It had been a long shift. Nick had arrived at the scene of what appeared to be a hit and run. Warrick and Brass had filled him in on what they knew. Two teens on the way home from a date had been broadsided by another vehicle traveling at an estimated speed of 100 miles per hour. The driver had fled the scene forever ending the dreams of the two young people who had been killed instantly. Nick had processed the driver's car and had come away with a wealth of DNA. Epithelials on the steering wheel, saliva on beer bottles strewn on the floor of the passenger side of the car, an airbag with traces of saliva, and a bit of blood on the dashboard, perhaps indicating that the driver had been injured in the crash. Hopefully, after the DNA had been processed, they would be able to find a match in CODIS. Unfortunately, because of the explosion in the lab, they would have to send the samples out and it would take time to turn around. Hopefully, some of the trace evidence he found would provide them some clues. He had found hair and some denim fibers caught in the seatbelt.

He and Warrick had returned the evidence to the lab and had logged it into the evidence room. Nick went by his locker and was gathering his things when Warrick walked in. "Hey, man, you headed home?" Warrick asked.

"No, I've got an errand to run. I'm not sure how long it's going to take." Nick responded, gathering the last of his things and putting them into his duffel bag.

Warrick opened his own locker, "Hot date?"

Nick chuckled, "No, I've got to go see a friend."

Skeptically, Warrick responded, "A friend, huh? Would this friend be of the female persuasion?"

Nick stopped and grinned at Warrick, "Yeah, she is. And she is just a friend."

"Uh huh." Warrick answered ribbing his friend.

"What about you, Warrick? Got any big plans?" Nick asked.

"Nah, I'm just gonna go home and crash. This has been some week." Warrick sounded exhausted.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. See you later, man." With that Nick left the locker room and headed out to his Tahoe.

He decided to pick up breakfast for him and Sara at the diner down the road from the lab. A short time later, he pulled into the lot of Sara's apartment. He got out and made his way to her door, bags of food in one hand, a cup holder with two cups of coffee in the other. He managed to knock on the door without spilling anything, but when Sara didn't come to the door after a few minutes, he knocked again a little louder.

Just when he was ready to try a third time, the door opened to reveal a very rumpled Sara. Her ponytail from the night before had slid a little off center and her Harvard T-shirt and sweat pants looked slept in. She held her hand over her mouth trying to disguise a yawn and squinted out the door at Nick.

"Morning, Sara. I brought breakfast." Nick greeted, sounding a bit too cheery to Sara's just waking up mind.

"Morning, Nick." She opened the door, allowing him into the darkened apartment. "Do I smell coffee?"

Nick smiled, "Yes, and I brought you a vegetarian omelet too." He followed her into the living room where he set the food down on her coffee table.

Sara turned a few lights on, "Sorry, Nick, you woke me up, I think I must have been more tired than I realized." She turned to look at him and yawned again.

"You must have needed it." Nick replied giving her a concerned look. He sat down on the couch and reached over to take the food out of the bags. Sara joined him on the couch and gratefully accepted the food and coffee, glad that Nick had thought to grab plastic utensils so she wouldn't have to rummage around her kitchen to find some.

They ate their food in a comfortable silence, Nick tired from a long night of work, and Sara still waking up. When they finished eating, they just sank back into the couch. Nick looked over at Sara and his hand reached for her arm. "Sara, how are you doing this morning? I was worried about you last night."

Sara knew that Nick's concern was genuine, and somehow she knew she could trust him. She knew that he'd had some hellish moments in his life and had managed to come out of them a stronger person without shutting the rest of the world out in the process.

She looked over at him registering the concern on his face and smiled at him she took her arm from Nick's hand and placed her hand over his and gave it a squeeze. "I'm feeling a little better than last night. Thanks again for last night, Nick. I really needed a friend."

Nick's thumb caressed the back of Sara's hand which was still resting on top of his, "I'm glad you're feeling better, Sara. Do you feel like talking?"

She smiled, "I think I might, but right now, I think I need a shower more. I won't be long if you want to wait around, you still have to take me to get my Tahoe you know."

Nick chuckled. "Ok."

Sara pulled herself up from the couch and moved down the hall toward the bathroom. She felt refreshed and much more awake after her shower. Clad in a pair of low rise jeans and a short-sleeved fitted T-shirt, she padded back into the living room in bare feet towel-drying her hair. She smiled as she took in Nick's appearance. While she had been showering, he had fallen asleep on the couch in a seated position. She sat down next to him and realized how much he looked like a little boy when he was asleep. "Nick. Nick. Nick." She whispered.

Nick's eyes fluttered open and he let out a deep yawn, "I must have dozed off. Sorry, Sara." He wiped the sleep out of his eyes and looked over at her with a guilty smile.

"Hey, Nick, it's ok. You're tired. You should go home and get some rest." Sara said with a look of concern.

Nick sat up yawning, "No, it's ok. I told you we could talk. I can sleep later."

Sara was skeptical, "Nick."

He turned and faced her with a smile, "Sara, seriously. I promised if you wanted to talk that we'd talk, and besides I'm not that tired."

"Are you sure?" She inquired.

With a Texas grin, he replied, "I'm sure." With that he stood up and offered Sara his hand to help her up, "Are you up for a scenery change?"

Sara grinned at Nick, "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking we could drive out to Lake Mead and just hang out for a while. If you wanted to talk, we could talk." He raised his eyebrows in question.

"Ok," Sara agreed, "just let me get some shoes and a jacket."

When Sara was ready, they headed out to Nick's Tahoe and drove toward Lake Mead.