A/N: Been busy-busy-busy, and tired-tired-tired. Sorry. Not like it matters, though; it seems with every passing chapter, the review numbers go down! Heh. I'm running out of languages, so I'll just say – in English – thanks so much to those who actually reviewed the past chapter. :)

I must have re-written this chapter four times in the past week, but every time, my attempts were so bad that I ended up atcually laughing at them- not a good sign. This final one has taken me ages, and I'm still not completely happy with it, despite excessive tweaking, but hey, what are you gonna do?

Hank looked around awkwardly as his coworkers walked right past him, past Sara and Nick, and our through the reception area, glancing back at him and chuckling among themselves. Hank smiled self-consciously, muttering under his breath sarcastically. "Thanks, guys." He removed his hat, before facing the two people in front of him at the desk.

Nick looked over at Hank, his eyes cold and accusing. "What are you doin' here?" Hank was surprised at Nick's seemingly furious air, as he stared accusingly across at him. There may have been five feet between the two men, but the intensity of Nick's stare made Hank feel like he should have been standing much further away. Hank made a conscious effort to appear relaxed, although he found himself glancing quickly at the clock, wanting to escape the awkwardness as fast as possible.

"I was, uh, just dropping my scene report off to your case detective, with the other guys. Our shift's almost up." He paused slightly, before diverting his gaze to the woman beside Nick, smiling awkwardly at her. "Uh, hey, Sara." He feebly attempted to wave his hand.

Hearing Hank say her name as he had done so many times before, Sara felt unsteady for a second. The feeling of Nick's hand still on her back was the only thing that kept her from running as fast as she could, as far as she could go, as she forced herself to look up and into her ex-boyfriend's eyes, not returning his phoney smile. "Hey. How've you been?" Her question was warm, but her tone and expression were icy-cold.

"Uh, pretty good." Hank instantly regretted his choice of words, as Sara's snarky response made him wish he'd answered differently.

"Yeah, I bet."

"I mean, not good, but just… y'know…" He drifted off, exhaling, finally deciding upon something else to say. "Yourself?" He played with his baseball cap he held in his hands, wanting anything to concentrate on other than the look of hurt and anger in Sara's eyes. Although he would never admit it, he did still feel slightly guilty for everything he'd done.

"Great, actually. Never better." She raised her eyebrows to emphasise her point. Although she sounded sarcastic, Sara realised she was actually telling the truth. The weeks since their breakup had been hard and emotion-filled, but she felt a stronger person afterwards, and more true to who she really was. There was a pause, making the situation even more embarrassing for everyone than it had already been. Though Sara had been contemplating taking a slightly more mature and uninterested approach, she was both curious and wanting to humiliate Hank when she finally broke the silence. "Let me guess- Elaine still doesn't know?"

Hank's eyes flicked back to Sara's in surprise. "What? Sara… what the…? That's none of your business."

"That's a no, huh?" Nick and Sara both rolled their eyes, and Nick exhaled loudly through his nose. "And apparently, it is my business. You have to tell her. She deserves to know."

"Sara, this is between me and Elaine now. It's really none of your business."

"Not anymore. You're gonna tell her, though. A relationship is supposed to be based on honestly, though god knows how well that went down with us." She shook her head in disgust, closing her eyes. "If you don't tell her, I will." She glared at him.

Hank's expression got more heated as he took a step towards Sara, and Nick's defensive side took over. "Don't you dare touch her!" His sudden shout and lunge for Hank's shoulder made Sara jump. Hank, too, looked almost as surprised.

"Whoa, calm down, Stokes. I wasn't going to touch her. I don't ever plan to again". He snickered, causing Nick to move around Sara slightly, closer to him, as he spoke right up to his face.

"Get the hell out of our lab."

Hank's regular blank expression returned, as he replaced his hat on his head, and shifted his glace to the door down the end of the hallway. "I always knew about you two, anyway. I'll see you guys." He avoided eye contact and, in three quick strides, was past Nick and Sara and heading out towards the parking lot.

Sara didn't even turn around to watch him walk away down the hall. Instead, she stood exactly where he had been, Nick still gently stroking her back. She breathed out a long breath of air that she felt like she'd been holding forever, and then walked over to the wall of the deserted reception area, where she leaned back on it and closed her eyes as she sighed once again.

"I've been dreading that since the day we broke up."

Nick walked over to stand beside her, slipping his hand gently into hers. Sara was touched by his compassion, and although she hadn't felt it while Hank was there, she suddenly wanted to cry again. Nick squeezed her hand gently.

"Sara, it's over. Now anything else you ever say to him will just be work. You don't have to have the awkward conversation ever again."

Sara rolled her eyes. "I still can't believe he didn't tell her."

"I know. Asshole." Nick gritted his teeth in frustration, and unconsciously held Sara's hand a little tighter.

"I guess she's just not enough for him either. Sometimes, I think that nothing will ever be enough for that man. He was always pretty shallow about a lot of things." She released her hand from Nick's as she scratched the skin above her upper lip. "I always wondered what he ever saw in me."

His eyebrows moving up in surprise, Nick turned to look at her face-on. Sara looked back at him, an expression of confusion on her face. "What?"

"You wonder what he saw in you?"

Sara seemed to be missing Nick's point. "He was always so shallow. I could never understand why he was with me. Though I guess I know now- it wasn't just me he wanted. I was just... not enough"

Nick couldn't believe his ears. He moved even closer to Sara, standing right in front of her, their bodies touching lightly as she stood pressed against the hard wall of the lab. "Sara, come on. Any guy would be beyond lucky to even come close to having you."

Sara's eyes turned away in embarrassment, but Nick felt he had to continue, especially since he figured she wasn't feeling too great on the self-esteem level in her current situation.

"I'm serious, Sara. You're… you're everything. You're smart, and funny, and you're cute, and dedicated, and loyal, and gorgeous. You're an amazing person, and I can only hope that someday I'll find someone even half as amazing as you are."

Sara finally looked up at Nick, struck by the sincerity in his eyes. He looked intensely back down at her. She felt the overwhelming emotion of the past few weeks come flowing back to her again, mixed with the new feeling she was having because of Nick, and she felt her eyes fill with tears again. "But I don't want to be like I am now. I just keep thinking that maybe if I change, all this crap won't keep happening to me."

Nick smiled down at her. "Hank is a god damnmoron, who obviously had no idea how damn lucky he was. Don't you dare change. I'd miss you too much." A few tears spilled down her cheeks as she blinked a little.

He wrapped her in his arms, speaking into her hair.

"You're perfect just the way you are."

Sara sniffed, and wiped her eyes with one of her hands. "Nick, nobody's perfect." She leaned back a little from Nick and looked up into Nick's eyes, surprised by the emotion and almost longing she saw there.

"You are."