Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but as always, coffee with George would be nice.

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"Hey, Sara, I saw this program on the Discovery Channel this afternoon." Nick began as they processed a car that they suspected was involved in a homicide they were investigating.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? What was it, 'Wild World of Birds'?" Sara's sarcastic quip came out a bit too harshly.

Nick glanced up at her with a hurt expression on his face. "No, it was on Tamales Bay and I thought you might be interested in it." He turned his attention back to the floor mats he was processing.

Sara knew her tone had been sharp and abrasive and she felt regretful as she watched the face of her friend as he put a drop of phenolphthalein on a swab he'd just run across the floor mat to check for traces of blood. "Nick?"

Without glancing up, he responded with a guarded tone in his voice. "Yeah."

Sara furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry."

He glanced up at her, his expression still cautious. "Thanks."

As he turned his attention back to the car Sara was frustrated that he seemed intent on ending the conversation. She began to sort through the contents of the glove box, finding the silence between them unsettling. "Nick?"

"You got something?" Nick glanced up curiously.

A sheepish expression crossed Sara's face. "I really am sorry."

Nick exhaled audibly and turned his attention to the car again. "You said that." He leaned further into the car to check the fabric of the backseat for traces of blood.

His reaction perplexed her. Nick normally let things roll right off of his back and perhaps that's why they all teased him about his obsession with the Discovery Channel. She seemed to have truly offended him and she didn't want to continue working in silence until they'd cleared the air. "What's going on?"

Nick's head snapped up as her voice broke the silence. "What?"

She had an expression that was a mixture of confusion and irritation. "Why are you so pissed off just because I teased you about the Discovery Channel?"

Nick closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. He took a couple of deep breaths as he considered his words. His brows were furrowed as he answered Sara's questions. "Look, Sara, I know that everyone thinks that I watch too much TV and y'all love to tease me about that, but sometimes I get really tired of being the butt of everyone's jokes. All I was trying to do was start a conversation because I thought I had something to say that I thought you'd find interesting and you practically bit my head off."

"I really am sorry." Her words seemed to fall flat as she considered all of the times she and the rest of the team had sold him short, and because he was so good natured, he was indeed often the butt of their jokes.

They worked in silence for quite a while. Nick was intent on getting any trace evidence from the car and his full concentration was on the fabric of the seat looking for any stray hair or fiber that might offer them a clue.

Sara felt distracted as she worked on the front seats of the car. Nick had been a good friend to her since she'd moved to Vegas. Of everyone on the nightshift crew, he was the first one besides Grissom that had made her feel welcome, and he had served to offer her a healthy amount of competition when they worked a scene. She really did feel badly that she'd offended him. She glanced back at him as he held a fiber in a pair of tweezers trying to locate a bindle in the pocket of his coveralls. She pulled a bindle out of her own pocket and held it back to him. "So, Tamales Bay, huh?"

He glanced up and graciously accepted the bindle. A smile began to spread across his face. If there was one really great quality about Nick it was that he didn't hold a grudge for long. "Yeah, it looks really beautiful."

Sara smiled. "It is. In fact this time of year there might still be some elephant seals around and the migration of the grey whales has probably started."

His smile widened into a grin. "Is it true that 45 percent of the bird species in North America have been sighted there?"

Sara couldn't help but laugh. "Probably but there's a lot more to do up there than look at birds."

Nick smirked. "What did you do when you lived there?"

"Kayaking." She smiled at him. "Have you ever tried it?"

Nick shook his head. "Can't say that I have."

"It's pretty incredible, especially when you're surrounded by whales." Sara couldn't help but smile at the memory.

Both of Nick's eyebrows arched upward. "You've kayaked with whales?"

Sara smirked. "Not on purpose, but it was pretty amazing."

"That sounds cool." Nick glanced at his watch. "Hey, are you done up there because I think this is the cleanest car I've ever seen." His smile was a bit smug.

Sara nodded. "Yeah, I don't think I'm going to find much more up here."

Nick had a conspiratorial smile. "Well shift is over and this car isn't going anywhere. Do you want to grab some breakfast and tell me more about Tamales Bay?"

She chuckled. "Only if you're buying."

He grinned. "You're on."

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"You're kidding, right?" Nick popped a piece of bacon into his mouth and looked at Sara expectantly.

She shook her head and chuckled. "I'm serious. Everyone calls it Nick's Cove and it's just a little bit north of where my parent's bed and breakfast is." She took another bite of her omelet and smiled.

"Now that's something I've got to see someday." Nick grinned.

Sara picked up her cup of coffee and cradled it in her hands for a moment as she looked at Nick over the table of the booth. "You could come up there with me sometime."

He tilted his head and considered her words as he watched her lift the cup of coffee to her lips. "That sounds like fun. When do you want to go?"

Sara swallowed the coffee and set her cup down and studied him for a moment. "You'd really want to go?"

He speared a sausage link as it tried to roll across his plate and nodded. "Sure, it sounds like fun, and what better way to see it than with someone who knows what to see?"

Sara smiled. "Well, I suppose we should start by seeing if Grissom will let us both have the time off."

"No problem." Nick replied confidently. "Greg's been begging to get out in the field and I think Collins from days wanted to pick up a few extra shifts." He furrowed his brow. "It was Collins wasn't it?"

Sara shook her head with a smirk. "No, I think it was Cahill."

"Yeah, you're right, it was Cahill." Nick grinned.

"Well, let's start with trying to get time off and then I'll call my parents." Sara teased.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, Sara, I found some great cheap fares to Frisco." Nick walked into the break room where Sara was standing next to Warrick sipping a cup of coffee.

She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Nick, no one who lives there really calls it Frisco."

Warrick chuckled. "Are you sure you really want to take a vacation with this yahoo?"

Sara smirked. "Sure, I think it'll be fun."

Nick grinned. "I am fun." He glanced at Warrick. "You're just jealous that you have to stay here and train Sanders."

"Well the only reason Grissom let you two have the time off is because he needed the best CSI to train him." Warrick quipped as Greg walked in the door.

Greg brightened at Warrick's comment. "Catherine's training me?"

"No, you've got me." Warrick responded dryly.

Nick couldn't help but laugh as he glanced over at Sara.