A/N: You wanna know something freaky? Most of this was written before 11pm.
You know it's a good sign when you're writing because you want to, and not because you think you should, and when you're writing without even trying, and you're suddenly like, "Whoa, I wrote one and a half thousand words just now." Hopefully, the creative urge will stick with me!
Oh, yeah, and thanks for the reviews! At the risk of soundy all teeny-bopper, I love you guys!
The rest of the short ride was a quiet one, until Catherine pulled up outside the notorious Tangiers casino. Nick and Sara had continuedtheir hand-flirtation for the duration of the ride, an act that did not go completely unnoticed by Catherine from the drivers seat. She had again, however, chosen to let it slide, and decided to just ask them about it later, especially since they'd been acting so oddly previously.
As Catherine pulled up to the front entrance, she pushed her hair behind her ears and turned to speak to her two co-workers. "Okay, so, you guys know the drill. Video surveillance, and any security who may have seen anything. Brass has the colleagues covered. I'll pick you up here in about two hours, but call if you need me sooner. I'm gonna be over at the police station, so I can come grab you anytime. And for god's sake, don't talk to the media. Casino hits always get the big publicity, and this is no different, so everything is 'no comment', okay?" She took off her sunglasses and looked both CSIs in the eye.
Sara tried to refrain from rolling her eyes. "Cath, we've done this before. Don't worry. Go do your phone records, and we'll see you in a little while."
Nick was already out of the car, walking around to open Sara's door for her. She smiled up at him as she got out, and he offered her his hand. She glanced over at Catherine hesitantly before taking it, squeezing it lightly as she grinned at him and tilted her head over. Nick leaned back down spoke to Catherine through the open door. "We'll be fine. Have fun at the station." He slammed the door and turned back to Sara, who had taken their kits from the trunk of the car. "Shall we?"
The two of them, each carrying their respective gear, made their way into the casino, where the head of video surveillance was waiting for them. The seemingly flustered man checked his huge gold watch constantly as he busily hurried them into a small room near the reception area; one wall covered in a seemingly endless number TV monitors. The man spoke quickly to them. "So, Marty's recovered all the tapes from the day your detective asked for, and they're all loaded up, so you guys just tell him what areas of the casino you're looking for, and at what times, okay? Okay. If you need anything, I'll be right outside, okay? Okay. He's all yours, guys." He gestured at the bored-looking man sitting at the far desk, who looked up and gave a half-hearted wave.
Nick and Sara make their way over to the desk as the man with the gold watch bustled past them, muttering something about the new slot machines. Marty smiled tiredly at the twosome. "Hey, guys. Sorry about that. Carl's a little… uptight."
"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed." All three of them smiled at Sara's sarcastic response. "You have our tapes?"
"I most certainly do. Be warned, though; over seventy cameras throughout the casino area alone, five-hour tapes, twenty-four hour surveillance. You do the math." He rolled his eyes, smiling particularly at Sara, which she seemed oblivious to.
"Well, lucky for us, we only need to look at a particular area. How many monitors can you have running at a time here?"
"As many as you want. We can have the entire day's worth of tapes all playing at the same time, if need be."
Nick grinned, his eyes glittering at Sara. "Excellent."
A little under two hours later, having found all they needed to find, Nick and Sara were waiting outside the casino for Catherine to collect them. Sara held the large, plastic evidence bag clutched to her chest. The two of them leaned against the wall of the noisy parking lot, Nick going over his notes he'd collected from a security guard who'd been working near the scene where the victim was, the last night she'd been seen. They'd been surprisingly lucky with the media, and hadn't been approached once, despite Nick's attire of his navy-blue CSI vest.
Nick closed his notebook, returned it to his kit, and then turned to Sara, who was looking the other way. He gestured at the evidencebag she held."You sure you don't want me to carry that?"
"Nick, they're just tapes. I'm sure I can cope." She smirked at him, and then suddenly felt guilty at the slightly hurt look in his expression. "But thank you."
"Of course. I betcha Marty's jealous of those tapes right now." He smiled widely at her.
Sara chuckled, her mouth agape in mock offence. "Excuse me?"
"Come on. He was totally flirting with you the whole time we were in there."
An expression of half embarrassment, half confusion crossed Sara's face. "He was?"
"Yes, he was. In shameless, and slightly alarming way. Didn't you see the way he kept only telling you what exactly we were looking at, gave you his card, asked you to call him if we needed anything else?"
"I didn't really notice." Sara felt herself blushing slightly as she realised she wasn't joking. How was she ever meant to date again, if she couldn't even tell when someone was flirting with her? She tried to cover up her slight humiliation. "And how can you be sure he was flirting, anyway? Are these the classic 'flirting moves' that he stole from you, Nick? Huh?" She edged herself a little closed to him along the wall, nudging his arm playfully with hers. He nudged her back.
"Ahh, a gentleman never tells."
They both smiled, and neither one of them moved from the close proximity until Catherine pulled up in front of them less than five minutes later. Sara chose to sat beside her in the front this time, and Nick still insisted on opening her door for her before he got in himself. Sara raised her eyebrows at him as she eased herself into the seat, grinning. "So does this count as flirting, too?"
Nick grinned back at her. "Only if you want it to be."
The three of them made their way back to the crime lab, Catherine speaking in an victorious tone about her finding with the phone records as she weaved through the traffic. Sara nodded when she felt it would probably fit, but to tell the truth, neither her or Nick was really listening very hard. Instead, Sara was dreaming of the huge cup of coffee she planned to pour herself the second she got to the lab, while Nick was leaning very slightly forward, and reaching his hand around the far side of Sara's seat. Although she could feel his hand near her stomach, she was surprised when he suddenly started ticking her hip, and spontaneously burst into a fit of screaming giggles as she slammed herself back against the seat. Catherine slammed the brakes on in surprise.
"Sara, what the hell?" Her annoyance was palpable.
Biting her lip slightly, Sara smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. I, uh… I mean, Nick –"
"I kinda… tickled her. Sorry, Cath." Nick didn't want Sara to get it for his prank.
Catherine groaned in exasperation. Without a word, she started driving again, and no one spoke until they reached the lab. Nick waggled his eyebrows at Sara in the rear-view mirror, and it was all she could do not to laugh again. Instead, she made herself focus on the LVPD sticker stuck to the inside windshield, contemplating reached out and straightening it, but decided it in her best interest to not be correcting Catherine at present.
Nick leapt out of the car almost as soon as Catherine had parked it, opening Sara's door for her once again as she grabbed her bag off the floor. He whispered to her as she climbed out. "Sorry about the Catherine thing."
Whispering back at him, Sara took his hand that he offered her. "It's fine. Sorry I screamed." She giggled. "I'm really ticklish."
"I would never have guessed." He held on to her hand for probably a few seconds longer than necessary, letting go as they approached the trunk, where Catherine was already standing.
"Okay, so provided the two of you can control yourselves, I'm gonna go talk to Grissom about these phone records, and you guys can go work with Archie on the video stuff. Remember, we're looking for anything suspicious at our around the table our girl was working. Keep your eyes peeled especially for some guy in a dark green suit, who we've been told was… just not getting the hint, if you get my drift."
"Ahh. Nothing sadder than a guy who just doesn't get that he's being shot down." Sara silently elaborated her own statement. Unless it's a girl who can't recognise when she's being flirted with.
"Exactly." For a second, Sara forgot that Catherine wasn't agreeing to the part of the statement she hadn't hear. Moving breezily along, Cath picked up her kit and strode into the lab, calling over her shoulder. "Come find me if you need me!"
Sara grumbled as she and Nick grabbed their supplies and made a start for the AV lab. "Yeah, Cath, 'cause everyone always needs you."
"I think sometimes, Catherine just likes to feel needed."
Sara paused before she spoke. "I think everyone wants to be needed. Catherine just wants to be wanted." She raised an eyebrow at Nick's slightly bewildered expression. "Figure it out."
A quick stop-off in the break room, and the two of them were seated comfortably in Archie's area of the lab, where fortunately, he was not busy. Unloading the five tapes onto him, the three of them sat at he pushed the first into the VCR and pressed play. The timer in the corned of the screen blinked at them, and Sara leaned her elbows on the desk, sighing. "Only eight hours 'til end of shift."