Nothing. Blissful nothingness. Sometimes there is nothing greater than nothing. Certainly in this case; Hank had not spoken to Sara since the day the stench of death had chased him from our lovely laboratory. No visits, no calls, no contact… nothing. For three weeks.

At first Sara seemed a little put out by this; she walked around with a little less bounce in her step, feeling a little less flirty. However whatever she lacked -- according to Rick -- I more than made up for. I had made a conscious effort to be extra touchy and more overt when we flirted in the days following the introduction, and dismissal, of Hank. And it worked. She was back to herself, responding faithfully and favourably to all of my suggestive remarks. Dare I say, in the last week she's been happier than I've seen her in a long time. Hence, today was the day.

I had rehearsed what to say for the last few drives to work… and I was no better for it. Half of me wanted to be very blunt, so that my intentions were very clear and she would definitely consider me for something more. However the other half, the less confident half, wanted to leave the question somewhat open so that if she turned me down I could say that she misunderstood me; I'd pretend it had only been a friendly suggestion to hang out and thus avoid her pity, my shame, and our collective awkwardness. While the latter was indeed very tempting, I had finally opted for the more confident approach. I had to know once and for all where I stood with her, with no confusion or scapegoats. Wow, I don't think I've never been this nervous about asking a girl out before.

Walking down the hallway with about ten minutes left before shift, her voice -- addressing someone else -- floated towards me. I felt my heartbeat pick up as I followed the sound to the locker room door. I stood there for a minute, trying to steel my nerves and gain control of my flight-response. I caught the tail end of a one-sided conversation.

"No, yeah, we go there all the time… the rest of the night crew and I… you know, bonding after hard shifts," Sara's giggle echoed around the empty locker-room. "Something like that, yeah." I pushed the locker door open and found her sitting on the benches in the middle of the room with her back to me. As the door shut behind me, she glanced over her shoulder. Her smile dimmed somewhat and her voice dropped lower, "That'd be perfect. I can't wait... Yup… See you then. Bye." She clicked her phone shut. She turned a little pink as she watched me stroll over to my locker.

I gave a half-hearted smile, "Making plans for after shift?" It sounded suspiciously like a date. After I popped open the lock I turned to watch her as she replied.

"Uh, in between. I'm meeting someone for lunch," her eyes darted away from me as she spoke and she brought her knees tightly up to her chest. That's not a good sign. She's nervous.

I felt as if my heart dropped into my stomach. "Old friend?" I couldn't stop myself from probing further. Please say it's an old friend.

"New one, hopefully…" her voice was quiet and she still wouldn't look at me.

I turned towards my locker to hide my wince. "Anyone I know?" I squeezed my eyes shut and stopped breathing while I waited.

"Yes," she hesitated slightly. "Y-- You remember Hank right?"

If my stomach hadn't dropped before, it had this time. I actually felt the stomach acid eating away at and dissolving my heart. I subtly reached out a hand to brace myself against the locker and nodded faintly, my back still towards her. "He, uh--" I cleared my throat to remove the waver that had crept into it, "He was the guy that called in Liquid Man, right? About three weeks ago?" My crafty reminder of how long he made her wait. She unnecessarily confirmed that I was talking about the correct guy. "So Mr. Reliable finally called, huh?" I'm such a child.

"No, uh, actually, I called him," I turned around and looked at her for a moment. She still wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Oh," my shoulders slumped. "Have you been waiting for him to phone?" Did she honestly not notice me in the last few weeks?

Finally she snapped her eyes to mine. "Waiting for someone to phone. Anyone…" she spoke wistfully and broke her gaze at the last word. My mouth was probably hanging open from shock. She shrugged gently and spoke in a quite voice, "I got tired of waiting."

"So, why did you ask him then? Why not someone else?" I mimicked the way she had emphasized someone. "What's so special about him?" Bitterness was evident in my words.

"Well, he's kind of funny…" she started her list.

"Looking," I muttered under my breath.

She glared at me, "I find him very attractive!"

I tried to mask my frown, "If you're into that sort of thing…"

"He's sensitive." She spoke more firmly.

"Well, at least we know his stomach is…" I quipped just as firm.

"He's smart, sweet, caring," she started listing his qualities faster and louder. I could swear she was trying to rip my heart out.

"You've met him, what, once?" my tone was incredulous.

"He saves peoples lives, Nick. He obviously cares about people, even if he doesn't know them; he's a public servant."

"So am I!" I shouted a little too vehemently. I took a deep breath and pressed forward quickly, "And Warrick and Greg and Bass…" I wasn't about to say Grissom, that would only dig me deeper, "…but you didn't phone any of us!"

"Fine. You want to know why? Because he asked me out! He was interested in me! I knew that he would say yes because I know that he likes me." She folded her arms across her chest and stared at me pointedly, almost challenging me to counter that point. I opened my mouth to protest, I'M INTERESTED TOO, but my voice got caught in my throat. "Exactly," she sounded sad as she made her way to the locker room door.

"Greg's asked you out too," I replied lamely, desperate to say anything. With one final, remorseful glance my way she headed out. The door shut with a resounding thud.