Wesley Van De Camp was heading out of town to take care of some administrative work concerning the family company.  Wesley had thought it best to travel the considerable distance by train and so he headed through the busy train station with his ticket in hand.

Wesley looked very respectable, dressed in his black business suit and polished shoes, the strap of his black bag resting across his chest completed the look of young businessman or polished student. His beloved green, fingerless gloves preventing his refined ensemble from becoming pompous.

Wesley felt perfectly fine as he walked without the need of a cane or wheelchair. Yes it was early enough in the day for him to still feel at full strength before his Myasthenia gravis began to make his muscles feel noticeably weak. The weather was also working in favour of the 26 year old’s health as it was uncommonly cool in Miami today, with slightly gray skies above that threatened possible rain.

Wesley reached the barriers leading to the platform his train was stationed in, he fed his ticket to the machine and the barriers parted. Wesley sauntered across the platform making his way to one of the emptier carriages. He vaguely noticed another commuter standing on the platform wearing a long greenish-gray coat as he went. The man had his head down and his collar pulled up, his demeanour was a mixture of ‘shifty eyed’ and ‘troubled soul’.
The man’s demeanour caught Wesley’s full attention and being the legally minded law student that he was, Wesley purposely clocked the man as best as he could from his vantage point just in case anything was to happen.
The man, oblivious to Wesley’s observation of him, stood on the spot and looked at the train route pamphlet in his had, he seemed to be doing no harm so Wesley thought no more about it.

Wesley’s eyes fell on a sweet 8 year old blond girl wearing an elegant white and pink dress as she eagerly and over excitedly run towards the train ahead of her mother, “Come on!” The bright and smiley girl said hurrying her mother who was being slowed down by luggage, “Slow down Lilly.” Her mother replied with an amused chuckle. Wesley smiled warmly at the scene, the girl reminded him of his younger cousin whom he absolutely adored, he knew that she would be just as over eager at the prospect of a train ride.

Wesley stepped onto the train, he walked past a few seated commuters and chose an empty booth a little farther away from them. Wesley removed his bag and placed it on the table in front of him, he looked round to see that Lilly was taking a seat at booth next to him. The girl kneeled on the seat facing sideways towards Wesley with a bright smile, “I’m riding on the train” She said happily, “So am I” Wesley replied, the young girl’s friendly innocence bringing a smile to his face, “We’re going to a wedding.” She said delightedly. “Hey you. Come on” the girls mother said calling Lilly back to her, “Sorry, I hope she’s not bothering you.” The mother said to Wesley as she came to get her daughter, “No trouble at all.” Wesley assured her, “It was very nice to meet you.” Wesley said to Lilly, looking into her big sweet eyes.
The girl hopped down from the seat and eagerly ran to the other end of the carriage almost ploughing into Mac Taylor as she went. “Sorry.” The mother said with a hint of a Scandinavian accent on Lilly’s behalf, before she squeezed past the other boarding commuters so that she could join her daughter and luggage at the end of the carriage.


Wesley gave a polite nod and smile to Mac as he passed, then he turned his attention to the document on his laptop in front of him.

The cool weather was not much of a bother to Mac Taylor, although the rain clouds overhead made a small frown cross his face for a few seconds. It was not a sight he was unfamiliar with. He'd seen it many a time over the New York skyline, and the cooler weather brought a great break for him, even though he had grown somewhat accustomed to the warm, rather humid or muggy on some days, climate of Miami.

It was not cool enough for him to run to his long sleeve shirts, however accustomed to warmer weather he was. A black t-shirt and a matching pair black slacks did suitably fine for him and he'd since retired his sunglasses to the safety of his bag neatly hung over his shoulder with his train ticket in hand. A little break from Miami could not have possibly hurt him. Yes, he was leaving behind Skyla for just a little trip by himself and, yes, he was also leaving for a few days from a job he had no trouble or problems doing, but... it was a break. And everyone needed a little time for themselves, didn't they?

Casual was one way of describing his look overall for the day, but it wasn't to the point of lacking a degree of his professionalism still underneath. A 'just right' kind of meeting of all sides of his personality, he was guessing.

Using his ticket to get onto the platform, it was not beyond Mac to take note of the people and environment around him. Nothing stopped him in his tracks at this point, but he did take a note in the back of his mind about the man in the long coat with his jacket collar pulled up. Shrugging off his thoughts that trouble could be hidden behind that shady style of standing on a train platform with your head down and checking out the planned route and telling himself trouble could be found anywhere you looked for it, he boarded the train only to bring himself up short with a rather instinctive smile when he saw the girl almost collide with him.

"It's no trouble," he said with a soft smile, letting the mother past so she could keep up with, or... try to... he should probably say, with her daughter, but not before hearing just a hint of a foreign accent in her language. He cleared his mind of his law enforcement-acting instincts to take good note of anything and everything that could be suspicious, and scanned his blue gaze down the rows of seats quickly to find a seat with no intentions of bothering anyone around him. A quiet train ride would do just fine for him at the moment.

Taking notice of a young, well dressed man giving him a polite nod and smile as he passed, Mac made sure to return the small nod before taking an empty seat just in front of the man, who turned his attention back to whatever he was doing on his laptop.

Settling down and pulling out his phone to let Skyla know he had made it on the train, just because he wanted to let her know out of a courtesy kind of thing, Mac paid little mind to the other commuters boarding the train. It wasn't like it was his business to take note of everything they were doing. He was expecting a simple train ride and nothing more. After all, it was a train with a bunch of other people on it... It wasn't exactly a prime spot to do anything too terribly against the law. Regardless of that, he had brought his badge and ID along, God forbid that he should need to show it, out of occupational-driven habit.

Wesley once again read through the document that he had prepared days ago in preparation for the minor business meeting he was due to attend today between the other administrative works he was going to take care of. Not that Wesley had any needed to refresh himself on the material he had prepared, his brilliant mind was more than capable of retaining the marginal amount of information, it was really just something for him to do while he was waiting for the train to finish boarding.

While at the end of the carriage Lilly was fidgeting impatiently as she sat well behaved in her seat, waiting for what felt like an eternity, “When is the train going?” she asked her mother, “Soon.” She replied. After about five minute the doors closed and the train began to depart from the station. Lilly gasped and smiled excitedly when she heard the sounds of departure, she moved close to the window, put her face near the glass and watched enthusiastically as the train began to move.

Wesley felt the train begin to move. He shut the lid on his laptop and looked out of his window to watch as the train pulled away from the station. Wesley was not that accustomed to travelling by train so this was still a fairly novel experience for him.

Wesley began to zone out as he rested his head on the seat and gazed out of his window admiring the passing landscape with a half smile on his face. Wesley lost all sense of time as he sat there in his own little world enjoying the hypnotic scenes of his beautiful view and the relaxing rhythmic sounds the train created.                
After a while Wesley turned his bluish-gray eyes back inside the train, he casually looked at the passengers near him, all living out their individual lives.

He observed a passengers strike up a friendly conversation with the two passengers next to him, nonchalantly asking them where they was going and why, etc.
Wesley turned his head forwards and his eyes happened to rested on Mac Taylor simply because he was seated in the both directly in front, although it could appear to Mac as if Wesley was staring.
The man had a serious yet potentially friendly face and an air of professionalism that seemed like it could never be switch all the way off.

Wesley thought about striking up his own conversation with the stranger, but quickly decided against it. After all Wesley was somewhat socially uncomfortable and the man looked ‘potentially’ friendly, meaning there was a chance that he was potentially unfriendly.
Wesley decided to just leave the man be, this was public transport and not law school or a Mensa meeting and Wesley knew how socially awkward he could sometimes be in ‘the real world’.
Wesley smiled inwardly at the though, “Almost too smart to function.” Something his friend would tell him every time he made a gaffe.
Mac would have to be the one to speak firs if he had anything to say to or ask Wesley.

Mac kept the text short and to the point and had slipped his phone back to his bag by the time the train began its departure from the station. He still preferred calls over texts, but for his own sake so he wouldn't get caught in a conversation he really wasn't up to holding on a train, he settled on the text.

Old schooled? Quite possibly. Half of an amused smile slipped into form on his face as he thought about it. He had gotten teased almost relentlessly for that back in New York, but all in good humor. And... well... Not much had changed. He had told himself the job would need done no matter where he went and he distinctly remembered wondering if he was running from his problems when he'd said those final goodbyes at JFK.

Watching out the window now, he threw off those thoughts of the past. It was almost troubling to him that he was still bothered over his decision. He had a great life in Miami - a good job and good friends. Then again... they did always say that the past haunts, did they not?

You are way too hard on yourself, he thought with a slight frown, And you know plenty of people who'd have your ass if they caught you thinking like you are right now. Another privately amused smile. Who was he kidding? Relaxing with the motions of the train, he shook off all of his twisty-turny thoughts. He was living, and working, in Miami, and that was how it was going to stay. He'd told himself there was no turning back, and he had intentions of keeping that promise to himself.

Really... he could go on about this trouble with himself for endless hours. There was truth in words on both sides of his mental argument with himself. And he guessed the only reason he kept thinking about New York when his mind wasn't occupied with other things was because he still felt connections to that city as... one might feel to where they were raised, he guessed. But Miami wasn't losing horribly, either. He'd started over here in this city, and tried to find a stability here away from that which he'd known in NY.

Was it beyond reason that he'd done so? He found himself frowning as he watched the scenery go by outside the windows. If he wasn't in public, he would've raked a hand down his face in his personal discomfort with his thoughts. He didn't like letting his mind roam like this, but it was one of the few things in his current life he seemed to not have control over. Quite frankly, he didn't try to control it either. More so he let himself think over all of it and get uncomfortable, so he was essentially doing this to himself.

That was enough to set a deeper frown onto his face. He decided that that was the thing in this whole mess of his mind that was a bit beyond reason. It seemed quite pathetic that he did, and he could easily assume that many would judge him for thinking like this or think he needed some kind of help for it. Maybe he did, and maybe he didn't. And he was not believing that time would tell in this case.

With a soft sigh, he firmly shook his head to clear it. Thankfully, it kind of worked, and he allowed his gaze to travel without too much interest over the other passengers around him. Small talk was being made politely, and here and there he could hear what might be a few jokes between potential strangers that probably lightened the serious, personal mood that he felt lingered on the train. It took him that long to actually realize that he was, in a sense, being watched. It wasn't much of a bother... After his 'train wreck,' not that he wanted to jinx the ride or anything, of a trail of thoughts, he was inclined to believe that something as small as being watched couldn't even scratch the surface of what could potentially bother him. It was quite small in comparison to the things that would actually trouble him.

Not up to sitting in silence and letting his thoughts lead him into an area of his life he didn't want to be in anymore, he decided on picking up a small conversation with the man he was sitting in front of, "So... Where are you heading?" It was probably the most awkward line he could've chosen to pick up the conversation, but something more casual escaped him at that moment.

As he looked at the younger man, once again noting his very professional style, he considered the possibility that he shouldn't have bothered him, but... Too late to go back on that now.

Just as Wesley had finished thinking to himself about striking up a conversation with the stranger, the man asked where he was heading. Wesley was taken a little by surprise, it was like Mac had read his thoughts and asked the question for him. One of life’s weird little moments.

“West Palm Beach.” Wesley answered, paying no attention to how awkwardly Mac had delivered the question so as not to cause him any embarrassment. Wesley knew that he would have delivered the question just as or even more awkwardly himself.
“I’m on my way to take care of some administrative work for my parents. Putting my tuition to good used proofread some minor legal documents and such, I’m a law student you see.” He added, chattily giving Mac more information than he had asked for. “And where are you heading?” He asked, politely returning the question.

After Mac had answered, Wesley motioned to the empty seat the other side of the table he had his laptop on, “Sorry, I don’t know the social protocol here. Would you care to join me, save calling across to each other?” He offered thinking it might be nice to have a companion to break up the remaining two and a quarter hours of his journey to West Palm Beach.
The phrase ‘social protocol’ making it obvious to Mac that Wesley was upper class, if his attire and polished English accent hadn’t already made it painfully apparent. “I’m Wesley by the way.” He said introducing himself with a friendly tone.

Mac nodded when he heard the story from the younger man explained where he was going and what he would be doing there. Him being a law student explained his professional style of dress, and the experienced detective easily picked up on the polished accent with which he spoke. "Fort Lauderdale," he replied when asked where he was heading. "It's just a break I'm taking for a few days from Miami. Law Enforcement keeps me busy," he explained, keeping the explanation of his work to simple words. This young man seemed trustworthy enough that he probably could've gone into more detail and explained he was a CSI with MDPD, but... experience would make Mac cautious of giving out that information so quickly.

And it was when the man next spoke that Mac understood he not only looked like he knew his place and his job quite well, but spoke the terminology to confirm it. At the offer to join Wesley, as the man introduced himself, Mac shrugged just slightly and nodded. "That'd be fine with me," he agreed before adding his own introduction, "And I'm Mac, Mac Taylor." He offered his last name on the personal instinct to. He was too used to introducing himself by his first and last name, or... his nickname, really (not that he saw it that way anymore after all the years he'd spent being addressed by it), and last name to stop with just his first name. It had become a simple habit of his.

“Your police then are you?” Wesley asked making friendly conversation when Mac mentioned that law enforcement kept him busy. A vague statement that did not clarify what area of law Mac worked in, but Wesley could spot a fellow lawyer anywhere and he surmised from Mac’s appearance and demeanour that he was most likely a detective or the like.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Wesley said when Mac took a seat, giving him a firm handshake with his clean, green-fingerless gloves still on.

“So what do you plan to do in Fort Lauderdale? Do you know anyone there?” Wesley asked knowing that most people loved to talk about their vacation plans be it to friends, co-workers or even strangers.

Wesley listened to however much Mac wanted to tell about his holiday plans, and as the men spoke the grey clouds that had been looming above finally began to give rain, sending odd patterns of water streaming across the moving windows. “I like the rain.” Wesley said with a light smile as he watched the water dance on the glass for a moment, “A lot of people find it depressing. They whish it away for more sunshine.” He said turning back to Mac, “But they forget that we need the rain just as much as we need the sun.” He said half making conversation, half airing his thought out loud. “...It gives life.” Wesley said speaking to himself rather than to Mac as he once again looked at the rain on the window with a deep, thoughtful expression, the statement coming out rather profoundly.

Wesley appreciated the need for rain a little more than most. Not only did it give life to the earth, it also gave life to him, or rather it prevented the hot Miami weather from aggravating his Myasthenia gravis which bleed the strength from his muscles, compromised his independence and even put him in a wheelchair from time to time.
Wesley knew the rain was the reason he had the strength to be on this train right now, it was the reason he could make this trip to do something back for his long-suffering parents that would make him feel useful rather than a burden.

Wesley finished this thought and turned back to Mac, he knew if he didn’t he would end up sitting there in rude silence getting lost in his own head, one of the pitfalls that came with being a genius.

It took only a few moments for the rain to start falling heavier and heavier until it was a full downpour. The Grey clouds above thickened and turned to black, even letting of the occasional bolt of lightning.

Mac nodded to confirm what Wesley said about him before he took his seat beside the young lawyer, now comfortable enough that he felt he could clarify that he was an officer and say what he did without instinctively thinking about the problems - to put it lightly - that could arise from giving information to the wrong people. "I'm a Crime Scene Investigator with MDPD," he said.

Gladly accepting the firm handshake from Wesley, Mac offered the younger man a friendly smile, "It's nice to meet you, too."

When asked about his plans, Mac sighed lightly and shrugged. "I'm not really sure, to be honest," he said, "I definitely didn't plan on anything elaborate. A couple days to just unwind and really relax is all I'm looking forward to doing," he admitted, flashing an easy-going kind of smile to show he wasn't one for too much of the upper class fancy-style things one could get with a wallet that was thick and full enough. That certainly did not describe his wallet and he was mighty satisfied with that.

He considered life as he knew it pretty alright. He had an honest job that paid him enough to live his life with what he needed, and that was all he really needed. So his lack of elaborate plans was not uncharacteristic in the least. He had never been one for getting out, as he was constantly reminded and teased about. The thought made him smile slightly.

He looked to the world on the other side of the dappled glass as Wesley mentioned the rain. It was indeed raining, as the clouds had suggested, and it seemed to be picking up quite happily. He then turned his attention back to Wesley as the man went on to explain his comment about liking the rain, appreciating the thought behind his words. It was very true that so many often forgot that rain was rather important. Without it, where would the world be? Right?

"I'm guilty of it myself," Mac admitted, turning his gaze back to the droplets racing each other down the window of the train. "I have to admit that a heavy rain sure did dampen the New York commute," he said, "I used to work for NYPD, you see, and when we got a heavy rain, we'd have all kinds of traffic, not to mention they'd shut down the subway lines if it got bad enough," he explained. "And the rain never helped us investigators, of course. Water dilutes DNA and washes away evidence more often than not. Never did help the pressure of an investigation. But you make a good point." He nodded with his last sentence, looking back to Wesley with a light smile, "I shouldn't complain because I wouldn't be here without all of it, huh?" he asked, his gaze turning lightly amused as he watched the rain again outside.

The rain was in full swing by now, and every so often a crack of lightening would pierce the sky in quite the foreboding fashion - a good reminder of Mother Nature's natural power that could be put into good use just off shore now. And he had never thought he'd be living in Florida... Who would've thought he would've considered living in a place so prone to such natural disasters like hurricanes? He'd had enough trouble on dry land, after all.

He'd only been thinking through it for a little while when the train began to screech to an unexpected stop, and in the shelter of a tunnel, no less. With one last lurch forward, the train was at a full standstill, and Mac's blue gaze snapped up attentively as he heard the conversations around him and Wesley go quiet and turn into curious murmurs.  A trace of a frown flashed across his face as he glanced out the window to the dark tunnel. "Must be trouble with the train...," he guessed aloud, voicing his thoughts with Wesley beside him since it did seem kind of natural to do such a thing considering that no one knew exactly what was going on.

Wesley listened as Mac said that he was from New York and explained how the rain sometimes affected his crime scenes there. Wesley knew what Mac was talking about in regards to DNA evidence and he was just about to comment that he was learning about how DNA evidence is used in court when the train suddenly began to screech and slow down. Wesley, along with the other passengers, looked around confusedly, not knowing what was happening until the train came to an abrupt stop inside of a tunnel, jolting everybody in their seats and dislodging a few bags of luggage.

“Apparently so.” Wesley said agreeing with Mac’s speculation as he glanced around his surroundings.

Suddenly the lights cut out in the tunnel as well as in the train, leaving everybody in total darkness and confusion for about 20 seconds until the row of emergency lights in the ceiling kicked in, giving the train a gloomy, shadowy ambiance.

“Are you alright?” Wesley asked Mac, making sure he had not been hurt in the disruption. “Looks like the power is out.” Wesley commented, stating the obvious. He assumed it was most likely a short caused by the storm.

Wesley remained calm and composed, there was no immediate danger and he knew that rescue services would come and evacuate the train. But Wesley also knew that it would only take seconds for some of the other passengers to begin to panic after all of the confusion was gone, and he was glad to know that Mac was an officer and that he would be able to take charge of the situation and keep people calm.

Mac nodded as the lights flickered once and then blinked out completely, his gaze lingering on the tunnel outside the window, not that he could see it with the lights kicked out. It wasn't more than maybe 20 seconds later and his eyes were readjusting to the light as the emergency lights on the ceiling kicked in. Kind of creepy considering that the tunnel remained dark and left the train looking somewhat... out of place entirely, but... It wasn't like it was a horror movie and it wasn't like Mac was the type to automatically think of it that way.

He looked back to Wesley as his question broke through his thoughts about the train. "Fine," he said, dismissing the question easily without a second thought with his one word answer. He then nodded again in agreement with the statement of the obvious problem troubling the train. "System failure, maybe," he guessed with a shrug.

"My daughter! My daughter!" Mac's blue gaze snapped up attentively, the near-scream of panic instantly grabbing his attention and kicking his instincts to his work without him so much as blinking. "My daughter's gone!"

God bless his recognition of that accent... The mother that had apologized for her daughter plowing into him when he boarded. He remembered the incident quite well, but that wasn't the problem to be concerned with.

Rescue would be here, but that wouldn't help them in the meantime. Anyone missing on a train could not possible mean anything great for the remaining passengers. "Alright, everyone calm down!" Mac raised his voice so he could be heard as he stood, slipping past Wesley to step into the aisle and raising a hand to catch the attention of anyone he might've missed by his call, "What do you mean you daughter's missing?"

"She was sitting right with me!" Mac searched briefly for his police ID in his bag as he listened and found it in the side pocket for his ease of access, thank goodness. Fishing it from its proper place, he slipped it to his pocket and turned back to the woman. "The train stopped and I looked for her after the lights came back on and she was gone!"

"Alright, calm down and have a seat," Mac advised, guiding the woman to a nearby empty seat and pulling his badge out of his pocket to show her, "I'm a detective with MDPD; my name's Mac Taylor. Do you have any idea where she might've gone?"

"She probably just ran off." Mac looked over his shoulder to see a man who'd stood from his seat and was currently wearing a slight frown. As reasonable as his words might sound to any other passenger, Mac knew that wouldn't be enough for a worried mother like he had in front of him.

"Lilly wouldn't just run off!" the mother protested, "She was with me! I-I don't know where she could've gone! She would've told me before going off anywhere..."

"Alright, just calm down," Mac soothed, gently taking her arms to get her focus on him, "We're gonna find her, okay? I'm sure she's fine."

Wesley quickly looked back at the panicked woman as she exclaimed that her daughter was gone.
Mac was quick to jump to his feet and he was successful in keeping everyone calm.  

“She couldn’t have gone far.” Wesley chimed in reassuringly as he stepped over to Mac and the woman, “She probably just got frightened when the lights went out and hid.” He suggested, trying to help calm the woman down.
The mother nodded anxious. “Lilly.” She began to call out to her daughter from where she sat.

“Lilly.” Wesley called as he moved about the train, looking underneath the tables.
“Lilly. It’s okay baby. Where are you?” The mother called as she got up from Mac and searched the carriage for her child. The other passengers all joining in the hunt for the missing girl, searching in crevasses and underneath tables.

Wesley moved some of the fallen luggage in case the girl had been trapped underneath, but there was no sign of her.  After a few more minutes of searching the mother once again began to panic as the number of possible hiding spaces quickly disappeared, “Lilly. Lilly!” The mother called more frantically and desperate, “Where is she?! Where could she go?!” The mother cried, turning to Mac.

Wesley became more determined in his search, his efforts fuelled by thoughts of his own beloved and much younger cousin and how desperate he would be to find her in a situation like this. But it soon became apparent that Lilly was nowhere to be found. Things did not look good.

With a deep frown Wesley looked at Mac from part way across the train and shook his head.

Mac nodded in agreement with Wesley's suggestion and soon moved from the mother to join in the search for the missing girl. This was a train though, and it was clear very quickly that they weren't going to find Lilly on the train.

He sighed gently as he looked back to the mother, who was panicking again, and understandably so. One look back to Wesley confirmed what he didn't want to have to tell this mother who was suddenly missing a daughter on what was supposed to be a simple train ride.

"It's alright," Mac said, moving back to the mother and trying to keep her at least remotely calm, "We're gonna find her, alright? I promise." Standard questions came to him then and he almost winced because he didn't want to ask them and insinuate that he believed something more was afoot on this train.

Biting at the inside of his lip for a moment, he told himself he had to ask. "Miss... This is going to sound out of line, I'm sure, but I have to ask... Do you know anyone who could've possibly wanted to take your daughter?"

The woman nodded and calmed down slightly, but Mac’s reassuring promise only offered her a small amount of comfort. She anchored onto Mac’s words and she had every faith that he would find her daughter, it was too disturbing and too soon to think otherwise, but Mac had no chance of consoling the woman until he could put Lilly in her arms.

The woman was obviously in shock, she looked at Mac with a slightly dazed expression as she listened to him deliver his delicate question. The mother processed his word, “No…no…who would want to take…” Then worry suddenly filled her face as horrifying scenarios flooded into her mind, “It could have been anyone. Lilly. Please you have to find her. You have to find her, please.” The woman sobbed desperately, holding onto Mac’s arms and begging him with desperate eyes.

With nowhere left to search Wesley could only stand by as Mac proceeded with his line of questioning. He looked on with great sympathy wishing he could help in some way to console the distraught mother, but he know that was not possible right now.
Wesley was careful to give Mac enough breathing space to work and question the woman as he stood to one side ready to offer Mac any assistance he could.

Mac gave the woman time to let his question sink in before nodding at her words. But he didn't focus on her answer all that long. "We will, alright?" he asked her gently, wishing he had something more reassuring to tell her when he saw the desperation in her eyes as she held onto his arms, which he didn't protest, for the record.

"We'll have to look elsewhere, " he said decidedly after a few moments and looking back to Wesley, " If she's not on the train, there isn't many other places she could be." He began chewing at his lip as he thought about where Lilly could have gotten to, or been taken, for that matter.

The tunnel. It was the next best thing off the train. But with the lights down, they'd need other ways of seeing. "We need to check outside the train. The tunnel out there's dark, but it's the next place I can think to look for her. There's probably plenty of places for her to be if she got off this train." It sounded terribly unlikely, but for the sake of the mother in front of him, Mac was willing to give the longest shot a chance.

If there was one rule of investigating that you could easily learn through experience, and even if you knew it, you had to relearn and remember it by instinct, it was that some of the wildest-sounding leads could get a case somewhere. There was not to be a stone left unturned. Especially when the case involved a missing little girl.

Wesley felt a deep pang of sympathy for the distraught mother as she pleaded with Mac to find her baby. He sighed quietly as he shook his head and turned his eyes to the ground slightly, unable to fully watch the heart breaking scene.    

Wesley then found himself looking around suspiciously at the other passengers, he could not help but wonder if any of them where responsible for or connected to Lilly’s disappearance, or if the perpetrator/s where elsewhere with the little girl right now.
It was a disturbing thought to know that anyone of the people around him could have been responsible for this disgusting, anger enduing atrocity, but Wesley was careful to keep his feelings of anger and disgust inside and to continue to project a calm and competent composure for the sake of the distressed mother.

Wesley nodded when Mac said they would have to search the tunnel, “We haven’t looked in the engine room either.” Wesley pointed out, referring to the front part of the train that pulled the rest of the carriages.

Wesley forced his fingertips between the doors and then began to pry them apart, but with the power cut it was not an easy task. With a strain Wesley managed to push them open a couple of inches, then Mac joined in the effort and together the men where able to pull the dead doors open just enough to get through.
Wesley pulled his phone from his pocket, he set it on torch mode and shone it straight ahead, illuminating a small section of the eerily dark tunnel, “It’s not much detective. But it’s all I can offer I’m afraid.”
Unless Mac could come up with something better, or maybe get some real torches from any of the other passengers, it would have to do.

“How do you want to do this?” Wesley asked, not knowing who Mac wanted in the tunnel and who he wanted to keep on the train.

Mac nodded in agreement when Wesley pointed out they hadn't checked the engine room, and he was certainly thankful for the help. Let's all be honest... Wesley was the only Mac knew he could trust without question on this train. He'd sat in front of the young lawyer for most of the ride and beside him for the rest of it up to this very point here, so he knew Wesley wasn't connected to this little girl's disappearance at all. Call it harsh if you like, but it was as true.

Working with Wesley to pry the door of the train open, he slipped out into the dark tunnel after the younger man. Even with Wesley's phone, it was still terribly dark, and Mac got the sense that, with the light, the darkness seemed much more threatening on the edges where light faded to shadows.

"It'll have to do," Mac said, chewing slightly at his lip as he thought. What they could really use was a legitimate flashlight, but he had no idea if anyone regularly would carry a flashlight on a train ride like this. But there might be some on the train...

The idea hit him and he almost snapped his fingers because it made so much sense, but he restrained the action and looked back to Wesley. "You pointed out that we didn't check the engine room. There might be a few flashlights on this train somewhere, and that could help. Nothing we can use will do much, but it's better than nothing," he said.

That was when he turned to answer the next question. "We need some people to check over the rest of this train and preferably head towards the engine room. I'm assuming that if the power went down, this train would be ready for it by having some source of outside light in case the back ups didn't work, and I think the best place to look for those flashlights would be up that way towards the front of the train," he explained, "Do you think you can help me organize these people do that?" Then, something else hit him as a good idea to express, because he felt it should be known. So, he looked Wesley in the eyes, "You're the only one on this whole train that I know didn't do anything," he said quietly, not wanting to raise any alarms with the other passengers, "You were behind me or beside me this whole ride. I want you to know I'm trusting you, and I'll probably ask a lot of you through this, but you're the one I know I can trust with all of this. I can't account for any of the other passengers' actions as well as I can yours, but if any of them are involved, it's only a matter of time before we find out." He stopped himself to chew slightly at his lip again, "I think we all need to be careful, and I plan on telling all of them, too. We might be looking at more than a coincidence with the power on this train down inside this tunnel. If that's the case, we're looking at an outside man, and I don't want anyone hurt, and that includes Lilly."

Mac’s theory about there being flash lights at the front of the train made sense, after all it would be the driver’s job to check things out in the event of a malfunction or emergency and not the passengers, so it stood to reason he would have a flash light, as well as means of communication, such as a radio, to report a problem...providing that it had not been taken out with the power.

“Yes. Whatever you need Detective.” Wesley answered with a nod when Mac asked if he could help to organize the people.

Wesley nodded and cast a questioning glance at the other passengers when Mac confided that he was the only one he could trust. Wesley was in accord with Mac on that point. The truth of it was that Mac was also the only person Wesley knew that he could trust right now, for those very same reasons. Right now these men only had each other to rely on while they try to get to the bottom of this case before it’s too late, and both of them knew it.
It was nice for the young law student to know that Mac had so much confidence in him and his capabilities, Mac seemed like a skilled and seasoned professional and Wesley planed on living up to his expectations.

“Of course. Anything I can do.” Wesley pledged with strong, dutiful resolve when Mac went on to tell him that he would probably ask a lot of him. Wesley felt a strong obligation and responsibility to do what he could to help find the vulnerable child, even if it meant literally crawling around in engine grease. Prestige and ego was not an issue to Wesley right now, finding Lilly was and it came through in his tone and bearing.

“I’ll follow your lead.” Wesley reply in regards to Mac’s comments about it being a matter of time before they found out if any of the passengers were involved, and his comments that the power outage could have been caused by an outside man.
Wesley had no desire to see anybody get hurt any more than Mac did, so he would leave it for the detective to decide what to say and what not to say to the passengers (come possible suspects) concerning the issue and just do as Mac asks of him.

Wesley began to help group the passengers together in the carriage so that they could coordinate a search as Mac had asked, “Excuse me. Gather round please.” He called out loud enough for everyone to hear, without it becoming an actual shout. “May we have your attention please?” He called in a very clear voice.

Mac nodded in agreement when he had Wesley's words about helping out. The younger man had skills and qualities Mac valued highly in this situation. Not to mention having one whom knew the law like he did as a partner in this... case... was more helpful than words could manage to describe.

Wesley was calm, cool and collected, and that, Mac knew, would go an extremely long way in managing this situation.

Stepping back onto the train with Wesley so they could group the passengers in their search efforts and explain the possible situation, Mac let Wesley gather the group and gave everyone a few moments before he started to explain, raising his voice and making sure to keep his words to the point so he wouldn't waste time, "As you all know, we've got a time sensitive situation here," he began, "We're going to need your full cooperation, and I have to remind you all to be careful." He let his deadly serious gaze rest on the crowd for a few moments, trying to clock every face he could for a mental list of possible allies - and possible suspects.

"Wesley here is going to break you up into groups," he picked up where he left off after just a brief moment's pause to indicate the younger man with him, "We need to search wherever we can, but I need you to know that you all need to be safe first. No one needs to get hurt here." He let the last sentence settle for a moment, trying to see if it'd have any certain affect. Not seeing what he was looking for, he pushed it to the back of his mind and added his last few words before he'd let Wesley take the wheel, "Keep in mind that this power going down might not be an isolated incident and it might not even be coincidence," he said seriously, "We can't be too careful. I want you all to remember that there might be an outside person involved in this, and that means anyone could get hurt. I want to make sure that doesn't happen. No one needs to get hurt."

Everyone listened carefully as Mac spoke, a couple of faces showed slight alarm as his words sank in, but there were no noticeable indicators or expressions of guilt.

Once Mac had finished addressing everyone, Wesley immediately began forming all of the able passengers into small groups.
“Okay safety is key. As the Detective said we can’t be too careful.” Wesley began once everybody was organized into small teams and had been handed their own search tasks, “We are going to use the buddy system. Stay in your group and never go anywhere on your own. Remember it is pitch black out there and we have limited light sources, so be very careful, walk slowly and feel your footing as you go.” Wesley took the picture of Lilly that he had borrowed from her mother, Sharona, and passed it around among the search teams, “This is Lilly, the little girl we are looking for. Search thoroughly and come back here when you have finished or if there is a problem. This will be our meeting point.” The teams all nodded in acknowledgment to Wesley’s instructions and they were all ready to go once Mac gave the order.

Wesley took a step back and left the floor open in case Mac had anything else he wanted to say. He then turned to the detective ready to go with him to the engine room.

With nothing else to add on at the last minute after Wesley had finished up, Mac felt that it was time to release the teams to the search. "Remember to check back here or with the others if you need anything, and know you can find me or Wesley if you need us. The pair of us are going to search the rest of the train and head towards the engine room, just so you know where to look for us. And then that's it, so... Get started, and be careful."

Stepping back with Wesley to let the other passengers past to start searching, he turned his full attention to the younger man now that they'd sent the passengers on their way, but his face was grim with experience of the task they had ahead of them. He knew as well as anyone that this could very well not end how they'd like it. He'd spent too many years investigating crimes of this like and of much more violent from the start ones that he couldn't possibly lie that there were chances against them, but he was stubborn enough and not that lost in all the negativity he had seen in his years that he still held on to the hope that everything could be resolved positively, and hopefully that'd be sooner rather than later. "I'm ready when you are to get started then," he said, "Shall we get started?"

The passengers stepped out of the carriage in teams and began their search of the tunnel.
“Yes. Absolutely.” Wesley replied in earnest when Mac turned to him, he knew time was of the essence.

Without wasting another moment Wesley went with Mac to begin searching the rest of the train along their route to the engine-room. “Lilly. Lilly.” He called out periodically as he searched underneath tables, in luggage compartments and every place in between in the hope that the little girl might give a reply or some indication to her whereabouts.

It was too soon to expect the worst outcome in this case, there was still a lot of hope of finding Lilly unharmed, but so far the men had not found anything, and as Wesley became aware of how much eerier the dimly lit scene seemed with a lack of passengers, he, like Mac, could not block out the depressing reality that there might not be the happy ending that everybody was working for.
Even so Wesley was not ready to go there yet, he steamed ahead with the search literally praying to God Almighty that they would find the missing girl or at least a clue or whiteness that would lead them to her.

“Lilly.” It seemed futile but he had to try.

Still coming up empty Wesley looked over to Mac, “Have you found anything?” He asked as he continued to search without pause, even though Mac would probably have announced any findings right away.
Wesley knew the detective would have more experience spotting and knowing what was evidence, he was really just here to assist and if one of them was going to find a lead, the chances are it would be Mac. Wesley was just asking in the hope that it would happen sooner rather than later. IF it was going to happen that was. Not to mention it broke the unnatural silence of the eerily empty carriage.

Mac didn't hesitate to start searching for Lilly once Wesley had agreed they should start, and he remained on high alert as they proceeded forward, searching for any sign that Lilly was still on the train and just hiding somewhere.

In all honesty, believing that was hard enough when you were a detective for over ten years of your life and even harder when you added in service time as a Marine like Mac had. The lighting of the train really didn't help. It almost put Mac in mind of Central Park on a dark night when the fog and the mist still hung around. The perfect stage for a couple kids screwing around and frightening innocent civilians into giving the patrolmen a long night of taking calls that turned out to be nothing. In a normal situation, the thought would've made Mac smirk. But now was not the time...

Although Mac was hoping they'd find Lilly unhurt and find out they'd just worried too quickly of the worst, he let Wesley take the part of calling out for the young girl. What his focus really was on finding was any sign of something foul. The slightest upset of anything on the train could be a sign of an unwilling little girl going with someone who could possibly have very bad intentions.

That was when something occurred to him, and it was enough to make him stop in his tracks, almost not hearing Wesley's question about if he'd found anything. "Did we pass any other doors forced open?" he asked, looking over at Wesley. "With the power down... If anyone took Lilly off this train, they would've had to have gotten off somehow, and I highly doubt someone would be stupid enough to keep her on the train." Not to mention the fact that they hadn't found anything on the train to suggest that the young girl was on the train at all besides her mother and the luggage.

It was a theory before he had all the facts, and that was not one of Mac's favorite things to do, nor was it a habit of his to do such a thing, but... There was certainly enough facts on the board to assume that it wasn't a bad idea to check... And if it was the case..., there would be plenty of evidence to suggest that it was true.

Now he had something, and he voiced his thoughts almost without realizing it, "I mean..., think about it... If you're trying to get off a train with a little girl that doesn't want to go with you, you will want the quickest way off the train that won't catch the attention of the other passengers. A door is your best bet, unless there's another exit out of this train. Plus you have to keep her quiet, especially if she didn't know this person..." Wait, he thought suddenly.

They hadn't heard a thing when the power went down. That, or it had managed to be enough of a distraction that they'd missed what was to be heard. He had asked Lilly's mother if she knew anyone who could've wanted to take Lilly, but... in all reality, her answer hadn't been that straightforward, nor had it been extremely helpful on giving Mac any direction on who might've decided to take the risk of shutting down an entire train that was full of passengers just to take one little girl.

What if Lilly did know this person? Because it was looking very likely that her running off was just a figure of their imaginations that made this seem like a little mission to find a scared young girl who had been frightened enough to forget that it was safer to stick with her mother. If that was the case... Was it possible that she was comfortable enough with this person that she had figured it was okay to go with them?

Of course, with all of this running through his head, it only made sense to explain to Wesley, "What if she knew the person that took her off this train? We didn't hear anything when the power went out, so if she was comfortable enough with whoever took her, she wouldn't have fought at all. That makes this person's job easier, and it narrows down the list of people that could've decided to try to pull this off..." No, he didn't want to jump to conclusions, although that was getting just a tad hard to do now that they still hadn't found Lilly. Yes..., this theory made perfect sense. Everything they knew at that moment seemed to collaborate with it, and he didn't know just yet if that made their job easier or harder.

Wesley listened as Mac aired his first theory that the perp would have wanted to get off the train as quickly as possible.
Wesley shook his head in response to Mac’s question, “No the door have all been shut so far.” Wesley said with a disappointed frown, but it was something to look out for.    

Then Mac’s expression suddenly changed as he had another theory. What if Lilly did know her ‘kidnapper’? Leaning to the more and more likely scenario that Lilly had in fact been taken.

Wesley stopped searching for a moment as he looked Mac in the eye, “That would make sense.” He said agreeing with Mac’s second theory, “After all, aren’t the majority of abductions perpetrated by someone familiar?” He said, frowning at the grim fact. “Everyone teaches their little ones about stranger danger, but you don’t really think about it when it comes to the people you know. A child wouldn’t hesitate to trust a friend or family member.” It was a heartbreaking conjecture but a very credible one that the pair had to explore.

“It would be a good idea to talk to Mrs. Sanchez again, once we have spoken with the driver.”  Wesley suggested, referring to Lilly’s mother Sharona. “See if she can think of anybody who might have taken her daughter now that she has had some time to think about it.” He said to Mac as they resumed their search en route to the engine room.

“Lilly.” Wesley shouted once again, he had obviously lost nearly all hope of hearing a reply but what else could he do?
Then Wesley spotted something as the pair moved towards the next carriage, he stopped on the spot momentarily as his eyes feel on the carriage doors up ahead. He immediately moved to the doors to have a closer look.
The doors were open just an inch or two, “Detective.” Wesley said calling Mac over to show him the scuff mark where the nearly closed doors joined together, most likely tool marks from a crowbar or lever used to pry the dead doors open at some point.

“Without electricity it took both of us to open the doors back there, so tool marks might suggest whoever opened these doors did it alone.” The great intellect suggested to Mac, airing one of the many possible theory out loud for the professional MDPD detective to conceder.
   

(Ooc: Sorry for the delayed reply, but some of the posts did not show up on the screen for a few days. Some sort of glitch that seems to have gone now thought:) . Ps I like your new banner, it is very nice

Mac nodded, frowning just slightly as Wesley told him what he'd figured: all the doors had been closed that they'd come across at least up to this point.

He then looked back to Wesley, meeting the younger man's gaze evenly with eyes narrowed in thought. He gave a small nod to confirm what had been pointed out. "More often than not," he said, "Personal motive or I'd otherwise tell you that the leading cause to kidnap someone would be for ransom, but I highly doubt that in this situation. If this kidnapper, and that's saying we're looking at a kidnapper, and they wanted money, I'd have to ask why they didn't just hold the whole train. That's a lot more motivation to anyone they could've been asking," he explained, chewing on his lip slightly. This is more simple than money... This is that girl... So what are we missing?

He looked back up at Wesley as it was mentioned they should talk to the mother again, and he nodded in agreement. "Hopefully she's taken the time to think some of that through. I hate to worry her with it all over again, but that's the kicker of the job - to mend anything, you more than likely have to break a few things on the way and hope that those things can be fixed by fixing the thing you set out to fix."

With all of this now in mind, Mac moved with Wesley to the next carriage of the train. It was not even a few minutes before he heard Wesley call him over, and he joined the younger man without hesitation.

"Most definitely tool marks," he muttered quietly, repeating what Wesley already had suggested as he took a closer look at the marks on the door. "Anything that would've given that kidnapper more leverage would've helped, but I'm thinking this was a crowbar," he said, looking back to Wesley. "I've seen these marks plenty of times before, and I've unfortunately even seen them and things similar down in the morgue. This is definitely enough for Lilly to get out of and anyone who was with her."

That was where he stopped and frowned, gaze shifting to the dark tunnel outside the train. "They couldn't have gotten far... Especially with weather like this...," he said, eyes darkening with the idea that occurred to him then. "We need to get to the engine room and find those flashlights and then talk with the mother as quick as we can." He looked back to Wesley, "And I hate to say it, but... there's no doubting this now. I think we're definitely looking at a kidnapping. The only questions left are who took her and where do they have her now? And why...? Why Lilly?" he said quietly, "That's what makes it so important to talk with the mother... If we know a 'who', we'll probably have a 'why.'"

(OoC: Don't worry about it. I noticed it to. Who knows what was up, but I'm glad it's all good now. And thanks! I seem to do new ones almost all the time when I get bored. xD)

The tool marks confirmed it, this was a kidnapping and it now had to be handled as one.

Wesley frowned as Mac state the fact before he looked into the dark void of the tunnel and audibly noted that the kidnapper could not have gotten too far with the bad weather.
Just as the words had come out of Mac’s lips an almost ear-splitting clap of thunder caused the ground to vibrate as if to purposely giving them some hope and confirm the detective’s comment.

“Wow.” Wesley whispered to himself as he heard the thunderous boom and felt the light vibration under his feet. Wesley glanced Mac a brief look that said “Do you think that was coincidence or...” before Mac went on to finish all that he had to say.

The men finished their search of that carriage then moved on and, why Lilly? Was a good question that kept going round Wesley’s head as they quickly and proficiently made their way through the other carriages. But unfortunately the answers had yet to be found.

The men made their way through the dimly lit train and Wesley followed Mac as he went into the engine room.

The driver, Glen Rigby turned away from the radio he was using to face the men as they stepped into the room, “You can’t be in here.” He said very sternly with an annoyed glare in his eyes, almost before Mac had a chance to set his foot down on the floor. Then Glen caught sight of the detectives badge and his strict expression softened into one that was ready let Mac speak, one public servant to another.