"Sorry, we needed a map reader. Don't worry, we'll take good care of you. See you at camp."

It was the second time Nick had read the letter out loud. Not that it made much more sense.

'They kidnapped her.' Greg said, absently picking at a loose feather from his sleeping bag. 'From right under our noses.' He added.

'There's drag marks over here.' Warrick said. He had been walking around the perimeter of the clearing they had been using.

'Great. Wanna take a mould and see if we can match it at the lab?' Greg asked sarcastically.

'Chill, man. They've just taken her to use her skills. Sara's not exactly gonna give them up without a fight.' Nick said, packing up his sleeping bag.

'They probably have no idea what they've just done to themselves.' Warrick added, meaning it as a [kind of] complement to Sara.

But Greg took it the wrong way for Sara. He whirled on Warrick. 'Just cause you don't like her! All she's had to put up with all this week are sick jibes from them all week. And now they've kidnapped her. I'm gonna guess that she's not enjoying herself that much.'

'Greg, I didn't mean it like that.'

'Sure you didn't.'

'Hey Guys, yelling at each other? Not gonna help.' Nick pointed out, stopping both of them mid-rant. 'It's obvious the good ole cops have been struggling, or they wouldn't have taken Sara. And Sara being the only woman, she would have been the obvious choice, not least because she's the lightest of all of us. Which begs the question, how did they know we were here, and do they really think that Sara is gonna lead them in the right direction?' Nick pointed out.

Greg and Warrick both had to agree with him on that one.

'So what are we supposed to do?' Greg asked.

'I guess, get back to base camp.' Nick said, 'and wait for them.'

'Sara'll probably give them the run around for as long as she can, before taking them to camp.' Warrick added.

'Can't we get them back- get Sara off of them?' Greg asked.

'How are we meant to know where to look?'

'Well I don't know. It just sounded like a good idea. What am I? Knowledge guy now? You two are meant to be the ones with the analytical minds.' Greg pointed out.

'Right.' Nick and Warrick both said slowly, looking at each other.

'Right.' Nick added once more, just for good measure. 'We should.look at the map.'

'Right.' Warrick agreed. 'Consult the map.'

They spread Nick's map on the floor, and studied it for a while. 'This really doesn't help.' Nick finally said, sitting back on his heels.

Warrick got to his feet, paced the length of the clearing.

Greg just looked on, not sure whether he should be scared for.Sara, or scared for the cops.

'You know I mentioned drag marks?' Warrick asked eventually.

'Yeah.' Nick answered, not even bothering to look up.

'We could always follow them.'

The other two got to their feet at that, hurriedly packing up the remaining stuff, before they started following the drag marks deep into the brush, coming out at a second clearing a hundred yards down.

'They were following us!' Nick exclaimed. 'And I bet for the whole of yesterday.'

'Naughty boys.' Warrick commented, as he bent to pick up a stub from a collection on the floor. 'Didn't anyone explain the smoking bad concept?'

'So where did they go from here.'

They wandered around for a while, seemingly stuck, till Nick noticed noticeable footprints off to one side. They weren't in any pattern, a few deep ones amongst a lot of lighter ones, like someone had been deliberately stamping her mark into the ground.

'I think Sara left us a trail.' He called the others, and together they started following.

It was fairly easy going most of the time, in completely the wrong direction, they all noticed.

'What was she doing, holding the map the wrong way?' Nick asked as he followed the route as they went.

Greg couldn't help but laugh as he realised what Sara had been doing. 'She's using your trick.' He told Nick.

Nick gave him a confused questioning, narrow eyed look.

'Map reading with a map upside down. Sara's probably betting on the fact that no one's gonna notice that the arrow pointing out north on the map is facing the wrong way. I mean, you didn't notice.' Greg pointed out, enjoying the look on Nick's face.

Warrick joined in with the laughter.

Sara couldn't complain about the treatment she was receiving. Except for maybe being dragged a hundred yards when they had first grabbed her. But since then, they had treated her like royalty. Something Sara reduced to the fact that not one of them knew how to read a compass, and a map, and use the two together to find their way.

Which of course, made leading them up the proverbial garden path, or in this case, down the forest path completely the wrong way was easy. Even the few who had the slightest clue hadn't noticed the slight discrepancy between what the map claimed to be north, and what the compass thought.

Should she feel guilty for taking them the wrong way? After all, they had had to admit their weakness, to her, a girl. They had had to ask for help, which had surely battered their pride a little.

Sara almost laughed at the notion. She was far from feeling guilty. She was having fun. It might have helped the cops case if one of them hadn't insist that getting a girl to read the map was wrong, and they should have grabbed the lab rat one instead. Sara didn't enjoy having her abilities questioned, especially considering they had kidnapped her for exactly that ability.

Men were dumb, sometimes, she reasoned to herself as she put her foot heavily into the soil, making a good print. She just hoped that was just a stereotype and not a majority counsel rule.

Otherwise she really would be winning this thing alone.

She waited until lunchtime, when she had effectively led them round in a circle, before she decided she'd had enough of being called ma'am (it made her feel old), and to skip out on them. She could have waited for her rescuers, of course. But firstly, the notion of waiting to be rescued didn't exactly register with her. Like she was gonna rely on someone else to do it. Knowing her luck, Greg and the others had decided they'd just go on down to camp, and find her there.

The walk out was easy. The old I'm a female, I have female needs, and they require privacy worked like a charm. She walked off to, as it were, use the little girls room (without the room, or the little girl) and just never turned back.

She wasn't sure how long it was till the cops figured out that she wasn't coming back. No one came close enough in searching for her, for her to find out. She had been kind. She'd left the map after all. If she had been feeling really mean, she'd have walked out without that as well.

She found her way back to their original campsite for last night, and then hunkered down for the wait. If Nick, Warrick or Greg had any sense between them, they would have realised that she was heading in a full circle, and would therefore eventually find her here.

That was of course, relying on her earlier theory that all men were dumb being proved incorrect.

She waited two hours before she gave up hope, resigned to herself that her theory had inadvertently been proven right, and started on the way back to base camp instead. Leave the men out here to fight it on their own. She'd just have to make her own way home and beat all of them.

Which certainly didn't sound half bad to her.

'She was going in a circle.' Nick exclaimed.

'Gee- ya think?' Warrick asked sarcastically, weariness setting in now.

'So where are they then?' Greg asked no one in particular, as he bashed a couple of branches out of his face.

'Not here, that's for sure.' Nick answered, looking all around. A shout suddenly filled the air, making them all jump slightly. Warrick and Greg turned to give him a look. 'Or maybe they are.' He corrected himself.

'Come on.' Warrick whispered, crouching down slightly, creeping along in a silent approach till Greg walked sideways into a tree and let out a sharp curse.

Nick and Warrick gave him a sharp look. 'Real stealthy, Greg.' Nick commented. 'Hey, you're the ones trained in this. Stealthy doesn't really matter in a lab.' Greg shot back.

'Shh, I don't think they heard us, they're arguing too loudly- let's see what they're arguing about.' Warrick told them, pointing to a near-by wall of plants that shielded the cops.

They walked silently (as they could anyway) up to it, Warrick in the lead crouching at the opening of the plants into a natural pathway leading to a clearing. Nick silently darted across the pathway, taking up the other side, Greg having to make do with peering over Warrick's shoulder to see.

The cops were all shouting so loudly that none of them had any clue they were being watched.

'Why the hell did you let her go?' Lenny yelled at Matt.

'She wanted to go to the bathroom.' Matt yelled back. 'What, you wanted me to let her wet herself?'

'And you never guessed that it could be a trick? Why didn't you follow her?'

'Hey! We kidnapped her, I don't think we need to totally disrespect her as well.' An older guy, Tony added in.

'Yeah well, now she's back with the nerd squad and we're not gonna have any chance of winning this thing. Why are you all so thick?!' Lenny exclaimed.

'You can't read a map either!' Matt yelled back.

Nick and Warrick were exchanging amused looks, enjoying this. Wherever Sara had gone, she had certainly left behind some very confused policemen.

Greg was also enjoying the show, but was distracted by the feeling of being watched. He looked around, at first not seeing anything, till he looked up.

Sara grinned down at him from a tall oak tree. She was sitting casually on one of the first branches from the grounds, feet dangling, looking more relaxed than Greg could remember seeing her.

He looked back at Warrick and Nick about to tell them, but caught a sharp shake of the head from Sara. She signalled at her own chest, then back at him. You and me. Greg got the message, and quietly backed up, turning and running when he saw that Warrick and Nick were so engrossed in the cop show that they had no clue what he was doing.

He easily climbed the large oak, and Sara met him at the trunk. 'Hey you.' She said.

'Hey- how did you escape your big bad kidnappers?' Greg asked her, leaning over slightly to kiss the tip of her nose.

'I might have needed the bathroom, and lost my way coming back.' Sara answered in an innocent voice, before she lifted her chin, meeting Greg's lips with her own.

Sara pulled away first. Greg didn't have enough working neurones left to actually move. Or think. Or generally exist anymore. All he could was stare and wonder at her beauty and how the hell it had become that he was kissing her.

'Wanna get back to camp?' She asked huskily. The kiss hadn't only affected Greg.

'Sure.' He managed, not sure if his legs would work anymore.

They'd been walking for almost three miles before Greg asked, 'Nick and Warrick'll figure it out, won't they?'

Sara didn't answer but couldn't stop grinning at the implications. She didn't really care at that moment. Worse came to worse, the organisers sent out their trained personal to search and retrieve. And they all had maps.

She had Greg. All alone. And they were still at least one night away from base camp. And there was one place she had always wanted to make love- outdoors, under the stars.

Tonight she got her wish and more.

They got to base camp late morning, to find Elliot alone reading a newspaper. 'Hey- anything important going on in the world?' Sara greeted him.

'Only the usual doom and gloom- I don't know why I bother reading it anymore. It's the same depressing stuff everyday.'

'You never know, one day there might be some happiness.' Sara said with a look at Greg.

'I suppose.' Elliot replied, missing the look, although Greg hadn't, nor the implication. He was grinning and blushing as he squeezed Sara's hand that he was holding.

Elliot folded the newspaper. 'Congratulations. Not a very fast time, but you're the first here.'

'We had a bit of a detour.' Sara told him mysteriously.

'Oh well- I thought you were sticking with Nick and Warrick?' Elliot questioned.

'Plans changed.' Greg told him.

'Right.'

It was late afternoon, as the sun was about to disappear altogether behind the mountains, when the air was filled with the sounds of insects, and the gentle hum of the near by river, when the rest of the survival group showed up looking much the worse for wear. Sara and Greg were relaxing by the fire, stomachs full and peacefully tired, having eaten and played various stupid games most of the afternoon.

Warrick and Nick didn't look impressed with their two co-workers. 'It's about team work, man.' Warrick told them, looking disgusted as he and Nick flopped next to them on the floor.

Sara looked at them, fighting the smile that threatened. 'Looked to me like you had a lot of team work.' She told him, looking at the cops who were looking similarly wasted the other side of the campfire. 'What happened?'

'They spotted us spying on them. So we agreed to help them get back to base camp in exchange for various things.'

'What?'

'Water. Their mats to sleep on. Some of their food. All the important essentials for survival.'

'You traded your map skills for food and water?' Greg asked. 'You sold yourselves out?'

'It's all about the team work.' Nick answered. 'And the fact that it was six on two and most of them are way bigger than us.'
Epilogue

Their first night back at the CSI labs was certainly interesting. And dull compared to being out in the middle of nowhere except with a map and vacuum packed food to survive on. The familiar routines (or as familiar as murder got, anyway) did have a new side now. They'd all seen a new side to the others, and even if they had argued most of the week, they certainly came away with a new respect for each other. Grissom and Catherine noticed it almost straight away in the break room, the difference in the atmosphere. Maybe Grissom's idea had actually been a good one, Catherine commented to him later that night.

Grissom had given her a look. 'All my ideas are good ones.'

'Uh yeah.' Catherine answered sarcastically.

'They are!' He protested to her retreating back.

'What are you arguing about?' Sara commented, coming up to his side. 'You know, perhaps you two should have gone on this week, learned how to work together and not like an old married couple.'

'Ha Ha.' Grissom intoned. 'So you enjoyed the week?' He added, as he walked with her into his office.

'It had its ups and downs.' Sara said shortly. 'It certainly opened my eyes up to a few things. You know, being out in the wilderness, it gives you a chance to think, to reflect.'

Grissom nodded as he waved her into a chair. 'So what were you reflecting upon?' He asked her, taking a seat himself on the other side of his desk.

Sara didn't answer his question straight away, instead asking one of her own. 'Can I ask you a question?'

He nodded for her to continue.

'Hypothetically, you know, would there be a problem with two colleagues having a relationship?'

Grissom shifted uncomfortably, taking off his glasses, cleaning them carefully as he thought about the question. 'Well, officially, it is frowned upon, but it isn't against the rules. But it is a dangerous situation, working with someone you are personally involved in. I don't know if it would be such a good idea.'

'But if two people wanted a relationship, no one could stop them?'

'Sara, we've been over this. I can't get into a relationship with you.'

Stunned, and more than a little embarrassed, Sara laughed a little. 'Uh, I wasn't talking about us. I got over you a long time ago.'

Grissom, blushing bright red now, asked, 'you got over me?'

'Well.uh. yeah. Look, perhaps you're not the right person to talk to. Too much back story.'

'Who are you talking about?

'Um.Greg.'

'You and Greg?!' Grissom asked astonished. He certainly hadn't seen that one coming anytime.

'I discovered a lot of new things while I was away. Did a lot of soul searching. I've not been in a relationship for so long. This is new, and it's exciting. He's good for me. I just wanted to know there wouldn't be a problem with rules and stuff. Now I know. I didn't mean to.um.ya know.'

'Sure, Sara. Um, see you around.'

'Yeah, see you.' Sara echoed.

'So how'd he take it?' Greg asked as they walked out of the labs to their car. They'd driven in together that night.

'He was, um, surprised.' Sara said with a slight smile. 'But he's cool. And no regulations to worry about.'

Greg turned to Sara 'Want some breakfast?' He asked. 'You know, first official date?' He added.

Sara leant towards him, kissing him softly on his lips. 'Only if that's breakfast in bed.' She murmured against his lips.

'Oh, count on it.' Greg said, kissing her back.

Finished! Hope you enjoyed this story- I certainly enjoyed writing it! Anyway, thank you again for all the reviews, they certainly helped motivate me!