What Did We Do to Deserve This?

Greg layed in silence, eyes wide open, staring at the creases in the top of the tent. He was still battling with caffeine and it wasn't likely that it would let him sleep any time soon. He managed to lay still for a further three minutes before he had to speak.

"Nick?" he whispered.

"Yeah?" Nick replied, mainly into his pillow.

"Are you asleep?"

"... Yes?"

Greg rolled onto his side to face Nick and grinned. "What do you think we're gonna do tomorrow?"

"I have no idea" Nick confessed still half asleep and scooted closer to Greg.

"Getting a little close there, Nicky."

"Yeah, you're wearig seventeen layers, you're radiating heat."

"The clothes have nothing to do with it, my sex appeal is an exothermic reaction."

Nick groaned, laughed and pushed himself to the other side of the tent in one action.

"Could you guys in the homoerotic bonding tent keep it down?" Warrick shouted from the next tent over, provoking another snort of laughter from Nick.

A few minutes of silence passed before Greg gave in again and whispered. "I can't sleep."

"Neither can I." Nick yawned.

"Really? You seem to be making a pretty good job of it."

"Yeah, well, every time I drift off you open your big mouth and we're off to square one again."

"Alright. I can take a hint. Even if it is rather passive aggressive...." Silence. "I have some dirt on the guys from days if you're interested."

Nick sighed, this time he knew that there was little chance of him getting any sleep tonight so he turned to listen anyway. Plus, he wasn't the kind of guy to pass on gossip..

"Johnston only got the job at CSI because he's a family friend of the director. That's why he first sucked up to Ecklie, but now after 13 years I guess it just comes naturally."

Nick grinned at his new discovery. "How'd you hear this stuff, Greg?"

"I'm a lab rat, I know more than you think." He smiled sweetly. "Cooper fainted in his first autopsey."

Nick began to giggle under his breath as he heard the man in question protest.

"Seriously guys, these walls are literally paper thin."

Nick and Greg froze. "Sorry Coop"

Meanwhile, in Camp Bitter, Hodges had finally had enough of being bitten by bugs and decided that he would rather spend the night next to Johnston than contrace malaria. As silently as he could, he unzipped the tent and crawled inside. In the pitch black he felt around, trying to locate his sleeping bag.

"There's only one." Johnston announced from his almost comatosed state.

Hodges visably jumped and was about to tell Johnston off for startling him when he realised what he had said.

"...There's only one what?"

"Sleeping bag."

Hodges sat upright on his knees in the dark, fighting for something to say. "And that doesn't alarm you?"

"Why would it? I got in here first." was the honest but brutal response.

He sighed again and strategically crawled backwards out of the tent. He made his way over to the other two tents and bit his bottom lip. Through clenched teeth he asked "Is anyone still awake?" He waited a few seconds before a surprisingly alert Greg poked his head out of his tent door.

"Sup?"

Hodges rolled his eyes at how casual Greg was acting, as if it was normal for this to be happening. Lowering his voice he asked "wanna go for a walk?".

On seeing that Hodges had clearly calmed down, Greg complied, but he was still sceptical. Grabbing a torch and a spare jacket for his clearly frozen friend, he slid out of the tent.

"We need to go back to the cars, it appears we only picked up five sleeping bags."

Greg hesitated, shifing from one foot to the other and Hodges waited on his response which turned out to be a roll of his eyes. They set off back down the trail, both of them secretly hoping that the other one knew the way.