"Here's some lemonade boys." Maria said carrying out 2 glasses of ice cold lemonade. They had been working for almost an hour and it was the hottest day of the summer, so far. Suze had arrived half an hour earlier and gone into the house without speaking to them.

"Thanks." Jesse said as he took the glass from Maria. He went and sat on the matching white wooden chairs on the porch. His mother had made dark blue pillows that matched the shutters on the white house. He sank into the chair and took a gulp of his drink and sighed.

"Man that's good!" Max said from the other chair.

She does a good job, always has when it come to lemonade."

"Mom always puts too much lemon, not enough sugar." He ran his hand through his hair making it stand up and then put his baseball cap back on. "She's an amazing cook though. She just, for some weird reason, sucks at making lemonade." Max shrugged and Jesse chuckled.

"She wanted to be a chef when we were kids. I bought her first cook book for her 12th birthday and then she went cook book crazy. The tree house used to be full of them." Jesse sighed and Max studied his glass. "It's crazy how long ago that seems. What does she do now?"

"She owns the little Italian restaurant downtown. It's called Simons." Max said proudly.

"No way! That's pretty…impressive."

"It's pretty popular."

"That must mean the foods good." Jesse said smiling.

"Well the place makes over $2000 on slow nights, so its doing pretty good." Max shrugged.

"That's amazing for a small town like this." Jesse said looking around and Max nodded.

"Yea but it sucks. Sometimes she makes me work there when their short staffed."

"You get paid right?"

"Yea, I guess I shouldn't complain." Max shrugged and smiled at Jesse.

"Especially since that place might be yours one day." Max nodded and took another drink of his lemonade. He sighed and Jesse watched as his green eyes flicked across to his house.

"So you and your mom are close?"

"Really close. We're closer than any other kid and their parent. But she never talks about her childhood. Ok, well she'll talk about her life before her dad died, but not after it." Max said and Jesse nodded.

"She took it really hard. They all did." Jesse explained. "But she seems ok now."

"She still keeps a lot of that stuff to herself. That's why I…invited you in. I wanted her to talk to someone, other than Aunt Ceecee. Someone who knows her better." Max said his eyes studying Jesse's. Jesse pursed his lips and studied Max. "Sorry." Max said with a shrug and Jesse smiled, shaking his head.

"I guess I would do the same if I was in your position." Jesse sighed. He was about to ask if she had dated anyone, and was trying to figure out how to word it without showing his feelings, when a white 2010 Alfa Romeo Giulietta pulled into Suze's driveway. The windows were tinted so the driver was not seen, but Jesse knew that he was being watched. "Who's that?" He asked turning to Max.

"That's Mike."

"Mike? As in Mike Meducci?" Jesse asked looking back at the car.

"Yea. He's pretty hung up on Mom." Max said raising his eyebrows in distaste as he studied the remaining quarter of his drink.

"You don't like him." Jesse stated and Max shrugged.

"He's not a bad guy. He's there for mom when she's needed it, attended all of my birthday parties and family functions."

"But?"

"But he's just… I don't know there's something about him. I'll catch his watching me sometimes and the look on his face…It's hard to explain. He just creeps me out." Max sighed and they looked over at the car.

"Nice car."

"Yea he's some big time Lawyer in town." Max said. "He's got a penthouse apartment and all that."

"Huh." Jesse said, remembering Mike in high school, he never seemed like he'd be the kind of guy to live the big spender life style. Mike opened his door. Jesse studied the tall, now muscular man getting out of the car. His black hair was cut short and neat and he no longer wore glasses. He wore, what looked like an expensive Armani suit and he walked with more confidence. He looked over at them and waved, giving them a bright smile as he skipped up the steps and into the house.

"I used to think he was my dad." Max mumbled and Jesse laughed.

"You look nothing like him."

"I know that now! I didn't say I think he's my dad." Max shook his head, yet smiled. "When you're 6 you don't really notice things like, skin tones and eye colour." Max said his eyes studying Jesse carefully and Jesse nodded and looked away. Jesse felt his heart beat quicken as he realized that Max might already know.

"So, what was you're dad like?"

"No idea." Max sighed and rested his head back on the chair.

"She never, uh, told you who he is?" Jesse asked.

"She never gave me a name. She just told me that he was a friend from high school."

"Huh."

"I know, she didn't exactly have a lot of friends from high school, or so I've heard." Max said. "The story is that basically it was too much for him to handle at such a "young age". So he took off." Max said bitterly.

"She told you that?"

"No, but look at it from my perspective. The guys AWAL, has been my whole life. Too much of a coward to man up." Max snapped. Jesse bit his tongue and stopped himself from speaking. He wanted to defend himself but it was clear that this was a touchy subject for Max. "It's not like I need him anymore anyways. Uncle Dave helped a lot with the guy stuff."

"But if he…if he were to turn up?" Jesse asked and Max shrugged.

"It wouldn't really matter. Besides it's girls who have a harder time when their father's abandon them. Or so I've heard." Max said.

"Huh. I was always a Momma's boy myself." Jesse teased, purposely changing the mood, and Max smiled.

"I never said that I was a-"

"I'm sorry Mike, but I'm really busy this week." Suze's voice came from her front door. She was digging through her purse looking for something.

"It's because he's here isn't it?" Mike's deep voice floated over to them and Max snorted.

"No! What? Listen." Her voice faded as she spoke to Mike in a lower tone, so that they couldn't here. Jesse watched Mike studied Suze's face with a hard, pained expression.

"Look's like your presence upsets him." Max said smugly.

"Really? I thought he meant because you were here!" Jesse teased and Max chuckled.

"What about 8:30?" Mike said, obviously choosing to ignore the fact that she said no. Suze sighed and turned away from him.

"I can't Mike. I have to pick up David for the airport. Tonight's no good. I'm sorry." She opened her car door.

"But your busy all week, and I leave tomorrow for California." Mike pleaded.

"I'm sorry. It's not going to work tonight. I'll call you." She said slipping on her sunglasses. She looked over to Max and Jesse and waved. "I'll be back later. I'm going out with Ceecee." She said to Max.

"Again?" Max laughed.

"She's wants to go dress shopping! Already." Suze shook her head and smiled. "Bye honey." She looked back up at Mike and then sighed before she got into the car. She started it, quickly backed out of the drive way and took off down the road. Mike sighed and rubbed his face.

"Looks like she's too busy there Mikey." Max goaded. Mike looked over at him with a glare and then sighed and gave him a smile and shrug.

"We'll see." He said. He waved at Max and Jesse and then got into his own car and drove away.

"See what I mean?" Max exclaimed. "We'll see." He mimicked and Jesse laughed.

"That was pretty good! You sounded just like him."

"I've had years of practice." Max sighed. "Too many years." Jesse noted the distaste in his voice. Fighting for one woman's attention was hard work and nobody left completely happy. He knew that Suze would pick Max over Mike any day. He just wondered why she hadn't given Mike the boot like she had done to him.

Around 6 o'clock it started to rain and not just a light drizzle, it was a full on downpour. Jesse looked up from his laptop and went to close the window.

"Fuck! Why does this have to happen to me?" He heard Suze's voice shout from below. He opened his blinds and stuck his head out the window. Suze was bending over her car looking at the flat tire that she had. He smiled as she swore some more. He grabbed his rain coat and went down to help her.

"Need help?" He shouted over the rain and causing her to jump. Her black hair was curling around her neck under the hood of her black rain coat. He smiled and she sighed.

"My tire's flat." She sighed. "And I have to pick up David in about 38 minutes." She said studying her watch.

"Don't you have a back up?" Jesse said inspecting the flat.

"No. I used it and it popped. I was supposed to get a new one."

"Seems like it's common for you to get flats." Jesse chuckled and she brushed her bangs back into her hood.

"You have no idea." She sighed shaking her head.

"Where's Max?"
"He's working at the store. We're short tonight." She said.

"He told me about that." Jesse said and Suze nodded. He looked around for an idea and spotted his mother's red 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt sitting unused in the driveway.

"I guess I could drive you." He said with a shrug.

"I don't want to put you out or anything." She said sourly and he smiled.

"I'll drive you. I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" She eyed his cautiously and he shrugged.

"How else are you going to get there?" He asked and he could see that she was trying to find something to come up with. She sighed and nodded. She walked past him towards his mother's car. He let out a chuckle and followed her.

"I just have to grab the keys." He said running into the house and grabbing the keys from the key rack at the front door. He looked outside and saw her standing on the porch looking helpless. There was something about her expression as she studied the rain falling that made him just want to watch her.

"Get a grip Jess!" He said to himself and she turned towards him.

"Did you say something?" She said as he let the screen door close behind him.

"Nope." He said and unlocked the car. She squinted her eyes at him as he raced by and got into the car. She sighed and then followed him.

10 minutes later they were just a couple of minutes away and neither one of them had spoken a word. Jesse sighed and spotted the airport turn off.

"So you never told him that I was his dad." He said, getting straight to the point.

"That's what you're mood's about." Suze said shaking her head. Her hair was completely curled now, and it bounced against her face. "I was trying to figure out what it was about."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"I didn't see the need too." She said holding her hands tightly in her lap. "The less he knew the fewer questions he would ask. Besides you were gone anyways." Jesse shook his head.

"How'd that work out for you? The less he knew the fewer questions he would ask?"

"He kept asking." She sighed and Jesse smiled.

"I want to tell him." He said slowly.

"Pardon?"
"Suze…" She sighed and looked out the window.

"You think he doesn't already know? I mean you two look identical. You always have. Even as a kid he looked like you." Jesse pondered this for a moment.

"I still think he should hear it out loud."

"He'll freak out. He's got a short fuse when it comes to that subject." She sighed. "You tell him. I'm not going to be responsible for his bad mood."

"But you are responsible! You're the one who kept us apart. You kept him all to yourself." She looked at him with a shocked expression.

"I didn't keep him all to myself. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to…I did it for your own good!" She said looking back out the window, her hands shaking.

"How would you know what's good for me? You don't know me!" He snapped.

"Fine, then I did it for my son! I did it for him!"

"You mean our son!" He said and her breath caught. "You never gave me the chance." He said in a low tone and she shook her head. Her hand went up to her face quickly and Jesse knew that she was crying.

"I'll just catch a cab back. You don't have to stick around." She snapped.

"Fine!" He grumbled.

As they pulled into the airport they noticed an ambulance that just left and 4 cop cars around it. Neither one could speak as they took in the scene before them, yellow tape, groups of cops and distressed people. Jesse stopped at the curb and put the car in park. He took off his seat belt and her worried face looked at him.

"You don't think…" She said and he shook his head.

"Call him and let him know we're here." Jesse said, looking at the cops. She dug through her purse and fished out her phone. She dialed David's number and got the voicemail.

"No answer?" Jesse asked and she shook her head. She bit her bottom lip nervously and he sighed. "Alright lets go get him then." He opened the car door and the sound of rain and chaos entered the car.

"You don't need to go. I can do this by myself!" She said stubbornly.

"I'm going with you Susannah!" He said and she couldn't argue back.

"Fine! But you'll see that you're wasting your time." She said, sounding entirely insecure.

They got out of the car and raced in through revolving doors. Inside wasn't much different from the outside. It was chaotic and noisy, only dry. They didn't know where to start first. All they could do was watch the numbers of police officers and the people crying and hugging each other. Jesse felt Suze grab his hand nervously and he held it tightly so that he wouldn't lose her in the crowd.

"Can I help you?" They turned around and a woman stood behind them. She was a cop, about 30, stood at 4 ft 3 with honey coloured hair, which she wore in a bun and dark brown eyes. She studied them carefully and Jesse sighed.

"I'm…I'm…" Suze tried to speak but couldn't take her eyes away from the chaos.

"My name is Jesse De Silva. We're looking for her brother. His plane was supposed to land 10 minutes ago." The cop looked around at the people waiting.

"Can you describe him for me?" She asked looking at Suze but Suze couldn't speak.

"His name is David; he's roughly around 28, 29?" Jesse said looking at Suze and she nodded. "He's got red hair, at least he did."

"He still does. And he has a beard." She finally spoke.

"What was his name again?" The cop asked.

"David, David James Simon." Suze said and the cop nodded. She looked around again and sighed.

"I'm Officer Carter." She said offering her hand to them and they shook it. "Would you mind coming with me please?" She said and started walking away. Jesse gave Suze's hand a tight squeeze and they followed the cop.

Officer Carter led the through the crowds to two male cops deep in conversation. They looked up as she approached and Jesse felt a sickening feeling in his stomach. The three of them talked quietly and then the oldest cop sighed. He looked over at Suze's worried face and nodded.

"Mrs. De Silva?" He said as he approached them.

"Uh, no. It's Simon. Susannah Simon." She said nervously.

"Mrs. Simon, my name is Sergeant Dobson. Officer Carter said that you are looking for your brother." He said looking down at them. He was very tall, about 6 ft 5, with bright blue eyes and graying dark brown hair.

"His name is David. He's 28, has red hair, blue eyes-" Suze spoke quickly.

"Is he alright?" Jesse asked, cutting her off before she became hysterical. Sergeant Dobson assessed Susannah's emotional situation and sighed.

"We're afraid, well there was a man murdered in one of the public restrooms."

"Oh no." Jesse heard Susannah whisper.

"And from the description that you gave us…" He paused. "We're afraid that the victim may be your brother."

"Oh no!" Susannah said louder and grabbed Jesse's hand tightly. Fat tears ran down her face. And he pulled her into his arms.

"Suze, he said it may be him. He didn't say that it was him." Jesse said gently into her hair. She stopped sobbing so much and looked at Sergeant Dobson.

"I want to see him."

"Mrs. Simon…" Sergeant Dobson started.

"Well we do need someone to identify the body." The other cop said from behind Sergeant Dobson. He was a short fat man, with a brown mustache and pale blue eyes. Sergeant Dobson and Officer Carter both gave him a cold stare and he backed off.

"I want to see him." Susannah said again. Sergeant Dobson looked at Susannah and then at Officer Carter who nodded her head.

"Well, only if you're sure."

"I am." She said bravely and Jesse felt his stomach tighten.

"Suze, its probably better if I do it." He said making her look up at him.

"I can do this Jesse." She said as she wiped the tears, and smudged make up from under her eyes.

"I know, I know you can, but I…"

"Jess, I need to. He's my brother. I need to see him." She sighed and ran a shaky hand through her hair. "I need to be sure that its him, to see it for myself." Jesse sighed, knowing that he had lost. She looked back over to Sergeant Dobson and Officer Carter.

"Alright, this way ma'am." Officer Carter said, turning to lead Susannah away.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Jesse said, grabbing hold of Susannah's hand. This time she noticed it and looked down at his touch. She looked up at him with confusion and he shrugged.

"Someone's got to be there to tell you I told you so." He said lightly and she let out a shaky breath.

"I hope so." She said back and the two officers started off.

They walked for what seemed like hours and they knew they were getting close because each minute that they walked the environment of the airport changed. At first they passed scared and confused people looking around and wondering what was going on. Then they passed a crying flight attendant talking to a detective, who had a note pad open and was taking notes. When they saw a man sitting in a seat, his face pale and clammy and his entire body shaking they knew that they had arrived. Yellow tape blocked off any entrance to the men's bathroom. There were two young cops, probably rookies, standing guard outside of the bathroom, each one holding an AR-15 rifle and scanning the crowd carefully. They nodded to Sergeant Dobson and lifted the tape. Susannah took a big long nervous breath and looked up at Jesse.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked and she nodded looking back at Sergeant Dobson patiently waiting on the other side of the tape. Jesse gave her hand a tight squeeze and they ducked under the tape and went into the bathroom.

The first thing that Jesse noticed was the smell. It smelt like a regular bathroom, the smell of bleach and soap, mixed with urine. But what also stood out was an iron smell, the smell of blood, a lot of blood. As the bathroom opened up to them, Jesse looked around and felt his stomach churn at the sight of the blood. There was splatter all over the wall and the counters. The mirrors had drops of blood on them, already starting to dry. In the middle of the bathroom floor was where the body laid, covered by a white blanket, and surrounded by a pool of dark red blood. Susannah's hand tightened as they moved closer. Jesse became aware of two other people in the room. One, a man, was holding a camera and taking pictures of the blood spatter on the walls. The other, a woman was collecting some sort of evidence off the sinks with a pair of tweezers. Both of them looked towards Susannah with pity in their eyes.

"Aren't we supposed to do this another way? Like at a time where there isn't so much…raw evidence." Jesse said swallowing, as he looked from one officer to the CSI. Suze was shaking now and her eyes were fixed on the white blanket.

"Of course. I can bring you to a private room and when the body is transferred to the mortuary I can show you then." Sergeant Dobson spoke in a calm and soothing voice. But Susannah shook her head.

"No, let me see." She said and Jesse sighed. Sergeant Dobson nodded his head and his eyes flicked to the Officer Carter. Jesse noticed that her hands were shaking and her dark brown eyes flicked up to Susannah's face nervously. Jesse said a silent prayer, as he watched the white blanket reveal the cold, lifeless face underneath.

His pale skin was almost translucent, his blonde eyebrows clam and relaxed, his red hair clumped together and stuck out in different directions as a result of all the blood. Susannah inched forward to get a closer look and Jesse held her shoulders tightly. Officer Carter looked up at them and Jesse nodded sadly. She lifted the cloth and covered his face again and Susannah unfroze. She let out a loud cry of pain and sank to the floor.

"How is she?" Jesse asked as Max slowly came down the stairs from his mother's room.

"She's really upset. She keeps saying so much blood and poor Davie over and over again." Max said as he slumped down on the bottom step.

"I told her it was a bad idea." Jesse mumbled and sighed. Max ran a hand through his hair and then dropped his head into his hands and sighed. Jesse felt his heart swell a bit.

"How are you doing?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know. I guess it doesn't seem real. I keep waiting for Uncle Dave to walk in the door talking about his flavor of the month and giving me tips on what girls like in a guy." Max said with a fond smile. His smile suddenly faded and he started rubbing his eyes. "I just don't understand…Who would want to kill Uncle Dave?" Max said his voice shaky. Jesse knew that he was crying and went and sat beside him on the stairs.

"Buddy, it's ok to cry. He was your uncle, your only male role model. You guys were close, so I hear. Go ahead and cry." Jesse whispered and Max took a shaky breath. He let out a quiet sob and his shoulders shuddered with each silent sob. After 10 minutes Max wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "Better?"

"No, it still hurts." Max said, wiping his red eyes.

"It's going to for a long time." Jesse said patting Max's back. "But each day, it gets easier. Each day something happens that brings comfort." Jesse said and Max looked at him.

"It wasn't like that for my grandmother." He said, tears brimming his eyes.

"True, but that kind of love, which your grandparent's shared, is different then the kind of love that you share with David. Both are strong in their own way, but completely different." Jesse said and Max nodded. "Trust me. It does get easier."

"I hope so." He looked up the stairs and sighed. "I hope for her sake that your right." A flash of worry went across Max's young face and Jesse patted his back again.

"Don't worry. Your mother is strong, she'll be ok."

Before Max could answer the doorbell rang 2 quick rings and they both looked at it, neither one moving. Max sighed and stood up, wiping his eyes he went and answered the door.

"Hey buddy. I just heard on the radio that there was a stabbing at the airport." Michael's voice floated over Max. It sounded anxious and full of pity. "Is wasn't…?" Max nodded.

"Oh gosh." Michael said. "Your mom, how is she?"

"She's…upstairs." Jesse saw Max's knuckles turn white as he bit back a sarcastic remark. "I don't think she'll want to see you." He spat.

"She'll see me." Michael said, ignoring Max's remark, and waited for Max to move. When Max didn't he said, "She did when your grandmother died." Max knew he was beaten. He sighed and the moved out of the way. Jesse's curious gaze met Michael's concerned eyes. As he took in Jesse sitting on the stairs, in Susannah's house, his eyes went from soft to hard in less than 20 seconds and he froze in the doorway. The only sound was the pouring rain in the background.

"Are you coming in?" Max snapped.

"I'll come back later. You've got company already." He said, sizing up Jesse. "Tell your mom that I stopped by, will you?" He said glancing at Max briefly, before turning back to Jesse.

"Sure." Max said and closed the door in Michael's face. Jesse stared at the door and both of them waited for the sound of retreating footsteps on the porch before they moved. Max sighed and rubbed his face again. "I'm hungry, want something to eat?" He said moving towards the kitchen without waiting for an answer. Jesse sighed and stood up. He stared at the door and wondered about Michael. Was he really that threatened by Jesse?