A Nightmare in Seattle

Pairing: Sara and Nick (Snickers)

Nigel Crane has escaped from a Nevada prison and has gone to Seattle, Washington. He is now targeting Nick's favorite cousin Deanna Giroux-O'Hara, a CSI in Seattle. Grissom sent Nick and Sara to help catch him and protect Deanna and her family.

Disclaimer: I don't own Nick, Sara, or any other CSI: Vegas character. I own the character Deanna and the other Seattle CSIs.

The Bad News

Nick and Sara left the locker room and prepared for their assignments. They hung out and joked with Greg, Catherine and Warrick while waiting for Grissom to give out the latest crimes to process. He arrived with a long face.

"Greg, Catherine and Warrick, you are with me on a 419 at the Venetian," Grissom said. "Brass is waiting for us. Nick and Sara, I need to talk to you about yours in my office."

"Shouldn't we be on the Venetian case?" Nick asked.

"Come with me to my office," Grissom said to them and turned to Catherine. "This will on take a few minutes."

Nick and Sara followed him to the office. Grissom closed the door for privacy and gave them the cue to sit down.

"Nick, does the name Deanna Giroux-O'Hara mean anything to you?" Grissom asked.

Is she a past girlfriend that I don't know about? Sara asked herself.

"Yes, she's my cousin," Nick replied. "She is a CSI with the Seattle Crime Lab. Did something happen to her that I should be aware of? Should I call her mother at the Mayor's office in New Orleans?"

Sara breathed a quiet sigh of relief that Deanna was her boyfriend's cousin and not a past girlfriend.

"Nigel Crane managed to escape from prison," Grissom was blunt and his tone was heavy. "According to a fellow inmate, he was planning on going after Ms. Giroux-O'Hara in Seattle."

"Grissom, she is my cousin," Nick whined. "I don't need to use formalities with her. She has a first name, please use it when you are talking to me about her."

"Sorry," Grissom said. "Now, let me tell you about your assignment. Both of you are going to Seattle and you'll stay with Deanna. Nick, you are to brief her on Nigel. The two of you will help the CSIs there and keep an eye on her."

"Deanna can hold her own," Nick said. "She was a cop for the Seattle Police Department for two years while she worked on her Masters degree. She became a CSI after getting that degree. She is trained in Tazer and tranquilizing guns. Nigel wouldn't have a prayer if he comes within a foot of her. She's also married and has three daughters, two of them twins, to think about."

"I have your tickets," Grissom said. "Nick, just so you know the department has foot the bill for business class for you and Sara."

"If it were up to Deanna," Nick beamed. "She would have us flying first class all the way!"

"You should get home now and start packing your things," Grissom looked at the young couple. "Your flight leaves at 7:30 in the morning. Get some rest and be at the airport before 6:00."

Nick and Sara left Grissom's office a few minutes later. She looked at Nick and he had an expression on his face that showed her he had an idea.

"Sara, let's swing over to your place and you can pack your things," he smiled. "You are staying with me at my house tonight!"

"I love how you think, Cowboy," Sara winked. "I am getting the shower first!"

"I knew you would say that," he grinned. "Let's get out of here."

Within minutes, they were in Nick's Tahoe and on their way to Sara's place. Nick was thinking about the places that Deanna and her husband Zach could take them. At the same time, he was afraid for the safety of her and her family and what Nigel Crane would do. Another question was raised in his worried mind, was Nigel planning to stalk Deanna and why? Then he remembered her mom and his first cousin once removed, Stephanie Patterson-Giroux was a model during the late 1960s. Some recent magazine did an article about her and where is she now. Nick wished they could just leave the former model and her family alone.

"Nick, are you okay?" Sara asked. "We're at my place."

"I'm fine," Nick smiled. "I'll help you pack!"

"You'll help me after I pack my underwear," she chuckled. "Get that mind of yours out of the gutter, Stokes!"

"Oh, come on, Sara!" he beamed. "I would never have kinky thoughts about your underwear. Hey, if it makes you happy, I'll hang out in the living room and watch something on the Discovery Channel while you pack."

"My boyfriend, the Discovery Channel addict!" she sighed.

"Admit it, Sara!" he protested. "You enjoy watching it with me!"

Sara went to her room to pack her clothes and other things she needed. Nick checked to see that she didn't pack up her entire apartment.

"We are staying at Deanna's," Nick said. "She probably has things you need. You only need to pack your clothes, hair towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, shower gel and that mesh sponge."

An hour later, they were at Nick's house. Sara took her packed suitcase with her since Nick told her that they would take a cab to the airport. He went to his room to pack his suitcase and placed it next to Sara's. They were exhausted and had to catch a few hours of sleep before catching their flight. Nick set the alarm clock to wake them at three in the morning. He called for cab to pick them up at five to take them to the airport. Now they were lying in his bed asleep.

When three o'clock rolled by, the alarm went off and Nick woke up immediately to shut it off and wake Sara. He looked at his girlfriend and smiled over how peaceful she looked. He knew that it would be difficult since he didn't want to ruin the moment, but he had no choice.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" Nick said gently shaking her. "You told me you had first dibs to the shower."

She woke up and made some moaning noise that he never heard her make. She got of the bed and went to the shower. Nick made sure she had her own towel before they went to bed. She emerged out of his bathroom with the towel wrapped around her chest. Nick took it as his cue to take his shower while Sara finished drying off and putting one of the spare outfits she kept in her locker. She dried her hair and put in a ponytail. Nick come out of the bathroom some time later with his towel wrapped around his hips. Sara was staring at him.

"I was just admiring your chest," Sara winked at him.

"You know that's harassment, Sara," he chuckled.

"Very funny, Cowboy!" she smirked. "Get dressed now! Are we going for breakfast or eating here?"

"I am going to make us some pancakes," he smiled. "It won't take me a long time to make them. With your help with the dishwashing, we could be finished before the cab arrives to take us to the airport."

Nick finished getting dressed and went to the kitchen to make the pancakes. Sara took her seat at the dining room table, but decided to help Nick by bringing the silverware, glasses of milk and fruit juice and a bottle of pure organic maple syrup. He emerged with two plates of pancakes, set one plate on his spot and the other on Sara's. They started eating and drinking.

"Nicky, did your mom teach you how to cook?" Sara asked. "This is delicious!"

"When she wasn't defending some poor wretch in court," Nick replied. "She taught the seven of us how to cook. I am glad you like my pancakes! Maybe when we get back from Seattle, I'll make you dinner. Don't worry Sara, I'll cook for you a vegetarian dinner."

"Thanks, Nicky!" she beamed.

As soon as their breakfast was finished, they went to work on clean up. Starting with the bowls, measuring cups and spoons, they finished the dishwashing with the cooled down skillet pan. Sara cleaned the table and the counter area that Nick made the pancake batter on. True to his word, they finished at 4:45 in the morning. Nick went to where they left their suitcases and picked them both up and placed them by the entranceway. The phone rang, Nick answered, said a few words and hung up. This piqued Sara's curiosity.

"That was the cab service," Nick smiled. "The driver should be here in a minute."

"Make that a New York minute," Sara said looking out the window. "The driver's here! Nick, we have to get going."

Nick ran around his house unplugging everything, except the refrigerator. He made sure that the security system was on and locked the door. Ever since Nigel Crane made his home a crime scene, Nick beefed up his home security system to include monitoring his attic. Now, he's worried about what Nigel could do to Deanna and her family. He put those thoughts out of his head to help the driver put the two suitcases in the trunk of the car. He opened the door for Sara, she climbed in and he followed. As soon as the car doors were locked and the driver was told to take them McCarran. As he pulled out of the driveway, both Nick and Sara were asleep.

When they arrived at the airport at 6:15 due to heavy traffic, the driver woke them up. Nick got out of the car to help the driver take out the suitcases. He went back inside the car to see if Sara was awake. He was happy that she was and helped her out of the car. He paid the driver and gave him a generous tip. Nick took both suitcases and gave Sara the tickets. They went to the business class check in line. They were both glad that the department sprang for business class, the coach class line was getting longer and the passengers were more aggravated. After Sara and Nick checked in and their baggage, the counter agent gave them their boarding passes and told them to have a nice flight.

"Sara, we have some time before they start the boarding call at 7:00," Nick said. "How about we get some coffee at Starbucks? It's on me!"

"Sure," Sara said.

Nick had a tall latte with almond while Sara had a tall cappuccino with toffee nut. They sipped their beverages and talked about their concerns about Nigel and the O'Hara family. The drinks were finished with five minutes to spare and they threw out their empty cups. As they were about to get on the line to go through security, they were amazed that the line was very short. They were able to pass clearly through it. When the business class of their flight was called to board, they gave their boarding passes to the attendant to process and were given the stubs for their records. After boarding was completed, the passengers had their seat belts fastened, the doors were closed and the flight attendants showed the plane's safety features, the plane taxied and took off. Nick and Sara were holding hands during take off until the plane was at a comfortable altitude.

"Nicky, you haven't told me about Deanna," Sara said. "I would like to know about her."

"Deanna is my second cousin and my favorite," Nick replied. "Her mother and my mom are first cousins. Cousin Stephanie and my mom have a few things in common. They both have careers in law, but Stephanie is a politician, and they raised large families. Deanna is the second of six kids and the oldest girl. She has an older brother named Jason and four younger sisters named Janine, Moira, Alexis and Lisette. She was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised in New Orleans. Sara, contrary to popular belief, not all of my family is in Texas, some live in New England, New York, Washington State, Louisiana and some in Canada. Ever since she was a child, she has collected foreign language phrase books and taught herself plenty of languages. She can speak at least half a dozen languages fluently. Deanna's husband is the Assistant District Attorney of Seattle. I guess you could call that a law and order marriage, she investigates while he prosecutes. They have three daughters: Amber, age 3 and twins Teresa and Madeline, age 1."

"Why do you think Nigel has gone to Seattle to stalk her?" she asked. "How does he know she is your cousin?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "She could probably analyze his thoughts. She has a dual bachelor's degree and a dual master's degree in Psychology and Biochemistry."

"Wow, where did she go to college and grad school?" she asked.

"The University of Washington," he smirked.

Before either of them could say anything else, they fell asleep. The flight attendant decided not to give them their in-flight meal and beverage since they were sleeping peacefully. She figure if they wake up before the plane approached Seattle, she offered the breakfast and drinks.

TBC

Post Chapter A/N: Reviews are always appreciated for this and my other stories! Just click on my name and then the story. So remember to tip your waiters/waitress and I will be here whenever I can!