| Meetings - by kyrdwyn |
| Rated: G Spoilers: None Synopsis: Brass, Warrick, Greg, and Nick are in for a surprise |
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| CSI, Gil Grissom and company, and places and etc are all property of Anthony Zuiker, Alliance Atlantis, CBS, and other companies. They did not condone this fic, and I am not getting paid for it. I write because I want to. All other characters not appearing on CSI in any way, shape, or form that appear in this story are my property. If you have any comments - good or bad, feel free to e-mail me at: toxicrev@yahoo.com |
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| Brass and Warrick were walking down the hall towards the specimen lab when they both noticed that the door to Grissom's office was open. "I thought Grissom was on vacation," Brass remarked, his brow furrowing. "Yeah, he's not due back until next week. And Catherine's been running the shift out of the break room," Warrick replied. "Well, maybe someone's feeding his tarantula." The two men were at the doorway by now, and they stopped to look in. They were both surprised to see a young girl sitting in one of the chairs that was in front of Grissom's desk. She was swinging her legs back and forth as she bent over a book, reading. Her blonde hair was just past her shoulders, and she was idly twirling a lock around her right index finger. Warrick and Brass looked at each other in surprise. Brass stepped into the office, clearing his throat. The girl looked up, and they could see the surprise and fear in her green eyes. They were quickly replaced by wariness. Warrick though she looked too serious for a girl her age, which he guessed to be about 9 or so. Her crime lab visitor's pass was clipped to the collar of her shirt. "Hello. I'm Jim Brass. What's your name?" The girl's eyes flickered from Brass to Warrick. "Gillian." "Well, Gillian, this is Warrick Brown. He and I both work here in the crime lab." Gillian nodded at Warrick, her eyes still uncertain. She shifted in her chair, as if she were getting reading to bolt. "Hey Warrick, Jim." Grissom's voice sounded from behind them. Warrick noticed the girl's expression change from uncertainty to happiness at the voice. He turned from the Gillian to Grissom. Grissom was standing in the hallway, a folder in his hand. "Hey, I thought you were on vacation this week," Brass said. Grissom shrugged. "I am. Catherine and Sara needed some help on a case, so I came in for a bit." "Oh. Well, there's a young lady by the name of Gillian in your office." "I know." Brass' eyebrows rose at Grissom's statement. He turned as he felt the girl approach behind him. She slipped past Brass and Warrick into the hallway. Grissom smiled and held out his hand. Gillian took it, and leaned against him, her eyes still regarding Brass and Warrick warily. "Hey, sweetheart. Have you met my friends Mr. Brass and Mr. Brown?" Grissom asked the young girl, gesturing toward the two men with the folder. Warrick had been surprised by the way Gillian had reacted to Grissom's appearance, but he was stunned to hear Grissom refer to her as 'sweetheart'. He'd never heard Grissom use that term before, much less to a child who was clinging to him like he was her father. "Warrick, Jim, this is my daughter, Gillian." Warrick and Brass looked from Grissom to Gillian in amazement, then at each other. Gillian giggled, and Grissom smiled down at her, releasing her hand to ruffle her hair affectionately. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. Before Warrick or Brass could respond, Greg Sanders came sliding down the hallway, his hair sticking up and a report in his hand. "Hey Warrick, I got the DNA results on your dead bookie." He handed the paper to Warrick and then noticed Grissom. "Hey, Grissom - I thought you were on vacation. Who's the blonde?" he added as Gillian peered up at him. She looked up at her father, who was rolling his eyes at Greg. She giggled, then turned very serious, stepping forward to offer Greg her hand. "Hello. I'm Gillian Elizabeth Grissom. Who are you?" Greg's mouth dropped open and he looked from Gillian to Grissom. Brass snickered. Warrick tried to hide a smile. Grissom just raised his eyebrows at Greg. Finally the young lab tech remembered his manners, reaching out to shake Gillian's hand. "Uh, hi. I'm Greg Sanders." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Sanders." "Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too." Greg watched as Gillian turned back to Grissom and tugged on his jacket. He leaned down to let her whisper something in his ear, then put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulders affectionately. "You did fine, sweetheart." Greg slid over to Warrick. "Niece?" he asked quietly. "Daughter," Grissom replied, frowning at Greg. The lab tech blushed, then stammered something about finishing up a PCR analysis. He waved at Gillian as he took off down the hall. She waved back, giggling. "Well, the news of your daughter is going to be all over the lab in a few minutes," Brass noted as they watched Greg disappear. Grissom shrugged, "Nick's the only person from the shift who doesn't know, and I was just about to go find him. Catherine and Sara met Gillian a few days ago." "I just saw him heading into the break room a few minutes ago," Warrick said, gesturing back towards where he had seen Nick. "Thanks, Warrick." Grissom looked down at Gillian, "Shall we go?" Gillian nodded, taking his hand again. "Bye Mr. Brass, Mr. Brown." "Bye, Gillian." "See ya, Gillian." Grissom nodded at the two men. "I'll see you guys next week." They watched Grissom and his daughter walk down the hall. Warrick turned to Brass. "You know, I think I want to see Nick's reaction. Catch up with you later?" At Brass' nod, he followed the two down the hall. Brass stood watching for a second, then smiled and headed back to his office. * * * * * Nick was giving Catherine the run down on his investigation when she spotted Grissom and Gillian through the glass windows that let out into the hallway. She nudged Sara under the table, nodding toward the glass. The younger woman turned and smiled at the sight. Gillian looked like she was chattering away, her free hand gesturing in the air. Grissom was smiling down at her, as if whatever Gillian was saying was the most important thing in the world. It was an odd expression to see on Grissom's face, but Sara noticed how much younger he looked while wearing it. Sara's smile grew wider as Warrick came into view, a bemused expression on his face as he watched Grissom and Gillian. He caught Sara's eyes and nodded toward the pair, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. She shrugged back. Gillian's existence and arrival had stunned them all. Even Catherine hadn't really known about Grissom's relationship with Gillian's mother, much less Gillian. Though from what Sara had heard, Grissom himself hadn't known about Gillian until a few weeks ago. You wouldn't know it to look at them, she thought. Nick had missed the signal between the two women, and was wrapping up his report when Grissom, Gillian, and Warrick entered the room. Sara watched as Grissom's eyes swept across the papers and folders strewn on the break room table. "You know, Catherine," he remarked with a trace of amusement in his voice, "you can use my office. It won't bite." Nick turned around at the sound of Grissom's voice, but any comments he was planning on making died when he caught sight of Gillian holding onto Grissom's hand. She was looking around the break room with interest. "I wouldn't want to get too comfortable in your office, Grissom. You might have a hard time getting it back." Grissom merely raised an eyebrow at Catherine's remark. He walked forward to hand her the folder in his hand. "Here's the analysis you asked for." Catherine took it and smiled at him. "Thanks a lot, Gil. Sorry to disturb your vacation." He shrugged. "No problem. We've still got time to get to the game." "What game?" Sara asked, curious. "Daddy's taking me to the baseball game tonight," Gillian said, a smile on her face. "Really?" Sara asked. "The Las Vegas 51's?" At Gillian's nod, Sara remarked, "You know, I haven't been out there yet. You'll have to tell me all about it." "Okay!" Nick looked at Grissom. "Am I missing something here?" "Nick, this is my daughter, Gillian. Gillian, this is another friend of mine, Mr. Stokes." Gillian nodded shyly at Nick, her exuberance of a few seconds before gone. Grissom pulled her against him in another reassuring hug. "It's nice to meet you, Gillian." "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Stokes." Catherine stood up and came around the table to give Gillian a hug. "Hey, remember you've still got to meet my daughter Lindsey." Gillian hugged Catherine back. "I remember." Grissom glanced at his watch. "We better get going, sweetheart." Gillian reached for Grissom's hand. "Bye Ms. Willows, Ms. Sidle. Bye Mr. Stokes. Bye Mr. Brown." Grissom nodded at them. "See you all next week." The two left, leaving the rest of the night shift in the break room. Just before the door swung shut, Grissom could hear Nick remark, "A daughter?" Grissom smiled, shaking his head. It would take some time for people to get used to his having a daughter. Then again, it was taking time for him to adjust. * * * * * Brass was leaning against Grissom's Tahoe when they got outside. He had one hand behind his back. "Hey, I thought Gillian might like this," he said, pulling his hand out to reveal a brown teddy bear wearing a black t-shirt with LVPD on the back and the police shield on the front. Gillian stared at the teddy bear, then up at Brass. He smiled at her. "Welcome to Las Vegas, Gillian," he said. Grissom watched as Gillian reached forward to take the bear, holding it up and turning it around to check out the writing. She hugged the bear to her and smiled up at Brass. "Thank you." Brass smiled back down at her. "You're welcome." "Thanks, Jim." Grissom said. "Hey, it's nothing," Brass said with a shrug, trying to brush it off. Gillian, however, wouldn't let him. She gave Brass a hug, surprising the cynical detective. He hesitated a moment before giving her a quick hug back. Grissom hid a smile. Gillian stepped back, hugging the bear to her again. Grissom opened the passenger door for her and she hopped in, putting on her seatbelt. Grissom shut the door and headed around to the driver's side, Brass following. "She's got your smile, when you actually have one." Grissom just raised an eyebrow at that. "She seems like a great kid, Gil. You take care of her." "I will," he said as he got into the car. Grissom ruffled Gillian's hair before backing the SUV out. Gillian waved at Brass as the two drove away. He waved back and turned to the building, noticing the faces around the glass doors. He chuckled under his breath. Sanders had wasted no time in spreading the news about Grissom's daughter. Brass was still smiling as he entered the break room, hearing the rest of the night shift talking about Gillian. He wasn't worried about Gillian - Grissom was already acting like a besotted father. They were going to be just fine. |
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