Never did I think I'd be this busy… sigh…

Thanks to Crazi River, Emily Elizabeth, MissyJane, adpi24, krisnina77, PeTiTeCaT, Caspian Raider, csi424, EmmyMik, elise, Malakite, and SushiShIsEiDoAussie637 for the awesome review! Yay for being up to 120! That makes m SO happy! :)

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"I think I'm falling in love you with, Nick."

Nick blinked a few times. "What?"

Sara sat quietly for a while before leaning in, and brushing her lips against his.

"Sara" he could barely find his voice. It was deep and throaty, and almost came out in a croak. He reached up, and cupped her face with his hands, softly caressing her warm skin with his thumbs.

Sara's eyes fluttered shut as she felt Nick lean in, and kiss her softly. Once Nick pulled back, Sara wrapped her arms around his neck, and buried her face in his chest. She could feel a few more tears falling from her eyes, and land on the soft material of his shirt. She pulled away with an embarrassed look on her face. "I'm sorry." Then her expression turned into apprehension and nervousness. "Oh no… I shouldn't have said that. Don't say anything, Nick, you don't have to if you don't want to. I-I understand," she babbled.

"Sara" Nick said, placing two fingers on her lips. "I've been in love with you since you told me that you were carrying our child."

Sara pulled away slightly, and looked at him skeptically.

Nick knew exactly what she was thinking. "I know, I know. The way I was acting sure didn't say anything about love, but… I was just so scared, and happy, and everything all at once. I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry."

Sara giggled. "Nick, we need to stop apologizing to each other about this stuff. It's getting pretty redundant."

"I know, but I just want you to know how awful I feel."

"And I want you to know how awful I feel, but I think we both already know.."

"Yeah"

Nick leaned back on the couch, and Sara fell back into his arms.

A few minutes later, Sara let out a small sigh.

"What?" Nick asked, as he tightened his grip around her waist, careful of her growing belly.

"Nothing."

"Come on"

"Nothing, really."

"Sara"

Sara let out another sigh. "This. Us. It's nice. Well, we could do without being at the lab right now, but other than that… It's nice. Almost normal."

"Sara, I know I've said this before, but I'll say it as many times as possible. Even though this wasn't planned, that doesn't mean it has to be a bad thing. I mean this is normal. This can be and will be normal."

"I know" Sara breathed.

"Come on; let me take you home, so you can rest."

"I'm not tired" Sara protested, as she tried to hide a yawn.

Nick laughed, as he helped her to her feet. "You really suck at lying, Sidle."

"I do not!" Sara protested.

"Right." Nick crouched down so his head was even with her stomach. He lightly tapped on her belly, as he spoke to the child growing inside her. "Trust me, kiddo. Your mommy is the most stubborn woman I know."

Sara glared at Nick as he stood back up, but soon the glare was replaced with a wide smile. "Let's go home."

"I couldn't agree with you more" Nick said as he dropped his hand to the small of her back and lead her out of the building, and towards his Tahoe.

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The Next Day

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"Okay, Sara, this was just a home invasion, so you can go. Cath, go with her, make sure she stays safe."
 Grissom ordered at the beginning of shift.

Catherine took the assignment slip from her boss with a bit of hesitation. "You sure you want her going out?"

Sara grabbed the slip from Catherine. "I'm going, Cath. I'll be fine."

"Sara-" Catherine warned.

"I swear, I'll be fine. I'm getting used to the whole pregnancy thing finally. Plus you've done this before, so if anything happens, you'll be there." Sara reasoned.

"Just because I had one kid 10 years ago, doesn't make me an expert on pregnancies."

"I'll be fine. Now let's go" Sara said as she turned and walked out of the break room and down to the locker room.

Catherine turned back to Grissom. "This isn't a good idea, but I'll keep an eye on her."

Grissom only nodded before heading out of the room as well. He, Nick, and Warrick had a double homicide at the Mirage that would most likely mean pulling a double.

"Hey there" Nick greeted as Sara walked into the locker room.

"Hey yourself."

"You goin' out into the field or something?" Nick asked as Sara opened her locker to grab her jacket.

"Sure am"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Nick asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm fine. Catherine will be with me. I haven't been sick in over a month, and I feel fine. It's just a home invasion. Don't worry."

"Sara, I'm going to worry no matter what you do. I worry when you go to the store by yourself. I worry when you go to get the mail." Nick said as he sat down on the bench in the middle of the room.

Sara sat down next to him. "You worry when I go to get the mail?"

"Well, yeah, what if some out-of-control car just came barreling down the road and hit you? Anything could happen."

Sara reached over, and intertwined her fingers through his. "I'll be fine. I'll call you if anything happens at all."

"Even if you get the slightest cramp I want you to sit down and take a break, and call me. I don't care if it hurts or not, call me." Nick said squeezing her hand.

"I will."

"Good. Now I have to go. Be careful."

"I will."

Nick leaned over and kissed her cheek briefly before standing, and heading out to the parking lot, where Warrick and Grissom were waiting for him.

Catherine entered the locker room a few moments later and saw Sara sitting on the bench with her hands folded in her lap. "Hey you ready?"

Sara looked up at her. "Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry. I didn't even hear you come in."

"I noticed."

"Let's go." Sara said as she stood up, jacket in hand.

Catherine followed her out to the parking lot, and they hopped in Sara's Tahoe, and headed out to their crime scene.

~~$~@~$~~

Sara was bent down over a shattered vase, snapping pictures when she heard the sound. A scream. A woman's scream. Catherine's scream. She jumped up, letting the camera bounce against her chest. She knew she was running fast, but everything just moved by so slowly. She ran down the hall, feeling like there were twenty-pound weights chained to her ankles.

She finally came to the kitchen, and stopped dead in her tracks. There was Catherine. Her co-worker. Her close friend. The one person who had been there for her and Nick the past few months. She was lying on the ground, pinned underneath another body. A male body. That's when Sara saw the tears streaming down Catherine's face, her ripped blouse, and exposed black lace bra. Sara didn't see much more, but she didn't need to. She knew what was happening, and at first she could get her legs to move. She couldn't get her mouth to open. She couldn't breathe.

Suddenly all coherent thought was lost. Sara lunged at the man, pushing him off of Catherine and ramming him into the cupboards that lined the walls of the kitchen.

Catherine crawled away from her attacker and co-worker. "Sara!" She tried to scream, but her voice was barely louder than a whisper. She reached for her gun, but found her holster empty. 'Damn' she thought.

Sara pinned the man against the wall, and reached for her radio to call in the officer who must have left his station at the front door, but she never got the chance. The man wriggled free of her grip, punching her in the abdomen.

Sara's face went white. Eyes wide.

This gave the attacker plenty of time to reach for his own gun, and fire a round into Sara's body.

She never felt the bullet enter her. Never saw it coming. Never even saw the gun. All she heard was the scream.

A woman's scream.

This time it was not only Catherine who's scream she heard, but it was her own.

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      TBC

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Well, there you have it. Yet another bump in the road. Please read and review.