Thanks for all the reviews! You sure know how to make a girl feel appreciated!

A few comments on the reviews – you can always skip them and get to the story much quicker :)

dark rolling sea – Thank you for your comments and I did find a few things I already corrected. I'll try rereading tomorrow and getting even the last ones out.

chili-peppers – Thanks a bunch! Great that you like what's coming out of my head, hehe. (Trust me, it's pretty messy up here)

tylerhiltongrupie53 – You're too kind but thank you so much! And I did stop reading the reviews and writing! Hehe.

danielle – I totally agree with you on the new/old thing. Thank you!

Adamsgirl – Thanks! I did try not to stray too far from their usual characters.

MeredithandDerekfanforever – Thanks! Nothing bad with being a multi-shipper...

One more thing – I don't have a beta reader at the moment so if you feel like you'd be interested then by all means pm me :)

Sorry for the long babble, now on with the show!

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CHAPTER 3 – Of Lila, Memories and Dumpsters

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Beep

Beep, beep

Beep, beep, beep

'What the heck...?' thought Lindsay as she awoke to the annoying beep that appeared to originate from her bright red alarm clock. She groggily looked at the time: 5:30 am. Slowly her brain started registering things and she remembered she had only gotten to bed around one am. She started to climb out of her bed. 'Then why is it set to so... early.' she paused to think. 'Right, I forgot to change it... Figures.' She was feeling surprisingly vivid by now and knew she couldn't get back to sleep. Proceeding to her usual morning functions she set her mind to returning to work as soon as possible. She would contemplate her feelings about the phone call after this case was solved. Nevertheless, she did make a mental note to call her family later that day.

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Mac's phone rang a little past six in the morning. It soon became clear to him that it was Flack calling to inform him that they had found Lila Hodgins and were bringing her in for questioning.

"I'll be there in half an hour," Mac said.

"I'm sure you will, just try not to run anyone over," Flack replied, making fun of his almost incomprehensible state. Mac merely hung up.

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As he had promised, at 6:30 Mac found himself walking along the corridor that would eventually get him to the interrogation room where Lila was held in.

Flack and Mac were both asking questions and getting very short, blunt answers. Lila's behaviour and statements led them to believe that she most probably had something to do with the murder. She did admit to having some sort of a relationship with the man in question and she also told them that it was probably the reason they might find her prints, her hair and other DNA around the apartment – even the knife. But there lied one of their problems because the knife had no prints and since it had still been firmly in the victim's flesh when they had arrived it was unlikely someone had wiped it after the stabbing. The murderer had most likely worn gloves but none had been found yet.

Also it seemed the murder victim, also known as Alan Cooper to the world outside the lab, didn't have a lot of acquaintances able to help in the investigation. He had no family, the neighbours never talked with him because he wasn't very forward. The only person they were able to link with him was Lila. Alan had been unemployed for years, living off his savings which were quite large. He had either inherited a little fortune, won in the lottery or invested really skilfully. It looked as if he had all the necessary things needed for becoming a total stranger.

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Danny was on his way to get more coffee. He was armed with two cups but the other one was for Stella. They had their hands full with a murder concerning teenage kids beating up a fellow school mate. He saw Lindsay and decided to say hi.

"Montana!" he yelled, causing Lindsay to jump.

"Hey Danny. How's you're case?"

Danny sat on a chair next to her. "Still have a lot of ground to cover. Yours?"

"Same here. We're making slow progress I suppose." She rose from her seat to reach a new evidence bag.

"You haven't been here all night, have you?" Danny said, a little concerned she had spent her night here without any sleep.

"No, just decided to get an early start. What about you and Stella?" she asked while looking at him with demanding eyes.

Danny shifted a little under her intense look. "Nah, just fetching morning coffee," he tried and offered a little smile. "Speaking of which... I need to actually get it. Plus, Stella is waiting on her cup and I wouldn't want to keep her waiting. Talk about being scary!" Lindsay laughed at Danny's remark as he left the room. "See ya later, Montana!"

Lindsay was about to protest the nickname but he was already too far gone. "Yeah... Later," she mumbled to no one particular.

Moments later she glanced at her watch and it read 8:07 am. Soon the lab would come to life as most of the workers would show up. She kind of liked these quiet moments when everything was still and there was plenty of room to think – think about the case as well as her life. Her thoughts trailed back to last night, how she had been sitting in the lab exactly like she was now and how her father had called her about the bad news. She knew she should be there for her mother and the rest of her family but there were a whole lot of miles separating them and Lindsay knew this was what her mother would want her to do. She would want her to continue living her life and her dream. Bits of memories started surfacing and flashes of her family were eventually turned into flashes of Mac which stunned her for a moment. He had been the one to be there last night and in the true meaning of being there. He hadn't tried to pry for information nor push her to talk. He had put his hand on her arm and she had felt a little better at instant. It halt felt really nice and she found herself smiling at the memory. 'Maybe there is something more – ' Her thoughts were interrupted as Hawkes and Mac walked in.

"What's so amusing?" asked Hawkes as he yawned and took a seat.

"Morning," Mac greeted as he eyed Lindsay to get some clue if she had recovered from her obvious shock of... something. He still didn't know what had gotten her so upset but to his satisfaction she seemed to be in a good mood and even smiling. That was good and he felt better than a minute ago.

"Good morning to you too," she answered, a little smile tugging the corners of her mouth. "Have you been here long enough to know something I don't?" she queried.

"That depends on how long you've been here and what you've found out," Hawkes said while running his hands over his face.

"I've found a few more prints but they belonged to our vic... I seem to have hit a dead end."

Mac nodded in acknowledgement. "I spent the last 90 minutes questioning Lila Hodgins with Flack... She only admitted to having spent some nights with the vic, nothing else. Although her answers or more like lack there of would suggest she had something to do with this. She's hiding something that's for certain." There was a moment of silence.

"So let's get back to work!" announced Hawkes who was getting more awake by the minute.

"We need to find the gloves..." Lindsay pondered out loud.

Mac stared at nothing, obviously forming some sort of a plan. "We couldn't get a warrant but we could go and check out her trash can..."

"Of course! You want us to go or...?" asked Lindsay already getting up and then hesitating.

Mac looked at her and no way was he saying no to her eagerness. "You come with me and Hawkes, you go ask if Sid has any news. Then come back to the lab. OK?" After giving out his orders he also knew that they were partly selfish reasons. He would have to settle these odd feelings because they were getting the best of him.

"Great! Let's go already!" shouted Lindsay on her way out of the lab.

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This was a little shorter than the other two chapters but don't worry, update will come soon. :)

Sorry to keep you in the blue but it'll all get clearer – eventually. Stay tuned! Hope you liked it...