Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, however, this story is mine, so Little Miss Plagiarism, keep your steeling hands off my work.

Author's Note: This is my response to the challenge I posted at the Yahoo Snickers group and is dedicated to Mel and Ashley just because.

"This really was a good idea," Sara Sidle smiled in spite of herself as she snuggled down further into the sleeping bag she'd taken up residence in on the deck of a small cabin overlooking Lake Mead waiting to catch a glimpse of a meteor shower that was suppose to be visible in the starry night sky.

"I'm full of good ideas," Nick Stokes seemed a bit smug but definitely pleased that she had agreed to come with him on this little camping trip; ok, so it wasn't exactly a traditional camping trip with a tent and campfire, but he knew that the end of her leave after she had been kidnapped and left for dead by the miniature serial killer was almost over and she needed a little time away before starting work again; especially considering that she and Grissom had broken up rather unceremoniously several weeks after her ordeal. That had been about six weeks ago and somehow he had been spending a considerable time alone with her; something that he wished he'd taken the time to do years before.

Sara let out a soft laugh and then rolled onto her side to face Nick where he lay next to her in his own sleeping bag on the small deck, "I really appreciate this, Nick; I think I needed a last hurrah so to speak before I step back into the lab." It was more than just stepping through the doors the lab that she was nervous about; just the thought of heading out into the field caused a feeling of panic to well up that she'd had to learn how to squash. She only hoped that Grissom didn't send her out solo her first night back.

Nick seemed to sense her nerves and he rolled onto his side to face her, his fingers reaching out to find hers in a move of solidarity and support, "Hey, you're going to do ok, Sara; after my ordeal you were there for me, you had my back and you didn't make me feel like an idiot for freaking out once in a while," he smiled a bit wider, "I'm here for you, remember that, ok?"

"I know," Her smile widened perceptibly and she gave his fingers a squeeze before extracting them and laying back down to look at the stars. She didn't want to get completely sentimental on him even though he had become an even closer friend since she and Grissom had broken up and if she was honest with herself; her mind had been drifting into much more than friendly thoughts of late. That was one of the reasons why she hadn't hesitated when Nick had invited her to join him up at his friend's cabin for a long weekend before she was scheduled to return to work.

Nick lay back and laced his fingers behind his head as he too looked up at the stars, "You ever go camping much when you were a kid, Sar?" He had loved growing up in Texas; the expansive sky glittering brightly with stars as he and his siblings had often camped outside in the summertime. Ever since he'd been buried alive it seemed that he couldn't get outside enough; there was something about a star filled sky at night that soothed the deepest wounds from that experience the way that nothing else could.

"Not really," Sara let out a sigh, "My parents argued a lot, I never really wanted to ask." She had long ago told him about what had transpired between her parents and how she'd spent some time drifting around in the foster care system before she'd finally gotten a full ride scholarship to Harvard. "And when I was in college it never really seemed all that important." The tone in her voice had a pensive quality to it, "There are a lot of things that I didn't think were important before that I can see now really are."

"I know what you mean, I know what you mean," Nick was thankful for Sara; they shared a bond because of what they'd both been through that no one else on the team could really understand and which neither one of them wanted to try and explain. With each other they didn't have to.

They fell into an easy silence as they gazed up at the stars, feeling the tension of Las Vegas melt away. Occasionally a meteor would flash across the sky causing them to gasp a little; one came close enough that they could actually hear a sort of roar as it came through the atmosphere, that one had them both letting out a mutual 'whoa' and then laughter at how impressed they were with the little show that nature had in store for them. The later it got, the more difficult it was to stay awake and finally each of them drifted off to sleep; content with this little adventure they'd come on together.

It was about three in the morning when the first drop fell; and in true desert fashion, the sky which only hours before had been completely clear, opened up and let out a deluge of rain. At first Nick flinched at the sensation pelting his face, but with each successive raindrop he was jolted out of sleep finding that his sleeping bag was completely drenched, soaking right through all of his clothes as well.

Sara seemed to be thrashing about in her sleeping bag, a strangled scream caught in her throat as her mind transported her back where she was trapped underneath that car Natalie had left her under where rain and mud had been her adversary. The rain had seeped through her sleeping bag and she was drenched.

Nick reached for her, "Sara, it's raining, let's get inside." He could tell she was in the throes of a nightmare, "Sar, c'mon, it's ok, you're ok."

Sara woke with a start as she felt Nick's arms pull her into his embrace and with her heart beating rapidly she clung to him as she realized that she'd just had a bad dream; she was ok; she had survived and she was going to be ok. Her voice sounded like a whisper in the midst of the heavy rain, "Nick, just hold me."

He was more than willing to hold her, but he wasn't particularly interested in staying out on the deck in the rain to do it, "Let's get inside, Sar, it's a little wet out here." Of course that was really understating the obvious.

"Alright, Captain Obvious," She laughed at the thought and they quickly abandoned their saturated sleeping bags on the deck and headed inside to the bedroom the deck ran out from to get out of the rain.

As Nick flipped a light on to look for something dry to change into several things became abundantly obvious; first of all, the white spaghetti strap tank top that Sara was wearing with her pajama pants was so saturated that it was nearly translucent and as he had to fight to keep from staring at her he realized something else; judging from the way Sara was staring at him, he realized that his soaking wet white utilitarian boxers probably left absolutely nothing to her imagination as they clung to him.

They locked eyes an instant later and as the realization dawned in both of their eyes that there was hunger reflecting back at them they didn't hesitate. Their lips came together in a fiery, hungry, needy kiss; Nick threading his fingers through Sara's wet curls as he propelled them back towards the large four-poster bed. If there was any question as to whether Sara had any hesitation about where this was going, she completely removed it when she began to tug Nick's wet t-shirt off and mumbled against his lips, "Get...clothes...off." The clingy nature of the wet garment was making this far more challenging than it needed to be.

"Yes, ma'am," Nick was more than happy to comply as he briefly stepped back from Sara and quickly stripped his t-shirt off followed by his see through boxers. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Sara as she unceremoniously peeled her wet clothes off as well and then stepped back towards him, intent on picking up right where they'd left off.

They tumbled onto the bed kissing madly, and Nick mumbled against her lips as a realization hit him, "No condom...shit."

"Pill," Sara mumbled back to reassure him that there was no reason to hold back.

That was the last coherent thought either of them had for quite a while as all of the years of flirting and innuendo culminated right there in that little cabin on the shores of Lake Mead. It was much later and the rain was still coming down hard outside; they hadn't bothered to close the door behind them when they'd come inside and so as they lay there tangled up in each others arms underneath the comforter on the bed, they watched it continue to fall, secretly thankful for the rude awakening that had changed everything between them.

The End