Chapter 2:

"Hey Mac, I left that sample on your desk along with something you might find interesting," Danny said, as he passed his boss in the hallway, first thing that morning.

"Right," Mac replied absentmindedly, not even looking up from the file he was reading as he walked towards his office.

As he entered the room he scanned his desk for the new addition, but was distracted when his chair swiveled around of its own accord. He smiled when he saw the little girl in it.

"Very funny, Danny," he shouted into the hallway, and heard him burst into laughter. Mac couldn't help but chuckle too.

"Hi Uncle Mac!" came the lively greeting.

"Hello Emma," he replied with a smile.

She jumped out of his chair and ran over to give him a hug, or rather, give his legs a hug.

"Guess what?" she asked excitedly.

"What?" Mac played along.

"I'm going to be a big sister!" she announced jubilantly.

"Really?" Mac asked her, then turned around to see a smiling Lindsay leaning in the doorway. "Congratulations," he added.

"Thanks," she replied. "C'mon Emma," she beckoned her daughter.

"O.K. Bye Uncle Mac," she waved before skipping out of his office.

"Bye," Mac returned, before shaking his head and taking a seat behind his desk.

The late afternoon sun was leaking through the blinds when Mac looked up at the sound of a knock on his office door.

"Mac, did you get the trace results from those fibers yet?" Danny asked curiously.

Mac's eyebrows became furrowed in confusion. "What fibers?"

"The ones I set on your desk this morning," Danny clarified disbelievingly. Was this some kind of trick question? He knew Mac too well to think it was a joke.

"Your daughter was in my chair, but there was nothing on my desk. I thought you were just saying that to get me in there," Mac replied, waiting for Danny to say 'April Fool's.' However, Danny just shook his head slowly and confusedly.

"This can't be good," Mac stated.

Stella stood over the large table going through the seemingly overkill amount of evidence that she and Hawkes had collected at the crime scene. This was going to be a long day, and it wasn't even noon yet. It was then that she noticed two little eyes peering over the edge of the table opposite her.

"Watcha' doin' Auntie Stella?"

"Hey sweetheart. I'm just working to help catch the bad guys," she told her.

"Can I help?" Emma asked.

"I dunno, hun, probably not with this part," Stella told her, not wanting any sticky fingerprints to show up mysteriously.

Emma made a sad, puppy dog face that nearly broke her heart. However her expression quickly changed when Hawkes entered the room.

"What's that for?" she asked, pointing to his lab coat.

"This is what we wear when we work in the lab," he explained.

"Can I wear one?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

He chuckled, "Sure, you can."

He left for a moment and returned carrying an extra lab coat. He helped her into it and rolled up the sleeves numerous times so that her hands could show. Stella couldn't help but laugh. It had to be the cutest sight she had ever seen. The coat dragged along the ground like the train of a dress, the rest practically drowning the little girl in white. She seemed overly pleased though.

"I'm gonna go show Mommy," she proclaimed excitedly.

"Good idea," Stella told her.

"Bye Auntie Stella! Bye Turtle!" she exclaimed before dashing out the door and down the hallway.

"Turtle?" Stella asked Hawkes with a raised brow.

He shrugged, "When we first met Sheldon was too difficult, so I became 'Shell,' which later evolved into 'Turtle.'"

Stella continued to laugh as she retuned to her processing.

Stella walked hurriedly into Mac's office, with Hawkes right behind her.

"Mac, we have a problem," she stated, getting right to the point.

"Join the club," Danny quipped.

"What is it Stella?" Mac asked her.

"I collected a pair of shoes from one of the suspects so I could compare them to an impression I took at the crime scene, but they've gone missing.," she explained.

"You have misplaced evidence too?" Mac asked incredulously.

"Hey, I didn't misplace them, I just don't know where they went. The last time I saw them was around noon, before Emma came in. And what do you mean 'too'?" Stella shot back.

"Danny and I are missing a fiber sample, last seen on my desk this morning," Mac told her.

"Well that explains a lot," Stella muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Can I help?" said a little voice, making Adam look up.

"Umm, not with this," he replied, continuing to prep the DNA sample. . When she pouted he added, "This is the boring part. You can do the most important part."

At this Emma's eyes lit up, "Really? What's that?" she asked.

"You get to push the button that tells us who the bad guy is," he replied.

When he was finished, and had placed the sample in the machine, he led her over and showed her what to do. Just as she succeeded in her task there was a voice at the doorway.

"After all my work trying to make my daughter a future CSI, Adam, here you are turning her into a lab rat," Danny said with his arms crossed.

"I thought her little smirk looked familiar," Adam replied, making Danny laugh.

"Is it all right if she stays here for a bit, until Lindsay gets back from the field? I need to go check something with Mac," Danny asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Tensions were beginning to run high when Adam entered Mac's office.

"Oh, good, Adam, please tell me you have the DNA results from that soda can," Mac practically pleaded.

"Er, do you want to hear the bad news first or the even worse news?" he asked nervously.

"Just say it Adam," Hawkes said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, um, the can seems to have disappeared from the top of my pile," he said tentatively.

"Please tell me that was the even worse news," Mac said, rubbing his head with his hand.

"Hey, wait a minute," Danny interjected, "Weren't you keeping an eye on Emma?" he asked.

"Yeah, about that," Adam said, biting his lip.

"Oh great, Lindsay's going to kill me," Danny stated as he dashed out of the room.

"Three pieces of evidence have gone missing along with a four-year-old. What is going on here?" Stella wondered aloud.

"I think I might know the answer to that," Flack said, as he poked his head into the doorway, a huge grin on his face.

TBC

In case you hadn't figured it out, the italics are all flashbacks throughout the day, while the regular font is all one scene. I have a cute idea in mind for how I would like to finish this. Unfortunately, it could be a while until I finish the next and final chapter, since I will be on vacation for two weeks and without a computer. cries Anyways, thanks for reading and all the lovely reviews!