The room was mostly dark, save for the streaks of white, snow reflected sunlight that cut into the otherwise gray room, illuminating the messy contents within. In the center was a queen sized bed, with space for two, though there was only one figure hidden beneath the covers. Around the bed, the room was slightly messy, a pair of slacks hung over the foot of the bed and a pair of dress shoes sat haphazardly by the closet. On top of the nightstand sat a digital alarm clock, its green digits one of the only visible sources of color in the room. The clock read just before seven, the bottom portion of the numbers partially obscured by a block of black plastic, metal, and glass.

The aforementioned black block of solid material had been buzzing steadily for several minutes now, and only as the clock read 7:00 did the figure in the bed begin to stir. Out from under the covers came an arm, a small band of gold shimmering as it passed through the sparse rays of sunlight. The arm swatted blindly at the hunk of plastic, fingers fumbling as they wrapped around the little device. Pulling the phone back under the covers, Jacob didn't even bother opening his eyes as he answered the phone.

[color=tan]"Hullo?"[/color] He said in a thick voice, filled with drowsiness.

"There you are, Jacob. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." came the warm bass of Solomon Tanner's voice. 

[color=tan]"I'm just trying to regain some of my sanity before the next case."[/color] Jacob replied tiredly, though at this point he had thrown the covers off of his body. He and Tanner were on good terms, but Tanner never called for casual conversation, especially not this early in the morning.

"Well Mr. Mcalister, I hope you've regained a sufficient degree of sanity, because we have a big one today, and I'm going to need you to come in today a little bit earlier than usual." Sol replied pleasantly, causing Jacob to give a small groan. "I hope thats not too rough on your daughter- she is coming to visit today, isn't she? The whole office is quite excited. Shiloh has already set apart a few hours of her schedule..."

[color=tan]"Yes,"[/color] Jacob sighed, [color=tan]"She's coming."[/color] 

Jacob had no idea why he had agreed to such a proposition. Tanner made the offer a few weeks ago, since Jacob was stuck working- even through most of the Christmas season, Tanner thought it'd be a good idea to bring Amanda into the office during her winter break. That way, she wouldn't have to spend the entire break by herself, waiting for her father to come home late at night and immediately fall asleep. By bringing her to the office, there was always someone to at least keep an eye on her, and she would invariably be able to keep herself entertained with [i]something [/i]in the office. Shiloh had even offered to help Amanda with her studies and homework over the break- which surprised Jacob greatly, Shiloh was never someone to [i]offer[/i] services. 

On the other hand, Jacob didn't like involving his daughter with his work, it wasn't something that she could- or should, be talking about in school, and his job wasn't always safe either. Tanner however, argued that his daughter was safest at the office, where there was close to a dozen armed paranormal agents sitting in there at any one time. Most of the arguments Jacob could come up with, were easily countered by the confounded reasoning of Solomon or one of the other agents, and admittedly it was mostly Jacob's bull-like stubbornness that prevented him from readily taking his daughter to work.

"Ah, excellent. I shall see you and your daughter soon." Tanner said in a upbeat manner before the two exchanged their goodbyes and hung up.

Jacob quickly dressed himself in one of his work suits- a dark steel blue one with a white shirt and black tie. Running a brush a grand total of twice through his hair, Jacob pulled on a pair of brown leather shoes, and pulled his leather shoulder holster over his shirt. Unlocking a strongbox on his dresser, Jacob slid his pistol- black with a titanium plated slide, into his right shoulder, and his two spare magazines into his left. He threw his jacket over his shoulder and proceeded out of the bedroom. 

Jacob walked into the kitchen to find his daughter already up and about, walking happily around the kitchen- the happiest she had been in a long time, Jacob noted. She was clearly more excited with the prospect of visiting the PHI offices than he was, and had woken up extremely early to cook breakfast, to expedite the amount of time they'd have to spend at home before they left.

[color=lightcoral]"Hi daddy![/color] Amanda exclaimed excitedly as she offered him a plate full with food. Jacob blinked a couple times. His daughter took after her mother in that both of them were quite bad with food. The food was lukewarm- Amanda had woken up at around 6, and had finished cooking by 6:30, leaving the food to cool down in the hour Jacob had spent waking up and getting dressed. The toast was overcooked, and the sunny-side up eggs weren't cooked enough, but Jacob swallowed them anyway at the risk of ruining his daughter's good mood so early in the morning.

Three cups of strong coffee later, the small Mcalister family was out of the apartment, their breaths visible as they walked through the white streets; large, calloused hand in smaller, fleshy one. It was a bit of an odd sight, a tall, gaunt man with a suit and overcoat holding the hand of a little girl in a fluffy white jacket and a Scooby-Doo backpack. Like her father, the small girl had piercing gray eyes, but like her mother, she had a round, soft face, and a head of dirty blonde hair- wavy locks that fell just below her shoulder. She also seemed to share her father's capable memory, as she knew the way to PHI offices almost better than he did, and she had only been there twice before.

Half walking, half dragged into the office by his overexcited daughter, Jacob was greeted by the dark browns and warm hues of the office that he so preferred over the minimalist white, gray, and manilla of the general cityscape. Only pausing to pull off her coat, Amanda immediately bounded into the office, leaving Jacob to hang his coat along with his daughter's on a pair of coat hooks. 

The relative quiet of the office was replaced with the soft, but obviously happy giggling of Amanda Mcalister as she walked around the mostly empty office, several of the other agents and staff cracking smiles to say hi to the little girl. Regrouping with his daughter at his desk, Jacob found his desk exactly how he left it, the brass placard reading "J. Mcalister" at the head of it, with an HP laptop, in the center, and several stacks of paperwork sitting here and there. Looking up he noticed, with a sigh of resignation, an abundance of Christmas decorations concentrated just off to the side of his desk, where another, small desk sat. 

Unlike the rest of the office's old furniture, this desk was new, a light pine color, and likely of IKEA brand. On top of it sat a pink cup with fresh pencils and colored pencils in it, and at the head of this desk, a placard made of white plastic sat at the head. It read "A. Mcalister." Amanda dropped her backpack at the foot of her "desk", and sat in it, adjusting her placard and straightening her back, tilting her head upwards a bit. 

[color=lightcoral]"I'm ready for my first case."[/color] Amanda announced, in what she likely believed was an office-like voice.

[color=tan]"Very professional dear."[/color] Jacob replied, humoring her. He looked over and saw Morgan and Tanner conversing near the conference room. Ms. Stern had also arrived. It would appear that Jacob wasn't the only one they needed for the job.

[color=tan]"Alright, I'm going to go over and talk to Mr. Tanner now,"[/color] Jacob said to his daughter, [color=tan]"Why don't you sit here until Ms. Grey shows up, okay?"[/color] His daughter sighed but nodded, and Jacob walked in the direction of his coworkers. Several moments later, his daughter quietly slipped out of her seat and began following him.

[color=tan]"Tanner."[/color] Jacob said, as a manner of greeting, [color=tan]"Morgan, Em."[/color] he added, nodding to the other two. 

[color=tan]"I see I'm not the only one you dragged into this, Sol."[/color]