Part 3

Katie strode into the Las Vegas crime lab hallway, looking with interest as she made her way through.

"Hey there sexy lady."

Katie turned around on her heel and stared at Greg. "I'm going to forget that you called me that."

"I'm Greg Sanders. And you are?"

"Kathryn."

"Why am I getting a sense of déjà vu?"

"Well that depends. You may know my mother."

Greg suddenly realised where the déjà vu was coming from. "Please tell me that your mother isn't Catherine Willows."

Katie narrowed her eyes. "Oookay. My mother isn't Catherine Willows."

Greg let out a small squeak and disappeared back into the lab. Shaking her head in amusement, Katie turned back around and continued walking down the hallway. She noticed a crossword puzzle sitting on the table and checking her watch, she detoured in and filled out a couple of words. Anything to delay the inevitable.

"Geez, you really must be Grissom's kid."

Katie turned around in surprise. "Uh, sorry I just…"

"Warrick Brown. I work with Catherine and Griss."

"Kathryn. Um…I was actually just about to go and see him."

Warrick grinned. "Well, you look just like your mother, so I don't think you'll have any problem getting his attention." Warrick pointed out the office. "Good luck."

Katie walked over to the door and knocked on it. A terse "come in," made her raise an eyebrow.

She opened the door and was slightly taken aback by the spider in the tank. She wrinkled her nose and instead focussed on the man sitting behind the desk.

"What is it?" he asked, his nose stuck in the book.

"Nice to meet you too."

The book was hurriedly put down and Gil looked up at her. He stood up and walked around the desk, staring at her. "You're…"

Kathryn looked at him. "What?"

Gil smiled. "You look like your mother."

Kathryn smiled shyly. "Everyone's been telling me that." She looked at him. "I just wanted to meet you."

Gil nodded. "I'm sorry for not coming to see you. I was just very confused. I still am."

"Yeah well, it's not everyday you find out you have an eighteen year old daughter."

"That's certainly true." He noticed she was still standing and quickly cleared the files and papers off the chair. "Please, sit down."

Katie smiled and sat down, as Gil marvelled over how much she looked like her mother.

Desperate for something to fill the silence, Gil went to his fridge and pulled out a jar. "Would you like one?" He picked a grasshopper up. "Chocolate covered grasshoppers."

Katie looked at the bug then back up at him. "You have an unhealthy obsession with bugs, don't you?"

"Yep, definitely your mother," Gil nodded. "She doesn't like spiders."

"I can't say they're my favourite animal."

"Technically they're not an animal they're an arachnid."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "Okay." She fidgeted slightly. "So, I wanted to come see you because well…you're my dad but also because I kind of wanted to apologise."

Gil looked confused. "What for?"

"Because I seem to have ruined whatever you and my mom had going on before I showed up."

"We're just friends," Gil assured her. "And it's not your fault."

"I'm glad I got to meet you though. Explains a lot."

He arched an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Well, apparently we're both really good at evading questions." She grinned at him, noticing his worried look. "You two have real issues."

"Thankyou," Gil replied.

"No problem. Oh, and I meant to apologise for annoying that hyper woman."

"Hyper woman?"

Katie changed her voice and mimicked Sara. "What kind of weirdo can breastfeed at will?" Her voice returned to normal. "You need to train your team more."

Something seemed to dawn on Gil and he took his daughter's arm. "Do you mind? I'd like to introduce you to the team."

"Uh sure," Katie replied, following him out.

Gil entered the first room he could find, pleased when he found that Nick and Sara were there. "Nick, Sara, I want you to meet my daughter. Kathryn, this is Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle."
Nick stood up and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Getting over her momentary shock, Sara stood up also. "Uh, hi."

Warrick chose that moment to come in and was also introduced to Kathryn. He smiled at her, and also in part at Grissom's pride that was seeping through.

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Catherine walked into the labs and Judy smiled at her.

"Congratulations."

Catherine raised an eyebrow. She was in a foul mood. "What did I win?"

"The minute your daughter walked into Gil's office, he has been introducing her to the entire building all night."

"She's here?"

Judy nodded. "I think Gil was looking for Ecklie." She chuckled. "I never thought I'd see the day when Gil Grissom was actually looking for Ecklie."

"Where are they now?"

"Last I saw, they were in the breakroom."

Catherine thanked her and headed down the hallway. She leaned against the doorframe and watched father and daughter together. He had poured Katie a drink and they were chatting like old friends. She felt a tug at her heart and entered the room.

"Hey."

Katie looked up and smiled. "You did say I could come visit. You didn't say who."

Gil stood up and he and Catherine stared at each other for a moment. Katie looked between them and staying silent, took another sip of her drink.

"We need to talk later," Catherine murmured quietly.

Gil nodded. "I know."

Breaking her gaze away from Gil, Catherine turned to her daughter. "Want some lunch?"

"Sure," Katie replied. She turned to Gil. "Can I…see you later?"

Gil smiled. "I'd like that."

To his surprise, Katie pressed herself against him in a hug. After a moment of shock, his arms encircled her and he hugged her tight.

"I'm really glad I got to meet you," Katie told him.

"Me too," Gil said truthfully.

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"Am I the only person in the world that thinks you two really need to sort through some burning issues?"

Catherine smiled. "Grissom and I have a lot of history."

"No kidding," Katie replied, rolling her eyes. "It's weird, but I always figured you two would be together."

Catherine glanced at her. "Why is that?"

Katie shrugged. "Isn't it something that all kids want?"

"I guess so." Catherine took a sip of her tea. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Katie replied.

"Did they look after you? Really?"

Katie nodded. "Yeah. They looked after me."

Catherine sensed a but, and almost questioned it, but thought better of it.

"Can I ask you a question now?"

Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

"I…well…I don't know what to call you." She smiled awkwardly. "I mean, I haven't really called you anything since I've been here, and it feels kind of weird."

Catherine smiled. "You can call me whatever you want. Just leave out any of the derogatory stuff and the "old cheese" and whatever you come up with shouldn't be a problem."

There was silence for a moment, while Catherine watched her daughter stare at her food.

"What about mom?" came the reply.

The silence descended again, as Catherine took in the suggestion.

"Sounds good to me," Catherine finally said.

Katie looked up and they shared a smile.

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Part 4