Thanks for the reviews and the comments on the random gun pulling stunt Stella did. Sorry about the out-of-chracterness there.
"What took you guys so long?" Danny asked, shuffling along the booth to make space for Stella next to him. Mac took the seat opposite, leaving a clear silence before answering for both himself and Stella.
"We got caught up in traffic. It's chaos out there like usual." He reached out and grabbed a slice of pizza, holding his hand beneath the food as he ate to prevent the strings of cheese from dropping to the table.
"What's up with you, Bonasera?" Danny questioned through a mouthful of Hawaiian pizza, his words muffled slightly. He earned a light punch on the arm from Flack, sitting on his other side, at the tactless comment. "You look like hell."
"Thanks, Dan," Stella said, her lips pursed and showing her obvious annoyance. She let her eyes slip shut for a moment longer than necessary, drawing the attention back to her as the observant CSIs noticed that something was seriously wrong with the usually bubbly Detective Bonasera. "You know what, I don't feel great," Stella quickly excused herself, rising from the cushioned seat; "I'll be back in a minute." She strode towards the ladies room at the back of the restaurant, barging into the door, her palms flat against the wooden surface as she pushed it open.
Everyone's gaze turned expectantly to Lindsay who sat on a pulled up chair at the end of the table. She stopped mid bite of the food balanced in her fingers. She swallowed heavily, placing the slice back down on her plate. "I'll go check she's alright." She took the hint from their suggesting looks, hurrying after Stella.
Stella leant her elbows against the sideboard by the basins, her head resting in her hands as she stared down into the sink, sighing heavily. She tried massaging her forehead to relieve some of the tension and rid herself of the headache that was threatening to build up. She didn't know what to do, she couldn't talk to Mac anymore and she didn't have anyone else who would understand.
Lindsay entered in a rush, stopping in the doorway briefly as she was taken aback by the sigh of Stella visibly falling apart. Stella was always the tough one at the lab- took no shit, showed no weakness.
Stella turned her head in her hands, standing up and stretching out her back as she saw Lindsay, trying to pull herself together in front of the younger woman.
"Stella, what's the matter?" Lindsay asked softly, her tone reassuring and undemanding as she approached Stella, finally settling by leaning against the sideboard at Stella's side.
Stella let out another long sigh, unsure what to say; should she lie again, pretend that everything was alright and she just had a rough day, or should she tell Lindsay the truth and seek for some form of help in her colleague. The latter seemed more tempting at that precise moment in time. "Have you ever had a friend that was so close to you that you could tell them anything and not have to worry about the consequences? Then one day something happens and you can't turn to them anymore?" Stella glanced up at Lindsay to receive a nod in reply.
"What's happened between you and Mac?" Lindsay asked, immediately catching on.
"I think he may fire me," Stella replied truthfully. She explained, "I've done something against protocol; something he won't approve of at all. Then to top it off I pulled my gun on him. I don't know why I did it…I just couldn't let him find out what I've done. It's not even like I care particularly about the job; I think I might have wrecked my friendship with him, I wasn't even joking when I threatened him with my gun."
"He looks worried for you, Stella," Lindsay pointed out, reassuring her, "He doesn't appear to be that annoyed that you used your weapon. He can see you're under a lot of pressure from something and he just wants to help."
"You don't understand," Stella argued quietly, her trademark fiery passion being replaced with a timid tone, remorseful and regretting, "If I tell him why I don't want him looking in that file he'll fire me; he'll have no choice. If this is affecting me so much that I'll even pull my gun on Mac I shouldn't be working anyway."
There was a tentative knock on the door, followed by Danny's head appearing around. Cautiously he stepped into the room, looking fearful of the surroundings as he commented, "I drew the short straw; no one wanted to come into the ladies. It's like an unwritten law- no guy should ever have to go into the women's bathroom." He continued to ramble as his eyes darted from corner to corner in the room.
"You know you're gonna get chucked out of here if anyone finds you," Lindsay pointed out incredulously, her eyebrows rising at Danny's strange behaviour.
"You think I wanna be in here?" Danny demanded desperately, despairing at the idea, "Didn't you hear what I just said? I got the short straw; I'm not exactly here out of my own free will. They sent me!"
"Why did they send you?" Stella placed on hand on her hip, holding her stance powerfully to take over as the authoritative figure in the room, commanding respect from the startled CSI Messer.
"We wanted to check you were alright," Danny admitted, "We're worried for you; you've been really absorbed today. Mac can't concentrate on anything; he keeps going on about you. What've you done to make him so jumpy?" Danny seemed to settle into the environment, now focused on meeting Stella's eye.
"I'm fine," Stella insisted, making up a quick but believable excuse, "I just have a headache. We'll be back in a minute." Stella sent him a look that told him to leave straight away, and so he obeyed without hesitation.
"You should talk to Mac, at least about the gun thing," Lindsay reasoned, "And if you can't tell him about the other thing…whatever's in the file you were talking about…try telling someone else; someone completely unrelated to the crime lab if you want, just to get it off your chest."
"I'll think about that," Stella promised, leading the way back out of the bathroom, heading swiftly to the table and taking her seat again. She looked Mac in the eye for a lingering second; offering him an encouraging smile to let him know everything would be alright.
He smiled in return, understanding the message she was conveying through that single action. Both were oblivious to the looks they were receiving from the rest of the group, silently questioning them.
All reviews very much appreciated,
ciao