"Mally, I guess I don't see your point." Nick informed his seventeen-year-old daughter one evening as he sifted through the mail, making one pile for bills, and the other for miscellaneous things. Aidan was sitting contentedly on the counter next to his piles, keeping his father company, playing with one of his Fantastic Four action figures that looked like a piece of poop. His oldest daughter was sitting on one of the bar stools in front of him, trying to convince him to let her come to work with him for Take Your Daughter to Work Day. "You've been to work with me plenty of times."

"But this time will be special." She countered pleasantly, but there was a twinge of frustration in her voice. Mally just desperately wanted a day away from the tediousness of daily school life, and had jumped at the chance to join in on the nation-wide job shadowing day.

Nick glanced over at her, and then dropped a bill into the appropriate pile. "How so?" He was slightly suspicious of her eagerness to accompany him. Over the years, she'd probably come to work with him several dozen times, whether it was because he couldn't find a babysitter, or to pop in quickly on his day off to get something. She was very spoiled by his coworkers when she went. Greg showed her his DNA machines, Sara showed her the pink fingerprint dust that Nick refused to keep in his kit, and Grissom let her see his butterfly collection. Nick didn't see how she could have really missed something over the years.

"It just is, Dad." She really couldn't explain herself, and hadn't anticipated her dad being suspicious. Mally figured her dad would be thrilled to have her with her at work for a day. "Don't you want your little girl to see what you do?"

Nick smirked and quirked an eyebrow at her. "My little girl has already seen what I do many times." He easily countered, as he gently confiscated a container of oregano from his son before he made a mess.

Mally sighed and crossed her arms. "You've never taken me to a crime scene." She tried.

Nick's eyes immediately met his daughter's, his face questioning. She didn't honestly want to go to a crime scene, did she? "Mal, a crime scene is no place for a kid. I don't want you to see that kind of thing."

"I'm almost eighteen." She countered, feeling brave. Mally often wondered about just what her parents saw at work. They saw awful things every day, and they were still relatively normal, so why couldn't she handle it? "I can handle more than you think."

Nick eyed her again and then cleared his throat, lifting his son up and placing him on the floor. "Bud, why don't you go find Momma and Bailey." He gave his son a little push in the direction of the stairs. Aidan screeched a little as he ran off, and Nick placed his hands on the counter, extending his arms out as he leaned in. Mally didn't seem to understand just how intense a crime scene was. He regularly felt nauseous still, after fifteen years of doing this job.

"Mally, there is no way in hell I am ever taking you to a crime scene." He informed her calmly. "Why do you even want to see one?"

His teenager sighed heavily and leaned her head against her arm. "Why not? It's something I've never experienced, and you say it all the time that I should experience new things."

"I was talking about college, not seeing dead bodies."

"Well, I want to see one. Not like a mass murder, maybe just a minor scene."

Nick cleared his throat again as he walked around the kitchen counter, crossing his arms as he did so. Obviously, his daughter had been thinking about this a fair deal, so he decided to turn it into a discussion. She was, as she had pointed out, nearly an adult (in the legal sense anyway, to say nothing of her housekeeping habits or choice of television). He came to stand to the side of where she was sitting and make her prove her point.

"So, let's say I let you come to me with a crime scene." He hypothesized. "What would you do?"

Mally seemed to perk up at the fact he was actually willing to discuss this with her. Not that he'd ever let her near one of his crime scenes. "Well, I wouldn't touch anything, unless you told me to, and I'd have gloves on." She remembered that piece of advice that Greg had given her last time she'd come in and asked about his first time in the field.

Nick nodded and continued to study her closely. She never had any hint of interest in science; hated it with a passion. She'd come close to failing chemistry earlier in the school year.

"And I would just follow you around and help out whenever it was needed." She finished her explanation with a nod.

"You hate blood." He pointed out. "And science."

"I hate spewing blood. If the person's already dead, I don't think it would bother me."

Nick nodded and scrubbed a hand over his mouth and chin. She didn't know the smell of blood, the smell of a dead body, the feeling of finality at a crime scene. He knew his daughter well, and was almost certain any crime scene would give her nightmares for months. However, he was fascinated that she seemed so into this.

"You've never seen or smelled a dead body. It's pretty nasty." Nick knew he could just tell her she wasn't going to any crime scene, but this was more interesting, hearing about her take on things and debating with her.

His daughter shrugged. "There's a first time for everything."

"I guess so." He cleared his throat. "Listen, Mal. I don't mind you coming to the lab with me if you really feel you must, but I don't feel comfortable taking you to a crime scene. Believe me, it's too much."

She rolled her eyes. "Dad! Why won't you even let me try?"

"Legality for one. If you accidentally messed something up at a crime scene, CSI would be in a load of shit. And I just don't want you to see the things I see."

She had that look on her face that clearly displayed she was annoyed with him. One deep breath, and then she pushed herself away with her hands from the counter and stood up abruptly.

"Fine. I'll go to the lab with you again. Whoop-de-do." She stormed off up to her bedroom, upset that her dad still thought of her as a little girl. Her father sighed as he watched her leave, wishing she could understand why he didn't want her to see all that. It's not that he didn't want her around him. He loved being around Mally. But Nick remembered vividly his first crime scene, and he had been prepared ahead of time by going to trainings, seeing photos of crime scenes. And he was a guy. Girls, especially his daughter, was squeamish about things like blood and dead bodies, though for some reason she wasn't admitting that to herself. As he was trying to figure out what to do, Sara came down the stairs with Bailey in her arms, and Aidan tagging along just behind her.

"Daddy, I cleaned my room!" Bailey reported proudly as Sara handed her over to her father. From the look on his wife's face, Nick could tell this had not been an easy feat.

"You did?" He adjusted her in his arms and gave her cheek a kiss. "Good girl. Did you listen to Mommy?"

She put a finger in her mouth and looked at her mother for the answer. She'd listened part of the time. Sara raised her eyebrows. "At times. She gets easily distracted."

Nick nodded, knowing precisely what she was talking about. "Can she go play?" He asked his wife, letting her make the choice as to whether she deserved it. Sara pondered for a few moments, while Bailey gave her an angelic smile, hugging her father's neck like the good child she sometimes decided to be.

"I suppose, until dinner time."

The twins simultaneously exclaimed in celebration. Nick let his youngest daughter down on the floor and they both ran to the sliding glass door which led to the backyard. He slid it open and watched the twins scurry out towards the sandbox. The fenced in yard would keep them within eye's view. Nick turned back to Sara after he'd closed the screen door.

"Is Mally upset?" Sara immediately asked, having heard her stomp up the stairs and close her door a bit loudly.

He nodded and ran his hand through his short brown hair as he sighed. "She wants to come to Take Your Daughter to Work Day, but she wants to come to a crime scene with me." Nick's face contorted at this ill thought.

"A crime scene?" Sara checked. "Why would she ever want to see that?"

"Beats me." He shrugged. "We talked about it and I tried to explain it's no place for her, but she got upset with me. Stormed off."

"Want me to talk to her?"

"Nah. I'll give her some space for a while. I didn't think she'd be having tantrums at age seventeen." He admitted, though it was hardly that dramatic. Mally just didn't storm off like that too often, so he could tell this was somewhat important to her. Why, he didn't know. That part was still puzzling him.

About half an hour later, after he'd put the dinner in the oven to bake, Nick climbed the stairs up to his oldest's room. He knocked and proceeded inside, finding Mally at her desk, struggling through some chemistry homework, seemingly busying herself with another task. It was her preferred method of distraction from a problem, he knew. She didn't say a word to him as he walked over and sat on her bed, right next to where she was working at her desk. When Mally didn't even acknowledge him, he spoke up.

"Mal, we need to talk." He said softly.

A huff, but still no eye contact. "You don't want me at work. I get it." She reminded him shortly, vigorously erasing an incorrect answer she'd just spent about five minutes trying to solve.

"I still don't think you understand why." He told her, glancing at her work, then back up at her face.

"Why does it matter? You won't let me go." Nick thought he heard tears threatening her throat as she tossed her pencil onto her notebook and leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Do you know how long it takes to even get used to the sight of a dead body?" He asked her flat out. "Years. Took me even longer to learn how to stomach a crime scene, and I was older than you. You're innocent, Mally, and you don't need to see that sort of thing unless you have to."

"You're bored with me." She blurted, and offered no explanation as her fingers journeyed upwards towards her cheekbones, then her temples, shielding her eyes from his view.

Nick's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Bored with you?" He repeated for clarification, but didn't get a response. "Mally, why would you think I'm bored with you?"

She shrugged and he heard a tearful sniffle. Mally leaned forward on her desk, turning her head away from him so he had to talk to the back of her head. Nick didn't say anything for a few moments, trying to figure out exactly what to say. He could never be bored with any of his children. They were by far the most rewarding, interesting beings he'd ever come into contact with. He learned things about each of them every day, including this about Mally today.

"Sweetheart, is this about the twins?" He ventured a guess. Another shrug was all he got. "Mally, you know how special you are to me. It was me and you for eleven years. You're one of my best buds."

"And you don't think I can handle adult things." She accused him softly.

Nick swallowed before continuing. "I do think you can handle adult things. You're responsible, a good student, a good driver, and I trust you very much. But going to a crime scene is not part of being an adult. It's part of being in law enforcement. You can't expect yourself to prove to me you're an adult by goin' to a crime scene."

Mally knew her father loved his work. He was proud of it, and respected people in this community that were good at their jobs. Though she knew it was stupid, Mally just wanted him to somehow have that kind of respect for her. Not that she wanted to major in criminal justice in college; she just wanted to experience a little bit of what he did every day.

"I just want you to be proud of me." Her fingers finally ventured away from her face, because he was making her feel more at ease. Nick put his hand on her back and rubbed circles to calm her down a bit more, and remind her how much he loved her.

"Hey. You make me so proud in more ways than you could ever know."

Slightly teary eyes met his and she offered him a small smile, then finally leaned over to accept a warm hug from him. He embraced her fully, hoping she sincerely knew how much he loved her. She was his daughter, and that was enough. Like Brass had once said to his own daughter, all she had to do to make him proud was to come home at the end of the day. Seeing her was his greatest pleasure as a father.

After a nice length hug, Mally pulled back and chuckled a bit in embarrassment as she wiped her eyes. "Sorry. I've been emotional."

"S'okay." He assured her, smoothing out a piece of stray hair. "You can always talk to me. I'm glad you told me what was bothering you."

"Yeah, me too." She admitted as she let out a relieved breath. Mally should have known from the beginning she should have just talked to him. "I still do want to come to the lab with you, if that's okay."

Nick cleared his throat. "Tell me, is this just to get away from school for the day?"

Mally smiled and looked at her feet. "And to spend time with you. And let Greg entertain me."

Nick chuckled. "Sign yourself up. Everyone loves when you visit, and I'll put you to work." He stood up and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Nick loved watching his daughter interact with everyone at work. She was friendly, bubbly, and a real riot, frankly. That's what made him so proud. "Dinner's in twenty minutes."

"Okay." She told him as he walked to her door. "Oh, and Dad?"

Nick stopped at the door and turned back to her, raising his eyebrows, waiting for what she had to say. "I think I would vomit if I ever even saw a crime scene photo." She admitted sheepishly.

Her father chuckled and smiled as he shook his head. "I know, baby. I know."