Once the two other members of Claire's house finally got the smell of sewer out of them, they were all just sitting casually at the table eating as if nothing was wrong. Rebecca didn't need constant reminders about her stomach being pumped out and the main thing was that she was eating again. Claire and Mac hadn't seen her eat since they brought her home so it was a big step in the right direction. "So what happened within the house after your father was...?" Claire knew she maybe should keep quiet but also knew Rebecca deserved to know she could talk about it.

"He was scared," she answered indicating Mac, who didn't even hesitate to hit her up the back of her head. "Danny sent me a video," she explained and he smirked knowing he had ammunition against the detective now for sending a video.

"She was shot at. What do you expect me to be?" Claire looked at Rebecca and hurried to get up before Mac pushed her down. "Lindsay placed a bullet proof vest on her and covered the front in fake blood packs in case she got shot at so her dad would think she was dead. The impact knocked the last bit of strength Rebecca had out though. We did have to put glucose paste into her and occasionally stop for sugar breaks so then she could help us clear her home out," Mac answered.

"How much was in that house anyways?"

"You don't want that number," Mac answered honestly before looking at her. "Just be grateful you wore the mask. Because I can only imagine what would have happened if you hadn't," he answered and then thought back to Sheldon and what happened with Camille. "Luckily nobody needs to take a drug test."

"Would someone have tested positive?"

"For trace amounts. Even if it's second hand it can get into your system," he answered as they ate and right after they finished, he looked at the two girls who seemed to be just talking quietly. He knew he had to lay down some ground rules but it could wait until morning.

"I'm going to head out for a bit. I was thinking of buying a dessert and bringing it back," Claire informed looking at the two of them. "I think this would be a good time for you two to just sit and talk. I'll handle dishes," she assured.

Mac looked at Claire knowing what the hidden message was. She was aware that Mac wanted to lay down the ground rules for Rebecca but not while she was in the house since that was how he liked to have things. He knew Claire preferred to be the one that doted and only disciplined when necessary. As the front door closed, Mac noted Rebecca was still working on how to proceed. "While she's out I'd prefer to get one thing over with. Laying out the ground rules and what's expected of you."

"Okay," she responded casually and Mac waited until they both were on the couch since he wanted it to be an open conversation but he also wanted her to realize that he was in charge in the house and that meant obeying everything. He also knew she needed to have a chance to absorb that he wasn't her father. He wasn't going to hurt her.

"I know you're acting like everything isn't bothering you because you only know how to do that. But it doesn't need to be that way. I'm not like your father. I won't hurt you for having emotions. For feeling a certain way. But I do expect some better behavior from you. No more punching people, unless it's in self defense. You go to school at one of the most honorable locations in the city. I don't want you giving them a bad name or having people think the worst of you when you aren't in class," he began.

"I try not to let it show that way," she answered honestly. He looked at her confused and she took a minute to compose her words a bit better. "I mean yeah I punch a few people but that's only when I need to," she continued.

"Keep it that way. Also no more punching cops. I work with more of them than you realize. I don't want them to think that you're a bad kid. Because from what Adam showed me, you're a very smart kid. You just make the wrong choices."

Mac spent the next 10 minutes going over the expectations and consequences. She knew now he was very old school and believed in all the types of punishments from anyone born before 1980. But in a way, she knew she wasn't going to be hurt by him. He wanted to keep her protected.

After an hour, Mac noticed that Rebecca was falling asleep and he chuckled softly as he pulled down a blanket from the couch and wrapped her in it and smiled holding her to his side. Claire walked in silently and smiled at the two of them. "She's asleep," she whispered and Mac nodded at that. "Did you two talk about what you wanted me to be out of the house for?"

"Yeah and I'm sure she'll mess up. But she's a child and will do that. It's about helping her become the best human being she can be," Mac responded as he smiled as she adjusted herself a bit. Claire chuckled as Mac didn't move and simply held her closer.

Claire carefully wedged in between the couch and Mac on the other side and he smiled as both the girls in his life had managed to fall asleep rather quickly and he couldn't help pressing a kiss to both their foreheads and falling asleep knowing they were both safe.

When the morning came, he carefully untangled himself and smiled as he saw the two girls curled up with each other and he made sure they both were covered. He still had work to do and wanted the two of them to have a morning together. He left a brief note for the both of them and made plans on the paper for the 3 of them to go out for dinner that evening.

Arriving at the Crime Lab he saw Flack who looked amused. "I heard from Hawkes. How's our little bundle of trouble?"

"Probably adjusting to the fact that she now has a clear set of rules in her life," he answered honestly. "The two of them were asleep when I came in so I didn't have the heart to wake them up."

"Daddy Mac. Who would have ever thought?" Mac glared at him and then chuckled as they began to get on with their day. Mac had plans to keep his promise on paper about going to dinner with the girls since he wanted to get her out into the town a bit more.

After a few more hours of work, he finally got a call and smiled as he knew it was Claire. "About time you two woke up. I was wondering if I had maybe poisoned the two of you or something. How's Rebecca feeling this morning?"

"Good. She ate a good breakfast this morning. We had pancakes sausages and eggs and she ate everything. Meaning the pump out worked," Claire responded and Mac had to smile at that. "She's the one who found your note. So we're going out for dinner tonight?"

"Yes. So don't go spoiling her with sweets this afternoon. We'll go to the malt shop after," Mac answered.

"Would it kill him to say ice cream shop considering those are outdated?"

"There actually is a malt shop down the road from here love," Claire calmed as Mac could tell they were close to each other. He smiled as he could hear the love in Claire's voice as she kept Rebecca up to date with what was in the city. "She's just going to be going with me to the school to get her homework for the next week. I got her the week off as she needs time to recover."

"You spoil her," Mac accused and he had no real bite to his voice. He did agree that giving Rebecca a week out of school was a good idea as she could fully recover and get used to eating normal sized meals again. He then heard yapping. "Claire what did you do?"

"We went out this morning and visited the humane society," Rebecca began casually and Mac made a small sound indicating for her to continue. "It was a quiet morning."

"That's why I just heard a dog bark. What's all that about?"

"Oh Mac you should have seen it. They were so attached to Rebecca and wouldn't let any other dogs near her and it was so cute to watch how the two of them played with her," Claire began and then covered her mouth as Mac realized.

"Claire are there two dogs in my house right now because you two couldn't get over how adorable they looked?"

"One's an Aussie?" Rebecca had to try and he chuckled at that. "Claire did say you always swore if you got a dog you'd get an Aussie," she responded thoughtfully and it made Mac chuckle. The woman was using Rebecca as a weakness.

"What's their names and what's the other dog breed?"

"The Aussie we named Molly," Claire informed and Mac chuckled at that. He couldn't help but think that Claire was using Rebecca being home as a weakness to spoil him and her at the same time. "The other one is a teacup Pomeranian."

"Rebecca you better expect to be vacuuming more often."

"I will. We already named her too," she promised and Mac chuckled at that. He expected the girls to have bought everything and named them before he even got a chance to talk to them. So he waited patiently before he heard a yap that was higher pitch. "Sorry about that. Boo is not friendly to phone conversations yet."

"Boo?"

"You need to look up Boo the Pomeranian on a lunch break," she advised. He quickly did so with his computer and chuckled. "It fits doesn't it?"

"Is it a red haired teacup?"

"White, but if you know Mario videogames you'll get the reference."

"I'm assuming Boo is a ghost."

"Correct," she responded and then looked to Claire. "Can we go get the homework so I can spend some more time with Molly and Boo already?"

"I'll go. Mac is Flack free for a bit? I need to go buy some things anyways and need to leave Rebecca with the dogs."

"Already on my way Claire," Flack promised smiling knowing it was the truth. "Also Stan says you two have to go somewhere real quick." Mac nodded and after a couple more promises to be home in time to take the girls to dinner, he was off as well.

Meanwhile Claire smiled at Rebecca as she hung up. "Now you behave for Flack. I want a good report because I want Mac to see what I did at the humane society. A good child. Don't give his detevtive partner a problem." She glared playfully at Claire and the woman laughed. "You know you gave Mac trouble the first day you two met."

"Different circumstances. I was running away from him. I got no reason to run," she responded and Claire nodded before opening the door for Flack and she slipped out as well. Flack looked at the kid that he very clearly remembered chasing down the streets and out of the park and noticed a slight change even in appearance. The girl who was clearly a smartass was also able to look docile which was nice. "What surprised I can be half docile?"

"Just a bit considering you outran me, hid from me and fought against me and Mac when we first met," he answered. She nodded at that and then as the afternoon passed, Flack realized he couldn't pass up the chance to ask her the question. "You put your health in danger to protect Mac. Why?"

"We referring to the gun thing? The standoff with my dad?"

"That's right," he responded looking at her. "You could have stayed in the lab and been completely unaware of what was going on. But instead you woke up, and rushed yourself down to the scene and snuck in and held your dad at gunpoint to buy us time to barge in. Then even when we were in there you held the gun and it took Adam to talk you down."

"I don't know what came over me once you guys got there. I just," she began honestly looking outside and Flack smiled knowing what it was. "Mac had looked out for me and I knew if I didn't go after him from a different angle he'd hurt Mac. I wanted to prevent that. I was too late to prevent my mother, but."

"You wanted to try and make sure you tried to protect the lives that mattered at least once." She nodded and chuckled humorlessly. "You put me and Mac on the edge of fear. You had the gun pointed and I didn't know if it was loaded or not."

"It was. I openly confessed to shooting at the ground once and then you saw the magazine was full sans one bullet," she reminded. Flack looked at her and she chuckled humorlessly. "I grew up in a house with drugs in it. Please don't think I wasn't smart enough to learn how to hold a gun and load it."

"But use it's another," Flack answered.

She nodded and he looked at her. "Mac's already talked to the DA about what happened. He proved that the bullet in the corner of the counter was from the gun I got from you once Adam talked you down. He's not going to force the courts to press charges on you."

"But?" Flack looked at her and she chuckled humorlessly. "Flack I'm not stupid. The DA may see what I did and why I did it, but there's going to be something coming my way. So what's the but part of the clause?"

"But he does want you seeing a psychiatrist for a few weeks," he admitted. She glared at him and Flack chuckled at that. "Mac's still talking with him but that's so far what looks to be coming out of this. Nobody in the Crime Lab blames you either though. Gave Mac's team a scare but nobody blames."

"Whoa," a male voice responded and Flack chuckled as Rebecca laughed knowing it was Molly. "Thought you were kidding when you said it was an Aussie."

"I was not," Rebecca answered as Mac walked in. "Thought you had work?"

"Got off early. By the way DA is dropping everything on Rebecca. Adam managed to get the security footage from when Rebecca walked in to her being talked down," he informed Flack and Rebecca couldn't help smirking at that. "Doesn't change I don't ever want to see you pull something like that again."

"I promise," she assured.

"Holding you to it," he warned her and she nodded before he watched her stand and she winced. "There's something in what's going to be your room. Get changed into it for dinner," he responded and she nodded carefully walking her way around to the door and into the area. "She's a tough one."

"Yeah. So the DA really dropped everything?"

"Once he saw the fear in her eyes and how it took me, you and Adam to convince her that he wasn't going to hurt her again, he knew it was real. That we had stopped her before she did something that would change her life. Her bullet also was as she claimed. She got in, saw her mom and as her father approached she shot at the counter and then stood holding the gun at him before we came in surrounding them."

"Who would have thought her old man would make such a novice mistake?"

"Every drug dealer in the history of drug dealers?" Mac had to be honest and Flack couldn't' help but laugh at that. "Oh he'll be going away for a long time as Adam does have the footage he referenced to with Rebecca. That man hurt both his wife and daughter. So he'll be going away for a long while."