Whatever It Takes
Chapter 1: Not So Great After All
"A strangled smile fell from your face
It kills me that I hurt you this way
The worst part is that I didn't even know
Now there's a million reasons for you to go
But if you can find a reason to stay"
"So how are things with Mac?" Lindsay asks, turning away from the computer screen while the fingerprints run through the system.
"Okay."
"Just okay? How long have you been dating again?"
"Almost three months. He hasn't changed like I thought he would when he finally found a girlfriend to move on with."
"He's changed a bit, Stel. Maybe you just don't see it because you're with him constantly."
"He hasn't changed since the day I met him," she sighs. "He's always been a workaholic, and I guess even I can't change that."
"He'd rather be at work than with you?"
"Apparently. He's been late numerous times and completely forgot twice."
"What are you ladies talking about?" Flack enters. "We have criminals to catch. I need names and proof, not gossip."
"We were just talking about Mac," Stella hands Lindsay another print to run.
"I don't want to hear the details," he smirks.
"What, you don't need news for the police station?" Lindsay teases.
"No, I already had the biggest story all year when they started dating. Now everyone's waiting to find out when the baby's due."
The curly-haired detective freezes for a moment. "Mac and I are not planning on having kids any time soon. We agreed to get married before doing so. And for your information… we haven't slept together yet."
"Saving that for marriage too?"
She frowns, "I really don't think what Mac and I do outside the office is your business."
Mac chooses to enter. "Stel, I've got a call for another scene. It's four-thirty now. I don't think I can pick you up on time. Can we just meet at the restaurant? The reservation is for seven-thirty."
"That's fine. I'm going to leave soon."
"I still need a suspect," Don interrupts.
"We're not there yet. And there's no need to rush the analyses of the evidence."
"Don, I need you with me," the boss requests.
"Great," he mutters, exiting.
"I'll see you in a few hours," Stella kiss him goodbye. "And don't you dare stand me up."
"I won't," he promises as he heads out of the lab.
Lindsay checks the computer. "No matches yet."
"As soon as it's five, we'll leave. Until then, keep running prints. The rest can wait a day." She seals up her evidence and pulls her gloves off.
"It's hard to see Mac standing anyone up, especially you."
"He just loses track of time I guess. And giving him a lecture won't help. But I do enjoy seeing him beg for forgiveness when he's done something wrong."
"I'd like to see that," she laughs.
"In twelve years of working together, I didn't think I'd see it either."
"Twelve years?"
Stella nods, "I think I almost gave him a heart attack when we first met. He came into his office to find me in his chair. Probably not the best way to start an interview."
"If anyone else tried to sit in his chair, he'd probably kill them. You must be really special."
A/N: I got bored and decided to start posting this. It's got eight more chapter and I'm going to try to update every other day. I've spent my day reading my CSI book and typing the rest of this story and starting the next and editing this one. And I played my flute in there somewhere only 'cause it really needed to be cleaned so it will go together. Anyway... I should read my cliffnotes for Ivanhoe now that they came. But school doesn't start for another... ten days I think. I kind of wish it'd start this week so I wouldn't have so much band. Or maybe I don't wish that. I don't want to go back. But I got my schedule already. I alredy knew like five of my teachers though, and probably there's only one health teacher so that's six, I just didn't know who it was. Then there were like two classes the only have two teachers so I had to have one or the other. So it wasn't to exciting to get. I have to figure out where my rooms are. I'm on like one side of the building for the morning and the other side for the afternoon. Well, band's kind of in the middle. Our building is like really weird... there's an upstairs in the two main parts with classrooms, but they're not connected. Actually I think I do have one time where I have to go from one upstairs to the other. I think it's from math to chemistry two. Oh, and there were lots of like freshmen parents that got to see their kids schedules and they have my chemistry teacher from last year for biology. Good luck to them. My mom was trying to describe her. Luckily though she doesn't teach the second one. I guess I should shut up now. Thanks for reading. I hope you like it. It gets pretty interesting in a few chapters.