A/N: THANK YOU again to all who reviewed! Really means a lot to me. Hope you guys like this new chapter.

Nick helped Sara to her feet and they removed her kevlar vest to see how bad the bruise was. Nick slowly unbuttoned the top buttons of her shirt to inspect the bruise, a light red color slightly flushing his cheek as the realization of what he was actually doing hit him. Trying to shake it off, he grimaced when he saw the bruise, and didn't think twice as his fingers automatically moved to brush over it.

Sara smiled a little when she noticed him blushing, but then she winced when he touched it. "Sorry..." Nick mumbled.

"It's okay," Sara assured him with a smile. Heading outside, Nick walked behind her and they stopped just outside the door, looking around. Daniel and Jace were being loaded into patrol cars, unwillingly, they might add.

"Get your hands off of me, you pig!" Jace yelled as he was shoved into the back of a car. Sara and Nick couldn't help but find this a bit ironic after seeing what type of person Jace was. Brass slammed the door before he could say anything else.

Nick wrapped his arms tightly around Sara's waist. Even though Jace and Daniel had been subdued and were on their way to the police station, he couldn't help but still feel the strong urge to not let Sara out of his sight. Resting his head on her shoulder, he kissed her cheek softly as they watched an officer carry a thrashing Daniel Sidle toward another patrol car.

Kicking and punching and throwing obscenities over his shoulder, Daniel's gaze fell on Nick and Sara. With a smile on his face, he said, "Hey! Sis! I saw you and that guy kissing! Maybe he won't be like Dad was, huh? Coming into your room every night with that little 'surprise' for you!"

Sara froze. Her heart skipped a beat. She forgot to breathe. Everything started spinning, she was so sure she was going to faint. And all of this just from the shock of her brother saying those words. Sara hadn't had a happy childhood, there was abuse, and lies, and hatred... She knew that eventually word of the physical abuse in her past might come out...but never in hell was she prepared for the day that the sexual abuse might come out.

"...What?" Nick asked, blinking. "...Sar?" he asked, looking down at her. Sara's face had drained of color completely. She looked like she was lost in another time, another place. "Sar..." Nick said a bit louder, trying to free her from her trance.

Daniel laughed when he got the reaction out of Sara he was hoping for. "Remember that, Sis?" he asked. If he was going to jail for god-only-knows-how-long, he was going to make sure that his sister had a total emotional breakdown. "I remember the first night it happened! You came into my room late at night with your teddy bear and asked me what a whore was because that was what Daddy called you!"

Nick felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as Daniel continued. He wanted to go over to him and beat the crap out of him, but another part of him wanted to know what exactly he was talking about. Looking down at Sara, he saw how wide her eyes were- wide with fear and shock. "Sar..." he whispered, trying to get through to her yet again. He got no reaction, she didn't even blink when he said her name.

"Hey, Nick!" Daniel yelled, not letting the officer shove him into the patrol car just yet. He wasn't finished. "I bet you didn't know that Sara lost her virginity at six!"

Nick's mouth opened wide with a gasp and he quickly looked down at Sara. Her eyes were glistening with fresh tears, her face pale and empty. As soon as Daniel finished saying that, Sara tore out of Nick's arms and ran back into her apartment. "Sara!" Nick yelled, about to run after her. Brass stopped him, grabbing ahold of his arm.

"Hang on, Nick..." Brass said. "...Give her a minute." If there was one thing Jim Brass had learned about Sara Sidle in the years she had been in Vegas, it was not to push her to talk. He found that out the day she was popping cough drops at a crime-scene. He used to do that, but for reasons of his own, and those reasons were for drinking. When he asked her about it, she said she had a few beers with breakfast. A few...Brass doubted that. And now it was time to share his wisdom with the younger CSI.

"But...Jim--" Nick started. Brass cut him off.

"Nick...trust me," he said. "Give her a minute."

Nick just sighed, reluctantly nodding. Looking over at the patrol car, Daniel was finally shoved inside and he just laughed, looking over at Nick as the car drove off to the station. "Why...wouldn't she have told me about that..?" he asked, looking over at Brass. "...I thought she trusted me...she trusted me enough to tell me about the physical abuse.."

"...Would you tell someone about that?" Sofia asked, joining the conversation. "I know I wouldn't. She may have told you about the physical abuse, but...even I would have trouble talking about that. This whole thing has been emotionally and physically draining for her, Nick. Everyday she had to worry about the possibility of her brother coming in and pointing a gun at her. And then she had to reveal her dark past, it's hard to do, Nick."

Nick just sighed, loweringh is head. "I...guess you're right," he said. "...I'm going to go see her now," he said, walking into the apartment. "Sar...?" he asked, looking around for her. He didn't see her anywhere, yet. Looking around, he saw her discarded CSI vest on the floor from where they had looked to see how bad her bruise was, but there was no Sara in it. And then Nick heard sobbing from the bedroom.

"Sar...?" he asked quietly, cracking the bedroom door open. The sobbing only seemed to grow louder as he walked into the bedroom. "Sar, where are you?" he asked. And then he determined where the sound was coming from. The closet. Swallowing hard, Nick slowly opened the closet door. "Sar...?" he whispered.

And inside the closet, he found Sara. She was curled up into a tight little ball in the furthest corner of it, knees drawn up to her chest. Tears were streaming down her face, she slowly rocked herself back and forth, her tiny frame racking with each sob that escaped her. In her arms she held a tiny teddy bear, it's sewn mouth dirty and little round button eyes beginning to fade. Whimpering quietly, she shut her eyes tightly, burying her head against the small teddy bear's back.

"I didn't mean to," Sara whispered. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I didn't mean to be bad.."

Nick slowly kneeled down beside her. "Sara..."

"Daddy, please!" Sara whispered, a small squeak to her tone. She curled up even tighter (if that was possible), and shook her head back and forth. "I don't want to..not tonight..." she whispered. "Please...I just..want to sleep..."

Now Nick had tears forming in his eyes. She's terrified of me. This was so painful to watch. Sara, his Sara, was going through an emotional crisis, and he couldn't get through to her. She actually thought that he was her father.

"Sar...it's me, Nick..." Nick tried again. "Look at me..."

Sara slowly raised her head up to look at him.

"That's it..." Nick said. "Look, Sar...look into my eyes, it's me..."

Sara did what he asked, still shaking.

"Sar...calm down, okay..? Take some deep breaths..." He watched as Sara slowly calmed down more and more. "Good..." he told her. "Can I sit with you..?" he asked. Sara nodded slowly and he crawled into the closet, closing the door. "It's dark in here..."

"...It...has to be.." Sara whispered. "Or..he'll...see you..."

"Sar..." Nick said. "I know you're scared...but...your dad isn't here.." He's not even alive. "Okay...?" he asked. "He can't hurt you anymore, Sara...he's never going to hurt you again...I promise..."

Sara looked up at him with red, puffy eyes. Finally breaking down completely, she buried herself in his arms. Nick immediately wrapped his arms around her shoulders tightly and lifted her onto his lap, cradling her in his arms like a small child. He rocked her back and forth as she continued to cry. "Shh..." he told her. "Shh...it's okay, Sara..." Sara slowly calmed down until she fell asleep with the teddy bear from before still wrapped tightly in her arms.

Nick sighed, running a hand through her hair. He could only imagine what she had to go through when she was a child. Nick had gone through something similar, with his babysitter when he was nine-years-old, but he couldn't bare to even try and think about how many years both the physical and sexual abuse went on for Sara.

Looking down at her, Nick reached over and wiped the tears away from her face. Getting comfortable, he slowly sunk further down onto the floor of the empty closet. Resting his head against Sara's, he kissed her forehead and continued to rock her back and forth as she slept.

Brass walked into the bedroom and slowly opened the closet. When Sara whimpered, Nick quickly shook his head and mouthed for him to go. Brass nodded, and after shooting one more concerned look at Sara, closed the closet door until they both were once again engulfed in the darkness.