Disclaimer - I don't own CSI.

A/N: Firstly, I would like to explain what happened with the last chapter. It was totally my fault, I posted the wrong chapter! But it's all sorted now. And to answer a reviewers' question this is set several years ago, as will be made clear right now. So here's the third chapter.

Chapter 3

The following five days went by with ease. Not much more was said between Nick and his father as Bill went off to bed leaving Nick to process his thoughts further. Afterwards, many people commented on how much happier and relaxed he seemed. Nick felt it too, felt as though a weight had been lifted off of him once he'd finally gotten everything off his chest, finally told someone what was going on inside him. Admittedly it wasn't the right person he should have told, but it was a start. Something had been bothering him though. When had he become so indecisive? Nick was never normally the indecisive type, having always been able to make a decision at the drop of a hat. But nothing about his current situation was normal. He had to tell Sara he had feelings for her, it was the rational thing to do. But just thinking it made his palms go all sweaty and his heart rate reach a dangerously high level. He had a lot riding on this. Sara was one of his closest friends and he would never forgive himself if he ruined everything they had. But it was his fathers words that kept replaying themselves in his head. Maybe she did like him too and maybe they'd end up together, have a couple of kids and live out in the country, the whole shebang. Yeah, he was going to tell her. Nick would find the right moment, sit her down and tell her, pour his heart and soul out to her and beg and pray that in doing so he won't have just wrecked their friendship. That's what he would do.

"Has the week really come to an end? It seems as though you've only been here a couple of days," Gillian sounded dejected.

"I'm sorry, mum," Nick smiled sympathetically. "But I've gotta get back to work. I can't leave them a man down. I won't leave it as long till I come back again, I promise."

"You'd better not," Gillian insisted, somewhat sternly. "Now come here and give your mother a hug."

Nick did as he was instructed, but their hug was cut short as the phone began to ring.

"I'll get it," Gillian stated as she left the room, looking longingly back at her youngest son.

Once she had left, Bill gave Nick a curious look. "Have you thought about what I said the other night?" he asked.

"Yes," Nick nodded.

"And...?"

"I've given it some thought," Nick shrugged, frowning almost.

"That's it?" Bill raised his eyebrows.

"What is it you want me to say, dad? I've thought about it. In fact, I'm still thinking about it. I'll figure it out," he continued.

"Nicky, you and I both know what you have to do here," Bill pressed.

"I'm working on it," Nick admitted.

"Well, I can stand here and convince you that you should tell Sara how you feel till I'm blue in the face and it probably won't make any difference. You have to want it, Nick. But I think you'll know what you want to do the next time you set eyes on her," Bill offered what he hoped were encouraging words.

"I've got it all figured out, dad."

"Sorry," Gillian announced as she entered the room again. "That's was just your brother calling to say he's not going to have a chance to say goodbye before you leave because he's caught up at work."

"It's fine," Nick shrugged. "I'll call him later."

"Now are you sure you've gotten everything?"

"Yes, mum, I'm sure. But it's not as though I'm never coming again, is it?" Nick said sarcastically, looking amused at his mothers behaviour.

"You'd better not leave it as long next time. Six months is a long time to not see your family," she insisted.

"I've already said I won't," Nick smiled at her persistence.

On the drive back to Las Vegas, Nick pondered over his week with his family. He hadn't been himself from the moment he first arrived, everyone had seen that. That definitely hadn't been one of his best moments. But in his own defence it was bizarre being away from work, more specifically Sara, and it made him realise how much he really cared for her and truly how strong his feelings were. When he'd arrived at his parents' home he let his guard down in a way, the guard he was holding up to protect himself from rejection from Sara, and let his rather negative thoughts surface at will. He wasn't pleased about it but it happened. He was finally able to think clearly about her for a change without the distraction of work or without her walking in on him daydreaming about her. He had the chance to finally take some time away from it all, take a step back from everything and realise what was truly important to him. But after his father had given him some tough love, Nick was able to enjoy his time off after finally accepting how he felt for Sara and realising that it wasn't such a bad thing.

It was her deep, dark eyes that he loved the most. They were the very first thing he had noticed about her when they first met. They could pierce his soul with just one look. And that scared him. Never had he felt so exposed before, never had a woman had such a strong effect on him. That was how he knew for certain that Sara was special. She was so different to other woman, in a good way. She was head strong, yet somewhat submissive; bold yet reversed; confident yet quiet. She had a serious side, as do most people, but she could let her hair down now and then. Sara knew what to say and when, well, most of the time. She did often let her heart rule her head and quite a few times her fellow colleagues had had to intervene before she said or did something worse, but Nick loved her even more for it. Her heart was always in the right place. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind when necessary but knew when she should keep her mouth shut. She was beautiful and intelligent. She was perfect, in every way, despite her protests that she had many flaws. But to Nick she was perfect, flaws and all. He wondered why he'd never come to this conclusion so many years ago. He'd always felt something for her but for whatever reason those feelings had practically exploded just recently. Their relationship had blossomed over the years into this very special friendship that he dreaded destroying. That was probably the biggest thing holding him back from just confronting her with everything he felt. Having said that he cared a great deal for Sara, he loved her in fact, and he wanted more than anything for her to feel the same way about him.

However, in truth he was still somewhat puzzled with what to do for the best. Would it be selfish of him to declare his feelings to her and potentially ruin their friendship that they had built up over so many years? His mind was constantly jumping between what his father had said to him and what he had said to his nephew, Charlie. Should he just give up? On Sara? On everything? Nick was stuck in a rut. Maybe he should just take some time out for a while, some more time out, maybe meet other people and try to get over Sara. But did he want that? He had so many questions constantly surfacing it was hard to stay focused. He was so confused. In one breath he told himself all the reasons he liked Sara as much as he did, and in the other he was reminding himself why he hadn't said anything sooner. He knew what he wanted to do but the thought made his stomach churn, bringing even more doubt into his mind. Nick reasoned with himself that he had to know what she would say if he were to ask her out. Even if he did decide to go out and meet other people, and then meets this woman who is even more incredible than Sara - though he doubted that was at all possible - they get married and have three kids, deep down he would always wonder what Sara's answer would have been or whether she'd ever had feelings for him. It was a massive risk, he knew that, but what is life without taking a few risks?

"Hey, Nick," Sara sounded surprised to see him. "When did you get back?"

"A couple of hours ago," he replied.

Sara stepped closer to him and gave him a small hug.

"Wow, if this is the reception I'm always going to get I'm gonna go away more often," Nick grinned when she pulled away.

"What are you doing here? Shift doesn't start for another two hours," she continued, seemingly ignoring what he'd just said.

"I could ask you the same thing," he countered, teasing like he'd never been away.

"I'd come in early to help out Henry. Some of the DNA in the case Cath was working on somehow contaminated Grissom's evidence so Henry has been having a nightmare trying to redo all the tests and keep on top of everything," Sara explained, somehow feeling she should justify herself. "He's worked a double shift and is only just beginning to catch up. I'm not sure he's going to be sleeping for a good few hours yet."

"Why couldn't Greg help him?" Nick questioned, puzzled.

Sara shrugged. "That's what I said. But Grissom couldn't spare him, apparently. I think they've just about wrapped up their case now, anyway."

"So the lab functioned perfectly fine without me?" he smirked.

Sara nodded. "Just about. Aside from Henry's slight meltdown everything has run smoothly."

"Glad to hear it."

"Did you have a good time in Dallas?" she wondered.

"Yeah, I did, thanks. It was the same as always really," Nick shrugged.

"But I bet it was nice to be away for awhile?"

"It was. Nice to be awake during the day for a change and not just because we're working a double shift," he smiled. "It was good. Love seeing my nieces and nephews most of all. Though they make me feel quite old."

Sara smiled. "Well, I'm glad you had a good time. But things are about to get a whole lot better. Why? Because you and I have a 419 outside Henderson."

"I'll meet you outside in five."

As soon as they arrived at the scene Nick quickly jumped out his car and went straight to the passenger's side to open the door for Sara.

She smiled shyly at him. "You didn't have to do that you know?"

"I know. But I wanted to," he winked.

Sara let out a slow sigh as she got out the car and moved past him, only allowing herself to stare down at the floor.

Nick chuckled to himself as he slammed the door shut. He soon caught up with Sara and they walked in stride as they approached Captain Brass.

"Bet you're glad to be back, Nick," Brass said sarcastically.

"Oh, I don't know...," Nick paused, giving Sara a look. "It has it's advantages."

"Someone inside is waiting for you," Brass gestured towards the house.

"David here already?" Sara assumed.

"No. Day shift," Brass replied. "Possible link to some murders they've had. Ecklie wanted someone here to assist."

Nick sighed, rolling his eyes at the thought of someone else interfering with their case.

Sara shrugged. "Well, if it means we solve the case quicker then it can't be a bad thing."

"I would love to stay and chat but I have to go and interrogate some witnesses," Brass insisted. "I mean, question some witnesses."

Both Nick and Sara smiled as Brass walked off. They proceeded to make their way inside the well kept home, Nick allowing Sara to go in ahead of him.

"Hey," the man greeted from the living room.

"Hi," Sara sounded confused.

"Caleb Knight," he announced. "But you can call me Cal."

"Can I now?" Sara pursed her lips.

"Yeah. It's nice and simple, easy to remember," he smiled.

"That would surely insinuate that I would want to remember it," Sara insisted playfully.

"Why wouldn't you want to?" Cal raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence.

"Think highly of yourself then?"

"Someone has to," his smile grew wide.

Nick cleared his throat to interrupt.

Sara blushed. "Um... Sara Sidle. Nick Stokes. Graveyard shift."

"Ah, yes. I've heard a lot about you graveyard guys," Cal teased.

"Well, not to blow our own trumpets but everything you've heard is true," Sara smirked. "We are as good as people say."

"We'll see about that."

"What have we got?" Nick asked, trying to focus on the task at hand.

"The vic's in the kitchen," Cal stated, guiding them through to the adjoining room.

Nick and Sara both stood in the doorway, surveying the scene in front of them.

Cal chose to bring them up to speed. "Her name's Patricia Whyte. She's 86. And judging by the level of decomp she's been dead for a few days."

"Who found her?" Sara asked, moving round the body to begin photographing the scene.

"Her granddaughter," Cal replied. "She comes round every Friday to shop for groceries."

Nick bent down above the old woman's body. "She's been stabbed, what, ten times?"

"At least," Sara agreed. "Explains all this blood."

"So far none of the neighbours heard anything," Cal added. "Some said they hadn't seen her for her all week but that wasn't unusual, she liked to keep herself to herself."

"So, Brass mentioned there's been some other cases like this...," Sara pressed, snapping pictures of the arterial blood splatter covering the walls.

"Unfortunately, yes," Cal nodded. "This is the fourth in as many weeks. Vulnerable old ladies have been targeted by a man in his late thirties; that's the best description we have of him. He's robbing them of their family heirlooms and then stabbing them to death."

"How come this one has turned up on our patch?" Sara raised an eyebrow.

"The other three were found by family members within hours. One was found just two hours later by a concerned neighbour who'd seen someone suspicious hanging around," Cal explained. "But this one is different. They've all been different. We haven't found much that links them together at all. They have completely different social circles. This guy is an opportunist. And he's escalating."

"It's a good thing we're here to help then," Sara teased.

Nick rolled his eyes and set about working the scene whilst they waited for David to arrive.

"Sorry I'm late," David stumbled through the door ten minutes later. "Four car pile up on the freeway."

"No hurry, she's not going anywhere," Sara insisted, looking sadly down on the victim.

"Any idea on how long she's been dead?" Cal wondered.

"In case none of you had worked it out yet she's been dead for at least three days," Dave stated. "But we'll know more after the autopsy."

"You should really put that slogan on a mug, Dave," Nick commented.

"Not sure how well Doc Robbins would take that."

Nick just shrugged as he, Sara and Cal continued to work around David as he prepared the body to be taken back to the morgue.

"You know, this'll probably be me one day," Sara insisted solemnly, hovering over the body as David went to work.

"What, a pretty little thing like you?" Cal smiled sweetly.

Sara pursed her lips to prevent a smile of her own overtaking her face.

"Hey, Sar, come check this out," Nick interjected.

Sara walked up behind Nick, leaning over his shoulder. "What've you found?"

"Shoeprints. I'm thinking maybe a men's ten or eleven," Nick replied. "Maybe work boots."

Sara nodded. "Sounds about right."

"They lead this way...," Nick pointed through the doorway.

They briefly shared a look before Nick started working backwards in the direction that the muddy shoeprints originated from, with Sara closely on his heels.

"They end here," Nick stopped once outside the house, noticing how the footprints were quickly fading as the assailant walked through the home owners wet lawn.

"Well, seen as the prints are only going in this direction we can assume that he left the same way he came in," Sara thought aloud.

"Was there sign of forced entry round the front?"

"No," she answered.

"Doesn't seem to be here either," Nick looked thoughtful.

"Maybe if the shoe impressions are work boots then that's how the guy gained entry," Sara continued. "If all the woman had needed work doing to their houses then that's how this guy could have got them to trust him and let him in the door."

"I'll check it out," Nick stated.

They briefly shared a smile, revelling in their new theory.

"Have you printed the door yet, Sara?" Cal called out from inside the house.

Sara headed back inside just as David was removing the body from the house.

"Did you print the door?" Cal asked again, coming towards her.

"I tried. Nothing but smudges," she replied.

"Same back here," Nick announced, stepping back inside.

Cal let out a frustrated sigh as he turned around to survey the scene.

"This is really getting to you, isn't it?" Sara raised an eyebrow in question.

"I was raised to respect my elders, not murder them," he retorted dryly.

"Do you know what I'm thinking?" Sara asked rhetorically. "I'm thinking that maybe the other murders have been test runs for this one."

"It's possible," Cal shrugged. "Definitely something we should look into."

"Maybe if this attack was more brutal compared with the other three then maybe Patricia Whyte was the intended target all along," she added.

"Good thinking. So you're not just a pretty face after all?"

Nick simply rolled his eyes in despair. Was she really being put under his spell so easily?

Thank you for reading. Please review.