A/N: I'm sorry to repost this but something weird happened when I posted it the first time. I don't know what happened. Sorry that it got messed up. If you notice any weird punctuation, it's nothing I did. It happened when I posted it. I hope this time it doesn't happen.
Once Alex's tears finally subsided, she sat up straight and said, "Now both of your shoulders are wet, thanks to me."
"Don't worry about it. I have a change of cloths in my locker," Greg replied.
"I must look like a mess," she said, running her hand through her hair. Her eyes felt sore and swollen and her cheeks still burned. She could only imagine what a wreck she looked like.
"You look pretty good for what you've been through."
"Thanks, I guess."
"Why don't you come with me and I'll show you where the bathroom is so you can freshen up," he said, standing up and holding out a hand to her.
"All right," Alex replied, taking Greg's hand and pulling herself up while picking up her bag. "Nick told me that Sara will be here soon. I told him I would give my statement once she got here. She'll probably be here soon, if she's not already here."
They left the room and were walking down the hall when Nick and Sara came around the corner.
"Hi Alex. Nick was just telling me that you know Greg," Sara said. "How are you doing?"
"As good as I can be. Greg was showing me where the bathroom was because I wanted to wash up before I give my statement," Alex explained.
"Sure," Sara replied.
"The bathroom is right over there," Greg said, pointing towards the bathroom door. "I'm going to change my shirt and then we can meet back out here when you're done."
"I'll just be a few minutes," Alex said before turning and walking away from them, disappearing into the bathroom. Greg went to the locker room and came back out a minute later, shirt changed.
Nick turned to the approaching Greg and asked, "I didn't want to ask in front of Alex because it had upset her when she mentioned it earlier, but I was wondering what happened on the night you were talking about?"
"I was wondering too," Sara added. "Nick told me that you two haven't seen each other in nearly twelve years. Of course you don't have to tell us if you don't think Alex would want us to know."
"I am pretty sure she wouldn't mind. She seems comfortable around you two. As you witnessed, Nick, whenever it comes up, it's hard for her to even think about it, let alone talk about it," Greg replied. "June 27th will be twelve years since it happened."
"And you haven't seen each other since?" Nick asked.
"That's right. I can't believe it's been that long. Time has gone by so quickly," Greg said, for a moment looking lost in thought. "Anyway, that night Alex was over at my house since her parents went out for the night. We'd finished dinner a couple of hours before and Alex and my sister Emily were playing in her room when two police officers came to our house. My parents told me to go into the other room. I did, but I didn't go far because I wanted to hear what they were talking about. I overheard the officers telling my parents that Alex's mom and dad, the Kesslers, had been in a car accident. A drunk driver had hit them on their way home and they had died at the scene."
"Oh my God. That's terrible!" Sara exclaimed. "How did Alex take it?"
"I never really knew," Greg replied. "Alex ended up spending the night with us. In the morning my parents brought Alex, Emily, and me into the living room after breakfast and told us what happened. Alex and Emily were ten at the time so my parents didn't give us too many details. Alex ran into the bathroom crying, I remember... She locked the door and wouldn't come out for nearly an hour. After she came out, she wouldn't say a word. My parents took her over to her house to pack up some of her stuff. They told us later that day someone would be coming to bring her to her aunt's house here in Vegas. After Alex left that day we never heard from her again. Emily took it really hard too. About a month later, she seemed to be getting better but when her birthday came around in November that year, she refused to have a party or celebrate it in any way. She said she didn't want to celebrate since Alex wasn't there. She said it wouldn't be the same without her. They had celebrated their birthdays together since the Kesslers moved in next door."
"So Alex's last name was Kessler?" Nick asked.
"Her name was Alexandra Kessler," Greg told them. "I just found out today that she changed her last name to Miller a while after she moved in with them."
"What did you just say her last name was?" Catherine asked, approaching from further down the hall, clearly having overheard parts of the conversation.
"Kessler," Greg replied. "Why? Did you know the Kesslers?"
"Um, I think I might have," Catherine replied, pausing for a moment, seeming to process the information. "It was a long time ago. I didn't know them too well and the last time I heard from them was over twenty years ago. I just remembered I have to make a phone call. I'll be in my office. Let me know how things went after you get Alex's statement."
"Cath, are you all right?" Nick asked. "You look like you just saw a ghost."
"I'm fine," Catherine said before hastily retreating into her office and closing the door, leaving the others to look perplexed at each other.
"That was strange," Sara said, shaking her head slightly.
"I know. I wonder what that was all about," Nick muttered. Greg shrugged.
"You wonder what what was all about?" Warrick asked, walking up to where Nick, Sara, and Greg were standing.
"Cath freaked out when I told her that Alex's last name used to be Kessler," Greg replied. "Then she made up something about having to make a phone call and went into her office."
"I'll go check on her and see if she's all right," Warrick said after a moment's silence. He turned abruptly and headed towards Catherine's office.
Sara gave a slight shrug as she turned to Nick, who looked slightly confused at it all. "I guess if anyone can talk to her, it's Warrick."
"Yeah."
The sound of a door opening tore their attention away from Catherine's office, and they turned to see Alex came out of the bathroom. She looked less stricken now, and she gave a weak smile.
"Do you think you can give your statement now?" Greg asked gently.
"Yeah. I'd rather do it now and get it over with," Alex replied.
"Let's go to the break room then. You'll be more comfortable in there," Sara said and led the way.
As they were about to enter the break room, Greg saw that Grissom was in his office. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to let Grissom know what's going on," Greg told them.
"I want you to come with me," Alex said, a plea in her voice.
"I'll be right there. Nick and Sara can set everything up and I will be back before you're ready to start," Greg said, reassuringly.
He disappeared with a light wave, and Nick guided Alex into the room, gesturing to the couch.
"Alex, you can sit and wait on the couch if you want to. It's going to take us a little time to get set up."
Alex obediently went to sit on the couch, and Sara turned to Nick and said, "I'll call Brass and let him know Alex is ready to give her statement. He'll probably want to be here."
Meanwhile in Catherine's office, Warrick had knocked on the door and Catherine called out, "Come in."
He entered cautiously, and noticed at once that Catherine was sitting at her desk with her back towards him. "Hey Cath. Are you all right?"
"Yes. I'm fine," Catherine snapped, standing up to face Warrick. Her face softened slightly as he looked at her. "I'm sorry, Warrick. That came out harsher than I meant."
"Are you sure? You don't sound fine to me."
"Yes. I'm fine," Catherine snapped, standing up to face Warrick. "I'm sorry Warrick. I didn't mean for that to come out like that."
Warrick walked over and leaned against the edge of her desk so he was now face to face with her. He reached up with his right hand and ran it up and down her arm. "Don't worry about it, Cath. It's all right."
"Thanks," she replied and closed her eyes to his touch. Her face seemed oddly frozen and he knew something was wrong as surely as he knew her.
"Hey now. Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"
"I'm fine, really."
"Cath, I know you. It's obvious you're not fine. Why don't you tell me what's wrong? You know you can trust me, right?" Warrick asked, putting his hand under her chin and making her look him in the eyes.
"I know. I do trust you, Warrick. More than anyone else. You've always been there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on," she said, looking into his blue eyes without flinching or hesitating.
"Then tell me what's wrong," he pleaded.
"I never told anyone. No one knows," she almost whispered, looking down, breaking eye contact.
"What is it? Come on, tell me."
"It's Alex. I'm pretty sure she's… she's…"
"She's what, Cath?"
"I think she's my daughter."
A/N: I hope you liked the chapter. Please review so I know what you think about it. Thanks to my beta Camilla Sandman and those who continue to read and review this.