No sooner had Nick and Sara began processing the scene than the media began showing up in droves, satellite trucks and reporters trying to get the scoop on what they were referring to as the Rodeo Mall Stampede. Apparently, the arrival of a scandal-ridden senator at the Bellagio wasn't big enough news.

Nick glanced over at Sara as she was carefully dusting the outside of the door to the store for prints. "I swear they must be part vulture and part bloodhound." He gestured to the half dozen reporters primping for an on camera commentary while the camera crews panned the crowd for background shots.

"Piranha is more like it." Sara was always disgusted by how the media not only jumped on someone else's tragedy, they did it all in the name of the First Amendment and journalism. Why they couldn't profile the local animal shelter or food bank at this time of year was beyond her.

Nick let out a wry chuckle and shook his head. "You know what they say; if it bleeds it leads." He knew they most likely weren't going to find much in the way of useable evidence at the scene, not with the amount of people that had been pressed up against the door. The real story was going to most likely come from the video surveillance footage that Brass was in the process of retrieving from store security.

"You know it seems to me that they might try and report on good news once in a while." Her thoughts seemed to be gathering steam as she continued. "I mean the way they report it, you'd think that it wasn't safe to leave your house." She let out a frustrated sigh and then stopped to check her progress on printing the glass door. "You know this is all one big smudge."

Nick gave her an apologetic smile. "It's just a door, Sara." He didn't like seeing her so frustrated and part of him wondered if it had more to do with the fact that she never seemed to go anywhere or spend any time with anyone special on holidays than the fact that the door didn't want to yield any useable prints. He considered again that he needed to ask her on a date, however, asking her out at a crime scene just didn't seem like quite the right time.

She furrowed her brow. "I seem to recall that you said that about a radiator cap once." Just once she'd like to have a murder case that was straight forward and full of evidence.

"I did, but even then you got your guy without the radiator cap." He smiled at her and gestured towards the inside of the store. "If you think you're about done there, I'm gonna go get those tapes from Brass and we can get out of here."

She didn't say anything in return; she was still staring closely at the glass door hoping against hope that she could isolate one good print. A radiator cap was one thing, but a flat surface like this glass door was completely another. She wasn't backing down from the challenge.

Nick patted her on the shoulder and stood up; going off in search of Brass who he hoped had possession of the video surveillance tapes. He didn't know about Sara, but after working an entire shift and then processing this scene, he needed a break. Maybe he could get that breakfast date in with Sara yet; that is if he could muster the courage to let her know he wanted it to be a date. He was fairly certain that she wouldn't mind stopping for something to eat on the way back to the lab.

A short time later, Nick returned to the front of the store with two video surveillance tapes in hand. Sara was still studying the door, ignoring nasty comments being volleyed by shoppers who were still waiting in line in hopes that they might yet get a killer deal inside the store, just not the sort of deal that the still unidentified victim had.

Nick crouched down next to Sara and couldn't help but smile as he watched her tape lift a partial print. "Got something?"

She nodded. "I think so." She gestured towards her open kit. "I've lifted three partials and part of what I think might be the heel of someone's hand."

"I talked to Brass. He said that the security guards didn't see anything out of the ordinary until our vic jumped to the front of the line. Apparently, the witnesses all say the same thing." He watched as she carefully taped the lifted print down on a card.

Sara didn't look up as she continued looking for any other prints that might be helpful. "Doesn't mean they saw what really happened." She pursed her lips together as she realized that she wasn't going to get anything else off of the door.

"Hungry?" He could tell that if she didn't stop to eat, they'd both be running on fumes by the time they got away from the lab to go to their respective homes. Maybe over breakfast he could test the waters to see if she might be receptive to a date. Of course the risk that it posed to their friendship was considerable and that's probably why he hadn't asked her out as yet.

The faintest hint of a smile began to tug at her lips. "Yeah."

"How about breakfast and a movie then?" He smirked at her as he held up the video surveillance tapes.

She let out a soft chuckle and stowed the last print card in her kit. "That's an offer I can't refuse." There was a part of her that wished that he wasn't just making a witty comment and that he actually wanted to ask her out. She had thought about it many times over the last four and half years since she'd met him, but they had become such fast friends when she'd come to Vegas and real friends were in such short supply that she wasn't sure she wanted to risk it. Having Grissom reject her was bad enough, she didn't know what she'd do if she took the risk and Nick rejected her too.

"You drive, I'll buy." Nick grinned at her as he stood up.

Sara couldn't help but smile. "Now this offer's getting better and better." She always enjoyed flirting with Nick and now was no exception, it made doing the job easier and it gave her ego a huge boost that someone as charming and good looking as Nick even took the time to flirt with her.

Nick held up the pair of surveillance tapes and winked. "Even better, it's a double feature."