Chapter 2: Full House

When Maggie pulled her car off the road at the address Hunter had given her, she found herself suddenly consumed with doubt. The house in front of her looked like it belonged in a Norman Rockwell painting, and she could just envision the happy family living within. With a groan she rested her brow against the steering wheel, half tempted to pick a random direction and drive away as quickly as possible. What the hell was Hunter thinking, inviting her to live with him? This had to be her worst plan ever. Before she could tuck tail and run, however, she heard the front door swing open and knew it was too late.

"Maggie! You made it!" The welcoming smile on Hunter's face was almost enough to assuage her fears, and she couldn't help but return it with a crooked smile of her own. Taking a deep breath, she exited the car and pulled her lone suitcase out. She had barely set it down before Hunter seized her in a hug, lifting her clear off her feet. She realized briefly that if he'd wanted to, he probably could have broken her in half easily. The man was just as physically impressive as when she had met him in his prime, fourteen years ago.

Despite herself, she felt a laugh bubble up from her throat and squeezed him back just as fiercely. When he finally set her back on her feet she had forgotten her nerves and she allowed herself to be a little excited at the prospect of starting a new life here. "You haven't changed your mind, have you? Still want me working in your department?"

Hunter barked out a laugh and shook his head at her. "You know any department in the country would be lucky to have a detective as good as you are, Maggie."

She felt herself blush at the compliment and turned her attention back to the massive ranch style home in front of her. "I'll grant you that one, but… are you sure you want me living here? I mean, with your family and everything?"

He grinned at her words and gently took her by the elbow, hefting her suitcase easily in his other hand. "Just wait 'till you meet Steph and the kids, they're excited to get to know my favorite niece." He winked at her before continuing, "And don't worry, we have a little guest house in the back, so you'll have your own space."

Maggie felt herself relax a little more, grateful that Hunter realized how nervous she had been at the thought of imposing on his family life, and let him lead her around to the guest house. It was just a simple two story apartment style building, complete with a bedroom, bathroom, and its own kitchen. "Wow… Hunter, this is great. You know I can't thank you enough for getting me out of San Francisco." She fought the tears that threatened and blinked them away, "I'll make sure you don't regret this decision."

"I want you to know that you're a part of my family, Maggie. No matter what happened… you don't have to be alone."

She swallowed the lump in her throat and grinned back at him, "Thanks-" Abruptly she was cut off, as a beautiful brunette swept in through the open door and immediately threw her arms around her.

"Oh, Maggie, we've waited so long to meet you!" Stephanie squeezed the younger girl with enthusiasm, and behind her flocked in three young girls. She finally released her and stood back, beaming with pride at her children as she introduced them. "I'd like you to meet Aurora, Murphy, and Vaughn. Girls, this is your Aunt Maggie."

Though she blushed at the title, Magnolia knelt down and offered the girls a warm smile. She would always have a special soft spot for children. "Hey kiddos. I'll need you to show me the ropes around here, I haven't made any friends yet."

The eldest, Aurora, smiled widely back at her, "That's okay, Aunt Maggie, we'll be your friends." She spoke confidently, while the younger girls blushed and hid behind their mother, clearly shy around new people.

Stephanie exchanged a glance with her husband and held her youngest daughters by the hand. "Alrighty, girls, let's let your Auntie have some time to get settled in. We'll see you for dinner, Maggie. Hope you like mac 'n cheese." The girls giggled as their mother led them back to the main house, and suddenly it was just Hunter, lingering with his adoptive niece.

Maggie elbowed him playfully when she noticed the faraway look in his eyes. "Hey now, no crying on the first day."

He smiled down at her, but the sadness remained in his eyes. "Don't worry about me, Maggie. I just… I really wish we could have had more time with Shawn, you know? It doesn't seem right, him being gone so young."

Though the tears threatened again, she managed to hold her composure. She had done enough crying over the past few weeks. "I know. I'm never going to get over missing him. But-" her voice broke and she struggled for the words to continue, "–he would want us to keep going. When I quit the force, I just... just couldn't imagine going back to work without him there. But up here I can have a fresh start. So thank you, Uncle Hunter." She put emphasis on the endearment and was rewarded when he enveloped her in another hug.

"Okay," he said, releasing her and heading for the doorway. "You get settled in. You'll be expected at work first thing in the morning, so make sure you get some rest tonight."

She frowned to herself, remembering her nightmare and doubting seriously whether she would ever get a good night's rest again. "See ya at dinner, Hunter."


The night passed slowly for Magnolia, and she wound up getting very little sleep. But then, that was pretty much what she had expected, so when the final nightmare awoke her at 4 AM again, she decided to get up and begin her day. After a long, hot shower she agonized over what to wear, eager to make a good impression for her first day on the job. Finally she decided on a navy blue blazer and matching pencil skirt, with a jade green blouse underneath and a pair of beige pumps. Her hair she pulled back in a long French braid, and in her ears she wore small gold hoops.

She swept on some black mascara and her familiar pink lipstick and then she was ready to go. On her way to the station she stopped to buy some coffee, one of those extra decadent frozen concoctions to give her a nice sugar and caffeine buzz. She slurped it happily through her straw as she pulled into the parking lot, and then her nerves overtook her. Briefly she thought again about picking a random direction and driving away, but in the end she owed too much to Hunter to ditch on her first day. With a sigh she threw open her car door… and managed to smack it right into someone as they were walking by.

"Holy fucking hell!" The gruff cry took her by surprise and she hurried out of the car, coming face to face with the rather angry victim of her car door. The first thing she noticed was his electric blue eyes, though they were furious, they still sent a shock wave through her body that she certainly wasn't expecting. The next thing she noticed was the peculiar way he was clutching his shirt away from his body, and she only had a second to wonder about that before he started yelling again, "It is way too fucking early for this shit. I wanted to drink that coffee, woman, not wear it!"

Instantly she bristled at his tone, not entirely happy with being screamed at over what was clearly an accident. Though she'd be inhuman if she didn't feel bad about making a guy dump hot coffee on himself first thing in the morning. "First of all, don't call me 'woman'." She shot him a brief glare and then softened her tone, "Look, I'm sorry. This is- you know, my first day here. I just…" For a moment she was mesmerized again, noticing the way his wet shirt clung to a very well defined physique and the way his wavy hair fell in his eyes so perfectly. She was half tempted to reach up and brush it back before she realized she was doing more gawking than apologizing and forced herself to take a deep breath.

He shook his head, tossing his now empty coffee cup into the nearby trash with perfect aim before focusing his scorching gaze on her once again. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Without another word he turned and fled the parking lot, and she noted with a grimace that he was headed to the station and was, more than likely, one of her new coworkers. Finally she managed to close her car door and rested her forehead against it, thinking that the cut and run option was sounding more tempting by the minute. Before she could even look up, she felt a hand pat her gently on the back and she whipped herself around, half terrified the blue eyed man from before had come back to yell at her some more.

"Yeah, hi. I guess you must be the new detective. My name's Seth Rollins. Sorry about your run in there." He flashed her a crooked grin and she returned it, glad to see a friendly face. "Don't worry too much about him, that's pretty much how he treats anybody. Although I've never seen someone dump his coffee on him before." He chuckled and she felt her face flush.

"It's, um, well it's nice to meet you, Seth. I- it really was an accident." She rubbed the back of her neck, trying her best to pull herself together, and stuck out her right hand. "I'm Magnolia Michaels, but call me Maggie. I swear I'm not normally this awkward." They shook hands briefly and she noticed his warm brown eyes, still twinkling with amusement at what had transpired. His hair then drew her attention, it was mostly black but a quarter of it near the front had been rather uniquely bleached blonde. He wore it pulled back in a low ponytail.

"You got it, Maggie. Now I guess you'd better hurry inside. The chief gets pretty angry if you're late on your first day. Make sure you head to the third floor, that's where the detectives get to hang. I'm just a beat cop, so we'll see each other around."

She flashed a brilliant smile. "Thanks, Seth. I've gotta run." And run she did, suddenly resentful of the choice to wear high heels today. She made a beeline for the stairs and sprinted up the three flights, though she was in good shape she still had to pause and catch her breath at the top. The sight that greeted her made her feel immediately at home. Detectives are detectives apparently, no matter what corner of the country they happen to reside in. There were desks everywhere, and not a single one of them was orderly. Case files and sticky notes, well used coffee cups both full and empty, the occasional framed picture of a smiling spouse or a group of kids. She felt herself grinning and realized that she could, indeed, belong here.

Confidently she strode through the mess of desks and paperwork, knowing that the Chief's office would be at the end. Sure enough she found the door marked 'Chief Helmsley' and knocked briefly, still slurping her frozen coffee. "Come in." came the gruff bark from the other side, and Maggie opened up the door, ready to greet her Uncle. Instead, her eyes went straight for the other occupant of the room. Standing against the wall and pulling a sopping shirt over his head was the man from the parking lot. He dropped the shirt to the floor and began promptly drying his chest with Kleenex from Hunter's desk.

For a moment all Maggie could to was marvel at how good this guy looked without a shirt on. Unconsciously she licked her lips, before a cough from Hunter brought her crashing back to reality.

"Chief," she nodded, forcing her eyes to meet his and ignoring the other man in the room as her face flushed scarlet, "Reporting for duty." She grinned at her Uncle, and though he shot a confused glance between her and his other detective, he returned her grin.

"Alright, Detective Michaels. I'd like you to meet your new partner. This is Detective Dean Ambrose." He gestured, and she returned her gaze to her surly new partner, who, thankfully, was in the process of buttoning up a clean new shirt.

"Yeah, we've met already." He grumbled, and she found herself meeting his electric gaze with a heated one of her own. "Detective Michaels." He practically growled her name.

"Detective Ambrose." She returned with equal venom, challenging him to make an issue in front of the Chief.

To her surprise, he simply smirked at her, seemingly amused that she wasn't going to back down. "Yeah, I'm sure we'll work great together." He turned his attention to the Chief, "Look, this case you have me on is big, you sure you want to throw her into it?"

Hunter nodded, "This is exactly the kind of case Michaels is used too. I have utmost faith in her. Go get your files together so you can go over it all from the beginning." Ambrose nodded and swept out the door, tossing one last electrifying look at her before he left. Try as she might, she couldn't read the emotion in his eyes.

Hunter sighed once he left, rubbing savagely at his temples before rising to greet his niece with the usual bear hug. "So, you doing okay Maggie? Think you can handle it here?"

She bit her lip lightly, remembering her altercation in the parking lot. But, hey, if Ambrose was going to play rough, she could handle it. "I'm doing great. Ready to dive into a case."

"Good. Your new partner… well he doesn't have the best track record for playing well with others. But I figure if anyone can work with him, you can."

Maggie nodded. "It won't be a problem, Chief."

Hunter sighed and sat back down at his desk. "One more thing before we're done… this case you're working on. He's right, it's a big one. It's a little girl, Maggie. Raped and murdered. Found her in the park three days ago. Ambrose has been busting his ass looking for leads. I need to know that you're okay working this one. I said I have the utmost confidence in you, and I do, but if you're uncomfortable…"

She quickly shook her head. "I got this, Chief. No need to worry about me." With a gentle smile she headed for the door, "So, we done here?"

Hunter smiled back, "Yeah, though I feel like I'm throwing you to the wolves."

Maggie laughed, "No problem, Hunter. I am a wolf." With that, she left his office behind, and joined the jumble of detectives to find Ambrose. A new case... a murdered girl... Someone had to make sure she got justice.


A/N: So, what do you think so far? Have I hooked you on this? There's going to be a lot of darker elements to this story, so be prepared. As always, please take the time to review! It really brightens my day. ^_^