Chapter 8

"Nick, what are you doing here?" Sara said rather sharply.

"I came over to see if you were ok, what is going on with you Sara? You ring me in tears, then Gil rings me to know if you are ok, I come over here and you think I am Gil, no wonder I am confused," he explained agitatedly.

"Look Nick this has nothing to do with you, I am sorry that you wasted your journey over here, but really I am fine and I need to get some sleep before tomorrow's shift, so can you just go please", she replied.

She was embarrassed that he had heard her outburst and other than dealing with it she just wanted him to go away. It was Sara's normal response to anyone who came to close, bark at them and hope to God they will back off. But something about Nick said that he was standing his ground on this one. He could be just as obstinate as Sara, it was one of the characteristics that she usually admired in her, but tonight it was just making her angry.

"Do you really think I am going to just let this thing go Sara?" Nick continued with determination. "I know you are a private person and all but you contacted me tonight, and that makes me involved, and you know once I am involved in something I see it through to the end."

"I am not one of your cases Nick, don't try to get some profile on me so you can work out what the problem is. Why don't you remember that you are better at working with the dead not the living, maybe you should stick to that?" she retorted heatedly.

Sara felt almost bad for attacking Nick like this, she had gone to him for help and now that he was here offering her the help she needed, she was pulling away.

Just as she was about to tell him again to leave, she saw a set of headlights pulling into the driveway. "Oh Christ, please don't make that be Gil, how would we explain that one?" she thought desperately. But Nick had evidently seen the approaching car too and turned to see who the driver was.

"Is that Gil's Tahoe?" Nick asked narrowing his eyes from the strength of the oncoming vehicle.

"What am I a psychic?" Sara snapped.

"Well, isn't that interesting, see when I arrived here you were hoping I was Gil, and now here he is, you may not be psychic but maybe you are telepathic?" Nick said sarcastically.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck" Sara thought to herself. "What the hell am I going to do now? Will Gil get the wrong impression if he sees Nick here at this hour of the night? Will he think there is something going on between us and that is why I didn't tell him I love him too? Jesus, could this night get any more fucked up?"

"Well you obviously aren't prepared to leave so you might as well go and take a seat in the living room" Sara said to Nick.

She thought that at least if she gets Nickoff the doorstep that she might get a chance to go and tell Gil heis here before he arrives in and starts shooting his mouth off. That was the last thing she needed.

"I can't figure you out for one second Sara", Nick said in his Southern drawl and made his way into the living room.

Sara breathed a sigh of relief and decided to take the opportunity to tell Gil that Nick was here. She rushed out to Grissom's Tahoe.

Sara opened the passenger door and got in saying "Gil you have to know that Nick is only here cos he was worried about me, there is nothing going on".

She turned to see why Gil wasn't responding and saw that the seat was empty.

"What the……….?" She said aloud.

"Gil?" she asked quietly.

"Where did he go? He was just here a second ago, maybe he got out or something", she thought confusedly. She turned to get out of the car when she heard a click and the automatic locking system locked down all the doors.

From behind her seat a hand appeared and covered her mouth to stop her from screaming.

"Hello Sara" said an instantly recognizable voice. The hair on the nape of Sara's neck immediately stood on end.

"Now if you promise to co-operate I will remove my hand. You have to promise not to scream, we wouldn't want tolet Nicky knw there is anything wrong out here now would we?"

Sara shook her head from side to side in the signal for no.

"Good girl," he said removing his hand.

"What have you done to Gil?" she hissed venomously.

"He has gone for a nap, with all the running around after you that he does, no wonder he was tired", he said while stroking Sara's hair.

"If you have hurt him I swear to God I will kill you David", she continued in a low threatening voice.

David Phillips the CSI Lab technician had worked with the team for a number of years, and had always seemed like an ordinary enough guy. It was known that he had a crush on Sara, a fact which had always been laughed off until now. However, now that she was sitting here not knowing where Gil was and if he was okay or not, she started to take Dave's attraction to her very seriously, she began to fear for her safety. Sara was starting to think they could have been very wrong about just how ordinary and easy gong this guy really is.

"Turn around Sara, look at me", he said in an uncharacteristically confidant tone.

Sara decided now would not be the time for her trademark sarcasm, so she decided to comply with his request.

"Best not to piss off the crazy guy", she thought to herself.

She turned slowly and saw Gil slumped against the window, she looked to his chest to see if he was breathing. His chest was rising and falling, confirming that he was indeed just unconscious. She quickly scanned him for any visible injuries, evidence of blood or apparent broken bones. Thankfully he seemed to be okay.

As if David had read her mind he said "Jesus Sara lighten up, your precious Gil is fine, don't look so worried" and with that he lithely hopped into the drivers seat beside her.

"What do you want David?" Sara asked impatiently.

"You", he said and with that he turned the key and reversed out of the driveway.