Title: Family Ties

Author: I AM GRUMPY BEAR

Rating: PG 13 (for later Chapters)

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Too late for anything else to be said.

Summary: Sequel type thing to Problems with the Past. Hazel is back with a new partner to help Gary and Crumb with a problem. (Really bad summary.)

Note: Reviews and help would be greatly appreciated

Family Ties

Chapter Four: For the Sake of Fear

"Courage is not being fearless. It's having fear, but doing what you have to do anyway."

Nikki looked over and saw Hazel writing something on a piece of paper. "What's that?" asked Nikki.

Hazel remained writing and said quietly, "Nothing."

"Oh," said Nikki. "So your first name is Maureen?"

"Yeah," said Hazel still not looking up. "What did you think it was?"

"Truthfully," said Nikki. "I thought it was Hazel. I mean that's what everyone calls you. I just thought you were one of those people with like only one name. Like Madonna."

"Even Anderson calls me Hazel," said Hazel, "and he doesn't call anybody by their first name."

"That's where I got the one name idea," said Nikki. "I mean, I've worked with you for almost two years and I didn't even know what your name was. That's sad."

"It's not sad," said Hazel folding up the piece of paper and putting it in her pocket. "I just don't tell a lot of people what it is."

"I'm your partner," said Nikki.

"Most of my life I have been simply Hazel," said Hazel in a calm voice. "That's not changing now."

Nikki shook her head and then turned to stare out the window.

???

Hazel and Nikki saw the 'fasten seatbelts' sign and waited while the plane landed. They quickly got off the plane and went to find their luggage. Nikki was having a hard time keeping up with Hazel who kept disappearing in the crowd. "Slow down, Hazel," Nikki muttered to herself.

She finally found Hazel waiting for her by the doors after she had gotten her own luggage. "Why such a hurry, Hazel?" asked Nikki. "You're supposed to be on vacation."

"We both know this isn't a vacation, Nikki," said Hazel as she picked up her bag. "I know why you're here."

"And why is that, Hazel?" asked Nikki as she set her bag down and crossed her arms.

"Because Anderson wanted someone looking after me," answered Hazel. "Because he's worried about this note." She held the note in the air. "Well, I'm not worried about it, Nikki. I'm not."

She turned around and was about to walk out the door when Nikki asked, "What are you then?"

Hazel sighed and said almost in a whisper, "Scared to death." She opened the door and walked out.

Nikki was standing there wide-eyed. Hazel would never admit she was scared. Nikki never thought Hazel could be scared. She hurried and followed her.

???

The cab ride was quiet. Hazel didn't want to say anything and Nikki didn't know what to say. There was only a short conversation on where they were going.

"Where we headed?" Nikki asked hoping to strike up a conversation.

"To find a hotel," replied Hazel quietly. "Not much you can do this late at night."

"Why are we in Chicago?" asked Nikki.

"Because," said Hazel.

"Oh," said Nikki. She waited while the cab driver drove through the streets of Chicago.

???

Nikki collapsed onto the hotel bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was worried about Hazel. There was something that was bothering her and Nikki was sure that it was more than just the note. Nikki sighed and fell asleep.

???

Hazel was searching for Gary's address in the phone book. She had to tell him about the note. She found his address and wrote it down. Hazel was too tired to sleep so she decided to go through all her old files. "Bostwick is dead," Hazel said to herself. "I shot him. I know he's dead." Even those words didn't comfort her.

Hazel got up and started to pace the room. She always paced when she had to think. She read over the note again and then shook her head. "I don't know if I can do this," Hazel said to herself. "I just don't know."

???

The phone started to ring at seven a.m. in Nikki's room the next morning. Nikki reached over and answered it. "Hello?" she said through a yawn.

"This is you wake up call, Miss Stevens," said the receptionist politely at the other end.

"Wake up call?" said Nikki. "I didn't ask for one."

"I know," said the worker, "but a Miss Hazel left a note at the front desk for you and asked us to wake you at seven."

"Oh," said Nikki. "Alright. Thank you."

"You're welcome," said the receptionist. "Good-bye."

"Bye," said Nikki. She hung up the phone and muttered, "Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely annoying." She got out of bed and walked over to the suitcase sitting in a chair. She dug around the bag until she found her cellphone. Nikki was debating whether or not to call Anderson. After a few minutes, she decided against it and put it back into her bag.

???

Hazel walked down the street. She had Gary's address in her pocket, but she couldn't go there yet. It was too early. She was just waking down the street sorting through all her thoughts. She had only gotten about an hour of sleep. The rest of the time she had spent going through all the filles. By six that morning everything had started to run together.

Hazel was watching her feet as she walked and didn't see the man in front of her. They collided and both fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry," said the man as he gave Hazel a hand up.

"It was my fault," said Hazel shaking off the help. "I wasn't watching where I was going." She looked at the man. He looked so familiar. "Do I know you?" asked Hazel.

"I have to say you look familiar," said the man, "but I don't think I know you." He smiled at her.

"Oh," said Hazel. "I'm sorry."

"No problem," said the man. "It was nice bumping into you." He waved good-bye and walked away.

Hazel continued to stare at the man as he walked away. "I know I've seen him before. I know it," Hazel said to herself, "or maybe this letter is causing me to lose my mind." She shook her head and walked away.

???

Nikki walked up to the front desk. "I believe you have a note for me," she said to the receptionist.

"Let me check," said the receptionist. "What's your name?"

"Nicole Stevens," replied Nikki. The receptionist left for a moment and then came back a moment later carrying a small piece of paper.

"Here you go," said the receptionist as she handed Nikki the note.

"Thank you," said Nikki. She took the note and read through it quickly. "'Nikki, I will meet you back at the hotel later. Since you keep saying this is a vacation. Go enjoy Chicago. Hazel.' This is just great."

Nikki crumpled up the note and left the lobby.

???

Hazel knocked on the door of McGinty's. She knew it was still early, but she couldn't wait any longer.

"I'm sorry," said a woman who came to the door, "but we're not open yet."

"Marissa Clark?" said Hazel quickly before she could close the door.

"Yes," said the woman with a nod.

"I'm Agent Maureen Hazel," said Hazel. "We met before. Briefly, but we've met. Please tell me you remember me."

"I remember you," said Marissa. "Is something wrong?"

"I need to talk to Hobson," said Hazel.

"Is something wrong?" asked Marissa. Hazel didn't say anything. "He's not here. I'm not sure when he'll get back."

"Do you know where he went?" asked Hazel. She was starting to worry.

Marissa shook her head. "You can wait here for him," said Marissa. She opened the door all the way and let Hazel into the restaurant.

"Thanks," said Hazel. She followed Marissa into the restaurant and saw down at one of the tables.

"What's going on?" asked Marissa.

"Truthfully," said Hazel. "I'm not sure. I got this letter thing in my mail. It was this sheet of paper that said my name on and then it had a bunch of roman numerals. It was a code. It took my all of a night, but I figured it out."

"What did it say?" asked Marissa as she sat down at the table.

Hazel sighed and pulled the paper out of her pocket. She cleared her throat and read it to Marissa. When she was done, Hazel carefully folded it and stuck it back in her pocket.

"I thought he was dead," said Marissa.

"He is," said Hazel. "I went to his funeral."

"Did he have any family?" asked Marissa.

"I saw his parents at the funeral," replied Hazel.

"What about siblings?" asked Marissa.

"I don't know," said Hazel. "It was never mentioned in his file or anything. No one ever told me. I can always have them check. It shouldn't be too hard to find out. I can't believe I overlooked it."

Someone walked through the bar door and Hazel looked over to see who it was. She saw Gary walking towards the table she was sitting at. "Remember me?" asked Hazel.

"Yeah," replied Gary. "What are you doing here?"

"I think you need to see something I got in my mail," said Hazel. She got the note out of her pocket and handed it to Gary.

Gary read through it and then stared at Hazel. "Is this FBI business?" he asked finally.

"They would like for it to be," said Hazel, "but I'm actually supposed to be on vacation. My boss didn't think I was going to be safe working so he made me take some time off. I decided needed to come to Chicago. I figured everybody who was in the letter needed to know. I just don't know where to find Crumb."

Gary handed the note back to her and then sat down in a chair. "Are you alright, Gary?" asked Marissa.

"Yeah," replied Gary quietly.

"Truthfully," said Hazel. "I don't get this letter. If this is part of somebody's revenge, I can understand why I'm on the list, and I can kind of see why Crumb is on the list, but not why you're on it. You didn't do anything." Hazel looked at her watch and then said, "I have to find my partner. I told her I would meet up with her later. I came by mainly to warn you, especially since you have your little hobby. Good-bye." Hazel got up from the table and left McGinty's. (A/n: For those of you didn't read Problems with the Past, Hazel found out about the paper. Kay, bye.)

Gary looked at Marissa and said, "Why would my name be on that?"

"I don't know, Gary," said Marissa, "but I think you need to listen to her and be careful. "I will be," said Gary quietly.

???

Nikki was sitting in her hotel room reading a paper she had went and bought when she heard her cellphone ring. "Hello?" she said.

"Where the hell are you, Stevens?" Anderson demanded from the other end.

"Believe it or not," said Nikki, "Chicago."

"Why are you in Chicago?" asked Anderson angrily.

"For the scenery," replied Nikki.

"Don't screw with me here, Stevens," said Anderson. Nikki could picture his face turning red over the phone.

"You told me to keep an eye on Hazel," said Nikki calmly. "She went to Chicago, I went to Chicago with her. End of story."

"Do you know why she went to Chicago?" asked Anderson.

"No clue," said Nikki. "She won't tell me. You gave her time off and you gave me time off. Technically, we haven't done anything wrong. You need to calm down."

"Hazel took that letter with her," said Anderson. "We can't really help her without it."

"I'm supposed to meet her later," said Nikki. "I'll have her call you and tell her what it says."

"You're not with her?!" shouted Anderson angrily.

"She left before I was even awake this morning," said Nikki. "She left me a note at the front desk this morning. I'm supposed to meet her pretty soon."

"Both of you be careful," said Anderson, "and try not to let her wander around the city on her own."

"She's a big girl, Anderson," said Nikki with a smile, "I'm pretty sure she can take care of herself."

Anderson let out a sigh of frustration and then said, "Good-bye, Stevens." He hung up before Nikki could respond.

Nikki shook her head and went back to reading her newspaper. Her cellphone rang again and she answered it. "Forget something?" she asked expecting it to be Anderson again.

"My cellphone actually," was the reply from the other end. "I'm calling from a payphone."

"Hazel?" said Nikki.

"No," said Hazel sarcastically. "Perry Mason. Who did you think it was?"

"Uh," said Nikki, "I didn't know."

"What did you do today?" asked Hazel.

"Bought a paper," said Nikki.

"And?" asked Hazel.

"Read it," replied Nikki. "Where am I supposed to meet you at?"

"Uh," said Hazel, "actually I need you to do me a favor."

"What?" asked Nikki.

"I need you to call Tom and have him find out if Bostwick had any siblings," replied Hazel.

"Why?" questioned Nikki.

"It isn't in any of the reports," answered Hazel, "but I not sure if he's an only child or not."

"Alright," said Nikki, "I'll give him a call, but can you stop wandering around Chicago by yourself."

"I know my way around," said Hazel in her defense.

"I know that," said Nikki, "but it's the fact someone is out to get you that worries me."

"I'll be fine," said Hazel. "I'll be back to the hotel in a little while. Try and find out before I get there."

"I'll see what I can do," said Nikki. "See ya."

"Bye," said Hazel.

Nikki hung up the phone and the dialed Tom's number. She waited while the phone rang.

???

Tom typed some commands into his computer and waited for the information to come up on his screen.

"You got it yet?" asked Nikki from the other end of the line.

"No," replied Tom. "Give me a few more minutes."

"I'm not a patient person, Tom," said Nikki.

"I know," said Tom. Something popped up on his computer. "I've got something."

"Well," asked Nikki.

"It turns out that Bostwick did have a sibling," said Tom. "A brother. Samuel Bostwick."

"What can you tell me about him?" asked Nikki.

"That might take a little bit longer," said Tom. He typed more commands into his computer and waited. "So how is your vacation so far?" asked Tom as he waited.

"Lousy excuse for a vacation," said Nikki.

"Well it's not helping that you're asking for information on an old criminal," said Tom.

"Hazel asked me to," said Nikki. "I'm just doing what she told me to."

"Well all right," said Tom.

???

Gary walked down the sidewalk. He was slightly nervous because of the visit from Hazel, but he figured if he was careful enough he wouldn't have any problems. As Gary walked past an alley, someone grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the alley. Gary was shoved up against the wall and a knife was placed against his neck.

"Who are you?" asked Gary nervously.

"A friend of a friend," said the man menacingly.

"What do you want?" asked Gary.

The man stared back at Gary. His eyes were cold and showed no emotions. "Revenge," replied the man quietly. He took the knife away from Gary's neck and for a second just stared at him. Before Gary could even, the man shoved the knife into his side. Gary grabbed his side in pain and the man let him fall to the ground.

The man circled Gary for a moment. Gary looked up at him. He couldn't figure out why, but the man looked familiar. The man gave a laugh and then brought something down on the back of Gary's head. Gary sprawled on the ground unconscious.

???????????????????????????????????????

I know. Right now the story doesn't make much sense, but things will start to fit together soon. Girl Scout's promise. (I was one for a little while.)