"Nick, don't get me wrong, you're like a brother to me...but what the hell are you thinking?" Warrick looked at Nick incredulously. He had just heard that Nick and Sara were suddenly seeing each other so soon after Nick had been dumped by Amy and he was immediately concerned that it was all a rebound and that Sara was going to get hurt.

Nick's hands were on his hips and he leveled a serious gaze at his friend. "I'm thinking that I care about Sara and that I want to be with her." He knew that Warrick had every right to be concerned, but Nick sincerely didn't think he needed to be.

"You just got dumped, bro." Warrick's jaw was jutting off to the side a little as he tried to reign in his frustration. He wanted to make it abundantly clear that dating Sara involved all of them and if he screwed it up, it would affect all of them.

"I'm fully aware of that." Nick clenched his jaw. "...you said it yourself, you never liked Amy..." He wasn't sure how to convey to Warrick that he had no intention of hurting Sara, that he'd had the opportunity to get back with Amy and he turned her down.

"You're right I didn't." Warrick decided to just lay it all out in the open. "Because she hit on me when she was dating you."

Nick looked shocked. "She what?" He had assumed that the reason Warrick hadn't liked her was because of some vibe he'd picked up, he'd never imagined that she'd hit on his best friend.

"You heard me." Warrick's expression softened. "I didn't want to say anything because you seemed to really like her...and I made it clear to her that if I ever heard of her doing anything like that again, that I'd tell you."

"You should have said something, man." Nick looked hurt that his best friend had kept something like that from him.

Warrick quirked an eyebrow at him. "And you would have listened." The tone in his voice was skeptical.

Nick let out a frustrated sigh and nodded. "You're right, I wouldn't have." He rubbed the back of his neck and furrowed his brow before turning towards Warrick and addressing the issue that had started the conversation. "Look, I know you think that Sara and I happened way too fast..."

"That's an understatement." Warrick interrupted him.

Nick ignored his comment. "But it's not really that fast when you consider how long we've known each other."

By the expression on Warrick's face, he clearly wasn't buying it. "You got dumped less than two days ago."

"So just because of that you think I'm not good enough for Sara." Nick was beginning to get irritated. Warrick was the third person that had given him the third degree about Sara. Grissom had pulled him into his office under the guise of the concerned supervisor after he'd walked in on he and Sara kissing in the locker room, and then Catherine had cornered him to let him know that if he needed someone to talk to that all of them were there for him...that perhaps his feelings for Sara were misguided. Now Warrick was calling him on the carpet about it and he was frustrated. None of them seemed to have picked up on the fact that Sara wanted to be with him, that he'd walked away from an opportunity to get back with Amy to be with Sara.

"I never said that." Warrick felt defensive. Sure he was concerned about the timing of things between his two friends, but he certainly didn't think Nick wasn't good enough for her.

"Well then what's the problem?" Nick stared him down. "It took me this long to realize that I've compared every woman I've dated to Sara since I met her...do you get that?"

"Look, Nick, I'm just looking out for Sara." Warrick stared back.

Neither of them had heard the woman in question approaching the garage where prior to the beginning of the conversation between the two men they had been working at processing a car related to a crime that the entire team was working on.

"I can look out for myself." Sara's tone was forceful and a bit irritated. It seemed that she had been subjected to the third degree herself throughout shift and she'd had enough.

Warrick knew that look on her face well enough to know that if he didn't immediately back off, he was going to be feeling the wrath of Sara. "Sorry." He let out a resigned sigh and looked over at Nick. "Sorry to both of you. You're right; your relationship is none of my business."

"Look I'm flattered by your concern...but I'm a big girl and I trust Nick." She looked at Warrick earnestly. "It's about time we all stopped looking at his life under a microscope...he's alive and he's allowed to have a life without everyone sticking their nose into it." Sara's tone wasn't malicious, it was just the truth; they'd all been far too protective of Nick and it was high time that they tried to get back to normal.

"You know, Rick, she actually wants to be with me too." Nick couldn't help but grin as he looked over at Sara. He was struck with how blind he'd been and wondered how in the world he could have overlooked someone as amazing as she was for as long as he had. The thought occurred to him that Grissom probably had something to do with that, but perhaps his own fear of rejection had something to do with it too.

Warrick pursed his lips together and then gave them both a knowing look. "Hey, I'll try and be happy for you...but if things don't work out...I don't want to be put in the middle of it." He gave Nick a pointed stare. "And if this turns out to just be a rebound...I'll kick your ass."

"You'll have to get in line, Warrick." Sara smirked. After what had happened earlier with Amy, she was becoming more and more confident that this thing between her and Nick was something that had promise.

"There will be no ass kicking here." Nick smirked. "Because as I very carefully explained to Sara earlier, she is most definitely not a rebound." At the thought of how he'd explained it to her, he couldn't help but grin.

Sara on the other hand, felt a blush creeping over her face as she remembered the feel of Nick's leather sofa against her back and the touch of his skin against hers. She was certain that if he wanted to explain it to her all over again, she would definitely be up for it. She smiled back at him, but spoke to Warrick. "Yes, he was very clear."

Warrick stood there for a moment taking it all in and then crossed his arms over his chest and raised a single eyebrow in amusement as he realized that there was a little more going on that he was privy to. "Good, I'm glad that you're both clear. Now, if you don't mind, we need to get back to processing this car."