Let It Rain
Disclaimer - Sadly I do not own CSI or any of the actors, *sigh*
N/A: This is a oneshot about Snickers, with a bit of GSR angst. Enjoy!
"Good evening," smiled Greg.
"Hey," Sara yawned.
"You ok?" he asked.
"I'm just tired," Sara lied.
"Seriously? You had two days off and your still tired?" Greg asked with a hint of playfulness in his voice.
"Yeah, it's not a crime," Sara stated.
"I never said it was, I just would have thought you would've caught up on some sleep. Where you and Grissom up all night?" he smiled.
"Don't even go there Greg. I've had a shit weekend and I don't need you joking about it," Sara snapped.
Greg was stunned by Sara's outburst. "What could have happened?" he thought.
Sara didn't even dare to think about it. She really had had a shit week and she wanted to forget about it so badly. But like that was ever going to happen. Over the weekend Sara discovered Grissom had slept with another women, tried to hide it and then lied to her when she asked him about it. She felt crushed, heart broken but ultimately betrayed. She and Grissom had agreed to say, if asked, that they were taking a break, Sara didn't want to be anymore humiliated than she already was. Sara sighed as she decided she should tell Greg before he found out from someone else.
"Grissom and I are over. We decided to take a break," Sara said, breaking the silence.
"What?" Greg choked on his coffee. "I'm sorry Sara."
"No, don't be. This most definitely isn't your fault," Sara smiled.
With that Nick and Warrick strolled in, laughing and joking as usual. Catherine came in seconds later. When everyone was settled and were content with a coffee each, they stared out the doorway and waited for Grissom to come and hand out assignments. Sara found enough courage to tell everyone else what had happened over the weekend.
"Um, Grissom might not be in today," Sara said.
"You two had a fight?" Warrick joked.
"Yes actually and we've decided to take a break," Sara said.
The rest of the team, except Greg, were shocked by this revelation, more so Nick. He began to feel slightly happy but mostly angry as the news sank in.
"Are you going to be okay working here still?" Catherine asked Sara.
"Yeah, I was a CSI here first so nothing will change. I'm sure we can still be friends," Sara smiled, it was a very forced smile.
Catherine opened her opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she noticed Ecklie striding up the corridor towards them in the break room. He stopped at the doorway and sighed.
"Big night tonight," Ecklie started. "Triple homicide. Grissom said he'll meet you there."
He walked away and the whole of graveyard shift sighed.
"Right then," Nick said as he jumped up out his seat.
"Off to process yet another crime scene," Warrick finished his sentence as he stood up too.
"Do you want to go with me?" Nick asked Sara, with a very insincere smile on his face. "You know, saving on our carbon footprint."
"Sure," she smiled back. "We'll meet you lot there."
Sara stood up and walked with Nick to his SUV which was parked in the car park outside.
The journey to the crime scene was unusually quiet. Normally, Nick would have asked Sara about her days off and they would resume their friendly flirty banter that had become a major part of their friendship, but this time it was different. Nick stayed quiet and Sara didn't even try to spark up a conversation. Deep down, she didn't really want to. She knew what Nick would say. She knew that he would start lecturing her about the fact that she should take some more days off, that she should know that she can tell him anything, but she knew that was his way of caring, being protective. She kinda loved him for it. And Nick knew that if he said something, to her or the others, he might have ended up saying something he would've regretted.
"Who called it in?" Nick asked Brass as he got out his SUV. Nick and Sara were the first CSIs there.
"A neighbour. He heard the dog barking so he called us and suddenly we have a homicide," Brass said.
"Witnesses?" Sara asked.
"I'm just about to go and find out," Brass half smiled. "Oh and Grissom's already inside."
"Okay, thanks," Nick smiled.
Brass was walking away when Catherine, Warrick and Greg arrived. He smiled as he walked past them.
The CSIs went inside the nice new home and started doing what they had been trained to do. Find evidence. Warrick and Catherine headed to the master bedroom where one male victim lay on the floor in a pool of his own blood. He had been tied up and shot 3 times in the chest. He was identified as Ben Parker, 37.
In the next bedroom was another body. She had also been tied up and shot 3 times but Nick and Sara suspected she'd also been sexually assaulted.
Grissom was in the living room with the third and final victim. He was tied up but had been stabbed, not shot.
David walked into the living room and knelt down by the body to begin doing his job.
"David," Grissom nodded.
Nick walked into the living room to reluctantly ask Grissom a question. "Was your guy shot?"
"No, stabbed," Grissom answered.
"Well I might be able to explain why. Our vic was shot 3 times and so was Warrick and Catherine's," Nick said. "He ran out of bullets."
"Makes sense," said Grissom. "David, do you have T.O.D?"
"I'd say about 3 this afternoon," David replied.
Sara appeared out of no where behind Nick. "I've found ID. Rebecca Wilson, 29," she said.
David handed Grissom a wallet from the victims pocket.
"And he's Mark Robertson, 32," Grissom said.
Nick, Sara and Grissom found themselves in a very awkward silence. Sara tried her hardest not to make eye contact with Grissom and Nick didn't really want to either. But Grissom being Grissom didn't even notice.
"Okay, what are we waiting for?" Catherine asked as she walked into the room with Warrick at her heels.
After that they all packed up their evidence and headed back to the lab. Once they arrived, all the appropriate evidence was given to the appropriate lab tech for analysing.
"Have you found matches to any of the fingerprints yet?" Sara asked Mandy, the fingerprint expert.
"Just the one. It matches prints found on a drawer in the kitchen, the bedside table and the front door," Mandy said.
"Who's print is it?" Sara asked.
"Officer Michael Davidson," Mandy said slowly.
"Okay," Sara said as she started to walk away. "Hold that thought."
"Nick, what were the names of the responding officers?" she asked as she walked into the DNA lab.
"Mitchell, Metcalf and Davidson. Why?" Nick asked.
"Prints were found in several places in the house, all belonging to Davidson. I think we need to go have a chat with him, don't you?" Sara smiled.
"Yeah, can't hurt. I'll call Brass."
Nick and Sara were about to start walking down the hallway when Warrick and Catherine came behind them.
"Hey, where are you two going?" Catherine asked.
"To speak to Davidson," Sara said.
"Oh okay. We're just back from autopsy," Catherine said.
"What was C.O.D then?" Nick asked.
"With the two gun shot victims death was instantaneous," Warrick started.
"But Robertson put up a fight, that's way it was such a messy kill, even for a stabbing," Catherine finished Warrick's sentence.
"Nice," Nick smiled sarcastically.
"Was Rebecca raped?" Sara asked, deep down already knowing the answer.
Catherine nodded.
"We've got the bullets to get to Bobby so we'll get back to you later," Warrick said, shaking the evidence bag in his hands.
"Okay man, see you later," Nick said as he and Sara started to walk away in the opposite direction to Warrick and Catherine.
A few hours later:
"Hey Cath," Sara said, sounding a bit stressed.
"Did you get anything on Davidson?" she asked.
"Nah. If he had anything to do with it he's hiding it well," Sara sighed as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"How's Nick taking it?" she asked.
"Fine, I think. Why do you ask?" Sara asked.
"Um, I just noticed him walking down the corridor earlier and he didn't look happy. He's probably just as stressed out as the rest of us," Catherine reasoned.
"I don't think Nick gets stressed," Sara smiled.
"I doubt that," Catherine chuckled.
"Ladies," Warrick nodded as he walked into the break room. "Who had the last cup of coffee?"
"That would be me, sorry," Catherine grinned sheepishly.
"Consider yourself very lucky, if you were Greg I would kill you right now," Warrick smiled.
"What have I done now?" Greg asked and joined in with the conversation.
"So many things," Sara rolled her eyes.
Greg glared at her but she pretended not to notice.
"Grissom wants to meet us all in here for an update," Greg announced.
"What's there to update on? We have nothing," Sara moaned.
"Isn't that something?" Greg smiled.
"Greg, I'm not in the mood," she said as she rubbed her forehead.
"Hey Nicky," Warrick said as Nick walked in. He was obviously not in the mood either.
"Got the bullets back from ballistics," Nick announced. "And guess what, they're 9 millimetres, an officers standard issue weapon."
"Very interesting," Greg added.
"Good you're all here," Grissom said as he entered the room and took his usual seat at the table. "Right, so we've eliminated robbery as a motive, what else do we have?"
"Well we just got the results back from ballistics," Sara said.
"And…" Grissom nodded.
"And the bullets could have come from a officers gun," Nick said, slightly proudly.
"Oh yeah, you said Davidson's prints were found inside the house. He was one of the responding officers though," Grissom pointed out.
"Yeah and that explains his prints on the front door but what about his prints on the cutlery drawer in the kitchen and on the bedside table?" Nick said.
"Okay, have you spoken to him?" Grissom asked.
"Yep, but he was worse than useless," Sara added.
"Typical," sighed Warrick.
"I'm telling you, he's got something to do with this case," Nick said.
"That's a bit of stretch Nick, don't you think?" Sara said.
"What else do we have?" Grissom asked, changing the subject slightly.
"No other matches for prints, however, there was a couple of unidentified ones from the back door and fridge," Catherine said as she placed the print lifts of the table.
"Could be the killer's," Greg speculated.
Nick sighed.
"The knife that killed Robertson has been conformed as an average kitchen knife," Warrick added.
"So we're getting somewhere," Grissom said.
"Slowly," Nick whispered under his breath.
"We're gonna have to find a suspect soon else this case will go cold, fast," Catherine stated.
"We have a suspect. I say we speak to Davidson again. So what if he's got a lawyer," Nick spoke up.
"Nick, I think we should wait and see if we can get anything else back at the house first," Grissom said.
"Fine," Nick scuffed.
"Greg, Catherine," Grissom tilted his head in the direction of the door, implying for them to join him at the crime scene again.
"We'll wait here then," Warrick sighed.
Warrick, Nick and Sara sat in silence for a few minutes, with the sound of the clock ticking in the background driving them all slowly insane. Nick stood up and walked away.
Sara sighed and Warrick shook his head. Nick was acting way out of character. Yes, he would often speculate about what happened and come up with theories, they all did, but Warrick was seriously worried Nick was getting to emotionally involved with this one. Everyone got attached to different people and different cases, Warrick knew that, he'd seen it with his very own eyes but he didn't want the case to go pear shaped or it ending up costing Nick his career. Warrick just had to hope Nick would let it go, for his own sake.
*Ring, Ring*
"Stokes," Nick answered in his professional voice.
"Hey Nicky, it's Catherine. We've got a suspect in custody: Rory Brennan," Catherine said.
"Sounds good," Nick nodded.
"Yeah, he's been in his fair share of bar fights, but nothing to serious," Catherine added.
"How did you connect him to the case?" Nick asked.
"His DNA was found on the knife used to kill Robertson," Catherine answered.
"What, you found the knife?"
"Aha, it was in a bush in the back garden," Catherine conformed.
"Nice," Nick said. "At least you got on better than me. Brass and I went to Rebecca's apartment, seen as she didn't live in the house she died in. Found nothing though."
"Okay then, gotta go see what else we've got. See you soon," Catherine said.
"Yeah you will," Nick smiled.
Nick closed his phone and threw it back down on the passengers seat. He had been in his car, ready to drive back to the lab when Catherine phoned him. He was starting to get very frustrated with this case. Every time one bit of evidence pointed them in one direction, something would pop up and guide them somewhere else. This case was making them run round in circles and Nick was starting to get dizzy. Nick started his SUV and began driving back to the Las Vegas Crime Lab.
Once he arrived, Nick went straight to the break room. He was craving freshly brewed coffee. He prayed Greg had made up some as he walked through the busy corridors.
"Thank God," Nick thought as he heard the coffee maker click, indicating there was coffee.
"Hey man," Warrick said.
Nick hardly even acknowledged what Warrick had said. Coffee first, conversation later.
"You okay Nicky?" Warrick asked after he didn't get a reply.
"Yeah sorry," Nick said as he poured coffee into his LVPD mug and took a sip. "I seriously needed coffee."
"Never would have guessed," Warrick smiled.
Nick smirked.
"Good, you're back," Sara smiled at Nick. "Cath said you went to Rebecca's apartment."
"Yeah. No luck though," Nick sulked. "How did the interrogation with Brennan go?"
"He's only said one word: lawyer. So we have to wait till one gets here," Sara rolled her eyes.
"Great. So is that us back to square one?" Warrick asked.
"Looks like it," Sara sighed.
"Layout room," Grissom said as he popped his head round the door.
"Okay," Sara sighed.
"Good, at least you two are here," Grissom said as he saw Catherine and Greg stood staring at pictures of the victims.
"We're here too," said Warrick as the whole team were soon spread out around the layout table.
"So…" Grissom sighed.
"Well, we're no further on," Sara said.
"That's not what I wanted to hear," Grissom said.
"Can't help it if it's the truth," Nick groaned.
"How'd the interrogation go?" Grissom asked Sara.
"He barely said a word," Sara said without making eye contact.
"Okay. What about his alibi?"
"He hasn't said anything, I don't know what his alibi is," Sara pointed out.
"Right. Um…" Grissom said as he looked down at the evidence in front of him.
"You in there Nick?" Catherine asked from across the table.
Nick nodded and sighed.
Catherine smiled at him but he'd zoned out again.
"Nick if you have anything to add," Grissom said. "You look like you're thinking."
Nick gulped. "I was thinking about how biased you're being. You clearly think that Davidson couldn't have done it just 'cause he's a cop, and so you're trying to get the evidence to tell you it was Brennan," Nick said.
The room fell silent.
"Do you not think you're being a bit biased 'cause you think Davidson did do it?" Grissom asked.
"I'm not being biased, I'm being passionate. Thought that was what you always told us, actually care that you get the bad guy," Nick stated.
"Yes I have said that, but I also said to follow the evidence and, Nick, the evidence just isn't saying that Davidson did it," Grissom said calmly.
"The evidence isn't telling us anything right now," Nick argued.
"Nick, Grissom's right. You can't pick a person to have done it, you've gotta wait and see what the evidence says," Sara said softly.
Nick sighed and shook his head. "Fine. You have fun getting the wrong guy," Nick said as he walked out the layout room and left the crime lab.
The next day:
After graveyard shift were getting no where and after pulling a double shift were so tired they were struggling to stay awake. Everyone was getting ready to leave while Warrick was getting changed in the locker room. He was pissed off at Grissom for just letting Nick walk off like that, but at the same time he was annoyed at Nick for letting himself get do worked up over just one case. Warrick put on his jacket and headed out when Catherine walked in and they nearly crashed into one another, both to caught up in their thoughts of that very stressful shift.
"Sorry," smiled Warrick.
"It's okay, I should have been watching where I was going," Catherine smiled back.
"You off home?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah, and then straight to bed," she yawned.
"Aha. We all need a good nights sleep and hopefully this will all blow over," Warrick said.
"But you're not going home yet, are you?" she asked.
"No, I'm gonna go find Nicky," Warrick smiled.
"Try the bar around the corner," Catherine suggested.
"I will," Warrick nodded and walked past her. "Sleep tight."
"You too."
Warrick walked out the double doors of the crime lab, unlocked his SUV and started it up. It wasn't long before Warrick parked outside the bar Catherine had mentioned to him. On his way in, he noticed Nick's car out the corner of his eye and smiled to himself. When he got inside, he didn't have to look very hard for Nick. He was sat moping by himself at a table not far from the door, with a half drunken bottle of beer in his hand and three empty bottles lying on the table. Warrick guess he gone straight there after walking out of the lab.
Nick groaned as he saw Warrick approach him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I've come to see if you were okay," Warrick answered.
"I'm just fine," Nick smiled sarcastically.
"What was all that about Nicky? Why did you storm off?" asked Warrick.
"Dunno," Nick shrugged his shoulders and took another swig of his beer.
Warrick sighed. "You must no, else you wouldn't have left."
Nick didn't answer.
Soon a smile spread across Warrick's face as he thought of the only logical explanation for Nick leaving. Sara.
"Nicky, Nicky, Nicky," Warrick smiled.
"What?" Nick asked.
"This has something to do with Sara, doesn't it?"
Nick kept his attention focused on his nearly empty bottle of beer.
"That means 'yes' then," Warrick stated. "Go careful Nick, and don't go breaking her heart too."
Nick finally looked up at Warrick, a hint of happiness and surprise in his eyes. Warrick smiled as he turned around and walked away.
Nick sighed. "Great," he thought. "It's that obvious."
Meanwhile:
"Hey Sara. You off home?" Greg asked as he walked into the break room to find Sara sulking and half asleep.
"Yeah," she nodded.
Greg smiled and walked away and Sara returned to her thoughts. For some reason she had been non-stop thinking about Nick since he walked away and hadn't come back. Sara was proud of him for actually sticking up for himself and standing up for what he believed in. But most of all she was proud that Nick stood up to Grissom, something none of the others had ever done. Sara knew Nick was brave, a bit of a cliché, but to stand up to a level-headed boss and argue with him took guts. Sara knew that. The more she thought about it and Nick the happier she became. Nick had been nothing but nice to her over the years, and yes, they'd had their arguments and disputes but nothing that wasn't resolved by the end of the shift.
"Stop it Sara," she thought. "No, you can't, not after what's just happened with Grissom. You can't feel for him that way, you just can't."
Sara shook her head. It was some kind of an attempt to get those thoughts out of her head, but no amount to shaking would help. She knew the only thing she could do was go and find Nick, so that's what she did.
Truth be told, she had no idea where Nick possibly could have been. Sara sat in her SUV and sighed. But a smiled twitched at her lips as out of no where she knew where to start looking for Nick. The bar.
Sara drove as fast as she could, without breaking the speed limit, of course. As she turned into the car park she saw Warrick leaving. Sara waved at him and Warrick smiled back. She knew she was in the right place.
"Thought I'd find you here," Sara said as she sat down opposite Nick at his table.
Nick didn't say a word, instead he stood up and walked over to the bar.
"Oh if you're ordering I'll have a beer too," Sara shouted.
Nick came back to the table minutes later with two bottles of beer and placed one down in front of Sara, and he still didn't say anything.
"Thank you," Sara smiled. "So, are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"
"No," Nick sulked.
"Well, we're talking, that's a start," Sara smiled.
"Why are you here?" Nick sighed.
"I wanted to see if you were okay," Sara answered.
"Warrick's already done that, so you can leave now," he said.
"Oh, very polite," Sara smirked.
"I'm not in the polite mood," Nick smirked back.
"I've noticed."
They sat in silence for a while, just drinking their beers and staring off into space.
"How's the case coming along?" Nick asked breaking the silence.
"D.A has said none of the evidence is good enough to stand up in court," Sara replied.
"Typical," Nick rolled his eyes. "Grissom and I were both wrong."
"You weren't wrong, we've just hit a bump in the road," Sara reasoned.
"Grissom wasn't wrong either though," Nick pointed out.
"I know."
"I should have known you would've sided with him, and after everything he's done, you still think he's right," Nick scuffed.
"I don't think he's right. And what do you mean 'after everything he's done'?" Sara asked as she took and long swig of her beer.
"We know Sar, we know he cheated on you," Nick said. "And you do think he's right."
"I do not! And you all know? Just you, Warrick, Greg and Catherine or everyone at the lab?" Sara asked.
"As far as I know it's just us four who know. And Sara stop denying it. You think Grissom can't go wrong, ever," he said as he took another sip of his beer.
"I do think Grissom can be wrong, and he's man enough to admit it," Sara said half heartedly.
"Oh so I'm not?"
"I never meant it like that…"
"Yeah you did. His opinion means more to you, or to anyone for that matter, than mine does. Fact," Nick interrupted.
"You're opinion does matter to me," she protested.
"No, no it doesn't. You know what, deep down I knew Grissom was going to hurt you but I didn't say anything 'cause I liked seeing you happy. I liked seeing your smile even though you only ever had eyes for one man," Nick sighed.
"Nick, I had no idea…" Sara started.
"Save it," Nick said as he stood up and left.
Sara sighed. "He has got to stop doing that," she thought.
Sara stood up and left too. She was going to get into her SUV when she remembered she'd had a beer. She knew one beer probably wouldn't effect her driving but with her already having a D.U.I she didn't want to risk it.
"Taxi!" Sara screamed at the heavy flow of traffic, nearly getting herself killed.
Sara sighed as a taxi pulled up next to her.
"Where do you want to go ma'am?" asked the driver.
"Um, just drive, I'll tell you when we get going," Sara said as she sat down. She didn't really know where she was going, obviously, but she needed to find Nick.
"Okay," the driver smiled into the rear-view mirror.
Almost the second Sara stepped into the taxi the heavens opened. Sara instantly felt bad.
"God," she whispered under her breath as she thought of Nick wandering home in the rain; like her, he'd chose not to drive.
The taxi driver pulled down a particular street that Sara recognised. It was the street Nick lived on. Suddenly, just up ahead, Sara could see someone walking down the pavement.
"Is that…," she wondered. "Yeah, it's him. It's Nick," she blurted out.
"What?" asked the taxi driver.
"Stop. Pullover, please," Sara rushed.
The taxi pulled over and Sara swung open the door and stepped out into the rain.
"Nick. Nick, what are you doing?" she shouted.
"Walking," he shouted back as he looked over his shoulder, he'd noticed the taxi pull up and he had an idea who it might have been.
"Stop. Come on, get in the taxi with me," Sara yelled.
"No," he shouted.
"Nick, stop being so stubborn," she said as she closed the car door and started walking towards Nick. "Stop!"
"Go and get back in the taxi," Nick insisted.
"No," Sara smirked.
Nick turned around and once he saw Sara staggering towards him he decided to wait and see what she had to say. "I'm listening," he sighed.
"What are you doing?" Sara asked again.
"I told you, I'm walking," Nick reminded her.
"Yes, thank you, I can see that. I meant why did you walk off? We were talking fine one minute and the next," Sara raised an eyebrow.
"If you've only come to give me a lecture then I don't want to hear it," Nick said.
"I'm not here to give you a lecture…"
"Why don't you just go and run back to Grissom, you know, the man you love?" Nick interrupted and started to walk away.
"Nick, wait," Sara called after him. "I don't love Grissom and probably never did."
Nick turned around to see if what she was saying was genuine. It was. He stood, eagerly awaiting her to continue.
"I loved how he seemed to genuinely care about me. I loved how we understood each other and were passionate about the same things. I loved our student/teacher relationship, that I guess I mistook for something more," she continued.
Nick stood in silence for a moment and took in what Sara had just said.
"You know what I hate?" she asked. "I hate how I threw myself at him and never gave up. But mostly I hate that I didn't see what was stood right in front of me," she smiled as she took a few steps closer to Nick.
Suddenly the taxi driver who had been waiting very patiently for Sara to get back in just gave up and drove away.
"Hey!" Sara shouted.
Nick smiled as rain drops trickled down his soaking wet hair and on to his face.
"Told you so. You should have got back in the taxi while you had the chance," he said.
"Well maybe I didn't want to," Sara smiled.
"Why not?" Nick asked.
"Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green?" Sara chuckled.
"No really, why not? Why would you want to stand out here having and argument with me in the rain?" Nick asked.
"Maybe I like the rain," she teased.
"You're very indecisive, aren't you?" Nick smiled.
"Oh just shut up and kiss me," Sara said as she cupped Nick's face in her hands and leaned forward for a long awaited kiss.
"Well that was unexpected," Nick grinned as he reluctantly pulled away from their kiss. "Now what?"
"Well, we can't get a taxi anywhere," she laughed and leaned in close to Nick again.
"We could walk, my house isn't far," Nick shrugged his shoulders and took Sara's hand.
"Walk, seriously? It's raining," Sara reminded him.
"So, let it rain. It's not going to spoil the best moment of my life," he smiled.
"Oh this was the best moment of your life? You just wait till I get you home," she smiled then pursed her lips.
"Love you too, Sar," Nick smiled back.
And together, they walked to Nick's apartment, hand in hand, in the pouring rain. But neither of them would ever forget that day.
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry for it probably being to long for a oneshot but I just couldn't stop writing, even though I don't think it actually turned out quite how I wanted. Review please.