Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but I do have a great deal of respect for Jorja Fox for turning down a raise when the fate of her friend George Eads had yet to be determined. I'm glad they're both back.
Author's Note: This is sort of a Post-Ep for "Feeling the Heat"
"Sara, what's going on?" Nick Stokes had his hands on his hips as he stared his coworker down in the locker room.
She had a confused expression on her face. "What are you talking about?" She had been getting ready to go home after a long, hot double shift.
He clenched his jaw slightly and then raised his eyebrow before continuing. "Our case."
Sara was immediately defensive as she pulled her bag out of her locker and shut the door. "What about our case? It was an accident. Case closed."
Nick felt his jaw twitch. "That's not what I'm talking about."
Sara narrowed her gaze at him, the last thing she was in the mood for was a confrontation. "Nick, just because you like to get personally involved with the victims doesn't mean that it's a good idea."
Anger flashed in Nick's eyes. "Look, Sara, this isn't about the victim, this is about you. From the get go you assumed that he was responsible for her death. Even after we found his body and the evidence showed that his death was accidental too, you still wouldn't let it go. You still assumed he was a bad kid. Where's your evidence to make that kind of assumption?"
She didn't say a word.
Nick took a deep breath and continued, trying to keep his voice under control. "Look, I don't know what guy pissed you off so much that you feel you have to bring it into every case that involves some jock, but whoever it was, not everyone is like that."
She looked at him with an icy stare and with a tremor in her voice finally responded. "I'm leaving." She brushed past him without saying another word, instead heading towards the front doors of the lab, the hot air hitting her in the face like a furnace. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew that Nick was right. She had made this case personal, and she had acted like she had a chip on her shoulder, enough that even the father of the young man could tell. She climbed into her Denali and put the air on full blast as she turned on the ignition.
Fifteen minutes later she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex. As she opened the door to her apartment, she was looking forward to the cool relief of the air conditioned interior where she could get some respite from the long hot shift she'd just worked. Instead, hot stale air permeated her apartment. It seemed that the air had broken and she dropped her bag on the floor with a curse.
She picked up the phone to call her apartment manager but all she got was a recorded message saying that they were aware of the problem with the air conditioning and were working as quickly as possible to correct the situation. Hanging up in frustration she stalked off to the bathroom to take a cold shower before trying to get some sleep.
Almost as soon as she had showered and crawled into bed she was hot again. The air inside her apartment was stifling and it didn't help that she was still mulling over the confrontation she'd had with Nick in the locker room. She lay there staring up at the ceiling feeling guilty for not being honest with him.
Working these kinds of cases were hard any time, but working them with Nick made it all that much harder. It was easier for her to categorize all well built good looking men as jerks when he wasn't around. Working with him made her question all of her stereotypes about men, and today in particular she let it get to her to the point that it clouded her judgement. He had been right to question her, and she'd handled it poorly. She knew that Nick had taken her behavior personally, and in some respects she realized that he had every right to.
She wasn't sure how long she'd laid there; long enough to get all sweaty again. She finally decided that if she wasn't going to be able to sleep from the heat, she could at least get herself a little peace of mind and go apologize to Nick.
It wasn't until she'd pulled up in front of his house that she realized that she really didn't know what she was going to say. If it hadn't been so damn hot outside, she probably would have just stayed in her vehicle a while longer until she convinced herself that she could just apologize later. The heat, however, drove her from the Denali.
She tentatively knocked on his door, still unsure of what she was going to say. After a few moments, the front door opened to reveal a groggy looking Nick dressed in a pair of pajama pants.
He regarded her with a bit of surprise. He hadn't exactly expected that she would be the one on the other side of his door when he heard the knock, especially considering the icy glare she'd given him before she'd left the lab. "Sara."
Sara felt a bit of fear in the pit of her stomach and said the first thing that came to her mind. "I'm sorry." She bit her lip nervously as she watched him watch her.
Nick opened the door to let her in, closing it as she breezed past him into the coolness of his house. He turned around and studied her nervous posture for a moment before saying anything. "What are you sorry about?" He knew that it had taken a great deal of courage for her to show up on his doorstep simply to apologize and he wanted to understand exactly what she meant.
Sara crossed her arms over herself protectively and looked directly into his eyes. "I'm sorry about how I acted. I'm sorry I offended you."
He looked at her a bit quizzically, and then realized that he had been offended, that he had taken her behavior personally. His expression softened as he looked at her. "What's going on, Sar?"
She looked like she might bolt at any second, but steeled her courage to continue. "You're right, I did let my own experiences get in the way of my objectivity. I assumed that he was guilty before all the evidence was in."
He stepped towards her, a compassionate expression on his face. "Why?" Nick cared for Sara deeply and he knew that she was an intensely private person, but on occasion she'd opened up to him in a way that he doubted that she'd opened up to anyone else on the nightshift.
Sara swallowed hard. "I don't know if it's the heat or if it's cases like this that I work with you." Sara stopped talking, unsure of what else to say.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Why are they hard to work with me?" Deep down he thought he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it.
In spite of the coolness of Nick's house, Sara felt uncomfortably warm. It took her a few moments, but realizing that Nick wasn't going anywhere and that he regarded her with a kind expression, she continued. "I'm afraid of you."
Nick looked a bit confused and a little hurt as his brow furrowed. "Sara, if I've ever done anything to hurt you or to make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry." He wracked his brain to try and figure out what he could have done to make her fear him.
Sara immediately stepped towards him, shaking her head. "No, you haven't done anything. You were right, I have been hurt by guys who are the stereotypical jock." Her expression softened as she looked at him.
He studied her for a long moment, not really sure what to say.
Sara continued. "But you're not like that, and it scares me." Her voice was barely a whisper and she realized that she was standing less than a foot from him now.
Nick reached out and brushed her hair back off of her face as he looked intently into her eyes. His voice was soft. "Why does that scare you?"
The words were out before she could think; before she could take them back. "Because I'm in love with you." She had a faint recollection of a smile on his face just before she felt his lips against hers. Her eyes fluttered shut and she allowed herself to drown in the sensation of that kiss, letting out a soft moan as she felt him pull her against him and then deepen the kiss. She whimpered when she felt him pull away and looked up at him, feeling as if her entire soul was exposed in her eyes.
Nick smiled down at Sara. "I'm in love with you." In the next instant as his words seemed to register in Sara's mind, he felt her hand at the nape of his neck, pulling him back towards her as her lips connected with his in a searing kiss.
The next conscious thought that either of them had was tumbling into Nick's bed in a tangle of arms and legs.
Later, as cool air blew across her back, Sara lay curled against Nick, secure in his arms with a feeling of deep contentment. His soft even breathing a telling sign that he was asleep, and as she closed her eyes she finally let sleep claim her as well. Her fear was gone, and in its place was love.