Title: The Song Remembers When

Rating: PG

Pairing: Sara/Warrick

Notes: Written for the LiveJournal Writer's Choice "Flashback" challenge. The title comes from the Trisha Yearwood song of the same name, anything else you recognise is not mine, and all this remains, as ever, Heidi's fault.

***

Sara is in the layout room, evidence spread out all around her, lost in thought, wondering if she's ever going to crack this case when it happens.

It's not the first time, nor, she knows, will it be the last. But she hears that song, those notes, and she's immediately transported back in time.

It had been a long day, somewhere in the middle of another long case, one where she and Warrick had been putting in double and triple overtime and were still chasing their tails. In an effort to forget about everything, to blow off some steam, the two of them had escaped to her apartment with a six pack of beer, a huge pizza and settled down to a movie. It hadn't been the first time that they'd done that, in fact, it had become more and more of a habit over the previous few months, much to the amusement of Nick and Greg. But she and Warrick had never taken any notice of the teasing, because they knew that they were just friends, that there was nothing more to it than that.

Except that particular day, when they'd been sitting on her couch, her pressed up against him, head leaning on his shoulder, looking, once again, at one of her all time favourite films, "Say Anything". It hadn't been the first time they'd looked at it, nor the first time he'd teased her about her fixation with it, but Lloyd had been standing in front of Diane's house, boom box high above his head, and Peter Gabriel had been singing "In Your Eyes" so she'd smacked him laughingly on the chest in an effort to get him to shut up.

Which had lead to him grabbing her hand, holding it tightly in his, not tight enough to hurt, but enough to let her know that he had no intention of letting her go.

Which had lead to her looking up at him, her laughter dying on her lips when she saw the look in his eyes.

It had been a long time since any man had looked at her like that, but she'd only ever dreamed about Warrick looking at her like that, and her heart had literally skipped a beat.

Which had lead to her doing the only appropriate thing to do when he was looking at her like that.

She'd kissed him.

Even now, years later, she could remember how her heart thudded almost painfully against her ribs, how he'd stolen her breath with the sensation of his lips against hers. She could remember how his hands had felt as they'd slid over her skin for the first time, how they'd shaken slightly as he'd pushed her hair back from her face, asking her if she was sure about this.

She could remember the smile on his lips, in his eyes when she hadn't said anything, just leaned forward and kissed him again.

She remembered everything about that night, and ever since, she's never been able to look at "Say Anything" in quite the same way. Her appreciation of John Cusack movies has shot up to a whole new level, and any time she hears "In Your Eyes," she's back with him, on the couch in her apartment, falling in love.

That's where she is now, even though she's in the CSI lab, supposedly working, and he knows it too. He's fond of using that song for his own nefarious ends, humming it to get her attention, and it always works. So she's not surprised when he comes up behind her, still humming, or when he stands behind her, resting his hands on her hips. This is work, she wants to say, and they're not supposed to do that here, but she can't seem to make her voice work.

"I'm supposed to be working," she tells him instead, with no real conviction in her voice, and he clucks his tongue reprovingly.

"It's well past quitting time," he points out. "And if you've forgotten, we have plans."

She blinks at that. "We do?"

"Uh-huh." He sounds immensely pleased with himself. "Grams has the baby, and you and I are having a quiet night in…bottle of wine, pizza, a good movie…"

He lets his voice trail off, but his last words make her turn, have her resting her hands on his shoulder and damn where they are. The rings on her left hand glint in the dim light and she smiles; it had been on a night such as that that he'd proposed too. "'Say Anything'?" she asks, already knowing the answer, and he gives her that smile that she loves so much.

"Would I show you anything else on our anniversary?" he asks, and she shakes her head, because that's their movie, their song, and this is their tradition.

She wouldn't have it any other way.