Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the T.V show. I just wish the writers would take the hint and put Nick and Sara together. Please Read and Review. Thanks!!

In the Heat of the Night

Nick looked down at the outline of where the body had been and sighed, another senseless murder. He lifted the camera and began taking pictures of the blood splatter on the floor. He hoped this would be a quick case. Brass had just received a call from a neighbor a few houses down that a suspicious looking man had just run through her yard. Brass and the cops working the scene had gone to check it out. When Nick finished taking the pictures he placed the camera back in the bag and glanced around the spacious living room looking for anything out of place as he waited for Sara to return from her primary search of the upstairs.

All of a sudden Nick heard her scream his name and his heart stopped for a moment. He could hear the sound of panic in her voice as it resounded down the stairway. He willed his body to move from the spot where it stood frozen. The sound of a loud crash and Sara's muffled scream set his body into motion. He took the stairs two at a time.

As Nick reached the top of the stairway, he could hear the sounds of a violent struggle coming from one of the far rooms down the hallway. A terrifying realization suddenly struck him. He had no backup. The cops were all down the street. It was up to him to help Sara. He swallowed his anxiety and raced down the dark hall, pulling his gun out. He skidded to a halt in front of a closed door. He heard her scream his name again but this time her voice was full of pain. He reached for the handle and hesitated for a second when he heard a deep throaty laugh and the words "You're going to enjoy this baby" and Sara's soft sobs of "No, No, No!"

He grasped the handle and turned it. The door wouldn't budge. It was locked. He cursed to himself as he tried to shove it open with his shoulder. "Sara!" he yelled, "I'm right here." He slammed into the door with his full body weight. It held. He slammed into it again this time feeling pain course through his shoulder. "Damn it! Damn it!" he yelled, feeling his frustration mount. He heard her sob his name and plead, "Please help me."

Without further thought he fired 2 shots into the door handle. He backed up and sent his foot crashing into the door. It flew open and slammed against the wall, the sound echoing in the suddenly quiet room. He entered quickly with the gun held out in front of him. His eyes scanned the room looking for any kind of movement. He noticed an over turned chair and a broken lamp near a large mahogany desk. There were books and papers scattered across the floor as well as a smashed computer monitor. He concluded it must be some sort of office.

His eyes shot to the desk when he heard the sound of a soft whimper come from behind it. He cautiously made his way toward the desk as his eyes continued to scan the dark room. When he reached the desk he glanced down behind it and his heart broke at the sight before him.

Sara was lying there half unconscious. She was bleeding from a deep gash on her forehead. She left cheek was bruised like she had been punched and her lower lip was bleeding. Her shirt had been torn open but her lacey turquoise bra was still in place, thank god. Her pants had been undone but where still up around her waist. Nick sighed with relief. He hadn't been too late.

His head jerked up when he heard a noise from the other side of the room. He reacted instantly when he realized someone was shooting at him. He threw himself down on the ground behind the desk. He looked over at Sara again and met her frightened eyes. "You're safe, " he whispered. She gave him a trembling half smile as she reached up and touched her forehead. She winced in pain and looked at her bloody fingertips.

Just then they heard a voice that chilled their blood. "Sara," the voice hissed, " I'll be looking forward to finishing what I've started." "Like hell you bastard!" Nick growled as he rose up on his knees and fired his gun. The sound of a sliding door opening and retreating laughter echoed threw the room. "Son of a bitch" Nick yelled as he jumped to his feet and moved swiftly across the carpeted floor toward the sliding glass door. He ran out onto a deck and saw stairs that descended to the yard below.

As Nick made his way toward the stairs he could see the shadowy figure of the man running into a thicket of large bushes. He heard the sound of a gun firing and felt the distinct breeze of a bullet sailing uncomfortably close to his ear. He threw himself down onto the deck. He lay there for a minute waiting. When nothing happened he scrambled to his feet and practically jumped down the stairs to the ground below. His eyes scanned the bushes but he knew the suspect was gone.

Nick needed to get back to Sara. He pulled out his cell and called for an ambulance, as he quickly climbed the stairs. He entered the room and saw that Sara had crawled across the floor toward the slider. Her terror filled eyes relaxed slightly when she realized it was him. "Sara," he gently said as he knelt down beside her. He reached out and cupped her face, his thumb softly caressing her cheek. "I'm sorry. He got away." he whispered. She nodded sadly. He watched, as her tear-laden eyes suddenly got huge. "Nick," she breathed heavily, "Your hurt." His eyes clouded for a minute, as he shook his head no. He felt it then a deep pain in his shoulder. His eyes followed hers to his blood soaked shirt. She scrambled to her knees as she muttered, "Oh my god! You've been shot."

Nick's eyes met her concerned ones as he sat back on the floor. She quickly took control of the situation. She pulled his shirt up and eased his good arm out of the sleeve and then managed to get his head out. She then gingerly pulled the shirt away from the wound and slid it down his arm. He winced in pain.

He watched her as she examined the wound. Her beautiful face was streaked in blood and bruises. The gash on her forehead was beginning to crust over. Her cheek was an ugly shade of red and her bottom lip was swollen. She had taken a hell of a beating. He knew she must be in serious pain but here she was taking care of him. He had a strong urge to take her in his arms and never let her go. He tried not to think of what could have happened to her if he hadn't been able to get into the room.

Nick watched in quiet fascination as she slid her shirt off her arms and brought in up to the wound on his shoulder. He winced again when he felt her put pressure on his injury. "I'm sorry. But I need to stop the bleeding." she said sincerely. He nodded and gave her a smile. She shifted closer to him on her knees and that's when he noticed the angry red bruises on her neck. "Jesus," he said as he reached out with his good hand to touch her neck. She flinched involuntarily at his touch. "I'm sorry," he mumbled meeting her eyes again. "It's okay," she whispered. She slowly reached out and took his hand. They sat there in silence just looking at each other. In the distance he could here the sound of the ambulance as it approached.

From downstairs he could here the sound of running feet and Brass's worried voice as he called out their names. "We're upstairs in the last room on the right," Nick yelled out. Sara smiled at him and said, "I called him on my cell when I heard you call the ambulance." He squeezed her hand and gave her a grateful smile. Brass flew into the room followed by several cops all with their weapons drawn. "He's long gone but if you want to double check he headed down the stairs and into the bushes on the left." Nick said. Brass signaled to 4 of the cops to go and search the area.

Brass squatted down and said, "Jesus look at the two of you. I'm sorry. I thought the place was clear. I left one guy outside but the perp knocked him out cold. He's just coming around now. I really am sorry." Nick and Sara nodded. "How bad is it?" Brass asked as he gestured to Nick's shoulder. "Looks like the bullet went all the way through. There's an entrance wound and an exit wound." Sara said. Brass turned toward Sara and took his first good look at her. His worried eyes searched her battered face and traveled to her bruised neck. "God Sara," he muttered. "I'm fine," she said avoiding his eyes. Nick was still holding her hand and he gave it a gentle squeeze. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand back.

Nick noticed a slight movement behind Brass and his eyes shot up to the cop standing behind him. Nick turned his head to see what the cop's eyes were so focused on. A slow burn began to build in his belly. The cop's eyes were glued to Sara's breasts. She was still on her knees and leaning slightly forward holding her shirt on his wound. The rounded tops of her breasts spilled out of her turquoise bra. His eyes shot to the cop's and he growled in warning. The cop, understanding the meaning, turned away. Nick turned back to Brass and said, "Do you have anything to cover her up with." Brass nodded and removed his jacket. He handed it to Sara and stood up to go over to reprimand the cop and his wandering eyes.

Sara took the jacket and turned to look at Nick with questioning eyes. He turned his head away trying to get his emotions back under control. He couldn't quite except that he was feeling jealous of some man checking Sara out. She stared at the side of his turned head for a moment feeling confused by his actions. It seemed like he was jealous. But that was ridiculous they were just friends. She set her bloodied shirt on the carpet and pulled on Brass's jacket. She quickly picked the shirt up again and pressed it against Nick's shoulder. Nick groaned, his head still turned away from her. "I'm sorry," she said as she scooted closer to him.

"Nick," she whispered, "Please look at me." He turned and his angry eyes met her worried ones. He reached out and gently touched her face. "Does it hurt?" he asked softly. "Like hell," she replied with a little grin. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner," he said. "You came. That's all that matters." she said quietly. "But that bastard almost…. he got away…if he had touched you Sara I…" Nick hesitated his beautiful eyes swimming with emotion. Sara reached out and gently caressed his face, surprised by the depth of emotions she saw clearly displayed in his eyes. "I'm okay Nick. You're the one who took a bullet rescuing me," she smiled. "Yeah I guess I did do that didn't I?" he grinned back. But his eyes grew serious again as he reached up and placed his hand over hers on his cheek and said, " You know I'd never let anyone hurt you. I'd protect you know matter what." Her eyes filled with tears at his declaration and she whispered, " I'd do the same for you too, Nick." They stared at each other not sure exactly what was happening between them.

In the next moment the ambulance attendants whisked into the room and they were pulled apart. Nick watched as a female attendant examined Sara's face and neck. He saw her wince in pain when the woman touched her ribs. Christ how bad was she hurt? She never let on to her pain as she took care of him. He should have known better. Sara would never admit to anyone the amount of pain she was feeling physically as well as mentally. She always liked to handle it herself. Well this time he was not going to let her. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and he growled up at the paramedic helping him. "Sorry," the man said sheepishly.

Sara felt him watching her as she was being examined. She felt her stomach fill with butterflies. She knew Nick cared about her and they enjoyed flirting with one another but tonight she saw something else in his eyes. She winced when the paramedic touched her ribs. The maniac had roughed her up more then she thought but she had given as good as she got. If she hadn't tripped over the broken lamp she might have been able to beat him. But once he had her on the floor and he had put his full weight on top of her, she felt powerless and god how she hated that feeling. Past memories had flown into her mind and she had become trapped by them. She was ashamed that she had begun to cry and had lost her will to fight him. It was like déjà vu all over again. She shook her head trying to clear it of the awful memories.

She turned her head at the sound of Nick's growl. She couldn't help but smile when the paramedic tried to clean out Nick's wound. Nick let out a string of curse words and growled again. He turned his head and looked over at Sara. He saw her smiling at him and couldn't help but smile back. "I called the ambulance for you and now it seems like I'm the one who is going to be riding in it." Nick grumbled. "I get to ride with Brass and fill him in on what happened. I guess I'll see you at the hospital." Sara said. Nick gave her one of his beautiful lopsided smiles and said, "It's a date."

She watched as the paramedic escorted him out the door and thought to herself that she really wouldn't mind going out on a real date with him but she knew he would never officially ask. Nick did not see her as girlfriend material and there was the misconstrued notion that she was hung up on Grissom, was being the operative word. She had seen the error of her ways and was ready to move on. She sighed as she stood up and headed over to Brass. "You ready?" he asked. "Yeah," she smiled, "I have a date with a hot guy at the hospital." Brass gave her a questioning look and she just shook her head and said, "Never mind. Let me tell you about my fun filled fight fest." She linked her arm through his and they headed out the door.

Please let me know how you liked it. Chapter 2 will be posted soon. Thanks.