Chapter 10: Stuck Together

"Stella, pick up the phone," Mac says into his answering machine. "Fine, don't talk to me. We didn't catch your friend; he wasn't at home or work. There's uniforms to arrest him when he does arrive. I'm on my way home now."

She listens as he leaves the message, trying to decide what to do. Finally she makes her choice. She writes him a quick message before heading to his door, closing it softly behind her as she leaves.

*****

Mac unlocks his apartment door and walks in. There is no sign of life. "Stella?" he calls out. There is no response. "You can't stay mad at me forever," he says, walking down the hallway to the bedroom to look for her. Not finding her, he rushes back to the kitchen and living room. She isn't there either. "Stella?" he calls again, worried.

Then he sees the single piece of paper on his counter. "'I have to know why. Sorry. Stella,'" he reads to himself. He hits his head against the refrigerator, angry with himself for not realizing that she would leave. He curses himself for not handcuffing her to her desk that morning when she had first suggested fulfilling the vampire's request.

He checks his watch: eight-thirty. The vampire hadn't specified a time; maybe he wouldn't be making his appearance until later. Mac runs back to his car, hoping he gets to Stella before the vampire does.

*****

Spotting his partner, the lab supervisor parks his truck and starts walking toward her. She is close to the building, leaving room for pedestrians to walk by, and looking in the opposite direction, the direct way for the vampire to come if coming from home or work.

Silently he comes up behind her, one arm going around her waist and the other hand covering her mouth. As he tries to lead her back to his car, she struggles with him, trying to peel his arms off of her. When she is unsuccessful, she elbows him in the ribs. He lets go of her, surprised at the force she hit him with.

Now free, she whirls around to face her attacker, "Mac! What are you doing here?"

"Saving your butt."

"My butt doesn't need saving."

"Yes, it does, Stella. You're standing on a street corner in New York. Waiting for a man to come see you. A man who has raped four woman and killed three of them. A man who is pretending to be a vampire and sucking people's blood. Now that sounds a little dangerous to me. And I'm sure any sane person would agree with me," he reaches for her arm, but she backs away from him.

"I just want to know why he's doing this."

"You can ask him once we have him in custody."

"You could have caught him tonight, Mac. But I'm sure you've ruined it. All you had to do was sit in your truck and wait for him to approach me."

"Every officer is on the lookout for him; he's not going to evade us much longer."

Stella sighs, leaning back against the building behind her. "Why are you doing this, Mac? I can look after myself."

"Because you are my friend, and I care about you, and I don't want anything to happen to you. If I managed to sneak up on you, I'm sure he could've."

"I wasn't expecting you to come here. And you got what you deserved for sneaking up on me," she reaches out and pokes him in the ribs, right where she elbowed him.

"Ow," he frowns at her. "Did you seriously think I was just going to sit at home and wait for you to come back?"

"No. But I thought there would be fifty police cars, all with their lights and sirens going, to announce your arrival."

"If he was here already, that just would've made him run off with you."

"So… can I get a ride home with you?"

"No. I will take you back to my apartment. After that stunt you pulled, you are not going home."

"What?"

"You disobeyed me; how am I supposed to know that you won't run off again? Besides, your actions are just going to cause worse nightmares for me."

"So I have to be your teddy bear again because you're an insomniac?"

"Teddy bear? I don't think teddy bears hurt people, Stella," he rubs his sore ribs.

She smiles, "I'd be more than willing to give you a matching bruise on the other side."

He leads her to the car with a hand on her back, "That's not necessary."

*****

Stella is sitting in bed when Mac walks in, handcuffs in hand. "Going to sleep?"

He nods as he climbs in beside her. As she extends her hand forward to turn the TV off with the remote, he clasps the handcuff around her wrist.

"What are you doing?" she asks, looking at him nervously.

"Making sure you can't go anywhere," he attaches the other ring to his wrist.

"Mac, this is completely unnecessary," she protests. "What if there's a fire or something and we have to get out of the building? What will people think? What will the guys think if they find out about this?"

"They won't, Stella. I have the key right here," he holds it up to show her.

She reaches out to grab it from him, but he moves it away too quickly. "Mac, you are being ridiculous."

"No, I am not," he puts the key in his shirt pocket. "Oh, I forgot to brush my teeth," he slides over to the edge of the bed to get out, taking her with him.

She stands impatiently while he brushes his teeth, "Nobody brushes their teeth for two minutes, Mac. Just spit so we can go to sleep."

He turns the water on and leans over to spit. The key falls out of his pocket, hitting the sink with a clang, before it is washed down the drain, the two detectives motionlessly staring at it.

Stella looks up at him, "That's not good."

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for last chapter. Happy Thanksgiving. I think there are five more chapter to this story... but for some reason I haven't edited them yet. So I'll try to do that before break is over and get another one posted.