HOLD ME NOW

Disclaimer: The characters in CSI: New York do not belong to me. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.

Summary: The cliché was true, sometimes you didn't know what you had until it was gone. The question was: could you ever get it back again once you'd lost it? Lindsay Monroe was about to find out the answer.

Notes: I know, I know, I've been AWOL for ages! Real life has seriously gotten in the way over the last few months so writing this chapter has been very slow-going. I've been chipping away at it paragraph by paragraph and finally it's finished. Yay!

With no further ado then, please read on for Chapter 50 of 'Hold Me Now.' It's a slightly lengthier chapter than usual so hopefully it's worth the extremely long wait!

OOOOOO

Part 50 – Holding the Baby

Putting the car into park, Mac Taylor, First Grade Detective and illustrious head of the New York Crime Lab, released his seatbelt and exited the vehicle in one smooth, authoritative move. There was something about his bearing that made you immediately want to jump to attention and salute. Here was a man of great power, but once you got to know him better, you realised he was also one of immense compassion - hence him taking care of the mercy mission that he could have easily gotten one of his subordinates to deal with himself. And this was in spite of the fact that he was still on duty and had a backlog of other tasks to get through before he could head home for the evening and some much-needed R&R.

The young brunette in the front office looked up from her computer with a bright smile as he entered. "Can I help you, sir?" she enquired officiously.

Listening intently while he explained his reason for being there, she nodded once in acknowledgement and then promptly asked him for some I.D. "It's just down the corridor," she said after she'd checked his credentials and returned his badge to him. "I'll show you if you like."

Rising smoothly from her chair, she rounded the desk and led him out of the office into the corridor beyond. Noticing the brightly coloured picture adorning the opposite wall, Mac drew to a halt as he spotted the familiar name printed in bold capitals underneath. Unfortunately he didn't have very long to stop and appreciate the artwork because his female guide set off down the hallway at a brisk pace, her heels click-clacking against the floor in sharp, rhythmic beats.

When they reached the far end of the corridor, she knocked smartly on the door directly in front of her and then pushed it open and poked her head around the frame. "Detective Mac Taylor," she announced as if she was introducing a titled nobleman at a nineteenth century ball.

The slightly older woman sitting behind the desk rose to greet him as he entered but whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a delighted squeal and a sudden rush of small feet.

"Uncle Mac! You're here! You're here!"

Mac rocked back on his heels as his goddaughter barrelled into him like a mini freight train, exuberantly hugging him around the legs. Ruffling her hair in affectionate greeting, he knelt down in front of her so that the two of them were eye-to-eye. "Well, hello to you too!" he said with a warm smile.

"All my fwiends went home ages ago, Uncle Mac!" Lucy told him dramatically, her blue eyes indicating her confusion as to why she'd been so cruelly left behind.

Mac sighed as he brushed a stray curl off her forehead. "I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry I got here so late."

"Why didn't Mommy or Daddy come?" the little girl inevitably asked.

"Ahh…"

His mind rewound to the phone-call he'd received an hour or so earlier. How best to explain the current situation to an impressionable four year old, he wondered. "They got caught up at work so they asked me to pick you up instead," he told her, deliberately keeping the details to a minimum to avoid unnecessarily scaring her.

"Okay," Lucy said, accepting his explanation without question. "Are we going to your 'partment then?"

He sighed. "No, honey. We've got to go back to the Lab. Your Mommy and Daddy will come and fetch you from there when they're ready to take you home."

Lucy's expression brightened at that. "Cool!" she declared. "I likes it at the Lab."

Mac laughed. "I wonder why that is?" he remarked with a grin. "Wouldn't have anything to do with being the centre of everyone's attention while you're there, would it?" He reached out and lightly tweaked her nose between his thumb and forefinger, making her giggle. "Why don't you go and get your back-pack and coat while I talk to your teacher?" he suggested as he straightened up.

"Okay," Lucy agreed with her mother's beaming smile, and then scuttled off towards the cloakroom to gather her things.

Once she was out of ear-shot, Mac turned his attention to the woman who had been waiting patiently for the opportunity to speak. "Miss Benson, I presume?" he said, reaching out to shake her offered hand.

She nodded. "Yes – I'm Louise," she introduced herself. "Louise Benson, that is."

He inclined in his head in response. "Mac – Mac Taylor – Lucy's godfather."

"Yes - I kind of figured that," she said with a laugh before her expression turned more serious again. "Are Danny and Lindsay all right?" she asked him, the tone of her voice indicating that she was aware of the Messers' profession and the inherent dangers in it.

"They've become embroiled in something of a situation, but they're fine," Mac told her, not wanting to give away too many details whilst the operation was still in progress. He'd received news of the siege at the crime scene in Harlem only a couple of hours ago. He'd been on his way out the door and heading over there when his phone had rung in his jacket's inside pocket...

Two hours previously…

"Mac?"

"Danny?" Mac clutched his cell tighter to his ear, concerned by the slightly frantic note that he heard in the younger man's voice. "Are you and Lindsay all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine," Danny assured him and then huffed out a breath. "Well, Lindsay got grazed by a bullet as we took cover but thankfully she's okay. Freaked me out a little when I saw all the blood, but I've cleaned her up some and it doesn't appear to be too serious. She'll need to get it checked out at the E.R. when we get outta here but I don't think it's anything to worry about."

"That's good," Mac said with some relief, "So what's the situation otherwise?" he asked.

"Well, Flack and the guys arrived some time back, but things are still pretty tense out there. Burrows wants them to storm the place and take the perps out, but Flack's refusing to co-operate at the moment."

"And what's your assessment of the situation?"

"Does it matter at this point?"

"It does if you think Flack's making the wrong call."

"Well, lucky for him, I don't – going in all guns blazin' would be premature - we'd end up with a goddamn massacre on our hands. Burrows knows it, but he just doesn't see the issue. We're trapped in here and we've got the bad guys surrounded so…"

"Pistols at dawn and to hell with the consequences?" Mac said, filling in the blanks for him.

"Exactly," Danny concurred. "But some of the perps are only kids, Mac – barely into their teens from what I saw. The ringleaders deserve what's coming to them, but the younger ones… well, they've still got a chance to get out and make something decent of their lives."

Mac nodded, understanding where this sentiment came from. "Like you did you mean?"

Danny sighed. "I guess I can relate, yes. It's not that easy to say no in that situation, but it is possible if you're strong enough. They ain't gonna get the chance to turn things around if they're lying dead in the gutter though, are they?"

"No," Mac agreed solemnly.

"Well anyway, that's wasn't why I was calling," Danny went on. "Lindsay's freakin' out cus it's Shelley's afternoon off so one of us was supposed to pick up Lucy from pre-school today. I could call my parents but it'd take them way too long to get into Manhattan, and Stella's away visiting friends so…

"I'm your last resort?" Mac finished for him.

"I know it's a bit of an imposition but…"

"That's what godfathers are for, Danny," Mac said, abruptly cutting him off, "Call the school and let them know I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay good, I'll do that," Danny said, sounding decidedly relieved at his boss' easy acquiescence. "Thanks Mac – we owe you one."

"You owe me nothing," Mac contradicted. "As I said – that's what godfathers are for. Tell Lindsay not to worry, okay? I'll take care of Lucy. You two just concentrate on getting out of there safe and sound, all right?"

"Gotcha boss. Don't let the munchkin run rings around you though, huh? Tell her she'll have her Daddy to answer to if she plays up."

Mac smiled. "Wouldn't threatening her with Lindsay be more effective?" he joked. "I mean how often do you actually practise what you've just preached anyway?"

Danny laughed. "A lot more nowadays than I used to," he admitted. "I learned the hard way that it pays to lay down the rules and follow through with them no matter what."

"Besides, odds on, she'll be the perfect angel for you anyway," he added ruefully, "Wouldn't want to disappoint her beloved Uncle Mac, now would she? It's only her parents she's determined to test the boundaries with."

Knowing Lucy to be remarkably well-behaved for the average four year old, Mac didn't pay too much attention to this comment, but instead closed out their phone conversation with a patient "Just call the school and leave Lucy to me, Danny."

This was an instruction that his younger colleague had duly followed, leading Mac to the rather alien environment of the public-funded Manhattan pre-school in which he now resided.

"Uncle Mac – I got my stuff. Can we go now?"

Mac looked down at the little girl who had popped up by his side like a Jack-in-a-Box, her arms full of the paraphernalia that all pre-schoolers seemed to need nowadays.

"Sure," he said, "But let's get your coat on first – your Mommy will not be happy with me if I let you catch cold."

"But you're the boss of Mommy, Uncle Mac," Lucy told him as she threaded her arms into the garment that he held out for her. "You gets to tell her what to do!"

"Not when it comes to you, I don't!" Mac laughed, smiling up at Lucy's teacher who had let out a muffled guffaw at her pupil's pronouncement. "When it comes to you, your Mommy is the boss of me."

"Why?" A puzzled frown creased Lucy's otherwise smooth forehead as she tried to get her head around this unfamiliar concept. Things were still very black and white to her – the subtleties of the shades of grey that existed in life were still somewhat beyond her comprehension.

"Because she's your Mommy and Mommies are more special than godfathers where their children are concerned," he explained as simply as he could.

"Godfathers are special too," Lucy assured him loyally as he zipped her coat up for her.

That gave him a warm fuzzy feeling inside. "Thank-you, sweetheart," he said, lightly stroking her baby-soft cheek with the back of his finger, "It's lovely of you to say so, but I'm still a little way down the pecking order in this case."

Lucy giggled at that and he smiled. "What's so funny, baby girl?" he said, playfully poking her in the stomach with the tip of his forefinger.

"Mommy might give you a time out if you look afta me wrong," she declared, clearly finding the idea of this highly entertaining.

"She might, that's true," he agreed solemnly. "I guess I'm just going to have to make sure I look after you properly then, aren't I?"

Lucy nodded and slipped her hand into his. "Don't worry, Uncle Mac, I tells you what to do. I knows all the rules. Daddy forgets them some times, but Mommy just says that's cus he likes to pretend he's a webel."

Mac frowned. "A webel?" he questioned.

"I think she means a rebel," Louise Benson told him with a laugh.

"Ahh," Mac said with a nod of understanding. He smiled at the teacher. "Little Ears, huh?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, but I think there's something to be said for a child witnessing how a relationship truly works. I know her parents have had their problems in the past, but they seem to be working through them now and Lucy's certainly a lot more settled because of it."

Mac nodded. "Neither one of them are the type to give up without a fight," he agreed. "And they'd do anything for this little one too," he added, squeezing the small fingers that were tightly grasped within his.

He looked down at his little charge, who was gazing up at him with something akin to hero worship shining in her blue eyes. "Shall we go then, Miss Messer?"

"Yes!" Lucy said, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in her excitement. "Bye bye, Miss Benson - I see you again soon."

Mac nodded over his shoulder at the teacher as Lucy dragged him bodily towards the door by the hand. "Thanks for waiting until I could get here," he said.

She smiled. "You're welcome. Goodbye Lucy – you make sure you're a good girl for your godfather now."

"I always good, Miss Benson!" Lucy declared and Mac laughed.

"She tries anyway," he said with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Louise Benson returned, lifting her hand in farewell as godfather and goddaughter left the classroom hand-in-hand. "If only it had been under different circumstances," she muttered to herself as Mac strode off purposefully down the corridor with Lucy trotting along beside him chattering away like a flock of sparrows.

She watched from the doorway until the pair were out of sight and then let out a deep sigh and turned away to gather her things, her final duty of the working day regrettably completed.

OOOOOO

New York Crime Lab, forty minutes later…

"Ah Mac, there you are," Sheldon Hawkes quickened his step as he spotted his boss exiting the elevator with the youngest Messer in tow. "I wondered where you'd gotten to."

"Hi Uncle Doc!" Lucy greeted him, slipping her hand from her godfather's and lifting up her arms for a hug.

Hawkes bent down and smoothly swung her up into his arms, settling her comfortably on his hip. "Hi Clemenza," he said, playing out a familiar ritual.

The little girl insisted on calling him Uncle 'Doc' despite him repeatedly telling her that wasn't his name. "But that's what Daddy calls you," she'd explained to him on numerous occasions.

Now however, she giggled delightedly at his greeting. "I called Lucy, Uncle Doc."

"Ahh but you might have been called Clemenza," he told her, recalling the conversation he'd had with Danny about baby names shortly before Lindsay had been due to give birth.

"But that's a boy's name!" Lucy predictably objected. How she knew that, Sheldon had no idea – he strongly suspected a little underhand coaching from a certain colleague who shared a number of genes in common with the pretty four year old in his arms.

"Oh well – how about I call you Little Miss Blue Eyes instead then?" he said with a smile.

She giggled again. "You're funny, Uncle Doc."

"Well, at least I've got something going for me," Hawkes remarked to Mac, who smiled in response.

"You could always just use her given name," he suggested wryly.

"I could," Sheldon agreed with an incline of his head, "But where's the fun in that?" His expression turned more serious then. "Flack wants you to call," he informed his boss.

Mac nodded. "Okay – can you entertain Little Miss Blue Eyes here while I deal with that then?"

Sheldon cocked his head to one side as if he needed to consider it. "I think I could be persuaded," he eventually decided. "What do you reckon, beautiful?"

He addressed this to the little girl in his arms. "Okay." Lucy nodded in acquiescence. "Is Uncle Adam here too?" she asked as they headed off towards the break room with her still perched on his hip.

Hawkes laughed. "Why? Aren't I good enough for you?"

"Yes, but if Uncle Adam comes and plays wiv us too we can have even more fun!" she told him expansively.

"Well, I'd have to agree he's a lot more on your level than me," Hawkes quipped with a grin. "Look, we'll go and see if we can find him in a minute," he promised, "But how about some juice first?"

"Yes please!" Lucy nodded effusively. "I hungry too," she informed him as he set her back down on her feet.

"Mmm, I guess it must be close to your dinner-time, huh?" Hawkes said with a glance at his watch. "Let's see what we can find, shall we?"

He opened the refrigerator door and peered inside, hoping for some inspiration. He didn't think Lindsay would be too enamoured of him feeding her little girl candy and cheese curls for dinner.

"That's Mommy's," Lucy helpfully told him, pointing out the white plastic sandwich box with the green clip-on lid on the middle shelf.

"Okay so let's see what we've got." He opened it to find what looked like some sort of cold pasta salad with tomatoes, ham and mushrooms. A quick blast in the microwave and he figured it would make a fairly nutritious evening meal for a four-year old.

His theory proved correct when five minutes later Lucy was happily ensconced at a table with the bowl of pasta, a beaker of juice and a fork that was a little too big for her, but that didn't seem to be hindering her ability to feed herself any. He sat opposite her with his hands curled around a steaming mug of coffee, watching with an affectionate smile as she enthusiastically tucked into her food.

"Whatcha lookin' at me like that for, Uncle Doc?" Lucy asked, pausing in the act of digging her fork back into her pasta.

"I'm thinking the Messers' make cute kids," he told her.

Lucy's eyes brightened. "Can you tell them to make another one?" she asked him.

Sheldon laughed. "I could, but honey, that's really up to them. Kids are a lot of responsibility even when they are as cute as a button like you."

"But if they made another one, I could be a big sister," she explained to him.

"And a very good big sister you'd make, I'm sure," he replied, "But when - or if - that happens is really for your Mommy and Daddy to decide. I'm guessing they might want to get married again before they start thinking about another baby."

"But I was already in Mommy's tummy when they got married the first time," Lucy objected. "I sees the wedding picture and Mommy is fat!"

"I think the word is 'blooming'," Hawkes said with a chuckle, "And I'm not sure that your Mommy and Daddy particularly planned it that way – I'm pretty sure you were something of a surprise to them."

"A very special surprise – that's what my Mommy says."

"And your Mommy'd know, wouldn't she?"

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Yes 'cus Mommy knows everything," she said. "Daddy says she's a big smarty pants."

Sheldon laughed. "Your Daddy knows how to sail pretty close to the wind where your Mommy is concerned too, doesn't he?" he observed dryly.

"When I asked Mommy about being a big sister, she said 'we'll see.'" Lucy told him. "That sometimes means yes but not yet, but sometimes it can mean no too. Which one do you think it is, Uncle Doc?"

"Ahh…" Sheldon hesitated, knowing the answer to that was frankly none of his business. "I wish I could tell you, sweetheart, but only your Mommy and Daddy can answer that particular question, I'm afraid."

"Mommy says 'we'll see' about us having a puppy too. Do you think she'd let us have a kitten instead?"

Hawkes chuckled, amused at how the conversation had switched from siblings to pets in a blink of an eye. "I think you'd have to ask her that too," he responded blandly.

"Don't you know anything?" Lucy demanded in childish exasperation.

Hawkes laughed. "Sweetie, I know lots, but I also know not to make your Mommy mad. It's more than my life is worth."

"Uncle Mac is scared of Mommy too," Lucy informed him guilelessly.

Hawkes choked on his coffee at that. "W-what?" he spluttered.

"He says Mommy's the boss of him when he has to look after me, not the other way round."

Sheldon smiled. "Interesting concept," he remarked, "True enough though, I suppose."

"Sheldon, I've got that autopsy report you wanted. I was going a little stir crazy down in the dungeon so I thought I'd bring it up personally…" Sid Hammerback strode into the break-room still dressed in his blue scrubs, but stopped in his tracks when he spotted their young visitor. "Well hello, my little munchkin – how are you today?"

"I good, Uncle Sid," Lucy told him brightly, and then lowered her voice. "Do you really work in the dungeon?" she asked in hushed tones. "Is that why Mommy and Daddy say I can't go down there?"

"No, I just call it a dungeon because the room where I work has no windows," Sid said, swiftly back-tracking on his earlier comment. Didn't want the kid suffering nightmares, now did he? "Your parents say you can't visit me there because you have to be a grown-up. There are no children allowed – that's the rules."

"Uncle Mac's rules?" Lucy enquired.

Sid nodded. "Well of course, he's the boss."

"Okay then but you're still allowed to show me your special glasses, aren't you?"

"For you, my little princess - anything," Sid replied, lifting his glasses from around his neck and clicking them into place on the bridge of his nose.

Lucy clapped her hands in delight. "Do it again, Uncle Sid! Do it again!"

Sheldon rolled his eyes as his colleague made a show of repeating the process several times over. "The things that amuse small children," he commented drolly.

"You're just jealous because you haven't got such a spectacular party trick to impress her with," Sid retorted glibly.

Hawkes didn't have the opportunity to respond appropriately to that because just then they were joined by a typically over-enthusiastic Adam Ross. Slapping a manila folder down on the table, he lifted his arms up in triumph. "Your lab results, Doctor Hawkes. Just call me a genius because that's what I so am!"

Hawkes picked up the two folders that he'd been given in short succession. "Well, looks like my shift is over," he said, rising to his feet. He gestured at Lucy who was finishing off the remains of her meal, having been satisfactorily entertained by the superlative Sid and his magnificent glasses. "Which one of you is next?"

"Sorry, got another D.B. at eighteen hundred," Sid said, somewhat regretfully. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to love you and leave you, little one." He stroked an affectionate hand over Lucy's head in fond farewell and then turned for the door.

"Adam?" Sheldon looked questioningly over at his younger colleague. "It's only until Mac has finished dealing with... ahh... well, whatever he needs to deal with."

"Sure," Adam agreed congenially. It was the end of his shift but he figured he could hang around a little longer. It wasn't as if he had a date or anything.

"Thanks Adam," Hawkes said before bending down to drop a kiss on the top of Lucy's head. "See you later, Little Miss Blue Eyes."

"See you later, Uncle Doc!"

"Can we plays on the 'puters, Uncle Adam?" Lucy said after Hawkes had left. Sliding down from her seat, she slipped her small hand into his. Her fingers were a little sticky with the remnants of her dinner and her mouth was rimmed with a clown's smile of bright orange-red.

"Uhh, I guess," he fumbled. "You gotta clean up a bit first though."

Not quite sure how to negotiate the dos and don'ts of taking a small girl into the men's washroom, he decided to clean her messy hands and face with some wipes that they kept in the Trace Lab instead. Ten minutes later and Lucy was happily ensconced in his lap in the A.V. Lab, giggling as he manipulated various photos of his colleagues with the Lab's aging software, and also composited a number of identikits to her specific – and increasingly imaginative instructions.

"He looks like Mr Potato-Head!" Lucy said, delighted with her latest creation.

"He does that's true," Adam agreed as he printed the picture off to add to the small stack of similar artworks on the desk next to them.

Lucy snuggled deeper into his arms. "Can we make Daddy look a hundred again?" she asked him.

"Your wish is my command, young warrior," Adam said and called up the photo and the manipulation software with a quick click of his mouse.

"Are we having fun?" Mac asked dryly from the doorway fifteen minutes later when an identity parade of every Lab member in their dotage along with a decrepit-looking Detective Donald Flack adorned the big screen in the centre of the room.

"Uhh boss," Adam jolted in his chair at Mac's sudden appearance and almost tipped Lucy from his lap in the process. "I was just…" he trailed off with a helpless shrug of his shoulders.

"Look Uncle Mac – everyone is all old and wrinkly!" Lucy said, pointing a small finger at the gallery in front of her.

"So I see," he said as he came further into the room.

"Are Mommy and Daddy coming soon?" she asked him plaintively.

Mac sighed. It was looking as if the siege was going to be more prolonged than they'd originally thought. Negotiation hadn't worked so far but Flack hadn't given up hope of a peaceful conclusion just yet. "We're gonna give it until midnight and make a decision then," he'd told Mac on the phone earlier.

"Have you spoken to Danny again?" Mac had asked him.

"Yeah – I can tell he's starting to get a bit antsy about Lindsay, but she insists she's fine so I don't want to do anything drastic yet. It's mostly Messer playing the overprotective husband from what I can tell."

"I'll call her and see how the land lies," Mac said and on doing so had found Lindsay to be alert and communicative – and much more concerned about her daughter's welfare than the current predicament that she and her other half were in.

"What have you told her?" she asked him.

"Nothing much as yet," Mac replied. "I just told her that you and Danny had gotten caught up at work and you'd be by the Lab to pick her up later. She's fine, Lindsay – in her element given that she's the centre of everyone's undivided attention."

"She's bound to ask where we are eventually though," Lindsay predicted.

"Inevitably, yes, but it's not like we're incommunicado, is it? You and Danny can speak to her whenever you want."

Lindsay sighed. "Well, it's not looking like we're getting out of here before her bedtime anyway, so maybe you could call us up to say goodnight or something? That'd be a relatively normal thing for us to do. She won't realise anything's up then."

"Whatever you think's best," Mac agreed mildly, "The three of you will be reunited before you know it, you know," he added soothingly.

"I know," Lindsay said. "It's just that I try to be there to put her to bed as much as possible and tonight I've failed to do that."

"Through no fault of your own," Mac reminded her.

Lindsay released a soft, regretful sigh. "That's kind of beside the point when you're a Mom, Mac," she said before she forcibly pulled herself out of her funk. "Anyway, her bedtime's at seven," she continued briskly, "And she'll sleep anywhere if she's tired enough. The couch in your office would be a good bet, I think."

"Okay, I'll make her up a bed there then."

"And make sure she brushes her teeth and has a proper wash before she goes to sleep too."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lindsay laughed at his droll tone. "Sorry, I'm getting all Momma Bear on you, aren't I?"

'It's a permanent affliction,' Mac heard Danny quip in the background.

"Someone's got to be a responsible parent," Lindsay's voice faded out for a moment as she addressed her husband/fiancé.

'That's cool – the job's all yours - I have no problem with being the fun one.'

"Mac?" Lindsay's voice came back onto the call. "I think I've changed my mind about re-marrying him. Can I send him back to where he came from?"

Mac smiled. "Unfortunately I think you're stuck with him for good, detective."

"Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to make the best of bad situation then, won't I?"

'Hey!' Danny's indignant protest was quickly followed by Lindsay's tinkling giggle.

Mac laughed. "I'll go and round up your little girl and then call you back," he said. "Sheldon said he'd handed over the babysitting duties to Adam so I dread to think what mischief the two of them have gotten up to whilst my back has been turned."

A little bit mischief as it had turned out, but maybe not as much as he might have expected. He supposed that might have something to do with the heavy-lidded child currently curled up in Adam's lap. All the excitement of her day at pre-school and the subsequent visit to the Crime Lab had apparently worn the poor thing out.

He reached down and lifted her up into his arms. "Okay, little one," he said as she lay her head on his shoulder and stuck her thumb in her mouth. "I've just spoken to your Mommy and she and your Daddy are going to be a little while longer, I'm afraid."

"So I not goin' home yet?" Lucy asked him drowsily.

"No, but Mommy told me it's your bedtime so I'm going to make you up a bed on the sofa in my office. How does that sound?"

"Will you read me a story before I go to sleep?"

"If Adam can find me one, I will," Mac promised, shooting a look at the Lab Tech who nodded and picked up a tablet from the desk and began to search.

Fifteen minutes later, Mac had his little goddaughter washed and nominally ready for bed. Due to the lack of available pyjamas, he'd simply removed her shoes and un-braided her hair, figuring she could sleep in the little dress that she wore for one night.

"Okay so how about we call your Mommy and Daddy to say goodnight?" he suggested, settling her on his lap and pulling out his cell.

"Hey Mac!" Lindsay answered after a couple of rings.

"Hi Mommy! It's me!" Lucy chirped as he switched the phone to loud speaker, "I've been visiting at the Lab with Uncle Mac!"

Mac could hear the smile in Lindsay's voice as she replied. "I know you have, honey. Have you had a good time?"

"Yes, Uncle Doc made me dinner, then Uncle Sid showed me his funny glasses, and then me and Uncle Adam made silly pictures with the 'puters and now Uncle Mac's going to read me a story."

"Well, sounds like you've had a busy afternoon. I guess you must be pretty tired after all that activity, huh?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes, but I goin' to sleep in Uncle Mac's office until you and Daddy get here. Are you comin' soon?"

"I hope so, baby. This job is taking a lot longer than we thought, but we should hopefully be there when you wake up."

"Okay. Do you hafta work again tomorrow or is it a Lucy and Mommy day?"

"It's a Lucy and Mommy day," her mother informed her.

"I think Daddy can be there too," Mac said and watched as his goddaughter's face lit up at the news.

"Really?" Lindsay asked him. "You sure?"

"When tonight is over, you'll both have pulled close to a double-shift. Tell Danny he can take the day tomorrow if he wants."

"Thanks Mac."

"Is Daddy with you Mommy or is he somewhere else?" Lucy asked then.

"He's here, sweetie," Lindsay replied. "Do you want to say 'hi!'?"

"Yes please, Mommy."

"Babe?"

"Yeah?"

"Your daughter wants to speak to you."

"Okay – be right there."

There was a rustling sound and then Danny's distinctive Staten Island tones came from the cell's tinny speaker. "Hey pumpkin! Did you have a good day today?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded even though her father couldn't see her. "First I went to pre-school and we made a model of the planets, and then I visited the Lab after Uncle Mac came and fetched me, and then Uncle Doc made me dinner…" She drew in a breath. "... and then me and Uncle Adam made you look a hundred with the 'puter!" she said with giggle. "Mommy too, but you looks the funniest."

"Is that so, huh? I think I'm going to have to have a quiet word with our Mr Ross."

"Uncle Doc says you and Mommy get to decide when we have a puppy or a kitten, and when I gets to be a big sister too. Is that true?"

Used to the haphazard nature of his daughter's thoughts, Danny only took a moment to catch up with the change in subject. "It is, yes," he told her.

"So can we?"

"Can we what?"

"Have a puppy or a kitten, or can you and Mommy makes a baby?"

"Well, I don't know… what does your Mommy say?"

"She says 'we'll see'"

"Then I guess we'll see, won't we?"

"Everybody's scared of Mommy," Lucy declared with a despondent pout.

Her father chuckled. "Everybody knows what's good for them, that's why," he said. "Now, I think it's time for you to go to sleep, little missy."

"Uncle Mac's going to read me a story that Uncle Adam found for us."

"Well, just as long as it's G-rated," Danny quipped.

"It's suitable, I already checked," Mac told him.

Danny laughed. "I didn't actually think otherwise," he said. "Okay Lucy-Lu – time to say goodnight."

"You'll come in and kiss me when you get home even if I'm fast asleep?" she asked him.

"I will," he promised, "Just like I always do. I love you, pumpkin."

"I love you too, Daddy. Is Mommy gonna say goodnight too?"

"Sure, I'll put her back on."

"Night-night, sweetie," Lindsay said when Danny had handed over the phone. "You be a good girl and go straight to sleep for your Uncle Mac, alright?"

"I will, Mommy. I promise."

"Okay, I love you to the moon and back, sweetheart."

"That means a lot," Lucy informed her godfather.

Mac smiled. "I guessed it did," he said, "But it's time to hang up now, honey, okay?"

"Okay – bye Mommy, I loves you to the moon and back too."

"So let's see about this story then," Mac said once the four of them had exchanged final farewells. Setting aside his cell, he picked up the tablet that Adam had dropped off at his office a short while earlier.

The story turned out to be a tale about a lost robot who was trying to find his way home – perfectly suitable for its pre-school audience despite Danny's misgivings. As much as she was enjoying it, Lucy was nonetheless out for the count well before Mac had reached the last page. Undeterred, he read on until the bittersweet end and then stood up and lay the little girl down on the couch. Picking up a blanket from a nearby chair, he tucked the cover over her sleeping form and then bent and lightly kissed her forehead before straightening up again.

Dimming the lights and switching his cell to vibrate, he returned to his desk, drew up a chair and began to tackle the mountain of paperwork that formed a major part of his never-ending 'To do' list. As the evening wore on and the Lab grew steadily quieter, he methodically worked his way through it folder by folder, all the while silently watching over his slumbering guest and waiting for the call that would tell him that her parents were finally coming to take her home.

To be continued…

A/N2: This chapter didn't really turn out how I'd planned. What was only meant to be the first scene – Mac going to pick up Lucy because Danny and Lindsay were caught up in the siege - ended up being the whole thing! I got totally sucked into writing a cute, fluffy 'Lucy with the team' chapter!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little interlude – we'll be back with our hero and heroine next time, I promise!