A/N - something that won't leave me alone. I swear, Mac and Jo find more excuses to spend time together, I am convinced they're hooking up already on the sly. So I just had to write this.
"Oh, y'all, as much as I hate to be the wet blanket here, I'm gonna have to head out."
Jo's words drew groans from the table of coworkers she was clearly disappointing. The whole gang had made it out for a Friday night drink, a rare event for them, and no one was really ready to go home yet, but still, she picked up her bag and pulled her body up out of the chair.
"Come on," Danny pleaded. "You can stay for one more drink."
"One more," Sid echoed, clearly enjoying a night out of the morgue.
"Guys, Tyler's going out of town tomorrow. I can't let my boy hit the road without funds and a hug from his mama, now can I?"
"Oh, fine, play the mom card," was Hawkes' reply, which made Lindsay slap his arm.
"Hey, the mom card is real."
"Besides, this mom," Adam pointed to Jo and smiled, "can totally kick our asses."
"That she can," Flack added. "So how about we all just say good night?"
Mac Taylor smiled and raised his glass in a slight salute to his number two.
"Good night, Jo. Have a good one."
Grudgingly, the team took Mac's lead and said their good-byes, and Jo headed out to do her errand for her son. The crew went back to telling stories that kept them distracted from the long week just passed at the crime lab, a week that had seen them tracking a kidnapper who had killed two people to get to his target. Thankfully the suspect was in lockup, and they were at their weekend, ready to leave it all behind.
And then within twenty minutes of Jo's exit, Mac was ready to make his.
"All right, I'm gonna head out, too. Early charity thing in the morning. You guys have a good weekend."
Though they ribbed him a little, the team bid their boss good night a little easier than they had Jo. She might have still technically been their boss, but she didn't mind playing around with them, and Mac... even when he was loosened up, he was still Mac Taylor, and he only joked around so much.
As door closed behind him, Hawkes cast a quick look over to make sure Mac was really gone, and then he picked up his beer and tipped it toward Flack, who returned the gesture, the bottles clinking.
"Has to take money to the kid. Riiiiiight." Hawkes bounced his eyebrows up and down as he said the last word, and Don laughed.
"Early charity thing? He couldn't even come up with a name to use."
Danny looked at his two friends, confused.
"What? What are you guys talking about?"
"Man, come on," Sheldon said. "Mac and Jo..."
The phrase hung in the air a moment, and then Danny finally got it.
"Oh, no. You think?"
Lindsay laughed. "Oh, honey, they totally are."
"What?" Adam added, clearly as baffled as Danny was.
Flack rolled his eyes as Danny thanked Adam for the backup.
"Look, you two, Jo ordered Mac Taylor... let me say that again... she ordered Mac Taylor to leave a crime scene. And he did it."
"He did it and barely argued," Hawkes added.
"And, babe, haven't you ever noticed how they find every excuse imaginable to leave at the same time? I mean, really... you think Jo's afraid to walk to her car alone?"
"She could be," Adam offered. "It is spooky down there."
The others laughed and Flack noticed that Sid was being very quiet, so he turned his attention to their favorite M.E.
"Sid... what do you think?"
The older man looked a little surprised to be asked, but he cleared his throat and sighed.
"I think, uh, that, well... yeah, they are, absolutely."
Flack and Sheldon high-fived at the backup, and then Lindsay put a comforting hand on her husband's arm.
"If it wouldn't be creepy, I'd bet you a month of Lucy laundry that if I went to Jo's building right now and you went to Mac's, we'd find one of them parked over at the other's."
There was a slight pause as each of them considered doing just that, but then Flack shook his head and took another drink of his beer.
"Yeah, no. That is kinda creepy."
"Totally," Adam agreed.
"Creepy," Lindsay echoed, "but I'd totally win that bet."
Jo laughed as she somehow managed to get her boot off without letting go of Mac or falling, which was a feat of superior balance considering what the man was doing to her right now. Damn, but this man could kiss.
"So what excuse did you use?"
"Early charity meeting," he managed between kisses.
Her hands slipped under his jacket and pushed it back, his arms relaxing to aid her in removing the now very unwanted garment.
"You do realize they're gonna catch on eventually, right?"
Mac pulled back slightly and smiled at the Cheshire grin on her face.
"I'll just tell them you took advantage of me."
"I'm sure they'll believe that," she said before she burst out laughing as he backed her into his bed, making her fall on it.
"They're all too busy with their own lives to pay any attention to us."
Jo laughed again as his body lowered down, covering hers.
"Oh, darlin'... I think you severely overestimate the level of their distraction. But it's okay. You can totally tell them I took advantage of you... 'cause I'm about to."