Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own CSI nor the characters associated with that show. However, I do own this nifty CSI bumper sticker that my friend gave me, I guess that's good enough for now.
Car Trouble?
It was a dank and extremely wet day. The rain poured down in fortified cascades, drenching any unfortunate person who happened to be outside in a matter of seconds. Sara Sidle was absolutely exhausted after a strenuous double shift with Grissom. Her nerves were in shreds and so was her sanity. Thank God it was time for her to go home. Sara imagined a nice hot shower and her favorite forensic textbooks...and maybe a beer. Heavenly. She peeked through the sliding glass doors in front of her and muttered obscenities under her breath. A double shift, uncooperative suspects, aloof Grissom, and now THIS? Plus she didn't have an umbrella. Just wonderful. She gauged the distance from the door to her Tahoe, and decided to make a run for it. Purse in hand and a newspaper on her head, she dashed out the door.
The rain was colder than it looked. She shivered and ran faster. Just a bit more... she mumbled as she approached her car. She circled around the to the driver's side and reached into her purse for the...Oh crap! There were the keys, glinting innocently from inside the car, still hanging from the ignition. At this point, her last nerve snapped with alarming strength. She could almost swear that she had her keys this morning! Almost beside herself with rage, she pounced onto her car and began kicking and banging it in total frustration. She was cold, wet, without transportation, could it get any worse? Suddenly, the car alarm went off. Shit! She mentally screamed. The annoying Wheeeeeeee of her car alarm tore across the nearly empty parking lot. Sara cringed, she definitely felt a migraine coming on. She gave her car one last vicious kick, and gave up the ghost. She collapsed into a puddle and simply sat in front of her car, not caring how stupid she looked. No way was she going back to the lab. Some irrational and clearly deranged part of her mind reasoned that if she sat there long enough, a solution would come to her. And so it did.
"Sara? Is that you there?" Nick trotted up to her Tahoe holding a bright red umbrella and carrying something over his other arm.
"Hey Nicky." She responded flatly. Nick glanced at her appearance with a slightly bemused expression on his face. Her newspaper had been reduced to a pile of pulp on her head and bits of it were sticking to her clothes and on her face. She strongly resembled a drowned rat, an extremely beautiful, desirable drowned rat. Not that he would ever tell her about that last part.
"Why are you sittin' in a puddle? Are you hurt?" Nick was very concerned, she sorta looked drunk. He sincerely hoped it wasn't anything serious.
"I locked my keys in the car. Third time this week. I give up, I'll just sleep in the parking lot, I don't care." Sara stared straight ahead of her, her face stoic. Nick laughed in relief, thank God it wasn't anything life threatening. He thought to himself.
"That's nothing Sara, I can take care of that!" Nick beamed down on her and offered her a hand. Sara accepted the proffered hand gratefully and hoisted herself up from the asphalt.
"Really Nick? What are you, one of those Triple A guys in disguise?" She teased, feeling slightly warmer now that Nick was here.
"Naw, my Dad taught me this trick..." He trailed off, as he slipped an coat hanger from under his arm. He gave the umbrella to Sara and slipped the coathanger into the crack between the window glass and the rubber insulation. He jiggled it around and yanked it upward.. The lock clicked open, and Sara let out a long breath. Grinning, Nick reached into the car and pulled out her keys. Sara plucked them from his fingers and turned of the irksome alarm. Her headache had abated a bit. She always did seem to feel better around Nick. She always wondered about that. Sara smiled her extra wide, gap toothed smile, and said sweetly,
"I owe you one Nicky." Nick looked pleased with himself and smiled back.
"Anytime Sara, anytime." Sara looked at Nick's coat hanger oddly and asked,
"Do you carry a coat hanger around with you where ever you go or something?" Nick chuckled and gestured to the bag draped on his arm.
"And you call yourself a CSI. I had a court appearance today, this is my suit. Lucky for you, the dry cleaners gave me a wire hanger this time."
"Oh." Sara felt a little foolish. She glanced down at her soaked clothes and cleared her throat a bit. Nick took the hint.
"Um, I'll just be heading to my car now, I'll see you later!" Sara nodded mutely and started to climb into her car. Nick walked slowly to his car, parked only a few paces from Sara's. He contemplated asking her out now, but decided against it. He wanted the moment to be just right, not when Sara was irritable and embarrassed. As he got closer to the car, he saw that something was wrong. One of the tires looked a bit...lower than the others. Rushing over, he nudged it with his foot. The thick rubber gave against his toe. Cursing, he made a split second decision. He sprinted toward Sara's now mobile car, just as it was pulling out the parking lot.
"Sara!" He bellowed. She stopped the car almost immediately and rolled down her window.
"Nick! What's wrong?" She looked panicked, as if he was having a heart attack or something.
"Can you believe it? I've got a flat! I would really appreciate if you'd-"
"Of course Nick! You're right on the way anyway. Hop in." Nick clambered into her car and shut the door gratefully. A few feet away, hidden behind trees, Catherine and Warrick gave each other a high five. Both looking extremely satisfied at the outcome of Sara and Nick's "car trouble", they strode to their respective vehicles with a glint in their eyes.
