AN: Again I know I told people Thursday but I had the opposite of a writer's block and had to write this. So here you have the third chapter a day early. Thanks again to those who reviewed: Cirinde Palantir, elislin, mirdaishan, dreamadreamtoo, Lotuslita and crimescenecriminal! Reviews make the world a happier place!


The girl gripped my hand so tightly that her knuckles started to turn white as the paramedic checked her over.

"Hello, I'm Brian. Can you tell me your name and how old you are?" The paramedic asked her.

She held up six fingers and whispered "Lucy" I smiled softly, what a beautiful name, I wonder if her parents knew that their child's name meant light.

"So you're six?" Brian said, and she simply nodded.

"Can you point to where it hurts?" He asked her gently.

She held out her wrist. I looked at it, my eyes misting over, how could I have missed it?

The paramedic unwrapped the dirty, blood-stained cloth she had tied around her right wrist.

I gasped. Under the cloth she had two very deep cuts in her wrist. One looked like it had started to heal; the other looked fresh and had obviously been bleeding for a while.

"How did you get these?" Brian asked her slowly.

She opened her mouth, swallowed and said very quietly "h...h...he did."

I grit my teeth; if that man wasn't already dead I would have killed him. She was only six and he had tried to kill her. His own flesh and blood.

"He gave you those cuts?" Brian asked looking at her quizzically.

She nodded again, tears threatening to spill from her over bright green eyes.

"Okay, I'm going to clean them and put a bandage over them. It may sting a little." Brian said reaching for an alcohol wipe.

She looked down at her wrist almost curiously while Brian patched it up. She gave no indication that it hurt or stung while he worked. When he had finished he gave her a big smile "You've been very brave, well done." She still looked curiously at her bandage, flexing her wrist.

"If you find any more serious injuries bring her to desert palm. And try to feed her up a bit, she's very underweight." He whispered to me looking at her.

"Okay" I whispered back. "Come on then Lucy let's get you home." I said hoisting her back onto my hip. I turned around and spotted Greg by my Denali. I walked over to him and felt a smile appearing on my face.

"Hey M" he said playfully. Then more seriously he added "How is she?"

"She is called Lucy and she is more or less okay apart from two deep cuts on her wrist."

"How did she get those?" He asked worriedly

"Her father" I answered my body tensing with loathing.

He seemed to notice as he quickly changed the subject. "So M am I helping you look after Lucy?" He asked curiously

"If you want to." I said thankful for the change of topic. "Could you drive us home? I want to sit in the back with Lucy." I asked hesitantly

"Sure I can drive." He replied.

I grinned at him and past him the keys.

"We need to go to the lab to ask for time off and and we need to drop off the evidence first though." He smiled before opening the back door of the Denali so I could climb in with Lucy still on my hip. I smiled back and settled myself in the backseat with Lucy sat in the middle right next to me. She had begun to cling to my top again. I put my arm around her and after she had looked at me in surprise she snuggled into my side.

Greg looked at us in the mirror and said "She looks a lot like you M. If I didn't know better I would say that she was your daughter."

I grinned at him "I don't know how to take that. And I preferred Hollywood to M as a nickname."

He rolled his eyes at me and grinned back "You can't choose your nickname M, it just happens." He replied mystically.

My smile grew as I rolled my eyes back at him. I looked down at Lucy; she had fallen asleep in my arms. She looked so peaceful and relaxed; her expression was one of complete contentment.

"You would make a great mom M." Greg said seriously looking at us in the mirror again. I felt myself blush slightly as I looked up at him.

"Thanks Greg." I replied softly. I only want to be a mom when you become a dad. I found myself thinking.


In no time at all we were back at the lab. Greg refused point blank to let me wake up Lucy, so I stayed sat in the Denali while he took in the evidence and requested time off for us. I opened the window and felt the cool breeze wash over me. I smiled as I absentmindedly brushed some of Lucy's hair behind her ear. She didn't stir.

"Morgan?" I heard someone say in surprise. I looked around and realized it was Nick. He walked over to me "What are you doing in the backseat of your car?" He asked in interest.

I smiled at him "Nick be quiet Lucy is sleeping." I whispered.

"Lucy… Who's Lucy?" He asked walking slowly closer. When he reached the window and saw her he let out a little sigh. "Is she your daughter?"

"No" I replied smiling "she was found at our crime scene. I said I would look after her until they found a foster parent."

At that moment Greg came into view smiling widely at me. Nick turned to see what I was looking at and saw him too. He looked at each of us in turn curiously "I better get back to work and leave you and Sanders alone." He said smiling. He walked to meet Greg and whispered something I couldn't hear in his ear which made him blush then grinning at me again he walked into the lab.

Greg got back into the Denali "Russell gave us both time off for three days and wished us luck." He said turning in his seat to look at us.

"That's great!" I replied grinning at him. "What did Nick say to you?" I asked curiously

"It doesn't matter, nothing important." He said turning around to hide his darkening cheeks.

I giggled "Greg do you remember where I live?" I asked

"Yes I remember I have given you lifts in before." He replied starting the car and driving out of the parking lot.


By the time we had reached my house Lucy had woken up and I could hear her stomach rumbling.

"Are you hungry Lucy?" I asked her gently

She nodded, looking at the ground.

"What would you like to eat?" I asked her

"I don't mind." She whispered back.

I looked at Greg who had turned around in his seat to face us. He gave me a 'you'd know better than me' look before opening up his car door and opening mine too. I gave him a small smile as I picked up Lucy and carried her to my front door.

Once I had dropped my keys twice trying to unlock my front door still carrying Lucy Greg picked them up and opened it for me. He held it open for me as I walked in. I put Lucy down on my couch then walked over to Greg.

"Hey Greg" I asked slowly

"Yes M" he replied looking slightly amused

"Would you mind sorting out some food so I can give Lucy a bath?" I asked quickly.

"Sure" He replied. "What should I make?"

"Well since it's just after two in the morning I'm going to opt for breakfast." I said in mock thoughtfulness.

He rolled his eyes at me again "Okay, what should I make for breakfast?"

"I'm not too sure. You shouldn't make anything too rich… What about porridge? That's filling and quite bland." I answered.

"Porridge" he said thoughtfully "yeah I can make that, do you have porridge oats?"

"Yep I hate quick meals; I don't even have a microwave." I answered.

"How can you live without a microwave?" He asked me incredulously.

I raised my eyebrows at him and was about to answer when a small voice from the couch cut across me.

"M"

Greg chuckled and I felt my heart go crazy but I still managed to give him a playful death glare before replying "Yeah Lucy what is it?"

"I need to go to the bathroom." She replied.

"Okay let me show you where it is, follow me." I said beckoning her towards me and through a small corridor to the bathroom. "Lucy once you have been to the toilet is it okay if I give you a bath?"

She looked at me slightly confused "What's a bath?"

I bit my lip "A bath is like a big bucket of water that you wash your self-off in. So you can get rid of dirt."

"Okay" she replied, I still don't think she completely understood though. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

I took a deep breath in, willing myself not to cry. It wasn't fair, she was so nice, so small, and her life had been hell. She had received frequent beatings, hard work and she hadn't even heard of a bath.

The bathroom door opened and I quickly smiled and joined her in the bathroom.

I ran a quite cool bath for her and poured shower gel in instead of the bath salts I normally use. This made the water quite bubbly and smell of strawberries. I helped her out of her ripped dress and was about to lift her into the bath before I remembered the bandage. I turned around and after searching in the bathroom cupboard for a while I found a carrier bag and a hair tie.

"Lucy I need to put this over your bandage so you don't get it wet. Is that okay?" I asked showing her the bag.

She nodded and offered me her arm. I opened the bag and put her arm inside it. Then I folded it down so it only covered the bandage before securing it tightly with the hair tie. I the smiled at her and lifted her slowly into the water.

It was only after her bath that I realized just how dirty and bruise laden she was. Her seemingly dark skin was paper white with splashes of browns, blues, yellows and greens. Not to mention the streaks of red and pink. Her filthy hair was as pale as her skin although I had to drain the filthy black bath water and turn on the shower head to find out.

I wrapped a fluffy white towel around her and lifted her out of the bath. "I'm just going to go and find you something to wear. I'll be back in a sec." I told her heading to my room, opposite the bathroom. I opened up my wardrobe before remembering how small she was. After a while of contemplating this problem I decided to give her an old pale blue t-shirt which was very tight around your neck so it wouldn't fall too low on her. Then to my surprise I found a pair of white panties that looked as though they might fit her. Then I remembered they were the expensive ones I had managed to shrink on my first day in Vegas, I must have forgotten to throw them out.

I headed back to the bathroom carrying the clothes. Lucy still had the towel wrapped around her but she looked a lot dryer. I helped her get changed and towel dry her almost white hair before we walked out to see if breakfast was ready.