CHAPTER ONE

Gil Grissom sighed as he searched for Catherine Willows. "Why is it when I need her I can't find her and when I don't she's right there?" He asked himself. He'd even had to the nerve to search the women's bathroom; No luck. Then a light bulb clicked on in his head; Her office! He turned the corner and a smile crossed his face. Catherine, arms folded gingerly under her head, was asleep.

Grissom entered without knocking but paused inside the office. He pondered a moment, thinking of a way to wake her without startling the strawberry-blonde.

He walked over to her desk and gently laid his hand on her arm.

Catherine almost immediately sat up and let out a gasp; This scared Gil so he jerked his hand back and apologized.

"Sorry Cath. I didn't mean to scare you."

Catherine stared at him for a second before replying "You really should wear a bell or something. What's up?"

He smiled at her quick-witted humor but the expression left his face faster than it had gotten there.

"Young teen was raped, called the cops and they called us. She panicked when Nick and Warrick tried to go into to her room so it looks like it's you and Sara."

Catherine's face went pale and Gil wasn't sure if it was from the sound of the crime or hearing she'd be working with Sara.

"Catherine," he started "Be nice."

Catherine let out a small yawn as she replied "Jeez Gil. I am nice to Sara. I don't know why you think I'm not."

She looked towards the door and saw Sara leaning against the frame.

Gil followed her gaze.

Sara flashed him a smile. Catherine looked embarrassed and as Sara noticed this, she said "It's alright Catherine. No hard feelings."

Catherine nodded her thanks as she asked "Shall we?"

After Catherine and Sara had started down the road, Catherine decided to break the silence.

"Sara, I didn't mean anything by that. I'm not mean to you… Am I?"

Catherine glanced at Sara and saw that famous gapped grin followed by "Of course not. Gris gets paranoid. So um… What cases are hard for you to handle?"

Catherine adjusted her seat belt as she replied "Hmm. I guess anything involving children. Why?"

Sara looked out the window.

"Just wondered. I think that's the house."

Sara pointed to the cop car lights as Catherine said "Yeah… Me too."

Catherine parked the Tahoe behind the ambulance and the two women stepped down and went to the back to get their field kits; Catherine didn't think they'd be using them since Nick and Warrick were already here, but you never know. She noticed Sara was breathing harder and asked "You okay?" Sara simply nodded.

Inside the house it looked as if a tornado had struck. Pictures broken, lamps overturned, chairs askew.

Catherine swallowed hard.

An officer approached the two, pointed to a hallway and said "She's down there."

Catherine led the way and as she entered the room, she saw a girl sitting on the edge of her bed.

Sara entered behind her and leaned up against the wall.

Being unaware of the girl's name, Catherine said "Hi sweetheart. My name's Catherine Willows and this" Gesturing to Sara " is Sara Sidle. We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. What's your name?"

The frightened teen looked at Catherine and replied "Jenna."

Catherine nodded and said "Can you tell me what happened tonight?"

She sat on the edge of the bed next to the girl.

Jenna hung her head and whispered "I can't." Catherine understood.

"Jenna, Sara and I are going to help you and find the guy that did this."

Jenna looked at Catherine with tear filled eyes as she "Guys."

Catherine was confused and asked "What?"

Jenna sighed as she started again "Not guy. Guys. There were 6 men here tonight."

Catherine saw a tear escape from Jenna's eye took a deep breath to calm the nauseated feeling.

"Okay. Can you take me through what happened?"

Jenna sighed and Catherine noticed the teen had her left hand pressed against the right side of her chest.

The teen looked at the floor and started.

"I came to my room around midnight. I had just settled in when I heard a noise. I walked to the kitchen because that's where I thought the noise came from but when I didn't see anything, I decided to get a Vanilla Coke. After I stood back up, an arm went around my throat. The person spun me around and I saw five men in Ski Masks. I became very scared and wanted to get away so I kicked the one holding me. He let go for a just a second then grabbed me again. One of the other men was suddenly in front of me and before a I knew it…"

She stopped and started to sob; Catherine looked at Sara who was staring at the floor.

Catherine gently laid her hand on Jenna's shoulder and the girl jumped. "Sorry." Catherine apologized.

Jenna gathered herself and replied "It's okay. I wasn't expecting it to hurt. Let's see. Oh, before I knew it, he was biting my breast. He sunk his teeth in, hard."

She looked down to where her hand was placed; Catherine followed her gaze but quickly looked at the floor and swallowed, trying to fight the urge to get sick.

"What happened next, Jenna?" Catherine asked in a soothing voice.

Jenna resumed looking at the floor and continued. "I yelped in pain and the one that bit me slapped me across the face and told me to be quiet. Then the one with is arm around my neck shoved me to the floor and two men held my arms, two others held my legs while another slid my pants down."

She looked at Catherine and Catherine held out her hand for Jenna to hold.

The teen slowly grasped it and continued. "Then… They raped me. All of them. And I'm sure it was more than 6 times." She was silent after that. Catherine said "All right. Now we need to get you to the hospital."

Jenna asked quietly "Will you come with me?" Catherine nodded and said "If Sara will follow us to the hospital."

Sara nodded yes and Catherine continued. "Okay. Let's get you out to the ambulance."

She instructed Jenna to put her right hand of her wound and put her left arm around Catherine's shoulders.

After that was done, Catherine put arm around the girl's back and gently laid it close to her hip.

"On the count of three, stand up slowly."

Jenna nodded and stood up as she was told.

Catherine watched Jenna rise up, rising up herself so Jenna wouldn't fall, and saw her wince in pain. If Sara hadn't already gone out the out to the car Catherine would have suggested Sara go on Jenna's other side to speed things up so Nick and Warrick could process the scene.

After 15 minutes, Jenna was in the ambulance and Catherine told her she'd be right back. She walked the few feet to the Tahoe where Sara was staring out the windshield. Catherine knocked on the window, startling Sara as she put the window down.

"Hey, you okay?" Catherine inquired.

Sara replied "Yeah. Let's go okay?"

Catherine sighed and returned the ambulance. Before they took off for the hospital, Catherine looked out the back window and her eyes widened at what she saw; Sara, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, was sobbing.