Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. CBS does.

Author's Note: I initially posted this over at my livejournal. Just thought I'd share it here as well. All titles are from the song "Street Map" by Athlete.


"Have dinner with me."

For a moment Sara just stood there, dumbfounded. Has Grissom just asked her out on a date? It was the end of another long shift and Sara was walking through the hallway on her way out of the lab when Grissom passed her. Suddenly he turned around, as though he remembered something… then blurted out the one question she'd been waiting to hear from him for three years.

"Okay," she replied automatically.

"Tomorrow's your night off right? I'll pick you up at 7." With that, he proceeded past her and entered the office of the day shift supervisor. Just like that he could return to his work as if nothing out of the usual has happened, Sara thought in wonderment.

It was a different story for her, though. She was still having a bit of trouble believing what just took place. Grissom gave no indication whatsoever that he was even thinking of asking her out. So she was really surprised when he did, hence her immediate response. Honestly, it was more of curiosity that prompted her to go along with it. Rooted to the ground, she stood there in the middle of the hallway lost in her thoughts. She was trying to figure out just what she had done differently this time when she felt the light touch of a hand on her back.

"You okay?" Nick was peering at her.

"Yes."

"Uh huh," he mumbled, obviously not believing her.

Sara sighed. He knew her too well.

"Grissom…"

"What did he do now?" Nick frowned at her.

"Oh it's nothing like that." She assumed he must be thinking about the countless times she complained about Grissom to him. "He just asked me out."

"And…" He just raised his eyebrows at her.

"And… I said yes. Oh you can't tell anybody, okay? Promise me."

"Yeah whatever…" He seemed distracted all of a sudden. "Listen, I gotta get this to trace. I'm pulling a double so… catch you later alright." For the second time that day, somebody unceremoniously walked out on her.

ooo

Nick walked away feeling a little annoyed. She had whined about Grissom's behavior in what seemed like innumerable times, then only one word from him and she would turn into putty. He'd been witness to it more than he cared for, actually.

"Ugh!"

Nick was walking into the locker room and just chuckled when he heard his coworker groan. She does that many times actually, because apparently lots of things piss her off. He went over to her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "What's the matter, Sar?" He turned his back on her and opened his locker as he waited for the answer.

"He can really be a pain in the ass sometimes! You know what he told me earlier, d'ya know?"

"No. Please enlighten me."

"He asked me what I was doing! Like I don't do anything around here! Why is it that I can't seem to please him ever?"

"Maybe you shouldn't."

She just looked at him baffled. "Of course I do. He's our supervisor in case you've forgotten."

"And? You know that's just not the deal here." Yes he knew about Sara's thing with Grissom, if one can even call it that. People in the lab used to make a reference to it once in a while.

She glared at him so he decided on a different approach.

"Come on let's get some breakfast. I bet you're just hungry… we haven't eaten anything since DNA results came in and that was hours ago. You may still rant about him later if you want." He grinned, knowing she'd likely forget everything once food settled on her stomach.

"Fine. Your treat?" Her demeanor changed abruptly at the mention of food. She was actually smiling at him teasingly.

"No. We're going Dutch." He ended up treating her to breakfast that day anyways.

A grin formed on his face as he remembered how Sara would always insist on splitting the bill whenever they eat out together, and how he would sometimes let her just to shut her up.

He glanced up and was a bit surprised to come face to face with the glass door of the trace lab. His forehead furrowed a little as he tried to remember what he was supposed to be doing at that moment.

"Oh right, trace…" He pushed the door and let himself in, then smirked when he spied Hodges dozing on one of the tables. "Yo, Hodges!"