The briefing was relatively short. Grissom had decided, by way of decree from Ecklie, that to continue working would only endanger the case and so after they'd gone over what evidence they did have everyone was off for a mandatory eight hours rest. As the CSIs filtered out of the break room, Nick and Sara exchanged a glance and then approached Grissom.
"Hey, Gris, you got a minute?" Nick felt more nervous than his exterior showed; Grissom was his mentor, a sort of father figure, but etched into his mind was the obsession that Sara'd had with him for a very long time and he felt a bit insecure with what he needed to tell his supervisor.
Grissom assumed that it was regarding the case and he gave Nick and Sara both a stern expression. "You should be heading home and getting some sleep." He needed his team fresh; he did not want the dayshift crew to interfere with the investigation. Even if Ecklie wasn't in charge of dayshift anymore, he still felt a rivalry with them and an intense loyalty to his own crew.
Sara had a serious expression edged with a smile that went all the way to her eyes as she interjected. "Grissom, it isn't about the case." She suddenly felt nervous; it wasn't like she and Nick were getting married, they were just dating, but it was who she had to share that information with that was making her feel a bit unsettled. She had moved on, but she wasn't sure that Grissom had ever come to grips with the feelings that she knew that he had but couldn't act on. She wasn't sure how this was going to go down and how it was going to affect their careers. "Uh, we need to talk to you about something personal."
Grissom looked befuddled as he looked at Sara and then at Nick and then back to Sara again. He wasn't sure exactly what she meant by personal or why they needed to tell him together, but he certainly didn't think that the middle of the break room was the place to have it. "Uh, my office then." He could certainly spare a few moments for two of his best CSIs; he had a soft spot for both of them, but for completely different reasons. For some reason he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as they made their way down the hallway; something about the way Sara had looked at Nick made him wonder just how personal this thing they wanted to share was and if he really wanted to know about it. He'd definitely harbored feelings for Sara, but he knew that to pursue her would be the death of his career and he just couldn't make that leap of faith that she wouldn't leave him someday the way his father had left his mother when she'd gone deaf.
As soon as they'd entered Grissom's office, Nick closed the door. He tried to quell his nerves as he smiled and then broke the silence that had descended on the trio as they'd traveled down the hallway. "We just wanted you to know that we're dedicated professionals and we have no problem separating our personal lives from work so you have nothing to worry about. If Ecklie has a problem with it, he shouldn't..." Nick realized that he was rambling and that Grissom probably had no idea what he was talking about.
Grissom's brow was furrowed as he considered what Nick was implying, but before he had a chance to voice a question to confirm what the sinking feeling in his stomach had already told him, Sara tried to put Nick's rambling into context.
"What Nick is trying to say is...is that he and I...that we...well..." Sara felt her mouth go dry. Why the hell was this so hard to get out? She was dating Nick, neither of them really wanted to keep it a secret so why was she being just as articulate as Nick.
Grissom's eyes widened as he took a conclusion and jumped with it as far as he could take it, for the first time he could remember since he'd worked with either CSI, he lost sight of the evidence, which was that he didn't have all of it and really shouldn't make an assumption. "What are you trying to tell me?" His first thought was if they were worried about some sort of personal life interfering with work that they must have taken a drastic step like Warrick had. "You didn't get married did you?"
"No!" Nick and Sara blurted out at the same time. Neither one of them were ready for that kind of leap; they were just trying to see how dating would work out.
Grissom felt strangely relieved. "Oh. Good." The words were out before he realized what he was admitting in a backhanded sort of way. Before he could start to back pedal, Sara made it clear that regardless of what he thought about her, he was too late to do anything about it.
"Nick and I are dating...we just needed to let you know that because you're our supervisor." There was no malice in her voice, but it was edged with a little hurt towards Grissom that she'd wasted a good portion of time waiting for him to do something about what he was feeling. She knew now that she could never settle for waiting for someone who wasn't willing to pursue her.
"Oh." Grissom was mildly surprised, but please all the same that they'd come to him to let him know rather than wait for the information to make its way through the grapevine. It was their professionalism that impressed him even if the news itself left him feeling a bit bereft. "Good."
Nick was doing his best to not laugh; his grin at officially going public with Sara was a good cover for that. "We promise you won't have any reason to think we'll be anything but professional, Gris."
Grissom looked at him and felt a rush of pride at the man that Nick had become in the time he'd known him and he realized that if he couldn't have the courage to be with Sara that he couldn't think of a better man than Nick. "No, I'm sure I won't." A tired smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Now go home; you're both off for the next eight hours." A boyish smirk flitted across his face. "Be sure to get some rest."
The implication was hanging there in the air and it was Nick who was suddenly feeling like he'd just been interrogated by his girlfriend's father. "Uh, yeah."
Sara looked horrified that Grissom had even implied that she and Nick had any plans other than to go to their separate homes and go to sleep, despite the fact that they'd just announced that they were dating. "I need to go." She turned on her heels and left Grissom's office without another word.
Nick stood there momentarily and then turned to follow her, hoping that she didn't just bolt from the building; he was hopeful that she'd at least be willing to catch a quick breakfast before heading home. He rounded the corner into the locker room to find her stuffing a few things into her bag. "Sara."
She glanced up. "That wasn't at all awkward." Her tone was decidedly sarcastic and she was clearly flustered given that she'd just stuffed her CSI vest into her bag and then pulled it right back out to hang it up.
"He had to know." Nick couldn't help but smile at her; she was so damn cute when she got like this. "He just made a lot of assumptions for a guy who typically follows the evidence." There was an unspoken question reflecting his own insecurity in hanging between them.
Sara's head snapped up and there was a bit of fire in her eyes. "He's too late; I know what he was implying and he's too late. I don't want him anymore." Her expression softened a bit as she smiled back at him. "You're the one that I want to be with."
Nick's smile widened into a grin and he stepped towards her reaching out to brush a tendril of hair off of her face with his fingertips. "Feel like grabbing a quick breakfast with your new boyfriend?" And then after that breakfast, he'd be sure to kiss her soundly before he let her go home; to give him something to dream about and maybe her too.
She grinned back at him as she tilted her head to the side, glad for how things had unfolded between them after her embarrassing proposition. "I'd love to."
