A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, guys! You guys rock! And to answer Isabell89's question, her brother was her trainer )

Nick was lying on the couch staring up at the ceiling with his hands folded in front of him resting on his lap. His mind was still trying to register what just happened three hours before. He discovered the file on Sara's kitchen counter and found out that not only was her brother trying to get her to help him with a drug scam, but that he was also her trainer. And then he thought about another thing- was there a possibility that there actually was no trainer, and that that was another excuse to help cover up the injuries she was getting? That would certainly explain that confrontation at the lab that had left him absolutely flabbergasted.

And then Sara had just been attacked, basically, in her own home by her brother. He had said something about what he was trying to make her help him with...something about planting evidence and delivering some drugs. And, Nick thought, if he was involved with a criminal investigation, that meant he was potentially dangerous...and he was Sara's brother...so...that meant that he was potentially dangerous for her. From just seeing the small little altercation she had with her brother that night, he could tell he was violent...and he didn't want that sort of person around Sara, even if he was her brother.

Looking around the apartment, as if to see if no intruders were inside, he sighed in relief to have found none. Still a bit paranoid, he made his way down the hallway and cracked the bedroom door open to check to see if Sara was still sound asleep. Smiling as he watched her tiny sleeping form move only with the steady rise and fall of her chest, he cracked the door, closing it only a little bit. Part of him wanted the door open, so that he could watch her at all times.

Nick walked into the kitchen and headed to the coffee pot. The old coffee from three hours ago had been left, cold and forgotten. It kind of reminded Nick of the coffee they had at the lab, actually. Not wanting a cup of cold, three-hour-old coffee, Nick poured the remaining coffee into the sink and started a fresh pot, sitting back down at the kitchen table as he waited for it to finish brewing. Looking down at the file on the table again, he sighed, examining the photos once again. Her brother had that look to him...that look all guilty suspects had. Sara had told him her brother was innocent...but he knew he wasn't, and truthfully, Nick could tell Sara did too.

Nick heard something coming from the bedroom and he quickly jolted up from his chair. What was that? Was that just Sara changing positions in bed to get comfortable? Or was that her brother or one of his 'buddies' trying to get into her room to inflict harm on her? Nick didn't know...and part of him didn't want to find out. Reaching for his gun, which was normally holstered on his hip, he cursed when he remembered he didn't have it. So, Nick took a deep breath, and with a gulp, he walked down the hallway to the bedroom.

Poking his head inside, Nick got ready to pounce at whatever it was that was making the noise. when he looked inside the room, he was relieved to see no one else inside except the still sleeping Sara and himself. Walking over to the bedroom window, he checked to make sure it was locked and shut all the way. After he noted that it was, he turned back around only to discover his gaze falling on Sara. She looked so peaceful as she slept...and she looked beautiful, even with the bruise on her forehead.

Nick had always been close to Sara...he thought, anyways. He always tried to be there for her when she was going through a tough time...she had been there for him, and he wanted to return the favor. But...through the years, Nick noticed that they had grown closer and closer, and he had started wondering if their frienship and work relationship wasn't becoming something more. Something with a deeper meaning.

Nick blinked, coming back to reality when he heard Sara start to stir. She groaned softly, probably starting to feel the injuries her brother had inflicted on her earlier, Nick thought, and she rolled over onto her back, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as she started to try and wake herself up. Finally she opened her eyes, her eyes adjusting to the small rays of light coming into the room from her now opened door. Her eyes locked themselves on a dark figure sitting next to her at the foot of her bed, and she jumped.

"It's me, Sar," Nick told her. "I'm sorry if I scared you, though, I didn't mean to..."

Sara took a deep breath, sitting up slowly. "It's okay..." she told him.

"Okay..." Nick said. "How...are you feeling?" he asked her.

"I have to say...this body of mine has seen better days," she said with a small smile. "But I'm okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay..." Nick said. "Well...hungry?" he asked her.

"A little bit.." she told him. "What do you have in mind?"

"What do you have in your fridge?" he asked her.

"I don't know..."

"Okay..." Nick said. "I'll see," he told her, getting up from her bed and walking out of the bedroom. Heading down the hallway, he made a turn into the kitchen and kneeled down in front of the fridge. Opening the drawers, he frowned when he saw that they were empty. And then looking up, on one of the shelves he discovered eggs. "Mind if I make you some eggs?" he asked.

"Not at all," Sara told him, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table. Brushing a strand of brown hair out of her eyes, she looked down at the file on the kitchen table. Seeing that it was open, she suspected Nick had been going through it again, and she looked up at him as he cracked a few eggs on the side of a pan. "You...don't think he's innocent, do you?"

"Who?" Nick asked, turning to look at her. Looking down at the file, he took the hint of who she was talking about. "No..." he admitted. "Do you?"

Sara didn't say anything for a minute, and the entire room grew silent. Nick watched as she started playing with a small loose thread on the gray tank top she was wearing. She was obviously trying to avoid the question.

"Sar?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," Sara finally answered. "Part of me...really thinks he's guilty...but...another part of me doesn't want to believe it, y'know?" Nick watched as she looked down at his picture. She had seen enough of those pictures in her lifetime...and she never thought a member of her family would have one. And now that she thought about it, that was kind of funny in a sense, seeing how her mother had killed her father, and was now currently still serving time in the state prison in California. But...she never wanted to see another member of her family have a record.

Nick finished making Sara's eggs and set a plate down in front of her. Handing her a glass of orange juice as well, he said, "Sorry, you didn't have anything else other than water, so.." Sara had the most blank expression on her face. Normally he was pretty good at reading people, but at the moment, he had no idea what was going through Sara Sidle's brain. "Hey Sar?" Nick asked.

Sara blinked, brought out of her trance. "Huh?" he asked, turning to look up at Nick.

"I was saying...that all you had was orange juice or water, so.."

"Oh!" Sara said, pretending like she knew what he was actually talking about. "Right! Okay..."

Nick sighed. He could tell she wasn't paying attention. Sitting down across from her, he folded his hands over one another, looking over at her. "Sar...what's on your mind?"

"Nothing..." Sara said. Knowing that Nick was seeing right through her lie, she sighed. "Alright...I'm..just thinking about Danny."

"What about him?" Nick asked her.

Sara sighed again, playing with her scrambled eggs with her fork, suddenly not very hungry. "Just...what our relationship used to be like when we were younger."

"And...how was it?" he asked her.

Sara shrugged. "Good, at first...when I was really young...and then...when he got mixed up in drugs...he started to act differently..." she said. "And...I was so confused at the time, because...I didn't know why he was acting so differently...he was yelling at me...shoving me out of his room...just trying to block his family out of his life..."

Nick nodded slowly, letting her know that he was still listening.

"And...one day...we were playing hide and sink...and I found a bag of weed under his bed...though I was so stupid, I thought it was dirt." Nick was about to tell her that she wasn't stupid, but she continued, "And...my mom grounded him for a year...and after that...he just started...to hate me. He let his friends make fun of me at school and he laughed at me when I got hurt. He let Dad hit me...he used to protect me, but he didn't anymore..."

Nick blinked. She just said that her brother had gotten mixed up with drugs, okay...he kind of already figured that part out...but the part that he was having trouble swallowing was the part about her father hitting her. He never suspected anything like that...his parents weren't that way...his parents had always loved him dearly, and he knew they would never dream of hurting him. Obviously with Sara it was a different story. "Sara..."

"And we lost touch after we went into Foster Care."

"Why...did you go into Foster Care?"

Sara looked up at him with tear-stained eyes. "Mom killed Dad."

Nick froze. "I..."

Sara just nodded slowly, burying her face in her arms as she cried. Nick walked over to her and slowly put his arms around her. He wrapped them around her tighter when she leaned into him, and he slowly rubbed her back with his hand slowly. "Shh..." he told her. "Shh...it's okay..."

"Nick..." Sara whispered. "I'm scared."

"I know, Sar..." Nick told her, now wrapping just one protective arm around her and the other brushing hair away from her face. "I know you are..."

"He's going to hurt me," Sara whispered. "Just like Dad, he's mad. I can't do what he wants...you know I can't...and he's going to hurt me if I don't."

"Sar...it's okay," Nick told her. "I'm not going to let him hurt you.." he told her, holding her close. "I promise."

Sara just nodded as she continued to cry with Nick holding her. Finally Sara's breathing calmed until it became normal again, and Nick noticed that she had fallen asleep. Smiling, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom, setting her down on her bed and covering her in the sheets and blankets, he kneeled down beside her, instinctively brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. Then, Nick planted a kiss on the top of her head, whispering, "I promise, Sara...I'm not going to let him hurt you."