Title: Amor vincit omnia

Summary: AU. When Gregorius, a Servant for an influential Senator, is thrown into the life of Nikolai, the greatest gladiator in Rome, their lives and the Roman society around them are cast into turmoil. Nick/Greg slash.

Warnings: Suggestions of non-con

Disclaimer: CSI is not mine, neither are the chapter titles

Chapter 1/10

Chapter II: A Man for the People:

Stomping footsteps woke Nik from his light slumber. He opened his eyes and waited for the fog to clear. Quickly remembering his situation he gently kicked the arm of the form sleeping against the foot of his bed.

"Greg." He whispered and kicked the arm again.

Greg raised his head from the bed and smiled as he opened his eyes. "Hi."

"Take your tunic off." Nik said urgently, the footsteps getting closer.

"What?" Greg asked, his brow furrowed.

"The guard is coming!" Nik implored his younger companion to understand that they needed to make this look convincing.

"Oh right." Greg muttered as he stumbled to his feet and grabbed at the bottom of his tunic.

Nik averted his eyes as Greg pulled the tunic over his head; he wasn't about to take advantage of the young man now when he'd spent last night explaining he wouldn't. He grabbed out blindly and reached Greg's arm, pulling Greg down over the top of him to settle against his side. He closed his eyes to feign sleep.

He heard the door unlock and open, the guard grunted. "Time to go." The door closed again.

Nik slowly opened his eyes, his proximity to Greg's naked body suddenly making him nervous. He could easily reach out and take what had been on offer to him. Greg's big, brown eyes were staring back at him, inches away. Time froze as he searched those eyes, someone had once described the eyes to him as the window to the soul and he decided that was true of Greg. They were warm and open, and nothing could describe Greg better than that.

Greg's hand slapped against Nik's chest, jerking him from his soul searching.

"Why was I the only one to get naked?" Greg asked with a sly smile as he hesitantly removed himself from Nik's side. Nik felt cold.

Greg pulled his tunic back down and Nik concentrated on his face, forcing his eyes not to roam any lower. "Um…" Sentences were too difficult for his brain to contemplate at the moment.

Greg knocked on the cell door to let the guard know he was ready.

"You can come to the kitchens for some lunch if you want, my mother saves the leftovers for us." Greg invited him.

The door opened and Greg left before Nik could nod his answer.

….

Greg walked with a skip in his step as he made his way to the room he deemed 'his'. The Senator had given him permission to use one of the spare rooms to set up his 'little business' as the Senator called it. With the help of Archie he'd acquired a table and a few chairs, plus some shelves to put his documents on, he hoped it helped to make him look official. He was proud that the Senator had given him the opportunity to make something of himself; his mother had always said he was destined to be more than a servant. He'd let his brain drift off and dream about it, but he'd never believed it could actually happen, until now.

The guard had told him two clients were waiting for him. Important clients that the Senator wanted him to impress.

Greg smiled as he entered his room, "Good morning Senator Grissomo, Lady Sara." He greeted the couple waiting for him.

"Gregorius." Grissomo acknowledged him with a nod, while Sara smiled, a genuine sparkle in her eyes.

"Please take a seat." Greg gestured to the chairs sat in from of his desk as he made his way behind it. He didn't have a chair of his own, he moved around too much to ever actually sit on one.

"It's good to see you again, Greg." Sara said as the couple took their seats.

For a woman of status Lady Sara was not the most elegant, but that was part of her charm. She was beautiful, with long legs to die for, but her movement was awkward and her tone of voice harsh. It made her interesting, in Greg's opinion. He'd met the couple a few times during dinner parties he'd served on at Senator Atwatus' house. He liked Sara. She wasn't afraid to say what she thought, even in a room full of men who didn't value her opinion. She always treated Greg just like she treated everybody else, especially when she was in a mood and glared at his cheesy jokes. Grissomo was a good Senator and a good man; there was no one that Greg respected more. He wasn't big on small talk so Greg had never chatted much to him; Greg liked that about him though. The other Senators were all charm and camouflage to hide their ulterior motives. Grissomo, however, always said it as it was, succinctly. He was intelligent and aloof, it made his fellow Senators cautious of him, they were scared that he might actually make a difference.

"What can I do for you?" Greg asked.

"Senator Atwatus was telling us about the work you did on his ancestry, we would like you to look into Senator Grissomo's." Sara explained.

"Could you show us what you've done previously?" Grissomo asked.

"Of course." Greg's eyes lit up at the chance to present his work. He reached behind him onto the shelves and pulled out two sets of scrolls.

He swivelled on his feet as he turned to place the scrolls on the desk. He saw Sara's mouth quirk in amusement. He liked to entertain.

"This," Greg said as he spread a scroll out in front of his audience, "is what I started with, the family that Senator Atwatus already knew of." He gestured at the diagram on the scroll. Drawing wasn't his strong point, but Archie had helped him to spruce up the final charts for the Senator.

"And this," Greg triumphantly opened up the second scroll and spread it on top of the first, "is the finished parchment."

"Wow." Sara drew the word out.

Greg remained silent as his clients perused the complex diagram; he was proud of his work and enjoyed seeing how impressed people were.

Grissomo's finger stopped over a name, "General Ecklius is Atwatus' cousin?"

"Yes, the Senator took particular interest in that too." Greg confirmed, "I think he contacted him about it."

Greg could tell the news had rattled the couple, why, he didn't know, and despite his yearning to find out, it wasn't his place to ask.

"So, how did you find all this out?" Grissomo changed the subject.

A look of genuine curiosity from Sara shook off Greg's uneasiness. "Well…"

….

"Nikolai." Senator Atwatus greeted Nik with a wide smile. They joined into step as they walked through the courtyard of Senator Atwatus' grounds.

Nik sucked in a quick, nervous breath; he needed to get this over with.

"Good day to you Senator. Thank you for your gift last night." Nik forced his chin up to keep his head held high, he wouldn't let the shame he felt be seen. He might not be grateful for his supposed 'gift', but he knew it would do him no good for the Senator to find that out.

"Ah good!" Atwatus slapped Nik on the back joyfully, as though they were good friends. Nik flinched at the contact. "I knew he would be a good choice for you."

Nik smiled awkwardly. He knew he needed to say something else, but what? That he'd spent the night talking to a complete stranger more than he talked to anyone in years, let alone talking about his life and still feeling comfortable in the conversation. That he'd spent every moment since Greg left his cell thinking of those brown, expressive eyes. Nik almost stopped walking as he realised how true that was.

He wished he were a better liar, or at least a better talker. Greg would have had the Senator hanging on his every word, spinning a tale of wonder and excitement.

"Nik?" The Senator's voice broke through his reverie.

Atwatus chuckled, "Reminiscing about your pleasurable night already?" Atwatus' voice dripped with delight. "I shall have to keep an eye on that boy."

Nik cringed as the Senator winked at him. He hoped the Senator wouldn't keep an eye on Greg; nothing good could come of that.

"Get back to your cell." Atwatus ordered. "You have visitors."

…

"How is your Mother doing, Greg?" Grissomo asked.

"She's doing well, she's looking forward to the next time she can cook for you. She always enjoys cooking food for Sara's palette and watching the reaction of the men." Grissomo nodded, Greg could tell he wasn't really interested in the answer. Sara was amused at least.

"So, why are you really here? I'm guessing it's not because Sara's suddenly embraced my irresistible charm and wants to run away with me?" Greg winced playfully at Sara.

"Sorry Greg, we've been over this before, you're just not wealthy enough for me." Sara smiled back.

Greg mimed sticking a knife in his chest and groaned, "You wound me, Sara." Knowing full well that wealth didn't matter to her at all.

Sara laughed and showed her tooth gaped grin.

"What makes you ask that, Greg?" Grissomo asked.

"Because you made small talk," Greg said, looking at the Senator, "and as much as you tried to hide your discomfort, you're as good at that as you are at small talk." Greg explained, his hands getting sweaty as he worried he'd over stepped his bounds with the powerful Senator.

Grissomo smiled, "You read people well."

Sara nodded to Grissomo at his unasked question; Greg hoped it was in affirmation that he could be trusted.

"We needed to visit someone here, but didn't want to raise suspicions from Atwatus."

"I thought," Sara jumped in, "it would be the perfect opportunity to help your business, Atwatus has been boasting about you to anyone who would listen."

Greg smiled appreciatively at Sara. He'd never had a friend who wasn't a servant or someone of his equal stature, but it felt like Sara cared for him beyond what she could order him to do.

"It turned out that you were incredibly helpful." Grissomo added.

He was? Greg beamed. "I was?"

"You were." Grissomo confirmed. His mouth quirked up into a knowing smile, Greg could tell Grissomo knew he wanted to know how he helped, but he wasn't going to provide an answer.

"We must be going." Grissomo said as he stood.

"Thank you Greg, see you soon." Sara smiled warmly as she left.

…..

Nik sat in his cell, nervously awaiting his visitors. Official visitors who had to meet him in his cell always made him nervous. It was either a powerful woman requesting some 'alone' time with a gladiator, or a man clinging to his power by trying to fix a fight in the arena for him to bet on. Either way, he wasn't interested, but that didn't stop them trying.

He stood as the door opened and two figures entered. He sighed in relief upon seeing Senator Grissomo and his wife, Sara. It had been many years since he'd last spoken to them, but he knew Sara was definitely not interested in spending the night with him. Her frosty exterior had initially caused the gladiator to dislike her, but he realised her demeanour was not directed at him personally, rather a defence mechanism towards any new person. Senator Grissomo was a conundrum to him. For such a powerful man his manner was controlled, yet it demanded respect without threat or ego. Nik didn't know how Grissomo expected him to react.

"Nikolai, we cannot stay long." Grissomo said, immediately pushing aside any need for pleasantries. "The Emperor trusts you, and we need somebody we can trust."

"The Emperor?" Nik clarified, nerves firing back over his body as he realised this meeting was something else entirely from what he had anticipated.

"Yes." Grissomo nodded. "Can we trust you with the Emperor's life?"

"Of course." Nik immediately replied, it wasn't a question he needed to consider the answer to, the Emperor's safety was more important than anything.

"What is this about?" Nik asked.

"How has Atwatus been? Any unusual behaviour?" Sara asked, her arm looped in Grissomo's.

"Erm," Nik considered, taking note that his question had been deflected. "Yes, he has. He's been… happy… excited even, and he's been nice to me, too nice."

Grissomo and Sara looked at each other, sharing their thoughts without talking. It made Nik jealous, he'd never felt the loss of not having someone close to him until now, now he suddenly wanted that connection, wanted to feel like he knew somebody better than he knew himself. He'd long ago resigned himself to a lonely life, he'd been content, but seeing this couple before him, so in tune with each other, made him yearn for more.

"What is this about?" Nik asked again.

"We have heard rumours that Senator Atwatus is plotting against the Emperor." Grissomo explained.

Nik felt his knees shake but his legs were like lead glued to the floor. He knew Atwatus was a bastard; he'd never liked him, but to plot against the Emperor? He wouldn't have the balls. Would he?

"Are you sure?" Nik asked, looking up at the couple incredulously.

"We weren't." Grissomo admitted. "We'd heard of a legion marching from the south on Atwatus' orders, but we didn't think he had enough influence over the army."

"Until now," Sara expanded, "We just learnt that Atwatus is related to General Ecklius and has recently been in contact with him. Ecklius' legion is in the south."

"You think he's marching here to over power the Emperor?" Nik needed to say it out loud to comprehend it.

"Yes." Grissomo confirmed.

"How… how do you know about Ecklius?"

"We just found out today…"

Nik interrupted Sara mid-flow; "Greg… Gregorius. He found it." Nik said, putting the dots together himself. "You saw Greg this morning."

"We did." Grissomo nodded.

"You didn't involve him did you?" Nik asked, suddenly hit by a pang of worry, he didn't want Greg caught up in this.

"No. He knew something was going on, he's perceptive, but he doesn't know what." Grissomo laid Nik's worries to rest.

"Good. What do you want with me?" He held no influence over Atwatus or the Emperor, what could he do that a powerful Senator couldn't?

"We want you to listen, and if you find out anything, let us know." Sara said, "We need to know when Ecklius will get here."

"Are there any legions here, in Rome, to defend the Emperor?" Nik asked.

"The Emperor does not keep his legions in Rome." Grissomo said. Nik nodded, knowing it was true. "However, General Brassius is on his way back from victory in England. Now that we know the threat is real, we will send word to him."

Nik had heard of General Brassius and from what he'd heard this was definitely good news, he would be a strong ally of the Emperor.

The guard opened the door to Nik's cell and told them it was time to go.

"When we come to see Greg, we will visit you." Sara told him, "Thank you, Nikolai."

They walked out of his cell arm in arm.

Nik sat back on his cot and brought his hands to his face. He'd noticed the change in Atwatus towards him but had thought it was due to the fights the Emperor was putting on, where he could win his freedom. He should have picked up that there was more to it, Atwatus had always been ambitious beyond his means. With Ecklius in tow he now had the means and was ready to unleash them.

Nik felt the warmth of the sun on his hands. He looked towards the window and realised it was time for lunch. He smiled.

TBC…