Disclaimer; still hasn't changed

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Arissa sighed as she logged off and rolled her shoulders.

"Why is it that my foot's in plaster but it's my neck that's stiff?" she muttered to herself.

"Way of the world I guess" came a sleepy reply. She turned and smiled at Nick, he had obviously just rolled out of bed, his hair sticking out at all angles. He came up behind her and started to run her shoulders. She moaned appreciatively

"Mmm you're good at that" she sighed, Nick bent and placed a kiss on her neck lightly, Aris froze, causing Nick to frown

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, sure he hadn't misread the signals.

"I'm sorry Nicky I guess…. I need to know is this just another notch on your bed post?" she asked haltingly. Nick's hands stilled but didn't leave her shoulders

"Greg huh?" he said sadly without malice. Arissa smiled

"He's my brother – I'm his first priority. He wasn't trying to interfere Nicky he just wants me to have all the facts before I make a choice" she tried to explain, Nick got what she was saying.

"Look Arissa I like you a lot, you're bright, funny, beautiful, and compassionate and I think that we could be good together" he said quietly, she smiled

"Wow you're good" she said turning round and with Nick's help she stood and fell into his embrace. She started kissing his neck.

"I'm sorry I had to ask" she whispered between the kisses, Nick smiled

"I know it's ok" he assured returning the kisses whilst moving them toward the bedroom. Aris kept stumbling due to her cast causing them bother to laugh. Nick grinned mischievously and then picked her up, she smirked

"You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet don't you Mr Stokes?" she said laughing before attaching her mouth to his neck. He groaned and almost dropped her. He felt a smile against his skin and she trailed her lips across his collar bone and laved the hollow under his Adams apple. Nick had never been so glad to see his bedroom door in his life. He fell into the room and staggered across it, barely making the bed before his knees collapsed. Arissa grinned as he dropped her onto the bed. She pulled him down on top of her and grinned, running a hand down his cheek.

"Hey baby" she cooed before bringing his head down so she could kiss him. He went willingly, bringing his body down on top of hers. Nick coaxed Arissa up the bed before running his hand down her sides. He caught the edge of her shirt and dragged it up slowly; Arissa shuddered as his hands touched her skin. They broke the kiss long enough for Nick to pull her shirt free. Her hands worked the buttons on his shirt free; she tugged it off his shoulders

"I need you Nicky" she whispered caressing his chest down to his waist fumbling with his belt. Nick quickly got the idea and reached down to push her sweats away. With in a few minutes they were naked and wrapped around each other. Arissa reached into the drawer beside the bed and pulled out a condom. Nick raised an eyebrow

"How did you know?" he asked baffled she grinned

"What tall, tanned Adonis wouldn't keep protection next to his bed?" her comment caused Nick to blush as he took the packet from her. She grinned and pushed herself further up the bed and spread her legs. She raised her eyebrow at Nick

"Come on cowboy, take me for a ride" she said in a sultry tone, Nick stared incredulously, not sure if she was serious, she managed to hold a straight face for all of three seconds before giggling. Nick chuckled at her

"Very bad line" he said, she grinned up at him then pushed his shoulder, flipping them over so she was straddling his hips. Inwardly she congratulated herself on managing it without damaging anything.

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He tugged the condom off and dumped it in the trash. He rolled back next to her and smiled contentedly as she snuggled into his side. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She kissed his chest and lay her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

"You're very quiet" he said slightly concerned, she sighed lightly

"Sorry, I'm always quiet" she said "don't tell me you're worried, you're amazing you must know that" she teased, Nick grinned at her

"Thank you. You're not too bad yourself" he replied, she looked at him a little nervous

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked quietly, Nick frowned she sounded unsure, like she half expected him to ask her to leave. He filed that away for future consideration.

"Only if you want. If it were up to me, I'd see you every night" he replied feeling her relax against him.

"Thanks Nicky" she mumbled sleepily closing her eyes. Nick had her close and sighed wrapping her in his arms and dragging the cover over them. He didn't want to think about the kind of heartache she had been through. His final waking thought was that Greg had been through with her. The realisation sent a shiver down his spine.

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The first thing Warrick noticed was that Gil had changed the sheets, the second was that this was the first time in two years he had seen Gil wearing clothes in bed. Greg fidgeted reminding him that he was still carrying the lab tech. Greg was signing something at Gil. Instead of answering Gil smiled impishly;

"Rick, Greg wants to know where he is going to sleep. Want to show him?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. Warrick smiled and walked over to the bed. He gently deposited Greg next to Gil in the centre of the bed. He got in on the other side before the younger man had time to recover from the shock. When Greg did his head flicked from side to side wide-eyed, both Gil and Warrick tried to hide their amusement at Greg's board-line panic. Correctly interpreting Greg's next action they grabbed each other's arms caging Greg in before he could bolt out of the bed. They slowly coerced him to lie down between them. He lay on his side facing Warrick. The older man ran his hand through Greg's hair, and felt him shake.

"Shh Greg, relax it's fine I promise, just close you eyes and go to sleep" he murmured. Gil hit the switch by the bed, plunging the room into darkness. Greg jumped, the lack of light startling him further.

"Greg you're with friends, you are safe just close your eyes" Gil soothed; he felt Greg nod and settled down. Slowly the tremors stopped as the lab tech fell into a peaceful sleep. Gil and Warrick following him quickly.

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When Arissa awoke she found herself alone in Nick's bed, a glance at the clock showed her it was evening. She sighed assuming Nick had left her for work and sat up slowly. She was about to shuffle out of he bed when the door opened silently. She froze but then relaxed when she saw Nick coming in balancing a tray. He dropped the sneaking when he saw that she was awake.

"Hey"

"Hey"

"I made you breakfast" he said sheepishly.

"It smells great but you didn't have too" she said looking down at the tray, she lent over and kissed him slowly. She smiled dreamily at him, she took a bite of the food and hummed in appreciation, before feeding a bite to Nick.

"This is amazing, thank you, even if I don't normally have breakfast in the evening" she teased making Nick flush.

"Sorry I forgot – nightshift worker" he said by way of explanation.

"I know – the only thing I've seen Greg eating some weeks is Coco Pops" she grinned and then glances at the clock sighing sadly, "I guess you have to go to work soon" she said, Nick nodded

"Afraid so, sorry"

"It's cool; just uh keep an eye on Greg for me?"

"Aris, he has been signed off for weeks" he told her sounding confused. Arissa rolled her eyes

"Man he's played you guys better then I thought. Humour me on this, if he's there try to make him take a break at some point" she said pleadingly. Nick was surprised, Greg always seemed so open; but given what they were beginning to turn up. Maybe Greg was a brilliant actor.

"Sure I'll watch out for him" he'd been planning too as soon as Greg went back anyway. She smiled gratefully at him

"Thanks, I mean don't get me wrong he's no child and he's amazingly resourceful. When we were kids he took care of me, took the brunt of what Drake threw at us to protect me too. He's just hopeless at looking after himself" she said sounding both exasperated and affectionate.

"No problem baby, he's my friend believe it or not" he teased her.

"I know he is, after all you like me and I'm just the XX clone of him" she grinned as Nick froze and then grimaced

"Thank you, now I need an ice pick to get that image out of my head" he grumbled making her laugh. She kissed him in apology and he sighed

"Ok baby I'll be back later" he said leaving the room. Arissa smiled to herself as she ate. This one is definitely a keeper she thought.

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When the evening came Gil awoke first, which wasn't unusual he smiled when he saw that Greg had wrapped an arm around him, Warrick spooned up against the younger man's back. Even if this was purely innocent snuggling they still looked good together. He gently slipped out of the loose hold Greg had on him, but was still unsurprised when Greg's eyes flashed open. He saw fear flicker across his face before he worked out he was. The fear was replaced by anxiousness. Gil smiled gently at him

"Good evening" he said smiling when some of the worry cleared from Greg's features

:Evening:

"Did you sleep well:

:Like a log, thank you:

"Your welcome. I'm going to grab a shower the alarm will go off in about half an hour" he said, Greg nodded and settled down, Gil didn't think he was going to get anymore sleep but he seemed happy to let Warrick hold him a bit longer. Gil left the room his hear feeling warm. When he returned he was gratified to see that he was right, Greg was still awake but hadn't moved. He smiled at him and then lent down and placed a kiss on Rick's cheek.

"Warrick time to get up"

"Ok Gil" came the mumbled reply, Gil rolled his eyes

"Now Rick! I'm going to start breakfast and if you're not up in five minutes Greg is going to pour that glass of water over you right?" he said smiling at Greg. Warrick tightened his grip, apparently aware of who he was holding.

"Aww you wouldn't do that would you Greggo?" he whined. Greg grinned, dipped his fingers into the water and flicked it onto Warrick's face. Gil laughed as Warrick moaned.

"Alright, I'm up see – no need to gang up on me" he moaned. Gil left satisfied that his lover would fall out of bed. Greg smiled at Warrick and headed off for a shower.

"Traitor" Warrick growled playfully at him as he left.

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Warrick came down a few minutes later, and followed Gil's voice to the kitchen

"No Greg" his voice was firm, there was a pause

"No I mean it, there is no possible way you can expect me to believe that you are capable of work" Gil now sounded exasperated. Warrick raised an eyebrow.

"You think you're up to it Greggo?" he asked neutrally walking in.

"Yeah. I can talk enough to be useful" he still sounded very raspy. Warrick looked at Gil. Clearly his lover expected Warrick to back him up, Warrick sighed

"It's not a matter of being useful Greg; it's more a case of whether or not you are fit enough, we don't want to delay your recovery" he explained gently. Greg looked pained

:You don't understand If you make me stay on my own – I… I…I don't do well on my own. Please I can work faster the Bryson with on hand: he looked upset by having confessed this. Gil looked over at his lover after he finished translating and could see he was melting. He sighed knowing that he was going to give in

"You're hands off the NI3 case and obviously the Drake case. Agreed?"

"Thank you" he said weakly turning to face Gil. Immediately Gil could see why Warrick caved so quickly, the big brown eyes under those long lashes Gil rolled his eyes.

"You get tired you stop ok? You crash in the break room if necessary but you don't work yourself to a standstill." Greg nodded his agreement earnestly.

"Ok, come on let's eat I have a feeling it's going to be along night"