Coffee Break, Part 7

(Shocker!) Jim Brass and Sofia meet again for coffee. This one's a post-ep for "Altered Stakes."

Thanks to all who have been reading and enjoying this series so far! I didn't intend for it to be a series. But I found myself wondering what Brass might have been thinking after certain cases, and...TA-DA!

Thank you Beaujolais and Spotted Horse for your support and reviews so far!

And yes, there's a Coffee Break Part 8!

I still don't own CSI.

As Sofia Curtis walked into the diner to pick up her dinner, she saw Jim Brass at the counter with a cup of coffee. Smiling, she walked up to her colleague. "Mind if I join you?"

Looking up from his cup and seeing his fellow cop, Jim smiled. "What, does this place have a magnetic pull?"

Sofia laughed softly. Sitting in the seat beside him, Sofia ordered a cup of coffee for herself.

Jim took another sip of his coffee. "I'm just here picking up dinner to go."

The waitress brought Sofia her coffee and the deputy sheriff thanked her. "Oh, that's right. The cops and the crime lab have their softball game today, she remembered.

"Mm-hmm. Last one, the lab had to forfeit."

Sofia glanced at Jim. "The Boden case?"

Jim nodded. The team had been called to investigate a criminal who wanted his conviction overturned because he said Detective Vega had beat him until he confessed.

"He did do the crime," Jim began. "The evidence confirmed that."

"But he thought he could get a new trial based on Vega being a dirty cop?"

Jim nodded. He still didn't want to believe that a man he considered to be a friend, someone he thought he could trust with his life, was dirty.

Sofia could tell Jim was contemplating the events of Vega's death. "But the team found evidence of another case?"

"Yeah," Jim began. "A jogger who was beaten almost to death. She swore it was the now ex-husband of her best friend. But the team found she suffered brain damage."

"Which meant she was mistaken?"

"Yeah," Jim said with a nod. "She had remembered an argument she had with the guy prior to her attack, and her brain just...filled in what she thought happened."

"Wow," Sofia said with a sigh.

Jim nodded and took another sip of coffee. "So, the guy's staying in prison."

Sofia nodded and smiled. "Didn't think about any other cases getting in his path to freedom, huh?"

Jim chuckled and shook his head.

"So...how's it working with Moreno?" Sofia knew the young detective was Vega's stepson, but she assumed no one else outside of her and Brass knew.

Jim sighed. "He's good. He actually made the arrest, putting Boden back in jail."

Sofia's eyes widened. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Jim continued. "He's really fitting in well with everyone. But no one else besides us knows he's Vega's stepson." He took another sip of his coffee. "I think Nick and Russell know," he added. "But they're good with it."

"Good," Sofia nodded. "He'd have a lot more to prove if everyone knew who he was." Being the daughter of a retired police captain, Sofia knew what it meant to prove herself on the force when it seemed like everyone was watching her, wondering just how good she would be at her job. She could only imagine what it could feel like if she was the child of a dirty cop.

Just then, the waitress brought Jim's order and check. Sofia grabbed the ticket from Jim's hand.

"I think you've bought my last two cups of coffee here," she said with a smile.

Jim laughed softly. "I told you, I don't keep track of that kind of stuff. But thank you."

Both took sips of their coffee before Jim stood to leave. He reached into his pocket to get money for the tip when Sofia held up her hand.

"Don't worry, I got this, too," she said with a smile.

Jim smiled at his beautiful colleague. "Thank you." Sofia smiled back.

As he was about to leave he turned to Sofia. "You know, I'm heading over to the park now to catch the team's game. Would you want to join me?"

Sofia smiled and slightly blushed. "Sure."

Jim smiled as Sofia stood up to pay the check. As she dropped a couple of dollars on the counter for the tip, she asked, "Shall we get a couple of cups of coffee to go?"

Jim's smile grew bigger. "Sure."

The End.

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