand as though it were a life line. Gil could feel him shaking and guessed Greg wouldn't have the courage for this confrontation if he wasn't there. He wrapped an arm around Greg's waist and was rewarded with a smile.

"I didn't need anyone then, Michael, why do you think I would need you now?"

"You did need someone then, Gecko, probably more than the others because you shouldered their responsibilities as well. You know you have trust issues and I hate to say it but some of those are my handiwork. While you let Arissa lean on you who do you have?"

"He has me. He has them," Gil said angrily pointing out the window to the night shift.

"He has more people than he knows, Mr. Hampton," Gil finished seething that Michael was implying they would abandon the lab tech.

"I apologise, Dr Grissom, it wasn't my intent to make little of ... what ever it is you have with Greg but you have to admit that the odds are not in your favour," Michael said smoothly demonstrating why he was a brilliant lawyer, an apology with a put down masked as concern.

"Greg, I made you a promise the night of the trial, one I still intend to keep. This is and always will be your home," he said he cleared his throat slightly and looked pointedly at Gil. Gris raised an eyebrow in return, Michael rolled his eyes and approached them anyway he hugged Greg gently still glaring at Gil.

"If they even give you a cold, I want you back here Gecko, day or night - any time," he whispered making sure Gil heard.

"I know, Michael," Greg told him. Michael looked at him sadly hoping that somehow he would be able to earn Greg's forgiveness.

"Hey, guys you're missing the party and hogging the main attraction...." Brass' voice travelled into the room before he did causing Gil to break away from Greg. He saw the way Michael and Greg were staring awkwardly at each other.

"Everything okay, Gil?" he asked suspiciously glaring at the lawyer.

"I don't know," Gil admitted bemused by the string contest, Greg laughed lightly and looked away.

"Yeah, Jim, everything's fine," he assured. "Well, at least it will be," he smiled enigmatically at his friends and family for the first time in his life he had a home, people who loved him and even though it was going to take work he was going to have the life of his dreams.

Finis!

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