Taking Care

Summary: Nick takes care of Greg. NickGreg.

A.N.: This is a pre-slash fic. Blame my cousin for this idea.

---

Greg stood in his shower, absentmindedly rubbing hard at his skin to get rid of the smell and feel of the decomp case Grissom had forced him to solve. The case was going so well too. The tip Sara had given him as he was walking about of the break room to go get ready ("Smile - it represses the gag reflex") had been working. Brass hadn't made jokes about his appearance or the fact that he was left to solve this one on his own. But it was too good to be true.

He was following the coroner out of the house when he slipped on the sludge dripping from the bag they haven't shut very well. Greg knew he should have been mad, but he wasn't. At the time, it was exceedingly funny, so he joined in with the officers and Brass who were all laughing at his expense.

But now, he could feel it crawling under his skin, so he scratched at his arms and legs with his nails, hoping to rid himself of the stench of imminent death.

---

"Sanders slipped on the scene…" Nick heard as he was passing Brass talking to Grissom. He stopped and turned to Brass.

"Wasn't he working the decomp case?" Nick asked, not bothered that he was interrupting a conversation. He never cared when Grissom or Brass interrupted his conversations.

"Yeah he was. Kid joined in with the laughter, but you could tell he was scared out of his skin. I told him to go home early, get showered off and rest for the day. Said I'd talk to Grissom for him," Brass explained.

"Griss…?" Nick said, looking at Grissom pointedly.

"Go ahead Nick. It's a slow night."

Nick bade them good night (or morning in his case) and strolled out of the building.

---

He got into Greg's apartment relatively easily. One drunken night, Greg had slipped out that he hid a spare key in the lamp right next to his door. Nick had always remembered that piece of information for some reason.

Nick noted the strong scent of lemon in the air and trail of clothes to the bathroom. He followed them, having never been in Greg's apartment before till he hit the right doorway. He pushed the brown door open and was shocked at how cold the room was.

He heard sobs over the pounding of the water and grabbed a towel. He put it over his shoulder and announced his presence before scaring Greg even more than he already was.

"Greg, its Nick." Greg didn't answer him, but the sniffling stopped. "I'm coming to the shower now, okay?" More quiet, but at least Greg wasn't protesting furiously at him.

Nick slid the glass door open and stepped in. He was still fully clothed, but he didn't care. Greg was his worry at the moment, not himself. He gasped at the force of the cold water on his skin and quickly turned the water off. He wrapped the towel around Greg's blue-tinged body and pulled him out of the shower and bathroom.

"What are you doing here?" Greg asked finally through chattering teeth. Nick led him to the only other door in the hallway and pushed open the door with his back.

"I came to see how you were. Brass told me about the case," Nick replied, walking to a chest of drawers and pulling out a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt. He held them out to Greg who took them with shaking hands. When Greg was dressed, he crawled into bed and Nick took a seat on the edge.

"I'm fine. I could just still smell and feel it on my skin." Greg's eyes started to close and breathing even out.

Nick leant down and kissed Greg's forehead. He nuzzled his neck and sniffed. "You smell fine to me, G." Greg chuckled sleepily. "Shhh. You get some rest."

When Nick stood to leave the room, Greg's eyes fluttered open. "Stay."

Nick turned and smiled before taking his shoes off and climbing into the opposite side of Greg's bed. "Always."

Greg put his back to Nick's chest and threaded his fingers through the hand that Nick had put around Greg's waist to hold him. "Thank you."

" 'welcome," Nick replied quietly, before kissing Greg's neck and falling asleep.

---

The glorius ending!