Title – Keep Breathing

Category – Sara/Nick Romance, Thriller

Rating – PG

Disclaimer – I do not own CSI or any of its characters.

Author's notes – I haven't written any fanfic for years and have missed episodes of CSI so please excuse any mistakes regarding genuine storylines etc.

Nick was woken by the sound Sam's barking from the kitchen. He took a second to remember why he was sleeping in the lounge, then everything that had happened the previous evening hit him. The smell of bacon was wafting through the house and Nick couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his kitchen. As he walked to the kitchen door he smiled at the sight he saw, Sara was sitting on one of the bar stools feeding Sam little bits of bacon. When Sara saw Nick approaching she gave him a sheepish look and then gently laughed.

"I couldn't resist giving him some, he just kept on looking at me with those big, brown eyes," she stood up hoping that Nick wouldn't be mad, some people were really funny about what their dogs ate.

"You have a friend for life now, you know," he said as he glanced around the kitchen, taking in the sight he saw. On the stove there were three pans, one appeared to be full of bacon and sausages, one with different kinds of eggs and one had two types of pancakes on the go at the same time. The kitchen counter was set with bagels, toast, and prepared fruits. "Um, Sara what is going on?"

"Oh, I thought that you might be hungry. I kind of ruined your pizza last night so I raided your fridge," she pointed to the bin where she'd dumped the take away boxes. "You have more food in your fridge than mine has in a year," she said jokingly.

"What can I say, I'm a growing boy. We could have just had cereal you know Sara," he took in the sight before him. He didn't know she knew how to turn on the oven let alone juggle three pans at the same time.

Sara looked at the stove, "I'm sorry, I should've asked," she said shyly.

"Are you kidding, I want you to come and make me breakfast every morning. Why the hell did you never tell me that you could cook?" Nick was seriously impressed.

"Well my real parents had a B&B so I helped out with breakfast a lot and I sometimes helped with cooking at the diner when they were short staffed. It's actually pretty easy Nick, it's just about getting your timings right." She picked up a plate in her left hand and skilfully flipped pancakes while filling the plate with bacon, sausage and eggs. She told Nick to sit down as she placed the mountain of food in front of him. His eyes widened and a huge smile engulfed his place, Sara knew that Nick liked his food but she had never seen him look so adoringly at a plate before. She was glad, she had really imposed on him last night – in more ways than one. She went back to the pancakes and turned off the heat, at the same time she pulled the coffee out of the machine in one hand while lifting up a tea pot in the other. "Tea or coffee?" she asked. Nick burst out laughing, he found this Sara highly amusing.

"I'm sorry, it's just…. wow," was all he could say. Sara tilted her head, not understanding what was so funny. "Coffee please," he finally managed to say. He lifted up his fork and knife and began to fill his stomach. Sara was right, he had missed his dinner last night and he was ravenous. Sara sat down after putting some fresh pancakes onto Nick's plate, she lifted a bagel and mindlessly began eating it.

"I'm so sorry about last night, Nick. You asked me if I wanted some take out and I ended up telling you my life story and drinking all of your dad's best whisky. I can't believe I fell asleep too," she was embarrassed and regretful about telling Nick all her worries. Nick shook his head and put down his fork and knife.

"I'm your friend Sara, I care about you and I want to know when things happen to you. Good or bad. I'm so glad you told me," he said honestly. He lent over the table slightly and put his hand over hers. "We are going to figure this out, together." He meant it, he wanted to find out who had written that note. He wanted to stop whoever it was from causing Sara any more pain.

Sara smiled, she was suddenly incredibly glad to have Nick Stokes in her life. Just then the oven pinged. "Oh, the muffins," she exclaimed. Nick's jaw dropped, he genuinely was in awe of Sara at that moment. She was like Martha Stewart with a magnifying glass. He didn't say anything, he knew that by keeping herself busy she was delaying having to think about the letter. Nick carried on eating, if it helped Sara to whip up a storm in the kitchen than who was he to stop her, he though contently.

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After breakfast was eaten, Sara insisted on tidying up the dishes while Nick showered. The mundane task of cleaning dishes helped her clear her head. She had managed to sleep a little on Nick's sofa and now felt ready to deal with her past. The letter had thrown her but with Nick's help she felt slightly less scared. When he came back through Sara was sitting looking into space.

"Are you ok?" he asked gently in his southern accent. She nodded but he knew that she wasn't. "Come on, let's go."

Twenty minutes later they stood outside her apartment, they had dropped Sam off at Maggie's house and taken Nick's SUV. Sara put her key in the lock and turned it, anxious as to what she might find on the other side. Nick's hand was inside his jacket pocket, Sara didn't know it but he had taken his gun. His finger moved over the trigger as Sara pushed the door open. Nick gently pushed himself in front of Sara, they were used to putting themselves in danger but this was different – it was personal. He had a quick scan of the main living area before disappearing to check out the other rooms. When he came back to the kitchen area Sara was standing looking down at the floor, a blank expression was etched on her face. He saw a letter and envelope on the floor, he reached into another pocket for a glove and evidence bag and knelt down to pick it up. He looked closely at both the letter and envelope but there was nothing that he thought might help them right now.

"Star?" he asked curiously.

"It was a nickname he gave me, because I was 'star waitress of the month' when I met him. Nobody else has ever called me that, I don't even think anyone would have known about it."

"We need to get someone at the lab to look at this," Nick hoped that there might be some evidence but he was doubtful. People knew all about DNA and finger prints these days so if they were planning on harassing a CSI they were hardly going to make it easy for them to trace them.

"I don't want anyone to know Nick," Sara said quietly whilst shaking her head. "Please don't tell anyone." A lonely tear ran down her left cheek and she looked pleadingly at her friend. So many emotions were hitting her that she couldn't think clearly but she knew that she didn't want anyone else to know her business.

"There could be a clue here Sara," he said gently, "the team would be desperate to help if they knew what was going on."

"Please Nick," she pleaded. He couldn't say no to her, she looked so vulnerable standing there in front of him.

"Ok, but we're still getting it checked. We'll ask Greg to do it." Their fellow CSI was their best ally right now.

"I don't want Greg to get into trouble Nick, I can't ask him to do this. No," she was adamant that she didn't want anyone to risk their career for her.

"Greg thinks the world of you, you know. He would want to help. Besides, nobody will think twice if Greg is skulking around the lab, he's always hanging around in there. He used to be a lab rat remember, it's his natural habitat," he tried to lighten the mood a little. "If anything comes back on Greg I will tell them that I ordered him to do it." Sara sighed and reluctantly agreed, she knew that Greg could be trusted.

"I need to grab a shower first," she smiled at Nick, he was going above and beyond the duty of a friend and colleague right now. She told Nick to make himself at home and went through to her bedroom. She showered then quickly changed into her favourite skinny jeans and pulled on a well-worn, red, long sleeved top. She quickly dried her hair and pulled it up, she didn't even consider straightening her naturally curly hair. The smell of her favourite coffee greeted her as she made her way to the kitchen. Nick glanced up and was struck by how pretty Sara looked with her hair up, red really suits her he thought to himself. He poured her a coffee and handed it to her. He hated to admit it but he was enjoying spending time with Sara, he just wished it were in better circumstances.

Once they had finished their coffees, Nick drove them to the lab. He had phoned Greg to ask him to meet them in the car park and an intrigued Greg was pacing the sidewalk when they arrived.

"Guys, what's going on?" Greg asked as he climbed into the back of Nick's SUV. He was anxious to know why he had been summoned to meet them outside, this was not the norm.

"We need a huge favour Greg, we need some lab work done on the quiet," Nick knew that he was asking a lot but since Sara wouldn't confide in the others he had no choice but to ask Greg to do this.

"Cool, what am I doing?" Greg trusted his two fellow CSI's enough to know that if they were asking him to do something than it was important. Nick handed him the clear bag containing the letter. He glanced at Sara who was watching Greg intently as he had a look at the envelope. Greg read the name and address then looked at Sara.

"Sara, what is this?" a look of concern spread across his face. Sara sighed, she didn't have the energy to tell anyone the story again. She really loved Greg, he was like a little brother to her and they had been through some tough times together. She trusted him completely. So she told him, not everything, some things she couldn't tell but she told him what she could. She had married when she was sixteen and he had turned out to be a murderer, he had died and yet she had received this note – apparently from him. Greg listened and tried to comprehend what he was hearing.

"I'll get on it right away," he opened his door to leave then turned to Sara. "If there is anything, and I mean anything, that I can do to help I will do it." Greg was scared for Sara, he had never seen her look so timid before. He felt quite proud that she had trusted him enough to confide in him. Greg hurried back to the lab to get started on the evidence.

"Right, now we just need to wait for Greg to do his magic," he hoped that Greg would find something to link the letter to some con artist that they could nail for this. "So where do you want to go?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I'm kind of scared to go home."

"Then we'll head to mine, you'll be safe there," he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. He ignored the urge to lean over and take her in his arms and instead he drove her back to hers to collect a few essentials. Once there, Nick lazed on the sofa while Sara grabbed her things. She popped her toiletries into a bag then went to the bedroom to find some clothes.

It was then that she saw it. It hadn't been there earlier when she had gotten dressed. Someone had been in her bedroom and laid it on her bed.

"Nick," she cried, "oh my God, Nick there's another one." Nick ran down the short hall to Sara's bedroom. He put his arms around a shaking Sara while he looked at the bed. There lay another envelope, it simply said one word.

Star.