Road Trip

Rating: G
Pairing: Grissom/Sara
Category: Humor/Romance
Spoilers: None
Archive: Please ask first I might say yes.
Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Summary: Mayhem on the open road. Sequel to Camping Trip.

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Chapter 5 - DAY THREE--RISE AND SHINE

A shrill scream pierced the morning air.

Grissom jumped awake, his heart pounding in his ears. "What the heck was that?!"

The next sound to be heard was a very loud thump, and then Nick's voice: "Ow! Get her off me, Warrick! She's killing me!"

Grissom and Sara scrambled out of the bathtub, both getting their feet tangled up in the blankets.

Sara was the first one to the door, and flung it open to see what the screaming was for.

Nick was on his back on the bedroom floor, halfway under a heap of blankets.

Catherine was on top of the pile, bludgeoning Nick with a pillow.

Warrick towered over Catherine, trying in vain to grab her arms and end her attack on Nick.

"She's sitting on my lungs!" Nick howled. He somehow managed to grip a handful of the offending pillow and clobbered Catherine with it, knocking her directly into Warrick's arms.

Still shouting and flailing, Catherine was finally hauled away from her victim.

"Is there a valid reason why you're trying to murder Nick?" Grissom asked simply from his place beside Sara in the bathroom doorway.

"Of course there's a 'valid reason'!" Catherine stormed, her nostrils flaring and her hair standing wildly on end. "I was minding my own business--trying to peacefully wake up from a good night's sleep--when I opened my eyes and came face to face with that!" She emphasized her rant by pointing an accusing finger at Nick.

Sara snickered loudly. "You woke up with Nick in your bed?"

"I nearly had a heart attack!" Catherine wailed.

"You?!" Nick shot back, managing to sit up amidst the chaotic blanket mess. "I nearly had a heart attack from being screamed at, kicked onto the floor, and ruthlessly pummeled by a psycho woman!"

"What were you doing in Catherine's bed in the first place?" Warrick demanded to know.

Nick pouted painfully as Sara held a cool damp cloth against his bruised eye. "I was cold," he weakly defended himself. "Sara wasn't using it, and I figured Catherine didn't need the whole thing for just herself. I didn't think she'd be so selfish about it."

"Selfish!" Catherine lunged at him again with her hands ready to close around his neck.

Warrick caught her around the waist, holding her in place and quickly pinning her arms to her sides.

"I bet you wouldn't have reacted like that if it had been Warrick in your bed, and not Nicky," Sara remarked with a smirk.

A silence descended upon the room as everyone stared at Catherine, waiting for her to contradict Sara.

"So?" Catherine answered meekly, quite enjoying the fact that Warrick's arms were still around her, restricting any movements she might make.

"You really make a guy feel so wanted," Nick grumped sarcastically at her, his ego now bruised along with his body.

A figurative lightbulb clicked on in Warrick's head. "Hey, Catherine was supposed to share the bed with Sara, which she obviously didn't." He looked curiously at the brunette in question. "Where did you spend the night, Sara?"

Sara's eyes widened as she realized she was the center of attention. "In the bathtub," she hesitantly answered in a small voice.

"Isn't that where Grissom said he was going to sleep?" Nick asked suspiciously.

Sara blushed, looking down at the floor. "... yeah..."

Catherine took immediate offense. "Oh, so you'll sleep with Grissom, but not with me?"

Warrick guffawed loudly. "You may want to rephrase that sentence, Cat."

Catherine turned red as she realized the implication of her words. "That's not what I meant at all! You're disgusting!" She jerked free from Warrick's grasp and walloped him with her pillow.

Warrick gaped at her. "Oh, you're going down, blondie!" He picked up his own feather-filled pillow and socked her with it.

"Pillow fight!" Nick shouted. His sore eye forgotten, he grabbed a nearby pillow and joined in the battle.

Sara and Grissom regarded the pillow-slinging trio with much disdain.

"How childish," Sara scoffed, wrinkling her nose.

"I couldn't agree more," Grissom answered, draping an arm comfortably around her shoulders.

Sara leaned into his side. "Nick's gonna get a black eye," she remarked casually.

"Ouch, that must've hurt," Grissom smirked as Catherine got the wind knocked out of her lungs.

Nick's pillow ripped in half just as he was swinging it toward Warrick.

The man with mocha-colored skin received a mouthful of fluffy white feathers.

"Uh oh." Nick dropped the pillow, mildly fearful of Warrick's vengeance that was soon to follow.

Warrick coughed and gasped and spit, ridding his mouth of the fluff but unsuccessful in removing the nasty aftertaste.

He grabbed up the dead pillow and flung it directly into Nick's face, sending plumage flying all the way up to the ceiling.

"Ooooh, pretty!" Catherine exclaimed as the feathers rained down like soft, chunky snowflakes and littered every visible surface.

Catherine sounded so innocent and childlike that Warrick hooted with sudden laughter, inadvertently snorting a stray feather up his nose.

Nick spit a piece of pillow stuffing off his tongue, trying hard not to gag from the overly fluffy texture.

"If you three are done playing with pillow innards," Grissom began in an authoritative tone. "We really should get going."

"Yeah," Sara chimed in. "Our vacation is half over. We have to start back to Vegas tomorrow."

"At the most, it should take us two days to get home," Grissom continued. "But we've still got some time before we have to head back. We can visit at least one more town today, and maybe after lunch we could figure out where we are."

"We still don't know where we are?" Nick questioned wide-eyed, his tone laced with a hint of panic. "I told you guys we'd get lost!"

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