A/N: Thanks again to all who reviewed! This is going to be a happier chapter :)

"Are you going to sit and watch me?" Sara laughed as Warrick hoisted her up into his muscular arms.

"Maybe," Warrick replied, setting her down on the collapsed toilet-seat cover. Immediately blushing after his statement, he cleared his throat and pulled the shower curtain aside, reaching into the shower and turning the faucets. "I'll, uh… just get this ready for you."

"Thanks," Sara said. She couldn't help but notice that as he leaned inside the shower to get it ready for her his jacket and shirt were getting soaked with bathwater. "Here…" Sara offered, slowly sliding his jacket off of his shoulders. When he turned and looked at her she smiled a little, "You were… getting wet," she explained.

"Oh," Warrick said, his mind still trying to register that Sara was taking off some of his clothes. Stop it. She's confused right now, and hurt. Don't lead her on. "Thanks," he told her, moving out of the way so she could get in the shower. "How does that feel?" he asked, motioning toward the shower-head and the stream of water pouring down from it.

"It's nice, thank you," Sara told him, holding her hand underneath it. Slowly and carefully getting to her feet, Sara was about to tug her dress up over her head when she remembered that Warrick was standing in the room. "Uh…" Sara coughed, "Could, you uh…?"

"Oh! Right…" Warrick said, quickly turning around and heading out the door. "I'll just be in the living room if you need… anything…" he trailed off, stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

Sara just nodded once the door was closed and quickly stripped herself of all her clothing (which wasn't hard considering how little she was actually wearing), stepping inside the shower and hoping- praying- that any other little shards of glass that may be lodged in her feet didn't just press in even further. She was still in pain, but the water was making her feel considerably better. The temperature was just right and she pulled the shower curtain back in place, letting the water pour down over her head.

Part of her couldn't help but wonder if the water was only making her feel better because Warrick had turned it on. No, that's ridiculous, she quickly reasoned. It's not like the man has magic hands.

…Right?

Just outside the door, Warrick was pacing back-and-forth, rubbing his chin in thought. He had a lot on his mind right now- the bastard of a piano player still probably at the club waving and letting the audience kiss his ass, Sara's injuries and how he was going to bandage them… it was a lot to think about. He couldn't stand that such a thing was able to happen to his friend without him being aware of it until it was too late. He wanted to wring the man by his neck and try to do anything to make Sara feel better.

He couldn't imagine how… dirty and violated must feel at the moment. Personally nothing had ever happened to Warrick that made him feel that sort of discomfort. Sure, he had gotten into some things that had caused him discomfort and pain and hurt…when he was younger, he was involved in a lot of fist-fights here and there with the kids in his neighborhood; the kids who only saw two colors, black and white. But that was physical anguish, Warrick thought. The sort of pain Sara was feeling was not the result of a black eye or bruised arm, despite the cuts on her feet.

Warrick knew that her cut-up feet were probably the least of her worries right now. She was feeling mental pain, not physical pain. Sara was all alone here in Vegas; everyone else at the lab had each other, but Sara didn't have any family and she was still making amends with everyone she worked with. She didn't really have anyone, and so he knew that only made dealing with this whole situation even tougher for her.

…And somewhere along Warrick's train-of-thought, even though he was trying his hardest not to, there was the little voice that kept reminding him that Sara- a very wet and naked Sara- was behind the door just in front of him.

"Damn it," Warrick muttered. She was hurt, he tried to remind himself. So that meant no flirting, no… anything! He was going to help her bandage her feet, and then help her get situated in her bed and then let her sleep. Wait… Sara's bed… at Sara's apartment… with Sara…

For god's sake! Warrick wanted to scream.

This was going to be difficult.

Well this sucked, Sara knew. She could barely lean herself over to reach the soap in the soap-dish because she had to arch her foot to do so. She could barely wash the cuts on her knees for obvious reasons. She could barely even wash the easy parts of her body because she was so tired and achy. And why she felt tired and achy, Sara didn't really know. Sure, her feet ached, but… her entire body felt that way. But then she remembered that she hadn't really gotten the greatest night's sleep the night before, and she had run like a bat out of hell to get out of the club only to trip over a crack in the sidewalk and tumbled to the ground. The cold, hard ground.

With a groan, Sara thought about what she was going to do. Well, really, she had three choices: try and clean herself up anyways despite the pain it caused her aching body, just get out of the shower and go to sleep, or… call Warrick in and ask him to help her finish getting cleaned-up. No, that third one was ridiculous! Warrick was her friend, but Sara was pretty sure that having to come into her bathroom and help her finish up her shower because her bloody-and-cut-up feet hurt too much for her to do it on her own wasn't included in the contract. She didn't want him to have to do that.

But she was filthy. She felt filthy and she knew she was. She had taken a dive onto the cold Vegas pavement along the street which had to be one of the dirtiest surfaces man had ever step foot on. She was pretty sure she had landed in gum… among other disgusting and repulsive things she didn't want to even want to think about staying on her body for an extended period of time. And she could get sick, she thought, or a cut or cut(s) could get infected, and she wasn't willing to take that risk.

But Sara still didn't want to ask Warrick! Well, a part of her was actually looking quite forward to it, but the other rational side of her was telling her not to bug him for a favor this fantastically outrageous. She didn't like feeling dependent on other people because it made her feel weak; Sara didn't want to feel like the helpless princesses in the fairytales that couldn't save themselves let alone cut her own meat without a servant or savior there to help and protect them. But this wouldn't make her weak, she assured herself. She really was hurt, and Warrick was her friend, so he would help her, right…? Friends would do anything for their own friends.

So reluctantly- and a bit excitedly (though Sara denied that she was)- Sara called Warrick's name over the sound of the running water that was currently serving no purpose other than reentering the pipes system as it receded into the drains at the moment.

Outside, Warrick nearly jumped when he heard Sara call his name. Poised and ready to leap at anything and anyone that might pose a threat to Sara inside her bathroom, Warrick immediately sprung into action. "Sara?" he quickly asked his hand already on the doorknob. "Sara, what's going on? Are you okay?" he said, turning the knob and throwing the door wide open.

The next few moments were more than awkward for Warrick Brown and Sara Sidle. Awkward didn't even begin to cover it.

Sara had pulled open the shower curtain to let some of the steam escape as she didn't expect Warrick to actually come inside, let alone open the door. Expecting him to reply from outside the door, Sara was more than a little surprised when he was standing- wide-eyed- in the doorway of her bathroom, staring at her standing in the shower looking just as dumbfounded as he did.

"…Oh!" Warrick said, quickly turning away. "I'm so sorry, Sara!" he told her, throwing his arms across his face and shutting his eyes tightly, trying to get any and all images of Sara's sopping-wet naked body out of his mind.

Sara turned bright red, wrapping the shower curtain tightly around herself in attempt to cover up her body. Looking down at the floor bashfully, she swallowed hard. Did he see me? I think he saw me!

"W…What did you need, Sara…?" Warrick thought. Well she definitely wasn't going to tell him now that he had barged right in on her in her own private bathroom, he thought. Damn it, he was an idiot. This was her home, her four walls of comfort and security. She should be able to bathe in peace without becoming a stunning figure of sex appeal! She had just been touched- touched in the crudest and inappropriate manner- by someone she had trusted. That was just about as bad as rape, he knew, and he had just walked in on her while she was trying to rid her body of those memories!

"Uh, I…uh…" Sara stuttered, turning to look at the white tile of her shower. "I… needed help…" she murmured.

"Help…?" Warrick asked. "Help with what…?"

"I… I can't really… wash myself," Sara sighed. "I… I'm too achy," she admitted. Now she wasn't that embarrassed that he had seen her naked body, she as more embarrassed that she couldn't finish her own shower by herself. Sara wasn't feeling any discomfort at the thought that Warrick had seen her naked, actually… well, not any discomfort that normally anyone who had just been through what she had endured would be feeling at the moment. She didn't feel betrayed… or any more violated than she already did. She actually thought it was a little cute how shy he looked now.

"…Do you want me to help you?" Warrick asked, before he was able to stop himself.

"…Could you?" Sara asked. "Just… maybe my back? The shower is a tub, too, so if I just sit down I should be able to wash everything… else…" she blushed.

"…Sure," Warrick said. "Do you need me to help you sit down?"

"Could you?" Sara replied to Warrick's surprise.

"Uh…sure," Warrick said, turning around and heading over to Sara, trying his hardest not to look at her. He didn't feel uncomfortable, per say, he just felt like he was violating her personal space. And okay, he did feel uncomfortable. Sara was… a very attractive woman, and now she was standing in front of him, naked…

"Okay, I'm going to try and sit down now," Sara told Warrick, bringing him out of his thoughts. Turning her back toward him, Sara grabbed onto the sides of the shower for support as she slowly lowered her body down to the foot of the shower. When she was about half-way down and Warrick was beginning to relax a bit more, she slipped.

No one exactly knew what happened next.

Sara slipped on a small chunk of soap that had sunk to the bottom of the shower and fell backwards. Before her back could make contact with the edge of the tub/shower, Warrick grabbed under her arms to avoid her getting hurt anymore than she already was. In doing so, though, Warrick fell backwards and lost his balance, tripping over a small ruffle in the rug he had been standing on. Following Warrick was Sara of whom he was still holding her arms with his hands. As he tumbled to the floor she landed right on top of him, flipping herself around as she tried to register what had just happened.

Before Warrick was able to start bombarding Sara with apologies and how this whole thing was his fault, and how he should be going so she could rest in peace, Sara had pressed her lips against his. Warrick's eyes widened as he tried to figure out what she was doing. He was in Sara's apartment… with Sara- a very wet and naked Sara- on top of him, and now she was kissing him…?

Warrick slowly got to his feet, pulling Sara up with him. As much as he wanted to, Warrick knew they shouldn't be doing this. Because kissing generally led to something else... You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to be able to do the math. Sara was still hurt and he didn't want to do this when she was in such a state, not after what had just happened to her. "Sara…" he mumbled, gently trying to push her away from him. "Sara… we can't do this…"

"Why…?" Sara whispered.

"Because… you're confused…" Warrick told her. "After what just happened… I—"

"Warrick, I want to…" Sara whispered. "I'm not confused… and I know what I want," she told him. "And I want to love you…" she whispered, slowly wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I…do, too," Warrick whispered, slowly pressing his lips to hers again. He felt her legs wrapping themselves around his waist as they slowly made their way out of the bathroom, heading down to the bedroom.

For the next hour, any doubts in Warrick and Sara's minds about this whole thing were relieved. As they twisted and turned and curled up in each other wrapped and tangled in the bed sheets, they realized just how much they needed and loved each other. Any and all thoughts of the piano man were put to bed for the moment as they indulged themselves in each other.

And when it was over, the places that tingled before on Sara's body before no longer tingled with discomfort or pain; they tingled with happiness and pleasure. They tingled with Warrick.