Nick smiled at Sara as he glanced over at her, "Yeah, Sara, I think you're beautiful. I can't believe you don't see it. That's why I have such a hard time seeing you sell yourself short. Hank and Grissom were just stupid for not seeing what I see."

Sara felt uncomfortable hearing Nick's words. She turned and rested her head against the window gazing out at the dark desert landscape, "Nick, I'm kind of tired, I'm going to try and get a little sleep, ok."

Nick replied softly, "Ok, Sar." He turned his attention back to the road occasionally glancing at Sara who did her best to pretend to fall asleep.

Three hours later, Nick pulled the Tahoe into another rest area. He turned to Sara, "Hey, Sara. Sara." He reached over and shook her shoulder, "Sara."

Sara's eyes fluttered open, "What?" She hadn't planned on falling asleep, just on escaping from an uncomfortable conversation, but once she had relaxed, she'd fallen asleep against the window.

"We're at a rest stop. Do you need to get out?" Nick queried.

Sara rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned, "Yeah, I guess I should."

Nick grinned at her, "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded, "Yeah, well enough."

The pair exited the Tahoe and headed toward the restrooms. Nick emerged a few minutes later and headed toward the vending machines in search of a snack. He stood there contemplating which was less worse, Doritos or Twinkies.

An amused Sara peered around his shoulder, "It's the preservatives that'll kill you."

Nick raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Well since our culinary options are limited out here in the Arizona desert, I'll just have to take that risk."

Sara chuckled, "We should probably get something to eat before we find the cemetery in Tucson."

Nick grinned, "I like how you think, Ms. Sidle. Smart and beautiful."

Sara averted her eyes from Nick and studied the vending machine.

Nick leaned against the machine and looked at Sara with his arms crossed in front of him, "Sara, why does it make you so uncomfortable for someone to tell you that they think you're beautiful?"

"I'll meet you at the Tahoe." Sara turned and walked away leaving Nick standing there with a puzzled expression on his face. He turned back to the vending machine and got both the Doritos and the Twinkies, as well as a couple of sodas, before heading back to the Tahoe.

Sara stood next to it, looking at the pavement. "You have the keys," she said in a whisper as she heard Nick approach.

Nick set the snacks on the hood of the Tahoe and walked over to Sara, "You know what, Sara? You promised you wouldn't get mad at me."

"I'm not mad." Sara replied not very convincingly.

Nick let out a deep sigh, "You're acting like it."

"Would you just open the Tahoe?" Sara didn't turn around.

Nick rested his hands on his hips and looked at the ground for a moment, "No."

Sara turned around, "What!?"

He looked up and met her glare, "Sara. I just realized something. You don't act this way when Greg pays you a compliment, or when David fawns all over you. What is it about me that makes you so uncomfortable?"

Sara was speechless. She stood there with her mouth slightly agape.

Nick was unmoved. He stood there biding his time until she was ready to answer his question. In the span of a sixteen hour road trip, what was another five, ten, or even thirty minutes?

Sara finally found her voice, "You don't make me uncomfortable."

Nick continued to look directly at her, "I don't believe you."

Sara crossed her arms in front of her body looking everywhere but Nick.

"Sara, you're acting like you're pissed as hell at me. Your body language is telling me you'd like me to go away. You walk away or change the subject if I mention that I think you're beautiful, which for the record, you are. So don't stand there and tell me that I don't make you uncomfortable when I know I do. Just tell me why? We've talked about just about everything under the sun in the last three years of working together, so what gives? We still have to finish driving to Tucson and all the way back to Vegas and I can be patient as hell." Nick exclaimed turning away from her to collect the snacks from the hood and getting into the driver's seat of the Tahoe and unlocked the other doors.

Sara silently opened the door and fastened her seatbelt resting her head against the window after she closed the door. They rode the rest of the way to Tucson in silence. They drove directly to the cemetery and after the body was exhumed and loaded into the Tahoe, they turned back toward Vegas.

A hour into the return trip, Sara turned toward Nick, "Uh, can we stop somewhere, I'm hungry."

Nick glanced at her, and handed her the bag of Doritos and Twinkies he had bought. He hadn't felt much like eating after they had left the rest stop, "Here. We can stop when we see something."

"Thanks." Sara replied, opening the bag of Doritos and pulling out a chip. She let out a deep sigh and looked over at Nick who was looking at the road. "I'm sorry I made you mad."

Nick glanced over at her, "I'm not mad, Sara, just a little confused."

She looked at him quizzically.

He let out a deep breath and continued, "I just don't understand why it scares you that I think you're a beautiful person. If Greg or David said that to you, you would just smile."

She steeled herself and then looked at him, "If I told you, it would ruin everything."

Nick looked hurt, "Why? I thought we could talk about anything, Sara."

She tried to suppress a smile, "We can, that's why it scares the hell out of me, Nick."

Nick glanced over at her with a serious expression, "You know what scares the hell out of me, Sara?"

"What?" She responded curiously.

He took a deep breath and continued, "You do."

"Excuse me?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Why do I scare you?"

A smile played at the corners of his mouth as he glanced over at her, "Because I want to ask you out and you'll probably say 'no'."

Sara's jaw dropped in surprise. She just looked over at him in disbelief, "Did you just say you wanted to ask me out?"

Nick was nervous as hell, but he calmly turned his gaze toward her and replied confidently, "Yes."

Sara's eyes narrowed, "Nick, pull over."

"What?" He replied.

"I said, pull over." Sara's voice was more forceful.

Nick pulled the Tahoe off the edge of the road. Sara got out and started walking. Nick rested his forehead against the steering wheel for a moment and then turned off the ignition, got out and followed her, "Sara, wait."

Sara stopped walking. Nick jogged to catch up with her, "You can't walk all the way back to Vegas, Sara. We're in the middle of the desert."

Sara turned around looking extremely flustered, "I wasn't planning on walking all the way back to Vegas. I just needed some air."

Nick raised a quizzical eyebrow at her.

She hugged her arms around herself and looked at Nick, "You want to ask me out, like on a date?"

Nick nodded, "Yeah, I do." He looked at the ground, hands resting on his hips.

The next thing he knew, Sara's hands cupped each side of his face as she pulled his lips down to meet hers. Surprise registered in his mind for a moment and then he began to respond to the kiss. His lips hungrily tasted hers and his hands caressed her face.

As Sara broke the kiss, she looked at him intently, "Why didn't you ask before?"

"I didn't think you'd say yes." He looked into her eyes. "I finally decided to take my own advice."

"I'm glad you did." Sara replied smiling.

Nick's thumb caressed her cheek, "As much as I want to stay here like this, Sara, we have a body we have to get back to Vegas."

Sara chuckled. Nick leaned down and kissed her once more and they headed back to the Tahoe hand in hand.