Superman

Chapter 1: Looking for a Friend

"I can't stand to fly

I'm not that naïve

I'm just out to find

The better part of me"

"It just happened. I was putting a piece of bloody glass into an evidence bag. It was still wet. It just broke, cut me. I had no idea at the time that Emery Gable was HIV positive," Stella says quietly, avoiding Mac's gaze as they sit on the roof of the lab.

"Stella, why didn't you tell me?" Mac asks, more afraid of losing his friend than angry at her for not telling him.

"I thought I could handle it on my own. I'm scared, Mac," she whispers, those words escaping her lips for the first time since the incident, possibly the first time in her life even. "I know there are a lot of people living with AIDS, and I just… I don't think I have the strength to do that. I don't think I'm brave enough to wait for a cure."

Hearing this breaks his heart; she was the strongest person he knew. If anyone could get through this, Mac was sure it would be Stella. "What is it you say to me? Έχετε πάντα τη δύναμη, έχετε πάντα τα κότσια. You always have the strength, you always have the guts."

"Eέρω," she says in her native Greek.

"If you need to leave work, take some time off - "

"No. I took a blood test. It came back negative. I'm still in that window. I won't know if I'm HIV positive for another ten weeks. Right now, the only thing keeping me sane is work."

"I'm here for you," Mac pulls the broken woman in front of him into a comforting hug.

"I know," she buries her face in his neck, trying her hardest not to cry.

"Alright?"

In his arms, Stella believes everything will end up okay. Nothing bad can happen to her when he's holding her. She desperately wants to stay there the rest of the night, until she gets the results back, for eternity. But that was impossible; they both had work to get done. Besides, Mac had a girlfriend now, and she wouldn't want to intrude on that.

The couple remains in each others' arms for a few more minutes, Stella drawing strength from him, before separating. "Thank you, Mac. You're much more to me than you'll ever know."

"It's what we do. Did you forget that?"

"Of course not," she manages a small smile. "I hate to hear someone tell me advice I gave them. I can't follow my own advice."

"Your advice has helped me so much the past ten years. I want it to help you now." His pager goes off, calling him to a crime scene. "Looks like we both have work to do. You want dead guy covered in money or dead guy in cigarette costume?"

"You've got to be joking. What is the world coming to?" she rolls her eyes. "I'll take the cigarette."

"Take Sheldon with you," Mac leads her down the stairs, back into the lab, into reality.

Superman

"Stella," he calls out as she passes his office.

"What's up, Mac?" she joins him, looking at the bulletin board covered in pictures from his case.

"Besides the smoke detectors going off every five minutes?"

"Right."

"I spoke to Sid's wife. He's fine. The hospital's holding him overnight for observation," he assures her, knowing she's still nervous about it.

"Maybe I have nothing to worry about. If the world is going to end on Sunday, then what difference does it make, right?" Stella sadly tries to joke.

Her words pain both of them as the once impenetrable woman seems to give up hope of her life being normal again.

A/N: The song is by Five for Fighting. Also, I do not own much of this chapter. I just though it'd be a good place to start the story so I listened to the beginning on the internet like seven times so I could write exactly what was said. The next nine chapters I did make up though. And this I'm pretty sure would now never happen after seeing last night's episode but anyway... I can dream. Actaully, I do not want it to end up like this. The last two chapters are very, very sad I will warn you. I was so happy when she kissed him last night. Maybe we'll know in two weeks instead of three whether she's positive. Probably not because he said the whole HIV thing ends on May 2. As soon as I knew it was euthanasia, I was sure they'd bring her HIV story line back. Let's hope Stella isn't considering that. I should get to do some typing soon for the next story. In order for me to get all three finished by May 2, they're going to have to overlap. But before I can type, I have to get my tape test for band done. I haven't played my flute in a week; I probably sound awful. I can't say that I hope you guys liked the first chapter since it's not my work. So... I hope you liked the scene as much as I did when it was on.