Volume II: Perpetual Ardency

By: xKatx

Summary: Four months after Nick and Sara found each other, a life-altering, career-changing opportunity presents itself at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Will this chance bring the Graveyard shift closer together, or tear them apart?

Author's Note: I'm thinking about having Christine's wedding in Vol. III – what do you guys think? Would you mind having like IV or VI volumes? LOL Review or email me and let me know!!

Disclaimer: No, I do not own CSI stuff. I do own Anisha, Maile, Dylan, All of Nick's family, Haylie and her family, and all the other characters you don't realize, k?

Rating: PG-13

Request: READ AND REVIEW!

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        "Griss, you wanted to see me?" Nick questioned as he stood in Grissom's office doorway fifteen minutes before shift ended.

Grissom looked up from the report he was beginning to write and nodded, "Come on in, Nick, and shut the door."

Nick shut the door as instructed and stood in front of his boss's desk with his hands in pockets. Grissom motioned to the chair to Nick's right, "Have a seat."

Again, Nick did as instructed.

Grissom let out a long breath as he put his report on the desk and took off his glasses.

        "Do you have any idea what I want to talk to you about, Nick?" Grissom asked as he folded his hands and looked at the younger man.

Nick shook his head, even though he had an odd feeling that Grissom wanted to talk about his and Sara's relationship.

        "It's about you and Sara," Grissom informed him.

        Knew it, Nick told himself as his face stayed emotionless.

        "What about me and Sara?" Nick questioned, hoping Grissom wasn't going to object to a furthering of their relationship. Grissom again let out a breath and looked at Nick.

        "I've known Sara for going on ten years. She's as much a daughter to me as Lindsey is now. To be completely honest with you, Nick, I have never seen Sara as happy in her entire life as she is now with you."
Nick nodded and continued to listen to what the older man had to say.

        "Which is why I want to ask you now where you see your relationship in the next year."

Nick took a deep breath. Where did he see their relationship? Sure he had this old-fashioned cowboy view of what may happen with them, but he had to be realistic. This was Sara.

        "Well," Nick said as he looked at Grissom, "I don't really know."

        "Do you love her?" Grissom asked, giving Nick the kind of interrogation Sara's father would have given him.

Nick looked at his boss for a few moments before replying, "Yeah. I do."

Grissom nodded, "Does she love you?"

        "From what she says," Nick informed him.

Grissom couldn't help but smile, "You know what Catherine told me when you two were up for the promotion?"

        "What's that?"

        "She told me one day you two would be married. You know what I told her?" Grissom paused, "I told her there is no way we can know that for sure."

Nick stayed silent as Grissom shook his head with a smile.

        "I never thought I would say this," Grissom said, "But I was wrong. I see the looks you give each other; the special little messages you send to each other. I never knew what those were until Catherine and I were married. But I'm telling you, Nick – it doesn't take a long-time CSI to see that you two will be married one day."

        "I keep hearing those predictions from people who two weeks ago were saying we were too different to last very long," Nick said, a slight edge of frustration in his voice.

        "You can't honestly tell me you haven't thought about marrying her, can you?"

Nick looked at his hands, "I think about it a lot," he admitted.

Grissom couldn't help but smile, "Have you decided whether you're going to ask her?"

Nick shook his head before looking up at the older man, "How did you decide?"

Grissom sat forward and rested his arms on his desk, "One day I looked at Catherine, and I realized that I could see myself growing old with her. And when I knew that, I knew I could ask her and she would say yes."

Nick looked a little fearful, "But how can I tell Sara will say yes?"

Grissom shrugged, "It's different for every situation. But there will be one day when she'll give you a little signal that will scream at you, 'I WILL MARRY YOU, NICK.'"

Nick grinned as his boss gave him a reassuring look, "Just don't hurt her, Nick."

        "I don't plan on it, Boss," Nick replied as he left his boss's office to finish his job.

~x

        "So, have you two discussed marriage?" Marge asked that evening as Sara prepared for work and Nick was in the shower.

Sara raised her eyebrows, her face clearly expressing her shocked emotions, "No, why?"
Marge shrugged, "Cynthia and Jack only dated for three months before they were married, and you and Nicky have been together for almost five months."

Sara ran a brush through her hair a couple of times before looking at her boyfriend's mother, "Well…Nick hasn't mentioned it, and I mean we don't even live together-"

        "Dear, you don't need to live together first!" Marge insisted, "You practically live together now!"

Sara tilted her head to the side, "You have a point, but still – Nick proposed to Vanessa and she left him. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't want to try and get married again."

        "Oh, dear, Nicky's had ten years to get over Vanessa. It took time, but eventually he regained trust in women. I mean, look at you two – you share each other's passions, homes, hearts – it's a match made in heaven."
Sara couldn't reply because Nick re-entered the bedroom in search of his jacket and keys.

        "Ready, Mom?" He asked as he prepared to take his mother to the airport.

Marge nodded as she picked up her carry-on bag and turned to Sara, giving her a smile, "Well, dear, I'll see you in no time!"

Sara nodded as she smiled and hugged the much shorter, older woman. After they broke apart, Marge headed into the living room to make sure she hadn't left anything and Nick moved in front of Sara.

        "I talked to Griss, and he knows I may be a little late, but both of us know you can hold your own until I get there."

        "I can?" Sara asked with a sarcastic grin. Nick gave her a smile and a gentle, yet meaningful kiss before leaving the room and taking his mother to the airport.

~x

        "So it turns out, Aquaphilanine is used by anyone in the performing arts or politics career fields to maintain a steady voice and be able to perform or speak for long periods of time. Our vic," Warrick continued as he and Grissom made their way to the morgue, "was a minister."

Grissom raised an eyebrow, "A regular church minister, or one of those twenty-four hour television ministers?"

        "The latter," Warrick replied as they walked through the doors to be greeted by Dr. Robbins.

Doc Robbins looked up at them, "I heard about your Aquaphilanine theory, and I'm glad to report that I located your point of entry."

        "Where?" Grissom asked as Doc Robbins lifted the sheet covering the victim's upper body, and pointed to his left wrist.

        "I don't see it," Warrick said as Doc Robbins handed him a magnifying glass.

        "I figured the point of entry would be on the upper body, most likely the hands, considering he was sitting in a booth. I also took a CATscan," Doc Robbins said, looking up at the two CSIs, "I found that your vic had a stroke."

Warrick raised his eyebrows, "Would he have felt the prick when the needle was inserted?"

Doc Robbins shook his head, "Probably not. Whoever killed your vic knew that he couldn't feel anything on his left side."

Grissom nodded, "Thanks," he said as he and Warrick went to talk to Brass about his interviews with eyewitnesses.

~x

        "The little boy is Mickey Phillips," Sara informed Nick after he had returned from the airport, "He was six; his mother was a stripper turned hooker and his father was a drug dealer who rejected his son and moved to New Orleans."

Nick shook his head, "Why did they kill him? His mother was stabbed, but he was thrown in the trunk?"

Sara raised her eyebrows and looked at the face she adored, "Maybe Greg has pulled some DNA from that stuff we got out from under her fingernails. If it's skin, we've got a suspect."

Nick gave her a loving smile as they entered the Trace Lab. Greg grinned at Sara, "Ahhh perfect."

Nick's brow furrowed, "Perfect what?"

Sara shook her head, "Don't ask. Greg, did you get any DNA off the stuff under her nail?"

        "Yes," Greg replied.

Sara raised and eyebrow, "Any hits off AFIS?"

        "I'm not answering until you let me ask two questions."

        "Two this time?" Sara asked as she crossed her arms. Nick watched on with a confused expression.

Greg smiled, "All right. One – who has a better body: Vin Diesel or Nick."

Nick raised his eyebrows, "What?"

Sara shook her head at him as she turned to Greg, "No competition – Nick."

        "That's more like it," Nick said with a grin as he snatched the results paper away from Greg.

        "Hey, hey, I have one more question!" Greg insisted as Sara and Nick made their way out of the lab.

Sara stopped and turned back around to face the younger lab tech, "All right, one more."

        "If you could date anyone in the entire world, who would it be?"

Sara shook her head at Greg, "When are you going to learn – the answer is Nick. This guy over here. Nick." She enunciated by motioning to her very confused boyfriend to her left.

        "Why Nick?" Greg asked, getting up to follow Sara.

        "You said only two, Greggie!" Sara called as she and Nick left the Trace Lab.

Greg snapped his fingers, "Damnit. Never enough questions!"

~x

        "I'll do this, if you want," Nick carefully offered as they looked through the glass at the man they suspected of killing Magda Phillips and her six year old son, Mickey. Nick knew how hard cases involving women and children were for Sara, not that they weren't hard for everyone, but they touched Sara differently.

Sara looked up into his chocolate brown eyes and looked almost child-like, "Would you?"

Nick - ever so thankful that when an interrogation was about to begin, no one else came into the observing room – wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a warm, loving hug, "Of course I will, darlin'. I'll take care of it."

Sara hugged him back, resting her head on his chest, "I love you, Nick."

He kissed the top of her head, "I love you too, Sar."

A moment later he left the observing room, got back into the work mode, and entered the interrogation room.

~x

        "One person said that he was sitting there alone until the waitress walked up and sat down next to him," Brass informed them as he read off his notes.

        "Why would the waitress sit next to him?" Grissom pondered as he and Warrick stood up, "The waitress' name?"

        "Vienna Dielamando," Brass informed him as they left his office.

Grissom and Warrick walked in somewhat silence until Warrick spoke up, "I have a theory."

        "Which is?" Grissom questioned with a raised eyebrow.

        "Waitress is more than just a waitress to him, he pisses her off, she knows he has Aquaphilanine for his shows, she gets a hold of it and decides to give him more than ten or twenty times more than he needs. She obviously knew it was lethal."

        "We'll just have to make sure the evidence backs it up," Grissom stated.

~x

        "I'm glad we caught him," Sara commented that night as she and Nick lay on deck chairs on his back porch, looking up at the star-speckled sky. Nick took her hand gently and entwined their fingers together.

        "That makes two of us, darlin'," Nick replied, earning a smile from his beloved. Grissom's words floated back into Nick's mind as he looked at Sara's face, her eyes now back toward the heavens.

        "I'm telling you, Nick – it doesn't take a long-time CSI to see that you two will be married one day."

Nick grinned to himself, and Sara caught the small smile on his lips.

        "What?" Sara questioned, looking toward him with a curious smile.

He shook his head, "Nothing."

        "Come on, Nicky."

Nick gave her a lopsided smile, "Just thinking about something."

        "Like what?"

He looked toward her face, taking in every glorious detail, "How if there is one thing I had to thank God for, Sara, it would be you."

Sara looked at him with a serene, loving smile, "Well, if it's any consolation, if there is one thing I had to thank God for, and I do, it would be you, Nick."

Nick grinned at her, reaching up with his other hand and placing it on her face, "Sara," he said, letting his thumb caress her face, "I wanted to ask you something…"

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A/N: OHHH isn't the suspense just killing you?! I love being an angst/romance writer – sugar and spice and everything nice all in one damn story! Don't you just love me?

Next Chapter: another surprise, everyone! (hey, I gotta keep you nuckleheads reading somehow!) oh by the way, REVIEW!