Stolen Innocence Chapter 1: Hot chocolate and bonding

A/N: I was watching this commercial and got this idea. The story will focus on Grissom and Greg's relationship (friendship not slash) and the whole boss/employee to reluctant to admit father/son. I'm not exactly sure where this is going to go so bare with me. Everyone will be in this eventually. I might start them on a case after a few chapters but it will be in the background. I also know they don't really interact like this but hey, that's why it's called fiction right?

Greg was busy. It seemed everyone in the lab wanted him to run some kind of test and expected the results in ten minutes. He had long since decided to work overtime and get all the samples finished by the time the team would come in the next night. He glanced at his watch and quickly stood. He had to find his boss so he could get permission to work overtime.

"Going home Greg?" Grissom asked the young man as he stepped into his office. Grissom noted how pale and tired his lab tech looked. "Everyone else has already left. They all wanted to get home for Christmas Eve dinner. Did your family come up this year?"

"No," Greg replied. He knew Catherine had gone home early to be with Lindsay, Sara had actually taken a few days off to visit her parents, and both Nick's and Warrick's families had come to Vegas to spend the holiday with them. "No to both actually. I just wanted to know if it was all right if I worked a little overtime. I'd like to finish the samples everyone gave me by the time they come back tomorrow."

"It's Christmas eve Greg," Grissom told the other man. He frowned slightly at the thought of Greg working throughout the holiday. "Nobody will be coming in tomorrow unless they're paged to investigate something. Why didn't your family come up? Or you could have visited them. I would have given you a few days off."

"You didn't answer my question," Greg lamely tried to change the subject but Grissom would have none of it. As much as he hated to admit it, he actually liked the rebellious, loud lab tech and knew something was bothering him. He motioned for Greg to have to seat then glared at the young man until he complied.

"What's wrong Greg?" Grissom sat on the edge of his desk so he could face Greg. He could see the reluctance in his eyes and how he shifted in his chair nervously. Whatever was bothering him, it was complicated. "You've never been eager to work overtime before and usually you're the first one out the door on holidays. What changed?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Greg mumbled. He knew Grissom wouldn't let him leave without an answer. His boss hated holes as much as Greg hated all major holidays. They both sat in silence, staring at each other, waiting for the other to speak. "Don't you have family waiting for you? It's Christmas."

"My mother's gotten too old to make the trip to Vegas and I couldn't get a plane ticket out," Grissom replied. He saw the sadness in Greg's eyes but no pity. Grissom was thankful for that. He didn't want to be pitied. "I'm going to call her tomorrow before she leaves for her Christmas dinner at the church. But we're not talking about me. We're talking about why you want to spend Christmas working."

"I told you I don't want to talk about it," Greg sprang up from the chair and fled from the room. Grissom quickly ran after him and followed him all the way to the roof. "Leave me alone. I said I don't want to talk about it. Why can't you understand that?"

"All right Greg, we won't talk about it," Grissom slowly approached the young man. Greg was seated on the roof, knees drawn up to his chest, and tears streaming down his cheeks. Grissom sat down next to him and waited, unsure of what to do. He needed to think of some way to get Greg to get some sleep and get him away from the lab. "You ready to go back inside? I think I seen some hot chocolate in the cupboard."

Greg just nodded and allowed his boss to pull him to his feet. He wiped his eyes with his lab coat sleeves and followed Grissom inside to the break room. He didn't bother to watch Grissom make the two cups of hot chocolate but accepted the one he was offered.

"Thanks," Greg said, his voice hoarse from crying. He blew on the steaming cup of hot chocolate to cool it down before taking a sip. He didn't notice Grissom's slight smile as he quickly downed his drink. Within minutes of finishing his drink, Greg was yawing.

"Tired?" Grissom asked, though he already knew the answer. His mother had taught him how to make a cup of hot chocolate that would actually put someone to sleep. Grissom still drank it some nights when he had trouble sleeping. (A/N: There is really a recipe for this. My mom use to make it for me) "I'll get your coat and drive you home. You can't work overtime if you're about to fall asleep."

"You put something in my drink," Greg accused and frowned at Grissom's guilty face. "If I wasn't so tired right now you'd be sorry."

"You looked exhausted Greg," Grissom said once he came back with his and Greg's coats. He handed Greg and put on his own. "Besides, I couldn't let you work on Christmas when no one else is going to. Unless we get called in, no one is going to need their results until Boxing Day."

"But I should have the results ready for whenever they come in," Greg yawned again but made no fuss when Grissom griped his elbow and lead him to his car. "That way they can start looking for suspects right away instead of waiting for me to finish their results."

"No one's going to come in on Boxing Day and expect you to have everything done," Grissom pointed out. He didn't bother asking Greg his address, as he wasn't planning on taking the lab tech back to his house. "They expect you to be celebrating Christmas with your family and work is no excuse not to do that."

"You sound like a parent scolding their child," Greg mumbled tiredly. He was half asleep, though he was fighting to stay awake. He wasn't sure exactly what Grissom's plans were and was uncomfortable in not knowing where they were headed. "Where are we going?"

"You'll find out,' Grissom glanced over at Greg and smiled slightly when he realized the younger man was already more than halfway asleep. Maybe now he could find out what was bothering him. "So why didn't your family come visit for Christmas Greg?"

"I don't have a family," Greg murmured, too tired to realize what Grissom was doing. "They were killed about ten years ago when our house caught on fire. I was visiting an uncle out of state when the police chief called to tell my uncle to bring me home. Their bodies were so burned that the police had to use dental records to figure out who they were. They were so burned up that I didn't even recognize them."

Grissom pulled into his driveway and shut off his car. He unbuckled and turned so he could face Greg. As soon as he had revealed why he was alone on Christmas, Grissom immediately felt bad for pushing him for an answer. He slipped one of his arms around Greg's shoulders and let him cry himself to sleep.

'Now how am I going to get you inside?' Grissom thought to himself. 'I can probably carry you. You don't look too heavy.' Grissom carefully unwrapped his arm from around Greg and got out of the car. He then went around to the other side and opened the passenger door. He placed one arm under Greg's knees and one under the middle of his back and carefully lifted him out of the seat. He shut the door with his foot. Now he had to figure out how to unlock and open his front door without waking Greg.

He gently laid Greg down on the porch swing and unlocked the door. Then he propped it opened with his umbrella that he always left lying in the hall. He picked up Greg again and carried him straight to the guestroom. He put Greg on the bed and gently freed the blankets from underneath him so he could cover the younger man with them. Then he left him alone to sleep and went to shut and lock the front door.

***The next morning***

Greg slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. He didn't recognize any of his surroundings and was beginning to get scared. He tried to remember what had happened the night before but the last thing he could think of was going back into the lab with Grissom after he'd run to the roof.

"You're finally awake," Greg looked toward the door and saw his boss leaning against the doorframe. He could smell food, probably Grissom's breakfast, and coffee. "I was beginning to think you were going to sleep all day. I thought maybe I gave you too much hot chocolate."

"Did you drug me?" Greg asked, slightly taken back as he remembered getting into Grissom's car and falling asleep. He didn't remember revealing a bit of his past to his boss though. "How'd I get here? Where is here anyway? Is this your house?"

"Slow down Kiddo," Grissom was surprised at the tender nickname that had slipped through his lips. By the shocked look on Greg's face, so was he. "You fell asleep in the car so I carried you in here and yes this is my house. It's small but it suits me. As for me drugging you, no I didn't. I just gave you some of my mom's special hot chocolate that she used to give to me so that I would go to sleep. It was the only way I could think of to make you get some sleep."

"Did I look that bad?" Greg sighed and got out of the bed. He noticed that he was still in his street clothes. "Thanks for taking care of me. I'll get out of your hair now. Have a Merry Christmas Grissom."

"Greg, your car's still at the lab," Grissom pointed out and Greg turned around to face his boss again. "And you're not 'in my hair' as you put it. Besides, what kind of host would I be if I let you leave without eating a nice breakfast? And yes, there is coffee."

"I don't want to put you through any trouble," Greg protested feebly. He didn't want to leave because then he would spend another Christmas alone but he didn't want to make his boss miss Christmas because of him. "You can't put your Christmas on hold because I was tired last night."

"First of all, breakfast is already made," Grissom lead Greg into the kitchen, where two plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast were on the table. The two sat down and began eating. "And as I said last night, my mom wasn't able to make the trip this year so I'm not putting anything on hold. There's no reason for you to feel guilty Greg.

"You're not use to people willing to help you, are you Kiddo?" Grissom asked, not surprised this time when the nickname came from his lips. Greg was, after all, still a kid compared to the rest of the team. There was almost a five-year separation between him and the second youngest of the team. "You have people who are willing to help you now. Nicky alone thinks of you as a younger brother and would be here in a heartbeat if you needed him."

"Don't ruin his Christmas," Greg's eyes snapped up from his plate to meet Grissom's eyes. It took him a moment to realize that Grissom wasn't going to call Nick and he calmed down. "Sorry. I just don't want to ruin everyone's Christmas by having them worry about me. They already see more of me than they see of their families."

"Greg, the team is a family," Grissom told the younger man. "I know that you think you Catherine as a mother figure, Nick and Warrick as older brothers, and Sara as an older sister. I know that Catherine and Nick have both told me that you think of me as a father figure. We all feel the same way about you. You are a part of the team, of the family, so whenever you need us we'll be there to help you, just like last night."