A/N: Howdy :)

Ok, so I really really intended to get this chapter up quite soon after the prologue so that it would make more sense, but then I was attacked with writer's block and quite frankly, it sucked. But it's here now, so yeah... :)

Secondly:
DancesWithWolves10: Thank you so much for your review! After looking at it again, I could definitely see what you were saying. It was a huge chunk of writing, and so I've tried to change the way it was set out :) Hopefully it will be easier to read now :D Also, this chapter should be better because there is dialogue to split everything up.

Disclaimer: I can pretend that I own CSI:NY, but it will never happen :) I own nothing you recognise!

Please please PLEASE leave me a quick review. It doesn't have to be oozing in detail, just enough to let me know what you think. I've found with other stories that I've written and posted on here, that the reviews tend to motivate me a lot, and they definitely helped me to improve my writing!

Babble over: please enjoy!

xoloveJBox

Chapter One

Looking Glass Logic: Being or involving the opposite of what is normal or expected

Mac Taylor sat at his desk feeling, once again, exhausted. He vaguely remembered the idea of sleeping, like a distant childhood memory, teetering on the thin line between dream and reality. No, he thought, it must be reality.
You need to sleep to dream.
It was early march, and the sun was just beginning to shine again on New York City. While a feeble beam of it shot through Mac's open window, bringing a cool, pleasant breeze with it, Mac pressed his thumbs into over-tired eyes. He was waiting for a new CSI, and honestly, she couldn't be coming at a better time. It was almost as if all the criminals had burrowed into hibernation during winter, but now that the city was beginning to thaw, so was all the unlawful behaviour.
Mac had been told very little about his new CSI, but apparently, Miss Lori-Anne Swann was exceptional. However, he'd never been in a situation before where he hadn't been given the chance to see this for himself, and Mac wasn't sure how to look at this. What was about Detective Swann that made her so different from everyone else who had ever been hired to work for the New York crime lab?
Mac pushed the thoughts from his mind. He was tired and over-worked, and he was sure that he was just being irrational. Deciding that he had indulged himself in procrastination for long enough, Mac set to work, tackling the towering pile of paper work that he had almost shamefully allowed to build up over the past few weeks.

He quickly settled into a steady rhythm of work, and before he realised, almost an hour had passed. A soft knock on his office door made him jump slightly, bringing him abruptly from his thoughts and back to the real, present world. He looked up, seeing a young girl through the glass door. Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, Mac beckoned her inside, wondering who the child could be.

Child was a slight understatement. Looking at her, Mac guessed that she was no more than fifteen or sixteen, though the way she held her thin, tall frame made he seem a little older. Her long, thick brown hair tumbled in loose curls over her shoulders, and dark-rimmed square glasses framed deep, china blue eyes.

"Umm...I'm looking for Detective Mac Taylor?" she said gingerly, her voice quiet and soft, as she hugged folders and files to her chest nervously.

Mac momentarily searched through his mental memory, looking for any setting for the girl. She knew his name, but he was fairly certain he didn't know hers. She didn't look familiar at all, and her presence puzzled him. She hadn't been escorted by security as far as he'd seen, so she was supposed to be there, but why?

Seeing no other way to handle the situation in front of him, Mac stood up and held his arms out slightly to the side.

"Well, you found him." He said, smiling "How can I help you?"

The girl looked relieved as she twiddled with a lock of hair and pushed it anxiously behind her ear.

"I'm Lori Swann." She introduced herself, her shyness almost seemed painful on her face. Mac had to consciously not let his jaw slacken. That had to be wrong.

"I'm sorry, can you say that again?" he requested, certain that he had misheard.

"My name's Lori-Anne Swann." The girl repeated, a little louder, unsure whether he had actually needed her to increase or volume.

Mac sat back down, trying to piece everything together in his mind. Was this some kind of joke? Maybe Danny had paid the child to trick him. He looked at her, scrutinizing her features for some tiny sign of deception, but found none.

What was going on?
"How old are you?" he asked in disbelief.

"I'm sixteen Sir." Lori replied politely, making Mac more bewildered than he previously had been.

"For how long?"

"About two months. My birthday's the end of January." Lori explained, discomfort ebbing from every pore on her body.

"Well, when did you graduate high school?" Mac was finding it harder and harder to get his head around what he was being told.

"When I was twelve." Lori answered, wondering what she could do to make it easier to understand. She could see why the man in front of her would be sceptical. It wasn't exactly a normal situation.

"You were twelve?" Mac stammered, seeing her nod. "What about college?"
"I went to NYU, and graduated from there when I was 14. I studied criminology, psychology, forensics and biology, Sir." Lori saw Detective Taylor look increasingly confused at what she was saying, but her nerves got the better of her as she began to babble. Mentally chastising herself, she stopped, waiting for a reaction.

"That's impressive." Mac breathed lowly, not thinking of any other response to give. Lori smiled sheepishly in thanks and started to inspect her feet. She could feel the man's gaze on her, so she didn't look up, instead pretending to be interested in the carpet under her shuffling, restless feet.

"Are those for me?" Mac asked, and Lori darted her head up, seeing that he was referring to the papers in her arms. She nodded and hurried forward; handing over the reports she had been told to give to Detective Taylor about herself. As she passed them over the desk, she saw her fingers trembling, and she stepped back again, suddenly feeling vulnerable now that she didn't have anything to hide behind. She waited patiently while he looked over the papers and reports, hoping that he wasn't disappointed with what he read.

Mac was impressed. So much so that he wasn't sure how to react to it. Lori had graduated top of her class at the police academy. Her scores were amazing; better, in fact, than he'd ever seen before. Mac was pretty sure Danny hadn't even achieved so highly, and he was considered phenomenal by a lot of high ranking officers.

Mac didn't have to read very much to know what the next step was for him.

"Why don't you come with me Miss Swann." He said, standing and moving towards the door, his arms full of the files about Lori. His head reeled, and he wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen, but he had to make sure this was all correct before he made any kind of executive decision.

Lori followed dutifully and silently through the lab, desperately trying not to stare in awe at everything she saw there. She didn't want to seem like it was the first time she had seen a lot of the extremely technical machinery that she had only read about before, thinking that it would make her look like she didn't know what she was doing. Detective Taylor led her into a large space, completely dominated by computers.

"Adam," Mac said, announcing their presence to a dark haired man in the corner who Lori hadn't even noticed at first.

"Hey Boss, I just-" Adam started before turning and spotting Lori, standing apprehensively behind Mac.

"Adam," Mac began again "This is Lori-Anne Swann."

Mac had told all of his team members that they would be receiving a new colleague, and he had given them all the information he had on her, which was pretty much only her name. Adam's eyes widened slightly as his mind flickered with recognition over the connection.

"Hi," he greeted cheerfully, trying his hardest to seem like he wasn't surprised as he stretched out his hand for her.

"Hello." Lori replied, taking it, grateful for a small distraction.

"Do you think Miss Swann could stay in here for a while, so that I can sort some things out?" Mac asked, trying to find a polite way to say it while Lori was around.

"S...Sure," Adam stammered, taken by surprise by what was going on all of a sudden.

Mac quickly thanked him and left, making his way back down the corridor to his office, preparing himself for a long phone call with Chief Sinclair. He was impressed with everything he had seen from Lori, but he had to be sure that this was the right thing. He couldn't take any risks by bringing her onto the team, but if he could be convinced that no one was in any kind of danger, bought on by Lori's age, he was more than willing to accept her as a colleague.

He just had to be sure.

A/N 2: I have no idea how accurate my info about Lori graduating early and all that jazz is. I'm pretty sure that in the show, it tells you that Adam graduated early (correct me if I'm wrong) and I know that it is possible. I've got no idea about how the American education system works, so if anyone wants to tell me, feel free. Let's just imagine, for the sakes of this fanfic, that it's accurate and acceptable...Well, obviously not completely acceptable, because Mac seems to have a little trouble with it, but you get the idea lol

Thanks again!