Title: Stalemate
Author: DarkDreamer56
Archive: If you want it, ask please!
Rating: T
Pairings: as much as it pains me to write this, NS friendship angst, implied GSR…
Disclaimer: Hmm, if I owned the characters, then we'd actually see them interacting onscreen. I think the victims in "Toe Tags" had more interaction between each other than Nick and Sara have had so far this season…
Spoilers: big ones for "Way to Go" on…

A/N: I've had notes on this story for weeks, but between my new Evanescence CD, and the fact that I have that damn Nickelback song stuck in my head from weeks of Battlestar Galactica promos on SciFi (what can I say, my new addiction is Stargate: Atlantis), I have listened to a sufficient amount of angst to try and commit this story to paper, er, word document. This is basically my take on what could happen when Nick finds out what is going on between Grissom and Sara. If you've read my other stories, then you know I don't believe in this relationship, and I have a hard time believing that Nick wouldn't have a problem with it either. But I am going to try to portray the relationships between all of these characters as realistically as you can get with fictional characters. That said, if you are a fan of the GSR, you're being sufficiently warned. They may be together in this fic, but it's not going to be portrayed as the sunshine and butterflies that the writers seem to like so much. As for the Snickers, this is more friendship angst than anything, but depending on how many chapters this turns into, who knows what will happen? This is dedicated to Julie, who rocks, and has adorable kitties, and has been feeding my Snickers addiction when I haven't been able to come up with anything more than a sentence or two, to Shimmy (SistaSouljah), whose "You Get Me" NS video finally helped me break through my writer's block, and to Claire, my favorite partner in crime.

"Come on Sara, you've gotta give me something…" It had been a subtle change, but Nick had noticed several weeks ago that something was different with Sara; at first he hadn't been able to pinpoint it, but eventually his CSI senses picked up on several things.

First, there was the decidedly male razor sitting in her shower the last time he had stopped by her apartment to watch a movie. Then there was the way Sara had started to take certain phone calls at work, walking away from whomever she was with and whispering with a smile Nick had never quite seen on Sara. It had become apparent to him that there was someone, and after an initial wave a jealously that Nick convinced himself was due solely to the fact that it had been far too long since he had dated anyone for more than a few weeks, Nick became concerned that Sara didn't seem to want to talk about it. What he didn't get was why she hadn't mentioned it; they had always been able to talk about that kind of stuff with each other, and on more than one occasion, it had helped to pass a very tedious shift. He mentioned his thoughts to her one day after shift, but had been unable to coax a name, or even any details out of her. In fact, it was starting to worry him, why exactly she was so reluctant to talk about it at all.

"Nick, I have no idea what you're talking about. Hey, give me the marker, it's your turn to sort."

Nick smirked as Sara plucked the marker out of his hand and moved away from the pile of trash that had been found around the vic from their current homicide. "You can try to deflect all you want Sar, but I know something is going on. And be glad it's me asking, and not Greg."

Sara rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "At least my glares still work on Greg," and then outloud, "Come on, give me a starting point."

"Mmm, 1453 Cochrane Boulevard. 56854 Robin Lane. 70465 Robin Lane. And I'm still not gonna let this go…who is he?"

"Nick, you should really be more concerned with the trash in front of you, than who ever it is I'm dating."

"But it's more fun than the trash. Plus, I just got you to admit to that you are in fact dating someone."

Nick grinned, but wisely said nothing else as Sara shot a murderous glare in his direction. Sara had been wrong to assume that her glares had no effect on him after six years, but it wasn't enough to deter him completely; he'd let her cool down for awhile, and then pick it back up, there was no way he was gonna leave shift without finding out what she was hiding. "Oh, look, another 56854 Robin Lane, and 56858 Robin Lane." Nick scanned through the rest of the pile, noting that most of the readable addresses were in the same cluster of houses. "How's that for your starting point?"

Sara rolled her eyes, but as Nick studied her face, she was clearly flustered. Again, it bothered him that she didn't think she could talk to him about the guy she was seeing.

It was at that moment that Grissom popped his head into the doorway, startling Sara as his voice called out. "Hey, Brass just told me he got an id on your vic, he's on his way to talk to her family."

Nick nodded absently, at least until he noticed the look on Sara's face. While Nick had been listening to Grissom, Sara had cast him a sideways look, searching his face for something, and that was when the final pieces slid into place.

Suddenly everything clicked in Nick's mind. The man that Sara was seeing was Gil Grissom. That's why she had been so secretive lately; while Nick had been concerned that Sara was seeing some guy that wasn't treating her the way she deserved to be treated, Sara was off screwing her boss; their boss, in fact.

Nick felt both stupid for not noticing sooner, and pissed off, for many, many reasons he couldn't explain and didn't really want to explore. Angry would work for now. His jaw clenched as Grissom's form retreated, happily unaware that his ethically challenged secret had been discovered. Sara, on the other hand, took one look at Nick, and knew the jig was up.

"Look, Nick…" Sara trailed off, at least having the decency to look properly chagrined.

"You know, it's been a long day, why don't we pick this up next shift." Nick left no room for Sara to argue, starting to pack up the evidence box. His anger was bubbling dangerously close to the surface, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold back if he and Sara got into it about what he had discovered.

"Nick, please…"

Nick assumed Sara was going to ask him to keep his discovery to himself, and cut her off.

"Listen Sara, if you want to sleep with our supervisor, go for it. Maybe it'll keep you off the trash calls."

As the words were leaving Nick's mouth, he realized he'd started exactly what he'd wanted to avoid. Sara's eyes had turned from pleading, to hard and controlled, a glare unlike Nick had ever had directed at him before.

"You know Nick, I knew there'd be people that think I'm only trying to get ahead, I just never thought you'd be one of them."

Sara was gone a moment later, storming down the hall and leaving Nick to clean up on his own. It wasn't long before Nick had deposited everything into the evidence vault and was heading out to his truck.

He wasn't sure what had him angrier; that Sara had risked her career, and her reputation, to have a relationship with her direct supervisor, or that she felt the need to keep it a secret from him. He'd always considered her as more than a coworker; she was a friend, and even though they had had their disagreements over the years, Nick had thought that they were good enough friends that she would share something that important with him.

Two hours, and a failed attempt at sleep later, Nick found himself standing, rumpled and only slightly less angry, outside of Sara's apartment. The floodgates had been opened, and now it was time to have this out, or to avoid her at work, something that Nick really didn't want to do. He knocked, a little louder than he had intended, and prayed that it wasn't Grissom that answered the door.

The door opened to reveal Sara, hair wet and clad in sweatpants and a tank top. Her expression was guarded as she eyed Nick suspiciously. The way she clutched the side of the door told him that he wasn't going to get into her apartment until she determined what exactly he wanted.

"Why?" Nick knew it was vague, but all of the questions that had been running through his mind since he'd found out disappeared, leaving only one word rattling around in his brain.

"I could ask the same of you," she threw back quietly. "I knew it would be bad, but I didn't expect that."

Looking up into her eyes, Nick could see how hurt she had been, and he cast his eyes downward. As mad as he was, he didn't want to hurt her, and he rubbed his neck in frustration.

Sara stepped aside slightly, allowing him access to her apartment, though she didn't exactly look thrilled at the prospect. Nick could relate; as he heard the door close behind him and felt the morning sunshine streaming through her living room windows, he just knew it was going to be a long day.

TBC

A/N: I haven't decided yet whether or not this is going to be a full fledged fic, or just another chapter or two, but I'll try to update as soon as I can.