Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but as always, I'll buy the coffee if George and Jorja have the time.

Author's Note: I suppose every once in a while you need to be flattened by a case of the flu to get new ideas.

It had been a slow night in the lab and even though he knew he should have gone home hours ago when his shift had ended like Warrick and Catherine had done, Nick decided to catch up on a little paperwork, even if it meant logging a little extra overtime in the process. It was early in the month still, and he could get by with it, as long as he was really working. Truth be told, he really hated paperwork, but ever since Ecklie had split up the night shift he had missed working with the rest of the team; missed just having time during the course of working together to check up on them and touch base. Not that he'd even seen any of them tonight. He'd holed himself up in an office determined to finish up his entire backlog so he might actually be able to take a vacation sometime in the proverbial future.

The sound of a familiar voice laced with a hint of amusement made him realize that he had been working far too long.

"Now that's a sight I didn't think I'd live to see." Sara wore a telltale smirk on her face as she rested her hip against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest.

Nick smiled in spite of himself as he glanced up at her. "What are you inferring, Ms. Sidle?"

Sara carefully arched a single brow at him. "You voluntarily doing paperwork." She replied in explanation before slowly pushing herself away from the doorframe and sauntered into the office. "I seem to recall you trying to stick me with more than my fair share."

"I pull my weight." Nick protested a bit too mildly even as a grin spread across his face.

Sara settled herself on the edge of the table that Nick had files spread out on and looked at him doubtfully. "Can't get Warrick and Catherine to do it for you is more like it."

Nick scoffed for a moment and then let out a chuckle as he shook his head. "It's not like that. I'm just trying to get caught up so I can justify taking a day off."

Sara couldn't resist and reached over and rubbed her palm over his buzz-cut as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her. "You should grow your hair back out. This makes you look too edgy."

Nick sat back in his chair and looked at her curiously, letting out a laugh. "What if I like being edgy? You know, intimidate the bad guys." He really didn't care either way about his hair, he'd gotten it shaved off when he'd let someone talk him into getting highlights with disastrous results. He'd found that having almost no hair cut down on the time he had to spend getting ready for work.

Sara just shook her head as her expression turned to a thoughtful scowl. "It turns women off."

Nick smirked at her. "Oh, really?" He knew his comment would push one of her buttons and he'd get some sort of reaction out of her.

Sara looked momentarily put out, and then she smiled, picking up on what he was doing. "I just think you looked sexier with your hair a little longer."

Nick made a mental note that Sara thought he was sexy and a grin began to spread across his face.

Sara stood up from the desk and gestured towards the doorway. "We're all heading to the diner, and I just thought I'd see if you wanted to come since you were still here."

Only then did Nick realize that he'd worked not only through his shift, but the night shift too. He was just glad that he had the next day off to sleep. "Count me in."

It wasn't quite like old times. The easy banter that used to fly around the table was a bit more stilted with Sophia there, but still, Nick was glad that Sara had asked him to join them and he also found it curious that rather than linger at the diner over several refills of coffee the way they used to, that first Grissom, then Greg and finally Sophia begged off to go home and get some sleep, leaving just Nick and Sara sitting across from each other in the booth.

There was an easy silence between them and Nick found himself smiling as he cradled his coffee cup in his hands.

"I miss this." Sara's brow was slightly furrowed and she was looking at him intently.

Without thinking, Nick put his coffee cup down and reached across the table for her hand, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "Me too."

"I miss you." There was something in Sara's expression that said more than her words did.

Nick wasn't sure why he wasn't more surprised that she might actually feel the same way that he'd been feeling for a while. "I miss you too."

Sara continued to look at him with a studied gaze, conscious of the fact that his thumb was slowly caressing the back of her hand.

Nick's smile was a bit lopsided. "I guess sometimes you don't realize what you want until it isn't there anymore."

Sara's mouth twitched upwards into an awkward smile. Her self consciousness came through in the lilt in her voice. "What makes you think it isn't there anymore?"

Nick squeezed her hand again, smiling as her gaze locked with his. "It's just a figure of speech. I don't plan on going anywhere." An impish smirk flitted across his face. "'Course that doesn't change the fact that I'm working the swing shift now."

Sara let out a very unladylike snort of a laugh as the awkwardness disappeared and she realized that it was just Nick; the same Nick that she'd known for four and a half years; the same Nick who had become one of her closest friends; and the same Nick who could make her heart flip with a smile.

Nick grinned at her, realizing that he was still holding her hand. He gave it another gentle squeeze before letting go and began to toy with his cup of coffee again as he considered what was transpiring between them.

Sara watched him from across the booth, neither one of them saying anything for a moment, and then Sara glanced out the window at the sun that was already beginning to bake the desert landscape.

"Sara." Nick began a bit tentatively his expression hopeful.

She glanced back at him and smiled. "Yeah?"

Somehow that smile of hers made it that much easier for Nick to get the words out. "Do you want to go out with me sometime?"

It took a minute for the words to sink in and then a sort of half smile, half smirk flitted across Sara's face. "You mean on a date?"

Nick only faltered for a fraction of a second. "Yeah, on a date." He smiled at her expectantly, knowing that even though they'd flirted for years that this was pushing the boundaries of their friendship.

Sara hadn't really realized how much she'd missed working with Nick until she'd been forced to take time off over the summer and then just after she'd gotten back in the swing of things, Ecklie went and split up the team. This time, however, she realized that it wasn't just working with Nick that she had missed.

Sara couldn't help the gape toothed smile that spread across her face as she looked at him across the table. "I'd like that."

The End