Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but thankfully the folks at CBS wised up and rehired them.
Author's Note: This is in response to a challenge I issued to my fellow Snickers.
"So, the analysis shows that this feather came from a juvenile bald eagle. I'd say about three and a half years old. If you look near the shaft of the feather, you can see where the color was changing." David Hodges commented to Nick as he gestured towards the high powered microscope.
Nick took a look and glanced up with a grin. "I've never seen one in this stage before, but then again, they are illegal to possess."
Hodges crossed his arms. "I should be able to tell you something about the substance that was on the feather in a while. At first glance, I'm guessing spray starch."
Nick raised a befuddled eyebrow. "Spray starch."
Hodges nodded. "You know the kind you put on your shirts before you iron to give that crisp fresh look?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "I know what it is. Just let me know when you have the results." With that he sauntered out of the lab and down the hall to check on the samples he'd left with Greg. As he neared the doorway to the DNA lab, he furrowed his brow and grimaced at the music blaring.
Greg glanced up as Nick walked in. "Hey, Nick my man."
"Sanders, it's August, what's up with the Christmas music?" Nick liked the holidays as much as anyone else, but he drew the line at listening to Christmas music before the day after Thanksgiving.
Greg arched his eyebrows momentarily before launching into an explanation. "It's not just any Christmas music, this is the 'Brady Christmas' compilation CD."
Nick chortled. "As in 'The Brady Bunch'?"
Greg nodded. "That's the one."
Nick rested his hands on his hips. "They can't even sing."
Greg was about to protest when one of the singers went significantly off key. "Ok, so they aren't in the same league as Springsteen, but the girl who played Marsha became a country singer."
Nick couldn't hold back his laughter. "Greg, the guy that played Gilligan on 'Gilligan's Island' could probably sing better than this."
Greg just glared as he picked up the remote control and turned the music off. "I assume you're here about your samples."
Nick was still trying to stop laughing and just nodded, glancing at the floor, where he began laughing all over again after he caught sight of Greg's sneakers which looked as if they'd collided with a blue zebra. "What the hell is on your shoes?"
Greg leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. "Cookie gave them to me."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Who is Cookie?"
Greg grinned. "My girlfriend."
Nick looked at him skeptically. "Cookie."
Greg nodded. "She doesn't like her name so she goes by Cookie."
"And just what is her name?" Nick bit his lip to keep from laughing again.
"Not Cookie." Greg answered with a smirk.
Nick rolled his eyes. "Just page me when you've got those samples done." Nick walked out of the DNA lab still shaking his head. As he neared the break room, he glanced in the window and noticed Warrick sitting on the couch eating tortilla chips, completely engrossed in something on the television. Warrick didn't even look at Nick as he walked in. "Hey, man, what are you watching?"
Warrick gestured towards the TV. "Joe Montana is on that show 'While You Were Out', and they're making some kind of 'art' out of broken plates."
Nick stared at the TV, wrinkling his nose as he watched the camera zoom in on Leslie Segretti who was sporting a pin with an American flag on it. "What is she doing?"
"Ah, she's making a pillow for Joe's pet ferret." Warrick explained, still not turning his attention away from the TV.
"With orange polar fleece?" Nick queried as he watched, slightly tilting his head. "That's a cool tool."
"Uh, yeah, that's a rotary cutter. My Grams used those for cutting fabric for quilting." Warrick interjected before putting another chip in his mouth.
Just then Sara walked into the break room looking thoroughly amused at the behavior of her two coworkers. She pulled out her camera phone and took a picture just as Nick and Warrick finally noticed her. "No one would ever believe you two watching 'While You Were Out'."
Nick furrowed his brow. "At least it wasn't 'What Not To Wear'." He realized what he'd said only after the words were out of his mouth.
Warrick started to chuckle. "You watch that show?"
Nick gestured towards the TV. "Hey, I'm not the one who turned it to this in the first place."
Warrick defended himself. "Joe Montana was on."
"Children." Sara raised an amused eyebrow. "Don't we have cases to work on?"
Nick chuckled. "Ok, Grissom."
She shot him a glare. "Not funny." She turned on her heals and walked out of the room.
"I'd hate to be you." Warrick quipped as he turned his attention back to the TV.
Nick's pager went off. "That'd better be Greg or Hodges." He glanced at the display and headed off to see Hodges.
Hodges didn't even look up as Nick walked in. "Your mystery substance was toothpaste."
"Serious?" Nick looked surprised.
"No, I'm just making it up." Hodges tone was dry. "Of course I'm serious. My word you people have to question everything?"
"Thanks, man." Nick made a quick exit and headed out to the parking lot to retrieve something from his Denali. As he rounded the back of the vehicle, he stopped in his tracks at the sight before him. Catherine was pinned up against the side of a Jeep parked next to his SUV and engaged in a passionate lip lock with someone who looked vaguely familiar.
They must have heard him approach because they broke apart breathless. "Nick." Catherine's chest was heaving as she turned to look at him.
It was only then that Nick realized just who she was with. His eyes went wide. "Fromansky?"
The officer who had made it clear on numerous occasions that he held little love for the CSIs as a whole, looked at Nick nervously. "Stokes."
Catherine pasted on a smile. "Uh, Nicky, we kind of want to keep this a secret."
Nick's eyes were still wide and he just nodded. "I can see why." He just backed away, forgetting why he had come out to his Denali in the first place and headed back in the lab. As he walked by one of the layout rooms he noticed Sara hunched over a sequined dress, running a swab over it.
She glanced up as he walked in. "Is the show over?" There was a bit of smug amusement on her face.
He raised an eyebrow. "Hey, he was watching that before I walked in." He gestured towards the dress she was swabbing. "Anything?"
She shook her head. "No, but I did find some sort of residue on the pin-striped suit over there." She smiled at him. "I'm assuming that it's traces of a Violet Crumble."
"Huh?" Nick looked confused.
Sara held up the wrapper of a Violet Crumble candy bar. "I found this in one of the pockets."
"Ah." Nick nodded. He watched her for a moment and then leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Are you still game for later?"
She felt a faint blush creep into her cheeks. "I have work to do here."
Nick chuckled and stepped away. "I'll see you later then." He sauntered down the hallway and was just passing Grissom's office when he did a double take. He stopped in the doorway until his boss glanced up.
"Did you need something, Nick?" Grissom didn't look as if he was in the mood for interruptions.
"Uh, no, just noticed your new look." Nick swallowed hard as he tried to come up with a diplomatic way to say what was on his mind. "You pull off blue well."
"Don't you have a case." Grissom looked at him over the rim of his glasses, trying to get the attention off of the color of his hair.
"Just on my way to check on something in DNA." Nick hightailed it down the hall away from Grissom's office and once inside the DNA lab, let out a laugh.
Greg looked annoyed. "What is it now?"
Nick shook his head. "Did you see Grissom's hair?"
"Why do you think I'm stuck in here instead of out in the field?" Greg gave Nick a meaningful glance. "He told me if I said another word, he'd have me licking number 10 envelopes shut for the rest of shift."
Nick winced. "Sorry, man. Hey, do you have anything on my samples yet?" He really didn't want to have to pull a double shift.
Greg handed Nick a sheet of paper as it came off the printer. "Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza."
"Huh?" Nick looked a little confused.
"The substance in your sample was pizza, not human tissue, although I can understand your confusion considering the smell." Greg continued to concentrate on the sample before him, stopping momentarily to pick up a pen to write something in his notes.
Nick chortled when he saw the pen Greg held. It had a large plastic red rose taped to one end. "What's with the flower?"
Greg glanced up and smirked. "This way no one walks off with my pen."
Nick nodded, pursing his lips together to keep from laughing. "Ok. Well, I've got what I need. See you later, man." He stepped back into the hallway and let out a chuckle.
As he neared the reception desk, the young blond woman sitting there smiled. "Nick, you've got some mail here."
He looked at her quizzically. "Uh, thanks, Denise." He took the orange envelope, noting the postmark and return address. "This is weird, this was mailed almost a year ago."
"You know how the postal service is sometimes." Denise just shrugged.
Nick opened the envelope and slid a birthday card out, starting to laugh. "This is too funny." He glanced up at Denise. "This was for my birthday last year."
Denise raised an eyebrow. "When is your birthday?" She couldn't hide her interest in the handsome CSI.
"Uh, in two weeks." Nick chuckled as he read the card.
Just then, Sara came up behind him, elbowing him. "What's that?"
He glanced over at her and couldn't hold back a flirtatious smile. "A birthday card."
Sara furrowed her brow curiously. "But your birthday isn't for two weeks still."
Nick's eyebrows arched slowly upwards. "From last year. It just arrived today." The pair began walking down the hallway towards the break room together.
"Hmm." Sara smirked at him. "Hey, I need to run by the store before I go home. Just let yourself in if I'm not home, ok?"
He nodded, a bit of disappointment on his face. "Ok."
Sara rolled her eyes. "And we're not watching 'Flashdance' again."
"But I thought you liked that movie." Nick teased.
"No, you liked that movie. I'd be happier playing 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' than watching that again." She teased back. Neither one of them liked 'Flashdance', but they had made another discovery the night they watched the movie together, and that discovery had led to the development of a romantic relationship between the two.
Nick glanced at his watch. "Hey, I've got a few things to check on here, but I'll meet you at your apartment in about an hour."
She grinned. "Ok, but don't touch my chocolate Coca Cola cake. That's for dessert."
He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Hmm, two desserts. Now that's my kind of meal."
Sara felt herself blushing again and elbowed him in the ribs. "I'll see you later." She couldn't keep from smiling as she walked briskly down the hallway to finish what she had been working on.
A little over an hour later, she opened the door to her apartment expecting to find Nick. As she came into the living room, she found him asleep on her couch, naked as a the day he was born save for a pair of socks with a hole in one of the toes and a strategically placed teddy bear that was dressed in a leather jacket with a red bow around its neck.
Without missing a beat, Sara walked over to the couch and straddled his lap, lacing her arms around his neck as she leaned in and kissed him.
He smiled against her lips and looked into her eyes as she pulled away. "I brought you a present."
She smirked. "Really?"
He grinned. "I had this made for you."
"He's cute." Sara giggled as Nick slid his arms around her waist. "What's the occasion?"
"It's just because I love you." He looked at her adoringly.
She smiled, looking into his eyes. "I love you too."
Nick waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, tightening his grip around her waist, as his voice became a bit husky. "So, I was thinking maybe we could have dessert first."
Author's Note: This is in response to a challenge I issued to my fellow Snickers.
"So, the analysis shows that this feather came from a juvenile bald eagle. I'd say about three and a half years old. If you look near the shaft of the feather, you can see where the color was changing." David Hodges commented to Nick as he gestured towards the high powered microscope.
Nick took a look and glanced up with a grin. "I've never seen one in this stage before, but then again, they are illegal to possess."
Hodges crossed his arms. "I should be able to tell you something about the substance that was on the feather in a while. At first glance, I'm guessing spray starch."
Nick raised a befuddled eyebrow. "Spray starch."
Hodges nodded. "You know the kind you put on your shirts before you iron to give that crisp fresh look?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "I know what it is. Just let me know when you have the results." With that he sauntered out of the lab and down the hall to check on the samples he'd left with Greg. As he neared the doorway to the DNA lab, he furrowed his brow and grimaced at the music blaring.
Greg glanced up as Nick walked in. "Hey, Nick my man."
"Sanders, it's August, what's up with the Christmas music?" Nick liked the holidays as much as anyone else, but he drew the line at listening to Christmas music before the day after Thanksgiving.
Greg arched his eyebrows momentarily before launching into an explanation. "It's not just any Christmas music, this is the 'Brady Christmas' compilation CD."
Nick chortled. "As in 'The Brady Bunch'?"
Greg nodded. "That's the one."
Nick rested his hands on his hips. "They can't even sing."
Greg was about to protest when one of the singers went significantly off key. "Ok, so they aren't in the same league as Springsteen, but the girl who played Marsha became a country singer."
Nick couldn't hold back his laughter. "Greg, the guy that played Gilligan on 'Gilligan's Island' could probably sing better than this."
Greg just glared as he picked up the remote control and turned the music off. "I assume you're here about your samples."
Nick was still trying to stop laughing and just nodded, glancing at the floor, where he began laughing all over again after he caught sight of Greg's sneakers which looked as if they'd collided with a blue zebra. "What the hell is on your shoes?"
Greg leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. "Cookie gave them to me."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Who is Cookie?"
Greg grinned. "My girlfriend."
Nick looked at him skeptically. "Cookie."
Greg nodded. "She doesn't like her name so she goes by Cookie."
"And just what is her name?" Nick bit his lip to keep from laughing again.
"Not Cookie." Greg answered with a smirk.
Nick rolled his eyes. "Just page me when you've got those samples done." Nick walked out of the DNA lab still shaking his head. As he neared the break room, he glanced in the window and noticed Warrick sitting on the couch eating tortilla chips, completely engrossed in something on the television. Warrick didn't even look at Nick as he walked in. "Hey, man, what are you watching?"
Warrick gestured towards the TV. "Joe Montana is on that show 'While You Were Out', and they're making some kind of 'art' out of broken plates."
Nick stared at the TV, wrinkling his nose as he watched the camera zoom in on Leslie Segretti who was sporting a pin with an American flag on it. "What is she doing?"
"Ah, she's making a pillow for Joe's pet ferret." Warrick explained, still not turning his attention away from the TV.
"With orange polar fleece?" Nick queried as he watched, slightly tilting his head. "That's a cool tool."
"Uh, yeah, that's a rotary cutter. My Grams used those for cutting fabric for quilting." Warrick interjected before putting another chip in his mouth.
Just then Sara walked into the break room looking thoroughly amused at the behavior of her two coworkers. She pulled out her camera phone and took a picture just as Nick and Warrick finally noticed her. "No one would ever believe you two watching 'While You Were Out'."
Nick furrowed his brow. "At least it wasn't 'What Not To Wear'." He realized what he'd said only after the words were out of his mouth.
Warrick started to chuckle. "You watch that show?"
Nick gestured towards the TV. "Hey, I'm not the one who turned it to this in the first place."
Warrick defended himself. "Joe Montana was on."
"Children." Sara raised an amused eyebrow. "Don't we have cases to work on?"
Nick chuckled. "Ok, Grissom."
She shot him a glare. "Not funny." She turned on her heals and walked out of the room.
"I'd hate to be you." Warrick quipped as he turned his attention back to the TV.
Nick's pager went off. "That'd better be Greg or Hodges." He glanced at the display and headed off to see Hodges.
Hodges didn't even look up as Nick walked in. "Your mystery substance was toothpaste."
"Serious?" Nick looked surprised.
"No, I'm just making it up." Hodges tone was dry. "Of course I'm serious. My word you people have to question everything?"
"Thanks, man." Nick made a quick exit and headed out to the parking lot to retrieve something from his Denali. As he rounded the back of the vehicle, he stopped in his tracks at the sight before him. Catherine was pinned up against the side of a Jeep parked next to his SUV and engaged in a passionate lip lock with someone who looked vaguely familiar.
They must have heard him approach because they broke apart breathless. "Nick." Catherine's chest was heaving as she turned to look at him.
It was only then that Nick realized just who she was with. His eyes went wide. "Fromansky?"
The officer who had made it clear on numerous occasions that he held little love for the CSIs as a whole, looked at Nick nervously. "Stokes."
Catherine pasted on a smile. "Uh, Nicky, we kind of want to keep this a secret."
Nick's eyes were still wide and he just nodded. "I can see why." He just backed away, forgetting why he had come out to his Denali in the first place and headed back in the lab. As he walked by one of the layout rooms he noticed Sara hunched over a sequined dress, running a swab over it.
She glanced up as he walked in. "Is the show over?" There was a bit of smug amusement on her face.
He raised an eyebrow. "Hey, he was watching that before I walked in." He gestured towards the dress she was swabbing. "Anything?"
She shook her head. "No, but I did find some sort of residue on the pin-striped suit over there." She smiled at him. "I'm assuming that it's traces of a Violet Crumble."
"Huh?" Nick looked confused.
Sara held up the wrapper of a Violet Crumble candy bar. "I found this in one of the pockets."
"Ah." Nick nodded. He watched her for a moment and then leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Are you still game for later?"
She felt a faint blush creep into her cheeks. "I have work to do here."
Nick chuckled and stepped away. "I'll see you later then." He sauntered down the hallway and was just passing Grissom's office when he did a double take. He stopped in the doorway until his boss glanced up.
"Did you need something, Nick?" Grissom didn't look as if he was in the mood for interruptions.
"Uh, no, just noticed your new look." Nick swallowed hard as he tried to come up with a diplomatic way to say what was on his mind. "You pull off blue well."
"Don't you have a case." Grissom looked at him over the rim of his glasses, trying to get the attention off of the color of his hair.
"Just on my way to check on something in DNA." Nick hightailed it down the hall away from Grissom's office and once inside the DNA lab, let out a laugh.
Greg looked annoyed. "What is it now?"
Nick shook his head. "Did you see Grissom's hair?"
"Why do you think I'm stuck in here instead of out in the field?" Greg gave Nick a meaningful glance. "He told me if I said another word, he'd have me licking number 10 envelopes shut for the rest of shift."
Nick winced. "Sorry, man. Hey, do you have anything on my samples yet?" He really didn't want to have to pull a double shift.
Greg handed Nick a sheet of paper as it came off the printer. "Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza."
"Huh?" Nick looked a little confused.
"The substance in your sample was pizza, not human tissue, although I can understand your confusion considering the smell." Greg continued to concentrate on the sample before him, stopping momentarily to pick up a pen to write something in his notes.
Nick chortled when he saw the pen Greg held. It had a large plastic red rose taped to one end. "What's with the flower?"
Greg glanced up and smirked. "This way no one walks off with my pen."
Nick nodded, pursing his lips together to keep from laughing. "Ok. Well, I've got what I need. See you later, man." He stepped back into the hallway and let out a chuckle.
As he neared the reception desk, the young blond woman sitting there smiled. "Nick, you've got some mail here."
He looked at her quizzically. "Uh, thanks, Denise." He took the orange envelope, noting the postmark and return address. "This is weird, this was mailed almost a year ago."
"You know how the postal service is sometimes." Denise just shrugged.
Nick opened the envelope and slid a birthday card out, starting to laugh. "This is too funny." He glanced up at Denise. "This was for my birthday last year."
Denise raised an eyebrow. "When is your birthday?" She couldn't hide her interest in the handsome CSI.
"Uh, in two weeks." Nick chuckled as he read the card.
Just then, Sara came up behind him, elbowing him. "What's that?"
He glanced over at her and couldn't hold back a flirtatious smile. "A birthday card."
Sara furrowed her brow curiously. "But your birthday isn't for two weeks still."
Nick's eyebrows arched slowly upwards. "From last year. It just arrived today." The pair began walking down the hallway towards the break room together.
"Hmm." Sara smirked at him. "Hey, I need to run by the store before I go home. Just let yourself in if I'm not home, ok?"
He nodded, a bit of disappointment on his face. "Ok."
Sara rolled her eyes. "And we're not watching 'Flashdance' again."
"But I thought you liked that movie." Nick teased.
"No, you liked that movie. I'd be happier playing 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' than watching that again." She teased back. Neither one of them liked 'Flashdance', but they had made another discovery the night they watched the movie together, and that discovery had led to the development of a romantic relationship between the two.
Nick glanced at his watch. "Hey, I've got a few things to check on here, but I'll meet you at your apartment in about an hour."
She grinned. "Ok, but don't touch my chocolate Coca Cola cake. That's for dessert."
He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Hmm, two desserts. Now that's my kind of meal."
Sara felt herself blushing again and elbowed him in the ribs. "I'll see you later." She couldn't keep from smiling as she walked briskly down the hallway to finish what she had been working on.
A little over an hour later, she opened the door to her apartment expecting to find Nick. As she came into the living room, she found him asleep on her couch, naked as a the day he was born save for a pair of socks with a hole in one of the toes and a strategically placed teddy bear that was dressed in a leather jacket with a red bow around its neck.
Without missing a beat, Sara walked over to the couch and straddled his lap, lacing her arms around his neck as she leaned in and kissed him.
He smiled against her lips and looked into her eyes as she pulled away. "I brought you a present."
She smirked. "Really?"
He grinned. "I had this made for you."
"He's cute." Sara giggled as Nick slid his arms around her waist. "What's the occasion?"
"It's just because I love you." He looked at her adoringly.
She smiled, looking into his eyes. "I love you too."
Nick waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, tightening his grip around her waist, as his voice became a bit husky. "So, I was thinking maybe we could have dessert first."