Mano a Mano, a csi fanfic

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. Everything belongs to the wonderful people of CSI and CBS. This was inspired by Gary Allan's "Man to Man" and if you care to read the lyrics they're given at the bottom of the page.

Spoilers: Anything's fair game up until "Mea Culpa" of season five. Spoilers for "Viva Las Vegas" will definitely be included but other than that, probably not any specific ones.

Archive: Only here, if you wish to use it somewhere just let me know.

Timeline: Sometime just before "Mea Culpa" – the team is still together.

Feedback: Always, always welcomed!

Warnings: None

Pairings: Nick/Sara and mentions of Grissom and Sara's past "relationship"

Authors Note: In this story, Nick and Sara have been dating for about two months (after the season opener of season five) yet the have only been staying at each other's places for less than a month… I hope that doesn't confuse anyone.

So far this is only planned to be a one shot, but if you'd like me to continue I probably will. And I should be updating "One More Day" sometime really soon. The fourth chapter of OMD is almost finished, but I just couldn't get this out of my head.

"Mano a Mano"

After pulling a seriously draining double shift the last thing Nick wanted to do was have a conference with Grissom. Especially since he had no idea what it was about. As far as he knew, he had been following protocol exactly as he should. He hadn't been late to work for exactly three weeks, mostly due to staying at Sara's place almost every night in those three weeks, so it couldn't be about that. Sighing he grabbed his wallet and keys out of his locker so he could leave after his discussion with Grissom.

Nick closed his locker and was about to leave the locker room when two hands covered his eyes. Nick knew immediately who it was. Not only would Sara be the only one at work, or any where else for that matter, to cover Nick's eyes, but she also smelled exactly like his shampoo, which she had used the night before. With a grin that almost split his face in two he grabbed the hands from his eyes and turned to face Sara. It appeared she was also getting ready to leave work and he groaned when he realized he wouldn't be able to go home with her.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked, referring to the groan.

Nick shock his head and told her, "I've got to meet Grissom in his office in," he glanced at his watch, "approximately two and a half minutes."

"What about?" She inquired.

"I have no idea, he just told me to meet with him after shift." Nick placed his hands on her hips and leaned in so his forehead was resting against hers. "And I was planning on making you pancakes at my house and then we could've … practice those yoga techniques of yours." He waggled his eyebrows at her making her laugh.

"Save it for later Romeo," Sara told him, still with a grin on her face. "Well I have absolutely no food at my house because someone, who is not me, has an appetite much too big. How about I go to your place and fix us something to… munch on?" Sara rubbed her hands up and down Nick's arms which were still rested on her hips.

Another huge grin spread over Nick's face and he nodded enthusiastically, "That certainly sounds like a plan to me."

Sara pulled away and started to open her locker. "Alright then, you better get going to meet Grissom." She said without facing him.

He nodded and started to leave when Sara spoke again, "Oh and don't take too long," she said with a wink.

Nick let a caring smile drift over his face before leaving the locker room. It had been over two months, yet it was still hard for him to believe that he and Sara Sidle were in a relationship. After a case where multiple people had thought they were either dating or married, Nick had asked Sara if she wanted to go to dinner with him on a night they both had off. To say that the night had gone well would have hardly done it justice. It had been the most comfortable date Nick had ever been on. They talked all through dinner, without any awkward pauses which so often came up during dates. After dinner they had gone to a nice park just outside of Clark County that played movies on a large screen. The movie that had been playing was a classic, "Gone with the Wind." Sitting on a picnic blanket while eating chocolate cake and strawberries, they had shared their first kiss.

As these thoughts drifted in and out of his mind it struck Nick was Grissom probably wanted to meet him about: Sara. It had been a while since he'd actually gotten to interact at work and Nick wondered if it was because Grissom knew he'd been spending time with Sara outside of work. Continuing down the hall, he finally reached Grissom's office. The door was slightly ajar so with a soft knock Nick pushed the door open the rest of the way. Grissom was not yet in his office so Nick silently seated himself in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Nick had been in his Grissom's office many times. Some of those times had not been pleasant, yet he hadn't been as worried then as he was now. It was no secret to anyone in the lab that Sara and Grissom had had feelings for each other in years past. While Nick knew that Sara was over Grissom, or at least he hoped, he didn't know if Grissom still had feelings ranging beyond friendship for Sara. Sighing Nick shook his head, he knew that Grissom was too much of a man to let something such as an office romance get between them at work. Yet he was apprehensive he wouldn't be able to work with Sara anymore if Grissom did find out.

"Hello Nick," he heard Grissom say as he entered his office.

He sounded friendly enough so swallowed any doubts he may have had and replied, "Hey Griss."

"Nick, I've noticed that you and Sara have been seeing each other a lot outside of work." Grissom stated. Nick stared at Grissom with disbelief. Yes, he had thought that this might have something to do with Sara, yet he hadn't expected Grissom to be so blunt about it.

"Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about?" Grissom asked him.

Finally untying his tongue Nick spoke, "Griss, I don't really think what Sara and I do outside of work is totally your business." Nick didn't mean to sound so crass to his boss, yet he was not exactly the way he expected this conversation to go. Grissom seated himself behind his desk and peered at Nick over his glasses.

Tearing his eyes away from Nick he spoke again, "If it's affecting your work then it is."

"I haven't worked alone with Sara for at least two months Grissom. And neither of our performances has been slipping if I'm not mistaken." Nick told his supervisor.

"It's not affecting you Nick, but Sara has been withdrawn since about the time I believe you two started," Grissom paused trying to choose his words carefully, "seeing each other. When I've worked a case with her she's hardly said two words to me."

"I think it has less to do with her and me seeing each other, and more to do with the embarrassment she feels every time she's around you." Nick hated talking to Grissom this way. With the exception of his parents and grandparents, there was no one Nick respected more than Grissom. Since coming to Las Vegas, Grissom had been not only his mentor but also his friend. It was not a good feeling to have to repay him back like this. But since Grissom turned Sara down for dinner and confessed his feelings, not to her, but to a suspect, Nick couldn't help feeling angry at him. Grissom having to pick Sara up from a police station after her DUI incident certainly hadn't made her any more comfortable with him lately either.

Grissom had dropped Sara off at her apartment after the DUI and she had called Nick. He had gone over to her house and comforted her for hours as she confessed her feelings towards Grissom. Nick knew what he was saying was not going over well with Grissom so he spoke again, "I don't mean to be disrespectful Grissom, but you weren't there for Sara. After her DUI you picked her up and you could have easily been there to comfort her. You weren't though Griss."

Grissom pursed his lips, but when he spoke there wasn't any anger in his voice, "Nick, this isn't about my relationship with Sara, it's about yours."

Nick again shook his head with disbelief. He and Sara had been together for over two months, yet they hadn't shown any signs of it at work. The only person he had told had been Warrick, and Nick was sure he hadn't mentioned it to the boss. "Grissom, for about the past two months Sara's been happier than I've seen her since she's come to Vegas. She smiles and she doesn't let herself be overwhelmed by her cases. It's hard for her, it always has been, not to get emotionally involved, but she's working on it, and she's doing a hell of a job. Tell me how that's not good for her."

Grissom soaked in Nick's words. It was true, he noted. Before he got the chance to speak, Nick broke in, "I don't understand it Grissom. You obviously had feelings for her, anyone with eyes could see it. And she reciprocated those feelings. I know it would be crossing a serious line to be with her, but don't you see it's worth it?"

Again Grissom had to take a moment to think about Nick's words. "Nick, you're her co-worker, I'm her supervisor. It wouldn't just be crossing a line, it would be against protocol. I could have lost my job over it." Grissom tried to explain to Nick.

Nick smiled and spoke again, "See, that's the difference between you and me. You were able to let her go; I would have never been able to do that. She's worth it Griss, and every second I'm with her I realize that even more." Knowing that the conversation was over Nick stood from his chair and started to walk out of the room.

"Just don't hurt her Nick," Grissom said without meeting his eyes. Nick looked back at Grissom and nodded in his understanding. Nick realized that while Sara had directed her emotions elsewhere, Grissom sole focus would most likely always be on her.

Fin

A rather abrupt ending I realize, but I wanted to get this out as soon as I could. It's a lot shorter than I would have liked it to be, but I sort of lost inspiration when I was in the middle of Grissom and Nick's scene. Reviews would always help with that. I hope y'all enjoyed it!

-Amy

Gary Allan's "Man to Man"

"You're throwin' around a lot of serious accusations
Ain't too hard to tell what you're insinuatin'
You think I'm the one who stole her away
And if not for me she'd still be yours today
We're both men here so why play games
Why don't we call a spade a spade

Man to man
Tell me the truth, tell me
Were you ever there when she needed you
Man to man
Look me in the eye, tell me
If you really loved her
Why'd you make her cry
Man to man
Who cheated who
You're the one to blame
Tell me it ain't true
Man to man
Man to man

Well you think al you anger is justified
Me, I think, it's just your wounded pride
What did you really think she was going to do
She's a real woman, not a doormat for you
You want her back, but it's too late
Why don't we just cut to the chase