Title: Guess Work
By: gnr_lab_rat
Pairing: Gil/Nick
Rating: R
Summary: Grissom turned, looking into Nick's eyes and suddenly Nick felt like the man was seeing into his very soul.

***

He'd been waiting for ten minutes now, where the hell was Grissom? They'd been assigned a case together, and should have left long ago.

Nick walked through the hallways, eyes glancing into the labs as he passed always keeping an eye out for his errant boss. Only he wasn't his boss anymore, Catherine was. It was still weird knowing the team had been split up. He was glad to have the chance to work with Grissom on this case.

He spotted the man, just inside his office and was about to call out a teasing 'Gris, chop chop!' when he noticed that Grissom wasn't alone. Sofia was in Grissom's office, moving closer and closer to the man until finally she was plastered against him, kissing him for all she was worth.

Nick's stomach lurched at the sight, he contemplated running, pretending he hadn't seen anything, catching up with Grissom at the crime scene—his mind screamed at him to do anything but what he was doing...standing there, staring at the pair with his mouth open as if to say something. Only nothing would come out. He thought about clearing his throat, but it felt suddenly too dry to even do that.

He saw Grissom as his eyes slowly opened, knew the second that he registered Nick was standing there. He gently pushed Sofia away and whispered something, Nick's mind helpfully filling in the sweet nothings he assumed Grissom was sharing with his...girlfriend?

Grissom walked to the door, not meeting Nick's eyes but simply walking past with a casual, "You coming, Nicky?" over his shoulder.

Nick glanced at Sofia, flushed and slightly breathless and he turned on his heel hurrying down the hall after Grissom.

The ride to the scene was deathly quiet and Nick had the sudden urge to apologize for interrupting. A flash of anger shot through him though, he'd be damned before he'd apologize. They shouldn't have been...doing what they were doing at work. It was unprofessional. If anyone should be apologizing it was Grissom.

They had the added pleasure of awkwardness as they stopped for a red light, Grissom tapping a tuneless rhythm on the steering wheel while Nick stared sightlessly out the passenger side window, wishing suddenly that Sara had been assigned this case with Grissom.

He supposed it wasn't fair, after all Sara probably would have ended up being the one to see Grissom and Sofia kiss, and Nick knew she'd probably head for melt down in zero to sixty at the sight. Still—he wouldn't have minded missing the sight either.

He was sure there was something wrong with the traffic light. He'd never had to sit this long at a red light before...had he? A quick glance at Grissom and he knew that Grissom felt just as uncomfortable as Nick about the whole situation. He didn't want Grissom to be upset, hated seeing it in fact. He rather enjoyed seeing him so unshakable.

Nick sighed knowing he had to say something...anything. "I'm sorry I interrupted..."

But just as Nick opened his mouth to speak, Grissom did the same, "It's not what it looked..."

They glanced at each other, nervous laughter filling the Tahoe, ricocheting off the interior and somehow knocking down both men's walls.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you and Sofia." Nick repeated with a small smile.

"It wasn't what it looked like," Grissom explained a sigh escaping him as he glanced once more at the red light. "I mean, it was but it wasn't."

"Okay," Nick drawled, not sure if he understood, and not sure if he wanted to understand.

"Sofia is a very nice, brilliant young woman..."

Nick groaned to himself, he didn't think he could handle being stuck in the Tahoe with Grissom if he was going to start spouting the wonders of Sofia.

"But she's also a little..." Grissom struggled to find the right word, in the end shaking his head and looking over at Nick with a smirk pulling at the sides of his mouth. "She got the wrong idea—about us."

"Us?!" Nick's eyebrows shot to his hairline, his eyes widening in shock.

"No, no...us as in Sofia and I." Grissom laughed, a tiny pang of hurt hitting him as he watched the relief wash over Nick's face. Was it really such a horrible thought? Him and Nick...He forced himself not to let his mind wander near that subject, had been forcing himself not to think about it for a long time actually. He could feel the last flickering light of hope disappear as he watched Nick. There really was no chance for him with this man.

"Oh...I"

"It's alright, Nick." Grissom smiled sadly.

"So, she..."

"Got the wrong idea, acted on it and then you walked in. Thank you for the save by the way."

"Huh?"

"At least now I have a little time to try and think of what I'm going to say to her."

"Oh," Nick laughed, "you're welcome."

They lapsed into silence once more, both thankful that the red light had finally turned green. Reaching the crime scene they both set about their jobs, checking for evidence, and bagging anything they found.

Nick was a little disappointed when Grissom found the murder weapon. It wasn't that he didn't want them to solve the case, it was just...he'd hoped that they would have the opportunity to spend a little more time together.

Everything seemed to be moving at lightening speed. It felt like only moments ago when he'd stumbled upon Sofia and Grissom lip locked and now here they were on their way back to the lab already.

They got so little time together anymore, Nick desperately searched for something to say, something that would prolong this...he chuckled to himself. He didn't even know what he wanted to prolong. Was it just that he wanted things to feel like they used to, before the team had been split up or was it that he just wasn't ready to let Grissom slip back to the graveyard shift while he was returned to day? Finally desperate enough to latch onto the first thing his mind produced Nick cleared his throat, "Think of anything to say to her yet?"

Grissom turned, looking into Nick's eyes and suddenly Nick felt like the man was seeing into his very soul. The feeling unnerved him, causing him to turn away.

Grissom sighed, stretching the fingers he had curled around the steering wheel. "I guess I just have to tell her there's someone else."

Nick nodded, "That's good, I mean...it works much better than 'it's not you, it's me'."

"You don't actually think there is...could be someone else in my life?" Grissom asked curiously.

"What? Oh, no I didn't mean it like that man I just...wait—is there is someone else?"

"You sound surprised."

"No, I'm not I just...you're not exactly an open book."

"I'm an open book to those who look close enough to read me." Grissom grinned.

Nick raised an eyebrow, giving Grissom an appraising look. "So who is it?"

"Ah, what would be the fun in just telling you, Nicky?" Grissom winked.

Nick felt his stomach flutter at the teasing...at the wink. Suddenly he really wanted to know who this other person was.

"Catherine?"

"She's my best friend...no."

"And it's not Sofia?"

"No."

"Sara?" He felt himself cringe at the thought and chastised himself. If Sara had finally convinced Grissom to go out with her Nick should be happy for them.

"God no." Grissom laughed, shaking his head. "Sara is brilliant, but she's also got the wrong idea."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief as he contemplated who else it could be. "Is it someone I know?"

"Yes," Grissom grinned as he weaved through traffic.

"This is weird."

"What is?"

"Me trying to guess who you're seeing, I feel like I'm back in high school." Nick laughed, running a hand through his short hair...now there was something that had been a mistake. God he missed his hair.

Grissom laughed too, and the sound of it made Nick's toes curl in pleasure. It wasn't very often that he got to hear a real honest to goodness laugh coming from Gil Grissom.

"I didn't technically say I was dating this person." Grissom grinned mischievously.

"You're not dating? So...it's just someone..."

"I have feelings for." Grissom nodded.

Nick bit his lip trying to piece together the latest of Grissom's riddles. Somehow this one seemed more important than all the rest.

"Okay, you aren't seeing this person, but you have feelings for them. Does this person know?"

"Well according to popular opinion I'm emotionally retarded, so...no probably not." Grissom chuckled.

"Don't do that." Nick snapped.

"Do what?" Grissom asked, surprised by Nick's tone.

"Don't put yourself down like that, and stop listening to what other people say--their opinion isn't important."

"But yours is." Grissom's voice lowered, but Nick was on a role and he didn't hear that it wasn't a question.

"Yes, listen to me!" he grinned. "Everyone else, fuck 'em."

Grissom shook his head, smirking at Nick. He knew that Nick was too honest not to tell him the truth, and he couldn't help enjoying the thrill that shot through him as Nick defended him against the opinion of the imagined general population.

"Well, my stamina might be good...but it's not that good."

Grissom reveled in the flush that crept over Nick's face; he wondered just how much of Nick was currently blushing. And suddenly he wished he hadn't thought about it because now he could feel himself starting to blush, among other things.

Nick shifted in the passenger seat throwing Grissom a glare. "That wasn't what I meant and you know it."

Nodding, Grissom grinned. "I know, Nicky." And unexpectedly they were both laughing. It felt good...felt right.

As the laughter died away, Nick's curiosity was still in full force. "So, are you planning to tell me who this mystery woman is?"

Grissom was silent, watching Vegas's lights blot out everything natural about the night. For all the teasing that he and Nick were doing he hadn't actually expected Nick to want to know. He wasn't used to people being interested in his life, personal or otherwise. He was used to people being interested in him being able to tell them what kind of bug was on one of their DBs.

Nick felt the silence grow and thought perhaps he shouldn't have asked. It wasn't after all any of his business. Grissom was free to date, and sleep with whomever he chose to. "Look, Grissom I'm sorry I was just curious, you don't have to tell me." Nick replied casually hoping that it was enough to clear the discomfort in the Tahoe that was hanging over them like dark cloud.

"I never actually said it was a woman." Grissom replied, shrugging his shoulders in an attempt to ignore Nick's words. He wanted to tell Nick, had wanted to tell him for a long time now. He just didn't know exactly how to go about doing it without having Nick jumping from the moving vehicle to get away from him.

"I always wondered about you and Jim." Nick smirked.

Grissom opened his mouth then closed it again. Nick wasn't trying to fling himself from the car, he was actually teasing him. "Jim is a friend." Grissom glared.

"Please tell me it's not Ecklie!" Nick gasped in mock horror.

"Don't even joke about that." Grissom replied as he turned the Tahoe into the lab parking lot.

"Well it couldn't be Warrick, he would have told me. Greg?"

"Sanders? He's twelve!"

"He is not! Greg might seem a little youthful, but he's definitely not a kid. And you have to admit he is cute." Nick grinned.

"It's not Greg!" Grissom rolled his eyes, shutting the Tahoe off. He looked over at Nick to find him being fixed with a look, one he could only describe as filled with...lust. Okay that didn't make sense. Nick was straight...wasn't he?

Grissom ran through their banter, pausing as he remembered Nick's comment about Greg. "You think Sanders is cute?"

"You don't?" Nick asked innocently.

Grissom swore he was going to maim Nick if it turned out that he was just playing him, but the thought that maybe what he wasn't saying was really true..."Do you plan to keep guessing?"

"I'd kind of hoped I didn't have to anymore." Nick said suggestively.

It was all the answer Grissom needed. He leaned across the console, pulling Nick to his mouth, capturing his lips in a long, lingering, delicious kiss. He shivered as Nick's hand slipped under his jacket and danced long caressing strokes down his spine.

Pulling slowly back from the embrace Grissom noticed Sofia standing at the corner of the building, the look on her face assuring him she had just witnessed probably the best kiss of his life.

Somehow he didn't think she needed him to tell her there was someone else anymore.

***