Disclaimer: Don't own them; didn't create them; don't profit from them.
Spoilers: Only if you haven't watched the Super Bowl.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I cannot believe you've never watched the Super Bowl, Sara." Nick Stokes looked at his coworker incredulously as he drove back to the lab from their crime scene.
A faint smile spread across Sara Sidle's face. "Not everyone lives and breathes football the way you do, Nick."
"But it's the Super Bowl, Sara." He looked at her as if he was stating the obvious.
She laughed at him softly. "It's a game, Nick."
His eyebrows shot up. "It's not just a game. It's THE game. You've got to watch it at least once in your life."
She smirked. "Oh, is that some rule I'm not aware of?"
He chuckled. "Yes, it is. And since I'd hate for you to miss out, you're coming to my Super Bowl party."
She raised a single eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
He flashed her a grin that was reminiscent of a small boy begging for a puppy. "Everyone's going to be there."
She tilted her head slightly and smirked again. "Everyone."
"Ok, so everyone's invited. Whether they all come remains to be seen." He conceded with a smile.
Sara was silent for a moment and then glanced over at him as if to protest.
"In case you're wondering, you're not scheduled to work. Oh, and it's this Sunday." Nick smirked.
She laughed. "You know, I'm not sure if I should be scared that you seem to be able to read my mind."
"Then you'll come." Nick sounded like victory was imminent.
She shook her head in amusement. "Ok, I'll come."
He grinned and glanced over at her. "Excellent."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Sara arrived at Nick's, Greg and Warrick were already there, as were several other people whom Sara didn't recognize. There seemed to be an abundance of junk food and beer. She was glad that she'd brought a veggie platter.
"Come on in, Sara." Nick grinned at her as he opened the door wide to let her in. "Make yourself at home."
"Where should I put this?" Sara gestured toward the platter in her hands.
Nick closed the door and, putting his hand at the small of her back, propelled her toward the kitchen, the grin never leaving his face. "You can put that in here."
One of the faces Sara didn't know intercepted them on the way out of the kitchen. "So, Nick, who's your friend?" The well built blond man looked at Sara about the same way a lion would when evaluating its prey.
Nick slung his arm around her shoulders protectively, a gesture which caused Sara's mouth to turn up in a smile. "Troy Green, meet Sara Sidle."
Troy extended his hand to shake Sara's, his predatory smile still fixed on his lips. "Sara, is it? Very nice to meet you."
Sara pasted a smile on as she pulled her hand out of his.
Troy glanced at Nick. "Where have you been hiding her, Stokes?"
Sara answered for him. "We work together. At the crime lab."
Troy looked back in Sara's direction. "Oh, do you answer phones or something?"
Sara narrowed her gaze at him. "No, I'm a criminalist. You know, just like Nick."
"She got you, man. I'd watch out if I were you, Sara's trained in hand to hand combat." Nick looked thoroughly amused.
Troy seemed to get the message. "I'm gonna grab another beer. Nice to meet you, Sara."
Sara glanced at Nick with an unreadable expression. "Why do I feel like I need to take a shower after talking to that guy?"
"Because he's a womanizer." Nick looked at her apologetically and propelled her toward Greg and Warrick who stood on the other side of the room. "Sorry, I should have warned you about him."
"Hey, girl. I see you survived one of Nick's frat brothers." Warrick commented, smiling at the arm Nick still had slung around Sara's shoulders that neither one of them seemed to notice.
Sara smirked and glanced up at Nick. "Frat brother, huh?"
Nick looked a little sheepish. "Yeah. Every year since college a few of us have gotten together to watch the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, Troy's never learned how to treat a lady properly."
Greg cleared his throat. "Hey, Sara." He had a toothy grin on his face when she turned his direction.
"Hey, Greggo." Sara smiled in return.
Greg handed Nick a bag. "I thought since it was your idea, you should give it to her." Greg had also noticed Nick's arm around Sara's shoulder and wondered if either one of them were aware it was still there.
"Thanks, man." Nick grinned taking the bag from his outstretched hand.
Sara regarded the three of them curiously. "What's going on?"
Nick chuckled and squeezed her shoulders. "We thought since this was your first Super Bowl, that you needed something to remember it, and something to help you get into the game."
Sara raised a single eyebrow skeptically. "That had better not be a cheerleading uniform."
Nick, Greg, and Warrick all exchange an amused look and then started laughing.
"What?" Sara sounded almost indignant.
Nick cleared his throat. "Sara, do you really think that any of us would take our lives in our hands like that?"
"Well, what is it then?" She sounded impatient.
Nick chuckled. "Well if you'd give me a chance, I'll tell you."
Sara swallowed an embarrassed smile.
Greg and Warrick chuckled.
"Since the New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl this year, and you went to school in Boston, we only thought it was fitting for you to have your own personalized Patriot's jersey." Nick pulled the jersey out of the bag and held it up so that she could see printed on the back 'S-I-D-L-E' and the numbers '04'.
Sara was uncharacteristically quiet. A smile played at her lips and she glanced up at the three guys. "This is really sweet you guys. Completely unnecessary, but very sweet. Thanks."
"Well, put it on." Nick grinned at her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sara found most of the first half of the game pretty boring. She kept peppering Nick with questions about different plays, but couldn't really get into the game. That is until New England made the first touchdown. She jumped up from the couch and hugged Nick who had also jumped up to cheer.
Warrick and Greg exchanged an amused glance.
Troy called from the other side of the room. "Don't get too excited, you two. The Panthers are gonna come back and win this thing. I'm betting on my man DelHomme."
A couple of Nick's frat brothers exchanged high fives when just a few moments later, the Panthers got a touchdown as well.
After that, every time New England made a good play or got a touchdown, she hugged Nick. As it became clear who was cheering for what team, people sat on either one side of the room or the other.
At halftime, with New England up by four points, Sara was feeling a bit smug. She glanced at Nick and smiled. "This is fun. I don't know why I've never done this before."
He couldn't help but laugh at her. "Is this the same Sara Sidle who just a few days ago was giving me a hard time about living and breathing football?"
She smirked.
They got up from the couch to get some more food from the kitchen and lingered in there for a while just talking. It wasn't until, Jason; one of Nick's other frat brothers yelled out from the living room that they rejoined everyone else.
"Hey, that guy's pulling a Stokes!" Jason and the other guys Nick had gone to college with couldn't stop laughing.
Greg, Warrick and Sara looked at Nick curiously.
"You went streaking in college?" Warrick looked at Nick doubtfully.
A guffaw came out of Troy. "Did he ever."
Nick looked embarrassed. "Part of pledging."
Sara had a hard time restraining her laughter and elbowed Nick.
Nick raised an eyebrow at her, elbowing her back. "What's so funny?"
"I can't believe the things you did just to get into a fraternity. I still don't get the fish in the pocket." Sara replied referring to something Nick had mentioned on one of the first cases they'd worked together.
"Can we just watch the game?" Nick was clearly embarrassed and wanted to change the subject.
"Hey, Stokes, why don't you tell Sara about the time you had to wear a cheerleading uniform?" Jason was clearly enjoying the fact that Nick was embarrassed.
"Maybe you can just show her, I'm sure you're just dying to get a piece of that little ass." Troy's comment relieved any doubt anyone had about what a jerk he was.
The room fell silent and Nick stood up and glared at Troy. "Green, that was completely uncalled for. I think you'd better leave."
"What!" Troy clearly wasn't catching on. "You two can't keep your eyes off of each other, not to mention your hands. I'm just calling 'em like I see 'em."
Nick just stood there, hands on his hips and glared at Troy.
Troy stood up. "Fine, I'll leave." He shook his head in disbelief at Nick. "Dude, you've never put a chick over our friendship before."
Nick tried to keep his tone calm even though he was seething. "Sara's not a chick, she's a lady and it's about time you learned how to treat one properly."
Troy glanced over at the rest of the frat brothers. "You guys coming?"
"Dude, you dug your own grave on this one." Jason responded shaking his head.
Troy looked over at Sara who looked like she wasn't sure what to think. "He must really care about you." He turned and picked up his jacket before heading for the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as the game was over, the New England Patriots victorious by a field goal with seconds remaining on the clock, Warrick got up and gestured toward Greg. "Hey, I hate to break up this party, but shift starts soon."
"Yeah, enjoy the night off." Greg chimed in getting out of his chair.
"Yeah, we need to get going too." Jason and the other guys got up and gathered their jackets.
Nick glanced over. "Hey, I'll see you guys out."
Sara stood up and followed them to the door, giving them both Warrick and Greg a hug. "Thanks for the jersey, guys."
After everyone had left, Nick and Sara stood there by the door for a moment. Nick smiled at her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry about what Troy said. He can be a jerk sometimes, but he's not always like that."
Sara smiled. "Thanks for defending me, I appreciate it. Not that I can't defend myself, I just really appreciate it."
"Any time." Nick couldn't help but grin at her.
Sara tilted her head slightly and chuckled. "You know, Troy did have a point."
Nick looked somewhat surprised. "What do you mean?"
She feigned innocence. "You're touching me."
Nick looked at his hand on her shoulder as if it was a foreign object. He looked back at her and laughed. "I guess I am." He didn't move his hand.
Sara smiled. "You know, I never did thank you properly for the jersey."
Nick tilted his head curiously. "You said thank you."
She shook her head. "I hugged Warrick and Greg, I didn't hug you."
Nick grinned at this little game they seemed to be playing. "Ok, you can hug me if you want to."
She had a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I don't want to hug you."
Nick raised his eyebrows. "Oh? What do you want to do?"
Very quickly, Sara stepped close to Nick and cupped the sides of his face with her hands. "This." She smiled as she pulled his face towards hers and kissed him.
Nick immediately responded to the kiss and slid his arms around her waist. When they pulled apart, Nick was grinning. "Any chance you want to do that to Warrick and Greg?"
Sara shook her head in amusement. "No."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Any chance you want to do that again?"
Sara giggled. "Maybe."
Nick chuckled. "Maybe?"
She looked at him with a coy expression. "You'll just have to take your chances."
"Hmm." Nick smiled and leaned in and kissed her. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
They were so involved in their kiss that they didn't hear Warrick knocking at the door until he had opened it. He stood there chuckling as Nick and Sara broke the kiss and looked his direction.
"Uh, I didn't hear you knocking." Nick grinned as he and Sara stepped apart. Sara had a bit of color in her cheeks.
"That's obvious." Warrick looked amused. "I forgot my cell phone." He commented as he walked past them and picked up his cell phone from the kitchen counter.
"Sara was just thanking me for the jersey." Nick was still grinning.
Warrick chuckled. "Uh, huh." He paused at the doorway and looked back at them. "Your secret's safe with me. I'll see you guys later."
"Bye, Warrick." Sara grinned.
"Later, man." Nick tried to swallow the grin that had taken over his face. As he shut the door he looked at Sara. "Do you want to stay and watch 'Survivor'?"
Sara nodded, still grinning. "Sure."
As soon as they settled themselves on the couch Nick leaned over and kissed Sara again and 'Survivor' was forgotten
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I cannot believe you've never watched the Super Bowl, Sara." Nick Stokes looked at his coworker incredulously as he drove back to the lab from their crime scene.
A faint smile spread across Sara Sidle's face. "Not everyone lives and breathes football the way you do, Nick."
"But it's the Super Bowl, Sara." He looked at her as if he was stating the obvious.
She laughed at him softly. "It's a game, Nick."
His eyebrows shot up. "It's not just a game. It's THE game. You've got to watch it at least once in your life."
She smirked. "Oh, is that some rule I'm not aware of?"
He chuckled. "Yes, it is. And since I'd hate for you to miss out, you're coming to my Super Bowl party."
She raised a single eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
He flashed her a grin that was reminiscent of a small boy begging for a puppy. "Everyone's going to be there."
She tilted her head slightly and smirked again. "Everyone."
"Ok, so everyone's invited. Whether they all come remains to be seen." He conceded with a smile.
Sara was silent for a moment and then glanced over at him as if to protest.
"In case you're wondering, you're not scheduled to work. Oh, and it's this Sunday." Nick smirked.
She laughed. "You know, I'm not sure if I should be scared that you seem to be able to read my mind."
"Then you'll come." Nick sounded like victory was imminent.
She shook her head in amusement. "Ok, I'll come."
He grinned and glanced over at her. "Excellent."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Sara arrived at Nick's, Greg and Warrick were already there, as were several other people whom Sara didn't recognize. There seemed to be an abundance of junk food and beer. She was glad that she'd brought a veggie platter.
"Come on in, Sara." Nick grinned at her as he opened the door wide to let her in. "Make yourself at home."
"Where should I put this?" Sara gestured toward the platter in her hands.
Nick closed the door and, putting his hand at the small of her back, propelled her toward the kitchen, the grin never leaving his face. "You can put that in here."
One of the faces Sara didn't know intercepted them on the way out of the kitchen. "So, Nick, who's your friend?" The well built blond man looked at Sara about the same way a lion would when evaluating its prey.
Nick slung his arm around her shoulders protectively, a gesture which caused Sara's mouth to turn up in a smile. "Troy Green, meet Sara Sidle."
Troy extended his hand to shake Sara's, his predatory smile still fixed on his lips. "Sara, is it? Very nice to meet you."
Sara pasted a smile on as she pulled her hand out of his.
Troy glanced at Nick. "Where have you been hiding her, Stokes?"
Sara answered for him. "We work together. At the crime lab."
Troy looked back in Sara's direction. "Oh, do you answer phones or something?"
Sara narrowed her gaze at him. "No, I'm a criminalist. You know, just like Nick."
"She got you, man. I'd watch out if I were you, Sara's trained in hand to hand combat." Nick looked thoroughly amused.
Troy seemed to get the message. "I'm gonna grab another beer. Nice to meet you, Sara."
Sara glanced at Nick with an unreadable expression. "Why do I feel like I need to take a shower after talking to that guy?"
"Because he's a womanizer." Nick looked at her apologetically and propelled her toward Greg and Warrick who stood on the other side of the room. "Sorry, I should have warned you about him."
"Hey, girl. I see you survived one of Nick's frat brothers." Warrick commented, smiling at the arm Nick still had slung around Sara's shoulders that neither one of them seemed to notice.
Sara smirked and glanced up at Nick. "Frat brother, huh?"
Nick looked a little sheepish. "Yeah. Every year since college a few of us have gotten together to watch the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, Troy's never learned how to treat a lady properly."
Greg cleared his throat. "Hey, Sara." He had a toothy grin on his face when she turned his direction.
"Hey, Greggo." Sara smiled in return.
Greg handed Nick a bag. "I thought since it was your idea, you should give it to her." Greg had also noticed Nick's arm around Sara's shoulder and wondered if either one of them were aware it was still there.
"Thanks, man." Nick grinned taking the bag from his outstretched hand.
Sara regarded the three of them curiously. "What's going on?"
Nick chuckled and squeezed her shoulders. "We thought since this was your first Super Bowl, that you needed something to remember it, and something to help you get into the game."
Sara raised a single eyebrow skeptically. "That had better not be a cheerleading uniform."
Nick, Greg, and Warrick all exchange an amused look and then started laughing.
"What?" Sara sounded almost indignant.
Nick cleared his throat. "Sara, do you really think that any of us would take our lives in our hands like that?"
"Well, what is it then?" She sounded impatient.
Nick chuckled. "Well if you'd give me a chance, I'll tell you."
Sara swallowed an embarrassed smile.
Greg and Warrick chuckled.
"Since the New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl this year, and you went to school in Boston, we only thought it was fitting for you to have your own personalized Patriot's jersey." Nick pulled the jersey out of the bag and held it up so that she could see printed on the back 'S-I-D-L-E' and the numbers '04'.
Sara was uncharacteristically quiet. A smile played at her lips and she glanced up at the three guys. "This is really sweet you guys. Completely unnecessary, but very sweet. Thanks."
"Well, put it on." Nick grinned at her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sara found most of the first half of the game pretty boring. She kept peppering Nick with questions about different plays, but couldn't really get into the game. That is until New England made the first touchdown. She jumped up from the couch and hugged Nick who had also jumped up to cheer.
Warrick and Greg exchanged an amused glance.
Troy called from the other side of the room. "Don't get too excited, you two. The Panthers are gonna come back and win this thing. I'm betting on my man DelHomme."
A couple of Nick's frat brothers exchanged high fives when just a few moments later, the Panthers got a touchdown as well.
After that, every time New England made a good play or got a touchdown, she hugged Nick. As it became clear who was cheering for what team, people sat on either one side of the room or the other.
At halftime, with New England up by four points, Sara was feeling a bit smug. She glanced at Nick and smiled. "This is fun. I don't know why I've never done this before."
He couldn't help but laugh at her. "Is this the same Sara Sidle who just a few days ago was giving me a hard time about living and breathing football?"
She smirked.
They got up from the couch to get some more food from the kitchen and lingered in there for a while just talking. It wasn't until, Jason; one of Nick's other frat brothers yelled out from the living room that they rejoined everyone else.
"Hey, that guy's pulling a Stokes!" Jason and the other guys Nick had gone to college with couldn't stop laughing.
Greg, Warrick and Sara looked at Nick curiously.
"You went streaking in college?" Warrick looked at Nick doubtfully.
A guffaw came out of Troy. "Did he ever."
Nick looked embarrassed. "Part of pledging."
Sara had a hard time restraining her laughter and elbowed Nick.
Nick raised an eyebrow at her, elbowing her back. "What's so funny?"
"I can't believe the things you did just to get into a fraternity. I still don't get the fish in the pocket." Sara replied referring to something Nick had mentioned on one of the first cases they'd worked together.
"Can we just watch the game?" Nick was clearly embarrassed and wanted to change the subject.
"Hey, Stokes, why don't you tell Sara about the time you had to wear a cheerleading uniform?" Jason was clearly enjoying the fact that Nick was embarrassed.
"Maybe you can just show her, I'm sure you're just dying to get a piece of that little ass." Troy's comment relieved any doubt anyone had about what a jerk he was.
The room fell silent and Nick stood up and glared at Troy. "Green, that was completely uncalled for. I think you'd better leave."
"What!" Troy clearly wasn't catching on. "You two can't keep your eyes off of each other, not to mention your hands. I'm just calling 'em like I see 'em."
Nick just stood there, hands on his hips and glared at Troy.
Troy stood up. "Fine, I'll leave." He shook his head in disbelief at Nick. "Dude, you've never put a chick over our friendship before."
Nick tried to keep his tone calm even though he was seething. "Sara's not a chick, she's a lady and it's about time you learned how to treat one properly."
Troy glanced over at the rest of the frat brothers. "You guys coming?"
"Dude, you dug your own grave on this one." Jason responded shaking his head.
Troy looked over at Sara who looked like she wasn't sure what to think. "He must really care about you." He turned and picked up his jacket before heading for the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as the game was over, the New England Patriots victorious by a field goal with seconds remaining on the clock, Warrick got up and gestured toward Greg. "Hey, I hate to break up this party, but shift starts soon."
"Yeah, enjoy the night off." Greg chimed in getting out of his chair.
"Yeah, we need to get going too." Jason and the other guys got up and gathered their jackets.
Nick glanced over. "Hey, I'll see you guys out."
Sara stood up and followed them to the door, giving them both Warrick and Greg a hug. "Thanks for the jersey, guys."
After everyone had left, Nick and Sara stood there by the door for a moment. Nick smiled at her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry about what Troy said. He can be a jerk sometimes, but he's not always like that."
Sara smiled. "Thanks for defending me, I appreciate it. Not that I can't defend myself, I just really appreciate it."
"Any time." Nick couldn't help but grin at her.
Sara tilted her head slightly and chuckled. "You know, Troy did have a point."
Nick looked somewhat surprised. "What do you mean?"
She feigned innocence. "You're touching me."
Nick looked at his hand on her shoulder as if it was a foreign object. He looked back at her and laughed. "I guess I am." He didn't move his hand.
Sara smiled. "You know, I never did thank you properly for the jersey."
Nick tilted his head curiously. "You said thank you."
She shook her head. "I hugged Warrick and Greg, I didn't hug you."
Nick grinned at this little game they seemed to be playing. "Ok, you can hug me if you want to."
She had a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I don't want to hug you."
Nick raised his eyebrows. "Oh? What do you want to do?"
Very quickly, Sara stepped close to Nick and cupped the sides of his face with her hands. "This." She smiled as she pulled his face towards hers and kissed him.
Nick immediately responded to the kiss and slid his arms around her waist. When they pulled apart, Nick was grinning. "Any chance you want to do that to Warrick and Greg?"
Sara shook her head in amusement. "No."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Any chance you want to do that again?"
Sara giggled. "Maybe."
Nick chuckled. "Maybe?"
She looked at him with a coy expression. "You'll just have to take your chances."
"Hmm." Nick smiled and leaned in and kissed her. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
They were so involved in their kiss that they didn't hear Warrick knocking at the door until he had opened it. He stood there chuckling as Nick and Sara broke the kiss and looked his direction.
"Uh, I didn't hear you knocking." Nick grinned as he and Sara stepped apart. Sara had a bit of color in her cheeks.
"That's obvious." Warrick looked amused. "I forgot my cell phone." He commented as he walked past them and picked up his cell phone from the kitchen counter.
"Sara was just thanking me for the jersey." Nick was still grinning.
Warrick chuckled. "Uh, huh." He paused at the doorway and looked back at them. "Your secret's safe with me. I'll see you guys later."
"Bye, Warrick." Sara grinned.
"Later, man." Nick tried to swallow the grin that had taken over his face. As he shut the door he looked at Sara. "Do you want to stay and watch 'Survivor'?"
Sara nodded, still grinning. "Sure."
As soon as they settled themselves on the couch Nick leaned over and kissed Sara again and 'Survivor' was forgotten