Disclaimer - I don't own CSI.
Some Things Never Change
A/N: I watched Homecoming and Karma To Burn last week and came up with this. Set after Nick and Sara's little disagreement at the end of Karma To Burn. Just a bit of something I had to write. Relatively short but hopefully sweet. Enjoy.
"Hey," Nick smiled sheepishly and looked borderline embarrassed as he entered the near empty break room.
"Hi," Sara replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
Nick walked towards where she was sat on the sofa. "Can I...?" he pointed at the empty space next to her.
Sara shrugged. "Sure."
Nick quietly sat down, his ego seemingly as bruised as his face. A somewhat awkward silence followed. He took a deep breath and swallowed his pride before voicing what was on his mind.
"I'm sorry for what I said, Sara," he announced. "It wasn't fair and it was unnecessary."
"It's okay..."
"No, it's not okay," he interrupted. "I feel like an idiot. I took it out on you and that wasn't fair."
"Damn right it wasn't fair. But a lot of things aren't fair," Sara insisted.
"I know that you had to leave. You had a lot of stuff going on in your life," Nick continued, pausing momentarily. "You nearly died."
Sara quickly closed her eyes upon hearing him use those words. "Really? I didn't know that," she said sarcastically, not wanting to be serious at that point in time.
"I think it took a lot for you to leave," Nick stated. "I think it took a lot of courage to do what you did."
"I wasn't exactly very proud of it," she admitted.
"I know that. I know that more than most would," Nick gave her a knowing look. "I'm just glad you came back."
"Well, I can tell you I didn't take much convincing," she admitted. "If I think about it now I can't believe I thought that I'd just be able to come back and stay on a temporary basis. I hadn't realised until I got back here just how much I'd really missed it."
"I like to think you came back for the people, if not the work," Nick smiled.
"That was the biggest thing pulling me back. I'm just sorry I couldn't stay longer when...," Sara gulped as the words almost literally got stuck in her throat as she looked Nick in the eye. "...Warrick died."
"You were here and that's all that matters."
A short moment of silence fell upon them, the only sound coming from the clock on the wall opposite them and the occasional sharp inhale of breath from one of the two occupants.
"I miss him," Nick spoke up, his voice soft.
"I know. I do too," she agreed.
"It's not like I don't ever think about him, but with everything that's happened the past few days it's brought back some bad memories. And seeing McKeen... I let him get to me. He wanted to provoke me and I let him," Nick explained.
"He knows how much Warrick meant to you, how much he meant to all of us," Sara reasoned.
"Is it weird that sometimes I still expect him to come walking through that door?" Nick wondered, holding her gaze.
"No. I do it too," she replied.
"I really let this get to me, didn't I? And you bore the brunt of it, and for that I'm sorry," he said sincerely.
"It was always going to happen. Whenever it concerns Warrick we're all a lot more emotionally charged," Sara reasoned. "And that's not always a bad thing."
Nick didn't look very convinced.
"What is a bad thing is getting yourself arrested," she pursed her lips.
"Oh please, don't remind me," Nick sighed, covering his eyes with his hand.
"By the looks of things you're going to have a nice shiner for a few days," she smirked.
"A reminder of home stupid I can be," Nick insisted, shaking his head in despair at himself.
"And how passionate you are about your job," she reasoned.
"What job?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "The whole department is corrupt, remember?"
"You're always going to have corruption. When you have good guys you're always going to have bad guys. That's how it works," she disputed. "But we always come out on top."
"Not always," he argued.
"But we can't just give up."
"It just makes me realise how much things have changed in the past few years," Nick admitted, lowering his head slightly.
"Change happens," Sara reasoned.
Nick nodded. "But it can be hard to adjust."
"We're still a team," she added.
"Not the same team," Nick argued, and by the look on his face he instantly regretted it.
"True. But you've got me. And Greg. And there's Brass, Doc Robbins and Dave. And Hodges has been here so long he's practically part of the furniture," she insisted. "It's not so bad, is it?"
Nick sighed as he rubbing his face with his hands before continuing, "It's not. And I'm not saying that I don't like DB, Finn and Morgan, because I do, they're just..."
"Different?" Sara guessed. "Different doesn't have to be a bad thing."
"It's not. They're not. We're fine. Greg was right. We are a team, but first and for most we're a family and we have each others backs," he stated. "It's just… I can't explain it. I suppose I'm still adjusting to everything that's happened."
"I dare say it's been an easy ride for Morgan, Finn or DB either," she added.
"No, probably not. It must be a bit of a shock coming here and joining a team of people that have been working together for over ten years," Nick acknowledged. "But I don't think I ever thought about our team ever splitting up."
"Me neither. But these things happen. We've got some excellent people working with us again and we're all gelling together and we're a team again," Sara comments. "That's the same as it always was."
Nick nodded in agreement.
"And that won't ever change. Unless of course you are serious about quitting," Sara insisted, pressing the subject.
Nick shook his head lightly. "I'm all mouth and no trousers. You should know that by now."
Sara smiled. "You had us going for a while there."
"I know. But in all honesty I'm not ready to leave," Nick answered. "I'm not done yet. I'm only just getting started."
"Glad to hear it," Sara nodded. "What would we possibly have done without you?"
"I'm sorry I said I wanted to quit without really meaning it," Nick sighed silently, almost blushing at her previous remark.
"We all have our breaking points," she smiled softly.
"Guess I found mine, huh?"
"But don't worry, you'll fall in love with the job all over again. You can't ever escape it; trust me, I've tried. It's just become a part of us now, I guess. I really can't see you leaving this job until you physically can't do it anymore, and even then you'll probably need to be dragged out of here," Sara smiled.
"I just want everything to go back to how it was. I don't mean about Warrick... Well, actually it would be nice if he wasn't still dead. But I'm talking about going back to last week when none of this had ever happened," he let out a small sigh, his eyes sad.
"It will. In time," Sara maintained.
Nick furrowed his brow, looking thoughtful. "But don't you ever just feel like walking out and not coming back?"
"Been there and done that, remember?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Again then. Do you ever feel like you want to quit because you can't take anymore?"
"Sure. Everyone does. Doesn't matter what you do for a living people get tired and bored of seeing the same things all the time, doesn't matter that to us that's seeing a ten year girl who's been stabbed to death or whether you're an accountant and are sick of going over the same people's tax returns," Sara reasoned. "People get bored. We wear down. We question ourselves and our ability to do our jobs, and whether we even want to do them anymore. But I'd like to think that next time you feel like quitting you'll come and talk to me."
"Of course I will," Nick nodded, looking her square in the eye. "We've been around long enough we'll probably see out our days here, don't you think?"
"I hope to. It's just whether or not you're going to be the voice of reason that's beside me whilst I'm interrogating a suspect…," she pursed her lips thoughtfully.
"I'll be there for as long as you want me to be," he smiled.
"We've been through a lot, haven't we? And we've always been right here, right beside each other when one of us needs a little bit of support," Sara smiled slightly in return. "And that's not going to change no matter how hard you try to push me away."
"I won't push anymore," he insisted, half smirking.
"We've always had each other's backs. That's been the same since day one," Sara stated. "And we still do."
"That's what friends are for."
Sara smiled as there eyes met again, the honesty, compassion and genuine kindness coming through loud and clear. This was just a blip for them and the department, but they'd get through it as they always did, helping each other along the way.
"Honestly, Sara, I really am sorry for what I said," Nick added.
"I know you are, Nick. And it's okay. I've already forgotten about it," she replied.
"Are we good then?"
Sara smiled widely. "Always."
"Some things never change," Nick chuckled, smiling widely as he did so.
Thank you for reading. Please review.