"What do you supposed Ecklie hopes to accomplish from this? It's not as if we can be an even stronger team than we already are." Sara stared out the window, watching the city give way to desert; their mountain destination loomed in front of them.
"Sara." Nick threw her an exaggerated exasperated glance, "a team can always be stronger. Besides, just look at it as a company paid vacation."
Still staring out the window, Sara made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a harrumph. Nick tired to lighten her mood. "Hey, at least you got to ride with me." His teasing smile beamed and he waggled his eyebrows.
She glanced over, and tried to fight the grin she felt forming by pursing her lips, but the grin won out. "How did I get so lucky?"
"Well…Rick and Catherine are testifying in court, so they won't be up till later."
"How'd Greg end up riding with Grissom?"
Nick shot her another grin. "I got to pick first."
---
Light snow started to fall when at the base of the mountain they stopped at a mom and pop grocery store and stocked up on supplies for the weekend. Nick double checked the directions to the cabin, and was told to 'turn right at the old Tucker place'. The two CSI's exchanged amused glances.
Half an hour later, groceries tucked into the back of the SUV next to the packed duffel bags, and ten minutes after they'd made a right at what they both hoped was the 'old Tucker place' Nick pulled the truck in front of something neither had expected. The snowfall had picked up, and the ground crunched under their feet when they hoped out of the truck.
"Wow."
"I'll say."
They stood next to the back of the tuck staring up at a structure whose only resemblance to a cabin is the fact that it was made of wood.
Two story's tall, with windows galore. A porch wrapped around the entire house, and each of the upstairs bedrooms had French doors that lead out to it's own balcony. There was a path to the right of the house, which Sara discovered led to a lake about a quarter mile away. Chimneys sprouted up from the roof like spring flowers.
"Race you inside." Sara teased.
"You're on." Nick answered just as Sara pasted him at a run. She raced up the front steps, determined to bound though the front door, only to find it locked. She turned around to find Nick taking his time coming up the steps, he laughed and held out his hand a key ring dangled from a finger.
"You lose the bet."
She cocked an eyebrow. "So, what'd I loose?"
He slipped the key in to the lock and turned the door handle. "I'll have to think about it."
The inside looked nothing like any cabin Nick had been in during fishing trips with his father when he was a kid. A deep-set living room greeted them off to the left, and at the end of the entryway a wide staircase led up to the bedrooms. They threaded their way though the house
"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Sara asked as she peeked around a corner and found a game room, with a pool table, overstuffed green sectional sofa faced a huge fireplace. And a plasma tv was nestled in one coner.
"Key wouldn't have worked if we weren't." Nick answered from just behind her.
"I just can't image Ecklie paying for all this."
"Me neither. Let's go pick out the best bedroom." He turned and headed back toward the front door.
"Rooms" Sara said, exaggerating the plural
"What?" Nick asked, sounding like he was already back in the front hall.
"Bed rooms." She repeated, again emphasizing the 's' on the end of the word.
---
"Wow."
"You can say that again."
"Wow." Nick smiled at his own joke and Sara slid her eyes over toward him, and then rolled them.
They each stepped further into the bedroom that had amazed them. A king sized sleigh bed was nestled against the wall furthest from the door. A peacock colored overstuffed comforter draped the bed, looking very comfortable and inviting. A mound of throw pillows topped the bed. Sara looked around, and noticed that this room too had it's own fireplace and television. A door next to the balcony's French doors lead to the bathroom, and Sara walked in to find a sunken tub with jacuzzi jets, and large, very soft towels that was just a shade lighter than the comforter. She left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom just in time to see Nick heft his duffle bag of clothes and toss it on to the mattress.
"Mine" he claimed.
"Just like that?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Yep" he followed the duffle bag and dove on to the bed. Rolling on to his side, he propped his head up with one arm. "What? You'd rather someone else have this room?"
She relented. "No. Guess not."
"Come on" He sat up, then stood "Let's go claim your bedroom."
Sara looked at her watch. "Shouldn't the others be getting here soon?"
"You missin' Greg?"
"Actually" she gave it thought for a moment. "No. I'm not."
The next bedroom was done in eggplant and cream. While it was a double sized bed, not a king, it did have it's own fireplace, balcony and private bath. Sara didn't need to look any further. She set her bag down just inside the door. "Mine" she repeated Nick's declaration.
Nick smiled in the doorway. "Ok" he glanced at his watch then ran one hand over his stomach. "It is getting a little late. Let's get dinner started, have it ready when everyone else gets here."
---
They went back down the stairs and out the front door to retrieve the groceries. During their tour of the house the snowfall had doubled, the SUV was nearly covered. "Aught oh." Nick muttered as he gazed up at the sky.
Sara hugged herself as she hurried to the truck and tugged out the bags of groceries. "What?" she asked as she loaded his arms with bags.
Walking back inside, he said; "Worried about them making it up the hill. Come on. I got the stuff for my world famous spaghetti."
---
Nick dumped a box of pasta into the pot of boiling water, then stirred the tomato sauce. Sara glided the salad into the fridge to chill. "Nick, I'm starting to get a little worried." Sara sipped from her glass of red wine.
"Me too, maybe…" he stopped when Sara's cell phone rang.
She unclipped it from her belt and glanced at the screen. "Grissom" she told him before she punched the talk button. "Griss?" Static filled her ear, with broken bits of clear signal that cut Grissom's words in half. Putting a finger in her other ear, Sara stepped closer to the back door. "You're breaking up."
Nick stirred the sauce and leaned against the counter, sipping his own glass of wine.
"Yeah, it's snowing here too." She listened for a moment. "A hotel? You're in a hotel?" Another pause. "Yeah. Ok." She moved the phone away from her ear and walked back in to the kitchen. "They're stuck about thirty miles from here. Snow's made the roads impassable."
Nick nodded. "I was afraid of that. If they checked the weather, Warrick and Catherine probably didn't even leave Vegas."
---
"This is really good Nick." Sara wound spaghetti on to her fork "how'd you ever learn to cook like this?"
"My mom taught me. She said I needed to know how to make at least one decent meal, so she taught me before I left for Vegas. But I gotta tell ya, I've never made it with out meat before."
She smiled a thank you, as she chewed the last bit and swallowed. "That must have been hard, leaving your whole family, coming to Vegas."
He shrugged "Yes and no" he took a deep sip of wine. "What about you? You left family behind when you came to Vegas."
She shook her head. "I didn't really, no."
Nick picked up on the change in the air and put his fork down then poured more wine into his glass before he settled back into the chair. "You want to talk about it?"
Sara drained the wine from her glass in one long sip. Nick reached for the bottle, his fingers just grasping the neck when Sara said "My mom's in prison for murdering my father." She took a deep breath, like it had taken everything she had to say those words.
Nicks mouth fell open just a little and he stared at her. Regaining himself after just a moment, he continued his actions, and poured her more wine, almost filling the glass. She drank some immediately.
"How?" Nick finally said.
"Stabbed him. She ah, … she got tired of him beating her."
"How old were you?"
"Eight." She took another sip of wine, then stared into the maroon liquid in the glass. "Can we talk about something else? Please?"
He scrutinized her, and didn't answer until she looked up and met his eyes. "Yeah. Of course." He understood completely about memories being too painful to think about, let alone talk about.
With a nod of thanks, Sara started stacking the dishes and carried them into the kitchen.
With only the two of them for dinner, not the six they'd cooked for, there were plenty of leftovers. Sara found the plastic wrap and packed up the food while Nick loaded the dishwasher. They were quiet as they worked, each lost in their own thoughts.
When the kitchen was clean, Nick tossed a dishtowel on to the counter. "I think I saw a DVD player in the game room, up for a movie?"
Sara nodded, "A comedy, I think."
---
The game room had a chill in the air, and Sara grabbed a knitted wool throw off the couch, wrapping it around her shoulders. "Go ahead and pick out a movie, I'll get a fire going." Nick told her as he kneeled down in front of the large fireplace and started piling twigs for kindling.
Sara perused the titles. "How 'bout The Philadelphia Story?"
Nick struck a match and held it to some crumpled newspaper. "That'd be ok. I don't think I've seen that one."
"Really?" Sara smiled widely "It's a wonderful movie." She opened the case and pulled the disc out. "You know… I've always thought you resembled Cary Grant a little."
Nick looked at her stunned, then cocked an eyebrow, "Really?"
"Sure" Sara walked over and sunk herself into the sofa. "Suave, gentlemanly…You have a different accent of course."
"Hey, lay off my twang" He laid it on more thickly than usual and sat down next to her on the couch. She took the throw from around her shoulders and spread it over both their laps. It wasn't long before the combination of the wine, the fire, and the cinematic equivalent of comfort food; Sara soon became very cozy and warm, and felt herself snuggling up to Nick, resting her head on his shoulder.
Ninety minutes and one happy ending later, with the closing credits rolling, Sara reached for the remote and turned off the TV. "Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I did" he said in a decent Cary Grant imitation, then stretched, and looked at his watch. "Jeeze. Past my bedtime."
"Your bedtime is nine in the morning." Sara teased. "But it is late."
"Com'on." He stood and held out his hand for her to take. "I'll walk you home."
---
Sara woke suddenly, disorientation overcame her for just a moment, she wasn't sure where she was, or why she'd woken up. Then she remembered, she was in a cabin, Nick was in the next room, but what had woken her up? Then she heard it again. Nick screamed.
She tossed the covers off and hoped out of bed, threw open the door, running to his bedroom door and didn't bother to knock. His screaming grew louder, and Sara had no doubt what his nightmares were about.
"Nick!" She called out, trying to wake him up, release him from his Earthly agony. He was tossing around on the bed, clutching the comforter in tightly clenched fists. She crawled up on the bed next to him, still calling out his name, grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him. "Nick, Honey, wake up, you've got to wake up!" His screams stopped suddenly, and his eyes opened. Sara stopped shaking him, she sat back on her heels, and swallowed hard. She recognized the same disorientation she'd just experienced in his eyes as he glanced around the room. "It's ok, you're ok. It's over, it's been over for a long time." He sat up, resting his back against the headboard, rubbed his hands over his face. After a few moments she asked, "Do you dream about it a lot?"
He sighed heavily, and dropped his hands in his lap. "I did for a while. Then they kind of petered out. Seeing Kelly again, that brought it all back." He buried his face in his hands, and started to cry.
"Oh, Honey." Sara whispered and scooted up on the bed, gathering him in her arms. She rocked him gently, put a hand on his head, trying to sooth him, kissed his forehead. His skin was warm, and her lips were soft. Sara was as surprised at herself as Nick was. His crying stopped, and he pulled away from her just enough to be able to look at her.
Their eyes locked and suddenly their lips were locked,