Name: Regarding Henry.
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Henry Andrews.
Rating: M.
Warnings: Slash of the male on male variety. If you don't like the idea, then don't read it.
Summary: Greg gets a house guest. Six months after the trauma of "Fannysmackin'" sees Greg as less than his usual happy self. He then finds love and comfort from a very unexpected source.
Disclaimer: All characters within this story do not belong to me, they are owned by CBS Paramount Television and writers. Babylon 5 characters belong to JMS.
Greg and Henry returned to the apartment after a long and busy shift more tired than usual. They ordered takeout Chinese on the way home but both men picked at the food with their chopsticks with little enthusiasm.
Greg smiled at Henry in quiet exhaustion. "Do you mind if I crash out, man?" he jokingly pleaded with his colleague.
"Go," Henry replied with a grin that turned into a yawn. "See you at a hopefully much healthier breakfast."
"Good night, sweet prince," Greg retorted in amusement as he entered his room. He stripped off almost all of his clothes, threw them on the floor, unwilling and unable to put them away in his fatigue, and collapsed onto the bed. Greg slipped his boxer-clad form under the soft sheets and was asleep in a moment.
Henry also undressed down to his boxers and pulled his body under the comfortable blanket on the sofa, suddenly too tired to sleep. He tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, staring at the walls and the floor, totally unable to find any rest.
Henry was woken by a loud noise coming from the bedroom, unable to remember how and when he had finally fallen asleep. Henry stood up, keeping the blanket wrapped around him, and moved into Greg's domain, a burning curiosity overcoming his naturally cautious nature..
Greg was writhing on the bed in a deeply troubled sleep. Greg seemed to be fighting with something or somebody in his tortured dreams and then he started yelling at some perceived enemy.
"Get off me, it hurts, oh the pain, stop it, please, leave me alone!" Greg virtually screamed at his nightmare-created attackers.
Henry did not hesitate for a moment, his natural compassion overriding his wariness of any close human contact. Henry climbed into the bed, still wrapped in the blanket, and pulled a thrashing Greg into a firm but chaste embrace from behind, all thoughts of seduction by lullaby totally gone from his head.
Henry whispered gently in Greg's ear to reassure him. "It's OK Greg, it's me, Henry. I'm here now, I've got you. You're safe here in my arms and nobody is ever going to hurt you like that again."
Greg seemed to subconsciously respond to Henry's soft words. Greg's exertions lessened slightly and then he turned towards Henry, burying his face in the dark-haired man's neck.
Henry pulled Greg tight against him and then started to stroke Greg's back to reassure him. Greg's yelling had apparently stopped and the struggling had also ceased but he was now trembling violently and there was no sign of his panicked hoarse breathing coming to an end anytime soon.
Henry realized that only one thing was going to calm a distraught Greg down. He started rocking Greg gently and then began to sing softly to his friend in Norwegian. Henry closed his eyes in nervous apprehension, tense with worry as to how Greg would respond when he woke to find himself in such an intimate and possibly unwelcome position.
Henry felt a soft pair of lips plant a wet kiss on the end of his nose and his eyes flew open in response.
Greg was wide awake and staring right at Henry, a slightly questioning look of total surprise and awe in those beautiful brown eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity, Greg spoke to Henry in a voice made raw from all that yelling. "Your accent is truly atrocious and your vocal tone could curdle milk, but thank you, my dear Henry, for that very comforting experience."
Greg continued to scrutinize Henry as if he was seeing his friend and colleague properly for the first time. Greg then pulled Henry into a hot passionate kiss on the lips that left the lab technician gasping for breath and sexually aroused.
"I think I could seriously fall in love with you, my kind and caring Henry," Greg whispered with some feeling. "I don't want a torrid one-night stand with you like the one I had with that sex addict Archie. I think you deserve more than the usual brief flings I have with those muscled men I pick up at clubs and at the gym. Would you like to go out on a date or two with me so that we can really get to know each other, Henry? We'll take things very slowly and see what happens."
Henry beamed in pleasure. "A date sounds like a great idea, Greg," he replied. Mentally still on a high after that hot and hard kiss from Greg, Henry suddenly displayed a forwardness that was unusual for him. "A good man like yourself, just like a fine wine, is best appreciated slowly."
Greg blushed at the complement. "You are so sweet for saying that, Henry. Just for that I'm going to let you choose where we go on our first date," he smirked, trying to subtly lighten the passion-laden moment.
Henry smiled softly at Greg and started to climb out of the bed in order to return to his comfortable sofa, knowing that things might get out of control if he stayed.
Greg grabbed Henry's arm in a vice-like grip that prevented him from departing the room. Greg shot Henry a fearful look and spoke to his friend with some nervousness.
"Don't go, Henry," Greg pleaded. "The nightmares might come back, and I want to feel your warm body right here next to mine. It comforts me when you are near, and I once again promise faithfully not to sexually assault you when you are sleeping."
Henry hid the brief look of disappointment that threatened to cross his face at that unwelcome pronouncement. Henry grinned gently at Greg, slid into the bed again, and pulled Greg's back against his own chest in a comforting brotherly embrace. Henry softly kissed the nape of Greg's neck to reassure him and the pair drifted into an uninterrupted sleep within minutes.
Their first date the following day had started badly. Greg had regretted letting Henry choose the venue for the occasion when the more cultured Henry had dragged an unsuspecting Greg to a double bill of subtitled French art-house films at a tiny movie theater just off the Strip. Greg had fallen asleep in boredom and had begun to snore loudly during the second movie. Henry had revealed an unexpected playful side to his personality by biting Greg fairly hard on the ear to wake him up. The resulting loud yell from Greg had led to them both being escorted with some force off the premises, Henry red with embarrassment and Greg unable to control his hysterical giggling. The two men had gone to a nearby Italian restaurant and had conversed for hours over a couple of plates of pasta and several glasses of red wine. They had talked about their overprotective families, about what they did in their rare spare time, about their favorite music and books and movies. Each man went to work that night feeling like they understood each other a lot better.
After another tough shift for the pair at the crime lab, Henry didn't even contemplate sleeping on the sofa. The two men had stripped to their boxers and climbed into Greg's bed and another consoling but chaste embrace without any need for verbal communication. They both spent several hours in an untroubled state of sleep.
Their second date the next day had also not started well. Greg had taken Henry to a new daytime club to try and "broaden Henry's musical horizons" as Greg unflatteringly put it. Henry had mentioned his blissful ignorance of all contemporary music during their long conversation the day before and had started to wonder whether Greg had really been listening to what he had been saying. The loud pumping dance music had given Henry a burning urge to curl up into a ball under the table with his eyes closed tight and his ears blocked by his hands, praying fervently for the agony to end somehow. Henry had been amazed at how Greg had noticed his acute distress after only a whole hour. Greg had then taken him to a quiet jazz venue around the corner so that Henry could recover from his disquiet and so that they could once again indulge a long session of talking. Greg apologized for the distress he had caused Henry, and spent the next several hours complementing and flattering Henry outrageously during their long conversation. Henry had blushed at the unfamiliar endearments he was receiving and had forgiven Greg almost immediately. Henry realized that Greg was not as totally self-centered as other people seemed to think he was. Greg in turn had come to understand that Henry was a sensitive and romantic soul who was not used to words and displays of affection from others. Greg had vowed fervently to remedy that situation whenever he could.
On their arrival at work that night, Greg had found a gift package next to his locker which contained a surprisingly stylish Hawaiian shirt and a kilo of his favorite coffee. The note that came with it simply read "Thanks for making this frog feel like a prince, love H."
Archie entered Henry's lab that same night, eager to find out what had happened in the three days since they had last talked at length. "Well?" Archie demanded. "How did it go?"
Henry grinned broadly at his friend. "We're dating. Greg didn't rip my boxers off and take me then and there in the bed, even though a small and primal part of me really wanted him to do just that. He did however say that he could see us being together as a couple, but wanted to really get to know me first. We have been on two dates already, both of which have not been entirely successful, but I think we are beginning to understand each other a lot better."
Archie pulled Henry into a celebratory hug. "Well done, my friend," he beamed at Henry. "I'm so pleased for the both of you. So, when is your third date, and where are you going?"
"Well, we hadn't actually thought that far ahead," Henry admitted.
"Your fairy godmother comes to the rescue again," Archie smirked. "It so happens that I have here a couple of tickets for the Babylon 5 event at the Conference Centre on Saturday. I'm going out of town for a weekend of unbridled passion and won't need them any more."
"So, who's the lucky guy then?" Henry queried.
"None of your business Henry," Archie laughed. "So, do you want the tickets or not? The actresses who played Ivanova and Lockley will be making appearances as star guests."
"Greg loves both those characters and so do I, so give me those tickets, please!" Henry begged.
Archie handed him an envelope. "I expect all the gory details on Monday," he smiled.
Henry kissed Archie's cheek in happiness and rushed to find Greg and give him the good news.
"You'll never guess where we are going on Saturday," Henry challenged a bemused Greg, who was sitting in the break room alone with a cup of his coffee.
Greg snatched the envelope out of Henry's hand and opened it. He took out the tickets, breathed in sharply when he saw what event they were for, and gasped in astonishment when he saw the names of the two star guests printed on the tickets.
Greg kissed Henry firmly on the lips in his sudden excitement. "So, two days until our third date," Greg breathed. "I can't wait."
"Me neither," Henry replied, barely able to speak due to the passion behind that hard kiss.
"So, does Henry put out on a third date?" Greg murmured hotly, slowly stroking Henry's ass in a state of arousal, not at all caring if anybody could see them right now.
"Maybe on the fifth one if you treat a boy with more respect and keep your hands to yourself for the moment," Henry whispered, trying to keep his own sexual excitement out of his voice.
"Spoilsport," Greg replied, reluctantly removing the hand and leaving the room, a stack of papers skillfully utilised to hide the tent in the front of his skintight jeans.
The duo shared Greg's bed again in warm companionship after the end of their shift, with Henry holding Greg tightly from behind. When the nightmares made a brief return, Henry gently kissed Greg's neck and soothed him with the Norwegian lullaby until peaceful sleep returned.
Saturday came, and the two friends walked through the main doors of the Conference Centre. They gasped in astonishment at what they saw in front of them. The event hosts had turned the room into an almost perfect recreation of the Zokolo, the main deck and commercial space of the Babylon 5 space station. People in authentic costume were selling memorabilia and other merchandise from stalls. A side room contained a fairly authentic replica of the station casino, and was attracting dozens of fans also dressed in realistic costumes.
Greg looked at Henry and grimaced. The pair had opted to wear old lab coats with a few designs added to them to make them look like medical technicians. They both felt like they hadn't really made much of an effort.
As they passed a group of totally authentic-looking aliens, Greg smirked at Henry. "Why don't you break out that bottomless credit card of yours and get us some serious costumes?"
"Greg Hojem Sanders," Henry admonished, "do you really want to start our third date feeling like the kept woman? We look OK. We may be fans of the series but that sort of slavish devotion seems on the verge of mental instability."
"OK," Greg sighed. "We should go to the lecture room and see our heroines in action, they should be on in twenty minutes."
"Yes please," Henry smiled, "and it's not the lecture room, it's the Grey Council Chamber."
"Sad," Greg laughed, "so sad. There's a cute muscled Ranger over there just begging to be seduced, and it's not too late for me to change my mind about you, oh mentally unstable one."
"I have a loaded pulse weapon and I'm not afraid to use it," Henry scowled mockingly at Greg.
"I was hoping to save that pleasure for later back at the apartment, Henry," Greg leered, his tender stroking of Henry's ass going totally unnoticed by all but the recipient in the large crowd.
Henry blushed a bright red. "I think I need to sit down right now," he groaned in pleasure and at the same time acute embarrassment at his body's immediate reaction to the caresses.
Greg looked at the large bulge that had appeared in Henry's pants and smiled encouragingly at him. "File that away for future reference, lab boy."
The hour-long talk had gone very well, with both actresses insisting on staying in character due to a recording session for a new audio story that night. Both Henry and Greg had asked completely silly questions from the front row during the Q&A session after the talk, holding hands without even realizing it in sheer delight at being so near their heroines. They had expected to be verbally assaulted by the notoriously short-tempered Ivanova, but she had just rolled her eyes and answered in her calm and patient tone of voice reserved for the incompetent and the mentally challenged.
Henry headed for the public restroom half an hour later, bladder swollen from one too many jumbo sodas. Greg followed him like an eager puppy having made what Henry fervently hoped was a not in any way serious offer to hold it for him. He could never pee in front of anyone, especially a man whose presence was liable to render him so hard as to be totally unable to relax and let go.
As they rounded the corner, they saw their two favorite actresses leaning against the wall having a very heated argument.
Good grief Liz, make up your mind," Susan Ivanova nearly screamed in anger at her colleague. "It's not fair to either one of us that you can't decide whether you want me, you hate me, or you just don't care a damn about me. It hurts me more than anything that you won't even give us a chance."
"I have never said anything to you to lead you on or to give you the impression that I wanted you as anything more than a friend," an equally irate Elizabeth Lockley replied.
"You don't need to say anything Liz, it's all in your eyes and in your body language," Susan retorted with some force. "You saw those two young men in the front row holding hands. They obviously care deeply for each other. They probably even love each other, and yet you can't even face the thought of maybe finding that with me."
Elizabeth Lockley finally got her Russian friend to shut up for probably the first and only time in her life by pulling Susan into a long and deep kiss that left both of them gasping for breath.
"Well, you and I never had much luck with men, Susan," Lockley breathlessly whispered, badly in need of some oxygen. "How about we go back to my room and use the thirty minutes spare time we have before our next engagement to do a little space exploration of our own?"
The two women kissed softly and sensually, and then disappeared around the corner, eager to reach their luxury hotel suite and then to boldly go where several men had obviously not very successfully gone before.
Henry looked at Greg in astonishment. "Well, if my bladder wasn't about to explode I'd spend a good half hour in a discussion group trying to understand what on earth that was all about."
"Go, sexy," a suddenly flushed and obviously aroused Greg grinned. "I'm equally confused, but I'll wait for you to finish, maybe."
"You don't get to hold it until at least the fourth date, I'm not that easy," Henry protested.
"That's not what Archie said," Greg growled, trying in vain to hide the bulge in his tight jeans.
Henry shot a horrified look at Greg, but ran into the restroom before he accidentally let loose a stream of urine in his own pants.
Henry unzipped and felt a palpable relief as he emptied his bladder.
Just as Henry had finished, he felt a hand sneak around his waist and grab him by his exposed anatomy. He turned to see an extremely hot and bothered Greg staring at him, mentally undressing him with his lust-filled brown eyes.
Greg pulled Henry by his expanding appendage into the nearest stall, locked the door and pushed him against the partition.
"I believe," Greg whispered passionately, "that our heroines thinking that we are lovers is kind of a sign that we may well be destined to be together."
"And the sight of two women passionately kissing has in no way made you all hot and horny?" Henry questioned, finding it difficult to form words whilst Greg was rubbing him hard enough to bring him to a climax.
"I don't do women Henry," Greg rasped, "but the sight of two of my heroines making out did give me a burning urge to ram you up against the wall and take you right then and there."
"If you don't stop that right now, I'm going to make a mess on your lab coat," Henry gasped.
"Henry, I can't keep my hands off you, I want to have you right here in this cubicle," Greg whispered. He shook his head as if to clear it and took a step backwards. "But, I love and respect you enough to want our first time to be special, not a sordid passionate grope in a public restroom."
Henry zipped himself up and then pulled Greg into a passionate kiss that left the CSI dizzy and gasping for breath. "Since when did you miraculously know exactly what I was thinking?" Henry questioned. He gently stroked Greg's flushed cheek for a while and then continued.
"So you have seen the hopeless romantic and naïve almost-virgin that I truly am, and I have discovered that you are actually a deeply sensitive soul who is not totally oblivious to the needs of others," Henry smiled. "I think that we have done enough getting to know each other, so take me back to the apartment and make mad passionate love to me, my sexy Greg."
Greg kissed him back with equal passion. "Let's go, my love," he murmured.
"So how did you know about me and Archie?" Henry queried as they headed for the parking lot.
"My dear innocent Henry," Greg smirked, "half the men and women in the lab, myself included, have experienced the delights of sex with Archie at some point in time. I just made an educated guess. I just hope that Nick is able to sit down without too much pain after they get back from their weekend of mad passion."
"How did you know that he went with Nick?" Henry gasped, "and is Nick gay as well?"
"Oh Henry, you really are naïve, aren't you. I have psychic powers and can read the thoughts of all my colleagues." Greg laughed at Henry's bewilderment. "Actually, unlike us, they don't want anything more permanent, they're just scratching an itch. They're both bisexual, but you try finding a woman in or out of the lab who will put up with our unsociable working hours. Nick asked me for a few tips on the not exactly difficult process of getting Archie all hot and bothered, and I'm never one to let down a friend in need."
Henry blushed in embarrassment and then smiled earnestly at Greg. "That fact is duly noted for future reference."
The two men could barely keep their hands off each other on the drive home. As Greg opened the door to the apartment, he pulled Henry through the opening, slammed the door shut behind them, and pushed Henry against it.
Greg kissed Henry passionately, and then roughly tore the lab coat off him. "Bedroom, now!" he ordered. Henry, ever the polite one, was unable to refuse the command.
The deeply aroused pair left a trail of ruined clothing leading from the front door to the bedroom.
They fell into Greg's bed, both clad only in a pair of tented boxers, seriously hot for each other.
Greg ran his hands over Henry's firm hairy chest and nibbled on a dark and now erect nipple.
Henry writhed and groaned under Greg's skilled manipulation.
Greg looked into Henry's unfocussed eyes, smiled and paused in his pleasuring of Henry.
"So, before we totally lose control, I need to ask you something, big boy," Greg whispered. "Henry Andrews, you are a wonderful and sensitive man, that hot and hairy body of yours drives me wild, and you understand me better than people who have known me for almost a decade. You are also able to keep my nightmares at bay, and somehow find my weedy and pathetic body attractive. How do you fancy keeping each other company during those cold lonely nights so that we can grow old and cranky together?"
Henry gasped in astonishment and pleasure, and kissed Greg firmly and ferociously until the CSI nearly blacked out.
"I'll take that as a yes then," Greg smirked. "Now we need to get totally naked and make some serious friction in celebration."
The two men pulled each other into a hot and hard embrace, and Greg reached down to tear the boxers off Henry's sexually excited body and toss them on the floor. They were closely followed by his own underwear. The deeply aroused couple disappeared under the sheets to noisily consummate their union, passionately moaning in unison loud enough to disturb several of Greg's neighbors.
The two lovers cuddled up to each other, bodies all sticky and sweaty after several hours of noisy and rough sex, gently stroking each other in a state of dreamy contentment.
Greg kissed Henry one more time, trying not to damage his beloved's newly raw lips.
Henry gingerly returned the kiss and beamed happily at his newly discovered soul-mate.
Greg chuckled, and found the energy to speak. "Remind me to send Archie a shiny new Sci-Fi DVD to thank him for downloading that lullaby for you, and of course for making us two of the happiest men alive."
Henry looked in astonishment at his lover. "You knew?" he grinned.
Greg rubbed Henry's left nipple in a circular motion just to stop the dark haired man from saying anything else to incriminate himself.
"Henry my love, you may be smart, but I'm not exactly naïve or stupid. It doesn't really matter to me how we have become a couple, my sweetheart. The fact is that I plan on growing old with you, and Archie will always be the cupid who shot us both with his clever little arrows."
"Who knew that such a sentimental soul lay beneath that utterly gorgeous exterior?" Henry laughed.
"You think I have a sexy body?" Greg gasped in surprise.
"I don't like those muscled hairless steroid freaks you see at the gym all the time," Henry confirmed. "I prefer a real man with a nice but normal body, and yours gets me excited just by looking at it." Henry smirked at his lover. "I would have though that me letting you violate both of my orifices repeatedly with it would have been an obvious confirmation of that fact."
Greg blushed at the memory and then stared at his beloved in awe. "You like my weedy body and you know how to keep the bad dreams away," Greg whispered in wonder. He then started to grin in quiet pleasure. "Naturally I will be constantly showing you my gratitude for this in many fun and wicked ways."
"I can live with that for a century or two," Henry smiled. "I need some more gratitude right now," he breathed seductively in Greg's ear. "I think that some of the feeling is also coming back to my groin at last."
Greg playfully slapped Henry on his pert and sexy ass. "Don't expect to be able to sit down for the next week," he growled.
"I'd start to think you weren't serious about our love if I could," Henry smirked.
The two ducked under the sheets again, ready to noisily show their newly discovered deep love for each other.
Henry was at last with the man he had desired from a distance for such a long time. Greg had found a soul-mate who could love him for being himself, and who could also permanently keep away those terrible nightmares.
The world suddenly seemed like a brighter and happier place for both men.
THE END.