PART TEN: Back In Town

"I didn't know you guys were here. I'm sorry... I can come back later."

"It's okay Nicky. This is your office after all." she looked at him with a small smile on her lips.

"How is she doing?" he asked as he took a look at Grace laying on his couch. It was the first time he had seen her. She had called him asking if he'd like to have breakfast with her. He was supposed to call her later that night. She was supposed to stop by the diner. But he had be the one receiving the call instead. And not the kinda of call he'd like to have. For a moment his heart skipped a beat For a moment he thought the worst. For a moment the thought of her laying on the lobby's floor crossed his mind. But his heart start beating normal again as soon he saw a glimpse of her. He didn't know what to tell her. He still didn't know.

"She's calmer now. I don't think she got much sleep last night." she looked down at her daughter, whose head was resting on her lap. Grace looked calmer than when she first saw her at the interview room. There was serenity in her face. "Do you mind if she stays here for awhile? I need to go find Lou."

"It's a not a problem." he said as he sat down on his chair. "Hey Cath."

She was about to stepped out of his office when he heard his voice. She turned around. "It's good to see you." he said.

"You too, Nicki." she said with a smile. A honest, real smile.

He was walking down the hall looking for the girl who was supposed to meet him at his office. He had called his captain, the interview was over 45 minutes ago. His mind started imagine one hundred and thousand scenarios that could have gone wrong. But his mind calmed down when Brass told him she had left with her mother. Although his heart beat started racing with the mention of Catherine. He saw the redhead that had been hunting his head since she had left six months ago.

"Lou!" her voice made him turned his head and all of suddenly a mix of memories came into his mind. From when she first asked him for a drink, to the first kiss they shared while undercover, to her beneath him screaming for him to not stop, to the words she said when he dropped her off at her house. All their memories flashed before his eyes. "Catherine..." he finally managed to talk. He missed the sight of those deep blue eyes.

"You look good!" he knew it wasn't probably the right thing to say but he just couldn't help himself. He never did when he was around her.

"You don't look bad either!" she couldn't help but notice the muscles underneath his shirt. The smile that could make her go wild. And his eyes - a mix of blue with grey. She missed those eyes. "I was looking for you actually." she had to put her feelings aside. Although he had been the one making the call, she wasn't in Las Vegas for him.

"What do you wanna talk about?" he asked even though he already knew her answer.

"Grace... I mean I know she's staying with you. But I don't want her to disturb you..." she started talking what to him seemed random words.

"Catherine, I've talked with her. Last night at the hotel I asked her why she wouldn't go with her friends to the Palermo. She just ..." he was afraid, afraid that his words might hurt her.

"She just what?" she was trying to understand what he was telling her.

"She just wanted to be somewhere that felt more like a home and less like a hotel."

His words cut like a knife. She knew that Grace had always troubled fitting in. For most of her life she had been trying to find a place that she could call home. And then she did. But when she left for University she knew she'd always have a home in Las Vegas now she no longer had that. All she had in Vegas were hotel rooms. Rooms that had nothing from her. Rooms that meant nothing to her. They were just rooms. Catherine knew even though her daughter had never told her. She knew she hadn't found a place. Her place. Her home. She lived in college dorm room. A room that now she was about to say goodbye to.

"I need to go. I haven't checked at the hotel yet." it was a sad remind that she too didn't have a home in her own hometown.

"You can stay over my place if you want to... I could stay at Jake's room. You girls could have the master. I think Grace..."

"You probably right. I think... I think I'll take that offer." for Grace. She told herself, for Grace.

"Ok, see you after shift then." he was walking back to his office when her voice made him stop.

"Hey Lou! Thank you." she said with a smile