Altered Fate

Author: Lolly4Holly

Rated: (M)

Pairings: Nick/Greg pre-slash.

Summary: Nick is starting to wish that things in his life were different, he's waiting for a drastic change, but he gets a lot more than he bargained for.

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

Warnings: Adult content. M/M slash relationship. Gender Swap and AR (Age Regression) elements. Short story that I wrote shortly after 'Baby Makes Three'. I decided to go back and finish it, but I'm really nervous about posting it. Although I read gender swap and age regression stories all the time on other sites, I've never actually dared to post any of my own. This isn't as extreme as one of the stories I've written, it's very toned down so I don't scare of my usual readers.

Thanks for reading, please Review!

Chapter One: Drastic Change

Monday mornings were always a brutal time of day for crime scene investigator, Nicholas Stokes. He was still exhausted from the weekend madness, feeling completely wrecked from all the triple and double shifts he pulled in the previous week. He used to spend the weekends lying around in bed to catch up on his much needed sleep, but since the change over at the lab, promoting him to Assistant Supervisor, he had given up on that luxury.

The worst part of all was that it wasn't really Monday morning, more like Sunday evening. His alarm clock obnoxiously buzzed at its usual time of six thirty, forcing him to rise from his sleep an hour early, so he had enough time to get ready for his shift at the crime lab.

Wanting just a few more minutes of sleep, Nick slammed his hand down on the snooze button, snuggling against his warm pillow beneath him again, so he could drift off to sleep for a second. He didn't mind missing out on breakfast; he could always grab something at the lab.

As soon his eyelids fell shut again though, he heard the beeping starting up again.

He gave out an annoyed groan, rolling over to turn it off this time. He double checked the time to make sure his alarm clock wasn't playing tricks on him, but it really had been five minutes. He collapsed back against his pillow, rubbing the crusty sleep from his eyes.

Sprawled out across the middle of his king sized bed, Nick contemplated on just how lonely his life was. He had never married. He didn't even have any friends outside of work anymore. He had lost touch with his college buddies. His work consumed his life too much for him to actually date anyone for a long period of time, and of course children were seriously out of the question.

He didn't have a hint of life outside of his demanding job. It had never bothered him before, but after nearly being blown up, shot and on the verge of a mental breakdown, he was seriously considering a drastic change in his life.

"Are you... firin' me?" Nick gulped on the word, watching the handy little helpers packing his things into boxes. Upon his arrival to the lab, he immediately head in the direction of his office, formerly Grissom's, only to find some people packing his things away, with the Undersheriff Ecklie watching them. "Does Catherine know about this?" He demanded to know answers. "Where's Greg's stuff?" He noticed the second empty desk, glad he wasn't being singled out, but that still didn't answer his question.

"It's come to my attention that you night shift CSI's think you can run this lab how you like." Ecklie finally spoke, folding his arms across his chest, slowly turning to face the confused CSI behind him. "We're going to... shake things up a bit, so to speak. We offered CSI Sanders a job on the swing shift, but he turned it down. He's got an interview in some research lab or something. We don't actually have a free space on days, so we're going to move Ellie Carter to nights. You can take her spot, since you have a history with one of the ladies on swing shift."

"Aren't you supposed to give notice or somethin'?" Nick stopped the man he despised from walking away from him, by blocking his former office door with his body. "Greg's just gone, just like that? Now you're movin' me to days." He tried to understand. "Day shift already has a supervisor, and an assistant supervisor... so I'm bein' demoted?"

"Don't take it personally, Nick. Catherine's being replaced too. We're changing around all the departments. A team stops being effective at its job when they've been doing it together for too long." The man pointed out to him, not caring that he was breaking the man's heart. "Excuse me." He stepped out into the hall, checking the message that just buzzed through on his phone. "That's Miss Carter, she must have got the email."

"Email?" Nick felt as though he was underwater, still dreaming or something. "What about the night shift? If Catherine and me are bein' demoted, who's gonna run it?" He asked him, almost laughing as Ecklie pointed to himself. "You? But you're the undersheriff, and no offense or anythin', but you haven't exactly picked up a kit in a while."

"I'll be monitoring the night shift, until we find and hire a new Supervisor." Ecklie corrected himself, pocketing his cell. "We'll be hiring a full team of new CSI's, despite the budget cuts going around the lab at the moment, but we can't run the night shift with no team."

Nick felt as though he still didn't understand. He couldn't believe that Greg would suddenly quit. He couldn't believe that Catherine of all people had been demoted, least of all him. He strived to do the best he could in any situation, especially his job, so what could he have possibly done wrong?

After moving his things into a new office, Nick decided to go out for a walk, as he wasn't exactly on shift. He didn't like what was happening with the shift change at work, but he couldn't complain, figuring Ecklie would really threaten to fire him if he did.

On his walk of the strip, he came across a club he used to frequent with Warrick.

He stepped inside, immediately smelling the stench of sweaty men. Up on the stage tonight was a young lady in a school uniform. She was dancing around on the stage in front of the old men drooling over her, slowly removing her clothes in time with the music.

Nick had never really been into strippers or women in general, so he took no notice, heading straight for the bar. "Drinking alone?" The bar tender asked him, a woman in her late forties, looking completely out of place amongst the young female dancers in their twenties. "Rough day at the office, hun?"

"Somethin' like that." He ordered a beer, dropping onto one of the stools in front of him.

"Don't any of my girls interest you?" She noticed he was looking at the male customers in her club, rather than the half naked women on the various stages around the room. "You know," She leant against the bar, exposing her enhanced chest, beneath the fabric of her v-neck top. "The bar next door might be of more interest to you."

"The gay bar?" Nick cocked an eyebrow in her direction, shaking his head with a smile on his face. "This place has more of a... sentimental value to it then some guys just wantin' to get into my pants."

"Can you blame em, hun?" She chortled, handing him his beer. "So, what's got a hottie like you so down in the dumps for? You break up with your boyfriend? Have some trouble at work or with the family?" She suggested, rolling her eyes at herself as she realised how rude she was being. "I'm sorry, you're not about to tell a complete stranger all of your problems, are yah? Loretta's the name." The confident woman introduced herself, reaching one hand out to Nick. "A lot of the guys around here call me the agony aunt, there's no problem I can't solve."

"Nick." He smiled at her, placing his hand into her own. "You own this place?"

"For twenty years now." She nodded, looking around at the establishment she had built her life around. "My former boss used to own this place. I danced on the stage to put myself through college, none of that nudity stuff, my girls are strictly go-go dancers, you know what that means?"

"No nudity." Nick guessed.

"Exactly." She proudly nodded. "Crystal over there." Loretta pointed to one of her girls, dressed in satin blue lingerie, with a fluffy boa around her neck. "She's putting herself through med school by dancing up on stage three times a week. Jade in the green, she's studying to become a lawyer. Not everyone gets into college on scholarships or on their parents these days; they have to find the money for themselves. Boss man put me in charge when he retired, making it clear to me that we never turn this place into just another strip dive. Strictly go-go, and we always take care of our own. We're more like a family."

"I used to have somethin' like that." Nick looked down at his beer bottle, missing the family he used to have at the lab.

"You live here in the city?" Loretta looked into his eyes, seeing a lost boy look in them, breaking her heart. "You definitely look like you belong here, hun. This place seems to attract the lost. My grandmother used to say it was a city for lost causes, but I've never believe that." She gently tapped Nick's hand, giving him a smile as he looked up at her. "I believe that every problem can be solved. So, what's troubling you, cutie?"

Nick gave her a shrug, not knowing where to start. "Everythin'. I always thought my life would fall into place after college, like it does in movies or books . . . but it hasn't."

"Oh sweetie, that's just a lie your folks cook up for yah when you're a kid. They never tell you how hard everything is going to be, they make it seem like a fairytale, because that's what their parents did to them." Loretta stood up straight, telling one of her inpatient customers to wait his turn, while she was talking to Nick. "Fairytales are just stories we cook up to hide the truth of this world. Real life is so much more adventurous then fairytales though. That's what makes it worth living." She gave him a wink, before she turned towards her protesting customer, grabbing him another drink.

Nick watched her serving her other customers, thinking over what she had said. He had always believed that he would get a fairytale ending, so he hadn't really been living his life. It took him a moment to realise just how stupid he had been.

Loretta was right, life was worth living, but he had wasted half of his on his career, years he would never get back.

"Here's another one for yah, on me, hun." Loretta set down a second beer bottle in front of Nick, giving the young man a smile. "Cheer up, hot stuff. It'll all work out, there's no problem that can't be solved."

"I wish." Nick finished his first beer, swearing he saw Loretta's eyes glowing bright green as he wrapped his hand around the second beer. "Thank you." He smiled at the kind woman.

"You are most welcome, my love."

Nick gave her a suspicious look, wondering why she was being so nice to him. He hesitantly raised the second beer to his lips, chugging back a gulp. He lowered the beer to take a look at the label, tasting a strange fruity taste on his tongue. It was the same brand he had been drinking before, but it left a mouth watering fruity taste in his mouth.

Ignoring the taste, he made his way over to the empty booths for some privacy, feeling as though everyone could see him from the bar. He talked to one of the girls who had just got off shift, as she recognised him from the lab. Trixie, also known as Tracy around the lab, had been a temp there for the last few months, carrying files between the different departments. She recognised Nick right away, having handed him a few files in the past few weeks. She told him all about how she was putting herself through college, wanting to become a crime scene investigator, just like him, before she left for her next job of waitressing.

"I saw you were nearly empty." A familiar voice startled him, holding a beer out in front of his eyes.

Nick looked at the beer bottle, before he lifted his gaze to the familiar face, smiling as he saw who it was. Greg set the beer he had bought for him on the table in front of him, before he slid into the booth opposite him, with a beer of his own.

"I guess you heard about what Ecklie's doing with the lab."

"Yeah." Nick set down his empty bottle. "I can't believe you quit, Greg. You love this job. How could you just give it all up for some... research lab?"

"Do you remember what happened the last time Ecklie split us up?" Greg brought back the painful memories of the Plexiglas coffin to him. "When he told me that he was splitting us up, demoting you and Catherine, I didn't wonna stay there anymore. We used to be a family, trusting each other with our lives, but that all changed after... Warrick." He spoke softly, resting his elbows against the table. He licked his lips, slowly lifting his gaze to look at Nick in front of him. "The lab he recommended me to is a genetic research lab. He thought with my background in DNA..."

"Are you gonna take it?"

Pursing his lips, the younger man nodded his head slightly. "I've been wanting a change for a while now. I've always wanted to discover something, since I was seven, that's always been my dream. I know it's not going to be as exciting or anything like the lab, but its better hours, more money..."

"You plannin' on settlin' down?" Nick smirked, raising the second beer bottle to his lips. He widened his eyes as he saw the look on Greg's face, giving him a suspicious look as he lowered his beer. "You are? I mean, you're completely entitled to it." He realised he sounded a little shocked. "But I didn't even know that you were datin' anybody."

"Since the fake teacher I dated, I felt pretty embarrassed to tell anybody." The younger man admitted, resting his chin in his hands. "Are you surprised, that I'm dating... or thinking about a future?"

"A little of both." Nick brushed his thumb across the bubbled label on his beer bottle; wishing things could just stay the same. "If you go off and get married, I'm gonna be the only one."

"Only one?"

Nick nodded, lifting his gaze to look into Greg's eyes. "The only one without a life. When my brother and sisters started gettin' married, buyin' houses and havin' kids, it didn't bother me so much, because I still had you guys at the lab. My brother and sisters give me shit every year about not bein' married or havin' any kids. It's never really bothered me, but then Warrick got married and had a kid. Grissom and Sara are married, wantin' to adopt kids . . . and now you, Greggo." He smiled as he looked at the younger man. "When I first saw you in the lab, you were like a kid. You didn't look old enough to be workin' there. You were so full of life, completely different from anyone I'd ever met before..."

"Oh c'mon Nicky, my mother's supposed to be the one getting all sentimental in my old age, not you." He giggled softly, reaching across the table for Nick's hand. "I didn't say I was getting married. I haven't proposed or anything. It's just something... I've been thinking about it a lot. I never thought I would ever be mature enough to be a father, but I guess you don't really know until you actually have a kid yourself."

Nick nodded in agreement, pulling his hand away from Greg's as a waitress walked by them. Even though she was the one in a skimpy outfit that barely covered anything, he felt more exposed with his hand on Greg's. "So... this girl you've been datin'? I assume she's a girl, since you said that you hadn't proposed."

"You think I'd be the bitch in a boy on boy relationship?" Greg giggled, making Nick blush. "Yes, she's a girl... or woman should I say, she's slightly older than me."

"Not too old I hope." Nick took a swig of his beer. "You don't wonna marry an old broad with rotten eggs. Then you've got no chance of becomin' a father."

Greg immediately burst out laughing, rolling his eyes at Nick. "I can't believe people think that you're the ladies man. When's the last time that you even had a date, scratch that, when's the last time you had sex?"

"That's personal, Sanders." The older man warned him, calling over the waitress to get them some more beers. "And it hasn't been that long. Couple of months." He shrugged, thinking it had actually been more like a year. "Besides, I don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to datin'."

"You can't hide behind that excuse forever." Greg removed his jacket, dropping it onto the seat beside him. "You deserve to be happy too, Nicky. Even if it's just a quickie in the back room."

"Ew." Nick cringed, squirming in his seat. "You know I'd never go near those rooms. I don't even take home guys on a one night stand. I don't know how anyone can do that." He knew Greg didn't care what he liked, so he felt open to talk to him about it, unlike anyone else. Warrick was never comfortable around him after he confessed the truth, and none of his family bothered to know the truth, so Greg was the only one he really had. "It's not as easy for me to date as someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Greg felt offended by Nick's words, knowing he didn't mean it like that.

"You dated one guy, once in college, experimental at best." The older man pointed out to him. "Sometimes, I wish I was normal like you. Guys are so full of shit, they don't care about relationships and all that crap. They just want their next sexual high."

"The guys in Las Vegas maybe." He nodded, jumping in to defend gay men of the world. "There must be one decent guy out there somewhere that wants the same things as you, Nicky. Just because you don't like women, it doesn't mean that you're not normal. You think I'm normal?" He giggled, reaching for Nick's hand across the table again. "I'm anything but normal. My first crush was on a boy. He was my first kiss too. In college, I thought for sure I was gay, because I couldn't stop thinking about the guys in the locker room or something stupid like that. But I wasn't in love with any of them; I just... liked the thrill of something new and unoriginal."

"But you're not gay." Nick pointed out to him. "You can date women and be happy. Even if you were, you'd get way more dates then someone like me. I don't like the whole club scene, gay bars still freak me out and I don't pick up men from ads. It's hard to meet other guys that are like me, without puttin' my professional reputation on the line." He chugged back the last gulp of his beer, calling over their waitress to order some more.

Greg tried to think of something that would cheer Nick up, but he wasn't sure what he could say. He dated guys occasionally for the sexual thrill, but Nick actually wanted a relationship with one.

"I'm still a virgin." Nick abruptly announced, resting his chin in his hands. "I waited too long. I shoulda let that guy in college show me the ropes, but I was too scared. I had only just met him; I can't even remember his freakin' name. He was the first guy I kissed, and he offered to show me the ropes of... all the things we could do." He smiled up at Greg. "But I was still just figurin' out my sexuality. From what my folks and people had said about gay men, I was tryin' to be straight, so they wouldn't worry that there was some... demon spirit in me. I missed my chance then to..."

"Blossom?" Greg suggested, giving his long time friend a smile. "You've never had sex with a guy?"

"It depends what you mean." Nick anxiously licked his lips, speaking in a lower voice. "If you mean... penetration, then no. It's not like I haven't had sex though, I'm not some forty year old virgin. I've been sleepin' with women to keep up appearances. I was always too scared to do it... with a man. I'm too old to dive into my first time now." He gave out a chuckle, spinning his beer bottle in his hands. "At least this way I still get into heaven."

Greg smiled in response, amazed at how little he really knew about Nick. He had always seen him as a strong, confident, obviously sexy man, who had his life figured out. He used to talk about his dates with confidence, brushing his relationships that didn't work out under the rug, as if they didn't matter to him, just like most guys did.

But underneath, Greg realised that he was still just a child when it came to relationships. He had the sexual maturity of a thirteen year old boy, just figuring out that his male genitals got hard when he was excited.

Sensing his buddy needed some serious cheering up, Greg allowed him to continue drinking, getting pretty wasted himself, as Nick kept insisting that he didn't want to drink alone. About four in the morning, Greg finally decided to call it quits, struggling to help his best friend out to a taxi, so he could make sure he got home safe.

Completely oblivious to Nick's longing feelings for him, Greg helped him into his house, taking him straight through to the master bedroom. Nick's place had two bedrooms, but the other one currently had a pool table in it. His guests usually had to sleep on his leather sofa, but Greg wouldn't advise it. The last time he slept on that thing, it was the hottest day in Vegas. He felt as though his skin was melting into the leather. Every time he moved, the sofa squeaked from the friction of the sticky surface against his body, it was a nightmare and he didn't get a wink of sleep.

Nick fell back against his bed as Greg helped him into the room, looking up at the blank ceiling he had been staring up at when he woke up. He had been wishing for a drastic change in his life, but this isn't what he had in mind. He didn't want things to change around at the lab, and he certainly didn't want his long time crush to leave.

They'd never get to see each other again, losing touch just like he did with all of his college buddies.

Nick turned his attention towards Greg, watching him removing his shoes for him, before he helped him to slide further back on his large double bed to go to sleep. Even in his drunken haze, the bed felt so empty with just him in it. He looked up into Greg's beautiful caramel brown eyes, forcing himself to sit up, so he could get a better look at the cute spikes of his hair and the adorable clusters of moles that scattered his cute little face.

Nick felt his heart fluttering inside of his chest, the familiar tightening of his groin, followed by the warm swirls in his stomach. He had kept his crush for his work colleague suppressed for so long, that when he finally let it out of the cage, he couldn't control it.

He kissed him.

He shouldn't have done it. He knew that much.

Not just a peck on the cheek either, a full blown kiss to the lips. Those lips he had dreamed of tasting for years, and they were far better than any fantasy kiss. He ran his tongue across Greg's lower lip, sucking it lightly, then used his tongue to part Greg's lips.

As their tongues met, Greg pulled back, looking as though he was going to say something, but instead, he just looked Nick in the eye with a perplexed look on his face. He stayed perfectly still for the longest minute of Nick's life, before he was suddenly kneeling on the bed in front of him, bringing their mouths together on his own. Soft lips, warm breathe and moist tongues, joining together in the forbidden caverns of their mouths.

Nick felt as though he was breaking every rule in the book, just by allowing this kiss to continue. He wanted to speak. Ask if this was okay or if he had taken it too far, but his voice wouldn't work.

Greg inched closer on the bed, tracing his finger across Nick's hairline on his neck, gently nipping at the older man's vulnerable lip.

How could he stop him now? He was the one who initiated it. But no one could say that Greg wasn't a willing participant.

Surrendering to his feelings, Nick gave the younger man a gentle push back, so he was laying across the middle of his king sized bed. He could feel Greg's hunger for him, from the dark, lustful look in his eyes. At this point, he didn't care if he was fuelling the younger man's sexual thrill; he just needed to feel him. He wanted to know just how soft Greg's smooth skin was against his own. Or the feel of running his fingers through his hair, while their tongues merged together inside their mouths.

Nick took a breath, shaking a little as he moved himself to straddle Greg's hips. He wasn't sure who was more vulnerable at this point. Greg's eyes were wide open, his lips slightly parted, with his breath heaving from his chest. He didn't look uncomfortable, just a little flustered that his best friend had just straddled him.

But Greg looked even sexier in his vulnerable state.

Nick leaned in to kiss the adorable man's cheek, just beneath his left eye. He watched the younger man's gorgeous long lashes fluttering across his cheeks, before he returned to kissing his lips. It seemed almost surreal, but it felt more real than of his many hundreds of dreams.

He could finally have what his heart desired.

There's the first chapter, there are eight total. Once I've re-read and corrected each chapter, I will upload it straight away. Please let me know what you think of it so far. Obviously nothing supernatural has happened yet, it's more like an introduction chapter :D

Have a Great Weekend!

~ Holly