Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Spoilers: Pirates of the Third Reich, Grave Danger, Up in Smoke

A/N: My attempt at Slash. Greg and Nick go bird watching, sort of. Angsty!


Nick couldn't decide what to wear. This wasn't a date, but if it were to lead to a date, then he didn't want Greg looking askew at his clothes. Who knew what Greg thought was good taste, though? Last time he looked, Nick didn't have any Sex Pistols t-shirts in his closet. He didn't have any t-shirts with graphics unless it said something about "Aggies" or "Texas". He finally settled on a dark green shirt and jeans. He pulled on a "Desert Relay" sweat shirt and quit looking in the mirror. This wasn't who he was – he was not all about appearances. And if he knew Greg like he thought he did, he had nothing to worry about. His wardrobe wouldn't decide whether Greg decided to go out or not.

He wondered where all his confidance had gone. What happened to the man who was anxious to get Greg alone the other morning so that he could ask him out? Nick took a moment to gather his anxieties and stuff them away. Jitters would do him no good. Pick up Greg, have a picnic and ask him on a real date. How hard could it be?

Damn hard, Nick found out.

Greg was ready and waiting, much to Nick's surprise. He had halfway expected the guy to be sipping Blue Hawaiian in his pj's, but Greg bounded out of his door before Nick could fully pull into the driveway. By Nick's estimation, Greg acted as if he had quaffed a gallon of coffee already.

The younger man had a backpack and the biggest thermos of coffee Nick thought he had ever seen. And he was talking at full Greg-speed before he even opened the door. It made Nick smile.

"So, I packed a picnic, and I wasn't sure what you might have packed, so I just went ahead and took care of both of us, and of course, I have coffee and two travel cups so that we can both have some on the way. I wasn't exactly sure how cool it would be, so I wore a couple of layers and I have sunscreen, do you need some? I haven't been out in the sun for a while …"

"G, slow down man," Nick interrupted, scared that Greg wasn't going to take a breath any time soon. "This is our day off. It's supposed to be relaxing. You're going to use up all the oxygen in the truck at that rate." Nick smiled at Greg to show that he was teasing him, and Greg smiled back in an embarrassed way that made Nick's stomach flutter slightly. It was a nice moment, and Nick was suddenly very sure that the day was going to be good.

"Here's my copy of the Audubon Society's Pocket field guide for the Western US," Nick said, handing the well thumbed book to Greg. "You might want to browse through it to get an idea of the types of birds we might be seeing."

"Jeez. I didn't realize how many birds were around Nevada," Greg said, paging through the guide. "Where are we going, anyway? I figured we would have to drive for a while."

"Actually, there a place called Mt. Charleston about an hour from here, and it's a good spot for seeing higher elevation birds. It'll be a light hike," Nick said.

"Cool," was Greg's answer.

"A light hike?" Greg was complaining later. His caffeine high seemed to have dissipated somewhat, leaving the man lacking in energy. Nick was ready to cut him some slack, seeing as how it was now daylight, and this was prime sleeping time for both of them.

"C'mon G," Nick coached. "It's not too much farther now. Maybe you need to start coming to the gym with me." He was looking at the sky, which had turned ominously dark. Great, one day off, which he had to switch with Warrick, and it was going to rain on his parade. And Warrick had been so smug about it too.

"Heard you and Greg are going bird watching," Warrick had asked in a low voice in the locker room.

"So?" had been Nick's very mature reply.

"So? I'm just glad you finally took my advice," Warrick challenged.

"Whatever, man. It's just bird watching," Nick had volleyed.

"Yeah, and Greg seems just like the type to go bird watching on his day off. That in itself should tell you that you have a chance," Warrick had said, the smug look now concreted on his face. Nick brushed him off at the time, but now he hoped Warrick was right.

"Nick, does it feel like it's getting cooler to you?" G was asking in a concerned voice. Nick cursed silently under his breath.

"G, man, I think we're going to have to head back down the mountain. We're going to get caught in a storm. Damn weather channel waswrong about today," Nick was saying. Greg's face was crestfallen.

"But we didn't even get to unpack the picnic," he said, in the unwhiniest voice he could manage, which was still pretty whiney.

"There's some shelters near the parking lot. We'll unpack there," Nick promised. He put his arms around Greg's shoulders and turned him back towards the trail.

They didn't make it back to the trail head before the flood gates let loose. A torrent of surprisingly cold rain fell on them. They were soaked to the skin when they arrived at Nick's ride.

"Get in the back of the truck – I've got some blankets in there," Nick said. They huddled in the truck, stripped to there skivvies, Greg wrapped in a soft fleece and Nick in the itchiest wool emergency blanket he could imagine. On the plus side, Greg's thermos of coffee was still full and hot, and they picnicked anyway.

Greg's conversation was breezy and the food really good. Nick and Greg sat side by side, sharing the Thermos, neither wanting to wrestle their way up to the front of the truck for the travel mugs Greg had brought.

"Now how are we going to get back to Vegas – riding in our underwear?" Greg said and they laughed, Nick thinking that Greg looked like a wet labrat. His hair was plastered down to his head in spots and sticking straight up in others. He was adorable.

"I don't know. I don't think I could live that down with Warrick if he ever found out," Nick replied, though the thought of he and Greg riding back to Vegas wrapped in blankets was pretty funny.

"He gave me a pretty hard time about this outing," Greg said. "He kept teasing me about our 'date'. Sara finally told him off for me. She's good like that."

"Yeah," Nick answered, noncommittally. He looked over at Greg and looked at his profile for a minute, wondering at the churning in his gut. "G, would that be so bad? A date, with me?" he asked softly. Greg's head popped up and he turned to look at Nick with soft, startled brown eyes. Nick decided to give up caution and leaned into Greg, kissing him lightly on the lips. He leaned back and looked at Greg's lips, afraid to look at his eyes. His lips had been cold, but soft, and coffee flavored. Nick leaned in and kissed him again, gently sliding his tongue inside the rim of Greg's mouth. His mouth was intensely warm compared to the clammy, wet soaked skin outside and vibrantly alive with coffee flavor. He was pleasantly surprised when Greg returned his kiss, tentatively at first. They then found themselves in a warm, although blanket muffled embrace.

Greg was the first to pull away.

"But you're not gay," he said, accusingly.

"I think I just proved that isn't an issue," Nick said. Now that he had given in, now that he had taken the first step, he was dizzingly alive.

"But it is an issue," Greg said. Nick furrowed his brow at his friend's distress.

"G, wait a minute…" Nick began, only to be interrupted by a bang on the back of his Denali. He opened the back of the truck up, surprised that the rain was no longer. He was faced with a curious park ranger.

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were all right," the ranger said. He looked askance at the two men wrapped in blankets, or at least Nick thought he did. "The trails are going to be closed until tomorrow. We don't allow hikers when the mud is up like it will be after that rain."

"Sure," Nick said, feeling the rangers eyes on him. He knew his face, neck and ears were probably red with embarrassment. He didn't know why – it wasn't like this guy knew what he and Greg had been doing. "We were just trying to dry off a little and eat our lunch before heading out," he replied, feeling like a liar. The ranger nodded to him and Nick shut the door back. Greg was pulling his wet shirt on and wrapping the fleece around him as well as he could.

"We should probably leave," he said, his voice a little cool.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked. Everything was going astray.

"You're beet red, Nick. You're so embarrassed by what we were doing that you look like you're going to have a stroke! And all we did was kiss!"

"I would be this way whether it was you or a girl or whatever," Nick exclaimed. "Greg, just listen …"

"I'm ready to go."

They rode down the road in silence for a full twenty minutes. Nick wasn't sure that Greg had ever been quiet so long.

"Greg, I want you to go out with me," he finally said. Greg let out a noisy sigh.

"I don't date guys in the closet, Nick. I'm past that stage in my life, and I don't want to go back. You are Nick Stokes, ladies' man. Women sigh when you just pass by." Greg was upset enough that he refrained from his usual "poet and didn't know it" comment at his rhyme.

"But I'm not that man any more," Nick protested. "I'm different, since the whole… well, I'm different now, and I've realized what and who I want. And it's you, it's always been you," Nick said. Greg eyes softened and started to tear up. But then his look hardened.

"So then, your parents know you're gay. Your family knows. Everybody is going to know we're dating and you won't be embarrassed," Greg shot at him.

"What does it matter what my parents think?" Nick said. What he meant was that he was past worrying about everyone else. That wasn't how Greg took it.

"That's what I mean! Have you ever even had a boyfriend?"

"Well, no, I mean, there were a couple of times in college …some threesomes," Nick stuttered. He didn't really want to share the details, and he found himself stammering to Greg. "Greg, I want you. It doesn't matter what was before."

"It's not enough, Nick. I mean, I don't want to be your first gay relationship, the one that get's dumped because it was an initiation thing, you know. I've been there before. If you can't tell me that you could introduce me to your folks as your boyfriend, then I have to say no."

"I don't know," Nick said, truthfully. "This is all pretty new to me."

"Exactly," Greg said quietly. They rode in silence the rest of the way. Nick wassure Greg had cried some silent tears, but he couldn't look for fear that he would as well.

He dropped Greg off at this house, helping him unload his backpack and clothes without speaking. He walked up to the door behind him, wishing he could think of what to say to make this right. Greg unlocked his door and stepped inside, setting his stuff down on a table. He turned around and stood in the doorway, arms out to accept the wet clothes Nick was holding.

"G," Nick said, wanting desperately to step inside and hash this out. "G, you can't tell me that kiss didn't mean anything."

"No. I can't." Greg admitted, his brown eyes shiny. "But I can't be hurt by someone like I have been before, especially if that someone is you."

"But, Greg …" Nick said. Greg cut him off.

"I'll see you at work, Nick. And we'll forget this, OK. You don't have to worry about me telling anyone," Greg said and shut the door.

Nick wanted to tell him that he wasn't worried about it, that he didn't care, but instead he walked to his Denali and drove home to a hot shower, wondering how things went so wrong, and remembering the flavor of Greg.


A/N: Oh, our star-crossed duo. How could this possibly end? Let me know how I'm doing in a review.