Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them. As always, I'd love to stop by and have coffee with George and Jorja (and maybe find out who tied up the set hair stylist to allow George to get away with that hair.)

Author's Note: I'm sure that some of you are wondering if I'll ever finish that other story...yes, the answer is yes, but life is a little crazy, but I will finish it eventually.

Her words had hung in the air for a fraction of a second before Grissom noticed the necklace hanging around her neck. He had been so shocked by the tone in her voice and the intent behind it that as it registered in his mind that it might just be too late for him, he realized that the necklace was unlike anything he'd ever seen Sara wear before and somehow he knew that it had been a gift to her; a very special gift.

Warrick watched this brief exchange with curiosity; clearly Grissom had been blind for months not to notice the subtle changes in Sara; the way that she actually left when shift ended; the way she seemed to light up when someone in particular came into the room. Not that he was going to share that information with anyone; he had been sworn to secrecy by both of them. The pair of them had said they just wanted to see where things might go; how serious they might get before making an announcement that might just screw up the nightshift all over again. He'd only agreed because he didn't want Ecklie to have any reason to split the team up again.

Sara could see the shock on Grissom's face and part of her felt relieved that he'd picked up on it, but she felt a tinge of sadness that he would never allow himself a measure of happiness with someone because of some reason that she had never quite figured out. She smiled in spite of it though, she was happy, happier than she could ever remember being before and she had absolutely no regrets about how things had turned out.

"I'll call Brass." Grissom finally managed to form words and he quickly turned and left the layout room, intent on reaching his office where he could process Sara's sentence while he called the detective.

Warrick glanced over at Sara who had busied herself with organizing the evidence that had been spread out all across the layout room. He quirked an eyebrow her direction. "Did Nick get you that necklace?" He had picked up on it as soon as he'd walked in the room because he'd been with Nick when he'd picked it out just before Christmas; Warrick had been looking for jewelry for Tina and Nick had tagged along.

Sara's cheeks tinged pink as she glanced over her shoulder at him. "Yeah, he gave it to me for Christmas." She glanced around as if she was checking to see if anyone else was near enough to hear. "Uh, I think we're going to go public."

Warrick let out a soft chuckle. "So things are getting serious then." It was more of an observation than an actual question, but judging from the expression that Sara couldn't seem to keep off of her face, he knew that he was right on.

"So how's Tina?" Sara opted to change the subject rather than to answer his question. She knew that Warrick had rushed into marrying Tina and she hoped that it had been the right thing.

"She's good...bugging me to have Nick and his special lady over for dinner so she can make sure she's good enough for him." Warrick had an easy smirk on his face. He was happy; happier than he thought he could be despite missed opportunities and bad timing.

"Oh." Sara wasn't really sure what to say about that; she had been the one that had insisted on keeping her relationship with Nick a secret; what she couldn't keep secret no matter how hard she tried though was how happy Nick was; how happy she was.

Suddenly, Greg rushed into the layout room with a worried expression on his face. "Have you guys seen Grissom?" He looked from Sara to Warrick and back to Sara again.

"He just went to call Brass...why, what's up, Sanders." Warrick could tell that whatever was causing that expression on Greg's face was serious.

"Kelly Gordon." Greg furrowed his brow even deeper than it had been initially. "Nick's interviewing Kelly Gordon as a suspect in his murder investigation."

Sara's heart fell and she felt a wave of fear wash over her as she considered how cold and hard she'd remembered Kelly Gordon to be. Everything in her wanted to protect Nick, but she knew this wasn't the first time he'd met her. She had been extremely upset when he'd gone to see her in prison; not quite understanding his need to see someone who had told Sara that she hoped that he died. And just a month or so ago, Kelly had stopped by the lab to see Nick, to tell him that she had been thinking a lot about what he had said to her. Sara hadn't wanted Nick to get his hopes up that she would come out of prison a changed woman, and now she'd been picked up on suspicion of murder. Suddenly, Sara needed to find Nick.

"Where's Nick?" Sara sounded urgent and there was a hint of panic in her expression.

"Uh, on his way to PD." Greg hadn't thought to go after Nick; he thought Grissom should be the one to do that.

"Sara, you can't go after him." Warrick cautioned gently. He knew that Sara was headstrong, but he knew that if Nick felt uncomfortable about interviewing a suspect, he would have let Catherine interview her. He also knew that Nick felt he had some sort of a connection with Kelly and that's why he'd probably insisted on interviewing her despite what had probably been an intense negotiation with Catherine over it.

Sara looked stricken. "You weren't in that room with her; you didn't hear her tell you that she hoped that Nick died in that grave." She knew that she was operating completely on an emotional response; her professionalism if called back into the room would realize that Nick knew what he was doing.

Greg tried to interject. "He's just going to PD, Sara." Though he hadn't asked either of them, he'd noticed a change between his two friends and suspected that there was a little more than friendship going on between them.

"Yeah." Sara just needed a moment to collect herself; she knew that if she showed up over at the interrogation that it would just upset Nick, and it was hardly the time or the place to announce to the world that they were seeing each other.

"He'll be fine." Warrick sounded more sure than he felt and he made a mental note to talk to Nick later himself, but for now it seemed that Sara was momentarily satisfied.

Sara tried to put the interrogation out of her mind for the rest of shift but she felt anxious anyway wanting to run into him so she could see for herself that he was fine, but she knew him well enough that he'd tell her about it in his own time and so she resisted the urge to call him too.

It wasn't until the end of shift that Sara actually got to see Nick. She was tired, her case had hit a lot of dead ends before they'd finally found a break, and it was tough because it dealt with a family that was possibly even more screwed up than hers had been. As she rounded the corner into the locker room, she stopped.

Nick sat there on the bench in between the rows of lockers with his elbows resting on his knees and his chin resting on his hands. He seemed to be staring at the bank of lockers as if his mind was a million miles away. He didn't even look over as he heard Sara take a seat next to him on the bench. "You were right about Kelly Gordon, Sara." His voice was thick with disappointment.

Sara reached over and rested a hand on his thigh. "I heard she was a suspect in your investigation." Apparently, Nick and Catherine had found enough evidence to show that Kelly was guilty.

"Yeah." Nick's voice had a catch in it. "She did it." An angry edge entered his tone. "But she took the easy way out...she OD'd, right there in front of me." The sight of Kelly Gordon convulsing as her body had succumbed to the multitude of pills that she'd taken was fresh in Nick's mind. Even Sophia's attempts to use CPR to keep her alive until the paramedics could get her to a hospital had been in vain.

Sara looked at him in disbelief and then she did the only thing she could think of, she slipped her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder. "Nick." Her voice was barely a whisper. She knew that there was nothing she could say to take away the hurt that Nick was feeling. Always the optimist, he wanted to believe that Kelly had changed.

Nick melted against her, his arms reaching for her until they were sitting there on the bench resting in the comfort of each other. They sat there like that for a good long while until Nick realized where they were and pulled back. He smiled as he looked at Sara, noticing the necklace she was wearing. "I didn't think you'd ever wear that to work."

"It's too pretty not to." Sara smiled back at him. "Besides, it was a gift from someone pretty special." She looked at him tenderly, wondering just how he was holding up.

"Lucky guy." Nick let out a tired sigh as he fingered the necklace, glad that he'd bought it impulsively when he was supposed to be helping Warrick pick something out for Tina.

"I'm the lucky one." Sara meant every word she said. She really was lucky to have found someone like Nick. They had been friends for years and then after his ordeal, things had just blossomed into a romance that neither one of them had anticipated.

"I love you, Sara." Nick's voice was slightly husky as he caressed her face with his fingers.

"I love you." Sara leaned in and softly kissed him knowing full well that anyone could walk in and see them and she didn't care.

Nick was smiling at her as she pulled back from the kiss. "Feel like coming over for breakfast?" He wanted nothing more than to forget the hell of this night in the comfort of Sara's arms.

"Sounds like heaven." Sara smiled at Nick even as her words to Grissom echoed in her mind; it was true that some people really shouldn't be together.

Especially when they're meant to be with someone else.

The End