Sara had been unprepared for the unleashing emotions that the young girls parents omitted in her direction. Laura Jones had only just turned 17. Her parents had reached out to Sara for answers and she found herself being dragged down further into her nightmares.

"Mrs. Jones," Brass started, his voice sympathetic, "it would help us if you could give us the names and addresses of your daughters friends."

Laura's mother didn't seem to hear him; instead she focused her attention on Sara. "She's such a good girl," she smiled, her motherly pride shining through her words. "Here, let me find my photo album."

"Mrs. Jones?" Sara spoke softly as she reached out a hand to still her movements, "I'm so sorry for your loss and I want you to know that I will not rest until I find the person who did this to her." Sara could feel her already weakening resolve slipping away when Laura's mother sat back down onto the couch as if she had just realized her daughter wasn't coming home.

"I…" Mr. Jones started, his attention directed towards Jim Brass as he spoke. "I…she's just a baby. My baby girl…" his voice trailed off into whimpered gasps, only stopping when he sucked in a breath to calm himself. "I can find those names for you."

"It's okay," Brass nodded, his voice low with sympathy, "take your time."

Standing abruptly, Laura's father rushed away from the three people in his living room to seek sanctuary away from them so he could unleash his grief in private.

"Mrs. Jones?" Sara asked softly, reaching out a hand to squeeze the older woman's fingers reassuringly.

"Livvie," she answered, looking directly into Sara's eyes, "call me Livvie."

"Okay, Livvie," Sara smiled sadly, "is there someone you want me to call for you?"

"Just me and Freddie," she whispered, unaware of the tear that tracked its way down her cheek. "We don't have anyone else."

"Well," Sara whispered sadly, shifting a little closer to her, "now you have me and I promise you I will find the person who did this to Laura." Sitting back, Sara delved into her pocket to pull out a card with her contact numbers listed on it. "You can reach me on any one of these, alright?"

Reaching out a trembling hand, Mrs. Jones took the card gently, and then looked down at it as she tried to focus through her tears. "Thank you," she whispered, "Sara? That's Laura's middle name, but she has a 'h', she…."her voice broke suddenly and she dissolved into sorrow, her emotions wracking her small frame with sobs.

Fred Jones came back into the room, his own face flushed with raw emotions. Handing the paper to Brass, he moved over towards his wife and sat down beside her to pull her into his arms. Standing up, Sara moved away from them, her own eyes simmering with tears. "I'll, um, I'll be in touch when I find anything."

"Thank you," Fred mouthed silently to her as he comforted his near hysterical wife beside him. Sara nodded and moved towards Brass as they made their way to the entrance. Once outside, Sara took in a deep cleansing breath. She tried to hide the fact that this case was affecting her in so many more ways that any other.

"You know sometimes I really hate this job," Brass muttered, glancing over towards her briefly as he spoke.

"Yeah," she sighed shakily, "me too."

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she told him, maybe a little too brightly for his liking, but she hid herself behind her mask, nodding if only to punctuate the gesture. "I'll see you at the lab."

"Sure," he nodded, watching her silently as she made her way towards her Tahoe and climb in. He had no doubt in his mind that this case was bothering her way too much, and he decided to take it up with Grissom as soon as he had a chance.

Sara arrived back in the Lab parking lot and took a long weary breath. Looking down at her shaking hands, she tried to steady her trembling body as the memory of the outpouring devastation of Laura's parents cut her deeply. How could people survive such grief? Closing her eyes, she tried to blank the image from her mind, but the stinging tears that it brought with it refused to leave her.  She cursed herself angrily as she swiped at her eyes. Shaking away the remnants of the last hour, Sara calmed her trembling body and stepped out of her Tahoe. She had to get through this if she was going to prove to everyone here that she could handle the job.

When she walked in through the lab doors, she was taken aback by Greg rushing up towards her and grabbing hold of her elbow pulling her with him into the DNA lab.

"Greg?" she gasped, trying to yank her arm from his grip.

"You're gonna love this," he grinned. Letting go of her arm, he steered her around to the other side of his desk. "I got a hit on your victims attacker."

For a moment, Sara watched his mouth move, unable to process what she was hearing. "You have?" she asked cautiously, knowing that she should feel overjoyed with this new development, but she couldn't seem to scrounge up the tiniest piece of delight.

"Yeah," holding up the DNA results he watched quietly as she scanned the paper in her hands.

"Martin Clark?" she asked in disbelief, "The same Martin Clark…?"

"Yeah, the same one who's only been out of prison for 2 weeks."

"Dammit," she gasped miserably and slammed the paper down towards her thighs. "He should have been locked up for life, I warned them! Didn't I warn them?" Turning around she stomped out of the lab to go in search of Grissom, her now vibrant anger fuelling her desire to bring this case to an end.

Grissom met her halfway down the corridor, linking his arm through hers quickly to halt her angry strides so he could try to calm her down. "I know you're angry…"

"Angry?" she seethed, waving the paper in the air as she spoke. "Ecklie knew he was dangerous, yet he wasn't prepared to go the extra mile and dig deeper. Now this bastard has raped and murdered a young woman. And might I add I have just told two devastated parents that their daughter won't be coming home to them, ever."

"Sara, calm down," Grissom told her, pulling her into his office away from the prying eyes who had started to watch her heated words rising through the hallway.

Once inside, he closed the door and stood directly in front of her. "I want you off this case."

Sara's eyes tore into his, her anger sparking heatedly with each word. "No."

"This isn't up for discussion," he snapped, grabbing hold of her arms to keep her from storming out of his office.

"You can't do this," she told him, her voice lowering to a whisper as she tried to fight the building wall of emotion rising over her heart. "I promised them."

"Sara," he started, his voice soft as he glided one hand up her arm to her shoulder. "I can see what this is doing to you."

"I'm all they have," she whimpered brokenly as her eyes welled up with tears, "you don't understand, I can't…" Despite trying so hard to keep the salty wetness from overflowing, she found she couldn't control the outpouring of intense emotions. One tear followed another, creating a tidal wave of sorrow that refused to be silenced.

Grissom stepped a little closer towards her, his need to comfort her overwhelming his screaming mind. The hand on her shoulder found its way into her hair while his other hand slid around her back as he slowly tugged her towards him.