Disclaimer and Notes: I own Seasons 1-4 on DVD, but that's all I own. Sorry it took me so long to update, life's been hectic. I should have another one up by the weekend though, pending exam grades and my allotted online time stemming from them.

Chapter Four:

Catherine threw a case folder down on her desk, a scowl evident on her face. She was not happy about this turn of events, not in the least. If she hadn't opened her big mouth to Ecklie, she wouldn't be participating in the "CSI Shuffle" as Greg so blatantly put it.

There had been a meeting to discuss Sara's incident, and the obvious lack of management of the situation. In essence, Ecklie demanded the blame be put on someone, and since Catherine was in charge, he had immediately laid it all on her. She had fought back, saying it was Grissom's place to tend to his employees. She had been the lead on the case, yes, but Grissom was in charge of his own employees, he chose who to call in and who to not.

After arguing for 45 minutes, Grissom and Catherine agreed to both take the blame, and Ecklie triumphantly dished out the consequences for the lack of management. Sara was being forced to swing shift, Warrick being transferred to nights.

If Catherine would have just kept her mouth shut, there would have probably just been an oral reprimand, maybe something written up, but instead, she made the one comment that sent the two shifts into turmoil once more. She told Ecklie that in Grissom's position, she wouldn't have called Sara in, she would have heeded Sara's warning that she was too sick to work. At the time, she was angry. Looking back, she wasn't sure if she even would have taken Sara's word without actually seeing her, on a case such as this.

Either way, she had opened her mouth and stuck her foot right in. Ecklie's consolation over the new staffing arrangements was to offer a second choice, which included demoting both Catherine and Grissom back to CSI's, and hiring/promoting two others to supervise the swing and graveyard shift.

It wouldn't have been a bad arrangement, except that Ecklie tacked on the part about them not working as a team, like that had worked so well in the past, instead, he'd take all three shifts and randomly reassign them to work days, swing, or graveyard. Catherine had cut her losses and agreed to swapping Warrick and Sara, although she was already mentally trying to decipher a plan to switch them back.

It was no secret that the two women didn't get along. That was probably the main reason Ecklie suggested it, knowing it would drive them both insane (of course, it wasn't a long drive for either one) and knowing he'd have Sara's badge within a month, if it even took that long.

Sara came to Vegas for Grissom, stayed in Vegas for Grissom, and would probably leave now that she wasn't working with Grissom anymore. Of course, the recent events may have altered her view of him a bit, seeing how upset and hurt she had been that he didn't trust her judgement about calling in sick. Grissom had always been able to calm her, a bit, they were too much alike for their own good, but Sara working with Catherine's personality was asking for trouble.

Being short two CSI's, with Sara being out for at least another week or two, and Nick conveniently taking vacation time, which even though she needed the help, she didn't want to deny him, she had borrowed Warrick back to help out on the cases that were piling up, with everyone working the murder. At least, for now, she could pretend that things were still the way they were the week before.

Nick opened the door to Sara's apartment, his arm wrapped around her as he led her in and guided her to the sofa. She looked a lot better than she had three days ago, her face had slight bit more color, she had stopped coughing as much, although she was still coughing quite a bit, and her fever had stayed down long enough for them to discharge her, which happened three days too late, in Sara's perspective.

"You really don't need to stay with me." Sara said weakly, her body still sore from her illness, the walk from the car to her apartment wearing her out, "I'll probably just sleep the day and night away, I'm so tired."

Nick placed her overnight bag on a chair across from the sofa, giving her a smirk, "You're supposed to be tired, Sara, you were really sick. You still are sick, just because they let you come home doesn't mean you're ready to pick up and go to work, you hear me?"

"I know that, Nick, my ears work, I heard the doctor tell me I was out for at least two weeks, pending a check up." Sara snapped, "I hate feeling like I'm being babysat."

"I'm not babysitting you," Nick chastised, "I'm looking out for you as a friend. You scared the hell out of all of us, and I don't want you to have a relapse or something. Besides, who's going to help you if you need anything? What if you're too tired to even cook for yourself? Someone has to take care of you, that's that friends do."

Sara, despite her irritation, gave Nick a smile, "So you'll even cook for me? Can you cook? I mean, besides ordering pizza and picking up a six-pack?"

"I grew up with a family full of women, of course I can cook." Nick said over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen, "And you need to eat with your medicine, so I'll fix you something right now and prove it."

"A family full of women, huh?" Sara asked, raising her voice so that it carried into the kitchen, "That explains why you're so feminine."

Nick's head shot up from the fridge to glare at Sara, "I am not feminine. I'm 100 percent man. Do I need to prove it?"

"And how would you do that? Strip down to nothing and have your way with me right here on the couch?" She laughed at his surprised expression, "Not that I'd let you do that, mind you, I'm just curious to see how you'll prove your non-feminine side to me."

"You know what? If you weren't so drugged up, you'd be all over the chance to have me on your couch. I just wouldn't take advantage of a sick woman, that's all." Nick said defensively, his ego deflating a bit at her statement.

Sara flashed him a bright smile, "Keep telling yourself that, cowboy, keep telling yourself that."

Nick was silent for a moment, the only sound floating through the apartment being Nick rummaging through the cabinets in Sara's kitchen. After a few minutes, he walked back into the living room, his arms crossed, "Who delivers in this neighborhood?"

"What? I thought you were a master chef?" Sara asked, barely containing her smile, "Who needs delivery when we've got Emeril Stokes in the house?"

"I can't cook if you don't have any food," He held up his hand as she opened her mouth to protest, "And I don't count bread that is green, or cheese with mold as food. I think your ketchup is even expired."

Sara rolled her eyes, "That's why I order take out. Menus are in the drawer under the telephone."

"I'll stop by the store tonight and pick up a few things. Takeout is not healthy enough to feed someone recovering from pneumonia, Sara, it's not healthy enough to boost the immune system high enough to ward off infections, period."

Sara rolled her eyes again, "Don't pretend like the trash can outside of your house isn't filled with pizza boxes and Chinese cartons, I've been to your place, I know you don't cook."

"But I'm not the one sick, now, am I?" Nick grinned, "Go take a nap, I'll wake you up when the food gets here. Veggie pizza or cheese pizza?"

Sara shrugged, "Either one, as long as no cow or pig bits are stewing in their own fat on top of it, I'm fine."

"You put that so nicely," Nick replied, making a face, "Do you think you can walk to your bedroom okay? You're still a little shaky."

"I'll be fine, dad, I'll let you know if I need help."

It was Nick's turn to roll his eyes dramatically, "Sure, because you always let someone know when you need help, Miss I-was-sick-for-nearly-a-month-before-going-to -the-doctor." He motioned to a beige kit they had brought home with them from the hospital, "You need to do a breathing treatment before you go to sleep, it's that time again, but we'll go in your room to do it."

"You really would do anything to see me in my pajamas, to be in my bedroom with me, wouldn't you?" Sara teased as she slowly walked down the hall into her bedroom, "If you want to hang out in there, all you have to do is ask."

She bent down and grabbed the pajamas she had discarded when changing for work a few days prior, throwing them in the hamper. Sure, she had only worn them for an hour or so, but they smelled awful. She slid open a dresser drawer, pulling out some grey drawstring pants and a camouflage t-shirt and hastily pulling them on as she heard Nick's footsteps approaching.

She picked up the tissue scattered around her bed, tossing them in the trash, before pulling her bedspread off and getting a new blanket from her closet, along with a new set of sheets and a new pillowcase. She turned to face Nick, simply stating "germs", and motioned for him to help her re-make her bed.

After being certain that everything was like it would normally look, down to having Nick bring two empty glasses to the dishwasher, she dropped onto her bed, leaning against her pillows as she slid on the clear oxygen mask, cursing slightly as she tried to work the machine like the doctor had showed her.

She awoke 45 minutes later, only vaguely aware that she still wore an oxygen mask on her face. Nick was standing over her, shaking her gently, "Pizza's here, Sar, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, sure." Sara replied groggily. "Pizza's here already?"

Nick smiled and playfully tapped his watch, "It's been almost an hour, sleeping beauty. I guess you were serious when you said you were tired?"

"Yeah, I guess I was." Sara replied with a yawn, "Want to eat in here? I'm really tired, I honestly don't feel like moving to the living room."

Nick grinned, "I'd be more than happy to share a meal in bed with a beautiful woman."

"You're so lame." Sara replied tiredly, "What do you want to do tonight?"

Nick rolled his eyes, "Well, first I plan on making sure you get tucked in to sleep, then I'll probably watch TV until I get tired. I may go to the store and buy you some edible food."

"I don't have to go right back to sleep, we can watch TV in here or something, together." Sara suggested, "If you insist on staying here, it's my duty to entertain you."

Nick laughed, "Sara, you're in no condition to entertain a rock, much less a person. I'll make you a deal, we can watch a movie together, and if I see you're getting too tired, I'll take it in the living room to finish. You seriously need to take it easy, or else you'll be back in the hospital."

"Don't even joke about that." Sara warned, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Nick shrugged, "Who's joking? I'll be right back with your pizza, madame."

He was back in less than two minutes, a pizza in one hand, two sodas in the other. "It's not as good as pizza and beer, but it's better than pizza and water. Just don't let anyone hear this is what I fed you while you were sick, okay? I'd never hear the end of it."

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul." Sara smiled, "Nicky, you're a good friend."

Nick was silent, a smile on his face and a slight blush creeping into his cheeks as he put a slice of pizza on the paper plate he found in Sara's cabinets. There was nothing he'd rather be doing than sitting in Sara's bed, close enough to where they were practically touching, sharing a meal with the woman he had been dreaming about for years. Nothing could deflate the happiness he was feeling right now.

Well, nothing besides the phone, which chose that exact moment to ring.

Nick's cell phone, which was still fastened to his belt, starting to ring, and he grabbed it while muttering a few curses under his breath, "Stokes."

"It's Catherine."

"I'm off, you know that. Please tell me you're not calling me in for work." Nick groaned, rubbing his forehead tiredly. He didn't usually mind picking up extra hours, but he knew wherever he was, his mind would be focused on Sara, not the evidence.

"No, actually, I don't need you to come in. I do need to speak with you and Sara though, we're having a team meeting with graveyard, and it's on some topics you and Sara need to be briefed on."

Nick could hear the apology in Catherine's voice without her having to say the words, and he looked over at Sara, whispering, "Cath is having a meeting with both of our shifts, and she needs to talk to us."

"Tell her she can come by if she needs." Sara yawned, barely finding the energy to eat the one slice of pizza on her plate, "Unless she wants to do it over the phone."

"Actually, in person sounds good."

Nick wanted to laugh at Catherine's eavesdropping skills, it was very much like her to not wait to be told, to just listen to the other end of the conversation. "Greg said he was stopping by later on as well, why don't you just have the meeting here?" He looked to Sara, "Would that be okay?"

"I really don't care," Sara replied, her eyes half closed, "Just let me get a nap in first, okay?"

"I'll talk to Grissom and see if he wants to do it at Sara's. If he does, we'll come after shift, if he doesn't, I'll see you guys tomorrow afternoon before I have to get in."

"Keep us informed." Nick replied, turning off his phone and looking over to Sara, "She's going to run it by Gris and see if he wants to talk to us all together or wait and give us our bit later. They'll either come by after shift, graveyard, or before Cath's goes in to work tomorrow afternoon."

Sara nodded, taking a sip of her soda and placing the can on the bedside table, on top of a stack of magazines that Greg had left her with. She placed her paper plate on top of the pizza box, yawning, "I'm full."

"And sleepy." Nick replied, "It's okay if this is taking a lot out of you, go to sleep, I'll be fine by myself."

Sara shook her head, murmuring sleepily, "I want you to stay with me."

"Who can argue with that?" Nick asked with a smile, lifting the pizza box and putting it on a nearby chair, crawling back into bed next to Sara and wrapping his arms around her, "I'll stay as long as you need me to."

As Sara drifted back to sleep, Nick could have sworn he heard her murmur, "Forever?"

TBC