DISCLAIMER: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and other related entities are owned, trademarked, and copyrighted by Anthony E. Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, CBS Worldwide Inc., Alliance Atlantis Corporation, CSI Productions and CBS Productions. This is fanfiction and is written purely for the fun and enjoyment of the fans without profits being made what so ever.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This idea came after watching "You've Got Male" and the phone call Sara made asking the other person on the other end of the line if they wanted to do something. I came up with the someone. I also thought of the hell Catherine was going through in "Outside the Box" about what a lousy way it was to find out Sam Braun was her father.
SPOILERS: Season Two, most specifically "You've Got Male"
ARCHIVE: Only with the permission of the author.

6 Degrees
By Elizabeth Carter

Chapter 1

Sara's face paled slightly at the sight of the fridge plastered with take-out menus. Her eyes darkened but otherwise the expression she carried was almost unreadable. The den had a universal remote. Like Grisom said Donna Marks could do everything with it except cook a roast.

'Well we know she cooks like I do. Take-out on speed dial.' It was meant as a joke. The sort of joke one flings as a defiance mechanism. Dry, flat and a bit defensive. Her hands had filtered through a stack of periodicals on the desk. 'Pottery Barn, Lillian Vernon, Magnolia, Yaffa Pen....She's a catalog junkie.' Sara's deep eyes flittered with something that had hit far too close to home. 'We're on the same mailing lists.' her full lips pulled back into a thin smile, one reserved for her discomfort. Once more a defense mechanism. One she had learned a very long time ago.

Grisom thought Donna Marks might be a agoraphobic or she didn't like people.

'Ah that's you talking.' Sara was still smiling that small smile, of course it described both she and Gil Grisom, not into people. Both of them failed miserably in that area. Donna Marks was far far too close to home. No social life, no true friends, not even a cat. She ordered from catalogs to have something to look forward to. Work was all she had, work was all she was good at. What she excelled at.

Sara sucked in a breath of air, wondering just when it was when she had stopped thinking of Donna and had merged into thoughts of herself.

Of course Nick's comment to Sara when she had tried to possess the radiator cap for prints, about getting out more hit her below the belt and added salt to the wound. Her face lost the smile about smudge city and became darkened and grim. 'Get out more.' Like she needed to be told she had no life.

Coming home, Sara went in action without a second thought, opening the fridge holding Aquafina bottled water, Tropicana Orange juice amongst several other juices, Heineken beer, condiments and copious amounts of take out cartons. She grabbed the trash can from under the sink dumped all the cartons into the bin along with the various menus held on by magnets on the surface of the chrome finished refrigerator.

Her next stop was the Pottery Barn desk in the den / dinning room of her apartment and picked up the wire trash can and scooped up the stack of several catalogs she had. Sara wasn't kidding when she had said she was on the same mailing lists as Donna Marks. She had every single catalogs Miss Marks had.

Looking at the black phone on the desk it revealed something she wasn't surprised at. No new messages. Her friends she had made here in Vegas as they had in California had stopped calling after so many refusals to go out. They got the hint, Sidle didn't go anywhere, do anything that hadn't involved work. So they backed off and at some point stopped calling, giving Sara what they believed she wanted, her privacy.

Taking the receiver off the cradle she moved back to the bar that separate the common area of her flat and her kitchen, sighed heavily and dialed a number. After the forth ring, the receiver on the other end of the line picked up.

"Hi, it's Sara."

"Sara!?" a young woman's voice called out.

"I was wondering...um If you wanted to go out. Do something?" Her voice betraying her hesitance that her friend would comply.

"Sidle you want to go out?" The woman's voice was astonished.

"Yeah..um..if you're busy Lindy its okay..."

"Hell no. You know I make the time for you babe, anytime. What and where?"

Sara shrugged it'd been a while since she was about town. She would at times go to the movies by herself, but that was the extent of her 'getting out' more. "I just want to get out, do something."

"Pool?" Lindy suggested.

"Sure that sounds okay."

"We can do something else, something a little more...exciting."

"Linds I know you do exciting almost every night, pool is a little laid back, but is sounds good, we can always do something else after that." Sara said.

Lindy McBride was a member of a theater troupe of actors that played the Pirates of the Carribean which was a show at Treasure Island. It was rather like Mediaeval Times, that played in the Excaliber, and Arabian Knights, themed restaurants. The Pirates would have mock cannon battles on their ships, sword fights and fourteenth century music and dance. It was physically demanding upon all the actors as they had to perform their own stunts and acrobatics as well as act out an improvisional play. It was as much fun for the audience as it was for the troupes.

"Great, okay. Want me to pop over or meet?" Lindy asked

Sara looked around her emphatically clean apartment and thought once more of Donna Marks, the only person she had truly invited into her house was an ex-con. Sara wasn't going to be labeled a shut-in. "Yeah, bring the bike,."

"You got it. Hey any chance to have SOS ride bitch, I'll take it." There was a smile in Lindy's voice. "Be there in a short."

Sara chuckled at the nickname her friend had given her. It was given to her when Sara was seven years old by Lindy. Sara Ophelia Sidle....SOS. Lindy didn't have a middle name so she was simply Linds, also given to her when she was seven by Sara. Of course only Lindy was allowed to call Sara, SOS and everyone called Lindy, Linds.

Sara looked at the clock on the stove, its green digital read out proclaiming it ten in the morning. Being Los Vegas there would be a host of places open, Vegas like New York was a city that never slept. Especially in the strip. Lindy would be at the apartment shortly just as the actress had proclaimed.

'Of course Lindy's shortly is everyone elses hours.' Sara smiled rueful thinking of an old joke. There was Eastern Standard, Central, Mountain, and Pacific Standard time zones and then there was Lindy's Time. The energetic girl had often quoted well she paraphrased Gandolf the Grey from her favorite series of books the Lord of the Rings. ' A girl is never late, never early she arrives precisely when she means to.' Lindy hadn't changed since high school. The only thing Lindy McBride was ever prompt for was her ques on stage, anything else was a free for all.

Sara thought she would have just enough time to hop into the shower, get dressed and have a lite meal. Of course it dawned on her she had thrown out most of the food in the refrigerator so she would have to have Lindy stop at a diner or something. It was a rare occasion but Sara Sidle was decisively hungry and not, mind you, for Chinese.

True to form, it was about an hour and a half before Sara heard the distinctive roar of a Harley Davidson. Sara moved to the small balcony off her common room to overlook the street below. She saw the small blonde dismount the Custom Sportster with the pride every biker has when they own a Harley. The Evolution V-twin 74 cu beast was Lindy's baby. Granted her baby weighed nearly as much as Lindy. An Eighty pound bike for someone who weighed only 100 was a head turner, still Linds could handle her bike with the best of them.

'She should be able to handle them, parents were bikers, she grew up amongst them. Bikers and Hippies, who would have known their kids would be close as sisters.' Sara Mused to herself.

'Hey SOS, you up this morning or snoring?" came Lindy's voice just before she knocked.

Sara opened the door flashing one of her most brilliant grins and wrapped her friend in her arms in a monumental bear hug.

'Loves ya too Sar, but oxygen quickly becoming an issue."

Sara chuckled and loosened her grip. "Good to see you." She turned to look at her hardwood floors. "Been a while."

"You've been busy, I know." Lindy said in her easy going manner, she was never one to hold a grudge. "You gotta catch the bad guys."

"I am a scientist Linds, I collect evidence, I don't arrest anyone."

"Yeah but without you, those bad guys would slip from the badges, so YOU my dear catch the bad guys. Well at least make it possible." another Cheshire smile. "A lot of stuff you do is way over my head."

Lindy was no more than five foot two, with a mane of golden-crimson curls that were currently held back in a thick braid down the center of her back. She had sparkling blue eyes that matched her Cheshire grins. She wasn't overly beautiful, but had a soft quaint prettiness to her. Her form was, as she mocked, that of a twelve year old boy. While lithe and petite, Nature hadn't graced her with much in the form of breasts, though she was far from flat chested. She was perfectly formed for the occupation of acrobat or a gymnast. And given her occupation of theatrics her small body suited her well. Of course Sara's long lanky body towered over the smaller woman, and Lindy had once stated it was like comparing a Shetland Pony to an Arabian. Sara would only smirk. Lindy had a way to always making Sara feel like she was, for once, was the pretty one, something that was very rare in her eyes.

"Thanks." Sara said finally. She never knew how to take a complement.

"So decided what you want to do, SOS?"

"Actually I am starved, there is a diner not far from here that I enjoy."

"Cool, lets hit it. Then I am going to kick your ass at pool."

Sara chuckled. "Maybe, but I do have physics on my side."

Lindy snapped her fingers feigning a frown. "Oh damn, that's right. It's okay I am a Pirate Queen, I'll cheat." She winked with a Cheshire grin. "I'll still kick your ass."

Sara chuckled at the good nature of her friend, feeling better from the day already. 'See Nick...I get out, do things.'


Lindsey Willows was looking out the great bay window of TGIF watching the flow of traffic as she waited for her meal to arrive. She was feeling rather proud of herself as she had talked her mother into going to one of her all time favorite restaurants. Like all children she liked MacDonald's and Taco Bell, and of course Chuck E Cheese pizza, but she loved TGIF. All the 'neat stuff' on the wall and the friendly nature of the waiting staff in the seven year old's book was coolness.

Catherine had to admit she enjoyed the 'loudness' of the walls of the restaurant, it helped take her mind off of work as she tried to mentally catalog everything on the walls. Of course she would find something she hadn't on the prior visits but following the evidence the object that had drawing her attention wasn't a new addition but had been there for sometime.

"Hey Mommy, look that bike it tight."

Catherine smirked as only as a mother could. "Tight?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "Yeah...tight as in cool."

Catherine's blue eyes sparked "Ah, right. Gottch'cha...tight. New word of the month."

"That and wicked." Lindsey shrugged as if her mother should already know this information. "Mom...no one says groovy like on 'That's Seventy's Show' anymore. That's like way way old stuff."

"Watch it Kido." Catherine ruffled her child's golden locks, for which she was awarded a scowl from said child.

Lindsey was attempting to straighten up her hair when her eyes looked back out the window to watch the riders get off the Harley. "Whoa! Mommy, Sara rides a motorcycle!"

Catherine snapped her head around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Whoa is right."

"You didn't tell me Sara rides, Mom," Lindsey admonished.

"I didn't know. Sara is a very private person." Catherine couldn't help but stare as Sara Sidle moved into the restaurant. More to the point Catherine couldn't take her eyes off of the tight leather britches adorning the brunette's lithe form. The white silk shirt only added to the beauty of the young CSI.

"She's pretty, dressed up like that." Lindsey stated with the honesty of a child.

"Yes she is." Catherine willingly admitted.

"Mommy can I go say hi? Please?"

"Oh she's with a friend, she may not want to be bothered." Catherine said. Her own blue eyes were studying the smaller, seemingly younger, blonde trying to keep up with Sara's longer strides. Willows couldn't help but wonder who this tag-a-long woman was, by the gestures it appeared they were very friendly. Catherine found her jaw sore and wondered why until she realized she had locked it shut and ground her teeth. 'Why should I care if Sara is with that woman?'

"Sara won't mind Mom. She's tight." Lindsey's little voice rocked Catherine from her pondering.

"She is in those pants." Catherine said aloud then winced realizing she had actually vocalized her mind's appreciation. 'Please god don't let Linds repeat that...'

"I guess you can say hi, but I want you to come right back here," there was a sharp sternness to Catherine's voice that brooked no room for disobedience.

"Cool, thanks Mommy!" with that Lindsey darted off her chair making a b-line for Sara who was just coming in the door, carrying a borrowed black full face helmet.

Catherine had to chuckle as Sara was nearly knocked off her feet by a seven-year old bundle of energy screaming out her name repeatedly. What brought a further, deeper smile to the blonde's face was that Sara's face had lit up brilliantly as she gave Lindsey a hug. Granted it was a little awkward but none the less it was warming to see.

"Hey there, Squirt what you doing here?" Sara knelt down eye level to Lindsey.

"Mom and I are sharing brunch. I don't have school today because it's conference days. Mommy already met with Miss Fox this morning, so the rest of the day is ours to play."

"That's great, you get to share your whole day with your mom." Sara commented, knowing just how much Catherine coveted her time with her daughter.

"Yeah we are going to go to Sweet Creatures after we eat. Mommy says we can make our own teddy bears and stuff there. It's going to be so wicked."

"Yeah I bet." Sara smirked and winked, before she lifted her gaze to see her co-worker looking at her and Lindsey. Sidle waved her hand in acknowledgement then returned her attention to the tiny blonde before her. "Say we better get you back to your mom, I think your food just came."

Without further-a-do, Lindsey grabbed Sara's hand and all but dragged the thin woman behind her.

Lindy let out a laugh in witnessing her friend interact with the girl. Sara was always nervous around little ones, and for some reason she couldn't fathom why kids flocked to her, which made the brunette all the more nervous around children. "Got an admirer there SOS."

Lindsey frowned at hearing the strange woman's voice. She had practically forgotten about Sara's friend. "Her NAME is Sara. Not SOS." the child said defensively as the trio neared the Willows' table.

Sara flushed when she saw the very curious look in her co-worker's eyes. It was an expression Catherine often sported at work that stated she would get to the bottom of a puzzle. Catherine absolutely loved puzzles, which was why she had joined CSI and became a criminologist in the first place. This SOS business just begged for her attention.

"Hey, Sara." Catherine stood up. "I hope Lindsey didn't bother you, but she saw you and your friend come in and she had to say hello."

Sara shrugged, "No problem at all." she ruffled the child's golden hair thinking just how beautiful the little girl was. 'Just like her mother.'

"Geez why do all grown ups do that!?" Lindsey huffed, once more forced to straighten out her hair. Lindsey turned to the other woman. "Who are you?"

"Oh, um this is Lindy, she's a friend." Sara indicated the smaller woman. "Linds.."

Both Lindy and Lindsey looked up and in unison answered "Yes?"

Four heads looked at one another, three chuckled, Sara merely smiled.

"Hey great nickname," Lindy winked to the girl who nodded.

"I didn't think anyone had the same nickname as me." the seven year old stated.

"I think we are the only two." Lindy said. Blue eyes lifted to meet the mother's gaze. "So if that's Lindsey you must be Catherine."

The older woman cast a glance to Sara, who only shrugged a little.

"Sara spoke of me eh?" Catherine pinned her young co-worker with a near withering stare.

"Said you're one hel...er... one heck of a CSI. You have a mind like a steel trap. And she's right you are beautiful."

Sara thought that any moment would be a good moment for Grissom to call her in to work overtime, or an earthquake. A tornado would do, even a spontaneous hole crashing under her feet would be great.

"Mom likes your pants Sara." Lindsey blurted out.

Well how about a hole for two? A Hurricane maybe. A call from the lab about a 419 at one of the cassinos? Anything to distract the attention now being shown. Lindy of course thought it hilarious that both ladies turned a particular shade of red.

"Excuse me, your table is ready, unless you would like to join your friends." a waitress came up.

Well it wasn't a natural disaster but neither Sara nor Catherine were particular in how distraction was being delivered.

"Yeah. Sara you and Linds join us. It's okay, right Mommy? Right?"

Catherine shrugged. "If they want but I don't want to take Sara's time away from her."

Sidle knew a diplomatic 'I'd rather only eat with my daughter' dismissal of company when she heard it. She was about to excuse herself and Lindy when she felt a tug on her arm.

"Sit next to me Sara." Lindsey pleaded.

"I think your mom wants a special Lindsey day, Little One, maybe another time?" Sara tried to back out.

The barb of Catherine's comment about Lindsey's birthday was still very sharp in her side. 'I guess when the spirit moves you Sara. Which in your case will be never.'

"Please Mom? Come on Sara you sit right here." Lindsey was defiantly not going to take no for an answer. She scooted her little body near the window giving Sara more room in the booth.

"Sara, sit." Catherine smiled warmly.

"Are you sure?" Sara wasn't going to press her luck with Catherine. For so long she had desired to become close to the older woman, but she was terrified of further rejection. Apparently Catherine caught the pained expression in the soulful dark eyes and the warmth of her own smile increased.

"You want to look into those baby blues and say no?" Catherine gestured to her daughter, but Sara's eyes never wavered form Catherine's own cerulean orbs. "No, I don't think I could."

"So....er... you want the inside or outside?" Lindy broke the heated moment.

Catherine turned to the smaller blonde and caught herself wondering just what was the relationship between the two ladies. Of course Lindy was pondering that very same question.

"Outside." Catherine said too quickly.

"Not a prob, scootch out and I'll squeeze in."

Meals were ordered with Sara ordering a Portobelo mushroom, humus and alpha sprout wrap as her companion ordered stake kebabs. Catherine was digging into a Jack-Daniels grilled chicken and Lindsey was nearly finished with her own fish sticks and was happy munching on the fries.

Talk merged from Lindsey's stint as a dwarf in Snow White and her near guarantee to be Sleeping Beauty in next year's school play to Lindy's own occupation as an actress.

"I don't know if I am a true actress in the strictest form of the word. I just role-play really. Ren-fairs, once upon a time Disneyland and now this gig. It's a long way from Shakespear or Broadway even. But it's a lot of fun." The small blonde commented.

"You used to work with Micky Mouse!" Lindsey yelped excitedly.

"Sure did." Lindy smiled, "But hey I can't live off of cheese so I had to find a better job."

"Micky didn't really pay you in cheese." Lindsey challenged, crossing her arms in such a Catherine like manner that Sara nearly choked on her soda as she witnessed it.

"Oh sure he did. Roffered was the worst." Lindy held her nose. "Pee-u,"

Lindsey wasn't fooled. "Then how did you pay taxes?"

"Oh you are a smart one." Lindy shook her head wondering why a seven year old would know about dreaded taxes.

"Of course she is she's Cath's daughter." Sara said so automatically that it stunned herself and Catherine.

"Thanks." Catherine smiled. "She is pretty smart. So Lindy what did you do for the Mouse?"

"Played a few roles...er... Fuzzies mostly." Lindy said popping a breaded mushroom off of Sara's plate into her mouth.

Catherine carefully hid the soldering sapphire blaze in her eyes. 'Why in the hell do I care if Sara allows this twig-girl to eat off her plate?'

"What's a Fuzzy?" Lindsey asked

"Um....lets just say I knew Chip and Dale, several of the other rodents and Pinocco very well, the inside out to sorta' speak." The other adults caught on to the fact that given Lindy's stature she could easily play many of Disney's costumed fuzzy characters. The three ladies of course didn't want to dispel Lindsey's wonder of the richest mouse in history was nothing more than someone in a costume.

"That's pretty tight." Lindsey smiled. "Now you get to be a captain?"

"Pirates of the Caribbean, yep. I was always a Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton fan, thought it was cool how those little guys bounced around doing their own stunts. Danny Kay would do the oddest things in such a comical way as well. Johnny Depp isn't too bad either come to think of it. So I and the troupe implement their antics into the show, kids and adults love it."

"I took Lindsey to see that when she was three. Well actually my sister took us but it was good. Were you in it then?" Catherine asked. "It would have been in 95."

"Um yeah I was recruited from...when.... I was dancing....to play the part. Well not captain not at first. I worked my way up from 'seadog' now I am one of the six captains to play the show."

Catherine had an idea the way Lindy stumbled over the word dance that it had nothing to do with ballet or theater, more along the line of her old stint as an exotic dancer. The fact Lindy eluded to being a stripper wasn't an issue for Catherine, more along the lines that in 95, the smaller blonde could not have been more than a teenager. That wouldn't stop a lot of people from hiring a girl that age. Hell Sam Braun would have hired a 'sweet young thing' to dance in one of his clubs. He was close to Catherine's own mother forever and a day, and it hadn't stopped him from hiring Catherine to strip. Los Vegas wasn't dubbed the City of Sin for nothing.

"Seadog...is that like a sealion or seahorse?" Lindsey asked.

"I think it means she was a crewman on a boat," Catherine answered and smiled when she saw the actress nod.

Lindy arched her back in the booth to reach into her front pants pocket and withdrew a silver coin about the size of a silver dollar but twice as thick. She flipped onto the back of her knuckles and started to shift it back and forth using her knuckles to flip the coin. She did this a few times before she brought the coin back between her thumb and index finger and handed it to Lindsey.

"From one Linds to another."

"OHHH that was so wicked! How did you do that?" Lindsey all but shouted.

"I am impressed." Catherine said

"So am I." Sara said softly, thinking just how dexterous those hands could be employed in other activities.

"A few of the players are jugglers, they showed me how to do this as a warm up exercise. Keeps the fingers dexterous and hand-eye coordination on the mark. I am just learning how to juggle more than two balls so I am not all that good. The coin trick helps hand articulation with sword duels and little tricks."

"Mom look, there's a pirate ship on one side and ......pirates on the other side." Lindsey held up the coin to her mother for inspection.

Catherine took it and noticed it was the sort of novelty coin found in gift shops. "That's pretty neat Linds, what do you say?"

Huge blue eyes took in the small blonde sitting across from her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome sweety." Lindy said.

"You're pretty good with kids," Catherine complemented.

"Working with the Mouse, Renaissance Fairs and now with the Pirates, kids are pretty easy to get along with. Don't have any of my own." Lindy chuckled, "I like to give them back. Like Sara I'm not mom material. We're good with em but.....well speaking for myself I don't think I could handle it. I look up to anyone who can."

Catherine looked to Sara for a moment and saw the same admiration reflecting in the brown pools as were in the small blonde's. "Thanks."

The meal was nearing completion and both parties had somewhere else to go. A pool table and teddy bear awaited. The group paid their perspective bills and started to part ways in the parking lot. Lindsey surprised both Sara and Catherine yet again with giving Sara a miniature bear hug.

"Bye Sara, see you later."

"Sure things Linds." Sara returned the embrace. "Have fun with your mom today,"

Lindsey smiled warmly, "I will. And thanks for the coin Linds it's so cool."

"You're welcome," Lindy ruffled the blonde hair gaining her a scowl.

"See you are work," was Sara's farewell to Catherine.

"Yeah, later." the older woman thought for a moment, "Sara, it's good to see you out and about, and not knowing your at home listening to your police scanner." Her words were filled with sincerity, but they still managed to make the brunette find a ghost frown, that disappeared when she felt Lindy's hand upon her back pushing her to the Harley.


Sara was losing miserably at pool, thanks to Lindy. She was a vision to behold today. She was dressed for seduction without being blatantly obvious. Tight jeans that would make a woman cry, a very form fitting long-sleeved blouse with ruffled cuffs and a low cut neck. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was made of blue silk. Sara had no doubt as to why she was losing. She knew exactly why. Lindy was a force of sensuality to be reckoned with. She knew she had a power over Sara, and reveled in it. Lindy loved nothing more than to tempt and tease the athletically muscled body of Sara.

"Sooooooo, what's up with that cute blonde." Lindy asked draining her Heineken, waiting for Sara to take her shot.

"What do you mean?" Sara wanted this conversation to be over, before it had begun.

"Oh come on, Sar. I can read you. Your eyes... it's like they have a voice of their own." Her voice got small and quiet. "They say things, when you talk...and they speak volumes when you're silent...And they practically scream when you look to your Catherine."

"She isn't my Catherine, she's my co-worker." Sara ground out

"If you say so,"

"Yeah I say so. We going to play pool or chat?"

."Your shot, SOS," she called across the table. The golden maned actress slid to the other side of the table, lining up a perfect bank shot. She knew the easily made shot was doomed as Lindy leaned over in front of the line of fire, her breasts pressing against the silky fabric. "Are you going for the bank shot?" she added, with that voice disguised in mock innocence.

Sara's concentration was gone. Needless to say, she missed the shot. Dammit. She always did that. She sighed. "Lindy, it's your shot," Sara's voice came in a low, soft tone. She saw the woman's azure eyes flash as she walked over to her, pulling back the long sleeves of her blouse. She ran her long, delicate fingers down Sara's arm and across her own fingers as she took the pool cue.

The tiny woman took a sip of her beer and examined the table. She really had no shot to make. Everything was blocked. 'Story of my life,' she thought. 'Hmmn. I'm going to make this worth not having a shot, ' she thought to herself. Lindy looked over at Sara, who was studying the pool table, lost in thought. 'Obviously she must be lining up her next three shots, damn how in the hell can she do that?' mused Lindy. Suddenly she was hit by a wonderfully sinful idea. She walked around the table in her prey's line of sight. As Sara looked up and caught Lindy's gaze, her own chocolate eyes locked with the other woman's blue ones. In Lindy's minds eye she fantasized briefly about what it was like to kiss her...causing her eyes to absolutely smolder with desire. Sara shifted under the gaze, but tried desperately to concentrate on the pool table.... The small actress slowly pushed her long flowing hair over her shoulder as she leaned a bit too far over to line up her shot. Her porcelain skin contrasted sharply with the midnight blue silken fabric, as she shot another smoky look at Sara, biting her lip. Lindy smiled as she watched Sara's concentration shatter into a thousand fragments like breaking glass...

Sara's thoughts came to a grinding halt as she caught the sultry sight of Lindy leaning into her shot, her eyes burning on the young woman's own. The woman with hair of gold broke the look and took her shot. The CSI's mind shot into first gear, blinking the previous vision of loveliness out of her mind. The jammed cogs in her mind started to turn. Then it dawned on her as she had a flash of the ball position on the pool table in her mind. A twinkle was borne in her eye, putting two and two together. Lindy didn't have a shot. Therefore, if she distracted Sara, she couldn't make her shot. Crafty. How did that saying go? Turn about was fair play.

Lindy's early comment rang hard in Sara's mind that she loved her eyes. 'Your eyes... it's like they have a voice of their own. They say things, when you talk...and they speak volumes when you're silent...'

'Let's see if my eyes do speak volumes...when I don't.' Observing the pool table, she grinned broadly. She had three shots at her disposal. Should her little plan work, she'd fix Lindy's little red wagon. The tall brunette mentally mapped out her shots like a geometry puzzle. Sara had been teased, tempted and tormented by the seductive Lindy for the past three hours. And it didn't help that she kept thinking of Catherine.

The tall brunette leaned over and sighted her first shot down the barrel of the pool stick. As if taking a cue off of a card, Lindy nonchalantly walked over into Sara's line of vision. As the golden haired temptress stood before her, Sara allowed all the days of ache and desire for another golden woman to swirl together in a smoky twister. It condensed into a blindly spinning rose-colored orb within her being. As she brought her gaze up to Lindy, she breathed out her name.

"Lindy." The name came out of Sara in a low smoldering tone, causing Lindy's heart to quicken and her eyes to grow wide. She caught the gaze of the momentary hunter, and about lost the breath from her lungs. It almost felt that Sara was diving into her soul through her doe eyes.

Sara imagined the rosy orb of passion spinning within her, bursting into a warm, gaseous and smoky cloud funneling itself into the already slightly taken aback Lindy. In her mind's eye, as soon as all the mass had transferred, she returned her attention to the pool table. Sara made two of her shots before finally missing on the blue two ball. Her eyes flashed a grin as she saw that Lindy was looking at her in shock.

Lindy was stunned, as she'd seen in Sara's eyes the passion and desire denied. She'd have sworn to god, if she didn't know better that she'd felt that Sara's burning passionate fury swirl about her soul for a moment. 'God that Catherine is one lucky woman...'As fast as it came, it went, leaving Lindy with a momentary vacant stare at her friend, stumbling a step and steadying herself on the pool table. And to her dismay, when her blue orbs did manage to focus, Sara had all but cleared the table. Lindy's heart was pounding in her chest. Now she was the tormented one. 'Oh my god, she thought, I so need a drink. Catherine....you better make your move on her soon or I will..'

Sara smiled as she saw the blank stare of Lindy and then the blonde's eyes focus to find she was almost winning. Ha! The taller woman's smile turned to a beaming grin. 'A taste of your own medicine, buddy.' She hadn't expected quite that much of a reaction. But hey, some people are better at reading the eyes than others. Lindy apparently was one of the ones who must be quite good at it. She watched as her friend walked away, up to the bar.

Sara went back to the game at hand. 'Lets see, wherever the cue did end up on Lindy's next shot, I myself will likely have a shot and be setup for the eight ball, thus totally fixing her little red wagon. Hell, after my last small victory, I've friggin rotated the tires on that little red wagon too,' she laughed to herself. Instinctively she looked around the bar for her companion, should the tiny woman have 'heard' her thoughts.

Sara, taking a healthy sip of her beer, set it down on the windowsill, and crouched eye level with the pool table. Should she make it to the eight ball, and she was pretty sure she would, she should be able to just breathe on it with the cue ball and it should be just enough momentum to go in the side pocket. She mused to herself, 'well, theoretically it should work.'

Lindy came back with a glass of Cadillac rum and coke. After her encounter with Sara's eyes, smoldering as they were, it was all she could do not to pounce on her friend and make love to her on the purple velvet of the pool table. Pouty lips curled into a smile as she approached her tall brunette friend from behind, a thought locked into her mind.

Lindy paused as she ran her soft, gentle hands up Sara's arms and across her chest. The young CSI could feel her studying every muscle with her hands. She turned around and gave the taller woman a huge encompassing body hug. Sara heard a slight gasping sigh escape Lindy as she spoke. "You feel incredible, I don't know how your Catherine can keep her hands off of you," she breathed into the brunette haired woman's ear, her voice like crushed velvet. She felt Sara trembling in her arms. "My shot?" Lindy moved stealthfuly around the table to set her glass down next to Sara's beer bottle, just after taking a large swig, nearly draining it.

"Um yeah..." Sara mouthed. Apparently that little red wagon had a complete overhaul by its owner. Now how in the hell had she lost control? She looked into dark blue eyes. Oh yeah...that was why. Lindy played the seductress well. Far too well. The last thing on Sara's mind was her premeditated thought of the eight ball.

Lindy knew Sara was watching her intently; she had been toying with her friend's self control since she had met the tall blonde early that day. Sara was a sucker for blondes. Lindy wetted her lips with just the tip of her tongue, knowing that drove Sara up the proverbial wall. Not looking up from the table, Lindy leaned just enough to allow Sara yet another glimpse of her cleavage and heard a most satisfactory intake of breath. Lindy had never played fair when it came to pool. After all she wasn't that good at it. Sara could beat her hands down any day with her manipulation of and thorough understanding of geometry and physics. So Lindy used Sara's weakness against her: her own libidinous thoughts. Lindy smiled just so, knowing she had won the game, and it had nothing to do with pool.

Lindy took her shot; the striped yellow bounced into the pocket and back out, she had hit it too hard. Sara was smiling as if she had suddenly become a feline and eaten a canary. Lindy moved guilelessly around the table allowing her friend to take the hit on the eight ball. "The table's yours, Sar," Lindy whispered, dropping her voice a smoky octave.

Sara took her beer and downed the rest of it, trying to regain some measure of control over herself. Swallowing hard, she moved to the table, knowing that she could easily put the black ball home. Lindy moved to the pocket Sara had indicated she would put the ball in, and leaned just a little, trying hard to ignore Lindy. She was good at ignoring Greg's comments she should be able to pass over Lindy's easy enough.

"I think Catherine would look good on this purple table waiting for you." Lindy whispered softly.

The eight ball went home, as did the que ball. The CSI's mouth was agape. She had scratched! How the hell did she scratch? She couldn't believe it; she knew that she had just hit the eight ball soft enough for it to go in, but to put in that damn white ball too? That was not in the parameters of her theory.

"Umm...guess I win by default." Lindy said slowly, standing to her full five foot two height.

Sara pouted. She had lost? Like that! Her dark brown eyes so filled with a confused expression Lindy thought it absolutely adorable. "Guess so." Sara blinked, still baffled how she could have lost so miserably.

"SOS hon, you shouldn't think about an adorable blonde CSI when playing pool." Lindy smirked downing the rest of her drink.


Catherine and Lindsey sat giggling at a table as they started to stuff their fluffy bodies of teddy-bears. To Catherine there wasn't a more magical sound than the sound of her little girl's laughter. She was enjoying the whole day, a rare luxury to be with Lindsey without interruptions of either work or school.

"Mommy can I ask ya something?"

"Sure Honey." Catherine was curious as to what her daughter's mind had wrapped around.

"Would you be mad at me if I wanted to give my teddy to someone and I keep yours?"

Catherine was puzzled. "Linds, I would never be mad for an act of kindness. Who do you want to give your teddy bear to?"

"A girl at school. Her name is Janet. She's brand new and she is kinda sad and scared."

Catherine smiled. "Oh. Well it can be scary to go to a new school. I can understand why she would be scared. She must miss her old school if she is sad."

"Oh she doesn't have an old school Mommy. She's five."

"Five! She's in Kidengarden or preschool?....Well Honey you were scared when you went to Kidengarden, I don't think she needs..."

"No Mom she's not in Kidengarden she is in my class. She's like very smart. They were going to put her in Second grade but they put her in First instead. I think the principal gave her a test and junk and they bumped her into Miss Fox's class. Miss Fox said sometimes people skip grades. I think some of the other kids are um..jealous because she skipped."

Catherine nodded, listening to everything her daughter was saying. "I can see why she's scared new class, new to school and everyone is older than she is."

"Yeah. Ashley Biggins is very mean. Ashley was supposed to be Janet's school buddy."

"Right a child who helps new a student in a school orientate themselves."

"Yeah Miss Fox said the buddy is a...a...ambass.." Lindsey frowned trying to make the word out, she looked to her mother for a hint, knowing her mom would know what she wanted to say. After all Mom knew everything.

"Ambassador?"

"Yeah, well Ashley sucks at being an ambassador." Lindsey's vernacular rose a chuckle out of Catherine. "I don't get it mom why people are just mean?"

"Neither do I, Linds....I ask myself that several times a day at work."

Lindsey nodded and shoved more of the stuffing into her teddy bear's body. "You know yesterday? Well Janet came in all new and Mrs Diego the Vice Principal told Janet to find Miss Fox's tables in the lunch room during breakfast, because she was supposed to find Ashley. Well Janet comes up and asks Ashley were Ashley is. Janet didn't know who she was talking to. Ashley played an awful trick. She told Janet a big fat lie."

"What did she say?" Catherine sucked in a breath of air, waiting for an answer she almost knew the answer to.

"She's a fat liar Mom. She said Ashley wasn't there yet and on the bus pad. Then she sneered and in a bratty voice..well not bratty more witchy only not witchy but the other word I am not supposed to say. You know the B-Word?"

Catherine nodded, feeling her stomach turn as this conversation was far too close to the very first one she had, had with Sara:

'Do you know where I can find Catherine Willows?'

'She's out in the field. Let me guess, Sara Sidle?'

' I know who I am, you're a little confused.......Look, we can stand here and argue, or we can find out who did this to Holly Gribbs ... Two sharp women are better than one. ...'

Catherine shook her head, 'Gods what a welcome that was...'

"Mom you listening?" Lindsey touched her mother's arm.

"Yes Honey, I am listening to you."

"Well since Ashley is nasty, I asked Miss Fox if I could be Janet's buddy."

"I'm very proud of you, for doing that. It's very responsible and kind."

"Mommy, I just did what you said."

"What I said?" Blonde eyebrows arched touching golden bangs.

Lindsey nodded emphatically. "You always said respect is earned, but kindness is always free. And being rude only...only shows bad character."

Catherine nodded, and reached over to kiss her daughter's brow. "Yes I did say that." Stroking her child's cheek the mother smiled, "I think it's a very nice thing you want to do, to give your little friend a gift. And I am very proud of you stepping in like you did. It shows a lot of good character."

Lindsey basked in her mother's praise. She wanted to be just like her mother. She loved the science kit she received from Uncle Nick. She would play for hours pretending to be a CSI.

"You know honey one of these days if you want to have a sleep over with Janet you may."

"Really! That will be soo cool! Hey maybe Sara can join us,"

Catherine hadn't expected that at all. "Sara?"

"Sure I have a buddy from school come over and you can have Sara. You can't have the boys cus they're boys. And Boys don't go to sleep overs. But Sara is a girl and girls have sleep overs."

Of course that struck Catherine rather funny, thinking of yet another comment she had made. 'Just because we happen to be the only women on night shift doesn't mean we will have sleep overs.'

"Linds, kids have sleep overs not grown-ups."

"Oh. Well we should have Sara over for dinner sometime like we do Aunty Nancy. Sara lives by her own-self it must be boring."

"Well honey, I think she'll be okay. She and Lindy seem to be pretty close."

Linds nodded. "Lindy is okay. But she should know Sara is yours, Mommy not her's. You should tell her, Sara belongs to you."

Catherine could only stare opened mouthed at her daughter. 'How on earth did she...'

Chapter 2

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