I had to pull this and another story because, in my infinite wisdom, I took my knock-out pills and got the chapter updates mixed up. Let this be a lesson to all you insomniacs out there;
AFTER YOU TAKE YOUR AMBIEN GET OFFLINE IMMEDIATELY!

Disclaimer: I lay no claim to Jim Brass, wish I did, but I don't.
(Some of Sara's actions are typically uncharacteristic, because this is the side of Sara that Jim sees, and not the side of herself that she projects to others.)

Jim Brass sits alone in his house waiting for Sara to come home. They both got off of work at the same time, but for some reason she is late. He doesn't think much of it, they don't always
get home at the same time. Sometimes she works late and just sleeps at the lab. He misses her when she sleeps at the lab, but luckily for him, she does not do it often.

He decides to go to sleep and hopes that she comes home this morning. He undresses and slips beneath the covers. As soon as his head hits the pillow he is asleep. He dreams sweet dreams
of the woman he loves. He dreams of the first time they met.
()

Jim sits in the break room of the Las Vegas Crime Lab reading a magazine on outdoor life, camping, fishing, etc. He was engrossed in a particularly good article on camp sites in Nevada,
when he suddenly smells a sweet scent of lilac. He turns his head to see who has just entered the room and his eyes fix on the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. She walks to the coffee
pot and pours herself a cup and walks to the table and asks if the seat next to him is taken.

"Is this seat taken?" she asks
"Its all yours." He says as he pulls the chair out for her
"Ah, chivalry is not dead, I see." She comments as she sits beside him.

She sips her coffee as her eyes wander to the magazine he is reading. He feels her eyes on him. He looks out of the corner of his eye to see her reading along with him. He lays the magazine
on the table and turns to her.

"Wanna share?" he asks
"Sure. I love camping. There's something about nature that totally appeals to me."

They sit and read the article together. Mid article, he realizes that he has no idea who she is, and he introduces himself.

"I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Jim Brass, homicide detective." He says
"I know who you are. My name is Sara, Sara Sidle. I'm the new hire." She says sweetly. "You planning a trip?"
"Well, I have some time saved up and was thinking about going to the mountains for a few days of camping, fishing and recharging myself from all this ugliness."

She smiles as he begins to turn the page and places her hand on his and tells him, "Hey, not yet, I'm not done."

He waits patiently for her to finish reading and then he allows her to turn the page for him. Her hands are so pale and soft, they're beautiful. He rises and leaves her with the magazine as he
excuses himself to his office. As he leaves the room he turns to see that she is looking at him. She winks at him as he exits the room. When he reaches his office, he closes the door behind
him and sinks into his high backed leather swiveling desk chair. He turns on the radio and hears some Neil Diamond tune playing. He closes his eyes and immediately Sara pops into his head. Her long brown hair falling down around her face and her porcelain like skin, her height and her alluring aroma; he could not quite place it at first but it came to him as he heard a knock on his door. He snapped out of his day dream to see Sara peeking her head in through the door.

"Hey, I just wanted to return this to you." She says as she places the magazine on his desk.
"No problem. Do you like outdoors stuff?"
"Yes, definitely, everything except hunting."
"I'm not much for hunting either." He says.
"I'm sorry, have a seat." He says as he kicks a chair back from his desk so she can sit.

"Wow, twice in one day."
"What?"
"Twice in one day, a man has pulled a chair out for me. Is this a common thing out here?"
"No, I was just brought up right." He says with a grin.
"So, you're the new hire, when do you start?"
"Not for a week. I just came in to orient myself with the lab."
"Well, I know its short notice, and you don't really know me, but I'm going camping for a few days, if you want, you can come with."

"I've done my research, I know a bit about you, enough to know that you're not a threat." She said smiling
"Really, what did your research tell you about me?"

Sara sat back in her chair and lightly rubber her chin before speaking.

"I know you have a teen aged child, you used to be a cop in New Jersey, you love animals, you don't date much and you love the outdoors." She said confidently.
"How did I do?"
"Very well, as a matter of fact, but I know nothing about you. Tell me a bit about yourself."
"Well, I've never been married, by choice. I have no children. I am from California and I, likeyou, don't date much, by choice. I also love the outdoors. Oh, and I am an insomniac."

Jim sat back in his chair and gazed at her as he absorbed this new information. Here, before him, sat possibly the most beautiful woman in the world. He was in awe of her, and her beauty that
he could see was not only on the outside. He watched her as she appeared to be thinking.

"When would we be leaving?" she asked
"Tomorrow morning at sun up, do you have your own equipment?" he asked
"Everything but the tent, I don't usually use one. I have really good luck with weather when it comes to camping, its never rained when I've gone out."
"I can pick you up here if you like."
"I think it would be easier to get me at my place, here's the address." She said as she wrote on a scrap of paper and handed it to him.
"Sun up, then." She said as she rose and left his office.

He looked at the piece of paper for a while before another knock came to his door. Grissom entered and sat in the chair that was occupied by Sara a few minutes earlier.

"I see you met the new hire." He said
"Yeah, she's knock out. She offered to accompany me on my trip this week." He said, smiling
"Really, you two just met."

"She apparently did a background check on me, and probably everyone else in the lab. She said I am non-threatening, so she agreed to go with me."
"Well, let me tell you a bit about her." Grissom said.
"She well trained in the arts of weaponless combat. She hardly ever sleeps and she can, no doubt,hold her own. That's probably why she thinks of you as non- threatening. She could probably
kick your ass."

"Well, let's hope it never comes to that." Jim said

Grissom rose and as he was leaving Brass's office he wished him good luck on their little trip.

It was 5:30 in the morning when Jim pulled up in front of Sara's apartment and walked the stonepath to her door. He knocked and waited for her to answer the door. He knocked again and this
time he heard a voice on the other side of the door. The door opened and Jim saw before him, Sara in a pair of boxers and a tank top. She let him in as she walked back to the bedroom. He
found himself staring at the ill prepared Sara in her shorts and shirt that left nothing to theimagination. His mind was now in the gutter. His mind was further in the gutter when she
emerged from her bedroom in a pair of jean cut-offs and the same tank top. She sat on her couchand laced up her hikers and Jim saw that she had already packed her pack.

"I'll take this stuff out to the truck, ok?"
"Ok, just let me tie these up and we can go." She said

When they left, it was 5:45 am. Jim had severely underestimated her, he thought it would takeforever for her to get ready, but it only took fifteen minutes. He was surprised.

They arrived at the site around 10:30am and began their hike to the creek that Jim haddesignated as their destination. Sara was keeping up very well for a woman with a 50lb pack on
her back. She was carrying the food, water, fire starter and cook ware. He was carrying thetent, bags and mats. He had offered her the lighter pack, but she refused. He was impressed.
When they reached the site, they removed their packs and Sara took off her hikers and shorts.She climbed on top of a rock by the creek and dove in, resurfacing towards the middle of the
pool of water. She beckoned for him to come in and watched as he united his hikers and tookoff his shirt and waded in. He had a very nice upper body, almost like he worked out or
something. He slowly made his way into the deep end of the pool. When the water his netherregions, he froze, the water was cold to the new touch. Sara saw this and swam over to him and
took his hand. She grabbed it tight and pulled him in after her. She playfully splashed himand swam around him in circles. He stood till as she swam up behind him and placed her hands on
his shoulders and gave him a little rub. She could feel the knots in his neck muscles andrubbed them out. When she finished, she simply waded out and fished in her pack for a towel,
wrapping it around her waist. Jim stayed in the water for fear of her seeing his obviousarousal from the massage he had just received.

A few minutes passed when he managed his way out of the water and Sara handed him a towel to dryoff. He could not take his eyes off her. She was still wearing the towel and he could see
through her wet tank top. She did not seem to care about that fact as she began to set up camp.She pitched the tent in a few minutes and tossed the bags and mats inside. As Jim watched, shetromped into the woods in search of fire wood.

She emerged from the woods a while later with a heaping armful of firewood. Jim had finishedsetting up camp as Sara plopped down the wood and he made a fire. As afternoon wore on into
sunset, they sat around the fire and got better acquainted. He told her of his love for icehockey and his life back in New Jersey. She told him about growing up in a hippie commune in
California and how she came to be in Las Vegas.

They ate their rations for dinner and Sara pulled a bottle of whiskey out of her pack. As Jimsaw her do this, he smiled. They drank from the bottle and when the alcohol had sufficiently
gone to their heads, they turned in for the evening. Jim slipped out of his shorts and crawledinto his sleeping bag. Sara wore a pair of sweat pants cut-offs and a black tank top as she
wiggled into her bag. They lay awake for a while, just talking. Jim asked her why she did notdate and she replied by stating that most men she comes in contact with are too immature and
only have one thing on their minds. He laughed and she asked him why he did not date. Heexplained that his job did not allow for much of a personal life. She rolled over to face himand smiled at him.

As she looked at him she thought to herself that this man was not like the others she hadencountered, there was more to him than just the typical male behavior. When she told him this
he blushed. She saw him turn red and leaned closer to him and placed a kiss on his forehead.

"You're a sweet guy, Jim. The women of Vegas have no idea what they are missing out on."
"From your lips to God's truth." He said

She took one of his hands and turned it palm side up and began to examine it.

"You have a very strong life line, and your heart line is also very strong." She said as shelightly ran her index finger tip across his palm.

She looked into his eyes and studied them.

"Your eyes tell me that you have an enormous capacity for love and compassion. I also see greatsincerity, which all combined, are rare in men that I have met. You're a gem, Jim."

As she continued to stroke his hand he closed his eyes and fell fast asleep. Images of Saradanced throughout his mind as he slept. He slept the whole night and when he woke the following
morning, he noticed that Sara had her arm draped around his waist. He could feel her softbreathing on the back of his neck. He did not want to move, ever.
()

Jim woke to the feeling of weight on the bed. He opened his eyes slightly to see Sara slideunder the covers and make herself comfortable. As she stilled, he slid up behind her and
draped his arm around her waist. He kissed her softly on the back of her neck as she placedher hand on top of his and squeezed slightly.

"Good morning, Sara." He said lovingly
"Good night, honey." She said with a smile he could feel.

TBC?