Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but spending a day in paradise with George would be nice.
The dream had been recurring for years. Bora Bora. Ever since Sara had seen a picture of the series of huts built over the water on the island in French Polynesia, she'd imagined staying in one, having a romantic tryst with someone and relaxing. Her imagination had invaded her dreams and so it seemed each time she'd had a stressful case, her dreams would transport her to Bora Bora.
This time the dream seemed to be almost real. The feel of soft cotton sheets on her bare skin, a breeze lightly kissing her back and the soft graze of mosquito netting against her hand. If she kept her eyes closed she could almost hear the sound of waves quietly breaking against the sandy shoreline.
Wakefulness threatened to overtake her and she clenched her eyes in an effort to keep them from opening. She hugged her pillow a little tighter and imagined that she could actually smell the salt air.
Her fantasy remained intact until she felt the warmth of a male body pulling her back against him with an arm tightening around her waist. A moment of panic consumed her and then as she felt the soft peppering of kisses against her neck, she relaxed and smiled.
This time the dream was real.
She relaxed and savored the sensation of those lips against her skin and she slid her hand down to where his splayed out across her abdomen, her fingers lightly caressed his.
His voice was slightly husky. "How did you sleep?" He continued peppering kisses along her shoulder.
"Mmn, good. This is so nice." She smiled and turned in his embrace, reaching up and trailing her fingers along his jaw line as she came face to face with him and looked into his eyes.
His eyes crinkled as he smiled back at her. "This is nice." His fingers trailed along her temple, softly brushing her hair back from her face. "You're beautiful when you wake up."
She thought to herself that he'd probably tell her that she was beautiful no matter what time of day it was or what she had on, but then she also knew he wasn't saying it just to flatter her, she knew he meant it. He had made it abundantly clear to her that he utterly adored her.
As she studied him for a moment, she marveled at how they had ended up like this in the first place, and there was part of her that told her that it was the best risk she'd ever taken. A smile spread across her face wide enough to reveal the gap in her front teeth.
"What are you thinking about?" There was a hint of mischief in his voice as he tucked an errant curl behind her ear.
She moved closer to him, her hands splaying out against his chest. "I was just thinking about how lucky I am that you love me so much."
He chuckled softly, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her firmly against his body, enjoying the sensation of how soft she felt against his skin. "I'm the lucky one. I never thought it could be like this; that I could be with you."
She leaned up and kissed him softly, touching her nose to his in an affectionate gesture as she pulled away. "And now we have forever." Her fingers lingered on his lips.
He inhaled the scent of her hair and let out a sigh. "I'm not sure that's going to be long enough."
She giggled and pushed him away slightly and smirked at him. "Well it's going to have to be, because that's all we've got."
He gave her an impish smile. "You drive a hard bargain." He leaned over and kissed her, pushing her onto her back as he deepened the kiss. They lost themselves for a while as they shared soft, deep, soulful kisses.
Her lips were full when they finally pulled apart and her voice was husky as she looked up at him. "Should we get up?"
He shook his head as his fingers combed gently through her hair. "I think we should stay in bed for a while longer." His smile was electric.
She tried to swallow her smile without much success. "We've hardly left this bed since we got here."
He grinned at her. "We only got here yesterday and it was a very long flight."
"Flights." She corrected him with amusement. They had to take three different flights just to get there, the last one a turbo prop.
"And no one knows where we are." There was a satisfaction in his smile that they had this secret to themselves for a while longer.
Sara laughed softly, trailing her fingers across his lips. "No one even knows we got married."
"They didn't even know we were dating, Sara." He responded dryly with a hint of amusement as he began to plant kisses against her throat.
She giggled and the reverberation from her throat against his lips sent a delicious sensation into his mouth. She ran her fingers through his hair, wondering how she would have felt if she hadn't taken a chance that day and acted on an impulse. "Well I think it'll be pretty apparent that something's up when they figure out that we're both gone."
He lifted his head and grinned at her. "They might be great CSIs, but I still say it's going to take them a few days to start putting the pieces together."
"And to think, it all started because of a flat tire." She remembered that morning well.
She'd been headed home after putting in a few extra hours after shift had ended. As she drove one of her front tires had caught a nail. She had carefully pulled the SUV over and climbed out to take a look at the tire, when he'd pulled up behind her. He had left the lab shortly after she did that morning and had noticed her pulled over on the side of the road. He had suggested that he just take her home and they'd take care of the flat later. When they'd gotten to her apartment, she impulsively invited him in and they'd ended talking until they had fallen asleep against each other on the couch. After that they'd pretty much become inseparable in their off time.
"It's too bad we didn't save that nail. We could have framed it and hung it on the wall next to our marriage license." He had often thought about that morning and how a simple flat tire had changed the direction of his entire life. He had told her that morning that he'd wanted to tell her how he felt about her for a long time, but he'd never had the courage before; he had always been afraid that she wouldn't return his feelings; somehow, with her waking up in his arms on her couch, it had seemed natural.
"Mmn." Sara closed her eyes and savored the moment. A smile played across her lips. "I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Grissom tries to page one of us and doesn't get an answer."
He chuckled and pressed his lips to her cheek. "I still can't believe that you suggested we put our notices for leave on his desk. He's never going to find them."
She smiled broadly. "Oh, he'll find them, but he won't know how to find us. He probably forgot that he even approved them."
He stopped and just looked at her for a moment. His expression was full of adoration. "I still can't believe you agreed to marry me, Sara."
She held up her left hand and admired the ring that encircled her ring finger. The half carat diamond flanked by sapphires brought a smile to her face as she thought about what it represented. She cupped his cheek with her hand and looked into his brown eyes. "I can't believe I got to marry you, Nick."
She leaned up and captured his lips with hers, letting themselves get lost in that kiss and each other.
That Night in Las Vegas:
"Has anyone seen Nick or Sara?" Grissom looked at the clock. Shift had already started and he wanted to hand out assignments.
Catherine, Warrick, and Greg looked at each other quizzically.
"I haven't talked to either of them since the day before yesterday." Warrick replied with a furrowed brow.
Greg just shrugged. He had just finished a vacation and this was his first night back and he was hoping to get out into the field.
"I assumed they both had the night off again. It's not like Sara to be late." Catherine offered, setting her coffee cup down on the table.
"Shift began five minutes ago." Grissom was a little irritated at being two CSIs short.
"I'm sure there's a perfectly logically explanation for why they're late." Catherine could tell if she didn't keep Grissom from getting worked up he was going to get a migraine.
Grissom gave her a pointed stare. "Ok, then you try and track them down. Warrick, you're working a 419 solo. Meet Brass at the scene." He handed him a slip. "Greg, you're with me."
Later that Night:
Grissom looked at Catherine with a befuddled expression. "Vacation?"
Catherine held up the leave notices that she had found on his desk. "You signed them, Gil. They're gone for two weeks."
Grissom's eyebrows shot up. He'd felt a little distracted lately with the caseload they had and the Sheriff breathing down his neck. "Two weeks. Together?"
Catherine smirked. "Don't know. It just says they're both gone."
"And I signed them?" Grissom looked at her a bit doubtfully. He was sure that he would have remembered approving a vacation request.
Catherine let out a chuckle. "It sounds like you need a vacation."
He took off his glasses and began to rub his temples. "Am I slipping, Catherine?"
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, but it would probably help if you cleaned off your desk once in while."
1 ½ Weeks Later:
Greg sauntered into the break room at the beginning of shift with an expression on his face that looked like the cat that had swallowed the proverbial canary. In his hand he held a postcard.
Warrick glanced up at him with a curious look. "What do you have there, Sanders?"
Greg spoke in a conspiratorial tone to Warrick as Catherine and Grissom entered the room. "Only the biggest news of the entire year."
"J-Lo and Ben are old news." Warrick quipped.
Greg held the postcard up so everyone could see the picture of a tropical paradise on the front of it. "I know where Nick and Sara are." His tone clearly implied that he knew more than that.
Warrick grabbed the postcard out of Greg's hand and as he read, his eyebrows shot up. With a bewildered expression on his face and without saying a word, he handed the postcard to Catherine who began reading it out loud.
Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, and Greg,
We'll probably beat the postcard home, but we wanted you to all know we were thinking about you at least a little bit. This is the most amazing place and we've been having a great time. We really don't want to leave this paradise, but we should be home soon and we'll tell you all about it and show you some of the pictures we've taken.
Catherine didn't finish reading the postcard and let out a deep throaty laugh. "That's one way of announcing that you're dating."
Grissom's eyes widened, his voice a little unsteady. "Uh, what does that last line say?"
Greg grinned. "Stokes. Nick and Sara Stokes."
Catherine's eyes went as wide as Grissom's. "They got married?"
"That's what the evidence suggests." Greg just continued to grin as he grabbed the postcard and stuck it to the bulletin board.
2 Days Later:
Nick and Sara sauntered into the lab hand in hand looking well rested and not as tan as one might imagine a visitor to the tropics would be after two weeks. As they entered the break room they noticed the rest of the CSIs sitting at the table, a myriad of expressions on their faces.
Sara nudged Nick and pointed to the bulletin board where the postcard they had sent had been posted. "I think they know."
He looked over at her and grinned and then looked at the rest of the team. "I guess you guys got our postcard then."
The End