Disclaimer: I don't own them.
A/N: This was inspired by a scene in "Pirates of the Third Reich" though I don't believe there is much in the way of spoilers here. That said, I will say spoilers for "Grave Danger" and "Pirates of the Third Reich".
Summary: The new, shaggier Nick decides to make a move on someone. This is just a teaser chapter.
Nick Stokes was changing, before his own eyes. He hadn't actively set out to change. It just seemed to be happening. When he had flipped the quarter that fateful night, he had been one man. When he had come out of the hospital, he had been another. And now, looking in the mirror, he could feel that something was different.
He was a little harder.
He was a little more serious at his work, but he felt a little more devil-may-care about his private life. Carpe diem, maybe. Seize the day – try a new hairstyle. Wear your shirt untucked every now and then. Listen to new rock rather than classic country. Let Greg recommend a stylist instead of a barber. Let Greg recommend anything other than coffee.
So was this new Nick into letting a certain someone pass him by, day by day without making a play?
Warrick had made a comment at a recent case.
"So, are you into delayed gratification?" Warrick had asked. He had been talking about a warrant. They could smell the decomp, but there was a "Corpse Flower" in the shed that explained the odor. Was a warrantless search justifiable?
"Hell no. That's Grissom," Nick had answered. Nick was a little less respectful of Gil these days, a little more confident in himself. But as Nick had said it, he knew that he meant more than just the warrant. There were some pretty important places in his life where Gil had delayed gratification. Did Nick want to be single, in his 50's with no one to share his life with? The answer was no.
That thought had been with him, on and off, since that day standing in the shed with Warrick. When he had said that, Warrick had given him a look. He knew him too well. Though they had continued to talk about warrants, once they were headed back to the lab in Warrick's ride, he had questioned Nick.
"So, if you're not into delayed gratification, why haven't you made any moves?" he had asked, smirking at Nick in the passenger's seat.
"What do you mean? Move on who?" Nick had said, looking genuinely confused.
"OK, if that's how you want to play it," Warrick answered, giving him a disappointed sigh. "But there's no time like the present."
"What, you're married now, so you're trying to live vicariously through me?" Nick countered, making Warrick scowl. Nick laughed at his friend, and they went on to other topics, but the thought stayed with him.
Why hadn't he made his move? What was keeping him from it? If the new Nick wasn't into delayed gratification, then hop to it.
"Today," Nick said to himself in the mirror and smiled. It was like his old smile, but different in some indiscernible way. Anyone else would have said that it just didn't feel quite the same; there was a subtle, dangerous quality to it. A cavalier attitude covered the fact the smile had been brushed with death in too many ways. Nick didn't consciously see the difference, but he felt the change in himself. He brushed his new, shaggier hair over to the side and wondered if he should get a trim. He would decide later. Maybe, like Samson, Nick's new attitude, his new strength, lay in the longer hair.
"Let's just hope I don't meet Delilah," he said to his reflection and smiled again.
He drove into work feeling excited. Making the decision to make a move, to ask a question, made him feel good. There was no apprehension or anxiety. He bounced into the lab, shooting the receptionist a smile that had gotten many a sorority girl giggly in his college days.
He joked with Warrick in the locker room and together they headed into the break room where Greg was chatting up Sara. He gave them both a grin. He was still smiling when Gris handed out assignments.
"Nick, Sara and Greg, I want you on a double homicide. Lucky Strike Motel - way off the strip. Nick, you take point," Gil had said, doing a slight double take at Nick's face. He wasn't smiling now, but there was something about the way his lips were braced that looked like Nick was holding a smile inside.
"I'll drive," Sara said.
"Shotgun," Greg said, and gave Nick a haughty look. Nick looked at him in surprise. "Sorry, Nick, but she makes me carsick when I sit in the backseat," he offered. Nick shrugged it off.
All he was thinking of was how he was going to make his move when there was a third wheel.
A/N: So, who will it be, Greg or Sara? The next chapter may tell. Please review.