Short chapter! Sorry.... :( Hopefully, now that finals are almost done (FINALLY) I can update more often and with more exciting stuff :)

The next few hours were a blur. Flack took me upstairs to meet Lindsay, or "Montana" as Flack and Danny joked, and she showed me around the entire lab. On our way by one of the massive glass offices, Lindsay stopped suddenly and motioned me to follow her inside.

"Hey, Stel," She addressed the curly haired woman sitting behind the desk. "We've got us a new recruit."

"Nice to meet you!" Stella said standing up and enthusiastically shaking my hand. I couldn't believe it! Here I was, meeting the real Stella Bonasera.

"It's so great to finally be here." I said trying not to sound nervous, "I've been waiting for this moment for….well forever I guess." Stella laughed.

"I like your enthusiasm! What're you looking to do here?"

"I'm really interested in becoming an M.E." I said, and grinned proudly when Stella looked impressed.

"Oh great, have you guys seen Sid?"

"No we haven't made it down there yet," Lindsay said looking at her watch quickly, "I was thinking maybe Hawkes could take over? I'm supposed to meet… I'm eating lunch with… someone soon." I saw her blush brightly, and Stella laughed again.

"Well just tell Danny I'm still waiting on those DNA results from him. He can give them to me after lunch."

"Sure thing," Lindsay smiled shyly and we both said goodbye to Stella.

"Hawkes used to work as an M.E. for us," Lindsay explained as we turned left out of the doorway and continued back down the hallway the way we'd come, "He can take you down to see Sid if that's alright. I'm sorry I kinda forgot about the lunch… thing."

"It's totally fine," I assured her, "I really appreciate you taking time to show me around."

"Not a problem. We could use a new face around here."

Lindsay smiled at me and I felt a rush of gratitude towards here. I wasn't even sure I'd get the job, and here she was being so nice to me. If I did end up working with Mac's team, it was nice knowing I would already have a friend.

"Yo, Hawkes!" Lindsay called as we entered a dark room full of computer screens. Two men were hunched over a keyboard and seemed to be focused intently on a scrap of paper in front of them. At Lindsay's voice, however, the darker of the two men looked up at us in surprise. A grin spread across his handsome features.

"Thanks for knocking, Monroe. You need something?"

"Yeah, actually I do. This is Maddy Chandler. She's interested in becoming an M.E. Mac wanted me to give her a tour around, but I'm late for lunch, and we haven't made it down to Sid's yet… would you mind taking her?"

"Sure, not a problem," He stood up and came over to shake my hand. "Sheldon Hawkes. And this is Adam." He added nodding towards the light haired guy still staring intently at the screen in front of him.

"Wh-what? Oh, hey!" Adam stuttered jumping at his name. He stood up quickly and yanked the ear buds from his ears, "sorry I couldn't hear you guys, and I was just uh… what's up?" He raked a hand through his hair nervously, and I couldn't help but smile. He was cute.

"I'm Maddie," I said offering my hand.

"Adam. Adam Ross." The younger man grinned cheekily. "Fresh meat? Does this mean I'm not the new guy anymore?"

Lindsay laughed, "Not quite yet, Adam."

"Ah well," he sighed, "a man can always dream…"

Lindsay laughed and the doctor made a gesture as if to say "don't listen to him, he's crazy."

"Hey, I saw that man!" Adam protested indignantly, "You're just jealous of my ways with the ladies." He threw his arms casually around Lindsay's shoulder.

"Yeah, ok Adam." Sheldon chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I can take you down to see Sid, Maddie. I actually have something to ask him so it works out well."

"Fine. Leave me here with this thing…" Adam grumbled as we filed out of the room. "I mean, it's not like you said you'd help me figure out what it is or anything…"

"I'll be back." Hawkes chuckled and closed the door behind him. "Alright. To the dungeon we go."

We said goodbye to Lindsay and headed back towards the elevators. On the way down the M.E.'s office, Hawkes explained to me how he'd started off working as an M.E., but ultimately decided he wanted more field time. Mac had been gracious enough to let him send in an application and he'd been moved upstairs permanently.

"That's really great." I said, "Mac sounds like a really great guy. I've followed his, and - well I guess they're your cases too - for a long time."

"Yeah Mac is a really great guy," Sheldon agreed laughing, "How'd you get interested in being an M.E. if you don't mind me asking?" Not wanting to put a damper on the happy mood, I told him the abbreviated story of following in my father's footsteps.

"-and so yeah, that's basically how it happened." I finished as we stepped out of the elevator and into, what I hoped would be, my future job site. My jaw dropped and I practically drooled on the tiled floor as I scanned the room full of the most up-to-date equipment I'd ever seen.

"You look impressed!" Hawkes laughed as I followed him over to an examining table. I could only nod in awe as I watched a man fish a bullet out of the shoulder wound of a shooting victim.

"Hey Sid you got a minute?" Sheldon asked as we reached the man's table.

"Have I ever told you, you have perfect timing?" Sid chuckled as he dropped the bullet into a bowl of water and stood up straighter. "And who might this be?"

"This is Maddie. She's your future disciple."

"Is that so?" Sid raised his eyebrows and grinned.

"Well not yet…" I blushed, "I've applied for the job though."

"You must like working with people." Hawkes and I laughed at the joke.

"There are plenty more where that came from." Sid chuckled good naturedly, "Is there anything you needed to ask me, Sheldon? You look like someone looking for answers."

As Sheldon and Sid began to discuss the development of their current case, I leaned over the table slightly to get a better look at what Sid had been digging at. The wound was deep. I couldn't tell if it was a through and through because the victim's back was up against the table, but there was a strange stippling pattern around it suggesting that air hadn't been the only thing between the gun and the man's arm. The bullet had passed through something that had left strange green fragments around the bullet hole. I was itching to look at them closer.

"Any ideas?" I heard Sid ask, and I stood up quickly.

"Me? Uh…" I blushed again, "Well I dunno…" I hadn't expected to be put on the spot. I didn't know if it would be rude to put in my two cents, but thankfully Sheldon chuckled and reassured me.

"Don't' worry. Sid asks me the same thing every time I come down here. Sometimes I wonder whether any of his diagnoses are original." Sid huffed, but I noticed he was still smiling. I could tell he and Hawkes liked to tease each other.

"Well I dunno…" I said feeling more confident, "It looks like a deep wound, but I could be wrong since it looks like the bullet was shot through something. It depends what those green specks are…They look almost as if they came from a plastic bottle. Some of them are curved funny…" I pointed to a particular fragment and Sheldon leaned in further.

"Yeah I see what you mean…. Although I think with the amount of fragments in the arm we can safely say that the gun was about this far away," He made his hand into a gun and pointed it at the entrance to the wound, "What do you think, Sid?"

"I'd say that's about right!" The experienced M.E. took his tweezers and pulled out the particular fragment we'd been looking at, "I hadn't thought plastic at first, but I think you could be right Maddie. Only one way to find out!" He slipped the shard into a plastic bag and handed it to me along with the tweezers. "While Sheldon and I go to look at his victim, why don't you finish up with this guy? You two can bring those fragments up to trace when you go back upstairs."

I couldn't believe my ears, but Sid's grin told me he was totally serious. An enthusiastic "Thank you!" was all I could think of to say. I pulled on a pair of gloves and got to work. By the time I was finished, Sheldon and Sid were done as well, and Hawkes and I got back onto the elevator.

"I can't believe that just happened…." I sighed looking at the plastic bag full of small green pieces, "That was beyond cool."

"I'm glad you liked it!" Hawkes laughed. "I wish Mac were here to see the look on your face. He could never turn you down after that."

"Yeah I get a little too into things sometimes." I said as my cheeks got warm.

"Well you can't go wrong here," Sheldon assured me, "You have to have lots of enthusiasm to work in this field."

He was right. Working with victims was certainly not going to be a walk in the park, but it was what I wanted to do. Meeting all the members of Mac's team had been amazing, and I was still in shock at how friendly they'd all been. After a day like today, I didn't know what I was going to do if I didn't get that job...

End of chapter 6! I tried to have a little bit of every "new" character in here but it was more difficult than I expected.... Apologies if I didn't portray some of then very well.... Rate and review! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has done so already and as always, suggestions welcome :)