She had left Vegas just over a year ago. The FBI had offered her a job in their forensics lab and she willingly took it. She had needed a change. She finally came to realize that Grissom was not meant to be, and devastated and heart-broken she had fled. But she had left behind the only friends that she had. And Nick …… she regretted leaving him the most.

Life after Sara had been hard for Nick. He had lost his best friend that day, and nothing had been the same since. He didn't have anyone to help him through difficult cases the same way that she had. No one to joke around with and flirt with in the lab. He regretted not telling her how he felt before she left.

Sara's heart couldn't take another phone call from Nick. He phoned her every day to discuss cases, for friendship, and comfort. Many of them had Nick stressed and crying on the other end of the phone line from a tough case, and all of them left tears streaming down Sara's face.

Over the past few weeks she had made couple phone calls, signed a couple papers, and now she was on her way back to the world that she had left behind.

Nick lay in bed after shift. With a tear-streaked face, he hugged a pillow close to his body, and whispered a prayer for comfort…. and for Sara.

I know
that it has been hard for you
It must be killing you
and I can feel
How it pulls at you
It pulls at me too
I would run away to the world I left behind
I will find away back to you

It started raining when she hit the Arizona-Nevada border. Nevada…. Vegas ….. home. Sara was heading back to the world that she thought she had left behind. Heading back to her old job, to her old apartment, to her old friends …… to Nick. The year with the FBI had given her time to think, and time to move on. She was glad to be going back, and she was ready to make a fresh start. She was excited, yet nervous.

She had first come to Vegas for Grissom, but she was returning for someone else. She missed him so much, and she needed him even more. On long nights, after emotionally draining shifts, she had wished for nothing more than to be wrapped up in his arms.

But everything would be ok now, because Sara Sidle was heading back to Vegas.

And when you've got no where to turn
and you're all alone
When your walls a breaking yet there's no escaping
And I, I'd fly through the night
to get back to your side
I will be your safe place to hide

The rain was coming down hard. Nick could hear it hammering on his roof and at the windows. He remembered back to when Sara was still there. Before when he had felt like this, she would come at a moments notice, and be standing there at his door. She was always there to listen to him, and to hold and comfort him. Yet in some strange way he knew that she was with him, even though she was miles away.

I was, always there for you
Always cared for you
And I'm still
Right here guarding you
Watching over you

Though I'm miles away
From the world I left behind
I will find a way back to you

She was getting closer, only 2 more hours. She'd have to call him soon. It was only fair to let him know that she was coming back. She bent down and dug around in her purse looking for her cell phone. Finding it, she flicked it open and hit #1 on the speed dial.

And when you've got no where to turn
and you're all alone

Nick heard the phone ringing. Slowly getting out of bed, and rubbing his eyes, he worked his way over to the kitchen phone.

"Stokes."

His voice sounded so good in her ears. How long had she dreamt of his caring, softly accented Texan voice?

"Hello? … Is anyone there?"

Her heart thumping wildly, she let out a soft breathless reply. "Hi Nicky."

When your walls a breaking yet there's no escaping

And I, I'd fly through the night
To get back to your side
I will be your safe place to hide

"Hi Nicky."

His heart swelled. He knew that voice to well. "Sara?"

"It's me." He could almost here the smile in her voice.

"It's me." She heard him let out a breath, and she laughed slightly. "How's it going Nicky?"

"Ok I guess. Still not the same without you Sidle. Just wrapped up a case couple hours ago. Six year old girl abducted and murdered, while her babysitter was sleeping."

She let out a shaky breath. "Oh Nicky, I'm sorry. How you holdin up?"

"I'll be fine after a couple hours sleep." There was silence for a couple minutes. "Sar, I've really missed you."

A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek. "I've missed you too Nicky." A large lightning bolt shot across the sky.

"Sar what's that noise?"

"Oh sorry. There's a thunderstorm outside, and I don't get too great cell-phone reception in my car anyway."

"Sar where are you?"

"I'm in my car, driving in the pouring rain."

I'll be there by your side
The safe place that you hide cause nothings really changing
I'm just a few more miles away

She took in a long breath. "I'm comin home Nicky."

"I'm comin home Nicky."

Home? "Sar, where are you?"

"About 20minutes outside of Vegas."

"Vegas?" A rush of emotions flooded Nick's mind. Sara's coming home! Back to Vegas! New tears started dripping down his cheeks. But they were tears of joy.

She could hear him sniff softly and breath unsteadily in the background. "Nick are you alright?"

"Your coming home," he said almost breathlessly.

"I'm making a pit-stop first."

And when you've got no where to turn
And you're all alone
Your walls are a breaking
Yet there's no escaping and
I, I'd fly through the night
To get back to your side
To be your safe place to hide

Just under ½ and hour later, Nick heard a soft knocking on his door. Curious, yet still ecstatic about Sara's return, he glanced through his peephole. Standing outside on his door step was a nervous, soaked-to-the-skin, dripping wet Sara Sidle.

His heart skipped a beat as he opened the door.

Sara smiled weakly at him. A couple small tears trickled down her face, and her voice was a barely audible whisper. "I'm back."

He said her name in a single exhaled breath, "Sara." He pulled her into his arms and wrapped himself around her. Moving just slightly so that he could close the front door, Nick wrapped his arms around the small figure of Sara Sidle and pulled her closer to him.

They stood like that for long minutes, both crying silently; she out of regret for leaving him and not coming back sooner, and he out of joy of her return.

"Oh Nicky I'm so sorry. I should never have left you, or the others. And after many of the conversations that we've had over the phone since I left, I should have come back sooner. I'm so sorry."

He reached out and cupped her face in his hand. Softly he rubbed her cheek with his thumbs. "Shhhh. Honey you have nothing to be sorry about. I missed you so much, that at times I could barely cope, but you had to live your life, and I shouldn't stop you."

She shook her head slightly. "Nicky I can't …… I can't…..I can't live my life any longer without you."

"Sara ……" At a loss for words, he leant towards her, covering her mouth with his, and planting a soft lingering kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss, matching his passion with her own. Her hands snaked up around his neck and pulled his heard towards hers more, in an attempt to deepen the kiss.

Breaking apart for air, they leant their foreheads against each other. "I love you so much Sara Sidle. And I can't live without you." She looked up at him and smiled her biggest Sara-smile yet. "Now lets get you out of those wet clothes."

Sara woke up to the best feeling. She was snuggled up against Nick's Stokes chest, his arms wrapped around her, and dressed in his boxers and one of his t-shirts, many sizes to big, but very comfy.

This evening she would start back at work at the Las Vegas CSI headquarters on the graveyard shift. And when shift was over she would go back home - his home. This was the world she left behind, the one she returned to, and the one that she would never leave again.

FIN