Thank you for all the kind reviews, here's the latest chapter! Thank you dark rolling sea for the beta!

Let's get this show on the road…

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CHAPTER 5 – Of Sleep, Spaghetti and Sisters

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It wasn't long before Mac and Lindsay arrived at their destination. The walk had taken about five minutes but because of the rain it seemed to take forever. Mac opened the door, letting Lindsay go in first and she smiled her thanks. Mac saw it as a perfect trade he could easily get used to, since every time he opened a door for her he was rewarded with that same smile. Lindsay peered around for a free table and quickly found one by a window.

"Over there!" she exclaimed and started making her way to it with Mac on her heels.

They removed their coats and sat down. Lindsay thought of picking up the menu but decided against as she already knew it by heart. This was their usual spot, where they ate almost daily. It was a nice place, neither too modern nor antique-like, it was just right. In some ways it reminded her of the place she used to go to back home; the same cosy feeling was present. After a short while, the waitress came to them and they placed their orders. Lindsay exchanged a few extra words with her before she left. Lindsay leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and bringing her palms to her face as she yawned deeply.

"Didn't sleep well?" asked Mac.

"Actually, I did. Well, until my alarm went off. I forgot to reset it," she muttered from behind her hands. "So did you get some sleep like you promised?" she queried, squinting her eyes a little.

"Yes," Mac answered as calm as ever.

Lindsay leaned closer and stared straight into his eyes. "Aha," she replied.

"What? You don't believe me?"

"I haven't decided yet," she said thoughtfully.

Mac raised his eyebrows. "You haven't decided yet?" he said leaning forward and continued, "Well, I did. For five hours."

Now it was Lindsay's turn to look surprised. "And you think that's enough?" she asked demandingly.

"There was no talk of how long I was supposed to rest," claimed Mac. "And you're one to talk…"

Lindsay was about to protest, but just then their food arrived. "Thanks," they both said and as the waitress was turning away Lindsay spotted her smirking subtly. She grabbed her plate and drew it a little closer. "Fine, I'll rest my case," she said taking a bite. "For now,"

Mac chuckled and took a sip from his glass. It didn't take long before his attention was drawn to Lindsay's plate and more specifically to what she was doing. She was picking up peaces of red pepper and moving them to the far side of her plate. She happened to look up and noticed that Mac was watching her with amusement.

"I didn't remember this had red peppers, I don't like them," she stated and continued the picking process. Slowly Mac turned his attention back to his own food.

"So, do you think Lila's the killer?" Lindsay asked, stuffing a bite of the now red pepper-free meal in her mouth.

"The evidence sure points at her, but I think we'll know when we get the results on the blood. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just curious," she said casually.

"So you do have a reason," he said and reached for the salt. She beat him to it – a comeback of a kind – and sprinkled some on her spaghetti dish.

"Nothing wrong with that now is there?" she inquired and grinned a little. Mac gestured for her to give him the salt and she did.

They ate in silence for a while, glancing at each other every so often. Mac looked outside and fell deeper into his thoughts. He loved these kinds of moments when everything felt pretty good: the case was starting to wrap up, or so he believed, and he had gotten some sleep, thanks to Lindsay. She was a very inspiring reason to feel good. No one had made him feel the way she did, not since Claire. Yet it wasn't quite the same and he knew it. He had sorted out his feelings about Claire and her death and tried making peace with it. He knew he was getting there and all he needed was that one final nudge. He had an idea what, or more like who, it would be.

Lindsay was staring at a painting that was right in front of her eyes if she looked a little past Mac. She wasn't noting anything about it, it was just her focal point while she reminisced about all the things that had taken place that day and it was only lunch time! A little late lunch granted but still. She was feeling rather good all things considered – just a minute ago she was having great fun. Her eyes shifted slightly to Mac, who was staring out the window thinking about something, and she thought how much of her current state of mind was simply him being there for her. She had been there for him too a couple of times. He hadn't exactly cried on her shoulder, but they had talked and on some level he had confided in her. That was probably why they were now so comfortable around each other; an unspoken honesty lay between them and it had become more profound today as she had told him about her mother. Maybe there was more to it than sheer friendship.

Both Mac and Lindsay were drawn back into reality when a phone rang. Surprisingly it was not that of Mac or Lindsay. They were both done with their lunches and Lindsay drank the rest of her water.

"Are we ready to head back?" Mac asked.

Lindsay wiped her hands with the napkin and eyed the table. "I suppose. Let's get going, I'll go pay the bill!" she exclaimed and stood up grabbing her jacket.

"I can –" Mac was quickly cut off.

Lindsay turned around and dug her wallet out of her bag. "You paid the last time, it's my turn," she said, stressing her point, before walking over to the register.

They met at the door and started their way back to the lab. Who knew, maybe Hawkes had already found out something new. The rain was more light and faint than it had been half an hour ago making it very pleasant. It didn't even bother much. A comfortable silence ensued, something that both noticed was happening more and more. The walk back seemed to take less time than the initial one, and soon they found themselves walking along the corridors of the lab.

"You go find Hawkes and help him. I have a few things I need to take care of," Mac said to Lindsay who kept on walking as Mac entered his office.

She passed Stella in the hallway and they talked for a while, exchanging facts about the cases they were currently working on and mentioning a few unrelated topics.

"Do you know if Mac's in his office? I need to run a few things by him," Stella said, slightly waving a stack of papers in her hand.

"He just went there and I doubt he has had the time to escape," smirked Lindsay.

Stella smiled at her. "I've been meaning to talk to him all day but he has never been in. So you were digging dumpsters in the rain?" Lindsay nodded. "Is this a glamorous job or what?" Stella retorted and started to walk on.

Lindsay too left the spot and with a quick pace she strolled to the lab she knew Hawkes would be in. He was standing and looking at a newly printed report.

"Hey!" she hollered.

"You're back. Had a good lunch?" Hawkes asked, turning a page.

"Not bad, not bad. Anything new?" queried Lindsay, changing into a lab coat.

"Oh yeah… There was a whole lotta blood and guess what?" Lindsay looked at him with an awaiting expression. "The blood is not that of Lila Hodgins' – it's her sister's," Lindsay looked at Hawkes with an open mouth and reached for the papers.

"Man, this is turning into a family drama…" she said and skimmed through the page. "I wonder what's going on. Who knows, maybe they're in it together," she pondered.

Hawkes took back the papers as Lindsay handed them to him. "Could be," he replied.

"Could be what?" they heard Mac's voice from the doorway. He was parting ways with Stella.

"The blood in the clothes belongs to the sister of Lila," Hawkes cleared. "Her name is Linda,"

"She's missing as well, I just called Flack and he said they had been to her house and the neighbour said they saw her and her sister leave in a hurry. That was about an hour after she was released," Mac stated as more of the pieces started to fit.

"I also found a hair that belonged to Lila," Hawkes added. "Anyone else getting a feeling the sisters share one big secret?" he asked, shifting his eyes from Mac to Lindsay.

"Now we need to find them," noted Lindsay.

"Flack and the others are close. Or so he told me. If so, they'll get them soon," Mac said, heading for the door. "You keep on analysing, I have to go and make a few phone calls,"

"So which ones are…" Lindsay trailed off, pointing at the insides of the plastic bag which were now scattered around the table.

"Those are yet to be studied," Hawkes said, indicating the said items.

They started to go through the rest of the possible future evidence and the next couple of hours went by fast. Their work was interrupted when Mac knocked on the open door.

"They got 'em!"

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OK, I'm pretty sure it takes a lot longer for the DNA-analysis to be complete but hey, this is all fictional… So please forgive me, heh. This was a little lighter than thelast one – got to have some balance. The next chapter will be up soon so keep on coming back!