Hi again! I'd like to thank all you wonderful people who read the first chapter and especially those who reviewed and asked for more! Well here it is, the second installment and I hope you like it!

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CHAPTER 2 – Of Processing, Sid and Phone Calls

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Little drops of rain were falling down from the sky as the CSIs left the scene of crime. The air around them felt even cooler than before. Hawkes was rubbing his hands together, desperately trying to warm them up and Lindsay too was shuddering a bit. Mac didn't look to comfortable himself. As soon as they had put their things in the back of the car they climbed in and left for the station.

Hawkes shifted his position in the back seat. "So did we actually find anything that indicates who did this?"

"The bathroom had fresh blood stains, someone must've cleaned themselves before leaving the apartment. We should have it analysed soon," Lindsay offered.

"The vic hadn't bled anywhere else in the living room than the chair and there were no traces of struggle. He didn't know what was going to happen," Mac stated, taking a steep right as they neared their lab.

Hawkes nodded thoughtfully. "That seems reasonable because I found nearly nothing from the kitchen and the bedroom..."

"So it looks like either it was someone who was already in, a friend maybe, since he was unmarried, or someone snuck in. The door was more or less facing the armchair but had he fallen asleep it would have been easy," pondered Lindsay turning on the front seat to look at Hawkes.

"Yeah," was all he said and Lindsay was clearly hoping he would continue their talk. After Hawkes said nothing more she turned back and quickly became aware that they were pulling up to the parking lot.

"OK, head to the lab, I'll check in on our vic and see if Sid has made any progress," Mac said as they got out of the car.

"Whatever you say boss!" quipped Hawkes, emphasizing the word boss, causing Lindsay to smile. She went to stand beside Hawkes as she took her kit out of the car and as Mac rounded the car she couldn't help but turn around and add "Ah, but that's just a part of his job: to go talk with Sid when he has probably just began doing the autopsy so that Sid can tell him to come back later and then he goes back ten minutes later and the same thing happens again. You can probably see the pattern there."

Mac slightly tilted his head and smirked a little at Lindsay's comment as she left to go inside, trying to hide her amusement and failing miserably. Hawkes was grinning as he took one more case of equipment out of the back of the car. "Man, you'd better watch out for her, the woman has no fear..." he chuckled and with a quick pace left so he could still catch up with Lindsay.

"Don't I know it," Mac added mumbling to himself as he locked up the car.

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Mac was on his way to his office, he had just been at the morgue and as Lindsay had predicted Sid was only starting the autopsy. He had told Mac about a few of his early observations but not much. Now Mac was more interested in hearing what Flack had found out. He closed the door and sat down in his chair, tossing some papers on the desk. Just as he was about to dial Flack's number he heard a knock on the door and Flack stepped in.

"Found out a couple of things, thought I'd stop in and let you know," Flack said while stepping next to Mac's desk.

"What is it?" Mac asked, gesturing for Flack to take a seat. "Did you talk to the neighbours?"

Flack sat down and flipped through some papers. "Yeah, it looks like no one heard anything; no screaming, no cries for help but one of them saw a woman leave his apartment at 7:30 am today. The older lady who saw her was on her way back to her apartment after walking her dog."

"She could very well be the killer because Sid just confirmed time of death at around six or seven this morning," Mac stood up and walked around his table. "Lindsay did an inventory of all the things in the bathroom. Maybe there's something connecting the female to the victim."

They left the office and half way to the lab Flack received a call and he had to leave. He said he'd be back later. Mac walked into the lab Lindsay was working in and greeted her.

"Where's the inventory containing the items in the bathroom?" he asked as he glanced over the large table trying to spot it.

Lindsay stood up and from the far right corner got a pile of paper. "It's here. Anything particular you're looking for?"

Mac accepted the papers and flipped the first paper on the table. "An older lady saw a woman leave the vic's apartment around 7:30 am. Sid confirmed TOD to be between six am and seven pm. I'd assume the woman spent the night because of her early departure time."

"So you're looking to see if any of her stuff was in the bathroom..." she thought about the items she had found. "There were some long strands of hair and a half used bottle of shampoo which seemed to belong to a female, at least according to the label."

Mac looked at her and she could see the wheels turning inside his head. "I was just about to start working on the hairs," she informed him.

"Good, because from now on she's the person we want to talk to. Flack didn't get a name yet," he flipped through a few more pages before he started working on the things spread across the table.

Lindsay noted that he stayed. "So, you're going to help me?"

Mac lifted up his head. "I was planning on it. We don't have much else to go on. Sid didn't have anything yet..."

Lindsay's mouth curved into a smile. "So he kicked you out."

Mac couldn't help but grin a little. "Yeah... He said he'd call me up when he was ready." She chuckled.

"I was so right..." she declared as she prepared a single strand of hair.

Mac continued look at the items, not saying a thing but his thoughts were occupied by the woman on the other side of the table. 'She is something else,' he thought. He mentally shook himself and concentrated on the evidence. Meanwhile Lindsay was contemplating how easily she could get away from making her comment and was pleasantly surprised by his reaction. 'Note to self: Come up with more fine-lined comments,' she figured and steered her thoughts back to the case at hand.

Once again they worked in almost complete silence. It came easy for them. Minutes turned into hours and the evidence bags shifted sides from the right, unanalysed side, to the left, analysed side. Hawkes dropped in to get the hair and got it analysed for DNA. Flack had also come by and told them about the few little things he had found out. It was nothing major but would probably come in handy in the near future. The day had turned into night and as Hawkes came in to drop off the DNA report and go home.

The DNA was that of a Lila Hodgkins. She had a couple of parking tickets, the victim of a robbery but nothing else. Mac had called to a grumpy, just-fell-sleep Flack that they got a name. The police started to track her immediately.

It was around midnight as Mac returned to the lab not expecting to find anyone. He was a little shocked and also proud to find Lindsay there. He stood in the doorway for a little while and took in her appearance. She looked incredibly tired and also a little sad. Then Mac noticed that she wasn't really paying attention to the evidence but thinking deeply about something else. Her hair was slipping from behind her ears and falling in front of her eyes and subconsciously she tugged it back. She looked incredibly pretty even in her current state, the image only shattered by the fact that he could tell something wasn't alright. He closed in the distance and stopped to stand beside her sitting form.

"Is everything OK?" he asked softly, his eyes registering her every move.

Lindsay knew he was standing at the door of the lab. She could see a faint figure in the far left corner from where she sat but before she even shift her eyes to try and look in his direction, she knew he was there. She always noted his presence. Lindsay collected al her willpower and collected her thoughts which had almost broken her into tears. At the moment she wished she hadn't picked up the phone when it had rang about 15 minutes earlier. Quickly she wiped her slightly watery eyes. She felt Mac come next to her and ask her if she was OK.

"Uhm, yeah. I'm... I was just going to take another look at the bottle of shampoo..."

She was just about to get up when Mac stopped her, putting his hand on her arm. "Want to talk about it?" he gently asked.

She didn't dare look at him, afraid of breaking into tears. "Uh, no. Not really. No."

"Then go home," Lindsay looked at him now and nodded. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, but thanks," she managed a small smile. "It's only about a ten minute walk."

Mac was ready to object. "Wait a minute. It's midnight in Manhattan, you're not walking home alone. I'll give you a ride. Besides, you don't live far from my apartment, it'll be on the way," he tried negotiating.

Lindsay hesitated for a while but soon gave in. "OK, but you have to promise you'll go home and get some rest as well."

Mac looked at her and weighed his options. She had a point, he admitted.

Ten minutes later the two were sitting in a car. The ride was made in silence and he didn't try to push her to tell him what was wrong. When he dropped her off she said her thanks and gave him a grateful look. It warmed his heart – not that he would admit it to anyone, any time soon at least. He just hoped she'd feel better tomorrow.

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That's it for chapter 2. I'm no CSI so apologies for any errors in that department.

And as you might have been told hundreds of times before – reviews are greatly appreciated. :)