Hide and Seek.
Disclaimer: All NY characters belong to the writers of the show.
Uglydolls belong to their creators.
Notes: Okay, so this is another Mac/Ella one shot, and takes place after the events of 'Second Chances'. Again for those who haven't read that fic - Ella is the daughter of an old friend of Mac's who was killed in an accident. Mac was named as Ella's guardian and adopted her. She's 11 years old.
Just for clarification Ellais Mac's adopted daughter. Ellie is Ellie Danville, Jo's daughter. Sorry for any confusion, but I thought it would be rather fun to include Ellie D in this fic as she and Ella are quite close because of having not just very similar names, but also similar backgrounds - being adopted. For any potential future fics, this will stay the same.
'48...49...50. Okay, ready or not, here I come,' Mac called.
He turned from where he'd been leaning, as instructed, against the hallway wall. In silent sock feet, he crept into his living room. He stopped in the centre of the room and listened. He heard the hum of the refrigerator, and a few other basic house-noises. He listened for shuffles or giggles, but heard none. Hmmm. They were good.
He moved silently over to the couch.
'A-HA!' he yelled as he rounded the end of the couch. But the space behind it was empty. Dammit. He checked behind the chair and under the coffee table and in the small space between the end of his bookshelf and the wall. Still nothing. He moved into the kitchen. The room was small, and there was really nowhere to hide except...his sharp eyes noticed that the door to one of his cupboards was ever so slightly ajar.
A sneaky grin crept across Mac's face, and he tiptoed over to the cupboard. Reaching out he gently wrapped his fingers around the cupboard handle and paused for a second before yanking it open.
'Eeeeeeeeek!' squealed Lucy, grinning up at him from inside the cupboard.
'Found you, kiddo,' Mac said, reaching down to scoop her up in his arms.
'And you know what happens to the first person to be found, don't you?'
Lucy shook her head, looking at him wide-eyed.
'They...get...TICKLED!' Mac said, and began tickling her. She squealed in delight and squirmed helplessly in Mac's firm grip.
Finally, he relented and set Lucy down on the floor. He crouched down too so that his eyes were level with hers.
'Now, are you going to help me find the Gruesome Twosome?' he asked, referring to Ella and Ellie who were still hidden.
Lucy nodded.
'Any idea where they are?'
Lucy giggled, and pointed behind him. Mac turned, and saw nothing.
'What?' he said.
Lucy moved closer to him and he felt her small hands lightly grip his face as she turned his head upwards, so that he could see...Ella, sitting, cross-legged, on top of the fridge, grinning down at him smugly, her green eyes alight with a kind of wicked delight.
'Ella...' Mac said, as he stared up at her, 'How the hell did you get up there?'
'Climbed,' she said, in a tone that suggested 'well, duh'.
'Aren't you a little big to be up there?'
Ella rapped the top of the fridge.
'Stainless steel, and I'm not heavy anyway, thank you very much!' Ella said, rolling her eyes at Lucy. 'Guys,' she said in an exasperated tone. Lucy giggled. Mac grinned despite himself.
'Right, Monkey Girl, down you get, carefully.' he said. Ella got down from the top of the fridge to the work surface and then jumped to the floor, landing lightly and gracefully.
'Right, so we need to find Ellie and then it's Lucy's turn to count.'
Mac nodded, and led the two girls through the living room.
They searched the bathroom and Mac's room to no avail, and then went into Ella's room. Spotting a rather large and suspicious looking lump under her covers, Mac grinned. He leaned down and whispered something in Lucy's ear. Lucy grinned and nodded. She took a running jump and landed on top of the suspicious lump. The suspicious lump let out a loud
'Ooooof!' of protest, and Ellie's head popped out.
'Maaaaac!' she protested, 'That is so sneaky! Couldn't you just have lifted up the covers?'
'No, that wouldn't have been as much fun. And really, Ellie, at 16 I'd have thought you could come up with a better hiding place.'
'Hey, I was the biggest hider, it's tough to find places with enough room to hide!' Ellie said and threw one of Ella's Uglydolls at him, which Mac deftly caught and threw back at her.
Soon pillows and Uglydolls were flying everywhere, with Mac and Ella against Lucy and Ellie. When there was a knock at the door, they paused.
'Oh no, that's my mommy and daddy,' Lucy said, 'I never got my turn at hide and seek!'
Mac knelt so his face was level with hers, and beckoned Ella and Ellie over.
'Well, how about this. How would you like to drive your mom and dad crazy, and get to play hide and seek some more?' he asked.
'Yeah!' Lucy said, her face lighting up.
'Okay,' Mac said, in a whisper, 'So here's what you do...'
On the following Monday, Mac was in his office talking with Jo and Flack. Danny came in to the office. He looked a little harried and stressed. Mac glanced at his watch.
'You're a little late,' he said, 'Everything okay?'
'No,' Danny scowled, 'I was late dropping Lucy off at school because I let her play hide and seek with me after breakfast, and it took me a full 45 minutes to find her.'
'You got beat at hide and seek by a five-year-old girl, Danno?' Flack asked, grinning.
Danny's scowl deepened.
'She was hiding on top of her wardrobe. She about gave me a heart attack when I finally spotted her feet reflected in the mirror.'
'So, to confirm, you, a detective with the New York Crime Lab, got your butt kicked at hide and seek by a five year old.' Don repeated, grinning widely. 'Oh, this is just...too good.'
'Yeah, yeah,' Danny said, looking sulky. 'Anyway, Mac, wasn't Lucy playing hide and seek with you and Ella and Ellie on Saturday?'
'She was,' Mac said.
'It's just that when we've played hide and seek before, I've always found her,' Danny said, 'And now she's coming up with all these smart places to hide? You have anything to do with that, Mac? You and that girl of yours? And her daughter as well?' Danny pointed at Jo.
Mac felt a flush of warmth at Danny referring to Ella as 'that girl of yours' - it always surprised him a little, reminders of how much of a real family he, Ella, and Christine had become.
Keeping a straight face he said,
'We had nothing to do with it, Danny. Maybe she's just smarter than you now.'
'Wouldn't be difficult,' Don teased Danny, 'She's already tougher than you.'
Danny scowled at Don, shot Mac a suspicious look, then shrugged.
'Whatever. I better get to work,'
He left the office. Jo and Don burst out laughing, and Mac let a slow grin spread across his face.
'Mac Taylor, did you teach Lucy how to kick her poor father's butt at hide and seek?'
'I did,' he said, 'Ella helped, as did Ellie.'
Jo laughed.
'Mac, you are a sneaky, sneaky man. Ellie told me how you had Lucy jump on her when you worked out where she was hiding. And I heard something about Ella sitting on your fridge?'
'I can't believe you taught Lucy a way to torment poor Danny,' Don said, chuckling. 'Poor guy.'
'Poor guy?' Mac said, 'And who was it who taught Lucy to hide Danny's wallet in bizarre places, Don?'
Don laughed again. 'That was pretty funny,' he said, 'But what you did is better. Just remind me never to go up against you and Ella in a game of hide and seek. Or Lucy, for that matter. You're passing on your sneaky Mac Taylor ways, and I have no hope against that.'
Mac simply grinned before turning their attention back to the more mundane matters of case reviews.
The End.