Disclaimer: see first chapter

A/N: Sorry it's taking so long to get this story out, life has been kind of hectic. I have it mostly mapped out, at least through the next couple chapters, and it seems like work is going to calm down for awhile, so hopefully that means I'll have more time to write/post. Thanks to all of you that are sticking with me through this, I'm really going to try to post more regularly.


The next time that Nick woke up, he felt the void next to him in bed. When he opened his eyes, he realized that Sara was no longer there. He didn't want to panic if she had only gotten up to go to the bathroom, but when ten minutes passed and she still hadn't returned, Nick got up to find her.

Sara was leaning against the bar counter inside of her kitchen, stirring a bowl of some kind of batter rather forcefully. Nick wondered what on earth she could be making; he had gone through her cupboards the night before, and he hadn't found enough of anything to make anything resembling food.

"Hey," he called softly, walking up to the counter and resting his forearms near the bowl.

Her eyes darted up to his briefly, and the red rims gave her away immediately. Her face was still pale, except for the still present tear tracks running from her eyes down her cheeks. Nick smacked himself mentally for sleeping through both her waking up and her apparent breakdown.

Sara made no move to answer him, merely stirring the batter with slightly greater force. When Nick realized she wasn't going to talk, he decided to pick up the slack. He wasn't quite sure what her mood was, and he figured getting her to talk would give him a better idea. "Whatcha makin?"

"Chocolate chip pancakes," she answered dully, stirring one last time before turning towards the stove.

"You want me to do that? That air cast doesn't look too comfortable." The glare on her face when she turned around, and the hiss from the batter hitting the ready pan assured him that she didn't.

On her best days, Sara's mood could change in seconds, so Nick was expecting her to be a jumble of emotions, but he still wasn't exactly sure when her mood had changed. At least he knew how to handle it; an angry Sara needed space until she was ready to talk about things.

"Then, do you mind if I grab a shower?"

"Extra towels are in the linen closet." Her voice was quiet, as if it hurt her to speak any louder. Nick fought the urge to walk into the kitchen and hug her, knowing it would sabotage any future chances of getting her to open up, and instead grabbed his keys so he could run out to his rig. Nick was glad that in his line of work, he had learned to keep a spare bag in his Denali with extra clothes, along with essentials like a razor and toothbrush.

A half hour later, he emerged from Sara's bathroom, changed, showered, and shaved. Sara was sitting on the couch, pushing pieces of pancake around her plate. A second plate sat on the coffee table next to her, along with a glass of orange juice, a fork, and the bottle of syrup.

Nick settled somewhat tentatively next to her, grabbing the plate and syrup. After drowning the plate in golden syrup, he proceeded to inhale most of the pancakes before Sara even took another bite.

He watched her stare at her plate and stab at random pieces, pushing them around but never picking them up. When he finished off his orange juice, and Sara still hadn't taken another bite, Nick took a deep breath. "Sara, you've got to eat something." He knew she probably made the pancakes more for the distraction than for the actual intent to eat them, but Nick was going to make it clear that he wasn't going to let her waste away.

Sara met his gaze long enough to glare, but took a few small bites before setting the plate back on the table. She couldn't possibly be full between that, and the near ounce of soup she had had last night, but he wasn't going to push it. He'd just make sure that she ate something proper for lunch.

"Detective Reynolds wants me to come in." Nick was surprised to hear her voice, and turned towards her, setting his plate on the table on top of hers. "He called while you were in the shower. Catherine too. Anyways, he said he had some more questions." She tried to appear unfazed by the detective's request, but Nick could see the anxiety hiding behind her brave front.

"Sar, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong, and they know that…there aren't going to be any charges."

Sara suddenly turned her gaze forward. "Well, we should probably head down there now, before shift. He said he'd wait for me." Sara pushed herself up off the couch and hobbled towards her bedroom to get ready.

Nick sighed in frustration, rubbing the back of his neck before gathering up the plates and dropping them into the sink, scraping the remnants of Sara's pancakes into the garbage disposal. He'd let Grissom break the news to Sara that she wasn't just going back to work, like nothing happened.