Nick went to work so he could focus on finding the others who violated Greg now that one of them was taken off the streets. He had to do something for Greg and he figured this was the one thing that he could do for him. That way he wouldn't have to be scared about Jasper still possibly wanting to come after him.
"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were spending time with Greg?" Sara asked Nick as he entered the locker room to grab his CSI Vest.
"I was with him, but you know he is still pretty weak and sleeps a lot, so I decided to come in for a few hours and help out to find the other two guys, now that one has been caught," he told her with half-truths. He was ashamed to tell her the full truth.
Sara knew him better than he thought. She knew he was there for other reasons. "You know, for months you couldn't wait to find him. I remember you saying you were never going to let him out of your sight if you found him alive. Well you did and here you are, out of his sight."
He looked at her and sighed. He sat down on the bench and rubbed his hands over his face. "Sara, I am a total asshole. I said something to him today that I know really hurt him. He's already hurting so much and I made things worse. I feel like the worst person ever. I just couldn't sit there and act like nothing happened. I had to get away for a bit."
Sara sat down next to him. "Nick, you might have said something terrible to him, but running away from him now is not the thing to do. He needs you. He needs to know you will protect him right now. Like you said, he is already hurting, he is still very fragile. You keep disappearing on him, leaving him alone; he might feel abandoned by you."
He shook his head. "Not right now, I just can't be there. Trust me, I will make things worse right now. I'll be there first thing in the morning."
Sara sighed. "Well, I think he could use you right now but if you are not comfortable around him then perhaps you should stay away. He doesn't need to feel any worse. I just hope you realize that. Well I got some evidence to check on with Henry. I'll see you later on." She left him sitting on the bench in thought.
Deep down he knew she was right, Greg was still very vulnerable and leaving him like he did had to have affected him. He wanted to kick himself. He was making all the wrong moves, only making things worse. For now, he would focus on finding out where Jasper Marks was. If he ever found him alone, he was not sure what he would do to the guy.
Greg walked back to his bed, with assistance from his physical therapist. It was the next morning and he just had his first session and he ached all over. He never realized how much weight and muscle he had lost until he saw himself in the mirror in the therapy room. He hardly recognized himself. Then on top of that, because he hardly had much chance to walk much when he was held captive, his was weak and needed to be able to regain enough strength to walk without his legs getting wobbly. After spending so much time on his knees, they had become a little messed up too. His therapist warned him in the distant future he might have to have surgery on his knees if he remains in pain while walking but hopefully with good exercise he would not need it. He was grateful he had the nasty mattress only because his knees would have been much worse.
"Thanks Misty," he said to his physical therapist before she left.
"See you tomorrow, Greg. Get some rest." He waited for her to leave before getting back up and slowly making his way to the bathroom in his room. Prior to today, he had avoided looking at his reflection in the mirror. Now after seeing himself in the full mirror in the workout room, he wanted to take a better look at himself in the mirror in the bathroom.
He walked up to the sink after turning on the light and used it for support at he stared at himself. His face hardly had any bruises left, but he still looked pale and almost anorexic. He looked at the bandage still around his neck. He lifted his hand and touched it. He knew it would leave some scarring, always reminding him that he was Jasper's at one time.
He woke up to mostly darkness. A small stream of light was coming in from a crack in a covered up small window on the other side of the room he was in. It was musty smelling and cold wherever he was. He felt something around his neck and reached up and felt the collar around his neck. He started to panic and got up and noticed he was only in his pants. His shirt had been removed. He felt the tug on the collar and felt for the chain that held him from going very far. He tried yanking on the chain but there was no give. He yelled for help but there was no one to hear him. His fingers felt around the collar frantically, trying to see if there was a way to get the collar off him. The more he yanked on it; he noticed there was something on the inside of the collar digging into his skin.
He saw something on the ground and realized it was a small mattress. He had not been laying on it when he woke up though. Nearby there was a sink and toilet. He went over and ran the water a little. The toilet seemed to be in working order. He used the bit of light to try to see what else there might have been there but he could not see anything else. His throat was dry so he cupped his hands and took some water from the sink to drink.
He spent at least an hour or more trying to free himself, to no avail when suddenly he heard noise from above. He started screaming for help. He heard a door open and footsteps come down. A light came on and he squinted from the light and then he saw someone coming into view. When he saw who it was, he almost wished no one had come down.
The tall, muscular, blonde haired man smiled at him with malice. "I see you finally woke up, my little Greg. It's been way too long." He walked up to Greg as he backed into the corner.
"Why are you backing away from me? I thought you cared for me at one time. At one time you came crawling to me, but don't worry, soon you will be again."
"Jasper, what do you want from me?" Greg finally asked at seeing his former boyfriend.
Jasper got right in Greg's face and glared at him. "It's time for payback, bitch!" Suddenly he punched Greg in the face with such force, he fell to the ground. Next thing Greg knew he was being kicked in the ribs. He felt pain as he knew a rib cracked.
Next thing he knew, he was on his back, with Jasper straddling over him. Jasper was staring down at him maliciously. "You know what; I got a taste of what it was like to be a subordinate while in prison. I didn't enjoy it and it's your entire fault. It's time for you to be on the bottom again, my slave".
Greg struggled to free himself from under him by hitting him with his fists. Jasper leaned back and reached behind him and pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket. "I won't have any of that." He grabbed his left wrist and latched a cuff around it and then pulled it back behind his head. Then he grabbed his other wrist and cuffed it. He had made it so that the cuffs were behind the chain that went to his collar, preventing him from pulling them over his head.
Jasper smiled now as he knew he had control. He pressed his hand down on Greg's chest and then moved down until he reached his waistband. He smirked and started undoing Greg's pants. Greg squirmed under him, trying to stop him but he couldn't. "Get your hands off me, you bastard!" Greg screamed at him. Next thing he knew Jasper had him stripped down naked. "This is how I like you, all flesh, all mine."
He sat up over him and undid his own pants, setting free his hard cock. "Open up, boy!" He grinned maliciously down at Greg.
"Fuck you!" Greg yelled and then clamped his mouth shut.
Jasper just grinned. "Oh no, you will learn, it will be you being fucked." He slapped him on the mouth and told him to open up. Greg still refused even though he knew he would eventually lose this fight. He prayed someone would find him soon.
He felt fingers digging into his hair and pulling back hard. He screamed in pain and the next thing he knew his mouth was filled with Jasper's hard cock. "Suck it like you use to, Greggy," he heard Jasper say over him.
Greg just wondered how long this would go on. He never dreamed it would go on as long as it did.
"Greg? Greg!" he heard and suddenly felt someone behind him. "Don't touch me!" He yelled as he tried to turn around and lost his footing on his unsteady legs. He felt someone put his arms around him as he almost fell to the ground. He started squirming to get free. "Let me go! Stop it!"
Nick had come in to visit his boyfriend. When he saw his bed empty he looked over and saw the light on in the bathroom and went over to it to see Greg standing, staring in the mirror. He seemed to be in a daze of some sort and his face was expressionless. He decided to get his attention by saying his name but when he was not responding he got worried and came up closer behind him when suddenly Greg turned around and almost fell. He went to grab him from falling to the ground when he started yelling at him.
Nick was at a loss at what to do when he started fighting him to let him go. "Greg, it's just me, Nick. It's Nick," he yelled at him. It really scared him to see Greg get in such a state that he didn't know who he was dealing with. The good part was that Greg was still so weak his fighting was futile and so he took him over to his bed. He noticed Greg stopped fighting him and stopped yelling as they approached the bed.
He sat him down on the bed and noticed that Greg was staring at him with shock. "Nick?" he asked with a tiny tremor in his voice.
"Yeah, it's just me."
"Oh God!" He buried his head in his hands. "Oh God, I am so sorry. I thought…I'm sorry I fought you." He started sobbing.
"No, shhhh, it's okay," he cooed as he sat next to him on the bed. He was afraid to touch him, fearing it might trigger another reaction, so he just sat there speaking to him. "Don't worry about it, Greg. I understand."
But Greg shook his head. "No, you don't. I can't stop thinking about it. It sucks me in and I think I am there again and they are…" He didn't finish his sentence. He couldn't say it aloud.
"Look why don't you just lay back down and try to relax. You keep working yourself up and you will never fully recover if you keep doing that," Nick tried telling him.
Greg finally nodded in agreement. Nick got up and helped get him into bed properly. He couldn't help but notice one of the bad burns that was partially healing on his leg before he pulled it up under the sheets. He remembered seeing numerous cuts and burns all over his body when the first found him but so many were coated over with dried blood and dirt he was not really sure how bad they were. Now he could see how the more visible ones were. He had yet to see the ones on his back and chest. He shook his head, trying not to think of all that right now. Greg was in need of attention.
Greg looked sheepishly at Nick. "I'm a mess, aren't I," he stated more as a fact then a question.
Nick gave him a small smile. "You might be a mess, but you're my mess and I wouldn't trade you for anything." His boyfriend smiled a little.
"Thanks, I needed that because I started wondering if you wouldn't be better without me," he said as he looked down and picked at the bandage on his left wrist.
Nick grabbed his right hand to stop him from what he was doing and held it. "Don't think that. You have no idea how happy I was to see you were still alive. I had feared the worst that when I found you, you might be dead. You're here alive and maybe not in the best of shape but you are here and that's all that matters to me. I did not lose you. I love you, Greg. I just wish there was more I could do for you. I hate seeing you suffer so much."
Greg shrugged. "I'm better than I was, it's just I have these moments that just…I dunno, overwhelm me."
Nick looked into those big, sad brown eyes and wished that he could make all the pain and horrible memories go away. "I know but things will get better with time. Memories fade, I know."
Greg knew he was talking about when he was buried alive and he knew he had nightmares from that long after, even recently on occasion. "I know, but this is a bit different Nick. I mean not to diminish what happened to you, but the period of time is vastly different. The circumstances are different," he said empathetically.
"I know that, I know this is different. I wasn't comparing, I was just simply saying, things will get better over time," he told him with a bit of impatience.
Greg looked away, towards the window. He wanted to change the subject. "You know, my doc says I might be going home by the end of the week."
"Well, that's great news. Why don't you seem happier about it?" Nick asked.
He was looking out the window still. "It's just that…he knows where I lived, he grabbed me there. I guess I am just scared that he might return for me."
Nick could hear it clearly in his voice now, the uncertainty; the fear. "I know that now. I've had all the locks changed and installed security system with a camera out front. I don't want you to not feel safe in your own house."
Greg finally turned and looked at Nick again. "Really? You did all that for me?"
Nick smiled at him. "Of course I did. It'll all be done by the time you get home." He had actually thought about it while at work the night before and decided to call and get it done ASAP.
"Thanks, Nicky. It means a lot," he said with a tiny smile. Then he proceeded to yawn. "Is it okay if I catch some sleep? I'm pretty tired since I had my physical therapy session."
"Sure, G. You go get some sleep. I'll stick around, so don't worry. This chair is use to me sleeping in it lately," he smiled.
"Okay, sleepy time then," he said as he yawned again before closing his eyes.
"Sleep well, Greg," Nick whispered as he stared at the man he loved. He had been through so much. He deserved a good homecoming at least and to feel safe there. He hated that Jasper knew where they lived, but he didn't think that man was stupid enough to show up there again, knowing they were looking for him. If anything, Nick planned on taking a couple days off when Greg first came home, so he could be there for him.
He had done a lot of thinking after his previous talk with Sara and knew she was right in that he had to be his priority. As much as he wanted to still find Jasper and Chris, he knew he was needed by Greg more. When he saw him freak out in the bathroom, he knew he had a long road ahead with Greg. He only wished he could get him to open up more. It worried him that he was not willing to talk much overall about what happened. He felt that the worst was still yet to come in regards to Greg dealing with all that happened.
He closed his own eyes, saying a silent prayer that Greg would be able to get past of this someday.
Hope you all are enjoying it so far. Reviews are appreciated! TBC...