A/N: I was slightly terrified to post this, because I kept working at it and it never seemed good enough... until my brother finally gave me a round-house kick to the head. Suddenly, it was worthy of Eliot and Yeats. :D

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Put Into Play
Part 3

He doesn't know when it happened.

When he and David Hodges became friends.

Not forced friends or mere acquaintances, but honest-to-God friends who went out to breakfast without pretence and shared coffee while swapping horror stories and laughs. He was sure it happened during April, but had he known it would be so easy, so nice, he would’ve done it much sooner. Three years ago sooner, to be exact, but he’s just glad it happened. The only thing that concerned him, or bothered, or whatever, was that April was winding down. Soccer would be gone, the park would disappear, and Saturdays spent doing nothing but watching David and Jacqui try to win the infinite Battle of the Sexes would all be over.

But Nick hoped that just because May was approaching didn’t mean he and David –actually, the CSIs and lab rats- had to lose the friendship that formed. To be truthful, he was thrilled when David offered to drive him to Natalie’s final match. He even told Nick where he kept the spare key to his apartment (beneath the fire extinguisher), an unspoken offering that said Come by whenever you want. Nick hoped he didn’t appear too eager when he accepted this.

He was admittedly early the morning of Natalie’s last game. Too early, probably, considering David wasn’t even out of bed when Nick opened the door with the key he’d found under the extinguisher, as promised. This ended up being a good thing, because Natalie was already dressed in her uniform and staring out the dining room window. Bearing in mind that it was the day of “The Big Game” (Greg enjoyed labeling things, it seemed), Nick wasn’t too surprised to see Natalie was an anxious, excited ball of nerves. She was delighted to see Nick and then proceeded to beg him to practice with her. Who was he to say no? Besides, he could tell she desperately needed to expend some of her surplus tension, so he left a Post It on the coffee maker explaining where they were before taking her down to practice in the front yard of the complex.

This plan might have worked. Fifteen minutes into it, she was finally starting to become her normal self: her chatter had reduced from warp-speed to normal-speed (her sentences were actually punctuated with breaths instead of a constant stream of words), her movements were more coordinated instead of twitchy, and she could take calming breaths without nearly throwing up with apprehension. But Nick, ever optimistic, supposed he did a mental victory dance too soon, because as he guarded the goal post, waiting for Natalie to make a kick… she scored two points. He can remember the moment as clear as day, although it was difficult for the two of them to believe. Without his help and without even trying, really, she still managed to boot the ball past his waiting form and into the net.

Needless to say, all of her energy came back.

Nick was happy for her, of course, but it was a difficult task to follow her when she was zooming down the halls, unable to wait to tell David of her success. As a matter of fact, her fervor only increased as she charged up the stairs (too impatient to wait for an elevator), through the living room of David’s apartment, and towards his closed bedroom door.

Nick protested –he honestly did- but it was too late; she had already barged through, and he could only follow in hopes of staving off the excess energy that was sure to implode the entire building. He had seen David’s bedroom several times (not for the reasons he wanted, but he still knew what it looked like) and understood David wanted privacy, but you couldn’t expect a moment of solitude when there were soccer players involved, especially if they were only eleven and especially when they were successful at inadvertently gaining two points.

“Uncle Dave!” she said, hoping her voice would be enough to wake him. Nick stuck his head through the doorway and cleared his throat, hoping not to appear too awkward. Natalie, on the other hand, wasn’t fazed. Instead of being subtle or even vaguely quiet, she hopped onto the bed where a comatose David lay sleeping on the left side. “Guess what today is! Time to get up, time to get ready, time to get psyched!”

Nick couldn’t help but be amused as David made a non-committal grunt and hid his head beneath his blankets, trying to escape his niece’s excited babble.

She frowned before standing and beginning to jump on his large mattress. Maybe movement would rouse him. “C’mon, are you gonna wake up with the chickens or not? It’s the day we’ve been training for! Up up up!”

David muttered something (probably profane, but it was so low that not even Nick could discern it) and rolled over to his right side, moving into a fetal position and dragging the blanket even further over his head.

“David Hodges, you’d better say something,” she warned, ceasing her jumping and getting on her knees, shaking his shoulder insistently.

David made another sound as Natalie, realizing he was barely conscious, climbed off the bed, grabbed the blanket, and ripped if off. She, so like her aunt and mother, knew what she wanted and how to get it. In response to this transgression, he huddled even further, his t-shirt and black pajama pants not doing much by way of warmth.

“You’re the devil reincarnate,” he muttered, taking a pillow and covering his head with it. “Not surprising considering the woman you shot out of.”

“Dave!”

“I think your uncle needs some rest, hon,” Nick said, walking over and picking her up, swinging her around, and then covering a freezing David back up with a blanket as he balanced Natalie against his left hip. “You remember Greg and how he can’t function before he drinks coffee?”

She nodded. Zombies had nothing on a caffeine-deficient Greg.

“Well, your Uncle David has the same syndrome.”

David mumbled something else until he glared at the Texan from above the blanket. “If you want me operable, then you had better acquaint yourself with the coffee maker in the kitchen. Otherwise, stop talking. I can’t sleep.”

“Let’s make him some coffee,” Natalie suggested. “And some for me too, ‘cause it’s delicious.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Ms. Hamm.”

She laughed, hiding her blushing face in the crook of Nick’s neck. “I scored a goal!” she chanted. “Wait until Coach Taylor hears about this!”

There was a moment of silence before David cracked one blue eye open. “You did what?” he asked, voice slightly raspy with sleep.

“I was practicing outside with Nick and I scored a goal. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

David let out another groan and covered his head with a pillow once more.

“Three years of this and you decide to finally score a goal while I’m asleep. That’s harsh, Nat.”

…

The day was bright, but the sun didn’t quite burn if you could find some shade. Even as David managed to find a parking space, he could already see that the place was going to be brimming with people within half an hour. The three jumped out and locked the doors before making their way up to the front gates. Natalie's school was obviously heavy on the sports, because Nick couldn’t remember his own elementary school ever being so laced with energy over what was supposed to be a simple soccer match.

The soccer field was packed with parents and proud relatives, and Nick was just barely able to see where Jacqui had secured them some seats on the benches. Of course, it was hard not to notice a crazy woman waving like a maniac even while they drowned in the crowd.

Natalie was off like a shot, whizzing towards her quasi-family with a speed only young girls possessed. David and Nick were slower; they didn’t speak, but the silence was comfortable, and Nick liked that. They didn’t used to be so relaxed in each other’s company; it was tense most of the time, sometimes even hostile, so this ease gave them relief they didn’t know they wanted and now knew they needed.

“Hey Jacq,” David greeted as they finally arrived to their destination, pausing to grin at her salad. Nick wished he’d do it more often. “Looks scrumptious.”

Jacqui took this moment to send him a "you’ll pay for this, little man" glare, clutching onto the fork handle with too much force. “Soccer season,” she hissed, “Will be my undoing. And yours too, if you don’t watch yourself.”

“Good morning to you too,” Nick said, laughing at her expression. “You know, you’ll be able to eat real food after this.”

“If I survive,” came her prompt retort. “Rumor is vegetables are good for you and all, but what’s it take to sneak some M&Ms past this guy?” (She took this moment to nod towards David, who merely looked pleased.) “Does he have ESP? Every time I try to steal something from the snack machine, someone conveniently walks in and stops me with a clever ruse. ‘Jacqui, run this.’ ‘Jacqui, dust that.’ It’s like they want me to work or something.”

“It’s not ESP, Jacq,” David replied, “But the walls have eyes. Besides, I heard working’s all part of this little thing called… what was it again? A job?”

“And I call it a diversion with monetary compensation. Our views are just different.”

“Try flawed.”

“Meh. Besides, I think you should zip those lips closed and start acting human.”

“And why's that?”

“For one, you’re in a public place where unsuspecting bystanders can see you. And second, because Nat’s coach is walking towards us. Of course, that’s just me talking. You’re free to do whatever you want, which includes acting like the jackass you are.”

Nick and David turned to see a young man (young being forty-ish, considering Nick was pushing thirty-nine) approach them. He was tall with light brown hair, a wiry body, and a decent tan. He gave them both a smile before nodding to Jacqui (in the background, Archie and Greg were arguing over Star Trek while Catherine and Ronnie were debating the best type of ballpoint pen for your money. Considering the coach wasn’t running away in horror, Nick guessed he had already met them before). His suspicions were confirmed when he gave his attention back to the trio.

“Morning, Jacqui,” he greeted. “Nice salad.”

“Shut up.”

“She’s in one of her moods,” he noted as he turned towards the two men. David rolled his eyes.

“When isn’t she in a mood?”

Nick gave him a playful nudge and to his surprise, David returned it. Nick gave a small laugh at the gesture; in the beginning, this had been so edgy. It took a year for Nick to even get used to the David’s presence, much less make conversation or joke around, and now Nick was sure he couldn’t go back to how it once was.

Ben Taylor gave Nick a surprised look before glancing towards David, and Nick supposed that the coach wasn’t used to such displays either. “Is this-?”

“-my friend Nick, yeah,” David cut off, seemingly calm even as Nick detected his discomfort. “He comes to Natalie’s matches.”

“Really? Well, she’s showing great improvement,” Ben noted, holding out his hand in greeting. Nick, curious to understand David’s social contacts (and therefore, his life) was quick to shake it. “She’s making some incredible passes. Who do I have to thank for that?”

“David, probably,” Nick replied, smiling. “He’s not too bad of a soccer player himself.”

“You could come help us,” Natalie suggested, rocking from the heels of her feet to her toes and back again, a swing-swing motion that gave away her pre-game jitters. “That would be fun!”

“For who, me?” her uncle asked, raising his eyebrows. “Taking care of you is enough, thanks. The thought of thirteen more of you makes me shudder.”

“Oh, ha ha. Remember that time you coached us ‘cause Coach Taylor was sick? That wasn’t so bad.”

David made a face. “Maybe not for the first five seconds, but then you all started talking.”

“Well, it was the day before Finals and we were excited. Can you blame us? Besides, he taught you how to handle us lots of times, and even while you two were dat- when they- da…”

She trailed off.

It was an odd statement to make, but Nick was more than able to translate. It appeared as though David and Coach Taylor were as well, because the resulting silence stood out even in the surrounding noise. Nick’s mind faltered for a moment, unable to comprehend what she had just let slip: David and Ben had dated. Maybe not for a long time, but they still went out, which would imply the fact that David dated men. This newfound information made Nick’s breath shorten as he slowly turned towards David, who was looking rather lost himself. His air was still, as if he had suddenly transformed into a statue, and Nick ached for him. Nick knew he'd never be able to survive this himself, not if his friends didn't already know, and for it come out of nowhere in a public place was terrifying.

Natalie put her palm to her mouth, swiveling scared eyes towards her similarly shocked uncle. The lab rats knew of David’s preference, but the CSIs, minus Greg, had been in the dark. Catherine’s eyebrows rose but she didn’t say anything. Nick wished he had her finesse; he took her hint when it came to being quiet, but he was sure his stunned expression wasn’t doing him any favors.

“I’m sorry,” Natalie whispered between her fingers, absolutely horrified as she took a step back. “I’m sorry, uncle David.”

David opened his mouth to reply, turning an uncertain gaze to Nick before mentally reprioritizing. He took a step forward to his niece and she took another back.

“Honey,” he began, reaching for her, “No one here cares.”

“But you said you didn’t want Nick to know,” she replied, tears of shame beginning to well. “I promised I wouldn’t say anything.”

“Nat, listen, it’s not a big deal. It was an accident. That’s okay.”

Nick knew he shouldn’t be so floored as to how well David was handling the situation, but he couldn’t help but admire him. He was calm and rational. Not only that, but he was putting his niece before himself, brushing off the fact that his co-worker –four, actually, now that Catherine, Warrick, and Sara were paying attention- knew one of his biggest secrets.

The young girl let out a soft whine of shame before turning and fleeing towards the school’s main building. David looked stricken, there was no mistaking that. He turned and gave Jacqui a helpless look before quickly following his niece. Jacqui took her cue and turned to the four investigators, the rest of the lab rats following her actions while Ben quickly excused himself. There was an uncomfortable silence before Ronnie finally cleared his throat.

“Catherine, I know you don’t mind Bobby and Jeremy. We know that you’d never- not on purpose, but we still-’’

“What he’s trying to say is that David’s still David, he’d just rather date men,” Bobby translated.

“Man, you think we really care about that stuff?” Warrick queried, disbelieving that they were so defensive over a matter that Catherine, Nick, Warrick, and Sara didn’t really care about. They cared about David, and about how it might affect him, but they didn’t give a damn whether he preferred John or Jane.

“I’m just surprised he hid it so well,” Sara mused. “And for so long.”

“He hasn’t dated since L.A.,” Nick idly murmured, carefully watching the path David and Natalie had disappeared down, hoping they’d come back soon. He only barely registered the resulting silence, and he turned for a brief moment, giving them a small smile. “I have my sources,” he informed, and then turned back to his previous task. Didn’t David know that they were CSIs? That they saw true evil, and there was no way gays could ever be equated with said evil? Perhaps they hadn’t made that clear enough, but he’d hoped that their acceptance of Bobby would give David a clue. At the same time, they had always treated Bobby like a friend. David… not so much.

Nothing much was said after that, but Bobby did manage to spark a conversation a few minutes later that made the time pass. Nick couldn’t get into it; he was still waiting for David and Natalie to return, and he sent a silent prayer that everything was okay. He contented himself by watching the field and observing other girls Natalie’s age warm up. He checked his watch, debating whether to go find them. He knew she wouldn’t want to be late, and the game would start soon.

To his relief, he caught sight of them winding their way through the maze of spectators. Natalie walked slowly, holding David’s hand and pulling at the hem of her ruby soccer shirt with the other. Nick knew it was wrong that a child felt ashamed of letting a secret slip; being attracted to the same sex shouldn’t have to be a secret in the first place, and the fear he’d seen on her face -the dread that her uncle would be angry with her- made Nick’s heart hurt. He watched them approach with a bit of pride in David, because the other man had obviously convinced a distraught little girl that everything was okay, the Earth was still rotating, and not a single soul was angry with her. Natalie still looked worse for wear, there was no doubt about that, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore. Nick wasn’t sure he could’ve handled her tears.

“Hey, it’s our star soccer player,” Jacqui greeted, her voice trying to be light and coming off as anxious. “What’s up, sweetie?”

Natalie didn’t reply. She merely let go of David’s hand, eyes glued to the ground, and marched up to Nick. She swallowed hard and then looked up to meet his eyes.

“Will you still come over?”

Nick’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Her voice was a mixture of fierceness and shakiness, void of its usual happy tone. Her tiny hands were balled into fists.

“Now that you know, will you still come over anyway?” she continued. “Because he’s still the same person you knew, only now you know even more, so will you still visit?”

Nick let out a quiet breath. “Of course I will,” he promised. “That stuff doesn’t matter to me.”

“Really? Because we might start inviting you over and-’’

“Nat,” David cut in, his own posture fairly rigid. “We talked about this. This whole conversation’s over, okay?”

“-you’ll start making up excuses, and then we’ll stop asking because we’ll know you just don’t want to see us anymore-’’

“Natalie,” David stressed, his voice holding a tone of warning and exasperation. “Would you leave this alone?”

“-because you’re uncomfortable about homosexuality. So if you don’t want to see movies or anything, that’s fine, because we don’t need you, but we just want you to tell us upfront and not be a coward like my dad!”

“Natalie.”

By that time, David was near livid; he grabbed her shoulder and yanked her around. Her brunette hair whirled as she was turned and she visibly shrank back when she saw how angry he was.

“I told you to drop it,” he said, his even voice hiding his incensed state. “I swear to God you’re like your mother, never listening to a damn word I say. Drop it. Whatever happens is my problem, not yours, okay?”

She wrenched herself from his grip and stormed towards the soccer field. It seemed as though David's "you're just like your mother" comment rang true; Nick knew Anna was probably the exact same way, upset when she couldn't defend the ones she loved. And Nick knew something else as well: he had to stop this now, the misunderstanding, the tension.

Natalie's words of But you said you didn't want Nick to know blasted Nick's mind like a loud speaker. Why hadn't David wanted Nick to know? It didn’t really matter, he guessed, but letting it end like this wasn’t an option. Nick was curious, yearned to understand why David had been specific with who he chose to clue in and who he left in the dark, but now wasn’t the time nor the place to consider it.

“Hey, Nat?” he called, watching as she slowed and turned around, brown eyes flat and body slightly slouched. She didn’t respond, merely waited.

“I can promise that I’m really okay with your uncle,” Nick said, hands stuffed into his jean pockets and a small smile on his face. He heard David quietly groan beside him, but Nick knew he had to continue.

“My first boyfriend’s name was Anthony,” Nick went on, and nearly prepared for the world to end right then. He was admitting it to everyone; the lab rats, Natalie, David. He had never come clean with his feelings before, not even after he nearly lost his life through various moments of near death. He had always planned to let them stay inside, quiet and unheard by the world. What was forcing him to do this? That little girl. That girl, who loved soccer and the scent of lilacs and her uncle more than anything. Her uncle, who was a man of many surprises, and who brought forth both memories of that night and a desire that Nick hadn’t felt for anyone in a long time, if ever.

“My second was named Robert. I met him at college in my freshman year. When I moved to Vegas, I met Markus.” He gave Natalie another smile in hopes his attention wouldn’t be diverted to the stares of his friends. “They were all nice guys.”

“But?” she quietly asked.

“But none of them… there was never a ‘click’, know what I mean? So I kinda kept waiting to meet the right person.”

“Kept?” Catherine echoed, raising an elegant eyebrow. No one had to ask what she meant; her implication was clear enough. ‘Kept’ was the past tense, indicating that Nick might have finally found someone he could put his heart in. “Wanna give us a hint?”

“Yeah,” Nick replied, wearing a smile that meant he knew exactly what Catherine was trying to figure out. “He’s got blue eyes and an amazing smile when he chooses to use it.”

Nick then turned and looked at David, blue eyes meeting brown. He knew he had to remember this moment forever, to keep it in his mind until he died, because no one had ever seen David fall speechless before. It looked as though David wasn’t even daring to breath and was trying to either wake up from his dream or figure out what Nick was playing at and how he could appropriately retaliate.

There was another silence between them, and David wasn’t sure what to do or say; it seemed as though everyone was waiting and Natalie was riveted to what was going on right in front of her. The thought of having a relationship with Nick was scary and thrilling and difficult and wonderful all at the same time, but it would never happen if David couldn’t even admit to Nick that he was gay. And why should he? He had every right to keep it from him. Maybe he kept it hidden because he didn’t want to give the Texan any incentive to pursue anything other than friendship. Or maybe he, like Nick, was just nervous. Whatever it was, Nick wanted to make sure Natalie was aware that he liked David no matter what and, actually, this new-discovered fact made it all the sweeter. It gave Nick hope, at least, that the possibility was there.

But now the silence was near deafening, and Nick had no idea how to continue. He didn’t want to pressure David into saying or acting on something in order to escape suffocating stares and stillness, and he was about to try and brush the subject off when Jacqui Franco, who had no shame, simply said, “Just kiss him already!”

David’s eyes widened and he, even with all his wit and sarcasm, began to blush. He swore he wasn’t going to kill her; even as he began considering where he last saw a bottle of cyanide, he still swore he wouldn’t. Didn’t she have any humility? He wanted to give her a piece of his mind and then perhaps curl up and die, but Nick merely grinned before walking over, leaning in, and connecting their lips in a barely-hesitant motion.

David couldn’t lie: it felt good. Amazing, actually, because Nick was warm and solid. Besides, this was what David had wanted for a long, long time; ever since the moment he saw Nick on his first day at work, he told himself he had no chance, and he accepted that easily. He never had much of a chance with anybody; then again, he never really wanted one. As the days and months passed, he became more confident in himself. He was able to see Natalie more often, which changed him for the better (she had endless confidence in him, and David wondered where she got it,) and then he had the lab rats giving him lectures every time he turned a corner. Self-confidence? Being yourself? Knowing that your friends love you? He’d heard them all, and eventually changed his outlook just so he wouldn’t have to listen to them preach. This all helped him deal with his attraction to Nick, even to the point where he could talk (and semi-flirt) without feeling like a nothing.

But this was too much. This wasn’t possible.

The moment he fully grasped the situation, he broke the kiss. He knew Nick, and he knew the Texan would do anything to make someone feel better. He’d even kiss him for the world to see if that was what it took.

“You’re pretty confident in yourself when it comes to this, aren’t you?” David whispered, wondering whether a glare was appropriate as he quickly took one small step away.

Nick smiled again, although it was laced with uncertainty and fear. David hated to see it. “So stop me,” he whispered back.

“All your friends are watching,” the other man muttered, finally meeting Nick’s eyes. “You don’t have to do this.”

“They’re your friends too,” Nick pointed out. David opened his mouth to reply or perhaps even argue, considering that was one of his specialties, but realized that Nick’s words were absolutely true. All this time they’d been spending together, lunch and weekends and games that breeched the gap between the lab rats and the CSIs… it was because both groups wanted to be there. They loved it. That was the whole point.

And that felt good.

Nick grinned again. “So do I get to kiss you without you thinking too deeply about it?”

“Depends. Are you a good kisser?”

“Only one way for you find out.”

Nick leaned in again, closing his eyes as he felt David relax and put his arms around Nick’s neck. There were perks, Nick supposed, to being older, because the kiss wasn’t awkward or weird. Their noses didn’t collide like his first kiss at sixteen and they weren’t fumbling around, trying to get the hang of things. It was just… them. Warm lips, shy tongues, and a catcall from Jacqui eight feet away.

“Ahem.”

Even though he and Nick could have locked lips a few moments longer, Nick still broke away and glanced to his right. Greg was quirking an eyebrow at them.

“It’s nice to see the sexual tension is breaking through, boys,” he said, winking, “But there are innocent eyes here.”

Natalie walked up to the blonde and poked him in the side with her elbow. “Please. Have you met my mother?” She then turned to Nick and David, both of whom were slightly embarrassed and very surprised, and grinned.

“You two just keep doing whatever it is you're doing. I’m gonna warm up with uncle Greg and see if I can beat him again.”

“Whatever! You so did not make that goal last week!” he cried, turning to face her in protest.

“Oh yeah? Jacqui says I did!”

“That’s because she’s a woman. And women lie. It’s inbred into their DNA.”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“Is not!”

“I can’t believe they’re actually arguing like that. Is Greg still twelve?” David muttered, and Nick snorted before dropping his head onto David’s shoulder. David could feel his laughter.

“That’s a distinct possibility,” Nick replied, still laughing as he straightened his posture and removed his hands from David’s waist. He gave an impish grin and took a few steps back. “Y’know, this may not be the best place for us to…”

David game a small smile of amusement. “Agreed. The arguing and various pairs of prying eyes kind of ruins the mood.”

Nick grinned, gave David one quick kiss, and broke away, grabbing the soccer ball and tossing it so it hit Greg’s forehead. It bounced off him and onto the ground, leaving Greg blinking and then glaring at his supposed best friend.

“Nick, c’mon, what’s with the violence?”

“Just giving you a taste of what’s to come, Greggo. Beating you like a drum and all.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Absolutely,” Bobby added. “Right after I mop David off the ground. I think he’s melted into a love-struck puddle of mush.”

David shot his friend a glare. “Dawson, I’ll kick your ass if you ever say that again.”

“What, ‘love struck?’”

“I swear I’m going to punt you across the field.”

“Punting’s football. This is soccer.”

Warrick gave a rumbling chuckle and sat back as parents and spectators began to gather. David and Nick sat together, and David would sneak a glance towards Nick before Nick caught his gaze. It was like a shy game although David Hodges was not shy. However, like every human being, he was allowed to be slightly confused and pleasantly dazed.

As Nick took his hand, silently intertwining their fingers, he quietly thanked Natalie for April.

FIN.