Catherine gave Nick a very pointed look. "Nick, can you go get a shirt out of Sara's locker so we can check the shirt she's wearing into evidence?" The way he seemed to be clinging to Sara, Catherine knew she was going to have to give him a task to do to get him out of the room. Regardless of whatever had transpired between her two coworkers, Catherine was sure that Sara would prefer that they get the photo documentation of the bruises out of the way as soon as possible and without an audience.
Sara glanced at Nick with a pleading expression.
Nick just nodded and kissed the top of Sara's head before he gave her shoulder a squeeze and headed for the doorway. He hadn't thought twice at the affectionate gesture he'd bestowed on Sara, but it had caused Catherine's eyebrows to curve upward ever so slightly.
"Nick." Catherine's tone stopped Nick at the door.
He turned and looked at her expectantly. "Yeah, Cath?"
Catherine smirked. "When you come back, stay outside."
He gave her a sheepish grin and then glanced over at Sara and gave her a soft smile before he disappeared through the door.
As the door closed, Sara let out a deep sigh and looked at Catherine. "Let's just get this over with." She unceremoniously pulled her shirt over her head and placed it in an evidence bag that Catherine had brought in for just that purpose.
"He really got you didn't he?" Catherine winced at the ugly purple bruises.
"Yeah." Sara looked determined as she crossed her arms over her front to keep herself covered since she hadn't been wearing a bra. "But we're going to make sure he can't ever do this to anyone else."
"You better believe we are." Catherine smiled at Sara's strength. Grissom had filled her in on who they thought Sara's assailant really was and she had set in her mind to work this as meticulously as she'd ever worked any high profile case. She quickly began to photograph the injury and when she was just about done a soft tap sounded on the door to the exam room.
"That's probably Nick with my shirt." Sara reasoned, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"Right." There was a hint of amusement in Catherine's voice that she couldn't quite hide. She really wanted to quiz Sara on what exactly had changed between her and Nick, but she knew that now really wasn't the time. Catherine walked over and cracked the door open.
"I didn't know which shirt she'd want, so I brought the whole bag." Nick had the sound of someone who was overtalking because he was nervous.
"Thanks, Nicky." Catherine took the bag from him and shut the door, as she turned around she smirked at Sara as she set the bag down. "He brought you the whole fall collection."
Sara tried to stifle an embarrassed smile, furrowing her brow as she cleared her throat. "So are we almost done?"
"Yeah, I just need to get a couple more shots." Catherine responded dryly. She took a few more photos and then smiled. "We're done here. You can get dressed."
Sara crouched down and unzipped the bag and pulled out the first shirt she found, quickly pulling it on. As she stood up she looked at Catherine who was labeling the evidence bag that contained her shirt. "I assume you're going to check for epithelials on the inside of the shirt."
Catherine nodded. "Anything we can do to bury this guy in evidence."
Sara nervously cleared her throat. "You may find Nick's on there too." She had determined that full disclosure was the best route to go if she ended up having to eventually testify.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "What were Nick's hands doing underneath your shirt?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized how naive it must have sounded. "Never mind, don't answer that. It's none of my business." She raised her hands in mock surrender as she let out a soft chuckle.
"He didn't intentionally contaminate evidence." Sara immediately jumped to Nick's defense. If she had been thinking clearly at the time, which she had found nearly impossible in the middle of that kiss she'd shared with Nick, she might have realized that her shirt was potential evidence. "We, uh, were."
Catherine cut her off. "You don't need to give me a play by play, what you two do on your night off is your business." She smiled at Sara. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that Greg runs you and Nick as exclusion samples so we can narrow down anything our guy left behind."
"Thanks, Cath." Sara could feel her cheeks burning.
Catherine smiled at her. "I'm just going to go check this into evidence." She picked up the bagged shirt and the camera and walked over to the door. As she opened it she let out an amused laugh at Nick who was pacing impatiently in front of it.
Nick stopped and looked at Catherine. "Are you done?"
She nodded and then whispered conspiratorially. "Be careful, you're wearing your heart on your sleeve, you don't want to scare her off now." Catherine winked and then headed down the hallway.
Nick stepped into the room where Sara was zipping her duffel bag closed. "Hey." He smiled softly at her as she looked up.
"Hey." For some reason Sara wanted nothing more than to have Nick take her home and hold her for the rest of the night. She tried to reason in her mind that what she'd experienced was mild compared to what some women went through, but the knowledge that she'd almost been the victim of a suspected serial rapist and possible murderer, had really left her feeling vulnerable.
"Brass called a few minutes ago. He's got a lineup ready if you want to swing by PD." Nick wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her just then, but he knew that the middle of the lab was not the place, especially considering the encounter that they'd had in her kitchen earlier.
Sara nodded as she stood and then smiled as Nick took the bag from her hand. "Is Warrick still around?" It occurred to her that neither she nor Nick had a vehicle since he'd ridden with Warrick to the club and he'd driven them both here from her apartment.
"Uh, yeah, he's waiting for us in the break room." Nick wasn't really aware that he'd taken Sara's hand in his as they walked down the hallway.
A smile stole over Sara's face at the sensation of Nick's hand wrapped protectively around hers. It occurred to her that someone might see them holding hands and raise a few eyebrows, but at that moment she really didn't care.
As they approached the break room Warrick met them at the door. "You ready to do this?"