CSI: Texas Chronicles: Nightmares and Riding Lessons
A/N: I have to give thanks to Stacy for inadvertently giving me the idea for the opener scene. She was picturing something horrible breaking Greg completely if he didn't get Nick back in this story. Well... the way this story is set up, I couldn't go forward in time two seasons, but I could go back and combine a few random things to help show what's going on with Nick... so here we have it. Spoilers for PWF. BTW, we're on our way to fluffdom faster than you think! And if you're a Walker Texas Ranger fan, you might recognize a recurring character mention. If not, don't worry, you won't miss a single step! (I just couldn't help myself when I needed an evil character who would do this sort of thing. He was the perfect villain.)
Nick opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of the desert, a dead body at his feet. He was obviously at a crime scene, though how he'd gotten there from the ranch was a mystery... as was the gun barrel pushing into his back.
When he recognized the feeling of the gun he knew what was going on and where he was. His body began to tremble as he instinctively looked to his right to confirm his worst fears. The box was there... buried, but left open, a pile of dirt beside it. It could only mean the body was that of Detective Sophia Curtis and the original dead body from the crime scene was somewhere to his left. So the man behind him with the gun was Victor LaRue, an evil character on one of his favorite tv shows who always spooked him whenever he thought of him.
"Ah, Nicholas Stokes... I see you've guessed my plans for you. Well, move on. I haven't got all day," LaRue spoke just as he always had on TV.
"What if I don't?" Nick didn't want to ask the question. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway. He didn't want to do this, didn't want to go through with an insane man's plans, no matter what they were. He didn't want to be buried alive again. He remembered the first time he had been and how much it had ruined his life with Greg.
A photograph was held in front of him: Greg, with his beautiful chocolate eyes, staring back at him.
"I think you know what would happen."
Nick swallowed the immense lump that had formed in his throat.
"No... God... please," he choked out in a form of pleading for both their lives, but especially for Greg's.
"Get in the box, and he lives."
Nick climbed into the box, a trembling, sobbing mess at least grateful Greg would be ok. Even so, he had a nagging feeling his boyfriend's life was still in jeopardy, even as the lid on his coffin was shut and dirt shoveled over him. When he couldn't see the night sky anymore he heard LaRue's voice through a speaker somewhere near his head.
"Now that you're tucked away where no one can find you because they don't even know you're gone, let me explain something to you," LaRue paused for a moment. "You see, your friend Catherine placed an unknown chemical under the fume hood. Correct procedure for the lab when evidence can't be logged in, true. But someone else left the hot plate on too close and she didn't realize it. Now, what does all of this mean? Put the clues together yourself, CSI Stokes."
What he was asking wasn't hard. Probably the chemical was flammable, why else would he have pointed out that it was near a heat source? So, the chemical would probably react and explode... explode in the lab... the DNA lab... specifically where Greg worked. Nick wondered just then if he would lose his lunch, if it was possible not to choke on it and die in this tiny space.
"You're running out of air and your beloved is running out of time" LaRue continued. "But don't worry, you'll be able to hear him pass on before you do. I placed a microphone in the DNA lab, just for you."
The man's voice was then replaced by the sounds of the lab. Computers beeped, machines whirred, someone he could only assume was Greg shuffled papers before typing on a keyboard. A chair rolled. He heard footsteps and something was pulled out of a bindle. Movement stopped and Greg sighed, "Nicky, why can't I get you off my mind? I can't wait until shift is over... that's too long..."
But then another pair of feet walked into the room and Greg shut up.
"How'd you do with the nail clippers?" Gil Grissom, their supervisor, asked.
"Uh, right over here. I figured it wasn't a high priority since I already ided the semen in the victim," Greg responded.
"That only proves they had sex. The nail clippers can place Jason Kent at the murder scene. His nails, her DNA, traces of the booth, etcetera."
"Killer, victim, location."
"Holy Trinity, Greg. I need that," and he heard Grissom walk out the door.
Nick began thrashing around in the box, screaming as loud as he could. He knew where this was going. Even through his screaming, sobbing, and thrashing, trying to get out to save Greg, though he knew it was too late, he could still hear his boyfriend humming a Garth Brooks tune Nick had been surprised to learn he liked just the week before. Then the humming stopped.
"Huh?" Greg sounded confused, sniffing loud enough for Nick to hear through the mike. "Burning plastic?"
Feet spun around as Nick screamed to block out the sound. But it didn't work. It never did.
KABOOM!
Nick sobbed, his body still, as glass rained down in the lab, sounding almost musical if Greg's body hadn't been the cause of it.
"NICK! NICKY! Come on, babe, open your eyes!"
Nick blinked in confusion, trying to brush the harsh tears away so he could see better. His eyes were open... weren't they? A hazy form appeared, cutting through the dirt above his head: Greg.
"Come on, honey, I'm right here."
Nick blinked again and the cabin at the ranch slowly came into focus behind Greg.
"You ok?" Nick couldn't miss the deep look of concern on Greg's face.
"I'm ok. Yeah." He composed himself as quickly as possible, feeling more than a little embarrassed.
Greg reached out and slowly brushed a few stray tears off his face. "It must have been pretty bad," he spoke gently, suggesting Nick should tell him about it without actually saying the words.
"They always are."
He didn't want to tell him. Didn't want to remember them.
"You know you can tell me about them."
Greg knew he wasn't going to.
"No, I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because you're... the end... oh God..." he did his best to hold his emotions in.
"How often?"
"Every night," Nick admitted, shame creeping into his voice.
Greg leaned closer and pressed their mouths together in a searing kiss. "I won't ever let you sleep through one of those again. I promise."
Nick found himself grasping onto that and not wanting to let go, hoping his tight grip was enough to tell Greg what he couldn't say out loud.
Once they'd eaten breakfast an hour later, Greg sent him out to work on the cabin, and he had to admit he was confused by his own actions as well as Greg's. Why he'd let Greg detain him in bed for so long, he didn't know. He had work to do, and even though he'd enjoyed himself a little, the work wasn't going to wait all day. He was also surprised Greg was letting him continue it, though he wasn't going to ask questions. He was out there to get work done and he was already an hour late getting started.
He began to work extra hard to make up for the lost time as well as to get the nightmare out of his head.
"Nick! Stop!" Greg called out to him.
"What? What's wrong?"
"I think you're still too upset from your nightmare and maybe it's not a good idea for you to be working so soon after."
"Greg, I can't wait until the afternoon here. It'll be too hot then. That's usually when I slow down a bit."
"But you don't slow down, hun. That's the problem."
Greg came down the steps and over to him, cupping his face with both hands. He was doing it again and Nick was powerless to stop him.
"I'm only letting you work to give you some semblance of the order you've built up around yourself, some measure of the control I know you need."
"But... why?" Nick felt himself beginning to panic.
"Shhhh... calm down. You need to relax, babe. You're a workaholic and that's not helping you. It's probably only making your nightmares worse."
"I need to get this done," was Nick's lame excuse.
"Go slower. At noon you're going to stop and have a relaxing afternoon. Because I know you haven't done that since you were kidnapped. You got out of that box and threw yourself into work and then you quit because you couldn't handle it anymore. You've worked yourself into a safety routine, that protects you from unintentional things, helps you stay focused, so you can't think about things that scare you. And I'll let you keep part of that. For now. But we are going to break that routine. So, at noon, you can take me horse back riding." Greg smiled a little.
"The last time we were out here I tried to get you on a horse, even though we didn't really have time, and you refused."
"So I changed my mind. I figure with you as a teacher I should be ok, right?"
"Yeah, right." Nick hardly believed him, but he'd wanted to see Greg on a horse for a long time so he wasn't going to complain, though he still had reservations about the situation. "By the way, I thought we'd be going at my own pace?"
"We will. I'm just giving you a little nudge first." Greg leaned in and gave him a tender kiss before letting him go. "Now, go get your work done and look forward to the afternoon."
Nick knew Greg was right, but accepting it wasn't as easy as Greg made it seem. He wanted to follow Greg's rules, but he wasn't sure he was ready to give up his schedule.
As much as he wanted to, he just couldn't say no to Greg. When he'd made the decision to leave Vegas he hadn't told him until it was too late because he knew Greg would be able to talk him out of it. But now, he had no choice.
"Ok, work time's up!" Greg called from his seat on the stairs.
Nick set down the handsaw he'd been using, ready to grumble about having to stop when there was still so much to get done, but the truth was, he'd been thinking about how hot Greg would look on a horse all morning.
When he got off the steps Nick noticed something different about him and when he looked him over he noticed the old worn out cowboy boots... and damn... suddenly he was picturing him in nothing but those boots. And while there was something missing from that image, the words 'hot' and 'sexy' didn't begin to describe the younger CSI.
"Close your mouth Stokes," Greg ordered with that glint in his eye that told Nick he knew exactly what he'd been thinking. "These are your old boots from high school, according to your mother. What would she think if she knew how dirty your mind is?"
Nick shook his head to clear it of the beautiful image and turned to get his horse ready for Greg. But as soon as he had him up on Misty's back the younger CSI seemed to have changed his mind.
"You know what, Nick? I'm not so sure about this. I don't think I like this. I was right to refuse before," Greg panicked.
"Oh no. You're up there now. It's too late to change your mind."
Nick had a feeling he was going to enjoy this more than anything else he'd enjoyed in a long time. He felt himself begin to smile and he made no bones about holding it back for the first time in a long time.
"Oh shit. I'm in trouble. Why did I ever agree to this?" Greg's brow furrowed in worry.
"As I recall, you were the one who practically begged me to teach you to ride. Actually, no, wait, you simply told me I was going to. So, now you're stuck up there. Sorry."
"Nicky!" Greg was begging now and while Nick had a feeling he might be staging the whole thing just for him, he found the begging just too cute to ignore. His smile turned into an easy grin.
"Back straight, heels down... G, your feet aren't even in the stirrups." Nick helped him get his left foot in. "There, you want it right on the ball of your foot. Good."
Greg moaned, "I don't like being up this high."
"If you fall I'll be right here to catch you. But you won't. We won't even be going above a walk. Now, hold the reigns like this," Nick showed him how.
Greg was so nervous once Misty was moving that he was shaking a little, and it was almost hard to imagine he was faking this. Nick let go of the bridle, confident Greg would be ok once he realized he was perfectly safe, and began walking forward, calling Misty to walk with him. He'd teach Greg how to get her to move on his own once he felt he was comfortable in the saddle.
But the bay horse didn't want to follow Nick with the nervous man on her back. Instead she snorted and backed up, making Greg's eyes widen.
"Whoa, whoa." Nick grabbed her bridle. "Greg, you have got to stop being so nervous. She can tell and it's upsetting her."
"I can't help it," Greg murmured through a clenched jaw.
After making sure Misty was calm, he looked up at Greg and saw the true panic in his eyes. He may have started out with good intentions to help Nick but now that he was up there things had changed. He moved to the horse's side. Holding the bridle in one hand, he held out his other to Greg, an idea forming in his mind.
"Drop the reigns and take my hand."
"What if she bolts?"
"She won't. I've got her."
Greg gripped his hand in one quick movement.
"Ok, right foot out of the stirrup. Stand up on your left and swing your right behind you and down. If you want to hold onto the saddle, it might be easier."
Eager to get off, Greg nearly tumbled into Nick who caught him as he began to fall.
"Oh, thank God. I'm sorry, but I'm not doing that again!"
"Don't worry about it, G."
Even as he took the saddle off he knew this was a bad idea but he just couldn't control himself. His heart and his blinding need had already overpowered his logical brain. When the saddle was on the ground he pulled Greg back.
"Ok, up you go."
"What?" But he'd already hoisted him back up onto Misty's back before Greg could protest even more. "Nicky! I'm going to kill you!"
"No you won't," Nick said with a grin.
Greg whimpered as Nick lead the mare over to an old tree stump, murmuring to her in order to keep her calm and her mind off the nervous wreck on her back.
"You've lost your mind."
"The first thing you need to do is become comfortable up there, to be able to relax, and you obviously can't do that alone."
"What are you getting at?"
Using the old stump as leverage, Nick mounted the horse behind Greg. For the first few seconds Greg was as stiff as a board but as soon as he recognized Nick's body pressed up against his back and his arms wrapped around him he was as relaxed as he had been during lazy days spent in bed with Nick before the kidnapping.
"Back straight, babe," the words fell out of his mouth with an easiness Nick hadn't known in a long time and he felt another smile crossing his face once he realized what he'd said. He knew this was where he belonged, could feel it in his bones, could feel the weight of missing Greg for so long lift from his shoulders. "You can't be a wet bag of sand. We're already pushing her weight limits doing this."
"I feel better already," Greg said and Nick could hear the smile in his voice as the other man straightened up.
He took the reigns from his boyfriend and clucked to the mare, easing them into an leisurely walk.
"I gotta say, the world looks much different from up here."
"Mmmhmm."
"So where are we going?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Greg's interest sounded piqued.
"No, and your temperament suddenly changed."
"So did yours. I'm surprised you're up here with me."
"Mmm... me too. But I'm not complaining. I'm more surprised you're ok up here."
"You're with me. That makes all the difference."
"I hoped it would."
"As long as you're next to me nothing else matters. You know that right?"
Nick sighed, "yeah, I know." But he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
They rode on for a while in silence, Nick expertly guiding the horse through a copse of trees.
"I'm sorry," Nick finally said.
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I just don't get..."
"Kiss me," Greg interrupted.
"What?"
"You don't understand how I could forgive you after you walked out. But what you don't know is that the simplest thing from you turns me into jelly. So if you really feel the need to pay me back for my forgiveness all you need to do is kiss me."
Nick's arms instinctively tightened around him and before he knew it he'd reigned Misty to a stop and was kissing Greg's neck like he'd never kissed him before. He was sucking hard with the intent to leave a large bruise so no one could mistake the fact that Greg was taken. His brain told him this was a bad idea, that he'd walked away for a good reason, but his body wasn't listening.
Greg let out a low moan that quickly turned into a whimper as his hands closed over Nick's and gripped them with a fierceness which told Nick his movements against his neck probably hurt. But right then he couldn't have cared less.
The horse snorted and a rabbit ran across their path. These things he didn't notice. Greg's breathing increased and his hands began to fidget and tighten at the same time. These things he did notice. He could envision Greg's eyes closed, his face the picture of ecstacy, and it only made Nick drive in harder, as if to prove a point even he wasn't so sure of himself.
When Nick finally pulled his mouth away he was so out of breath he could hardly gasp to bring fresh air into his lungs. He rested his head on Greg's shoulder, letting his breath even out.
"Where the hell did that come from Nicky?" Greg asked, gasping for air himself.
He didn't respond for a few moments but when he did he knew he was speaking the truth even if his brain tried to tell him otherwise, "I've missed you and I need you."
Silent tears coursed down his face, falling for the first time since he'd been pulled free from the box.
A/N: The conversation that Greg has with Grissom actually came from Play With Fire.
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