Even the insomniacs were well tucked in. It was a wonderful night - chilly, but not too cold for one to wonder along in. All over campus the songs and chirps of inconspicuous night animals played, and in the distance a car occasionally passed by on the main avenue. Scarlet lights loomed down from the street-lights through the trees, casting pale shadows on the grass.
It was in these shadows that she enjoyed walking. She would listen to the sounds of the night; look around at the leaves falling down from the trees, covering the grass and cement pavements.
At this hour of the night anyone wandering through the streets and parks of Harvard was suspicious just for the mere fact that they weren't dreaming it. At this hour, any warm-blooded creature going through the parks alone, let alone without a specific purpose or direction, would be a mystery.

Anyone but Sara Sidle.

She got to the bridge and looked over at the great river. She didn't know what it was about that place that made her always come back at night. Maybe it was the sound of water, the clear reflection of the city lights or perhaps it was just the dizziness she felt whenever she looked down and thought of how it would be to swim in those waters. She reminded herself how filthy those rivers usually were, and realized she had better turn back and go back to her studying.
She then decided to turn around and continue on walking back to her dorm house, but in fact it took her another full hour to actually turn around and do so.

Refuge in the Night
A "C.S.I: Crime Scene Investigation" based fan fiction.
Written by Elad Avron
All rights to "C.S.I: Crime Scene Investigation" belong to CBS.
A million thanks to Marlou who beta-read the story over and over again.

Chapter 1 – Bad day "Sidle!"
Sara felt a strange pain in her arm.
"Hey, Sidle!"
She suddenly realize she was in the lecture hall, and that she was probably caught sleeping. She lifted her head and saw some student whose name she didn't know standing next to her.
"Class is over" he said.
Sara looked around her and saw most of the hall was already empty, and only here and there some students were still gathering their things, or talking about this and that.
"Thanks" she said and started organizing her things.
"Yeh, sure" the student said and Sara had a feeling he wanted something of her.
She looked up to him. "Yes?"
"You're blocking my exit" he said.
Sara stared at him, stared at her legs, stared at the seat in front of her, and only then realized that she was indeed blocking his exit and stood up to allow him to pass.
"Get some sleep, Sidle" he said and walked away.
"Yeah, sure" she said and packed her things, also walking out.

Harvard looked different by day. People were everywhere; walking, talking, sitting on the grass or on the benches with their books open and their eyes mostly shut. Sara entered the cafeteria and after grabbing a tray and taking a bowl with some salad and a sandwich with several unidentified components, she sat at a table next to some people she knew.

"Hey Sara" said John Conrad, one of the many people on Campus she knew but wasn't really sure where from.
"Hey" she said and smiled. Around the table also sat Bobby Correly and Donna McCrea, her roommate.
"So, Sidle" said Bobby who was also eating some unidentified mutation of a sandwich. "Are you coming to the game tonight?"
"Sara doesn't like basketball" Donna said.
Sara looked at Donna and said "No, I don't", but she actually meant 'I can speak for myself'.
Bobby smirked. "Heh, so you're going to just wander off in Campus again?"
"It would still be far more productive" she smirked back at him and went back to her salad. A discomforting silence followed, until Donna decided to break the calm. "So… How was the lecture, Sara?"
"I don't know, I slept through most of it" she replied. "I guess it was ok."
Silence again.
"I gotta go to practice" Bobby said and got up. "Later Baby" he kissed Donna and got up and away.
"I better go as well" Johnny started getting up too.
"Later, Johnny"
Sara and Donna remained there and said nothing. Donna once again broke the silence: "So what's going on, Sidle?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. You have your entire schedule upside down; I can tell you're not feeling well."
"I'm just not a day person, I guess" she said. "And besides, the weekend's coming; it'll be my chance to catch up on some sleep."
"I don't buy it" Donna said. "And besides, you said you're coming with me and Bobby to the frat party"
"Not this time, Donna" Sara said coldly and stood up. "Sorry."
Donna looked up at Sara. "You need to loosen up a little, Sara, or you'll lose college" she said to her. "By the time you wake up, you might realize it's too late." Sara just stared at her. "And I'm not talking about sleep, this time."
Sara knew Donna was right. That's exactly why she just walked back a couple of steps and said nothing, right before turning back and heading to the dorms.

It was already evening when she got out of the cafeteria. All the green turned yellow, the red turned scarlet, and the people turned tired. Sara took her time and walked the long route. She didn't really want to get back to her room; she didn't like the feeling of 'calling it a day' so early. But, nevertheless, that's exactly what she did.
When she finally got to her room she suddenly realized she couldn't find her keys. She looked inside her bag and saw that neither her keys nor her shades were in it. She specifically recalled putting them both in there.
Another quick glimpse at the bottom of the bag showed that it was actually only half a bottom, as there was a pretty nasty hole menacingly threatening to tear the entire bag.
"Awww, great" Sara said aloud. "This can't be happening."
She was locked outside, and she had just turned her back on Donna.
Could this day get any worse?
Frustrated, Sara leaned her head on the door, which immediately opened to the inside, almost knocking her completely flat down on the floor. Gaining balance, Sara came to a very sudden stop when she saw what was going on inside the room…
The contents of various drawers were scattered all over the floor, their mattresses were upside down, and the entire place looked like a disaster area. Sara didn't think too much. She just ran to the phone and immediately called the dorm house management.
"Yes, Mrs. Lawrence, this is Sara Sidle from room 315. Yes, I know it's late, but it's an emergency. There's been a break-in at my apartment."

"I can't believe this is happening!" Donna freaked out.
Sara just looked inside and frowned. "I don't know Donna. Nothing seems to be actually missing."
Donna still seemed alarmed, and Sara was about to say something when a police officer came from inside of the apartment.
"Ladies" he approached. "I'm Inspector Bane." Both Donna and Sara just nodded.
"Ms. Sidle, you said in your preliminary statement that nothing of value was missing"
"Yes, that is correct." she answered and thought it over again.
"How about things of no value, such as clothing, personal artifacts, minor things?"
"I don't know, actually" Sara thought. "I didn't look into it much; I only made sure our safe was intact."
"I understand," the inspector said and scribbled some stuff onto his notepad. "The reason I'm asking is that it seems as if whoever broke in, was looking for something specific."
Sara and Donna crossed looks. This was getting ugly.
"And it also seems that whoever it was, he or she had a key." That got both girls by surprise. Sara, however, started to get a basic idea of where this was going. "We'll know more after we examine the crime scene some more."
"Crime scene?" both girls snapped.
"That's our home, Inspector!" Donna was upset.
"We will of course reinstitute you to a temporary quarters" the dorm manager, who was also there, said calmly.
"I apologize for the inconvenience" the inspector said and walked back in.
"That's just great", Donna kept walking back and forth.
"Donna, I lost my keys sometime today" Sara admitted.
"You did b what/b "
"But no one could have known that those were MY keys, it's not marked or anything."
"Sara, someone could have seen you dropping it! Besides, my keys are right here!" she waved them at Sara as if to show that she could keep her things together.
Sara felt her head was about to explode. She knew that those were probably her keys that the entry was made with, but Donna was over-reacting, it wasn't like it was her fault she lost them.
"Well I'm sorry, Donna, but accidents happen."
"No, Sara" Donna started walking back. "There's 'accidents', and there's mere stupidity."
This time Donna was the one to turn her back on Sara. "I'll be sleeping over at Bobby's."
Sara sighed and turned to enter back into the room, where she was met with a very friendly yellow ribbon who told her quite firmly that she was on the limit of a crime scene, and that she could not enter.

Sara cursed. She knew it couldn't have been her keys that were used in the break in; she had just lost them a couple of hours ago. She decided that perhaps she's ought to go find them. She knew that as far as Donna's concerned it was still her fault, but at least she'd have her own peace of mind to hold on to. This had certainly not been a good day for that.

It was already late when Sara went looking for her keys. Her temporary quarters were being prepared by the dorm manager, so in the meantime she decided to take a short walk. Sara was amused to see that as opposed to her usual night-walks, this time there were still people all around. She took a glimpse at her watch and realized it wasn't late enough for the streets to be empty. Odd, she could have sworn it was much later. She walked on to the Science Center where she still saw some lights from some of the windows. She took another glimpse at her watch. As far as she knew, there were even some lectures still going on. She sighed and walked in. The lights were dim inside, which lent it a dark and serene glow. Sara looked for the hall where the lecture earlier that afternoon had taken place. That's probably where she had lost her keys.
She still couldn't believe Donna blamed her for the entire thing. First she blamed her of not having a life, and then this. She was so out of line! Sara did SO have a life! She went to parties, she dated. She might have been a little reluctant about both of those activities, but she did it nonetheless!
Sara walked into the hall where the lecture was earlier. Some people were in there, all by themselves, nobody talking to anyone. Sara wondered what they were doing there, and started looking for her row, somewhere at the back of the hall, she recalled. She walked up to it and started walking inside, looking down at the floor for any sign of the keys. As she passed the middle isle suddenly the lights went off in most of the hall except for the stage area. Sara cursed and wished she had a flashlight. She got to where she sat earlier and started to feel around the floor, hoping to find the keys. She now also wished she had a pair of gloves. Suddenly her hand hit on something. She picked it up – her shades! The keys could not have been far. She felt around some more and heard a chiming of clinging metals. She picked up the keys and heaved a big sigh. So she was right, her keys had nothing to do with it, they were here all this time. She just stared at the keys for a second and stood up.
"Would everybody please take their seats?" the lecturer entered the stage area.
Sara continued walking towards the exit when the lecturer coughed.
"Yes, you in the back there" he said.
"Oh, no, I just…" Sara said and turned to the stage. The lecturer raised an eyebrow.
"I just…" she started to explain that she was on her way out, but when the lecturer added a little smile to that look she just sighed, frowned and sat down.
She had nowhere else to go anyway.
"Thank you" the lecturer seemed quite pleased with himself.
"Well…" he took a second to rearrange his pages.
"Yes" he took a deep breath. "Welcome everybody. My name is Gil Grissom, and I'll be conducting this five part evening lecture about Forensic Science and the scientific link."