Nick was hiding.

Nick had been shot, but he wasn't hiding from his shooter, he wasn't hiding from anyone trying to do him further harm. No, he was hiding in the lab from his mother, sitting on a stool in one of the glass offices.

His parents had flown in to make sure he'd been ok after being shot, but it was only a flesh wound, he'd been shot in the arm, so he was in a sling, but his mother seemed to think he was at death's door and was treating him as such.

'Thank all the heaven's that they are flying back tonight.' Nick only had to hide for a few more hours and he'd be safe.

"Nicholas Stokes, what do you think you are doing? You should be at home not at work."

Jillian Stokes stormed into the office Nick had been sitting in followed by an embarrassed looking Bill Stokes. Nick spun his stool around to face the door.

"Mum, Dad, don't you have a plane to catch, or somting?" Nick asked trying to deflect the imminent dressing down he was about to get.

"Yes son, we do but your mother wanted to talk to you first."

"You spend far too much time in work. You've been shot for the love of god." Jillian started in a normal voice but by the end she was shouting, and continued to yell at her embarrassed son. "You need to find yourself a nice young man to come home to so that you don't want to be in work risking your life every day at work. You need to find a man to love and who loves you. And don't you dare think, young man, that just because you're gay you can get out of giving me grand babies. There are plenty of babies out there who need family you can adopted, I won't be around forever and I want to see you settled!" Jillian finished only now seeing the expression of pure disbelief on her husband's face and the open jawed petrified look on her son. "What?" She asked in a more normal voice.

"Probably the fact you just outed Nick to his entire work place." Bill answered for Nick who was still speechless.

"So, its not like he hasn't told people or anyone was listening." At that, someone coughed behind her, and she turned to see a large crowd had gathered. Turning back to Nick. "But they know already, right?"

"No, mom they didn't. I only ever told the family." Nick told her burying his head in his hands.

"Come on, we have a flight to catch, I think you did enough damage." Bill tried to steer Jillian out of the room.

"Nicky?"

"Go get your flight mom, call me when your home so I know your safe." Nick couldn't look up.

"Go back about your work all of you." Nick heard Catherine tell the crowd outside the room.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Nick looked up to see Greg standing in fount of him.

"Didn't know how, didn't know how you'd, or they'd, react. Not realy something you can just slip into conversation."

"You should have said." Greg told him looking angry.

"I'm sorry." Nick told him dejectedly.

"If I'd known I could have done this a whole lot sooner."

Nick found the space between his legs filled with Greg Sanders, whose lips were pressing against his. Nick was shocked but for only a fraction of a second before wrapping his good arm around Greg and pulling him closer kissing him back enthusiastically.

"About bloody time." Hodges said looking at his two friends fondly, not that either heard him, they were too caught up in each other.