In the Morning
By Dimgwrthien
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY, Harry Potter, or affiliates.
Mac kneeled over the evidence, careful not to get his knees in the blood on the floor. It had already dried onto the polished wooden floor. Even if the case was over, he wanted to look back at the scene. It helped him with writing his report later on. Night had already fallen, and he knew that he would need to rush back to his office soon.
It still remained on his mind that no one had cleaned the blood yet.
"Detective Taylor?"
Mac glanced up, trying to figure out who had spoken to him. It was a male voice, and he finally recognized who had spoken to him. The brown-haired man who had been at the bar with the red-haired girl stood at the staircase, still fully dressed.
"It's Mac," he told the man - Remus, was it?
"Mac," Remus corrected himself. "I thought you closed up the case."
"We did. I'm just…" Mac waved his hand around lamely. "Well, just making sure we got everything. The cleaning man should be in here sometime soon to get the blood." He paused and glanced around the room. "What time is it?"
Remus glanced at his wrist. "Close to eleven. Don't tell me you're still on a work shift?"
Mac shook his head. "No. Just getting ready to close the case. At eleven at night." He realized how absurd it sounded. "I should be getting home, shouldn't I?"
Remus gave him a smile. "I think most people are asleep by now. I just couldn't stand staying in the room with Tonks. She never sleeps right when she's drunk."
Laughing slightly, Mac almost gave an answer to say that Stella was the same, but he stopped himself, not wanting to give the wrong idea. He and Stella had spent several hours together just before he returned to the hotel lobby, though he knew that neither of them slept. He wasn't ashamed of the fact, but aware of what someone else would say about it. "People do that," he answered jokingly instead. "You said you were from Europe, right?"
Remus nodded. "We both are. Came here for a quick vacation. Tonks said she's wanted to come to New York for a while."
"Sorry for your first night having to involve a murder." Mac stood up and picked up his case.
"It's alright," Remus answered, then smiled. "You weren't the killer. Besides, we wouldn't have met you otherwise." He stuck out his hand, which Mac shook. "And thank you or tolerating Tonks before…"
Mac smiled. "Suspects act worse. You get used to people after a while." He considered Remus for a moment. "You're not busy, are you?" Remus shook his head. "Care to join me for a drink?"
Glancing at his watch again, Remus nodded. "Sure. I have until morning until I can get back to bed." He smiled.
They walked together to the bar attached to the hotel, where both sat side by side at the bar. Mac ordered two drinks for them, ignoring the fact that both men were already tipsy enough.
"I went to Europe once before," Mac said as the late-night bartender handed the drinks to them. "For our honeymoon. We went to…" He thought back for a moment. "France. She had wanted to see hundreds of museums. We didn't even plan it - just packed up after the wedding and left."
"Are you and Dete-"
Mac shook his head, cursing himself for misleading Remus. He loved Stella, that was for sure, but it still didn't feel quite right to let people know. "No. Her name was Claire."
Remus gave him a look. Mac knew that Remus noticed the word 'was', but didn't press the issue. "France is a beautiful place. I've been there once or twice before."
Mac nodded. "I've always wanted to go back, but there's too much to do here. I wouldn't want to leave the city in ruins when I left." He smiled at Remus, who smiled back.
They finished their drinks, neither talking much. When neither moved away from the bar, Mac ordered a second round of drinks. He lifted his glass, tapping it lightly against Remus'. "Here's to having to investigate murders all day," he sighed. "And to you getting to come to this city with your -" Mac broke off.
"Girlfriend," Remus told him and seemed to enjoy saying the word. "I'm still wondering what possessed her to like me, but…" Remus shrugged and took a drink.
"You," Mac started, unsure of what he was planning to say. "You're a nice person, and I can understand why she enjoys your company."
Remus smiled at him. "I'm curious of how you can enjoy my company and not Stella's."
Mac glanced up sharply. "Who said I don't like Stella?"
"You did," Remus answered. He put own his glass. "It isn't my right to say anything like this, but it doesn't look like either of you are married, and I can tell that you aren't exactly enemies. You trust each other enough to go to a bar together after work." Remus shook his head, turning away slightly. "I'm sorry. I don't have a right to say anything about it."
"I suppose you're right," Mac answered, taking a long sip of his drink. "I just feel so guilty for it…"
"Loving someone shouldn't make you guilty of anything." Remus looked into his glass, realizing how hypocritical that statement was. "Tonks showed me that after a while. I was being stupid for a long time."
"I still just feel like I'm insulting Claire every time I look at any girl, Stella especially." Mac shook his head for a second.
"How long has it been?" Remus asked gently.
"Six years this September." He couldn't help but smile sadly. "I sound pathetic, don't I?"
"Not at all," Remus told them, his eyebrows raised. "It just shows you love her. Move at your own pace. I'm just acknowledging that Stella isn't shying away from you."
"What?" Mac asked.
Remus shook his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be -"
"It's fine," Mac told him stubbornly. "What do you mean, she isn't shying away?"
"I don't talk about this much," Remus said slowly, chewing over his words. "However, I'm going to tell you a little story. I met Tonks a very long time ago, when she was just a child." He broke off, sighing. "I'm already making this sound horrible."
Mac lifted his hand to argue. "It's fine. Don't worry about that."
Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "She's my friend's cousin," he admitted. "We didn't see each other for… a very long time, for numerous reasons. Finally, we met up at a meeting just a few years ago. She attempted to get my attention for nearly two years. I - I ignored her, more or less. I didn't think things would work smoothly, so I kept rejecting. After two years, she told me what she thought in front of a rather large group of people." Remus sighed and laughed quietly. "Even if her points made no sense, I would have still had to go with her because everyone in that room wanted me to, and had for two years. But she said something that really did me in." Remus smiled. "She said that she didn't care about any of the points I brought up to her. And now I'm here with her."
Mac considered the story for a moment.
"We don't have the exact same problem there," Remus told him. "We're both pushing them away to save someone. Think about it." Remus glanced at his watch. "I should be heading up. I know Tons will be waking up soon and wondering where I am." He smiled at Mac. "I'll be seeing you around, then?"
"Yeah," Mac answered, his mind still on the story and Stella. "I'll see you around sometime."
Remus left the bar, leaving Mac there alone. He finished his drink and picked up his kit, leaving. Once he was settled in his car, he pulled his cell phone off of his belt, looking at the phone numbers in the memory. He scrolled down to Stella's number, then hung up the phone.
In the morning, perhaps.