A/N: The mission I was given was to get Mac and Stella together in the current timeline. I started from the beginning of the most recent season (6) and worked from there, touching on a few episodes along the way. Just so you don't get lost (if you're like me, you don't have TiVo/DVR, and have only seen the episodes once, and the earlier episodes are fuzzy by now ), you're looking at: Epilogue, Cuckoo's Nest, Death House, The Formula, Rest In Peace Marina Garito, and Point Of View.

Standard rules apply here. I own nothing, claim nothing, just playing because the game excites me. Feedback is love, and constructive criticism is always welcome. Hope you all enjoy!

NY NY NY NY

She was stubborn to the core. Too stubborn for her own good even. He could see as plain as day that she was constantly battling between her head and her heart.

Everything that had happened lately wasn't making that any easier.

For days, nobody really talked much. It was business and work and silence. Painful, deafening, silence. When people did start making small talk around the offices and labs again, it was stiff and awkward. Like nobody was really sure when they should get back to "normal".

But eventually, they did. One by one, people started to remember that they still had to enjoy the time they still had left on this earth because they saw how fragile it truly was.

That's why when Mac saw Stella and Adam walking down the sidewalk together, obviously slightly intoxicated, he could only sigh. He knew that like so many other people on the planet, in the city, in his lab, Stella had taken control by letting go. She was having a very serious battle between her head and her heart again, and her illogical head was winning tonight.

Noting that neither party was in any way inebriated enough to be in any real danger, he simply watched them disappear around the corner, then turned to head home.

NY NY NY NY

"How's he doing?" Stella rested a hand on his arm, genuine concern for both Mac and Flack showing deep in her glassy eyes.

"He's been better. Can't really say he's ever been worse," Mac replied honestly.

Stella sighed as she rested her elbows on her knees. "I don't know how it got to be this bad."

"Nobody does," Mac shook his head.

He knew how closely Stella had been watching Flack over the last few months, trying to wedge herself into his shattered life and help pick up the pieces. They all had. They all just wanted to help their friend.

But he was glad Stella didn't have to see him the way he did in Terrence's apartment. Seeing Flack's clothes tattered and torn, his hair a mess, face unshaven, body bruised and bloodied, smelling of vomit and alcohol and filth, his eyes glazed over and lacking the fight and ambition they normally had; he wasn't the same at all. And he knew that would have broken Stella's heart. Part of the territory of the job was losing that naïve instinct to always see the best in people. But Mac knew that Stella still saw more good than most.

He rested his hand on her knee. "He'll be okay in time. He just needs us to keep holding his head above the water right now."

He would help make sure her faith in her friends never wavered.

NY NY NY NY

She loved watching him work. It was almost like she could see the gears turning in his head sometimes. And this house they had stumbled upon, it was like catnip for him, she could tell. The way his eyes focused while he thought and computed and solved…it was intense.

Something about the way he moved through this life-sized puzzle, though, it was exciting to her. Every step, every touch, every breath was on purpose as he moved through the rooms, trying to piece together every little detail.

Stella focused on the task at hand; she had to. Their crime scene was literally trying to attack them. But occasionally, only for a moment, she would watch him again. Just to store in her memory to get a better look at later.

Because who in their right mind didn't enjoy watching a brilliant man work?

NY NY NY NY

Adrenaline. Heart racing, blood pumping, hands sweating. She beat him to the finish line by a second. She suspected he let her. Jumping out of her car, Stella yanked her helmet off and rand around to where he had just climbed out of his car, dropping his own helmet in the seat.

Stella leapt up into his arms, half wrapping her body around his, her excited laughter sweet in his ear. "My God!" She untangled herself from him and gripped his arms through the racing suit. "That was incredible!"

Mac was smiling right along with her, and was just about to open his mouth to agree, but Stella stopped him dead in his tracks, leaping forward again and sealing her mouth over his.

The kiss was as intense as the race had been.

Strike that. More so, as she brushed her tongue against his bottom lip just before she pulled away.

Mac shook his head and laughed, noting that the redness in her cheeks was no longer from the heat of the cars or protective racing suits or helmets.

And deepened even more as she stepped back a little, not apologizing for or excusing her actions. Only clearing her throat softly as she walked back to get her helmet. The pit crew was already making their way onto the track and Stella nodded in the direction of the bathrooms they changed in earlier. "Suppose we should let these guys do their work, huh."

Mac nodded. "We'll have to do that again sometime." He nodded back to the cars.

But they both knew the race was only the second best event of the day.

NY NY NY NY

He forgot sometimes just how fragile she was. Every woman, no matter how tough she seemed on the outside, was soft and delicate on the inside. And sometimes, they broke.

Mac had watched her struggle with this case all week. The pain she let show on the exterior had to be nothing compared to what she was really feeling. He knew that the suffering and heartache that everyone saw was only the tiny drops forcing through the cracks in her over-burdened foundation.

But eventually, the pressure would be too much, and she would break.

At the end of the week, when she was more than worked into the ground, he found her sitting in her office, staring at her computer, but not actually doing anything. Just staring. He knocked softly, but she didn't look up. He stepped into the room and watched her carefully until she finally noticed him.

She looked up and put on a smile, giving it her all, but knowing he would see right through her façade. "Hey, Mac. Headed home?"

"I was. Until I noticed that you were still here." He walked around and perched on the edge of her desk and looked down at her. "Go home." It wasn't a question or a demand. It was just two words, soft and simple. Almost pleading.

"I need to finish my work."

"It'll be here tomorrow," he insisted gently.

Stella stared at her computer again for a moment, then finally, looked back up at Mac, her eyes tired, her body weak and worn. She wanted to speak, she wanted to ask for his help, she was desperate for strong arms to hold her up while she let the exhaustion finally consume her, but the right words wouldn't come out. She could only hope he still had the ability to somehow read her mind like he always seemed to do.

He stood slowly and turned her chair so she was away from the desk, and took her hand. "Come on. I'll take you home."

NY NY NY NY

"Mac, stop looking out that window."

He rolled his eyes at her. "As it turns out, there's actually very little else to do during the day except watch TV and read. And I don't watch daytime TV."

"There are other things to do during the day," she winked.

Mac chuckled slightly and nodded. "Oh, I remember. But I don't really think I'm in any condition for that right now."

She leaned over the chair, placing her hands on the armrests as she hovered over him, careful not to touch him, and kissed the top of his head. "You'll be better soon."

He rested his hand on her arm and closed his eyes. "Not soon enough." He loved the way her skin felt in his hands, soft and smooth and silky. He let his mind wander back to a week ago, to the day before he was injured, the last time he really got to appreciate her skin the way he wanted to.

They had the day off together, the first time they'd had a full day off together since they decided they were really more than just friends.

They had gone out on a few dates, slept together once, and blushed furiously any time they touched each other, but it took a while to decide what they really were to each other. Once that was established – during a long talk and a long hike down 47 flights of stairs when an elevator broke at a crime scene – they were in a new found comfort zone.

He proposed they spend the day out doing something together when he realized they were both off and the sun was out. Seemed like a perfect opportunity. So they went out for breakfast, went for a jog in the park, got ice cream from a vendor before lunch, and walked around while they talked. He couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun.

Deciding they needed real food again, they stopped into a diner for a light lunch. But by the time they came out, the sun was gone. Clouds had rolled in quickly and wind was picking up.

"So, apparently the weather man had other ideas for us today," Stella said, looking up at the sky.

Mac felt his stomach tighten. He didn't want the day to end so soon, not when he finally had Stella all to himself. "We could catch a movie?" he suggested.

Stella bit her bottom lip a little and thought about it for just a second. "Or we could watch a movie at home and make out on the couch like teenagers. Save twenty bucks on the movie," she grinned.

Mac felt his face heating up and he took her hand, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek, his lips lingering there for just a moment. "I'm really glad I'll never be able to completely figure you out."

Turning on the sidewalk, Stella guided them back down the street toward his apartment – it was closer.

When they were 7 blocks away, a light drizzle started to dampen their skin. 5 blocks, and it was a light rain. 3 blocks, and it was a downpour. They tried to run, but so did everyone else on the sidewalk, making their efforts almost useless. A couple minutes later, they were in the entrance of his building, soaking wet and laughing.

They ran up to his door and stumbled in, still high from their run through the rain. Stella shook her hair out with her fingers, feeling it sticking to the back of her neck. She stepped out of her squishy sneakers as Mac went to the bathroom for some towels. He came back and wrapped one around her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to attempt to warm her up.

Stella looked down at her shirt, clinging to her like a second skin, and pulled it away with her finger tips. "Think I could borrow some dry clothes?" she laughed. "I think these are hopeless."

He nodded and took her hand, leading her back to his room. He took a t-shirt and sweats from the dresser and set them on the bed, but hadn't even made an attempt to leave before Stella stepped into him and kissed him.

"I don't suppose you could help a girl warm up, could you?"

Pushing the towel off her shoulders, Mac took the bottom of her shirt in his fingers and pulled it up slowly over her head, dropping it on the floor behind her. "I think I could help."

Somehow, his hands were already warm again, and they felt like fire against her still rain-cooled, damp skin. He held her hips tight as he pulled her close and kissed her deeply. He didn't mind being rained out for the rest of the day.

Neither did she.

He wanted so badly to be out of his chair and done with his pain medication and done with his pain so he could spend another amazing day with her. He wanted every second he could possibly have with her.

But as he felt her moving around the back of the chair, leaning behind him to gently rub his neck and shoulders and arms, he realized, he did have her. Right here, right now. And he intended to enjoy every second. Because he was never letting go of her.