This is a Sara-centered fic. In future chapters it goes into her past in detail. It will only be my take on her past. CSI is not mine. Please review if you enjoy the story or you have some criticism about it. Thanks for reading.

Sara had successfully stayed awake all night and was now getting dressed for work. Three cups of coffee later and she was ready. She got into her car and drove the short distance to work. When she arrived Catherine was already sitting in the break room.

'Hey Cath. So what do we start with today?' Sara asked.

'Oh hey Sara. You have a B&E with Nick today. I got paperwork.' Catherine replied.

'What about our Jane Doe?' Sara's voice was a mix of anger and sorrow. Catherine noticed this.

'Listen Sara. We got no leads. No evidence. We don't know who she is and until then we have nothing to do for this case.'

'You're right Catherine.' Catherine then watched Sara swiftly walk away.

So Sara went and found Nick and together they solved their B&E. And Sara got started on the next case. And the next. Days passed since their Jane Doe and before Sara knew it weeks had passed. A full month had gone by without anyone reporting her missing until one day.

Sara arrived at work one day and found Catherine talking to Brass with a big smile on her face.

'Hey Cath. What's up?' Sara asked suspiciously.

'Great news Sara. We may have an ID for our Jane Doe. A teacher at Las Vegas Elementary found some bruises on a young boy in her class, so she called in social services. The social worker went to talk to the parents and could only find the dad so she spoke to the son and he said his mom just left one night about a month ago. We showed a picture of our Jane Doe to the boy and he is certain it is his mom. We got a DNA test running to confirm it.'

Sara smiled. 'That's great. Lets bring in the husband.'

'Um.. About that. After social services got involved he did a runner, with his three children. Leonard is ten, Kate is six and Jessica is only two. We got Brass' guys out looking for them now, but it's not looking good he, he could be anywhere by now,' Catherine continued, her tone a lot less optimistic.

'So what do we do now?'

Catherine smiled and held up a piece of paper with an address on it. 'Search the house.'

The left for the car right away and started on the way to the home. The silence between Catherine and Sara was irritating.

Sara looked uncomfortably at Catherine. 'What was her name?' she asked in a small voice. Sara wanted to know the name of the woman who had haunted her thoughts for a month.

'If it all checks out her name is Carol Smith.' As if on cue Catherine's cell phone rang.

'Willows.' She answered confidently. Sara couldn't hear what the person on the other side was saying.

'That's great Greg. Thanks.' She hung up and glanced over at Sara. 'It's Carol Smith. DNA came back a match.'

The silence returned but this time it was a little more calming.

They arrived at the house not too long after the phone conversation. Sara looked around the neighbourhood. Dogs were barking in the distance, trash cans and bags were scattered all over the sidewalk and the actual building itself was old and looked dangerous. Climbing the stairs to the apartment the family lived in, Sara couldn't help but notice the smell of urine and rot. The peeling wallpaper made it anything but welcoming. Three floors up and they were there.

After entering the apartment, both Catherine and Sara wished they hadn't. The rooms were a mess with trash all over the floor, broken toys scattered everywhere and the horrible smell of damp and faeces. After choking back vomit Catherine looked over to Sara.

'You take the two bedrooms and I will take in here.'

Sara simply nodded in reply and went to work.

The first bedroom was the smallest but Sara guessed it was the children's room. There was only one bed and a drawer with a blanket, which would have been used as a cot for Jessica, the two year old. Empty cans of cola and bottles of water filled a large bucket being used as a bin.

After collecting various items as evidence Sara brought out her ALS and shined it over the small bed. She let out a gasp as the light made the stains visible. After taking a few photographs and collecting the sheets she went and found Catherine.

'I found semen on the children's sheets. I am just about to start on the parent's room,' Sara said slowly.

Catherine nodded. However hard it was to cover up, this case was getting to her too.

In the kitchen Catherine didn't find anything useful, just expired milk and barely any food. The bathroom was also filthy but again nothing useful was found. Catherine went to go help Sara in the parent's room.

'Hey. Need any help in here?' Catherine asked.

'Nope. Nothing in here. You find anything?'

'Not really. It's what I didn't find what was weird. Look around.' Catherine paused as Sara looked around the room. 'Where is all the photographs? This is a family with 3 children and there is no pictures anywhere.'

Sara hesitated. 'Maybe they didn't have any occasions to capture on picture. Take a look at the house Catherine, this hardly seems like a family that would care about their children enough to take pictures.'

'Fair enough. Want to get this back to the lab?' Catherine replied quickly to change the subject. Sara just nodded in reply.

Back at the lab, Sara dropped off the sheets into DNA and went to work sorting through bills and letters she collected from the house. The phone bill was surprisingly thin with the only outgoing calls to local takeaway restaurants, one of which was The Ying Duck, the restaurant Carol Smith's body was found behind. Incoming calls were from the school and not from any residential numbers which could have been friends or family.

After updating Catherine on the phone records she went to DNA to collect the results. It didn't surprise Sara when it showed the two DNA donors on the sheets were Bradley Smith, Carol's husband, and a close relative, presumed to be their oldest daughter.

Bradley Smith was a violent man. His DNA had been on file as he had been arrested twice before for common assault on his wife and had also been arrested for armed robbery of a convenience store. Sara couldn't imagine what his children were going through at that moment. If they were still with him. She hoped it was only a matter of time before he was found and put in prison.

Thanks for all the reviews I have gotten so far. Hopefully you won't need to wait too long for the next chapter. Keep reviewing and I will keep updating. It will get a lot more personal for Sara in the next chapter.