Chapter 2 – Glass Walls

(Danny and Hawks are in the layout room, starting to pack up evidence, Danny had just hung up his cell phone)

"Mac?" Hawks enquired without looking up from the gun that he was packaging.

"Yeah", Danny replied, staring at his closed cell phone, his thoughts elsewhere.

"And? What did he say?" The gun now safely away, Hawks looked up at his colleague. "Hey! Earth to Danny! How did the interview go?"

"What? Oh yeah, Mac... He said, err, he gotta full confession from the guy. Crumbled when Mac showed him the fingerprints on the gun, and now he's beggin' the DA for a deal."

"Is he going to get one?"

"I dunno man; I'm a CSI not a lawyer. But now he's confessed... I guess if he gives up his brother as an accomplice... "Danny left his sentence hanging as he exhaled deeply.

"You never get over it huh?" Hawks' statement was met with just a questioning look. He continued: "Well, back when I was an M.E, I'd just get these bodies, and I'd find out what had happened to 'em, but never why. When I became I CSI, I figured that would change, working out motives and stuff. But you know, when you get cases like this," He gestured to the evidence before them. "It kinda makes me wish I didn't know."

Danny looked at him for a moment, before saying softly, "Yeah, blissful ignorance."

"Exactly, I mean these two brothers, they had it good. They had their own business together, nice houses, beautiful families. Then they risked everything, nearly killing one of their own employees, just to claim a couple of grand on their insurance? But just how can you put a price on a life? On a human life? I just don't get people sometimes, and you never get over what people will do to each other."

Danny nodded in response, and then yawned loudly, stretching his aching muscles. "Anything Hawks, that was the first thing I ever learnt on this job: people will do anything to each other. And on that pleasant note, whaddya say to a cup of coffee, God knows I need some caffeine!"

Sheldon smiled broadly, "What's the matter, have a late night? Besides, we gotta finish up here before Mac gets back."

Danny avoided the question, muttering, "Yeah, right, ok." under his breath, and settled into packing and sealing the rest of the evidence from their case, ready for storage.

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A while later, Danny and Sheldon had finished their task, and were just writing on the sealed boxes. En route to his office, Mac Taylor spotted his two CSIs, and poked his head around the door frame.

"Danny, Sheldon, good work you guys. We got him. I take it you're about done here? Good, I'd like you to just get the paperwork done on this case, and then you guys can go home early. Danny, looks like you need to go home and sleep" He added with a small smile.

"Gee thanks Mac, you look good too" Danny retorted, while Hawks just chuckled quietly.

Still smiling, Mac left them to it, and headed onto his office. Once there, he quickly shed his jacket, hanging it neatly on the rack beside his door. He sighed deeply and settled himself in his chair.

Before attacking his mountain of paperwork, he paused for a minute to survey his lab. He loved having glass walls; they allowed him just a few moments every day to let his mind wander.

While some might find them an invasion of privacy; he found them pleasant, giving the lab, his lab, a nice airy feel.

A stark contrast to the cases they dealt with, he thought suddenly, his train of thought once more focusing on the work that lay before him.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts again. He needed a few minutes, just a few more minutes before he could carry on. He looked up once more:

Danny and Hawks were just leaving the layout room, as they ran into Det. Angell (presumably at the lab to close their case) who paused to speak with them for a while. After a hasty greeting, Danny carried on walking out of sight, towards (Mac guessed) the locker room.

Hawks and Angell on the other hand, stayed talking for a while, and Mac couldn't help but feel a small smile creep about his lips as he observed the two. Sheldon, with his back to Mac's office, was using quite animated hand gestures to illustrate whatever he was saying. It was obviously funny, as Angell was laughing hard, occasionally putting her hand on his arm.

At the other end of the lab, in Trace, Mac could see Adam and Kendal chatting as they analysed evidence. Even from a distance, it was easy to see that Adam was blushing about something, and Kendal obviously found that amusing. Her smirk was almost as noticeable as the colour on Adam's cheeks.

Just walking through the doors of the crime lab were Stella and Lindsay, who were both carrying a large evidence box each. They were followed closely by Flack, whom Mac could see was carrying three big evidence boxes.

The scene made Mac wonder whether the young detective's father would have ever done the same. No, definitely not, the man may have been hailed as a hero, but he would never have stepped foot in a crime lab (preferring 'old school methods'), nor would he have gone so out of his way just to help out and be a gentleman.

Stella was talking over her shoulder to Flack, who was grinning broadly behind all his boxes, while Lindsay expertly balanced her box with one hand while pulling her ringing cell out of her pocket and answering it.

As the trio walked near Hawks and Angell, he paused his conversation for a moment to stop Lindsay in her tracks and say something to her. She responded by tucking the phone between her cheek and shoulder, taking the three small evidence boxes Hawks held into her free hand, and then walked briskly to catch up with Stella and Flack.

Her actions gave Mac a sudden urge to check her resume. He couldn't recall what jobs she'd had before joining the Bozeman CSI lab, but seeing such balancing skills, he wouldn't be surprised to find a mention of waitressing, probably to get her through college.

Yes, Mac thought as he surveyed his team, he did indeed love those glass walls. They made him feel connected with his lab, with his team. He stopped scanning the scene when his eyes fell on the DNA lab. It held only one person: Andrews, the new lab tech. After making subtle observations about the rest of his colleagues, he couldn't help but draw a blank at this last person.



Mac had interviewed him personally, as with all of his staff. The young man was new to the city, having moved from Iowa. He had excellent qualifications, specifically in the field of DNA, and his IQ was rumoured to rival even Hawks. However, there was just something about him; he didn't have people skills like the rest, he couldn't make friends easily. He'd been working in the lab for almost two weeks now, and yet he still ate his lunch alone.

Mac had no doubt that his team were being accommodating, some went quite out of their way to be nice. Stella had given him tips about the parking lot, Lindsay had told him about when she'd moved to New York. Kendal, being the previous "newbie" had offered to buy him coffee, at which point the look on Adam's face had been so hilarious Mac had had to leave the room. Hawks helped show him where most of the equipment was and Danny... Well Danny was going through a rough patch at the moment.

Mac just couldn't pinpoint what it was. He just had a bad gut feeling when he looked in the direction of Andrews. Maybe he just felt guilty that the kid wasn't fitting in. He was probably bullied when he was younger...

Mac found himself brought out of his reverie by the shrill noise of his cell phone. He did a double take when he saw the caller ID, and paused for a moment before answering...

A/N – I thought I'd put chapter 2 up now, just to bring the focus away from D/L. As much as I love them, this isn't a D/L-centric piece!

Anyway, review please! I'd love to know what you think!