As Nick and Sara exited Grissom's office and headed toward the locker room,
they didn't exchange a word, only the occasional glance. They could feel
the not too obvious stares of coworkers as they walked down the hall. They
knew that everyone probably was wondering how they were doing after the
ordeal that they'd been through and were curious as to why they were back
at work so soon. Nick reached over and took Sara's hand, giving it a
squeeze before they entered the locker room to get their badges.
After Sara had retrieved her badge, she shut her locker a little too forcefully, causing Nick to jump slightly. Worry creased her brow as she reached over and touched his arm, her eyes meeting his. "I'm sorry, Nick."
He shook his head. "It's ok, Sara. He pissed me off too."
A smile flickered across Sara's face. "Why can't he just let it go?"
Nick reached over and cupped her face in his hand. "I don't know, babe, I don't know."
"We're fine, we're going to be fine; I mean we're alive, we're fine. All I need is you." Sara leaned up and kissed him softly.
Nick smiled against her lips. He wanted to believe that it was true that all they needed was each other to get through this, but a seed of doubt had been planted. He wasn't sure he was strong enough for himself and Sara both. He was going to try, but he just wasn't sure that he could do it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So nothing that we collected was recovered from the scene?" Nick queried Catherine who was assisting on the case.
She shook her head. "Until we can get clearance from an engineer to get back into the scene, we have to wait until they level the house and then hope we get something from the rest of the rubble. But as it stands right now, the scene is already compromised. Nothing that you and Sara collected will probably be admissible in court anyway."
Nick cursed under his breath and then flashed Catherine an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It just seems like a complete waste."
Catherine raised an eyebrow, motherly concern flooding her face. "Are you sure you're up to this, Nicky?"
Nick's jaw tensed as he steeled himself. "I'm fine. Sara's fine. We're both alive; we just need to get back to work."
Catherine could tell that Nick really wasn't ok, but she also knew him well enough to not push him too hard.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sara felt extremely uncomfortable under Grissom's watchful eye. They had been going over Candace Matthews' credit card records to see where she'd been before she'd ended up dead underneath her mother's house. Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. She eaten out, bought a couple of articles of clothing, bought tickets to one of the many shows on the Strip; in short, nothing that the average resident of Vegas wouldn't have had on their credit card statement at one point in time or another.
Sara could feel Grissom watching her and it was beginning to grate on her nerves. All she wanted to do was get lost in the case to distract herself from the images that plagued her mind. She reached for Candace Matthews' cell phone records and glanced up momentarily, catching Grissom's gaze. She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Sara, are you sure that you're up to this?" Grissom looked concerned. He wasn't sure that Sara or Nick were really ready to be back at work.
Sara gave him a look that bordered on a glare. "Grissom, I'm fine. Can we just get back to the case?"
Grissom raised a doubting eyebrow. "Sara."
Anger flashed across Sara's face as she looked at him. "I'm fine. I'm taking a break." She got up and stormed out of the layout room and headed down the hall toward the break room, almost running Greg over as she breezed passed him, despite his cheery greeting. She walked directly over to the coffee machine to pour herself a cup. Her hands shook as she poured the coffee into her cup and tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she was not going to cry, she was not going to lose it. She wanted everyone to think that she was just fine. Nick was the only one who knew it wasn't true, the only one that could make her forget for a few hours what had happened. She lifted the cup to her lips and felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and spill the coffee down her shirt.
"Sorry, Sara." An apologetic Warrick reached for a paper towel to help her clean up the mess.
"Dammit, Warrick, you scared the shit out of me." Sara was trying to get her heart rate down to normal. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard Warrick approach.
"Hey, you seem a little jumpy. You doing ok?" Warrick looked concerned.
"Why does everyone keep asking that? I'm fine. I just didn't hear you, ok?" Sara's tone implied that she didn't want to discuss it further.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sara went home with Nick after shift had ended. She still couldn't bring herself to go back into her apartment since they'd stopped by to pick up some of her clothes.
They'd no more closed the door than they found themselves in the midst of a passionate embrace, trying to lose themselves in each other. They made it as far as the couch, their clothes scattered all over Nick's living room.
"I thought this day would never end." Sara clung to Nick as she tried to catch her breath.
"I know what you mean. How many times do you have to answer the question 'how are you?'?" Nick's fingers trailed down Sara's back as he took comfort from her body pressed against his.
Sara huffed. "If I have to work with Grissom watching my every move, I'm going to go crazy. Since when have my skills as a CSI come into question?"
"Sara, you're the best CSI on the night shift." Nick assured her.
"You're pretty damn good yourself." She replied, a smile forming on her face.
"I can think of something else I think you're pretty good at." Nick slid his hands down her back to cup her butt, giving it a suggestive squeeze.
Sara leaned up and kissed him, as she pulled away, there was a flirtatious tone in her voice. "You're pretty good too, but if we're going to try that again, let's go in the other room, I'm getting cold."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So how do you think they're really doing?" Catherine asked Warrick as they sat in her kitchen each of them sipping a beer.
Warrick shook his head. "Not good. I don't think either one of them wants to deal with what happened. What did Grissom say?" He took a long swig of his beer.
Catherine let out a wry laugh. "You know how good his people skills are. So he makes Sara work with him. You can imagine how well that went over."
"So that's why she was so tense when I found her in the break room. She jumped when I touched her shoulder and spilled coffee all over herself." Warrick mulled the situation over. "Did you see them leave?"
Catherine shook her head. "No. Why?"
"They left together." Warrick commented with concern, setting his beer down on the table.
"Well we all saw it. Nick's in love with her and she seems to be in love with him." Catherine took another sip from her beer.
Warrick chuckled softly. "I know. I just hope they aren't using sex as a diversion to keep from dealing with what happened."
Catherine just nodded in agreement, taking another sip from her beer.
After Sara had retrieved her badge, she shut her locker a little too forcefully, causing Nick to jump slightly. Worry creased her brow as she reached over and touched his arm, her eyes meeting his. "I'm sorry, Nick."
He shook his head. "It's ok, Sara. He pissed me off too."
A smile flickered across Sara's face. "Why can't he just let it go?"
Nick reached over and cupped her face in his hand. "I don't know, babe, I don't know."
"We're fine, we're going to be fine; I mean we're alive, we're fine. All I need is you." Sara leaned up and kissed him softly.
Nick smiled against her lips. He wanted to believe that it was true that all they needed was each other to get through this, but a seed of doubt had been planted. He wasn't sure he was strong enough for himself and Sara both. He was going to try, but he just wasn't sure that he could do it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So nothing that we collected was recovered from the scene?" Nick queried Catherine who was assisting on the case.
She shook her head. "Until we can get clearance from an engineer to get back into the scene, we have to wait until they level the house and then hope we get something from the rest of the rubble. But as it stands right now, the scene is already compromised. Nothing that you and Sara collected will probably be admissible in court anyway."
Nick cursed under his breath and then flashed Catherine an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It just seems like a complete waste."
Catherine raised an eyebrow, motherly concern flooding her face. "Are you sure you're up to this, Nicky?"
Nick's jaw tensed as he steeled himself. "I'm fine. Sara's fine. We're both alive; we just need to get back to work."
Catherine could tell that Nick really wasn't ok, but she also knew him well enough to not push him too hard.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sara felt extremely uncomfortable under Grissom's watchful eye. They had been going over Candace Matthews' credit card records to see where she'd been before she'd ended up dead underneath her mother's house. Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. She eaten out, bought a couple of articles of clothing, bought tickets to one of the many shows on the Strip; in short, nothing that the average resident of Vegas wouldn't have had on their credit card statement at one point in time or another.
Sara could feel Grissom watching her and it was beginning to grate on her nerves. All she wanted to do was get lost in the case to distract herself from the images that plagued her mind. She reached for Candace Matthews' cell phone records and glanced up momentarily, catching Grissom's gaze. She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Sara, are you sure that you're up to this?" Grissom looked concerned. He wasn't sure that Sara or Nick were really ready to be back at work.
Sara gave him a look that bordered on a glare. "Grissom, I'm fine. Can we just get back to the case?"
Grissom raised a doubting eyebrow. "Sara."
Anger flashed across Sara's face as she looked at him. "I'm fine. I'm taking a break." She got up and stormed out of the layout room and headed down the hall toward the break room, almost running Greg over as she breezed passed him, despite his cheery greeting. She walked directly over to the coffee machine to pour herself a cup. Her hands shook as she poured the coffee into her cup and tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she was not going to cry, she was not going to lose it. She wanted everyone to think that she was just fine. Nick was the only one who knew it wasn't true, the only one that could make her forget for a few hours what had happened. She lifted the cup to her lips and felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and spill the coffee down her shirt.
"Sorry, Sara." An apologetic Warrick reached for a paper towel to help her clean up the mess.
"Dammit, Warrick, you scared the shit out of me." Sara was trying to get her heart rate down to normal. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard Warrick approach.
"Hey, you seem a little jumpy. You doing ok?" Warrick looked concerned.
"Why does everyone keep asking that? I'm fine. I just didn't hear you, ok?" Sara's tone implied that she didn't want to discuss it further.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sara went home with Nick after shift had ended. She still couldn't bring herself to go back into her apartment since they'd stopped by to pick up some of her clothes.
They'd no more closed the door than they found themselves in the midst of a passionate embrace, trying to lose themselves in each other. They made it as far as the couch, their clothes scattered all over Nick's living room.
"I thought this day would never end." Sara clung to Nick as she tried to catch her breath.
"I know what you mean. How many times do you have to answer the question 'how are you?'?" Nick's fingers trailed down Sara's back as he took comfort from her body pressed against his.
Sara huffed. "If I have to work with Grissom watching my every move, I'm going to go crazy. Since when have my skills as a CSI come into question?"
"Sara, you're the best CSI on the night shift." Nick assured her.
"You're pretty damn good yourself." She replied, a smile forming on her face.
"I can think of something else I think you're pretty good at." Nick slid his hands down her back to cup her butt, giving it a suggestive squeeze.
Sara leaned up and kissed him, as she pulled away, there was a flirtatious tone in her voice. "You're pretty good too, but if we're going to try that again, let's go in the other room, I'm getting cold."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So how do you think they're really doing?" Catherine asked Warrick as they sat in her kitchen each of them sipping a beer.
Warrick shook his head. "Not good. I don't think either one of them wants to deal with what happened. What did Grissom say?" He took a long swig of his beer.
Catherine let out a wry laugh. "You know how good his people skills are. So he makes Sara work with him. You can imagine how well that went over."
"So that's why she was so tense when I found her in the break room. She jumped when I touched her shoulder and spilled coffee all over herself." Warrick mulled the situation over. "Did you see them leave?"
Catherine shook her head. "No. Why?"
"They left together." Warrick commented with concern, setting his beer down on the table.
"Well we all saw it. Nick's in love with her and she seems to be in love with him." Catherine took another sip from her beer.
Warrick chuckled softly. "I know. I just hope they aren't using sex as a diversion to keep from dealing with what happened."
Catherine just nodded in agreement, taking another sip from her beer.