A/N :Please read the disclaimer in my profile. As this story touches on Mac's military career I have had to make a number of assumptions which I hope remain within the realms of plausibility. At the end of Season 2 (Charge of this Post) we are told he was a Lieutenant in 1983 and in Season 6 (Blacklist featuring Gravedigger) we are told that he was a Major having just fought in a war thereby earning a silver star (awarded for gallantry in action against an enemy) on the edge of retiring and joining the NYPD. According to the ribbons he was wearing we must therefore assume that he served in the Persian Gulf War and I am therefore assuming that he would have earned a promotion to Major after that campaign. So for the purposes of this story I am making him a Captain in charge of a company (usually made up of three rifle platoons and a heavy weapons platoon plus command staff). Please forgive any historical/geographical errors that I may have made regarding potential events or locations.
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Chapter 1
Jo Danville was never so glad to see the bright lights of the bar as she was this evening. She dashed through the doors desperate to get out of the torrential downpour.
"Hey Jo! Over here!" Jo pushed her way past the crowd of men at the bar towards Don's voice, taking off her wet coat and shaking the water from her hair.
"Wow! What's going on in here tonight? Looks like half of the NYPD are celebrating or using it as an excuse to get out of the rain." Jo shook the coat sending a shower of raindrops onto the floor, hung it up and slid onto the end seat of the booth and looked around the faces smiling back at her. She sighed noting the one obvious absentee. "He's not coming is he? Please tell me he's not going to pull yet another all-nighter trying to fix next year's budget?"
A raucous cheer came from the group standing by the bar as they toasted one of their comrades, causing everyone to glance in their direction.
"No, but he has a good excuse." smiled Danny, silently noting the disappointment on her face. "Reed is in town for a couple of days and he wanted to catch up with Mac before he left so Mac's taken him for an early dinner at that fancy new Italian place round the corner."
At Jo's quizzical look Lindsay leaned over and whispered quietly. "Claire's son."
"Oh!" As Don pushed a drink towards her, Jo hid her curiosity and her disappointment, and raised her glass. "Well here is to a great team and getting Denver Hutchings off the streets! " Jo's face fell as everyone burst out laughing. "What's so funny? What did I say?"
"Did Mac tell you to say that?" asked Sheldon grinning at Jo's confusion.
"Maybe it's in the Assistant Supervisors handbook under '10 ways to motivate your team!'" quipped Adam. Jo looked even more confused as the team tried to explain that those had been Mac's exact words at a dinner celebrating the capture of the Compass Killer. As they explained the ins and outs of the case, and the unusual epithet all thoughts of their boss were temporarily forgotten.
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'CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY'
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The watcher shifted uneasily in his seat and tapped the steering wheel nervously as he observed the two men seated by the brightly-lit window of the restaurant and felt a pang of jealousy. He'd watched them enjoy their meal, heads bowed in earnest conversation, occasionally laughing at some private joke. He couldn't hear their words or even see their faces clearly through the rain-soaked wind-shield but he was envious of the ease that they seemed to share in one another's company. He glanced at his watch. He wished it was him, sitting in a restaurant sipping wine, enjoying nice food with someone for company. He didn't want to be sitting alone in the cold dark car just waiting. Waiting for the right moment. He looked at the watch again.
He watched as the waiter approached and the younger of the two men left the table. He leaned forward in his seat and peered through the raindrops. He watched as the older man paid and rose to put on his coat. He glanced at the watch once more. Almost 7 o'clock. He should be home now. He should not be sitting here but he had no choice. His fingers touched the keys in the ignition nervously as he watched the older man step out onto the side-walk, check his wrist-watch and look up at the sky. The man looked up and down the street and then suddenly he turned and looked straight at him. The watcher knew it was now or never.
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'CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY'
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Mac drained his espresso with a satisfied sigh. It had been a long couple of days and this was the first proper meal he had enjoyed in some time. He pushed the cup away and signalled to the waiter for the check. Reed Garrett finished off his tiramisu with a final scrape of the bowl.
"Mac, thank you! That was great! I'm sorry that it was so rushed but ..." Reed broke off as Mac raised his hands.
"No no. I understand what it's like to be under pressure Reed." They both laughed. "It's a great story and you have a deadline to meet. I'm just glad that we've had time to catch up. Now come on, you've got a plane to catch." Mac leaned slightly to one side to reach for his wallet as the waiter approached. He slipped some notes onto the silver tray as Reed excused himself to use the rest-room. Mac pushed his wallet back into his pocket and rose to put on his coat.
Stepping outside Mac glanced at his watch. It was still early. Maybe he'd have time to stop by Mason's retirement party at the bar round the corner. He looked up at the grey clouds scudding across the sky. At least the rain seemed to be stopping. He looked around for a cab for Reed. As he did so he caught sight of a slightly battered, old blue pick-up parked a little further up on the far side of the road. Mac frowned in consternation. You didn't see many of those around in the city these days, many people having upgraded to more modern cars adapted to city driving so it was unusual to see the same one three times in one evening. As a car passed down the street, it's headlights briefly lit up the interior of the pick-up and Mac saw that someone was seated inside. Mac could have sworn they were looking at him.
He glanced back at the restaurant in time to see Reed emerge from the rest-rooms and stop to speak to the owner of the restaurant. They were both laughing at something as the owner passed Reed a wheelie bag and Reed swung his computer bag onto his shoulder. Mac glanced back at the pick-up and, his curiosity piqued, he stepped out into the street towards it.
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'CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY - CSI:NY'
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"Well, we gotta get going." Lindsay drained her glass. "My Mom's in town so we can't leave her all day, can we dear?" Lindsay smiled her sweetest smile at her husband who merely rolled his eyes at the thought of an evening with his mother-in-law though truth be known they actually got on quite well. Lindsay nudged him in the ribs affectionately.
"Yeah, me too!" smiled Sheldon shyly. At the overt nudge from Danny and the grin Don was aiming in his direction he added. "Camille's cooking dinner." They rose to leave just as another raucous round of laughter filled the bar.
Don smiled at Jo and Adam. "Well it looks like they're giving Mason a good send off … you guys wanna join em...?" Don had barely finished his sentence when an almighty bang shook the windows of the bar. Everyone turned to see what had caused the noise and the vibration.
"What the hell was that ..?" Don jumped up and headed for the door immediately followed by Sheldon and a number of other officers. As he pushed his way out into the street, he could hear a couple of car alarms going off and car tires squealing to a halt. He took off in the direction of the noise. As he rounded the corner he could see a great plume of smoke from the far end of the street. Already his ears picked up the sound of a siren, probably a squad car in the vicinity as curious about the noise as he was. They weren't that far from police plaza so the area was crawling with police officers both on and off duty.
Don set off at a jog running down the middle of the road, weaving between the cars that had been forced to stop. As he reached the centre of the intersection he looked down the small side street to his right. Don couldn't believe his eyes. It was like stepping into a war zone. The remains of a car was on fire. Pieces of twisted chassis were scattered across the street, steam rising from them as the lightly falling rain touched the burning metal. Nearby windows were shattered; the tattered remains of a red awning had partially collapsed in front of a restaurant. Trash cans that had been blown over in the blast spilled their contents into the street, and pieces of paper fluttered in the breeze like oversized butterflies. The bitter, acrid smoke blowing towards him filled his lungs causing him to cough.
"Don! Hold up! What the ..." Danny and Sheldon had caught up and were now staring in shock at the scene in front of them. "What a mess!" Don was vaguely aware of other officers from the bar joining them including Jo who had caught hold of the sleeve of his jacket and was staring at the scene in horror. No one moved for a few seconds as they took stock of the situation. As the smoke began to clear they saw a figure in the middle of the street rise up from the ground, the rain on his long dark coat glistening in the light of the fire. As the man turned unsteadily towards them to look at what remained of the car, his blood-stained face was clearly visible in the glow from the fire.
"Mac!"