A/N: Okay, so here it is: my first story. I have always been a big fan of Mac and Stella and I REFUSE to lose my faith in them just because (you may not want to read on if you haven't seen 6x17 "Pot Of Gold" yet) Aubrey Hunter showed up. Aubrey's appearance also made me post this. DEFIANCE FTW!

This is not beta-ed, so I would really appreciate it if you could point out mistakes. I REALLY would. I don't care for flamers, but I am a supporter of constructive criticism. Also English is not my native language, so I consider criticism to be a great way to improve my skills.

An Innocent Question

"He'll be home by seven, promise Liz" Stella said to the woman who had, in the last months, become a good friend.

"I know that I can trust you, Stella. You two just have fun." Elizabeth Tanner replied with a smile. Since Stella's apartment had burned down and she had gotten her son back, Liz and Stella Bonasera had stayed in contact.

Austin and Stella had built quite a relationship and the boy saw a trusted confidante in her. Their little outings, just like this one, had become a tradition. Stella would take the boy out to the movies, go to the animal shelter with him to walk a dog or the two would visit a café and sit for hours, talking about everything the boy was interested in.

This was one of the days where they would do something special; Stella had planned to show Austin the lab. After he had been rescued from his kidnapper, he had only seen small parts of it and those were clouded by the fog of confusion that had built with going back to his mother. However, Austin and Liz had made great progress and had created a new bond that was stronger than the one they had had before he had been taken.

Stella had not told Austin that he would get to see the lab today, something he had been eager for in the last few weeks because Stella had told him that Adam had, in the line of duty, so to speak, blown up about ten toilets in varying colors because he "wanted to test if the velocity of the shrapnel changes with color".

Of course Adam was in trouble now because he had wasted resources, but secretly every last person at the lab had watched his experiment with great interest and amusement.

"So... what are we gonna do today?" the boy with the freckled nose inquired from the car seat beside Stella's.

"What do you wanna do?"

"Can we go see the lab today?" he hesitantly asked while glancing sideways at her. A smirk formed on her face and she thought about not telling him, until he turned his head and looked at her pleadingly. "I promise I won't touch anything! I'll be so good you won't even notice me!"

"You know what? I think we should go there and ask Adam if he could show us one of his experiments." Stella answered and grinned at him.

Austin returned the grin, turned to the window and murmured "Awesome!", making Stella laugh quietly.

***

When they reached the lab, Austin immediately started walking straighter and tried to hide how excited he was by putting on a stern face that reminded Stella a little bit of Mac. When they moved into the elevator though, Austin could not hold himself back and nearly jumped to the pad with the buttons for the different floors, pressing the button that said "35" with lightning speed.

When he turned towards her again, he had put the "grown-up face" back on and casually leaned against the wall. Stella crossed her arms and did the same, all the while looking at him with a facial expression that said "No, you are not excited at all". Austin blushed and shyly grinned at her, feeling caught.

In the last second before the door closed, a hand moved between the doors, effectively stopping their movement. "Whoa, wait for me Stell!" the voice of Don Flack resounded in the small cabin. The tall man joined them in the elevator and greeted Stella with a grin, then turned towards Austin. "So, you here for business?"

Austin giggled. "No." he simply answered.

"You accompanyin' your girlfriend here then?"

"Stella isn't my girlfriend!" Austin answered, completely outraged.

"She just your friend, then?" Don could not keep the grin out of his voice.

"Yeah, something like that."

******

So how did you like it? Good? Bad? I would appreciate it if you could leave me a review, no matter how long.

Please note that I'm preparing for my graduation at the moment, so I probably won't update regularly; but unless told otherwise you can be sure that I will eventually update at least monthly.