AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize that it takes more than one year of college classes to become a CSI, but in this story I try to emphasize that Sonya is just a trainee/observer. I'm sorry for my lack of reality, so I am going to try to keep it as minimal as possible.

THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE EXPLOSION:

Gil sat at his desk, staring into space. The clock on his desk slowly turned to 8:00 as everyone started to file in.

Warrick came in first. He smiled a broad smile and walked over into his office.

Catherine walked in next, and walked over to Warrick's office and Grissom saw her crack a joke and they both started laughing. Catherine then headed over to the locker room.

Grissom's eyes headed to the door next as Sara and Nick headed in next, laughing over some lame Nick joke. She punched him on the shoulder and they walked in opposite directions.

Greg arrived next. He went into the center room and sat down and slowly watched as everyone in the lab smiled and joked like a sick family sitcom. In the silence, it always happened, though. He started shaking. It had been a year, an entire year since the explosion and when he was by himself he still shook like someone with Parkinson's.

Sonya was the last to arrive. She walked in the door with her badge hanging on her neck. She had officially became a CSI trainee while going to college. Greg's heart skipped a beat as she turned around and winked at him coolly. He grinned back as she hung up her jacket and took a look around the Lab.

Catherine came over and talked with Sonya for a few seconds and they headed out to do some minor crime scenes.

Catherine and Sonya headed towards a robbery. There was one squad car and a very irritated jewelry store owner. Catherine stepped out of her car, followed closely by Sonya.

"Hello, ma'am? My name is Catherine Willows, and this is my partner Sonya Connors. What happened?"

The woman started to tell her story when Sonya told Catherine she had a headache and needed head over to the convenience store across the street. Catherine nodded offhandedly.

No one noticed the man with a ski mask enter the store after Sonya did.

Sonya headed over to the medicine aisle and she saw the man come in. Everything else seemed to happen in slow motion.

The man whipped a gun out and started to yell at the counter man. When the man behind the counter attempted to reach behind the counter for a gun, a shot rang out.

Sonya ducked behind and heard the counter man scream in agony.

Meanwhile, Catherine and the squad car across the street spun around because they heard the gunshot. They were not now investigating a crime scene; they were the first force of a shootout.

The police officer immediately radioed for assistance as he used a megaphone to communicate with the criminal.

"This is the Las Vegas Police. Come out with your hands up," He commanded, drawing his gun along with Catherine.

"I got hostages!" He shrieked out, holding a little boy in his hands with the gun to his head.

"Shit," Catherine muttered. She just realized two things: This was now a full-blown hostage situation...

And Sonya was in there.

30 MINUTES LATER:

After being ordered to sit in the snack aisle, Sonya got a synopsis of the situation.

There were five hostages: A mother and her son, a man with a broken arm, herself, and the man behind the counter, who was shot in the thigh.

The man with the ski mask refused to let them talk to him, as he sat fifteen feet away. She saw his hands shaking as he nervously fingered his gun. She figured he wasn't expecting to be put in this situation, but he didn't notice that there was a cop fifty feet away from the store he was planning on robbing.

"Hi," She said quietly to the mother, who smiled in a non-convincing way.

"My name is Sonya. What's yours?"

"Elizabeth," The woman said shakily. Her son, who seemed about ten, said, "Robert."

The man with the broken arm smiled and waved in a casual way, "Jeff."

The counter man, who was bleeding pretty badly, had his leg elevated on a chair right next to them.

"Malone." He said.

The robber shot them a look but didn't say anything. Sonya had never been mad that being a CSI trainee didn't allow you to wear a gun until right now. She summed it up in her brain: two guns (the one behind the counter that Malone tried to grab that the robber was too stupid to collect), two injured men (one severe, one slightly disabled because of his arm), one child and two healthy hostages. And a very inexperienced criminal.

She knew one thing could freak him out completely, so she moved her badge and hid it behind the Doritos.

MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE...

Catherine was talking with the extra five cops that answered the radio call.

"Okay, so far we know very few things: There is a child in there, a gun in the possession of the criminal, and a seventeen year old CSI trainee."

Just then, Grissom got to the scene. Catherine saw him and ran over.

"What happened?" Grissom said, and Catherine was the first to see something new in Grissom: fear. The fear of a parent.

"Grissom, it's a hostage situation."

"Sonya?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Catherine's eyes filled with tears, "Oh, Gil, I'm so sorry. She needed aspirin for a headache and I let her go..." She trailed off.

Those words sliced right through Grissom's heart, "Let's get this done."

Grissom walked right to the police officers and said, "Listen to me. I have an idea..."

BACK INSIDE...

Sonya scooted over to Malone and examined his wound.

"Is it bad?" He winced, looking into her blue eyes.

"I'm no doctor, but I can say one thing: it's not good." Her wicked sense of humor settled well in the room and it got a few laughs.

She settled back and laid her head down when her cell phone rang, making everyone start. The robber spun the gun around and lined it up right to her head.

"Should I answer it?" Sonya asked, piercing the silence.

The silence while he was thinking told Sonya he really didn't know what he was doing.

"Should I-"

"Yes." He croaked. This was the first time she had heard him speak. She quickly answered the phone.

"Connors," She said, still staring into the eyes of the robber.

"Sonya, it's me," She recognized Gil's calm voice, but it was lined with fear. The robber was still pointing the gun at her and he didn't tell her to not talk about anything, so she stayed silent.

"How many hostages are there?"

"Five."

That got the robber's attention. He brandished the gun and said in a harsh voice, "Don't tell them anything."

She fell silent as Gil said, "Sonya? Are you still there?"

She remained silent as the robber tried to think about what to do.

"Okay, how many are injured?"

Sonya paused, and then coughed once. She heard Gil transfer the information on to the other people.

"Try to give the phone to him, Sonya."

Sonya took the phone and extended her hand out to him. "They want to talk to you."

He paused and took the phone.

"Who are you?" He said harshly. He paused, and Sonya held her breath.

"Just, shut up." He said suddenly. "I need to think... Call back in five minutes." He hung up handed the phone back to Sonya, who took this opportunity to talk to him.

"What is your name?"

He wasn't going to say anything but there was something about the young woman's eyes that forced him to keep staring.

"Jake."

"Jake," She said, his name sounding very nice in her smooth voice. Jake shook his head, berating himself for even thinking with his hormones instead of his brain. Sonya noticed the weakness of him with her and jumped all over it. She scooted closer and whispered, "Jake, why are you doing this?"

He looked back into her eyes again. What? What is it in her eyes? Jake thought. Then, reality set in and he shoved her away, leaving the question unanswered.

Sonya looked over to Malone, who was slipping in and out of consciousness. Time was running out, and fast.

"Look, if you find a mate in life, you should be faithful. And in your case, grateful." Manfred the Mammoth to Sid the Sloth