Chapter 10 – The Scenic Route

Two weeks had passed since Sara's birthday, and the luck of working only a few cases with Nick, along with copious amounts of overtime, allowed Sara to forget about any feelings she harbored for Nick.  She took the Sherlock Holmes book as merely a kind gesture by a good friend and left it at that.  She had kept busy with her cases and managed to push the jewelry store and van incidents to the back of her mind.  It was so nice to be able to focus on work again.

In fact, as she walked with Nick down the hall to the trace lab, the only thing she was thinking about was finding the scumbag who kidnapped and murdered an innocent kindergartener who was walking home from school.

When she and Nick entered the lab, they saw that Kate was already there.

"So I'm looking for bubble gum," Kate confirmed with Hodges.

"Specifically sugar free bubble gum.  Probably purple or blue," Hodges clarified.

"Okay," Kate said, unsure of what to make of the gum.  "I guess I'll take another look and see what I can find."

"Need any help?" Nick asked.

"No, I got it," Kate said as she quickly left, barely glancing at Nick.

Sara was surprised.  She expected Kate to jump at the chance to spend time with Nick.  She shrugged it off and got back to the task at hand. "Did you ID the stuff from the lunchbox?"

"Yeah, a mixture of some kind of glue, sand, and green wax," Hodges answered.

"What kind of glue?" Nick asked.

"Don't know, still working on it."

"What about the sand?" Nick asked.

"Don't know, still working on it."

"And the wax? Or don't you know that either?" Sara said with a smug smile.

"I'll page you," Hodges smirked.

"You do that," Sara shot back.

Nick and Sara left Hodges and his attitude and ran into Grissom.  "Brass is trying to track down the ex-husband, but for now I want you two to check back at the house.  Comb through the boy's bedroom, see if we overlooked something," Grissom said as he continued on his way.

"You got it," Nick said.

Nick and Sara arrived at the house and went to work in the victim's bedroom.  Nick was rummaging through a toy box and Sara was in the walk-in closet.

"Hey Nick, check this out," Sara called out.  She clicked off her flashlight and tossed it onto the carpet as she pulled an old box from the top shelf.  As she attempted to step down off the stepladder she was on, she lost her footing, dropped the box, and fell right into Nick's arms.

"You alright?" Nick asked as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, more embarrassed that she had fallen than that she was in Nick's arms. 

As she stood up she realized Nick was still holding on to her waist.  She waited for him to let go, but Nick didn't move.  And unlike the first time at Nick's house when Sara was the one to make the move, this time she and Nick both slowly leaned into one another in anticipation.  When there lips were millimeters apart, they heard someone calling them.

"Nick?  Sara?  You guys here?"

"Uh, yeah Brass, in here," Nick called out, his voice a little husky.  He quickly let go of Sara.

"Good news.  We got the guy." Brass sounded triumphant as he entered the bedroom and found the two CSI's in the closet.

"Where?" Sara asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I don't you," he answered.  "Let's go."

Nick and Sara followed Brass, driving in total silence the entire way.  Sara couldn't believe what just happened.  She was more mad at herself than anything else.  After she was doing just fine and had totally forgotten about Nick, something like this had to happen.  She was mentally kicking herself for putting herself in that situation and not pulling away.  It didn't even matter to her that nothing actually 'happened,' because she knew that if Brass hadn't interrupted, something would have, and that was all that mattered.

Nick drove, staring straight ahead, trying to pay attention to the road but instead thinking about what almost happened in that closet.  The tension between him and Sara had subsided over the past few weeks, but Nick still thought about their 'situation' from time to time.  And because of that, the ninety-nine percent assurance he felt about his decision to remain just friends was drastically falling.  He figured it was down to about sixty or sixty-five now, which made him think.  Something told him that if he still had these feelings after so many weeks, it might be a bad idea to brush them off like they were nothing.

But ignore them he did, at least for another week.  He made a conscious effort to avoid Sara as much as possible, telling himself that he just needed a little more time to sort out his feelings.  He talked with her only when they were working together, and even then only when absolutely necessary; he used Catherine or Warrick to relay messages and he called or text-messaged her to avoid seeing her.

As Nick sat he stared at Sara, who was leaning against the wall at the opposite end of the room.  The team, minus Grissom, was waiting around in a coffee shop, the scene of the case they had all been working on non-stop for the past three days.  Grissom had called a powwow and told them to meet him there, and of course he was the last one to arrive.

Catherine, who had been talking to Sara, came over to sit next to Nick.  "Did you do something to piss Sara off?" she asked bluntly.

"No."  He knew 'pissed off' wasn't exactly the right term.  "Why?"

"Both of you have been acting weird all week," Catherine said.  "Whenever you have to tell her something, you make me do it.  You guys call or text each other when you're in the next room.  What the hell is going on?"

Nick didn't realize until Catherine had mentioned it that Sara always used her cell to get in touch with him too.  "I don't know, maybe it's that time of month," Nick said bitterly, not wanting to have this conversation.  He was exhausted from the whole thing with Sara and the tough case they were working.

Catherine scoffed and gave up, going to sit with Warrick and Kate.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Grissom announced as he walked in, flipping through a bunch of cards in his hand.

"Aw man, do we have to?" Warrick whined when he realized what they were going to do.

"Yes.  And just for that, you get to be Mrs. Liebmann," Grissom smiled, handing him a nametag with 'Nora Liebmann' written on it.

"Gee, thanks," Warrick said as he peeled the backing and slapped the sticker on his chest, symbolizing that he was Mrs. Nora Liebmann, the 83-year old garden enthusiast and grandmother of seven, and coincidentally the only person in the coffee shop who did absolutely nothing during the course of events that took place.

"I call Jackson," Nick called out, wanting the juiciest part.

"Fine," Grissom said, handing him the nametag.  "Which one of you ladies wants to be Sherri Gertz?"

Sara silently prayed that Kate would volunteer, considering their theory of Sherri Gertz's interactions with Rudy Jackson.  When Kate didn't say anything, Sara panicked, as she knew what was going to happen.

"Sara," Grissom decided for the ladies.  He handed her the nametag, but it felt like he was handing her a death sentence.

"That leaves the four men," he continued.  "Cath, you're Bill Fischer, Kate, Gordon Lee, and I'll be the two business partners, Joe Cruz and Craig Stile."  He finished handing out the nametags.  "Okay, Sherri and Gordon, behind the counter," he instructed Sara and Kate.  "Rudy Jackson, at the door," he said to Nick, who went to stand at the front entrance.

"So Bill Fischer is at the counter, placing his order," Catherine said as she got in place.

"Mrs. Liebmann is seated in the far corner, and Cruz and Stile are seated here," Grissom said as he sat down at the table closest to the front counter.

"Okay, so Cruz and Stile start arguing, so I go and try to calm them down," Sara said as she walked from behind the counter to where Grissom was sitting.

"You're back is towards the door; you don't see Jackson come in," Grissom reminded Sara.

"Oh, right." Sara repositioned herself with her back to the door.

"So I come in and see Sherri," Nick said as he approached Sara.  "And grab her from behind," he continued as he wrapped his left arm around Sara's waist.

Sara let out a small gasp as she felt Nick's arm around her waist, pinning her arms at her sides.  She didn't expect him to actually grab her.  She swallowed hard as she felt the warmth of his breath on her neck.  Her legs were starting to get wobbly, causing her to lean back onto Nick's muscled chest for support.

Nick could feel his heart beat quicken as Sara leaned into him.  Her hair smelled good.  His arm around her waist felt good.  Her back on his chest felt good.  Great.  Right.  Perfect.  He hoped he wouldn't get too caught up in the moment, or else Sara would soon be 'feeling' how he really felt about her.  Damn.  Too late.

Nick panicked when he realized what was happening.  He was sure Sara knew.  He suddenly felt her body tense, confirming his suspicion.  The only thing he cared about was what she was thinking.  Was she upset?  Did she think it meant anything?

Sara's breath hitched when she realized how much Nick was enjoying the situation they were in.  A million thoughts started racing through her head, none of them related to the events of the crime that the team was currently acting out.  Was his reaction specifically because it was her, or was that just the kind of guy Nick was?  Would Kate have caused the same reaction?  Is that how he really felt about her?  What should she do about it?  Should she pretend that she didn't feel it?  Was she making a big fuss over nothing?

Nick and Sara were both so wrapped up in their thoughts that they stopped paying attention to the action around them.

"Nick."  Catherine pulled at the arm he had wrapped around Sara when he didn't let go.  "You still with us?" Catherine gave him a puzzled look.


"Uh, yeah.  Sorry."  He snapped out of his daydream and let go.

Catherine gave him another look and continued.  "And so Mr. Fischer tries to wrestle the gun away from Jackson," she repeated as she stepped between Nick and Sara.

Nick panicked again as he and Sara parted, but he realized he was wearing jeans.  Jeans were pretty thick and stiff.  Plus, the pair he had on was fairly new, not very broken in, still nice and tight.  Hopefully tight enough to keep in his reaction to Sara.  Besides, nobody should be looking there anyway.  Except for Sara, maybe.

Sara turned around to watch the rest of the re-enactment, but kept her eyes above Nick's waist, not daring to look down any further.  She neither wanted a visual confirmation nor did she want to let Nick find out she knew.

Nick glanced at Sara as they continued to play out the scene.  He noticed she was looking at him, but not really looking at him.  She knew.  She definitely knew.

Two hours later when the team had finally finished, they all headed back to the lab to wrap up the case.

"Sara," Nick called out to her when he saw her walking ahead of him, down the hall to the locker room.

Sara pretended not to hear him and picked up her pace as she rounded the corner.

"Sara, wait up."  He practically jogged down the hall to catch up with her.  "Sara," he repeated as he reached for her arm.

"What," she said flatly as she stopped.

"Can we talk?"

She sighed as she compliantly followed him into the room they had just stopped in front of, an empty conference room.  She shut the door and leaned against it as she watched Nick pace in front of her.

"About what happened back at the coffee shop," he started.

"Look, you don't have to apologize," she interjected with a slight edge to her voice.

"I know, but I--"

"Just forget about it, okay?" she turned and reached for the doorknob, but as she opened the door Nick reached across her to slam it shut, trapping her between him and the door.

"Just hear me out.  Please."  He begged with his eyes.

Sara crossed her arms and cocked her head with a glare, waiting for him to continue.

Nick pulled his arm back from the door but stood his ground, standing only inches from her.  Sara was thankful that there were no windows in the room, unlike the rest of the glass-walled lab.

Nick looked into Sara's eyes as he prepared to tell her the feelings that he had unsuccessfully tried to suppress for the past two months.  "I'm sorry I lied to you.  I'm sorry I told you that I think we should just be friends.  Because I don't." 

He paused and half expected Sara to say something, but she kept quiet so he continued.  "These past several weeks have been hell for me.  I kept trying to tell myself that I made the right decision.  That things are best the way they are.  That it's not worth the risk.  But something in my gut told me that that was all wrong.  And being the skilled CSI that I am, I couldn't ignore my gut," he joked to ease the tension, getting a small smile out of Sara.

"All I'm asking for is a chance.  Please.  I'd be forever kicking myself if I sat back and did nothing when I knew the possibility for something so amazing was out there.  And I know it's there.  And I know you know it's there.  I know you feel it too, and that's all the more reason why we have to take this chance."

Sara didn't know what to say.  Nick had just poured his soul out to her and she couldn't think of a thing to say.  It was too much for her to process at once.  "I can't," was all she could manage.  She couldn't stand to look him in the eyes any longer and turned away, but Nick reached for her chin and pulled her back as he leaned in to kiss her.  When Sara felt his lips on hers, she couldn't help but kiss him back.  She had never experienced anything before that felt so right.

"Yes you can," Nick whispered when they finally parted.

Sara rested her forehead on Nick's and thought for a second.  She knew he was right.  It wouldn't be easy, but she knew she had to give it a chance.  "I know you're right," she looked up at him.  "There is something there that we can't ignore.  And I know we should do it, and I know we can do it, but--"

"But? No buts, please," Nick gently begged with a soft smile.

"But," she continued as she playfully raised an eyebrow, "what I don't know is how.  I mean, we're friends, right?"

"The best," he smiled.

"It's just that I've never been friends with a guy before I started dating him.  This is kind of awkward for me.  Completely uncharted territory."  Her eyes registered a hint of apprehension.

"For me too." Nick looked back at her with complete calmness.  He was scared too, but he knew everything would be okay.  Having Sara there with him was all he needed.

"So how do we make this transition?  Going from friends to, uh…" she struggled to find the appropriate word.

"Lovers?" Nick teased in a seductive tone.

"From friends to more than friends," she smirked.

"Well you know what they say, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line," he grinned.

"You call all the hell we went through over the past two months a straight line?"

"Okay, so we took the scenic route," he quipped.

"So," Sara said after an awkward silence.

"So."

"So, where do we go from here?" she smiled.

"Well, we could start with this," he said as he kissed her again, not wanting to stop but realizing they would need to come up for air at some point.

When they parted Sara looked at him with a gap-toothed grin.  "I don't think I got all that.  Could you run that by me again?"

Nick smiled.  "You're slacking, Sidle," he teased as he opened the door and walked off.

~~ The End ~~

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A/N: Well there it is!  The end!  I hope you liked it.  Cuz I had a blast writing it.  Thank you all so so so much for your reviews, they really meant a lot and I really appreciate every single one of them.  If you did like the fic, then you're in luck, because I've already started on another one that's sort of a sequel to this one.  But since I don't like doing WIPs, I'll have to finish it before I start posting.  Hopefully it won't take too long.  So stay tuned, and thanks again for reading and reviewing!  =)