As much as I love y'all for your amazing reviews, you're all making me worried that thiswont live up! I hope it does xmwahx
Huge thank you's once again!
She must have caught Chief Highbourne in an exceptionally good mood, because he actually allowed Stella to take a break! Well, not so much a break, as 3 days leave. He didn't mention it, but she was pretty sure it'll turn out unpaid to boot, but that doesn't matter. The time she'd spent as Supervisor meant a mini-pay rise, so she could afford it, if it really bothered her all that much.
It turned out that she hadn't actually dropped the phone the day before, nearly, but not quite. If Natalie hadn't have snapped her out of her delirious daze, she probably wouldn't have moved until 'Thirteen-Hundred-Hours tomorrow'.
Thirteen-Hundred-Hours.
1pm.
4 hours from now.
Stella couldn't quite pinpoint her emotions; they were racketing all over the place. She'd find herself smiling at nothing much, feeling happier than she had in a long time. Then, realisation would hit. Hit like a house. He'd been at war. There's no telling what that could have done to him. She'd seen the movies, it always had some major effect of some kind.
But then, he's already been at war. Done it all before and came out on the other side how Stella knew him when he left.
She has to stop thinking about it, it'll drive her crazy. She just has to get through the next 3 hours and 49 minutes, until that plane lands and Mac Taylor is back.
Xx
Stella climbed behind the wheel of Mac's Escalade. There was still at least an hour before his plane was to land, but she just couldn't sit still any longer. She'd already cleaned his house again, stocked the cupboards and refrigerator and pre-ordered a house special pizza from Massimo's. All she had to do now was pick him up.
She knew the streets of New York City like she knew her own house. The shortcuts, the back-streets, the alleyways. It was her city. So it didn't really surprise when she arrived at the airport in record time.
She parked as near as she could to the arrivals lounge, and threw the keys into her purse. This was it.
Stella double-checked the gate and time and fought her way through to the throng of travellers for a coffee and a sit down. She was able to nurse the drink for the majority of the wait and excitedly took off for Gate 32.
She shouldn't have been surprised by the amount of military wives in the arrivals lounge, but she was. There must have been easily 25 to 30 families. Children ran about, squealing with their new found friends, wives and mothers cried in anticipation while the fathers and brothers talked proudly of their loved ones achievements. Some children held signs with 'Dad!' or 'Officer Pops' scrawled on with crayons and smiley faces. Stella couldn't help but smile.
The flight was called over the PA system, and her heart jumped just a little. Ever since that night she'd spent at Mac's, it'd been doing that. She still wasn't sure what to make of it, but it was almost expected now.
Some marines and soldiers began to walk through the doors, grinning as their kids ran up into their arms. If she wasn't so preoccupied waiting for Mac, she'd have just watched with tears dripping down her face. Some men were escorted out in wheelchairs, ankles strapped, even a couple missing limbs. It was heart-breaking, but barely noticed by their families. They were alive. That was all that mattered.
Finally, a familiar face.
There he was.
Her eyes burned a little as tears threatened to fall. He was a sight for sore eyes.
A 5 o'clock shadow, that was loser to 8, framed his cheeks and chin, and his hair was a little longer than when he'd left. It suited him, she liked it.
His was limping a slight, and his left wrist was in a cast and left shoulder in a sling, but he otherwise looked perfect. A male flight attendant walked behind him, scowl on his face, pushing a wheelchair Stella guessed was for Mac. If he didn't need it, he wasn't going to take it.
Stella chuckled as she began to wave. Before she could even move her hand, Mac stopped dead, his head drooping, a smile across his lips. Oh yeah, he was back.
She manoeuvred her way through the crowds, finally finding breakthrough and smirked as she quick-walked the rest of the distance between them.
They just smiled at each other for a moment, letting the sight before them sink in. It was Stella who finally succumbed and threw her arms around him. He gave a little yelp of pain, but wound his good arm around her back, relaxing against the embrace.
"Mac…It's so good to see you…" She breathed, not letting him go just yet.
"It's good to be seen." he sighed, smelling the tropical coconut shampoo from the curls under his nose.
Stella pulled back, giving him a look up and down. He was in one piece, except for the bandages. She still gave him a dig on the good arm though, "You didn't email."
That was the Stella he'd missed.
Xx
The drive back to Mac's was just like normal. You would have expected gossiping, memories or talking in general, but they fell back into their comfortable silence. Stella would look over occasionally, just to make sure he was actually there. Mac was watching the sights pass by the car window, mouth agape slightly, as if seeing them for the first time.
When they pulled up into the driveway, Stella killed the engine and twisted to face the passenger, saying, "Welcome home."
Mac gave a content smile, but something flashed in those hazy green eyes of his, something she'd make sure she found out about later. First, he just needed to relax. Be home.
Stella unlocked the front door, opening it wide and putting the keys in the dish. Mac dropped his bag near the stairs and gave a look around, not unlike his perusal before his departure.
"Exactly how you remember it?"
"Better."
"I've put some food in the kitchen: bread, milk, the usual. And all your mail's on the counter. Do you want anything now? A drink? Sandwich?" Ever the mother.
"Just a shower," he said, holding onto the banister.
"Okay, I'll make us some subs for when you're ready."
Mac gave a nod and ascended up to the bathroom. Stella watched him go, trying to pinpoint what was different about him. Something was…
Xx
Stella was stooped over the kitchen sink, washing the cutting board and bread knife, when Mac entered the kitchen. She didn't know that he'd propped himself against the doorjamb for a minute or two, just watching.
It'd been so long. The other men would talk of their 'Girls' back home, some married them just prior to being shipped out, some promised the day they got back. Mac would keep quiet, or mention in passing about Claire's demise. A couple would ask if there was anyone else on the cards, anyone Mac liked, he said he wasn't sure he was ready. That was true, he wasn't sure, but he'd had more than enough time to contemplate his relationships with people back home.
Rose was a nice woman: sweet, attractive, genuine. She was perfect for the first date, but he didn't think for anything more. Plus the fact that he'd been a mumbling fool on the actual date. She'd been nice enough about it, but he just wasn't comfortable. He always told himself it was because it was the first date he'd had in over 15 years, well, first official date. He'd had lunch with a woman on his own. Dinner too.
That woman being Stella.
It was then that realisation set in. He tried to deny it during his tour, told himself it was just because he was missing her, and the team of course, but…deep down? He knew.
He wasn't too sure what to do about it, but he knew. Seeing her when he got off that plane just emphasised it. She stopped him dead in his tracks.
Mac cleared his through, alerting her to his presence. Stella spun, drying her hands on a towel and smiled. She gestured to the plates on the table and took at seat.
They still hadn't spoken of …much of anything actually. She desperately wanted to hear he was okay. He looked fine enough, but Mac wasn't anything if not internal.
"So how are Palmer and Carlson turning out? Have you been 'cool'?" He gave a look that told her he didn't expect for one minute that she hadn't spoken out just a little bit.
"Erm, well, what was the last email you read?" He mentioned that the Gruesome Twosome had just arrived, so over a month ago. "They actually left." Stella tried to make it sound like it was of their own volition.
He didn't buy it.
"Okay, okay, so I had a word or two with Highbourne," she held her hands up in surrender, "but the important thing is they left. We got some rookies a few days later who have been fantastic." She took a bite of her sandwich.
"So you got promoted?"
"How'd you know? I didn't think you'd read my letters."
"I haven't, but that was what I recommended to the Chief. He said he'd think about it, I said you wouldn't be happy with new blood, he apparently didn't agree."
"Well, he did eventually. I even got Danny promoted to CSI2. You should have seen him, Mac, he's come along so much."
"Still dating Aiden?"
"Oh yeah. They're more inseparable now than before, if that's even possible."
"That's good. They always worked well together."
Stella nodded, eating some more and sipping her water.
"What about you? You been holding up okay?" she asked, hoping to ease him into talking.
"I've been fine. What are these rookies like?"
She wasn't totally oblivious to the subject change, but went along with it. "Natalie and Connor. Hard little workers bees. Great assets to the team, even if we only get to keep one."
"Any preference? Is one more promising?"
"Well, no, but Natalie's been married for 5 or so years."
"Newlywed." Mac nodding, understanding the implication that she'd probably be wanting to start a family soon.
After a while, Stella asked, "Did you manage in the shower? With your arm, I mean?"
"It was tricky, but I sorted it." He nodded, sipping the bottle of water. He hadn't really touched his sandwich.
"Can I ask what happened?"
"It's fine," he said, answering a different question.
Stella was starting to feel uncomfortable, something she hadn't felt with him for a while. He obviously didn't want to answer questions about what he'd been living, and she could sense that just one more question might send him-
"Listen, Stella, I don't want to talk about it, okay? I'm back, that's all that matters. Whatever happened is in the past, I just want to move on. Again. " his voice had grown edgier as he continued his rant. Mac grabbed his water and went into the other room, leaving a slightly startled Stella in his wake.
She watched him go. He didn't know it, or maybe he did, but she could read him like a book. He wasn't angry from the questions, or his memories or anything. He was feeling guilty.
He was home, while his men were still out there. His men, who he was ordered to protect, were still out there, while he was home eating a sandwich. He felt guilty for getting injured, no matter the means, and not being able to fulfil his duties. Stella could almost see him fighting with the nurses in the infirmary, demanding that he be sent back out. He still had one good arm, and you only needed one to fire a gun after all. Of course, he would have known that the backfire from said gun would cause immeasurable pain from his outstanding injuries. It wouldn't have stopped him though.
He would tell her the same in his own time.