Hey everyone, here's another fic, it might seem a bit soppy, but I 
was in one of those moods!!
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy!!

Behind Glass Doors
Author: Louise
Email: lj_brown2@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I do not own stingers or the characters, they belong to 
the two Rogers!!
Note: Only the odd bit of language, nothing too frequent.

"Pete, can I see you in my office?"
"What is it?" Pete asked, soon after following Mac into her office.
"Does the name Roulnecci ring a bell to you?"
Pete thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, he's the biggest 
crime boss going around… Tony, isn't it?"
"Yeah, he's been under investigation by fraud and drugs for the past 
year, but lucky for him, those in the know disappeared and were later 
found murdered. Roulnecci has supposedly tight alibi's for each 
murder and homicide were unable to come up with one piece of physical 
evidence."
"So let me guess, homicide has palmed it off to us, so we do their 
investigation and they get all the credit for bringing down a major 
crime boss?"
Mac nodded, "you got it in one! His wife, Rachel, refuses to talk to 
police, saying she wants her and her son kept out of the situation. 
Homicide feel she has powerful information that could send her 
husband to jail for life, which she can do, but is understandably too 
afraid to talk."
"So, what's our job?"
Mac handed Pete the file. "We're going in as their new next door 
neighbours in Toorak. Our job is to ensure her safety and protection 
and to allow her to open up to me, without either of them knowing 
we're cops."
"No worries. When do we start?"
"An hour. Oscar and Angie will be on surveillance."
"What about Danni?"
"She asked me for some time off…needs to sort things out," Mac 
replied, surprised Pete hadn't known.
"I'll go home and grab a few things and meet you back here," Pete 
said, grabbing his keys and leaving.

Forty-five minutes later, Pete arrived back at the factory.
"Whoa, a beamer…do I get to drive it?" Pete asked, referring to the 
brand new BMW 4-wheel drive Mac was putting her things into.
"Maybe, if you're a good boy!"
"Always," Pete replied with a cheeky grin.
"I think the jury's still out on that one."
Pete leant in and whispered in Mac's ear, "is there anything I can do 
to convince the jury?"
"They don't take bribes!" Mac replied with a grin, turning on her 
heels and walking away. Pete shook his head and watched on as Mac 
disappeared into her office.

Cover house~
Pete brought the last of the bags into the house, "that is the best 
drive ever…so smooth and…"
"Will you shut up about the bloody car? The whole way here, you have 
gone on about how smooth it is, how quiet it is and how it's this and 
how it's that!" Mac said, frustrated by Pete's constant ranting.
Pete smirked, "I know what this is about. You're just jealous because 
I drove."
"Mm, whatever," Mac replied sarcastically. "But if it doesn't stop, 
you get the couch every night!"
"I'll shut up about the car now, on one condition," Pete started.
"What's that?" Mac asked with raised eyebrows.
"You cook my dinner every night," he replied grinning.
Mac scoffed, "that's a deal, if you like being food poisoned."
The doorbell rang interrupting their banter. 
"I'll get it," Mac said walking to the entrance while Pete took the 
bags upstairs.

"Robbie," he heard Mac call out.
"Yeah," Pete replied slowly walking to the front door.
Mac looked at Pete and then pointed towards the woman standing on the 
stoop.
"Darling, I'd like you to meet our neighbour, Rachel Roulnecci. 
Rachel has invited us to dinner tonight."
"I saw the two of you pull up and thought that cooking would be the 
last thing on your minds when you have so much unpacking to do."
Pete nodded, "that's very generous of you, and we would be pleased to 
join you for dinner."
"Great. Come over around 6:30 and we'll have a few drinks 
beforehand," Rachel said as she prepared to leave.
"Thankyou for that, and it was a pleasure meeting you, Rachel."
"You too. I guess I'll see you later then," she said disappearing 
down the path.
Pete closed the door, "looks like I'm saved from getting poisoned 
tonight!"
"Lucky you…come on, we better get unpacking."

Roulnecci's house~
Just as they finished eating the baby started crying.
"Good timing," stated Mac looking over at Rachel who stood up.
"Yes, but unfortunately it means he'll be waking for his next feed in 
the middle of the night. Would you like to come and meet Thomas?" 
Rachel asked Mac.
Mac nodded, "ah, yeah, ok."
Once the women had disappeared, Tony turned to Pete.
"I have a very nice port in my office," he said standing.
Pete gave a little laugh, "thanks, but no thanks. I've had way too 
much already."
"I'd be offended. Besides, it gives us a chance to talk business."
"If you insist…but if I cop it from Lynda, I'm blaming you."
Tony laughed, "okay. We have a deal."
*
"So Robert, what do you do?" Tony asked as he poured the first round 
of port.
"Honestly, or do you want to know what my wife thinks I do?"
Tony looked at Pete intriguingly, handing him his port. "I'd like to 
hear both."
"I'm a hit-man. Only work for the best…those that pay the best. Lynda 
thinks I'm a lawyer. Well, I am a lawyer, but 95% of my time is spent 
doing hits. I then cover the arses of the men who hire me to do the 
hits." Pete finished off his port and handed the glass back to Tony 
for another one. "What do you do?"
"Rach knows exactly what I do…actually, not entirely everything I do. 
I'm in the drug trade and sell illegal firearms. When one of my 
workers betrays my trust, I appropriately dispose of them."
Pete smiled, "and that's the part Rachel doesn't know?"
"Correct…how would you like to be on my payroll?"
"As what?"
"Let's say I could do with all your skills!"
Pete looked around the room, "I'd be honoured."

Com-v~
"Good work Pete!" Oscar stated with a pleased smile. Angie just sat 
there, pretending to listen to the wire.
"If only he mentioned the words `ordered hits' he'd be gone." Oscar 
looked at Angie, but she still refused to pay any attention to 
him. "Must be that time of month," he mumbled under his breath.

Roulnecci's~
"Are you and Robert planning on having children?" Rachel asked as she 
handed her son over for Mac to hold.
"Eventually…Robbie just wants to wait until a few of his big cases 
are out of the way."
"Well, you are a natural," Rachel said indicating to Mac that she had 
rocked Thomas off to sleep. Mac gently placed the baby into his 
bassinet and quietly snuck out with Rachel.
*
"Come in," Tony called out to whoever knocked on his office door. It 
was Rachel and Mac. Mac walked over to where Pete was sitting and 
upon looking at his glazed over eyes, she realised she was going to 
have one hell of a time getting him home.
"Robbie darling, it's getting late and we should get going. We have 
the removalists coming first thing with the rest of our furniture."
Pete quickly finished off another glass of port as he struggled to 
stand. Mac had to help steady him, "thanks for the dinner mate and 
we'll talk more about that proposal in a few days."
"My pleasure, thanks for coming. It was good to meet you, and you 
Lynda."
"Thankyou Rachel and Tony for having us. It was a lovely meal." Mac 
said in return.

Cover house~
Mac struggled as she eventually got Pete upstairs and into the 
bedroom. "What did you and Tony talk about?" Mac asked, helping Pete 
get undressed before he passed out.
"I can't remember," he replied laughing. "His office is bugged, isn't 
it?" Pete asked, slurring his words.
"Yeah…god, how much did you drink?" 
"Tony's fault, he forced the bloody port down my throat!"
"Forced it did he? You haven't heard of the word no?"
Pete laughed. "Negative…come here babe," he said, pulling Mac by the 
front of her blouse. "Let's do it for old times' sake!"
Mac didn't take any notice of where Pete's hand was.
"Shouldn't you try screwing Ange before going back to someone you've 
already had!"
Pete let go of Mac's top angrily, "oh what? What's that supposed to 
mean?"
"Well you've slept with two of your female colleagues, just a matter 
of time before Angie becomes your next office fling!"
Pete scoffed, "you can talk…how many homicide boys have you gone 
through?"
With that, Mac stood, slapping Pete hard across the face. 
"How dare you!" She yelled at him before leaving the room.

Com-v~
Angie and Oscar couldn't believe what they had just heard over the 
wire.
"Tell me they knew you wired the house?" Angie asked.
"I thought I told Mac, but she may not have taken it in…she was on 
the phone at the time."
"This unit must be renowned for recruiting arseholes!" She stated 
looking pointedly at Oscar.

Cover house~
Once Mac had calmed down, she picked up her mobile.
"Ange, it's Mac."
Ange tried to pretend she didn't hear Mac and Pete's 
conversation. "Hey Mac. Have fun at dinner?"
"Not as much as Pete."
"Why, what happened?"
"He's extremely drunk and because of that we kind of had an argument…
but that's not why I'm ringing. Because he is so drunk, Pete couldn't 
remember what he and Tony had discussed, so could you fill me in?"
"Pete put himself on offer, as a hit-man and as a lawyer. Roulnecci 
has enlisted ALL of Pete's services. He also said how he `disposes' 
of his workers who betray his trust, but didn't exactly say he has 
them `knocked-off'!"
"Thanks Ange. The sooner we can arrest him, the sooner Rachel will be 
safe to testify against her husband."
"No worries…Mac, if you need to talk about what happened, I'm here 
alright?"
Mac sighed tiredly, "thanks, but I should be alright."
She hung up the phone and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a 
bug on the inside of one of the lamp shades. "Shit!" She muttered to 
herself, wondering how many other bugs were around the house and 
where. 

"Awe," said Pete clutching his head early the next morning, feeling 
his drinking efforts from the previous night. He slowly moved out of 
bed and went downstairs. Mac knew Pete had entered the kitchen, but 
ignored his presence. 
"Morning…oh that is the last time I mix my drinks," Pete stated, 
oblivious to what had happened between him and Mac the previous 
night. "Are you alright?" He asked concerned, upon noticing Mac 
hadn't acknowledged he was finally awake.
"You obviously don't remember then," she stated, ignoring his eyes.
"Remember what?" Pete asked cautiously.
"It doesn't matter. It's been said, so I'd rather forget about it!"
Pete scoffed, "before you `forget about it' do you mind telling me 
what `it' is?"
"No, I have to go next door and meet Rachel for breakfast," Mac said 
walking out the door.

Com-v~
"What are you doing?" Angie asked Oscar as he picked up the phone.
"Telling Pete why he's in the shits with Mac so he knows and he can 
make it up to her," Oscar replied, getting ready to dial Pete's 
number.
"Oh no you don't!" Angie exclaimed, ripping the phone from his 
clasp. "I wish you'd stop playing little miss goody too shoes! I 
think Mac's doing the right thing by making Pete sweat it out, so 
just leave things that don't concern you alone, Oscar!"
"Grow up Ange," Oscar sighed.
Angie scoffed, "I am not the one who needs to grow up. This is not a 
school yard Oscar, this is a job where we play with people's lives, 
and if you're running around playing the yard dibber-dobber, how are 
we supposed to stay focused on the job?"
Angie and Oscar stared at one another, neither breaking the gaze 
until Mac and Rachel's voices were heard over the wire.

Roulnecci's house~
"You look tired, didn't you sleep too well?"
Mac looked up, unable to stop yawning, "mm, no, not particularly. 
Robbie was extremely drunk and kept me awake all night."
"Tony was the same…can I ask you, did Robert mention anything about 
working for Tony?"
"Ah, he mentioned something about an offer too good to refuse, but he 
didn't elaborate on it."
Rachel shook her head, "tell Robbie whatever he does, don't accept 
it. Tony's business dealings are dangerous…extremely dangerous, and 
if he knows what's good for him, and you, he won't accept it."
"What do you mean?" Mac asked in a worried tone, sitting forward in 
anticipation.
Just as Rachel was about to speak, Pete interrupted them.
"I hear you've been slightly unwell today," Rachel said as Pete 
approached them.
Pete forced a smile, "I'm hoping it's just morning sickness…is Tony 
around?"
"In his office," Rachel replied reluctantly. Once Pete was out of 
sight, Rachel turned her attention back to Mac. "Tony…he's a crime 
boss. His main dealings are based on drugs…cocaine, and illegal 
firearms. But that's not all he does. Many times his workers have 
been approached by the police, to become informants so they can 
escape harsh penalties. When Tony became aware of this, he ordered 
that those workers be…that they were to be killed, immediately." Mac 
watched as Rachel broke down. All she could do was console her, but 
fear struck her when she saw Tony watching from behind the glass 
doors that overlooked the back patio. 
"I fear for my baby's life. I want him to end this, but if he knows I 
know, I'm scared he would…"
Mac didn't let her finish, "ssh, it's alright. I won't let him hurt 
you or Thomas. I promise you." She looked back over towards the glass 
doors, but Tony had gone.
*
"I might have a job for you," Tony said, walking back into his office.
Pete looked up, "already?"
"Yes, I just need 24 hours to gather some information, then I'll get 
back to you with the details. With regards to payment, I'll give you 
$50k before the job and $200k afterwards."
Pete whistled at the amounts, "how could I possibly refuse?"
Tony smiled, before shaking Pete's hand.

Cover house~ 
"What did Rachel have to say?" Pete asked not long after they got 
back from the Roulnecci's.
"She told me she knows about Tony's business dealings, including the 
orders to have those workers killed. She's as scared as hell for her 
life, and Thomas'." Mac was quite short with Pete, only answering 
questions relating to the job and still not maintaining eye contact 
with him.
"I was offered a job today, but Tony didn't go into much detail. Said 
he needed the next 24 hours to gather some info. Big money too – "
Before Pete could say the amount, Mac cut him off. "He's offered you 
a job?" She asked. Pete nodded. "Shit! He's going to have you kill 
Rachel."
"What makes you say that? As far as he knows, Rachel hasn't got a 
clue about everything he does."
Mac shook her head, "Pete, he knows now. After Rachel told me, she 
was crying in my arms and I looked over to see him standing behind 
the glass doors watching. He had this look of betrayal written all 
over his face." Mac started to get worried about Rachel. "We have to 
call it in now. We have Rachel on tape, she'll testify against him, I 
know she will."
"Mac, he hasn't said who it is yet. It may not be Rachel. We're 
better off waiting until he lays the full offer on the table 
tomorrow, then we call it in…he won't do anything himself, he's far 
too gutless!"
Mac shook her head, "I hope you're right Pete."

In the early hours of the next morning, the doorbell rang. Mac slept 
on the sofa again and awoke immediately. She grabbed her gun from 
under the sofa just as Pete joined her downstairs.
Slowly, Mac opened the front door, but there was nobody there, until 
they looked on the doorstep. It was Thomas, all rugged up in his baby 
capsule. Mac walked outside, down the path and looked up and down the 
road. There was nothing or nobody else around. Pete picked the 
capsule up and the bag that was with it and went back inside with 
Mac. 
Mac picked the baby up as soon as he started screaming. As she did, a 
note was in the bottom of the capsule, where Thomas had been lying. 
Mac grabbed it and read it aloud:
      Dear Lynda and Robert,
      I entrust my son's life and safety into your care. I'm 
fearful of my life and know he'll be very well looked after by the 
two of you. If anything should happen to me, please take care of him 
and protect him from Tony. Please do not try and find me, I need to 
get as far away from here as possible and I couldn't risk taking 
Thomas. I know Tony will come after me and this is why I am doing 
this.
Thankyou,
Rachel.

Mac looked up at Pete, grabbing her phone and dialling as quickly as 
possible.
"Ange, did you see anyone in the street?"
"How long ago?"
"In the past five, ten minutes?"
"No, why?"
"Rachel's disappeared."
"You think Tony's done something to her himself?"
"No, we think she's just run away. She dumped Thomas on our doorstep 
and left a note, but didn't say where she was headed."
"Do you want me to call missing persons?"
Mac thought for a moment, "no, we'll wait and see what Tony says to 
Pete in the morning…see ya Ange, talk to you then."
"Bye Mac."

"Angie and Oscar didn't see anything," Mac relayed to Pete.
Pete nodded, "why don't you take the bed for the rest of the night?" 
He offered.
"I don't think I can sleep," Mac replied, clearly upset that she had 
let Rachel down.
"Me neither…do you want a coffee?"
"Yes please," Mac replied taking a seat on the sofa as she tried to 
rock Thomas to sleep.

A few hours later after Mac and Pete had finally fallen asleep on the 
sofa, the phone rang waking them.
"Robert speaking," he answered.
"It's Tony. We have a small problem…I need you to come over now if 
you can," he ordered.
"On my way," he replied.

Roulnecci's house~
"What is it you wanted to see me so urgently about?"
"That job I offered you last night, no need to worry about it now."
Pete scoffed, "what? We had a deal."
"I know, I'll pay you for reneging on the deal, but I took care of it 
myself. I had to act on it straight away and didn't have time to call 
you and fill you in on the details."
"What did you do with the body?" Pete asked.
"It's still here."
"I'll help you dump it. The bodies I've dumped in the past, still 
haven't been found. But I'll need to duck home and grab the things I 
need, okay?"
"Won't Lynda get suspicious?"
Pete shook his head, "it's also the gear I take when I go fishing. I 
won't be long."

Com-v~
"I'm calling backup in," Oscar said clutching his phone quickly.
Angie had already dialled Mac's number from her phone.
"Mac, it's Ange…backup's on its way. Pete will probably explain to 
you when he gets back," Angie hung up just as Pete was entering the 
cover house.

Cover house~
"What's happened?" Mac asked as soon as Pete entered the house.
"Tony said that he's already taken care of the job he offered me…he 
didn't say who, but no prizes for guessing."
Mac looked down at Thomas who was starting to stir. It was time for 
his next feed. Pete was worried when Mac hadn't said anything as she 
silently walked into the kitchen to make up the formula for the baby. 
"I told him I'd help him move the body, so can you ring Ange and 
Oscar and tell them to hold off until I've given the signal?"
"When will that be?" Mac asked Pete quietly.
"Not until I've seen the body…I should be getting back now," Pete 
said, carrying the gear he needed.
Once Pete had left, Mac looked down at Thomas again who seemed to 
have taken to the bottle quite well. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as 
a tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

Roulnecci's house~
"Where is it?" Pete asked dumping the things on the floor beside him.
"You took your time," Tony replied suspiciously.
Pete chuckled, "don't worry, I didn't tell Lynda anything. We're 
still not fully unpacked so I had to first find the box this stuff 
was in, and then search through the box. Never realise how much crap 
you have until you move house!"
"It's out in the back shed…follow me," Tony finally replied, taking 
Pete outside.
Tony pulled back the sheet that was covering the body to display 
Rachel. Her body slit from head to toe. Pete had to hide his disgust, 
showing a tough, unbothered face.
He looked up at Tony surprised, "you were wanting me to kill your 
wife?"
"Yes, you have a problem with that?"
"No…I just thought you loved her."
"I did, until she too betrayed my trust. The stupid bitch had told 
your wife about my orders to have people killed."
Pete feigned worry, "Lynda didn't say anything to me."
"Hopefully she'll keep her mouth shut, if she knows what's good for 
her!"
"Well she's not going to know about this…what about Thomas, where is 
he?"
Tony shrugged, "that's why I ended up killing Rachel. She refused to 
tell me what she did with him. She snuck out for an hour just before 
I killed her, so she could have taken him anywhere."
"Let's get Rachel's body out of here before someone comes snooping 
around," Pete said for the benefit of the wire.

Com-v~ 
"Code three, code three, move in now," Oscar said over the police 
radio. On the screen Oscar and Angie saw a swarm of cops entering 
Tony's property and surrounding it. 

The factory~
The whole way back to the factory, Mac was silent, focusing her 
attention on Thomas in the back. Pete knew she felt bad about what 
happened to Rachel, although she hadn't said anything. Mac's silence 
was enough of an indication.

Mac and Pete walked into the office area while Oscar and Angie were 
in the middle of a conversation. One that was beginning to take an 
ugly turn.
"Ange, I'm sick of this. When will you get over the fact that I told 
Mac about Sam being connected to that drug case?"
"I am over it Oscar. What I am not over is that I can no longer trust 
you…I thought you were one of my best friend's. Obviously I was 
wrong!"
Oscar rolled his eyes, "can't you see, I did it to protect you, 
because I care about you?"
"You have a great way of showing it!"
"Come off it! It wasn't the first time Sam had gotten mixed up in 
drugs."
"You think I don't know that? Stop bloody preaching Oscar, because 
Sam's not the only one to get caught up in drugs around here…what 
about you last year? Or have you forgotten that? With you Oscar, it's 
not do as I do, it's do as I say!"
"I know that what I did was stupid, that's why I wanted to help you 
get Sam off the gear."
Angie scoffed, "what, while you were still abusing steroids? Get the 
hell away from me Oscar…I've had it with you. And to think I once not 
only thought of you as a best friend, but also as a lover…how could I 
be so stupid?"
"Ange," Oscar started as he grabbed hold of her arm.
She pulled it out of his hold and faced him, "just leave me alone and 
get out of my face!"
Before Angie could walk away, Mac called out to her.
"Angie, can I see you in my office?" She asked gently.

Mac put the baby capsule on the floor in her office as she took a 
seat next to Angie.
"Wow, that was some display!" Mac began, trying to calm Angie down.
"Yeah," Angie scoffed, "what is it with the boys in this unit?"
"Tell me about it!"
"I don't think Oscar and I can move on from this," Angie said shaking 
her head.
Mac nodded, "I know how you feel. Pete and I had a pretty big 
argument the other night…"
"I know, we heard it over the wire."
"I thought you must have, but I wasn't quite sure where all the bugs 
were positioned."
"You knew we were listening in?"
"Not until after, when I saw one of them in the lamp shade."
Angie scoffed, "Oscar was wanting to tell Pete what he had said to 
offend you. He's such a boy scout!"
"I think that's a major problem in such a small unit…we get too 
close, sometimes far too close, to our colleagues, then sometimes all 
hell breaks loose."
"Do you think you and Pete will get over what happened?"
Mac shrugged, "I don't know. I guess we'll probably have to push 
passed this as best we can, especially if Thomas stays in our care."
"So what happens now…with Thomas?"
"Pete and I are meeting with our lawyers this evening to discuss 
whether or not the letter is legally binding. Rachel didn't have a 
will, both sets of grandparents are dead and Tony is definitely going 
down for life. If they decide that Thomas can't stay in our care, 
he'll be made a ward of the state."
Angie looked sadly down at the baby, picking him up gently. "He's so 
gorgeous. What child deserves this?"
Mac nodded, still feeling upset by that days events.

While Mac and Angie were discussing things in Mac's office, Pete and 
Oscar were sitting in the locker room drinking beer. 
"When is she going to get over that?"
"You deserve to be in the dog house with her for this long…at least 
you know what she's pissed off at you about!"
"You still don't know why Mac's hardly speaking to you?"
Pete shook his head, "how do you know she's not really speaking to 
me?"
"The cover house was bugged, you idiot!"
"So, you'd know the reason why?"
Oscar nodded, "yep, but according to Angie, I'm enough of a 
little `dibber-dobber', I think is what she called me."
"Forget about that, tell me what happened…please?"
"Alright, but I didn't tell you…you went through the tapes, okay?"
"That's a deal!"

Mac's house~
The two lawyers carefully read over the letter and compared it to 
other pieces of Rachel's handwriting.
"It's definitely authentic," Mac's lawyer said as he handed the 
letter back to her.
"Does it matter that we're not really `Lynda and Robert'?" Mac asked.
Pete's lawyer shook his head, "no. The fact Rachel knew the two of 
you as `Lynda and Robert' is enough to suggest that as a couple, you 
are well suited and equipped to take care of young Thomas."
Mac and Pete looked at one another as the lawyer said the words "as a 
couple".
"Either Derek or I will organise adoption papers and they should be 
processed within the week or so. If you have any queries, let us know 
and we'll take care of them," Mac's lawyer said as the two stood, 
ready to leave.
"Thankyou for clearing that up so quickly for us," Pete said shaking 
both men's hands.

Pete and Mac sat in silence, still comprehending the fact they had a 
baby entrusted into their care.
"I'm sorry about what I said to you, the other night when I was 
drunk," Pete said suddenly out of the blue.
Mac scoffed, "so Oscar did tell you?"
"No, I went through the tapes to find out for myself…what I said was 
pretty nasty, and although it's not an excuse, I was drunk and would 
never say anything like that to you normally."
"It's something that was obviously in your mind, otherwise you 
wouldn't have said it at all," Mac stated matter-of-factly.
"What's your excuse for what you said to me? That was a bit harsh, 
just as harsh as what I came back with…you baited me."
"You were extremely drunk and tried to crack onto me…I guess I was 
still hurting after having tried to get back with you, only to find 
out it was your child Danni was carrying."
Pete laughed slightly, "if only I think before some of the things I 
say and do, I wouldn't be in as much trouble all the time!"
"Pete, I let her down…I should have warned Rachel, made sure she got 
out of there before Tony had the chance to…" Although Mac had 
completely changed the topic of conversation, Pete was glad she had 
finally opened up about the case.
Pete placed his arms around Mac, running his hand over her hair, "you 
didn't let her down…we weren't to know it was her Tony was planning 
on having me kill. If we had of tipped Rachel off about Tony's plans, 
don't you think he would have been the slightest bit suspicious? Tony 
would have known I told you and you told Rachel. It wouldn't have 
only been Rachel's life that was ended that night, our lives too!"
"Pete…" Mac sobbed in Pete's arms until both had fallen asleep on the 
sofa.

Next day – the factory~
Mac and Pete arrived together with Thomas, Mac deciding it wouldn't 
matter seeing how Thomas was still at the stage of sleeping most of 
the time.
"So you're keeping him?" Angie asked with a smile.
"Sure are. Our lawyers are organising the adoption papers as we 
speak," Mac replied, giving an uncertain smile.
"How are you going to work it?"
Pete shrugged, "we haven't really had time to discuss that."

Mac disappeared into her office for a few moments to leave Thomas in 
there while he slept. By the time she came back out, Danni had 
arrived from her time off.
"Danni, I didn't think you'd be back so soon," Mac stated, surprised.
"I know, I got bored," she replied laughing. "So, what's been 
happening?"
Mac and Pete looked at one another realising the sensitivity of the 
situation about Mac, Pete and Thomas, considering it was only a few 
months ago that Danni had to make that difficult decision about her 
baby.
"Ah, I'll fill you in later, but first there are a few things I need 
to discuss with the group," Mac said, looking at Oscar and Angie 
pointedly.
Danni, Pete, Oscar and Angie took seats while Mac stood showing her 
authority over the rest of the team. 
"I'm aware there are a few rifts amongst members of the group, and 
while I think they need to be sorted out, and quickly at that, I'm 
hoping relationships don't become anymore strained than what they are 
already."
Oscar looked at Angie, but she simply maintained her focus on Mac, 
listening contently to what she had to say.
"As a result, the moment there is trouble brewing between members of 
this unit, I want you to come directly to me so that whatever it is 
can be sorted out immediately without stress. I don't want problems 
and issues simmering to the point where those involved just explode. 
It can put you and everyone else in a dangerous situation when 
working…got it?"
Mac watched Pete, Oscar and Angie nod, before turning her attention 
to Danni who sat there stunned, unaware of the events which had 
passed while she was away.
"Danni?" Mac asked, noticing Danni not replying to her question.
"Uh…uh, yes, understood."
Mac smiled, "good…all dismissed. Danni, can I see you in my office?"
"Sure," Danni replied, hoping to finally get a hold of what had been 
happening.

Ten minutes later, Danni and Mac emerged. It looked as though Danni 
had been crying, but the two were now sharing a laugh. 
Danni walked over to Pete, "I hear congratulations are in order?"
"Yeah, thanks…Danni, no hard feelings?"
"No hard feelings," she replied with a smile before hugging Pete.