A/N: Of course there's more, you sillies. I can see how well people read author's notes... ;-) (At least nine chapters, for those of you who missed it)

Chapter 2 – Out of the Bag

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Nick and Sara drove to work together for the first time, butterflies in both their stomachs. The butterflies weren't from fear of how their co-workers would react – they knew the team would support them and be happy for them – but rather from excitement about sharing the news with their friends.

They were so excited about telling everyone that they had actually arrived early, and nobody saw them get out of the same car. They decided to duck into the locker room to collect their thoughts before heading to the break room.

Nick calmly leaned against the bay of lockers and smiled as he watched Sara paced back and forth.

"Hey," he finally said.

"What?" she said, not looking up as she continued pacing.

"Sara." He reached out to stop her as she walked past him. "Relax," he smiled.

"Sorry." She smiled back.

He pulled her towards him and gave her a gentle kiss. "There's nothing to worry about."

"I know."

"I know you know," he smiled. As he kissed her again, the door to the locker room swung open.

Nick and Sara broke their kiss to see Warrick standing in the doorway with his mouth hung open. Before anyone could do or say anything, a voice sounded from behind Warrick.

"Hey Warrick, usually when people open doors, they keep walking, they don't just-" Catherine stopped mid-sentence when she saw why Warrick was standing there.

"Uh, we can come back," Warrick finally managed to say something.

"I'd rather stay," Catherine said as she crossed her arms and leaned up against the doorframe, wanting to here the details of why Nick and Sara were in this compromising situation.

Nick and Sara finally let go of each other.

"Look guys, uh, we were gonna tell you," Nick said.

"Tell us what?!" Warrick still hadn't fully registered what he just saw.

"Well I think it's obvious," Catherine said sarcastically.

"You knew about this?" Warrick turned to Catherine.

"What? No!"

"We just wanted to wait awhile before we told everyone," Sara started to explain.

"Well how long as it been?" Catherine asked.

"About three months," Sara answered.

"Three months? You guys have been sneaking around for three whole months?" Catherine couldn't believe it.

"Sorry," Sara apologized.

"How did we miss that? Even when we knew it was gonna happen eventually…" Catherine muttered.

"Huh?" Nick said, confused at Catherine's comment.

"Oh c'mon, you guys have been flirting since day one!"

Nick and Sara just looked at her, and then at Warrick.

"Don't look at me, I don't know what she's talking about," Warrick said defensively. "Hey, is that why you turned down Eva? And Courtney? And-"

"Okay, Warrick, thank you, we get it," Nick interjected.

"So when were you planning on telling us?" Catherine asked.

"Uh, today actually," Nick replied.

"Well I guess we just did half the work for you," Warrick said.

"Yeah, but not the easy half. We have to tell Griss and Greg."

"That's right. I forgot about Greg."

"Oh, Cath, Warrick," Grissom stopped when he saw the two CSI's standing in the locker room doorway. "406 in Henderson. Something about a family heirloom, porcelain elephant or something. Are Nick and Sara here yet?"

Warrick pointed inside the locker room.

"419 out at Lake Mead. Brass is already there." Grissom reached passed Catherine and Warrick to hand Sara the assignment slip. "I'll be in my office all night. Paperwork," he sighed. And as quickly as he came, he was gone.

"Well I need some coffee before we go," Sara said. "You want?" she turned to Nick.

"No, I'm good."

"I could use some," Catherine said, and the two ladies left for the break room.

"So you and Sara?" Warrick said as he opened his locker.

"Yeah. What can I say, I love her," Nick replied.

"Really? Wow, I didn't know you guys were that serious."

"Yeah. These past few months have been so crazy. I mean, good crazy. I haven't felt this way about someone in a long time. Hell, I don't know if I've ever felt this way about anyone before."

"Well that's great man, congrats. And you know they don't come any better than Sara," Warrick said as he shut his locker and headed out.

"Yeah, I know," Nick said quietly, realizing how lucky he was.

Nick left the locker room to find Sara. As he approached the break room he watched her through the glass, talking with Catherine and smiling her toothy grin that he loved so much.

"You ready to hit the road?" he asked as he entered.

"Yep."

"I'll see you two lovebirds later," Catherine smiled as she left to find Warrick.

"Do you think we should tell Grissom before we leave?" Sara asked Nick.

"Might as well. Get it out of the way."

Nick knocked on Grissom's door as he and Sara entered. "Hey Griss, can we talk to you a second?"

"If you make it quick. Brass is already waiting for you at the lake," he said, not looking up from the files he was shuffling through.

"Right. Well we just wanted to let you know that, um, well since you're our supervisor, we thought you should know, uh..."

"Spit it out, Nick."

"Nick and I are dating," Sara blurted out.

Grissom finally stopped shuffling through his paperwork and looked up, staring silently at Nick and Sara over the rim of his glasses. The two CSI's stared back at him, unsure if he was upset or happy or just didn't hear what Sara had said.

"And?" Grissom finally spoke.

"Well we thought you should know," Nick said, still unsure of what Grissom was thinking.

Grissom went back to his paperwork as if what they had just told him meant nothing. "What you two do on your own time is your own business."

"Oh. Okay," Nick replied, uncertainty lingering in his voice.

Grissom looked up. "Look, I appreciate you telling me, but I trust you're smart enough to keep your work and personal life separate."

"Right. We will," Nick said.

Grissom returned his attention to his desk. "I know."

"Uh, thanks," Sara quickly added as she and Nick left his office.

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"Penny for your thoughts?" Nick glanced at Sara. They were almost to the lake and Sara hadn't said anything for the entire ride.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," she said, hoping he would leave it at that but knew he wouldn't.

"Sara." Nick's tone was scolding but not harsh.

She waited a few seconds. "It's just that once we tell everyone, I'm gonna feel more self-conscious. Especially around you."

"What? Why?"

"Well people will look at us differently. They'll expect us to act differently. I mean, sure, Grissom is fine with it, but-"

Nick reached over to stroke her cheek. "Hey, calm down," he soothed. "It'll be fine. Sure, there'll be people like Ecklie, people who stir up trouble just because they can, but those guys are jerks, and everyone knows that. We'll be okay."

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm not very good at office romances. Remember what happened with Hank and that high profile movie star murder case?"

Nick cringed at the mention of that asshole. "You didn't do anything wrong. You know that. Besides, why should we care what other people think? We love each other, that's all that matters."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right." He reached for her hand and kissed it, holding it the rest of the way.

Nick and Sara arrived at the lake and processed the scene, their conversation in the car completely forgotten as they focused on their work. They finished quickly and drove back to the lab.

They walked down the hall and followed the sound of muffled rock music to the DNA lab. As they approached, they saw Greg, his back turned to them, headbanging away as he cleaned up his benchtop.

Nick opened the door and Sara immediately went to the stereo and turned it off, causing Greg to spin around on his heels.

"Oh, hey guys. I didn't hear you come in."

Nick and Sara just gave him a look.

"So what do you have for me?" Greg asked.

"A couple of blood samples we need compared. And an empty pill box. Has some residue in it. We need to find out what was in it," Nick explained.

"Will do," Greg said, taking the samples.

"Thanks."

Sara pushed the eject button on the stereo to open the CD tray. She read the label on the CD. "Incubus?"

"Yeah, it's their new album. I just got it yesterday. You can borrow it sometime if you want," Greg replied eagerly.

"Thanks, maybe later," Sara smiled.

"Okay."

Nick and Sara looked at each other, knowing they would have to tell Greg eventually.

"Uh, Greg, there's something we have to tell you," Nick said, already feeling bad about what they were going to tell him.

"Don't worry, no headbanging while I'm preparing your samples. C'mon, give me some credit," Greg joked.

"No, it's not about that," Nick said.

"Well what then?"

"Sara and I wanted to let you know that we're dating. Well we've been dating."

"Oh," was all Greg could muster as he tried to hide his disappointment. When Sara was dating Hank he wasn't too worried because he knew Hank was a douchebag anyway and it wouldn't last. But Nick was different. He was a friend, and a good guy.

"We kept it quiet for awhile but we decided it was time to let everyone know," Sara explained.

"Oh. Okay. We'll that's cool. I'm happy for you guys," Greg said. He leaned his elbow on the benchtop and accidentally nudged a tray of reagents over the edge, sending little plastic bottles bouncing across the floor and causing Greg to scramble after them before they rolled under the lab freezer.

Nick and Sara couldn't help but smile as they turned to leave.

"Hey Sara," Greg said as he got up from the floor.

Sara turned.

"If Nick ever changes his mind, you know where to find me," Greg joked, trying to prove he was okay with the situation.

"I'll keep that in mind," she smiled.

"God, I feel so bad," Sara said as soon as they turned the corner and were out of Greg's sight.

"He'll be fine," Nick assured her.

"Yeah I know, but still," Sara said.

"What, you'd rather date him then?" Nick teased.

"Don't tempt me," she teased back.