Disclaimer: Don't own them.

A/N: Thanks for following with me.

Sara and Greg met their shift mates and received assignments. Grissom and Greg were to work on a burglary and Sophia pulled a hit and run. Grissom handed Sara an assignment with an odd look in his eye. She read the particulars. She caught Grissom by the arm and he waved Greg on.

"This is a rape and attempted murder," Sara said. She said it as a question. Grissom nodded. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Sara, if you feel like you're getting overwhelmed, page me. I trust you'll do the right thing," he said. Then he walked out, leaving her both apprehensive and elated at the same time. It confounded her that she still felt like she needed his approval. That was why she was so elated, because Grissom thought she was capable. Well, she was capable, and she would just have to prove it. Not to Grissom, but to herself.

"Who give a flying frig what Grissom thinks," she said to herself. And she was almost convinced.

Brass was at the scene with a detective Sara hadn't seen before. Brass smiled when he saw her alone.

"Where's the boy wonder?" Jim asked. Sara wondered if that made her Batman, or Batgirl, whatever.

"He's working with Grissom tonight," Sara responded. Brass smiled a small, proud smile and gave her a wink. She returned his smile in full.

"Well, then Sara, let's meet a new detective," he said. He turned to his companion, a tall, trim man who looked to be in hisforties. Sara looked over at him. He had smiling green eyes and dark blond hair that was graying at the temples. His skin was dark and slightly weathered, as if he had spent too many days in the sun. He had a white, straight smile, and the lines on his face indicated that he had smiled a lot. He was chewing gum, and when Sara walked closer and extended her hand, she could smell the spicy hints of cinnamon he was exhaling.

"I'm Det. Oscar Perrin," he said, grasping her extended hand in both of his. Despite his effusive manner, his grip was gentle on her hand.

"Sara Sidle, with the lab," she said, as if it wasn't obvious by the vest that declared her to be "Forensics" and the kit at her feet. For some reason, meeting this new detective was putting her a little off balance. She attributed it to working a case alone once again.

"Det. Perrin is joining us from LA. He worked vice and homicide there," Jim said.

"Great. Nice to have you with us, Detective," Sara said. She was beginning to itch to get into the crime scene. "So what have we got here?" she asked.

"We have an attempted rape and murder. Victim is one Anna Gilead, aged 25. She's a cocktail waitress at the Tangiers. Her boyfriend, Todd McCall, found her and called the cops. He thought she was dead. When responding officers got here, she turned out to be alive. They called EMS."

"Why did you say attempted rape?" Sara asked. They had walked to the door of the house and stepped under the crime scene tape.

"The boyfriend said he thinks he interrupted whoever was in the house. He heard the back door slam. His girlfriend was in the bedroom, unknown to him. He gave chase to the perp, lost him, and came back to the house. That's when he found the girl. He claims her underwear was barely pulled down, so he assumes he interrupted." The man's accent kept giving Sara pause.

"You sound like you've spent time near San Francisco," she said. The detective smiled.

"Only someone who knows the area would place my accent," he said. "I grew up and spent my formative policing years around San Francisco. You?"

"Yeah. I moved away to attend college, then went back until I moved out here about five years ago," she said. His smile was contagious and she found herself grinning back at him. She had never met such a happy homicide detective.

"So, are we positive it wasn't the boyfriend?" she asked. The detective narrowed his eyes and looked at Sara.

"I thought that was part of your job, to help me figure it out," he said. His suspicious look morphed into another grin and Sara found herself laughing with him.

"I guess you are right," she said, and began to work. Det. Perrin watched as she got started, then moved into another area of the house.

She printed and bagged evidence from all over the house, focusing on the bedroom, wondering if the girl was going to make it and what kind of statement the boyfriend would give.

She concentrated on the bedroom, but she printed and collected evidence from all over the house. The back door yielded some very smudged prints. She hoped they would help.

By the time she was finished, she had nearly exhausted her supply of evidence bags. She had gotten used to having someone else with her. The thought of having to start stocking up on more bags and gear for solo cases made her smile inwardly.

"So, how many trips to your Denali is it going to take for all this?" a voice called from the doorway. It made Sara jump. "Sorry," Perrin said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me. You, uh, startled me," Sara said. She didn't like the little bit of petulance she could hear when she said it.

"You know, I've always wanted to know what the difference is," he said back to her. Then he reached down and grabbed a few of her bags. "I've got to go to the hospital and check on the vic. You want to ride with me? You can get her clothes and take the pictures you need," he offered. Sara didn't know why, but she wasn't sure about riding with the new detective. Had it been Brass, she would have gone, no questions asked. Cavaliere would have never offered, and Vartan she would have rode with just to look at those eyes.

"Well, I really should get these bags to the lab. I could just meet you," she said.

"Cool. I haven't had a tour of the lab yet," the detective said, helping her load the evidence bags in the SUV. She had meant to meet him at the hospital, but he was still grinning at her, so she didn't correct her.

"So just follow me there," Sara said. The detective agreed and walked to his own car. She imagined that he was smiling all the way.

Perrin helped Sara carry the bags of evidence into the lab. Sara could feel all eyes on them as they walked past reception and into the core of the lab. Judy, the receptionist, gave them a small smile, though Sara could have sworn it was bigger for the new detective.

Why not? He was ahandsome man, and though he was in his mid-forties, he was well built. She had decided that he looked very much like a surfer in his later years, and given that he had spent the last years in LA, that could be the case. Plus, he was fresh meat, and knowing the girls in and around the lab, word would get out fast that LVPD had a new member. Sara wondered briefly how Catherine would react to him.

As they went through the lab, Sara introduced Perrin to the techs and told him a little about each invidual lab. He seemed especially impressed by the A/V lab. Sara had taken him by there on the way out. He and Archie found themselves in a deep conversation about ... Farscape. Sara had never watched it, though she had heard it was very good, mainly from Archie. She tended to watch movies when she was alone, though she was sure to TIVO Lost from week to week. When she and Nick were together, it was usually Discovery, Animal Planet or the History channel. Many times they never made it to the end of the program.

That thought gave her pause and she looked at her watch. 6 AM already, and she knew Nicky would call by 9 AM. She couldn't really say this had been a tough shift, though the hospital might make a difference. The thoughts of cuddling up with a warm Nick Stokes were always tempting. On nights like tonight, when she didn't feel the desperate need to cling to him, or when she knew he didn't feel that same need, she tried to keep herself from going to him. It was hard, too hard for her liking, and that was exactly why she resisted. Sooner or later, she knew that Nicky would meet someone, and this little thing they had would be over.

"Well, I see we have bored Ms. Sidle. I know we still need to go to the hospital," Perrin was saying. She forced asmile; glad that he didn't know the real reason she was looking at her watch. Perrin and Archie said their goodbyes and he and Sara began walking back out to their vehicles. Sara's head was still slightly distracted by thoughts of Nick when she realized Det. Perrin was speaking to her.

"I'm sorry, I was zoned out on the ... evidence," she said, stumbling to cover. "What was that?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to take my car or yours," he said good-naturedly. "Man, I am really off my game tonight, boring a lovely lady twice within three minutes." He sighed forlornly and gave her a hangdog look so fake she had to laugh. "Considering that the best way to learn a new town is to drive it, I would prefer to take mine," he said.

For some reason, Sara couldn't help but agree.

The staff at Desert Palms was always good about keeping and tagging evidence on cases, and this was no exception. The clothing Anna Gilead had been wearing was bagged and tagged, along with nail scrapings. The rape kit would be sent separately as it wasn't quite ready. Sara would need hair and DNA samples from the young woman. Fingerprints were in the system because of the girl's work at the Tangiers.

Sara also wanted to take pictures of the bruising and any other marks on the victim's body. Sara usually liked to be alone with the victim when she was doing this. It felt more personal and respectful of the woman who had been attacked. Det. Perrin agreed and stood outside the curtained area speaking in low tones to the nurse on duty.

Sara gulped hard and looked at Anna. She was in her mid-20s, Sara knew, but lying in the bed, she looked younger. The bruising around her neck was harsh, and she seemed to have some contusions along the side of her face that indicated being hit with a fist. Her right eye was blackened and swollen. Her hands were bruised, as were her forearms and shins. Sara thought it likely that the girl had fought back. There was also bruising on the girl's chest and torso. Sara knew it was probably from the attacker sitting with his knees on the girl to hold her still. This could have killed her before the strangling. All in all, the girl looked like exactly what she was: a victim.

Sara finished taking the pictures and watched the girl's respiration on a monitor. She was on a machine at the moment, unable to breathe on her own. Sara could feel the familiar anger seeping from the center of her into the rest of her body. The tension was causing her jaws to ache and her neck to go stiff. The anger was like an old friend; they knew each other intimately. Sara wanted to let it in and welcome it home.

She had to fight to focus. The angry tears that clouded her vision were a reminder that the same emotion could cloud her judgment. What had Grissom said? That he trusted her to do the right thing.

"Grissom never understands," she thought to herself. But she knew it was the anger speaking, the same anger that had caused her so much trouble before. At least she now had a better angle on where the anger was originating. She was trying to save herself, and part of her was still angry with her parents for not saving her, for putting her through it instead. She let the hot tears fall, then she wiped them away and pushed the anger aside. She had work to do.

The fact that she knew she could run to Nick's apartment and lay in his too firm bed helped her open the curtain and meet Perrin's questioning gaze. With Nick laying at her side, or cradling her, she might make it through the night without obsessing over Miss Gilead.

"I'm done here," she said, and the detective closed his notebook, handed the nurse his card and walked her out.

A/N: Hope y'all are enjoying. I'm trying more drama this time. I hope it's got enough fluff to keep the Snickers interested.

Anushka: Stick with me and I'll try not to hurt your feelings too badly. I promise not to kill anyone, at least.