A/N: Hey everyone! So this is my first foray into the CSI Fandom, but I'm absolutely in love with Mac and Jo's relationship. I'm super bummed that the series ended before their relationship could really repair itself, and after tptb said that Mac and Jo were going to get married, I wanted to write this little piece. I hope you enjoy it!

Also, I'm considering either a second chapter or a follow up, but I'm not sure. Let me know what you think?

Mac Taylor's relationship with Christine Whitney had ended the same way it began: quietly. There was no messy breakup, no wallowing on either side, just a slight uptick in surliness from a typically surly man. The team knew Mac well enough to deduce something was wrong, but no one dared ask him. They were scared, but whether that fear was of getting snapped at or fear of seeing the cracks in that normally stoic facade breaking into a gaping chasm, was unclear.

Jo knew. Aside from Sid, she was pretty sure she was the first to know. Despite his warning to stay out of his personal life, Jo always kept an eye on him. Once you decoded his language, Mac Taylor was incredibly easy to read. Jo always kept an eye on him. Once you decoded his language, Mac Taylor was incredibly easy to read. Jo had known when they'd gotten engaged, when Christine had moved out, and now, finally, she knew it was over.

A part of her felt a little bit relieved, not just because she'd finally admitted (after much prodding from Ellie and Lindsay, a combination Jo was sure could pull water from a stone) she had feelings for him, but because she just knew they weren't right for each other. Mac was about as closed off as it was possible for one person to be. He needed someone who could get him to open up, even a little bit, and Christine had admitted herself that getting him to do so was like pulling teeth. Jo thought back to their conversation in the hospital:

"Sounds to me like you're his emergency contact."

Jo had hated herself so much for saying all of that. Declaring her love for Mac in front of his girlfriend? It was wildly inappropriate and Jo had spent weeks afterwards berating herself for such a slip of composure.

"Jo," a soft voice spoke from the doorway of her office. The brunette snapped her head up, surprised to see none other than Mac's now ex-fiancee hesitating in the entryway.

"Christine," she exclaimed, limbs flying in a cacophony of sound and motion as she moved to adopt a professional posture. In another time and place, they might have been friends, but Mac had drawn a line in the sand between his personal and professional lives, and he'd made it very clear Jo wasn't allowed to cross it. So when she saw Christine standing there, smiling at her, she wasn't entirely sure how to respond. "If you're looking for Mac, he's down in autopsy. I could have him paged if you want, it'll just take a sec..."

"Actually, I'm here to see you." There was a silence for a moment as Jo tries to process this. She'd been trying to live by Mac's rules, despite how much pain it caused her, and yet here was Christine, blatantly tossing them aside like they didn't even exist.

"Me," Jo repeated, fingers fiddling with the lowest hanging necklace around her neck.

"Yeah. Is that okay? If it's a bad time, I can come back or..."

"No, no it's fine! Just um...come on in and ignore the mess." A small smile graced Christine's face and Jo noted, not for the first time, just how striking she was. She hated women who saw others as competition, thought it did nothing but feed into misogynistic ideals and practices she'd fought her whole life to get away from. So her admiration of the other woman wasn't tinged with jealousy, just a hint of longing for her life at Christine's age.

"Mac always said you were the queen of post-it notes. I see that wasn't an exaggeration." Jo laughed despite herself. She liked Christine, she really did. She was charming and witty and smart as hell, characteristics Jo admired in anyone, male or female.

"Well Mac isn't typically prone to exaggeration. With most things you can usually take his word for it, and if it's about himself you can almost always guess he's underplaying it. Believe me, this is nothing. Lindsay just made me purge since she found one on her side of the office this morning."

"Hey, they're colorful, I like it."

"Thanks." They fell into silence for another moment before Jo spoke again. "So what can I do for you? Is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, it's great. I just um...I wanted to talk to you...about Mac."

"Oh," Jo managed, "okay. What about him?"

"Well I realize this might be overstepping my bounds, but I was wondering if you and Mac had...worked things out yet?"

"Worked things out?"

"Yeah. He told me he snapped at you awhile back and..." She let out a breath, and that was when Jo finally noticed it: Christine looked nervous.

"Hey..." Jo's voice was kind as she reached out a hand and gently covered Christine's with her own. "If this is about you telling him I talked to you, I don't care. He would have found out eventually, and he would have been just as mad."

"That's the thing though. He wasn't mad, and I know he told me that, but something tells me he hasn't told you." Jo was silent for a moment. She still remembered every detail of their conversation that day.

"I'm only going to tell you this once...be careful where you stick your nose...stay out of my personal business."

After that, she'd pulled away. She still watched over him, still cared, but only from a distance.

"Oh, Christine, I..."

"No, listen. We might have stopped seeing each other, but I still care about him, and he needs you, Jo, you know that don't you?"

"Mac Taylor doesn't need anybody."

"Oh come on." The look Christine gave her was kind, but slightly patronizing, in the way a kindergarten teacher looks at an unruly student. "Jo, he loves you."

"No he doesn't." Okay Josephine, that denial was a little too quick. "Look, Christine, I see what you're trying to do, but Mac's made it very clear that he doesn't want me in..."

"Mac made a mistake. He might be all rough and tough on the outside, but we both know he's still human, no matter how much he might pretend not to be. I seem to remember a really smart woman telling me something similar once." Jo laughed. That conversation at the cafe seemed so long ago, practically a lifetime.

"Really? Cause that woman sure feels like an idiot right now."

"Why? Because you fell in love with your boss? And don't," Christine insisted when she saw Jo was about to say something, "don't try to tell me you're just friends. I saw it in the hospital, Jo, how much he meant to you, and now that I know what he looks like when he's in love, I know he feels the exact same way about you." She sighed softly and tucked some hair behind her ears. "Look, I'm not here to tell you what to do. I don't think I have that right. I just wanted to tell you that being loved by Mac Taylor is...exquisite, and if I were you I wouldn't be so quick to throw it away."

"So...what is it you're asking me to do exactly?"

"Follow your heart. That's why you two work so well together. He likes to think he's all logic all the time, but he feels things very deeply. You bring that out of him, bring it a little closer to the surface, and I think a sensitive Mac Taylor is good for everyone."

"Christine, I..."

"Jo." Her tone was insistent, and this time it was amusement Jo saw in her eyes. "Seriously, just make a move. It's the 21st century. Women can ask men out. Besides." She hopped off her perch on Jo's desk and gave the older woman a wink. "We both know Mac likes a woman in control." With that, she turned on her heel and headed for the door, only stopping to say one last thing in parting. "Jo?"

"Yeah?"

"It's okay to be happy."

Jo would spend a long time trying to figure out what Christine meant by that, but for now, her thought process was short circuited by Mac walking into her office. He looked over his shoulder, brow furrowed in confusion as he watched the flash of blonde hair turn around the corner.

"Jo?"

"Yeah?"

"Was that..."

"Yup." She was still staring at the doorway, not even fully registering Mac's presence. Could she really be happy? Could they be happy? Together?

"What did she want?" Jo took a deep breath, shook her head, and, finally making eye contact for what felt like the first time in forever, answered.

"I have absolutely no idea."