Worth The Wait 2/5
11:45 Las Vegas Crime Lab Break Room
"Hey darling, what are you doing here?" Warrick asked stepping into the break room.
"Hi Warrick," the blonde said getting up to hug him.
Eyeing Sara behind Warrick, she made a rush to her instead.
"Sara!" she screamed in delight.
"Hi sweetness!" Sara said opening her arms for a hug.
"I'm never good enough for the Willow's women," Warrick laughed as Lindsey ran into Sara's embrace.
"All you had to do was ask. It's your own fault," Sara smiled as the three of them made their way back to the couch.
"Ask what?" Lindsey asked innocently.
"Nothing darling. What are you doing here so late anyway?" Warrick said as he messed with the little ones hair.
"Well, Aunt Nancy and Grandma are out of town, and it was like 10 when Mom was called in, which is like way to late to call any of my friends parents. And you know for sure that she doesn't trust me by myself, so she dragged me in here and now I'm stuck till she's done," Lindsey huffed as she sat down on the couch.
Oh, Lindsey, hon" Sara said moving to sit next to her, "You know your mom ... "
"I know Sara. It's her job. I'm used to it. It just sucks. I'm freaking stuck here by myself. I mean, I got movies and all this crap to do it's ... just a total bummer," she sighed.
Sara and Warrick exchanged a quick glance towards each other. Warrick gave Sara a silent nod and bent forward so that he was kneeling in front of Lindsey.
"You know, Lindsey, Sara and I were just heading home, but, if it's okay, can we just hang out here with you?" he asked.
"I'm not, stupid you guys. I don't need you here to pity me," she replied.
"Oh, its not out of pity, Linds. I know if I go home, all I would do is sit there by myself. I'd much rather have someone to hang out with," Sara said trying not to let her utter exhaustion show.
"Really?" Lindsey asked while looking at Warrick.
"Of course! We'd never lie to you kiddo," he said rubbing her head again.
"Stop messing up my hair!" she scoffed.
Nick and Greg chose that moment to enter the break room.
"Hey! No fair! Grissom told me he sent you two home already!" Nick said.
"Nicky!" Lindsey almost screamed lunging toward him.
"Hey Lindsey, what are you doing here?" Nick asked scooping the little blonde up.
"She came to see me. Right L-Tree?" Greg said moving out from behind Nick.
"Not really G-Man." she smiled
"L-Tree?" Sara asked
"Yeah, L is for Lindsey and Willow is a tree so put two and two together and you get L-Tree!" Greg explained.
"And G-Man?" Sara asked again.
"G is for Greg and Greg told me once that he was known as 'the man' so he suggested G-Man" Lindsey replied proudly.
"Starting out a little young aren't ya Greg?" Warrick asked trying to contain his laughter.
"No, seriously, what are you guys still doing here?" Nick asked setting Lindsey back down.
Warrick looked at Sara and then down at Lindsey.
"Hey Lindsey, what kinda movies did ya bring?" Sara asked taking the little girl back to her backpack and away from the guys.
Once Sara had Lindsey out of earshot, Warrick offered the explanation.
"Sara and I were working on piecing together a part of one of the bombs and Grissom came in and told us we needed to clock out. He told us we had to go home at get some rest, start back at our next scheduled shift."
"Yeah, he just did that to us," Greg interrupted
"Anyway," Warrick continued, "Sara and I were on our way out, when we saw Lindsey just sitting here by herself. So, we came in to see what was up. She was all alone ... and well ... .we kinda offered to hang with her for awhile."
"Wow, Catherine must have been desperate to just bring her here," Greg said.
"She didn't plan on a casino blowing up Greg. Let alone Ecklie pulling the 'all hands on deck' card. You do what you gotta do."
"Easy Warrick, I was just messing around,"
"Catherine's a great mom I just….." he started
"Yeah buddy we know," Nick said patting him on the shoulders. "Tell ya what. I got an idea. Hey Lindsey!" Nick yelled.
"Yeah?" Lindsey said looking up from her backpack
"You hungry?"
"Um, I guess so."
"I was thinking, that is if it's cool with you of course. Can I hang here with ya too? I know a great pizza place that's open till 4am. What do ya say?"
"Really?" she said excitedly.
"Hey can I join too? I'll even spring for the pizza," Greg added
"Awesome! My friend Gillian let me borrow the first two seasons of Dawson's Creek!"
Warrick, Greg and Nick glanced at each other in fear, as Sara giggled behind Lindsey.
3:48 Las Vegas Crime Lab
"Ecklie just can't keep doing this Gil. I mean, I had to bring Lindsey in here tonight. I can't keep this up," Catherine said.
"Sorry, Cath, its the job. You know that," he replied scanning over a piece of sheet metal.
"Unlike you, some people can't just drop everything to be here. I've got a daughter to think about. I have a life!" She snapped.
"And I don't?" he replied looking up.
"Not unless you finally did something about ... "
"About what Catherine?" he challenged.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about Gil. Why is this so hard for you? She's right there. She has always been right there."
"Catherine, you know why. All the policies, red tape of the job and with the positions we hold ... " he started.
"Screw that! People already think that the two of you have something going on. And guess what, no one has said anything to you yet ,so just make it official. Or does she have to dye her hair blonde in order to get a dinner invitation?" she challenged back.
Grissom was about to respond when Sofia rounded the corner entering the room.
"Any new leads guys?" she asked
"Nothing really. Found some parts that might belong to the initial device, but nothing concrete," Catherine said in frustration.
"We've got to find something, sometime. We'll get it," he replied sensing her mood
"It just pisses me off! We've got nothing so far and it just all seems in vain. Especially when I have to drag my daughter down here in the middle of the night!" she said slamming her fist onto the table.
"Couldn't she have stayed with family or something?" Grissom asked.
"The only family I have is my sister and my mother who are both out of town. And there was no way in hell I would call Sam. We really have no other family here," she sighed
"That's not true," Sofia said bringing herself into the conversation.
"What the hell do you know!" Catherine replied a little to viciously.
"Catherine ... " Grissom warned
"No, I wanna hear this Gil!"
"Warrick, Nick, Greg, Sara they may not be blood, but they are your family," she replied calmly.
"Oh please! They just put up with Lindsey cause she's my daughter. None of them really care."
Sofia laughed slightly.
"If that were true Catherine, then we wouldn't have all these cranky people walking around here tonight."
"What are you talking about Sofia? What does everyone's mood have to with my daughters so called family?" Catherine asked completely confused.
"No one has had any coffee, cause no one has wanted to go in the break room. Lindsey and ... you know what, go see for yourself. I dare you to look into that room and say that what your looking at isn't a family," Sofia said before leaving the room.
Grissom stole a quick glance at Catherine before she darted down the hallway to the break room. Grissom set down his glasses and followed Catherine out of the evidence room. By the time he caught up with her, she was standing in the break room doorway with her hands covering her mouth. Grissom followed her gaze and he felt his heart melt at the sight before him.