Title: The Things We Share
Summary: While working on a case Mac and Lindsay notice they have developed a special bond which starts to grow as the weeks go by. Things change between them but hopefully for the better. So what exactly happened?
Pairings: Mac & Lindsay
Status: In-Progress
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CHAPTER 1 - And So It Begins
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It was cold. Very cold. Or maybe it was the wind combined with the ever approaching rain as the dark clouds slowly made their way over Manhattan that created the illusion of it being cold. Lindsay Monroe was on her way to an apartment, not far from the New York City Crime Lab, and as usual this was no social call. Stella and Danny were already on a case of their own so she was kind of expecting to be called to a scene pretty soon. She didn't really know what to expect but it was probably going to be ugly. Death always was, she quickly reasoned, dumbfounded by her own 'clichéish' thoughts. Detective Mac Taylor had called her mere minutes ago and told her to come to the scene as quickly as possible. He had not said much else, but then again why explain something over the phone when she'd be there 15 minutes later. 'Mac Taylor', she thought. He never really said anything that wasn't relevant and she liked that about him. She had developed a deep liking to the man. They had befriended rather quickly after she had joined his team. She had been, and still was, impressed by how he never treated her like a complete rookie, patronizing her every chance he got. No, he treated her like an equal, most of the time that was. Of course she had a lot to learn but she liked to think she was pretty good; she had after all been doing this for years already. As her thoughts continued to trail from one thought to another, mostly concerning her and Mac's relationship, she spotted Hawkes hovering about the building where the crime had taken place and her thoughts quickly came to a halt. He was looking for any possible clues or evidence and she started focusing on the case.
"Hey! What's the deal?" she asked him while crossing the narrow road and walking beside him.
Hawkes turned around acknowledging her presence. "Hi. The landlord found one of his tenants dead while letting a plumber to fix a leak. Mac's waiting for ya in the apartment. He could probably use some help up there," he said pointing upstairs. "It's the third floor."
Lindsay looked up and started walking to the front door. "You going to stay here?" she asked.
"Yeah, gotta make sure nothing's left outside. Looks like we'll have rain soon," Hawkes said as he looked up to the sky. "Shouldn't take long though. There's not much to see... We've been here for some time and haven't found anything. Looks like whatever happened didn't leave any signs outside."
"OK," Lindsay quipped and made her way up the three stories, passing a few policemen in the stairway.
After taking a quick right she spotted the open door and the police tape in its vicinity. She walked in and saw the victim. He was a man, in his forties and he was half sitting, half lying on an armchair next to a couch, hence diagonally facing the TV. She took in his appearance – blood had dripped from his mouth and it covered his chin and some of it had reached his lap, the cause was rather evident as there was a knife stuck at the back of his neck. She was now studying his upper back more closely, her eyes fixated on the shirt that was between the handle of the knife and the blade deep inside of him. As she was putting on a pair of latex gloves she noted there were two other stabbing wounds close to the on with the knife still in it. Just as she noticed that she hadn't seen Mac anywhere, only some officers, she saw him come out of the bathroom.
"Hi," she said, straightening up. "I was just about to come looking for you. Did you find something?"
Mac nodded his greeting. "There were some bloody stains in the bathroom, seems like someone tried to wash something in a hurry. My guess is it's the murderer... Since this clearly is one. No way he could have stabbed himself multiple times in his upper back."
Lindsay smiled at him. "Now that I would like to have seen..." Mac raised an eyebrow. "Well, not really but..."
"Got it," he said with a slight smirk while taking his equipment kit and finding the necessary items he was planning to use. "You take the bathroom, I'll look at the body until they take him away. Probably a couple of more minutes. When you're finished come help with the living room but it'll probably take pretty long with all the blood and splatters I saw. I'd suspect you'll find prints as well. Something definitely took place in there." Mac said while his eyes shifted between the murder victim and Lindsay. She turned to leave but Mac interrupted her. "Did you happen to see Hawkes?" he asked thoughtfully.
She turned around after putting her kit down at the bathroom door. "Yeah, he was searching for evidence outside. It could start raining any minute now. He hadn't found anything yet, suspected that whatever took place in here didn't leave any traces outside." Lindsay continued on to taking her coat off as it was clear it would only be in the way in the confined space of the small bathroom.
"Alright," he said just as his phone rang. "Taylor." he answered. By the sound of the conversation Lindsay figured it was Hawkes calling from downstairs. Her suspicions were quickly confirmed as Mac asked for Hawkes to come help him after he was done. Lindsay moved into the bathroom and started to work. Soon she heard Mac ending his conversation with Hawkes and everything went very silent.
They worked in silence, only occasionally exchanging a few comments and informing each other about their newest findings. The body was taken to the morgue while they continued their hunt for clues. Hawkes joined Mac and they started dusting the living room for prints. The living room wasn't very big, in fact the entire apartment consisted of a tiny bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and the living room. After a while Mac asked for Hawkes to go and take a look at the bedroom and the kitchen.
Mac could here Lindsay muttering something about being 'too damn short reach the fricking top shelf' and saw her reach for a stool just outside the bathroom door. "Can I step on this or do you need to preserve this as it is?" she asked with some annoyance in her voice.
"Go ahead, found nothing on it," He looked at her almost asking whether she needed help but thinking it might be better to just keep his mouth shut. "You almost done?"
Lindsay picked up the stool. "Almost, I'm going over the contents of the cabinet over the sink."
After a few minutes she returned the stool to its original place, disappearing back into the bathroom. Mac noted that she had that determined look in her eyes she got when she was very focused on something. 'Since when do I note how she looks at something?' he thought to himself. He erased the thought from his mind and walked to his kit, moving Lindsay's neatly folded coat onto the stool and off the closed box containing more equipment. He couldn't help but notice how the coat radiated a scent he knew as Lindsay. For the second time in minutes he was astounded by his thoughts and decided this was no lace to contemplate said thoughts.
"I'm done! What's next?" was the next thing Mac heard and looking up from his kneeled position he saw Lindsay looking straight at him with a questioning look.
"Me too!" he heard coming from the other direction and he saw Hawkes walking closer.
"Did you check the kitchen too?" Mac asked him.
Hawkes lifted up his camera. "Didn't really find anything, took some pictures though and bagged a few things just to be sure. The bedroom was clear too."
Mac nodded as Hawkes finished. "I think we're done here, at least for now. Let's wrap things up."
The other two nodded. They packed their things and two officers came to help them carry all of their bags to the car. "I wonder if Flack has found anything out..." Lindsay wondered aloud while she pulled on her jacket.
"Well, we'll know soon enough!" quipped Hawkes as he exited the apartment.
Lindsay grabbed her kit and glanced around once more. Mac saw her do this. "We've got everything we need for now."
Lindsay turned her head and smiled. "Never hurts being careful," she said as she started walking towards the door with Mac. "Right?" she added lightheartedly.
"Right." he said.
"I was being rhetorical," she said not looking at him but he could tell she was smiling.
"I know," he replied giving her a soft quiding nudge as they stepped over the doorstep into the hallway. "I know."
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So here it is, the first installment of my first CSI fic. Never really been a CSI shipper but I have been converted… I know this is a fairly uncommon ship compared to the others (you now which ones) but thought I'd give it a shot. And I hope there aren't many grammatical errors.So, there is that pretty little review button that'll let you tell me whether I should stop now or continue with more chapters. Constructive criticism is always welcome so just let me know if you have anything to say. :)