1Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own CSI: NY or Adam Ross. They belong to CBS Entertainment, much to my dismay.

AN: Thanks to all who reviewed! I appreciate it greatly and because my reviewers rock, here's another chapter. Hope you guys like it. Thanks to...Allie, Liz, JaydenBell, Hazmatt, mjels, Mellow girl, masqueradewitch, PadfootCc. You guys rock!

Adam's head was spinning. Mac has a sister? Adam and Stella stood there in silence for a couple more minutes before Stella's work mode kicked in and she pulled out her phone to call Hawkes. She knew Danny would mean well, but he would ask too many questions about why Mac wasn't working the scene. Hawkes was a straightforward guy who did what he was asked, without questioning his supervisors.

While Stella and Hawkes began to process the scene, Flack had arrived to take Adam's statement. As Adam retold the few details he knew, he found himself thinking about Sapphire. Flack's voice brought him out of his daze and he finished telling Flack what he knew. Turning around to face the scene Adam saw Stella kneeling by a small pool of blood.

Adam walked over to Stella to tell her he was going to go back to the lab, when she suddenly stood up. She walked towards him and they met in the middle. Adam spoke first, "Stell if you guys are done with me I'm gonna head back to the lab."

"That's fine. Hey Adam, Mac's never mentioned anything about a sister to you has he? I mean I'm his closest friend and he's never said anything to me. That's kind of a big thing to hide."

Adam cut Stella off from her rant, "No Stell. Mac hasn't ever said anything to me about a sister. I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Why does it bother you so much that he never told you?"

Stella suddenly seemed very interested in the ground and sidstepped the question by ordering Adam back to the lab to start his work.

"I'll see ya back at the lab. And Stell, don't worry about why Mac didn't tell you about Sapphire, I'm sure there's a reason." and with that, Adam was headed back towards his car.

Mac was watching his younger sister with carefully trained eyes, capturing every detail of her bruised and battered body. Focusing in on her face, Mac cringed when he saw that her left eye was swollen shut. Examining the rest of her, Mac noticed the purple, almost black abrasions on her wrist where she was restrained.

Seeing small movements from the corner of his eye, Mac turned his head to see Sapphire struggling to sit up in the hospital bed. Moving over to her aide, Mac helped her sit up and then handed her a cup of water. She drank the liquid quickly before handing the cup back to Mac. He set it down on the beside table.

Mac was intently watching Sapphire to see what she would do. He knew she didn't like people hovering over her. She was fiercely independent, much like himself. They both had inherited that trait from their mom.

Sapphire gave him a weak smile before attempting to talk, "Are you here to take my statement or are you here as a big brother?"

Mac smiled before answering, "Big brother. You will always come before work, besides, I'm a conflict of interest. I might compromise the case if I work it. How are you feeling?"

Sapphire gave a small grimace before responding, "Like hell. But I'm pretty sure you've been through worse."

"I'm so sorry this happened to you Twinkle."

Sapphire grinned at the use of her childhood nickname, Mac had started calling her twinkle when she was younger because he said that her eyes would twinkle like sapphires when she got excited.

Mac and Sapphire sat in silence for a couple minutes when Sapphire spoke up, "Who was the guy that found me? I vaguely remember him saying he worked for the crime lab. He one of your guys?"

"Yea. His name is Adam Ross. He's one of my DNA Techs. He's started to branch out into the field though. He's a smart kid, got a good head on his shoulders. Though he seems to be a bit afraid of me."

"If he's a lab tech then why in the hell did he have a gun. I mean, that's not an everyday occurrence, sure as hell was lucky for me, I guess."

"Do you remember me telling you about the Irish gang?" at Sapphire's nod he went on, "Adam was taken hostage, along with Danny by two members of the gang. He was tortured and his hand was burned with cigarettes. That was only the second time he had been out in the field, and needless to say, it didn't go very well. As soon as he started working again, he approached me about carrying an off duty weapon. I didn't see any harm in it, so I helped him get registered and trained him myself. He is one hell of a shot."

Sapphire nodded as Mac was explaining this to her, but her thoughts were on Adam. Although she couldn't quite remember everything that had happened, she was pretty sure she had hit him in the face. As this registered in her brain she gasped. Mac looked alarmed and almost hit the nurse button when Sapphire's hand stopped him.

"Mac I'm fine. How's Adam?"

Mac was confused. What was wrong with Adam?

"Sapphire what are you talking about? Nothing is wrong with Adam."

"No, I nailed him in the jaw. I remember him shaking me and then I just panicked. After I heard him say he was there to help I stopped, but I'm pretty sure I clocked him pretty good."

Mac looked a bit surprised, "Adam never said anything. Are you sure it was him that you hit?"

"Yea. All well, next time you see him will you make sure he's ok."

"Sure I can do that for you."

"Thanks."

Once again, there was a lull in the conversation. Mac started to speak when there was a knock on the door. Both Mac and Sapphire looked up and said "Come In" in unison. Flack entered the room, followed by Stella.

Stella avoided Mac's gaze and spoke only to Sapphire. "Hi I'm Detective Stella Bonasera. I'm going to need to process you and collect any evidence you might have on you. Mac can you step outside."

Mac nodded and stepped outside of the room with Flack. He caught the Homicide Detective's gaze and sighed, "I screwed this up didn't I."

Flack nodded, "Mac do you have any idea how much it killed Stella to find out you were hiding such a big part of your life from her. It's gonna take some serious explaining to get yourself out of this hole."

Mac nodded and sighed again, "Hey Flack did Adam mention Sapphire hitting him in his report?"

Flack laughed before answering, "Yea, he said that right after she came to she socked him in the jaw. It's starting to bruise already. You been teaching her your Marine skills, cuz she packs one hell of a punch."

Mac grinned, "Yea, she's always been small. So I taught her a few things. She took me down once, I snuck up behind her and she flipped me over her shoulder and knocked the wind out of me."

Flack chuckled and started to respond, but then Stella walked out of the room. Addressing Flack she smiled, "You can go in and take her statement now. I'm headed back to the lab to process the evidence. I'll call you if I get anything. Bye." and with that she turned in the opposite direction, headed out of the hospital.

Flack looked over at Mac, who looked shocked at the fact that Stella was completely ignoring him. He gave the older man a friendly pat on the shoulder before walking into Sapphire's hospital room.

Mac walked into the lab, looking for Stella and Adam. He owed them both an explanation and he was going to make sure they got it. Spotting Adam in DNA he caught his attention through the glass walls and waved him over to his office.

Looking around for Stella and seeing her in one of the layout rooms, he walked over and knocked on the door. Not waiting for an answer, Mac pulled his boss man tone, "Stella. My office now please."

Stella followed him to his office in silence. Walking into his office Mac motioned Stella to sit down. Closing the door behind them, he sat down in his own office chair. Glancing at Adam, Mac noticed the deep purple bruise on the right side of his jaw. Sapphire wasn't kidding, she nailed him really good.

"Adam, how's your jaw?"

Adam grinned sheepishly, "A little sore, but I'll live. How's Sapphire doing?"

"She's fine. She said to tell you sorry about hitting you."

Mac decided to get the details out of the way, and tell them the actual reason he called them into his office. Taking a deep breath he began to explain the whole story, "I'm sure both of you are wondering who Sapphire is." at the nods of both of them, he continued, "I told you she's my baby sister, and I know we have quite the age gap. Let me explain. My mom was 18 when she had me, my father was a marine who was in New York on leave when he met my mom. They got married a couple months after they met and she got pregnant with me. Then my father got called back out and was stationed overseas. He died a month before I was born." Mac paused, holding in tears. Talking about the father he never knew was always really hard for him.

Taking another deep breath he continued, "So my mom was 18 years old with a baby. She moved back in with her parents and I was raised in my grandparents home all my life. When I turned 18, I joined the Marines and was immediately stationed overseas. When I came back 7 years later I had a new step father and a new 5 year old sister. My mom had met a lawyer, and had gotten pregnant with Sapphire. When they found out she was pregnant they got married."

"So I was 20 when Sapphire was born and my mom was 38 when she had her. So I'm 45 and Sapphire is 25. Any questions?"

Both Adam and Stella looked shocked at all of this information. Mac knew they needed time to process it so he dismissed them, shut down his computer and went back to the hospital to see Sapphire.

Walking into Sapphire's wing of the hospital, he heard yelling, coming from Sapphire's room. He rounded the corner, standing in the doorway watching Sapphire yell at the nurse.

"Sapphire Dawn Taylor. Shut up right now!" Mac's voice boomed throughout the room and both Sapphire and the nurse looked up startled. Sapphire knew her older brother's anger was rare, and when it happened you paid attention.

He took a deep breath and quietly asked the nurse to leave. She scurried out and Mac turned his attention to Sapphire. "You want to explain to me what that was about?"

Sapphire crossed her arms in huff before speaking, "Yea, she won't let me go home. I'm ok and I just want to go home, dammit."

"Let me go talk to them and I'll see what I can do." and then Mac walked out of the room.

He came back 15 minutes later with a smile and a stack of papers. "I cleared it with the doctor. As soon as you get this paperwork filled out I can take you home."

"Yes, you rock! Thanks Mac."

In 20 minutes Sapphire had finished filling out the paperwork and was walking out of the hospital with Mac. Gingerly wrapping an arm around Sapphire's shoulder Mac led her out into the parking lot to his Avalanche. Sapphire turned around staring at something across the lot. Her eyes narrowed and suddenly she gave a shout.

"Mac, that's the...he's the...I mean..." Sapphire stuttered looking very afraid. Mac looked at her in alarm, "What Twinkle, what?"

"That's the guy who attacked me. He's watching us."

So this is a slightly longer chapter. Hope you guys like it. I doubt I'll be able to update until Sunday. If I get to 18 reviews I might add another chapter, we'll see. REVIEW PLEASE!

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