Title: Way to Go
By: Serenity
Summary: Alternative end scene for 'Way To Go'. Thanks to mangojunkie for the quick read through.
Warning: Mild spoilers for the season finale.
Characters: Nick, Greg
Genres: romance, drama
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
OK, so this came about after talking with a friend about the GSR ending, and wondering what each scene might have been like if it had been done with a different ship. So instead of that 'Hill Street Blues' ending with Grissom and Sara, I wrote the end scene as with Nick and Greg instead. It's written in the present tense, as if you're watching it happen on screen.
Alternative end scene for 'Way to go'

*Locker room*

Nick finishes tying his shoelaces, but instead of placing his foot back on the floor he keeps his knee raised and leans his forehead against the bony kneecap, the denim of his jeans rough against his skin. He lets out a long, laborious sigh, closing his eyes against the world.

"Are you OK man?" comes a voice from above him, a rich, honey-thick voice that he knows almost as well as his own. He raises his head slowly and blinks twice to focus his vision, seeing the owner of the voice standing above him, one hand tentatively reaching out to him, almost touching his shoulder but not quite.

"Hey Greg." he smiles tightly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just.... thinking about stuff, you know?"

Greg withdraws the hand without ever making contact, and throws himself down heavily on the bench beside him. "I think after what happened to Brass, we've all been thinking about.... stuff. Makes you realise how short life really is."

"Yeah." Nick nods. "You know, last year after my kidnapping, I promised myself that I wouldn't hold back from going after the things I wanted. That's what I said back then, life's too short. I told myself I'd been given a second chance. But then... I just let everything go back to the way things were again, without doing any of the things I'd promised myself I'd do."

"I think we're all guilty of that." Greg sighs. Nick can feel him shifting beside him, the heat from his slender frame radiating onto Nick's own skin. "After the explosion, I promised myself that I'd live each day to the full, but then I just.... didn't. Yeah, I became a CSI but I'm talking about... personal things, you know? I promised myself I'd do things differently, but then I just went straight back to doing things how I always do them, regretting all the things I didn't have the courage to do."

"Perhaps we should make today the day that we finally go after what we want." Nick suggests. "After seeing Brass lying there..... no more Greg. No more wondering, no more wishing."

Greg shrugs. "I don't know Nick. In this job we see things everyday that should make us cherish life while we have it, and yet every day we go on, never changing, never taking that risk. Why should today be any different?"

"Because I choose it." Nick says firmly, standing up off the bench and turning to face Greg. "Come home with me."

"Yeah, OK, if you need someone to talk to. We could have a couple of beers...."

"No Greg." Nick shakes his head and reaches out, cupping Greg's chin in his hand. "Come home with me."

Greg nods silently.

*Fade to black*