A/N: Thanks again to all who reviewed:)

"Nick, look at these.." Catherine said, pointing to a set of tire treds they had collected at their latest crime-scene laid out on the table in the layout room. "These...just don't match up." Catherine turned to look at Nick, who was sitting on a stool by her. He was staring blankly at the wall as if it were the most interesting thing in the world...he was off in his own little world, obviously...he had been zoning out a lot lately...it was actually starting to worry her.

"Nick?" Catherine asked again.

Nick finally blinked, turning back around to face Catherine. "Cath?"

"I was...going over to the tire treds collected at the scene.." she told him, showing him the pictures. "And...I was saying that these two don't match up.."

"Oh, right," Nick said, clearing his throat and looking down at the pictures. "Right, tire treds..."

Catherine stared at him for a minute. Sighing, she folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" she asked.

Nick smiled a little, looking down at the floor. "No, actually...sorry."

Catherine smiled. "It's okay..." she told him. "What's up, Nick? You've been...kind of out-of-it all day...you feeling okay?" she asked.

Nick nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind." And then with a small laugh, he added, "Obviously not the case, huh?"

Catherine smiled again, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Take a break, go get some coffee, we can finish this later."

"Thanks Cath," Nick told her, walking out of the layout room with his arms to his sides. It was the truth, he did have a lot on his mind...ever since that day when Sara's trainer had come into the lab and basically attacked her, he had been really worried about her. There just seemed like there was something up with that guy...and Nick didn't like the fact that he actually spent time, alone, with her. She was his friend...and he cared about her.

He remembered her telling him, "For what it's worth, you've got me." Well, Nick thought, for what it's worth, you've got me too, Sar... And it was true, as well, in high school, he was dependable, and that was one trait he had never lost in all his years of growing up. He was always there for his friends, in the good times and the bad.

Walking toward the break room, he stopped when he reached the locker room when he saw someone sitting on the bench between the two rows of lockers. It was Sara.

Slowly, Nick walked into the locker room toward her. She looked absolutely exhausted, and he knew that she was still meeting with her trainer that day after working some odd hours straight. Nick had noticed her coming into work with various injuries, most of them bruises, which worried him even more (though he did know that working with her trainer, especially from the 'practice session' they had in the lab the other day would give her bruises). And she was also showing the physical signs of what the sessions were helping her improve in- she had actually become much more muscular over the past few months.

"Hey Sar," Nick said, stopping when he was a few feet away from her slouched-over form on the bench, currently trying to tie her shoe.

"Hey Nicky," Sara said with a smile. Wincing, she finished tying her shoe and sat up, going through the rest of her locker.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she told him. "Just sore," she assured him. Turning to look at him, Nick noticed the bruise on her forehead that she had apparently tried to cover up. Nick grimaced a little, walking over to her. "What are you doing?" she asked him.

Nick didn't say anything, he only reached his hand out toward the bruise and gently brushed his fingers against it, stopping only when she winced. "Sorry!" Nick told her, withdrawing his hand. "I'm...really sorry, gosh..." he said, looking down at the floor and fidgeting nervously.

Sara smiled. "It's okay, Nick," she told him again. "I know you're just concerned, but really, I'm fine," she told him, shooting him another reassuring smile.

"Okay.." Nick said. "How...how did that happen?" he asked, motioning to his own forehead. "It looks pretty nasty.."

"Weapon-less defense training isn't gentle, Nick," Sara told him, taking her jacket out of her locker and closing it, re-attaching her lock.

"I know.." Nick said. "But...I mean..did you fall and hit your head, or something?" he asked. He wanted to know, and he wasn't going to stop until he got a satisfactory answer from her.

"I ran into a door," she told him with a small smile. "I don't exactly like going around telling everyone stories that reveal how clumsy I am," she said with a wink, turning around and heading out of the locker room.

Nick smiled, walking after her. "So...you clocking out?" he asked.

"Yup...why?" Sara asked.

"I was just thinking...maybe we could...have dinner..?" Nick asked. "Cath said we could go over the evidence for our case later...I don't think dinner would be a big deal.."

Sara thought for a minute and then nodded slowly, smiling. "That sounds good, actually..I'm really tired tonight, I'll call Kyle and cancel today's session."

"Your trainer?" Nick asked.

"Yeah.." Sara said, taking her cell phone out. "Hang on a minute," she said, dialing his number and putting the phone up to her ear. Walking off for a minute, she came back and put her phone in her back pocket, shooting Nick a smile. "Okay, ready, you?"

"Yeah," Nick said with a smile. "Let's go."

After dinner, Nick and Sara started walking out of the restaurant after paying the bill. "Hang on a minute," Sara told him. "I think I left my jacket at the table..."

"Okay," Nick told her. "I'll wait outside." Nick walked out of the restaurant and put his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to return. Slowly moving his body back and forth, he took a big breath and exhaled deeply, taking in the cold air and exhaling the warm air. Absent-mindidly, Nick silently counted to ten a few times as he waited for Sara to return. She was just getting her jacket, Nick knew, but for some reason it seemed like this was taking much too long...much too long for his comfort.

And then he heard the crash and the gasps coming from the people inside the building. Jumping, Nick thought he must have leapt at least two or three feet off the ground as he tried to find out what was going on. A couple ran out of the restaurant quickly with shocked expressions on their faces, and Nick now knew something was definetly up...not just a waiter dropping a glass or a plate or something...this could be serious.

Running in through the doorway, Nick's eyes widened when he saw what was going on. Tables and chairs were turned over, silverware was on the floor, and what caused it? A man was laying limp on the ground, Sara stood hovering over him, breathing heavily as everyone just stared at the two. Nick swallowed hard, walking over to her. "Sar..?" Nick asked, putting a hand on her shoulder cautiously. He withdrew it when he could feel her muscles tensing underneath his hand. "Sar, it's me.." Nick told her.

Sara took a deep breath, turning her head a bit and looking down at the floor. "Let's just get out of here," she told him, taking her jacket and walking out of the building. As she walked, the people standing by her seemed to just move out of her way, almost as if they were scared of her. Nick didn't blame them, though...Sara could be scary when she was angry...

Nick quickly jogged out after Sara. "Sar, what happened?" Nick asked. "Are you okay?" Sara turned to face Nick, and that was when he saw the blood trickling down her arm. "Sar..you're bleeding," Nick told her. Taking his jacket off, he slowly slid the sleeve of her shirt up to reveal a gash about four inches long. "Jeez, Sar.." Nick said. "What happened?" he asked again.

"I...really don't know," Sara told him. "I walked back inside to get my jacket...and this guy just came up to me with a broken glass and lashed out at me.." she said.

Nick sighed, wrapping his jacket around her arm and tying it in a tight knot. She winced, and he quickly apologized. "Sorry, Sar.." Nick told her. "But..the bleeding needs to stop.." he said. "It's going to need stitches...go get in the car and I'll take you to Desert Palms...I'll call Catherine and tell her," Nick said. Sara just nodded slowly- Nick could tell she was still shooken up- and walked over to the car, opening the door and getting inside, holding her injured arm in her lap.

"Cath?" Nick asked over the phone. "Yeah, it's Nick. What? No, everything's okay...there was just a little incident at dinner...yes I'm okay...Sara got hurt, though...no, she's okay, she's just going to need a few stitches on her arm...no..it's not terrible, it's a cut..she got cut on some glass, some guy attacked her.." Nick told her. "Yeah...we're going to Desert Palms...okay, thanks Cath. Bye," Nick said, hanging the phone up. Walking over to the car, he got inside, turned the car on, and they drove off to the hospital.