Title: Send the Fear Away
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Nick Stokes
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 52_challenge
Prompt: 21, Fear
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Nick Stokes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg sighed softly as he got out of his car, looking around him and feeling a shiver go down his spine. It wasn't likely that Shane would come after him here, at his own home. But he still couldn't help feeling that frisson of fear every time he went anywhere alone.

He'd had to go to the DMV to get his driver's license renewed, and the entire time he was there, he had felt that he should be looking over his shoulder. He'd actually done so several times, enough to convince himself that his ex-boyfriend definitely wasn't in the room.

The fear had swept over him again when he'd gone out to the parking lot after getting his new license; he hdn't been able to stop himself from making a full turn and looking over the entire place before he'd gotten into his car. It had been a kind of compulsion.

He didn't want to be this paranoid, feeling that he had to be afraid of every shadow, every sound around him. But after the horrible experience that Shane had put him through, he was having a hard time shaking the feeling of constantly being watched.

Greg had no idea when his ex would pop up again -- it felt as though Shane was always there, lurking in the background, just waiting to show his face again. He would send Greg something, heighten his fear, then melt back into the shadows again, like a lion stalking its prey.

He'd long since expected Shane to reappear, to do something bold like accost him when he was somewhere like the grocery store. But there had been no word, no attempt to harm him -- only the things that Shane sent him from time to time, to let Greg know that he was still out there.

Oh, he knew, all right, Greg thought sourly as he pulled out his keys to unlock the front door. There were times when it was all he could think about -- and he was sure that Shane knew that. The other man was like a spider, patiently spinning a web to catch his victim.

That wasn't going to happen, Greg told himself firmly. He was a different person from the mixed-up, scared kid who had been with Shane. He'd grown and changed in the past few months -- thanks in no small part to his warm, loving relationship with Nick.

Without Nick in his life, he might have lived within that bubble of fear that Shane had created around him for the rest of his life. Greg doubted that he would have had the courage to date anyone else, or to let another man touch him. He would have been crippled for life.

Nick had been there for him in ways that no one else had ever been. He'd been there to help him through the trauma of what Shane had done to him -- and to boost his self-confidence over the scars that the lab accident had left. He soothed the visible scars, as well as the ones that couldn't be seen.

His boyfriend was everything to him. Nick was the most wonderful man he'd ever known; he'd chosen well when he had fallen in love with the tall, lanky Texan. Nick was his angel, his saving grace. He loved Nick far more than he'd ever thought it was possible to love.

And wonder of wonders, somehow, Nick felt the same way about him. It was still hard for Greg to fathom, after the abusive relationship he'd had with Shane, that anyone could love him exactly the way he was. But he was learning, slowly but surely, that love was a two-way street.

Nick's car wasn't in the garage; Greg couldn't help wondering where his boyfriend was. He unlocked the door, going inside and locking it carefully behind him, before dropping his keys on the table by the door and looking around their comfortably cluttered living room.

He loved living here, loved being a part of Nick's life. It felt as though he'd always been here, really; there hadn't been any awkward transition period between living alone and suddenly being with someone else on a constant basis. He fit into Nick's life as though he'd always been a part of it.

It only took a moment for him to see the note that was propped up on the dining room table. Greg smiled as he picked it up and read Nick's scrawled words. "Gone to the grocery store -- if you beat me back home, wait for me with open arms, and I'll bring you something you like."

Nick always brought home something he liked, Greg mused, heading for the kitchen to take a bottle of water out of the fridge. Himself. Whenever he walked through that front door, the house suddenly seemed to come to life, to become less of a house and more of a home.

He didn't want fear to intrude into their home; he didn't want thoughts of Shane to make him feel paranoid even when he was within the safety of these walls. He wanted to be able to shut out that fear, to make sure that it couldn't touch him when he was here.

That wouldn't be easy to do, especially when he knew that Shane was watching him. He had sent that box of black roses -- it was more than obvious that he knew Greg was living with Nick. And it was only a matter of time until he decided to make a move.

When he did, Nick would be there, Greg assured himself. Nick was watching, too -- and his boyfriend was more than prepared to handle Shane the next time he surfaced. It was Shane who would come out on the losing end; Greg was positive of that fact.

Still, it was hard not to be afraid of what could happen. There would be a confrontation between Nick and Shane; that was inevitable. Greg only hoped that Nick would be the one to prevail; he didn't want to think of what could happen if Shane somehow manged to turn the tables.

A shudder went through his body at the thought of Nick facing off with Shane, and losing the fight. He pushed that thought as far away from him as he could, slamming a mental door and locking it tightly against the fear that those images engendered in him.

Nick and Shane weren't going to face off, not in a way that Nick could be hurt, he told himself firmly. The cops would catch Shane -- and if Nick faced him, it would be in an interrogation room, where his boyfriend held all the cards. Then Shane would be put away for good.

Greg closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the couch cushions. He needed to know that Shane was behind bars; he needed closure for everything that had happened. He needed release from the fear that felt like an everyday companion, the fear that never quite went away.

He raised his head a moment later, when he heard Nick's truck pull into the garage. A smile spread over his features as he got to hsi feet, going to the front door and opening it. Nick was here, and Greg knew that he would be able to send the fear away, at least for the time being.

***