Sara wasn't sure exactly where she was going, but she needed an opportunity to clear her head and a nice long drive seemed to be just the thing. The problem was she was halfway across California heading toward LA before she realized if she was going to run away from the swirl of feelings she'd had lately, packing an overnight bag at minimum would have been advisable. She was being ridiculous and she knew it. She had made a very logical decision about her relationship with Grissom based on what she needed and he couldn't seem to give and this thing with Nick had just happened right in the middle of it all. The fact that Sophia Curtis seemed to pick up on something and had asked her if she had ever considered dating a coworker had for some reason completely freaked her out. Was she afraid that someone knew that she and Grissom had been dating or for people to know that she and Nick were now dating? Not that she was sure she could call it that yet; they hadn't even been on an actual date. And Grissom; why the hell did the man just let her walk away? Couldn't he for once in his life grow a pair of balls and at least fight for her to make her feel like she was worth something to him at some point? Was she really making the right decision to jump into a relationship with Nick so quickly? It certainly wasn't for lack of attraction, just maybe a lack of judgment or bad timing.

Shit. Why hadn't she bothered to check the damn gas gauge before she'd left Vegas? She only hoped that she had enough gas to get to the next widening in the road that someone insisted on calling a town to fill the SUV. As it was the engine sounded like it was running on fumes. Not exactly the situation you wanted to run into in the middle of the Mohave Desert. The engine of the SUV sputtered and it was clear it was going to die, so Sara steered it well off the highway and slammed her fist in frustration against the steering wheel. What was she doing? Had relationship roulette driven her to this where she didn't even notice the fuel level in the vehicle she was driving? She couldn't recall ever running out of gas before now in her entire life.

She chided herself. "Don't lose it now, Sidle, you're in the middle of the desert with an empty tank and half of a non-fat latte, you need to figure your way out of this." She rested her head back against the seat and let out a sigh. Well this certainly was one way to clear her head; problem was if she was out here for any decent length of time she could very easily develop heat stroke. She sat there for a few minutes before the the trilling sound of her cell phone pulled her out of the funk she was in and caused her to jump. She fumbled for it and flipped it open even before she'd checked the caller ID. "Sidle." She hoped that she didn't sound desperate, but the reality was, she was desperate, otherwise she wouldn't have driven like a bat out of hell on her way out of Vegas.

"Hey, Sar." Nick's easy drawl made it evident from the tone of his voice that he was smiling. "Whatcha doing?" He clearly sounded like he was up to something; something probably very mischievous.

Sara decided that he was going to find out where she was sooner or later and right now she needed the sooner so he could haul his ass out here and help her; she knew enough as a CSI to not take help from someone she didn't know. "Uh...driving...I mean, I was driving...I'm not now." Boy she sounded brilliant, clearly she was feeling the effects of the heat already, or maybe just her own paranoia.

"Where are you?" There was something about the sound of her voice that made Nick realize that he was going to have to put his plan on hold; he'd heard that tone a couple of times and never had it been a good thing. The fact that they were newly dating made him think that perhaps her tone didn't bode well for him at all and the nerves started to swirl around as the fear that she had changed her mind resurfaced.

Sara closed her eyes and winced as she spoke even though she knew Nick couldn't see her, she was embarrassed as hell. "Uh, somewhere in the middle of the desert." Oh, yeah, that was going to give him real specific directions to find her; by the time he figure that one out, her corpse would be mummified by the heat.

"The desert?" Nick furrowed his brow and he pulled the phone away from his ear for just a moment as he considered whether he'd heard her correctly; Las Vegas was in the middle of a friggin desert.

"Uh, I'm in California...I decided to go for a drive...and I ran out of gas." There, it was out, now she could maybe get past being embarrassed and beg him to help.

"California." Nick's tone was cautious. "Why are you in California?" He really hoped she wasn't having second thoughts about dating him; because if she was, running away to California was a pretty damn big blow to his ego. A simple 'Nick, I've changed my mind' would do nicely, not that he would like that; it just would be straight to the point and she wouldn't be stranded in a dark blue vehicle with black interior in the middle of the damn desert.

"Because I turned west on I-15 instead of east." It really was as simple as that; she could have just as easily headed towards Arizona and gotten stuck in the middle of the desert over there.

"Where on I-15 are you?" Nick was worried; if she was out of gas in the middle of the desert it was going to be hotter than hell in that Denali in pretty short order.

"I don't know I wasn't really paying attention..." Sara let out a sigh. "I just wanted to think...I didn't even check the gauge before I left." She was an idiot and she knew it; she only hoped that Nick could overlook this and realize that despite his new girlfriend's lack of judgment that she wasn't always like this.

A thought occurred to Nick. "Uh, Sara, did you check the reserve tank?" He knew her well, and if she was distracted enough to forget to check the fuel level, it had probably slipped her mind that all department vehicles were equipped with a reserve fuel tank for getting to and from remote locations.

Sara let out a groan. She swore under her breath as she flipped the switch to draw from the other tank. As she turned the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life. "Ok, problem solved." She was never going to hear the end of this and she knew it. Even Greg Sanders picked right up on the second tank without anyone showing it to him the last time they'd been called out to a remote dump site to retrieve a body.

"Hey, Sar?" Nick's voice sounded so tender. He knew that the last few days had been really hard for her and he sure as hell didn't need to add to that by making her feel even smaller than she already did. A hug seemed more in order, only he really didn't know where she was exactly.

"Yeah?" She was really thinking that an impulsive trip to California was a bad idea; as she turned the vehicle onto I-15, she headed east this time, back towards Vegas.

"You ok?" He was concerned. Clearly they were going to have to talk because something was bothering her enough that she'd headed to California without really paying attention. That was definitely not the Sara Sidle he knew; this was a nervous, anxious Sara that he realized was probably feeling just as insecure about their relationship as he was.

"Yeah." She was determined that she wasn't going to take the cowards way out; she had made a decision and she needed to stand by it and truly she wanted to see what these feelings she had for Nick might lead to. She just needed to remember to breathe.

"Are you coming back?" He just wanted to clarify because if not; he was going to climb into his own rig and go after her.

"Yeah...yeah, I am." She smiled as she felt her nerves subside; so what if Sophia Curtis wanted to know about her love life, there was a man on the other end of the line that didn't want to hide from the world that he wanted to be with her.

Nick's sigh of relief was audible. "Good...good, I'm glad." He let out a nervous chuckle. "Feel like swinging by when you get back?" He thought he'd try and focus on why he'd called her in the first place.

"Sure." Sara smiled. Good, he didn't think she was an idiot; or at least he wasn't going to tell her that. Her heart flipped a little that he wanted to see her; yes, these new feelings were going to be good to explore.

"Ok, then...I'll be waiting." Nick's smile was evident in his voice. Yes, his plan was going to be a good idea, especially given the frame of mind Sara seemed to be in. At least he hoped that was the case. "Call me if you need anything, ok?" He just wanted to make sure she got back to Vegas in one piece.

"I will." Sara's smile widened as she considered that for some reason this man that had been her good friend for years cared about her more deeply than that and she couldn't wait to get back and see him.