Heroes and Every Day Men
New York
It was ten minutes after midnight when Mac Taylor finally got home. He'd been working all day and most of the evening before Stella reminded him once again that some people do need to sleep. So he finally gave in although he wondered what he had to go home to, an empty apartment and no one to talk to. At least at the crime lab he was allowed to be useful with his skills.
After he had gotten home, Mac took a quick shower, changed in to some sweats, pulled a beer out of the fridge and turned on the TV for the late news. It didn't take him that long to doze off but his sleep was interrupted by the doorbell. Who would visit him at this late hour? The only one he could think of was Stella. Since the whole Frankie affair it had become common that she would stop by whenever she couldn't sleep. Once he looked through the spy hole he couldn't believe his half-sister was standing on his doorstep.
"Jordan?" He asked when he opened the door.
"Hey Mac," Jordan greeted him; "You have a place where your little sister can bunk?"
"Come on in."
Mac invited her in as he took her suitcase and noticed the tiny bump. Jordan followed Mac to the living where she took off her coat and dropped herself on the sofa.
"Tell me what happened." Mac told her.
"You remember when I had to take that naval prisoner to Washington DC?" Jordan started.
"Yeah, you were full off it." Mac confirmed.
"Well, I delivered the package and I went to this bar and met this real good looking man." Jordan explained.
"And that real good looking man left you with a package." Mac finished angry. "Ehm, so to speak off. We went out for a couple of drinks and one thing lead to another." Jordan said.
"Jordan, don't you think your mother raised you better than to sleep around with a guy you only met?" Mac shouted angry.
"Like mother like daughter." Jordan grumbled. "Oh Mac, I know I shouldn't have. It's bad enough my boss found out and fired me.
Mac stared at Jordan for a second and felt Jordan's misfortune.
"You lost your job?" Mac asked and thought about it for a second. "With Danny and Lindsay on their honeymoon I'm sure we can use an extra pair of hands." Mac smiled. "But no more stunts like that young lady, I might fire you myself the next time." Mac cautioned.
"Mac, you're the best." Jordan said in a hug. "C'mon, it's late. We better get some sleep, you can have my bedroom and I'll take the couch." Mac suggested.
***
The next day Mac and Jordan entered the crime lab. Don Flack and Stella Bonasera were in a cosy conversation which didn't go unnoticed by Mac. He looked at Stella for a moment and motioned Jordan to take a different route.
"Are you ever gonna tell her Mac?" Jordan asked.
"Tell who what, Jordan?" Mac replied.
"Tell Stella how you feel about her." Jordan said.
"Jordan, Stella is my best friend and my partner." Mac explained.
"Your long term partner Mac, don't you think you've waited long enough?" Jordan teased.
"Not like someone else I know." Mac backfired.
"Duh… I may have made a mistake in DC, but I've got something to look forward. I'm not alone anymore." Jordan said as she rubbed her small bump. "Now let's go and greet them." Jordan suggested turning Mac around and walked to Don and Stella.
"Hey Stella, Don!" Jordan greeted.
"Look what the cat drag in." Stella laughed when she saw Jordan.
"Hey D'Angelo, where you've been hiding?" Flack hugged Jordan. "Or more likely what you're hiding?" He asked as he felt the little bump. "Never heard of safe sex?" He wiggled his eyes.
"Accidents do happen, Don." Jordan slapped him.
"So who's the father?" Don asked.
"No father, it's just me and the kid." Jordan said and squinted. "She does have an uncle." Mac reassured Jordan.
"Hey," Stella piped in, "We are a great family, don't worry about it Jordan, we'll take care of you, right Mac?"
"Right, and that's my cue to make sure your paperwork is in order, Jordan."
"I'll walk you Mac, I gotta update you on this morning's arrest. Don said as both men walked towards Mac's office.
***
"So… you had a one night stand?" Stella fished. "Who was he?"
"Some naval agent from DC, but he's not my biggest problem at the moment." Jordan admitted.
"Talk to me Jordan." Stella put an arm around Jordan as they sat down on a bench.
"I need to find an apartment first; I can't let Mac sleep on the couch forever."
"You call that a problem?" Stella joked which earned a tiny smile from Jordan. "As it happens I have a brand new apartment with three bedrooms. So… problem solved." Stella smiled and clapped her hands.
"You sure?" Jordan asked.
"Sure I'm sure; now c'mon you need to meet our latest addition to the gang." Stella suggested.
"Adam is fun" she laughed as she dragged Jordan of the bench.
***
Around lunchtime Mac walked in to the lab searching for Jordan. He had the paperwork done and got Jordan her badge and gun. He found Stella dusting off some fingerprints and stopped at the door. As she was concentrating Stella wasn't aware of Mac's presence. Mac thought a moment about Jordan's words earlier that morning and questioned if he and Stella could make this work.
"Hey Stell, you seen Jordan around?" Mac walked in to the lab.
Stella turned to face Mac. "She's moving her stuff from your place, Mac. She should be back around 3pm."
"Moving? She just got here last night." Mac wondered.
"Yeah, well she didn't want you to sleep on the couch, so she's moving in with me." Stella explained.
"You sure you want her?" Mac said, "Jordan can be quite a handful." Mac warned Stella. "Well, if she does I can always escape to your place." Stella blurted out.
Did she really mean that, Mac thought. "So, you wanna go out and grab some lunch?" Mac asked.
"Sure, let me just clean this up and I'm set to go." Stella accepted.
Twenty minutes later Mac and Stella were in the park at their favourite stand where Mac ordered each a hotdog and a coffee. They walked over to the bench in the park and sat down. Stella watched him take a big bite of his hotdog and started laughing. Mac's face went in a questioning look.
"What?" He asked.
"You got mustard on your chin." Stella said as she reached for Mac's face.
"Where?" Mac questioned.
"Right… here." Stella's finger went over the spot and she showed him the mustard. Then she seductively licked it off her finger.
"Bonasera, are you making a move on me?" Mac shook his head shyly.
"What if I am, Taylor?" Now or never Taylor, Mac considered. He reached over to Stella and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"Taylor, are you making a move on me?" Stella whispered as they parted for air.
"What if I am, Bonasera?" Mac said with a sinister look.
"What made you do this just only now, Mac?" Stella wondered.
"Something Jordan pointed out to me this morning."
"And what was that?"
"Something about not being alone anymore." Mac smiled.
"Ah, you're referring to her baby." Stella encouraged.
"How do you feel about that?" Stella got interested now.
"I was angry with Jordan at first, but she got me to think." Mac confessed. "I don't want to be alone anymore either."
"So, are you telling me you want a baby with me?" Stella laughed.
And there the shy laugh was back on Mac Taylor's face again. "I wanna find out if we can make this work first, Stella."
Stella looked a little sad.
"But we can talk babies eventually." Mac finished.
"Babies?" Stella squealed.
"How many do you want?"
"At least two." Mac said.
"We need a lot of practise first." Stella flushed.
"We can start tonight." Mac planted a sweet kiss on Stella's lips again. "But we'd better get to work right now before we'll be missed."
"Spoilsport." Stella teased.
"Tonight." Mac promised.
"You're place since Jordan is staying with me now?"
"Definitely, now let's go." They both got up and headed back to the lab.
***
At 3pm Jordan was back at the lab as promised. She and Adam were working on a case that had gone cold when Mac walked in telling them that they had a new case. He, Stella and Sheldon were heading out to the crime scene. Jordan and Adam would finish the cold case and work the evidence that Mac and Stella would take back. What they found a pretty messy crime scene with one bloody leg.
"What have we got here, Sheldon?"
"The limb was severed post mortem. Sheldon explained.
"Time of death?" Stella questioned.
"I can't te-"
"Stop, hold it." Mac interrupted.
"What Mac?" Stella wondered.
"We can't process this scene alone. I think this vic is naval." Mac showed the victim's dog tags he found near his toes.
"Time to bring in NCIS." Sheldon agreed.
"Jordan isn't going to like this at all." Stella whispered hoping Mac didn't hear her. But Mac was already on the phone.
"Gibbs." Leroy Jethro Gibbs picked up after his cell phone went off.
"Jethro, Mac Taylor here." Mac responded.
"Mac, how you been?" Gibbs informed.
"This is not a social call Jethro, we got a dead Marine here."
"What have you got Mac?" Gibbs required.
"A leg and some dog tags, Jethro."
"Secure that crime scene, we're on our way." Gibbs told Mac and then closed his phone.
***