Milk & Cookies
By
Aranna Undomiel
"Mac: Will he be giving me milk and cookies and singing a lullaby?
Don: The lullaby thing is a little weird, but milk and cookies could happen…Let's go."
Episode 7.20 'Nothing for Something'
This is a continuation from the episode. My take on what could have happened after the end of the episode…or should I say I would have loved to see happening…LOL
Hope you enjoy!
Sighing, Mac snapped the case file shut after jotting down his last signature and placed it in his outbox on the corner of his desk. He looked through the glass windows to the people milling about in the lab, ready to start another day of work after a good night of sleep.
Nearly feeling envious of them, he stretched his back until he could almost feel it pop. This was his 3rd night in a row without sleep, not counting those few minutes on the couch in the lounge a few hours ago. Back in his Marine days he could go on for days on only two hours of sleep, but now he had to admit, his body could not function properly on that anymore. Not that he would tell anyone that…
It had been two days and nights working since Jo had told him to go home to get some sleep, but that attempt had soon turned into their new case…Rubbing his stiff neck, his gaze moved to the elevator, just as the doors opened. Speak of the devil he thought as he looked at the dark-haired woman as she exited. Their gazes locking, she redirected her path towards his office. Resisting the urge to groan, he put on his best stoic face as she opened the door. He'd thought that with Stella leaving, she had taken with her that uncanny ability to see right through him and find his deepest hidden feelings. But apparently she had given Jo a crash course before she left and now the student even surpassed the master sometimes. "Mac Taylor, what are you still doing here?!" Jo scolded. "I thought I had told you to go home and get some sleep!" "That was two days ago, Jo" Mac responded. "I couldn't leave this case, you know that" A raised eyebrow told him what she thought of that answer. "Well the case is over now, so I told Don to pick you up. He's waiting downstairs to take you home" Folding her arms, he knew she was daring him to protest, but he couldn't help himself. "Don can't leave to bring me home, again. Look where that led us last time!" "Well, as a matter of fact, Don has the day off. And so do you!" With that, Jo turned around to grab his jacket from the chair it had hung over and handed it to him, before heading for the door, holding it open invitingly. Shaking his head in exasperation, he clicked off his desk light and followed her towards the elevators.
Don was indeed waiting for him downstairs, leaning casually against the car. Upon his arrival, the dark-haired detective had grinned at him. "Women, eh?" Mac did not dignify him with a response to that, instead opening the passenger door and sliding in.
The ride had been uneventful so far, both men quiet as the car joined the others in the morning traffic. The radio was playing softly in the background, the morning sun warming up the interior, as the monotone purr of the motor grew louder. Mac could feel the fatigue coming on full force, now that his body was finally allowed to relax, forcing his mind to follow its example. Not willing to give in yet, Mac sat there, head occasionally nodding down to his chest before shooting up again. This continued for a couple more minutes, before the low tones of Don's voice caught his attention. The detective was softly singing along with the music, the gentle hum of words working like a blanket for Mac's thoughts and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier…
Startled, Mac jolted awake at the light touch on his shoulder, looking straight into the grinning face of Don. Grinning wickedly, the younger man made a show of stowing away his phone…
Rolling his shoulders to get rid of the kink in them from leaning against the passenger door window, Mac opened his door and further ignored Don, too tired to be thinking about possible blackmail pictures he was sure could be found on that phone. He'd store away that thought for when he was feeling awake again…
Don had already made his way around the car and offered him his hand, Mac blinking as he realised he had been dozing off again. "Come on Sleeping Beauty. Let's get you into bed!" Don announced before pulling him upwards, catching him as his legs turned out to be made of jelly. His whole body felt like it weighed a couple of tons and his brains were made of fluffy clouds. Leaning heavily on Don, they made their way into the building, ignoring the odd looks from the other tenants.
Choosing to take the elevator this time instead of dragging Mac up the stairs, Don once again couldn't help but grin. The ever steady Mac Taylor, now swaying on his feet like a tired stubborn child. But hey, he'd been there himself, had experienced the mind-numbing tiredness that came from a long and difficult case without sleep….
The cold air woke Mac enough to find the keys stuffed inside his jacket, but the lock proved to be a daunting task as the commands from his mind didn't seem to connect with the muscles in his arms. Staring at the large hand suddenly appearing in his line of sight, he handed over the keys at last and let Don open the door to his apartment. Following the detective inside, it seemed like his gaze was immediately drawn towards the couch and he made to drape his body on it, but two strong hands stopped him. "Na-ah Mac, no sleeping on the couch, bed's only a couple steps further" He let himself be dragged towards his bedroom, eyes nearly closed before his head hit his pillow, the chuckle coming from Don the last thing he heard in a long time…
He woke up to the sound of a soft voice talking on the other side of his wall, but he couldn't summon up the energy to get up, or even listen carefully enough to hear what it was saying. He quickly glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and realised it was only a couple of minutes past 3. Deciding this was way too early to be thinking about anything right now, he closed his eyes again and swiftly fell asleep again.
The next time he woke, it was to the smell of coffee. Stretching lightly, Mac realised that he hadn't felt this content and awake in a long time. Flipping the covers back, he was momentarily confused as to why he was sleeping in his white tank top and black trousers, while the rest of his clothes lay neatly folded on his chair, before the memories of this morning came back to him. 'Don…'
He glanced at the clock as he passed on his way to his door; nearly 20 minutes past 10. Walking out into his living room, he saw no-one, so he followed the sounds and smells into his kitchen. Don was standing in front of his stove, something sizzling on the fire, coffee brewing on the other side. "Hello Don" Mac said as the younger man turned around; the dark-haired detective nearly dropping his cup of coffee in surprise. "Geez Mac, give a guy a heart-attack, will ya!" Don exclaimed, before looking the CSI over. "How ya feelin'?" Mac grinned "You can tell Jo I am very well rested…" He was interrupted by the sound of his stomach growling "…and very hungry!" Don laughed and turned back to the stove. "Good to hear. Breakfast will be done in about 10 minutes, so if you wanna grab a shower first? By the way, I had to go and buy all this stuff. Your fridge and cupboards were totally empty, nothing edible to be found…"Don's indignation over this fact trailed off as he caught sight of Mac's shocked face. "What?" "Breakfast?" Mac uttered. "Yeah, you know the food you eat in the morning, which is right about now…"
"I've slept for an entire day?" "Yeah, pretty much, guess you needed that, Sleeping Beauty. Jo gave you another day off, or well, she threatened me not to wake you or let you come into work today…so please don't…" Don fake shuddered at that thought and Mac shook his head at his friend's antics. "So…hurry up, so we can eat!" Don grinned and Mac couldn't help but grin back.
He took a quick shower and put on some clean clothes before heading back into the living room where Don had already set the table and was waiting patiently, a grin forming on his face as Mac sat down as well. Mac stared at the food in front of him and then back at Don. "Seriously Don?"
"Hey, Don Flack is a man of his word, so there you go" Don smirked. Mac just shook his head, wondering how to respond to this, when his stomach did it for him by rumbling loudly again. Ignoring the laughing Detective sitting at his table, Mac grabbed a cookie of the plate in front of him, flushing it down with a sip of milk…
THE END
I hope you enjoyed this, I certainly had fun writing this! Please let me know what you thought of this, reviews make my day. And hey, maybe there will be cookies and milk for those who do...lol ;)