Title: Las Vegas Knights

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. These character's are owned by some ridiculously rich people who think that character development means that you turn one of your best characters into an alcoholic.

Chapter Seven:

"How is your case coming? I heard that Griss had to pull Catherine for a DB at the Monaco."

Nick glanced up and smiled warmly. "Heya Sar, and yes he pulled her. This is Warrick's first day of vacation and I already miss him," he laughed.

Sara leaned against the door frame and smiled at her friend.

"This is a tough one Sara. I am almost a hundred percent certain that whomever did this to Gypsy actually knew her quite well," he muttered in a frustrated tone.

Sara raised an eyebrow when Nick referred to the woman by her first name, but didn't comment on it. "Who are your suspects?"

"Well so far her brother and her manager. Thats it! Her manager has an airtight alibi too. I don't have any prints to go off of and the fibers I found in the blood on the wall turned out to be from a paint brush."

Sara walked into the room and sat down next to her friend. Nick continued to peer through his microscope.

"You know you have one more suspect," Sara said nonchalantly as she picked up a pencil and chewed on the end of it.

Nick snapped his head up and gazed at her quizzically. He shook his head in confusion.

"Your victim."

"Gypsy Stone?" Nick asked shocked. "Sara please, why would she do that to herself? Seriously you haven't met her, she isn't that type of person."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Nick its not like you know her either. Lets see you've been on this case two days?"

Nick sighed. "She isn't a suspect," he replied firmly. "Now tell me who has your panties in a twist this time. Oh wait let me guess. Could it be Grissom?"

"My panties are not in a twist. I am just trying to open your eyes to other possibilities. You have two suspects one who has an alibi and your victim is someone who could use the publicity right?"

Nick shook his head. "Look lets drop this. I am not trying to blow off your theory, but my instincts are telling me that she is innocent. She doesn't seem like the type."

Sara smiled good-naturedly and playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Alrighty then. Hey listen you want to have breakfast with me this morning? You owe me since you blew me off before," she added with a wink.

"Yeah sure. Wanna come back to my place? You can update me on why your panties are in a twist...this time," he said smirking.

"You like to push your luck don't you?" she said with a mock growl.

Nick grinned widely. "You're just now figuring this out?"

Sara chuckled as she walked out of the room. "See you at the end of shift. Breakfast better be good!"

Once she left Nick began concentrating on his case again. He felt as if he was missing something completely obvious to the case. As much as it irked him, he knew he might have to eventually consider Sara's theory. Nick wanted to believe that Gypsy wasn't capable of doing something like this, but he also had to admit that he didn't know her very well. The media would probably snag onto this story anytime now. Nick knew that it probably wouldn't grant her front page status, but it might give Gypsy a bit of publicity.

Nick quietly cursed Sara under his breath. He hadn't really wanted to consider this possibility until he had no other leads to go on. It seemed natural to him to always look for the best in people. Occasionally he was disappointed, but more often than not he found himself rewarded for his trust. Sara had a way of looking at a case from several angles and had no qualms about suspecting anyone within the immediate vicinity of the crime. Labeling Gypsy Stone as a suspect in this case just seemed too easy and convenient to Nick. He knew he was missing something. Perhaps he had been asking the wrong questions or looking for the wrong clues, but eventually he would find his culprit and instinctively he knew that it wouldn't be Gypsy.

Nick hated to admit it, but he was also attracted to her. Of course, he hadn't mentioned that fact to Sara who would have jumped down his throat. While he was better friends with Sara, he had been elated that his partner on this case was Catherine. She tended to be more understanding in certain things than Sara. Such as his crush on Gypsy Stone. When Gypsy had inadvertently called him a fan boy at the start of this shift he had been only mildly offended. Instead he worried more that she didn't respect him which was why he refused her breakfast invitation. To Nick, the invitation seemed to be a pity apology which angered him.

An overhead page from Judy asking him to come up front brought him out of his reverie. Nick put his supplies away and made his way to the lab's reception desk. Checking his watch Nick saw that it was 5 a.m.

"Hey Judy whats up?"

The woman looked up from something she was reading and smiled at him. "Someone is here to see you," she replied indicating a man standing off to the side.

Nick walked over to him and smiled. "Hi I'm Nick Stokes. You need to see me?"

"Yes I am Gypsy Stone's brother Sylvester," he said as he held out his hand for Nick to shake.

Nick took his hand and sized the man up. He appeared to be in his early twenties and was well groomed. "Sylvester Stone huh? I bet that went over real well in school."

The other man chuckled. "Yeah. Please call me Sly. My parents were fans of the Rocky movies. There was a period of our lives when my sister and I thought they were actually going to change our last names to Stallone."

Nick found himself instantly liking Sly. The younger man's easy going manner welcomed casual conversation. "You know I liked all of the Rocky movies except the fifth one. I generally try to pretend that it was never made."

Sly laughed. "You and my sister should get along just fine then. She hates that one too."

Nick smiled. "Speaking of your sister, I need to ask you a few questions about what happened in her home."

Sly's grin faded and suddenly he was all business. "Sure thing. I'll be glad to help catch this scumbag in any way possible."

"Well first I'd like to get a fingerprint and DNA sample from you."

Sly frowned but nodded. "Sure thing. You need to eliminate me as a suspect I guess."

Nick led Sly to one of the labs where he proceeded to swab the man's mouth and fingerprint him. He then handed both samples to Greg to process. Finally he turned his attention back to Gypsy's brother.

"Sly do you know anyone who would like to hurt your sister?"

"What you mean jaded lovers or something? Naw. She really doesn't date much. Gypsy is a pretty private person."

"So no recent ex-boyfriends? Maybe someone else she might have ticked off?"

"Dude, seriously my sister hasn't dated anyone in like four years. And that was before she made her first film. If I had any idea who did this I would smash their face in, I can tell you that," Sly said seriously.

Nick spent another twenty minutes hoping to find out some new information from Sly, but eventually realized that either the man was hiding something or knew very little. He shook hands with Gypsy's brother one more time before bidding him farewell. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Nick saw that the end of shift was near and went in search of Sara.

When he finally found her she sat alone in a dark room in front of a computer. Her head was in her hands and Nick saw that her shoulders were shaking slightly. He stood quietly in the doorway and wondered if he should intrude. Lately Sara had been acting somewhat strangely and Nick couldn't help but worry about her. He knew she would hate it if he caught her in a vulnerable moment so backed up out the room several paces into the hallway. Finally he called out her name so that she would hear him and gave her a moment before entering the room again.

She was standing up rubbing her eyes when he walked back in. Nick pretended not to notice. He intended to try and find out what was bothering her when they got back to his apartment for breakfast.

"Sara you ready to call it a morning? Pancakes and eggs at my place," he said with a smile.

"Sure thing, let me go get my stuff from the locker room."

"I'll go with you. How is your case coming?"

She took a deep breath. "We have a little headway. We still don't know who our vic is. I was just searching the missing person's reports."

The two CSIs grabbed their personal items and made their way to the parking lot. Nick was concentrating on Sara so didn't notice Gypsy leaning up against his car until they were almost upon her.

"Gypsy!" he exclaimed surprised.

Sara looked from Nick to Gypsy as if trying to figure something out.

Gypsy smiled. "Nick I was hoping you would reconsider my breakfast invitation."

"I uh..." Nick sputtered.

Sara's eyes widened, but she tried not to appear surprised. "Oh. Uh, Nick why don't you have breakfast with her? We can do this another time," she said as she hastily walked to her Tahoe.

"No Sara, I ummm, crap," Nick said, torn between greeting Gypsy and chasing Sara down.

Gypsy looked from the retreating form of Sara to Nick. "Oh my. Did I interrupt something?" she asked in an embarrassed tone as she placed a tentative hand upon his shoulder. "I'm sorry Nick. If you are involved, I mean, well I didn't know."

Nick shook his head and sighed. "No she is just a friend."

"Do you need to go after her?"

Nick shook his head. "Naw I'll talk to her tonight."

Gypsy nodded. "I was hoping you would give me another chance. Have breakfast with me? Totally platonic, scout's honor," she quipped as she held up her hand.

"Um that is the Star Trek symbol for 'Live Long and Prosper'," he said laughing.

"So is that a yes?"

"Why in the world do you want to go out with me?" Nick asked perplexed.

Gypsy chuckled. "Lets just say you have that 'southern charm' thing going on. Are you going to make me beg?"

"Naw. I know a nice little place down on the corner if that will suit you," he said with one last glance at Sara's Tahoe as she exited the parking lot. He told himself he would find time to talk to her during their next shift.

To be continued...