A/N: I was rather surprised no one else has done a post ep for Shock Waves involving our two favorite men. I've had this running through my head since ten o'clock Thursday night. I loved seeing Nick's reactions to what has been happening to him, but was disappointed that there was basically no reaction from Greg to the exploding tent. Anyway, here is my answer to that, with The Love thrown in, to boot. Hope you enjoy, and as always, once you've read it, please review it.
Love Will See Us Through
The only thing keeping Greg Sanders's hands from shaking right now was the death grip he had on the steering wheel. The garage door seemed to be taking an eternity to rise, and all he really wanted right now was to be wrapped up in the arms of his husband, Nick Stokes.
Fighting back the threatening tears, Greg pulled his car into the garage as soon as the door had risen enough. The reassuring sight of the rental car he'd gotten for Nick to temporarily replace the destroyed Denali told Greg that Nick was home, where he was supposed to be.
Greg knew that once the initial shock of the last few days wore off, Nick would be heart broken over the loss of his Denali, as Greg had purchased it for him for his birthday, back in August. Knowing there wouldn't be any argument with the insurance over replacing the SUV, as he had a policy with a company that gave full replacement cost if the vehicle was totaled in the first year, Greg wasn't worried about replacing the vehicle.
Instead, he worried about pulling himself together so he could be there for Nick. Nick needed him right now. His pain was newer, rawer, than Greg's. Greg knew his own pain was just as justified as Nick's, but he needed Nick to be okay. If Nick wasn't okay, then Greg could never be okay.
Catherine had told him Nick wasn't okay. As they'd ridden out to the fateful scene that was causing his own near meltdown, Cath had asked Greg to please make sure Nick got an appointment to meet the department psychologist. Greg had promised he would.
Forcing himself to release his grip on the steering wheel, Greg got out of the car and went to the door into the house. He kept his hands clenched into fists at his sides to still their trembling.
Even though Catherine had sent Nick home earlier, to get some sleep, Greg knew Nick wouldn't be sleeping. The time of night – very early morning, really – and more than ten years on the graveyard shift ensured it.
Sure enough, Greg could see light spilling into the kitchen from the livingroom. Dropping his keys on the counter and quickly toeing off his shoes next to the door to the garage, Greg moved to the entry way to the livingroom.
The wall mounted fifty-eight inch plasma screen tv was off, and only one of the lamps was on. Nick sat on the couch, staring off into space, lost in though.
"Nicky?" Greg asked quietly, hoping he wouldn't startle the older man.
Turning toward the sound, Nick replied, "What are you doing home so early, G?"
Without answering, Greg crossed the room to kneel in front of Nick. He kept his clenched fists on his thighs.
When Greg stepped into the circle of light cast by the one lamp, Nick sucked in a breath. "What happened?" he asked, raising his right hand to touch the skin around one of the red patches on Greg's face.
Leaning into Nick's touch, Greg sighed, then said, "I promise I'll tell you, later. Cath told me what happened outside the pool supply place. Made me promise I'd get you to talk to the department shrink."
A small smile passed across Nick's features, "I've already made an appointment. My first session is tomorrow. I'd like you to go with me."
"Really?" Greg asked, a bit surprised by this request. Over the years, they'd very carefully kept their personal and professional lives separate. The only real reason Catherine knew they were married was because of their change of address and medical authorization forms.
Sara knew because having had a hidden office romance of her own, they knew she could be trusted with the knowledge, and she was a very close friend to both men.
Nodding, Nick said, "The good doctor couldn't tell anyone without breaking doctor/patient confidentiality, and somehow, I think you may need this just as much as me." His thumb rubbed lightly along Greg's cheek, just under the worst of the red patches. "What happened, baby?"
Tears shimmering in Greg's eyes again, he said, "There was a call out for a trash run." Seeing Nick's flinch, Greg continued rapidly, "D.B. of a homeless man in an abandoned building. Cath and I were there. Vartann was the detective on scene. Cath sent Vartann and I to follow blood trail, while she and David checked out the D.B."
A tear rolled down Greg's cheek, as he continued to describe what happened.
"Then Catherine yelled not to touch anything. Vartann had dropped a battery, and it was rolling towards the tent. I grabbed Vartann and threw us both to the ground, just as that tent blew up."
Finally raising his hands from his thighs, Greg held them in front of his face and forced his fists to relax.
"It was the lab explosion all over again," Greg said, as Nick took in the shaking of what were normally the steadiest of hands.
Taking Greg's hands, Nick pulled Greg up onto the couch, then rested Greg's hands on his own chest, covering them with his hands. He winced slightly when he moved his left shoulder.
Barely above a whisper, he said, "I know what you mean. When that kid went for his gun, it was Dr. Jekyll all over again." Lowering his voice a little more, he said, "I should have died there, too!" Greg knew Nick had been blaming himself for Officer Clark's death. Clark's family not wanting him at the funeral hadn't helped, either.
"No! No! No! Don't ever think that! What happened to Officer Clark wasn't your fault!" Greg nearly wailed. Lowering his own voice somewhat, he added, "If you had died, I'd be dead by now, too. I couldn't go on without you. We'll get through this, like we always have. As long as we have each other, we'll be okay!"
Leaning against Nick, Greg buried his face in the right side of Nick's neck.
With a gentleness they didn't usually employ in their love making, Greg kissed Nick's neck, up to his jaw. Nick turned his head, so their lips brushed, then locked together. The slow, gentle kiss conveyed the depth of emotion both men felt.
Pulling his right hand free from where it was still trapped against Nick's chest, Greg laid it against Nick's cheek, as their tongues met in a slow, sensual dance of love.
Breaking the kiss, Nick reached for the buttons on Greg's shirt. He'd gotten adept at doing things one handed, since his left shoulder still caused him pain. He took longer than necessary on the two buttons of the polo shirt, his gaze locked with Greg's as he slowly opened both buttons.
By unspoken agreement, they wanted this to last as long as possible. A reaffirmation of life and love.
Moving to pull Greg's shirt over his head, Nick tried to suppress the grimace at the twinge in his injured shoulder.
Stilling Nick with a look, Greg pulled his own shirt off and let it fall from his hand to the floor. Leaning towards Nick again, he captured the older man's lips in another slow kiss, as his hands – no longer shaking as badly – went to the buttons of the blue checked shirt Nick wore.
As Greg slowly unbuttoned Nick's shirt, Nick's right hand traveled over Greg's chest and shoulder, to his back. His fingertips ghosted over the scars there, seeming to read them as a blind man reads Braille. He knew these scars nearly better than he knew the scars on his own body.
Gently pulling the shirt from Nick's bandaged shoulder, Greg let the garment fall to the floor atop his own shirt. Breaking the kiss again, Greg gracefully unfolded himself from his position next to Nick on the couch.
Taking Nick's right hand, Greg pulled him to his feet and led him to the bedroom.
Stopping beside the bed, Greg fell to his knees in front of Nick. First he removed Nick's shoes, then his socks. Finally, he worked the belt free of Nick's jeans. Unbuttoning and unzipping the jeans, he began to ease them down Nick's waist, down well muscled thighs and calves.
After Nick stepped free of the jeans, Greg's hands traveled up Nick's legs – drawing up goose bumps in their wake – back up to Nick's briefs. Those followed the path of the jeans, just as slowly.
Neither man had found it necessary to say anything up to this point, and the usual dirty talk they both enjoyed just seemed sacrilege in this instance.
Even the way Greg was touching and licking Nick's hard length was different. What Nick would normally have called teasing wasn't in this case. In this case, it was just slow, unhurried, and incredibly erotic love making.
Greg had yet to allow the swollen head of Nick's cock past his lips. Instead, he was licking and kissing up and down the impressive length, stopping periodically to lean back and smile lovingly up at Nick.
Nick's fingers carded through Greg's hair, over his forehead and cheeks. An occasional sigh escaped his lips, as Greg's tongue would move over a particularly sensitive spot. After each sigh, he had to remind himself to draw in a new breath.
Straightening with an audible pop of his knees, Greg wrapped his arms around Nick's waist, and leaned in for another kiss.
Grinding his hips ever so slowly against Nick's, Greg allowed a soft sigh to escape his own lips for the first time.
Stopping Greg's motions with a hand on his hip, Nick reached for the fly of Greg's jeans with his other hand. The button fly proved resistant to Nick's one handed fumbling, but he resisted the urge to remove his left hand from Greg's hip. After all, they had all the time in the world for this, would take all the time in the world for it.
Once he had all the buttons open, several minutes later, Nick pushed his hand inside the already straining material. Greg's head fell back, eyes fluttering, and he sagged slightly, as his knees became almost too weak to support his weight.
Nick automatically wrapped his arm around Greg's waist, trying to take some of Greg's weight. He realized too late that it was his left arm, and couldn't suppress the hiss of pain that escaped his lips.
Greg straightened immediately, taking his own weight again. Concern filled his eyes as he looked into Nick's face. "Sorry! You okay?"
"Yeah," Nick reassured, moving to push Greg's jeans off his hips.
Greg pushed the jeans the rest of the way down, then worked his boxers down his legs. "Lay down," he told Nick softly.
Once Nick was laying on the bed, Greg straddled his hips. He ran his fingertips feather light over Nick's chest, then leaned down to follow with lips and tongue.
Left hand latched onto Greg's hip once more, Nick's right trailed over Greg's back.
Rocking his hips ever so slightly, Greg rubbed his leaking cock against Nick's, causing them both to moan. Leaning in for another kiss, Greg broke it long enough to say, "Tell me what you want, Nicky."
Nick's left hand tightened possessively on Greg's hip, nearly hard enough to bruise. Greg pulled away enough to look into Nick's eyes. Nick's pupils were so far dilated, they made his eyes appear black, instead of their normal chocolate brown. Greg felt as if he might fall into their depths and never return.
"I want to feel you, in me," Nick finally responded.
A shudder of delight coursed through Greg's lithe body. Nick rarely bottomed. So rarely in fact, that in the near decade they'd been together, Greg could count on both hands the number of times Nick had done it.
"Anything you want, Nicky!" Greg murmured before reaching for the lube that sat on his night stand.
As Greg coated up his fingers, Nick pulled his legs up so his feet were flat on the bed.
Positioning his index finger at Nick's tight entrance, Greg looked into Nick's eyes, then slowly, gently, lovingly pushed the finger in and out just as slowly as they'd done everything else this night. Nick arched his back into the touch.
Several minutes later, he added another finger, and he began to slowly stretch Nick, prepare him for the much larger intrusion to come.
Once he'd inserted three fingers, stretching Nick as much as possible, Greg removed his hand and spread lube over his aching cock.
He carefully pushed into Nick, taking his time, giving his lover time to adjust.
When Greg was up to the hilt, he leaned down and captured Nick's mouth in another slow kiss, before murmuring, "This feels so good, Nicky!"
Looking deeply into Greg's eyes, Nick murmured back, "I wish we could stay like this forever!"
As Greg began to slowly thrust into Nick, Nick wrapped his legs around Greg's thighs, pulling him in as deep as he could.
Their pace stayed slow, almost lazy, but their release still built quickly, and soon they both fell over the edge, shouting each other's name.
Mindful of Nick's shoulder, Greg pulled out and collapsed beside him. After taking a moment to recover, Greg grabbed the package of moist wipes from his night stand and cleaned them both up.
Resting his head on Nick's good shoulder, Greg murmured, "I love you, and whatever happens, as long as we're together, we can handle it."
"You're right. I love you, too. Love will see us through," Nick replied, before drifting off into the most restful sleep he'd had since Officer Clark had been killed.