'Hello, I'm US Attorney Carlisle. I'm here to see Special Agent Jack Malone.'

The receptionist examined Maggie's ID before picking up the phone and dialling a number; 'Hello, I have US Attorney Margaret Carlisle for you', she listened for a moment, 'Thank you sir, I'll do that.'

She smiled a bright professional smile at Maggie; 'Please take the elevator to the third floor reception. They'll issue you with a security pass and then someone will escort you to the 12th floor to see Special Agent Malone.'

Maggie smiled her thanks and headed for the elevator. At the third floor reception she was issued with a visitors badge with 'Escort Required' emblazoned on it and directed to a seating area to await said escort. She sat down aware that the butterflies in her stomach had morphed into elephants…….she tried taking a few deep breaths……..

OK, so it's your first Federal case and they are depending upon you to put a child rapist and murderer away for life but no pressure, no need to feel nervous

Yeh right, no need to feel as if her breakfast was about to make an unscheduled appearance all over the floor…

'Excuse me, is there a bathroom?' she smiled brightly trying to pretend she wasn't about to hurl; the receptionist pointed to a door down the hall and Maggie tried to walk at a normal pace….tried and failed, throwing herself into the bathroom and reaching the stall just in time...

Once the sickness had passed Maggie stood at the wash basin staring at her reflection in the mirror; chestnut hair, pulled up into a simple knot on the back of her head, the red in it glinting under the harsh bathroom lights, sea green eyes and a mouth she always thought was just slightly too big. She could see that she looked pale and that her lip gloss had been a casualty of her throwing up but more than that she knew she looked too young; too young to have the experience necessary to be a US Attorney, too young to be able to handle herself against seasoned defence attorneys and therefore, in the eyes of most of the men she had to deal with, not capable of handling 'the heavy stuff'……………she wondered if Special Agent Jack Malone would think the same when he saw her..

Oh stop whingeing woman and get yourself sorted; you know you can do it and they will once you have proved yourself. This is what you've always wanted to do; you earned this promotion on merit whatever any of your disgruntled male ex colleagues may like to think so get out there and do your job and stop being so pathetic,

She straightened up, applied some more nude lip gloss, picked up her case and headed back to the reception. As she returned to the waiting area she saw the receptionist was preening herself as a tall dark haired man, perched on the arm of one of the chairs flirted with her; Maggie bit her lip to stop herself from laughing; talk about laying it out on a plate, she couldn't have been more obvious if she had tattooed 'fuck me please' across her forehead.

She saw the man glance at her and then back at the receptionist, a question on his face and receive a quick nod in return; he straightened up and smiled at her;

'US Attorney Margaret Carlisle?' he held his hand out to her 'I'm Special Agent Danny Taylor'

Maggie shook his hand and looked him over quickly; he was certainly very attractive with an easy charm and a ready smile, and he was, from what she had seen, an accomplished flirt, something she suspected that came as naturally to him as breathing.

He indicated toward the elevator; 'We're on the 12th floor;' he pushed the call button and the doors opened immediately. He stood back to let her enter the car first and then followed, pushing the button for the 12th floor as he did.

He smiled at her, 'I understand that you've just moved to New York, do you know the city at all?'

Maggie grinned wryly 'A few trips for shopping, sightseeing, that sort of thing but I've never lived here.' The elevator continued its ascent.

'So how are you finding living here?'

'Well I'm hopeless at working out how long it's going to take me to get anywhere so I've either been horribly late or horribly early to everything since I got here last week; I've discovered that its best not to look out of the windows of any cab I'm travelling in because at least then I don't know when it misses a car, bike, truck or pedestrian by inches and I'm totally addicted to the hotdogs which seem to taste completely different to the ones in DC'

The doors to the elevator opened as they reached the 12th floor and Special Agent Taylor grinned at her as he indicated for her to leave the car first; 'Sounds to me like you've got the city sussed'

He opened a door, 'This is Jacks office, grab a seat and I'll get us some coffee'

Maggie put her case down on a chair but didn't sit down; instead she gazed around the room, her eye was caught by a photo of two pretty girls she assumed to be Agent Malone's daughters. The door opened and Agent Taylor entered again, carrying two mugs of coffee and followed by an older dark haired man.

He held his hand out to her 'Hi, I'm Jack Malone, you must US Attorney Carlisle'

Maggie shook his hand and smiled at him 'Look, we're likely to be working together on a lot of cases going forward, can we drop the formality? I'm…'

'Maggie?'

She turned quickly, a broad smile spread across her face; 'Hi Martin, it's been a long time'

He was grinning at her, clearly surprised but delighted that she was stood in front of him. He walked into the room and gave her a warm hug and kiss on the cheek; 'I don't believe it, when did you get to New York?'

'Last week; your mother gave me your number and I was going to call but when I saw your name down on the witness list for this case I decided to surprise you.'

Martin was laughing; 'well you certainly managed that. Dad told me that you had got the job in the US Attorneys Office but he didn't say anything about New York, I thought you were settled in Washington'

'Hmm, long story, I'll bore you with it another time', Maggie turned back to see the expressions on the faces of Agents Taylor and Malone were ones of unalloyed interest.

Agent Malone exchanged a loaded look with Agent Taylor and then gazed speculatively at Martin; 'I take it the two of you know each other?'

Martin grinned at Maggie before replying, seemingly ignoring the smirks spreading across his colleagues faces; 'Yes, our parents are friends'

Maggie could see that both had a lot more questions to ask; she cut in smoothly 'So as I was saying, as we are going to working together a lot going forward, maybe we can dispense with the formalities? I'm Maggie and I should probably warn you, I don't answer to Margaret' she smiled at them and she saw grins cross their faces

'Suits me, I'm Jack, this is Danny and as we have already established, you know Martin,' he shot a look at Martin that clearly suggested he was curious to know exactly how well they knew each other, but continued,' and we also have Samantha Spade and Vivien Johnson on the team but they are both out on a case at the moment and they aren't needed as witnesses in this case so I'll sort out those introductions another time'

Maggie smiled and took the seat that Jack indicated. She pulled out the papers for the Donnelly case,' I've got some questions on the case in general and then some questions for each of you specific to your witness statements but overall the case is in good shape,'

She pulled out a pen and her note book and checked her notes before looking at Danny; 'Can you talk me through the sequence of events that occurred when you entered Donnelly's home?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, with lunchtime upon them Maggie closed her note book and massaged her aching wrist; 'Look I really appreciate your time, I know it must be annoying having to go over it again but I would really like to make sure we nail this guy'

Jack smiled at her; 'It's no problem we're as anxious as you, if not more so, to make sure this sick bastard can't hurt another child.'

Maggie nodded, the photo's of the crime scenes still fresh in her mind, 'Well, I'm sure you are all busy and I've got a meeting this afternoon so I'll just say thanks and head back to the office'

Martin stood up quickly, 'I'll see you out,' she saw the look that flashed between Danny and Jack and bit her lip to hide her smile, unless she missed her guess Martin was in for a real grilling when he got back from seeing her out.

Jack and Danny both shook her hand; she could feel their stares as she and Martin walked to the elevator.

'They're staring at us aren't they?'

From the corner of her eye she could see Martin grin; 'Oh yes'

She kept her eye's facing to the front and from the corner of her eye could see he was doing the same

'Got time to grab some lunch before you head back?'

She laughed, remembering her conversation with Danny, 'How about a hot dog?' unless Martin had changed a lot he would be more than happy with a hot dog.

The elevator arrived and she entered the car and turned around to face the front; she could see Jack and Danny making no effort to disguise the fact they were watching them. Martin pushed the button and the door closed; he turned to look at her, 'a hot dog sounds like a great idea'

They headed out of the building and to the nearby park and a hot dog vendor. They found an unoccupied bench and sat down, Martin sitting so that he could look at her, an amused look on his face; 'You haven't changed'

'I have actually; I am now a convert to New York hot dogs. I definitely consider them superior to the DC ones' she shot him an innocent look and could see him laughing at her

'You don't think the superior taste is anything to do with the distance you've managed to place between your mother and her desire for grandchildren?'

Maggie nearly choked on a mouthful of hot dog, she felt Martin thump her on the back, she shot him a sarky look; 'I think you'll find your mother is every bit as broody; I saw her before I left and she gave me a name and number to give you; said she thought she would be 'perfect' for you'

Martin looked horrified, a look that rapidly changed to one of suspicion 'You're yanking my chain, aren't you?'

'You'd like to think so wouldn't you'; Maggie laughed at the look on his face as he tried to decide whether she was joking or not. She glanced at her watch; 'Damn'; she stood up

'Sorry, meeting in 30 minutes, got to go,' she grinned at him, 'Are you dating anyone at the moment?'

He stared at her blankly, confused by her sudden change of subject; 'Er, no, not at the minute, why?' the suspicious look was back on his face again.

'Because if you had been the invitation would have been for both of you, as it is the invitation is for you,' she paused enjoying the fact he couldn't figure out what was going on and pulled out a card and handed it to him, '8 o'clock tonight alright for you?'

She saw him look down at the change of address card she had handed him which showed her new address and telephone number. He looked up grinning, 'You're cooking?'

'Hmm, thought I might, you fancy it?'

'See you at 8 o'clock'

Maggie grinned, picked up her case and walked away leaving him still stood by the bench. She reached the edge of the park and looked back; he was still standing where she had left him, a smile on his face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Martin arrived back at the office and headed for his desk hoping against hope that Jack and Danny had gone somewhere……………..anywhere

'Marty';

He groaned inwardly and turned to see Jack and Danny approaching

'Hey, we got anything new on the Reyes case?'

Jack and Danny exchanged amused looks; 'No, no Marty, no need to worry about Mr Reyes, Viv called while you were…, er…at lunch', Martin couldn't miss the emphasis Danny placed on these words, 'it seems he just fancied some time away from his wife and children and had taken himself off to Atlantic City for a few days.'

'Great, I'll just get my paperwork sorted then…..', he paused as he saw the look in their eyes, 'what?'

'Good lunch?' Jack had a smirk on his face

'Yes thanks'

Martin sat down and tried to give the impression of someone with a lot to do and no time to talk in the hopes that they would get the message……………………but Jack and Danny remained standing behind him and he knew he wasn't going to get away without telling them what they wanted to know, still, he could make them work for it...he swung round and glared at them, 'Do you both want something?'

Danny looked thoughtfully at Jack, 'There was something wasn't there, something we wanted to ask Marty?'

Jack was playing along with this; his face took on a serious look, a slight frown creasing his forehead; 'Hmm, yes there was, wasn't there……let's see, oh I know what it was…'

'You and Maggie Carlisle' Danny jumped in, a grin plastered across his face.

Martin looked resignedly at them, 'What about me and Maggie?'

Jack and Danny grinned at each other and both grabbed a chair and sat down, 'Well lets see, how do you know her and more to the point how well do you know her?'

'God, that's been eating at you both for three hours, hasn't it?'

'Yeh, so come on, tell us about her' Jack was clearly finding this very amusing

'I've known Maggie all my life, our parents are good friends; my father and mother are her godparents and her father and mother are my godparents.'

'OK, and……….?'

'What do you mean, 'and'?' Martin looked innocently at them

'Come on Martin, there's an 'and'', Danny sounded very confident and Jack was nodding in agreement.

'OK, well I went to an all boys school and she went to an all girls school. They did a lot of activities together,' Martin ignored the smirks that appeared on Jack's and Danny's faces as he said this, 'and Maggie was my date at the senior prom'.

'Uh huh, and that's it?' It was obvious that Jack didn't believe for a minute that this was the case.

Martin looked at them both for a minute and then grinned, 'and we dated in our senior year and through the summer but then I went to Harvard and she went to Yale and…' Martin shrugged his shoulders, then continued 'we've always stayed in touch to a greater or lesser extent depending upon where in the country we both were. Last time I saw her was last year at her engagement party'

Jack and Danny exchanged looks; 'I don't remember seeing any rings' Danny was frowning.

'No, apparently it was called off a few months ago, I'm not too sure what the story is, still, I'll ask her tonight if you like; I'll let her know you were both asking, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to let you both know intimate details of her private life….' Martin had an innocent look on his face

'Whoa, back up there a minute, you'll ask her tonight? You have a date with her?' Danny was grinning from ear to ear now

'No, I'm meeting an old friend, who has just moved into the city and knows no-one, for dinner.' The look on Martin's face told them he considered the subject closed.