Ships: Sam/Mac

Disclaimer: Nothing but the unfamiliar characters are mine.

A/N: Been a while, I know, but I finally got something up. It's a bit... scatterbrained, but I hope you guys like!


"I'd like to walk you through a field of flowers. I'd like to check you for ticks," Sam sang as she scrubbed the casserole dish, her hips swaying with Brad Paisley's Ticks, when her landline rang. She picked the phone up and placed it between her shoulder and her ear. "Parker residence, the brains of the house speaking, how may I help you?"

"The brains and the beauty," Mac's voice came on the other side of the phone.

"Hey," Sam said, setting the dish on the counter. "What's up?"

"On my break," he told her. "You?"

"Doing the dishes. How's work going for you?" She set the rest of the dishes that were in the sink in the dishwasher, and headed for her kitchen table where a bag of Reese Pieces awaited her.

"I'll be done in a few hours. We're going to meet up around 9, so we'll probably leave at 8."

"Okay honey. So be ready by 7:50. What time is it now?"

"12. I'll be off by 3. Do you want me to come right over or wait until 7:30?"

"Whatever you'd like. I'm going to be showering and getting ready and all that woman stuff."

"Okay, I'm going go let you go. Have fun at work, okay?"

"Deal," Mac smiled. "I gotta go Stella is here. She's got a lead on our case."

"Okay, bye. See you later."

"I'll call you when I'm on my way," he said before he hung up.

She and Mac had been doing well the last few months. March was ending, and they'd been seeing each other since October. The first time they slept together was in November, and now, here they were almost six months later, developing their own routines.

Sam had surprised Mac when she woke him up at five in the morning, ready to go for a run. She had sworn up and down she'd never run with him, because she wouldn't be able to keep up. But a few months later she was in shape, and ready to give him some company on his morning runs whenever she could. She knew that it meant a lot to him to be in shape, and eating healthy. He cared about his body, and it was something she wanted to try to do. Mac had noticed she had lost some weight in certain spots, and filled out in others, but he had never put two and two together until she woke him up that morning to go on a run.

He had been shocked that she ran five miles before she told him she couldn't go any farther, and he was fine with that. Because she was trying. She was trying to do things his way.

They hadn't shared I love yous or even talked about moving in together, but they knew they were serious about each other. Mac had realized she was good for him when night after night he'd leave her in the middle of the night in order to go to work. And each time she was completely fine with the fact he had to leave. She'd simply kiss him on the cheek and tell him to be careful, and she'd fall back asleep.

He hated that every time he got a call in the middle of the night, he woke her up no matter how quiet he was. He felt horrible for those times they'd been in the middle of making love, or going for a walk in Central Park, or out to dinner when he had to leave her. No matter how cool she was with it, he knew she was upset that he had to call a date short. Most of the time they'd stay in at his apartment or hers, depending on whether she had Leo that night. Though they weren't living together, Mac had a few suits and leisure clothes in a drawer at Sam's, and she had some of hers in a drawer at his place.

They hadn't had a serious fight yet, they were still learning so much about each other. Like the fact every other Wednesday night Mac played bass at a Jazz bar called Cozy's. She learned that the scar on his chest was from when he was in Beirut, and he learned hers had been from when Vinny Marino, a member of the Tanglewood clan had cornered her in a dark alley one night, and mugged her, a pregnant woman, because she'd been a witness to something she shouldn't have seen when she was a teenager.

She had lost her baby and got a nasty scar for something she never even knew she'd been a part of. She was put in the hospital for nearly a month, and she lost Louie's child, which she found out would have been a girl. She hadn't known Vinny and Sonny had killed someone in front of her, and even if she did, she probably would have been too scared to come clean about it.

He learned the reason why it cut her so deep when he lied to her about something so small. Her mother had made her a promise she never kept. She knew about how he'd been kept hostage in a bank and when Drew Bedford had taken him for revenge as well. She knew about the bombing where Mac had saved Don's life, and she knew almost everything about Claire. Save for Reed.

He had kept Reed from her because it was the only thing that he had left of Claire, and the only thing he wasn't ready to share with anyone, but he knew she'd be devastated if he never came clean about it. He wasn't planning on keeping it a secret forever, he just wasn't ready to let that part of him be shared. Figured she had secrets she hadn't told him yet, though they had been pretty honest from the start.

Almost six months later, they were happy together.


Sam had already sat Danny down and explained she was seeing Mac, and though he'd been pissed off at first, he was slowly coming to terms with the idea. He thought Sam as a little sister, and her dating his 45-year-old boss was something he never expected. Sam had been through a lot, he knew that. He'd been witness to just about all of her troubles. He knew Louie didn't treat her as well as she should have been treated, but she loved Louie. And he never expected to see her with anyone else but him. But here she was, dating his boss. It was weird, and shocking for him. His anger got the best of him at first, but Sam had explained that she needed someone like Mac.

She needed someone older than her, someone who understood the things she'd been through. Mac was understanding, he loved Leo. He took care of her, and treated her like she was a princess. And the most important thing was that they both understood they once loved other people. People they'd never be able to be with again.

Sure they hadn't taken the plunge, and they were nowhere close. They were still learning about each other, and of course they could still realize that they weren't right for each other. But she didn't want to risk missing out on something good. And she told Danny all of this, while he unwillingly listened.

Danny was a hard head when it came to changing his opinion. He had everything set in his mind, and it was hard to talk him into something other than what he already decided. He had decided the second Sam said she was dating Mac that he wasn't going to tolerate it. But three beers, two slices of pizza, and an hour and a half later, Sam had made him see her side.

She explained her feelings, and she gave Danny an ultimatum. He would either accept it and be happy, or he'd pretend to accept it around Mac. Either way she was breaking up with him because that's what Danny wanted.

Danny chose the former, though at first it was hard for him.


Sam sat at her kitchen table, and popped a hand full of Reese's pieces in her mouth as she recalled the talk with Danny. Now that he was ready to fully and happily accept Mac and Sam wouldn't be splitting up any time soon, he had made the suggestion for Sam to meet the rest of the team. As Mac's girlfriend, instead of Danny's "sister". She was nervous. She'd heard a lot about Stella, and knew her opinion mattered the most. If Stella told Mac she was a bitch, Mac would listen and probably end things with her. First impressions were everything, and she was scared she'd fuck up.

She knew Lindsay was a sweetheart, and she had met Flack briefly. Flack had mentioned liking her, but she was still nervous. Stella was the big test. If Stella didn't like her, she didn't know what would happen.

All this worrying got her nerves worked up.

She heard a whine coming from underneath the table, and looked under it to see Tiggins the puppy sitting at her feet. Sam adopted him two months ago when Timmy begged her to get a puppy for Leo. She said no at first, but she and Mac decided to go to the shelter, and she immediately fell in love with the golden retriever puppy. Sam picked out the name after Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. She added her own twist to the name, and came up with Tiggins.

"Hey Tiggy," Sam said, picking the puppy up. "You hungry sport?"

She walked towards the empty bowl near the fridge, and picked up the shiny blue bowl that read "Tiggins" in white. She headed to the cupboard to grab some dog food, tonight's events slipping from her mind, even just for a while.


Mac opened Sam's front door, greeted by Sam lying on the couch, an Eeyore blanket over her lap, Tiggins at her feet, a magazine in hand. A playboy magazine. Mac didn't understand why she loved them so much. It was weird, having a girlfriend who looked at the magazines that he should have been subscribing to. Not only that, but having a girlfriend young enough to actually pose as a playmate. He never actually looked at the magazine. He skimmed through it when he was a kid, and found them under his father's side of the mattress, but he never masturbated to them. He never sat down and actually looked through them. Sure he liked women, but he never liked the idea of them posing like that.

But Sam openly looked through it in front of him, and at first it had been awkward. He figured from the start she wasn't embarrassed about sex, and after their first night together he knew she was open about her nudity. She was far from a slut, he knew that. He knew she slept with only three other men before him, and he wasn't one to judge.

But despite being open with her body, she didn't mind admiring others' also. She made it clear she didn't like women, and that she liked reading the articles in the magazine. That she thought the women were beautiful. She didn't wish she could be a playmate, she didn't want to have bodies like theirs, but she still liked to think that if she wanted it all, she could have it. She liked the photos because the women in them knew how to pose. With or without their clothes on. And though every girl that was in the magazine was stick thin, they had different bodies. They had curves in different places, and every part of them was different from the next. The photos in the magazine were art. It wasn't any different then nude sculptures the Italians and Greeks sculpted during the Renaissance. Sam wasn't turned on by women. But the work that these photographers, and the models created were something she always enjoyed.

Mac secretly didn't mind. When she finished reading one of the magazines front to back, she'd teach him something she read to spice up their sex life. Not that it needed any spicing up at just six months.

Sam wasn't into kinky hardcore bondage sex. She didn't wear slutty clothes, or put too much make up on. She was a good girl, for the most part. She didn't talk about sex in public, and she blushed when people asked her about her sex life. She was shy when it came to talking about sex, other than with the person she was having it with.

Mac hung his jacket on the coat hanger by the door, while Tiggins hurried to jump on his pants.

"Hi, honey," Sam smiled as she flipped a page in her magazine.

"Hey," Mac said, walking towards her. He sat down at the end of the couch and put her feet in his lap. "What are you reading?"

Sam held up the magazine so Mac could see the title, but never took her eyes from the pages in front of her. "What time is it?" Sam asked, setting the magazine on the coffee table.

"5. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

Mac set his chin on Sam's knee, and wrapped his hands around her legs. "Did you eat? We can go get dinner if you would like."

"Sounds good," Sam said, setting the magazine down when Mac's phone rang. Sam let out a sigh. She knew it was Flack telling him he had to go back to work.

"Sorry," Mac said, picking up his phone. "Taylor."

Sam watched as Mac nodded his head and mumbled a few words. She could tell by the way he rubbed the bridge of his nose, and let out a sigh that he was needed in the crime lab. Someone else had just been murdered, and evidently he was the only God damned one that knew how to find a killer.

Mac hung up the phone and gave Sam a sympathetic look. "Gotta go?" Sam asked, picking at a loose string on her blanket.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Mac sighed.

Sam bit the inside of her cheek, keeping herself from saying anything, and simply nodded her head to show her understanding. She did understand, though she didn't like it.

"I'll call you when I'm done, okay? We'll reschedule tonight, I'll make it up to you," Mac promised.

Again, Sam only nodded her head. She knew the best thing to do was to not say anything. To wait until he came back so she could think the words she wanted to say through. So that she didn't hurt his feelings by mistake.

Mac leaned over to give her a kiss, but she turned her head, and he caught the corner of her mouth. "I'll call you, okay?" Mac asked when he realized Samantha was upset with him.

"Bye," Sam replied as she watched him walk out the door.


Sam was good when it came to keeping her temper under control. In the months that Mac knew her, he'd never seen her get angry. It was something that he admired about her, but also envied.

He could never control his anger. When he got mad his blood boiled, and he fought until he won. His veins would pop in his neck, and his hands clenched into fists. His eyes would turn a musty color, his face would turn purple. He was frightening. He was glad Sam hadn't had to see that side of him yet. Though he rarely ever got like that, there were a few times he could recall. Most of them with perps that disrespected women, or the ones that lied. He'd only gotten so mad like that at Claire once, and he had been so ashamed he lashed out like that.

He really didn't have an anger problem, he could control whether or not if he would get pissed over something, but when he did actually get angry. Really angry over something, you knew.

But Sam, she rarely got angry, and he hoped she wasn't angry with him now. He hoped that when he called her, she would answer. That when he opened her apartment door she was sitting on her couch in her pajamas waiting for him. He hoped that she'd leave the door unlocked for him, that she'd be okay.

Because when he left he knew she was upset. She had been understanding of his late hours, and odd times to get called in. That was something that she needed to be okay with. And she had been, until today. He didn't understand what had set her off, but he hoped by the time he got home she'd be cooled down.

He knew if she called Dee to talk about what happened, he would be screwed, so he hoped she would call her other friend, Annemarie, instead. Annemarie would tell Sam to talk to him about what was bothering her while Dee would tell Sam to leave his sorry ass.

Mac let out a sigh as he crawled under the crime scene tape to join Flack and Stella standing over not one, but two dead bodies.

"A shame," Stella said as she glanced at Mac. "I wanted to meet Sam too."

"Sam will have to wait," Mac replied. "We need to catch a killer."


Sam sat down on her couch, two bottles of beer in hand. She handed one to Dee Storm as she let out a sigh.

"So he left you hanging again? How many times does he do that?" Dee asked Sam.

"I've lost track," Sam sighed. "Usually it doesn't bother me. I understand his work is important. But in the past three months I've only seen him four days."

"Oh my God. You're dating this guy and you aren't even having sex with him anymore? Sam! That isn't supposed to happen until, like, ten years after your marriage!"

"We have sex," Sam said. "A lot of sex, actually. But we rarely see each other anymore. It's like his work over takes everything."

"Sam, he's 11 years older than you. Of course work is more important than sex."

"It's not about sex Dee!" Sam snapped. "It's about the fact he likes work more than he likes me."

"Well lay out some ground rules," Dee shrugged. "Say listen here, Buck. I'm sick of this shit. You're not the only God damned scientist with a Q-tip, so let some other people find killers!"

"You're a bitch," Sam giggled as she watched Dee throw her hands in the air.

"Okay, seriously though," Dee laughed. "Does it upset you that much?"

"Kind of. I mean it's not like its every once and a while. It's every night we're together. One time we were…making love and he had to leave."

"Oh hell no! I'd of cut his balls off."

"Dee," Sam sighed.

"Sorry, continue."

"It'd be different if like it was once or twice a week. But it's all the time. I know what his job entails, but Danny never works that much."

"It's seems like he's just old, Sam. His work is more important because it's what he likes. You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Sam's cell phone began to ring. She leaned on the coffee table in front of her to pick it up. "It's Mac."

"Press ignore," Dee replied.

Sam glanced at the caller I.D. on her iPhone. A picture of her and Mac appeared on the screen along with his name, and two options. "Answer," and "Ignore." She bit her bottom lip as she pressed one of the two options.


Dun Dun Dun, a tiny cliffhanger to keep you guessing!! What do you think? Should there be a hardcore fight or should I have them talk it out calmly?!

Thanks to my reviewers:

Blaze 709

Witchbaby300

BlueEyedAuthor

EastAngels2009

iheartcsinewyork