Title: Inter-Agency Cooperation
By: Bj Jones
Email:solojid1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I don't own them; they belong to CBS and various executives and producers. I'm not making any money; I'm just borrowing them for a few and will return them to the lab later.
Beta: The Great Calypso
Spoilers: Butterfly and Mea Culpa

~*~

~NCIS Headquarters~

"Tony, Kate grab your stuff," Gibbs yelled as he walked by their desks.

"What is it boss?" Tony asked pulling his backpack onto his shoulder.

"Two dead Marines found in a very compromising situation," Gibbs punched the elevator button until the doors pinged and opened.

"Where?" Kate asked slipping into the elevator behind Gibbs.

"Vegas," Gibbs glanced at Tony.

"Cool," Tony grinned. "Viva Las Vegas."

~Las Vegas~

"I don't understand why we are waiting," Sara glared at the closed hotel door.

"Because," Nick controlled his voice, making sure not to show too much annoyance. "Grissom told us to."

"But we need to get in there and process, my scene is getting old." She jammed her thumb towards the door.

Nick took a deep breath, "NCIS have jurisdiction over any Navy or Marine personnel - so we wait."

"Why is Grissom giving up jurisdiction?" She demanded. "I mean. didn't he learn his lesson with the FBI?"

"We're not the FBI," Gibbs stepped up to the two CSI. "Special Agent Gibbs, my team - Agent DiNozzo, Agent Todd." Tony and Kate nodded in greeting to the two CSI's.

Sara just stared at them; Nick rolled his eyes, "CSI Stokes and Sidle."

"Stokes," Gibbs gave a slight nod. "It's good to see you again."

"Agent Gibbs, Tony," Nick smiled. "Did Grissom brief you on the situation?"

"On our way in, he's talking with our ME now," Gibbs looked down the hall to see Grissom and Ducky grinning as they walked towards them.

"Do I want to know?" Nick asked a slight grin on his face. He and Tony had been emailing back and forth since they met at the conference. He had heard about Ducky's legendary chats.

"No," Tony answered, a smile on his face.

"You know them?" Sara and Kate asked at the same time.

"We met a month back at a conference," Nick answered Sara.

"What he said," Tony answered Kate as he motioned with his head towards Nick.

Ducky nodded to everyone and then headed into the room. Gibbs motioned for his team to follow, as he headed into the room. Sara turned to Grissom. "Grissom, why are we giving up our case?"

"We aren't Sara," Grissom sighed. "Two dead Marine's found in a compromising situations needs to be handled with care…"

"We can handle it," She argued.

"The sheriff though it would best, and I agree with him, that NCIS run the case." Grissom glanced at Nick who stayed quietly near by. "I called Agent Gibbs because I knew he would corporate with my team. They will have the use of our labs as long as our agents are involved with the investigation."

"On the record, I don't like this." She grabbed her kit and walked into the room.

Nick closed his eyes and counted to ten, twice; he opened them to see Grissom giving him a warm smile. "It's going to be a long night."

~*~

Nick worked along side Tony as the two canvassed the bedroom. The two victims were found naked in bed, two gun shot wounds to the chest. "What we need to find out is if they were placed here, or the killer surprised them in bed." Tony looked at the two men.

"There's not a lot of blood around the bodies," Nick snapped a few pictures. "But the mattress could have soaked it up. We won't know till the bodies are moved."

Ducky looked up from his position, "Texas?"

Nick looked startled, "Excuse me?"

"You're from Texas?" Ducky asked again as he turned one of the bodies looking over the exit wounds.

"Yeah," Nick answered, looking over at Tony with question in his eyes. Tony just shrugged.

"I thought I heard a slight accent. Most think it's just a southern accent, but it's regional. Each section of the south as a different, Texas has a unique drawl to it, since its history has a Spanish and Mexican influence." Ducky said, oblivious to the fact no one was listening.

Nick looked over at Tony, "And I thought Grissom went off on tangents."

"Ducky is the king of tangents," Tony smiled at the ME, when he looked up at him, a mocking glare on his face.

Ducky stood up away from the bodies, "Time of death is around mid-morning. I'll know when I get them to the morgue." Ducky looks over to see Gibbs talking with Grissom. "Mr. Grissom, I want to thank you for letting me borrow your morgue for the autopsy."

"Figured it would be easier than shipping them back to DC," Grissom shrugged.

"I'll let you know what I find, Jethro." Ducky nodded and followed the personnel that were removing the bodies.

"Thank you Ducky," Gibbs turned back to Grissom. "I wanted to bring Abby just so she can meet your Greg, but didn't want to overwhelm you guys too much."

Grissom grinned, he had been told about Abby. "Maybe I should send Greg to you."

Gibbs shook his head, "Kate?"

"Yeah, Gibbs." She poked her head out of the bathroom.

"What do you have so far?" He asked.

"Two sets of shaving kits," She held up two razors.

"I've got two suitcases in the closet," Sara told Grissom.

"Uniforms?" Gibbs asked.

"No," her answer was directed to Grissom.

"We've got a huge blood pool," Nick called out from the bed. Tony shifted so they could see the blood soaked mattress. "Good guess they were killed here."

"See if you can find the bullets," Gibbs called back.

"On it, boss." Tony had his flashlight out digging through the holes in the mattress.

"I've got Brass pulling surveillance tapes from the casino, the floors, and registration." Grissom informed Gibbs.

"I don't need to remind you how sensitive this is?" Gibbs looked between Sara and Grissom. "Don't ask, don't tell is there for a reason."

"It's a stupid rule," Sara commented.

"It may be, but that's not our problem," Grissom turned towards Sara. "If you're going to have an issue with this, I can have you reassigned."

"I'm fine," Sara, muttered as she turned and headed for the small kitchenette area.

~*~

Sara stalked through the lab in a fit, everyone stayed clear of her path. She wasn't happy about the fact that Agent DiNozzo and Nick were buddy, buddy and in the layout room processing the evidence, collected from the scene. Sara had just spent the past two hours going through videotape with Archie, and came up with nothing. She was tired and frustrated. She felt like an outsider with the NCIS agents. Agent DiNozzo and Nick laughed and got along, while Grissom was at ease with Agent Gibbs. She wasn't sure where Agent Todd fit into it, but she didn't seem putout over the comrade of the others. . She turned the corner, and stopped short, Gibbs and Grissom where in the break room talking or more appropriately signing. She smiled slightly, ever since she found out Grissom could sign she had been taking classes. One day she would surprise him; it would be something just between the two of them. Right now she could easily ease drop without getting in trouble.

Gibbs smiled, "So how's everything been since the conference?"

"Good," Grissom signed back. "I was able to get a copy of his paper, and a videotape of the presentation. He did a great job, and a few other labs want to coordinate with us to further his research."

"It's a good idea," Gibbs smiled at him. "What about personally? Did you go with Plan F?"

Grissom laughed, "Definitely. We told Catherine and Warrick about our relationship. That alone helped sooth shattered nerves and egos."

"It helps to have people close to you know," Gibbs cocked his head a bit. "Especially when you have to keep it hidden from so many eyes."

"Nick," Grissom paused trying to formulate the right hand movements. "He's everything to me. I would walk away from the lab if I had to."

"Does he know that?" Gibbs eyebrow rose.

"No," Grissom shrugged. "In the mean time I'm just going to keep thanking what every deity I need to thank that he's in my life."

Grissom glanced up to see Sara storm by the break room. He became suddenly very worried. He normally wouldn't talk about his personal life at work, but he only knew of one other person that new sign, and that was Nick, and he was still learning. He looked over at Gibbs, "We should go see how Nick and Tony are doing."

Gibbs stood up, "Probably getting themselves into trouble." Gibbs stated as they walked out of the room.

~*~

Nick stepped outside to get some fresh air, and clear his head. They had been going over the evidence for a few hours straight, and he was feeling a tension headache coming on. He had told Tony he would be back in five, just needed to get away from the florescent lighting before the pounding in his head got worse. He leaned up against the brick wall, just listening to the night sounds of Vegas letting the tension role off his shoulders. He heard someone walking up, but didn't pay much attention to it, he probably should have.

The slap was hard and loud. Nick jerked his head back away from the attack and ended up slamming it into the brick wall. He groaned in pain as pain shot through his skull and down his neck. He opened his eyes straight into the angry filled eyes of Sara Sidle.

"What the hell is your problem!?" Nick touched the back of his head; he pulled back his fingers to see traces of blood.

"You bastard!" Sara growled at him.

Nick looked at her in shock and confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"You stole him from me! Fucking fag!" Sara spat out.

Nick face and eyes became hard. "Excuse me?"

"So how long have you and Grissom been screwing?" Sara sneered. "You know all it takes is one call to Eckley."

"That's rich coming from you," Nick growled back at her. "If you had half the chance you would be in Grissom's bed, fuck the rules. But God forbid Grissom finds someone else to be with and you want to take him down."

"So did you suck him off to get the promotion?" Sara spat with anger.

"My relationship with Grissom doesn't affect the situation at work," Nick glared. "And for your information we got together after he recommended me."

"He was mine," Sara pushed Nick back into the wall. He held his hands up against her attack, but didn't take any action to stop her. The last thing he needed was for her to press assault charges against him.

"Sara!" Warrick stepped up to the two CSI's. He pulled her off Nick. "What is going on here?"

"Ask ladies man over there?" Sara spat at Nick.

Nick looked back at Warrick, "Sara found out about me and Grissom."

"So you decided to go and beat the shit out of Nick?" Warrick turned on Sara. "Girl, you know he could have you charged for assault."

Sara folded her hands in front of her chest, "Well if he does, then I tell Eckley about their relationship."

Nick stepped away from the wall, "Assault and blackmail, any other crimes you would like to add?"

"What is going on out here?" Grissom demanded Gibbs next to him with Tony.

Tony had gotten worried when Nick hadn't come back in yet. When he asked around he found out Sara had been looking for Nick, and she didn't look very happy. He decided to go get Grissom and Gibbs before looking for the two. They came around the corner just in time to here Nick's comment.

Grissom looked between the three CSI's, his eyes focused on the blood on Nick's collar. "Nick are you injured?"

Nick turned to look at Grissom, swaying a little on his feet. Warrick steadied him, "Are you okay?"

"Dizzy spell," He shrugged. "I had a headache before I came out here, the knock against the wall didn't help."

"And how did you knock your head against the wall?" Gibbs asked his eyes on a furious Sara.

Grissom stepped up to Nick his hand exploring the now matted hair, "Nick this is serious, it's cut and bleeding. We should get you to the doctor."

"I'm fine, I'll have Doc Robbins check it out." Nick smiled at him. "Tony and I have to finish processing."

"Kate and Tony can do it," Gibbs informed him.

"And Greg can help," Grissom added. "It would be good for him."

"Come on Nick," Warrick took the Texan's arm and lead him inside. "I'll have Doc look at you, and if he says you need to go to the hospital we are going."

"I have no say in this?" Nick asked.

"NO!" Grissom, Gibbs, Tony and Warrick answered.

"No need to yell," Nick held his hand up to his temple.

Grissom watched Warrick take Nick back inside the lab. Grissom nodded to Gibbs who grabbed Tony and followed them into the lab. Grissom turned back around to face Sara, "Particular reason you assaulted a co-worker?"

"It's between Nick and me," She stated arms still crossed.

"Sara," Grissom's voice was low. "I'll have you removed from duty."

"Oh and risk Eckley knowing about you screwing Nick?" Sara smirked.

"He already knows," Grissom commented back, smiling at her shocked look. "It came out during his so called investigation. There's no rule against inter-office romances. But it was one of the reasons he put Nick on swing shift."

"So this whole time, you were just playing me." Sara glared at him.

"I never played you Sara," Grissom sighed. "You asked me out I said no."

"But you then told that doctor…" Sara dropped her arms her hands on her hips.

"I told him I had an offer that I was to scared to take," Grissom pointed out. "I didn't name you."

"But…" Sara eyes began to water.

"Sara, it's always been Nick." Grissom tried to tell her gently. "After Crane, he came to me, told me life was too short - and he wasn't going to just let things go anymore. He asked me to dinner. I panicked," Grissom sighed not really wanting to tell her this. "I had agreed to go, then chickened out and stood him up."

Sara just stared at him, "So when I asked you to dinner, you weren't refusing…"

"I refused because you're a friend, co-worker, that's all. But at the time I was caught up in my own problems and didn't clearly express myself." Grissom tried to explain. "I thought we were over the awkwardness and getting back to our easy friendship. I know now I was wrong, especially when they called me about your DUI."

Sara looked away, "How long?"

"Over a year," Grissom answered. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. How long have you known sign language?"

"A couple of years. I learned it to impress you," Sara shrugged.

"I would have been impressed if you learned it for your job," Grissom told her. "We wanted to tell you, but couldn't figure out how."

"So the whole ladies man is a cover for him being gay?" Sara snapped at Grissom.

"That's a question you would have to ask Nick," Grissom calmly refuted. "Going to explain to me why you decided to take out your frustrations on Nick by beating on him?"

"I always thought Catherine was my threat to you," Sara told him. "It was a bit unnerving to know I lost you to Nick."

"You can't loss something that was never yours." Grissom pointed out.

"It's not fair," tears ran down her face.

"Sara you're going to have to come to terms with this," Grissom informed her. "I'm sorry you're not happy, but I'm not giving up Nick."

"And what about me?" Sara demanded.

"What about you?" Grissom responded. "Sara, at this moment you've assaulted a co-worker. I doubt though Nick will press charges or even file a complaint. But if you can't work with us - then I suggest you find another job."

Grissom left her standing outside, and went back into the lab. He sought out Gibbs to find out progress on the case, then went to find Nick and talk with him.

~*~

Catherine looked at a miserable Nick, "Is there a reason you're throwing up in the girls bathroom?"

"Closest one," Nick replied as he cleaned out his mouth. "Warrick was too embarrassed to follow me in here."

"Why are you throwing up?" Catherine asked concerned.

"Doc thinks I have a small concussion," Nick grumbled deciding to keep his head down in the sink.

"How did you get a concussion?" Catherine asked hands on her hips.

"Slammed my head against the wall as I tried to avoid Sara's wrath." Nick muttered. "She knows."

"She hit you?" Catherine screeched.

"Not so loud," Nick hushed her with his hand. Nick looked up from the sink to see Catherine storming out of the restroom.

Warrick stepped into the room taking pity on the Texan. "I think Sara is going to get her ass kicked."

"Ask me if I care," Nick grumbled.

Warrick grinned at him. "Let's get you to the hospital, then home."

"Is there a reason everyone is in the girls bathroom?" Grissom asked from the doorway.

"Had to throw up," Nick answered as he straightened up. "How's the case?"

"Tony found a lead," Grissom answered. "Seems the bullets found can be traced back to a crime in Los Angeles, and DC. Gibbs and his team will probably be packing up and taking the evidence back to NCIS Headquarters. Looks like they have a serial on their hands targeting gays in the military."

"It isn't enough that we send those men to die for their country, they have to be targeted because of who they love," Nick voice was full of pain and agitation.

"Let's get you home," Grissom took his arm. "I asked Catherine to take over the rest of my shift. I'll owe her later."

Nick smiled and followed Grissom out, "What about Sara?"

"That's up to you," Grissom said as they walked down the hallway.

"I won't press charges, or report it," Nick paused.

"You're a good man Nick." Grissom smiled at him. "She has a choice to make."

"Accept or leave," Nick sighed. "How did she find out?"

"She over heard me talking, more like reading, my conversation with Gibbs." Grissom explained.

"Didn't know she signed," Nick shrugged, and then winced at the pain in his neck.

"Neither did I," Grissom said as they exited the building.

~*~

Gibbs sat down in the nicely furnished living room, "How is he?"

Grissom handed him a cup of coffee, "resting at the moment. You heading back to DC?"

"In a few hours," Gibbs explained. "Letting the team rest a bit before we head back."

"Keep us posted on the case," Grissom sat down across from Gibbs.

"Will do," Gibbs glanced at the back bedroom. "What are you going to do?"

"What and see," Grissom shrugged. "It's up to Sara."

"Well if you need a new job," Gibbs grinned. "I could easily find room for you at NCIS."

Grissom eyebrow rose, "Can I bring Greg?"

Gibbs laughed.