Thank you all so much for my first reviews. Ya'll are great, and it's good to know that someone likes it so far! Hope you continue to like it with this next chapter.

And I know there may end up being some inconsistencies with the show, but I'm kind of lazy, so I usually don't really feel like checking, so I'm sorry if you are bothered by it, but feel free to point it out if you want.

So enjoy chapter 2!

As they made their way to the doors of the building, Lisa shivered slightly as the chilled fall air whipped around them. It was October and actually only a couple of weeks away from Halloween. The wind had picked up just in time to give her a good slap across the face before they walked in to snap her out of her train of thought.

She had been remembering the old lab where she had visited Danny a few times in the past and remembering a few things associated with the other lab, including Aiden. She had only seen Aiden a few times but had instantly taken to her, mostly because of the ease with which she had burned her cousin a few times over while Lisa was there. It had amused her to watch the two interact, and a small smile grew on her face as she remembered when Aiden had turned him down for about the third time. It wasn't really meant seriously on either side.

Fortunately, Danny hadn't noticed her smile, or else just thought that she was excited about seeing the "new" lab. Lisa remembered how upset he had been after Aiden had been killed by Pratt. She didn't want to bring up Aiden right now because she knew that he still missed his friend.

As the slap of cold wind crossed her face, she blinked these thoughts away and walked in, looking all over. Danny laughed at her slightly raised eyebrows as he looked over at her. This place was pretty sweet, and she hadn't even gotten to the lab yet.

As the elevator opened and they stepped out, Lisa looked at all the CSIs and lab techs running around and doing their thing. Oh yeah, this was even better.

Danny led the way down the hall as Lisa continued to look left and right, through all the glass walls. Eventually, Danny stopped and guided Lisa into an office with a supportive hand resting on her back.

"Hey, Mac Daddy!"

The man at the desk, who had been intently studying the case file in front of him, looked up at the sound of her voice and smiled as he saw her.

"Well, it's about time," as he got up and gathered her in a warm, familiar hug.

"Hey, if I could control planes, it wouldn't have been delayed in the first place!"

"Lisa, if you were in control of any plane, we would all have something to worry about. Apparently, you still don't even have control of your own feet," he teased as she huffed in annoyance. Of course, he must have seen her trip a couple of offices down the hall before she had walked in. The walls were glass here. And after all, this is Mac. He always knows. Of course, he could have just guessed and happened to not be so far off base. She had always been a bit clumsy. But she was improving… sort of.

"You have good timing," Mac said as he turned to Danny. "Stella just told me that she and Adam need your help with something."

"Yeah, what's new," Danny replied with a fake sigh of exasperation. Mac just gave him a look, but still had a smile on his face as Danny was only joking.

"Alright, I'm going. Thanks for the heads-up." As Danny turned to leave and find them, he patted Lisa on the shoulder, "Why don't you stay here and make sure he doesn't fry he brain?"

"I'll do my best," she laughed in response as Mac glared slightly at Danny's retreating back.

"So" Lisa redirected her attention to Mac whose smile wasn't quite as wide now, "How are you doing?"

She knew what he meant: How are you handling being back in New York?

She sighed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I'm okay. However, my ears are still ringing a bit from that screaming baby in 4B."

Mac chuckled at her change of subject, "The joys of coach."

"Fortunately, you have your work cut out with Lucy for the most part. She's not so much of a crier anymore."

"So I've heard. I can't wait to see her."

Lisa looked at her feet. She could feel Mac's penetrating gaze slightly pushing her to address what was on her mind from the moment she saw him through the office wall (she still couldn't get over the awesome glass walls). "So" she started as she looked back up at him, this time actually meeting his eyes, "how have you been?"

He smiled slightly as he repeated her. "I'm okay."

"I miss her, too," Lisa replied in a small voice to his unspoken statement. "Sometimes… well, I just wish I had gotten to know her longer."

Mac looked at her with a softer expression. "Me too."

"Lisa" She looked back up at him, brows slightly furrowed as she tried to push back the sorrow that had begun to cloud her mind.

"I really didn't want to have to ask you to do this. If I had other options, I wouldn't have even considered it, but as you're our only lead…"

She held up her hand to cut him off. "Mac, don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm glad I'm here. I've been avoiding it, I shouldn't have. If I hadn't, maybe some of this could have been avoided."

Mac fixed her with a stern look. "You know that's not true. It would've happened anyway."

She looked at him for a moment, then with a sigh, glanced out the window, lingered on the case file on the desk, and then back to Mac. "I suppose you're right," ignoring his "You know I'm right" look. "But maybe there's something I can do now."

Mac didn't bother hiding the concerned and hesitant look that had settled on his face. Lisa smiled at him and brightened her tone. "Don't worry about me, Mac. Really, I'll be fine. Besides, I know ya'll will take good care of me!"

"And who exactly is this we?" a voice behind her teased.

She turned around and smiled as Flack strode into the room and engulfed her in a big bear hug.

"Donnie from tha block!"

" Wassup, Messer the Lesser?" She couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement. The name, of course, wasn't meant to be insulting. It simply had to do with fact that Danny was older and she was probably always going to be the shorter one.

"Last time I saw you, you were such a small thing! And now… well, not much has changed, actually," he said as they pulled apart and he still had big, goofy grin on his face.

"Ouch!" Flack rubbed his arm in fake pain after she punched him. "Well that was uncalled for!"

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "That's always called for with you," earning a glare from his direction. She laughed and then directed her attention to the others who had come with Flack.

"Stella!" she exclaimed as Stella came forward for her hug. If there was one thing that people around Lisa knew, it was that she liked to hug. Well, she liked to hug people that she actually liked.

Stella rubbed Lisa's back as she wrapped her arms around the girl. "Hey, sweetie! It's so good to see you." Then she pulled away, but still held her shoulders. "And you just get prettier every time I see you!" To which Lisa just laughed and shook her head a little. She had met Stella during a few of her brief visits like she had with Aiden, Flack, and Hawkes. Speaking of Hawkes…

"Danny and Hawkes just left a couple of minutes ago to go by the crime scene on 5th." Oh Flack, always the mind reader.

"Hey, Leese!"

"Linds!" Lindsey laughed a little as she and Lisa hugged. They had met earlier during a couple of holidays, but, of course, Lisa still hadn't seen Lucy yet.

"Well, we won't be able to go by the apartment until, after 5. That's when I get off. Danny's a little later."

"That's alright, if I can look around for a while, that is?"

Lindsey laughed. "Not a problem. I'll show you around when you get back. You're still meeting Reed for lunch, right?"

"Yeah, I probably need to catch a cab about now, actually."

"Wait a minute," Mac spoke up with confusion. "Reed?"

Lisa grinned, "Yeah, that Reed."

"How do you know Reed?" Mac asked, now even more confused.

"What, Danny didn't tell you?" she asked as she feigned a look of innocent surprise, which earned her another slight glare from Mac. "That's my new job. I'm Reed's new photographer for New York 24/7 News".

"The blog, right," Mac confirmed as it clicked in his head. That's why Reed hadn't been specific when they had spoken earlier. "So I'm assuming that you're one of the 'improvements'?"

"That would probably be me. He said that he wanted to be more 'official' and have a real photographer. Well, someone other than himself taking the pictures. So I'm going to meet him for lunch because we haven't actually met in person yet."

"That still doesn't really explain how you know each other," Mac said with a somewhat suspicious look. What he was suspicious about, even he didn't really know.

Lisa just shrugged her shoulders. "It was just kind of coincidence really. Mutual friends."

This seemed to satisfy Mac as he just nodded his head in response.

Looking at her watch, Lisa went to retrieve her purse from the chair in front of Mac's desk where she had left it when she walked in and turned toward the door. "I actually should get going, or he's gonna think that the plane crashed or something like that."

"I'll walk you out," Flack said as he walked with her toward the door and everyone one else in the room heard most of the conversation that followed.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You know, I don't exactly need a babysitter every second of the day. I'm a big girl now!" she added sarcastically.

"I'm not so sure of that," he returned with a smirk. "Being you, you would probably get lost on the way to the elevator because you're too distracted by what's going on behind the walls." Darn, he knows me too well.

"Besides, you haven't tried to catch a cab in years. You might be a little rusty," he added as they stepped on the elevator and the doors closed.

"Well how can I argue with all of that logic."

............

Lindsey laughed as they listened to the two bickering in the hallway. "Sometimes, she's so much like Danny."

"That she is," Mac agreed while he shook his head in amusement.

Stella sighed, "Maybe that's all the more reason for us to worry."

Mac looked at the case file on the desk with disdain, hoping that nothing would go wrong. Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew it wasn't going to be that easy. It never was.

............

"Maybe I'm not the one who's getting rusty…"

Flack glared down at her as he flagged the next taxi. This time it stopped. He opened the door and Lisa stepped in. "You sure you don't need any help finding the place?"

She just gave him a look. "Don, I'm gonna be fine. Really. In all likelihood, he doesn't even know that I'm here yet."

Flack ducked his head a little then looked back at her. "Right. So, back by 2?"

She smiled at him, "Sure."

He gave a weak smile in return as he shut the door and tapped the top of the cab.

Later, he would all but kick himself for somehow not noticing the flash of a disappearing camera lens as he watched Lisa drive away.

Suspense! And what do they all know that we don't? Reviews help you know faster!

And who were Mac and Lisa referring to in his office? Hint: It's not an OC. I think it's easy to figure out, but that could be because I'm the one writing the story, so I already know. =)

BTW, I've been making a few obscure references here and there. If you think you know one, tell me and I'll let you know if you're right. One has to do with where the name for Lisa came from. Or rather, I had been watching this and decided that I liked the name for this character. Hint (I like these. They're fun!): It has a lot to do with where the story opened.