Disclaimer/Author's Note – See Chapter One.

Chapter Four - Breakfast

Warrick let out a lion-roar of a yawn, stretching his long body to get rid of the kink in his back. It had been a long shift. Thankfully, it was now almost at an end. All there was left to do now was to head over to fingerprints and check in with Jackie.

'Hey,' he greeted the fingerprints expert sleepily. 'What you got for me?'

'A load of nothing, I'm afraid. Print doesn't match the two victims or their friends.'

'Killer's print?' Warrick wanted to know.

'Maybe. But AFIS kicked nothing out. Sorry Warrick,' she replied. 'If this is your perp, he's not in the system.'

'Damn,' Warrick exclaimed. 'Grissom know yet?'

'I just finished running it. You want to do the honours?'

Warrick shrugged in reply and headed out, with a 'thanks anyway,' over his shoulder. For a brief moment, he had allowed himself to believe that this was going to be an easy one. So much for his wishful thinking…

Sara tapped on the frame of Grissom's open door, and he greeted her with a soft smile.

'Shift over?' he asked.

'Yeah. I'm heading out. Wanted to say goodnight. Or good morning, really…' she replied, smiling back at him.

Grissom inclined his head, gesturing for her to come closer. She walked to the edge of his desk, stealing a glance behind her to make sure no one was around.

'Would you like to have breakfast?' he asked in a sotto voice.

'Sure. I always have breakfast in the mornings,' she replied, teasing him.

He flashed her one of his faux frowns, good-naturedly berating her for making fun of him. 'I meant with me,' he said with a sigh.

'I know,' she said. 'And yes.'

'I'll see you outside in a minute then,' he told her. She smiled in reply and turned to see Warrick standing in the doorway.

'Hey, Sara,' Warrick greeted her. 'You off?'

'Yeah,' she replied, wondering how much, if anything, he had heard. This is becoming a theme, she thought.

'Want to get some breakfast? I'm buying,' the handsome CSI offered with a smile.

Sara almost glanced back at Grissom, but stopped herself just in time. 'Um, another time, 'Rick. I'm kinda tired. But, thanks.'

'Another time. I'll hold you to that,' Warrick replied.

'Did you come to see me or Sara, Warrick?' Grissom asked, his voice a strange mixture of amusement and annoyance.

'You, boss.'

'Bye, you guys,' Sara said, heading out the door. 'See you tonight.'

'Bye, Sara,' Grissom replied, before turning to Warrick. 'Well?'

'Nothing on the print, Gris,' Warrick told his boss. 'Whoever left it isn't on the system.'

'And it doesn't match our victims?'

'No match to them or their friends,' Warrick said, shaking his head. 'So it might be our killer.'

'Maybe,' Grissom replied. 'Or it could be someone at a car wash, or a bag boy at the supermarket… anyone who might have had a legitimate reason for touching that car.'

'It has to have been someone who touched the car recently though,' Warrick insisted. 'In a dry climate like Vegas, prints don't last long outside.'

Grissom suppressed a retort, but couldn't stop a wry smirk appearing on his face. If memory served (and it usually did), he was the one who had told Warrick that, his first year as a CSI. 'Anything else?' he asked instead.

'That's all for now. DNA is still running the condom Nick found.'

'Good. Well, shift's over. Go home and get some rest.'

'Yes sir,' Warrick said with a smirk. 'You too.'

'Grissom? When you asked me for breakfast, I assumed we'd be going to the Pancake Palace or Waffle World…'

'Now, Ms Sidel, what have I repeatedly told you about assuming things?'

'It makes an ass out of you and me…' Sara repeated, with the mock-resignation of a pupil repeating her teacher's teachings by rote. 'Still, I didn't expect you to cook.'

Grissom was at that moment cooking what smelled like a killer Spanish omelette. 'What? You didn't know I could cook?' he asked. 'I happen to be a man of many talents.'

Sara grinned and bit back a saucy retort. She'd save it for later in the relationship. That word stopped her thoughts dead in their tracks. Relationship. She was contemplating an actual relationship with Gil Grissom. The thought sent shivers of anticipation up and down her spine.

As they sat down at the table, she broached the subject that had been plaguing both of their minds. 'So, that was twice in one day we were almost overheard at work…'

'You're assuming that Warrick didn't hear us,' Grissom remarked, inclining his fork towards her while making his point.

'Well, assuming he didn't, just for the moment…' she began then stopped. She wasn't sure if she was ready to have this discussion with him yet. After all, they'd technically only been on one date.

Luckily, Grissom saved her the trouble. 'You're worried because you believe that eventually, people at work will find out about us,' he said.

'Isn't it a little early to be calling us an 'us'?' she asked with a smile.

'Are you complaining or merely enquiring?' Grissom raised an eyebrow.

'Hey, no complaints here. I was just wondering where you were.'

Grissom took a moment to ponder that, chewing his omelette slowly and methodically. Eventually his eyes met hers, and she was surprised to see very little fear or uncertainty in them.

'I think that 'this' has been upgraded to an 'us', or at least a potential 'us', don't you?'

Sara didn't reply, waiting to hear what else Grissom was planning to say; butterflies dancing violently round her stomach.

'I think that, given that it's still early days, it might be an idea to avoid the people at work finding out about the… changed nature of our relationship,' he suggested. 'What do you think?'

'I think that, as we're both the very definition of the word 'private', I wholeheartedly agree,' Sara replied, adopting his almost formal sentence construction with amusement. She grinned at him. 'It also might be kind of fun.'

'Oh, there will be fun, Sara,' he replied. 'That's something that both our lives have been seriously lacking for a while. And I intend to change that.'

They dropped the subject of work abruptly, and turned to other things: a movie that Sara was interested in seeing, a restaurant Grissom had been keen to try and now planned on taking her to. Soon breakfast was over and Sara found herself getting tired. Grissom noticed.

'You should go home and get some rest,' he told her, a hint of regret in his tone that suggested he didn't want their morning together to end.

Stifling a yawn, Sara nodded. 'I guess I'd better.'

He walked her to the door and they stood for a moment, a degree of uncertainty descending on them. It had been almost two weeks since their first, and so far only, kiss. Sara was more than ready for a second one, but had decided to leave that ball firmly in Grissom's court.

She gave him a soft smile and reached for the door handle. 'See you tonight,' she said, turning to leave.

'Sara,' he breathed, placing his hand on her shoulder.

'Mmm?' she replied, her pulse picking up speed at his touch.

'Does this count as our second date?'

She thought for a moment. 'I guess it does,' she replied softly.

'In that case, I'd like it to end how the first one never got a chance to,' he said, turning her to face him. He placed a tentative hand on her cheek and tilted her face up towards him.

'You were planning to kiss me on the first date?' Sara teased.

'Most definitely,' he replied, as he lowered his lips onto hers.

TBC.