Nick took a deep breath and ran a shaky hand through is hair. "We got back to my house...a strange car was in the driveway and the door was open..."
"We followed protocol." Warrick chimed in.
Brass held up his hands. "I'm on your side."
"I know...sorry." Warrick said, rubbing his eyes.
"We cleared the rooms and then..." Nick's voice broke and he tuned out as Warrick described what had happened after that. He looked up from his staring contest with the table and met Brass' eyes.
"I swear I thought he was gonna hurt Greg...I was just try to pr-"
Brass cut him off. "I know, I know. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?" Nick nodded weakly. Brass sighed. "I'm telling you both right now Ecklie is gonna be pissed."
"Ecklie is pissed." Grissom corrected as he walked into the room. He held up his hands to silence the two younger CSIs. "I know...he's always pissed. But you cannot let this get to you, alright? People are gonna talk. Let them talk." Nick and Warrick nodded again. "The samples are being processed as we speak and are the top priority. Greg's being checked over at the hospital, and as of late, he's fine. Pretty much everyone at the lab's heard somehow..."
"Dayshift." Nick and Warrick said in unison.
Grissom sighed. "Most likely. But that doesn't matter. All that matters is making sure we prove this guy did it so it'll go away as a case." He sat down next to Brass. "How are you two doing?"
Nick and Warrick exchanged glances and shrugged. "Better than Greg I bet." Nick said sadly.
"And whose fault is that?" Sara's angry voice startled the four men sitting at the table.
"Sara..." Grissom warned. He stood and crossed the room in two long strides and gently pushed Sara back. "Please don't try and make this situation any worse."
"Nick's done a good enough job of that already." She said coldly before turning and disappearing back into the hallway. Grissom closed the door and turned back to Nick.
"She's just upset, you didn't do anything wrong Nicky."
Nick shook his head slowly. He opened his mouth, but Warrick spoke before him.
"Don't Nick." He said firmly but softly. "It's not your fault man."
Nick hung his head and sighed heavily. "I need a drink."
"Soda." Warrick said to his best friend as he got up and headed for the door.
Nick smiled weakly. "I know...I promise I won't go get drunk." He left the room and looked both ways down the hall, relieved Sara was nowhere to be seen. He headed for the soda machine at the end of the hall, ignoring the numerous people staring at him. He was about to reach into his jeans pocket to get a dollar when the last person he wanted to see called out to him.
"Hey, Stokes."
Nick gritted his teeth as he turned around, forcing a fake smile onto his lips. "What's up Ecklie?" He asked dryly.
"What were you thinkning?" He asked, shaking his head.
"Not a good time man..." Nick said. He started to turn back to the machine, but was pulled back around by Ecklie.
"I'm sorry your little boyfriend was cheating on you, but that's never been an excuse to kill someone."
Nick clenched his fists. "He was trying to rape him then was gonna kill him. Warrick was there, why don't you just ask him if you don't want to believe me?"
"Well that clears things up." Ecklie said. "You walked in on your best friend and boyfriend and lost it."
Nick shook his head, not believing what he thought he was hearing. "What the hell is wrong with you? They would never do th-"
"Give it up Stokes." Ecklie cut him off. "It must be an awful feeling, but you have to accept the fact that-"
Ecklie was interrupted mid-sentence by Nick's fist crashing into the bridge of his nose. He stumbled backwards, almost bumping into Hodges, who smiled approvingly and stepped out of the way. He slammed into the wall, staring dumbfounded at Nick.
If everyone hadn't been looking at Nick before, they were now. Almost the enitre LVPD saw the encounter, and not many were upset at the fact that Conrad Ecklie had been punched in the face.
Nick hadn't even seen Warrick, Brass and Grissom leave their room. They were halfway down the hall when Nick had punched Ecklie. Now Warrick was grabbing Nick by the shoulders and pulling him back down the hall as Brass and Grissom tried to hold back their grins.
"Oh its's gonna be real funny when he gets fired." Ecklie said. He straightened himself out. He tried to dab away the blood spilling from his nose and down onto his suit, but was unsuccessful.
"That'd be your loss as much as anyone else's, Conrad." Grissom said before turning with Brass and following Nick and Warrick back in the interrogation room. He held up his hands and shook his head at Nick. "Why do you get to hit him and I don't?"
"He can say anything he wants about me, I really don't fucking care. But when he starts saying...I don't even know what...about my best friend and boyfriend...fuck that. Not gonna happen." Grissom sighed as Nick explained himself, nodding slowly as he finished.
"That son of a bitch..." Brass said, thinking out loud.
"Why does he think he has the right to be such an ass?" Warrick asked angrily.
Nick shook his head. "Who the hell knows...I just don't care anymore. He can fire me, suspend me, make my life a living hell from now on...I don't care. All I care about is Greg." His voice went from firm and steady to weak and shaky. Warrick put his hand on his best friend's shoulder and squeezed it gently.
As if on cue, Catherine came into the interrogation room. "Sorry to interrupt..."
"Please do." Grissom said with a sigh.
"I have some good news...and some bad news."
"Is Greg okay?" Nick asked frantically.
Catherine nodded slowly. "Yeah...they just released him, an officer brought him home and we're keeping an eye out. The scene has been cleared so you guys can be at home." Nick sighed in relief. "But..." Catherine continued slowly. "The doctors found evidence of a previous struggle..." She trailed off but picked back up when she felt the eyes of the four men burning into her. "Greg was raped."
Nick shook his head disbelievingly. "No...his jeans were still on...he couldn't have been..." He couldn't even bring himself to say it.
Catherine smiled sadly. "The...DNA...wasn't a match to the blonde assailant, Sean O'Connel. But it belonged to a Matthew Hayre. He works at the Tangiers...he's being tracked down right now."
Nick let out a short, dry laugh. "This is unbelievable..." He shook his head slowly. "I gotta get home." He said simply.
Grissom nodded. "Go ahead." Nick headed for the door, followed by Warrick.
"Take care of him." Catherine said to Nick about Greg, and to Warrick about Nick. Both men understood soundly. They got into Nick's Denali that had been left there a few days ago and pulled out of the LVPD parking lot. Warrick drove as quickly as he could, but not dangerously. Nick stared out the window, trying to control the thoughts racing through is mind.
Warrik finally pulled into the driveway, turning to Nick before he left. "Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all man."
Nick nodded once. "Thanks bro." He said softly before going into his house.
He was starting to get nervous when he heard complete silence and Greg was nowhere in sight. He headed for the bedroom, but was rerouted to the bathroom when he saw the door was open and could hear the shower going. Greg's clothes were in a heap on the floor outside the bathroom doorway. Nick entered slowly, his heart breaking when he heard Greg's muffled sobs.
The shower curtain was open to reveal Greg sitting in the tub, hugging his knees to his chest. His back was pressed against the back wall and his head was buried in his arms. His skin was slightly blue and his body was shaking violently.
Nick didn't think twice as he climbed into the shower and kneeled in front of Greg. He gasped when the freezing water starting beating onto his back, soaking through his clothes and onto his skin. He used himself as a barrier between Greg and the freezing water. Greg looked up at Nick with bloodshot eyes from under his blonde/brown hair that was matted to his head.
Nick placed his hands on either side of Greg's face and gently brushed his thumbs back and forth under Greg's eyes, wiping away his warm tears. Greg closed his eyes and nuzzled into Nick's touch. His warms hands felt good on his cold skin. He bit his bottom quivering blue lip as more tears spilled down his cheeks.
"You're safe now, I promise. Nobody can hurt you now, okay?"
Greg opened his eyes and nodded weakly, but didn't seem like he believed Nick, no matter how much he wanted to.
Nick slowly stood, pulling Greg up with him. He turned off the water and turned back to Greg, letting the younger man tightly wrap his arms around his neck. Nick wrapped his arms around Greg's waist and softly whispered in his ear in between gentle kisses to his neck.
"Everything's gonna be okay. It's over now, you're safe." Nick tightly wrapped a warm towel around Greg before he slowly started walking backwards, leading Greg out of the bathroom and into their bedroom. Once they made it there, Nick grabbed Greg's favorite pair of sweatpants and his old Texas A&M t-shirt that Greg constantly wore. He helped Greg change before he changed out of his wet clothes.
Greg tried to smile, but it was choked away by a sob and overflow of tears. Nick hugged Greg close and kissed the base of his neck up to the sensitive spot behind Greg's left ear. He gently started pushing him backwards until the back of Greg's knees hit the edge of the bed. Nick carefully layed him down, still kissing him gently as he pulled the covers over them. Nick shifted so he was laying on his back and pulled Greg as close as he could when he buried his head in the crook of Nick's neck. Nick ran his hand back and forth through Greg's damp hair and slowly slid his hand up his shirt so he could trace the scars on Greg's back.
Nick let his own tears finally fall when he felt Greg's fall onto his collarbone. "I'm so sorry sweetie...it's okay now. I promise you everything's gonna be okay." He kissed the top of Greg's head before burying his face into the soft hair. He inhaled the unique smell of Greg's hair and held him as tight as he could, hoping that he could hug him hard enough to absorb all of his pain.
I know it's so unrealistic that they get the tests results that quickly, but I figured that was better than dragging on for a few chapters until it made more sense. Hope you enjoyed, thanks for the reviews.