"You have mere seconds to explain to me that the hell all of that was before they come into question you Bryan" Vega hissed at him over the cold table in the interrogation room at CSI. Bryan just stared blankly at the wall. That was his last chance. Vega slammed her hands down on the table to bring him back to reality, she was fuming. She did not lose cases and she had a strong reputation to uphold. "Nothing? Are you kidding me?" She was practically yelling at this point. "They are going to find a way to link you to that shooter Bryan, what the hell were you thinking? How could you possibly think this was a good idea?" Vega attempted to question him in a hushed voice as she watched employees pass by the glass windows of the lab. Bryan looked up and looked her in the eye.

"It would mean less time, it would mean a better change with Rose" He mumbled off. Vega almost thought she was going to lose it. She couldn't even fathom the words that came out of his mouth. She felt the heat grow across her face. Never had she ever taken on a case as difficult and ridiculous as this one. Vega took a deep breath, she had to find a way to get through to him in their limited time. She pulled out the chair across from him and sat at the table.

"Bryan, you understand that she had a restraining order against you right.." Vega started.

"Yeah but she didn't really mean it" Bryan interrupted.

"And she attacked you after what you did to her and her family" Vega continued as she gestured to his torso that he had been holding in pain. Bryan shook his head,

"No no she was just confused she didn't mean to.." Bryan tried to explain as he pushed his chair away from the table and stood, Vega pushed harder.

"She doesn't want to be with you Bryan, you can't throw your life away for someone who doesn't want you" She said firmly. She didn't know how much she would regret those simple words until after they had already left her mouth. In one swift moment Bryan turned around and took his cuffed hands to the bottom of the table, flipping it in a fit of anger. Unfortunately for Bryan this was at the exact time that Natalia had entered the hallway to come interrogate him. She rushed in after one of the armed officers and helped Vega get to her feet. The table had definitely hurt her in more than one as she watched Vega cover her mouth. The two women stood against a back wall and watched as the officer took Bryan down to the floor. Natalia placed a gentle arm on Vega's elbow and led her out of the room to one of their waiting rooms surrounded in glass windows that overlooked the Everglades in the far distance. Vega took a seat and Natalia offered her a tissue for her mouth as she sat down next to her while she sent out a page.

"Must be a delight working these cases huh?" Natalia said as she smiled at a random coworker who passed by. Vega pressed the tissue to her mouth and sighed as she leaned back in the chair. "I don't mean anything by it, just trying to cheer you up a little Vega" Natalia responded to the silent reply. She turned to look at Natalia for a moment.

"You can call me Elisia you know, and I don't pick these cases because I have a thing against cops, I pick them because it's what I'm best at" She said in a normal tone. Natalia felt a little taken back by her response. Natalia realised that she was right. If they had met under better circumstances they wouldn't be so cold to each other all the time. "My first case was this type, it got me a lot of air time and it got me a lot of attention. I started getting higher paying cases and all of them tended to be involved with officers. I couldn't stop, it was paying the bills, and I was known for it after a while" Vega explained. Natalia felt for her, it made sense. A reputation in the crime industry was a hard one to change once it had been created.

"It's never too late to make a change you know? Join the good side?" Natalia said with a smile as one of the lab techs came down the hallway holding a cold compress for Natalia. She smiled at the younger man as he handed it to her and turn back down the hall without another word. She handed it to Elisia who applied it to her face.

"I wouldn't even know where to start…" Elisia said with a sigh as she looked out the window. Natalia knew exactly where to start, explaining all of this to the team would take some time but she was certain that the two women were going to get along just fine.

"Well, you could start by dropping Bryan's case, and testifying against him with us. The more people we have, the stronger the charges. It will be all over the news, a positive light" Natalia explained as she turned in her chair to face Vega. She kept her eyes set on the horizon before she replied.

"I'll have to call some people first" she said quietly as she stood from the chair and placed the cold compress down on the chair. Natalia watched as she turned her composure back into the strong and cold woman they had all known her to be. She straightened her hair and flattened her clothes down with her hands and took a deep breath as she stood tall. "I'll find you here?" She said as she looked at Natalia. She smiled and nodded.

"You will find me here" Natalia agreed as she held out her hand. Resistant, Vega reached out and shook it in agreement. This would be the icing on the cake for putting Bryan away for life…

…..

Ryan stood squatted in front of Eric's Hummer at the courthouse as he pulled the bloodied bulled out of the side of the door with tweezers. He looked at the freed bullet for a moment before dropping it into a plastic container and placing it in his kit. The same bullet that passed through both Eric and Calleigh. He watched as news crews finally began to drive away as the sun continued to beat down on the area that they were working. Ryan wiped his forehead on his forearm as he stood up and looked around. Night crew stifled yawns as they dropped numbered markers and took photos as they went. Ryan put the laser into the bullet hole in the door and turned it on. Following the light he saw Walter, crouched where the shooter was with his thumbs up. "That's a match" He yelled down to Ryan.

It was almost tedious processing this scene. Ryan wanted to do more. Both his friends were in the hospital and he was stuck processing a scene that they already had the answers to. What they were really focused on finding was physical evidence that Bryan and the shooter were tied to each other, and everyone there knew that that was going to be hard. Ryan huffed for a moment and began his walk up the hill to where Walter had stationed himself. It looked like a blood bath. Ryan had absolutely no sympathy for the man but it was never an easy task to shoot another man. He thought back to the morning.

He and Natalia rode together to the hearing. Horatio had scheduled all of them off so they could be there to support their teammate. He and Natalia had still never really discussed that one night so long ago it felt now. They just went back to normal. Working together as they did with the occasional eye contact that lasted just a little bit too long, but always ended in a smile from one or the other. The car ride today was all the same, but more serious due to the reason they were driving together in the first place. He remembered walking up the steps with her and her looking at him and them catching each other's eyes again for just too long. The tiny twitch at the corner of her mouth about to form a smile which he reflected back. It was cut short at the sound of their boss as he yelled "GET DOWN" at such a volume that everyone reacted without thinking. And somehow in that moment Ryan had taken a strong step in front of Natalia and pulled his weapon to where Horatio was aiming. A sniper. As the first round was fired Ryan retaliated in the only way he knew how, to fire back. One round, two rounds. And he stopped. He saw the man's body move in such violent, jerking motions, when the bullets hit him that he knew he was not fighting back.

Ryan blinked a few times, bringing himself back to the present. "We got our gunshot residue on the cement landing right here" Walter started as he pointed to the number card that stood above the black dust. Ryan nodded.

"He was lying down, feet towards this tree" Ryan explained as he pointed to the tree behind them. Walter made note of it all in his notebook that he carried.

"So a sniper? That's pretty serious ammunition to be bringing to a courthouse. You think he was aiming for Cal-" Walter began to rattle off before Ryan raised a hand to stop him mid sentence.

"I think that we have two team members in the hospital right now, and that we need to get done here as quickly as possible so we can put both of them away" Ryan cut in harshly. He and Walter were good friends, but after the events of today, this week, hell, this month? He just wanted to be with the people he loved and worked with. Walter put his hands up in surrender. "Sorry Walter, I just want to be doing more" Ryan added after realizing he'd been a little sharp. Walter shrugged.

"It happens, I would probably be a little on edge too. I can finish things up here if you want to head back to CSI or wherever. There really isn't that much more to process anyways" Walter said kindly. Ryan looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "Seriously Wolfe, most the evidence is on that sniper" Walter said with a smile. Ryan nodded and pointed a gloved hand at him as he descended back down the grassy side of the courthouse. Walter chuckled under his breath and went back to his photographs.

…

Ryan quickly got a ride from one of the officers on duty to the hospital and thanked him with a pat on the shoulder as he got out. The sight of Miami General never was a pleasant one. Anytime he had walked through these doors it was for a teammate, one that had been badly injured in most cases. Most of the time this was the place where tears were shed and hearts were pulled at. It never got easier. He exhaled deeply and walked towards the entrance, offering a tight smile to the receptionist. She gave a wide toothed smile back to him. "Here to visit the other two officers?" She asked in a cheery voice before he could even ask where their perp had gone. He almost forgot that they were here.

"Actually, yeah that would be great" Ryan said with a smile. Maybe it wasn't so horrible after all. Just a quick check in before he actually got on to what he was here for, his evidence. The bubbly woman behind the desk typed a little bit and then wrote a room number down on a visitors pass and handed it to Ryan who gladly accepted it and strolled down the halls. A few more turns and he double checked the number on his pass matched the number on the door before knocking lightly and opening it. He felt a part of him warm up again at the sight of two of his friends faces with smiles worn across them. Calleigh sat next to Eric on the bed trying to readjust his IV for him, it looked like he had just gotten settled. Calleigh got up from her seat and walked towards him, offering one arm out for a hug, lifting her other arm offered a sort of pain in her side, but Ryan didn't question it. He pulled her in quickly for a moment, thankful that he had the opportunity in the first place. Working in this area always left a large risk for injury, and after a day like today it really made a person thankful that everyone made it out. "Glad you're okay Cal" Ryan said as he pulled out of the hug.

"Thanks to that guy" She said with a smile as she pointed to Eric who jokingly patted the space on his bed for Ryan. Ryan laughed at his gesture and leaned over the side of the bed to offer a hug to his close friend as well. Which Eric gladly excepted, patting his partner on the back with his one strong arm. The three stood there in silence for a little while smiling until they realized there was a reason that Ryan was here.

"Nat and Horatio?" Calleigh asked. Eric looked down at his sheets. He was curious as well but he knew that Calleigh shouldn't be getting into all of this right now. Ryan took a breath.

"Natalia followed Bryan back to CSI and Horatio kind of went MIA in all honesty, haven't really heard from him yet" Ryan said as he rubbed his knuckles. Calleigh looked out the window at the mention of Bryan's name.

"And the shooter?" Calleigh turned back with a new set of emotions rolling through her veins. Ryan looked down at her clenched fists, he had been here before with her.

"Calleigh come on" Eric tried to interject to get her to back down. Things were just so calm, for just a few hours in their isolated bubble. Calleigh shook her head as she held a finger to Eric. Ryan opened his mouth to speak a few times before he could actually get the words out.

"I was actually here to check his status and to gather what evidence I can-" Ryan explained as he watched Calleigh tie her hair back into the ponytail that it had been in previously.

"Great, so you won't mind if I tag along right? I was never admitted so it should be an issue" She said flatly as she walked past Ryan, re-attaching her badge to her waist as she did so. Eric leaned back in the bed and closed his eyes. He sat up to speak, but Ryan had already read his mind.

"I got her" he said as he left the room after Calleigh. She was a girl on fire, and she showed no signs of stopping…

I hope you guys are still enjoying the story! I made this one longer to make up for the short fluff chapter last time. I keep trying to sneak in some NR bits where I can because I remember a few of you being interested in it! I have a general idea of where the story is going but I want to hear from you guys! Are we liking it so far? Do you want more EC scenes, more action, more comedy? Let me know! I really want to work with you guys on this one since you all are the reason that I write in the first place! R&R!