Real Men

Author: Lolly4Holly

Rated: T for now, might change later

Pairings: Nick/Greg slash. Minor Gil/Sara.

Summary: The worst year of Nick's life isn't over yet. He almost lost his best friend and lover to a horrific attack. He's about to lose another friend, due to circumstances that weren't his fault. And now his family's in jeopardy, turning his whole life upside down... again.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Las Vegas, or any of its characters.

Warnings: Adult content. M/M slash relationship.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the story!

Chapter One: Coming Out

"First of all, you are both... valued employees here." Ecklie tried to make it sound true, but the tone of his voice said it all. "Anyway, as valued employees or employees at all, I expect you to act like adults, and conduct your jobs in a professional manner. And not like bickering children." He glared at the two of them, watching the two men hanging their heads in shame. "I'd like you to tell me how this thing . . . got so out of control, and what it's even about. I've been hearing all sorts of rumours, but I'd like to hear it from the two of you, since that's where it started."

"It's because Warrick felt the need for my..."

"Now Nick, don't go pointing fingers, this isn't the school yard." Ecklie interrupted him, watching the younger man giving out a heavy sigh of annoyance. "Warrick, perhaps you'd like to tell me what happened? Without pointing fingers." He warned.

Warrick looked towards his former best friend beside him, taking a moment to think. He soon decided against telling Ecklie about it, not wanting to blab to the Principal about their little disagreement. No matter how big it felt to him, it wasn't for anyone else to know about, it was between them.

"Okay then, Nick." Ecklie sighed, directing his attention towards him. "Let's hear your side of it."

"My personal life suddenly became Warrick's business." He finally said it. "It doesn't affect my work, and it's really none of your business, just like your personal life is none of mine." Nick pointed out to his former friend, leaning back in his seat, once he had said it.

"Okay, so... Warrick," Ecklie looked towards him, wondering what was so important about Nick's personal life, that disrupted his employees from being able to work together. "Why did you feel the need to talk about your colleague's personal life to other people and disrupt the lab with the news? Surely you know that it's none of your business."

Hating being scolded like a child in the rat's office, Warrick blurted, "The hell it isn't. I thought he was my friend this whole freaking time. Now I found out that he's a fucking..."

"A what?" Nick glared at him, wanting to hear it right from his mouth, rather than from other people. "C'mon Warrick, don't be scared. Just say it. I'm just a what?"

"I'm lost." Ecklie gave them both a confused expression. "Are you two seriously just bickering over a little name calling? What are you fifteen year old girls all of a sudden?"

"I'm not comfortable with... you being around me." Warrick finally said what he wanted to say, looking towards Nick beside him. "It's not just this whole freaking thing with... you know. You lied to me. You betrayed me and this whole time you've been watching me... like a... freaking paedophile or something."

That one hurt.

Nick felt his insides twisting, along with a sudden feeling of pressure in his head, from the overwhelming amount of thoughts running through his head. He knew that people wouldn't be uncomfortable at first, as they always thought of him as different, but he would have never expected to be called that, especially not by his best friend.

"Back up a minute," The troubled man behind the desk was even more lost now. "Is there something I should know, Nick?" He looked towards him first, hoping he wasn't going to have to fire someone over some lab gossip. "Are you... a... I mean, do you..."

"I'm Gay!" Nick shouted it out. "I'm not a freakin' sick paedophile or anythin' like that, I just... happen to like guys instead of girls. But trust me, neither of you are my type." He assured them, knowing that was going to be their first thoughts. "Don't worry about firin' me." He pointed to Ecklie, climbing to his feet from the naughty chair. "I'll go clear out my locker. You won't be seein' this queer again." He directed his last comment towards Warrick, before he turned for the door, feeling his hands beginning to shake and his eyes beginning to water.

Instead of clearing out his locker though, he decided to grab his jacket and leave, wanting to get away from everything and everyone, as quick as he could.

"Why do you care so much who he sleeps with?" Ecklie finally asked the remaining employee in his office. "He's not doing it during hours, is he?" Warrick answered with a frown, before climbing to his feet, leaving the same way Nick did, feeling just as hurt as him for the betrayal.

After getting up to get a refill of his coffee, Greg Sanders turned back for his table, bumping into a stranger on his route back. The coffee sloshed against the sides of his mug, scalding the younger man's hand. "I'm so sorry." The kind stranger quickly grabbed some napkins from the table behind him, taking Greg's hot coffee mug from him, so he could wipe his hand. "I'm sorry, are you okay? Do you want me to buy you another coffee or something?"

"No, I'm fine." Greg assured him, lifting his gaze to look into the man's brilliant green eyes. "It's okay. I'm sorry; I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Long day?"

"Something like that." He nodded, even though it had been a long couple of weeks, that just wouldn't end.

"Here, let me get that." The man wiped down the younger man's coffee mug with the spare napkin in his hands, before handing it back to him. "Black coffee at this time of night?" He checked his watch. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"No, actually I just got off work." Greg smiled at him, admiring the gorgeous dimples in the older man's cheeks. "I don't usually go to sleep until around noon, so this should keep me awake until then."

"Oh really, what do you do?" The man took an interest, rather than apologising and walking away, like most people did.

"I'm a... crime scene investigator." He was hesitant to tell him the truth, as it usually scared people off.

"Oh wow, that's cool. So you like, solve murders and things? That's pretty awesome. I wish I was smart enough for something like that. I'm a realtor." Pulling a card from his pocket, the man handed it over to Greg, giving him a handsome smile. "If you ever need a house, I'm your guy... sorta. My sales are kinda down lately, it's this whole divorce and stuff... I'm sorry; I don't usually talk to random strangers about my life. I just... over talk when I'm nervous. I'm Michael." He reached his hand out, expecting Greg to shake it.

Greg gave him a smile, before he slipped his hand into the older man's. "I'm Greg. Nice to... bump into you, Michael."

"Nice to bump into you too, Greg." The man chuckled back. "So, did you want me to buy you another black coffee to last you until noon?"

"Um," Greg looked into his eyes, feeling a connection to him already. He was about to answer, when his phone suddenly started to vibrate, urging him to answer that instead, as he wanted to know how the meeting went at work. "One second, I have to get this. It's a work related call."

"Oh, okay." Michael gave him a coy smile, before stepping around him towards the counter, buying some more coffees, so he could sit with Greg and talk to him.

"So, how'd it go?" Greg answered his phone, stepping into a quieter part of the diner.

"Nick freakin' ran off on me, that's how it went." Warrick surprised him, as he was expecting a call from Nick. "Do you know where he went? I gotta find him before he does something stupid."

"So now you care?" Greg took a seat in one of the empty booths, holding the phone against his ear, so he could give Warrick a piece of his mind. "Nick has been going out of his mind the past few weeks. He trusted you with a huge secret, and you blabbed it around the lab, ruining everything for him... and me." He reminded him. "He broke up with me because of you. He's got this whole plan in his head that if he never gets involved with anyone ever again, then people won't hate him. Would you rather he was miserable the rest of his life?"

"It's not my fault he's..." Warrick struggled to think of the word, making his way back to his car, after stopping by Nick's place to find him. "Why is everyone blaming this on me? He's the... the deviant. He kept this from me, you both did, and suddenly I'm the bad guy?"

"Well yeah, he finally came out of his closet that he's been hiding in for so long, and you sent him running back to it, nailing the door shut." Greg pointed out to him, continuing, "I think its best that you just leave him alone. Everything you've said to him in the past few weeks, has only made him feel worse. You have no idea how much courage it took for him to tell you in the first place."

"Why are you fighting his corner? I thought you'd still be mad at him for breaking your heart?"

"I am still mad, and I'm not fighting his corner. I just love him too much to hate him." Greg explained to him, glancing up as Michael paid for their coffees. "I've gotta go." He snapped his phone shut, gracing Michael with a warm smile, as he joined him at the table. "Listen, I'm sorry Michael, something just came up."

"Can I give you a ride somewhere or walk you home?"

"No, I'll be fine on my own. Let me pay you back for the..."

As Greg reached for his wallet, Michael shook his head, placing his hand on top of Greg's. "You don't have to pay me back. But you do owe me a date." He warned him.

"You're a persistent one." Greg grinned at him, feeling his cheeks blushing, as no stranger had ever taken this much interest in him before.

"I know what I want, and I'm not one to let a good thing get away from me." Michael smiled back at him, grabbing the card off the table that Greg had forgotten. "Give me a call when you're free. And don't go standing me up." He winked at him. "I'll track you down, Greg."

"I'll call." Greg assured him, feeling a warm flutter in his stomach as he made his way towards the door, feeling Michael watching him, every step of the way. As soon as he reached his car, he slid the calling card into his sun visor, before he started his car, deciding to start his own search of the man he still loved.

"Are you okay?" Catherine asked her house guest, handing him another beer.

"Yeah, I'm great." Nick remarked, rolling his eyes at her. "My parents did the whole biblical thing and disowned me. And don't say that they just need time; because I know that they're gonna feel this way forever, because that's them. My daughter doesn't know, and I don't plan on tellin' her either, she's only seven. My ex-wife is plannin' on takin' my kid away from me, by takin' me to court for sole custody. And my ex-best friend has decided that I'm worse than a paedophile, and the only person who stuck by me through all of this . . . I broke his freakin' heart!" He blubbered, drying his eyes, before he looked up at Catherine. "So far, this comin' out thing sucks. I shoulda never said anythin'... to anyone!"

"You said after you told us, that you felt as though a huge weight had..."

"Well I was wrong!" He cut her off. "It freakin' sucks. I want the weight back, it was better than this." He shook his head, looking down at the floor beneath him. "This whole thing . . . I wish I could start this whole month over again, so I woulda never told anyone and I'd still be happy with Greg. I'd still have a family and a best friend too."

"I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but it'll all work out. It's just gonna take some time." She tried to reassure him, handing him another beer, once he had finished off the one in his hands. "How do you know that you're...? I mean, I've never been with a woman, besides one of the girls at the club, but we chalked that up to alcohol. But anyway, how can you tell? You've had girlfriends. You even had a wife. Are you sure you're not just... bi?"

"I guess." The man shrugged. "I like women, but I like men more. I really don't wonna talk about this with you."

"Why not?" She gave him a confused look, taking a seat in front of him.

"Because... it makes people uncomfortable. You tell em you're gay, and they suddenly start thinkin' that you're some sicko, a deviant or... a paedophile. I'd give anythin' to be normal."

"Hey, don't talk like that." She warned him. "There's no such thing as normal. Your sexuality doesn't define you, Nicky. You are who you are, and nothing will ever change that. You'll always be the adorable, kinda sweet Texas boy, with the biggest heart that I know." She complimented him, watching him giving her a slight smile. "So, when did you know, that you weren't straight? Or that you were attracted to guys too, should I say."

"Eleven." He remembered, staring up at her ceiling, as he recalled the memory of watching his brother's friends in the swimming pool. "My brother's friend, Darren, he was beautiful. I felt this warm feelin' every time I looked at him. I had never felt anythin' like it. Then when I was fourteen, my brother and Darren were movin' into an apartment together..."

"Ooh, I love the juicy details." Catherine eagerly grinned.

Nick rolled his eyes at her, before continuing, "I helped to move their furniture and things in. Then my brother and father went out to get light bulbs and things, leavin' me and Darren there. They were gone about ten minutes, before he decided to kiss me. He said he knew it was what I wanted, from the way I stared at him all the time."

"Did you do anything else with him?" She hoped, wanting to hear more.

He usually didn't like to share his private business, but he knew that Catherine wasn't going to judge him, really needing a friend at a time like this. "Okay." After another swig of his beer, Nick finally decided to tell someone what happened to him, something he had been dying to tell someone since it happened. "He asked me if I had ever kissed anyone before, so when I shook my head, he held my face in his hands and gave me the greatest kiss I have ever had. Besides Greg." He quickly added, before nervously continuing, "Anyway, he started... he started to touch me. He could feel me shakin'. I had only just figured out that there was somethin' different about me, and now this really hot boy was kissin' me. This isn't grossing you out, is it?"

"No way, what happened next." She demanded to know, perching herself on the edge of her seat to listen.

"He pulled me into his arms. I was still kinda short at that age, so I could rest my head on his chest, while he wrapped his arms around me. Once I had stopped shakin', he kissed me again . . . and I'm not tellin' you the rest." He quickly warned her, seeing the disappointment all over her face. "I don't kiss and tell, just like I haven't told you a thing about me and Greg."

"You're so mean." Catherine scowled at him, playfully slapping his knee. "You could at least... give me a short summary. I'm not asking for all the gory details, I just wonna know what happened. It sounds hot. Maybe another beer will help?"

"No, I don't want another. I'm gonna see Greg later, and I want a clear head." He pointed out to her, setting down the beer he had just finished, starting to feel a little tipsy already. "I'll just tell you... that it was different. It wasn't anythin' like my first time with Greg. I guess because I didn't know what to do or expect with Darren, so I just sorta... laid there and did what he told me. And it was over too fast."

"First times always are." She smirked. "So you lost your virginity at fourteen? I thought you said..."

"It wasn't anythin' like that." He shook his head. "There was no... penetration, so to speak. It was just sorta..."

"Dry humping?" Catherine suggested, making him cringe.

"No." He shook his head again, folding his arms across his chest, "It doesn't sound as nice when you say it like that. My brother and my father came back a few minutes later, barely givin' us time to zip up. And that was that. I never really saw him again, and I wasn't with a boy again, until college, but that's none of your business."

"And you haven't told Greg any of this?" She asked him surprised, trying to picture the scene from the few details he had given her. She could just about picture a young Nicky quickly zipping up, still wet and sticky from their passionate love making, trying to hide the look on his face from his father, so he was none the wiser. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna find Greg. I meant to call him after the meetin' with Ecklie, but I... just had to get away from people." He explained, pulling his jacket on. "Thanks for lettin' me vent, Cath. It doesn't make me feel any better, but it's always better to share your problems, right?"

"Especially with a trusted friend." Catherine nodded to him, leading him towards the front door. "You're not gonna drive are you?" She double checked, blocking his path to the door. "You know I can't let you drive in your condition."

"That's why I was gonna take a cab." He assured her, tapping his cell phone in his hand. "Don't worry about me, Cath. I can take care of myself."

"So... you really are?" The young lab tech asked, taking a seat beside Greg at the break room table. "I don't care or anything, I just... I'm sorry, I heard the rumours." She apologised, looking into Greg's beautiful caramel brown eyes, that she adored.

"Since when do you listen to rumours, Mol's?" He smirked, lifting his gaze. "Yeah, it's true. Nick came out to the graveyard shift and somehow, he ended up outing me too. It's funny how most people ignore the 'Nick's gay' part, only thinking about the part where he was with me."

"I didn't think of it like that. I wish you woulda told me." Greg had freely flirted with her since her first day, making her believe that he really liked her. She even made a joke with her own friends that she and Greg would eventually marry, having lots and lots of adorable babies together. "Why didn't you just tell me? I thought you really liked me. Were you acting the whole time, because if you were, you certainly deserve an Oscar."

"No, I wasn't acting, Molly." He assured her, looking into her eyes. "I do really like you, I just... I don't see you in that way. You're more of... a little sister."

"Oh, great." She rolled her eyes, dropping her chin into her hand. "I'm too ugly to be your girlfriend, but I'm great as a little sister."

"No, that's sooo not what I meant." He rushed to explain. "I meant..."

"You coulda told me, rather than pretending to like me. I've told you... stuff. Intimate details about me and my life. You're the only person in the whole freaking world who even knows that I gave up my baby for adoption."

"No offence, Molly, but this is a little bigger than that."

"How? She was a part of me and I just gave her away, as if she didn't even matter to me at all."

"But I know that's not true. You gave her away because you loved her so much. This is... well, not more important, but I had people to protect." He struggled to explain to her, not wanting to break her fragile heart. "I wanted to tell you, Molly. Believe me, I had thought about telling you so many times, but I was protecting Nick, and maybe myself too. I didn't wonna lose you as a friend."

"Don't be so silly. As if something like this would ever get in the way of our friendship." She tried to laugh it off, still feeling a little hurt. "So, you're really with Nick? He doesn't seem like your type, but he treats you right, doesn't he?"

Greg answered with a shrug, not wanting to reveal the fact that Nick broke up with him, as he was still trying to process it himself. "I love him, if that counts, and he's totally my type. Sweet, sensitive, gorgeously handsome... in the annoying way. And he worries too much. I used to have a boyfriend like him in Highschool. He was always worried about what people would think, especially his family. Its only love between two people, I don't get why it's such a big deal. My mother didn't give a damn who I dated, and my Dad just gave me a pat on the back, as if I had just made him prouder."

"Not everyone's like your parents though, Greg." She pointed out to him, giving him a soft smile, as he looked up at her. "Not everyone's lucky enough to have such open minded parents. Mine threw me out the door the second I told them I was pregnant, then when I chose adoption instead of keeping her, they hated me even more. I've never been home since. I'm sure Nick's parents are still pretty pissed about the divorce and everything."

"It's nearly been two years, how long can they stay mad at their own son for something that wasn't even his fault?" Greg asked himself out loud, resting his elbow against the table. "I can't believe parents like that exist. Doing this job, I meet people like that all the time, but they're just people that are part of my job, this is Nick's parents."

"Too close to home?" She suggested, glancing up as she spotted Ecklie making his rounds through the labs. "Damn, I gotta get back to work. There's nothing else you're keeping from me, right?"

"Nothing, I swear." The man assured her, giving her an innocent smile. "Go on, Molly, I don't want you to get in trouble with Ecklie, because of me."

"As if he even knows what my job is. He still calls me Mary." She reminded him, making her way back to her lab. Greg waved her off, before he checked his phone for messages again, deciding to head home, as Nick wasn't here or at his house, so he might as well go home himself.

Miranda Harper balanced her six month old baby on her hip, fumbling with the car keys in her hands, while her daughter grabbed her school bag off the back seat. She waited for the child to close the door, before locking the car, leading the way up the path, almost shrieking at the sight of her ex-lover, leant against her front door.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" He smugly grinned at her, taking the keys off her hands, so he could unlock the front door for them. "I stopped by earlier, but no one was home."

"So you waited?" She gave him a surprised look, ushering her daughter into the house first, before stepping inside herself. "I told you, Bryan, you have to call me, before you come over. It was part of the agreement that you could even see her." Miranda reminded him, setting her baby down in the travel cot, so she could help her daughter with her jacket.

"I did call, you didn't answer." Bryan pointed out to her, making his way over to the crib, watching his daughter squirming her little arms and legs about. "She okay?"

"Yes, she's doing fine. Your cheques late again though." Miranda lifted her eldest onto the stairs, helping her with her shoes, before sending her up to her room. "Tayla sweetie, go play in your room. I'll call you down for dinner."

"O-kay." Tayla reluctantly turned for her room, wondering why her mother always acted so strangely when Bryan was round.

"If it's late, it's not because of me. I sent it." Bryan assured her, lifting his daughter from the crib, to hold her tiny little body against him. "She's getting big. This the outfit my mother sent yah?"

"No, she grew out of that one." Miranda cleared away Tayla's crayons from the kitchen table, before hurrying back into the front room, taking her little girl from his hands. "Not now, Bryan. I've gotta get dinner on. I've got laundry to do and cleaning . . . I told you, if you want to see Willa, you'll have to call. And you never give me enough money for her anyway."

"I'm not paying for his fucking kid too!" He suddenly snapped at her, making the baby shriek with terror.

"You're not." She assured him, gently rocking her crying baby against her chest. "Baby's cost a lot of money, Bryan. I'm not just trying to get more money out of you. I need that money, or I can't clothe her, give her food or even clean diapers. Nick pays his share for Tayla, but I can't make him pay for your daughter too, that's not fair on him. He pays his support and he can see Tayla on his set days." She decided not to inform him of her ex's current situation, as she was still trying to process it herself.

"I pay my god damn support too, I should get to see her whenever I like. You don't even let me hold her." He shouted, shoving the furniture aside, getting closer to Miranda, making her jump with fear. "Gimme my god damn baby!" He shouted over the baby's cries.

"No, she's mine. I carried her for nine months. I gave birth to her, fed her and clothed her, until you finally bothered to show up, when she was three months old." Miranda reminded him, taking a few steps back from the man, towards her phone on the counter.

"You wouldn't even have her, if it wasn't for me." He decided to remind her.

"Keep your voice down, you're scaring the baby."

"Give her to me then." He pulled Miranda's arms away from the baby, ripping her from her mother's embrace, only making the little girl cry harder, as she was man handled.

"Bryan, be careful with her. She's just a baby!"

"I know how to hold my own daughter." He snapped at her, gently bouncing Willa against him, trying to calm her down. "Get me her stuff, I'm taking her." He ordered, pushing Miranda away from him, as she tried to reach for her baby again. "She's my daughter too. If you don't let me spend time with her, I'll have to take yah to court. I'll paint the portrait of the most unfit mother you could imagine and you'd lose both your girls." He threatened her, giving her another shove, as she weakly reached for her baby, with tears in her eyes. "Get me her stuff. I'll take her to the zoo or something, have her back by five." He almost sounded convincing. If he wasn't holding her baby hostage, Miranda would have believed him.

"Okay, okay." Miranda sobbed softly, reaching her hands out for her. "Just give me her for a second, Bryan. Please. I need to change her diaper and get her ready." She tried to convince him. "Please Bryan, I'll just be a minute, then you can take her to the zoo." She tried not to whimper, knowing he hated it.

"Hurry up." Bryan slowly handed the baby back to her, grabbing a fist full of Miranda's hair, to give her a stern warning. "You've got five minutes, then I'm coming up there to get her myself."

"Okay, okay, I promise. Five minutes." She quickly agreed, wiping her tearful face as he finally let her go, before she hurried up the stairs with her baby. After setting Willa down on the bed, she grabbed the phone off the bedside table, dialling her ex-husband, Nick's number. "C'mon, c'mon... c'mon, c'mon," She whispered to herself, quietly clicking her bedroom door shut, wishing she had the sense to install a lock to it. "Oh damn it!" She cursed, as the call went straight through to the man's voicemail. "Call me as soon as you get this, Nick. Or get over here as soon as you get this. Bryan's back, and he's... he's acting crazy again. I need your help." She pleaded, before hanging up, deciding to call 911, before she called her sister.

"Miranda!" Bryan shouted from the bottom of the stairs, starting to get impatient. "Miranda!"

"Just a second." She called back, slowly making her way towards her daughter's room. She stopped her daughter from playing with her dolls, kneeling down in front of her to give her an instruction, "Sweetie, I need you to take your sister, and lock yourselves in Mommy's bathroom. Don't open the door for anyone but me or Daddy. Not Willa's Daddy, your Daddy. Don't let anyone in sweetheart, even if they tell you to, okay?"

Tayla gave her mother a curious look, before she did as instructed. She could tell her mother was scared, making her scared too.

Lifting her squirmy little sister from her mother's bed, Tayla stepped into her mother's bathroom, gently setting the baby on the fluffy carpet beside the bathtub, before she climbed onto the sink counter, so she could reach the lock of the door.

She then lifted her sister into her arms, taking a seat against the bath, so she could wait for either her mother or her father to come and get her. A few minutes later, she heard Bryan shouting. There was a loud bang, followed by a crash, as if something glass had just shattered to the ground.

Tayla shivered from the sounds of her mother's scream, protectively clutching her little sister tighter. She waited for her mother to come up the stairs and tell her everything was okay, but instead, there was just dead silence.

Author's Note: There's the first chapter of the new story. Let me know what you think, and if you'd like me to continue. And in case you didn't get it, Miranda is Nick's ex-wife, and Tayla is their daughter. Bryan is the father of baby Willa.

I tried not to give too much away in the first chapter, leaving you wanting more :D No beta this time, all mistakes are my own.

Thanks for reading, please Review!

Have a great weekend!

~ Holly