A/N: Yay, finally chapter 3! You have no idea how long it took me to write this thing. It's been driving me nuts for well over a week. It seems as soon as I get to writing it, I get interrupted by someone or something that I can't put off until later. I suppose that's just how life is, eh? (sigh) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter... I guess it kind of starts off serious then gets pretty fluffy and flirtylater on. Thanks for all the feedback on the last two chapters, you guys are awesome! I'll try not to disappoint you!

Disclaimer: Ok, Ok... I don't own it. Whatever. Are you happy now? (runs off crying) XD

"Nick…" Sara persisted; worry becoming more evident in her face. The hand on Nick's shoulder began to pull away, hovering above its initial contact point for a moment, then continuing its withdrawal. Nick caught it in his just then, interlacing his fingers between hers. The color had drained from his face and his eyes stared intently at the table… Sara felt her heart drop as the man's smile slowly faded.

"S-sorry…" Nick stammered, rolling his right shoulder in a desolate attempt to ease the physical pain. The emotions that raged within him, however, were not so easily expunged. He could feel the indentation from his captor's strike, interrupted only by the worst of his bug bites, one of the few that had yet to heal. The wound seared horribly to the touch, sending pulses of pain through his body, preventing him from touching it as Sara had.

"No… I'm sorry… Did I hurt you?" Sara looked genuinely worried, not to mention horrified.

"Yeah… It's fine, though." Nick squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could, trying desperately to free his mind of memory's fresh grasp. The trauma of that day still stayed with him; the physical pain was manageable, but the emotions that came with it tore cruelly at him more frequently than he was willing to admit to Sara.

"Nick, I am so sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you." Sara attempted an apology, staring anxiously at his shoulder, then at his face. Nick was incredibly pale; his eyes were still closed and his body had begun to vibrate. Sara squeezed harder on his hand, unsuccessfully trying to bring him back from his nightmare. She could feel him trembling through their interlocked fingers; he had just propped his elbow up on the table and rested his forehead in his free hand. Trying to take deep breaths, Nick bit his lip until it turned white and blood threatened to run from the indents caused by his teeth.

"Nick… please talk to me… are you alright?" Sara was beginning to panic, her voice growing steadily louder. The same few people who had been staring at the couple after the Gedda Room fiasco were doing so again, expressions on their faces indicating confusion. "Nick!" Sara's eyes were welling up as she leaned forward to plant a kiss on his cheek. Slowly, the shaking began to subdue and Nick, breathing heavily, started opening his eyes. He coughed, finding his mouth exceptionally dry. The room was starting to come back into focus… and he looked up.

"S-sorry… Ju-just one of the, er- daymares…" Nick tried to explain, still short on breath. His voice was pitched higher than usual, the way it was when the team had freed him from the crypt of his Plexiglas coffin.

"Nicky… I… I'm so sorry… I got carried away… I had no idea…"

"No… No, it's not your fault… It happens quite a bit." Sara heard him sigh. He mustn't have had a night's sleep since then… She didn't know what to say.

"Do you want to go home?"

Nick forced a smile. Even his fake smiles made him glow. "No... It's fine… We both need to eat something." He forced some orange juice down and felt a little better, sighing as he replaced the glass on the table. "It's been a long time since I've had pancakes. Probably not since my last Shirley Temple." Nick joked, trying to lighten the dark mood that had filled the air around them like a pound of lead. Sara smiled, admiring his ability to recover so quickly. She appreciated him trying to be so social, but felt badly that she might be forcing him to put on this brave face.

"Do you want a sip?" Sara offered, pushing her drink across the table to him with a cocked eyebrow. Nick chuckled, but to her surprise, accepted the glass. He was just grabbing the straw from his drink when she stopped him.

"You don't have to. I don't mind." Sara shook her head, pursing her lips to keep from grinning. She was amazed at how quickly the atmosphere had changed again, but she was glad that Nick seemed okay.

"You sure?" Nick grinned at her, dropping his straw. "Yum." He winked, sipping at her drink. "I was beginning to forget how that tasted…" Sara looked a little confused. "The taste is a little faint though."

"What? Shirley Temples are so full of sugar, how could you say the taste is faint?"

"I wasn't talking about the Shirley Temple." Nick captured her lips in a soft kiss across the table. She jumped a little in surprise; he felt her suck in a quick gasp of air before she returned his gesture with equal fervor. Sara rested her forehead on his, finally allowing her eyes to flutter open as their lips parted slightly, still touching as the pair enjoyed each other's touch. Nick's dark eyes caught hers as he smiled.

"So what was it that you forgot the taste of?" Sara mused, knowing the answer.

"Cinnamon." Nick answered simply.

"Cinnamon." Sara repeated, feeling a little dazed at his closeness. Something in her brain was telling her she was confused, but at the moment, she seemed incapable of processing it.

"Mmm hmm… You taste like cinnamon."

Sara blinked. "What…? I do?"

"Yeah." Nick had captured her mouth with his once more, nibbling gently at her lower lips, begging for entry with his tongue. He heard her moan quietly, trying to keep her voice down as she responded, opening her lips to his. Nick explored her mouth, wanting to remember every nook and cranny that was this woman. This amazing woman.

"Have I told you recently…" His lips parted from hers for a moment as he spoke in a drawled whisper. Sara moaned in protest to his cessation, mumbling under her breath:

"What, Nicky?"

He smiled, watching her for a reaction. "How much I love you?" Sara's eyes fluttered open; she wanted to see the look on his face after saying that. Her heart skipped a beat as it had the first time he'd told her that back in his hospital room. Nick's eyes glowed with adulation, and Sara could feel herself melting. This feeling; she'd never experienced anything like it. How could this remarkable man love her? After what he'd been through? Her eyes welled up with tears, blurring her vision until one finally fell down the soft features of her cheek.

"Sara?" Nick wiped the stray tear from her face with a gentle thumb, the gesture making Sara bow her head and allow more to fall as her mind searched in a whirlwind for an answer.

"How can you love me, Nick?" He frowned at her question, wondering exactly what she meant by that.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm at a loss as to how… someone like you… could ever want someone like me."

"God, Sar, what the hell kind of a question is that! Someone like you… Honestly…" Nick looked at her in disbelief, determined to get it through her head. "Where do you want me to begin? Uh, let's see, you've been a great friend for years, and you just saved my life…" He rolled his eyes, throwing on a mock thinking-hard look. "C'mon, Sar… you know how love is… You can't help it. You just adore everything."

"I used to think I knew what it was. But… it's changed…" Sara managed to whisper breathlessly. Nick twirled a stray strand of curly hair around his finger, another wiping another tear from her face. She could feel her heart racing at his closeness, her brain still running in circles asking the questions that fed the tears. Why me… Not noticing, her lips had formed around the letters of the words, the movement catching Nick's eye. He allowed a good natured smile to cross his own. Sara…ever the one to cross-examine it all…

"Why you, eh?" His words shot a flash across her eyes as she realized her involuntary whisper had been caught. An uncharacteristic blush managed to crawl from her cheeks when her gaze caught Nick's smiling eyes. "Okay, where shall I start? I love the way your little gap-tooth shows itself when you shine that beautiful smile of yours, the twinkle that comes to your eye when you crack a case…" He smiled inwardly at her face; he had her attention. "I love the passion you have for the victim, the way you'll never give up in something you believe in… the way you don't take crap from Ecklie or Gris…" Sara was glowing, her gap-tooth in clear view; she sat as if hypnotized by his words. Nick looked thoughtful for a moment, averting his gaze to the wall behind her as he mused. "Actually, the strong aura you radiate when you fight with any guy is really sexy." Sara raised her eyebrows in surprise. Nick looked back at her, grinning sheepishly.

"I never thought I'd hear Nick Stokes call me sexy, in any context." The corners of her mouth twitched as she held back a smile, trying to look serious as possible. Nick laughed.

"God Sara, that's funny. You're sexy as hell. Haven't I ever told you that you look awesome in black?"

"Um, no… you haven't." Sara finally smiled, looking a little nervous. Nick's grin continued to play at his face, his cheeks creasing attractively on his smile lines. On anyone else the laugh lines might seem to age the person, but on Nick… Sara bit her lip. Nick could never look old. Even when they'd recovered him from the Plexiglas coffin, the vulnerable Nick looked nothing short of childlike. A painful twinge tore at her heart as the thought crossed her mind. No, she couldn't think about that…

"Well, you do… I guess I never really did tell you… Sorry." His smile faded only slightly as again he averted his gaze, this time at the table. "After all of this, I promised myself I wouldn't waste my life beating around the bush anymore. I want to open and honest about everything… especially to you." Nick sighed, shaking his head. Sara caressed his cheek with gentle fingers, feeling his stubble rub at her skin.

"Breakfast's up, ya'll!" Dorthy's voice made both Sara and Nick jump, again caught in the act. Her corpulent face quickly rounded the corner to their private booth carrying with her two plates; one of Nick's order, the LV flapjack- eggs sunny-side up, extra sausage and bacon extra crispy, and the other of whatever Sara had ordered. Nick vaguely remembered Dorthy asking her if she wanted 'the usual', whatever that was.

Sara had pulled away from Nick and he, reluctantly, stopped playing with her hair what he hoped was just before the server really had a chance to see them. His hopes were a little more than crushed when Dorthy stretched a goofy grin across her heavily panstick-ed face.

"Ahh… You two…" she shook her head, winking at Sara who blushed a little. Dorthy seemed a little dazed, just standing there watching them, holding their meals in hand.

"Errr… what did you order, Sara?" Nick tried to break the awkward silence. Sara caught his eye quickly and raised an eyebrow in thanks.

"Uh, I ordered a Vegan Pancake... always do… they're awesome. Thanks, Dorthy." She grinned sheepishly at the barista as the woman snapped back into action, placing their meals on the center coffee table.

"Sure thing, darlin'. You want some strawberries with 'yers, handsome?" Dorthy placed Nick's stack of pancakes in front of him with a suggestive grin. Nick's eyes grew wide at her reference to him with a pet name.

"Uh, yeah, sure. That'd be nice." He quickly recovered with a good natured smile. "Thanks…" His gaze turned from Dorthy to Sara, who fought to control an emerging smile.

"Back in a sec, then." Dorthy winked at handsome Nick before tottering off to fetch him some strawberries.

"Ooh, Nicky… I think Dorthy has a thing for you…" Sara grinned in playful banter, picking up her fork and knife from a napkin on the table. Nick frowned at the thought.

"That's too bad, because I only have eyes for Sara…" He waggled his eyebrows, again talking about her as if she couldn't hear her. Sara laughed, trying not to let little bits of pancake and various green vegetables fly out of her mouth.

"Your sweet, Nicky." She managed to say between chewing and laughing.

"Why thank you, darlin'." Nick tried to copy Dorthy's southern twang, carrying much more of a natural slur. Sara tried to smile between bites, exposing a bit of broccoli between her two front teeth. Nick froze for a moment staring at it before hooting with laughter.

"Oh Sara… Anyone ever tell you that you've got horrible table manners?" He joked. "You… you have a piece of…" Nick could hardly spew out his words between laughs, stuffing a fist into his mouth in an effort to control it. "Hang on a sec…" Sara looked extremely confused, if not a little playfully offended at his insult of her table manners. Her eyes grew wide she caught him discretely pulling up his camera phone and snapping a quick candid of her with the broccoli in her teeth.

"What the hell, Nick!" Sara exclaimed. Nick looked at his snapshot on the screen of the phone and continued his chuckling. "Why did you just take a freaking picture of me? What's so funny?"

Nick collected himself enough to answer her. "You have a big hunk of broccoli in between your two front teeth!" Normally he wouldn't have made such a big deal out of it, but the chunk was sizeable enough that he was surprised she hadn't noticed it for herself. Sara looked horrorstruck.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Nicky! I have a huge chunk of broccoli between my teeth, and you take a picture! Sara pursed her lips, trying to remove the source of her panic. "Delete it, now!"

"Aww, Sar... I can't delete it... It's hilarious, not to mention adorable..." Nick continued laughing, pulling his phone toward himself to shield it from her grasp, should she try to snatch it. "Besides, didn't you say you wanted to be more open?"

"It was you that said you wanted to be more open, if I'm not mistaken; and being open does not mean allowing Nick Stokes to spread a socially incriminating picture of me to the rest of the lab! Please delete it, Nicky!" Sara beseeched, running a nail in between her teethnow to make sure the broccoli was completely gone.

Nick looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned back to look at her with a smug grin. "Alright, Sidle. I'll make a deal with you. You let me keep the picture, and I won't show it to anyone. I'll just keep it for myself… frame it and put it up in my bedroom." He looked completely serious.

"You want a picture of me with broccoli in between my teeth. In your bedroom." Sara shook her head in a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "I'm sorry, Nicky, but I'm seriously concerned for your sanity-"

"Deal?" Nick cut her off with a cocked eyebrow, his smug grin beginning to look more mischievous. Sara looked slightly taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered with a sly smile, trying her best to look serious but failing miserably with a twisted smile.

"You frame that stupid picture of me and stick it in your bedroom… and I'll never come in there."

"Oooh… but if I didn't, then you would?" Nick chuckled, his eyes twinkling playfully.

"If you stick that picture in there, you may never find out."

A/N: That chapter was a bit of a whirlwind of emotions... I'm writing the next chapter as we speak, so hopefully it wont be long until next update! Thank again (a ton) for your awesome reviews, they really keep me (and, of course, the story...) going! Please continue with the awesome feedback! Until next time...

Sahariah