A new beginning
It was raining when Mac went into the elevator and pulled the button for the CSI lab. It was Tuesday morning and nobody in sight.
He sighed. Always the same. When he reached the story of the lab, he went out of the elevator. He headed into his office.
Mac laid his coat over the hat stand and walked to his desk. He turned on the computer and sat down in his chair, only waiting for someone to come in.
And someone came in.
A brunette woman in her mid-thirties made her way to his office door. Her hair fell curly in the middle of her back. She looked like a model to him.
He stood up and waved her in, just when she reached his door. She smiled shyly and let him lead her in.
"Hello, my name's… I'm Crystal McKinsey. And you are Detective Taylor, right?"
"Yeah, I am. What can I do for you?" he said and sat down opposite of her.
"Well… I've been transferred to the lab yesterday and well… nobody told you, I think. So I came to introduce myself."
"Wait. You're transferred to my lab?"
"Yes, that's just what I said. Is everything okay?"
Mac just stared out of the window of his office. It was just one month since Stella had left and Sinclair was already sending him someone new?
He shook his head gently. His boss could be such an ass when he wanted to be. Mac sighed and turned toward Crystal.
"Okay. I'm fine, thanks. So… you are going to work in my team so I'll introduce you to the others. Is that okay?"
Crystal nodded graciously and stood up. She walked after her new boss into a kind of conference room.
She looked around and felt a bit uncomfortable. Everybody in the room stared at her and Mac. But he just walked to one end of the table.
"Hey guys. Listen to me." But no one seemed to notice him.
"GUYS! LISTEN! NOW!" he yelled.
Now everyone turned to face their boss. Mac smiled a bit. He looked each co-worker in the eyes: Danny, Lindsay, Hawkes, Adam.
Nobody couldn't help but look to the ground when the eyes of their boss met theirs. Mac sighed once again.
"Good morning everybody. I have something to say. Sinclair sent us a new co-worker: Crystal McKinsey." He pointed towards her.
"She's working with us now."
Crystal smiled shyly and looked to the ground. Danny couldn't help but grin when he saw the disbelieving looks in Adam's and Hawkes' face.
Even if they all missed Stella, they had to move on quickly or it would distract work and personal life.
Mac walked into the lab, careful not to make a sound. He knew he would disturb the new one. And he wanted to watch how well she was working on the evidence.
But nothing worked.
"I heard you, Taylor. Come in or get out quickly." She mumbled.
And so he went in and looked over the woman's shoulder. She blushed a bit when she noticed how near he was.
"What are you working on?" he asked.
"I'm working on the clothes of the last victim. There is lots of blood on it, but I found another thing on it. I'm running it through all databases to find out."
"Good. I-"
Mac's cell phone rang.
"Taylor?"
"Hey Mac, it's Don here. I got a crime scene for you. Are you takin' it or not?"
"I'll get it. Send me the address. I'll be there in a few minutes."
He closed the phone and put it back into his pockets. Mac noticed that Crystal was carefully watching him.
Then he made a quick decision.
"Crystal? You come with me. Danny can finish the evidence."
At his name, the other man looked up in disbelieving. He should do the job of the new one and she could go to a crime scene with his boss?
Mac watched him carefully. He knew Danny hated to do extra work, but he wanted Crystal out in the field to discover her abilities.
As they drove to the crime scene, it was quiet at first. But Crystal wanted to know some things about the lab.
"Who was my forerunner?" she asked.
Mac turned to face the beautiful young lady.
"Stella Bonasera. She was the best co-supervisor the lab ever had."
"She was your best friend, wasn't she?"
"…Yes. How'd you know that?"
"Adam told me when he tried to flirt with me." She chuckled and looked out of the window.
Mac smiled and sighed a bit.
"Yeah, that's Adam. He always flirts with beautiful woman, you know."
She turned to face her boss. Did he just say that she was beautiful? She raised an eyebrow and he noticed that. But he didn't take a step back.
"So… how long have you been in New York?" he asked instead.
"About… twelve years now. I was born in Chicago."
"Oh, you, too? I was born there, too. But when I was honourable released from the Marines, I took the job of the lab supervisor here in New York."
"You were with the Marines? In which…"
"… I was in the Baijut. Hard times."
"I heard about that. You lost your friend, right?"
Now Mac was quiet. His thoughts drifted away to the day when his friend and him had tried to safe a little boy from a shooting.
Both had died after getting in the crossfire of the soldiers and the enemy. He nearly jumped out of his skin, when someone gently touched his shoulder.
"Mac? Everything's okay? I didn't want to hurt you."
Crystal carefully watched his eyes, full of sorrow. She knew it hadn't been good to ask him about that.
He sighed and nodded slightly, his face full of pain.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"Really, Son of Strength? You know, you can tell me everything, even if you don't know me. I won't tell it to someone until you tell me to."
Mac smiled at her and stopped the car.
"I know, brilliant glass."
Then they went out the car. Mac went to process the crime scene and Crystal to ask the witnesses.
She crossed the way of a tall male with black hair. He was obviously a cop from homicide unit.
"Hey, I'm Don!" he called out. "Don Flack."
She turned and faced the man.
"I'm Crystal McKinsey. Nice to meet you, brown stranger."
"How do you call me?"
"Brown Stranger. And I won't explain why. So, what do you want?"
"Do you want to go out on a date with me?"
"Let me think… No."
She passed by and didn't turn around 'til she reached Mac. They exchanged a look and began to work.
After a few minutes Don came to Mac and watched Crystal. In his eyes she was pretty gorgeous.
"What's up, Don? You're staring at her about five minutes now."
He looked up and shook his head.
"I can't believe she's working for you. She's too good looking to work as a CSI. She would make a pretty good cop, don't you think?"
Mac rolled his eyes quietly and went back to work.
Then someone cut his thoughts off.
"Mac? Don? Get away from here. Now." Crystal whispered.
"Why? What's up?" both asked.
"Don't ask. Just get away. Do me the favour."
She began to move backward, away from the body. Her eyes were full of fear, but her face didn't show something.
"Get away, NOW." She said.
Mac and Flack exchanged a look and began to walk away, not knowing of what was going on. They were all behind the crime scene tape, when Crystal cursed.
"I forgot the camera! Damn it!"
She ran back and picked it up.
Then the bomb went off.
A/N: uh oh... what did just happened? Will Crystal survive? Will she go on a date with Don? What does "Brown Stranger"mean? Stay tuned for the next chapter!
hope you liked it so far. please review xD