Rebecca filed away all her evidence in her office and then took it and sealed it before dropping it in Mac's office with a note stating she'd start on the processing early in the morning. She was about to leave before she saw Mac and Stella walking in. "You spotted Lindsay in trace didn't you?" She nodded and he chuckled. "Did you get anything from the photos?" He opened her box and grabbed the pictures to look them over. "I see trace on his back."

"Collected," she promised revealing a swab with a tube covering the swab. "I'm also going to make sure the vic's personal effects wind up in the box. I'm honestly waiting around for Sid to finish. That or until I know what Danny's shift is. Swing shift ends in an hour. I know the autopsy won't be done by then," she answered.

"Lay on the couch. I'll wake you up when the autopsy is done," Stella answered. "I just started, Mac's going home." She glared at Stella and she chuckled. "Trust me Rebecca. You'll nail this guy. If you can't have your brother's case? Let's nail another son of a bitch."

"I'm going home to sleep. I'm running on fumes," she warned Stella standing before Mac shoved her back and she grunted in shock as she landed on the couch. "The hell?!" Mac looked at her shocked as she was clearly proving her own statement.

"Okay, had my doubts. You are on fumes. You've never lost your balance from one of those shoves and you never fall onto the couch," he answered helping her up. "I'll bring her back after she eats, showers and sleeps," he promised Stella. As he grabbed his kit, he grabbed Rebecca with one arm and she tripped. "Yeah you won't make it home, will you?" She shook her head and he chuckled walking with her to the elevator where Hawkes was.

"This is what you get for spending all night researching," he teased her which only made Mac look at Rebecca. "She was texting me most of last night. We both couldn't sleep and she was researching drug trafficking patterns as well as the latest convicts being released and what their charges were. Finally went to bed at 6 AM only to get up 30 minutes later," he informed.

"Nobody likes a snitch," she muttered but Mac smiled at Hawkes knowing why he started talking. Mac was worried and it was clear Hawkes was also worried. "It was one night."

"That turned into you running on fumes for an entire swing shift since you had 30 minutes sleep total since almost 48 hours ago. You need to sleep 6 hours minimum," Mac responded looking at her annoyed. As they got into Mac's car, he began driving and looked at Rebecca who was already almost asleep. Getting to the house proved he was right. She was asleep. "Becka?" He shook her carefully as he didn't want her to hit her head off the window, which she still managed to do. "Sorry. I just didn't think you'd appreciate the door coming out from under you," he apologized. She nodded and got up grabbing her kit and dropping it off in the closet where Mac and Stella always put their's. "Go get a shower in and I'll have dinner ready when you're finished."

"What's dinner? So I can pay you back."

"We're family. It doesn't mean you pay all the time," he responded looking at her. She looked at him confused and he chuckled. "We'll talk after you get a shower in," he answered and she nodded walking towards the shower and catching the bag Mac threw at her. "You remembered."

"You always said to keep a spare set here," she mused.

"Well you might want to pack a few weeks worth at a time and swap out near the end," Mac reminded and she looked at him. "You do remember you agreed to come back full time, right?" She paused and then nodded after a minute. "You're so tired you forgot," he accused.

"Yup," she admitted before walking into the bathroom and starting the shower. Mac knew that Rebecca was still trying to break down the barriers that were around her because of all the damage she had from her past. He was making alfredo as he knew Rebecca would eat it for lunch, so he wanted to get her used to taking something to work. As he heard the water turn off he counted to 10 before seeing her walk out with a towel being shaken through her hair.

"Can't get the dampness out?" She shook her head and he chuckled grabbing the towel and scrunching her hair with it. "Your hair has a bit of curl so you have to scrunch it," he warned and she nodded before taking the towel to the laundry with her clothes. He managed to plate up food for the two of them before she returned and he had to smile in relief as they were both eating with no problems. "I missed most of the conversation you and Danny had. So what do we have on the new DB?"

"Pending results on trace, we have reasons to believe he was in a struggle. I noticed defensive bruising alongside his jaw and on his knuckles were signs he's been hitting something or someone. Hard. I did tell Danny the box was in your office and I wanted to run the gooey trace tonight."

"Gooey," Mac repeated and she looked at him with a smirk. "Nice use of forensic terms. Gooey substance," he repeated and she chuckled at him. "So he's running that through the GCMS, we're waiting on Sid to give you a preliminary COD. Anything else?"

"Flack's canvasing for witnesses but that's far and few between. The area was deserted when we got there and anyone we talked to only found the body. Saw nothing," she explained. She waited a few more minutes and then smirked. "How's the case with my brother?"

"You called him a piece of work while he was alive? He's a piece of work when he's dead," he answered looking at her. "Sid gave me a more detailed autopsy report once you were off the case. Seems your brother's clock was running out anyways. He had signs of cirrhosis. That on top of signs of recovering from a stroke?"

"He had a stroke?"

"Yeah. Sid predicts about 3 months ago," Mac answered before watched Rebecca's fork drop and she looked shocked. "You didn't know? Or is there something about three month ago?"

"When we were undercover? I snuck out once. To find him. He found me and had some harsh words for me. I didn't even take a second to think. I told him I'd be happier if he fell off the face of the earth," she responded looking shocked as she grabbed her fork from the floor and quickly washed it in scalding hot water. As she accidently let her hand touch the water she groaned in frustration. "Son of a bitch."

"Language," Mac warned flipping the water to ice cold and sticking her hand in it and holding it. "Give it a few minutes. I don't think it'll cause a burn mark, but still. Better to give it immediate attention now, then to see consequences."

Mac looked at Rebecca and noticed her face looked confused. "Why?" He noted her voice had went soft with the question which meant it was something that was under her skin.

"Being so willing to help you? Bring you back?" She nodded at that and he chuckled looking at her. "You forget. I saved you from 9/11. Remember what I said when I got you to safety?" She shook her head looking confused. "I may not always physically be with you, but I'll be around. I won't let your life fall apart thanks to tragedy."

"Mm," she responded and he looked at her shocked. "Tell that to my two sexual assaults, my beaten ass, and all my family that hated me. Not that I blame them," she admitted and Mac looked at her shocked. "What? I wasn't exactly the prodigal child."

"Maybe not. But that gave them no right to hurt you," he answered before he moved her sleeve to see cuts. "Are these still makeup?"

"No. I slipped in my apartment and banged my arm of the counter," she dismissed covering it up and drying her hand. "I'm fine," she promised. As she finished her meal she took the plates and began on the dishes before Mac pulled her away.

"Go get some sleep. We're both working a morning tour. Start at 6 end at 11 PM," he reminded.

"Oh yeah. The true long haul," she responded and he nodded. As she walked into the room she had grown to call her's, she slipped out a razor blade she kept hidden and exposed her shin and made a few small cuts before making sure the bleeding stopped. "It sucks. Being the only one left."

When Stella got home at 5 the next morning she saw Rebecca was just waking up. "Don't you have the morning tour too?"

"I do. Mac's made coffee and we're getting breakfast on the table," she assured looking at Stella.

"She showered last night so I took advantage of her sleeping and got mine in before waking her," Mac answered walking out in his uniform. "You should probably change too. Or are you waiting until you get something into you?"

"Just grabbing my coffee and then getting changed," she promised him and Mac looked at her. "What?"

"Did you make toast?"

"Not hungry," she responded and walked towards her room as she grabbed her coffee before Mac grabbed her arm. "What?"

"Page 1, number 3," he reminded and she looked in thought before she glared. "I'm not budging. Our schedules are way too unpredictable. So asking for 3 meals and 2 snacks in a day? Not much. Trust me. We earn it with what we do."

"One piece of toast. That's all we'll push for in the mornings right now," Stella promised. She knew that Rebecca's eating habits had probably went back to what they were before she was with them undercover. So they had to go back to starting from scratch.

"Apple?"

"Fine," Mac conceded. He knew she was at least agreeing to put something into her body before work. He grabbed an apple and handed it over. "Gala. I know you eat these ones," he promised as she sat on the counter to eat it. "So what's the progression on Talon Manx's case?"

"I sent DNA down to Jane. Hopefully she can get me something. There was epithelial cells within Talon's personal effects," Stella informed and Rebecca nodded at that. "I'm sorry Becka. I'm sure that's the absolute last thing you want to hear."

"May be the last thing I want to hear. But it's the truth. You found epithelial skin cells within his effects. We need a DNA hit," she responded before answering her phone. "Yeah I'm here," she responded calmly before throwing her apple core into the garbage. "That's great Flack. Let me run to the lab and check on test results and then I'll be right there. Shouldn't be more than an hour and a half," she promised. As she hung up, Mac grabbed his coat and followed her to the car.

"What does he have?"

She smirked and glanced at the precinct. "We have a suspect. He and Lovato are getting him now," she promised and Mac nodded before parking at the lab. When they climbed out, he watched as she rushed up to the lab and where Danny was.

"She's got a pep in her step," Jo noted to Mac and he chuckled at that. "Did she get some bedrest?"

"We got home, ate dinner, she showered and I let her sleep until the absolute last second this morning. She got 7 hours," he informed. As they walked into the lab where Danny and Rebecca, were they had to smile. "So Danny? No offence this isn't social hour. She has a cop waiting for her."

"Yeah Flack told me. I was just pulling up her results. She had quite the genius thought to take the sample off the coat. Lindsay's checking it over for something as well," Danny assured.

"Save me the pants. There's always something good there," she warned and Danny snickered. "You all get your heads out of the gutter. I wasn't even accusing the candlestick of being involved in the case," she chuckled and Mac snickered with Jo.

"Well if it is, there's only one way to snuff out that flame." She glared at Mac playfully and looked at the results. "Blow."

Jo and Danny snickered as they watched Rebecca's face go red. "Thank you for doing the one thing I didn't want to hear about until I dealt with the pants," she warned. He smirked at her and watched as she straightened out. "So we have polyester, polyethene and latex. Our gooey substance is the same as every other weird gooey thing we find."

"A mask," Mac answered and she nodded at that. "Well there's nothing characteristic about a mask unless we have the rest of it."

"Maybe not. But this might help. Rebecca, you're looking for someone who clearly can't get access to clean water. The coat has H20, polyester, polyethene, latex and then my favorite. Gasoline," she informed and Rebecca looked at her. "You getting a hint?"

"The automotive district. There's one shop that sells masks made of these materials and maybe one of them got gas on them," she informed looking at Mac. "I'll run that lead soon. Just let me deal with Flack." Jo looked at her shocked. "I've got this case."

"I know. But let Jo go. It might be good for you to stay here and deal with Flack without worrying about the fact that you have a lead to follow as well. You have a suspect in custody. Take a chance to interrogate," Mac answered looking at Jo. "Work with Lindsay on that lead."

Rebecca nodded and began writing out some simple thoughts she had about the case. "Hey," Stella greeted walking in and looking at her. "Mac said he kept you from the lead that he sent Jo for. You okay?" Stella knew she was often keeping her thoughts to herself.

"I'm fine. I know why Mac did it. It's not going to change that I'm getting a little frustrated. I mean this is one case I'm supposed to be able to take. No issues," she explained.

"Not that you're having an issue. It's knowing when to delegate tasks. If you handle this case alone? You're going to burn out," Stella answered. She nodded at that and Stella smiled sitting on the edge of Rebecca's desk to look in her eyes. "You know this case is your's. Mac's not questioning your integrity or work ethic. Neither of those things are in question."

"Then that means he has something in question," she answered.

"Actually I don't. Your abilities and work ethic are not in question. I'm just dealing with one thing with you that I know I don't need to, yet I have to at the moment. Getting your mind back onto one task at a time. The bigger picture is finding the killer. We can handle the lab work if you have to be called away," Mac warned before he saw her phone ring and she grabbed it quickly.

"This is Detective Manx," she greeted before she covered her eyes. "It hasn't been 24 hours. We had him! Why the heck was he released?" Mac and Stella looked at her shocked and she sighed. "Look put out an APB. I don't care who let him out. If this guy so much as sneezes I want to know about it. Blast his face to every transport station, every bus stop, every phone," she warned. As she hung up she opened up the NY alert system.

"What happened?"

"My suspect escaped custody while being in custody. I'm sorry but I know my priorities here. Get that smug one back to the precinct."

"Careful. You might step on toes if you throw out the NY alert system," Stella warned before she was handed a folder. "What is this? I need some context so I know what we're looking at while you fill out the app's parameters."

"It's Flack's arrest report. The suspect had a gun. I'm sorry, but you don't escape the precinct easily. Meaning he's probably armed and/or dangerous," she warned and Mac nodded watched as she used the CODIS hit that Flack referenced for a picture and then sent it out all over the state. "No way is he escaping from me." She was about to continue before she saw Lindsay. "What's up Linds?"

"Come take a look at this," she responded and Rebecca followed before seeing the lead she was going to chase. "This is live feed from Jo. She thought you might want to see this. It's where we were able to trace the gasoline back to in the automotive district."

"It looks like a ghost town. Jo? What street?"

"72nd," she informed and as Rebecca pulled it up she frowned. "Something wrong?"

"Close to the business district. No reason for it to be that big of a ghost town. So besides the ghost town, is there anything else? I have to go the precinct and figure out how my suspect got away," she warned and Lindsay looked at her. "I told Mac today was being called the true long haul. Apparently I meant it," she sighed.