Title: Vegas baby!Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine. Don't sue.
Summary: Crossover between CSI & CSI Miami characters. Hint: centered on C/N, a little bit of S/S & S/G.
A/N: Special thanks to Jeanine for beta-ing my first draft.
"Hey Nick, where you goin' dressed like that?" Sara asks as she scuttles in the locker room.
"You don't approve of my shirt again, Sara?" Nick asks finishing buttoning it up and looking straight at her.
"No, no, it's not that. You look really nice," she tips her head and gives him a big smile.
"Thanks."
"A date?" Sara queries as she unlocks her locker.
"Yeah," he answers ducking his head, hoping she wouldn't ask anything else.
"Who's the lucky lady?" She opens her screeching locker door.
"Ah. You don't know her." He shakes his head. "She's not from aroun' here-"
She glances at him, giving him a look and he falls in the trap: "From Miami, if that's what you were gonna ask –"
"Actually, I wasn't." she shakes her head. "What does she do?" Sara sounds interested.
"Ahh..." Nick hesitates, "She's ah... a CSI."
"Really?" Sara grins.
"Hey, I didn't say anything about you and Grissom."
"Yeah, I know. That's not what I meant. But, ah, I hate to say... good for you. By the way, Grissom and I are old news –"She lifts her shirt up over her head to change and Nick, feeling uncomfortable, turns away. "I'm seeing somebody else. Who knows maybe Griss will get jealous and make a move, huh?"
"Never mix work and pleasure, that's what I think," Nick spoke seriously, "And maybe Grissom does too. After all, he's in charge of the entire night shift, think of the trouble he'd get into if people started talking –"
-"Nah, I don't think that's the problem. He's a-social and he cares about his bugs more than anything else." She buttons up her green blouse and grabs her handbag from her locker.
A knock at the door echoes within the locker room.
"I wonder who that is."Nick says aloud, ambling towards the door and asks Sara if she's finished.
"Yeah Nick, I was without a shirt for only two seconds –"You prude, she thinks to herself. He's a gentleman, you got to give him that.
He pulls the door open and comes eye to eye with a relatively smart-looking guy with short black hair and a rough light beard.
"You lookin' for somebody?" Nick asks the man standing with a bouquet of flowers.
"Ah, yeah, actually, Sara, Sara Sidle. Is she-"
"Hhhey!" Nick exclaims "You're Sara's new guy?" Nick exclaims with a toothy grin.
"Nick, you make it sound like I've had every guy on the planet –"Sara attacks from behind and shoves Nick so she can get to her date.
"Seriously Tim, don't listen to him." She gives Nick a bad look.
"You could at least introduce him to me if you're planning on keeping him for a while,"Nick retorts.
"I swear to God, Nick, one more word out of you!" She stares at him with menacing eyes.
"Hey man, I'm Nick Stokes," Nick offers to shake the guy's hand.
"Hi. Tim Speedle." He shakes his hand.
-"Alright, now that that's over with... Tim, you won't be seeing Nick anytime soon – let's go."
-"Hey Sara!" Nick grabs her arm on the way out and whispers in her ear: " That beard on your date seems a little too Grissomy."
-"Oh, shut up Nick!" she slams the door behind her and happily strolls off arm in arm with Tim.
Sara doesn't realize that she's been staring at Tim's drink for the past fifteen minutes until he waves a hand in her face, thinking he'll get her attention.
"You seem absorbed in your thoughts...am I right?" Speed asks her.
She snaps out of it and looks at the fork in her hand. Her fettuccine Alfredo is getting cold. She's barely touched her plate. She rests her fork down beside her plate and doesn't dare look him in the eye.
"I'm sorry-"
"It's okay. I'm a daydreamer myself," He looks at her eyes wishing she'd do the same.
She does and they exchange a smile.
"Thinking about work?" Before she has time to answer he continues "You really shouldn't because I'm sure you don't get too much down time at your job."
"No, I'm not thinking about work." She nervous now, not wanting to tell him who she's thinking about and how that comment Nick gave her is still floating in her head but Grissom has grizzled hair and a fuller beard. Gil Grissom. Somehow that name always pops up in her mind, anytime, anywhere. She watches Tim finish his bite and asks to avoid any more questions: "How come you've got time off, coming down here from Miami?"
"Oh. Visiting a friend and chilling out in the slot machine world. I came with a friend from Miami. Yearly vacation really."
"You're using your days off to come see me?" she asks having a hard time believing him.
"Yeah. Guess you could say that," he smiles lightly.
Sara blushes. He's so sweet, she says inwardly. "We've only met once and you decide to call me up one day saying you're coming down here to see me?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Thought the invitation still stood," he tells her good- humouredly.
"It did. I mean, it does. Wanna go for a walk? I'm not that hungry-" She nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I'm not that hungry either." He takes her hand from the table and helps her up. He takes her coat from the back of her chair and, as he helps her slip it on, he whispers in her ear: "I'm really happy to see you." He leaves some money to pay for dinner and puts his arm around her before they walk out of the restaurant.
"Gosh, Vegas is so much fun!" Calleigh exclaims. She's walking in front of her date and then turns walking backwards to catch his amazing smile. Her own grows wider, as she continues to walk backwards. She's wearing her hair down, her long bangs swept to one side.
"Watch out!" Nick yells. She almost bumps into somebody.
"Hey, watch it, lady!" the stranger she almost bumped into, yells. She excuses herself and seeing the angry man's reaction of rolling his eyes, she shrugs muttering: "I said I was sorry"
Nick can't help but grin.
"I love it when you smile, Nick" she drawls and her southern accent reaches his heart.
"I love it when you make me smile," Nick confesses.
Calleigh stops and waits for him to catch up to her. In two steps, he's standing before her, taking her hand and gazing into her eyes.
"That emerald green. Never seen anything such like it. Everything about you is beautiful."
"You're gonna hafta stop complimenting me or I'll never go back home."
"No. I wouldn't keep you away from your home. I'm just happy you came."
"Well, why in the world wouldn't I have?"
He shrugs. "C'mon, I got something else to show you-"he holds her right hand and gets ready to cross the street.
"There's more?"
"You haven't seen anything yet-" She giggles lightly and gets guided across the noisy lively street. Lights flashing, all kinds of people walking around. This is Vegas at night.
The streets are noisy yet Tim and Sara still feel the heavy silence between them. It isn't exactly awkward but not exactly comfortable either.
Tim hasn't asked to hold her hand but has hesitantly grazed her arm and slowly caught her hand. Sara, not sure how to react to this affectionate gesture, swings her arm, visibly showing her discomfort.
"I don't usually do this kind of thing," she says looking down at the sidewalk under her feet.
"What do you mean?" he frowns, "hold hands?"
She smiles shyly, "No. Umm... go on dates."
Tim's eyebrows rise, "Really?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong, I do go on dates but they never turn out to be, ah. very, ah..."
"Good?"
"Yeah."
Sara wonders if she should tell him the truth. She's unsure. She wants to be loved, to feel loved and Tim's doing a terrific job but she's also used to being alone. She wonders if she's actually grown to like her loneliness or... could it be something else?
"Hard to believe, huh?" she laughs at her own ridiculous comment.
Tim smiles to relieve some of her discomfort. He brings her closer to him and pulls lightly on her arm to get her to take a seat beside him on a street bench.
"Let me tell you something about me-"he's hoping this will make Sara feel more comfortable about who she is. How can such a beautiful girl feel so under confident? He has no idea that rejection from a man she used to love has changed the perception she has of herself. Tim continues, "I used to stay alone all the time and read until I met a guy and we became really close, best friends, actually. We planned to go to Europe and go to college but on our senior year trip, he was in a snowmobile accident and was paralyzed from neck down. Trying to find some way of helping him, I studied hard, ranking top of my class until two years later, my friend died from complications during surgery. Nothing mattered to me and I dropped out of school but things got better and now, looking back, I think that being with people, going out with friends and family is much more important than busting your chops at a job. The job pays the rent, that's it. The rest is up to you."
"You wouldn't get along with Grissom... He says his job isn't a choice and it's what makes him who he is."
"Grissom?"
"He's um, someone I work with at the lab- my boss actually."
"So that's who you model on."
"I guess you could say that, yeah." She smiles, feeling a bit less nervous about the situation but why was Grissom back in her head again.
"You know what, I'm sorry, I don't think this is gonna work." Sara tells her date.
"Hey, it's okay. I kinda got that vibe too," Speed makes it easier for her.
She feels worse. "I guess I'm really not cut out for this dating stuff-"
"No." Speed answers with assurance. "You are. You just haven't dated the right guy for you yet."
"You're really sweet."
"Yeah, well-"he doesn't finish the sentence, absorbed in his thoughts. He's still hurt that this didn't work out. He knows Sara's wonderful but just not right for him. They've had different views on many different subjects all through their evening together and come to think of it, she kept mentioning her boss, Grissom in their conversations.
Calleigh wakes up and eyes still closed, she recognizes the left to right motion. She knows she's in a car. She hears the light music playing. She opens her eyes. It's dark. She spots the car lights beaming on the white line on the road, the glowing dials on the dashboard, the lit up signs moving past on the highway, the red tail lights in front of the vehicle. She glances at the manly hands on the steering wheel. She's struck by curiosity.
To the lulling of her head, the driver responds "Hey-" he smiles "You're back."
"Yeah... I guess I am- what happened?" Her clothes are sticking to her.
"You were a little too drunk so I decided to take you for a drive before I'd take you back to your hotel room- I didn't want to leave you by yourself- Hope that's okay-"
She feels warm, her head's pounding, she suddenly feels trapped and has a hard time breathing. "Yeah-" She draws a shallow breath and unmistakably feels very nauseous. "Can you pull over-I think I'm- I'm gonna throw up-"
Nick quickly pulls alongside of the road as Calleigh rushes out of the car, down into the ditch and falls to her knees as the dizziness becomes unbearable. Nick rushes to her side but she motions him to stop. He refuses.
"You're my girlfriend Calleigh. I don't care if I see you puke-"
He's never referred to her as his girlfriend. Calleigh is deeply touched by it.
She hides her mouth with a hand and asks him to get her purse. He reaches in his jacket and hands her a tissue.
"Is this what you're asking for?"
She takes it, grateful and wipes her lips.
"Here, let me give you a hand-"Nick helps her up and to her surprise he scoops her up lifting her into his arms and carries her to the car.
"That's a mighty fine hand," she tells him smiling.
He answers: "A gentleman always helps a woman in distress-"He opens the passenger door.
"I'm always opened to gallantry-," she says as he sits her in the seat.
"Manhandling... also," she smiles brightly.
Calleigh excuses herself from their table at the coffee shop to go in the bathroom to plimp her hair and makeup.
"What do you say I walk you to your hotel room?" Nick asks the minute she gets back. He'd been debating whether to ask her to take her up now since it was late or to refrain from asking her just to continue on with this lovely evening.
She beams him a smile and nods. He offers her his hand and she willingly places her thin hand in his.
As they reach the door to her room, he leans in to give her a goodnight kiss but she places her hand over his lips, stopping him saying: "I'm not ready to say goodbye yet-"
"Really?" he sounds more amused than surprised. His square jaw forms a smile.
She catches his hand wrings it and, ponytail flouncing, pulls him inside.
Her hands roam over his weight lifter arms and she kisses the dimple in his cheek. With a boyish grin, Nick grabs her behind the legs and lifts her into his arms. Wrapping her legs around his waist, a cornucopia of ideas occupies her mind. She wants this so bad. They hit the bed fast.
She's exuberantly straightforward about her desires as she tugs on her lover's chinos with dexterity. Nick suddenly regains a small amount of reasonableness over the woman's determined attitude and slows the pace.
"Calleigh," he says in a deep baritone voice, "Hang on a sec," he reaches in his pocket and pulls out protection. She's shell-shocked about how close she came to doing something completely irresponsible and dithers on what to do next.
"Babe, it's okay. You're fine with me." She realizes to what extent she can trust him and it makes her want him even more.
Nick is sitting in the break room, sipping coffee when Grissom and Catherine enter the room.
"You look a little glum, Nicki-,"Catherine says as she pours a cup of coffee.
"Yeah," he grumbles.
"What's up?" she questions, pulling the chair in front of him and sitting down.
"I don't wanna talk about it," he answers dryly.
"This is about a woman, isn't it?" Catherine tips her head almost amused by the typical male behavior. She sighs, "What happened?"
"She went home."
"Tough break-"Catherine says softly thinking he's been rejected.
"No it's not what you think- She went back to her home in Miami."
Sara enters the break room.
"So, she left ya, huh?" Sara chuckles and the whole gang turns to look at her. She's actually laughing at herself, at her own situation.
"What?" she shrugs walking over to where Grissom is standing beside the coffee machine. There he is, right there, beside her, the man who ruined her evening with Tim. She watches him without him noticing and leaning against the counter, she sips her coffee. Grissom's eyes, out of the blue, search her face and she gazes at him. Butterflies flutter in her stomach. He cares. He's seen through her sarcastic laugh. He knows her that well.
"Wait a minute, who are we talking about here?"Catherine asks. "You know her-" Sara pursues.
"Is it Calleigh?" Catherine questions.
"Bingo," Sara scoffs.
"Okay, now I understand what all the fuss is about."
Grissom gives a few words of wisdom as he inconspicuously shifts his gaze at Sara: "As Thomas Haynes Bayly once said: Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"I hope you're right, Grissom," Nick mutters.
"Hell, if he's not, at least we won't be losing a good CSI-"Catherine replies.
The end
Sequel coming up... "Return Home"