Stupid Case...

The Unforgettable Sound

Rating: PG-13 (because it's only got kissing…and few swear words)

Summary: Nick's called back to work on a double homicide case with Greg and finds himself telling Greg how he feels after he screwed up. Nick/Greg, Slash.

It was midnight. Nick Stokes had been let go early, seeing as it was a slow night. He was just drifting off to sleep, keeping his mind away from the reoccurring nightmares of his kidnapping, months and months after it had happened.

But his cell phone had other plans. It began ringing, getting a groan from the CSI. He had just gotten home! His bed had just gotten warm! Despite his displeasure, he turned over, grabbed the phone, and looked at the caller ID. Grissom. He should've known.

"Stokes," he said tiredly, out of habit. Grissom automatically started apologizing for calling.

"I'm sorry, Nicky, I'm sure you just got home, but we need you. Catherine, Sara, Warrick, Greg, and myself are all on the same case…It's a homicide and we need help. Catherine and I have both worked double shifts and we need you,"

Nick sighed softly, making sure it was quiet enough so his boss wouldn't hear it. "Nah, it's alright," he said, throwing off the covers and rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Just lemme get dressed and grab some coffee, and I'll be there,"

"Hey, what do we have?" Nick asked, walking up to Brass. He was still tired – he had been rubbing his eyes the entire way to the crime scene.

"Double homicide. DB – female – on the couch in the living room, another female DB in the bedroom. Suffocated, both of them. No leads--," he explained. "Tough case,"

"You speak too soon, Brass," a voice said, walking up to them. Nick knew who it was by the grin in his voice. Greg stood in front of them, hair once again short and styled. Nick decided he liked it more this way. He shook his head at the sudden thought, determined not to get off track – after all, it was apparently a very important case to Grissom, or he wouldn't have called Nick.

"Oh yeah? New evidence?"

"White hair was found in both vic's mouths. A white haired cat was also found. In the bathroom, downstairs. Dead," he held up an ecidence bag. "We're going to see if the white hair's consistent. Well…Sara and Warrick are. Cath and Griss are going home,"

Nick groaned again. "Why'd they call me if they're just leaving?"

Nick just shrugged as Brass walked away. "Cath and Grissom have worked double shifts,"

"So it's just us?" Greg nodded, looking quite content. "What's with you?" he asked. It was late, he wasn't scheduled to be here, and Greg being happy didn't make him feel any better.

Greg grinned and slung his arm around Nick, surprised by his own courage. Nick was the physical one, not him. "It's our first case together, Nicky!"

Nick laughed, despite his bad mood. "We had that one with Sara. Remember? The one where he killed the girl who wanted to call the police because she ran into his car? We were in the field and you had been talking about how porn should be passed on…"

"Yeah, well…our first case where I'm actually collecting evidence with you and it's not just a ten minute segment, then,"

Nick laughed again and walked into the house, Greg following behind. They were silent for a few minutes, Nick searching the room briefly. "Gonna clue me in?"

"Not much to clue you in on. Victim A in the bedroom, Victim B in the living room. White hair in both vic's mouths…you heard the rest when I told Brass,"

Nick switched on his flashlight, scanning a pillow that had been cast aside. He bent closer, discovering white hair – the pillow was covered in it. "Greg…I found a pillow…covered in white hair,"

Greg suddenly kneeled next to him. He grinned and turned to Nick. "Suffocated by the pillow?"

Nick looked up at him grimly. "Or staged,"

An hour later, they were still looking. They had gotten nowhere, but Sara had called to say the hair in the vic's mouth was consistent with the cat hair.

"So…Nicky…you got a girlfriend?" Greg asked as an attempt to start conversation. Nick laughed and shook his head. "Aw, come on! A nice, muscular, Texan guy like you, alone without a lover?"

Nick shook his head again. "I've got my heart set on someone,"

"Yeah? Well come on, spill," Nick tried not to stare as Greg kneeled down on the ground and looked underneath a table. He swallowed, coughed, and turned around completely.

"They're…crazy…but a good crazy. Likes styling hair. Listens to…" he laughed. "…the weirdest music. Cute. Switched jobs after…an incident. Still tells horrible jokes but it works out. Prettiest eyes I've ever seen," it was weird describing the man he had feelings for…to the man he had feelings for, and Nick suddenly shifted feet. "Crazy other obsessions,"

Nick had never been with a guy before, not even in college, when the rest of his peers were experimenting. He pushed down any feelings he had, and managed to do quite well…at least, until he was introduced to Greg at the crime lab.

Greg stood up, his quest for more evidence under the table now failed. "She sounds nice," he turned and smiled. "Who is she?"

Nick sensed a blush coming. There was no way he'd tell Greg at a crime scene. He swallowed again, his immediate answer now forgotten. "You don't know 'em," he said finally, examining the woman's lips once again. The hair was now dried to the inside of her mouth.

Greg shrugged. "Fair enough…I couldn't help but notice, though…our crush sounds a bit likes she's got a personality like mine,"

Nick tried not to blurt out that it was Greg, Of course Greg would get suspicious! It was him after all. "Guess I never noticed,"

Greg laughed. "Oh come on! Cute, weird music, Crazy obsessions? It's a chick version of me!" he had moved onto double checking the top of the table as Nick gave up looking for more evidence on the woman's lips.

"Damn…Grissom left us with a tough case," he said, standing up. Greg finished viewing the top of the table and shut off his flashlight as Nick's phone rang.

"Stokes," he said. Greg stood and looked at the dead body on the couch until his coworker finished his call. Nick asked a few questions before hanging up. "Doc Robbins shaved the cat you sent back to the lab. No signs of bruises, so the cat…wasn't used. They've sent the pillow to Hodges, he's looking for skin that may have came off," he ran a hand through his hair. "We're getting nowhere,"

Greg nodded. "Did they get names?"

"Mary and Michelle Michaels. They're sisters. No family, one friend, Kevin Andersen. Lives across town,"

Let's go have a chat with Mr. Andersen, then," Nick caught Greg's arm before he started walking.

"Greg…it's one thirty in the morning. He's not going to appreciate it if we just waltz up to his door and ask if we can ask him questions. We'll leave it to Sara and Warrick,"

Greg shifted. "Griss told me, before he left, that this was now…our…case,"

Nick groaned again. "Then why'd he call me back?" he sat on the floor, Greg flopping next to him.

"Well…I don't think we can do much else. Let's go over what we've got,"

"Alright, so…cat hair in vic's mouths. Cat hair on the pillow. Cat hair…on the cat. The cat had no visible bruises, so it wasn't held down over their faces. Hodges is checking the pillow, and--," Nick picked up his phone as it began ringing and listened a moment before hanging up. "Nothing useable on the pillow," he rubbed his eyes. Stupid case. "No leads. Two dead bodies. A lot of cat hair,"

Greg bit his lip, theory in mind. What if Nick laughed at him? After all, he was a rookie and Nick had been on the field…well, since they met.

Nick had started to look at him curiously. "Uh…Greg? You okay?"

He'd have to chance it. "Don't laugh at me, but…what if the cat did it?" that look was in Nick's eyes, the one where he looks like he's about to start laughing. "No, really! The cat could've laid on their faces, killed them, went down to the bathroom and locked herself in. There was no food, which gives perfect reason as to why she's dead. She starved!"

Nick thought a moment. "How do we even know they suffocated if Doc Robbins hasn't analyzed the bodies yet?" Greg grinned.

"Teeth marks on the inner lip," Nick nodded, still trying to keep his laughter in. Greg seemed so serious.

"Let's…see what Kevin has to say first, okay?"

8 AM came and the two CSIs made their way across town to Kevin Andersens apartment. Greg was mysteriously quiet and it was more awkward than describing Greg to Greg earlier.

Nick sighed as they climbed into his car. "What's wrong? You started acting weird. Weirder than normal," Greg shook his head. "Come on, please tell me,"

"I don't know, I guess I thought…" he trailed off and shook his head. "Nevermind,"

"Come on, G, tell me," he set his hand on Greg's knee and automatically, Greg snapped his head to stare at it.

"I thought we'd have more fun than this. We were always joking around in the lab…why is it different now?"

"Field's different," he squeezed Greg's knee and pulled away. "It's more serious. I'm sorry. And this case isn't helping much," he started his car.

"Don't be. Just drive," he said harshly. Nick was hurt. He wanted to help, but he couldn't. Even if he could, he knew Greg wouldn't let him.

An idea popped into mind. He hadn't wanted to do it, but…Desperate times call for desperate measures.

He pulled over and parked before getting out of his car. He felt Greg's eyes on his back as he walked, straight out into the empty park. Suddenly, he heard a car door slam. "Nick, come on, we're on the clock, stop screwing around," Greg called, starting to walk towards him.

"Greg, come over here!" Nick called back, pretending to be interested in something buried in grass. Greg looked a little frustrated, but when he arrived next to Nick, he found himself being tugged down to the other CSI.

"Now that I've got your attention…I need to confess something,"

"Nicky, you can do that on Sunday's at church. We're working. And I'm not a priest," Greg tried to stand, but Nick was stronger and held him back.

"No. A confession to you," Nick's heart was racing, hand still on Greg's wrist even though he stopped fighting, curiosity now overpowering his will to get away.

"Then confess,"

"It's not a woman. And you were right. "She" was a lot like you because "she" is you," Greg blinked.

"I…wow…I…" Nick nodded and stood, letting go of Greg's wrist.

"I should've expected that. Let's just forget about it and finish the case, alright? Please?" he began walking back to his car, but Greg caught him halfway.

"Stop…I…you…"

"Greg, we've got a case to solve, so if you're going to say it, please say it--,"

Greg pressed a finger softly to Nick's lips. "Look," he closed his eyes and sighed. He never thought that this day would come. Especially not on a day a case like this took place. "It's not as bad as you think I think it is. Actually…I'm more interested than you think,"

And, after taking his finger away, he kissed Nick, pulling him closer, trying to not just tell, but show Nick how he felt. Words were never something Greg was good with, and, when it came to a certain CSI, they completely failed him.

He pulled away and smiled at the look on Nick's face. "I didn't think you…"

"I didn't think you did, either. But you do," Nick was smiling now, and took one of Greg's hands, holding it between his own. Greg grinned brightly at the gesture and let Nick lead him back to the car, hand in hand.

"Nick! Have you finished your case?" Grissom called down the hallway. Greg was standing next to him, talking, and he smiled at Grissom, mouthing something – something that looked oddly like 'I love you' – to Nick before walking away.

Nick grinned and nodded. "Yeah. Believe it or not, the cat did it. It was the weirdest thing. The cat sat on their mouths, accidentally suffocated them, then went downstairs and accidentally locked herself in the bathroom where she was searching for food and starved,"

Grissom looked at him. "Are you sure? Did you look for more evidence?" Nick nodded. Grissom was silent. "Alright. Feel free to stay at home today. Tell Greg, too, you both worked double shifts and…deserve a night off,"

Nick blushed and nodded as Grissom walked away. Had Grissom seen them? How long had he watched? He obviously knew, or else he wouldn't have given them both the next shift off…would he?

Whatever the case, Nick was very grateful. He'd have to ask Greg what he was doing.

Maybe the day could still get better.