Disclaimer: Hate to say it, but I don't own CSI however much I would love to. Bruckheimer does a better job anyway.

A/N: Hey guys, anonymous reviews have been enabled, so please leave a review.

Chapter two: Jane Doe

Sara Sidle was tossing around in bed when her cell phone shattered the silence.

"Sidle," she answered groggily.

"Sara, hope I didn't wake you, but we've got a DB over here and Catherine has off. Could you meet me at 1933 S. Westhorn Ave?" Grissom was trying to talk over the sirens.

"I'll be there." Sara finished jotting down the address in her scratchy writing before snapping her phone shut.

Perfect. She thought. A distraction. Couldn't sleep anyway.

The ride there was short. It was just around the corner from the lab, so Sara had no problem finding it. The clock was just shy of nine, and it was pitch dark aside from the blinking street lamps that cast that eerie goldish glow around the streets.

The lights from the squad cars were almost blinding as she maneuvered her car into a place out of the way.

Grissom came out to meet her and filled her in as she unloaded her kit from the back seat.

"Jane Doe. She was beaten, raped, and tortured. It looks like she has been here a while. I need you to find any evidence on her before she is moved to the morgue."

"Okay, easy enough. You want me to cover perimeter, too?" It was too simple for such a serious case.

Not until we find out whose house this is. Then we can cover everything else. Until then, we consider the body as the only evidence we've got. I need to go check out a double homicide with Nick and Warrick. Cath and Greg are out tonight. You are on your own." He opened his car door, but before he ducked in, he turned to Sara again. "No emotions. Tonight you are a crime scene investigator, so just stick to the evidence. Keep me updated."

It was completely dark inside. There was only a musty couch in the center of the room and a creaking side table that held an empty picture frame with a broken glass cover.

Sara traveled from the front room to the narrow hall. A uniform was standing in front of a rotting wooden door.

"So, where's my dead body?" Sara asked.

"Down in the basement." The officer pointed down the narrow wooden staircase.

"Wonderful." Sara's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

It was damp and musty down in the basement. It smelled of blood, mold, and decay. There was a single lamp hanging from the ceiling that let off a dim, yellow light. The floor was concrete, hard and cold.

The M.E. was bending over a motionless form in the corner.

"What've you got for me, doc?" Sara set down her kit and walked over, pulling her latex gloves on and carrying a camera.

"This lady had almost everything done to her that could be. She was tortured and raped multiple times. I'm not sure what the cause of death was, strangulation, stab wounds, or starvation."

"When will you know?" Sara asked, wanting to know what she was looking for.

"I've got to get her back to the morgue to be sure, but it looks like it was most likely the stabbing and she bled out. Look at all the blood." He shined his flashlight over the large puddle of dried blood.

"Alright, well let me take a look."

He backed away and let Sara pass, camera at the ready. She had been a pretty woman, despite how thin and sickly looking she looked. It looked as though she had brown hair underneath the matted tangles and dirt. Her face was pale. Very pale. Her lips were the lightest shade of pink. She looked to be in her early to mid thirties.

"Where are her clothes?" Sara noted that the victim was dressed only in gray rags that hardly concealed her frail body.

"Those are her clothes." The M.E. had returned with his assistant and a gurney. Once Sara was through snapping pictures, they bagged her and lifted her onto the stretcher.

"This woman was down here for so long, and no one ever gave her a second thought." Sara said to herself, forgetting that other people were in there with her.

"Sometimes that just happens. People fall off the grid. And perps like this take advantage of their helplessness. It just happens."

Sara walked down the hall to the autopsy room, her stomach jumping. For some reason this case was giving her the chills.

Normally, the autopsy room never had an effect on her. It was almost natural for her never to give it a second thought. But today, today it had a whole other effect on her. She felt cold. Cold as if it was coming from the inside out.

There she was. Now that her hair was clean and brushed, now that her skin was scrubbed and without the black dirt, she looked peaceful. She was still thin. Still pale. But peaceful.

It made Sara's insides turn over. This woman, this human being, had been tortured and starved, and no one cared. No one even knew that such horrors were going on in the world. And now, now an innocent woman was paying the price for everyone's ignorance.

Maybe it was the fact that Sara knew what it felt like to be ignored. Maybe it was the fact that Sara had a similar appearance to the woman. But whatever the reason, this time, Sara couldn't hold her emotions back. She turned around and wiped the tear that had been threatening to spill over. She hid her emotions and turned back around.

"She was thirty-one. Five feet, five inches tall and one hundred and one pounds." The coroner went on. "Our vic, also, had a little disability. She was blind, due to a medication she had to have taken since she was very young. She had no sight, whatsoever."

Sara felt the bile rise in her throat before forcing it back down. It was already horrible enough, and now they found out that their victim had had no sight. She had never been able to look her attacker in the eyes and study why she was being put through such suffering. She had probably hoped to die. Had probably given up on any hope. This thought broke the CSI's heart even more. Because, if you are so helpless, the only thing that helps you plow through is hope. She had been without sight and hope.

"Who took the evidence from the body?" Sara asked.

"Grissom did. He was just in here about half an hour ago."

Sara stormed out of the room.

Grissom's office door was slightly ajar and she could see the outline of him sitting at his desk, doing some paperwork.

"Why didn't you tell me you took my evidence?" Sara had made her presence known by slamming the chair down in front of his desk.

Grissom didn't even flinch when Sara had made a loud entrance.

"I thought I would help you. A simple thank you will be fine." He bent over his paperwork once more.

"No, I don't need help on this one. Once I find out who that Jane Doe is, then I am half way done. I can do this." Sara argued.

"Catherine called." Grissom said in a conversational voice. "She said that Lindsay is spending the night at her sister's so that they can go to the aquarium."

Sara saw where this was going. "No, I don't think so. I can't have her come in and take control of my case."

"Well, you don't have a choice. I need someone to keep an eye on you." Grissom realized that those words weren't of the smartest choices, and saw one of Sara's tempers coming.

"What?" Sara was now standing.

"I meant make sure you aren't starving yourself of food and sleep. You do have a tendancy to neglect yourself."

"Fine, but I don't want her telling me what to do."

"I'll do my best to communicate that to her." Grissom returned to his papers.

"Oh, and Sara?"

Sara turned around again. "Yeah?"

"Next time you want to talk to me, a simple knock will suffice."

"Sure thing."

A/N: I know, a little boring, but once I get the case into place, then the interesting things start to happen. I don't know anything about medical terminology or anything else, so forgive me if I make a mistake. Please leave a review on you way out! Much love.