Chapter Six:

Bouncing out of the elevator, Rachael was relieved that her shift started slightly later today. After the previous days excessive amount of shopping that she had done with Stella, finally getting her apartment in order - and then there was the conversation with her mother that she didn't even want to begin to think about - she was well and truly worn out. The extra hour in bed had done her a lot of good and she felt completely ready for whatever was thrown at her...well, almost.

She headed into the locker room to dispose of her belongings. The winter chill was just beginning to attach itself to the city, so she had made sure that she'd put on a warm coat. Rachael spotted Lindsay enter the room behind her. "Hey, I didn't think you were in today?"

Lindsay turned to her, removing her coat revealing the stretched fabric over her expanding stomach. "Yeah, only for a few hours though. Mac needs all hands on deck with the John Doe case that was picked up last night."

After a bit of light, cheery banter, the pair headed out of the room and went their separate ways, Lindsay to the Trace lab and Rachael in search of Mac.

Through the glass walls in the distance she could make out the group of co-workers she was beginning to call her friends. They had all been so welcoming with her ever since she arrived. Rachael had to admit that she was extremely nervous when it came to moving and becoming the 'newbie', mainly due to her past experiences. Saying she had been given a frosty reception when she moved to Miami was a complete understatement; it took her months to even begin to fit in.

XOXOXOX

Rachael entered the room to see Danny, Stella and Mac all crouched over the computer. Adam was spinning in his seat, waiting for it all to load up correctly, for the pixels to stop being so jumpy, whilst clicking the lid of his pen open and shut. She smirked, knowing that Adam, with an absolute passion, hated having people leaning over his shoulder.

"Hi." she said quietly. Adam turned round very quickly, waving very briefly at her. Getting closer to them, the rest of the group turned to acknowledge her presence, Rachael spotted the commotion and a familiar figure on the screen in front of her. "Adam, back that up a sec."

"Um...sure..." Adam stopped the tape and played it back. The image of the John Doe, who was now lying on a cold metal slab in the morgue, moving down the dark alleyway before being attacked by two unknown men played back. With the two strangers vanishing almost as quickly as they arrived, the injured man stumbled further down the alley, clutching his chest, turning almost as if he knew the security camera was there, giving the current watchers a full view of his face.

Mac pointed at the screen, happy with their findings. "Hold it there, we have the perfect view."

Rachael stared at the screen in disbelief. It couldn't be him; he wasn't even in New York, or so she thought. Her mother had said he'd gone and done yet another disappearing act. But this was the face of Lucas Garcia, her big brother staring back at her on the screen. Adam swivelled round yet again, teetering on the very edge of being pleased with himself, when he glanced up at Rachael's round, sad eyes.

"Hey, Rachael, you okay?" He had long since stopped clicking the lid on his pen, now holding it between his index and middle fingers, a very concerned expression across his features.

She gasped at the sight. "Oh, no...that's...that's Lucas" She let out a sob as the four other occupants of the room turned to her in confusion. "He's my brother."

Feeling the tears start to slip from her eyes Rachael fled the room, very much aware of the stares she was receiving, but she didn't care. She just had to get out of there.

XOXOXOX

Standing on the steps outside the crime lab, Rachael was lost, broken, the tears beginning to cloud her vision. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying desperately to compose herself. Cautiously descending the few steps that remained in front of her, pulling her thin cardigan tighter around her body, she made her way down the bustling street, weaving through the people around her. It was the early evening, the sky a combination of blue and grey and completely cloudless. Winter in New York, Rachael was discovering, was even colder than in London, if that were possible.

Rachael walked for what seemed like a lifetime only to find she hadn't actually gotten very far. Noticing the distinct smell which she had become very familiar with over the few weeks of being in New York, coffee, of course she had smelt plenty of coffee before but she had found, what with all of the street vendors dotted about, it was something that she smelt so much more often. Spotting where it was coming from, she made her way over to the cart; Rachael took the cup from the vendor about to hand him the money she had taken from her purse only to find herself being stopped.

"I got this, and I'll take another, please."

Only vaguely recognising the voice that had just spoken, Rachael looked up to see who it was; Don Flack. Well...that was someone she hadn't expected to be buying her coffee.

She watched as he took his cup and paid for their drinks, he turned towards her. "Walk." Unsure if it was a question or more of a request, she silently nodded in reply. They made it to the park without really saying much, just barely passing pleasantries with each other. "So, may I ask as to why you were wondering around New York City, on your own?" He decided, purely out of politeness, not to mention the fact her eyes were slightly red and puffy.

Rachael shrugged her shoulders. "I had to get outta there."

Flack smirked, and they came to stop at a bench, where he promptly flopped down with a sigh. Rachael slipped past him and sat to the left of him, gripping her cup of coffee. A few groups and couples walked past them, chatting, laughing, fighting, each wrapped up in their own worlds. Flack took a sip of his coffee and shifted slightly. "You know, I used to come out here, people-watching. There used to be this old couple, who'd feed the ducks. I haven't seen 'em around in a while." He shook his head, wistfully. Rachael wasn't sure what to say, so she kept quiet and turned her head in the opposite direction. Flack glanced over at her, noticing, and not for the first time, that she had a tendency to fidget, tap her fingers against things, bite down on her lip and toss her hair out of the way even when it wasn't. "How's your coffee?"

"Hm?" Rachael snapped out of her reverie and turned back to the detective. "Oh, it's great, thanks." She shivered slightly as she watched the goings-on in the park before her. She shivered slightly and closed her eyes.

Flack sat forward, setting his coffee down in the space between them. "You cold?"

Before she could answer, he'd shimmied out of his thick and now heated-up black coat and placed it around her shoulders. There seemed to be a lot less space between them by now. Rachael cautiously looked up and immediately their eyes locked. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Rachael cleared her throat, put her coffee down and pushed her arms into the coat. "I, ah, I'm sorry for not being the most talkative tonight." She sighed. "Take it you heard what happened."

He was staring again. She could practically feel it. "Not exactly. And even if I did, I'd rather hear your side of things. Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Rachael swallowed. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I have a sister."

"Do you get along?"

Flack grinned and tilted his head, showing off his dimples. "Not always."

"I didn't even know he was here." Rachael said, playing with the zipper on the coat; she looked over at Don with a sad, watery smile willing herself not to cry in front of him. Sighing she decided to fill him in on the details of the case that had made her roam the streets; "Lucas, my older brother, he, ah...he was the victim found in the alley way last night. I didn't know he was in New York, I thought he was still in Miami."

Don sat and listened to Rachael as she spoke about her brother. About how he appeared in Miami needing her help, that he had gotten himself in with the wrong people and how he kept relying on Rachael to keep bailing him out when he got into trouble time and time again. Knowing what it was like to be in a situation like that Don could tell that even though, at times she despised Lucas for what he had done in the past she was breaking inside. He carried on listening as she rambled on.

"I spoke to my mother yesterday, she said he'd gone missing again but this, this is just too much." Her voice started to crack. "I...why was he even here? I don't..." Sighing, she realised that someone needed to make a dreaded call. "My mum needs to know, I should call her."

Don was about to open his mouth to speak when the shrill ringing of his cell stopped him, noticing Rachael jump at the noise he realised that the phone was in the coat he'd given to her. "I...um, need to get that." Pointing to the pocket he'd left it in.

"Oh, yeah sure. Sorry." Rachael's hands fumbled in the pocket and passed the buzzing object over to Don.

He quickly took the phone from her trembling fingers and looked at the screen to see who was on the other end of the line 'Mac Taylor'. Flack stood from the bench and took a couple of steps away with a curt 'excuse me' aimed in Rachael's direction he put the phone to his ear.

XOXOXOX

Rachael watched as Don slowly took a few steps away from her to answer the call, trying not to be rude and listen in to the conversation, but that was easier said than done; Don wasn't making any conscious effort to talk quietly so she couldn't hear, plus the fact he kept glancing over in her direction didn't disguise that whoever was on the other end of the line was talking about her and, more than likely Lucas.

Seeing Don slip the cell phone into the pocket of his charcoal grey suit jacket and heading back towards her made Rachael feel slightly nervous, she didn't know why. Hearing him clear his throat pulled her out of her thoughts. He looked almost apologetic. "That was Mac; you need to come with me to the station."

XOXOXOX

Nikki A/N: Hi everyone. I know I say this every time but BIG thanks for the reviews, alerts etc... I truly do appreciate each and every one. Okay now people, please bare with us hopefully things will start moving along quite swiftly. And hopefully you'll all continue reading, and hopefully enjoying!!!! :DMary A/N: Helloha! AHH! Reviews! Many, many thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed/alerted and favourited, you dudes rock! Feel free to press the button again and have a fabulous day :)