CSI: Texas Chronicles: "Opening the Gate"

A/N: This is the final chapter! Enjoy the light fluff that has finally showed up! Very little angst, I promise! Lol. The Johnny Cash reference is about his song entitled "Desperado" which, if you recall, is the title of the first chapter. The title of this chapter is in reference to one of the lines in the song too. I wasn't planning on doing that, it just turned out to look good that way, since I'd already referenced it with the first title. Hope you like!


Life was bliss. Greg felt like he'd been grinning non-stop for days. Things couldn't get any better than sitting astride Cucumber, his latest best friend, with Nick's bare chest pressed up against his shirtless back, his boyfriend's arms around him holding the reigns.

"We're almost there," Nick said into his ear.

"Hmmm, and you know what your father's gonna say?"

"What?"

"He's gonna thank me for getting you down from those fences you were riding."

"You've been listening to too much Johnny Cash, babe."

"I can't help that."

"I know."

Nick reigned Cucumber to a stop just out of sight from his parent's ranch house. Misty, loaded down with their supplies, stopped obediently behind them. Nick dropped the reigns and encircled his arms around Greg, holding him tight.

"Nicky?"

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I just need you to know that before we go back to the rest of the world. I love you so much."

Greg blushed, even though he knew Nick couldn't see him. He rested his now tanned hands on Nick's beautifully strong arms. "I'll never get tired of hearing you say that." He turned his head to see Nick, reaching up behind him to bring Nick's head down to his, avoiding the brim of the cowboy hat his boyfriend had parted with days ago. Their lips met in a languid kiss that seemed to last for eternity before they required air.

"And I'll never get tired of you doing that," Nick breathed.

"Good... Um, Nick? Is that who I think that is on your front porch?" From where they sat Greg could just make out three figures relaxing with what looked to be tall glasses of lemonade through the trees.

"What are they doing here?" Nick sounded as puzzled as Greg felt.

"I could really go for a lemonade. You're making me all hot and sweaty... not that I'm complaining. Do you think your mom would make me some? After all, I'm more related than they are."

"Of course she would, G. My mom loves you." Nick let him go and picked up the reigns. "Guess we'd better go say 'hi'."

"Yeah, we should. By the way, I love you too."


Warrick stood up from his chair as the two CSIs rode into the yard. "Oh my God... I think I just stumbled into Brokeback Mountain."

"It's good to see you too," Nick laughed a little. "What are you doing here?"

"Greg?" Catherine stared.

He tipped the cowboy hat on his head. "Howdy Ma'am," he said in his best Texan accent.

He heard a snort from behind him and felt Nick shaking with laughter as the rest of their coworkers looked on, amused.

"Greg... what happened to you? You're all Texified... and damn... I should have said yes to all your flirting!"

"Sorry, babe, but I worked hard for what I've got, and I'm not about to give him up." He rubbed Nick's bare arm affectionately for emphasis.

"Don't you guys get tired of seeing each other so much?" Nick asked.

"Doesn't look like you do," Sara smiled.

Greg felt a kiss land on his cheek and grinned even wider as a second blush crept over his cheeks. "Nope."

"You guys look really happy again. I'm glad."

"Thanks Sara. Coming from you, that means a lot."

Nick dismounted first and was hidden by the horse when Greg heard Mrs. Stokes from the doorway. "Gregory Hojem Sanders! Where's your shirt?! You're going to get a nasty sunburn!"

The rest of the Vegas nightshift CSI team chuckled to themselves. He blushed sheepishly for the third time, suddenly feeling underdressed in front of Nick's mom, never mind about getting a sunburn. He was glad when Nick pushed a shirt into his hands. Greg quickly took off the hat and shoved the shirt on over his head.

"How does she know my middle name, Nicky?" he asked through the side of his mouth.

"Sorry, G. She asked and I told her. I didn't know she was going to use it against you."

"Nicholas Parker Stokes!" Jillian marched around Cucumber to see Nick also pulling a shirt on over his head. "Don't think you can hide from me young man! You should know better. Do you honestly want your boyfriend to get skin cancer?"

"Mrs. S. It's ok. We only shed shirts half a mile ago."

"Don't you be making excuses for my son and your health... Wait... you're on a horse! Bill! Get out here! Greg's on Cucumber!"

"What in tarnation's going on out here, Jill? What's all the yelling about? Hey, Greg's on Cucumber!"

"That's what I just said!"

Greg still wasn't entirely comfortable on Cucumber's back, but he had improved since his first riding experience, and as long as Nick was there with him, he was more confident things would be ok.

Nick finally emerged from hiding once he'd gotten his shirt on.

"And you managed to get my boy down from those fences he was riding! Good work, son."

Greg beamed. "Told you so," he murmured to Nick once he was on the ground standing beside him.

"Yeah, you did," Nick smiled, putting an arm around his waist and pulling him close.

James appeared and took the reigns from Nick. "I'll get them washed up and put away and then I've got to get home to the wife," he said in Bill's direction.

"Sure thing, and say 'hi' for us, will you?"

"Yep."

"Come on, gang, supper's on. Why don't you all wash up and I'll get the table set."


"So, what are you guys doing here?" Nick asked again once everyone was seated around the large dining room table.

Catherine sighed. "It's a long story."

"Everyone got a little too stressed out after you left," Warrick clarified. "We were all working this crazy case. And you'd just left. Greg couldn't handle you being gone, which I think seeped into the rest of us over time. We were trying to hold it together, but everything just kinda went into a big melting pot, you know?"

"We're all on a weeks paid leave. Finally. Remember they wouldn't give us shit after we saved you."

"Ecklie wanted you on the same paid leave, Greg, he just didn't know where you were to tell you himself."

"But he doesn't know, I mean, really know, why I left. Right?"

"Hell no. We just told him we'd find you and get the message to you."

"So, you're all spending the week here?" Greg caught the hint of fear in Nick's voice at the prospect of having to continue the healing process with everyone else present.

"No man. We're all going our separate ways for the week. We just needed to tell Greg the news and wanted to see how you were doing."

Nick nodded.

"So where ya'll headed?" Bill asked, breaking into the conversation.

"Nicky, hand me that dish, I need more of this wonderful cooking!" Greg waved his hands in a "gimme now" gesture and Nick handed him the lasanga.

"Believe it or not, I signed up for a group hiking trip in New Hampshire."

"I'm going on a cruise in some nice warm southern waters. I need that tropical sun. Linds, my daughter," Catherine quickly explained for Bill and Jillian, "is staying at home with my mother. She feels very left out, but I'm planning on getting drunk at least once. Can't take her with, if that's gonna happen. I mean, they have an open bar twenty-four/seven."

"Right."

"And you, Sara dear?" Jillian asked the quiet CSI.

"I'm going to California to try and break out of my shell and figure out my life. Though I think it's gonna take more than a week to do that." Sara kept her eyes to her plate as she spoke, as if she were possibly ashamed of her social weakness.

"It might," Greg mused. "But still, good for you for trying. You'll be glad you did."

She brought her eyes up to his, "I hope so."

"I know so."

She smiled then and he returned the smile.

"What about Griss?"

"Come on," Catherine snorted. "You know him. The poor, boring, lonely soul is staying home with his family of bugs."

"Figures," Greg heard Nick mumble.

"He's not lonely... he's got his bugs."

All of the CSIs burst into laughter.

"Just don't tell him I said that."

"Won't dream of it."

A long silence of voices filled the room as forks and knives scraped against plates and Jillian's lasagna was devoured. Greg was hoping Nick had the recipe so they could experiment once they were living together again, just the two of them, but he didn't feel like that moment was the right one to ask. He didn't need anyone on the team assuming everything was ok with Nick and that he'd be back in Vegas soon, ready to work the graveyard shift once again.

"So, Nicky, when are you coming home?" Catherine asked. And there it was. No, question if he was coming back at all. Just when. Like she expected to see him back in the lab the next day. She didn't even have the decency to ask how Nick was doing first. None of them had, though Warrick had at least commented about wanting to see how he was. It wasn't enough, in Greg's mind.

Everyone turned to look expectantly at Nick, putting him under the bright spotlight. Greg too, looked at his boyfriend and waited to hear what he had to say.

"I... I... Guys, I just don't know right now." It looked as if Nick was having a hard time telling them he might never come back, but Greg didn't say anything. This was Nick's decision to make and tell the team, not his, unless they pressured him into returning sooner than he thought Nick could handle.

"You know why, don't you?" Warrick asked the others around the table with a little smirk. When he received puzzled glances, he explained, "He just wants to spend more time with the boyfriend."

It took a moment, but Nick relaxed a little and even managed a smile. "You know it."

Looking for a diversion for his brain and eyeing the rest of the garlic bread that sat on the table Greg asked his boyfriend to pass it over.

"G, one would think you hadn't eaten in months."

"Nicky," Greg gave a stern look. "When one has only had beans and rice for two weeks and is then fed amazing lasagna, this is what happens. Now, outta my way! I need that beautiful bread!"

Nick handed it over with a chuckle. "I told you, you couldn't handle real living out there."

Greg only scowled and dug into the bread with starving gusto.

"You're not coming back. Are you." It was more of a statement than a question.

Greg suddenly felt cold and no longer hungry. His hands landed in his lap and he stared at his plate. A warm, familiar hand enclosed his in its embrace under the table.

"I just don't know," Nick said, sounding much stronger than he had the first time he'd tried to explain. I don't think I'm ready, or will be anytime soon. If ever. You should know I might not make it back out into the field."

"What will you do if you don't come back?"

Worried expressions watched him carefully.

"I'm not sure, but Greg and I have been looking over the options. When we settle on something, we'll be sure to let you know."

"Greg?"

Eyes turned to him, drilling holes into his body.

"I'm sticking with him," he clarified. "Whether he goes back or not. I'm just patiently waiting until he makes a decision and lets me know."

No one's eyes left his for what seemed forever.

And then Catherine's mouth turned upward into a smile. "Please forgive my lack of patience, Nick. Greg, all I can say is between the four of us, I'm glad he's got you. I never realized..." here she trailed off, looking lost.

"I know, I've always been on the bottom rung of the ladder. No one ever really thought too much about me. It's ok. You can say it. I never meant much to you," he said, his eyes locking with hers to let her know he'd already come to terms with this a long time ago.

Nick's hand tightened around his as he intertwined their fingers together.

"You're right and I take it all back. I guess it helps to see people outside work to fully understand and appreciate them. I'll be taking a lesson from you, and learning a little patience, among other things."

"I take lessons from him everyday and it always amazes me how much he can teach me," Nick said, brutal honestly in his voice and a look of love and adoration in his beautiful brown eyes as he settled them on Greg for a moment.

"She's right, man. I'm sorry. We never should have rushed you into returning so quickly."

"We should have seen the signs..."

"There were no signs, Sara."

"Oh... God... Nick, I'm really sorry. Really, I am. I just..."

"Ok, you've all apologized. You want to take another lesson from the great Greg Sanders?"

"What could that possibly be?" Bill asked. "I thought they were doing a fine job..."

"Don't linger on things like this. You only live once. And you never know when the end will come. You've said what you needed to say. There's no need to draw it out. Speaking of drawing it out, Mrs. S, don't you have Pictionary some where around here?"

"I believe so, but why?"

"We're moving on. End everyday on a happy note, if you can. You all work the night shift. You know what can happen at night. Don't go to bed angry at someone. Don't leave work angry. You might live to regret it. Find someone or something to believe in and don't ever let go. I didn't come all the way down here to walk for days on end just to find Nick with no beliefs. I know who I believed in and I never let that go. Things are beginning to work out because of that. So, I'm proposing we clean up the table and play a little Pictionary. Have some fun. Lord knows we all need that."

"I'm all for that, G."

"I haven't played that in ages, let's go!"

"But we've got an uneven number for teams."

"Well, you can count me out. I'm not much for figuring out stick figures and things that don't even look like they're supposed to," Bill laughed. "I'll get the dishes done while ya'll have a good time."

"Well, that settles it, dear. How about us girls against the guys? We'll whip them silly!" Jillian suggested.

Warrick looked at Catherine, Sara, and Jillian. "You're on!"


As Jillian went to find the game and the rest of the CSI team helped Bill bring the dishes to the sink in the kitchen, Nick pulled Greg out to the front porch and shut the door behind them.

"Nick? I thought you wanted to play."

"I do." The older man pulled him closer. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"I'm getting that feeling."

"Have I told you how much I love you yet today?"

"Only a couple hundred times, babe. But keep going anyway."

"Well I do. I do love you." Nick gave him a chaste kiss. "I think I can do it. I think I can go back, maybe even at the end of next week. As long as you're there. Just, start with moving home and then we'll see. I still don't want to rush things."

Greg's heart swelled at the thought of Nick calling their house a home once again. But he was still a little worried over the rather quick change of his mind.

"You sure about this? Their learning patience for you won't come over night, you know."

"I know. I never said I'd go back to the job right away. I'll find something in the meantime, until I make that final decision."

"You don't have to. I've got you. Just take your time and figure everything out. Once you do, we'll go from there. Ok?"

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Only a couple thousand times."

Nick gave him another chaste kiss.

"Come on you two! Are you gonna play the game or what?" Jillian called out through the livingroom window.

"Coming, Mrs. S.!"