A/N: Completed! My first complete fic, so I hope someone likes it. Thanks for the reviews - greatly appreciated, I can tell you. Not sure if the words in the court scene are correct, as I'm not American, but I'm sure you get the point. Thanks for reading.

Sara woke up in an unfamiliar room. Puzzled, she sat up and looked around. Then she remembered the previous night, and how she had wept on Jim's shoulder. He must have carried her into his bed, because she could not remember walking there. Looking at the clock Sara realised that she had slept for far longer than was normal for her, and felt relaxed and happy as a consequence. Getting out of the bed Sara returned to the front room, and found Jim still deep in sleep on the sofa. He looked peaceful as he lay there, and Sara decided not to wake him just yet. She was inspecting the titles of his books when she heard him turn over, and heard him murmur her name in his sleep. 'He's dreaming about me,' she realised, and felt oddly pleased by that.

The telephone rang, and Sara rushed to get it, not wanting it to wake Jim.

"Hello?" she said.

"Sara? Did I get the number right? I was trying to ring Brass," said Catherine, sounding confused.

"Er, yeah, this is Jim's house. He's still asleep. Is it urgent?"

"Wuh? Um, no, no it can wait until he gets in." Catherine rang off, sounding very puzzled indeed. No doubt she would be wondering why Sara was at Jim's house at that hour. Realising she hadn't exactly explained properly, Sara was grateful that Catherine wasn't a gossip, and that she wouldn't be greeted by the whole lab wondering about her love life. Not that she would be ashamed to have that thought about her and Jim; he was quite attractive in his own way, and a good man. Sara idly tried to imagine kissing him, and was pleasantly surprised to realise the idea didn't turn her off - quite the opposite in fact. Crossly, she stopped that train of thought, wondering if she was going to become some strange person who was always attracted to her older colleagues.

Jim stirred again, it seemed as though her conversation with Catherine had pushed him on the road to wakefulness. His eyes opened, and he fixed his gaze on her for a long moment before muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'I thought I was dreaming again,' and sitting up, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Much better, thanks. I'm sorry you had to sleep on the couch."

"That's OK. You looked like you needed the rest. Do you want some coffee?"

Sara said yes, and settled herself on the couch as Jim bustled about in his kitchen. A few minutes later he returned bearing big mugs of coffee.

"Oh, by the way, Catherine rang, but she said it could wait until you get into work."

Jim laughed, "Bet she's wondering why you picked up the phone." They both laughed at how beside herself with curiosity Catherine would be when they got in.

They talked happily for a while, both enjoying the companionship they rarely experienced outside work, before Jim offered to drive Sara home to change. She waited a while as Jim got changed, and then he drove her to her apartment. He waited while she dressed, as Sara had left her car at the lab. When she returned, Sara surprised him by kissing him on the cheek.

"Thanks for...for everything."

Jim wrapped her in a bear hug and, cupping her face with his hand said, "Anytime. And I mean that." Then he kissed her forehead and they returned to his car.

"You're very affectionate today Jim."

"Hey, I've got half the lab thinking I'm in a relationship with a beautiful young woman. What guy wouldn't be happy?" Jim said, with a wicked grin. Sara gave him an affectionate punch on the arm, and they drove to the lab, still chuckling.
They were hardly out of the car when Catherine appeared and towed Sara away by the arm. The older woman practically dragged Sara into the nearest unoccupied lab. Closing the door behind them, Catherine turned to face Sara and demanded "Spill!"

Sara had to contain her giggles as she said, innocently, "What do you mean?"

"Don't pull that innocent face with me - you and Brass, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Catherine."

"You answered the phone at his house when he was sleeping. Don't tell me you didn't stay the night."

"Well yes but..."

"Aha! I knew it. You two make a really cute couple." Catherine was practically rubbing her hands with glee at the piece of gossip that had fallen her way.

"Catherine! We had a few beers together and I couldn't drive home, so I stayed over. We didn't sleep together - he was on the couch."

Catherine looked suspicious, and then disappointed, but then brightened and said, "Well why don't you two get together? You like him, don't you?"

Sara blushed furiously, "Catherine! We're just friends!"

"Hmmm," Catherine looked as though she were plotting something, but before she could continue with her interrogation the door to the lab opened, and Grissom strode in.

"I've been looking for you two. Catherine, I want you to ring Mrs Tiernan and find out if her daughter had any enemies other than Barron. Sara, I'd like you to question the Tiernans' next-door neighbours again, and go over that night in case we missed something. Brass has offered to accompany you." With that, Grissom returned to his own work. Catherine winked at Sara as she set off to find Brass, obviously planning a little match making as an amusement.

Smiling at Catherine's glee, Sara went to find Jim. He was sitting in his office waiting for her, and walked alongside her to his car.

"Jim..."

"We can go and speak to Anna for a little while after we've seen the neighbours, if you like. But Grissom hasn't given his permission and I doubt he'd be keen."

"He doesn't have to know, does he?"

"I just hope you're right about Anna. Gil won't be happy that we've gone to speak to her without informing him, but he won't be too bad if she is able to help us."

"Thanks Jim. I really am certain about this."

"I believe you - that man is a pig, I saw that much last night. That's why I'm helping you now. I don't want you going alone again." His face was grave, and Sara promised she would tell him if she decided to do anything like that again.
They arrived at the Tiernans' home soon afterwards, and began re-interviewing the neighbours. None had anything new to tell them. They had been quiet people, friendly but not too close with their neighbours, and they were all devastated by the tragedy. Some of them had seen a strange man around the street every so often, but could not be certain of who he was or who he was there to see. On the night of the murders, no one had seen or heard anything significant - Barron had slipped in and out of the house, had raped and killed Elizabeth and Joanna without anyone being aware. Only one woman had heard anything unusual, and even she had caught no glimpse of the killer, nor of his car or anything that might identify him.

It was shocking how easily the two women had died, how powerless they had been in the face of their aggressor, and how unable they had been to alert anyone to what was happening. So often when we think of death, it is the knifing on a city street that comes to mind, the act of a drug-crazed stranger, easily caught. How hard it is to comprehend that if we die by violence, that violence will come not from a stranger but from one known, perhaps loved, from an ordinary man with whom we have shared ourselves. Evil is not a stranger to us; it lives as close as a friend, enjoying the access and proximity to us to unleash its rage.

Brass and Sara, sure as they were of the culprit, were afraid to press for his identification, lest by their leading questions they encourage a witness to a false identification, and thus leave Barron a loophole from with to escape justice. They had to accept that no one here could help them, and that all their hopes relied on the buried courage of an abused woman. She alone could give a just ending to the Tiernans' story.
Once again they found themselves outside Barron's apartment block. With a certain amount of apprehension they knocked on the door, hoping that he was indeed working. Anna opened the door to them, and reluctantly allowed them inside. Brass sat back on the suspicious sofa, content to allow Sara to take the lead in questioning Barron's girlfriend.

"Why have you come back here? He..." Anna began, in a faltering voice.

"Anna, it's really important that you tell us the truth, no matter how scared you are." Anna said nothing, so Sara continued, "Forget what Robert told you about his ex. Elizabeth was a good woman. She was working as a receptionist, a woman of about our age. A nice, friendly woman with lots of friends, lots of people who cared for her. Then she met Robert, and she fell in love. They started going out, and she was happy. But then Robert started to worry that she wanted to be with other men. So he always went with her on nights out, when she was with her friends. He got mad if a man spoke to her, and she stopped seeing her male friends. Soon he was getting mad if a man just looked at her, and started accusing her friends of trying to split them up, of trying to entice her with other men. Elizabeth loved him, so she stopped going out with her friends; soon she stopped seeing them at all. So it was just the two of them. Then one night, he hit her." Anna looked at her hands. "After, he cried and said how sorry he was, but she had driven him to it, because she was always flirting with other men. He loved her, and he got angry when she was unfaithful. It would never happen again. But it did. He was always so sorry afterwards that Elizabeth forgave him, and hid the bruises. One day she saw him while she was at work, standing and watching her through the windows. He said he had to be sure she wasn't with another man behind his back. He hit her when he thought she was coming on to her boss." Tears were slowly running down Anna's cheeks. "Then Elizabeth found out she was pregnant. She thought it would be a new start for them both, but Robert said it wasn't his, and hit her for it. She couldn't let her baby be hurt, and so she finally left, and went to stay with her mom. He turned up there all the time, sometimes pleading, saying he was sorry, other times saying she was a whore and threatening her. She got a court order against him, stopping him contacting her. Eventually she had a baby girl, she called her Joanna. She started trying to get her life back, but Robert wouldn't leave her alone. He threatened her and Joanna, said he would hurt them. She even tried to get back together with him, for Joanna's sake, but it only got worse, the beatings and constant put downs got worse. That ended the day he hit Joanna. Finally, Elizabeth moved to Vegas, hoping for a new start. They didn't tell Robert where they had gone. They moved into a nice house, and Joanna started at a new school. She made friends - they both did - and things were getting better for them. Then a man started hanging around in the street. He'd tracked them down. He couldn't - he wouldn't - let them go, he said they belonged to him. And then we found them, the woman who had survived so much and the girl with so much to live for, both dead. Someone raped them both, strangled them, and left without a care. Anna, please help us, help us make sure no one else has to go through what they did. Help us catch their killer."

They sat in silence for a while, watching Anna cry, her head lowered. Then she looked at Sara through tear-filled eyes and said, "He said they deserved it. He said if I...if I said anything that that's what would happen to me."

Sara took Anna's hands and said, "That won't happen. We'll make sure he never hurts anyone again. You'll be safe, I promise."

Anna looked at Sara before making up her mind. She made her way into the kitchen and returned with a pair of yellow kitchen gloves. Here and there on the gloves were tiny spots of blood, forced out of the victims as they died. Sara carefully put them into an evidence bag. They had got him.

"He said I had to say he was here that night, but he wasn't," said Anna, "He..."

At that moment they heard a key turn in the lock, and Anna looked terrified. Barron had come home early. He walked into the room, his eyes red from alcohol and said, "What the hell are you doing here again?" Then he caught sight of the gloves Sara was holding, and turned on Anna, his eyes blazing.

"You bitch! You betrayed me! I'm gonna kill you like that whore!"

"Mr Barron," Brass said, stepping forward. Barron looked at him, that blank hatred back in his eyes.

"Give me that bag," he growled.

"This is evidence Barron, evidence that's going to convict you," said Sara, triumph in her voice. As Barron moved threateningly toward them, Jim unconsciously moved in front of Sara, blocking her from the man in front of him.

"Bitch...whore...going to kill you!" Barron muttered low in his throat. Then he sprang for Sara, but Jim was in the way. He landed heavily on the detective, knocking him to the ground before he could reach his gun. Rolling on the floor, Brass tried to restrain him, but Barron punched him hard on the face, stunning him for a moment. As the killer tried to rise, intent on Sara, Anna rushed forward and kicked him, hard in the groin. Barron doubled up with pain as Sara restrained him, pulling his hands behind his back so that he could not move. Brass clicked handcuffs on him and said,

"Robert Barron, you are under arrest for the murder of Elizabeth and Joanna Tiernan. You have the right to remain silent..."
Uniformed officers took the now restrained Barron away in a squad car. Leaving Anna to make a statement to another officer, Brass and Sara returned to the lab with their precious cargo. They knew that the other CSIs would have been informed of the arrest by then, and that Grissom would want an explanation. Still they both felt satisfied with the outcome, knowing that Anna's co-operation would put Barron behind bars.

Yet it was with some apprehension that Sara walked into the lab with Brass - she felt like a school kid summoned to see the principal. Even though the results had been good, Grissom would not be pleased that she had disobeyed him.

As they entered the lab, Grissom appeared - he had evidently been waiting for them to arrive. He did not look pleased to see them; his mouth was thin with disapproval.

"Give me the evidence. I'll analyse it. I want to speak to you two about this later." He glared at them, and they both decided it would be prudent to retreat until Grissom had finished. They wound up in Brass' office, hoping Grissom would be in a better mood when he came to see them.

"Why's Grissom in such a mood? We solved the case for him!" Sara said, kicking a nearby chair in frustration.

"I feel like a naughty boy waiting to get his knuckles rapped," grumbled Brass, cocking his head on one side and pulling the most ridiculous expression.

Sara burst into laughter, and Jim joined her. Smiling, she moved closer to him, holding his hands in hers.

"Thanks for believing me Jim. For...trusting me enough to let me go off and do what I wanted, to follow my instinct."

"No problem," he said in a low voice.

Sara moved closer again to him, and, touching his cheek with her hand, gently ran the pad of her thumb over the bruise forming on Jim's cheek. There was something so intimate about the gesture that Jim felt his breath catch in his throat. "I'm sorry you got hurt," Sara said. Then he found it hard to breathe, as Sara stared deep into his eyes, and at his lips. Her forefinger ran along his bottom lip, and Jim had to swallow heavily. "Sara..." he said, in a long, drawn-out whisper. Closer and closer she moved to him, until he could feel her breath on his mouth. She was going to kiss him, and he wanted her, but was so scared of what the consequences might be. Sara smiled her charming, confident smile, and gave him a lingering kiss on the lips. A pause, while he searched her eyes for reassurance, and then Jim kissed her. He felt laughter, and tears, and desire all melting into one, and kissed her deeper, his tongue probing her mouth.

They kissed again and again; kisses both long and passionate, holding one another as if afraid to let go.

"Sara?" Jim said, as they paused for breath.

"Mmmm?" she replied, tracing his face with her fingertips.

"Why? I mean, I didn't think you liked me that way."

"I didn't. I don't think I ever really looked at you, Jim, but I'm looking now." And again she pulled him into a deep embrace, eagerly returned.

As they were lost deep in each other they heard a cough. They sprang apart, both blushing furiously as they realised Grissom had interrupted them. Then, almost defiantly Sara moved to Jim's side, and laced her fingers with his.

"The, er, the gloves confirm Barron killed the Tiernans," said Grissom, uneasily, "apparently he's made a full confession. Um, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Sara, you were right. But I don't want you disobeying me like this again - inform me if you're planning on interviewing witnesses next time. Er, you can take the rest of the shift off and er, well, yeah..." Grissom left hurriedly, obviously rather embarrassed at intruding.

"Well that's one way of getting out of a reprimand," said Brass with a wry grin.

"How about we continue what we were doing elsewhere?" Sara said with a smile, running her hand down Jim's chest.

"Sounds good to me," he said, with a wide grin and hand in hand they set off for home.
Several weeks later, and Barron stood in the dock awaiting the jury's verdict. Sara and Jim sat together, holding hands in the public gallery, eager to see the result of their work.

"Members of the jury, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?" the judge said.

"On the charge of murder in the first degree against Elizabeth Tiernan we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of murder in the first degree against Joanna Tiernan we find the defendant guilty."

A cheer rose from the gallery as Barron was convicted. Smiling at Sara, Jim leant over and whispered "congratulations," before drawing her into a deep kiss. "Now let's go and celebrate."

Fiat Justitia Ruat Coelum
Let Justice be done, though the heavens fall.