Thanks for all the reviews! That's what makes me find the time to write
another chapter (even if I don't feel like it . . .) and not keep you in
suspense!
Oh, and another note, I actually don't know the recurrence rate for cancer (I just made up the 50% thing for the purpose of the story)
Please read and review!
**************************************
Warrick had been right about Nick's reaction to getting the ring back. He exploded. "She what!?" Nick yelled, not paying attention to the terrified looks people were giving him as they passed the staff lounge.
Warrick, in the effort to placate his seething friend, said gently, "It's probably the stress she's under, man. You know what she said to me before she told me to give you back your ring?"
"Okay, I don't know, what?" Nick asked sarcastically.
"She quoted 'love does not seek its own interests' back at me, and then she said that you should give up on her or something because she doesn't want to make your life miserable, and that's why she doesn't want to try and keep you. She thinks she might hold you back, or something." Warrick unconsciously moved away from his friend, as though he was afraid of bodily harm.
"Man, I'm not going to kill you for being the messenger," Nick complained when he saw his best friend slowly inching away from him. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that she's called off the engagement because she thinks that she's going to be holding me back from living life?"
"In a nutshell, yeah."
"Since when did you become the psychology expert around here?"
"There was a purpose Grissom kept sending me away to attend those conventions. At least they had some good use."
"Hey guys," Catherine interrupted as she walked in and planted herself on the fake leather couch, "Have you seen Sara? Greg is begging me nonstop to give her this ridiculous necklace, but I can't find her." She held out the outlandish hemp necklace that had wooden beads in fluorescent and unnatural colors with the world's biggest pendant to prove her point.
"You mean Sara's not here?" Nick asked in the most shocked tone that anyone had ever heard him use.
Warrick wrinkled his brow in thought and concentration. "She could be upstairs?" he suggested, although his inflection made it sound like a question.
"Why would she be there?" Catherine responded in bewilderment.
"What if she's not here?" Nick demanded, feeling the beginnings of panic nip at him.
"Who're you talking about?" Grissom asked as he passed by the door, folder in hand, "And why are all of you just sitting there? Get back to work."
"We're talking about Sara. We can't find her," Nick stated simply. "What if she's done something stupid, like throw herself off a bridge?"
"Rule one about forensics," Grissom replied, as though he didn't hear Nick's response, "Never assume." At the sharp look Catherine shot him, the irritated look Warrick gave him and the angry look Nick leveled in his direction, he continued with his lecture. "For one, there isn't a bridge within a five mile radius of the lab and Sara came with you, Nick, and she doesn't have keys to your Tahoe. And for another, Sara's still here."
"Where?" Nick asked desperately, ready to run down the halls as soon as he found out.
"She asked me, demanded actually, not to tell you. Apparently Sara's gotten into a disagreement with you?"
"You could say that," Nick replied, tired of repeating his version of events from the past half-hour.
"Are you planning to patch it up?" Grissom queried, giving his 'thoughtful' look to them.
"Yeah, if I could find her."
"Well, Sara did say that I couldn't tell you where she was, but she never said anything about hinting."
"Grissom, what the heck are you talking about."
"Remember a while back, we were trying to figure out how Mr. Roper died?"
"What?"
"That's your clue. Think, Nicky, what were we trying to figure out?" After giving his "clue", Grissom walked away, not offering any more helpful hints.
"What were we trying to figure out?" Nick asked out loud.
"All I remember is that I was off my case because I left Holly Gribbs by herself at the crime scene," Warrick replied guiltily.
"And Sara was conducting an internal investigation into you, if I remember correctly," Catherine added.
"Yeah, yeah," Nick replied, "So you guys know where you were, but I can't remember where I was."
"Weren't you on the roof of some hotel pitching dummies off of it?" Warrick asked as he narrowed his eyes trying to remember.
"Yes!" Nick cried. Sobering up quickly, he asked, "What does this have to do with Sara?"
"Grissom said that he could only give you a hint. That's his hint," Catherine replied. At the two men's confused looks, she added, "Do I have to spell it out for you? Sara's on the roof!"
"And he couldn't tell me straight because . . ." Nick asked.
"Have you ever had the wrath of Sara turned on you?" Catherine inquired.
"Sort of."
"Then you know that short of dismembering and decapitating him, Sara would have murdered Grissom," Catherine explained, like it was the easiest thing in the world to comprehend.
"She's got a point, man," Warrick also said, "I remember when Sara and I got off to a rocky start. I swear, she was spitting out venom right and left. I was surprised that I was still standing at the end of the day."
"Yeah, and who knew you two could become such close friends?" Catherine asked rhetorically.
"Yeah," Warrick responded, pondering what their next move would be. "Hey, Nick, I'll go up there first, make sure she won't jump off the roof at the sight of you, and maybe make her sane enough to talk. Then I'll call you. Sound good?"
"Yeah, man," Nick replied, "Thanks."
"No problem," Warrick reiterated, as he started for the door. "Hopefully she doesn't pitch me off first."
**************************************
Sara stared out at the Vegas casino lights that were becoming easier to see as the sun began to set. The door to the roof clicked behind her. "Grissom," she warned, "if that's you, don't tell me to come down, I'm supposed to be on leave remember, I don't have to, and don't tell me that Nick wants to talk to me. I don't want to talk to him."
"I'm not Grissom," Warrick's low voice complained.
Sara turned around to see the person she almost considered her brother standing just outside of the door, as thought he was too afraid to move any closer.
"I'm not planning to jump off the roof if that's what you're worried about," Sara answered irritably.
"Didn't think so," he replied with a sigh, "I just didn't want to take any chances. You won't throw me off if I move any closer, will you?"
"No."
"Good, because I don't plan on being the next crime scene." His quip was enough to evoke a smile out of Sara.
"Come here," she said gesturing to the spot beside her.
Warrick did as he was commanded, thanking the stars that she had calmed down since the incident in the locker room. "I told Nick what you said, and I tried to give him back the ring," he started, unsure of where to start.
"How's your relationship with Deb doing?" Sara asked abruptly, not to subtly changing the topic.
Warrick knew that she was trying to employ that tactic, and even though he did want to talk about his new girlfriend, Sara and Nick's relationship took first priority at that particular moment. "Nick wouldn't take the ring back," he continued, as though she never cut in, in the first place.
"Oh," she replied crestfallen.
"You know," Warrick continued, "If you really wanted to break off your engagement to Nick, you would have done it to his face."
"I never wanted to." The response was said so quietly, Warrick had to ask Sara to repeat herself.
"I said, ' I never wanted to'. I want to get married to Nick," she said loudly.
"Does this have to do with your theory that you're going to ruin his life because you have cancer?" Warrick asked incredulously.
"It's not a theory. It's the truth!" Sara screamed. Had Warrick not been prepared for her onslaught of emotion, he might have winced at the tone she was using.
"Sara, you know that's not the truth!" he yelled back. Looking sheepish for his outburst, he said in a more controlled fashion, "You want to know the truth Sara? The truth is, you can't make Nick's life miserable. He wants you in it, no matter what happens, if you get cancer, or end up hideously disfigured. What will make him miserable, is if you will not let him share his life with you. Life is short enough as it is, Sara. You gotta just live it one day at a time. You can not be a control freak, you just have to roll with the punches sometimes, you know?" And while she contemplated his words of wisdom, Warrick took the time to call Nick downstairs, and request that he come up.
Nick came running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He quietly opened the door, finding Warrick looking back at it, as though waiting for him to materialize. Warrick raised his eyebrows, silently asking Nick if he wanted him to leave. Nick shook his head. It would be in his best interests to keep Warrick up on the roof with them for the time being, since he had been able to calm Sara down twice and could probably do it again, if need be.
"Sara, honey," Nick said quietly as he sat on her other side, "Will you talk to me now?"
Sara shot Warrick a look of pure malice that clearly said, "How could you do this to me?" Warrick just shrugged, not offering any suggestions for his actions.
"What part of Warrick's message did you not get?" she asked Nick wearily.
'At least she's talking to me,' Nick thought with relief. "To tell you the truth," he replied out loud, "I wasn't listening to him. I was more worried about where you had gone." When she didn't answer, he continued, "Sara, you're my world. If you're not going to be beside me in life, I might as well be as good as dead." Sara's head snapped around, trying to assess the validity of his statement. 'At least she's concerned about me,' Nick thought again.
"You won't go all soap-opera-dying-of-heartbreak on me if I don't call our engagement back on, will you?" she asked with more emotion and concern than she had last used.
"If it's the only way that you will listen to reason, then I will," Nick replied, ready to do anything to get her to at least listen.
"Okay, fine, since I do not want to see how you act, I'll listen," Sara answered with resignation. Seeing that she finally wasn't going to run away, Warrick got up silently and headed back downstairs.
"No crime scenes, remember, Sara?" he called, just before he disappeared into the stairwell.
Sara smiled slightly at the joke. Turning to Nick, she said, "Go ahead, I'm listening."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I owe you that much, at least."
"Sara, you don't owe me anything, and I don't know where you got it into your head that you're going to make my life miserable. Just the thought of you calling all this off on account that you think that marrying me is selfish on your part, makes me sad, but not miserable. Sara, I want to marry you, more than anything in the world, and it WOULD make me miserable if you wouldn't because you think that you would be a burden. You're not, and all I want to do is marry you." Nick looked at her closely. "Can you really say, wholeheartedly and completely truthfully, that you don't want to marry me? Sara, you have to answer me, I'm starting to talk in circles."
She looked at him then, met his eyes. "No, I couldn't say that I don't want to marry you."
Nick was confused. "So you DO want to marry me?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Thank god!" he exclaimed, "Warrick would have a fit if his speech wasn't put to good use."
"Really?"
"Yeah, that and I would have died if you hadn't said yes." Nick pulled something out of his pocket. "Sara, will you still marry me, whatever happens?" he proposed again.
"Yes."
"And you promise to stop thinking that you're ruining my life?"
"I don't know if I can, but I can try."
"That's all I need to hear."
Sara held out her left hand, and Nick slid the thin gold band with a single diamond on it onto her ring finger.
**************************************************
Next chapter, the wedding!!!!!!!!! (I hope I get it into the next chapter.)
A/N: I can't remember Holly's (from the pilot) last name, so if it's not Gribbs, just tell me!
Please review!!!
Oh, and another note, I actually don't know the recurrence rate for cancer (I just made up the 50% thing for the purpose of the story)
Please read and review!
**************************************
Warrick had been right about Nick's reaction to getting the ring back. He exploded. "She what!?" Nick yelled, not paying attention to the terrified looks people were giving him as they passed the staff lounge.
Warrick, in the effort to placate his seething friend, said gently, "It's probably the stress she's under, man. You know what she said to me before she told me to give you back your ring?"
"Okay, I don't know, what?" Nick asked sarcastically.
"She quoted 'love does not seek its own interests' back at me, and then she said that you should give up on her or something because she doesn't want to make your life miserable, and that's why she doesn't want to try and keep you. She thinks she might hold you back, or something." Warrick unconsciously moved away from his friend, as though he was afraid of bodily harm.
"Man, I'm not going to kill you for being the messenger," Nick complained when he saw his best friend slowly inching away from him. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that she's called off the engagement because she thinks that she's going to be holding me back from living life?"
"In a nutshell, yeah."
"Since when did you become the psychology expert around here?"
"There was a purpose Grissom kept sending me away to attend those conventions. At least they had some good use."
"Hey guys," Catherine interrupted as she walked in and planted herself on the fake leather couch, "Have you seen Sara? Greg is begging me nonstop to give her this ridiculous necklace, but I can't find her." She held out the outlandish hemp necklace that had wooden beads in fluorescent and unnatural colors with the world's biggest pendant to prove her point.
"You mean Sara's not here?" Nick asked in the most shocked tone that anyone had ever heard him use.
Warrick wrinkled his brow in thought and concentration. "She could be upstairs?" he suggested, although his inflection made it sound like a question.
"Why would she be there?" Catherine responded in bewilderment.
"What if she's not here?" Nick demanded, feeling the beginnings of panic nip at him.
"Who're you talking about?" Grissom asked as he passed by the door, folder in hand, "And why are all of you just sitting there? Get back to work."
"We're talking about Sara. We can't find her," Nick stated simply. "What if she's done something stupid, like throw herself off a bridge?"
"Rule one about forensics," Grissom replied, as though he didn't hear Nick's response, "Never assume." At the sharp look Catherine shot him, the irritated look Warrick gave him and the angry look Nick leveled in his direction, he continued with his lecture. "For one, there isn't a bridge within a five mile radius of the lab and Sara came with you, Nick, and she doesn't have keys to your Tahoe. And for another, Sara's still here."
"Where?" Nick asked desperately, ready to run down the halls as soon as he found out.
"She asked me, demanded actually, not to tell you. Apparently Sara's gotten into a disagreement with you?"
"You could say that," Nick replied, tired of repeating his version of events from the past half-hour.
"Are you planning to patch it up?" Grissom queried, giving his 'thoughtful' look to them.
"Yeah, if I could find her."
"Well, Sara did say that I couldn't tell you where she was, but she never said anything about hinting."
"Grissom, what the heck are you talking about."
"Remember a while back, we were trying to figure out how Mr. Roper died?"
"What?"
"That's your clue. Think, Nicky, what were we trying to figure out?" After giving his "clue", Grissom walked away, not offering any more helpful hints.
"What were we trying to figure out?" Nick asked out loud.
"All I remember is that I was off my case because I left Holly Gribbs by herself at the crime scene," Warrick replied guiltily.
"And Sara was conducting an internal investigation into you, if I remember correctly," Catherine added.
"Yeah, yeah," Nick replied, "So you guys know where you were, but I can't remember where I was."
"Weren't you on the roof of some hotel pitching dummies off of it?" Warrick asked as he narrowed his eyes trying to remember.
"Yes!" Nick cried. Sobering up quickly, he asked, "What does this have to do with Sara?"
"Grissom said that he could only give you a hint. That's his hint," Catherine replied. At the two men's confused looks, she added, "Do I have to spell it out for you? Sara's on the roof!"
"And he couldn't tell me straight because . . ." Nick asked.
"Have you ever had the wrath of Sara turned on you?" Catherine inquired.
"Sort of."
"Then you know that short of dismembering and decapitating him, Sara would have murdered Grissom," Catherine explained, like it was the easiest thing in the world to comprehend.
"She's got a point, man," Warrick also said, "I remember when Sara and I got off to a rocky start. I swear, she was spitting out venom right and left. I was surprised that I was still standing at the end of the day."
"Yeah, and who knew you two could become such close friends?" Catherine asked rhetorically.
"Yeah," Warrick responded, pondering what their next move would be. "Hey, Nick, I'll go up there first, make sure she won't jump off the roof at the sight of you, and maybe make her sane enough to talk. Then I'll call you. Sound good?"
"Yeah, man," Nick replied, "Thanks."
"No problem," Warrick reiterated, as he started for the door. "Hopefully she doesn't pitch me off first."
**************************************
Sara stared out at the Vegas casino lights that were becoming easier to see as the sun began to set. The door to the roof clicked behind her. "Grissom," she warned, "if that's you, don't tell me to come down, I'm supposed to be on leave remember, I don't have to, and don't tell me that Nick wants to talk to me. I don't want to talk to him."
"I'm not Grissom," Warrick's low voice complained.
Sara turned around to see the person she almost considered her brother standing just outside of the door, as thought he was too afraid to move any closer.
"I'm not planning to jump off the roof if that's what you're worried about," Sara answered irritably.
"Didn't think so," he replied with a sigh, "I just didn't want to take any chances. You won't throw me off if I move any closer, will you?"
"No."
"Good, because I don't plan on being the next crime scene." His quip was enough to evoke a smile out of Sara.
"Come here," she said gesturing to the spot beside her.
Warrick did as he was commanded, thanking the stars that she had calmed down since the incident in the locker room. "I told Nick what you said, and I tried to give him back the ring," he started, unsure of where to start.
"How's your relationship with Deb doing?" Sara asked abruptly, not to subtly changing the topic.
Warrick knew that she was trying to employ that tactic, and even though he did want to talk about his new girlfriend, Sara and Nick's relationship took first priority at that particular moment. "Nick wouldn't take the ring back," he continued, as though she never cut in, in the first place.
"Oh," she replied crestfallen.
"You know," Warrick continued, "If you really wanted to break off your engagement to Nick, you would have done it to his face."
"I never wanted to." The response was said so quietly, Warrick had to ask Sara to repeat herself.
"I said, ' I never wanted to'. I want to get married to Nick," she said loudly.
"Does this have to do with your theory that you're going to ruin his life because you have cancer?" Warrick asked incredulously.
"It's not a theory. It's the truth!" Sara screamed. Had Warrick not been prepared for her onslaught of emotion, he might have winced at the tone she was using.
"Sara, you know that's not the truth!" he yelled back. Looking sheepish for his outburst, he said in a more controlled fashion, "You want to know the truth Sara? The truth is, you can't make Nick's life miserable. He wants you in it, no matter what happens, if you get cancer, or end up hideously disfigured. What will make him miserable, is if you will not let him share his life with you. Life is short enough as it is, Sara. You gotta just live it one day at a time. You can not be a control freak, you just have to roll with the punches sometimes, you know?" And while she contemplated his words of wisdom, Warrick took the time to call Nick downstairs, and request that he come up.
Nick came running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He quietly opened the door, finding Warrick looking back at it, as though waiting for him to materialize. Warrick raised his eyebrows, silently asking Nick if he wanted him to leave. Nick shook his head. It would be in his best interests to keep Warrick up on the roof with them for the time being, since he had been able to calm Sara down twice and could probably do it again, if need be.
"Sara, honey," Nick said quietly as he sat on her other side, "Will you talk to me now?"
Sara shot Warrick a look of pure malice that clearly said, "How could you do this to me?" Warrick just shrugged, not offering any suggestions for his actions.
"What part of Warrick's message did you not get?" she asked Nick wearily.
'At least she's talking to me,' Nick thought with relief. "To tell you the truth," he replied out loud, "I wasn't listening to him. I was more worried about where you had gone." When she didn't answer, he continued, "Sara, you're my world. If you're not going to be beside me in life, I might as well be as good as dead." Sara's head snapped around, trying to assess the validity of his statement. 'At least she's concerned about me,' Nick thought again.
"You won't go all soap-opera-dying-of-heartbreak on me if I don't call our engagement back on, will you?" she asked with more emotion and concern than she had last used.
"If it's the only way that you will listen to reason, then I will," Nick replied, ready to do anything to get her to at least listen.
"Okay, fine, since I do not want to see how you act, I'll listen," Sara answered with resignation. Seeing that she finally wasn't going to run away, Warrick got up silently and headed back downstairs.
"No crime scenes, remember, Sara?" he called, just before he disappeared into the stairwell.
Sara smiled slightly at the joke. Turning to Nick, she said, "Go ahead, I'm listening."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I owe you that much, at least."
"Sara, you don't owe me anything, and I don't know where you got it into your head that you're going to make my life miserable. Just the thought of you calling all this off on account that you think that marrying me is selfish on your part, makes me sad, but not miserable. Sara, I want to marry you, more than anything in the world, and it WOULD make me miserable if you wouldn't because you think that you would be a burden. You're not, and all I want to do is marry you." Nick looked at her closely. "Can you really say, wholeheartedly and completely truthfully, that you don't want to marry me? Sara, you have to answer me, I'm starting to talk in circles."
She looked at him then, met his eyes. "No, I couldn't say that I don't want to marry you."
Nick was confused. "So you DO want to marry me?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Thank god!" he exclaimed, "Warrick would have a fit if his speech wasn't put to good use."
"Really?"
"Yeah, that and I would have died if you hadn't said yes." Nick pulled something out of his pocket. "Sara, will you still marry me, whatever happens?" he proposed again.
"Yes."
"And you promise to stop thinking that you're ruining my life?"
"I don't know if I can, but I can try."
"That's all I need to hear."
Sara held out her left hand, and Nick slid the thin gold band with a single diamond on it onto her ring finger.
**************************************************
Next chapter, the wedding!!!!!!!!! (I hope I get it into the next chapter.)
A/N: I can't remember Holly's (from the pilot) last name, so if it's not Gribbs, just tell me!
Please review!!!
