As Nick repacked the bag he'd just stowed away after returning from Dallas, his thoughts turned to what he was about to do. He was sure that if Grissom knew where he was going he'd be angry, and there was always the risk that he could get fired, but he decided that it was a risk that he was willing to take. He needed to spend time with Sara before she was out of his day to day life, and for whatever reason, he was ready to stake his career on it.

He had just zipped the bag up when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and let out a deep breath before he answered the call. "Stokes."

"Nick, man, Grissom is on the warpath. Just how long is this flight of yours going to be delayed?" Warrick sounded like he could use a little buffer between him and Grissom.

"A few days at least." Nick replied, wincing as he prepared for Warrick's reaction.

"Excuse me." Warrick sounded dumbfounded.

Nick let out a deep breath. "Sara's moving to Seattle and I'm going to drive up there with her."

"Damn." Warrick was quiet for a moment. "What are you going to tell Grissom?"

Nick considered that for a moment because he just wasn't sure. He didn't want to tell Grissom where he was going in case Sara didn't want him to know. "He thinks I'm still in Dallas, right?"

"Yeah." Warrick answered him.

"Well, let's just let him keep on assuming that and I just call him and let him know I need a few more days off." Nick reasoned that it was his best shot at not giving away what he was doing.

"So you plan on lying." Warrick sounded frustrated.

"I'm just not giving him any more information than he asks for; the conclusion he makes is his own. If he finds out after the fact I guess I'll just have to deal with the consequences." Nick continued.

"Good luck." Warrick's tone changed. "I've got to go, I'm at a scene."

The line went dead and Nick shook his head and replaced the phone on his belt. He gathered a few more things and then headed back out to his SUV to return to Sara's. He had told her that he was going to help her finish packing things up so everything would be ready when the movers arrived in the morning. As he stowed his bag in the backseat, his phone rang again. He cursed under his breath as he saw who was calling. "Stokes."

"Nick, when do you think you'll be able to catch a flight back to Vegas?" Grissom sounded typically Grissom, dispensing with all formalities.

"Uh, Gris, I need to talk to you about that." Nick began tentatively.

"We're talking." Grissom stated the obvious, sounding impatient because he was at a scene.

"I need a few more days off." Nick hoped he sounded calmer than he felt.

"Nick, I really can't extend your vacation right now, we're a CSI short as it is." Grissom sounded on the verge of annoyed.

"Yeah, Warrick told me about Sara." Nick informed him.

"So when should we expect you here? Dallas is only a two hour flight away." Grissom reasoned that Nick should be able to make it there by the middle of shift if he got a flight fairly soon.

"I'm sorry, Gris, but I need the time off. Something's come up that I need to take care of and it can't wait." Nick knew he needed to convince Grissom to let him have the time off if he expected to have a job when he got back.

"Is your family ok?" Grissom sounded immediately concerned.

Nick let out a deep breath. "No, it's nothing like that; they're fine."

"Can't someone else in your family take care of whatever this is?" Grissom was trying to flush out all possibilities before giving his approval.

"No, it's something I have to take care of. I just need a few more days." Nick sincerely hoped that no one outside of Catherine and Warrick had seen him in the lab earlier that night, otherwise if Grissom found out he had already returned from Dallas there would be hell to pay later.

Grissom let out a resigned sigh. "How many days are we talking about here?"

Nick couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Three or four tops." He was sure that he and Sara would be able to get to Seattle in that amount of time.

"Ok, but you'll catch the first flight back after you wrap up whatever it is." It wasn't really a question.

"Yeah." Nick felt relief washing over him and he realized he was going to have to try and book a flight back to Vegas before he and Sara left in the morning. The line went dead as Nick realized Grissom had ended the call. He shook his head in disbelief that he'd gotten Grissom to give him the time off without having to tell him exactly why he needed it.

A short time later, Nick knocked on Sara's door. She smiled at him as she opened the door. "That didn't take too long."

"I told you I'd help you finish up here." He glanced around and realized that there wasn't much left to pack.

She studied him for a moment and realized that his demeanor was a bit more relaxed than it had been earlier. "You talked to Grissom didn't you?"

He looked at her a bit surprised that she figured it out so easily and let out a soft chuckle. "I did. Right now he thinks I'm still in Dallas and I didn't bother to correct him."

Sara raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "He doesn't know you're going with me to Seattle?"

Nick looked at her and smirked. "I didn't know if he knew you were going to Seattle, and I didn't want to volunteer the information if you didn't want him to know."

The corners of her mouth twitched upwards. "Thanks. He doesn't, and I don't." She glanced at the floor for a moment before looking back at him. "Thanks for doing this for me, Nick."

He grinned at her and stepped over and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, you can't just move away and not let me even say goodbye."

For the first time, it hit Sara just what she was moving away from. She had made some good friendships in the four years that she'd lived in Vegas, Nick had been one of the first to really make her feel welcome, and as she stood there, his arms wrapped around her possessively, she felt emotion choking her throat and all of the frustration that she'd allowed to build up began to spill out as tears began sliding down her cheeks.