| Bluespirit |
| 'A
light in dark places' |
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Late
by
Bluespirit
Fandom: crossover - CSI:
Miami/The Triangle
Pairing: Mike Sheridan (played by Joe Flanigan)/Gus Gruber (played by
David Hewlett)
Rating: G
Summary: Gus is finding it hard to deal with losing his friends. (Set
during the first year that Mike & Gus are together.)
Genre: Crossover, vignettes, Fates universe
Spoilers: none
Word count: ~ 600
Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction. I make no claims
to the characters. This fic is meant solely for entertainment purposes
and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes:
1. Another little snapshot of Mike & Gus's life together. This won't
make much sense if you haven't read the first
story in the 'Fates
universe'.
2. Sorry - this isn't the high school reunion story. That one seems to
be taking on a life of its own & is demanding to be a 'proper story'
& not a snippet. *g* I'm working on it, though!
3. Thanks to my fabulous beta Lantean_drift
for her love & support (& obsession with cut off denim! *g*)
"Hey, honey - I'm
home!" Mike sing-songed, grinning as he shucked his sandals on the
porch and padded barefoot into the kitchen. He grabbed a couple of beers
as he stowed the fresh snapper in the icebox. Man, that was going to
taste good, especially if he could get Gus to make that lemon sauce he'd
tried out last time. "Sorry I'm late," he shouted, dropping
his keys and sunglasses on the counter and making his way into the den.
"You wouldn't believe the traffic…." He cut the well-worn
joke short as he saw Gus sitting on the couch, 'phone clutched tight in
one hand and the bottle of heart meds open on the coffee table in front
of him.
He dropped the beers on the side table, forgotten, as he crossed to the
couch. "Gus? Buddy, what's the matter?" he asked, voice low
and urgent as tried to put his arms around Gus. But Gus sat rigid,
holding himself away, face white and strained except for two high spots
of colour on his cheeks.
"You went out there," Gus choked, voice breaking and beyond
distraught. "I called… I wanted to check about tomorrow night and
I called the yard and…."
"What do you mean?" Mike asked, resting his hand gently on
Gus's leg, unwilling to spook him any further. He could feel the muscles
beneath his palm taut and whipcord tight. "Went where?" Sudden
realisation washed through him. "I didn't… oh, god, no
babe, no. I didn't go out there."
"I called," Gus nodded. "Francine said you'd taken a boat
out, you'd headed north, that they hadn't heard anything from you, no
radio, nothing." He threw the 'phone onto the table and pushed Mike
away. "You promised… you promised me, I couldn't, not again…
not… I just can't."
"Gus, no," Mike said quickly, trying to make him understand,
to take the pain away. "I swear. I'd been working on the fuel pump
in that old heap of Sonny's and just went to try her out. Just a quick
shakedown round the coast before I dropped her by his place. I
was nowhere near the Triangle. I swear it, baby, I swear."
"You…? Really?" Gus's eyes shone so clear and blue, and then
he just crumpled in on himself, body sagging heavily as Mike wrapped his
arms around him, pulling him close. He kissed Gus's temple, his hair,
anything in reach.
"I swear," Mike repeated with every brief kiss. "There
was nothing to worry about, okay? Everything was okay… I'm
okay."
"Okay," Gus echoed in a whisper and tucked himself more firmly
against Mike's chest, fingers twisted in the fabric of his shirt.
They stayed like that for a while, Mike scattering kisses across the
soft strands of Gus's hair and Gus just breathing steadily in time with
Mike's heart beat.
"Don't scare me like that again, you big jerk," Gus said
eventually, a spark of his usual humour softening the remnants of panic
as they finally bled away.
"That all you got, Mr Fancy College Degree?" Mike laughed
softly, lifting Gus's chin and giving him a wink. "Big jerk?"
"Well, yeah," Gus mumbled, his face losing the tight, hopeless
look from before. "You are a jerk… you doofus!"
Mike couldn't stop his snort of laughter. "Looks like you've got me
beat there, Einstein. No way I can compete."
"Good," Gus nodded, but Mike could see the smile hovering
around beautifully crooked lips. "Just remember that."
"Yessir," Mike grinned, lowering his head and looking at Gus
through his lashes. "But I'm your big jerk, right?" He
swallowed the answering giggle with a kiss.
End
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