Thanks to LilyMoonlight for all of the help with this. (As usual XD)
It had been a long night by the time Stella was able to close the door to her daughter's room and head to the kitchen, she was ready to go to bed herself. But even though she was sure she was catching the flu that had kept Julie home from school for two days, she still had piles of paperwork to do, so had to settle for coffee instead.
However, as she walked into the kitchen to make it, she made the pleasant discovery that Mac had made coffee for her before he left for work. Having spent the previous two days at home with Julie, he had probably known she would need it.
With a mug og fresh coffee in her hand, Stella walked back to their home office. She wasn't in a hurry to get started, but the sooner she was done, the sooner she could sleep. Bearing that in mind, she sat down and started working her way through the first report.
It didn't take her as long as she had expected to finish the first one, but just as she was about to get started on the next, she noticed a folder on the corner of the desk. Thinking it was something Mac had left for her to finish as well, she reached for it, but only had to read a few sentences to see that it had nothing to do with any of her cases and was something Mac was going to need.
Deciding that her paperwork could wait for a bit, she called Mac. Not wanting him to waste half of the day looking for the file in his office.
He answered the phone with a quiet chuckle. "I was just about to call you." He told her.
"You left a file at home, it looks important," she said.
"Actually, it is. Would you mind dropping by the precinct," he asked. "I know Julie is sick, and you didn't look too great this morning either, but we need those papers."
"You know, you'd probably get further with compliments." she said not waiting for a response before she continued. "Anyhow, I can't leave Julie home alone. She might be smart, but she's still just 8."
"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. We have a suspect in custody, and his lawyer is already giving Don a hard time," Mac said hopefully.
Stella sighed, resigned. "Okay, fine, I give in. But I hope you consider yourself lucky for having such an understanding wife." She didn't love the idea of waking Julie and bringing her to the precinct, but she understood the importance of having everything in order when dealing with lawyers.
"I owe you one." Mac said, and Stella could easily hear Don talking to him in the background.
"You bet you do." If she hadn't felt the way she did, she would have already been plotting her revenge, but instead she finished the call by promising they would be there as soon as possible.
Putting her phone back in her pocket, she made her way toward Julie's room. For a second she considered letting her sleep. Their neighbor across the hall was a pleasant woman and wouldn't mind checking on Julie, but the few times they'd made that arrangement, Julie had been offended for days after, so she decided against it. It would only be a short journey and with any luck, Julie would sleep in the car.
She knocked at the door before entering, but Julie was still asleep. Awkwardly wrapped in the blankets, but sleeping soundly none the less.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Stella already felt guilty for waking her daughter after she'd had so much trouble falling asleep, but she'd already promised Mac to come in with the papers.
"Julie?" she asked nudging her daughter's shoulder gently. "Hey, it's time to wake up."
Julie opened her eyes long enough to send Stella an annoyed look, before she buried her face in the pillow.
"Your dad forgot some work papers at home." Stella explained, running her fingers through her daughter's unruly hair. "We need to drop by the precinct with them."
"But I'm sick." Julie whined, only turning her heard slightly.
"I know. Listen, on the way back we'll get some popcorn and then we'll watch a movie when we get home." Stella suggested. Pushing her paperwork to that evening wasn't a hard choice in that moment. After a short while Julie got up, agreeing to come along on the condition that she could pick a movie.
Walking into the precinct half an hour later, with Julie trailing behind, Stella scanned the room trying to find Mac as fast as possible. After having spent the entire trip arguing with her daughter about whether or not she should wait in the car, she wasn't in the mood for any more detours, she wanted to leave the papers and get back home. To her frustration, Mac was nowhere to be seen, Don, however, was sitting by his desk, motioning them over.
"Mac's in interrogation, that lawyer is a piece of work," he said. "They'll be done in a few minutes."
Stella just nodded, already looking impatiently towards the door to the interrogation rooms. At her side Julie was busy taking in everything that was happening around her.
"Can I see your gun?" she asked, as Don opened the drawer he kept it in, to put away some papers. Most likely sensing the glare Stella shot him even before he looked at her, he quickly shut the drawer. Unfortunately even he could tell that the young miss Taylor wouldn't let it go that easily. She stood by his desk, with her arms crossed and her father's unimpressed look on her face. Stella groaned inwardly.
"You know what?" Don asked, looking at Stella to make sure he wasn't crossing any lines, before he opened the drawer again and put the gun on the table. "If your mom sees you holding a weapon she'll kill me."
Julie nodded, already busy studying the gun on the table, very careful not to touch it so Don wouldn't get into trouble.
Even though she wasn't too comfortable with having Julie around the precinct, Stella wasn't feeling great, so she decided to let Don and Julie continue their conversation about how Don's job was way cooler than Mac's. And catching sight of Mac, who had just appeared in the doorway, looking more than just a little bit annoyed, she moved away from the pair to greet him.
"Lawyers?" she asked, shrugging slightly. Mac just nodded and rested his back against the wall.
"This one has all the right answers," he said, taking the papers that Stella held out for him. "Thank you. Hopefully I'll seem more convincing with the files in order."
"I hope so. Or you can always try telling him that your wife won't be happy if she drove all the way down here with a sick child for nothing." Stella said with a small smirk.
"You're going to use this against me, aren't you?"
"Every time I get the chance."
Mac smiled at her, shaking his head slightly, before he turned serious again.
"Maybe you should go home. I'll try to get home early, so you can get some rest as well." he said, resting his hand on her upper arm.
"Thank you," Stella said, looking over her shoulder to see what Julie and Don were up to. They seemed caught up in a serious conversation, and the gun was, much to Stella's relief, forgotten about.
"I don't think leaving those two alone together is a good idea." Mac said with the hint of a smile, but something behind Stella took his attention before she had a chance to reply.
"Julie, come here!" he said urgently, making Stella spin around to see what was going on. A large man was being led through the doors to the precinct, giving the two officers bringing him in a hard time trying to control him.
At first, Julie didn't react. she remained standing in the same spot a few steps away from Don's desk. She was far too close to the suspect for Stella to stay calm, and she started to move towards her daughter.
Seeming to realise the urgency of the situation, Julie reached for Don's gun on the table, just as the suspect started to struggle.
"Julie, leave it!" Mac's voice rang through the room, even Stella stopped for a second, but Julie already held the weapon. Distracted by her father's sudden outburst, she just stood there, staring at him.
Stella heard Don tell Julie to give him the gun but it was too late. The suspect hadn't needed any more than the distraction of Mac shouting at his daughter to get the upper hand.
He broke away from the officers, grabbing Julie before she could hand the gun over and snatching it from her hand.
Frozen in horror, feeling as if she herself was being held at gunpoint, Stella watched him pull Julie in front of him, the gun loaded and now held against the crook of her neck, as he yelled the mandatory "Nobody moves!"
Everything fell into a dead silence. Stella stood right between Mac and their daughter, unarmed and unable to move. And even though every officer in the room had raised their weapon, there were no way any of them could take a shot without risking Julie's life.
"Let the girl go." one of the officers, who had brought the man in, demanded, but the suspect refused, instead he held firmer onto Julie, making her cry out for her mom.
Sparing no time for thinking, Stella was ready to do anything it took to get Julie out of there, but even when common sense failed, Mac was there to stop her.
"Stella." he said, warningly, as if he'd read her mind. She looked at him, only to find his attention jumping between her and Julie every few seconds. He was as scared as she was, and it wasn't just his daughter he feared for.
Turning her attention back to Julie and the suspect, Stella saw that he was looking at her, only briefly before he turned his attention back to the small crowd of armed officers. Compared to them, she most likely didn't pose much of a threat.
One of the armed officers was talking, trying to negotiate with the suspect, but Stella didn't listen to what was being said. All she could focus on was how the suspect, shaking slightly, held the gun to Julie's neck. There was nothing she could do, except hope that he would move it, just a little bit and give her the chance to do something, but he didn't budge and whatever the negotiating officer said only seemed to make him more desperate.
Unable to see Julie's face, Stella looked to Don for any kind of reassurance, but he looked almost as worried as she felt. If he wasn't unarmed he would be in the perfect spot, only a few feet away from the other officers, but far enough to be almost out of the suspects view.
She turned back to the suspect holding her daughter, in time to see him react to something the negotiating officer said. Furious, he fired off a shot, only hitting the wall.
Overwhelmed by the sound of the gunshot and the realisation that it could have been her daughter instead of the wall, Stella threw herself forwards, wrapping her arm around the suspect's throat, well aware that there was no way she could take him down. Her only chance would be to keep the gun away for long enough to Julie to get away safely.
Trying to keep hold of the gun, the suspect slammed his elbow backwards, catching Stella in the nose. As she staggered backwards trying to stay on her feet, Julie twisted herself from the man's grasp and ran to Mac.
Straightening up, feeling dazed Stella turned to make sure Julie was safe with Mac, before she turned her attention back to the suspect.
Suddenly finding herself at gunpoint, she froze. She could only stare at the gun as the suspect tried to figure out what to do next. For a second she was sure his finger tightened on the trigger, but before he could fire, his arm was flung backwards and the gun dropped from his hand.
Don had shot his forearm, with the gun he always kept in a holster on his ankle, and was now standing by Stella's side, watching as the suspect was taken down by the officers that had brought him in.
Before he was even out of sight, Stella's attention was drawn to Mac. He was standing in the same corner, still shielding Julie behind his arm. It wasn't until the door closed behind the suspect that he allowed his daughter to run across the room to her mom.
Julie flung her arms around Stella's waist without saying a word, Mac following close behind her.
"You okay?" He studied Stella closely. She simply nodded, not trusting herself to speak in that moment. There were plenty of things to talk through at a better time, when they'd all had a chance to realise what had happened.
Resting her head against the window, Stella looked at the many passing buildings. After the events at the precinct and then a few hours spent in the ER, she was looking forward to going home.
Much to her relief, Julie had fallen asleep while Stella was having her nose looked at in the ER. She wasn't as shaken up as Stella had expected, but their usually cheerful and talkative daughter had barely said a word since they left the precinct.
Having Julie in danger, because of their job was something they'd both feared would happen, even though they'd learned to push it aside as one of many worries that were unlikely to come true. Except now it had come true...
"Are you okay?" Mac asked, only briefly taking his eyes off the road to look at her. "You're not feeling dizzy or anything?"
"Just tired," she said, sighing. "I'm worried about Julie."
"I am too," Mac said rubbing his hand over his face. "We'll do everything we can, to help her deal with what happened. If it's necessary, we'll take her to a professional. She'll get through this."
Stella didn't say anything, instead she looked over her shoulder. Julie was still sleeping, looking like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Mac was right, she was going to get through it, but however irrational, a small fear had taken hold of Stella, how could she prevent something like this from happening again?
After they had gotten home that evening, no one had said much. Stella had made sure Julie had dinner while Mac was on the phone with Don. After that Julie had gone to bed, she was even more sick than she had been that morning, but given the events of the day, that hadn't come as a surprise to Stella.
Shutting the door behind her, she made her way over to her bed, where Julie was sitting, resting her head on her hands.
"Couldn't sleep?" Stella asked. Julie shook her head, sending her mom a teary glance.
"How are you feeling?" Stella tried. Julie shrugged. "Sick." She said.
"Here." Stella moved the duvet aside and motioned for Julie to lay down. Even though they'd all agreed she was too old to sleep in her parents' bed, that night would be an exception.
Julie crawled under the duvet, hugging it tight before looking up at her mom.
"Why did he pick me?" She asked after a while. "I didn't do anything."
"I know you didn't." Stella said. "He picked you, because even police officers are more worried when children are in danger."
"Even Don?" Julie asked.
"Yes honey, even Don. Especially when it's you."
Julie smiled, taking her mom's hand as she seemed to think about what had just been said. Stella watched her in silence. She was only just beginning to fully realise what had happened in the precinct.
"Would I be a good detective, mom?" Julie asked, giving Stella a reason not to think about what could have happened.
"A great one. But there are so many things you would be good at..." Starting from an end, Stella and Julie talked about every career choice they could think of until Julie finally fell asleep, leaving Stella sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her daughter. It amazed her how quickly Julie had grown, and at times it also frightened her. Even though she wanted to see her grow up, she wasn't sure she'd be able to let her. The day she would have to accept that she no longer had to protect her little girl, would be one of the most difficult days in her life.
Signing, she pushed herself off the bed, making sure Julie was warm and comfy under the duvet, before she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
She could hear Mac's voice from the office down the hall. He was on the phone again, only this time, his composure was slipping away almost as fast as hers.
She waited a few seconds until she heard him end his call before she headed for the office. He was on his way out of the room, but when he spotted her he walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her as they met. She felt him bury his face in her shoulder as she locked her arms around him, letting go of that last shred of strength that had held her together that evening, knowing that the walls they let down would be rebuilt in due time.