So, here's where things get interesting, hopefully. I hope you guys are still with me, and if you aren't, hopefully this will get your attention again! Because Darian was very careful on how he planned to go at Mac, and it is definitely what many others might call a rather… unconventional method of going after Mac… So, let's see what you think!

ooOOoo

"And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand, When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.

And you can't fight the tears that ain't comin', Or the moment of truth in your lies, When everything feels like the movies, Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive." – "I Just Want You To Know Who I Am" performed by Kings of the Orchard

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

"Don," Mac greeted the Homicide Detective as he walked in to the precinct, looking down at his watch. It seemed early to have Don calling him down seeing as he'd only just returned from the team's latest crime scene which he'd worked with Hawkes.

"We need to talk," Don said, his face grim. The words themselves set alarm bells ringing in Mac's mind and the look on his friend's face kind of startled him.

Regardless, he followed without question when Don led him to one of the empty interrogation rooms.

"Have a seat," Don advised, nodding to the chair across from where he took a seat.

Mac sat down, a confused gaze fixed on Don. "What's on your mind?"

"Angie's murder," Don replied, laying a case file on the table. He took a deep breath as he opened the file, and Mac could already see what was coming. "Mac… You're a suspect."

It still didn't keep him from being a bit stunned by the news.

Don leaned back in his chair. "And you're not just a suspect… but you're our only suspect that looks really, really good for this."

Mac bit at his lip and looked away from Don for a moment, trying to keep his thoughts straight. What was Don implying? Was this saying he was going to go down for Angie's murder? When on Earth did this happen?

"I didn't kill her, and you of all people should know that," he said finally, looking back at Don.

Don shook his head. "Trust me, I don't want to believe the evidence, but the evidence doesn't lie! That's what you've told us for years, Mac! Danny processed everything himself by the book down to a tee, and everything about it points to you. Hell, even TOD makes you look like a hell of a suspect!"

"Then I don't know what to tell you," Mac shot back. Now he was a little rubbed the wrong way. Murder? Hell no! Especially Angie! "I didn't kill her!"

"We found the murder weapon," Don told him, pulling a picture from the photos in the file and sliding it across the table for Mac to see. "Danny ran the prints through AFIS and they match your set we have on record from when you joined NYPD and the Crime Scene Unit."

Mac shook his head. "I didn't kill her!"

"Can you tell me where you were between eight and ten-thirty in the morning two days ago?" Don asked.

Mac frowned and looked down at his hands, trying to think between shock and a renewed wave of grief over the fact that Angie had been murdered. "Alone. I left the lab to run a few things through town and I asked Stella to cover for me."

"What time was that?" Don asked, looking almost reluctant to even continue the line of questioning and rather uncomfortable with how this was playing out.

"I left the lab at a quarter to eight and I wasn't back until around ten-thirty," Mac said honestly, leaning back in his seat and his eyes focused almost unseeingly on the photo of the knife Don had pushed across the table. From just eyeing it, Mac could tell that it was definitely probable that it had been the knife that killed Angie. Reports confirmed it, too.

Don sighed, looking down at the table. "I'll need your badge and weapon, Mac," he said quietly. "You're being placed under arrest for the murder of Angelina Newark."

Mac didn't wait for the charge to sink in as he silently laid his badge on the table before he stood and took his holster off his belt before he took his gun out, removed the fully loaded magazine, and popped the single round out of the chamber. He then laid the unloaded weapon and ammunition on the table beside his badge as one of the precinct officers took his hands behind his back to tighten a pair of handcuffs.

Don stood with a heavy sigh and Mac didn't miss the regret in his eyes as he looked up.

"Don't worry about this," Mac said quietly, not looking up at the Homicide Detective, "Just find who killed her for real."

Don swallowed and watched in what was almost stunned silence as the officer then led Mac out of the room. It was a stretch of what felt like years before he could finally make himself walk out of the room to watch as the officer led Mac through the precinct.

Even the newest officers to the precinct looked stunned by the sight and Danny quietly joined Don as they stood near the doors to the hall.

"We can't let him go down for this," Danny finally said as Don looked over at him.

Don nodded. "We need to find that Huchardson character. I'd bet money on him setting Mac up for this."

Danny nodded in agreement before quickly readjusting his glasses. "And we need to do it fast. Once this case is on trial and they send Mac upstate for this shit, we might as well sign our names on a report down at the morgue and reserve a freezer. They'll kill him within the hour up there."

Don nodded, face grim as ever. "We'll find who did this. We don't have a choice now. I am not going to stand by and listen as a judge gives Mac the life sentence for a first degree murder he didn't commit. This is just like living that damn Dobson case over again, only worse."

With that, the two turned for the lab. They couldn't waste time if they wanted to stop the inevitable from happening.

All the evidence they had pointed to a conviction. Conviction meant a trial and sentencing. Sentencing meant that they would see their friend behind bars when they knew by heart that he was innocent. Worse… it meant he was a dead man walking.

There were plenty of criminals who would take pleasure in ending Mac's career in law enforcement on the streets, and even more so behind bars. And nothing was ever pretty behind bars. Especially when the charge was murder in the first.

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

Mac locked his fingers together tightly as he looked down at them, elbows rested on his knees with his hands out in front of him. It was all he could do to keep himself composed and from pacing.

Then he heard the familiar sounds of heels clacking on the floor and he raised his head to rest his eyes on a familiar figure.

He managed a small smile that was majorly forced as he stood and unclasped his hands as he walked over, doing his best to ignore that his view of the familiar face was through bars. "I figured it was only a matter of time before I saw one of you down here."

Lindsay struggled with a smile. "I figured you could use the visit. Holding isn't the greatest place in the world, you know?" she gave a weak attempt at lightening the mood around them. Holding always gave her a freaky feeling. It always seemed dark down here.

Mac took the attempt with a smile and a nod, no matter how much of a weak attempt it was. "Indeed," he said, taking a look around. "Not for anyone."

"I just can't believe this is happening," Lindsay said with a shake of her head as she tightly folded her arms across her chest. "You're not a killer, Mac. I should know! How am I ever going to tell Lucy?"

Mac sighed quietly and looked over at her. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Lindsay. You guys can figure this out, I know it."

Lindsay looked over at him with a pretty humorless breath of a laugh. "But can we do it time?" she asked, looking concerned as she met his gaze. "Mac, I know what they'll do to you. You don't stand a chance on trial and we all know that they'll sentence you for over 25 and quite possibly life since you're a cop. Not to mention the media will have a blast and you'll be dead before the sun goes down when they put you upstate!"

"Hey," Mac cut her off quietly, carefully reaching a hand through the bars to lay it reassuringly on her shoulder, "Don't think like that. I'll be fine," he said with a small smile. "You guys are the best team I could ever ask for and I know you can figure this out. You just have to do what we've always done."

Lindsay sighed and unfolded her arms to lay one of her hands over Mac's. "It's not the same without you, Mac. I don't know if we can."

"But I know you can," Mac told her. "You guys will do what we've always done and go back to what you know. Go back to what you know for certain, review the evidence and maybe bring in a new perspective for fresh eyes. The key to the truth is hidden in there, Lindsay. You guys just have to find it. And I know you're all more than capable of that as a team. You guys are the best in the business, and I'm grateful that I've had the pleasure to know and work with you all."

Lindsay managed a partial and very small smile and she took Mac's hand in one of hers, removing it from her shoulder and putting a tight grip that he returned with just as much strength as she always remembered him having, if not physically, but in choice of words. She nodded, "You always have the right words, Mac. We can do this."

Mac offered her a small smile in return. "I know you can. It's what you guys do," he told her, "And it's what you're good at. So, go do what you've always done, Lindsay: Fight, fight for what's right and fight for the truth. That's the way you'll find Angie's real killer."