A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews as always! They keep me going. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see them.

I'm just going to stop calling these things fillers, because apparently I think unless somebody is getting shot, it's a filler.

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"Hey, Linds, I thought you were off." Stella greeted as she exited the elevator, sidestepping the Montanan who seemed to have been waiting for her.

Lindsay spun on her heel and quickly followed her. "I was, but it's Hawkes' turn now." She explained. "We want to stick this thing through."

"We could definitely use the help." Stella said gratefully.

"How are Mac and Don?"

"Last I checked, Flack was asleep and Mac was debating whether or not to abandon him."

"Sounds like them." Lindsay grinned.

"Yeah, they're doing fine." Stella said exasperatedly with a roll of her eyes. "What did you find?"

"I checked into the cases Williams has worked at the firm, and it turns out he's dealt with both Cheryl Fields and Danielle Vance."

Stella looked at her in surprise. "The 2nd and 3rd vics?"

"Exactly." Lindsay pushed open the glass door to the AV lab where Adam was eagerly talking into a headset while enthusiastically abusing a keyboard. Stella watched with interest until Lindsay approached another bank of computers and brought up the court case files onto a screen. "Williams was assisting on a child support case defending Cheryl Fields' ex-boyfriend. They lost, and the ex didn't have the money to pay."

"He was the one Don and Mac went to talk to yesterday. He killed himself two months ago… we sure it was a suicide?"

Lindsay shrugged one shoulder. "Case looks solid. He walked in front of a bus. Now Danielle Vance is a different story. Williams was representing Mr. Vance in a divorce settlement."

Stella cocked her head in confusion. "He didn't mention that when we talked to him today- yesterday…" She glanced at her watch. Barely yesterday.

"That's because when Danielle found out she was pregnant, they called it off. They went to counseling, worked out their problems and got back together. The papers never actually went through."

Stella only looked more puzzled, her eyebrows drawn in, wrinkling her forehead. "Okay, so we have one couple broken up by a kid and one brought together by a kid, but both mothers are killed. How does that work?"

"He lost clients?" Lindsay suggested hesitantly. "But that wouldn't explain killing Amy Chase."

Stella brought her fingers to her lips thoughtfully. "So he might have something against getting pregnant… or maybe he's protecting these men from the women somehow..." Stella quickly shook her head. "I don't know. We need more. Is there anything that sets those two cases apart from his others?"

"They're the two most recent involving a new child. He doesn't get a high load of cases in general. He mostly assists. He just got hired a year ago."

"I want you to look into everyone he's dealt with in that year. Focus on cases involving kids. I want to know if any of these women were pregnant or are pregnant."

Lindsay nodded as she settled into a chair in front of the computer. "The only problem is finding out who's pregnant now. I can't get that information without talking to them directly and it's one in the morning."

"Do what you can for now." She said, letting out a sigh. "Hopefully anyone at risk isn't out running around at this hour-." She was cut off as Adam's voice filled the AV lab.

"Looks like its last signal came from inside a bakery, Mac. You can get there in ten minutes."

"I spoke too soon." Stella groaned. "Get on that, Linds." She said over her shoulder as she strode across the room toward Adam.

"Sorry, Boss, that's all I got… Well, normally could, but I tried that and the phone has to be dead or have the battery removed because it's not working." Adam explained animatedly as he swiveled back and forth in his chair. "…The other phone has the same problem… Yes, it's probably safe to say he'd have to be close. He'd have to put the battery in and take it out to get the readings I did."

"What's going on, Adam?" Stella asked, coming up behind the tech and peering over his shoulder at the GPS layout on his screen.

The poor kid almost toppled out of his chair in surprise. "Whoa! Hi, there, sorry." He caught himself on the desk and adjusting his Bluetooth headset. "Nothing, Mac, it's just Stella." Adam tilted his head back to look up at her. "Danielle Vance's phone just popped up on the grid." He explained. "Mac's going after it."

"Flack with him?"

Adam tilted the earpiece again. "Is Flack with you?" He paused and then lifted his head again. "Nope, but Danny is. You're going to have to bring him a donut to make up for that."

Stella quirked an eyebrow at him. "What?"

Adam motioned to the headset as though it were obvious. "I was talking to Mac."

Stella pulled the Bluetooth out of Adam's ear and reached over him to put the phone on speaker. "Mac?"

"Hey, Stel."

"I got some information on Williams for you." She quickly relayed what Lindsay had found to him. "Does that help explain this guy to you at all?"

Mac was silent for a few seconds. "He said he was on a mission; trying to make a point, but wouldn't tell me what it was." He hesitated before hurrying on. "At least this gives us a place to start. Where are you on getting a warrant for his apartment?"

"Already signed and on its way. Can't say the judge was too happy about the hour, though."

"At least he signed it. That's why I had you call. Banks would have hung up as soon as I said 'hello'. What about Carlson's involvement? Anything new on that?"

"I have to admit, it's not high on our list of priorities right now." Stella said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Give it to someone from the night shift then. If we can figure out when she turned it can help us with motive and figuring out what we can get Williams for. Hawkes took casts of footprints at the park we can compare. Also try a voice print analysis on all communications we have."

"I can do that." Adam said, perking up in his seat.

"After this, Adam. Focus. We're only a couple of minutes out now."

"Be careful, Mac." Stella pleaded.

"Backup is already on scene, Stel. Last time this happened it was a decoy."

"Williams' theme is escalation, Mac. First it's a decoy, and then he's meeting you in the park with a gun."

Mac heaved a sigh, and Stella could just picture him wearily dragging a hand down his face. "I'll be careful." He paused as Danny's voice could be heard telling him something. "I've got to go for a minute here. When Don wakes up, tell him to call me ASAP."

"Considering how pissed he's going to be that you left him behind, he'll probably call you first." Stella said.

She heard Mac laugh lightly before he hung up. Stella exhaled slowly, consciously controlling her breathing to calm her nerves. She placed a hand on Adam's shoulder, giving one last glance at the screen where a blinking green dot was quickly nearing a stationary red one. "Keep me updated. I'm taking Scagnetti to Williams' apartment with me."

"You got it." Adam nodded. "Be careful." He added awkwardly.

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Mac uncomfortably adjusted his jacket again and winced as the stiff, plastic-like fabric stuck to the flushed skin of his bare arms. The navy NYPD windbreaker was meant to be nothing more than a shell, but Mac was running low on clothes that hadn't fallen victim to the weather and he also hadn't been able to go to his apartment with Danny to instruct him on what clothes not to bring him. In retrospect, sending Danny had been a bad idea, but he hadn't had much of a choice after being released from the hospital in nothing but scrubs and a t shirt.

The driver's side door swung open, letting in a muggy breeze that warned of the coming storm. Danny climbed in and settled into the seat. "You got another tag." He said, nodding to the dark-wash jeans Mac was wearing.

With a frustrated sigh, Mac looked down at his hip and spotted the paper tag—the third tag, if he remembered correctly—and snapped it off of the waistband. "There's a reason I never wore these, Danny."

"What, 'cause they're not a suit, or taking off the tags was too much work?" He laughed and stopped immediately when he saw Mac's face. "They look fine." He hurried on and held out a black leather holster, gun already secured inside. "It's a lefty." He explained. "So you're not tempted to shoot with that hand again."

Mac's scowl faded to a faint smile as his cheeks burned. "Thanks…" He secured it to his belt, over the spot the price tag had recently resided, and nodded out the windshield into an alley. In the faint light of an orange-hued streetlamp, a team of six fully geared up officers were huddled together. "How much longer?"

"Just another minute and they'll be ready."

"You going with them?"

"And leave you out here alone? Not a chance." He scoffed. "I got my orders."

Mac quirked up an eyebrow. "I'm not going anywhere." He said innocently.

Danny mirrored his expression. "I don't think that's the issue here."

Mac fought a roll of his eyes and rubbed his hand across his forehead, surprised to find a light sheen of sweat there. He quickly swiped his fingers on his pants leg. The AC in the truck had been going before- much to Danny's chagrin, though he said nothing about it- but since the car had been shut off, the heat had risen quickly and the jacket was insulting him like an oven. Of course he only thought this to convince himself that it was the jacket's problem and Danny's for grabbing it, and not his for letting the last few hours get to him. He could blame being sick and no one would question him on it, but he'd pushed aside a broken hand for 24 hours. A mild temperature shouldn't faze him at all… and yet it was driving him crazy.

Mac suddenly leaned forward and fought to shrug the jacket off one handed before throwing it into the space under the dash board. He had only a loose black t shirt on now. The air on his skin offered a brief reprieve from the stifling heat, and his racing mind seemed to slow its frantic pace for a moment.

Danny cautiously watched as his boss pinched his eyes shut and gave the jacket a final kick to untangle it from his feet where it had fallen. Awkwardly, Danny cleared his throat. "You know we can turn the air back on if you want."

Mac dropped his hand from his eyes and cast a sidelong glance at the man. Seeing Danny's barely concealed concern, Mac expression softened and he exhaled long and slow from his nose. "Yeah, thanks."

Danny turned the key, but left the engine off. Immediately, a blast of cool air came through the vents and Mac unconsciously sunk into his seat in relief. Danny directed his vents toward the passenger side with a quick flick and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. Mac didn't realize it as he shut his eyes to wait. He felt a chill run down his back and shivered slightly, but didn't mind in the least. His skin was tight with goose bumps and it felt like heaven.

"Looks like we're going in." Danny suddenly said, turning over the ignition.

Mac's eyes snapped open and he looked out the windshield to see the team was climbing into a black SUV parked in front of them. Danny pulled out behind them as they started down the street. The signal to the phone was dead, but the last location had been an address a block away. The officers would go in quick and quiet- no chances taken- while Danny and Mac waited for the all clear to go in. Mac still didn't expect them to find anything. This was just another part of the game. Williams could play this all night if he wanted. All he had to do was keep placing the two phones all over the city and Mac would have to check every site they popped up.

The SUV suddenly sped up and skidded to a stop just outside the doors of a quaint looking family-owned bakery. The Avalanche pulled up across the street alongside the curb to watch and wait. In a second, the glass door had broken in and the team filed through. A radio on the dashboard of the Avalanche squawked with the directions of the lead officer as he guided the team through the building.

Danny leaned forward in his seat, hand on his hip, ready to run in at the first sound of trouble. Mac, on the other hand, was suddenly drawn to a neon sign a few shop fronts away. The street was mostly dark except for this one establishment. That could easily explain why he was fixated on it, but that wasn't it…

"We got an all clear down here." The radio suddenly crackled, drawing Mac's attention back to the dashboard where it sat. "One more sweep and you're clear to enter."

Danny lifted the radio. "10-4. Mac- Mac?"

Mac had popped open his door and was stepping out onto the sidewalk. Danny quickly leapt out, clipping the radio to his belt and hurried around to the other side of the truck. "Where you goin'? They're not done yet."

Mac nodded up at the neon sign and without a word, started towards it.

Danny jogged up next to him and looked up at the sign again. "Right now? Really?" He spun around and started walking backwards as he tried to keep ahead of his boss. "What are you gonna do? Get a drink? Do you drink?"

Mac barely glanced at him and his steps didn't falter as he dryly explained, "Yeah, scotch. Think I can get it to go?"

Danny stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk and was forced to jog to catch up again. "Seriously, what's going on? What do I tell Hawkins?"

Mac stopped, his hand on the brass handle of a heavy wooden door. "I'll be there in a minute. Wait outside."

"Whoa, Mac." Danny slapped his palm against the door, holding it shut. "Are you okay?"

Mac blew out a breath. "It's related to the case, Danny. I just need you to wait out here."

Danny looked back at him, the internal battle going on was playing out on his face. "Okay, fine, just wait here a second." Danny dropped his hand from the door and jogged back toward the truck, looking back over his shoulder to make sure Mac hadn't moved. He reached into the cab and came out with something draped over his arm. As he approached Mac, the radio at his belt crackled again. "Give us a few minutes and we'll be there." Danny said into it.

"Why don't you go start and I'll join you when I'm done." Mac suggested.

"Nice try." He held out the charcoal grey zip-up hoodie he'd pulled from the truck. "In case you need it. A shield and badge might draw more attention than you want."

Mac hesitated and took it from him, then looked up and nodded back toward the Avalanche. "You keep all your clothes in there?"

"Just the ones I'm hiding from Flack." Danny replied with a smirk.

A small Yankees logo was sewn in over the left breast. "You sure this isn't more liable to get me shot?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

Danny grinned. "Now you know why I hide it from Flack."

Mac nodded, allowing himself to smile. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hurry back." Danny pulled open the door for him and Mac stepped through, pulling one of the sleeves on over his splint.

The bar wasn't very crowded, though there were still a significant amount of people there, spread out at various tables and in booths along the right wall. It was popular as a sports bar during the day. Antique athletic equipment was hung on the walls as decoration. Everything else was made of weathered wood. Mac appreciated that simply because it dampened the noise caused by loud patrons. The lighting was low, but the hanging lamps cast enough light to make it easy to see where he was going.

Mac headed straight for the bar, narrowly avoiding a tipsy woman who staggered into a support beam a second later. Her friends' laughter echoed behind him as he stepped up to the bar and tried to flag down a busy bartender.

"Just a sec." He said, turning his head toward Mac without looking at him, instead focused on mixing whatever drink he had.

Mac turned and leaned against the bar so he could get a better look at the establishment's customers. He scanned every face unconsciously, picked up useless tiny details about some of them…

Suddenly, a hand was on his shoulder, spinning him around. Mac's right hand automatically went up to break the grip when he spotted the burly man looming over him. He was a little taller than Don and three times as wide, and all of it muscle. He had cropped blonde hair that was barely visible on the sides of his massive head and grew out only half an inch on the top.

Mac dropped his hand and smiled. "Hey, Stu."

"Mac! It's good to see you." The giant beamed. "You want a drink?"

Yes, actually. "I can't. I'm working."

Stu glanced down at Mac's hip where a holster was hidden under his sweatshirt. In a split second, he was grinning again. "I see. Something going on here I don't know about?"

There was a sudden uproar from the corner at the far end of the bar where a group of men and women in their mid-twenties were playing darts. Mac and Stu both snapped their heads around to check out the sound and then relaxed again. "No, not that I know of." Mac continued. "I actually need to ask you some questions about-," he hesitated, "-a couple weeks ago."

Stu's smile faltered, but only for a moment. "Sure, why we go over here?" Even moderately drunk patrons quickly scurried to get out of the big man's way as he cross the bar and slid into a booth in the corner. Mac slipped in opposite, and looked across the table at Stu who was studying him. "You look like hell."

Mac let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I do. Thank you."

Stu chuckled, a sound that vibrated the table. He had deep laugh lines around his mouth, but not a soul believed the man was in his mid-forties. Mac knew him fairly well, and might actually refer to him as a friend. Stewart Kearney had been an Army Ranger who was discharged around the same time as Mac had been from the Marines. He'd gotten a job at this bar as a bouncer and worked his way up until he and his wife had bought the place a few years ago and tailored it to their liking. It was a favorite of local cops, and Mac had been coming ever since.

"You're limping, you've got- what's that there? Broken wrist?"

Mac absently pulled the sleeve down over the splint though his arms were under the table. "Hand."

"You punch somebody?"

Mac shifted uncomfortably. If there was one thing about Stu it was that he liked to talk… a lot. And he was observant enough to pick out something about everyone to talk to them about. It probably came from a combination of his military and bartending days. Because most normal people liked to talk about themselves, they felt comfortable around Stu. Mac didn't like to talk about himself, but he usually wasn't annoyed by it because he was fairy adept at hiding what he wanted to. Apparently not tonight. "No, but I'm going to start telling people I did." He muttered.

Stu barked out a laugh. "Alright then, what's on your mind?"

Only mildly grateful for the change of subject, Mac began, "Do you remember when I came in about two weeks ago?"

The normally constantly smiling man was wearing a tight-lipped frown now. "Yes."

"Did I talk to anyone? Or was anyone hanging around that seemed odd?"

Stu frowned thoughtfully. "Aside from Detective Flack, I don't recall anyone talking to you, no."

Mac's face fell. Either he owed Don lunch or he was becoming paranoid.

"-But," Mac's eyes snapped up again as Stu went on. "There was a guy- it's funny you mention it actually- he just came in about an hour ago. I remember seeing him the same night you came in because well… you two seemed to have a similar reason for bein' there... He's a good looking guy, your height, short brown hair, blue eyes. You left maybe five minutes after he got there. He sat a few seats away, nursed the same drink for an hour and then left."

Mac sat straight up in his seat, "You said he was here tonight?"

Stu nodded and reached into his pants pocket. "Came by no more than an hour ago." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and laid something on the table. "Gave me that. Said he found it last time he was here and forgot to bring it in. He actually suggested it was yours, which I thought was odd. Something was off about him."

Mac reached over and pulled a napkin out of a dispenser on the table and used it to slide the object toward him. It was a cell phone. "He said it was mine?"

"Well, he said he didn't know whose it was but it might be the guy he was sitting by who left. That was you." Stu was watching Mac with interest as he continued using the napkin to turn the phone over and press a few keys. The phone remained off. "What's going on? This guy a criminal?"

"Person of interest." Mac replied absently as he pried the back of the phone off. There was no battery, but there was a small, folded slip of paper which he read and then immediately stuffed into his pocket along with the phone and the napkin.

"You need anything else from me?" Stu asked, trying not to look too curious.

Mac shook his head and slid out of his seat. "No, this is perfect."

"No problem, but listen, you get some sleep. Looks like you have had a good one in days."

Mac was about to hold out his hand to shake, remembered the splint and simply said. "Thanks again, Stu."

Danny spun around as the large wooden door swung open. "Hawkins is waiting-." He stopped, noting the expression on Mac's face. "You find something?"

Mac used the napkin to pull the phone out gain. "Yeah, this."

Danny stared at it, perplexed until his eyes slowly widened. "Wait, is that the phone? THE phone?"

He slipped it back into the pocket of the sweatshirt. "Don't know for sure. There's no battery, but I'd say it's a safe bet." He started walking back toward the truck.

"How did you know? Why'd you go in there?" Danny asked.

"Bar owner says he saw a man matching Williams' description in there an hour ago and he left the phone." Mac said, ignoring Danny's questions.

"Why there?"

"So I'd find it." Mac answered vaguely. "Go process the bakery, I have to take this to Adam."

Danny paused, "Mac..."

"Go, Danny." Mac said again, pulling open the driver's side door.

"But the guy was in the bar." He protested.

"But the signal came from the bakery. He was there. Find out why." Mac reached into the back seat, pulled out Danny's kit and handed it to him.

Danny reluctantly took it. "I'm not supposed to-"

"I'm driving back to the lab. You don't need to follow me."

"Then I'll take the phone. You process." Danny shrugged, his frustration with his boss evident in his clipped tone. "You obviously know something I don't."

"Go process." Mac climbed in and slammed the door shut. He drove off, leaving Danny standing in the middle of the street.

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A/N: Yeah, Mac's up to something... Please review, thanks for reading!