Many thanks for the lovely reviews for the last chapter. I loved reading them, so please continue to let me know what you think of this. Also thanks to autumngold and sorry I couldn't send a proper reply; and thanks to anyone who has this on favorite or alert. I hope you all continue to enjoy this. Sorry the update is a little late; I was 'en route' and without internet access yesterday.

Black Moon Rising – Looking on and on

Adam looks at the pale silhouette of the sun. It looks like it's going to be another cold day outside. He looks back at the monitor so unimpressed by the weather. Sometimes he wishes he could be one of them. He thinks that people who believe that computers can have a bad day are wrong. But he's determined not to have a bad day anyway, not today. Unfortunately his resolve does not earn him any results. He sighs.

"Hey Adam, dinner yesterday was really nice." Kendall's voice raises him from his thoughts, "Maybe we could do that more often?"

"Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Adam sounds a bit dejected, "But if we want to do it again in celebration of solving this case it might take a while."

"Are you still trying to find the host of that website?" Kendall asks.

"Yeah." He doesn't know what else he could add.

"Hmm, hard to find, is he?"

"You're making that sound as if it were a good thing …" Adam looks at Kendall inquiringly.

"In a way, if he covers his tracks so thoroughly there's most likely a good reason for that."

"Like being up to no good." Adam imagines.

"Which means that you are on the right track and should keep going."

"Thanks." He's not entirely sure why but it does make him feel better.

"Do you want to celebrate that insight with a cup of coffee?" Kendall smiles, "And we could do a little haunting on the side."

-o-

Flack hands one of the two cups he's holding to Angell and takes a sip from the other one.

"Good?" Angell asks.

He replies with a nod. "Good enough to have another one tomorrow." he says after he has swallowed.

Angell takes a sip of her own. "And good enough to raise hopes that our suspect is indeed a regular."

"I just wish all about this case could be as nice and quiet as our hanging out here hoping that he comes in again." Flack says before taking another sip and scanning the customers of the coffee shop.

"Yeah," Angell agrees, "have to say though; I'm rather unpleasantly surprised by how fast people calmed down after the panic last week."

"Kind of makes you wonder why Sinclair is still pestering Mac. Maybe it's just his hobby."

Angell smirks, "I sure have the feeling that he's enjoying it. But really, he should leave Mac alone. I mean, did he even read the papers? He should have noticed that the info was mainly spread via the net, and that either way Mac or anybody else in the lab did not have anything to do with it."

"Somehow I wouldn't be surprised if it was the perp himself wanting to make sure people know about his deeds. That website Adam found …" Flack shrugs and takes a closer look at a man who has just entered but decides that the description they have doesn't fit.

"That site could be how he finds his victims … and the quiet now could be to lull them." Angell reflects and returns to her earlier concern, "All the more reason to stay alert."

"Good to know then that there are people around who keep their eyes open." Flack raises his cup in a salute to Ms Wagner passing by outside. The elderly woman waves at the two of them.

-o-

Hawkes flips through a folder as he walks down the corridor. He has read all of the facts before but sometimes changing their order helps, sometimes staying in motion helps. He stops dead in his tracks at what he sees before him.

"Daniel, what are you doing?" Hawkes doesn't bother trying to keep the hint of exasperation out of his voice.

The lab tech's head shoots up. "N-nothing! Just …"

"You do know that vampires don't come out into the sunlight?" Hawkes points to a window. "Or do you think that it's not bright enough today."

"That's a myth; they can come out all the time!" Daniel states.

"And you think that their being scared away by a cross isn't a myth?" Hawkes frowns at the huge cardboard cross Daniel is holding.

"Yes."

"But that only works when the cross has been blessed." Sid's voice coming seemingly out of nowhere makes the lab tech's head snap to the left so that he misses the smile appearing on Hawkes' face.

"By which I don't mean to imply that the whole vampire thing isn't a myth." Sid continues, stepping out from behind a door once Daniel has hurried away. "But that would be a pity to tell him after the effort Kendall has put into scaring him."

"Yeah." Hawkes concurs, "Still don't like his attitude. Who hired this guy anyway?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was Sinclair." the ME concludes.

-o-

Stella catches a glimpse of the book Mac is reading before he puts it down. "Should have guessed you'd start that now." she smiles.

"I couldn't quite help being intrigued." Mac returns the smile, "Dante provides an amazing picture of the beliefs of his time. I don't really understand why somebody would want to learn it by heart but I'm pretty sure that woman at the hospital did. And the lines she picked," Mac points at the open page, "it was as if she knew something."

"Everything is connected." Stella throws in, "Who knows what her subconscious had access to. You said she didn't really seem to be aware of what was going on?"

Mac nods. "And almost as if she wasn't speaking herself." He looks down at the pages before him again. "In Dante's time people believed that the dreams occurring at a certain time, just before dawn, were really premonitions."

"And you had that dream just before dawn?" Stella asks softly.

Mac nods again.

She continues, her hand on his shoulder, "Even if they were right, I think it has more to do with a certain stage of sleep than with the time of day – and given your usual rhythm I'd be surprised if you reached the same stage at the same time."

"Excellent point." Mac smiles, admittedly a little relieved. He gets up. "By the way, Hawkes has put us on desk duty for today."

"I think I can handle it if we're both on it." Stella chuckles, "And it was a good idea to let Hawkes take the lead. I can't think of anybody else who could keep you in check when I'm not around."

Mac looks at her seriously. "I'm not sure I need to be kept in check when you're not around. I was too worried about you to be able to think of much else." he confesses.

Stella senses the uneasiness he feels because he knows she doesn't like to be fussed over. "That's okay. I'm pretty sure I'd be the same when you're not around." A sudden shiver runs through her.

"Are you okay?" Mac asks immediately.

"Yeah." she assures him, "I'm fine, I just suddenly felt cold. But don't worry, not the way I felt when I became ill."

For a second Mac ponders giving her his jacket but then he simply wraps his arms around her. She stands still for a moment, hesitant, surprised. Then she turns slightly and leans her forehead against his cheek. It is just the kind of warmth she needs.

-o-

Danny folds and unfolds his hands around the steering wheel. It's their second trip to the crematory. Thanks to the fact that the owner didn't call it in there is a lot of useless trace to separate from their evidence. And as much as he realizes he has to face it, the thought of going to this place again, of being reminded of death in a more personal way is one he'd rather push aside. Through the silence of the car he feels Lindsay's look on him.

"Did you know that there are organized trips to crematories?" he says for the sake of saying something. "They show you around the place like they're promoting it. I don't know; I don't want to be cremated … and then imagine somebody watching as you … did you know that the body tends to sit up?" He makes use of the opportunity to shake himself as they stand at a red light. What on earth made me start this?

Somehow he feels that the look Lindsay gives him changes. He glances at her, into her warm brown eyes. Just a moment, and they move again, closer to their destination. He stops the car and they get out, the crematory on the other side of the street.

Danny is about to cross when a flutter of white catches his eye. He looks up and sees a pigeon shooting through the air in an aimless tumble. A smack and it changes direction, an explosion of feathers hitting the ground a couple of feet before him. Every car passing lifts it into flapping movement, fighting to get away. Every other car passing reduces it to a pulp. Shrieks he cannot place. Breaks? People? Tires? He stares at the mass of now red plumes, still moving under the impact of cars. Only under the impact of cars. He tears his eyes away from it, searching for Lindsay's eyes.

He can't see her.

"Lindsay?" He looks around, once, twice. "Lindsay!"

He can't see her. He spots another movement caused by cars. He runs towards it, sees her cell spinning on the ground. She's gone.

Danny stands and stares.

… back to the cliff-hangers.

Many thanks for taking the time to read. I hope this chapter was okay. As usual, please don't hesitate to let me know what you think of this. All comments are appreciated any time, and always replied to if logged.