Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them. As always, coffee all around for George and Jorja...
Author's Note: Just some random thoughts that turned into this. Very Snicker oriented.
Nick looked back at Sara and quirked an eyebrow at her quizzically. "Are you going to sit there all day, or are you going to help me collect evidence?"
It was an unseasonably hot day even for Nevada in January and they had been called to a crime scene out in the middle of the desert in what had turned into a double shift. As Nick had descended from the vehicle, Sara had remained steadfast in her seat.
She shot him a bit of a glare. "My seatbelt is stuck." She had been trying to disengage the belt with little success.
Nick stood there with arms crossed watching her tug at the belt, as she continued to push the button before she finally smacked it in frustration. It was all Nick could do not to laugh.
She quirked an eyebrow of her own at him. "Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to try and help me get out of this thing?" Her brow furrowed in frustration and she let out a frustrated grunt.
Nick finally let loose a chuckle and then flashed Sara a sheepish grin as she shot him a glare. He raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm just gonna go check with Brass and see what we've got."
Sara watched as Nick sauntered off in the direction of the homicide detective and then felt a wave of embarrassment as she saw Nick jerk his thumb in her direction as Brass glanced at the vehicle and let out an obvious laugh. A few moments later, Nick was walking back towards his Denali and Brass had climbed into his department issued Taurus shaking his head and laughing before driving away.
Nick opened Sara's door and smirked. "Still stuck?"
Sara glared at him. "It's not funny."
"It is funny." He smiled at her.
"No it's not." Sara glowered as she tugged on the seatbelt again.
"Do you want me to help you?" Nick just stood there watching her, trying to keep his smile to a minimum.
Sara looked at him in exasperation. "Yes." Her tone clearly implied that his question was ridiculous.
Nick reached across her lap to where the seatbelt buckled and tried to get it to release.
As he worked away, Sara glanced at him, realizing just how close he was and felt a little flutter in the pit of her stomach. "Where did Brass go?" She reasoned that if she could start a conversation she wouldn't be able to think about how good Nick smelled.
Nick glanced at her, realizing at that moment exactly which part of her anatomy was at eye level. He quickly turned his attention back to the seatbelt. "He got called out to another scene. It looks like a body dump at first glance, so we'll process and wait for David to come get the body."
Sara muttered under her breath. "If I can ever get out of this damn thing."
Nick gritted his teeth and tugged. "This thing is really jammed." His action didn't seem to be having any effect on the stubborn seatbelt.
"Really, I hadn't noticed." Sara's tone was decidedly sarcastic. It was hot, she was tired, and Nick's proximity to her was making her even warmer.
Nick straightened up and looked at her, his arm resting on her lap. "Maybe we should try another approach."
Sara looked at him skeptically, she wasn't sure what other approach they could take. Cutting the seatbelts of a department issued vehicle was a last resort, especially when they still had to drive back to the lab after they processed the scene.
Nick tilted his head slightly and considered a few options. "Maybe if I come at it from the other side." He wasn't really consulting Sara, just merely thinking out loud. He unceremoniously walked around the SUV and climbed into the driver's side of the bench seat and flipped up the console so he could scoot over next to her.
Sara suddenly had an image of sitting with him at a drive-in movie fly through her mind and as more images filtered in she tried to keep her thoughts clean. This was after all her coworker and her friend. The fact that he was devastatingly handsome and she had found him attractive since they day she'd met him made this particularly difficult.
Nick wasn't paying particular attention to how close he was to Sara, just being in the same vehicle was enough to distract him; besides, he reasoned that if she had any idea what he'd been dreaming about her lately, he'd earn a nice whack upside the head. He began jerking at the seatbelt again, and it still wouldn't budge.
Sara was entertaining images of running her fingers through Nick's shortly cropped hair and briefly wondered what it might feel like to have his strong hands in places other than the seatbelt. She abruptly cleared her throat to break herself out of the downward spiral of her thoughts.
Nick's head snapped up at the sound. "You ok?" He found himself staring into her brown eyes.
"Uh, yeah." Sara's throat was dry and she couldn't seem to tear herself away from his gaze. She didn't believe a word she'd just said because she was acutely aware of just how close his face was to hers.
Nick's eyes drifted to her lips and he knew he was in trouble as he leaned towards her.
Sara's eyes fluttered shut in anticipation of a kiss and when it didn't come, she realized that another vehicle had pulled up and Nick had moved away from her.
Nick cleared his throat and looked at Sara as she opened her eyes. His voice was slightly husky. "It looks like David is here to get the body."
Sara just nodded. "I'm still stuck."
Nick smirked. "I guess we'll be cutting the seatbelt then."
David the assistant coroner walked up to the Denali with a curious expression on his face.
Before he could say anything, Nick gestured towards Sara. "She's stuck; the seatbelt's jammed. We're gonna have to cut her out."
David let out a sort of half laugh, picking up on some sort of strange tension between the two CSIs, but deciding not to say anything about it. "If you want to just point me in the direction of the body, I'll get my gear."
After filling David in on the body's location, Nick quickly cut Sara's seatbelt and the pair began to process the scene. Neither one of them mentioned what had almost happened in the Denali.
When they were finally done and ready to head back to the lab, Sara looked over at Nick. "I guess I'll be sitting in the backseat."
Nick smirked. "Now you just did that on purpose so you could make me play chauffeur."
Sara let out a soft laugh. "Of course I did."
The ride back to the lab was relatively quiet and when they arrived they launched themselves into processing the evidence. It was nearing the end of their second full shift when they decided that there wasn't much else they could do for the time being and as they walked out to the parking lot, Nick realized that he was without wheels since his Denali was now in having the seatbelt repaired by the department motor pool.
He glanced over at Sara with a sheepish expression. "Hey, Sara, do you think I could get a lift? I sort of forgot I don't have my rig."
She smirked. "I suppose so, but don't break my seatbelt."
He smirked back and quirked an eyebrow. "I believe that's your department."
Sara scoffed in protest. "I did not do that on purpose."
"Sure you didn't." He replied with mock skepticism. "Maybe you did that just so you could make sure you had to give me a ride home."
Sara pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn't keep from smiling anyway. "Just for that you owe me breakfast or lunch or whatever the hell meal we're supposed to be eating this time of day."
Nick busted out laughing and casually slung his arm over her shoulder as they made their way over to her vehicle. "Well it's about three-thirty, so I guess you can take your pick."
Sara was thoroughly enjoying the sensation of his arm across her shoulder and she wondered if he was thinking about that almost kiss earlier. She was so caught up thinking about what didn't happen between them that she almost walked right past her SUV.
"Uh, Sara, isn't this you?" Nick had a mixture of amusement and confusion on his face.
Sara looked over and could feel her cheeks burning. "Uh, yeah, I guess it is." She smirked and then quickly unlocked the doors so they could climb in.
"So what did you decide on?" Nick glanced over her as she pulled out of the parking spot.
Sara's expression was blank. "Huh?"
Nick let out a chuckle. "Food. You said I owe you. What were you hungry for?"
Sara was beginning to feel a little ridiculous that her attention span seemed to be about the same as a goldfish.
"I know this great place by my house that delivers if you just want to go there. No lines, no crowds." Nick hoped that she didn't misread his offer of having a meal at his house. It wasn't that he didn't want to be alone with her, he did, actually he probably wanted to be alone with her far too much, but he didn't want that almost kiss to slide by without some sort of acknowledgement and he didn't think that a noisy restaurant was the place to do that.
"Uh, sure." Sara smiled outwardly, but inside she was beginning to feel something akin to a mild panic at the thought of being alone with Nick when what she really wanted to do was complete that kiss and whatever else just might come after that.
"Ok, it's settled then. I've got a take-out menu on my fridge and we can order when we get there." He seemed pretty pleased with himself.
Just the mention of a menu on his fridge made Sara chuckle and she glanced over at him with a smirk. "You know, you really need to get out more." It was something that Nick had said to her in the middle of a case a while back that she'd tried to take to heart.
"Is that an offer?" Nick sounded very flirtatious. He was more than willing to test the waters to see just how open Sara would be to picking right up where David had interrupted them. He wasn't particularly interested in eating, but he decided that Sara's lips looked rather delicious.
Sara wasn't sure where her boldness came from, but she arched both brows and pursed her lips together. "Maybe."
Nick's eyes widened slightly. They had flirted shamelessly for over four years, but this was the first time that they were really on the verge of crossing that line. "Maybe, huh?"
Sara just kept her attention on the road doing her best to keep from smiling while Nick seemed to keep his attention on her. By the time they pulled up in front of Nick's house, there was palpable tension in the car. Neither one of them really said anything as they sauntered up to Nick's door, keeping stride with one another.
It was when the front door closed and Nick turned to say something to Sara that he found himself unable to speak because Sara's lips were on his. In the next instant he realized that words really weren't necessary because her kiss was telling him everything he wanted to know and by the way he was responding Sara was pretty sure she knew exactly what he was thinking. By the time they pulled apart they were both breathless.
They stared at each other for a long moment and as a grin began to spread across Nick's face, Sara cleared her throat as she tried to suppress a smile. "Well, now that we have that cleared up."
The End