A/N: I thought I'd be taking a break after finishing It Could Happen to You, but apparently Mac and Stella have different ideas ;) Because they didn't get as much airtime as I had wanted to give them in my last fic, I decided to try my hand at a little series that featured just the two of them in a string of important moments in their relationship. This first one is actually my take on their encounter at the end of the season 1 finale What You See Is What You See, but the rest will be original—this just seemed like the perfect place to start :) As always, let me know what you think, and enjoy!

For Mandi

She noticed the way he looked at her when she walked into his office and felt strangely self-conscious. "You like it?" Stella asked cheerfully instead, gesturing to the little black dress she wore, hoping to cover up her embarrassment. "Hopefully my date will too…"

They chatted for a few minutes before Mac rose from his chair and removed his holster from his belt, locking his gun in his desk drawer. "Tonight…there's someplace I gotta be."

Stella looked at him incredulously. Mac Taylor, the workaholic, was actually leaving the lab at a decent hour?

He smiled, and the smile was tinged with a faint sadness as he avoided her eyes for an instant. "I think it's time."

It was then that she realized he was talking about moving on after Claire's death, about going out again, about seeing Rose, the woman he'd met at the coffee shop. Stella regarded him for a moment, relief mixed with happiness creeping in along the edges of her thoughts. This was healthy for him. No more wallowing, no more working without sleeping…at least for one night. She wondered, too, if this Rose knew how lucky she was to meet a man like Mac.

Stella shook herself mentally and moved around the desk toward him. "Here…let me fix your tie…"

Mac smiled again and allowed her to reach for him, his eyes meeting hers briefly, questioningly, when she began unknotting his tie rather than adjusting it. The faintly sad smile returned to his lips and his eyes darted away again as her hands moved.

Her own eyes flickered between his face and his tie, her brain going a million miles a minute as she worked. It felt good to touch him, even if it was only her fingers grazing his throat, and the self-conscious feeling she had experienced earlier returned. Her lips twitched as she slid the tie from his collar and opened the top button of his shirt, glancing quickly into his blue eyes.

Stella patted his lapel gently as she stepped away. "There…"

Mac looked into her eyes once more and smiled appreciatively, unable to articulate his thoughts. But after knowing each other for so long, she could read the expression on his face and smiled back a "you're welcome", brushing her hand over his cheek. At that moment in time, her face betrayed her, and if he had been paying just a bit more attention he would have seen it.

Stella was in love with Mac.

She stepped away from him, hesitantly at first, then with more confidence as her poise returned. "Have a good time," she called over her should as she left his office.

She made it all the way to the locker room before she allowed herself to process what had happened. She had always been fond of Mac, cared for him like she had for no one else in the world. Little by little she had discovered that "cared for" had grown into "loved", but she had never acted on it, knowing that if the two of them were ever to be together it would have to be when they were both ready. With Mac still grieving for Claire, he had definitely not been ready.

But tonight, he had proclaimed in the muted tones of his blue eyes and shy smile that he was ready, or at least beginning to consider the idea. In time, he would be able to date again, to have a relationship again with some fortunate woman. It was Rose he was going to see at the moment, but in his office the look in Mac's eyes had given Stella something to hold onto while she waited for him, to help her through the twinges of jealousy she felt when she thought of him with another woman.

Tonight, he had given her hope that someday he would be ready to take the next step, and that she might be the one he stepped with.