Title: Slave
Fandom: CSI
Characters: Nightshift CSI's
Prompt: #20 – Colourless
Word Count: 865
Rating: K+ (May contain minor action violence without serious injury and/or mild coarse language.)
Summary: A life in servitude is a hollow one. (Set in an Alternate Universe, years ago.)
Author's Notes: Part of the "Slave" Universe; WARNING: this fic contains mentions of Slash and MPreg and is set in an Alternate universe where MPreg is normal. (Slash being a romantic pairing between two males, and MPreg being male pregnancy – read the first chapter in my CSI fic "My Generation" to get an idea of how I rationalize MPreg in my CSI fics).
Disclaimer: I own nothing…

Some people are sold into this world. I was born into it. My mother was a slave, sold into it by her struggling family at the tender age of eight. It seems cruel to most people but in a way it saved her. Had she remained with her family she would have struggled through life and possibly even starved to death. At least as a slave she was ensured a roof over her head, clothes on her back, and food in her belly. She grew up helping the older slaves care for the Master and Mistress's children. When she was eighteen the eldest son of the house entered into a secret affair with her. When she was twenty-three, the young man went to her bed for the last time. He was eighteen and off to college the next day, mother said. Within the next year she'd given birth to me. I was raised to live the same life as my mother. When I was five my mother died from illness, I'm not sure which one. No one ever told me. And so, outwardly, I lived my life as I had been trying my best to please my Master and Mistress. Inside, however, without my mother I was empty and blank. I felt cold without her hugs to warm me, and lonely without her stories in my ears as I lay down to sleep. To this family I was little more than 'the boy slave'.

At age eight my Master decided he'd had enough of me and sold me to another well-off family. It was a large family with seven children, all older than me. I was introduced to my new Master, an entomologist by the name of Gil Grissom. He was a kind man and obsessed over his bugs most of the time. His wife's name was Catherine and she was also very nice, but also was a strong willed woman who had a no-nonsense attitude that I respected. Their eldest daughter, Heather (age eighteen), was much the same. Next came Sophia, age seventeen, then the older of two boys Bobby, age fifteen. After him were Mandy, age fourteen, Nick, age twelve, Sara, age eleven, and Wendy, age ten.

My duties, I was told, revolved around being a companion to their younger son Nick. While no one in the family were mean to me in any way, Nick always seemed kinder than the rest and made the world look vibrant instead of grey. He valued my opinion and wanted to include me wherever possible. As a companion, we spent much time together when he was at home. Sometimes we played sports with his older brother Bobby and Bobby's companion Warrick (a black boy who was the same age as Nick). We all grew older and then Bobby went off to college, leaving Warrick to assume regular duties around the house. Nick's older sisters were being married off and his younger sisters were being courted.

I was thirteen years old when Nick and I shared our first sexual experience. He said he'd known his tastes for partnership did not lie with the opposite gender for a few years now and that he'd realized his interest in me. The following year Nick was off to college. My heart ached to see him go, but I'd always known he'd have to. I knew he'd never come back to me. That wasn't how things were done. He did what all those in his class were expected to do. He graduated from university with a degree in Criminal Justice and entered law enforcement like his brother Bobby. While away at school he'd grown up and realized anything he felt with me wasn't substantial, at least by class standards, and he forgot about me like my mother's lover forgot about her and the world lost its vibrancy. He met a well off girl, Kristy Hopkins, and married her. Their son is four years old now, and they have another child on the way.

Even though he is no longer a part of my world there is always a part of him with me. As it turns out I am a different sort of male: I am a Carrier. When Nick left to further his education he unknowingly left me to carry his child within me. And even though it shocked me to discover it, I have never regretted the life we made. At least there will be an end to this cycle that has become my family. Master Grissom has agreed that my eight-year-old son, Ryan, will remain with me, and remain with this family should I pass on too soon.

"C'mon Greg, let's get this chopped wood back to the house," Warrick's voice sifts though the memories. "It's freezing out here and I promised I'd show Ryan that card trick before we help get the house in order for the Master's Christmas dinner." I turn back to where he has finished chopping and help him load the wood into the cart before heading back. Flakes are falling thicker onto the already knee-deep snow as we place the chopped wood blocks to the side of the kitchen door where they're kept.

- 30 -

THE END

released: November 30, 2007
updated: July 27, 2010