Mars Investigation - Day

I've been sitting on the revelation of who my father is for a while now. Going on 2 weeks. I thought the hardest part was gonna be finding out who my father was, but now I can't even gather enough courage to confront him.

Keith walked through the front door of the building and looked at Chris. "Hey, Kiddo." He said as he walked over to the desk and set his stuff down.
"I'm sorry the trip took me a little longer than I expected, but I guess that comes with the territory...and are you really going to let me babble on and not inform me of who my grandson's father?"

Chris was caught off guard. "Umm...I'm sorry, I haven't even told him yet."

"Why not?" Keith asked. "You know...I'm not gonna be around forever. And if you could form some kind of relationship with him, I think that'd be great"
Keith said.

"I'm going to tell him. I'm just...I..." Chris grabbed his backpack. "I have to go to school first." He said as he made his way out of the office.

Neptune High - Day

So, did I ever tell you that I am the master at avoiding the issue. I've managed to avoid both Izzy and Claire for the past 2 weeks. It's been easy.
Just tell them that I'm on a case. Can't really get upset at you when you're looking into the murder of your mother.

Chris opened his locker and took out a notebook. When he closed the door, he jumped when he saw someone standing next to him. "Izzy." He said with a weak smile.

"Hey, Stranger." Izzy stated trying act as nonchalantly as possible. She was just talking with a student. "How've you been?"

"Okay. Busy." Chris stated with a shrug.

"Yeah, I can tell. So, got some time to kill?" Izzy said with a smirk. "They are doing some work on the gym...so it'll be closed all week."

Chris couldn't help but smile. "Sure." He said as he placed the notebook in his bag. "I'll meet you there in 15 minutes, yeah?"

"Sounds good." Izzy said as she walked away from him smiling.

Chris sighed slightly as he made his way towards the bathroom when a hand reached out from the girl's bathroom and grabbed him, pulling him in.

"What the hell?" Chris said as he turned around to see Claire. "Oh, it's you."

"Well, that's not exactly the welcome I was expecting. Then again, last time I saw you, you left me after you had kissed me." She said with a little annoyed. "You're avoiding me."

"You're smart." Chris said a little uncomfortable.

"Now, there's only 2 reasons I can think of that you'd be avoiding me." Claire said as she made her way closer to Chris. Her hand pressed up against his chest pushing him towards the wall. "Either you really don't like me...or you can't stop thinking about me." She said, the last part in a whisper as she was inches from his face.

Chris stared into her eyes, not really believing that this was really happening here and now. "This is too much. I've got so much on my plate right now, I can't handle this."

Claire sighed. "Sue it yourself." She said as she backed off keeping eye contact with him.

Chris looked as if he was having an inner conflict.

You want to kiss her. That much is obvious, Chris, but the problem is that there is a dad waiting to find out he's your father, a murderer who needs to be found, and a hot older woman waiting for you in a gym...so why can't you just leave? Don't do it Mars. Just walk away.

Chris pushed himself off the wall and straightened himself out. He looked at Claire as he passed her, but before he made it to the door, he stopped.
"Screw it." He said as he pulled Claire towards him and kissed her.

Right now...distractions were a good thing.

"I'm sorry, I must be interrupting something." A girls voice stated as she entered the bathroom. She had wide smile.

"Oh my god." Claire said as she took a second look. "Laney?" Claire said as she ran over to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm guessing you two know each other." Chris chimed in.

"Who's that? He's cute." Laney said with a smile.

"This is Veronica Mars' kid." Claire said looking between Chris and Laney.

"Wow...this is a little awkward." Laney said as she walked over to Chris and extended her hand. "I'm Laney Echolls', Logan Echolls' daughter.

Huh?

Neptune High - Hours Later/Afternoon

A note from the Principal. What could he want to talk to me about now? I haven't done anything too wrong lately.

Chris walked into the office and saw that Sheriff Lamb was there waiting for him. "Sheriff Lamb. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Lamb stood up and sighed. "Got some bad news, Kid. It's your grandpa."

Chris' eyes widened. "What happened?"

Neptune Memorial Hospital - Evening

Chris walked into a hospital room and saw his Grandpa there. "What's the matter with him?"

Lamb walked in behind Chris. "He's in a coma. He was attacked at his office"
Lamb said as he pulled out a file. "He managed to write this before he passed out." He said as he showed Chris the picture.

Chris looked at the picture.

The dates. 1/3/05, 1/8/03, 5/1/08. Gramps must have figured out why they were important.

"I need to keep this." Chris said as he looked up to Lamb.

"Okay. That was just a copy anyway." Lamb said. "So, I need to make sure you got someone you can stay with. Family...friend...someone." He said looking around.

Chris could hardly think right now. Everyone in his life...his family, was gone...and now Keith may not make it. "Umm...you." Chris said softly, choking back the tears that threaten to escape.

"I what?" Lamb said a little confused.

"You're the only family I have. Blood relative anyway." Chris said as he finally looked up at Lamb.

Lamb almost fell over at this revelation. "You mean...I'm you're...you're my..." Lamb took a deep breath.

"Yeah, well as much fun as a family reunion sounds, I've got somewhere I have to be." Chris said as he left Lamb to stew over the revelation.

C-Mac Industries - Night

So, Don Lamb is my father, and now he knows. Complications just seem to follow me around, but I can't worry about that now. Gramps was getting close to something, so it's up to me to find out who he was getting close to.

Chris made his way into the building and into an office. "Hey Aunt Mac." He said with a weak smile.

An older Cindy Mackenzie made her way over to him and gave him a hug. "Hey,
Sport." She said with a sympathetic squeeze.

"Wish this was a social call, AC, but I need your help." Chris said as he pulled out the picture.

Okay, so, Lamb is Chris' father. I know that that's not what everyone thought,
or expected, or wanted, but I hope it won't hinder readership. As usually please review and respond. I'd love to hear what you'd guys would like to see in the future. Veronica Mars' murder will be wrapping up in the next few chapters.