Title: Intervention
Author: DarkDreamer56
Archive: If you want it, ask please!
Rating: T
Pairing: N/S friendship, G/S angst
Disclaimer: If I owned them, this wouldn't be necessary…
Spoilers: "Gum Drops" (6x05)

A/N: I read some spoilers about this…and they upset me, so I had to write this. If you don't want to know about the spoilers, then don't read any further. Parts of it were squicky to write….but it had to be done. It's quite anti Grissom/Sara (which if you've read any of my other stuff, you would have probably already guessed), so if that is the pairing you ship, you've been sufficiently warned. Let me know what you think in a review.

Sara listened to her door slam with a satisfying thud. She had been able to direct her anger, hurt, and frustration into that one slam, and it had felt good, until she realized that she had probably woken up the only remaining men of the team that hadn't tried to get into her bed that night.

First, it had been Greg, begging her to share her room so that he wouldn't have to share with Grissom. It had taken her nearly ten minutes and a withering glare to convince him that he would be sleeping in his own room. After she had finally gotten rid of him, she jumped in the shower and thanked God that she had had the foresight to throw a bag of extra clothes into the back of Warrick's Denali when they were called out to the remote crime scene, and even more thankful that the bag had contained not only a change of clothes, but an extra pair of underwear, a tank top, and a pair of shorts. She was tired, she was cranky, and frankly, she was sick of being the one that received the brunt of Grissom's frustration about this case. She wanted nothing more than to slip into unconsciousness until they had to return to the scene.

Sara had changed into her makeshift pajamas, and was carefully finger combing through her wet hair, realizing with a sigh that she had neither a hair dryer nor her straight iron and would have to let it dry curly, when her night officially crossed over from bad to hell on Earth.

When she heard the knock at her door, she figured it was Greg, returning for another round of pestering. What she didn't expect, was to find Grissom standing at her door. She invited him in, waited for a few minutes as he quietly apologized, and then waited again as they stood in silence. He was gazing at her with a look that she had never really seen him direct towards her, and to be honest she was a little worried. She knew the case was getting to him, and she hoped that this wouldn't be the one to make him crack. Still, he didn't seem to want to talk about it, if his silence was any indication. She was about to ask him whether there was anything else, she really wanted to get some sleep, when she was taken by surprise by his lips descending onto hers in a hungry kiss.

In all the years that she had fantasized about Gil Grissom bursting in and kissing her, she had never expected it to feel so…wrong. By the time she had fully registered what was going on, Grissom's hands had made it abundantly clear what exactly he had been seeking with his late night visit. She pushed him away quickly, giving him a glare that would have melted ice caps. She gave him two seconds before she threw the door open, standing expectantly next to it as she waited for him to leave. The look on his face was priceless, a mixture of hurt and confusion that he had no right to feel.

"I…I'm sorry, I just thought…I'm sorry," he stammered. With one last look, he left her room, and Sara put all of her effort into slamming the door.

Tears burned her eyes as she paced the room several times before suddenly dropping down onto the bed and beginning to cry. What right did he have, to come into her room, to kiss her like that, and not even consider her feelings on the subject?

She barely heard the first knock, but as her sobbing gradually subsided, she heard it again. Knowing the four possibilities that lay outside her door, and not wanting to deal with any of them right now, she chose to pick up the nearest object on the floor, her boot, and hurl it against the door. Just when she thought whoever it was had given up, she heard another insistent knock. Sara had had it.

She strode over to the door, flinging it open and finding Nick standing there, looking rumpled and half asleep in his boxers and tee shirt, hair sticking up everywhere. It would have been a cute sight, had she not been so pissed.

"Before you even ask, no, you can't sleep in here, and no, I'm not sleeping with you…this is not a revolving door for the damn Vegas nightshift."

Sara was about to slam the door before Nick could see the tears she was desperately trying to hold back, but Nick positioned himself in the doorway and prevented her from doing so.

"Sara, what the hell are you talking about? I heard your door slam, and it sounded like you were crying…these walls are kinda thin. I just came to see if you were okay, which obviously, you're not…now what's going on?"

By this time, Sara had abandoned the door and began pacing the room, muttering to herself. "Thought he could just waltz in here…after five years…just kiss me and expect me too…how could he think?"

Nick quickly shut the door and dropped down to the foot of her bed, rubbing the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes. He had been asleep when the slamming of a door next door roused him, and seconds later he heard a set of heavy footsteps tromping down the stairs. He thought it might have been Sara, but then he was surprised to hear sobbing through the paper thin wall next to his bed. He pulled himself up, knowing he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep until he knew what was wrong with her.

So now he was sitting on her bed, watching her pace back and forth, arms folded across her chest and a mixture of anger and hurt in her eyes. He only caught bits and pieces of her ranting, but he sat up and took notice when he heard "kiss me and expect…"

"Whoa…do I have to go kick Greg's ass? Because I will…" Nick interrupted as she stopped pacing the floor for the first time since she came in. He started to stand, intent on going across the hall and giving Greg a piece of his mind. She stood in front of him, tears welling dangerously in her eyes as she pushed his shoulders back down.

"No, not Greg," she laughed nervously. "He was just bugging me to sleep in the other bed…"

Nick could feel his draw drop. If it hadn't been Greg, and he knew Warrick was sleeping in the next room…

"Grissom kissed you?" he asked incredulously.

Sara blushed, realizing that Nick probably wasn't the person she should be having this conversation with. But, it wasn't as if Sara could, or would ever want to have this conversation with Catherine, and while she was close to Greg, this wasn't exactly the kind of information she wanted him to have either. Besides, Nick was a good friend…she could trust him. And she really needed to talk to someone.

"Yeah," she answered, dropping down next to him on the bed, "He came in, I thought he was here about the case, and then he apologized for snapping today…and then…"

"So he kissed you then," Nick summed up. He stopped for a moment to clear his throat after taking a second to think about whether he really wanted to participate in this conversation. But Sara was really upset; he couldn't just excuse himself from the awkwardness of discussing the ever confusing relationship between his boss and a woman that he had thought about on more than one occasion himself. He cocked his head to the side, already knowing the answer to his next question. "And I'm guessing from the freak out that it went a little farther than that?"

"Uh…he wanted it to. That's pretty much when I threw him out. I mean, how could he even think that that would be okay? I know this case is getting to him, but it's been five years, and he's about two years too late. Did he even consider my feelings at all? He strings me along for years…just enough to not have to actually do anything about it…and when I finally move on, he goes and does this…" Sara was starting to get worked up again, and Nick had to reach over and grab her wrist as she moved to begin pacing the room again.

"Sar, you gotta calm down. Like you said, he's upset. No." He held up his hand as she started to protest his statement. "That doesn't give him the right to do what he did…but he probably wasn't thinking. You know he doesn't deal with feelings well, and I think that applies especially to his feelings for you."

Sara threw herself down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "So how does that translate into showing up at my door while we're stuck in Pioche, and expecting me to sleep with him? Even if I had wanted to…come on, like Greg wouldn't have noticed he was missing, and like you said, the walls are thin…did he even think it through? "

Nick shuddered, glad that he had been spared that wake up call from hell. Then he sighed and ran his hand across the back of his neck. He had planned on being asleep right now, not discussing Grissom's apparent desire to have sex with the woman sitting next to him. Warrick would never believe him if he told him about this, not that Nick would live much longer if Sara found out that he had blabbed. No, this was one night that he would hope to God he'd forget once he fell back asleep.

"What he expected was wrong, but it's not that surprising. Look Sar, you're a beautiful, brilliant woman, and I can pretty much guarantee that there isn't a man that works in our crime lab that hasn't entertained the thought at least once. Like you said, he's upset, it clouded his judgment, and he did something that he should have thought twice about."

Nick looked over at Sara, watching surprise filter across her face. There was a faint blush painting itself across her cheeks, but a small smile was winning the battle to spread across her lips; at least he had been able to make her smile.

"Surely not every guy in the lab…"

"Most of 'em, at any rate. And at least all the guys here." He grinned back. Sara reached over and smacked him on the arm, surprised at how easily her anger had dissipated; but then she realized with a small smile that Nick usually had that affect on her. "Hey, keep in mind, I'm one of the guys that hasn't tried to get into your bed tonight…Unless of course, you're offering, in which case…" Nick teased, waggling his eyebrows for effect.

Sara rolled her eyes and smacked him again, but then used his forearm to brace herself as she sat back up. "Thanks," she answered quietly, "I'm sure this wasn't how you envisioned spending the night."

"Don't worry, I'm sure the emotional scarring from this conversation will be minimal. It might require another session with my Pe-Ap counselor, but I'm sure I'll recover." Sara nudged him in the side, but he caught her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Seriously Sar…I'm proud of you, for not doing something that you would end up regretting." Nick left out the part, that in the back of his mind, he was happy she hadn't gone through with it for an entirely different reason.

"Thanks Nick…you're a good friend, for listening to me ramble like this." She was quiet for a few minutes. "Is it bad, that I wonder…if he had been sooner…"

Sara trailed off. She was over Grissom, she knew that, but the wounds were still too raw to be healed completely. Sometimes she wondered if they would ever completely heal while she was still in Vegas, but that wasn't something she was ready to come to terms with yet. And as much as she hated to admit it, the events of the night had ripped open one of those wounds soundly, leaving her a little off kilter.

"I'm glad you didn't," Nick whispered, rubbing his hand up and down her shoulder. "I…I really don't think it would work between you two, I don't meant to hurt you, but that's really what I think."

Nick braced himself for a fight, but he knew that he couldn't just sit on those thoughts. Despite the fact that Sara probably realized intellectually that her and Grissom would never work, he knew it was much harder to convince your heart of something like that, and Sara probably wasn't as over Grissom as she wanted to believe; she wouldn't be this upset if she was. Nick tried not to let that thought bother him too much as he closed his eyes, waiting for the storm. So he was surprised when Sara was silent. When he opened his eyes, she shot him a sad, questioningly look.

"You need someone to balance you Sara…to make sure you stop working and just live once in awhile. Someone that makes you smile more than they make you cry. And I think that even if Grissom wanted to change, the woman in his life would always come second to his work, to his bugs. And you deserve to be first in someone's heart Sara." Two of the tears that had been threatening to fall all night trickled down her cheeks. She hastily wiped them away, sniffling a little. Nick immediately felt bad; he hadn't wanted to make her cry. "Don't cry…I didn't mean to upset you…"

"No," she interrupted, "that…that's just really sweet Nick. Thank you." She leaned against him for a moment, sniffling one more time before pushing herself up. "We both need to get some sleep, I think."

Nick nodded, and then impulsively leaned over and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'll make Warrick go get donuts in the morning." He stood up and headed for the door.

"Thanks Nick," she called quietly, crawling up the bed and pulling the covers over herself. Nick just smiled and turned off the light, before she heard the door clicking shut behind him. What Nick had said, really struck a cord with her, and she found herself wondering if maybe the person she was looking for was really closer than she had realized.

Sara shook her head, trying to rid it of all thoughts. It had been a long, very strange and emotional day, and she wanted nothing more at the moment than for sleep to claim her, so that they could get back to work, and get the hell out of Pioche.

FIN.

A/N: Okay, so I got really upset when I read those spoilers, and writing this helped me to calm down a bit. And yes, I realize how sad it is to get upset over reading spoilers about a television show, but that is another matter entirely. I am against the Grissom/Sara pairing, and it's separate from the fact that I am a Nick/Sara fan. I think that Grissom is a bad choice for her; they are too similar, together they will just drown in rationalizations and workaholic tendencies. I tend to liken Grissom's push her away/pull her back in ritual over the past few seasons akin to emotional abuse, though it probably isn't intentional on the character's part. If I were consistently treated like this by a man that I cared about over the course of several years, my friends would have staged an intervention long before this point. This story was just my attempt to vent, you can like it, or you can hate it, but these are my opinions on the subject. And now that I sound like a total bitch, let me just say that I do find the character of Grissom intriguing…just not this particular pairing.