Updates are becoming more spaced out. Bad Shining!

Isn't that the truth. Thanks to shawdoo, magic-munchies, clairec12344, ImaSupernaturalCSI, and ForensicsFreak1988 for reviewing. Yeah, and I don't own Hikari by Hikaru Utada. Yes, that song from "Kingdom Hearts."

Donna toki datte
Tada hitori de
Unmei wasurete
Ikite kita no ni
Totsuzen no hikari no naka me ga sameru
Mayonaka ni

-Hikari, Hikaru Utada

6. Out of the Night

7:00 PM. Another day had whizzed by for the New York Crime Lab, and Stella was ready to go home after a long day of processing and meeting her secret admirer. Although, somehow she knew that something bad was going to happen tonight, and she could help but worry for Mac's safety in the lab by himself. She walked into the office and began taking her time in simply staring at him and watching him work. Mac looked up and back down at his work. "Detective Bonasera," he acknowledged. "I thought your shift was over."

"A CSI's work is never done," she replied sagely. She smiled. "Besides, I was just about to tell you he same thing."

He rolled his eyes and stacked up all his paperwork. "I wish. Gerrard's gotta see me about some sort of 'behavioral action plan' for me pushing him away for the fact that he shoved me into a wall."

Stella looked at him incredulously. "You can't be serious. He smacked you in the face!"

"With the amount of force as a bullet train," he mumbled, rubbing the still-sore spot on his face. "Listen. I'll call you when this is all done."

She sighed in defeat and nodded. "You do that." She walked out of the office and went to the locker room, beginning to take her things out and preparing for the ride home. Something about Mac made her feel not only scared for him and the way he spoke about his encounter with Gerrard. He didn't sound only bitter… he sounded upset. Almost anxious. Mac never sounded anxious to anyone. NEVER.

She shook her head and began walking to her car in the garage. The sound of the engine when she got in and turned the key was like a warm shower running through her body. She could get home and wait for Mac there, and she knew he would come.

At least, that's what she thought she knew.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

He sighed and rubbed his head in the office. It was hot in there, around eighty-three degrees, and he couldn't stand to sit at his desk and do paperwork for the next half an hour. And that song was running through his head. He couldn't help it. When he was going through Chinatown- or so he thought- one of the kids was singing it. Something involving light and darkness.

Mac was absolutely loathing of the fact that Clay Dobson had decided to make Stella his girlfriend. There was something about him that completely threw him off-guard. Was this a ploy to get his emotions into a case? And why was Gerrard being more of a prick than usual? There were so many questions that he wanted to ask and so few answers one could give him.

He stood up from his desk. 7:11. He remembered he had a meeting with Gerrard. Mac stacked up the papers and put them on a rack, grabbing his jacket. He would clock out after this thing, then go home and continue contemplating life's mysteries of love and desire for love.

All the lights went out in the lab, and then flickered back on. Mac turned around, confused. 'What in God's name was that?' he thought, walking back to the lounge. 'I don't think it was coincidental.'

He opened the door and looked around, the lamp light in the corner on with its faint hue. He blinked, noting a movement in the corner. Suddenly…

WHAM!

Mac felt something slam into his head. He grunted and fell to the floor, nearly knocked out by the force of it. Gerrard held a book about as thick as War and Peace in his hand as he looked down at who he had hit. He sighed. "Damn, Mac, learn to be more careful when wandering around aimlessly in the dark. I mean…" He held out his hand to help up the detective.

Mac glared at it warily, picking himself up off the floor. "I'll take my chances and not get helped up, thanks."

Gerrard raised an eyebrow. He knew Mac had both a tough exterior and interior outlook on life after being in the Marines and everything. Was it a good thing for him or not? Was he smart enough to realize that he would be stalking him and keeping him away from Bonasera for as long as he could before Dobson decided to murder her? Was Mac thick enough to realize that he often made blatant gestures towards Stella that showed that he was, in fact, in love with her?

Probably not.

Mac rubbed the back of his head and looked at Gerrard. "What was that for?"

"Just making sure you weren't some serial killer deciding to try and take Stella Bonasera," he told him, failing miserably to be subtle.

Fortunately, Mac didn't take the hint. "Huh. You're funny. Let's start this conversation off with a bang to Detective Taylor's head, huh? Makes sense, given you're just an ass for trying to take my job all the time."

"Quit calling me that!" Gerrard spat, trying to hold his temper. He knew Mac wanted to see him spazz out like this, but he couldn't help it. The way the detective treated him and the entire department was simply horrible, to his eyes.

"So let me ask you this, Stan. What do you want?"

He cleared his throat. "I wanted to know if you would like to take a paid vacation of some sort out of the area. You know, to maybe Las Vegas or Miami or something. I mean, you have all those paid work days available to you, and you haven't done a thing with them."

Mac looked amused. "Only if Detective Bonasera is able to come along and do that sort of 'paid vacation' with me."

"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible. See, we've only got one airline ticket."

The detective nodded. "I'll think about it. And in the mean time, think about brushing your teeth more often. Your gums look like they could be beginning to stain your teeth, Stan."

Gerrard was really tempted to smack the smirk off of Taylor's face. "Why you no good, son of a…"

"Save it," he cut in. And with that, he left the room.

Gerrard mentally beat himself up. He had the chance! He could have taken Mac when he could have! It was the perfect moment!

Dobson was not going to be happy about this.

AAAAAAAAAAAH! Gerrard is working with Dobson! Loophole or not? I really want to know what you think. Review are appreciated! Much love, gang, and thanks for reading!