A/N: Hey guys! After a lovley holiday in Australia I'm finally back with a new story :-) There are going to be four parts. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Summary: When a group of teenagers are molesting a girl, Sara is at the right place at the right time. Unfortunately for Sara the incident causes trouble for her and Catherine.

Right Place, Right Time

Chapter 1

Sara Sidle was driving through the afternoon heat of Las Vegas, the Mecca of gamblers. She was finally on her way home where her comfortable bed was waiting for her - and for once she was really glad to leave work behind.

She had been working solo at a crime scene, a murder out in the desert. Processing the scene hadn't taken her too long. She had only come up with three bags of evidence. But the case was open and closed anyway. When she had arrived at the scene the shooter was already in police custody and so proud of what he had done that he didn't even think of denying anything.

There were two reasons why it had taken her so long to finally get back home. The first one was her supervisor Gil Grissom. He had given her the assignment just before the end of her regular shift. Always the workaholic she was happy to take it. The second reason - something that Grissom forgot to mention - was that it was a three hour drive to the crime scene.

Being out there in the heat all day had worn her out - enough to just drop the evidence at the lab without processing it. Something she normally never did. But today she didn't trust her herself anymore - and the last thing she wanted was to screw up evidence. So since there was no urgency she decided to process everything during her next shift- tonight. Right now she was only looking forward to her bed. Fifteen more minutes and she would be in the safety of her apartment.

She had just turned around another corner, when her eyes fell on a group of teenagers standing on the sidewalk. Five young men were standing in a circle, obviously watching something inside, something which was blocked from her view at the moment. Out of curiosity Sara slowed down a bit and drove further down the road. When she saw what was happening she stopped her car immediately.

There was a girl inside the circle of bodies and judging by her desperate attempts to break free Sara had the feeling that she wasn't there voluntarily. Without hesitation Sara got out of her car and headed for the teenagers. On her way she tried to assess the situation. She was never a fan of guns, but right now she would have felt a lot better if she still had been carrying hers. From the looks of it, these boys were not impressed by words... She hesitated. What could she do against them?

Suddenly the picture of Greg beaten half to death in that alley popped up in her mind. It was a good example of what teenagers were capable of. She couldn't allow this situation to get out of hand like that. God only knew what they were planning to do to that girl. The thought that she could end up just like Greg never occurred to her when she started moving towards the group again. She had to help the girl.

Sara was almost beside them when the girl started another attempt to break free. Again she had no chance. One of the boys gripped her from behind and held her closely against him, making it almost impossible for her to struggle. The other boys were laughing.

The CSI cursed. She had to do something to stop this. But what? Sure, she was trained in weaponless defence, but would that really help her against five well built wanna-be-gangsters? Maybe she could intimidate them with the right few words ... hopefully

"Hey, what's going on here?!" Sara demanded in a loud voice, still a few feet away from the group. Immediately six heads turned to her. The surprise of the interruption turned to anger in seconds - at least on five faces. Sara had her first chance to take a closer look at the girl. "Shit!" She muttered. This wasn't just any girl - this was Lindsey Willows, daughter of her co-worker Catherine. That made things a lot more delicate. She locked eyes with Lindsey and it was obvious that the little blonde also recognized her. For a short moment there was a smile of relief on Lindsey's face, but it vanished when the boy who held her tightened his grip.

One of the boys finally voiced his complaint about Sara's interruption. In a tone which was probably supposed to sound scary he demanded. "What the hell do you want?" It was the guy who held Lindsey, he was, from the looks of it, the 'leader'.

Sara put on her poker face which was normally reserved for interrogations. She knew that the last thing she should do right now was show any kind of weakness or fear. This was going to be a battle of wits. She straightened up, her voice clear and hard as she spoke. "How about to inform you that this..." She gestured to Lindsey. "...is no way to treat a lady."

Another guy replied. "I don't think that's any of your business." He grinned at her and then added. "Don't worry! We are all just fine here."

Sara raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Really? Because I think you need to learn what 'no' means." She took another step towards the group.

The boy who held Lindsey automatically took a step back, pulling the girl with him. "We are fine here, Lady. Don't stick your nose in things which aren't your business. Or..." He trailed off in order to sound more threatening. His eyes were boring into Sara, but the brunette had no intention of backing off. Even if he tried to sound scary, he didn't quite succeed. So instead of leaving she took another step towards them.

"Or what?" She glared at the guy holding Lindsey. Then she averted her eyes to the girl. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Lindsey nodded shakily and tried to take a step in Sara's direction. The fear was evident in her eyes. Unfortunately her captor wasn't giving up that easily. He grabbed her arm and yanked her back violently. The girl let out a shriek. The boy glared at Sara. "She's here because she wants to be here. Isn't that right, Linds?" Lindsey was shaking with fear by now.

Sara was fuming. That damn little bastard! He was going to pay for this. Throwing all her caution out of the window she launched forward, ready to shake some sense into the boy. Unfortunately one of his friends was faster. Before she knew it all the air had left her lungs and she had come to an abrupt stop when a fist connected with her stomach. Sara groaned.

Then she heard Lindsey scream. Suddenly her survival instincts and her self defence training kicked in. In a matter of seconds, while the boys were still laughing, her knee was in her attacker's groin. She put all her strength in the kick and it had the desire effect. The boy went down on his knees, moaning in pain. One down - four left. Maybe luck would be on her side.

The laughing had stopped. Sara wondered briefly what Grissom would say about this. She could practically hear his lecture. But this was pure self defence - there was nothing he could do about it – at least not in the form of disciplinary action.

Suddenly Sara ran out of luck. The next punch came fast and left her no chance to avoid it. The fist hit her square across the face. The dizziness set in immediately and she lost her balance, falling to the ground hard. She heard Lindsey scream again, but it seemed to be from far away.

Sara clenched her teeth. She had to get up again - for Lindsey! She shook her head to get rid off the dizziness. From the corner of her eye she saw the one teenager she had kicked still on the ground. But she also saw one of the others moving towards her. As fast as she could she crawled to the wall and leaned against it - one less side of her body that could be hit. But there were still too many left...

She lifted her hands up to her face to protect her head from the next blow. Strangely the blow didn't come. She looked up to see that the boys had stopped moving and where listening to something. But to what? Then she heard it too. In the distance the way too familiar sound of the police siren could be heard. The chances that the car would drive down this road were very small, but maybe she could trick them. It was her only choice.

"Finally." Sara said. "About time they showed up." The teenagers looked at her. She let out a dry laugh. "Do you really think I would be stupid enough to confront you without back up?" Satisfied she watched them become worried. "I'll make sure you get the right treatment, while in custody. You know cops, they are never happy if one of their own is attacked..." The brunette let her words sink in. The sirens were now a lot closer. The boys looked at her shocked.

After a few more seconds in which Sara silently prayed that they would take the bait one of the teenagers came finally back to his senses. "Fuck! She's a cop. We are so screwed!" Then another one spoke up. "Let's get the hell out of here! NOW!" They all agreed on that statement. The boy who had gripped Lindsey let go of her and they all started to run like mad to a nearby alley, where they finally vanished.

"Thank God." Sara said, still sitting on the ground with her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. That was close. The sirens were still getting closer. Tonight she would find out who the drivers of that patrol car were and personally thank them. Sobbing beside her made her finally open her eyes again. She carefully turned her head. Right beside her sat Lindsey Willows, her knees drawn up to her chest, arms tightly hugged around herself, crying. Sara's heart broke at the sight. "Linds?" The girl didn't look up.

Great, Sara thought. What was she supposed to do now? She had no idea how to take care of a child - especially not when the child was crying and scared. She sighed. Stop being shy and comfort the poor girl, Sara told herself. She wanted to put an arm around Lindsey shoulders and sat up straighter. Immediately pain shot through her body and her head started to throb. That wasn't good ... Carefully she examined her face. At least there seemed to be nothing broken. But she could already feel her left eye swelling and there was blood, probably from her nose. She tried to ignore the pain and concentrate on Lindsey instead.

She gritted her teeth and put an arm around the girl's shoulders. When she didn't meet any resistance she pulled her closer to her. Before Sara knew it she had a teenager clinging to her, sobbing hard. Soon she could feel the tears through her shirt. The brunette sighed. She felt so helpless. She tightened her hold around Lindsey and used her other hand to stroke the girl's hair. "It's over Lindsey. It's over. They are gone. You're safe now." She kept doing that for a few minutes, occasionally glancing at the alley where those bullies had vanished. The last thing she needed was them coming back and realizing that there were no police here at all.

After a little while Lindsey had calmed down. Her sobs were now just sniffles. The girl carefully freed herself from Sara's embrace, yet not completely breaking the connection. She was looking at the dirty ground in front of her when she finally spoke. "Thanks."

Sara smiled. "You're welcome." She gave Lindsey's hand a soft squeeze, which caused the girl to look up to her saviour. The blonde girl tried to smile, but the smile immediately faded when she saw Sara's face. "Oh God, you need a doctor." She carefully touched the side of Sara's face, new tears forming in her eyes. Sara smiled at her reassuringly and shook her head. "Don't worry, Linds. I've been hit harder in my life. I'm going to be fine. It's nothing serious." Ignoring the throbbing pain in her cheek she tried to give the girl another smile. She could only hope that it looked more convincing than it felt. To her relief it did, because after a few seconds Lindsey smiled back at her.

"I guess we should get up..." With that Sara tried to get back on her feet - not very successfully. She still felt a bit dizzy and her stomach hurt. She could practically feel the bruises forming. Before she lost her balance again Lindsey was up and helped her stand. "You sure you're okay?" The blonde asked concerned.

Sara nodded slowly. "I'll be fine. I just need a moment." She took a few deep breaths to clear her head. After a few more seconds she nodded to Lindsey. "Let's go to my car before those bastards come back." The blonde eagerly agreed to the suggestion. They walked back to Sara's car and got inside.

Sara started to rummage through the glove department, looking for her cell phone, when Lindsey spoke up. "That police car wasn't coming to save us, was it?"

"Nope, but it had the right timing."

Lindsey nodded, obviously still a bit shaken by the latest events.

"Here we go." Sara had finally found her cell phone and held it up triumphantly. "But now we're gonna call them. I don't want those jerks to get away with it." She was about to dial when Lindsey snatched the phone from her hand. "No, you can't call the police!" Sara looked at her puzzled. What was going on now? "Lindsey?"

The blonde was busy stuffing Sara's cell phone back in the glove compartment of the car. When she was satisfied that it was well out of reach from the woman beside her she turned. "I ... I ... I think they are not worth the trouble. And all that paper work mum is always complaining about..."

Sara raised an eyebrow. Paperwork? Lindsey was worried about paperwork? She might have just gotten a blow to the head, but she was not confused enough to believe that lie. Sara knew from her daily work that a lot of victims reacted like that. They were scared, scared that the culprits would take vengeance later. "Look, Lindsey, I know that you are scared, but that has to be done. They were about to hurt you and they definitely hurt me. That's a crime Lindsey, and they deserve to be punished for it."

Again Lindsey shook vehemently her head. "No! Trust me! They ... they are not worth calling the police. You scared them. They think you are a cop. They won't bother you or me again."

Sara studied her for a moment. The blonde girl was scared - that much was clear. So what was she supposed to do now? The CSI in her screamed loudly to call the police. It was her responsibility. Catherine would do God knows what with her when she found out that she had let her daughter's attackers walk free - especially after what had happened after Eddie's death.

But the puppy dog eyes with which Lindsey looked at her made her hesitate. Maybe there was another way... After a few seconds, Sara had an idea. It would probably get her into trouble, but she guessed this was not her decision to make. Lindsey was Catherine's daughter. That meant she should decide whether to press charges or not. But the brunette had the feeling that the girl wouldn't be too thrilled about this option either.

"Alright, but if we don't call the police, we have to go straight to your mother."

If possible Lindsey looked even more scared now. "No! No, Sara! We can't do that. She will kill me!!!!"

Sara shook her head. "No, Linds. She won't. She will hug you and kiss you and thank God that you are okay." Then she added with a small smile. "The only ones she would want to kill are those boys." And maybe me for not calling the police right away, Sara added as an afterthought.

When Lindsey continued shaking her head no Sara sighed. "Okay, listen, Lindsey. I don't know why you are so scared of your mum, but you have two options. The first one is I take you home and you tell your mum what has happened and try to convince her not to go to the police. The second one is that we call the police right now. Since you are a minor they will call your mum. As you see, Catherine will get involved in this anyway. And you are not going to talk me out of this, so make your choice." Sara knew that she was hard on the girl, but there was no way she would take the blame for yet another crime committed against the Willows family where the culprit would walk free.

Lindsey glared at her, not happy about the two options she had been given. When Sara simply returned her glare, she knew she had lost. She sighed dramatically. "Fine. Then we go to mum..."

Sara nodded, pleased with the answer.

"But can we grab a coke before we go home? Maybe at the park?" Lindsey put on her best pleading face.

Sara eyed her carefully. Was she still shaken from the incident and wanted to get herself back together or did she just want to postpone the inevitable? Finally she shrugged. To be honest she wasn't that keen on seeing Catherine herself, but she knew it was the right thing to do - and Catherine Willows being mad at her wasn't really something new either. "Fine. The park it is." With that she started the car.

A/N: Any comments????