Chapter 3
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The drive to the junior high was completely silent. Nick drove, with Sara in the passenger seat and Grissom in the back. Nick glanced at Sara occasionally and could tell she was angry. What did Grissom say to her? He realized it must have had something to do with 'the speech.' Did he tell her he had feelings for her?
And then it hit him. What if he did, and Sara told Grissom about their relationship? Was Grissom upset with him for 'stealing' her? Would Nick be banished to working B and E's and trick rolls? Or worse, would he get fired? Nah, Grissom would never do that. He's too professional. Then again, when two men are fighting over one woman, things are different. There are no rules. Nick knew that if he'd lost Sara, he'd do just about anything to get her back. Was Grissom the same way?
They pulled into the parking lot of the junior high, and as soon as Nick cut the engine, Grissom exited the vehicle and made his way into the building, leaving Nick and Sara to carry in the kits and equipment.
Nick eyed Sara cautiously as they unloaded everything. Her anger appeared to have subsided but he suspected something was still bothering her. He slammed the trunk shut as Sara headed for the entrance.
"Hey," he called out to her.
She turned around. "I'm fine," she answered, not waiting for his question.
Nick just looked at her, not sure if he believed her.
"I'm fine," she repeated, her tone indicating that she truly was.
"Okay," Nick replied, satisfied. He wouldn't have to worry about Sara then. Grissom, on the other hand, was another story.
The two entered the school and found Grissom in the hallway talking to Detective Vega while David examined the body.
"Sara, it looks like the back entrance was our suspect's escape route. I want you to dust the door for prints and then check the perimeter outside," Grissom instructed.
Without a word, Sara turned on her heels and headed for the back entrance at the other end of the hall.
Nick immediately wondered if sending Sara outside was Grissom's way of getting some one-on-one time with Nick, to grill Nick about his relationship with her. He looked at Grissom and waited for his instructions, but instead Grissom turned to David.
"TOD?" Grissom asked.
"Based on liver temp, not more than three hours ago," David replied.
"Hmm." Grissom crouched down next to the body to get a closer look.
When it was clear that Grissom wasn't going to tell him anything, Nick took it upon himself to start processing the classroom they were standing just outside of, clearly their primary crime scene. He pulled out his camera and started photographing the trail of blood on the floor, and his worries about Grissom's interrogation were quickly forgotten as he became engrossed in his work.
When Grissom had finished examining the body he joined Nick in the classroom. He silently walked around, inspecting the room, taking everything in. After several minutes he finally spoke.
"Hey Nick."
"Uh, yeah?" Nick felt his stomach flutter. Oh no, here it comes.
"Get a shot of this, would you?" Grissom pointed to something on the windowsill.
Nick let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Oh. Yeah. Uh, sure." Nick walked over with the camera and snapped a photo of the splintered wood that was most likely caused by an errant bullet.
The two men stood in silence for a second, Grissom wondering why the bullet hole was there and Nick wondering when Grissom was going to let Nick have it.
"I didn't find the bullet anywhere," Grissom finally said.
"Oh, uh, right. Well, um, maybe that was already there, from before," Nick stammered.
Grissom gave him a concerned look. "You okay? Something bothering you? You seem a little out of it tonight."
"Huh? No, I'm fine." So Sara didn't tell Grissom about them? What did they talk about? Nick had to talk to Sara and find out, soon. This was driving him crazy.
"Okay," Grissom replied.
"Okay," Nick said as he quickly went back to the front of the room to finish his collecting.
They finished up in silence and when Sara returned from outside they packed everything up and headed to the lab.
It appeared to be an open and shut case; the evidence was solid and they just needed DNA analysis to confirm. And with Greg backed up, all they could do was wait.
Sara sat alone in the break room, her head resting against the back of the couch, mug of tea in hand as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will her headache away. She opened her eyes and sat up when she heard familiar footsteps.
"Hey," Nick greeted as he walked in and sat down next to her.
"Has Greg processed our samples yet?" she asked as she took a sip of her tea.
"Nope."
Sara winced as her head throbbed.
Nick gave her a concerned look. "Headache?"
"Yeah."
"Did you take anything?"
"Yes, Dr. Stokes, thank you," she teased with a playful smirk.
They sat for a minute in silence, Nick waiting for Sara to tell him about her conversation with Grissom.
"What did Grissom say?" He finally asked when she didn't say anything.
Sara sighed, the mere thought of Grissom aggravating her headache. She then saw him walking down the hall with Warrick and instantly turned her head away in disgust.
"So the vic was already dead when he was stabbed, making the knife irrelevant," Warrick filled Grissom in on his case as they walked down the hall.
"What did the tox report say?" Grissom asked, partially distracted by what he saw in the break room as he glanced in. Nick and Sara were sitting on the couch together, rather close to one another, he noticed, having some kind of conversation. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something different about them.
"He tried to give me some lame ass excuse for why he rejected me when I asked him to dinner." Sara had to force herself to keep her voice low.
Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "So he didn't tell you he had feelings for you?"
"What? Eww, God no. I don't think he's capable of human emotion," she barbed.
Nick couldn't stop a small smile from forming. "So what was his excuse?"
"I don't know. I cut him off. It's not like I care anymore," she continued with her caustic tone.
"Did you tell him about us?"
"No."
He looked at her. "Do you think we should?"
Before Sara could answer, her cell phone chirped. "It's Greg," she said as she read the page. She got up and headed for the DNA lab, Nick following behind her.
~*~
Sara lay in Nick's arms and let out a content sigh. Their case that appeared to be simple had taken a twist that forced them to work several hours into the late morning. She was exhausted and knew she should have gone straight to sleep, but she wasn't complaining about what they had done instead.
"Don't you think we should tell Grissom?" Nick spoke after several minutes of comfortable silence.
"The first thing you think of after we just did that, is Grissom?" Sara scoffed in disbelief.
"Sorry," Nick apologized with a sheepish grin.
"The rest of this morning is officially ruined for you now, buddy," Sara chided.
"Well maybe I can do something to change your mind," Nick teased as his lips met her shoulder and traveled up her neck.
"I doubt it," she replied, trying her hardest to stay mad at him as she swallowed her smile.
Nick rested his chin in the crook of Sara's neck. "So should we?" he asked again.
Sara thought for a minute. "No."
"No?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah?"
"No," Sara repeated.
"Well which is it? Yes or no?" Now Nick was really confused.
"No," Sara managed a small smile. "I don't want to tell him."
"Why not?"
"Screw him, that's why. It's none of his business. We're not breeching any policies on fraternization. If he wants to know, he'll have to figure it out on his own."
Nick was a little surprised at Sara's attitude. He knew Grissom bothered her, but he thought she was past most of it. "You sure?"
Sara turned around to face him. "Of course."
"Alright." He gave her a kiss. "Now, let's see what we can do about changing that stubborn mind of yours," he teased as his hands began to roam and he kissed her again.
~*~
Grissom headed down the hall toward the break room to hand out assignments, walking briskly as he was, as usual, late. When he got there he was surprised to see only one of his CSIs there.
"Where is everyone?" he asked Catherine, who was seated at the table idly flipping through a forensics journal.
"Warrick's off. I don't know about Nick and Sara. Haven't seen 'em yet," she replied, not looking up.
Grissom furrowed his brow. It was unusual for Sara to be late. In fact, he could never remember a time when she was.
"Sorry," Sara said immediately as she walked in, Nick trailing right behind her.
"Sorry," Nick echoed.
"I, uh, overslept," Sara explained to Grissom.
"I forgot to set my alarm clock," Nick gave his excuse.
Catherine stared down at the journal as she tried to suppress a grin, deducing the real reason why the two were probably late.
Grissom noticed Catherine's expression but didn't push the issue further. "Right. Okay. Cath, you're with me on the floater out at Lake Mead. Nick, Sara, burglary gone bad in Aliante."
"Alrighty." Nick grabbed the assignment slip and headed back out to the Denali he had just parked not two minutes ago.
Grissom glanced at Sara, and their eyes met for a split second before she turned and followed Nick out.
"You ready?" Catherine got up from the table.
"Uh, yeah," Grissom replied distractedly, his mind elsewhere as he watched Sara disappear down the hall.