Thanx once again for all those reading this story, and especially for the reviews!!

This chapter concentrates mostly on Mac's thoughts about the situation.

Enjoy! Kitty

Chapter Eleven

Mac had left the hotel with no particular destination in mind - he simply walked until he suddenly found himself at the south end of Central Park. He decided to head towards the Pond and took a seat on one of the empty benches along the water's edge. He was still trying to process the emotions he'd gone through that morning, let alone what he thought about what he'd seen and been told. The bombing of the barracks in Beirut had exposed him to all kinds of appalling injuries, and he'd shared the City's shock and disbelief at the sheer destruction of 9/11 - and the personal loss of Claire - but last night had not only brought back those feelings but increased them. This time the destruction wasn't spread over many - it was inflicted on one person, who kept defying her tormentor to buy her friend time to rescue her. He couldn't help but be impressed by the faith in her friend that demonstrated.

Mac sat staring at the ripples in the water as he considered the evidence he had, starting with what he knew best - Danny. There had always been a sense of self-doubt present in the younger criminalist, not in his work but more in his personal life as if he was always waiting for the other person to leave him, as if he always expected them to find him inadequate. Mac had never actually mentioned it to him believing it to be a result of his upbringing and exposure to the Tanglewood Boys, but had always tried to convince the younger man that he'd never leave him, that nothing Mac learnt would change his feelings about him either. Danny was an excellent criminalist, easily on his way to becoming one of the best, even if he was occasionally sidetracked by the emotions of a case, and since Stella had taken over his evaluations he seemed to be accepting this and coming into his own. It had taken a while for Mac to realise that the reason Danny always seemed to doubt Mac's praises in the lab had been because of his own feelings towards the older man, and his expectation that there would always be a qualifying 'but' at the end of any praise. It had been his own fault though - Mac should never have told the young man that he'd been advised not to hire him, as that had simply confirmed Danny's beliefs that he was never good enough and Mac had been trying to undo that damage ever since. He knew Danny now trusted him on a personal level with his life, but Mac was still unsure if he was trusted to defend Danny to the brass if need be.

Maybe Danny was right. Maybe this was the element that was missing in him, and would allow him to develop his confidence in himself. Mac couldn't begrudge his lover that. Danny had certainly seemed more at ease with himself since meeting Miss Granger, even when he was anxious for the three of them to be together there had still been a confidence in his voice that was lacking before - giving the impression that if Mac or Miss Granger chose not to try a marriage Danny would fight hard against them both to keep those he wanted.

Miss Granger. Hermione. When they'd talked that morning he'd actually forgotten her age until she had mentioned it, her arguments having been both well articulated and mature in their reasoning. Appearance wise it was easy to mistake her for someone in their early twenties, so it was easy to ignore how young she was, especially when she spoke. Mac supposed it was her experiences that added to her maturity. This led him to thinking about what he'd seen while they'd slept. She'd shown defiance to the other woman, protecting her secrets no matter what was done to her, indicating a strong will of mind, while her trust in her friendships was shown in her faith that she would be rescued. Mac couldn't help but admire her sense of loyalty, and had the impression that she was just as loyal to any that she cared about - which he thought included Danny. She also appeared to stand by her principles - she said she'd been willing to die by her friend's side, and now she was willing to give up her own life so that he and Danny could remain happy together. Mac wholeheartedly agreed with her belief that a marriage should be about love, not convenience.

But she and Danny didn't know each other, had never met before, and Don confirmed that their feelings were artificially created - 'forced' as Miss Granger had said. How could the feelings be real in that case? Who's to say the feelings would even last? With this thought an image of Claire entered his mind. He'd met her at a Policeman's Charity function, and the moment he saw her he knew they'd marry and be together till death parted them. And then it had. He'd known he loved her from that first night, and he still did - there'd been no thinking about it. A voice inside his head argued that it was no different for the other two - where ever the emotions had come from they appeared just as suddenly, and just as strongly. Any argument that their emotions weren't real could be applied to his feelings for Claire too. This made him wonder about Miss Granger's feelings - was she arguing to ignore the feelings just to ensure Danny's happiness or did she have another reason. Mac thought about her words on that first day, about not ruining their relationship and trusting how they felt about each other, that she and Danny had no control over how they felt. Had she been in a relationship before her birthday? Mac knew that many teenagers seemed to fall in and out of love on a weekly basis, but he had the impression that Miss Granger wasn't like that. When she loved it would be with all her heart, giving over all her devotion, loyalty and trust to the other person. And he'd already witnessed the depth of her loyalty for her friends.

From what he'd been told about Miss Granger by Flack and then Potter, and from what he'd seen first-hand, she was a woman of intelligence and determination, who learnt new skills and then taught them to her friends, and who fought for her friends as well as her own rights to live. She considered all aspects of a problem before making a decision, though once made would follow through with whatever she had decided, no matter the cost to herself. She also stood by her principles and would not be argued out of them. However, the characteristic Mac most noticed about Hermione was her capacity to care. When faced with the consequence of the kiss at the initial meeting, her reaction had been to try to soothe his feelings and repair any damage to his relationship with Danny. To prevent her friend from forcing Danny to marry her she'd been willing to lie to ensure his freedom and future happiness. One of the arguments she'd used that morning was that she was unwilling to subject anyone else to the nightly pain of her nightmares - was even unwilling to allow them to lie with her again in case the painless effect of last night was not repeated. And when Potter had fallen asleep in the chair, she'd taken care not to wake him as she moved him to the more comfortable bed.

There were so many things to consider. Regardless of the reason for her being in New York Mac found himself admiring Hermione - not just for everything she had been through, but for the way she was handling this situation as well. Mac thought that this must be an extremely uncomfortable situation for her (probably more so than for him) given her nightmares - which suddenly reminded him of that morning. He'd woken to the feel of feminine curves pressed against his body, his hand holding a more delicate one. The bushy ponytail fell above his head which had been bent into her neck as he breathed in the smell of her skin. He'd opened his eyes and seen the Goosebumps that appeared beneath his breaths, and had heard Danny greet her as he inadvertently moved his hand across her front. His fingers had initially passed over the fabric of her night clothes, but suddenly he'd been touching bare skin, and his fingers had gently traced a scar before she'd hastily removed herself from between Danny and himself. Why hadn't he remembered this part before now? He'd mentally catalogued her wounds when trying to estimate her pain, but for some reason hadn't considered the scars that would have been left. Was that what she'd meant when she'd asked how Potter could've done that to her? That only one other person had been trusted enough to lie beside her - and he'd abandoned her - and the hurt in her tone at this, implied that she was ashamed by what had been done to her, by what happened at night. Her wounds had been so severe, it was likely they left horrific scaring that she kept hidden.

If they proceeded with this marriage, how would she deal with intimacy? What experience with intimacy did she have if she'd spent the majority of her time fighting alongside Potter? Intimacy between two people could be awkward in the beginning, but between three? He didn't know how that would work. There was certainly the opportunity for ill-feelings to develop in one or more of them, as Hermione had pointed out that morning. Mac gave a small chuckle to himself as he remembered Potter's description of Hermione, who had then proven how well he knew her - rational, intelligent, reasoned, a planner and a problem solver. But Mac didn't think he could agree to her solution to this particular problem. The question then became could he meet her conditions - could he love Hermione?

Mac could understand why Potter was so protective of her, and felt inclined to protect her against any further harm himself, but could this sentiment be turned into love. Was that the right term? Love came in many forms, from familial love to lustful, and a marriage was sustained by many of the different forms. Could he turn this protective feeling into affection and a romantic love, as she had asked? At eighteen she was over the age of consent, but could he lust after her without feeling (or appearing) like a letch? Could Hermione lust after him? At his age? Mac had been amazed that Danny, at almost ten years younger, was attracted to him and Hermione was ... the same age as Reed! ... Oh God! How could he even think about doing this? Hermione was young and innocent, and had her whole life ahead of her. Panic overtook Mac for a moment before his rational mind returned. No, that was wrong. She should have a long life ahead of her; instead she has only four months. Unless she agrees to marry two men she met barely three days ago. Was that justification enough though? Shouldn't he be willing to just walk away from Danny and let the two marry normally? Maybe it had been Danny's presence that had affected the nightmare last night - maybe he wasn't needed there.

There was a part of him that was unwilling to accept that - the part that had enjoyed sleeping all night. Ever since he'd lost Claire Mac had suffered insomnia, even when he lay beside Danny he would suddenly wake and spend hours just watching the other man sleep. Last night had been the first time in longer than he cared to remember that he had slept so soundly - despite the images he saw. He remembered Danny's words in the alley before they'd gone looking for her last night - that it felt right. Thinking back to when he'd just woken up, and before Hermione had sprung away from them, he remembered thinking something similar - along with the sensation of belonging. And part of him wanted to hold on to that feeling.

xxxx

Mac's musings were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. As he pulled it out of his pocket he noticed it was getting dark around him. He hadn't realised how long he'd been sitting there thinking.

"Taylor." He answered.

{"Mac? How are you doing?"}

"Stella, I'm fine. Is everything alright at the lab?" He wondered if the Chief had been having a go at her about Mac not being there today.

{"Everything's fine here. Danny came in this morning and he and Hawkes went through the offices at City Hall once the Warrant came through. I had him leave a little while ago."}

"Letting him go early - you know they're going to start preferring when you're in charge." Mac joked.

{"Mac, I found him throwing up in the bathroom. He said it was a reaction to something he'd learnt last night, but didn't want to say any more than that."}

Mac was silent for a moment. He wasn't particularly surprised Danny had reacted and was glad he'd been able to get it out of his system.

{"Mac, do you want to talk about it?"} Stella asked eventually.

"That's not my story to tell Stella, but yeh, I think I could use another perspective." He looked at his watch and noticed it was end of shift. "I'm at the Pond at the south end of the Park." He told her.

{"I'm on my way."} With that she hung up.

Mac wondered why he'd said he wanted to talk to her - he hadn't meant to, the words came out before he could think about it. What would he even tell her? He knew why Danny hadn't elaborated on the reason for his visit to the toilet, and neither would he, but how much of the situation could he tell Stella. She had been there when Flack had explained about how Hermione would die if she didn't marry Danny, but how would she react if he told her about Flack's suggestion that morning of this Tri-Bond thing. 'I still need more information about that too,' he thought. He tried to remember how she'd reacted to the polygamy case - it had been one of her first cases since coming back from medical leave after the Frankie fiasco - but she'd treated it as any other case, and he couldn't remember her making any comments about the 'committed threesome' one way or the other. 'Well,' he thought, 'I guess I'm about to find out.'

xxxx

Stella arrived a little over twenty minutes later. Mac met her at the entrance by Artists' Gate and they took a seat on one of the benches beside the statue of José Martí. Avoiding any mention of their sleep, Mac told her what had been said that morning, and then proceeded to review his thoughts since arriving at the waterside. Stella sat and listened quietly throughout all of it.

"You admire her." Stella said with a touch of surprise.

"It's hard not to Stella, and believe me I hadn't intended to. But there are things -"

"That you and Danny won't share." Stella interrupted.

"That's because it's personal to Hermione, and she doesn't know you Stel. If she's happy for you to know, she'll tell you." Mac replied, and Stella could hear the pain of whatever that knowledge was in his voice. "She's been through a lot, but she's managed to keep hold of who she is throughout all of it. She's protective of her friends, intelligent, strong-willed, thoughtful, and willing to put those she cares about before herself. She believes wholeheartedly in those she trusts, and is not afraid to stand by that belief. And she's not willing to force any of us into a marriage of convenience where the two of us might end up hating each other." He continued.

"Which I know you'd agree with. Bringing us to the question of whether you could love her. Mac it took Flack and I almost a year to get you to admit how you felt about Danny, Miss Granger doesn't have that kind of time. If you try this, you're going to have to really try."

"I know that, and I intend to. I was going to suggest to Hermione and Danny that we dated for a while - in pairs and the three of us."

"She's so young Mac." Stella rather needlessly pointed out.

"I remember how old she is, thank you Stella. Or rather, I'm aware of her age, even if I did forget for a while this morning while we talked. Flack's right about her - she has an old soul that makes you forget the short amount of time she's lived. But I don't intend to take advantage of her, if that is what you meant."

"Of course not! Neither of you would ever do anything like that. I meant, don't you remember being her age, Mac? Everything's a passing fancy, nothing's serious. She's probably only dealt with boys her own age until now. Do you know if she has any experience with sex, because otherwise the two of you are probably going to be overwhelming for her, if not scary - as wonderful as a new relationship is, it can also be intimidating, even at the best of times." She pointed out, mirroring his own earlier thoughts.

"We'll take it slowly - at least as slowly as we can given the time-frame." Mac tried to reassure her. "The problem is I don't know how this is going to affect our relationships with our friends, our colleagues at the lab, or our families. I mean, what do we tell them? Do we admit the three of us are married, do we let people think Hermione is only married to one of us - in which case which one, Danny or me?"

"Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but you have my support - and I'll help bring the others round too." Stella informed him, knowing his decision had already been made, and giving him a sideways hug. "So I guess now you go find her and tell her." A sudden thought occurred to her. "How do you contact her? Does she have a phone?"

In all his musings that morning Mac hadn't considered how they would contact each other. Hermione had gone to 1PP, and then he and Danny had gone to her hotel, and he didn't remember seeing a mobile phone anywhere in the room, so wasn't sure if either she or Potter had one. But then, how did they contact each other?

"Maybe Danny or Flack knows." Mac responded as he took out his phone to call Danny.

{"Messer."} Was the quick response.

"I've missed that voice today." Mac couldn't stop the smile that formed as he heard his lover's voice.

{"Mac! Are ya okay?"}

"I'm fine, spent the day in the Park actually."

{"Did ya manage ta think about thin's?"} Mac could hear the hope in Danny's voice as he asked the question.

"Yes, I did. And I think I've come up with some ideas, but also a lot of questions. Do you know how to contact Hermione?"

{"I'm with Hermione and her friend now with Flack."}

"Where are you now?"

{"De HBO buildin' 1100 6th Avenue"}

"Okay, Stella's with me so we'll come join you."

{"Yeh, see youse soon."}

Mac turned to Stella and relayed the other end of the conversation to her.

"Sounds like he found her at the library like I did. At least it's not far from here, or her hotel." He finished telling her.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? I can't wait to meet her properly." Stella gave her friend a huge smile, but Mac saw the gleam of mischief in her eye that accompanied the smile - and worried.

xxxx