A/N: GhostWhispererFangirl here! Time to test some relationships. Enjoy :) xx Mariah

Boredom was the worst thing when it comes to slow points at work. All he wanted to do was nail Preston into a wall and send him off to prison for twenty five years, but he needed more evidence. Mackenzie's word wasn't enough to a jury or a judge and that disgusted him.

The world was a twisted place.

Scott calculated how hard he'd have to throw his pencil to hit Lucas on the head. Maybe he should lean more left and give it a light toss, that should hit him on the back of the head right?

It's not like he had anything else to do for the next two hours of his shift... his lead on Preston had left as quickly as it came with the possibility of finding surveillance of him hurting her, not that he wanted to see that. He knew he'd actually go after Preston if he saw him hurting Mackenzie like that.

But it had been weeks since they'd had an active lead on this case, over a week since they'd gotten Preston to agree to give a statement about the accusation.

That man irked him, just the way he'd talk down about Mackenzie like she was his personal sex toy delivered to him from God.

He described what happened as an accident, that he hadn't intended on cheating on his wife, that Mackenzie had asked for it when showing off too much thigh.

"The girl has been flirting with me since she was sixteen," Preston chuckled. "I've known her since was a toddler, I never saw her as anything but a second daughter to me until that night. She looks delectable. You know what I'm talking about Josh," Preston looked at LeTrai with a smile. "Remember when your wife wore that blue dress and you couldn't keep your eyes off her at the last holiday party? That's how I felt, this girl was begging for it."

It took every ounce in him to not kill the guy right there, and he wasn't a violent person. For God's sake if you spilt coffee on Scott, he'd apologize for being in the way. That was just the kind of guy he was.

He'd been raised around violent people in the foster system, he'd been left all alone when his parents died in a freak car crash when he was five, and promised himself that he'd never be like that.

He launched the pencil with the flick of his wrist and his Lucas square in the head as Ned walked through the doors with his family.

"Scotty!" Asher cheered and jumped on his lap. "Are you working?"

"I am bud," Scott laughed and tossed the kid in the air once. "Did you miss me?"

"I missed you!" Asher hugged him tightly and he returned the gesture. "Mackenzie misses you too. We just stopped by to see her and mommy said she wasn't feeling good and something about missing you to my nana."

"Asher," Katie laughed. "That was supposed to be a secret."

"But you told me to-" Asher rebutted.

"Shh," Katie said petting her son's head.

"I'll be right back," Ned handed Willow to Katie with a kiss to the lips, before he walked to LeTrai's office and left the three of them with Scott.

"So what about Mack?" He asked.

"You should go see her," Katie smiled. "She needs a visit."

"What happened?" He asked, tickling Asher to occupy him from their conversation.

"Chase broke up with her last night, it was a big thing." She explained while bouncing little Willow in her arms. "Not that she really needs him to break up with her to be in the dumps, just ask Ned. I'm all over the place when I'm pregnant, most women are."

"Because that's what she need right now," he muttered. "What is wrong with that guy?"

"He's not a bad guy Scott." She sat down on his desk, moving Willow to her lap and kissing her head lovingly. "He really loved her, if he didn't he wouldn't have lasted so long. He wouldn't have stayed after knowing if he didn't love her. It think it was their one year anniversary that set him off. I know that doesn't excuse anything because trust me I want to kill the man because he hurt my little sister, but that won't help. They're both hurting, and he's taking it out on her, and she's moving into my parents house for now since he kicked her out," she explained. "She's just really in the dumps and needs a pick me up. I think you stopping by would really help."

"I'll stop by once my shift is over." He smiled. "Maybe pay Chase a visit too."

"Scott," she warned and shook her head. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I'm not a violent person Katie, you know that." He sighed.

"I know, but I also know that you punched a guy once to defend Meech back in college." She laughed and let Willow take her finger into her mouth, rubbing her gums. "How's that feel babygirl? Your gums hurting?"

Willow hummed and looked up at her, with tired brown eyes. She kissed her head and rubbed her cheek.

"How do you know about what happened with Meech?" He asked and rubbed his jaw.

"Aaron..." they said at the same time.

"My brother tells me a lot of stuff," she laughed. "We became a lot closer since him and Michele had Leo."

He smiled as Ned came back out with a piece of paper. "Back on the schedule?" He asked.

"Yep, I'm back at work tomorrow. Miss me?" Ned pushed down on his partner's shoulders. "I've been gone for almost three months."

"Definitely, I've been stuck with Lucas." He said and threw another pencil at his superior.

"I'm gonna kill you O'Neill if you do that one more time!" Lucas snapped.

"Try me," he chuckled.

"That must suck," Ned joked before reaching down to pick up his son and placed him on his shoulders.

"Mommy look how high I am!" Asher giggled down at his mommy. "I'm taller than you! And Scotty!"

"You are!" She gasped, trying to look happy for her son. "Be careful Ned," she muttered as Asher gripped on tighter as he almost slipped off his father's shoulder. "You're gonna drop him, ugh put him down please."

"I've got him honey." Ned laughed and kissed his worried wife. "You worry too much."

"I worry just enough," she said rubbing her daughter's back. "Say bye to Scotty everyone. We've got a few more things to do."

Willow waved as she yawned and lied her head on her mom's chest.

"Bye Scotty," Asher smiled and Ned patted his partner on the back.

"I'll pick you up for patrol at six, you better be awake or I won't be nice when waking you up." Ned set Asher down on the floor and he helped Katie to her feet and his arm around Katie's waist.

"Yes sir," he laughed and bent down to give Asher a quick hug before walking toward LeTrai's office.

"Don't forget to go stop by and see Mack." Katie reminded him as they walked toward the door.

"Going to see if LeTrai will let me off earlier," he said as he watched their little family leave.

At least they were okay, that the accident hadn't crippled their family dynamic much, and that was a blessing.

Asher ran ahead and held the door open for them.

"LeTrai?" He knocked on the door and slowly stepped in.

"What's up O'Neill?" He slowly shut the door behind him.

LeTrai had reluctantly let Scott go early, cursing about having to go home late to his wife, Alice.

"I'll pay you back one day, I promise." Scott called out as he grabbed his keys and ran out of the precinct.

He needed a shower, and to change clothes. So he did that, and ate something quickly, just in case he was there for longer than usual.

And then he couldn't drive fast enough to get to the Clancy's house.

It took all his strength not to figure out where Chase lived and talk some sense into the jerk, because who takes it out on victims? Mackenzie didn't do anything, but she was getting punished.

He parked on the street because their driveway already had two cars in it, and he didn't feel the need to trap them in if they needed out.

When he locked his car, the front door opened to reveal one of her younger siblings, Lana he believed who ushered him in.

"You know where Mackenzie is staying," Lana said softly. "She hasn't come out all day."

"Thanks," he slid his shoes off and walked up the stairs, letting the youngest of the Clancy's slip past while bringing himself to the closest room to the stairs.

He knocked and there wasn't an answer, not even a noise.

"Let yourself in," Melinda said patting his back. "She hasn't said anything to me all day. The only one she's talked to today was Katie."

He barely nodded before slipping inside the room and quietly closing the door behind him.

The blankets were covering her, but he could see the outline of where she was curled up in a ball.

"Go away," she rasped, before launching a pillow at him.

He ducked, just in time, before walking over to the side of the bed.

"Mackenzie," he let her be known who was here and she peeked an eye out from underneath the blanket.

"What do you want?" She cleared her throat and looked up at him.

"I just wanted to check up on you," he said softly.

"My sister told you, didn't she?" She croaked and reached for her glass of water, letting the blanket slip enough to show that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath her tank top.

"Maybe," he didn't want to glance, he wasn't that guy. But he did, her breasts had gotten larger, more swollen and they looked like they needed some love right now, but he wasn't that guy and she wasn't ready.

She pulled the neckline on her tank top up and he found her eyes again.

Scott stared into Mackenzie's eyes, determined not to look away first. He was certain that she was trying to hide something, and he was determined to find out. He contorted his lips into an awkward, toothy smile, and she laughed genuinely.

"How are you?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know exactly how she's feeling, how the baby is doing, if her world is going back to normal.

"Besides being pregnant with his child?" She laughed and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. "I'm good, the baby is growing at a healthy rate and I'm finally in a stable place again. My parents have been really supportive, everyone has. I was able to get classes online to finish out my last semester and get my diploma, finally."

"I heard about what happened with Chase..." He sighed. "But I'm glad you're doing better. How is the Clancy family doing?"

"We're just fine. We're a strong bunch, a lot of shit has happened to us." She laughed and settled back into her bed. "You can lay with me... if you want."

If he wanted to, hell yes he wanted to.

He settled beside her as she kicked the blanket off and looked over at him.

Her shirt fell in folds around a bump on her stomach. She held her hands around it, cradling it like she would the baby within. It was larger than he'd expected- about the size of a small watermelon.

"You're really pregnant," he smiled, in awe of how beautiful she looked plump with child.

"Almost five months," she laughed and looked over at him. "Does it freak you out?"

"You look beautiful," he said softly. "May I?"

"Of course," she rolled up her shirt enough for her bellybutton to be seen and he smiled, he'd never seen a pregnant woman this close and Mackenzie was beautiful.

Her bellybutton was swollen and he couldn't help but let himself touch her, it was incredibly erotic to touch her bare skin.

He felt something move and smiled, it was so subtle that if he hadn't been paying attention he wouldn't have felt it.

"Is that him or her?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's my baby." She smiled and touched his hand. "These little kicks are what get me through."

"Glad to hear it," he said softly as she leaned in closer, resting her head on his shoulder. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"No," she yawned. "Chase wouldn't let me go to bed until I understood what he was going through. I just wish he would hear me out, and believe me." She bit tears, but a few spilled out and she wiped them away. "I'm very emotional, I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay." He whispered, rubbing her side out of comfort. "What he did wasn't okay."

"All of this is my fault," she whispered. "I ruined us. He couldn't even look at me."

"Nothing that happened to you was your fault," he reminded her, kissing her forehead. "Nothing is your fault."

They laid there together in silence, a few sniffled hear and there until she collected herself.

"How's the case going?" She asked.

"Slow," he answered softly, rubbing her back absentmindedly. "We're trying to find a new lead. I thought there might be surveillance cameras, but there weren't any near his room. And none of the cameras captured anything of you coming or leaving his office."

"What about the one in his classroom?" She whispered, slowly falling asleep.

"In his classroom?" He asked.

"Yeah, there's a camera in the back right of his lecture hall. I don't know if it has audio, but it for sure has picture." She explained, barely able to keep her eyes open at this point. "It runs 24/7."

"Sleep," he whispered as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"But the cameras," she yawned and smacked her lips together sleepily, tucking herself further into his chest.

"You told me enough to get a warrant for it," he explained softly. "You're exhausted. Sleep Mack, I'm not going anywhere."

He slid her off his shoulders and slipped out of his blue and black flannel, leaving himself in just his jeans and tank top, hanging it on the bedpost behind him before sliding onto the bed more, pulling the blanket over them and kissing her forehead.

She curled up against him, her swollen stomach ling over his lean muscled one smiled at the feel of another kick.

And with that, they slept.

It was a little after seven when Scott woke up again, the sound of Mackenzie showering in the connected bathroom waking him up.

Shit, he thought and felt his erection sprung to life.

This was not the time for him to be thinking of Mackenzie naked. Not the time at all.

He needed to go home, and before that he needed to leave her house, where her parents and younger siblings were downstairs.

"Mack, uh, I'm gonna go." He said sitting up in her bed, pushing himself up and running a hand through his hand.

"Alright," she called. "I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah, of course." He stifled a yawn and fixed his pants enough to hide himself a bit more.

He'd have to deal with that later, at home, alone.

The shower shut off and he heard the curtain be pulled back.

Should he leave? Was that his cue?

He went to the door, but something in him told him to stop, just wait another second.

"Scott wait," she said walking out in a robe, his heart beat faster as he turned around to see her.

At least it wasn't a towel, he reminded himself.

That sight would be the death of him.

"I should really be going," he muttered and tried to look anywhere but the dip of her breasts that could be seen from the gap in her robe.

"I just wanted to say thank you for stopping by," she said softly. "You really cheered me up."

He smiled and leaned forward enough to hug her, his hands settling at the small of her back.

He pressed a kissed to her cheek and rubbed her back softly.

"I'll see you soon, that's a promise." He whispered and smiled at her before slipping from her room.

Mackenzie was going to be fine, this baby would make sure of that, and so would he.

Dinner was called and Mackenzie left her room for the first time that day, dressed in a tight tank top and shorts, Scott's flannel over her and keeping her warm.

"Dad, you should really look at that furnace again," she rubbed her arms and slipped behind him to grab a bottle of ginger ale.

"Mackenzie, you're up." Jim pressed a kiss to her head as he walked past her with a dish of chicken. "And I will, once we eat."

"Are you feeling better?" Emma asked, walking into the kitchen.

"A lot better," she smiled at her little sister, rubbing her head.

"Because of Scott?" Emma giggled.

"Yeah, he's a good thing in my life." She sighed, untwisting the cap and taking a sip.

"There is no way this is yours," Melinda pulled on the flannel.

"Scott was wearing that when he got here," Lana added as she joined the circle around her. "And not when he left."

"Are we eating dinner, or-" Jim asked to all of his girls.

"Girl drama, shush." Emma said jumping on her dad's back to distract him.

He brought her over to the table and sat down next to her.

"Nothing happened, I fell asleep and so did he." She answered, parting them and walking to the table.

"She's in a good place mom, that flannel tells us that." Lana smiled as Jim helped Mackenzie sit down and they made their way to the table.

The flannel was a beacon of hope to Melinda, her little girl was going to be okay.