Author's Note: I've received a couple of reviews that are a bit curious as to where this story is going overall and why I have not yet delved into how some of the other characters have been affected by Sophia's shooting. Please be patient, the overall storyline is still unfolding and while you may think that I'm focusing too much on Grissom, Nick, and Sara, remember that the three of them were the ones who were at the crime scene when Sophia was shot and therefore I believe are much more affected by it than the rest of the team would be. I have briefly touched on the other characters and be assured, there will be more in coming chapters about them, but the relationship dynamic between the three simply presented itself to me as I wrote about Sophia's relationship with Vartan and needed to be explored as well. So with that said, please fasten your seatbelts because there still may be a roller coaster ride ahead with a journey and a destination that perhaps you didn't expect.

Chapter 22

Sophia had seen the stricken look on Sara's face as she had asked about her love life; the subject seemed to flow right out of Sophia's explanation of how she and Alex had stumbled their way into a romance and the blond detective had just been curious. She wasn't blind, she'd seen the unresolved tension between Grissom and Sara; it was no secret around the lab that there had either been something between them at some point or perhaps they'd just never gotten around to it. She'd been especially aware of it when she'd first met Grissom because she'd found him rather attractive herself and when it seemed that he was uninterested in the advances she'd made towards him, she began to put the pieces together and came to the conclusion that the man's heart was already taken; even if he didn't want to admit it. She'd also noticed the flirty banter between Sara and hunky Nick Stokes and wondered if maybe the reason Grissom and Sara hadn't gotten around to whatever it was they couldn't seem to admit to each other was because of the handsome Texan. In any case, just asking her if she'd ever considered dating a coworker had caused Sara a sort of deer in the headlights expression to appear on her face just before she said that she needed to be somewhere and made a hasty retreat.

The sound of the door creaking caused Sophia to look up; she half expected to see Alex or maybe even Tina Brown, but she hadn't really expected to see Catherine Willows. Sophia smiled a bit tiredly. From the file Catherine held in her hand, this was obviously an official visit. "Hello, Catherine."

"Sophia." Catherine offered her a kind smile. "It's good to see you awake." This was never a fun part of her job, but it was necessary. IA had asked her to get Sophia's statement; if it was probative they would interview her later when she'd been moved out of the ICU.

"You're here on official business, aren't you?" Sophia really didn't mind; she reasoned that it was better to get all of this over with now and it did give her something do other than stare at the walls or try and work through one of those damned crossword books that Alex said that Grissom had brought by for him to give her. Crosswords were really never her thing, but it was something to do, and she'd managed to get through a couple of the more simple ones.

"Partly." Catherine conceded. "I do need to get your statement..." Her brow furrowed in concern. "How are you feeling?" She couldn't help her maternal instincts from coming out when she was around people who were hurting and Sophia was no exception. She had tended to butt heads with Sophia when she was a CSI, but now that she was a detective she had a great deal of admiration for the woman. And perhaps she didn't feel the need to be nearly as competitive with her either.

"Like hell." Sophia winced as she shifted around in the bed to try and get comfortable. "They keep telling me that they're going to move me out of here, but I have my doubts." There was a hint of a smirk glancing across Sophia's face.

Catherine let out a knowing chuckle. "You sound like Brass did." She arched a brow as if she was going to say something else.

"And he's just fine now, I know." Sophia let out a sigh. "Still, I've never felt quite this bad in my entire life. Not even when I won a Tequila shot challenge in college." Catherine's expression made her laugh softly and then wince.

"I underestimate you." In Catherine's opinion Sophia had never struck her as having a wild bone in her body, but then again people were often surprised by her background.

"Well the suspect didn't." Sophia's confidence had been shattered in the shooting and she truly was afraid that maybe she wasn't going to be fit for duty when her body finally healed. She only hoped that didn't affect her relationship with Alex.

"He was over twice your size and had a rap sheet a mile long." Catherine interjected; she had become far too familiar with just who the shooter was and how much danger Sophia had been in. She'd been working diligently with Warrick and Greg to run down all that they could on the evidence that had been collected. At least one thing was clear to them; the gun the shooter had used on Sophia was the very same one that had killed the original victim.

"It doesn't change the fact that I'm trained to know what's going on around me and I didn't hear him until it was too late." Sophia had resigned herself to being demoted, or reprimanded; something she would truly welcome as she tried to recover from her injuries. One thing she certainly wasn't looking forward to was the mandatory counseling she was sure was on the horizon. She did not want to talk to a department shrink; she really didn't want to talk to a shrink at all, but if it was going to be required, she'd rather choose her own.

Catherine understood all too well what it was like to be attacked by a suspect and just how incredibly scary it was; clearing a scene was a team effort and even in the best of circumstances their jobs were inherently dangerous. "Sophia, training only goes so far..." She had a thoughtful expression on her face as she continued. "I'm sure you weren't being reckless or impulsive...and you responded to the situation the best way you knew how...Sara said you tried to talk him down."

"Shouldn't you get my statement before you decide if I was out of line?" A sort of half smirk played at Sophia's lips. "Just because I'm injured doesn't mean you should be cutting me some slack." She wanted to play by the rules and make sure there was no way anyone could look back and say the investigation wasn't by the book.

Catherine quirked an eyebrow. "Were you being reckless or impulsive? Did you exhibit flagrant disregard for department practices in clearing the crime scene? Did you know the suspect was on location?" She was calling Sophia's bluff.

Sophia shook her head. "No, I tried to be careful and methodical about clearing the scene; Jackson and I kept in constant communication until we were both confident that the scene was safe and secure for CSI to enter the premises. He's a veteran cop; and I didn't make detective by being sloppy." Her face took on a somber expression. "And if I had any idea that the suspect had been on the location, I would never have put anyone else in jeopardy."

Catherine smiled softly. "I've worked with you Sophia; I know it would be inconsistent with your character if you didn't do it by the book." She reached over and took the other woman's hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. "And thankfully, you're still with us."

Sophia knew that Catherine often could be abrasive, but that was just the result of being a smart woman in a profession dominated by men; her compassion really wasn't all that unexpected. "Thank you."

"Vartan's a lucky man." Catherine really did mean that; she wished that she'd had the kind of luck that Sophia seemed to have had, but instead she seemed to be a magnet for the sort of men that didn't have a problem cheating on you and then trying to make you feel bad about it. She'd often thought that it was a character flaw within herself that was at the root of this but she had absolutely no idea how to go about changing it, and so instead she'd settled for mediocre when it came to relationships. However, given Sophia's recent shooting and the shooting of Jim Brass just a few short months before she began to seriously contemplate her own mortality and wondered if maybe it was time to find out what it was inside of herself that couldn't attract the sort of man that she truly deep down wanted to be with. She shook off her thoughts for the time being and got back to business as she addressed Sophia. "Ok, just a few more questions and we can get this over with."