Hi y'all ! :) A big thanks to the few readers who left a comment on the first chapter :) It keeps me writing !
This second chapter is a bit slow, I really want to ground the story. There will definitely be some action coming in the next chapters ;)

It was a big day for Ellie. She was going to be interviewed by Mac and she was determined to be accepted for a two months internship at the crime lab. She was quite sure she would be able to help the techs and she was looking forward to proving her mother that she wasn't a child anymore. And after all, it was the opportunity of a life-time ! Admitting she did a good job as an assistant, she might be able to take after her mother in ten years time !
She glanced at Jo, she looked very tensed. She was gripping the steering wheel as if her life was depending on it. Couldn't she drive faster ? The detective didn't seem to be in a good mood to chat, but to Ellie's surprise, she broke the silence.
'You sure you wanna do that ?' She asked. When Ellie rolled the eyes, she explained herself.
'I mean, Mac can be really unsettling sometimes.'

Ellie gasped, sensing the double-entendre. Did her mother even know what she said sometimes?
'Mom ! I'll be fine.'
The traffic light turned green and a car honked behind them.
'Moron ! I'm a southern girl, take it slow !' Jo swore while turning left, heading to the coffee shop.

'Can't you wait till we get to the lab to have some coffee ?' Ellie asked, glancing at her watch.
It was not even nine yet, but she didn't want to lose time. She wanted to try on one of those white lab coats and get to work.
Jo's eyes narrowed while looking at her daughter and she focused to park the car in the tiny space left between two occupied spots.
'We're gonna do this my way, kiddo. And this is your first lesson. If you want good coffee, buy it. Otherwise, stick to green tea.' She said before she got out of the car.

When they at last stepped into the elevator, Jo and Ellie were ten minutes late. Ellie knew Jo had done it on purpose in a last attempt to make her give up on what she thought of as a crazy idea. Or maybe it wasn't the last attempt after all, Ellie realized when she caught her mother staring at her with a blank expression glued on her face.
'What is it ?'

Jo stopped staring and and focused her gaze back on the screen showing the progression of the elevator.
'Nothin' '. She said, obviously hinting at something that was not 'nothing'.
'Mom...'
'Okay ! I was just wondering what you'd answer if Mac asked you what was the chemical reaction produced by mixin' glyceryl stearate and calcium hydroxide.' She said carelessly.
Ellie sighed, slightly exasperated by her mother's stubbornness.
'Isn't that the composition of your hand cream ?'
'Hey !' Jo looked surprised. 'I hope you had a warrant to search through my lotions !'

The elevator stopped and Ellie hastened to get out of it. She looked around and her mother pointed to Mac's office, the closest to them. She quickly made her way between a few lab techs to go and knock on the door.

Mac looked quite focused on a file he was reading, and Ellie suddenly realized that a big part of her mom's work was about paperwork. For everything you did, you had to sign papers, fill reports, write notes for the team and account for everything you did or didn't do. She would certainly learn more about all those boring stuff than about true sciences. She knocked nevertheless, and Mac's head turned towards her. When he saw the two Danvilles, he smiled and beckoned Ellie inside of the office. Ellie gazed at her mother for approval. She hated this reaction she had every time she didn't feel confident, but Jo's maternal and soothing smile did wonders. She winked at her, and the young girl eventually found the guts to enter the room, seeing Jo flash a look at Mac, the kind of look that meant 'Nothing too dangerous, she's my baby'. Ellie rolled her eyes and smiled at Mac.
"Hello Mac !"
"Hi Ellie. Take a sit."
She did as she was told, and took a file out of her handbag. She had chosen this leather handbag for her eighteenth birthday. It was a ritual in the Danville family. When a daughter reached her eighteenth birthday, she was offered her first handbag, the first womanly one at least. She had fallen in love with this one. It was a brown satchel with flowers carved in it, covered with colorful thin pieces of fabrics. It had been the first time Jo and Ellie had both loved the same thing at first sight. They had always fought over what Ellie could and couldn't wear at school or when she was out with her friends. Ellie could even remember that one time Jo had said no to a short blue tank top that showed her navel. The young girl had looked daggers at her mother and had said something like 'Look at you Mom ! You wear this kind of things too !'. Jo's face had softened, and she had taken her to an ice cream truck. She had told her about her childhood, how she had discovered her body, and how she had regretted discovering too much, too early with a boy whom she had not been in love with...
Ellie winced. A woman's life was not that easy. But she couldn't wait to be and feel one.
She handed her file to Mac.
"My resume."
She had never really worked before. She had done some baby-sitting for Lucy or the neighbor's children, but she had brought her report card and recommendations from her science teacher. She shifted in her seat while Mac was quickly going through the pages. After a few minutes, he looked back at her and a warm smile appeared on his face.
"You mother did not boast about you as much as she could have."

That was certainly an understatement. Jo didn't hesitate to congratulate her kids when they had good results and when she was proud of them. However, she never did it too much. She wanted them to work harder and do better, not as if they were part of a contest, more as if it was only a game. And it was working. Ellie had lots of fun in school.
"Yeah, that's because I suck at maths. But Mom told me Adam could help me with that."
Mac raised an eyebrow. She had only a B in maths, and she didn't think it could equal her A+ in sciences and English, and her A in Geography and French. It wasn't perfect, she wasn't perfectly satisfied. Yet, she was certain that she would do great in college. And she was going to do it thanks to her internship.
"From what I see, you could be useful here."

Ellie straightened up, proud of being talked to as an adult.
"Yeah I know I'm gonna be used as a clerk, and I don't mind. I just wanna learn practical things. I'm bored with theory. I wanna see the team work."

When Mac smiled again, leaning back into his armchair, Ellie knew she was indeed going to be taken on as a temporary member of the team.

"I know what you mean. I was the same when I was your age. I couldn't stand talking about things and not experimenting."
All this was fine, but she was having problems with the 'when I was your age' kind of speech. Her mother always did that. And she herself did that with Lucy when she baby-sited her. It always sounded like reproaches and lessons. 'When I was your age, I couldn't go out after dusk', 'when I was your age, we didn't have mobile phones and that was fine because I wrote letters to my crush.', 'Be glad, when I was your age, we didn't have that chance'. That was boring. She wanted some action.

"We'll have to fill some forms and sign them, but I should show you 'round and make sure you fit in first. What do you think ?"
Ellie jumped to her feet, bubbling with enthusiasm. She felt so nervous she could use a walk through the lab before doing the paperwork with Mac and her mother. She already knew most of the corridors, and she had spent quite some time with the team to celebrate birthdays and raises, but seeing them all at work was rather new and odd. At least that's what she thought when she saw Adam deep in work in his lab, his earphones on, with his chin on his fist, frowning.
"Adam !" Mac called from the threshold.
The young tech didn't respond. Obviously, he couldn't hear his boss' voice through the loud music coming out from his earphones. Mac sighed, slightly exasperated by Adam's childish behavior. Ellie shrugged and smiled to him, touching his arm lightly to say she could handle this. She stepped into the lab and tip-toed to Adam. When she reached his armchair, she took one of his earphones out of his ear, making him start.
"Wow boss ! Yeah I'm listening !" Adam stammered before he could even see Ellie from the corner of an eye.

Mac entered the lab.
"Adam, Adam... I'm only here to introduce you to your new colleague." He said with a smile.
Ellie saw Adam's shocked expression settle into a happy smile.
"Ellie Danville. We met before, right ?" He asked with a ridiculous imitation of a southern twang and accent that made Ellie wince. The tech frowned and shifted in his seat.
"I'm still not good at this, am I ?"
Ellie didn't answer, she shook her head and chuckled. She really liked Adam. Each time she had seen him, he had given her great albums from quality bands, and always taught her cool things like how to control her mother's computer from her laptop, how to create an algorithm to be able to program an easy game, or things like that. It was like having a big brother. Don't get me wrong, Ellie already had Tyler, but he was not as cool as Adam. And she didn't see him often. She had always thought that he considered her as a parasite that had stolen his mother's attention and love. Deep down, she knew he loved her, of course, but she couldn't take the idea out of her mind- He was not his real brother, and he had not chosen her to be his little sister.

"Adam, I'd like you to supervise Ellie."
Mac's voice interrupted Ellie's thought. And she looked at the two men in turn. Mac looked serious. Yet, Adam was clearly shocked. He pointed at himself and stammered.
"M, m, me ?! You mean, Adam Ross ?!"
Mac nodded.
"I discussed it with Jo. She can't be her own daughter's supervisor, and I can't take care of her myself, I won't take her on any crime scene and I can't leave her alone. Plus, I'll be absent for two weeks. That's off the records, of course, I'm her boss. I just want to make sure someone's going to keep an eye on her and show her what we do here." He explained.
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"Am I a kind of baby-sitter ? Cos I'd better tell you now that I suck at that !"
Ellie sighed. Here she was, listening to Adam and Mac talking about her as if she was nowhere near them.

"Ellie's no baby. She wants to make the most of this job learning things and being useful, only make sure she can do that okay ?" Mac asked, clearly annoyed by Adam's insubordination.
"Yeah, I guess I can do that. How long are you staying ?" Adam asked, this time looking directly at her.

Ellie straightened up and smiled. It was time to counter her mother's decisions. With a confident voice, she said :

"Two months.".
Mac frowned.
"I thought you were going to spend only a month here?"
Ellie shrugged.
"Is it a problem if I stay longer?" She asked, suddenly aware that Mac could refuse her the second month.
"I guess that's no big deal. We're usually under-staffed in August, you could certainly give us a hand. We should go to your mother's office to do the paperwork. After that, we'll give you a lab coat and leave you with Adam."
Ellie nodded. She wanted to dance and jump around to show how happy she was to be part of the team. The only problem that remained was to convince her mom to let her work there for a few weeks more than she had first intended.

As usual, PLEASE, let me know what you think guys ! :)