Nick peered into a high powered microscope comparing a fiber found on their
vic to a fiber that Sara had found on the parachute after going over it a
fourth time. It appeared to match, but they would have to do a chemical
analysis of it to be sure. They didn't have much else to go on so far, and
they were running down every possible lead. As of now, their vic was still
listed as a John Doe.
"What do you have?" Sara stood at the doorway of the lab Nick was working in. Her shoulder leaned against the frame and she smiled.
He glanced up and smiled. "Take a look." He gestured toward the scope.
The way the scopes were set up two people could view what was under it at the same time on opposite sides of the table; instead, Sara chose to walk over to where Nick was and lean in to look through that side of the scope.
Nick didn't move very far out of the way. "Trying to tease me, Sidle."
Sara just grinned as she looked into the scope. "Maybe." Sara had to bite her lip as Nick leaned his knee into the back of her thigh.
"It appears to be a match to that fiber you pulled off the chute, but we're going to have to send it to Trace for more detailed analysis." Nick informed her as he reached over and subtly trailed his thumb up and down her thigh as his hand rested on his knee.
There was a slight waver to Sara's voice. "Oh, well, let me know what you find out."
A smile tugged at Nick's mouth as he glanced at her. "Anything else?"
She pulled away from the scope and nodded her head. "I think I've got a lead on the vic's ID. I've got an address; Brass is going to meet us there in about half an hour. I just need to grab my stuff from the locker room." She was trying to act natural even though Nick's soft touch was causing her to feel anything but.
He tilted his head slightly. "Ok, I'll just walk there with you."
Sara stepped back and restrained her smile. "Ok."
They slowly made their way to the locker room discussing the case, trying not to look too long at each other. As they entered the locker room, they noticed that they were alone. Sara grinned at Nick and grabbed the lapels of his lab coat and pulled him toward her as she leaned back against the bay of lockers.
Nick raised an amused eyebrow. "A little forceful aren't we?"
Sara tilted her head and smiled. "Only when I know what I want."
"Oh, really, and what's that?" Nick replied coyly as he rested his hands on her hips.
"Just a little bit of this." She leaned in and kissed him, her lips slightly parted.
Nick responded to the kiss, teasing her with his tongue as he ran it along her lower lip.
Sara whimpered slightly as she pulled Nick closer to her, wanting to explore his mouth with her tongue.
Nick's cell phone rang on his belt. They broke the kiss and reluctantly, Nick stepped away from Sara and pulled the phone out of its holster and answered it. "Stokes." He glanced at Sara and mouthed 'Brass'.
She nodded trying to catch her breath as she touched her lips with her fingers. She stepped toward her locker and opened it up, hanging up her lab coat before pulling out her jacket. As she turned around, she noticed Nick wiping a trace of lipstick off of his mouth. Her lips curled up in a smile.
The door to the locker room creaked open and Catherine walked in.
"Hey, Cath." Sara greeted the veteran CSI just as Nick ended his call with Brass.
"Grissom's looking for the two of you, something about meeting Brass." Catherine informed them as she opened her locker and pulled out her lab coat.
"I just talked to Brass." Nick gestured with his cell phone as he put it back in its holster. "Thanks." He glanced at Sara and raised an eyebrow.
She nodded and headed for the door. They were fortunate Brass had called when he did because Catherine very well might have walked in on them.
Neither of them said a word as they headed out of the building toward Sara's Denali. As they climbed in and closed the door, Nick turned toward her. "That was awfully damn close there, Sara." A hint of a grin tugged at his mouth.
Sara chuckled. "You enjoyed it and you know it, Nick." She steered the SUV toward the address in the north part of Vegas that she'd gotten from Brass.
He glanced at her. "Enjoyed kissing you? Definitely. Enjoyed almost getting caught? Not really."
Sara smirked at him. "You're not saying you wouldn't be caught dead kissing me are you?"
Nick laughed. "Not in a million years. I just don't think we need to go public just yet, do you?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't." She studied him out of the corner of her eye as she drove. "We're both still trying to figure out what this is, aren't we?"
He nodded. "I'm definitely attracted to you." He couldn't help but memorize the curve of her face as he stared at her.
Sara noticed him staring. "You know, people are going to figure this out a lot sooner if you keep staring at me." She chuckled softly.
"I'll try and work on that. Could you try not being so beautiful?" Nick grinned at her.
Sara laughed a little self consciously. "This should be it up here." She pulled the Denali in behind the department issued non-descript sedan that Brass drove.
Before she had an opportunity to descend from the vehicle, Brass motioned for her to roll down her window. "Dead end."
Sara looked perplexed. "What gives?"
Brass gestured toward the house. "Our missing person isn't missing anymore and he's very much alive. Sorry you had to come all the way out here for nothing."
"Thanks, Jim." Nick called out from the passenger seat.
Brass waved and climbed back in his car before driving off.
As Sara pulled back out onto the road, she glanced at Nick out of the corner of her eye. He had laid his head back on the seat and had his eyes closed. She continued glancing at him as she drove, he didn't move. "Hey, Nick?"
He raised his head and opened his eyes. "Yeah?"
"Do you want to take a break?" She studied him intently with each glance.
He locked eyes with her for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."
Sara pulled into the parking lot of a park and turned off the ignition. As soon as she had her seatbelt off, Nick did too and they reached for each other hungrily, meeting in an electric kiss. Sara's arms slid around Nick's neck, her fingers running through his hair as her tongue slid past his. Nick snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her almost into his lap and devoured her lips with his. Sara let out a moan as Nick began to slide his hand up her shirt.
The search light from a police cruiser caused them to pull apart. Sara tried to straighten her shirt and act natural. A uniformed officer came to Sara's window and she rolled it down. She recognized him. "Hey, Derek."
"Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes. I thought maybe I was breaking up a lover's lane tryst or something." The young officer let out a chuckle. "I should have recognized the department plates."
"Yeah, I pulled in here to answer my cell phone." Sara explained.
Nick waved at Derek. "You gonna be at the softball game on Sunday?"
"Yeah, I think the team is looking pretty good, but dayshift has a new guy they say is pretty good. Anyway, I need to get back on patrol, see you guys later." He waved and headed back to his patrol car.
As Sara rolled the window back up, Nick started to laugh. "I guess we should take a break somewhere else."
Sara started to giggle. "Yeah, I guess if we want to make out we need to go somewhere with a little more privacy." She started the engine of the Denali and headed back to the lab.
"How's your ass doing?" Nick grinned at her suggestively.
She blushed slightly. "Good as new, what about yours?"
"The same." Nick chuckled.
They pulled into the lot of the lab and descended from the Denali. Nick walked around the front of the vehicle toward the driver's side which faced away from the building toward a more deserted part of the parking lot, lit only by a dim street light, before Sara could get too far. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to that side of the SUV. "Feel like taking a break?" He had a devilish grin on his face as he looked at her.
Her voice was full of curiosity. "What did you have in mind?"
Nick gently pushed her back against the side of the Denali; his hands rested on her hips and he leaned over to kiss her. Sara immediately responded to the kiss, opening her mouth as his tongue slid past hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Nick pushed his knee between her legs and leaned against her so that she straddled his thigh. Sara let out a whimper and then a groan as Nick's hands slid down from her hips and cupped her butt, pulling her firmly against him. She clung to his shoulders as she unconsciously began grinding against his leg. Nick's lips left her mouth and he began to nuzzle her neck.
A voice in the distance talking on a cell phone pulled them apart as they realized that someone familiar was headed out into the parking lot. Sara leaned against the Denali trying to catch her breath as Nick released her. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his mini-maglite and flashed it at the front tire, crouching down next to it.
Grissom rounded the corner and regarded Nick and Sara curiously in the dim light. "Is there a problem?"
Nick glanced up at Grissom. "Sara thought the front end was pulling like the tire was low on air or something. I checked the pressure and it seems fine, might be something with the alignment."
Grissom nodded, satisfied. He glanced at Sara. "Are you feeling ok, Sara? You look a little flushed."
She nodded. "Yeah, I just had the heat on in the Denali a little high."
"Ok, well, I have to go meet with the Detective Vega, I'll see you both later." Grissom headed over to his own vehicle and drove out of the parking lot.
Sara looked down at Nick. "That was too close."
Nick grinned. "Yeah, we should head inside."
Sara glanced at Nick out of the corner of her eye as the approached the building. "Stay on the other side of the building until the end of shift, ok?"
Nick chuckled. "A little too much for you?"
Sara swatted at him and shot him a withering glance. "Just stay away from me, Stokes."
"Only if you stay away from me, Sidle." Nick called after her as she headed down the hallway at a brisk pace.
"No, you stay away from me!" Sara shook her head and disappeared into one of the labs.
Catherine happened to choose that moment to enter the hallway. She looked at Sara's quickly departing form and then at Nick. "What did you do to piss her off?"
Nick chuckled. "Trust me; I didn't do anything to piss her off."
Catherine deadpanned him. "Yeah, right."
Nick just shook his head and headed down the hallway.
Greg poked his head out of the DNA lab and motioned for Nick to come in. Nick looked at him curiously. Greg whispered. "What did you do to piss Sara off?"
Nick shook his head. "I didn't do anything to piss her off."
Greg looked at him with an expression that clearly said he didn't believe him. "Then why in the hell would she say loud enough for the whole lab to hear that you should stay away from her?"
Nick chuckled. "She's fine." He shook his head and went toward the break room in search of coffee.
As he entered the break room, Warrick glanced up. "What's with Sara?"
Nick raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"I heard her yell down the hall for you to stay away from her, what did you do?" Warrick narrowed his gaze at Nick.
Nick raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't do anything."
"She looked mad, her face was all red." Warrick replied, not quite believing Nick.
"I didn't do anything." Nick repeated. "I need to get back to Trace to see if they've found anything on my fiber." He left the break room without getting any coffee and went down to the Trace Lab. Upon entering, he found that Sara was already in there talking to one of the lab techs. "I didn't realize you were in here. Did the analysis yield anything?"
Sara shook her head and the tech narrowed her gaze at Nick. It seemed that the entire lab had heard Sara's last comment to him.
Nick raised an eyebrow at Sara. "Can I talk to you in the hallway for a minute, Sara?"
"Yeah, just a second." She turned her attention to the tech. "Page me if you get anything ok?"
The tech nodded, glaring at Nick as he and Sara left the Trace Lab.
Sara looked at him curiously. "What's up?"
Nick chuckled. "Nothing except that the entire lab seems to think I've pissed you off for some reason. I think they overheard you telling me to stay away from you."
She raised an amused eyebrow at him. "This could work in our favor you know."
Nick crossed his arms in front of his body. "Really; and exactly how would that be?"
"It'll throw any suspicion off." She smirked and then glanced around. Her voice was softer now. "Do you want to grab breakfast after shift?"
"Breakfast?" Nick queried her suspiciously.
She nodded innocently. "You know, pancakes, omelets, that sort of thing. Breakfast."
Nick chuckled. "I'm aware of what it is."
"My place it is then after shift." She winked and grinned at him over her shoulder as she walked back down the hallway.
Nick swallowed hard and rushed into the men's room to try and regain control of himself. He and Sara had been dancing around the issue for days now since they had been stuck together in that storm on the ridge. The tension between them was about killing him. He only had to look at her and he was turned on, in fact he thought he'd probably been more turned on more in the last few days than turned off. He let out a deep breath and glanced at his watch. Only three hours and fifty-eight minutes left until shift was over.
"What do you have?" Sara stood at the doorway of the lab Nick was working in. Her shoulder leaned against the frame and she smiled.
He glanced up and smiled. "Take a look." He gestured toward the scope.
The way the scopes were set up two people could view what was under it at the same time on opposite sides of the table; instead, Sara chose to walk over to where Nick was and lean in to look through that side of the scope.
Nick didn't move very far out of the way. "Trying to tease me, Sidle."
Sara just grinned as she looked into the scope. "Maybe." Sara had to bite her lip as Nick leaned his knee into the back of her thigh.
"It appears to be a match to that fiber you pulled off the chute, but we're going to have to send it to Trace for more detailed analysis." Nick informed her as he reached over and subtly trailed his thumb up and down her thigh as his hand rested on his knee.
There was a slight waver to Sara's voice. "Oh, well, let me know what you find out."
A smile tugged at Nick's mouth as he glanced at her. "Anything else?"
She pulled away from the scope and nodded her head. "I think I've got a lead on the vic's ID. I've got an address; Brass is going to meet us there in about half an hour. I just need to grab my stuff from the locker room." She was trying to act natural even though Nick's soft touch was causing her to feel anything but.
He tilted his head slightly. "Ok, I'll just walk there with you."
Sara stepped back and restrained her smile. "Ok."
They slowly made their way to the locker room discussing the case, trying not to look too long at each other. As they entered the locker room, they noticed that they were alone. Sara grinned at Nick and grabbed the lapels of his lab coat and pulled him toward her as she leaned back against the bay of lockers.
Nick raised an amused eyebrow. "A little forceful aren't we?"
Sara tilted her head and smiled. "Only when I know what I want."
"Oh, really, and what's that?" Nick replied coyly as he rested his hands on her hips.
"Just a little bit of this." She leaned in and kissed him, her lips slightly parted.
Nick responded to the kiss, teasing her with his tongue as he ran it along her lower lip.
Sara whimpered slightly as she pulled Nick closer to her, wanting to explore his mouth with her tongue.
Nick's cell phone rang on his belt. They broke the kiss and reluctantly, Nick stepped away from Sara and pulled the phone out of its holster and answered it. "Stokes." He glanced at Sara and mouthed 'Brass'.
She nodded trying to catch her breath as she touched her lips with her fingers. She stepped toward her locker and opened it up, hanging up her lab coat before pulling out her jacket. As she turned around, she noticed Nick wiping a trace of lipstick off of his mouth. Her lips curled up in a smile.
The door to the locker room creaked open and Catherine walked in.
"Hey, Cath." Sara greeted the veteran CSI just as Nick ended his call with Brass.
"Grissom's looking for the two of you, something about meeting Brass." Catherine informed them as she opened her locker and pulled out her lab coat.
"I just talked to Brass." Nick gestured with his cell phone as he put it back in its holster. "Thanks." He glanced at Sara and raised an eyebrow.
She nodded and headed for the door. They were fortunate Brass had called when he did because Catherine very well might have walked in on them.
Neither of them said a word as they headed out of the building toward Sara's Denali. As they climbed in and closed the door, Nick turned toward her. "That was awfully damn close there, Sara." A hint of a grin tugged at his mouth.
Sara chuckled. "You enjoyed it and you know it, Nick." She steered the SUV toward the address in the north part of Vegas that she'd gotten from Brass.
He glanced at her. "Enjoyed kissing you? Definitely. Enjoyed almost getting caught? Not really."
Sara smirked at him. "You're not saying you wouldn't be caught dead kissing me are you?"
Nick laughed. "Not in a million years. I just don't think we need to go public just yet, do you?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't." She studied him out of the corner of her eye as she drove. "We're both still trying to figure out what this is, aren't we?"
He nodded. "I'm definitely attracted to you." He couldn't help but memorize the curve of her face as he stared at her.
Sara noticed him staring. "You know, people are going to figure this out a lot sooner if you keep staring at me." She chuckled softly.
"I'll try and work on that. Could you try not being so beautiful?" Nick grinned at her.
Sara laughed a little self consciously. "This should be it up here." She pulled the Denali in behind the department issued non-descript sedan that Brass drove.
Before she had an opportunity to descend from the vehicle, Brass motioned for her to roll down her window. "Dead end."
Sara looked perplexed. "What gives?"
Brass gestured toward the house. "Our missing person isn't missing anymore and he's very much alive. Sorry you had to come all the way out here for nothing."
"Thanks, Jim." Nick called out from the passenger seat.
Brass waved and climbed back in his car before driving off.
As Sara pulled back out onto the road, she glanced at Nick out of the corner of her eye. He had laid his head back on the seat and had his eyes closed. She continued glancing at him as she drove, he didn't move. "Hey, Nick?"
He raised his head and opened his eyes. "Yeah?"
"Do you want to take a break?" She studied him intently with each glance.
He locked eyes with her for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."
Sara pulled into the parking lot of a park and turned off the ignition. As soon as she had her seatbelt off, Nick did too and they reached for each other hungrily, meeting in an electric kiss. Sara's arms slid around Nick's neck, her fingers running through his hair as her tongue slid past his. Nick snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her almost into his lap and devoured her lips with his. Sara let out a moan as Nick began to slide his hand up her shirt.
The search light from a police cruiser caused them to pull apart. Sara tried to straighten her shirt and act natural. A uniformed officer came to Sara's window and she rolled it down. She recognized him. "Hey, Derek."
"Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes. I thought maybe I was breaking up a lover's lane tryst or something." The young officer let out a chuckle. "I should have recognized the department plates."
"Yeah, I pulled in here to answer my cell phone." Sara explained.
Nick waved at Derek. "You gonna be at the softball game on Sunday?"
"Yeah, I think the team is looking pretty good, but dayshift has a new guy they say is pretty good. Anyway, I need to get back on patrol, see you guys later." He waved and headed back to his patrol car.
As Sara rolled the window back up, Nick started to laugh. "I guess we should take a break somewhere else."
Sara started to giggle. "Yeah, I guess if we want to make out we need to go somewhere with a little more privacy." She started the engine of the Denali and headed back to the lab.
"How's your ass doing?" Nick grinned at her suggestively.
She blushed slightly. "Good as new, what about yours?"
"The same." Nick chuckled.
They pulled into the lot of the lab and descended from the Denali. Nick walked around the front of the vehicle toward the driver's side which faced away from the building toward a more deserted part of the parking lot, lit only by a dim street light, before Sara could get too far. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to that side of the SUV. "Feel like taking a break?" He had a devilish grin on his face as he looked at her.
Her voice was full of curiosity. "What did you have in mind?"
Nick gently pushed her back against the side of the Denali; his hands rested on her hips and he leaned over to kiss her. Sara immediately responded to the kiss, opening her mouth as his tongue slid past hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Nick pushed his knee between her legs and leaned against her so that she straddled his thigh. Sara let out a whimper and then a groan as Nick's hands slid down from her hips and cupped her butt, pulling her firmly against him. She clung to his shoulders as she unconsciously began grinding against his leg. Nick's lips left her mouth and he began to nuzzle her neck.
A voice in the distance talking on a cell phone pulled them apart as they realized that someone familiar was headed out into the parking lot. Sara leaned against the Denali trying to catch her breath as Nick released her. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his mini-maglite and flashed it at the front tire, crouching down next to it.
Grissom rounded the corner and regarded Nick and Sara curiously in the dim light. "Is there a problem?"
Nick glanced up at Grissom. "Sara thought the front end was pulling like the tire was low on air or something. I checked the pressure and it seems fine, might be something with the alignment."
Grissom nodded, satisfied. He glanced at Sara. "Are you feeling ok, Sara? You look a little flushed."
She nodded. "Yeah, I just had the heat on in the Denali a little high."
"Ok, well, I have to go meet with the Detective Vega, I'll see you both later." Grissom headed over to his own vehicle and drove out of the parking lot.
Sara looked down at Nick. "That was too close."
Nick grinned. "Yeah, we should head inside."
Sara glanced at Nick out of the corner of her eye as the approached the building. "Stay on the other side of the building until the end of shift, ok?"
Nick chuckled. "A little too much for you?"
Sara swatted at him and shot him a withering glance. "Just stay away from me, Stokes."
"Only if you stay away from me, Sidle." Nick called after her as she headed down the hallway at a brisk pace.
"No, you stay away from me!" Sara shook her head and disappeared into one of the labs.
Catherine happened to choose that moment to enter the hallway. She looked at Sara's quickly departing form and then at Nick. "What did you do to piss her off?"
Nick chuckled. "Trust me; I didn't do anything to piss her off."
Catherine deadpanned him. "Yeah, right."
Nick just shook his head and headed down the hallway.
Greg poked his head out of the DNA lab and motioned for Nick to come in. Nick looked at him curiously. Greg whispered. "What did you do to piss Sara off?"
Nick shook his head. "I didn't do anything to piss her off."
Greg looked at him with an expression that clearly said he didn't believe him. "Then why in the hell would she say loud enough for the whole lab to hear that you should stay away from her?"
Nick chuckled. "She's fine." He shook his head and went toward the break room in search of coffee.
As he entered the break room, Warrick glanced up. "What's with Sara?"
Nick raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"I heard her yell down the hall for you to stay away from her, what did you do?" Warrick narrowed his gaze at Nick.
Nick raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't do anything."
"She looked mad, her face was all red." Warrick replied, not quite believing Nick.
"I didn't do anything." Nick repeated. "I need to get back to Trace to see if they've found anything on my fiber." He left the break room without getting any coffee and went down to the Trace Lab. Upon entering, he found that Sara was already in there talking to one of the lab techs. "I didn't realize you were in here. Did the analysis yield anything?"
Sara shook her head and the tech narrowed her gaze at Nick. It seemed that the entire lab had heard Sara's last comment to him.
Nick raised an eyebrow at Sara. "Can I talk to you in the hallway for a minute, Sara?"
"Yeah, just a second." She turned her attention to the tech. "Page me if you get anything ok?"
The tech nodded, glaring at Nick as he and Sara left the Trace Lab.
Sara looked at him curiously. "What's up?"
Nick chuckled. "Nothing except that the entire lab seems to think I've pissed you off for some reason. I think they overheard you telling me to stay away from you."
She raised an amused eyebrow at him. "This could work in our favor you know."
Nick crossed his arms in front of his body. "Really; and exactly how would that be?"
"It'll throw any suspicion off." She smirked and then glanced around. Her voice was softer now. "Do you want to grab breakfast after shift?"
"Breakfast?" Nick queried her suspiciously.
She nodded innocently. "You know, pancakes, omelets, that sort of thing. Breakfast."
Nick chuckled. "I'm aware of what it is."
"My place it is then after shift." She winked and grinned at him over her shoulder as she walked back down the hallway.
Nick swallowed hard and rushed into the men's room to try and regain control of himself. He and Sara had been dancing around the issue for days now since they had been stuck together in that storm on the ridge. The tension between them was about killing him. He only had to look at her and he was turned on, in fact he thought he'd probably been more turned on more in the last few days than turned off. He let out a deep breath and glanced at his watch. Only three hours and fifty-eight minutes left until shift was over.