It had been a week since Jim had found Sara in her apartment those few days after her attack. She was looking much better; the majority of her bruises were virtually non-existent; even the ones on her face. The gash above her eye was healing nicely and Sara had removed the sutures. She was now applying massive doses of Neosporin to the area and even though you could clearly tell that something had happened, it looked more like she'd walked into a door than anything else. Her mental state was improving as well. She was still having the nightmares, but as she and Jim had begun to share the same bed, he was right there to soothe her when she would wake screaming.

Since it was late fall and the weather cool, she could get away very well with long sleeves and pants, so as Jim woke in the afternoon of this day, Sara, who had been awake for quite some time, told him that she would be going into work with him that night. Though he didn't like the idea, he had learned early on not to argue with her…..just let her do her thing. When it came time for work, Jim dropped Sara off at the lab and watched as she walked through the double doors and disappeared out of sight. He didn't think she was ready to return to work by any means, but it was just easier to agree with her than it was to fight her, and Jim didn't want to fight her, he wanted to help heal her. If this early return to work was to be part of the healing process then far be it from him to dispute her tenacity.

Walking through the halls of CSI and passing the receptionist's desk, she picked up her many messages and carried on to the locker room where she sat on the bench in front of her locker and just sort stared at it. In her mind she was asking herself if she should have come back so soon, but at the same time she was going stir crazy at Jim's place, which is not to say that she wasn't grateful for the brief holiday and getting to know him better, but if she'd spent one day more at his house watching the History channel or Discovery she'd have gone nuts and most likely have taken it out on him which would have been totally uncalled for. She was thankful, though she wouldn't admit readily, for Jim's care and comfort that past week. What sort of man would give up his free time and then some, take care of an injured colleague, put them up at his place and deal with nightmares, panic attacks and other post traumatic business. Jim was truly an honourable and noble man and she wondered what she'd done in life to deserve such a person in her life. She was never really all that nice to him…..indifferent would be a more accurate descriptor. But now she'd seen him in an all new light. She was beginning to see him for the man he was; gracious, understanding, merciful and most importantly he was there for her, which is more than some others had done.

"I've tried it. It won't open."

Whipping around, she saw Greg in the doorway, smiling as usual. He approached her and sat beside her on the bench.

"Tried what?" she asked

"Mental telepathy; it won't open a locker." He said jokingly

"Oh." She said simply

"I'm glad to have you back, Sar." He said, cautiously placing his open hand on her back and rubbing absentmindedly

Her back still a bit bruised and sore, Sara winced at the light touch but didn't withdraw. She was glad for the sentiment and she'd always like Greg, but not in THAT way. To her, he was more like a younger brother and she loved him as such. They were still seated when Nick and Warrick came in for shift. Seeing she and Greg seated on the bench, they greeted her return and there were hugs all around, that is until Grissom showed up. He was passing by and had heard the voices, so he went in to see what was up. Seeing her and having her every feature memorized, he immediately noticed the wound above her eye, which no one else, out of courtesy, had mentioned. He said nothing of it and just gave an awkward sort of smile.

"Its good to have you back, Sara." He said flatly

He turned on his heel and continued down the hall to his office and his books, bugs and stacks of case files that had yet to be sorted properly. Having seen the pictures of Sara's bruises the previous week, he was both disturbed and relieved; disturbed because of what happened and relieved that she was back, though he'd never say it properly, with emotion. He'd just sit in his office and let his imagination run wild with thoughts of what had happened to his Sara. HIS Sara. How could he think that? She wasn't his, well, not in the sense of relationship, but she was his as a valued team member, so that's how he'd force himself to think of her because he'd never have the balls to ask her out or initiate any sort of contact out of work. He had feelings for her, that he could not deny, but he just didn't believe it would be viable to start something out of work. He remembered how jealous he was when he knew that she was at Jim's, but that she wouldn't see him. He kind of got the feeling that Jim was hiding her from him. He remembered the jealousy he felt whenever he'd think of what she and Brass would be doing at any given moment in the day that past week. Were they cuddled up on the couch watching a film? Was she watching him cook a meal? Were they sleeping together? It was this last thought that drove him nearly insane with jealousy.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Shift was over and as Jim and Sara rode back to his place, Sara, who had been staring blankly out the passenger window suddenly straightened up and gasped. Concerned, Jim asked after the matter.

"What's the matter, Hun?"

"That's him, the guy that attacked me. He's on the corner back there. He's got no hoodie, but I recognize that face anywhere."

Jim pulled to the side of the road at a screeching halt and exited the car, approaching the man who was, at present, crossing the street. Looking up and down the street, the man caught Jim out of the corner of his eye and saw the badge in the outer breast pocket of his suit coat and booked it out of there. Not wanting to leave Sara unattended for too long, Jim returned to the car and once seated he turned to her.

"Can you give a composite?" he asked

After a few moment's hesitation she said that she could. So, turning round', they headed back to the lab and thank God that Nick was still there and they didn't have to deal with day shift personnel. He was at his locker when Jim and Sara found him.

"Nicky, I need a favour." Jim said

"Sure thing, Brass. What?"

"I need you to do a composite for us. Sara saw the guy that attacked her and we need to know what he looks like so we can get the bastard."

"Well, day shift is in now, and the equipment is theirs, but if you two come in early tonight I'll do it then. Are you sure it was him?" he asked Sara

"With my eyes closed." She replied

"Good, but you might want to take a look at these and see if he's here, first."

Walking down the hall and entering the DNA lab, Nick grabbed several folders that were filled with photos of sex offenders. Taking them from Nick, Jim thanked him and he and Sara left the lab.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Sitting in his office and seeing Jim and Sara leaving hand in hand, Grissom's blood began to boil again.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Seated on the couch with the folders in front of them, Jim turned to Sara and took a deep breath.

"So, tell me what this guy looks like so I can help."

Without hesitation, Sra gave the best description she could.

"He's about 6ft, close cropped dark hair, goatee, meek facial features with a very pointed nose and piercing blue eyes. He's also got a tattoo on his left hand of a date. That's all I can give you, but I'll know him when I see him. They sat there for several hours, going through the folders when Sara let out a loud sort of "Eeep!" Leaning over, Jim saw what had her so distressed. He took the folder from her and looked at the picture. The guy's name was Randall Emerich. He had a long history of assaults, theft, fraud and general dastardliness. His current whereabouts were unknown, but at least now they knew who assaulted her and that was one step closer to catching the guy.