"Grave Danger"—A different POV

Chapter 1

"No, no, I am paying for this," Sara said, trying to finalize the issue.

"I don't think so. You paid for the movie, I'm paying for the dinner." Nick retorted.

She gave him her squinted-eye-glare trying to get him to swing her way but she caved before he did. "Fine" she said reluctantly and Nick gave his credit card to the waitress standing over them.

They sat in silence for a moment before Nick said, "I'm really glad you decided to come." He reached over and touched her hand.

"Well this is defiantly not what I expected." She said, taking a sip from her Diet Coke.

"What does that mean?"

"Well," she realized she hadn't said the right thing, "I wasn't really sure what to expect. But Nick, this has been so much fun." She gave him that pursed-lip smile he loved so much. He returned it with his full-wattage-Nick-Stokes-smile. They sat in comfortable silence, still holding hands, until the waitress came back. They left the restaurant still hand in hand, walking to the car. He opened the door for her while she got in, leaving her thinking "this is the best date I have ever been on."

They talked about nothing in particular on the drive back to Sara's place, quickly falling into a comfortable silence. He was wondering if she had enjoyed herself, but Sara was thinking about something completely different, "What would Grissom and everyone say if they found us together? Should we tell them?"

Nick interrupted her thoughts by saying, "Oh man I love this song." He turned the volume up and Sara realized they were listening to a Country Western Station. She didn't recognize the song but she listened to the lyrics anyway.

"I was Christmas in Las Vegas, when the locals take the town"

"I actually have this CD." Nick said

"I guess its ok." Sara said back.

"Ok?! This is a classic!"

Sara smiled at his enthusiasm. She knew nothing about Country music, so she figured she would have to take his word for it.

She looked at him and smiled; he was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel singing to the song. She went back to thinking while Nick was singing softly to the lyrics. They remained this way until they pulled up to Sara's condo.

"…Sara, hello Sara," Nick was saying

"huh?"

"We're here." Nick gave half a laugh, "where were you?"

"Oh I was just thinking." She was just about the turn to open the door when she knocked her purse over at her feet. Seeing an opportunity to be a gentleman, Nick quickly ran over to her side and opened the car door for her. That won him another Sara smile. "You know I can open the door myself," she said playfully.

He just smiled while he helped her down. He took her hand and walked her to the steps. They stopped there and waited for nothing in particular. She looked up at him for a moment and their eyes locked. Sara quickly looked down, "I'm no good at this," she thought. But Nick had done this many times before. He carefully reached over and pulled her chin up with his finger. Their eyes met for a brief moment until he kissed her. It was soft and she was surprised, but it only lasted a few moments. He pulled away and looked at her face. His finger was still under her chin and her eyes were closed. She opened them slowly and whispered, "Hmmm," pursing her lips

He smiled his Texas smile and she kissed him again, harder this time. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck while he slid his around her waist. They stood there kissing, each amazed at how good it felt.

Sara barely noticed when her cell phone started ringing in her purse. "Damn it," she said pulling quickly away from Nick. She opened the cell phone and shouted "What," into it, a little louder then intended.

"Uh, Sara? Sorry is this a bad time?" Grissom's voice spoke in her ear.

"Um, no, no Grissom I was just kind of…in the middle of something." Sara said trying to bring herself out of the clouds. She looked up at Nick, who still had his arms around her back. She slipped her arm around his waist and she rested her head on his chest while she talked.

"Ok, well I need you to come in. I just got a break in our case." Sara tried to remember the case they were working on. Then she remembered; lots of blood in warehouse. Resident called in gunshots.

"Alright, when do you need me to come in?"

"Now." Grissom urgency.

"Fine, um ok, just let me change and then I'll be right there…Bye Grissom."

She hung up her cell phone and looked up at Nick, biting her bottom lip. "I'm really sorry…" she said under her breath.

He just smiled and said, "Its fine. I have to go into work anyway." He kissed the top of her head and she stepped away. "Ok." She walked up her steps, but before she opened the door she turned around. "Nick." She said to the receding man.

He whipped around and looked at her. "I don't think we should tell Grissom just yet."

"No. No, definitely not." He said with a smile.

They looked at each other a moment longer and Sara smiled saying, "And thanks for the bear." She didn't wait for a reply while she stepped through the door. After shutting it, she leaned against the door and smiled. She took the little soft teddy bear out of her purse and looked at it. She thought she would always remember how she got it.

"Oh, wait a second look at those bears!" Sara had said with adoration in her voice.

"What?"

"Those bears, look how cute they are."

He had just smiled at her. "You gonna try and win one?"

"You bet I am." She had said, taking a dollar out of her purse. She had thought she would be able to win a bear simply by grabbing it with a hook. "Piece of cake" She had thought. But when the little bear had dropped out of the hook, she had looked at the machine and yelled "What?! I had it right there!"

Nick still hadn't stopped smiling, and said, "Let me try."

"No way. I can do this myself."

"Come on, I'll get you one," he had said, taking the little joist stick from her hand.

She glared at him a moment then said "Alright, but its probably too hard anyway," and stepped aside.

A moment later Sara saw the little bear drop into the dispenser. She looked at him and she couldn't help but smile. He had had his arms up as if he had just scored a touchdown and had had the biggest smile on his face. "Who's good?"

She crossed her arms and tried to look angry, but it was useless. He just looked so cute standing there.

He carefully reached down and took the bear he had just won out of the machine. "A beautiful bear, for a beautiful girl." He had said, handing it to her.

She took it, still smiling and said, "Good job, Romeo. Now if we don't go soon, we are going to be late for our reservations."

She left the movie theatre with Nick close on her heels, putting the into her purse.

Sara came back from her little day dream and realized that she was standing there smiling like a fool. Then she remembered she had to go into the lab. She took a deep breath and hopped off to her bedroom to change, singing all the way.