"So what was Nick's excuse?" Catherine asked as she and Warrick made their way out to her Denali.

"Says he overslept." Warrick's tone implied that there was more to the story.

Catherine glanced at him quizzically. "Overslept."

Warrick nodded as they climbed into the vehicle.

"Why do I get the impression that you don't believe him?" Catherine looked amused.

"Oh, I believe he overslept, I'm just not sure I'm buying the rest of his story." Warrick chuckled.

Catherine started the engine and let Warrick continue.

A wry smile crossed Warrick's lips. "Someone else answered his phone."

Catherine smiled. "I didn't know Nicky had a new girlfriend."

Warrick chuckled. "If only it was that simple."

Catherine looked slightly confused. "What?"

"Guess who answered his phone?" Warrick looked at her as if the answer was obvious.

Catherine rolled her eyes as she pulled the Denali into traffic. "Obviously I should know this person, so why don't you just tell me instead of playing twenty questions?"

Warrick raised a single eyebrow and smirked. "Look, who else was missing from the briefing?"

Catherine looked at Warrick in disbelief. "Not Sara?"

Warrick nodded. "Yeah, Sara."

"You think they're sleeping together?" Catherine had a glint in her eye.

Warrick chuckled. "I don't know, but the story they both fed me about falling asleep watching TV just doesn't sound quite right."

"TV." Catherine deadpanned.

"Uh, huh." Warrick agreed. "I mean it's plausible, but my gut tells me it's a smoke screen."

Catherine looked at him doubtfully. "They are friends, Rick."

"Who have been flirting with each other since they met." Warrick observed.

Catherine's laugh was deep and throaty. "It doesn't mean that they're sleeping together."

Warrick tried to restrain a smile. "Did you know that I overheard them yelling at each other in the locker room about halfway through shift last night?"

Catherine furrowed her brow. "No. What were they arguing about?"

Warrick shook his head. "I don't know, but I heard some pretty choice words and I didn't want to get in the middle of it so I kept on walking."

"Well if she went over to Nick's they obviously resolved the issue." Catherine reasoned.

Warrick raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. You know how Sara can be. She stews for days before she gets over something."

Catherine nodded. "Well Nick's always been able to get through to her when no one else could."

"True." Warrick agreed. He was quiet for a moment and then glanced over at Catherine. "There was just something in her voice though, Cat."

Catherine regarded him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"She sounded happy." Warrick concluded.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been a long shift. After arriving at work late, both Nick and Sara threw themselves into the tasks Grissom had assigned them to. It was a good thing that they didn't see much of each other almost the entire shift because Nick wasn't sure he could keep the grin off of his face. As it was, every time he thought of Sara he smiled.

Nick stood in the locker room changing his shirt when Warrick walked in. He glanced up fired a greeting. "Hey, man."

Warrick winced as he noticed the mark on Nick's shoulder. "What did you do to your shoulder?"

Nick's expression was blank and then he realized that Warrick was talking about where Sara had bitten him. He should have known better than to think it didn't leave a mark. "I must have hit it on something." He hoped that Warrick hadn't gotten a good look at it before he pulled his black ribbed shirt over his head.

Warrick wasn't buying it. "Looks like someone bit you."

Nick tried to keep his expression neutral. "Really?"

Warrick nodded. "Yeah, in fact I'd say that the marks are pretty distinctive, what with the gap between two of them."

Nick knew that Warrick knew that Sara had left those marks on his shoulder, but at the moment he was admitting to nothing, at least until he and Sara had the opportunity to talk about what they were going to tell everyone. "Hmmn. I'll have to take a look at that when I get home."

"Maybe you should just have Sara do it for you." Warrick quipped.

Nick glanced over at Warrick with amusement on his face. "You're still on that?"

"So why was she at your house?" Warrick made it clear he didn't buy Nick's earlier story.

Nick's eyebrows slowly went up and he smiled. "I told you man, we were watching TV."

"So that's why I couldn't hear it in the background when she answered your phone." Warrick smirked.

Nick chuckled. "So maybe she turned it off first."

Warrick raised an eyebrow at his friend. "But she didn't."

"Didn't what?" Sara regarded Nick and Warrick curiously as she walked into the locker room.

Nick tried to restrain his smile. "Warrick doesn't believe that we were watching TV."

Sara tried to play things cool. "So what does he think we were doing?" She opened her locker and pulled her jacket out.

Nick looked at Warrick expectantly. "He didn't say."

Sara glanced at Warrick with a curious expression.

Warrick just shook his head and chuckled. "I know that you know that I know."

Nick and Sara looked at each other with amusement on their faces. Sara closed her locker and put her jacket on. "What exactly am I supposed to know that you know?"

Nick smirked. "Beats me."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you think he bought any of that?" Sara snuggled closer to Nick underneath the comforter on her bed.

He chuckled softly. "Not a bit. But he can't prove anything either."

Sara's brow creased as she kissed the bruise on his shoulder that her teeth had made. "You said he noticed this."

He glanced over at her. "Again, he can't prove anything. All he has is circumstantial evidence, and until such a time that we decide we want to make this public, that's all he's going to get."