Yay for Chappie two! Okay, all you Snickers fans out there, this is your chapter! Once again, I wrote this with no intentional romance, but I was rereading this chapter, and well... its a little suggestive of a relationship i guess. Kind of a random moment chapter, i wasn't feeling particularly angsty the day I wrote this and in my defense, I say i suppose you could say its one of those "minor details that are someway completely pertinent to the plot" things that directors (Peter Jackson cough cough) do.

Anyways... enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Prints?"

"None. Weapon?"

"Nope. Escape vehicle?"

"No such luck. Shoe prints?"

"Nothing. Tire marks?"

"Not one."

"Lets face it: we're stuck." Nick said, turning to Grissom. Sara nodded, finally sitting down.

They were in Grissom's bug-infested office, looking defeated. Nick leaned against the wall, exhausted, while Grissom sat in the chair behind his desk, spinning a pen in his hand and looking thoughtful. "No murderer leaves no trace." He spoke at last. "I'm putting the whole team on this case."

"Just like the last three," Sara said, frustrated. "Dead ends! All of them!"

Nick glanced at her. "How did the other three die again?"

Grissom put the pen down. "The two girls, from loss of blood. The boy, from a stab wound to the heart."

Nick shifted. "All had traces of sexual assault, correct?"

Grissom nodded, sparing a glance for Sara, who'd put her head in her hands. "Go home, guys. You're tired. Warrick, Catherine and Greg can take over for a while."

Sara looked up. "No," She said immediately. "Not until we have him behind bars."

"Where are they?" Asked Nick.

"I just called Greg, and the other two are on their way. Go home and get some rest. We need everyone to be awake and aware for this one." Grissom insisted.

Just then, the door opened, and Warrick walked in, closely followed by Catherine. Warrick looked around at them, before taking the other seat. "Another one?" He asked.

Grissom and Nick nodded. Sara stared at Grissom defiantly. "You guys look exhausted," Warrick said.

"They are," Grissom said. "I've got to have you two and Greg take over for a bit. At least for the rest of tonight."

"No problem," Catherine said. "But I've got to leave in the morning to drop Lindsay off for school."

"I'm not leaving," Sara said, glaring around the room. "We don't have enough people."

"We'll be fine, Sara. You need rest. Tired people make mistakes," Grissom said firmly. "Nick, can you drive her home for me?"

Nick nodded.

Sara did not look convinced, but stood up. She hesitated. "What about Ecklie's team? Can't he put a couple people on our case?"

"Ecklie!" Warrick said. "He'll be laughing at us right now. Day shift doesn't have anything to do with us. We're not their problem."

Sara looked like she was going to say something, but Nick put a hand on her shoulder. She looked around at him, fury in her eyes. "Let's go, Sara."

Grissom and Warrick watched them carefully and Catherine stood, looking a little shocked. "Go on Sara; you won't miss much."

Nick steered her out of Grissom's office, passing Greg in the hall. "Hey," Greg greeted them as he passed.

"Have fun with this one Greg," Nick said. "See you in the morning. Good luck."

Greg looked around at him, a little confused, as he walked into the office and Sara looked back, still fuming. After assuring himself that she wouldn't go marching back to Grissom's office, Nick let go as he opened his locker to get his keys. She stood before her locker, watching him angrily. He wasn't quite sure what to say. Everybody knew that she got a little too personal with the domestic violence cases, or those against women, but consoling her wasn't on his agenda for the night. Grissom was right. He was tired. As much as he wanted to help, he also wanted sleep after pulling a double shift and a half. Sara might be able to bury herself in work without sleep, and on occasion, he could do that too, but it had been a long night.

He heard her punch the locker and exclaim "I can't just leave! We must have missed something! I can't just go home and pretend everything's fine!"

Nick looked over at her wearily. "Sara!" he said, as loud as he could without shouting. She stopped and looked at him, eyes burning. "Calm down! You really do need sleep. Really," He said. "Grissom's right. We can't have tired CSIs working a case as important as this one. If we compromise what evidence we do have, we won't get anywhere." Not that we are right now, he thought. He took a deep breath. "Look, Sara. Everyone's upset. We need sleep."

Morning came all too soon. Nick all but destroyed his alarm clock when it rang just three hours after he'd collapsed in bed. He rolled over and looked blearily at the clock: 7:30. Damn, I hate my job. He thought, burying his face in his pillow once more. Less than a moment later, his cell phone rang, and he took it from the bedside table, groaning when he saw the number.

"Stokes…" he said, knowing full well who would answer.

"Hey Nicky, sorry to wake you up, but you don't have to come in right now." Nick tried to stop himself from groaning at the sound of Grissom's voice.

"What now?" He asked.

"Autopsy's going to start in a bit, and we haven't found anything else. Come in later when you've gotten some sleep." Grissom sounded tired himself, but Nick wasn't about to refuse more sleep.

"What about Sara?"

"I already called her." He sounded doubtful. "She'll probably come in anyways.

This made Nick smile. "She can't.

"What?"

"I drove her home, remember?"

"Oh yeah," The other line was silent for a while. "Well, see you later today then."

"You know, you sound like you need sleep more than I do," Nick said, yawning, but Grissom had hung up already. He rolled over, intending to go back to sleep. Seconds later, the phone rang again.

He flipped over and glared at his phone. Oh, well. I should have expected it… he thought. "Stokes…" He answered.

"Nick, take me back now!"

He grinned at the sound of Sara's angry voice. "Whoa there, did you get any sleep at all?"

"No."

"Will you if I refuse?"

"No."

"Sorry, Sara, but three hours in two days is just not enough sleep to work a case…" This was a lie. He'd done it before. They all had.

"Fine, I'll call Grissom!" She said, angrily.

"Have fun getting him out of the office."

"He got me out," Sara said, sounding upset.

"Oh well. He's your supervisor… He has that power," Nick yawned. "I'll pick you up at 5:00. I'm going back to sleep." He hung up before she could say anything.

Incentive for the reviewers: You'll have made someone happy today. And i might just update a little bit sooner than I was planning to :)