Catherine tried not to let emotion come through in her voice as she tried to clarify something that Nick had just told her. "So he was aiming at Sara then?" This was not something that Sara had mentioned at all.

Nick nodded, his brows deeply knit together. "I saw Sophia slump to the floor and then he was pointing his gun at Sara...he would have killed her if I hadn't shot him." He was convinced that what he was saying was true; Sara hadn't seen the suspect aim; her attention had been distracted for a split second as she'd seemed focused on Sophia. If there was one lesson he'd learned in the two years he'd been a patrol cop in Dallas it was that you never take your eyes off of an armed suspect unless you had cover. He'd had that lesson chewed into his ass by his sergeant after he'd almost gotten his head blown off for that very reason when a simple domestic violence call had turned ugly fast. He didn't think he'd ever want to be a cop again; although as a CSI he'd encountered plenty of on the job danger.

"Did Sara see him point the gun at her?" Catherine was curious because she wondered why this one detail in their stories didn't seem to match, but then again, unless they'd sat and discussed it, Sara probably hadn't known what was going through Nick's mind.

"I don't think so...she was looking at Sophia." Nick ran his fingers through his hair and let out a deep sigh as he glanced up and caught Catherine's concerned gaze. "I feel like shit because I didn't see her first two text messages; I was getting the download on the scene from Jackson...he and Sophia said it was clear." There was something in his tone that held a deep regret.

"Nicky, you trusted that they did their job...you couldn't know that this was going to happen." As much as she was supposed to maintain a professional demeanor, Catherine was decidedly paternal towards Nick. She knew that most any CSI would probably feel the way that he did, but you couldn't second guess yourself and wonder what you could have done; you had to move forward and learn something from it.

"It just didn't seem right." Nick confessed with a frown. "When I walked in, something just seemed off and I felt something in my gut that told me it wasn't ok." He wished now that he had insisted that Sophia and Jackson search the scene again to make one hundred percent certain that it was in fact clear. Of course if he had done that, they both would have said something to Grissom and everyone would think that he was still dealing with his abduction; which of course he was, but it sure as hell didn't mean he couldn't do his job damn well.

Catherine offered him one of those looks that conveyed far more than words could. "Nicky, this isn't your fault any more than this is Sara's fault. Any one of us could be in Sophia's place." She didn't want to remind him that not so long ago he was in Sophia's place; not fighting for his life in ICU, but fighting the demons of his own mind while they frantically searched for him.

Nick nodded somberly. "Yeah." He really wanted this interview to be over; he needed to get out and breathe some fresh air; maybe go for a long drive. Sitting here in this room was suddenly stifling.

Catherine could tell that this was starting to get to him. She cleared her throat softly. "I just have one more question." She smiled at nick as he glanced up. "Were you certain that the gunman was incapacitated before you and Sara went to Sophia's aid? You both mentioned that he had two guns."

Nick smirked. "Damn sure he was dead; you saw the crime scene." It was more than obvious by where the bullets had hit the gunman that he had died before he hit the floor. The question remained though, which of the three shots had been the fatal one. That was something for Doc Robbins and ballistics to answer; IA would surely have some questions and then whether they wanted it or not, there was always the possibility that the gunman's family would claim excessive force.

Catherine nodded. "I think that's all I need for now." She looked at him for a long minute before she spoke again. "You are on administrative leave until this is cleared up...I'm not sure if Grissom mentioned that."

Nick nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "I expected as much." He reasoned that maybe this was a good time to catch up on all those things around his townhouse that he never seemed to have the time to get around to; it might just give him an outlet to his frustration.

"Hey, think of it as a paid vacation." Catherine had been put on leave a time or two, not under these circumstances, but she could appreciate the position he was in.

Nick knew that she was trying to be upbeat, but he shook his head as he stood. "Pretty damn hard to think of it like that with Sophia in the hospital." Not everyone had liked Sophia Curtis when she'd joined the nightshift, and Nick had rarely worked with her when she was a CSI, he'd mainly gotten to know her after she came back to Vegas to work as a detective, but he knew that she was a damn good detective and she didn't deserve this. He was feeling for poor Alex Vartan who probably wouldn't leave the hospital much, if at all, before Sophia did.

Catherine really had nothing to say; she knew that he was right and this really wasn't the time for more platitudes or hollow sounding reassurances. She hadn't seen their colleague gunned down the way that Nick and Sara had.

Nick quietly made his way out the interrogation room, surprised to find that Sara was sitting out in the hallway waiting for him. He quirked an eyebrow at her as she glanced up. "Hey."

Sara stood up with an earnest expression on her face. "How did it go?" She had felt compelled to wait for Nick and offer him some sort of support; she really wasn't looking forward to going home to an empty apartment; sitting over at the hospital probably wouldn't be much better.

He offered her a tired smile. "I'm on paid leave." He didn't really want to rehash this with Sara; they'd both been there and he was sure she'd really like to think about something else for a while too.

"Me too." Sara smirked. "Catherine said that until IA has a chance to review it, I'm not supposed to come to work."

Nick smirked back. That was going to be hard for her; she practically lived at work and her personal life, if she really even had one, was either non-existent or a big secret. "Well, since it appears we both have some unexpected time off do you want to get the hell out of here and blow off some steam?" He knew her well enough to know that if she'd waited there for him, she didn't want to be alone.

"Yeah." Sara had a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "I was actually going to ask you for a ride home...my car is in the shop...I forgot that I'd gotten a ride in with someone else earlier." She didn't just want a ride home; she hoped that she could convince Nick to do something even if it was just sitting around eating pizza and drinking beer; she needed a diversion from the stress of this shift and being with a good friend seemed like just the thing.

An idea formed in Nick's mind, working on his townhouse could wait a while longer. "Why don't we swing by the video store and order a pizza on the way to your apartment; I have a feeling that you don't want to hang out all by yourself any more than I do."

A relieved smile flitted across Sara's face. "You're on."