A/N: hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 22

New York had been hit with their first major snowfall and everywhere you looked, there was snow. The temperature wasn't too bad but there had still been plenty of accidents on the road and the streets as people struggled to adapt to this sudden environment change.

Randi was walking through Central Park with Fabio and the Three Sweeties, also known as Tootsie, Macaroon, and Licorice. They were having a great time romping through the snow and playing with each other. Randi had offered to take Candy's dogs for a walk while she took her own dog for a walk and Candy had gratefully taken her up on the offer.

She wore a long wine-colored wool winter coat that stopped at her ankles and was edged with a wide border of cream 'fur', including around the cuffs, hood, and collar. It had a slightly nipped-in waist and a few hidden pockets. Randi had bought the coat two years ago and, as far as she was concerned, it was a good investment because it kept the cold out well. She also wore soft wool and suede leather gloves, a cream wool scarf, matching newsboy hat, dove-gray wool pants, and an angora-lambswool turtleneck sweater in bright blue and pink. On her feet was a pair of black clog ankle boots with a wide faux fur cuff, tassels, and a 4-inch heel. Mac would shoot her if he saw her wearing those, as he would be concerned about accidents.

And speaking of Mac, Randi smiled as the memory of the previous nights filtered through her mind. Mac had been showing up at her apartment in the evenings more often and now that they were past the "Get your pants off, boy!" stage, Randi was finding Mac to be a wonderful lover. Sometimes they made love but other nights they simply cuddled and talked. That was fine by her, as she knew the nature of his work often wore him out mentally as well as physically. Some times he didn't say much and that was okay too. That simply meant there was a case that was troubling him and he was trying to work out the pieces of the puzzle.

While Randi was lost in her own thoughts, she didn't realize that the four dogs had managed to wrap their leash very soundly around her ankles. The end result was that Randi suddenly found herself falling… straight down a steep incline. The path she'd been walking along was a switchback and set against a hill and was considered a jogger's haven. Right now it was completely covered in snow and Randi was tumbling straight down it.

Shrieking and yelping, Randi tumbled down the hill, head over heels, kicking up snow as she went. All four dogs followed her, tumbling and yapping excitedly. At some point she did manage to get her feet back under her, sort of. Amid a confusing blur of colors and snow and, yes, pain, Randi swore she saw someone heading straight for her, just before she did a not-so-graceful swan-dive and tackled that person full-on. Then she was tumbling down the next steep incline with that person.

They finally managed to stop when there was a bit of a valley before the next path. Both Randi and the newcomer lay there, groaning. At some point Randi had lost her hat but Fabio came running up to her, hat in his mouth and an expectant look on his face. Then Mac appeared over her, concern on his face.

"Randi?" he asked, huffing a bit. She sat up and shook her head, getting rid of the snow, but man-oh-man was she ever dizzy. She watched as Flack and Danny (why were they there?) hauled the man next to her up and cuffed him.

"He was a bad boy?" she asked Mac, struggling to stand up but finding her legs had decided not to cooperate with her.

She stumbled into Mac pretty hard, he stumbled, right to the edge of the path where, unfortunately, there happened to be another steep incline. Mac struggled to keep his balance but, alas, the Fates were against them. One of the Three Sweeties, in their eagerness, danced excitedly around Mac's feet and, combined with the fact that Randi was already off balance and trying to hold on to him, and Mac lost his balance, taking Randi with him.

"Randi!" Mac yelped even as she shrieked "Not again!"

Danny made a desperate grab for Mac but missed and all he, Flack, and the suspect could do was watch as they tumbled down the hill.

They finally stopped at the bottom of the hill, Randi on top of Mac. He was wearing his usual suit and winter boots but was also wearing a heavy navy wool overcoat, gloves, and scarf.

"Hi," she said, sitting up, ironically on his lap. "Fancy meeting you here. Y'know, as much as I enjoy this particular position, if I'm gonna get it on with you, I'd rather do it some place warm."

Mac sat up, dusting the snow out of his hair and staring at Randi. He didn't know whether to strangle her, kiss her, or fuss over her. He settled for the fussing part, at least until he found out what, exactly had just happened.

He, Danny, and Flack and been chasing after a suspect wanted for questioning on a drive-by murder when the guy had bolted. They had given chase and Flack almost had the guy when Randi had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, yelping, tackled the guy, and both had gone tumbling down the hill.

At the top of the hill, Danny grinned mischievously as he quickly snapped a picture of the scene bellow them with his camera phone. He had wisely grabbed the leashes of all four dogs, preventing them from chasing after Mac and Randi. It was Flack who had gotten Randi's hat back from Fabio and given the dog a friendly pat on the head.

"Perfect blackmail material," he told Flack, who grinned when he saw the picture.

"You alright?" Mac asked as they stood up, unaware of what was going on at the top of the hill.

"Dizzy, sore, but otherwise okay. Sorry about that," Randi replied, dusting herself off, both from her coat, hair, and face and, unfortunately, under her coat. "Let me guess, that was a rabbit you were chasing," she said.

Rabbit meant running suspect and the chasers were known as hounds, also known as the cop or cops whom the suspect was stupid enough to bolt on. They were terms Randi had coined when Mac had told her about having to chase down a suspect once. Rabbit-hunting meant suspect-hunting and, ironically, they were terms that were slowly starting to be used by the other cops, especially by Flack when Mac had told him what Randi had called his not-so-favorite form of exercise.

"Yeah. Nice tackle by the way," he said as they made their way back up the hill.

"Not intentional," she said. "I lost my balance somewhere way the heck up there and things get kind of confusing after that."

Mac chuckled and reached up to accept the hands offered by Danny, who also reached out to help Randi. Flack handed her back her cap and she put it back on her head.

Then she turned back to the suspect, a black male wearing a puffy winter jacket, jeans, and boots and looking a bit winded. "Sorry about that," she said.

"Not your fault, lady. I admit I shouldn't have run from the coppers but hey, even smart guys like me do stupid things," the guy said. "Nice tackle though."

"You behave yourself from here on and who knows, they might go easy on you," Randi said.

"You know 'em?"

"Yeah but some days I think they really don't want to know me," she said, causing all three men to grin. "I tend to be a bit of a walking disaster."

"Don, Danny, why don't you take this guy back to the station while I take Randi home?" Mac said.

"Good idea. I think I'm going to call it a day and soak my poor bones in the tub," Randi said.

"That's a very good idea!" Flack said, with Danny agreeing wholeheartedly.