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All episodes from seasons 1-3 are fair game.
~Chapter 2~
Sara sat next to Nick on the couch in the staff room. Everything had returned to normal, both Catherine and Grissom having returned to work. Sara put her head on Nick's shoulder, yawning. It was only the beginning of the shift, but fatigue was already settling in.
"Tired, Sara?" Nick asked.
"Your powers of deduction amaze me Nick." Sara said sarcastically.
"Only because I know why you're tired." He said, smiling at her.
She hit him playfully in the arm, and then yawned again. She pulled away from Nick and stretched. "Let's just hope that there is nothing eventful tonight."
Grissom walked in the room. "Sorry Sara, there are some new cases tonight."
She sighed and sank back into the couch. "What are they?"
"Well, you and Nick a decomp in the national park to pick up. You will be airlifted there, and then you will bring back the decomp here to be analyzed."
Nick swore under his breath. He remembered their last trip to get a decomp. "Fun fun fun… I wonder if any of the grocery stores around here deliver?"
"I doubt they will deliver only lemons."
Nick sighed as he and Sara exited the room, grabbing their location card from Grissom's hands.
Catherine walked in and smiled. "So what is on the agenda for me tonight?"
"Paperwork, I'm afraid. There is a decomp that Sara and Nick are working on."
"So there is nothing for me to work on?" Catherine asked. She had missed out on a lot with her absence, and was still itching to get out there.
"Once Nick and Sara come back with the decomp, you will probably help them with that." Grissom said. He couldn't help it. It was his insane need to protect Catherine from everything, that he didn't like sending her out alone on cases anymore.
"Gil… You have to stop protecting me eventually." She said, resting her hand on his shoulder.
He picked up her hand and kissed it. "I will never stop protecting you, Catherine. I love you."
Catherine smiled. "I love you too."
~Above the National Park~
"So, you two got picked to get the decomp in a bag, eh?"
Nick and Sara both nodded solemnly. "You would think we would be used to it by now." Sara said into the headset.
Nick smiled and laughed. "It's something that we never get used to Sara."
"So, do you just get a kick out of rappelling out of a helicopter?" The co-pilot said smiling at Sara.
"I live for this." She said, smiling at Nick, while he shot daggers at the co-pilot.
They began hovering over their drop zone, which was a mile out from their decomp. There was no clearing for them, so they had to be dropped in the nearest clearing. The co-pilot signaled them, and Sara and Nick lowered themselves out of the helicopter.
They landed exactly where they should have and detached themselves from the helicopter. They signaled and began trudging toward the decomp.
"Why is it that we always manage to get a decomposed body in the worst places?" Nick grumbled.
"Because it gives us a chance to jump out of a helicopter?" Sara said shrugging her shoulders. "Just think, here we are, walking through the wood at night, alone."
Nick laughed. "You are going to have to wait until we get back home."
Sara laughed aloud and pulled out the map. "Well, we have a little bit of terrain left to cover. Once we get there, do you want to check out Stinky or should I?"
"Oh, women first. I'll photograph the scene."
Sara nodded and wrinkled her nose. "Next time you get the decomp, I get the camera."
As they continued walking through the woods, clouds moved in. Soon enough, rain was falling. "Nothing like picking up a decomp in the rain." Nick muttered as they maneuvered their way through the slippery brush. The rain was blinding as it came down in sheets.
Nick pulled out his radio, as Sara turned on her maglight. "Delta one to Charlie Bravo." All he got was static. "Sara, try your radio."
"Delta two to Charlie Bravo." Sara said. Her answer was static. She looked over at Nick. "We're stuck out here."
Nick shook his head, water dripping off the end of his cap. "Yeah, well, just think of what this rain is doing to our crime scene." He turned on his own light, waving it around.
Sara crossed her arms. "Yes well, at this point we wouldn't know our crime scene if we tripped over it. I can't see a thing out here."
Nick muttered something that she didn't quite catch.
Sara kept on slowly walking ahead. "We need to find shelter!" She shouted over the roar of the rain.
Nick gave her a thumbs up sign to let her know that he heard her.
She kept walking, stumbling over tree roots and rocks.
"Sara!" Nick shouted over the rain and he pointed at a clearing with an overhang where they might be able to achieve shelter.
She turned to look, her foot catching on something. She felt herself falling before it registered in her mind. Pain ran up and down her right leg as she fell. When she hit the dirt, her body started rolling. She slid and rolled down an incline, landing at the bottom in a heap.
"Sara!" She could hear Nick shouting.
She groaned in response.
She felt little rocks hitting her, telling her that Nick was on his way down.
"Sara." Nick sighed when he reached her.
She looked up at him, her body shaking.
He began running his hands up and down her body to find any injuries. When he touched her right foot, her eyes opened wide and she tried to wrench it out of his grasp. All the effort took the energy out of her as she flopped back down, exhausted. "Nick… I hurt… everywhere."
Nick looked at her pale face, dirt smudges covering her cheeks. "Sara. You scared the crap out of me. One minute you were there, and the next you weren't."
Sara nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. She shivered. "Nick, I'm cold."
Nick helped her into a sitting position, her body screaming in protest. "I know sweetheart, but we need to get to shelter."
He leaned down and helped her up.
Beads of sweat popped up on her forehead as she struggled to gain footing. "Nick… I can't stand on my right leg." Sara said, fear and pain both evident in her voice.
Rain continued to pour down on them, and Nick wrapped his arm around her waist. "We have to try!" He shouted over the rain.
Sara nodded and she hobbled next to him. They slowly made their way to shelter when the ground beneath them began to rumble. Sara looked up to see a mudslide heading their way. She could feel Nick pulling her out of its path. She was so cold, she didn't think of her injuries. She could feel herself being pulled away from Nick. She slid with the mud, Nick a few feet in front of her.
She shouted his name. "NICK!" Then the world went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Sorry guys, couldn't really find a song for this chapter. There wasn't anything that screamed: "put me in this chapter".
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