Chapter Twenty-Two

Sara and Nick were sitting in the interrogation room with Krystal Shave, and they weren't getting very far. The suspect had resulted to giving them one word answers.

Sara looked down at the notes in front of her. "Krystal… were you and Sean Bristonian in a relationship?"

Krystal looked up, hesitating to answer. "Yes," she said finally.

"Why the hesitation?" Nick asked, eyeing the woman.

"Because what we had… I don't know if you'd call it a 'relationship'… it was, well, it just was," she answered, her voice faltering a bit.

"Were you abused by Sean?" Sara asked in what she hoped was an even tone. "Physically or sexually?"

Krystal's gaze hardened. "Yes. More than once."

"And you killed him, using Walker's gun?"

"Yes." Krystal looked from one criminalist to the other. "Is that all?" she asked, standing.

Sara nodded, and waved Sofia in to take her away, but Nick's questioning voice stopped her. "Wait," he said. Turning to Krystal, he continued, "I want to know why. Why did you kill him?"

Sara kicked him under the table. "You sound like Grissom," she whispered in his ear.

He grinned back at her. "Grissom would know why," he whispered back.

Krystal sat back down and fixed Nick with an icy glare. "Why did I kill Sean? Because the stupid son of a bitch took advantage of me, and that's not how I work."

Sara sat back, a little shocked. The girl had so much conviction in her voice. It surprised her.

"I killed Sean using Sydney's gun because he was a friend. And I knew I could trust him…" her eyes slowly brimmed with tears, threatening to overflow. "Sydney, he couldn't believe that Sean would hurt me, or anyone else in that way. He wanted to finish him off, but I said that I needed to do it. So I did. And that, Mr. Stokes, is why I killed Sean. Because of what he did to me."

Sara looked at the two-way mirror and nodded to Sofia again, signaling that she could come take Krystal away.

"Krystal Shave, you are under the arrest for the murder of Sean Bristonian," Sofia said, pulling her out of the chair and putting handcuffs on her wrists. She pushed her to the door, leading her out of the room.

Nick turned to Sara. "Shift's over." He stood up out of his chair. "Locker room?"

She smiled. "Yeah, locker room it is." She stood up as well, and followed Nick down the hall.

OoOoOoO

Reaching the cool interior of the locker room, Nick looked nervously at Sara. "Uh, Sara? About what happened, earlier… in the lab…"

Confusion was evident on Sara's face until realization dawned on her. She laughed. "What? The hand holding thing?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Ah, Nick. I just wanted you to understand that I know I can talk to you, and that you'll always be there for me. That's all. And Greg seeing? It's only Greg. He's moved on." Sara flashed him a grin before shutting her locker.

Nick grinned back. "Okay."

She went up to him and playfully punched his chest before kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Thanks for understanding, Nick. It means a lot."

He nodded in recognition before shutting his own locker and heading to the door. "See you later," he said, giving her a wave.

Sara was one step behind him when a blonde intercepted her path. "Sara! Could we talk a minute?"

She scowled at her, saying, "Not now, Sofia. Later." All Sara wanted to do was go home to Grissom. She wanted to curl up on the couch with him and feel his arms around her, wrapping her in his love as they watched a movie or just talked. And she was so not in the mood for another round of Sofia's questioning.

"Just real quick, I promise," Sofia said, taking Sara's arm and pulling her back into the room.

"What the hell!? What is this –" Sara protested, but Sofia cut her off.

"I just wanted to apologize to you, and Grissom, I guess. I'm sorry for bombarding you both with questions about your relationship. It was wrong of me, and I really am sorry." Sofia looked tired, and Sara didn't blame her.

"Thanks," Sara said softly, catching Sofia's gaze with her own. "That really means a lot to me, and probably to Grissom as well. I'll see you later, alright?"

Sofia gave a quick nod, and Sara wasn't even sure that she'd heard her. "One more thing," Sofia whispered quietly. "Could you tell Grissom that I'm sorry? And, I've also decided that I don't love him. Too much pressure, and he's kind of…"

"Eccentric?" Sara provided, a grin forming.

"Yeah. Eccentric. It'd be hard to deal with all the time." Sofia gave Sara a small smile.

Sara hid her grin with a cough, but continued to smile on the inside. "Good choice," she said to Sofia, turning quickly. "I'll see you later."

A/N 6: Yay! Good Sofia! Not Grissom-chasing Sofia! lol. All you Sofia-haters are probably going, "Aw no, Sara was supposed to kill her!" Sorry! Not in this fic. Maybe a different one, but... ;-)