The next eight hours were labourious for everyone, and Sara found towards the end that she could barely keep her eyes open. Between herself, Nick and Archie, they had managed to identify the person Catherine had described to them earlier, but although he had passed the victim what looked like a note, his actions had not seemed particularly threatening, and they were forced to look through the rest of the footage for anything probative.

Sara leaned on her hand curled into a fist, her elbow propped up on the desktop, and looked over at Nick, who was staring though hooded eyes at the large monitor screen in front of them. His yawn into the sleeve of his fitted black sweater only made her more conscious of how tired she was, and she found herself mimicking his action. Her movement caught his attention, and he looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back wearily, before closing her eyes and contemplating napping on the desk right then and there.

As Nick looked over at Sara, hunched over on the table, eyes closed, appearing to be on the brink of passing out, he shook his head to himself. He knew more than anyone how little Sara usually slept, and he knew that if she was falling asleep now, she must really be tired. He silently walked past Archie and moved over to stand behind Sara, placing one of his strong hands on her hunched-over shoulder. He felt her sigh gently beneath him.

"You want some more coffee?" He spoke in a whisper, his tone slightly husky, as it always was when he was tired.

She smirked. "If I drink any more coffee, I will never sleep again. Let's just finish looking at these and get outta here, okay? I'm dying."

He rubbed her shoulder. "But you hide it well." Archie chuckled at Nick's response, before deftly typing away on his keyboard, fast-forwarding through seemingly endless seconds of tape, in hope of finding something they could use.

Nick flicked his eyes briefly to the screen, before turning back to Sara. "And by the looks of things, your spine is dying, too. Do you always sit like that?"

She turned to look at him. "When I'm tired, yeah. Why?"

"It's awful for your back." He subconsciously moved his hand to the space between her shoulder blades, kneading it gently.

"Is that why my shoulders are so sore?"

"Right now? Probably." He finally gave in to what he had previously been telling himself not to do, and outstretched both hands to rest on Sara's shoulders, massaging them lightly. He gripped her gently, his fingers splayed over the front of her shoulders, his thumbs pressing circularly into her back. Sara smiled contently, and emitted a slight sigh, turning her head forward a little so that her loose hair fell over her shoulders and away from her neck. Her eyes stayed closed, but her smiled widened as Nick's hands moved higher up, one massaging the base of her neck near her hairline, causing her to shiver with pleasure.

Nick felt the goose bumps rise on Sara's skin as he caressed it tenderly, and he couldn't resist reaching out with one finger and stroking the soft skin behind her ear. His other hand stroked the middle of her back, and he felt her shoulders rise as she moaned quietly, breathing out deeply.

"That feels good…"

Archie looked up from his keyboard quietly, turning in surprise to see the cause of Sara's moan. Although the sight that greeted him was not exactly what he expected, he raised his eyebrows, but did not say a word. Nick stared intently down at Sara, a concentrated and intent look in his eye, as she sat with her eyes closed and her lips curled into a pleasured smile. Rather than ask one of them, and ruin their apparent moment, he decided to let it go, reminding himself to ask another CSI about this later. He turned back around, and continued to scan through the casino footage.

So focused on the feel of Sara's body beneath him, Nick didn't even notice Archie watching the two of them. He moved his lower hand way slightly, and began dragging two of his fingers up and down in lines over Sara's back, his other hand still stroking her neck. His fingers moved systematically over her, pausing as her ran them over her bra strap he felt beneath the blue cotton of her shirt, his mind wandering to places where he felt it probably shouldn't. Sara's smile turned into a slight smirk, knowing exactly what he was thinking, and wondering what he would think if he knew she was thinking the same thing.

"Whoa, guys. Check this out."

Their hypnotic reverie was broken by Archie's sudden speech. Sara's eyes snapped open, and Nick's hands moved away from her back and neck, although he kept one resting on her shoulder as they both turned to the screen before them. Archie smiled in triumph.

"Well, what do ya know? Mr. Green Suit came back."

Leaving Archie to try and pull some video stills of their man in question, Nick and Sara went off to find Catherine, intending to update her in their progress before filling out a basic shift report updating the case evidence so far, and then heading home. Nick had volunteered to go talk to Catherine, and Sara had not objected to getting to start her report quickly; sooner to finish, sooner to home, sooner to bed.

They left the A/V lab and went their different directions. Walking down the hallway, Nick stopped and waved slightly at the person approaching him.

"Hey, Cath. Just comin' to look for you."

"Oh really? How'd the video footage go?"

"Good, good. Thought the green-suit guy was a dead end, but nope, he came back. Seen following the vic away from the table after her shift. Archie's working on some stills."

"Excellent. Nice job, you guys. Where's Sara?"

"Filing shift report. We clock out in a little under a half-hour, so we're just gonna write up and then head home."

"Great. You guys have been working hard lately; if you wanna leave a few minutes early, I won't tell." She winked conspiringly at him. Nick chuckled at her.

"Y'know, I might just take you up on that. Thanks, Cath. Have a good morning."

"You too, Nick." She patted him on the arm before walking past him and into the break room. Nick turned around and went to find Sara.

The sight that greeted him as he stood in the doorway made him smile. Sara's paperwork lay out on the table in front of her, her arms folded over it, her head resting atop. She was fast asleep, breathing deeply and evenly, looking more serene and peaceful than Nick had seen her in a long time. Her hair lay spread out, some falling onto the table, and he walked over to stroke her head caringly, marvelling at the softness of her locks. Staring at her for longer than he hoped anyone would know, he contemplated waking her up, but decided instead to just take her home, especially after what Catherine had just told him moments ago. Being as careful as he could, he gently eased her out of her chair and over his shoulder, chuckling as he looked at her shift report. Sara Si–. She hadn't even finished writing her name.

He carried her carefully through the empty halls of the lab, signing his name and hers at the reception desk with his free hand before leaving the lab and arriving at his car. He opened the door to the back seat and lay her gently down inside, buckling her in, then standing up to just look at her. Even in her slouched position, her hair slightly messy and her eye makeup smudged, he still thought she was beautiful. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, then climbed into the front seat to drive them both home.

A/N: So, a little short, and a little cliche,but in my defense, I am very, very tired. And to the lovely chapter 7 reviewers- thanks :)