Catherine Willows leaned against the desk in her empty office. 3 weeks ago she had been given notice that she was being transferred. She had been forced to put her house up for sale, pack her whole world in boxes, and find someone Lindsay could stay with while she finished up her current year of school in Vegas. Her usually bright blue eyes, now dulled with sadness traveled the empty walls and shelves of her office. It wasn't huge… but she had learned to cope with the cramped space and in the end had really come to love it. A soft knock on the door pulled her from her reverie. "Yes?" she whispered, hoping it wasn't the director of the lab coming to wish her a "nice trip." She blinked her eyes rapidly to force her tears away. She did not want to cry over this. "Catherine?" Her eyes shifted to the door and she smiled as he stared back at her. "Hi Gil." she sniffled and he stepped into the office and shut the door. "How you holding up?" She shook her head and dropped it into her hands, cursing herself for not being able to keep her emotions under control. He wrapped his arms around her as she cried. Whispering soothing words and old clichés that wouldn't make her leaving any easier, but could help calm her down… which it eventually did. She took a deep breath and involuntarily inhaled his musky scent. She slid her arms around his back and held tight to him in the embrace. The side of her face resting against his chest, "Dammit, Gil. I don't want to leave." He smiled into her hair and placed a soft kiss to the crown of her head. "I know Cath. And I don't want you to have to go." She pulled her head off his chest and mock glared at him, "There's a but at the end of that sentence…" He smirked, "But… you have to go." She nodded and kept her arms wrapped around him, "Will you take me?" He smiled and nodded; slipping from her grasp, he took one of her hands in his and her carry-on and small suitcase in the other and they slowly walked out of her office.

As they passed the break room she squeezed Gil's hand, "I want to say goodbye to them." He nodded and she slipped into the room where her former co-workers sat. "Hey." She said quietly, almost in a whisper. Warrick turned to her, "Cath." He got up and hugged her. She smiled and hugged him back. "Bye `Rick." Her smile grew as Greg and Nick both hugged her at the same time. She turned her head and whispered to Nick, "Take care of Greg, k? He may be just a trainee, but he's OUR trainee." He chuckled and squeezed her. "I will Catherine." The two guys pulled away, "Uh, Cath?" she turned to Greg waiting for him to continue. She smiled when she saw the look he was giving her and leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed and pretended to faint. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Sara sat unmoving in her chair. She smiled and waved to the strawberry blonde as she left. Nick turned to Sara after Catherine and Grissom had continued to the pakring lot, "You could've said goodbye and given her a hug." Sara scoffed, "We didn't get along when she was here… why should we start now that she's leaving?"

Catherine sighed as she climbed into the passenger seat of Gil's truck. She glanced at the building one last time as Gil loaded her suitcases into the back of his truck. She quickly wiped the fresh tears from her face as he climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. "You okay?" She nodded her head, "I will be. Can we just…" He nodded and shifted the vehicle into park. The drive to the airport was relatively quiet. The occasional sniffle from Catherine and every once in a while the sound of Gil clearing his throat. When they arrived at the airport drop off zone, Gil put the car into park and helped Catherine organize herself. As they stood next to his vehicle, she allowed a couple tears to slide down her face. "Well… I guess… this is it?" He nodded sadly. "Gil… I… I have so much I want to say but…" Gil opened his arms and gestured for her to come to him. She stepped into his embrace and whispered into his chest, "I love you." He smiled as he listened to her whispered confession. Not sure if she wanted him to hear it, he didn't say anything in response. "Cath, you'll miss your flight." She nodded against him and leaned up kissing his cheek, "Take care of Lindsey." He nodded and brushed his knuckles along her jaw as she turned and entered the airport. Her heart breaking with each step.

She reached her terminal and presented her ticket. She glanced over her shoulder, half expecting to see him come running toward the gate she was exiting from to force her to stay… but he wasn't there. 'Big surprise Catherine. He doesn't want you.' She headed to the plane and boarded. She placed her carry-on above her and settled into her seat. She glanced out the window at her beloved Las Vegas and sighed as she let her vision blur with silent tears.

---MEANWHILE---

Gil drove towards Lily Flynn's house to pick up his best friend's daughter. He parked in the drive way and gave a quick toot of his horn to let the inhabitants of the house that he was there to get her. Lindsey flew out the door with several bags of clothing and a small backpack. Gil smiled and got out of the car. She dropped all her stuff and jumped into his arms. He smiled and hugged her. "Is Mom here?" He shook his head, still holding her tight in an embrace, "She had a flight to catch Linds." Lindsey sensed Gil's heartbreak over her mother leaving and squeezed him in the hug, "It's ok Uncle Gil. We'll get through this." Gil smiled and pulled back, his eyes seeking hers. He smiled when their gazes met. She had her mother's bright blue eyes. "Let's load your stuff in my car and then we'll go get some food and go home. K?" She nodded and grabbed 2 bags, leaving 2 for Gil to grab. After the bags were all loaded into his SUV and Lindsey had hugged her grandmother and told her she'd see her soon, she and Gil drove off towards his townhouse.

"Linds, you hungry?" she shook her head, "Nope. Gramma fed me." He nodded and continued heading to his place. "Uncle Gil?" he heard Lindsey ask in a soft voice, "Yes?" She turned to him, "If I'm staying with you… does that mean you're like my new dad?" He chuckled, "No Lindsey. It doesn't mean that. It just means your mother trusts me enough to leave you in my care. Is that ok with you?" Lindsey began to nod then stopped, "Can I pretend it's the other one?" He stopped at a stop sign and turned to her stunned, "Why would you want to do that Lindsey?" Lindsey shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Well… Mommie loves you. I've always thought of you as a second dad anyway… I don't know. I guess I just want to feel like I'm living with a part of my family." Her head dropped in front of her. Gil put his finger under her chin and tilted her head up, "If it will make you feel better we can pretend any ol' thing you want." He smiled as Lindsey got a broad smile on her face. "Can I turn on your radio?"

---MEANWHILE---

Catherine turned the radio in her small rental car on as she drove to her new home in Indianapolis. She focused on the song as she parked in front of the small condominium complex. "Technically it's a townhouse…" she smiled at the memory of Gil's comment. She turned her radio up as a familiar song began… she sang along for the first few lines then stopped as she realized the song was describing everything she was feeling. She rested her forehead against the steering wheel of her car as she openly sobbed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She missed her house, she missed her job, she missed her daughter, and she missed him.

If I should stay
I would only be in your way
SO I'll go
But I know I'll think of you every step of the way
And I will always love you
I will always love you

As they pulled into his driveway, Gil went to turn the car off… the song had started to hit too close to home for him. He could relate to the words as Whitney Houston sang about the love she felt towards someone as he left. Lindsey saw him start to turn the car off, "NO! I want to hear the rest of this song!" Gil stopped and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as his mind wandered to Catherine; Her blue eyes, her soft strawberry blonde hair, her long lean body as she walked. He couldn't help the tears that started to pool at the edge of his lower eyelids. "It's ok to cry Uncle Gil." He lifted his head and turned to the child sitting to his right, "I'm not crying Lindsey." She reached out and touched his hand, "Mom told me it's always ok to cry when someone you love goes away." She reached over and pulled the man she loved as a father into a soft embrace. He held her and allowed the first tears he had cried since Catherine had left slide into her daughter's long blonde hair.

You you… my darling you
Mmmmm
Bittersweet memories
That is all I'm taking with me
SO goodbye
Please don't cry
We both know I'm not what you
You need
And I will always love you
I will always love you

I hope life treats you kind
And I hope you have all you've
dreamed of and I wish to u joy
and happiness
but above all this
I wish you love.

Catherine wiped her eyes and left the car running as she opened her door and walked to the trunk to pull out her bags. She picked them out of the compartment and shut it with her elbow as she walked back to the driver's side door and sat in the seat listening to the final minute of the song. She took a deep breath and gave a long sigh as she turned the car off at the end of the song. She grabbed her purse and took her new keys out of the front pocket. She stood, grabbed her other bags, shut the car door and walked up the short pathway to the front door. She slid the key into the lock and opened the door.

And I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
You… Darling I love you
I will always
I will always love you…

---Back in Vegas---

After the song had ended and Gil had stopped crying, Lindsey nodded to the back of the truck, "Can we go inside now?" He nodded, shut the car off and climbed out. Gil and Lindsey grabbed her bags from the back of his truck and headed up the short pathway and put the key in the door and opened it. Lindsey followed Gil in and watched as he put her bags down at the bottom of the stairs, "Let's see if your mother called." Lindsey smiled and shut the door with her foot as she ran to where Gil was standing by the answering machine. He chuckled at her anxiousness and hit the play button. "Hey you two! I'm here. Safe and sound. This whole time change thing is going to be a pain to deal with but I'm sure I'll get on a good sleep schedule quickly. The condo…I mean townhouse isn't much bigger than yours Gil. I'm pleased with it and Lindsey, all our boxes are here, so don't fret too much about your stuff. I'll put your boxes in your room and when you get here we can organize your room together. Gil, I…I miss you already. I wish you had been home when I called. I hope you both are doing well. Call me when you get this. I love you." Lindsey smiled and turned to Gil, "She said she loved you." He glanced at the girl with a confused face, "She said she loved you Lindsey." Lindsey shook her head, "She said, `I love you.' She never specifically said me or you. She meant it for both of us." Gil cocked his eyebrow at her. She giggled, "Can we call her? She wanted us to call when we got her message." He nodded and dialed Catherine's cell phone number on his home phone. He pressed the button to start the call and handed the phone to Lindsey. She squealed when Catherine answered the phone, "Willows." Gil smiled at the sound of her daughter chattering away animatedly about her day and how cool his house was and how much she missed her.

After a half hour Lindsey walked into the living room with the phone in front of her, "She wants to talk to you." Gil smiled and accepted the phone from Lindsey's small hand. He sighed and held the phone to his ear, "Hi Catherine." She smiled on her side of the conversation, "Hi handsome." He chuckled, "How's everything going?" She sighed into the phone, "Gil… I miss Vegas. I miss Lindsey, my mother, the lab, the team… Jesus Gil, I even miss Greg." He laughed and shook his head. "Don't you shake your head at me Gil Grissom." He stopped and smirked, "You know me too well Cath." She chuckled, "That's a good thing though Gil. I… I have a confession. I think I miss you most of all." Everything stopped for him. He practically had to remind himself to breathe, "Cath…" his voice was barely audible. He heard a sniffle on the other end of the phone. "Gil…it's so hard to be here alone. I hate this. The townhouse is nice but dammit Gil I want to be home in Vegas with you and Lindsey. I want to be able to go into the lab tomorrow and have Greg flirt with me… I want to be able to see Nicky. I want to be in my office and get an email from you across the hall form me that's just meant to `say hi.' I want to be home." He knew she was crying and he was crying now too. "Catherine I wish you could be here with us… I wish I could be there with you. I miss you too. But, we'll figure something out. Lindsey has winter break coming up, I have a lot of vacation time stored up… maybe we 2 can come visit. We can set up Lindsey's room, I can help you with all the hard stuff, and then after the week of vacation is up for Linds and me, we'll come home and you'll be able to have some good memories to get you through `til she comes to stay there permanently." Catherine sniffled and sobbed quietly. "Did you listen to my message?" He cleared his throat, "Yea. It was the first thing we did when we got home." Catherine smiled, "Figures… Gil at the end… I said something… and I think I need to clarify who I meant before someone's feelings are hurt." Gil nodded, "The `I love you' thing?" She chuckled, "How do you always know what I mean? Yea, that thing. Gil… as much as I…" Gil interrupted her, "I tried to tell Lindsey you meant it for her, but she just wouldn't listen. I knew…" This time it was Catherine to interrupt him, "You know you're pretty dense sometimes Gil Grissom. Would you let me finish what I was saying? Now as I was saying, as much as I love Lindsey, and she knows I do… I meant that for you. Gil I've loved you for years… I just… I just was too frightened to say anything." Silence met her ear, afraid that the connection had been broken she panicked, "HELLO?" Gil sat in shock as what she had just said sunk in, "Cath… I'm here. I'm just… kinda shocked." She nodded, "Yea, I didn't think you'd feel the same way. Well… I'm going to…" Gil interrupted her, "Catherine do not run away from this. Don't you dare try to run form this conversation. You say something like that and I don't know what to say. Dammit Catherine, did you forget who you're talking to? Gruesome Grissom? The man who can't show and emotion? I'm not able to speak my mind like you are."

Catherine scoffed, "I don't know Gil. You didn't seem to have a hard time telling Lady Heather how you felt! I'm not the one running from anything. I'm going to go shower. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye Gil." She started to hang up when she heard him say, "I love you Catherine. I'll call you tomorrow." She smiled and snapped her phone shut.She stood from where she had been sitting against the wall and walked up the stairs of her new home to the bathroom. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, "What have you gotten yourself into Catherine?" She smiled and shook her head. Actually I may have just gotten one of the best things ever... I may have just gotten Gil Grissom. She pulled the rubbedband holding her ponytail in place out and let her strawberry blonde hair fall. She glanced at the red roots growing in, "Dammit I have to dye my hair again." She softly fingered the roots and smiled, "Maybe I'll go back to my red. Gil always preferred the red." She smirked. "Definitely going back to red."