Mistletoe

Set very early on in CSI, Greg's still a lab rat, Sara and Nick are still flirting and trying to hide the quite obvious sexual tension and Grissom and Warrick are still here!

For the best girl in the whole world, who I'm proud to call one of my best friends! To Zoe, I'm sorry I haven't been on a lot this year, everything keeps happening but I've missed you so much and I wish you the best Christmas anyone can ever have, lots and lots of love from Bee.

"You've never even seen mistletoe?" Nick questioned, dropping down next to Sara on the old couch in the break room, a mug of coffee in his hand to keep him awake for the next few hours.

"Never," Sara laughed, "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"It's tradition; we'd have it every year back in Dallas...the amount of puckered kisses I got from Grandma as a boy were enough to put me off them, but I mean when I got older, it definitely wasn't Grandma I was getting caught under the mistletoe with," Nick winked, nudging Sara playfully with his elbow.

"Oh really?" Sara grinned, "So who do you plan on getting caught under the mistletoe with this year since you're stuck in Vegas?"

"I'd rather not say," Nick smirked, taking a sip of coffee as Greg entered through the glass door with a huge grin on his face.

"I think I might have just cracked this case wide open," the sandy haired lab rat grinned, "give me a drum roll..."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Spending Christmas in Vegas would definitely not be as bad as Nick had originally thought; albeit he had spent every year since he'd moved away at home for Christmas and it had become a nice tradition but this year he had something to occupy himself with. He was taking it as his duty to make a certain Miss Sara Sidle happy. He knew all she did at Christmas was sit home alone or go into work and this year he wouldn't hear of it. She was his... best friend. And if he was honest he had spent the last few months willing the part of his mind that wanted her to be more to quieten down. Unfortunately that part of his mind was stubborn and didn't take being told to 'shush' easily. So yes, perhaps he had a crush on Sara Sidle; his best friend, his work partner and perhaps he was formulating a plan to do more than just make Miss Sidle happy this Christmas. And perhaps that was the reason why he was in the supermarket on his break looking for mistletoe to hang somewhere where he would 'accidentally' run into Sara Sidle.

As he walked down the Christmas Aisle with a basket in his hand, his eyes ploughed through a plethora of green, red and gold, searching for the one decoration that the enchanting brown eyes of a certain CSI had never seen before. His mother had loved Christmas and their house had always been the epitome of Christmas, lights hanging from the roof and strung over the trees in their garden. Their house had been filled to the brim with tinsel and trees and fairy-lights lit the corridors and lined the path to the house and Nick just remembered every Christmas Eve where they would take a look at the months work; the final Christmas production. It brought a smile to his face just remembering and what he longed to do this Christmas was make Sara smile the way he would every Christmas.

He found the mistletoe easily, taking it in his hand and inspecting it with his eyes. It had to be perfect in the way that this Christmas had to be perfect. After deciding that the mistletoe was good enough for his taste he added it to the basket. His mind imagining the look of the brown eyed woman's flushed cheeks when he pointed out what they stood under, imagining the look of her slightly parted lips, open in surprise yet perfect for a kiss. He was imagining the feeling of her lips brushing against his as he placed his hands on her waist. He could almost taste her on his lips just from the picture in his mind.

Checking his watch he saw that he was due to be back at work in less than a minute so he took the mistletoe to the cashier and paid for it in a rush, missing the flirting of the blonde cashier with the startling blue eyes. He couldn't help but notice and compare the sky blue eyes to the most perfect pair of brown eyes he had ever seen; the cashier's blue ones without doubt being nowhere near as beautiful, nor as interesting as the black coffee coloured eyes that he longed to one day be allowed to get lost in without fear of being caught.

/\/\/\/\

Once his mistletoe had been hung he just had to wait for the right moment to meet Sara Sidle beneath. It wouldn't be hard for he was working a case with her and they often walked together through the lab, conversing about possible scenario's and new found evidence but it was as he turned the corner to the entryway to the break room he saw the one sight he hadn't taken into consideration. Greg and Sara were standing beneath the green leaves, Greg looking as if Christmas had come early and Sara blushing like he knew she would. A pang of jealousy shot through him as he saw Sara kiss Greg on the cheek, the lab rat's cheeks flushing and a grin breaking out on his face as she bit her lip and looked at him.

Nick watched on as Greg kissed Sara properly on the lips, a soft, chaste kiss that was mostly platonic and friendly but Nick had to tear his eyes away.

Greg kissed Sara.

/\/\/\/\/\

"Who-ever put that Mistletoe above the door to the break room must be one of Santa's elves, he definitely made my wish come true," Greg smiled, spinning around in the chair as he handed Nick the results for the latest test.

"Why? What happened?" Nick asked, playing naïve as he pretended to be interested in Greg's tale.

"I caught a certain CSI beneath it. An extremely hot and stubborn CSI who has refused to go out with me numerous times but kissed me under the mistletoe," Greg smirked, "Sara Sidle, I believe her name is."

"Sara Sidle kissed you? I think you must have drunk too much eggnog man," Nick joked.

"If it was a lie, why would I be able to tell you that her lips taste like," Greg countered, clasping his hands together, "I would take more of that taste anyday."

"Fine, what does she taste like?" Nick questioned smiling, still pretending to disbelieve Greg, wondering as the words came out of his mouth if he wanted to hear the answer from Greg.

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, my friend," Greg teased, stretching in his chair.

"Since when were you a gentleman?" Nick laughed, his eyes scanning over the results Greg had handed him.

"Since I got the pleasure of acquainting the fairest lady's lips with my own," Greg grinned.

"Still think you've been on a bit too much eggnog dude," Nick chuckled, turning to walk out of the lab and into the corridor.

He wandered through the corridors searching for the tall brunette, a lead on the case appearing from the results of Greg's tests. The results showed that traces of metal shavings had been found in the victims wound with a protective coating indigenous to the company where the victim's brother worked as a full-time mechanic. Both Sara and Nick had suspected the brother all along but the man was extremely good at avoiding the law and pleading innocence. It had taken a week just to find solid evidence against him and Nick couldn't wait to bring him in.

He found his partner in the break room, a hand in her hair as she sat staring at hundreds of open files all pertaining to their case. She looked exhausted for she hadn't slept over two hours in the last week. He stood at the door to catch her attention, discreetly standing beneath the hanging mistletoe.

"Hey Sara, do you want to go and pick up the brother?" he smiled, holding up the manilla folder.

"We got him?" Sara questioned, her face lighting up.

"Greg analysed the trace Dr Robbins found around the wound, the protective coating for the metal matches with his company's recipe. We got him," Nick nodded.

"Yes!" Sara exclaimed, packing up the files and taking the pile in her hand and walking straight past Nick without giving a second thought to the mistletoe, just to the fact they were going to get the murderer and be able to set the case to rest. Half way along the corridor she turned back to face him, "You coming?"

Nick took a deep breath and nodded.

/\/\/\/\/\

"We got him Nicky," Sara smiled, watching as Brass led the brother down the corridor, his arms pinned behind him, the silver bracelets cuffing them together.

"We got him," Nick repeated with a smile, turning to face Sara. Preparing to say what he had wanted to say for a while, "Sar..."

"I have a present for you Nicky," she cut him off, "give me your hand."

Nick outstretched his arm and the brunette took his hand in her own, dragging him down the corridor.

"This was your doing, right?" she asked, pointing to the mistletoe above the doorway to the break room.

Nick nodded weakly and she laughed, pulling him in the doorway and planting her lips on his.

It was exactly what he'd imagined.

And her lips?

Tasted like the Candy Canes they'd eaten in the car.