Chapter 8 – Logging In Some OT

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"What's going on?" Sara asked as she walked toward the break room with Nick and noticed it was filled with people, criminalists and lab techs alike, mostly from the dayshift.

"Department Christmas party.  Didn't you read that memo?"

"Christmas?  That's three weeks from now."

"Sorry, 'holiday' party," Nick corrected.  "Whatever.  Doesn't matter."

"Yeah.  Some people have to work," Sara said.  Why they always chose to have department parties during the nightshift Sara didn't really think was fair, but she didn't care.  She was actually glad she could use the excuse of work to get out of them, and she knew the rest of the team felt the same way.

"Coffee?" Nick asked as they walked in.

"Yeah."  Sara went to sit down on the couch on the opposite end of the room from the crowd of CSIs congregating around the free food.

Nick maneuvered through the mass to reach the coffee machine.  As he reached for the pot he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey Stokes, I heard you're out of the game now," a dayshift CSI said.

"Well it's nice to see you too, Lewis," Nick tried his best to sound polite.  He wondered if Lewis and some of the other dayshifters were asses by nature or they just got that way by working under Ecklie for so long.

"So is it true?  Nick Stokes is off the market?"

"What?"

"Word is that you and Sidle are logging in some major overtime, if you know what I mean," Lewis crudely remarked.

Nick only glared at him.

"Look, I know every guy's got different tastes, but c'mon, Nick, Sidle?" Lewis looked at him.

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't get me wrong, I like a feisty woman just as much as the next guy, but damn.  She's gotta be a handful, huh?"

Nick's patience was wearing thin.  "You know what Lewis?  I don't-"

"Oh wait," Lewis interrupted.  "She must be wild and crazy in the sack too.  That's the only reason why you-"

"Excuse me, I need to get my assignment."  This time it was Nick who interrupted.  He picked up the two cups of coffee he had poured.

"Hey, try the punch.  It's got a little extra kick, if you know what I mean," Lewis joked.

Nick never knew what Lewis meant.  "I'm on the clock," Nick reminded him as he made his way through the crowd toward Sara at the other end of the room.

"Oh, right," Lewis said in a tone that was anything but apologetic.

Just as Nick emerged from the crowd he heard a voice call out his name, one even more irritating than Lewis's.

"Nick," the dayshift supervisor called out.

"Ecklie," Nick replied with a forced half smile as he turned around.

"Has Grissom talked to you yet?" Ecklie asked.

"About what?"

"I guess not.  Well I'm sure his lecture will get the point across, but let me just say this.  Watch what you do around here.  This is a place of business.  It would be a shame to lose two damn good CSIs over something so trivial.  And I mean that as a compliment."  And with that Ecklie left.

Compliment?  Right.  And what the hell was he talking about anyway?  Nick shrugged it off and finally made his way to Sara.

Sara had been watching Nick and Ecklie's encounter, and from Nick's expression she could tell it wasn't a pleasant one.  "What was that about?" she asked as she took her coffee from Nick.

"I have no idea."

Grissom poked his head in the break room.  "Nick, Sara, I need you to take a 419 at the Tropicana.  Jumper off a fifth floor balcony."

"Jumper?  Since when is suicide a crime?" Nick asked, confused.

"When the jumper has a gunshot through his chest," Grissom replied, not missing a beat.  "But I need to talk to you before you leave, my office."  He left for his office without waiting for them.

Nick and Sara looked at each other before following him.

"Shut the door," Grissom said as Nick and Sara entered his office.

"What's up?" Nick looked at his boss, starting to get a little nervous, wondering if this was the 'lecture' Ecklie was talking about.

Grissom took off his glasses before speaking.  "Ecklie came to talk to me the other day," he started.  "He told me that some of his CSIs have been complaining about you two."

"About what?" Sara asked, annoyed.  The nightshift had much more reason to complain about the dayshift than the other way around.

"It seems that on more than one occasion they've witnessed you two engaging in behavior that's, uh, inappropriate for the work place, and it's making them uncomfortable," Grissom explained, a little uncomfortable himself, not because he thought the accusations were true, but because he was forced to think about what Nick and Sara did in their private time.

"What!!  And you believe it?!  That's a bunch of bull!!" Nick was furious.  Sure, he and Sara may have exchanged a quick kiss once in a while, privately, in the locker room, but they never did anything beyond that, never anything inappropriate or unprofessional.

Grissom didn't directly answer Nick's question.  "Look, I told you before that I trust that you two know how to keep your personal and professional lives separate.  And I still do, and that's what I told Ecklie.  I'm just relaying to you what he told me, like I said I would."

"Is that all?" Nick's anger was still evident as he glared at Grissom.

"No, actually."  Grissom turned to Sara.  "Yesterday I found your request to extend your vacation time during Christmas-"

"Hey, I gave that to you last week, it's not my fault you misplaced it," Sara interjected.  She wasn't going to miss going to Dallas with Nick because of Grissom's poor organizational skills.

"No, it's not that.  You can have the extra time off.  I just wanted to make sure it was correct.  You've never asked for more than a day, and now you're asking for five."

"Oh, yeah," Sara replied, embarrassed that she jumped to conclusions.  "I'm going to Dallas.  With Nick."

"Oh," was all Grissom said.  He hadn't noticed that Nick had asked for the same amount of time off.  "Okay."  He put on his glasses and started sifting through the papers on his desk.  "That's all," he looked up at the two CSIs when he noticed they weren't moving.  "Detective Vega is waiting for you at the Trop."

Nick quickly turned to leave, obviously still upset.  Sara followed him as they silently walked through the halls and out to the parking lot.

"I can't believe this!" Nick fumed as soon as they exited the building.  "Where the hell does Ecklie get off making these accusations?!"

"Would you calm down?" Sara looked at him.  Sure, she was upset too, but it wasn't even true, and Grissom knew that, so it didn't really matter what Ecklie said.  "It's just Ecklie being Ecklie."

"And who are these SOB dayshifters starting these rumors?  I bet it was Lewis.  And Weber.  I swear, the next time I see those two-"

"Hey, it's not even true.  They're just rumors, like you said.  You and I know that, Grissom knows that.  Nobody that knows us will believe them."

"I don't like stuff about my private life floating around the lab, rumors or not."  They had reached their SUV and Nick noticed Sara had followed him to the driver's side of the vehicle.  "What?" he practically snapped at her.

"Keys," Sara instructed, holding out her hand.

"Why?" Nick asked in an irritated tone.

"Because I'm driving."

"Says who?"

"You're not driving like this.  You need to cool off."

He glared at her but didn't budge.

"Nick," Sara warned.

Nick sighed angrily as he relinquished the keys and walked around to the passenger side.  They rode the short distance in silence and arrived at the hotel a few minutes later.  Sara cut the engine and looked at Nick as he quickly opened the door to get out.

"Hey," she called out, wanting to make sure he had calmed down.

He looked at her but didn't say anything.

Sara searched his eyes for any traces of anger, and found none.  She smiled at him, and when he managed a small smile back she knew her mild mannered Texan was back.

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Sara sat on her bed and stared into the open closet, dreading the task before her.  Packing.  She realized packing a suitcase for a trip was even worse than packing moving boxes.  You had to remember to bring certain things, pack things for 'just in case' weather, pack your pajamas, your 'fancy' clothes in case you went out, fancy shoes to go with the fancy clothes, birth control pills (very important, although staying at Nick's parent's house would make things a little awkward), extra socks, your toothbrush.  It was too complicated, and she always ended up forgetting something.

And of course, since she hated the task, she had put it off until the last minute, the day before they were leaving.

The phone started to ring and Sara leaped across the bed to grab the receiver from the nightstand, thankful for any interruption that would prevent her from packing.  "Hello?"

"Hi, uh, Sara?" an unfamiliar voice replied.

"Yeah?" Sara wondered who the female on the other end of the line was and how she knew her name.

"This is Alex, Nick's sister.  I'm picking you guys up at the airport tomorrow."

"Oh, hi." Sara notice her soft drawl as she spoke more.  "How are you?"

"I'm fine.  I just called to let you guys know that I might be a little late, maybe, but probably not."

"Okay," Sara couldn't help but smile.

"Tyler, my son, has a big soccer game, and my husband has to work so he really wants me to be there.  He can catch a ride home after the game but I wanted to stay as long as I could."

"Oh, well you don't have to worry about us then, we can just take a cab," Sara offered.

"No, no, it's okay.  Besides, baggage claim is always a mess there, by the time you get your bags I should be there," Alex explained.

"Are you sure?  We don't want you to be running around town, especially under your condition."

"No, it's okay," Alex insisted.

"Okay."

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to finally meeting you."

"Likewise.  See you tomorrow."  Sara smiled as she hung up the phone.

Nick walked into the bedroom and gave Sara a look when he noticed she was smiling.  "I thought you hated packing?" he teased.

"I'm going to Dallas," she said, still smiling.

"Yes you are," he smiled back as he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.  "Who was that on the phone?"

"Alex.  She wanted to let us know that she might be a little late, but probably not," Sara smiled as she quoted his sister.

"Well which is it?"

"Probably not.  She said Tyler has a big soccer game and she wanted to stay and watch, but since baggage claim is such a mess she'd probably make it in time."

"Did you tell her we could just take a cab?"

"Yeah, but she insisted.  Must be that unrelenting Stokes family charm and hospitality," Sara smiled.

"I guess."

"They must have run out of it by the time you came along," Sara teased.

Nick scoffed and playfully pushed Sara down onto the bed.  "I'm gonna forget you said that," he replied as he got up and walked out of the bedroom, but not before Sara could nail him in the back of the head with a balled up pair of socks.