Disclaimer: CSI:NY does NOT belong to me. The only characters that belong to me are Alexis and Emma. And this is a slightly AU story. Hope that's not a problem with anyone. And I hope people like this story!
Spoilers: None…maybe borrowed concepts, but that's about it!
Summary: What do we get when we give Detective Mac Taylor a niece? A little drama but mostly a whole lot of fun!
Chapter 1:
"Mac!" Detective Stella Bonasera called out.
Detective Mac Taylor turned, looking up from the file he was reading. "Hey Stell, what's up?"
Stella walked up to him and joined him on his way to his office. "I met someone in the lobby. She says she's your niece." She looked at him curiously. "Why would your niece just randomly show up?"
Mac looked at her and shrugged. He ran a hand over his face and sighed. "Maybe she's had another fight with her parents and she ran away from home." He tossed the file on his desk and motioned for Stella to follow him. "Let's go find out."
"You don't mind if I tag along?" Stella asked; her interest definitely piqued.
"Not at all," he answered. "You are my partner and best friend."
Stella smirked and rolled her eyes as she followed him into the lobby. "Sure."
Mac sent a half smile in her direction before glancing around the room before he heard his 19-year old niece's voice.
"Uncle Mac!" Alexis Taylor hollered from the other side of the bustling room. A few people stopped their work to glance up at the girl who had called the CSI uncle. Blushing, she made her way over to her uncle and the pretty woman she had talked to earlier.
"Lex, what are you doing here?" Mac demanded. "Did you run away again?"
Alexis looked down. "Yeah," she mumbled. She shuffled her feet on the floor while they stood in an awkward silence.
Stella sensed this and introduced herself. "I'm Stella Bonasera. I work with your uncle, partners actually." She held her hand out and smiled gently.
Alexis looked up at her and smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Alexis Taylor. His brother is my dad," she explained, gesturing to Mac.
Mac reached out and took his niece's arm and led her down the hallway with Stella straggling behind. When they reached his office, Mac motioned for her to wait outside while he talked to Alexis first.
Stella understood and leaned against the glass wall of Mac's office. She had finished her case hours ago and was now wondering what the rest of their team was up to. Figuring Mac would page her she headed for one of the labs in search of Aiden and Danny.
"Lex, sit and explain why you're here," Mac said in his usual manner. He took a seat behind his desk and leaned forward, giving her his complete attention.
Alexis squirmed slightly under her uncle's stern gaze. She knew he was the head detective here at CSI: NYPD, and she admired him for that. He was her favorite uncle despite the fact that she rarely saw him anymore since he relocated to New York. "My mom died," she said simply, staring at the floor.
"What about Steve?" Mac asked, his demeanor softening.
"Dad was killed in a car accident later the same day," she added. She glanced up quickly with tears in her eyes. "Someone hit my mom, and ran into my dad." She sniffed, trying to control her emotions. "I had nowhere else to go but then I thought of you. My dad was always proud of you."
Mac smiled wistfully, remembering his childhood. He and Steve were very close even though Steve was the oldest. "Well, I'm glad you came here then. But my hours are long and I'm rarely home."
Alexis looked at her uncle. "What about, your partner?" she asked, stumbling. She couldn't remember his partner's name. "Does she have the same hours?"
Mac nodded. "Stella. Yeah, we pretty much have all the same hours." He stood up, flipping his phone open and paging Stella. "Crime doesn't stop," he smirked.
Alexis nodded. "I'll be okay alone if I can just live with you, despite the long hours. I've got school anyway."
"Where are you going to school?" Mac asked, leaning against the front of his desk.
"I got accepted into Julliard. I'm a piano performance major," she said shyly.
"Oh wow! Congratulations!" Mac said, genuinely happy for her. "What do you plan to do with that major?"
"I've been hired to be pianist for a school here in Manhattan. And apparently I'm so good that the Today Show wants a performance from me," she said somewhat embarrassed. She rarely talked about herself in such a way.
Mac crouched down so he was at her level. "Alexis, I'm very proud of you. And I know your parents would be as well," he gave her knee a squeeze, "and you can live with me."
Alexis surprised him by grabbing him in a giant hug. "Thank you," she whispered.
Their moment was gently interrupted by a knock from Stella. Mac looked up from his hug and crooked his finger at Stella, motioning her in.
"How's everything going?" Stella asked with a smile.
"Lex is going to live with me. Her parents have died suddenly," Mac said with suppressed sadness. He looked down at his niece who was giving Stella a once-over.
"Welcome to New York," Stella said with a friendly smile.
Alexis smiled back. "Thanks. Would it be okay if I shadowed you guys tomorrow?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two adults.
Stella looked over at Mac waiting for his answer. She liked this girl even though she barely knew anything about her.
Mac thought about it for a long while. "I suppose. Just try not to get in the way." He winked.
Stella was shocked. She hadn't seen this side of Mac in a long time, not since Claire died. When she noticed him watching her, she smiled shyly and pushed some of her curls behind her ear.
"Stick with me," Stella told Alexis. "This guy will run over you if you don't move quick enough," she joked.
Mac scoffed. "Yeah right." He stood up to his full height. "Stell, why don't you give her a tour of the labs, maybe introduce her to the rest of the team?" he suggested.
Stella nodded. "Sure. Come on Lex," she held a hand out and when the girl took it, she dropped her hand and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders.
"Oh, Uncle Mac," Alexis said, stopping in the doorway, "is Aunt Claire at home?"
Stella saw the sadness creep across his handsome face and looked down. She hated it when Mac was sad.
"You never heard?" Mac asked seriously.
Alexis shook her head, a blank expression on her face.
"Claire died on September 11, during the terrorist attacks," Mac said quietly.
"Oh," Alexis whispered, looking down. "I'm sorry Uncle Mac." She crossed the room in three strides and hugged him again.
Mac hugged her back and soothed her with gentle circles. "I've been dealing with it. Stella's been a big help as well," he said, sharing a look with Stella. "It's been four years."
Stella smiled gently and waited patiently for Alexis to rejoin her. She glanced down at the floor then at her watch as she tried not to stare at the intimate moment between niece and uncle.
Alexis started to tear up, the stress of the past few days and just now learning of her aunt's death was starting to take its toll. She let go of her uncle and stepped back, wiping her eyes with her fingers. "I'll see you later."
Mac nodded. "Of course," he looked over at Stella, "Stell would you mind taking my niece back to your place to wait for me?"
Stella nodded. "Not a problem." She and Alexis headed out of the office towards the labs to find someone new for her to meet - the rest of the CSI family. "Okay, over here is the lab where we test ballistics and materials."
"Ballistics?" Alexis questioned, momentarily stumped.
"Guns, bullets," Stella explained patiently. She smiled as they moved on. "And this is the lab where we process all the rest of forensics and downstairs is the morgue," she added quickly.
"We aren't going down there?" Alexis asked somewhat disappointed.
Stella shook her head in the negative. "It's locked up for the night. And Sheldon has left so you'll have to meet him tomorrow."
Alexis raised an eyebrow in a silent question.
Stella laughed and explained, "Dr. Sheldon Hawkes is our brilliant mortician. He's one of the best!"
Alexis smiled as they moved through a pair of doors. She looked around her and saw a few people still running tests. She noticed a pair of CSIs who were leaning casually against the table, joking with each other.
Stella led the way over to this pair and introduced them all. "Aiden, Danny, this is Mac's niece Alexis. Alexis, this is Aiden Burn and Danny Messer."
Alexis shook their hands. "Nice to meet you," she said politely. She suddenly grew quiet and stared at the floor.
"What's wrong, Alexis?" Stella asked concerned.
"It just hit me," she whispered, "I lost both of my parents in a span of three days and just found out my aunt died four years ago. I don't understand how I didn't know before!" she stated angrily. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" she cried as she sunk to the floor, sobbing.
The other three looked at each other before kneeling down in front of her. "Alexis," Stella started gently, "it's not your fault that any of these things happened. Claire died because of someone else's mistake. Your parents had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Aiden reached a hand out to caress her hair. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents. But just so you know, you've got an instant family with us." She shoved Danny for his support.
"Yeah!" he stated quickly, glaring at Aiden. "You're always welcome to hang out with us and talk. We'll all lend an ear when you need it."
Alexis looked up into their kind faces. She had never known kindness such as these three strangers – soon to be friends – were showing her. "Thanks," she whispered, wiping her face. She allowed Stella to pull her into a hug and the three sat there on the floor of the lab in a comfortable silence.
"You know, I was an orphan," Stella started, "I never even met my parents."
Alexis pulled back slightly. "Really? Did you ever try to find them?"
"I tried once when I was in college but then I got too busy with classes and it was pushed to the back burner," she answered thoughtfully. "I guess I just found family here at work, such as these two dorks," she teased.
That got Alexis to laugh a little as Aiden and Danny protested. "Okay, maybe Danny's just the dork. Aiden's pretty cool though," Stella said.
Danny shoved Aiden who was snickering and glared at Stella. "Thank you for that," he stated sarcastically.
They all shared a laugh before getting up off the floor and dusting themselves off. "Thank you for sitting with me," Alexis said shyly. "Today's the first day I've actually cried about any of this. I needed it."
The other three nodded understandingly and decided they had enough of work for one day and headed home. Danny and Aiden cleaned up their lab stations and headed out to the locker room, returning to their playful banter.
Stella followed them with Alexis who remained quiet. "You okay?" Stella asked stopping to wait for her to catch up.
"I'll be okay," Alexis stated. "Where we going now?" she asked, smoothly changing the subject.
"Locker room. Gotta grab my stuff!" Stella said with a grin. "You okay with coming home with me until Mac comes to get you?'
Alexis nodded as they made their way over to her locker. She pulled open her door and slipped into her jacket. Grabbing her purse, she slammed the locker door shut and said her goodbyes to Danny and Aiden who were now bickering about who has the better TV. It was never ending with those two.
The girls headed back towards the offices and checked in on Mac who was staring deeply into a file. "Hold on, I'm going to check on him," Stella said, opening the door to Mac's office.
Alexis remained outside and watched the pair through the glass. She was curious about the relationship these two shared.
Stella walked quietly to Mac's side. "What are you studying?"
Mac looked up and sighed. "This case about a baby who has been abandoned but the most recent caregiver found dead next to her. It's puzzling as to why anyone would kill someone but leave a baby behind." He ran a hand over his face and leaned back.
"We're heading back to my place now. You want to join? Maybe have some coffee?" Stella invited. "I have that Irish stuff you like."
Mac smiled slightly and stood. "I'll be by later to get her. Can you wait on the coffee?" he grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and slipped it on. "I've got a few things to do before I go home such as get some food for this niece of mine," he said affectionately. Having his niece around was going to be good for him.
"We'll wait," Stella assured him. "See you at my place." She waved and stepped out of the office, leading Alexis down the hall while Mac continued to get his stuff together.
"So, you're half Italian and half Greek?" Alexis asked, astonished. "That's a beautiful combination."
"Thank you!" Stella beamed. "I've always liked it myself, despite not knowing my family." She uncurled herself from the couch. "Want some more soda or water?" she asked collecting their plates.
"Water, please," Alexis requested politely.
"So what's your major?" Stella asked, already knowing this girl was in college.
"Piano performance," she answered from the living room. "I actually got accepted into Julliard."
"No way!" Stella said excitedly. "That's awesome! Congratulations!"
Alexis smiled. "Thanks. I'm thinking of doing a double major now," she started, accepting the bottle of water that was handed to her as Stella claimed her spot again.
"What would you add?" Stella asked, lifting a throw pillow into her lap and hugging it to her.
"Forensics science," she said, "like you and my uncle."
Stella nodded. "You sure you want to do that? The program takes time."
"I'm sure. I still have enough time and NYU has a pretty quick program," Alexis added. "Let's watch a movie until Uncle Mac gets here."
Stella jumped up from the couch and skipped over to her movies. "Comedy? Drama? Foreign?" she made a face at the last one remembering where she got that foreign movie.
"Comedy, definitely," Alexis said with passion.
"Any requests?" Stella asked, glancing up at her.
"Do you have," she paused in thought, "Monster-in-Law?"
Stella raked her eyes over her collection of comedies. She didn't see it at first but finally noticed it buried in between The Wedding Planner and Ice Age. She grabbed it and popped the disc into the player, plopping down on the couch with the remote. Just as she hit play, her doorbell rang.
The girls laughed as Stella jumped back up and looked out the peephole. "It's just your uncle," she said swinging the door open. "Hi!" she greeted happily.
Mac laughed, yes, actually laughed. "What a greeting. And how are you guys?"
"Hey Uncle Mac," Alexis said from her spot on the couch. "We're just starting Monster-in-Law, can we please stay and watch it?" she begged.
Mac started to say 'no, they couldn't impose any longer' when she started giving him a puppy dog look. He quickly answered yes and asked Stella if that'd be all right. Stella accepted and asked if anyone wanted coffee. They both accepted and Mac followed Stella into the kitchen to help prepare mugs.
"Thanks for hanging out with her," Mac said gratefully, bringing three mugs down from a cabinet.
"Not a problem at all. She's fun to hang out with," Stella said with a smile. "She had somewhat of a breakdown back at the lab though. Keep an eye on her tonight," she informed him. "Just be there for her."
Mac nodded and watched as she poured the coffee into the mugs. He grabbed Splenda packets from a little bowl and carried two of the mugs into the living room. He set one down in front of his niece and claimed the spot in between the two girls.
They all settled in to watch the movie but exhaustion won and claimed Alexis and Stella. Alexis had curled up against her uncle and was now asleep against his right side while on his left, Stella had claimed his shoulder. Sighing, he laid his head back and rested for a minute before deciding to gently move them and take the mugs to the sink.
When he came back he found Alexis now sleeping against Stella who had curled up against the arm of the couch when Mac had gotten up. He smiled to himself. He was slowly starting to let Claire go and was willing to restart his life. Lately, he had found himself attracted to Stella Bonasera, his partner.
Shaking himself out of his reverie, he stepped over to the couch and kneeled down. "Lex," he whispered, brushing her hair out of her face. "Let's go so Stell can get to bed," he teased softly.
Alexis stirred but didn't wake. Mac stood up and carefully moved her to the other arm of the couch and lifted Stella into his arms. He quickly carried her into her bedroom and laid her down, covering her with a light afghan. He came back to the couch to lift his niece into his arms and carried her down to his car.
Making sure she was buckled properly, he ran back up to Stella's apartment to lock the door for her and leave a note. Once back in the car, Alexis woke when he started the car. "Are we going home?" she mumbled.
"Yep," Mac answered, pulling into the Manhattan traffic. "You were dead to the world when I carried you out to the car," he teased.
Alexis laughed sleepily. "How long till we get there?"
"Thirty minutes," he answered, navigating through the masses of taxicabs.
"Mm, okay," she said sleepily, drifting off.
Mac smiled to himself and soon found himself home. He parked as close to the front door as he could and got out. He opened Alexis' door and successfully woke her this time. "We're home," he said gently.
Alexis stumbled out of the car as Mac wrapped an arm around her small frame. "You're shivering sweetie," he stated, concerned.
"I'm fine," she said, pulling her jacket around her tighter. She crossed her arms across her chest in order to keep warm while her uncle unlocked the main door and held it open for her. When they were both inside, Mac checked his mailbox and then led the way up the stairs and to his apartment.
"This is home sweet home," he introduced. He unlocked his door and they moved inside.
Alexis looked around the living room and small dining area. "Typical guy's place," she stated with a smile.
Mac had to laugh at that. "Well, go figure," he said. He led the way down the hall and showed her into the guest room and pushed some boxes aside. "As you can see, this room has been mainly storage. But I'll fix that one of these days."
Alexis dropped her backpack by the desk and flopped onto the bed. "Comfy and it's welcoming to my tired body." She stood back up and hugged her uncle tightly. "Thanks for everything," she said simply.
"You're welcome," he answered. They said their goodnights and went to bed. Around two AM Mac found himself awake and he wasn't sure what had woken him. He checked his cell and saw no missed calls. He lay there for a minute listening to see what had woken him. Then he heard it – quiet sobbing. He got out of bed and pulled a white T-shirt on with his boxers and headed for his niece's room.
"Lex?" Mac asked, opening her door slightly. He found her sitting up against the headboard, knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing into an extra pillow.
"Uncle Mac, I can't sleep," she sobbed. "I keep thinking of my parents…and Aunt Claire." She hiccupped as she continued. "I never got a chance to tell her goodbye or how much I loved her."
Mac walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. "I didn't either. Her death wasn't confirmed until days after the tragedy," he confessed.
Alexis looked up at him as tears trickled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I wasn't closer to you guys."
Mac shook his head. "It's not your fault. Your life took you one way while mine took me another." He smoothed her hair back. "I still love you. You're one of my favorite nieces."
Alexis grinned through her tears. "I'm your only niece."
Mac chuckled. "True, but still. You're one amazing girl." He pulled her into a hug. "It's okay to cry. You can let it out." He rocked back and forth slowly to soothe her as it had for him when he was a child.
Alexis started in on another round of tears and Mac sat with her until she had calmed down some. By that time it was already three-thirty in the morning and he had to get to work by eight. "Think you can sleep now?"
She nodded. "I think so. Thank you for sitting with me." She adjusted herself under the covers and laid down curling up with the other pillow. "Am I still coming to work with you tomorrow?"
Mac nodded. "Of course. Get some sleep and we'll settle things in the morning." He kissed her temple and headed back to bed to grab a few more hours of sleep before he headed into work.