A/N: I really love Adam. I find him hilarious and adorable. So in my organic chemistry lab, when I accidentally dropped an extremely hot metal block under cold water and scalded my poor fingers to death on the steam, I got to thinking about lab accidents- and what could go wrong in the CSI lab. Obviously, my mind took it many steps farther and this was born. Contains hurtMac, because I'm me- so also a blood warning.

Mac Taylor strode down the glass-lined hallways of his lab, casually checking on his employees as he passed the various sections. The cleaning crew sure hated this floor- for admittedly more reasons than the amount of glass- but he loved it. He was almost positive the lack of opaque walls accounted for his labs high efficiency rating.

There was still the occasional slacker, seen in a sudden flurry of activity as he passed. More often than not, that person turned out to be Adam. The kid was a genius, and it was a good thing too or the number of reprimands he'd received would have ended in losing his job long ago. Mac attributed it to boredom. He was too smart for his own good.

Still, Mac had a soft spot for the socially awkward tech. He meant well, tried hard, and was scared to death of his boss. Most employees learned within the first year of employment that Mac's hard exterior only barely managed to cover who he really was- quick to offer comfort and wielding a quick wit and smile. Adam knew this, had seen it even, and still he shook every time he had to enter Mac's office.

The lab really wouldn't be the same without him. He offered the comic relief the lab desperately needed after a tough case or long week. Often the looks Mac gave Adam were covering a smile or a laugh just beneath the surface. He was the boss after all. It helped to keep order if your employees took you seriously.

As he neared the trace lab, Mac could see Adam working alongside Kendall. He really didn't get those two. Adam was highly competitive with his job, especially when it came to the women who he saw as a threat to it. Kendall was definitely one of those women. However, the amount of competition and flirting going on was about equal. Overall Adam was highly conflicted. It was amusing to watch so long as Adam remained productive.

As Mac watched Adam leave the experiment he was working on to chase after Kendall, shouting something at her as he went, Mac realized that productivity had just gone out the window.

With a sigh, he turned around to head for the door to shut off the burner that was currently fueling some unknown boiling substance now emitting copious amounts of vapor. Wondering if he could possibly write a schedule that kept those two apart, Mac reached for the door.

That's when the world exploded.

Lindsay was getting ready to head home. Between Stella being out, looking for a new apartment after her last one had been set on fire, and avoiding Danny as much as possible, it had been a long day. She spotted Mac walking toward her from the other end of the lab and raised her hand to wave goodnight, but he suddenly became distracted, his face twisting into a grimace as he stopped and turned around, reaching for something. She never saw what.

In a split second, the entire hallway had disappeared in an explosion of glass and smoke. The shockwave nearly knocked her off her feet. Alarms blared, the noise and haze only adding to the confusion as lab techs scrambled frantically for safety.

They pushed past Lindsay as she stood, stock-still in the middle of the hallway. Memories unbidden of the explosion nearly two years ago that had almost taken Flack's life played across her mind. Smoke and an eerie silence had hung in the air as blood and soot covered bystanders struggled to make sense of the chaos.

A pair of hands suddenly grabbed her, pulling her to the wall and safety from the thronging crowd. "You okay, Montana?" She looked up to see Danny, still holding her against him.

"Yeah, yeah..." She nodded, shaking herself out of her daze. Then it hit her. "Mac." Lindsay broke free from Danny's grasp and ran. "Mac!"

Adam's world was a haze of pain and smoke. He would have remained on the floor, wishing away the stinging pain in his pack, if not for the weak movement coming from underneath him. He forced his eyes open, blinking rapidly against the burning smoke. As his vision cleared, he slowly remembered. Kendall. Had he pushed her out of the way? No…there was no warning. He had simply been close enough to catch the brunt of the force and knock her over in the process. So heroic, he thought sarcastically.

She stirred again, shards of glass falling from her blond hair as she struggled to sit up. Adam quickly crawled off her, biting back a whimper of pain as his back stung. "Kendall." His mouth had moved, and he was almost positive a sound had come out, but it was muffled, as if he were speaking into a pillow.

He sat back heavily, shifting his jaw as if to get his ears to pop- like that was the problem. Kendall turned to face him. She looked okay aside from a small cut on her cheek. Her mouth was moving too, but he couldn't have guessed at what she was saying. Anything between "are you okay?" and "you idiot!" would have been equally plausible. Adam shook his head, wincing at the sudden flair of pain it caused. Kendall's face contorted into what must have been concern. He wished he could have milked that for all it was worth, but he had more pressing questions, like what the hell just happened?

The smoke was clearing, but visibility was still low. He could barely see 20 feet in any direction, but everywhere he looked, he saw much of the same- broken glass, overturned chairs, tables and equipment. Only things that were bolted down or built in remained standing. He felt Kendall's hand on his cheek and jerked away as her probing fingers touched upon an oozing gash in his forehead.

Adam gave her an apologetic look and held out a hand to help her up as he stood, unsteadily gaining his feet under him. They were just outside the trace lab, having been walking through the doors when the explosion happened. Only the glass paneled walls nearest them were still intact. The other side of the room was in pieces, completely open to the hallway.

He could see a few fellow lab techs shifting through the debris, but they all seemed reasonably okay. Luckily the lab was winding down for the night and only a skeleton crew of employees were still working at the time of the blast. As Adam slowly shuffled through the crunching glass under his feet, he realized the surrounding rooms were relatively untouched. Reconstruction just one door down had seemingly suffered only a cracked window where a chair had hit it. The AV lab, sitting just across the hall and one door over looked perfect.

The trace lab seemed to be the hardest hit. The west wall was gone, as well as the wall of the lab across the hall. He suddenly noticed the flurry of activity there and thought he recognized Lindsay and Danny through the smoke. He suspicions were confirmed as Lindsay suddenly stood, looking frantic as she spun around, her mouth wide as she screamed something. Her eyes landed on Adam and she repeated her yell.

He made his way toward her as quickly as he could manage, slipping on panes of shattered glass as he went. He stepped over the metal frame that once housed the wall and tried as best he could to understand what Lindsay was so worried about. Her mouth kept moving, and all he could do was shake his head. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see that Kendall had followed him. She was saying something to Lindsay, probably explaining that Adam couldn't hear a word she said.

Suddenly Kendall was gone, running down the hall toward the elevator, leaving Adam confused, staring at Lindsay for direction. She quickly motioned for him to join her. She dropped to a crouch beside Danny, who Adam suddenly noticed was only a few feet away, kneeling over somebody on the ground. Lindsay grabbed Adam and pulled off his lab coat, balling it before shoving it back into his hands. She grabbed him again and pulled him to the ground beside her, guiding his hands to press down over a gaping wound on the body's shoulder.

Lindsay shifted and pulled the unconscious man's head into her lap. Adam froze. He hadn't even realized… Hadn't seen… Through all the blood it was a miracle he even recognized him at all. The man was Mac.

His boss's face was half streaked with blood. His red button up shirt was ripped and soaked - not a red shirt, Adam realized in horror as he glanced at the unstained, blue cuff at his side. Glass shards were protruding from his side- his left side, Adam noted. That's where most of the blood was concentrated. He must have been at an angle to the blast- Adam cursed himself. What was he doing? Analyzing a crime scene? His boss was bleeding to death, for crying out loud!

Adam shook his head and glanced up at Lindsay, carefully cradling Mac's head as she muttered something, whether it was to Danny or Mac, he couldn't be sure. Danny was using his own shirt to staunch the bleeding in Mac's chest.

Adam squeezed his eyes shut. What was going on? He couldn't help it as his mind wandered back to the forensics of it all. It was his own coping mechanism…just figure out the science, emotions could follow when he was done. If he let them surface now...he'd never get back.

Focus, Adam.

The trace lab was the origin… he had been leaving there…chasing after Kendall. He couldn't remember why. It didn't matter. Did it?

What had he been doing in trace? He was finishing up some testing on a sample… and then…

Adam's breath caught in his throat. The sample. He turned to look behind him, at the table where it had been…where he had left it- alone.

The explosion was his fault.

He had just killed his boss.

A/N: Adam is so fun to write. Please please please leave a review! I'd really appreciate it. Some answers...and a few new questions... in the next chapter!