Disclaimer: I own CSI. Really. Oh, look, a flying pig!

Chapter 14

Usually Alex hated Mondays. They depressed her, the start of a whole new week of work to come.

Today however, was a whole different thing.

She and Nick had spent the weekend together, talking and discussing her powers - Nick asking questions to his heart's content, while Alex did her best to answer. Even she didn't know everything about her powers, though at first Nick believed she did. They had grown closer as they talked, and Alex had even managed to convince Nick to learn some focusing techniques with her.

All in all, Alex felt distinctly cheerful at being able to come into work with a whole new attitude towards life, and a new boyfriend to top it off.

"You look happy," noted Greg when she entered the break room.

The young healer smiled and nodded, fishing around in a drawer and tossing him a bag…

"My child! My precious!" exclaimed the DNA lab tech once he'd spotted what was inside. Eyes shining with unshed tears, he looked at her, and bowed. "For returning my Blue Hawaiian, Alex, I am forever in your debt."

Rolling her eyes at the corny behavior, Alex pointed out, "It's just coffee, Greg."

"You have no idea, do you?" returned Greg, before skipping off to hide his stash.

Shaking her head in fond amusement, Alex sipped some of her coffee, feeling like a million dollars.

The feeling intensified when a pair of arms slid around her, and she turned, smiling into Nick's eyes.

"We're at work," she pointed out.

"Do you always state the obvious like that?" asked Nick, eyes lit with something like loving amusement.

"When I have to, yes." Firmly she extricated herself from his embrace. "Not at work, Nicky."

Sighing, he nodded. "Okay."

A cough alerted them to Grissom's presence. Both of them turned automatically. Grissom gave them both his angelic smile as he held out a folder for Nick.

"Possible suicide at the Monaco," he said, in his quiet voice. "Catherine's waiting for you outside."

Taking the folder, Nick nodded, and headed out, only pausing to ask, "Alex, you free after shift?"

She gave him a surprised look. "Yeah. Unless some inconsiderate people choose to burden me with piles of evidence."

Nick grinned. "Okay, I'll take you for breakfast." He winked. "Not Rosa's this time."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that a girl had to agree to be taken out first. Did I say I wanted to go out with you?"

The CSI 3 glanced at her, uncertain. "Uh, no?"

"Well?" She frowned at him.

"Um, do you want to go out with me for breakfast?" Nick asked meekly, wondering if he'd blown it.

Alex gave him a grin. "Yeah, of course I would!"

A beat passed, before Nick realized she'd been playing him all along.

He grinned. "Okay, I'll see you there."

Grissom rolled his eyes at all their fooling around, and left Alex in the break room with a friendly grin.

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She was being followed. It was a blue Camero, and it had been shadowing Nick and Alex for the past hour or so after their shift had ended. All the way from the crime lab.

"Nick, can you excuse me for a second?" Alex asked, releasing her grip on his arm with a sweet smile.

He gave her a surprised look, but nodded. "Sure."

"Be right back," Alex promised. With that, she turned, heading directly over to the Camero parked by the curb. Leaning over, she tapped on the window until the driver rolled it down.

"You following me for a reason, or don't you have enough work to do?" she asked the culprit, eyebrows raised.

Terry Shan took one look at his sister's face and figured that she wasn't going to accept anything but the truth.

"Oh, I have enough work to get me stressed just thinking about it," he responded, nodding to Nick as the CSI came over, "But Dad put me on babysitting duty."

"Why?" Alex leaned right in, growling a little. Terry had always suspected she was part feral.

"He cares so much about his little baby girl and wants to make sure her new boyfriend is taking good care of her," he offered.

Nick gave him a disgusted look. "Your dad really thought I'd hurt Alex? What kind of person does he think I am?"

The young woman in question laughed at that, swatting her boyfriend on the arm. "Nick," she said, "He's either being sarcastic, or lying."

She turned a glare at her brother. "Cut the BS."

Terry grunted. "I told Dad you wouldn't fall for it." Coming clean, he explained. "Your last scan showed you had some sort of intense power surge in your mind the day you collapsed. Dad thinks you had a new mutant growth spurt."

"A what?" Nick.

"New mutant DNA is in constant flux and mutation," explained Terry. "It means that sooner or later, they all undergo a sort of power amplification, which we call a 'growth spurt'."

"Which means my healing and precog powers are a lot stronger than before I collapsed," summarized Alex. Nick didn't miss the sudden uncertainty in the brown gaze, and he squeezed her arm reassuringly.

"Hey," he admonished gently. "I'm not going anywhere."

Alex nodded, eyes smiling at him. She turned to her brother. "But Terry, it couldn't have been a growth spurt. Growth spurts don't hurt!"

Her brother nodded. "I told Dad that, he said since you weren't using your healing powers, and you weren't having a vision, your powers didn't have an outlet when your growth spurt hit. Therefore it gave you a serious migraine and it resulted in your collapsing. But now, you should be fine…but Dad made me shadow you just in case."

She rolled her eyes. "When will he realize that I'm no longer a baby?"

Terry rolled his eyes. "Well," he said, "I'm off to tell Dad I've been discovered…and TJ owes me ten bucks."

"How long did he think it would take me to notice?" asked Alex dryly.

"A week." Terry shot her a grin, before rolling up the window and driving off.

Nick moved to wrap himself around Alex once Terry was out of sight, as the young woman seemed about to collapse.

"Hey," he murmured. "We can always take a raincheck on dinner."

She looked at him. "Thanks, Nick."

She sounded so tired. "It hasn't been easy, has it?" asked Nick, steering Alex to his Tahoe.

She looked at him. Nodded. "No," she agreed softly, "It hasn't." Reaching to touch his cheek, Alex felt her body shudder with a vision, this one making her open her eyes to stare at Nick in wonder.

"What is it?" he asked, worried despite her smile.

Alex turned to face him, leaning in close as though to kiss him, but instead, she whispered, "How do you feel about becoming a father?"

Nick just stared at her, unable to believe what he'd just heard. "What?"

The young healer gave him a smile, before moving to the Tahoe and getting in without another word.

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Shout-outs go to:

Kat Hawkins - Like I told SpectralLady, the puppy dog eyes won't work on me. I am a puppy...a wolf puppy, but still a puppy. :p I do however accept bribes in the form of George Eads in chocolate sauce, and/or doggie treats. And don't worry about the men inwhite. I took care of them. (flashes feral eyes)

SpectralLady - Who said it was going to end? I'm still going strong, I just don't update so often cause I'm busy, and i have another fic, Jason:Reloaded to work on with Rhi...Other than that, have fun and keep reading!

love N/S - Thank you so much for the links, I even joined the Yahoo! group you sent to me... I read the interview, it seems George made a deal with Jorja Fox that if they both were still single at age 45, they'd marry each other...LOL, I wish he would marry me...now I gotta get to him before he turns 45...

gelf - I'll see if i can persuade RO and Ginger to come. They're busy people, but they never miss anything where there's "grape juice" involved.Make sure there's dog food for me, I like dog food, and Pokemon food for my minions...I've learnt a well-fed minion is an obedient and loyal minion. >:)

Okay guys! See you all in the next installment! (waves)