A/N: The first chapter of Angel's sequel, as promised! This should be a chapter story... I'm not certain how long yet, though. The beginning of the chapter is still based on Grave Danger- when Nicky goes to pay a visit to the daughter of the psycho that kidnapped him. I'm still at a loss as to how he did that... it was so selfless... (sniff) That's why we love Nicky. Thanks for all the reviews & support on Angel, you guys are awesome. If you haven't already read the prequel to this fic, it might be a good idea... I make the odd reference to it in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. Unfortunately. (cries in a corner) But Nicky & Sara should be together. They already would be if I did own the show.

Onward! Please R&R!

Chapter: You can't just stop living...

Sara sighed deeply, biting her lip and staring down at the foot that sat on the break petal of her Tahoe. The fingers of her left hand tapped idly on the door, close to the window switch. Realizing air might be just what she needed, the brunette pressed her left index into the black button, and the driver seat window slid down into the door. The bright sunlight that had previously been unable to penetrate the dark glass poured into the vehicle, lighting up her face as she lifted her head to stare at the correction facility… expression on her face somewhere between worry and sadness. At the moment, she really couldn't bring herself to care about much besides the friend that bravely walked the halls of the foreboding building with a selfless intent. I wish he had let me come in with him. Sara sighed. Her face lit up with the sight of the lone figure leaving the caged building, rising sun at his back. She smiled. Nick…

He waved once, catching her eye, appreciating the good natured smile that crossed the lips of the woman waiting in the truck. He'd been seeing more of that gap-toothed grin lately, but it still never exposed itself enough. It never failed to comfort him… and he remembered clearly the thoughts that had passed through his head while stuck in that Plexiglas coffin. He might not have seen it ever again. The beam radiating from his female coworker brightened his mood a few shades as he finally reached the Tahoe.

"Everything… alright?" Sara asked carefully, trying her best to be calm and caring despite her inward urge to start crying at the thought of his pain. The memories of the live feed images still tore at her heart every time she saw that sad smile his face. Nick nodded slowly in response as he took his seat on the passenger side, sniffing quickly and looking at the ground for a second, then the ceiling, avoiding her eye. It took him a moment to feel confident enough that he had it together… he took it, then looked to Sara.

"Yeah… its fine," he answered, finding it difficult to say much else. It had been a full three weeks since the incident, but inward fears still haunted him every time memories of the skilled explosive-guru crossed his mind. Talking to his daughter hadn't been much easier.

Truthfully, Nick felt badly about his inability to just be his old cheerful self around Sara, especially after the heart to heart with her in the hospital. She had offered to come with him today, as well. He really thought he'd feel better after talking to his captor's daughter; doing something to help her, but the response he had received had been much less than friendly or thankful.

"You… want to go for breakfast or something?" Sara asked, tilting her head to talk to him while still watching the road. A little supportive smile crossed her lips and she risked peeking into the rear mirror for a second to catch a glimpse of Nick's slightly paler than usual face. He turned to look at her and smiled- not his usual eye twinkling beam, but more than she had seen since he'd disappeared. His hand covered hers on the armrest between the seats, fingers intertwining with hers in a thankful gesture.

"That would be nice, yeah. Thanks, Sar," Nick answered, nodding. Sara smiled fully; glad he was at least willing to eat, even with the slightly nauseous expression on his still handsome face. She brought the SUV to a clean stop at a red light.

"I know a great pancake house," she chuckled softly.

"Sounds great." Nick replied, his Texan slur pronouncing a bit more as he tried to cheer up a bit, for her sake. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach was slowly leaving it as he began to feel more comfortable. The prospect of breakfast with Sara brightened him up; it had been a long time since they had done anything remotely social as close friends since the team had been broken up by Ecklie. Now that Grissom had put his foot down, there might be more of a chance for it in the future, and it looked like today could provide the first… well…second step. Nick couldn't help but allow a satisfied smile cross his face as he remembered Sara's words in the hospital. His grip on her hand tightened a little between them; he was glad to share their secret.

Sara pulled the Tahoe into a bumpy parking lot in front of a cozy looking breakfast café not far from her apartment. Nick recognized the street and the funny little plastic pancake chef that stood idly by the doors of the restaurant. The stupid thing cracked him up every time he drove by the place, and thinking of Sara and the little four-foot-tall flour caked chef together made him chuckle to himself. Noticing the cocked eyebrow and crooked smile Nick had so suddenly shot up, Sara looked at him questioningly.

"What's up?" She cocked an eyebrow too, trying to copy him and hopefully raise another warm laugh from the man she had come to love.

"You actually come to a café with a plump little chef standing outside, covered in flour?"

"Yeah. Remarkably, the presence of a goofy looking plastic chef doesn't ruin the food here…" Sara answered, trying her best to look offended but failing miserably with a crooked grin between pursed lips. "You think I'm that uptight?" Nick laughed at her mocking tone.

"I guess- I just never pictured Sara Sidle ever being okay with people seeing her in a place with that thing out front." Nick smiled, nodding at the figure and hitting the seat belt eject button with his thumb. Opening his door, he saw her roll her eyes.

"Best pancakes in town."

"Great, I'm starving," Nick winked. Sara flashed another grin at him, pleased that not only was he willing to eat; he was getting his vast appetite back too.

A slight air conditioned breeze tickled the pair's faces as Nick swung the door to the café open for her, causing the both of them to sigh in relief. It was early in the morning; the sun still rising, but the great outdoors already felt like an oven. It's only going to get hotter… Sara thought idly as she stood at the entrance for a second, cooling off. Nick was looking around the small restaurant curiously.

"They… don't seat us or anything, do they?" he asked, an eyebrow cocked. Sara looked at him in amusement, clasping his hand in hers.

"Let's grab a seat. It's a café, Nicky." Sara stepped forward, pulling him with her, shooting her head to the right. "Ah, good… my favourite table is free." Nick walked with her across the dark hardwood floor and into a strange little corner booth where two very comfy looking red armchairs stood behind a short wall that protruded from the main one. It looked like a real eatery booth had once sat there but was removed when the new owners came in, trying to make the place look more like a coffeehouse. Sara reluctantly let go of his hand and fell wearily into the chair closest to the wall, stifling a yawn with her hand over her mouth. Nick took a seat in the chair across her; a medium sized coffee/breakfast table between them. She smiled a little, reaching into the plastic pocket that had been mounted on the russet colored wall adjacent the open window in the booth. Two menus popped out and she handed one to Nick, who accepted it contently. He flipped it open quickly on the table, clearly quite hungry after a long shift finally back at the lab and trip to the prison. Sara readied herself to open her own, but stopped midway, eyes fixed intently on Nick, full of concern. She hoped he was ready to talk to her; she was sure he'd already had a heart to heart with the most unlikely person on the team: Grissom. Sara just wanted to be supportive and make sure he knew that she cared.

"Hey Nick, what you did this morning was really altruistic. I'm sure what you said to her will make a difference." Nick looked up from his menu and into her dark eyes, apparently stunned for a moment. Shaking his head and chuckling, he faced the table now.

"I don't know, Sar. It didn't exactly go well; she really didn't want to talk to me. Her eyes… were cold; she had as much of a grudge against us CSIs as her father did. I get the feeling she believed her father's suicide was my fault." Nick's eyes met Sara's again as he spoke seriously. She shook her head, pressing on.

"Despite that…I think you made more of an impact than you think. We all… need that forgiveness and…" She paused. "Assurance. Assurance that we're… not completely alone… and people, even complete strangers… still care. Even though it wasn't her who put you there, deep inside I'm sure she felt helpless- being the cause of her father's grief and what that drove him to do. Hell, Nick, if she isn't feeling that now she will be soon, and what you did will help her deal with it when it does." Sara persisted. She was sure the words coming from her throat were hers, despite the other-worldly feel they had. Frankly, she was a little surprised that she managed to get any of that out. Nick smiled softly at her, staring straight into her eyes.

"Thanks Sara," he paused, not really sure how to reply to that. "I… hope it helped her. I'm… starting to think it helped me."

As if by signal, a server showed up at that moment, ready to take their orders if they were ready. The woman looked awfully bubblegum for the homely little café, wearing bright colors and more pink eye shadow than what Nick would have believed necessary. Sara grinned broadly at her, gap-tooth showing proudly.

"Hay Sara! Yeh've brought someone 'long this mornin', 'ave ya?" The server yapped in a lazy accent. She looked from Sara to Nick and tilted her head sharply as if questioning him. Sara chuckled at the flaky look that had crossed Nick's face.

"Uh… Nick." He answered the waitress' look as politely as he could. Clearly he was missing out on some kind of joke. His gaze averted the bubbly female's eye and landed back on Sara. "You two know each other?" At this, the waitress let out a laughing hoot. It crossed Nick's mind that she mustn't have had the foggiest idea of how outlandish she looked; with the rainbow knee socks, purple streaked blonde hair and off color laughter.

"Um… yeah…" Sara answered, smiling. "I come here a lot… Dorthy and I know each other." She looked a little uncomfortable with the server's social grace around her coworker, but Dorthy was clearly oblivious to her embarrassment. Nick, sensing this, reached out with his hand and placed it on Sara's in a silent effort to assure her. Dorthy cocked an eyebrow at Nick's advance, smiled at Sara and sighed.

"What can I getcha?" She asked unconventionally, pulling out a tattered pad of paper and fuzzy blue pen from her apron. Nick picked up his menu again with his other hand, still keeping the right one on Sara's.

"Go ahead." Sara smiled, answering Nick's questioning look, asking if she wanted to go first. He smiled back kindly.

"I'll have the LV flapjack… eggs sunny-side up, extra sausage… and bacon extra crispy, please." Nick requested politely. "Oh, and a cupp'a OJ," he winked. Dorthy nodded and scribbled down his order, purple streaked bangs falling out of her messy ponytail as she wrote. Finished, she looked up at Sara.

"The usual, Sara?" she asked and winked. Sara grinned back and nodded.

"Thanks, 'Dor." She answered. Dorthy nodded and clicked her tongue, giving the thumbs up before walking away to the kitchen. Nick dropped his menu back onto the table and chuckled.

"She's a little eccentric." He grinned, tapping his hand against Sara's before removing it to pick up the two menus which he then slid back into the wall pocket. Sara sighed heavily, not quite sure why she was embarrassed.

"I come every now and then for breakfast after rough shifts. She's a great cheer-me-up and Gris is always bugging me to get out, anyway." Sara smiled. "At least she's an original… pretty good listener too." She looked out the window. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and Nick noticed.

"Know what you mean, it's nice to have someone to… listen. Thanks for coming today, I appreciate it more than you think."

"Hey, no problem. To tell you the truth, if it were me, I don't think I could have done it." Sara finally voiced her admiration. "I'm… so glad you're alright." Her head hung a little shamefully as Nick grasped her hand again. "S-sorry, I don't mean to make you think about it. I'm being stupid…" She raised her free hand to wipe a hidden tear away quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice, and looked up, throwing on her best smile.

"Its fine-" Sara had reached up to wipe away another desolate tear, and he caught her hand. "Sar, its okay to let them fall…" She didn't know why she was crying, it seemed so spontaneous; totally out of character. Her jaw clenched, and the tear fell before her hand could break free of Nick's grasp to wipe it away, followed by another, and another. She became acutely aware of his eyes, the dark seas that poured into her own and caused more tears to gather, blurring her vision.

"C'mon Sar…" Nick whispered as he lifted their hands and stood up. Sara did the same, eyes not leaving his until he let go of her hand and circled his strong arms around her, pulling the woman into hug.

"Shit… I'm sorry…" Sara mumbled in distress as her arms found their way around Nick's waist as well. Her head rest on his shoulder, shaking with each weep. More salty tears fell onto his black shirt and Nick brushed a few stray hairs behind her ear gently.

"Shh…" His hand rubbed her back tenderly as he tried to calm her. Sara breathed deeply into his hard chest a few times, regaining her composure before looking up at Nick. Her hands now rested on his shoulders as her eyes locked with his.

"God… how are you so strong?" she whispered desperately. Nick smiled sadly and pulled her closer so their lips were inches apart. He could feel her warm breath on his lips as he leaned in to kiss her softly.

"You can't just stop living…"

I'll try to update with the next chapter soon, hopefully I'll have more time now that summer is here... Let me know what you think!

Sahariah