Author: Merrianna

Series: From Tragedy, Love: 5 of ?

Spoiler: Anything that has happen before "All Access".

Note: Set after the episode of Stealing Home.

Mac sat pensively looking over Stella's report on the case they had just finished: a man shot in front of his own home; it had been a surprise to find out that Mr. Jeffries had lived there with two wives. It hadn't been that surprising though when it turned out that the first wife, Elle Jeffries, had decided that she didn't like how her husband was handling the marriage and made the decision to shoot him with a gun from a fourth member, 'the pitch hitter' Kevin Davis, of their 'trinogamous' arrangement.

Looking back at the case, Mac had to remind himself that he'd handled it just like he would've any other that came across his desk. He knew that Stella had found the Jeffries case upsetting. He should have removed her, but it worked to test how well she was coping with being back to full time fieldwork. When they'd found out that Laura Jeffries had shot her ex-boyfriend in supposed self-defense, Mac had known that Stella would see her own situation in the second Mrs. Jeffries.

The memory of how he'd provoked the woman enough to have her hit him replayed it self. Laura Jeffries had packed a lot of strength into the swing, which made him jerk back; the sound had resounded in his ears. Stella's expression though had been one of amusement that Mrs. Jeffries had slapped him. Mac reached up and tenderly touched the area that still smarted from the impact of the woman's palm. In retrospect, he didn't think the tactic would be one that he'd use again unless in dire need.

During the processing of the brunette-haired woman, they found Gun Shot Residue on her hands. It had appeared to confirm the suspicions that she was the one to have shot her 'husband'. The only thing that had put a damper on that theory had been the place the residue had originated from.

He assigned Stella to go to the firing range to test how the Gun Shot Residue had gotten on the side of Laura's hand. Soon after she had left him, Pratt’s defense attorney, William Mamet, had chased Mac down. That confrontation boiled down to him telling the obnoxious man to get out of his lab.

Mac made time before he joined Sheldon in searching the Jeffries house to look in on Stella. The curly-haired detective had briefly looked like she was going to have difficulty with the assignment. Watching through the glass, he'd been pleased to see the strong confident woman shake off whatever troubling thoughts she'd been having by straightening her shoulders and getting on with her duty to the victim. He'd left quickly, needing to meet up Hawkes; he also didn't want the fiery Greek woman to know he was checking up on her.

A small smiled crept across Mac's face as he recalled when she had caught up to him, with the results of the tests. They'd gone into his office. He had acted put out when she wanted to test his shirt for Gun Shot Residue. That had been to hide the reaction he'd experienced being so close to her... his mind hadn't been completely on the case at that moment. He'd been powerless to resist the urge to memorize the curve of her lips, the way she arched one eyebrow, the smell of her shampoo mixed with a trace of mint from her breath and how each curl bounced with her every movement.

Shaking his head, Mac centered his mind back on the job at hand. It had been good that they had at least gotten a new lead to follow or the case might have stopped still. Tracing the connections hadn't been easy, but in the end they had linked the evidence to Elle Jeffries.

He signed off on the report, setting it into the done pile. His blue-eyes fell on the far wall which had the beginnings of his renewed investigation into the double rape of Regina Moore. He knew now that it had never been far from Aiden's mind, considering his recent encounter with Pratt's attorney. Pushing away from his desk, Mac stood and walked to the few posted crime scene photos of the last rape. He once again became clinically engrossed in putting the rest of the pictures up on the wall in order to categorize them.

A knock at the office door jolted the dark haired detective from his thoughts. Through the glass doors, Mac could make out the image of Adam Ross holding several thick files. "Come in, Adam."

"Ah... I have the files you requested." The bearded lab tech announced bashfully as he entered his boss' domain.

Stella, shifted in her office chair as she tried to concentrate on the computer screen in front of her. The words seemed to blur, then focus again. Shaking her head, she finally gave up trying to finish the papers that had been sitting on her desk. Her gaze settled onto the real estate paper that she had picked up. Sighing, she pushed back from the desk and stretched out cramped muscles. Her gazed wander out to the large expansive skyline in an attempt to escape from the past few days. Her minded drifted to matters in her personal life rather than the job at hand.

After her first therapy session, she hadn't again mentioned Frankie to Mac. She had burdened him enough with the drama that had been her life recently, though she and Kristen, her doctor, had argued over it. In the counselor’s opinion Stella should be more open with those she was close to, she stated that it would help in the healing process. Maybe it would be helpful but her relationship with Mac seemed to be strained enough at the moment.

Stella was still astonished at the improvement she sensed in her self. She didn't space-out as often, trying to figure out if there could have been some other way to handled the situation; though, her moods were still in a constant state of ups and downs. It'd been something she talked to Kristen about, and they agreed that, for now, she should try some relaxing exercises before thinking about using any form of medication. The only thing that hadn't gotten better came in the form of loss of sleep; to a degree she believed that she knew how Mac felt after 9-11. Being trapped helpless in your own dreams as events replayed, sometimes exactly the same, other times the scenario would change so that it became even more terrifying.

The curly-haired investigator grinned ruefully, silently admitting that Mac's idea to see a counselor appeared to be for the best, even if she hadn't yet shown her appreciation to him about his forcing the issue.

With that thought, Stella's eyes turned back into the office. She took a few deep breaths and tried to clear her mind of everything. Unfortunately, it didn't happen; her head was too full of the case that they'd just finished. So, instead of emptying out her mind, she decided to let it run completely through and hoped that would assist her in letting go.

When Mac had paired them up to work the Jeffries shooting, Stella had purposely tried to keep a professional attitude. The case was hard so soon after what she had experienced with Frankie. She'd been grateful that Mac never mentioned that she should be reassigned to Lindsay and Danny's 'mermaid'. She had been determined to work through her feelings and the tension that seemed to be between them.

Stella had to quell some of her own thoughts about some of the different theories concerning the demise of the victim: in particular that since Laura Jeffries had already shot an ex-boyfriend, it appeared that she had an anger problem. She had been momentary stunned that Mac would mention it so cavalierly. She'd known it was petty of her to gain pleasure at seeing her partner getting hit by a suspect. She hadn't been surprised when Mac alluded to the brunette being violent enough to retaliate by shooting her husband; the emotional woman struck without thinking about just who she'd hit. Laura Jeffries was taken in for assaulting a police officer. It had gotten them what they needed, but Stella could bet that the dark-haired detective had gotten more than he had bargain for.

She couldn't stop the sympathy she'd felt towards the other woman. It hadn't helped that she was finding it hard to remain objective. Did she really have the right to possibly condemned another for an action she had also done?

In the end it hadn't matter, all though she was plenty ticked off that Elle Jeffries tried to compare their circumstances. Her incident had nothing to do with jealousy, just an act of survival.

An act of survival: it seemed to constantly come back to that. Did she really have to shoot Frankie to survive? Stella shook her head. 'I'm not going there tonight.'

"Hey, Stella. Are you spending the night? Shift was over two hours ago." Sheldon stood just in the door of her office, a concerned look in his warm, brown eyes.

She smiled at him, replying, "No, I just needed to finish a few things before going home."

He nodded, but from the expression on his handsome face Stella could tell he wasn't exactly buying it. "I'm not going to say that you should take it easy and not work too hard. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the rough spots. But if you need anything... a shoulder or ear. I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Sheldon." She smiled, walking over and wrapping her arms around him in a friendly embrace.

He smiled back, pulling out of the hug. "Just promise me that I won't find you sleeping in your office when I come back in the morning."

Stella laughed, "It's a promise."

The former Medical Examiner gave her arm one last comforting squeeze before walking out.

An hour later, as Stella walked to the elevator, she could still see Mac busy at work. She knew that he'd be going over the Pratt case. Normally she would've gone in and told him to go home, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to badger him about his sleeping habits when her own where just as bad.

Mac sat outside of Stella's apartment in his truck. He'd known when his partner had left for the night. She hadn't stopped to either say good night or try to cajole him into going home. His feelings were hurt, which he tried to ignore. So, he had worked hard on the Pratt case for two hours after, in a way to spite her; in the end he realized how stupid it really was to work when his mind wasn't wholly with it. When he left the lab, he'd every intention of going straight home but his thoughts went to Stella. That was when he realized that he had driven to her place. Instead of just leaving he miraculously found a parking space.

It wasn't the first time that he found himself there, sitting outside her apartment building. It had become almost a nightly ritual since she had moved back in. He couldn't help himself from making sure that she was okay. Some would think that he'd become a stalker with this obsessive behavior.

Now, parked outside Stella's apartment building, Mac didn't know what to do. He mulled over several different options: he could call and hopefully be able to make some sort of sense at one o'clock in the morning; he could get out of the truck, go up to her apartment, and pray that she was awake; or he could just start up the vehicle and head home to try and fall asleep. Mac sighed, leaning back into the seat; they all had the potential to be disasters. His gaze was drawn up to the windows of her apartment, in the semi darkness of the block, her's were the only ones that glowed from within.

He concluded two scenarios from seeing the light illuminating her windows: one that she was either up or two she needed the light on in order to sleep. As if to answer his unspoken query, a female outline could be seen through the drapes. Mac watched, captivated, knowing that he wouldn't be doing anything. 'You're a coward, Taylor.'

It wasn't cowardly to give the woman the space she wanted, but was it really space that he was providing or could it be the scared after-effects now that she wasn't living in his apartment. He would be the first to admit that it wasn't easy trying to just be friends after what had happened.

He continued the mantra that their relationship had to be on her terms. He just couldn't face a future without Stella in it, so he would hold out until she came to him. Once that happened then he'd reveal his feelings. In his heart he felt that Stella already had deep feelings for him but that didn't guarantee that she wouldn't shy away. He could handle the sting of rejection even though it would hurt; he'd manage to somehow remain friends with the spirited brunette.

Sighing, Mac started the black truck up, knowing that if he stayed too much longer that someone would call the police. He wasn't in the mood to try and explain why he was lingering in front of Stella's place. His blue eyes returned once more to the lit apartment, resignedly he made his way home.

As he drove away a curtain moved aside and a lone female figure watched the truck as it turned out of sight. The woman stood gazing after it for several minutes then let the material fall back, briefly leaving a lonely silhouette before drifting like a ghost back into the self-imposed torture.