This is an idea that popped into my head the other night and I just thought I'd type out a first chapter and see the responses it's going to get – guess that'll then tell me whether I should continue with this story or better drop it.

So please, leave me a review or send me a message and let me know what you think – should I continue this story?

Summary: Sid Hammerback's estranged daughter from his first marriage comes to town and she comes to work with the CSIs. Will she be able to resolve her problems with her father? And what happens when she seems to be the only one who can cheer Flack up, now that Jess is dead?

Pairings: DLL (Danny/Lindsay/Lucy), FlackOC, maybe hints at Mac/Stella (but not so sure) and depending on how far I'm going to take the story, I might just create two OCs for Hawkes and Adam.

Setting: Post 5x25 (Pay Up)

Spoilers: Spoilers for the season 5 finale, none after that.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, am only a poor little fanfic writer. All that's mine are the OCs that I create. CBS may feel free to just buy them off of me and make me a happy and rich student.

Detective Donald Flack Jr. was sitting in Joe's bar, at the counter, knocking back one shot after another. Joe had long given up trying to make him quit. After some serious fights, he had just left the bottle at Don's side.

Everyone in the bar knew why Detective Flack was here – it was exactly 4 weeks after Detective Angell's death and one could clearly see that Don was not over it – probably never would be. He poured himself a new drink, when a slender, blonde-haired girl sat down next to him.

"Looks like you shouldn't be doing this right about now," she stated and tried to take the bottle off of Don.

He was quicker and held the bottle out of reach, then turned towards her: "This is none of your business and now go."

"Just saying that I think you had enough alcohol for a night, probably even for a lifetime," she went on. "Maybe you should try to have a glass of water instead of this nasty stuff."

"Didn't I already say that this is none of your business?" Don repeated.

"Look, you want to drown whatever sorrows you have, do it properly and do it alone," she retorted and ordered a beer for herself.

"Are you telling me to leave the bar?" Don asked, disregarding his drinks and fully turning his attention to the unknown girl.

"I do indeed," she answered.

"Oh, and why would that be? Why would I have to go?" he wanted to know.

The girl looked at him, wrinkled her nose up at him, took a deep whiff and said: "Because you need a shower. You stink."

Don immediately got up and built himself up in front of her, trying to look threatening. What he didn't realize was that from all the alcohol, he was starting to wobble and there were stains on the front of his shirt – instead of looking threatening, he looked ridiculous.

The girl glanced at him and started laughing. "Whatever you're trying to achieve, it's not working," she said between laughs. When she had calmed down, she told Don: "Whatever it is you're upset about, drinking yourself into a coma is not going to make it any better. Been there, done that, realized it was a big 'fail'. Go home, suck it up and tomorrow the world will be a better place, I promise."

Don grabbed his jacket, put it on and turned around to leave the bar. He didn't turn back round to the girl, even though he desperately wanted to let her know that for him, the world would never be a good place again because he had lost his angel.

"I'm still not sure this was a good idea," Mac said and turned towards Stella, who was working next to him in the lab.

"You're doing a good friend a favour, Mac. There's nothing wrong with that. Plus, you didn't only hire her for Sid, you had already more or less decided to anyway," Stella replied and took another look through the microscope at the trace in front of her.

"I know that, Stella. I'm just not sure that this was such a clever idea," he kept on doubting himself and his decisions.

"It'll all be fine. We need someone new in the lab, with all the workload we have on our shoulders. Danny is complaining that he doesn't get enough time off and Lindsay is already doing part-time. You are never going home to catch some sleep and to be honest, I could do with working a little less. Hawkes did tell me the very same thing only yesterday. We need a new CSI and she had the best references," Stella assured him.

Mac sighed and slowly took off his lab coat He walked towards the door and then turned around once more. "Let's just hope you're right, Stella," he said and then left the lab and went over to his own office.

He was waiting for the new CSI to arrive and he still needed her to sign some papers before he could throw her directly into the dragon's den.

Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Hunter walked into the grand entrance hall of the crime lab building. It was her first day and she still couldn't believe her luck that she had landed this brilliant new job, to work under the command of Detective Mac Taylor. At university in Wisconsin he was a legend and she had taken a class that had been all about him. After Mac himself had held a guest lecture in front of about 200 students, she had immediately fallen in love with the charismatic man and had made it her goal to work under his supervision and care one day. He was one of the best at this job and Lizzie knew that she could profit a lot from him and his experience. She was willing to sacrifice all of her free time, if only to one day get a reference by Mac Taylor himself, asserting that Elizabeth Hunter was one of the best in the field of the forensic work.

Lizzie knew that she had her head in the clouds again, something her mother always criticized her for. But she could never understand what was wrong with a little excessive optimism and joie de vivre.

Lizzie stepped into the elevator and just as its doors were about to close, a hand reached inside and the doors slid back open. A tall and dark-haired man jumped inside and the elevator closed behind him. Lizzie could only see his back and that was clothed in a dark suit. The man let out a sigh and then leant back against the elevator wall. Lizzie looked up at him and just as she examined his face and tried to remember where she knew him from, Don opened his eyes and stared directly into Lizzie's face.

"It's you!" both exclaimed at the same time.

"Unbelievable," Don then added and took a closer look at Lizzie. She definitely was the rude girl from the bar last night who had told him to suck it up and get over whatever problems he had. She had long and straight blonde hair, was wearing jeans, black Converse shoes and a simple black shirt under a jeans jacket. There was nothing special or extraordinary about her. She wasn't wearing any make up and even though her clothes were neat and clean, they were nothing out of the ordinary or strikingly expensive. She was just a girl, probably in her mid- to late twenties.

Lizzie herself took a closer look at Don's troubled face. He had deep shadows underneath his eyes and he looked as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while. He must have lost some weight because the suit was dangling around his body as if it was trying to fit, but simply couldn't. He looked as if he had been to hell and back and Lizzie wondered what it was that weighed so heavy on his mind that alcohol was the only remedy.

"What are you doing here? Got locked up for being too obnoxious?" Don wondered.

"Actually, I'm working here," Lizzie stated. She challengingly looked up at him and waited for his response.

"Mac must be desperate to hire you of all the applicants," Don said.

At that moment, they had reached the 35th floor and both walked out. Don had already more or less forgotten about Lizzie, but she was not willing to let him off that easily. He had insulted her and her honour and she would not let that slide.

"I'm damn good at what I'm doing," she called out, louder than she had wanted to.

"We'll see," was Don's response, without turning back round. For him, she was just another one of those CSIs who came, stayed for a little while and then left again because they couldn't cope with all the pressure, lack of sleep and murder around.

"Miss Hunter?" Lizzie heard her name called out. She quickly scanned the hallway and saw Mac standing in his office door. He was holding it open for her and bade her inside. "In here, please," he added, not knowing whether Lizzie had understood the gesture.

Lizzie meekly followed him inside, all of a sudden feeling like a shy little girl in the presence of a powerful and big man. For her, Mac Taylor was a hero and she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him. So she chose her words carefully and tried to make a good impression on him.

"Detective Taylor, it's so nice to finally be here," she said and smiled at Mac.

"I know, you already said so in the thousands of mails you send me over the last couple of days," he smirked and teased.

"Too many?" Lizzie shyly asked.

"A tad," Mac said and smiled at Lizzie, to show that he was not angry at her for being overly enthusiastic. "So, are we ready to throw ourselves into work?" he then wanted to know.

"Of course, any time!" Lizzie exclaimed and took the badge from Mac, which he gave her.

"You see, this badge will only get you into crime scenes as it shows that you are part of the crime scene investigative team. You are not a police officer and so you are not allowed to carry a gun. You do not have the exact same rights as we detectives have, but I think you are aware of that," he enlightened her anyway, just to be on the safe side.

"I know all of that. I am just a forensic investigator and not a cop. That's the way I always wanted it to be," she answered.

"May I ask why?" Mac said, curiosity getting the most of him.

"You mean, why did I not become a cop on top of being an investigator?" When Mac nodded, she continued: "I simply never saw the appeal in carrying a weapon. I want to solve crimes and I can do that without belonging to the force. That is all that counts for me. I hope that's not a problem?"

"Not at all," Mac reassured her and then pointed towards the door, wanting Lizzie to follow him. "Care to meet the rest of the team?"

Dr. Sid Hammerback was down in autopsy, where he belonged. But he couldn't concentrate on the body in front of him – his mind was too full with other things. He knew that Stella needed the autopsy results and so he forced himself to continue, but at the same time he decided to have Hawkes take a look at the results later, just to make sure he hadn't made any major mistakes.

It was one thought in particular that was running through Sid's mind, because of which he could hardly concentrate on what he was doing.

He took a look at what time it was and he was sure that she had to be in the building by now, was probably already upstairs in the crime lab. He knew that the favour he had asked of Mac would put a severe strain on the two men's relationship and yet, when he had seen the file with her name on Mac's desk, he hadn't been able to keep silent. When Mac had told him that he considered hiring her for the vacant position, Sid had practically begged Mac to give the job to her.

Sid knew that his behaviour had been unprofessional, but he hoped one would be able to plead insane in his case.

He was simply a father who wanted to get his daughter back into his life.