To Take a Step Back…

End of Previous Chapter:

"Mac…" Jo called out, and he stopped, turning back to look at her inquisitively. She eyed him a moment, then smiled softly. "Thanks, Mac. For everything this weekend. I mean it."

Ellie smiled. "Yea, thanks Detective Taylor." She rolled her eyes at herself. "Mac, I mean. Thanks for driving up to get me…"

Mac smiled at them both. "It was my pleasure." Mac stared at Jo a moment, hesitating before adding, "Call me if…if you need anything. I mean it."

Jo stared him a moment, then nodded, a small smile spreading across her lips, that didn't quite reach into her eyes. He nodded softly then turned and walked to his office, smiling a humorless smile as he listened to Ellie complaining to her mom about Tyler and his 'complete inability to cook'.

Chapter 8: Out of Step

The next day, Monday…

Jo stood in her office debating her next move. She glanced at the clock on her desk, clearly visible now that she'd spent the last hour clearing off her desktop. It was just after eight in the evening. Her shift had ended a while ago, but she'd found herself unwilling to leave just yet. Instead, she'd been occupying herself with "busywork", trying to pass the time while waiting around for Mac to return with Lindsay from their latest crime scene. Despite having arrived at the Lab mid-morning following her psychiatric interview, she and Mac had failed to cross paths the entire day and she felt an overpowering compulsion to at least say hello to him before heading out.

Mac had been called out to no less than four crime scenes since his shift had started, flooding the Lab with evidence to be examined, analyzed, reported upon, and stored. But the night shift had taken over most of that work now. Jo herself had been called out to only two scenes the whole day, both of which had taken her to the far reaches of the city, and both of which had, in the end, not even required their presence. Shortly after she and Sheldon arrived at the first scene, a missing child out in Queens had magically turned up in the laundry closet, nestled on a pile of dirty clothes, where he'd apparently fallen asleep in the middle of an impromptu game of hide and seek with his older brother. Jo had enjoyed the ride with Sheldon, catching up on all the news about him and Camille. But she couldn't help but feel the entire journey had been without any practical purpose.

Upon returning to the Lab, Jo had just missed Mac again, before being called out with Adam. This time to the edge of Brooklyn, where upon their arrival an elderly lady, clearly on the edges of senility, had just confessed to having hit her husband over the head with a frying pan when he'd startled her by coming in the back door. It seemed he'd forgotten his keys when he'd slipped out the front to pick a bouquet of flowers to surprise her for her birthday… Jo shook her head at the seeming futility of her day up to that point…

She jerked out of her reverie as Lindsay blustered into their office, pulled out her desk chair and slumped down into it, failing in an attempt to stifle a yawn as she did so. "Oh my God, Jo. My back hurts like someone's been driving nails into it all day and I'm not even showing yet. Is that possible? What's going to happen in seven months when I'm huge and look like a manatee? I won't even be able to stand up straight or walk across the room. I'll look like a crotchety old eighty year old lady, hand permanently affixed to my lower back, massaging relentlessly, except that I won't be all bent over because my belly'll be too big to allow for it." She huffed miserably.

Jo tried to stifle a laugh at that image. "Well, at least you're off now, right? Go home and stretch out on the couch…"

Lindsay groaned. "If only. I'm on call tonight. Keep your fingers crossed nothing happens over the next eight hours. Because all miscreants need to sleep at some point, right? And let me tell you, now is the time for them to do that, because they don't wanna be the cause of me having to heave myself up outta bed at midnight and go out and process blood drops..."

Jo let out a chuckle, but her expression turned serious. "Oh but, Lindsay. You can't be on call after you just worked 12 hours… You need to sleep. I'll take your on-call shift."

"Jo, you just worked the same shift. You've gotta be tired too."

Jo waltzed around the desk, a look of motherly concern on her face, and she began giving Lindsay an impromptu shoulder rub. "First, I came in late because of the psych interview. Second, I'm not pregnant…" She paused mid-massage, covering her face with her hands suddenly. "Oh, thank the Lord – I'm not sure I could go through that again…" After a shiver coursed through her body, she resumed her ministrations to Lindsay's shoulders. "Third, I had the entire weekend off… And today was a complete waste so far. I'm just itchin' for somethin' worthwhile to do…"

Lindsay giggled, but thought a moment and looked back around at Jo behind her. "But Mac mentioned Ellie was injured at soccer over the weekend. Shouldn't you be home with her?"

Jo wondered randomly what all Mac had shared with Lindsay about their weekend. Knowing him, Ellie's injury was probably the sum total of what he'd shared, but she was slightly curious nonetheless. She herself hadn't even bothered to mention he'd driven her to Albany, let alone that they'd had to spend the night in a hotel, knowing how guarded he was about those things. After their discussion about office rumors, she just decided she'd leave him out of any mention of her weekend…

"Oh, Ellie actually spent the day at a friend's. Whose mom's a nurse and just happened to have the day off today. How convenient is that? Ellie's staying the night there too, since I wasn't certain when I'd get home…" Danny appeared in the doorway, snickering at the sight of Jo massaging Lindsay's shoulders and Jo eyed him playfully. "Shouldn't you be doin' this?" She winked at him and patted Lindsay's shoulders before returning to her own desk.

She smiled as Danny dutifully took over, placing a small kiss on Lindsay's head as he did so. Jo watched them a moment, then returned to ruminating over whether or not to discard a certain fuschia colored post-it note with a cryptic message she'd written days ago, the meaning of which seemed to escape her at the moment. "Lindsay, go home and sleep. You know you want to… I'm happy to take your on-call."

Lindsay stared at her a moment, a slow smile breaking out across her features, as she stared up at Danny. "Well… A quick story before Lucy falls asleep. A nice long bubble bath for me."

Danny broke in. "…or us?"

Lindsay grinned before continuing. "Some take out from that Italian place around the corner. It does sound rather tempting…"

Jo nodded. "Done. I'll clear it with Mac. Is he still in his office do you know?"

Don had appeared a moment earlier, stepping just inside the office and listening intently, not wanting to interrupt.

Danny nodded at Don, but shrugged in response to Jo's question. "Haven't seen the boss since we got back a little bit ago. He was in a mood. I'd steer clear of him for a bit…"

But Don chuckled and stepped further inside their office. "Last I saw Mac, he'd just finished up a shower in the locker room and was headed towards his office, mumbling something about a mountain of paperwork."

Jo smirked. "Oh boy, I can just picture that…"

Don's brow rose. "The mountain of paperwork, or Mac finishing up his shower?"

Danny burst out laughing and Don slapped him jovially on the back, but they both froze a moment later as Lindsay gasped and spun around in her desk chair, glaring at the both of them. "You two, I swear. Lucy's more mature than the two of you together."

Don shrugged, an innocent look on his face. "What? Jo had this kinda dreamy look on her face - it wasn't really clear what she was talkin' about…"

Jo merely rolled her eyes at the two of them, but couldn't help a curious look at Don. "Why on earth is Mac showering?"

"Ahaha, see, that whole shower image did pique your interest, Danville, I knew it." He chuckled, then his expression turned serious, and his voice lowered slightly, although Jo could easily detect the tremor at the corner of his lips. "Actually, Mac had a bit of a run in with a vat of bacon drippings at our last crime scene – greasy spoon in Hell's Kitchen. He smells kinda like stale breakfast right now. You might wanna give him a wide berth if you value your life - or your olfactory glands. I mean, unless you're inta that whole bacon scented fetish…kinda thing."

Jo narrowed her eyes at him a moment, a look of complete bafflement on her face, then slowly turned to Danny and Lindsay, determining that the silent treatment was the best remedy for Don Flack at that moment.

Jo nodded at the couple. "You guys go home. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll go tell Mac I'm on call instead." And she breezed from the office with a quick wave and a not so subtle glare at Don.

Arriving in front of Mac's door, she hesitated a moment, noticing the three mountainous piles of folders and papers stacked across his desk. But as she caught sight of him, barely even visible seated behind it all, she couldn't help the cocky smile that popped up on her face.

"Hey, so you are here somewhere behind these stacks of folders…" She froze and clasped her hand over her mouth when she realized he was actually talking on his cell phone. She backed away, intending to give him some privacy, but he motioned her back in as he spoke quietly into the phone.

"Sorry. It's just…" He paused and cast a quick glance at Jo, who pretended to be intent on resetting her watch. "It's just I'm still catching up from the weekend. I expect I'll be here a while, but I'll let you know." He listened intently for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Love you too." And he set the phone down, looking up expectantly at Jo.

She looked up and smiled hesitantly, trying to gauge his mood. "I just wanted to let you know I took Lindsay's on-call shift so she could get some rest…" He nodded solemnly, but she could barely restrain a small laugh as she realized how humorous he looked, peering at her from between file towers. She took in the state of his desk and shook her head. "You're desk's startin' to resemble mine. Better watch out. I must be contagious." He cocked his head oddly, noticing the glint in her eye before she continued. "But…take me out for a burger and I promise I'll come back and help you work your way through a pile or two."

"Well…" Mac hesitated as he slid his chair to the side, trying to emerge from behind the barrier of paperwork. But he didn't fail to see the flash of disappointment on Jo's face for just a split second before she tried to camouflage it by raising her eyebrows at him expectantly. He frowned. "…I actually just cancelled my plans with Christine so that I could finish all this..." And he motioned at the piles on his desk with a grand sweeping motion of his arms. "It might not be such a good idea if I turned around and went out with you instead…"

She smiled softly at Mac. "Think Christine might get jealous?"

Mac chuckled, but Jo could see the slight blush that rose up on his cheeks. "Jealous is not the word that comes to mind. I think 'annoyed', with me, might fit the bill a little better than 'jealous' of you." He looked up at Jo. "She respects you a great deal, you know that?"

Jo's smile fell and she snorted. "Even after our little weekend getaway?"

Mac looked at Jo curiously, uncertain as to what exactly she was referring to.

Jo shrugged her shoulders. "Didn't you tell her why you had to drive me up to get Ellie?"

Mac set his pen down and leaned back in his chair, his expression serious. "All I told her was that you'd been involved in a shooting the night before and weren't feeling very well after our brunch. I didn't think it was necessary to…go into detail.

Jo nodded. "Thanks." She mumbled.

Mac looked at her a moment. "You ok?"

"Of course? Why wouldn't I be?"

"I was at a scene with Lindsay earlier; she mentioned you'd bowed out early Friday night from a little celebration with the team." He paused. "To go spend time with Ellie." He looked at her pointedly. "Who, assuming I didn't just dream this whole past weekend, wasn't even in New York Friday night."

She looked at Mac, her expression completely neutral, until a hesitant smile broke out.

"Maybe I didn't feel much like celebrating Friday."

He stared at her. "And you felt you had to lie about it?"

She shrugged. "I knew everyone would make a big deal unless I had a concrete reason… I just wanted to go home Mac."

"And spend some quality time with that bottle of scotch?"

She couldn't quite tell if he was teasing or not. "Mac, I'm not an alcoholic, if that's what's worrying you."

Mac frowned. "I know you're not. That's not at all what was bothering me. What is, however, is the fact that you won't talk about the shooting."

"Mac. I'm fine. I spent all morning talking about it. I had the psych evaluation today, remember? Didn't you get the report? Passed with flying colors."

Mac eyed her skeptically. "If anyone could pull the wool over the eyes of one of the department psych evaluators, I'd put my money on you."

She stiffened. "Are you trying to say you don't think I'm ready to be back to work?"

Mac shook his head, and stood up, coming around his desk and picking up one of the folders from his desk. "No. That's not what I'm saying at all." He hesitated a moment before continuing in a softer voice. "Did you see the report?"

Jo shook her head, a wary look clouding her face. "No. The psychiatrist said I could return to active duty though… I've been on shift all day… Mac, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Mac frowned. "But he did recommend you complete a series of counseling sessions. Something about dealing with issues of 'remorse… You can read it if you want…" He handed the report to her.

Jo stared at Mac, not certain she'd actually heard him correctly. "What!?" Her hand shot out to grab the document from him and she skimmed it quickly. A minute later she thrust it back, disbelief etched across her taught features.

"You have got to be kidding me… Are you going to make me do it?"

Mac looked at her curiously.

She stabbed at the paper with her finger. "It says 'recommended'. Not 'required'. I'm asking if you're going to follow their recommendation and make me go through with the sessions…"

Mac frowned, glancing down at the paper. "Well, Jo… It's not entirely my decision. I expect you'll need to complete whatever recommendations he made to satisfy the Department…"

"But Mac, you're my Supervisor. Do you really think I need it?"

Mac opened his mouth, but closed it a moment later, looking at Jo and thinking very carefully before responding. "Jo, I really have no idea. I'm not a psychiatrist. But I do know, you've skirted around talking to me about the shooting on a few occasions now. So I'm starting to think maybe there's something there… It can't hurt, can it? At least go to a couple sessions and see what comes of it… Humor them. Humor me. Please don't make this into something it's not…"

She frowned and for a split second Mac thought she was about to start crying. But she sighed loudly and pulled up a chair in front of his desk. Mac sat back down in his own and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to speak.

But instead, Jo glared at him, sat down heavily and grabbed at a pen, slamming the first file folder open and glaring at it. Mac frowned but, realizing her intentions were far from what he'd expected, he followed suit, reaching out for his own pen and flipping open the next folder to affix his signature to the report therein.

Just under an hour later, Mac glanced at Jo for perhaps the twentieth time. She'd plowed her way through almost an entire pile already, but hadn't spoken a word, nor looked at him as far as he was aware. Mac tried to think of something to say to lighten the atmosphere - he wasn't certain he could tolerate her help if she was going to act like this the rest of the evening.

He cleared his throat and Jo looked up at him warily. He tried to smile. "So you know, you're giving Christine quite the reputation."

Jo frowned. "Huh?"

Mac chuckled. "In the shower, Don noticed those scratch marks on my side. I tried to explain them away – tie them to some mishap in the gym, but even I'll admit, my attempts were pretty lame. I was never a good liar. And it's pretty obvious they're nail marks. He was convinced it was Christine."

"Oh, Lord…" Jo's hand rose slowly to cover her mouth. "Please don't tell me you told him about this weekend… He was acting so oddly towards me earlier…"

Mac laughed. "No of course not." He shrugged. "But I couldn't exactly set him straight either. So for now, he's pretty sure Christine has a hidden wild streak."

Jo blushed and shook her head. "Mac, I'm…so sorry about that. I hope word doesn't somehow get back to her. What'll she think?"

Mac laughed. "Jo, she already knows what really happened…"

Jo blanched. "You…told her?"

Mac shrugged. "Well, of course. The marks are pretty obvious. She'd have seen them anyway. I figured it best just to tell her."

Jo swallowed hard. "What…exactly did she say?"

Mac smiled. "She found it amusing."

Jo sighed loudly. "Oh Mac, I really am sorry. I was asleep, I had no idea what I was even doing…"

Mac's eyebrows quirked. "If you do that just in your sleep, I'm not sure I wanna even imagine what you'd do when you're awake…" Jo's eyes opened wide and her mouth gaped, but before she could manage to choke out a response, Mac looked up and rose suddenly, heading towards the door. Jo, thinking he was running away, stood and turned around abruptly to say something to him but was stopped mid-step when she almost ran straight into Christine who had apparently just entered the office.

Jo gasped and took a sudden step backwards, nearly falling back over her chair. "Christine! Oh! My. You…frightened me. I didn't realize you were right there…"

Christine looked at Jo oddly, an amused grin spreading across her face, and she turned to Mac for some insight. Mac simply smiled at her and shrugged, taking the bag she was holding out and breathing in the tempting aroma from within.

Christine let out a wary laugh, winking slightly at Mac, and turning back to Jo. "Hey, Jo. Sorry I scared you. I just thought I'd surprise Mac with dinner, since he's stuck here again. There's plenty of extra if you're hungry…"

Jo opened her mouth, but no words came out at first. "Uhh. Mmm. No. No! Good heavens, no." She laughed nervously. "You two should eat here, together, alone… I'll just take some paperwork and get back to my office." She turned around too quickly, bumping into the chair again before pulling it out slightly. "Here, sit down. You two have a nice dinner…amidst all the…towers of paper…"

Christine smiled at Mac again, not certain she'd ever seen Jo flustered, and shook her head, laughing slightly. "Jo, I'm not staying. I just came to drop dinner off. You're the ones working late. Sit and eat. Like I said, there's plenty to go around…"

Jo nodded, fiddling nervously with the pen she realized she was still holding in her hand. "Oh. Well… Ok. Thanks Christine. It smells delicious."

Christine nodded and moved to leave, pausing only upon hearing Jo clear her throat.

"Umm. Christine. Thanks for loaning Mac to me over the weekend." She gulped. Oh God, that sounded so inane… What the hell was she saying? She cleared her throat. "It was really a huge help to have him drive up with me."

Christine smiled. "Of course. I'm glad he could help. I was stuck working the entire time anyway. How's Ellie doing?"

Jo nodded. "She'll be fine. Crutches for a couple weeks, some physical therapy. But she'll be good as new eventually."

Christine reached out and patted her arm. "Good to hear. And you're better I can see." She hesitated a moment. "I guess… And you're still coming to dinner this Sunday, right? The two of you?"

Jo nodded adamantly. "Yes, absolutely! Wouldn't miss it! Ellie's looking forward to it. And me. I am, too. Of course…"

Christine nodded in time with Jo, both their heads bobbing up and down so frantically Mac was certain he was beginning to feel slightly seasick. "Well…great! Feel free to invite…a friend too, if you like – I always make extra food, so there's no worry we'll run out."

Jo's nodding froze, a look of fear invading her expression. "Oh. Uhmm. I'm sure it'll just be Ellie and I…the two of us…" she smiled uncertainly, a small strangled laugh emanating from her throat, "…unless I happen to pick up any stragglers on the way over to your place…" Jo frowned, feeling horridly awkward right now and wishing she could just go and hide behind the piles of paperwork on Mac's desk.

Christine raised her brow, but said nothing. She smiled at Mac. "Well, I'll leave you two to your…crime-fighting." She glanced again at Mac's desk. "Although it looks like you spend most of your time wrangling paperwork rather than criminals." She glanced at Jo. "'Bye Jo. I'll see you Sunday then." Jo smiled in response, deciding at this point she'd be best to just keep her mouth shut.

Mac moved to accompany Christine to the door and they paused, Christine leaning in to plant a soft kiss on his lips and whisper something in his ear that Jo made a point of not listening to.

Christine smiled at Mac as he moved to return to his desk. But just before exiting, she paused and turned around again to face them, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "You know Mac… You should have a talk with your cleaning service. Your office smells distinctly like bacon." And frowning, she turned and left, heading towards the elevators.

-/-/-/-/-

Another hour later, Mac and Jo were just exiting the elevators into the parking garage. The paperwork towers having been reduced to manageable stacks of filing and no calls having come in, they'd both decided to call it a night. Mac paused in front of his car and turned to Jo, about to say something when the shrill ring of her phone echoed through the garage. She smiled apologetically at Mac and held up a finger as she fished it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen, before looking back at him. "It's Ellie. Hang on just a sec…"

"Hey, El. You ok?"

She listened intently for over a minute before furrowing her brow and responding.

"Hon', I really don't think that's a good idea…" She paused again, listening, then shook her head.

"Ellie…my answer is no. Maybe we can revisit it again…" Her brow furrowed a moment as she was clearly interrupted, and she sighed. "Maybe in a couple weeks when you're off your crutches. We'll see when the time comes."

Mac's phone began buzzing and stepped away slightly as he looked down at it. His shoulders sagged. Crime scene. At the far edges of the Bronx. He glanced up at Jo, whose phone was also buzzing.

Jo frowned. "Ellie, I need to go. I'm getting a work call… We'll talk tomorrow. Promise… Love you."

She glanced down at her phone, then at Mac. "Off to the Bronx?" He nodded. She sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I guess that's to be expected. At least they didn't wait until I was all cuddled up and cozy under the covers …"

Mac laughed, his mind trailing to how she'd managed to monopolize every single blanket on the bed when they'd spend the night outside Albany. "Come on, I'll drive…"

She eyed him suspiciously. "You know, I'm finally realizing why you always offer to drive. It's not out of chivalry; it's out of some mis-directed grasp at self-preservation. You just don't trust me behind the wheel…"

Mac merely shook his head as he opened the passenger door of the Avalanche for her. "Get in. Consider yourself lucky. You get to relax while I do the driving…" And he shut her door and walked to the driver's side.

She smirked at him as he got in. "So what's the location, anyway? All I saw was the Bronx… Where are we off to at this lovely hour of the night?"

Mac showed her the message on his phone and she stared at it a moment.

"Oh." She said simply, her voice suddenly flat. Mac glanced over at her, having clearly detected something off in her voice, but she was leaning against the window, eyes closed apparently taking his mention of relaxing to hear. So he started up the Avalanche and headed out.

-/-/-/-/-

Mac glanced over at Jo, his eyebrows frowning for just a moment. Throughout the ride to the Bronx, she'd been strangely quiet, particularly for her. Once he realized she wasn't really trying to rest, he'd attempted to engage her in conversation, but his every effort fell flat. And once they'd arrived on scene, well over two hours ago now, she'd seemed oddly distracted during the briefing by the detective on duty. Once the body had been released, the extraneous personnel had gradually finished their assigned duties and filtered away, now leaving only the two CSIs and a pair of uniforms for added security. As soon as they had begun the slow, tedious work of processing the alleyway, she'd seemed…nervous to say the least.

He'd just finished his sector, but remained quiet, still squatted down several feet from her, watching her discretely. Something was definitely off about her. He watched as she examined what appeared to be a bullet fragment embedded in the brick wall of the abandoned building bordering the alley. He noticed as her attention kept straying to the rusty gate at the back of the alley, where it connected up with a seemingly infinite maze of smaller back alleys. She finally managed to focus on the task at hand and pluck the item from the mortar, grab an evidence bag from her kit and drop it in. Having finished marking the bag, she rose slowly, seemingly lost in thought, and walked the few steps to place the plastic evidence baggie into the box. She seemed to hesitate a moment, glancing up at the two uniforms joking at the mouth of the alley, then crossed her arms and paced back and forth for a minute, before returning to kneel back down in the corner, the final quadrant that still remained unprocessed.

Mac frowned and cleared his throat, trying to attract her attention.

"Jo, what's wrong?" The words cut through the silence.

She started at the sound of his voice, almost as if she'd forgotten he was there with her in the alleyway. Looking over, she threw him a forced smile, but it seemed to fall from her features almost before it had fully appeared. She nodded her head rather forcefully, as if trying to convince herself that all was indeed well with her.

"Nothing. I'm fine Mac. Almost done." And she turned her attention back to her corner, but only after casting another wayward glance at the back of the alley.

He sighed and stood, approaching her with his portable lamp. "Show me where you are and I'll help finish up so we can get out of here…"

"Wouldn't that be nice…," she muttered under her breath. She didn't meet his gaze, but merely nodded, indicating a particular section of the wall with her hand but saying nothing more. He decided to leave her be for now, and set himself to the task of searching for any other bullet fragments.

Ten minutes later, ten minutes of complete and utter silence between the two of them, and they were finally finished. Jo stood slowly and turned to face him, where he was still crouched on the ground. He noted a look of mild impatience spreading across her face.

"Aren't you done yet?" She asked him rather shortly.

"I beg your pardon?" He arched his eyebrows and gave her a rather piercing stare as he stood.

Aware her clipped tone was completely inappropriate, she averted her gaze, shifting her weight and rubbing her hand down her face in frustration. A moment later, she turned to glance at him again.

"I'm sorry Mac. I'm just tired." She gave him a half-smile. "Nothing a few hours of sleep won't cure. Let's just finish up and get going."

He stared at her a moment, quite certain that whatever was bothering her was more than just fatigue, but nonetheless, he leaned down to pick up his kit and motioned for her to follow him. "I expect the night shift can take over processing evidence. As far as I know, their last call out was pretty clear cut. Shouldn't be much left on it. Hopefully we can just drop everything off and go home."

Jo nodded and followed him to the truck. After securing the evidence in the back he opened the passenger door and held it open for her as she stepped up and arranged herself on the seat. Before closing her door, he paused, waiting for her to look his way but she kept her attention focused on anything but him. He finally reached out and placed his hand gently on her arm. "Jo."

She seemed to hesitate before slowly turning her attention to him. As if perhaps ignoring him would simply make him forget that he'd had something to say in the first place. But he continued as soon as her gaze met his.

"I wish you'd tell me what's bothering you. You're completely out of step with your normal self. Come on. I've worked with you for more than three years. This is more than just fatigue. What's on your mind?"

Jo seemed to ponder his statement a moment before nodding. "It's really nothing Mac. I had an argument with Ellie on the phone just before we got the call out. It's just been distracting me. I apologize. I shouldn't let it affect my focus on the job."

He frowned, still not entirely convinced she was telling him the whole truth. "You wanna talk about it?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, brushing her hand through the air as if swatting away a fly. "Aagh. Quite honestly, no. I just wanna forget about it, go home and go to bed." She smiled rather halfheartedly at him and he responded in kind. I'm sure in the morning it'll all just seem inconsequential anyway…"

"If you say so." He closed her door, and after removing his gun and holster from his belt, climbed in the driver's side and started up the Avalanche, pulling slowly away from the curb.

Fifteen minutes later, Jo glanced over at him. "Hey, Mac. Do you think we could possibly stop somewhere and get something to drink? I'm absolutely parched."

She noticed as he glanced at his watch and she regretted having mentioned anything. "Mac, if you have plans or something, it can wait. I just thought…"

He frowned at her. "It's not a problem, Jo. I was just trying to think what might be open now. I think there's a service station a couple miles up. Is that ok?"

She nodded. "That's perfect. Thanks."

Mac noticed as she rubbed her forehead slightly. "You feeling ok?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Just a headache. Nothing a cold drink won't cure."

Mac pulled off the expressway, heading towards the service station a few blocks up when Jo's phone rang suddenly. Pulling it out and staring at it, she seemed to hesitate a moment before finally answering.

"Danville." Mac assumed it was not Ellie this time, given her professional tone.

But when she next spoke, Mac couldn't help but notice how her voice dropped lower, becoming softer, more feminine.

"Hey, Cade. Already? How'd that happen?" She listened a moment.

"Where are you?"

Mac pulled into the station lot and parked, glancing over at Jo intently until she looked over at him.

He raised his brow at her. "Want me to get you something?" He said softly, trying not to interrupt her call.

She shook her head and smiled. "Soda?" And she returned to the conversation.

Mac stepped out of the truck and walked towards the small store containing the cashier desk.

Jo was listening intently to Cade when her stomach began grumbling. She frowned, realizing she'd hardly eaten; Christine's offering earlier at the Lab hadn't agreed with her, and she'd barely picked at it. She realized she'd never had dinner. She glanced out the window, seeing Mac just about to enter the store and she flung open her door. "Mac!"

But he had just entered and didn't hear.

"Cade, can I call you back? Two minutes. We just finished up a scene…" And she hung up, stepping out of the truck and slamming the door at the same moment she realized she was still wearing her gun and holster. She groaned - the door was locked now. She'd just keep it on…

She walked the several feet to the doorway and pulled on the handle, starting slightly at the harsh sound of the door chime announcing her presence.

She entered, immediately noticing Mac standing in the center of the main aisle, clearly heading towards the cold cases at the back of the small store. She smiled, about to speak when she noticed he wasn't moving. Rather, he stood seemingly frozen. The only movement coming from his hands, which were raising ever so slowly. He glanced halfway back at her and spoke very slowly.

"Jo. He's got a gun…"

Her hand flew to her side, unstrapping her gun, flicking off the safety and training it in the direction Mac had been staring.

She saw vague movement from behind the display shelving to his left. "Police! Freeze!" She yelled, gripping the gun tighter.

Suddenly Mac launched himself back and sideways, to the right. "Jo, get down!" He shouted just before he crashed into a display in front of the register, sending a rainbow of small packages of gum, candy and energy shots flying every which way.

Jo, still unable to view the suspect, dropped down to one knee, gun still trained on the space Mac had been staring at, her finger nimble and hovering on the trigger.

There was a flurry of movement at the end of the aisle and her mind suddenly disassociated from her body. She saw a form come flying around the corner, brandishing a gun, trained first on Mac, who was now lying on the floor in a heap, trying desperately to scrabble behind the cashier's desk. A millisecond later, the form, now clearly that of a young teenager, caught sight of Jo and he spun towards her, the gun aimed in the vicinity of her head. Jo ducked her upper body away, towards Mac. At the same moment, she could feel the trigger of her gun depressing – was it really her finger causing the motion? She couldn't be certain. Then suddenly, there was a loud crack, followed almost immediately by another…

The boy, now looming only a few feet from her, fell to the floor with a thud, the gun flying from his hand and sliding across the floor to come to rest at Jo's knee as her own body hit the tile a few feet away. Mac slid across the floor to her, taking only a moment to determine that the boy was dead.

He turned his attention to Jo as she slowly rose to a standing position. "Jo. You're bleeding."

"Wha-?" She followed Mac's gaze to her upper left arm.

He was right. There was a slow trickle of blood, from a freshly torn hole in her new leather jacket.

"Damn. I just got this coat…" She wavered slightly, and Mac's arm shot out to steady her.

"Jo, sit down…"

"Mac I'm fine. Just got up too fast." But her knees seemed to give out and she sat back down heavily on the floor.

Mac knelt beside her, fumbling with her arm. "How bad is it?"

She scoffed. "Oh, Mac it's nothing. Just a graze. Hurts less than a paper cut. I didn't even realize I was shot."

He frowned. "I'm going to call it in from the truck and get my gun, just in case… You ok to sit tight here a second?"

She nodded, watching as Mac walked outside. As she sat, her head involuntarily turned to stare at the dead boy's pale face, his eyes, lifeless, unseeing, yet strangely piercing as they seemed to bore right into her. She looked at his young face. She blinked suddenly, as the face seemed to morph into that of Keith Lewis, lying in a pool of blood. She shook her head, turning back to the doorway. The edges of her vision blurred slightly, and she shook her head again. The door was gone, replaced by that chain-link gate. From the alleyway. A small face peering through it, staring wide-eyed at her. Or was it the face of the young boy lying next to her. No, this was the alleyway… She shook her head more forcefully, trying to remember exactly where she was. Who she'd just shot. In any case, she shouldn't be sitting down on the job. She needed to get up…

Jo pushed herself slowly off the floor and the room spun wildly. She closed her eyes against the sensation, a hand pressed against her stomach as it clenched. Mac returned, gun in hand, and frowned upon seeing Jo struggling to get up.

"Jo, what are you doing? Sit down."

She shook her head. "Mac. I'm sorry. I'm just not fee…" She paused to swallow the lump rising in her throat, then continued. "I…need to use the restroom."

Mac shook his head at her. "Now? No…I think you should stay…"

But she was already rising up. Mac watched as she took a hesitant step towards the door. He saw her waver dangerously and he began to move slowly towards her when suddenly, her eyes rolled upwards and her body went limp. He launched himself towards her as she plummeted down. He reached out, barely catching her waist with his arms. But the momentum from her fall pulled him off balance and she dragged him down with her to the floor. He pulled her roughly towards him at the last minute, just before her head hit the ground, and they ended in a tangled heap on the floor.

"Jo?!"

He shifted slightly, rearranging her body in his arms, feeling for a pulse. It was slow but steady … He eyed her arm – certainly more than a papercut, but not serious. His gaze scanned the rest of her body, searching for some undiscovered injury. But he noticed nothing. He managed to wrangle one sleeve of her jacket off so that he could better examine the gunshot wound. He realized it was in the exact same place on her left arm that he'd brushed across in the motel. His brow creased, realizing it would never again be the soft, supple, unblemished patch of skin he'd he been so drawn to two nights ago.

He shifted her body slightly, cradling her head and shoulders in his arms, trying to make her more comfortable as he waited for the paramedics and squad cars to arrive. As he moved her legs, her phone fell from her pocket, sliding across the white tiled flooring through the trail of tiny blood drops from Jo's arm, smearing them into an odd semblance of a Jackson Pollack painting. Mac stared, oddly mesmerized, when the phone suddenly started ringing and Mac jumped. The name "Cade Conover" flashed insistently across the screen.

Mac stared down at Jo cradled in his arms, stared back at the device, ringing and vibrating frantically, further smearing the blood underneath. He slowly reached out towards the phone, his gun still in his hand, when he suddenly froze on hearing a noise behind him.

"Police! Don't move!"

A/N: OK – this was nice and long - hope it made up for the last one! Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it!