"Nick what is up with you and Greg?" Sara asked her coworker as he appeared in the break room.
"What do you mean?" Nick replied confused as to why she would ask. In his time with the Las Vegas Crime Lab his relationship with Greg had been questioned twice. The first time by his supervisor Grissom and Detective Brass during a stalker investigation, the second by the day supervisor after the lab had exploded with Greg in it. Nick had not had a problem answering the question but was always curious as to why people suddenly became interested.
"Well we have gone out a few times and you have not invited me to your place. You are always defending Greg from any type of ridicule. Which most of us do? But you are more adamant about it. And you called him Baby on the phone last night." Sara carefully pointed out still upset with what she had overheard her date say over the phone the night before. Sara liked Greg but really wanted a relationship with Nick. The conversation had sparked a little voice of fear that he was using her.
Nick smirked trying not to laugh as the conversation from the night before returned to his mind.
"Nicky could you please help this is serious?" Greg begged as only he could. Nick almost gave in when the pathetic whine had started.
"No way Baby you got yourself into this you can out. I am not going to protect you when Brian finds out about this." Nick could hear the aggravated sigh when he used the nickname that Greg despised.
"Do not call me Baby. I am not a child anymore. You know how Brian will react when he finds out. He is worse than you are." Greg grunted in annoyance that he could not convince Nick to cover for him.
"I am not that bad." Nick retorted as Sara joined him at the table again. "I got to go. I will talk to you later."
"He hates it when I call him that. There is no better way to torment my baby brother. My grandfather used to call him that and we picked up on it. Greg hated it when Gramps would say it. So Brian, Keith and I would call him that to watch him change color. He hated being the youngest." Nick said laughing out loud.
"Wait did you say brother." Sara laughed as well. "Oh my god I am an idiot. I thought...Never mind what I thought. Why didn't you tell anyone that Greg was your brother?"
"No one really asked. We don't really announce it. Greg is my half brother. My Dad married his Rebekah after my Mom found out about the affair. Rebekah never knew that my Dad had been married." Nick said quietly. "When we found out about Greg it was after Dad was murdered. He was sent to live with our grandparents."
"So why does he have a different last name?" Sara asked curiously.
"It's his Mom's name. She wanted him to have something of her family. Dad did not want her to know about us so he went along with it." Nick said sadly as his eyes moved past Sara to the doorway where Greg stood. Greg smiled slightly and nodded as he moved past Sara and his brother to the coffee.
"So you told her." Greg asked as Nick appeared at his side.
"Yes I told. She heard me last night." Nick said knowing that Greg would kill him for the Baby comment.
"She heard what?" Greg asked paling slightly at the thought of the conversation.
Sara materialized next to him with a smirk of her own. "Don't worry Baby I would never tell."
Nick and Sara laughed leaving the break room they could hear Greg yelling after them. "You are a dead man Stokes."