CSI: Braden Sanders-Stokes: Scared

A/N: I must thank Ama.Dear for the information that the day the boys celebrated in the last chapter is actually called the "Gotcha Day" because it's the day the parents "Gotcha". Cute, huh? Yeah, I thought so too.

Summary: Nick is offered a promotion at work which would mean changes Greg isn't willing to accept. Braden is eight years old, in this, the tenth chapter.

"So what did Grissom want to talk about earlier that took so long?" Greg asked as he dried the last of the dinner dishes Nick handed him.

"I do need to talk to you about that." Nick rung out the dish cloth and draped it over the faucet before grabbing the sponge and wiping down the counter.

"So talk."

Nick stopped and turned to face Greg. "They want to promote me to supervisor," he breathed out in one quick rush.

Greg's eyes searched his face for any hints of a lie or a joke, and when he didn't find any, a bright smile curved at his lips. "Wow... Are you serious?" But then he stopped to think about it. "Wait... what about Grissom? Where's he going?"

"I can't be your supervisor, G. I don't want to be either."

"But..."

"Dayshift needs someone."

Greg took a step back.

"Ecklie thinks I'm capable."

His husband's eyes widened. "What did you tell him?"

"That I'd talk to you and think about it."

Worry creased his brow.

"G, do you know what this means?" he sounded hopeful, even to himself.

"I'll loose you."

Nick was confused. "What?" He'd been sure Greg would be happy for him, for this promotion. There were so many good things it could mean for their family. He lifted Greg's chin so he could see his face and his beautiful brown eyes which had gone dark. "Babe?"

Conflicting emotions clouded his eyes. "No. I have to say no."

"But..."

"No!" Greg pushed Nick away.

"Don't you understand what this means for me?! Don't you remember how long it took Griss to let me work solo?!"

"Of course I do! You know he made me wait longer!"

"Then why are you saying no?" Nick wasn't sure at which point their voices rose to a shouting match, but he was too confused to care. Why wasn't Greg happy about this? For him?

Somewhere in the otherwise dark house Comet barked in response to their raised voices.

"Comet! Shush!"

The dog was silent.

"Grissom never leaves his desk! He works longer hours than we do! And the same thing happened when Catherine was head of swing shift! I don't want that to be you! And I know you won't be happy behind a desk pushing papers all day!"

"I won't be pushing papers all day. And how do you know I won't be happy? How could you ever know a thing like that? I want this!"

"You used to say I knew you so well! Better even, than you knew yourself! So, what happened? Huh? What happened to that, Nicholas!"

In the darkness of the livingroom Comet whined.

"Hush!" Nick hissed.

The Greyhound stopped her worried whining.

"Greg, please..."

The front door slammed shut and both men's heads shot up and swivelled toward the livingroom.

"Braden?"

"Comet?"

Greg ran upstairs while Nick dashed into the livingroom, flipping on the lights as he went. The room was empty. Greg's face was pale as he nearly fell down the stairs.

"He's not in bed... or the bathroom..."

Panic flew into Nick, swirled around his head until he was nearly blind. "Did you check the other rooms?"

Greg nodded.

Finding the door knob he yanked it open and ran outside. The darkness was thick, like a choking scarf not even the moon could penetrate.

"Braid?" he was surprised at how normal his voice sounded as his heart raced.

No one was in their backyard. No one was behind the pile of lumber Nick had assembled to build the tree house Braden wanted.

Greg's breathing came in gasps behind him and as he turned, Greg was already running, frantically searching for their son. "Braden? Braid?" worry laced his voice, and then he choked, whirled around. "Kidnappers."

"No, Greg." Nick stepped forward to meet him, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Don't think like that, G. Come on, he can't be far."

Together, they walked down the street, each calling Braden's name in different directions.

"Greg? Nick?" A car door slammed shut somewhere nearby.

Both men turned to see Bobby Dawson just getting out of his car wearing a suit and loose tie.

"Bobby? What's with the duds?"

"I'm just getting back from work. Had to go to court for a high profile case. What're you two up to?"

Nick felt Greg shudder beside him "We're looking for Braden. He was there... and then he wasn't."

"That doesn't sound like him."

"I know."

"Comet with him?"

"Yeah, we think so."

"Let me change my clothes and we'll all help you look. He shouldn't be out alone this late at night."

Relief flooded through Nick at the thought of help, though his stomach was still doing flip flops all over the place. He tried not to think about someone deliberately wanting to kidnap and harm their son, but since the idea had entered his brain, it seemed to find it a cozy home and wouldn't leave. Many people in the city would have reason enough to hate them and some of the criminals they'd helped put away would be willing, if given the chance, to hurt them in any way possible. Nick shook the idea out of his head.

Sitting in the Dawson's livingroom with Jack and Austin while they waited for Bobby to change, Greg sat beside him, leaning into him, trying to hold himself together.

"Did you check the park?" Austin asked.

Nick looked up at her quizzically.

"I ran away once. Hid in the park. There's lots of good places to hide in the park."

"Worst nightmare of my life," Jack said quietly, and Nick understood exactly what he'd gone through.

Greg was still trembling when Bobby returned dressed more appropriately in jeans and a t-shirt. "Don't worry, Greg. We'll find him," Bobby said.

Nick looked at the man ensconced in his arms, realizing his husband's face was now as white as a sheet. "Greg?"

He was staring off into space.

"G..."

"It's ok. I'm ok. Can we go now?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

The five of them split up so no matter which group found him first, one of his fathers would be there. Greg and Bobby headed in one direction while Nick, Jack, and Austin backtracked past the Sanders-Stokes house to the park.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. Braden was in bed. Greg and I were talking... I guess it escalated to an argument." Nick stopped at the edge of the playground. "We hardly ever fight..."

Austin looked up at him sympathetically before moving away to search for the boy.

"Come," Jack ushered Nick forward and began calling Braden's name.

Austin was calling Comet.

An urgent bark came from the trees on the other side of the park. Nick's head shot up, eyes wide. He began running for them before he even knew what was happening, running through the playground, pushing swings aside, hoping over the lower end on a teeter totter. He started to fear the worst when Comet barked again. And he was sure it was Comet, even though he'd only heard the Greyhound bark once or twice before that night. A sniffle caught his ear and he crashed through the trees, not caring if possible kidnappers had guns and the guts to shoot him.

What he found almost broke his heart. Braden was sitting on the ground, his arms wrapped around Comet's neck. His tear stained face was buried in the dog's fur. No one else was present. Comet whined when she saw Nick, falling to his knees in front of the boy.

"Da?" Braden raised his head to see him.

"I'm right here, Braid... I'm here... I'm here..." he repeated, as if trying to reassure himself as well as his son. "Are you ok?"

The boy nodded, moving to Nick, asking to be held close in that silent way he would press the side of his face into Nick's chest, holding his arms close to his own. Nick remembered this all too well from past experiences with nightmares.

"Are you still mad?"

"What?! You think I'm mad at you? Why would you think..."

"You and Daddy were yelling."

Clutching his son to him, he took in a deep ragged breath, remembering the argument with Greg not that long ago.

"We... we were just disagreeing on something. It had nothing to do with you, I promise."

"You sure?"

Nick picked Braden up and turned to walk back to the park. But as he turned, Greg was standing there, blocking his path and breathing hard, as if he'd just run a mile in ten seconds.

"Positive. We're ok. It was nothing. Stupid, really. Nothing at all," Nick assured him.

Then Greg was moving forward, looking from his husband to his son with questioning eyes.

"He's fine. Still weighs a ton since the last time I checked, but otherwise..."

"Da!" Braden looked up at him.

Nick grinned, relief finally flooding his body. "Yeah, I know. You're getting big like me."

"Put me down! I can walk! I'm not a baby anymore!"

"Ok, ok." Nick set him down. "Phew."

Braden turned to leave the trees when he saw Greg and the odd mixture of emotions sliding over his face. "Daddy?"

"Don't ever scare me like that again. Do you hear me?"

The boy nodded. "But you scared me first."

"I'm sorry for that," Greg welcomed him into his own arms for a brief hug. "Your Da was right. It was over something stupidly small and... I'm just glad nothing happened to you."

"I don't like it when you yell."

Greg sighed. "Neither do we. We didn't plan for that to happen. It just did. And I can't promise it won't happen again. Arguing is part of life, part of living with other people, having to make sacrifices for them, even when you don't want to, or somehow reaching middle ground together. That's just the way it goes. Ok?"

"I guess."

"Don't you see kids fight at school?" Austin suddenly spoke up. She was standing not too far away near her parents.

Braden nodded. "Yeah. But that's different. I don't live with them. I can go home and get away from them. But at home, I have no where else to go."

"Good point."

With Comet's leash in one hand, Nick ushered both boys back out to the open space of the park where the other three were waiting for them. "You can't run away, Braid. But if it ever happens again, you can always tell us to tone it down. Though I hope you never have to."

"I can?"

"What? You think we won't listen to you?"

"Well..."

"What did you beg us to get you for your last birthday?" Greg asked, the timber of his voice much cheerier than it had been.

"The Ninja Turtles movie!"

"And what did you get?"

Braden thought about it. But it was clear he was thinking over more than just the second question Greg had asked him. "You'll really listen to me like that?"

"Without a doubt, kiddo."

Braden nodded solemnly. "Ok. Can we go home now?"

"Yeah, let's go home."

Nick lay on his back in bed, with Greg burrowed into his side, their arms wrapped around each other. He felt the other man shiver beside him.

"Nick, I'm gonna be sick. I really think I am," Greg mumbled against him in the four am darkness.

"Shhh, it's gonna be ok."

"Forget what I said earlier. Take the promotion. I'm really, really proud of you. I should have said that before. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so selfish."

"But you were right."

"No I wasn't. You deserve this promotion like no one else and I was just being stupid."

"And now you're wrong, babe. Tonight made me think. If I took that promotion we'd be on different shifts. We'd never see each other. And that would kill me. I don't want to be stuck only seeing you for five minutes when you get home from work just before I leave. I'll tell Ecklie tomorrow to pick someone else."

"But if you did take it we wouldn't need a babysitter. Nick, you could be here with Braden at night and I could..."

"Stop. No. Because what time would we have together as a family?" Unable to kiss his well-buried husband he settled for an ear caress instead.

"Da?"

Nick turned his head at the small voice to see Braden in the doorway.

"Can't sleep."

"That's ok. Come on up. We can't either."

Greg looked up then. "Hey kiddo."

"Hi Daddy."

Braden climbed up beside Nick, opposite Greg and wrapped his arms around his father.

"Don't split up," he said. "I love you together. Not apart."

Greg shifted until he could see Nick's face and gave a slight smile. "That's two against one. How can I compete with that?"

Nick ruffled the hair on each of their heads at the same time. "You're not supposed to."

A/N: Hey guys! Great news to deliver... I'm moving! Finally getting my own apartment... goodbye roommates! What does this mean for you? My internet will be shut off tomorrow and so I won't have internet until Monday afternoon after I move. And, I imagine I'll be busy most of the week unpacking everything. So, you probably won't hear from me much. But I can't wait to read your wonderful reviews, and I promise to get back on The Fort once all the commotion dies down. If you're in the States, have a great holiday weekend!