A/N: Apologies for the long delay. RL has been quite overwhelming for the past month. I hope that things are finally calming down enough for me to catch my breath. This is, another Unbound response. I have an ending, of sorts, planned for the next set of lines. (Which are, by now, weeks old!) Thanks to everyone who has stuck with it.

"I believe that an apology is in order." Sophia stood just inside the doorway to the microscopy lab, the lab where all the tension on the shift had started. Her blue eyes never left Sara's form, hunched over the comparison 'scope. She stood patiently as the other woman finally looked up, her brown eyes widening in surprise before narrowing in suspicion.

"I thought," she began slowly, "We'd already gone over that."

"We did." Sophia paused as she walked into the small room, "We did. But I…didn't handle it as well as I should have."

Sara just shrugged, moving back to her work, nimble fingers lifting a scrap of cloth from bindle to slide. "It's over. No harm, no foul, I suppose. Why re-hash everything now?"

"Because you were right."

"Come again?"

Sophia's face broke into a quick, pleased smile. She'd known that would get Sara's attention. She was pleased to have been right. She took her time moving toward the other woman, her pace seeming even slower in the blue light of the lab. Finally she pulled up a stool, sitting herself across from the other. "You were right, Sara. An apology doesn't mean anything if one's hand is forced." She paused then, sighing briefly. "I shouldn't have insulted your intelligence with the kind of apology I gave you."

Sara watched as the blonde woman spoke; finally giving up on the pretext of work. She removed the slip of cloth from the slide, returned it to the bindle, and scrawled her initials across the envelope. "What brought about this change of heart?"

"Warrick did, actually."

"Warrick?" Sara's brow rose in surprise. "He giving seminars in apologies on the side these days?"

"No," she flashed Sara a quick smile before quieting for a moment, "Nothing like that." She watched the other woman, head cocked to the side as she debated how much to tell Sara of her conversation with the swing shift CSI. "More like a seminar on working with my new team."

She'd chosen correctly in not sharing that Warrick had spoken specifically about Sara's start on the night shift. Even with what little she had said, Sara's eyes were already darting away from hers. "Oh?" Sophia had to hand it to her, though; she could detect no sign of discomfort in Sara's tone. "What pearls of wisdom did he have to say about us?"

"Oh," Sophia shrugged, "Nothing all that specific. It was more…a reminder that I'm not the only one here who has had to deal with…unpleasant repercussions lately. You…were right about something else, too."

Sara glanced down at the evidence bindles, "Walk with me to the vault, you can tell me what else I was right about on the way. It's…" she looked up at the clock over the door, "A half an hour past the end of shift."

"Ecklie"

Sara turned as they made their way past the garage. They'd made the trip from the lab to the evidence vault in near silence, commenting only on the case, and the scant evidence that seemed to be willing to reveal itself. Sophia hadn't followed up on her somewhat cryptic comment about the issues she'd been so willing to discuss earlier. "Ecklie?" Sara paused, and turned to look at the blonde. "He's…uh…not coming in, or anything, is he?"

Sophia shook her head, "No. He's really on vacation. I think Greg actually called the airlines to make sure he got on the plane. No I meant…that's what you were right, about…Ecklie."

Sara grinned quickly, "About him being an ass?"

Her answer was a laugh, "That too. But…about it being Ecklie who was really…making me angry. For demoting me. I didn't deserve that. But…you didn't deserve to bear the brunt of that anger."

Sara shrugged, "Don't worry about it. We all…screw up sometimes. I know I do."

The other woman nodded, "I was also…bothered…about Grissom."

That did throw Sara, "Grissom? I know he can be…distant sometimes, but unlike Ecklie, he never means it…"

"No," Sophia interrupted her with a quick shake of her head, "I…Look Sara. When I first came on this shift, Grissom was the only person who would give me the time of day."

"I know," Sara rushed to apologize herself, "I know. I'm sorry about that. It's just…"

"You don't trust easily, any of you. I know." Sophia nodded, "Day shift would have been the same, if the tables were turned. I know that. But, with Grissom being the only one willing to…give me a chance…I guess I just relied on him too much. And his mind was always on you, so…I guess I don't like sharing much."

"What?" Sara stared at the other woman, but Sophia's attention was gone, her eyes straying into the garage.

"What the hell is Hodges doing in there?" Sophia left Sara standing in the corridor as she yanked open the door to the garage. The lab tech was standing amidst two piles, one of daisy stems, the other of their petals. "Hodges, what is all this?"

"An experiment."

Sara followed behind the blonde, one look at the mess in the lab and she knew she wasn't going to get any more answers from Sophia. "What kind of experiment? She loves you, she loves you not?"

"Very funny Sara." Hodges looked up, "Boris from Days, he needed to know the probability of flower stems and petals falling in precise patterns. I was just…cleaning up. And watch the door! It's letting in air!"

"Flower patterns?" Sophia glanced at Sara and grinned, "Hodges, I think Boris was pulling your leg." The two women shared a laugh as the breeze blew the petals across the floor.