A few days later, Gil and Sofia were working on a case involving a bear and an adulterous husband. They were examining the body of a Lori Kyman, found somewhere in the Nevada desert.

As they were examining Lori's body, they found themselves getting into somewhat of philosophical discussion. They were talking about how DNA defines a person, and Gil made the argument that basically a person's identity is created as soon as the sperm hits the egg. Sofia seemed to have a problem with that, and argued that identity is made up of life experiences.

"Our brain neurons process our relationship to the world and to each other," she said. Neither of them were missing a beat in the examination, but they were having a pretty heated conversation.

Gil admitted, "I stand corrected. DNA is not who we are, it's what we are."

Sofia said, "What we are never changes. Who we are never stops changing."

Later, Gil found himself wondering once again about this Sofia. She was completely adamant about how DNA is only in your cells, it doesn't make who you are. But he didn't really agree with that, and that fascinated him. She was like...a breath of fresh air. He decided he needed to do something about this, if only to get to know her just a little bit better.

There was another reason, of course. He had to do something to get Sara off his mind. He was just as focused as he always was, but he again found his mind drifting away to Sara, and everything she's seen in her life, and how...warm and comfortable and safe she was when he put his arms around her. He found that Sofia was something, someone else to think about. He didn't find her threatening or vulnerable. He found her to be interesting. He found her to be a peer with whom he could have a discussion with without it turning personal. What he didn't know was if first of all, she felt the same way, or second of all, he wanted it to be more than that.

Gil wasn't good with these things, anyway, these...relationships. He just preferred to go to work and fixate on what he could do to fix the situation. But he was getting older and finding that he craved some kind of companionship. Sofia happened to come along and spark something in him that lay nearly dead for years. But was it her that he wanted, or somebody else?

One night, after wrapping up the Lori Kyman case, Sofia ventured into Gil's office. He said, "You did a good job on the case."

Sofia told Grissom that she enjoyed working with him, but she didn't enjoy the direction the lab was heading. She liked Grissom's team, but didn't appreciate her demotion.

"My demotion was undeserved, and every day, I'm reminded of that," she said, looking at the floor.

Gil smiled at her and said, "Well. Someone once said, 'What we are never changes, but who we are never stops changing.'"

Sofia looked up from the floor and gave Grissom a killer smile. It was sexy and genuine and he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Let's have dinner, shall we?" He said, grinning. She grinned back. He got his stuff together, turned off the light in his office, and they walked out of the lab together, neither looking behind them. They didn't see Sara standing in the hallways, turning around just to see them walking out of the lab together. She shook her head and walked away, too busy to care.

They chose a rundown Mexican food joint that had awesome enchiladas. They talked about work over chips and salsa, and Gil tried to talk her out of leaving.

"Look, Ecklie...Ecklie's Ecklie. Don't let him get to you like this. We all know that you're capable of being a supervisor. This is merely a small setback. Until then, work with my team, do well and show 'em what you're made of."

Sofia snickered.

"I already did that, Gil." He stiffened a little with how much ease she called him by his first name. He wasn't used to that. "That's how I became a supervisor. Ecklie's just pissed because I didn't find anything wrong with how you handled the case with the fingerprint on the matchbook. I just...I don't really know what else to do here."

"Don't leave yet, okay? We need someone like you. We need someone to balance out Sara and Greg, and you're doing a wonderful job. I'd like very much for you to stay on our team."

Gil continued to try to convince her, and she listened to all his suggestions and they talked it out. She seemed grateful that he was there to help her with the situation. He was grateful that she was taking his mind off Sara and providing him with decent companionship. When their food came, Gil took that time to ask Sofia about her life. She was born in Baltimore. Her mom was a cop and her dad was a high school teacher. Her favorite book was The Stand by Stephen King, which took Gil by surprise. Her favorite movie was Jerry Maguire, which GIl did not approve of. He only liked older movies.

Sofia even asked Gil if he wanted a bite of her enchilada, but he was busy with his own fajitas, so he declined.

When they were done, they ordered desserts. They both clearly had no desire to end their conversation.

Sofia took a bite of her flan and looked thoughtful. Grissom wondered what was going on inside her head. Finally, she said, "Can I speak candidly with you?"

"Of course," Gil said, relieved that she felt comfortable enough to do so.

"I like working with your team. I think Greg's great, even though he is pretty new at this. And Sara...well, she's a very capable CSI but sometimes she can be a little...emotional."

"Yeah. Yeah, she is. She had a pretty rough childhood, though. And believe it or not, she's a lot calmer than she used to be. She's really making strides, actually. Sofia, I know she's a little tough to get a read on, but when she gets to know you better, you'll be best of friends."

"I don't imagine that will ever happen. Especially because she thinks I'm trying to make the moves on her man."

Grissom stopped eating his ice cream and stared at her in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, I know we don't know each other that well, but for some reason, I feel comfortable enough to say this to you. Sara obviously feels protective of you. I've seen the way she looks at you and I've heard the way she talks to me."

"Oh, she just feels that way because-"

Sofia put her hand on Grissom's, and he was quiet.

"I know I may regret saying this, but I think you should know. She's in love with you, and I know you realize that. I don't know if you've realized yet that you're in love with her, but hopefully you'll get to that soon enough."

Grissom had no clue what to say to this woman. What the hell was going on here?

"She thinks I'm trying to get my claws into you, and maybe she was right at first. You have to admit, we do have a rapport. But I'm not one to get in the way of a couple who doesn't even know they're a couple yet."

"Sofia, I...I don't know what to say. I don't think you really know what exactly is happening. It's complicated. I'm her supervisor. She's...emotional. It could get very messy."

"And it could be the best thing that's ever happened to you. I know that you probably don't have someone in your life to confide in, and that's why I'm doing this. You can call it an intervention, maybe. I just happen to think that you two shouldn't spend another minute without each other."

And then Grissom broke down. He realized he did need someone to confide in, and this woman, this beautiful, intelligent and arrogant woman wanted to let him. He told her about Sara breaking down and revealing what happened to her as a child. He told her about how he had admired Sara for a long time but was never able to make anything happen. He told her about how scared he was, and how scared he would be if never did anything about it.

"I have to admit, I do find you to be quite interesting," he said. "If Sara wasn't in the picture--"

"Well, she is," Sofia said, a sad smile on her face. "In another life, maybe it could have happened. But in this one? You know who you belong with. I just kinda...shook you up a little bit. I hope you'll take the next step, Gil."

By the time he finished pouring out his soul, the restaurant was far past closing. They reluctuantly walked out, arm in arm, and headed back to work.

Grissom never expected this woman to be his conscience, but she was, and he had never been so grateful. He had a new purpose in life now, and he couldn't wait to fulfill it.