Not mine, don't sue. Spoilers for Heros. Thanks to my beta bluepenreader for all her help. It means a lot to me.
"You've got to get this guy Mac," If he closed his eyes he could see her standing in the doorway of his office, her eyes filled with pain. He sat alone in the moruge, staring down at the charred figure that had once been his friend. There was a part of him thatfelt responsible for what had happend to her. Logically, of course, he knew that was nonsense, but there was still this nagging feeling that if he had only done something differently, Aiden might still be alive.
He had known that the Pratt case had taken its toll on Aiden, but initinally he hadn't realised how serious the problem had been. He had just chalked it up to natural burnout from a tough case and the stress of moving to a new lab. After awhile, though, he started to notice that the once tough and vibrant CSI had become sullen and withdrawn, had even ceased her friendly banter with Danny.
At one point Stella had come to Mac, telling him about a conversation she had had with Aiden, suggesting that maybe he should speak with her. At the time, Mac hadn't seen how that would have done any good. There was nothing he could really say except to repeat what Stella had already told Aiden: cases sometimes took time, and as frustrating as it was, she just had to be paitent. He didn't speak to Aiden, and had hoped that she would be able to work things out on her own. Then a few days later, Aiden came to him, voicing her frustation about not being able to find anything to nail Pratt. Mac had told her to keep searching until she found something. He had meant it to be encouraging, that the evidence was there, and she shouldn't give up. But he had been distracted by the case he was working on, and his tone had been curt, sounding more like an order. Later that day he had taken a look at the evidence himself, thinking maybe Aiden just needed an extra set of eyes. That was when he found the evidence, its seal broken.
Firing Aiden was the hardest thing Mac had to do. What made it worse was up until that point, Aiden's record had been clean, spotless. Her first offense was her last. Mac knew that he had had no choice, tampering with evidence was a very serious offense. It put into question all previous cases that Aiden and the lab had worked on. If he had kept her on, any future worked on by the lab would be brought into question. Aiden had been doing so well, had such a bright future ahead of her, and even though she had chosen to throw it all away when she had tampered with the evidence, Mac had still felt badly about firing her. Maybe if he had sat her down and talked to her like Stella had suggested, he might have been able to stop Aiden from sinking to that level.
That was partly why he had promised Aiden that he would capture DJ Pratt. To make it up to her somehow. Aiside from the ocasional phone call, Mac didn't hear much from her again after she had left his office. He had often wondered what she had been up to, if she had been able to put her past behind her and start over again. He had kept the case file on the edge of his desk, working on it when he wasn't working on other cases. Then a case that Lindsay and Stella had been working on brought up a familiar name. DJ Pratt had struck again. This time his victim had died and although it had been accidental Mac had known that Pratt was bond to accelerate, becoming even more dangerous, and making Mac even more determined to catch him. Only there still hadn't been enough evidence to convict him. The man seemed to be invincible. Mac had felt frustrated that he couldn't put Pratt away. He knew that there had to be something that could convict Pratt, why couldn't he find it?
Then a few months later Pratt's laywer had come to the lab, claiming that Pratt was being harassed by one of Mac's detectives. Mac hadn't known what the man was talking about, assumed that Pratt had just been complaining for effect, an excuse to make noise. It wouldn't be until later, far too late that he would learn that Aiden hadn't dropped the case after Mac had fired her, and had remained on Pratt's trail. Mac wished he could have figured it out sooner, but what could he have done? Call Aiden and tell her to back off? The case had consumed Aiden. Would she have really listened to him? Would it have made any difference? Mac would never know, and that was what hurt the most.
A few days later a car was found, with the charred remains of an adult female inside. Facial reconstruction had to be used to identify the victim. Mac could still feel the sick horror that came over him when the identity of the victim had been revealed:Aiden Burn. Pratt had managed to catch her off guard, killed her, then burned her body. Moc wondered if it had been an attempt to cover up evidence or Pratt's sick idea of a joke, Aiden Burn getting burned. Mac had become even more determined to keep his promise to Aiden. No way was he going to let Pratt get away again. Aiden helped him to do it. Knowing she was going to die, she left behind enough evidence to put Pratt away for good. The victory had been bittersweet, Pratt had been captured, but at the cost of Aiden's life.
Mac shook his head, trying to clear it. He didn't want to think of whatAiden's final moments had been like, didn't want to imagine what Pratt had done to her. This charred figure on the autopsy table, that wasn't how he wanted to remember Aiden. He wanted to remember her as she was: a tough and brilliant CSI who had had so much to offer. He conjured up her face in his mind, once again he saw her standing in the doorway of his office.
"We got him Aiden," he whispered. "I kept my promise." He wished he could have done it sooner.