A/N: Okay, don't own 'em, just love 'em. Whew, that's out of the way. :) Not quite sure where this story is going as of yet, except into the forest for a camping trip, but...

Anyway, this takes place shortly after Grave Danger.

Feedback is always welcome.

Great Outdoors

Chapter 1

Nick Stokes stared at his friend, Warrick Brown, in disbelief. Warrick had been the one to plan the whole trip – even though it had been Grissom who had basically demanded they all go – and now he was backing out of it, and at the last minute, no less.

"Man, I'm sorry. Something came up, and I can't go. You and Sanders go ahead. Have fun!" the tall mocha skinned African-American said, as he climbed back into his Ford Mustang and drove away, not giving Nick a chance to say anything else.

One of the horses stomped its hoof impatiently in the horse trailer, making a dull ringing thud sound in the cool early morning air. Greg was already sitting in the front seat of Nick's truck, and the back end of the truck had been loaded down with everything the three men would need for a week of camping out under the stars and horseback riding the mountain trails.

Now it looked like Nick was going to be alone, in the mountains, with the man he'd found himself attracted to for years. And that was all he'd allowed it to be for several reasons.

Just after he'd found out he'd been hired on at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, Nick had come out to his parents, telling them he was bi. He'd been pleasantly surprised by their reaction. He hadn't been disowned, as he'd thought he probably would be. Instead, his father had calmly asked if that was why Nick was going to Vegas. Nick had replied, "No, Dad. I feel stifled here. I need to go somewhere where our family isn't known." Judge Stokes had softly replied, "Okay. Just keep in mind God's feelings towards same sex relations, if you ever decide to indulge in that side of your sexuality."

That was one of the reasons he and Greg would never be. The others being that Nick just didn't know if Greg swung that way or not, and that they were co-workers, and if things ended badly, they'd still have to work together everyday.

There had been a couple of times Nick had seriously thought about confessing his attraction to the younger man. After the lab explosion had nearly cost Greg his life had been the first time. And more recently. Just weeks ago, after spending days in the hospital recovering from fire ant bites after his rescue from being buried alive. But both times, he had come to his senses.

Grissom, socially inept supervisor that he was, had basically told Warrick and Greg to get Nick out of the house for a week. Nick was still on medical leave, pending his therapy sessions with the department shrink, and his psyche evaluation. And for some reason, Grissom seemed to think that spending a whole week out in the forest with his two best friends would make everything better for Nick.

Nick had reluctantly agreed to do as Grissom demanded, his only saving grace being the thought that it be the three of them, not just him and Greg, and now here they were, just Nick and Greg, going camping.

Heaving a sigh, Nick watched Warrick's car turn the corner at the end of the street, then went to the driver's side of his four door Silvarado and climbed in.

"Why'd Warrick leave?" Greg asked, eyeing Nick curiously.

Nick shrugged, "He said something came up and he couldn't go, but he didn't say what."

"We can call the whole thing off, if you want," Greg said, watching Nick grip the steering wheel of the truck in a near white knuckle hold.

Heaving another huge sigh, Nick said, "No, we'd better just go. If we don't, we won't hear the end of it from Grissom."

Greg hid a flinch, "Okay, Nick. Whatever you want to do." The way Nick had made it sound like a chore – going camping with Greg – cut Greg to the quick.

Pulling away from the curb, Nick headed out towards the ninety-five north, to pick up the one fifty-seven, out to Mount Charleston.

They rode in silence for a while, Nick figuring the silence was better than the Country music he had slowly begun to detest over the last few weeks, and not wanting to subject himself to Greg's aurally offensive music.

When they'd reached the one fifty-seven, Nick said, "So, what possessed you to agree to this trip in the first place? Have you ever been horseback riding, or camping?"

"Grissom threatened to suspend me without pay for two weeks, if I didn't agree. I'm pretty sure he was bluffing, but I wasn't going to take the chance," he chuckled nervously before continuing. "I have only been horseback riding once in my life. When I was little, I bugged my mom to get me riding lessons until she finally agreed. She dropped me off for my first lesson, not going in with me. I don't know why she didn't, but... Well, when she came back to pick me up, and saw how big the horse was in comparison to me – I think I was nine at the time – she canceled the rest of my lessons and told me that if I ever mentioned horses or horseback riding in her presence again, she'd wash my mouth out with the foulest tasting soap she could find." He laughed again before going on. "I have actually been camping a few times. It was easier to hide the fact that I'd nearly tripped and fell into the campfire from my mom, who never went with us."

Nick looked over at Greg, before returning his eyes to the road, "Your mom really didn't let you do much as a kid, did she." It made him glad that he grew up in the family he did.

"Man, you don't know the half of it! I was afraid she wasn't going to let me go off to college. When I got the job at the lab, I had to tell her I had signed a contract, and couldn't back out of it, or they'd throw me in jail," he grinned cheekily at Nick, who smiled in return. "I had to threaten to change my phone number and not give it to her, to get her to stop calling me every single day. Instead, she calls me twice a week."

They spent the rest of the trip talking, though by unspoken agreement, they avoided talking about work.

At the trail head parking lot, Nick found a spot where the truck and trailer would fit, and parked.