Title: Kisses, Oil, and the Backseat
Disclaimer: I saw a shooting star last night and wished it was mine… it didn't work.
A/N: Because I know you all care, I thought I'd tell you "It's snowing right now as I type this and I am SO excited especially because today is a snow day!" My winter break ended yesterday, so today would have been my first day back at school. Instead, Mother Nature (God bless her) decided to intervene, giving me time to type up a few stories I wrote over break and was too lazy to post. So here we go:
There has never been a moment Nick has enjoyed more than this kind. Not when he won that bet against Greg, resulting in the lab rat wearing a set of fairy wings and a princess tiara, donated by a laughing Catherine and Lindsey. Not when Warrick almost at one of Grissom's freakish, but unfortunately common, experiments masquerading as food inside the break room fridge. Not even when he and Catherine spent hours combing through evidence, pulling through in the clutch to catch a perp who'd eluded arrest in 12 other states. Those were all great, but moments like this he considered the real perks of the job.
Now, Nick loved being a CSI. He loved finding minute pieces of evidence that seemed irrelevant but somehow fit into the case. He loved matching fingerprints, waiting for the sometimes elusive hit off AFIS. But fingerprints didn't look like Sara did in those generic blue coveralls, hair pulled back into an impromptu ponytail, a smidge of grease on her cheekbone. And evidence didn't have any right to make those frustrated grunting noises she made when dissecting a car, of the satisfied hugging sounds she made when something went right, or she found a piece of trace on the seats.
So yes, Nick loved his job, but he loved working in the garage with Sara the most. Picking apart cars, stealing glances at her and grinning cheekily when she caught him; this was Nick's kind of fun.
"Hey Nicky", she called from under the car, "I think I've got something here."
He looked up from printing the steering wheel, his interest not only piqued by the promise of evidence, but by the woman delivering said promise. "Yeah?"
"Yeah" she replied. He could practically hear her smile under the car. "Didn't Catherine find an oil stain on the pavement at the scene?"
"Hmmm… and?" he confirmed, squatting down on the floor and looking under the car at Sara. He heard a muttered obscenity, which caused Nick to double-take, before it was followed by Sara rolling out from underneath the car.
"How much do you want to bet it came from this car?" she asked dryly, her quirked eyebrow almost daring Nick to comment on the fact that the telltale oil was now completely covering the right side of her face.
Nick bit the inside of his cheek; with one eye closed to keep the oil out, wearing that "don't-mess-with-me-if-you-value-certain-parts-of-your-anatomy-whatsoever" expression that was uniquely hers, Sara looked nothing less than comical. He attempted to stifle a chuckle. "You've, uh, got a little smudge, Sar. Right about here…"
He brushed his thumb under his eye, indicating the offending area, and winked. Sara just shook her head, standing up and grabbing a nearby rag. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep the grin from spreading onto her face as he wiped the oil off.
"How about now?" she asked, rubbing the side of her face.
"You missed a spot" Nick teased childishly, standing up and brushing his hands on the knees of his coveralls.
"Yeah? Well thanks for all your help" she shot back, flinging the rag at him.
"Hey, hey" Nick complained, holding both hands up in mock surrender as the rag connected with his face. "I happened to think it was a good look on you. You know, not many people could pull off that 'fell into a vat of oil' look, but you? Perfection." He gave her the "ok" sign with his finger and thumb.
Sara grinned at him, laughing as she attempted to rub off the remaining oil with the back of her hand. "I knew there was a reason I liked you…"
"Besides my natural Texan charm and irresistible good looks" Nick supplied, tossing the rag on a tool bench behind him.
"And modest, too!" Sara feigned surprise.
"It's not something I like to brag about" Nick agreed, pretending to polish his nails on the front of his coveralls pompously. "But what can I say? If you've got it, you've got it."
Sara walked over to stand next to him bumping her hip into his playfully as she walked by. "And you've got it, huh?" he asked, crossing her arms as she looked distractedly at the car.
Nick watched Sara inspecting the car, sensing her start to slip back into "work" mode. "Yeah. That and some prints off the wheel. But those don't have my rugged grin."
Sara broke out into a genuine smile, before shaking her head. "The case, Nicky. We can talk about how…what did you say? Excruciatingly handsome?... you are later."
"Fine" he pouted, "Although I believe my exact words were 'irresistible good looks', not 'excruciatingly handsome'. But it's nice to know you agree."
"Did I say I agreed?" she smiled sweetly at him.
"Don't you?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, earning a prod in the stomach.
"Have we checked the backseat yet?"
"Nah. I did the front seats, and got nothing except those prints. Not the seats, not the floor… not anything" Nick summarized.
"Well, I'm done under the car, and I've already checked the mechanics, so…"
"Draw the 'invisible line' down the center of the backseat?" Nick grinned like a five-year-old, rocking back and forth on his heels in mock anticipation.
"Exactly. But you'd just better stay on your side or else!" Sara played along, rolling her eyes. She waited for Nick to walk around to the other side of the car before they opened the back doors in unison. Flashlights flicked on simultaneously, but nothing in the car jumped out at the two CSIs.
"Hey Nicky, you want to hit the lights? I'm going to check for any stains" Sara though aloud.
"Yeah, no problem" he agreed amiably, walking over to the doorway. His finger poised over the light switch when he called, "Ready when you are, Sara."
"Thanks. Now's good."
Nick flicked the lights off, and suddenly the garage was void of all light save for the steady blue fluoresce illuminating the car as Sara swept the light across the backseat.
"Woah" she whistled lowly, catching Nick's attention.
"What?"
"Someone's been busy" she replied cryptically. Nick smirked before walking over to stand behind her, his head peeking over her shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
He laughed to himself as Sara jumped a bit, before gently admonishing Nick about "sneaking up behind people".
"Sorry" he grinned good-naturedly, before asking again. "So…what do you mean?"
Sara rolled her eyes, before directing his attention to the large stains of seminal fluid on the seat.
"Well, it is the backseat…" Nick suggested.
Sara elbowed him gently in the stomach. "At least we've go something for the lab. I'll swab it and get it to Greg. Can you hand me a swab?"
But Nick had anticipated her request, presenting her a swab with a flourish. "Will that be all, Miss Sidle?" he asked in a playful tone.
Sara tried not to succumb to the shiver trailing down her spine; being in such close proximity to Nick lift a pleasant tingling sensation throughout Sara's body, but it proved to make concentrating on the case a bit difficult.
"I'll let you know" she grinned coyly.
It took a minute for Nick to register the fact that her voice was softer, more breathy, than usual. But not that long, because the next thing he knew what little space there had been between them disappeared and all he could register was that Sara seemed as pleased kissing him as he was her.
Her lips on his rocketed Nick to a place where his eyes refused to focus and his brain refused to function. But that was ok, because his eyes were closed anyways, and his brain was too occupied by the feeling of Sara's hands splayed on his chest and her hands finding her hips, pulling them closer together.
She whimpered as his tongue flicked across her lips, and Nick deepened the kiss, pulling away only when the need for oxygen became too great.
Sara licked her lips without realizing, eyes locking with Nick's. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time" she admitted, her voice soft and vulnerable.
Nick smiled, resting his forehead against hers. "Me too" he reassured her. His eyes glanced at the clock above the door, barely visible in the dim garage. "Shift's over" he grinned, pulling her closer. "Are you gonna stay to work?"
"No. Catherine can finish here" she decided.
"Wanna go out with me for breakfast?"
Sara sighed contentedly, wrapping her arms around his neck before shaking her head 'yes' against his chest.
"Good answer" Nick whispered conspiratorially.
The pair swapped several more soft, lazy kisses, alone in the darkness of the garage, before Nick pulled away and murmured in her ear seductively, "So, does this mean you do think I'm excruciatingly handsome?"
A/N: I'm really proud of this one; I think it's one of my personal favorites out of all the ones I've written. Anywho, as always, let me know what you think! o.O