Part Four: Ring of Truth

Warrick found his quarry in the layout room, giving a second look to a tarp found at a body dump. "That was fast, man," Nick commented, not looking up. "What did you do, inhale your coffee?"

"Nah, wasn't any left, so I started a new pot. I'll go back in twenty." Warrick looked across the table at the spot Nick kept coming back to. "You find something?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Not blood, not semen." Nick carefully scraped off some of the stain, bindling it for trace. "Could be something…."

"…could be nothing," Warrick finished the familiar phrase. "So, up for a movie after shift?"

"Nah, got plans." Nick moved to a new section of tarp. "What movie you thinking about?"

"Well, Tina's been after me to see March of the Penguins," Warrick said, laying the base of his trap. "It's over at the dollar theater now, figured we could get a group together. Tina, me, you, Sara, Cath and Lindsey…."

Nick shrugged. "Already saw it, bro."

"Never mentioned it to me."

Nick looked up. "Hey, I get enough flack about watching bird shows on Discovery; you really think I'd set myself up for more Bird-Man jokes by telling y'all I was going to a bird movie?"

"Good point," Warrick laughed, then proceeded to head for the direct assault. "So, how much of the movie did you and Sara actually watch?"

"About half a….wait. What?" Nick blinked a few times. "What makes you think I went with Sara?"

"Oh, nothing." Warrick flashed a grin. "Just overheard her talking to Catherine in the break room. Catherine asked her how the movie was, and Sara didn't have an answer right away…at least, not an audible one." He leaned across the table, careful not to touch the tarp. "So spill. What actually happened to that ring of yours, Stokes?"

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, Brown."

"So you were kissing Sara?" Warrick smirked. "And you still have your lips attached, so I'm guessing she didn't mind all that much."

"You're not going to let up on this, are you?"

"Nope." Warrick pulled a stool up to the table. "I'm just waiting around for Archie to page. Could be hours."

"Fine. Yes, I went to the movie with Sara. And yes, it was a date, and yes, I kissed her. And she kissed me." A goofy smile started to spread across Nick's face as he remembered. "So, we went on another date, and another. Hung out more after shift. The whole thing started because we were talking about high school, so I kinda tried to keep that sort of theme. Movies, meals after shift, before shift, sometimes during shift if we could coordinate our breaks. Yesterday, she finally let me talk her into going to Johnny Rockets."

-#-

"They do have Boca Burgers, Sara. I promise." Nick took her hand in his as they walked to the restaurant. She'd finally agreed to come after he did a little online menu research.

"And you're going to try one, right?"

He squeezed her hand. "I said I was going to, didn't I?" Grinning, he stopped short in the parking lot, tugging her back against him so he could wrap his arms around her waist, touching his nose to hers.

"Nick!" she squealed, a token protest even as her arms wound around his waist. "Anyone could see us!"

He dipped his head enough to capture her lips with his, loving the feel of her in his arms. "I know, I just couldn't wait 'til after lunch to do that." He grinned, thumbs tracing a pattern at the small of her back. "You've been driving me crazy all day, Sidle." Before his lips touched hers again, he whispered, "Besides, I don't trust you not to order onions on your burger."

Kissing her while she was laughing always made him ache with wanting her. Releasing her lips, he loosened his hold on her just enough that he could see her whole face, gently brush her hair out of her eyes. "I swear you've been leaving it curly more since I told you I liked it that way."

"Ego much, Nick?" she teased, yet didn't make a move to escape his embrace. Instead, she closed the gap between them again, brushing her lips against his before murmuring, "C'mon, I'm hungry."

Reluctantly, he opened his arms, trailing his fingers down her bare arm until he could clasp her hand again.

Inside, they sat across from each other in the booth, studying the menu. Well, Nick was pretending to study the menu. In reality, he kept watching Sara over the top of the menu, wondering if his idea was really as good as it seemed the night before. He nudged her foot under the table, grinning when she pretended to ignore it. He nudged it again; a hint of a smile tugged at her lips. A third time…and his foot was immobilized. Sara'd moved her own foot, bringing it down atop his, trapping it. "Gotcha," she murmured, not even looking up from the menu.

You sure do. His mind lashed back to the case they'd worked a few years back, with the alien wedding chapel. "She's gonna getcha," the minister had commented. He'd laughed, then, but now….

"So, have you decided?" the waitress asked, pencil poised on pad.

Oh, yeah. "Two Streamliners, no onions. Cheese on one. Side of half-fries, half-rings." He looked up at Sara, making sure it was okay with her that he'd ordered for both of them, half expecting an argument.

Instead, she folded her menu, and nodded at him. "Root beer float for him, chocolate Coke for me," she added. He grinned, insanely pleased that she knew what he'd been thinking about ordering. The waitress jotted everything down on the pad and promised their food would be out shortly.

Now or never, Nicky. The worst she can do is say no. Or laugh and say no. Or… He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

"You okay?" Sara asked. "You look…worried."

"Yeah, I'm good. I just…there's something I wanted to ask you." He took a deep breath. "We've been dating for what, a month now? And it's going really well…isn't it?" He looked up, saw her nod through a confused look. "I just…I really like being with you, Sara. And…" He swore softly. "Dang, this is hard. No wonder I never did this in high school."

"Did what? Nick?"

He looked up, met her eyes, and took her hand across the table. "I guess I'm sort of asking if you'd want to make this a little more serious." He smiled sheepishly. "I'm asking you to be my girlfriend…to 'go steady,' I guess."

-#-

"You didn't." Warrick stared at Nick in shock. "You literally asked her to go steady?"

Nick rubbed the side of his face. "Yeah, I did."

"Now that's taking the high school theme a little far."

"She said yes." Nick's grin could have lit up the dim layout room. "She said yes, 'Rick. She was a little shocked at first," he admitted, "but she said yes. So that is the real reason I'm not wearing my ring." A little sheepish, he continued, "After she said yes, I asked her to wear my ring. We went out and got a chain for it after lunch, cause she pointed out that it would be tough for her to wear it under gloves."

"Damn." Warrick shook his head in disbelief. "You and Sara. But you know what I still can't get over?"

"What?"

"You ate a Boca Burger for her. Now that's true love."

"Hey, I'll have you know, they're not that bad…as long as you smother them in ketchup, mustard, pickles and cheese." Nick laughed. "And Sara promised I didn't have to eat another one if I didn't want to." He sat up a little straighter, having spotted someone in the hallway. "Hey, Rick, I'll be right back…just going to run this down to trace."

Warrick had already spotted the same thing Nick had, and just smirked. "Go talk to Sara; I'll baby-sit your tarp."

"Thanks, man." Nick quickly exited the layout room. "Sara! Hey, Sara!" He darted down the hall, trying to catch her before she disappeared into one of the labs.

"Hey, yourself. What's up?" She smiled, catching sight of him running down the hall.

"Heard you and Cath were having an interesting discussion earlier."

"Oh." Sara smiled nervously. "There's no a/c in the garage." Nick frowned.

"And?"

"And, we were processing a car together, and the ring didn't stay under my shirt. Cath saw it, asked about it…and saw that it was yours. So, I sort of had to explain."

"Sounds like the cat's out of the bag, then," Nick said. "Warrick noticed this, earlier," he pointed to the tan lines on his hand, "then heard the end of your conversation with Cath in the break room, and put two and two together. I kind of had to tell him we were dating."

Sara inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. "Well….if Cath knows, and Warrick knows…it won't be too long before everyone else knows."

"Are you okay with that?" Nick watched her face for any minute signs.

After a long pause, a small smile crept onto Sara's face as she toyed with the ring around her neck. "I think so."

"So, we're still on for Saturday night?"

Sara nodded. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope." Nick grinned. "It's still a surprise."