note: I know I am very slow on updating this story but I update my stories when I have good ideas. I don't want to write to deadlines - I want to write something I feel is good - so I hope you like it, despite the long periods in between updates.
Quinn has been working in the crime lab in a week now, and she is starting to work well with Adam. While she still has a little difficulty with the way he is working but she has realized how great an AV-tech he is, so she is trying not to push him too much. Quinn has a complicated relationship with Danny and Lindsay because Quinn believes it is very unprofessional to be married to a coworker. She has tried to talk to Mac about it, but Mac is on Lindsay and Danny's side. He knows that they are very professional when they are working together. Quinn is working very well with detective Flack. She thinks he is a very professional detective. Quinn still has a lot of feelings for Mac but is trying to hide them and keep a safe distance to him, at least when there are others around. Danny, Flack, Adam, and Hawkes is very busy with making jokes about it. It doesn't seem to bother Mac that they are making jokes, but it bothers Quinn, so she tries to avoid it.
Quinn has been working on an arson crime scene, and she is now trying to reconstruct the events to determent how the victim died. Was the victim crushed before or after the fire started? She has been working on the reconstruction all day. It is 7.30 pm, and Mac is ready to leave the office when he hears so loud sound of something hitting the floor in the lab. He runs in a see Quinn who looks very surprised at her reconstruction, where a large piece of burned wood landed very close to her.
"what is going on?" he asks, surprised. Quinn takes off her safety goggles and her hearing protection and looks at Mac with a pleasant smile.
"Hey, Mac, I didn't know you were still here." She says and runs a hand through her hair while she smiles softly at him. Mac doesn't seem to notice Quinn's flirty smile at him. When Quinn realizes he isn't paying attention to her, she directs her attention to the fail reconstruction too.
"year, something doesn't add up."
"do you mind if I help?" he asks and takes off his suit jacket and puts on a white jumpsuit and some hearing protection and safety goggles before she even answers.
"sure." She says and tries to hide the smile on her face. She can't help but feel the butterflies in her stomach by the thought of working late with Mac alone in the lab. Just like they used to do back when she first worked for him. Quinn starts to explain her finding's on the crime scene and explain her reconstruction. After Quinn finishes explaining her findings, Mac joins in with some theories of his own, and they start over on the reconstruction with a few modifications.
While they are working, Mac's cell phone is in his jacket pocket, so he doesn't hear it when Christine calls him.
At around 9.30, a security officer knocks on the door to the lab. The first few times, he softly knocks to announce his presence they don't respond. The officer is escorting Christine to the lab. Christine is watching what they are doing for a few moments, where they don't seem to notice her. Mac looks so engaged in his work with the experiment. Christine finds it fascinating to observe the man she loves so passionate about his work. Mac and Quinn are reconstructing a scenario where the victim gets attacked from behind. So, Mac is the attacker, and Quinn is the victim. At first, Christine finds their roleplay amusing, but she can't help but feel a bit of achy pain in her stomach by watching how close Quinn is to Mac. Christine doesn't like seeing Quinn so close to Mac. It seems to Christine as if Quinn is enjoying the tight body contact a bit too much. Christine knows they are just reconstructing a crime scene, but it still bothers her, looking at it. Mac and Quinn get interrupted when the officer knocks much harder on the door to announce their presence. They take off their hearing protection and safety goggles and look over at him, where Christine is standing behind. Mac nods to the officer, and he leaves. Christine looks surprised.
"hey." Mac greets with a smile.
"what is going on? I thought you were coming home before 8?" Christine sounds a little upset, so Mac looks at Quinn and then back to Christine for answers. He is not going to get any help from Quinn. She is remaining quiet in the background, trying to busy herself with some adjustments of the scene.
"I'm sorry. What time is it?" mac says apolitically. Christine looks at her watch. "9.30."
"I'm sorry. I forgot the time."
"I made dinner, and I tried to call you." Christine sounds a bit upset, and Mac is feeling terrible about being so caught up in a case. Even though it was a fascinating case, he has been a relationship with Christine for about two years now. However, he still needs to get used to balancing a relationship and his passion for very scientifically interesting cases.
"We have a few more tests to run," Mac says and look at the reconstructed crime scene around him.
"It is okay, Mac. Go. We can finish tomorrow." Quinn says when she notices the annoyed look on Christine's face.
"you sure?" he asks Quinn. She nods.
"Okay," he says and turns to Christine. "Let me go clean myself up, and then we can leave, okay?"
He leaves the room quickly. Once Mac is out of sight, Quinn looks over at Christine. She feels the blaming look from Christine.
"I… I didn't ask Mac for help. He offered." Quinn says defensively to Christine to break the very awkward silence in the lab.
"I didn't say anything," Christine says and forces a smile on her face. "I'll wait for him in his office," Christine adds and quickly walks toward Mac's office to wait for Mac and also as an excuse to avoid the awkward silence. Quinn feels like something is going on between her and Christine that she doesn't like. Quinn senses an opportunity here to get it cleared out while Mac is cleaning up. She takes off her jumpsuit and walks into Mac's office, where Christine is sitting in Mac's chair.
"Mac doesn't like anyone sitting in his chair," Quinn informs her when she enters the office. Christine looks up without saying anything. Quinn realizes that wasn't the best way to start a peacemaking conversation with Christine. Quinn takes a deep breath to choose her words wisely.
"I'm sorry." Quinn says. "let me start over. I'm sure Mac has different rules for his girlfriend."
"fiancée, actually." Christine corrects Quinn while she avoids looking at Quinn. Christine focuses on the picture Mac has on his desk of the 2 of them. Quinn takes a seat in front of Christine. She is not going to let Christine push her away like this.
"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot here." Christine doesn't say anything, so Quinn continues. "did I do something that made you mad at me? I don't feel like you like me?"
"you right. I don't." Quinn stares a Christine, so Christine continues before Quinn can say anything. "I don't like that my fiancée works with someone who is obviously flirting with him." Quinn looks confused. "in the central park last week." Christine clarifies, and Quinn nods when she knows Christine is right. She was flirting with Mac last week. She can't help it whenever she is around him.
"so, you know that I used to have feelings for Mac?" Quinn asks, and Christine nods. Quinn takes a deep breath before she speaks.
"listen. I can't say that I don't have that anymore…" Christine looks up at with an almost furious look, but before Christine can say anything, Quinn continues. "But I want you to know that Mac only hired me on one condition; that I respect his relationship with you and that I keep my distances to him, and I'm trying." Christine isn't sure what to say to this.
"I know you don't trust me, but if you trust Mac, you should know that he would never do anything to hurt you. He is the most loyal man I have ever met." Christine smiles as she looks at Mac's smile on the picture in her hands "yes, he is." She says and places the image back on the desk. The loving smile on Christine's faces, while she is talking about Mac doesn't go unnoticed by Quinn. Quinn likes to think that if she had been lucky enough ever to call Mac Taylor her fiancée, she would smile like that too, but Quinn knows that she needs to let go of those dreams because it is never going to happen.
"He has pictures of you in his office," Quinn says to bring Christine back to reality. "He never had personal pictures in his office when I worked here before. He didn't talk about his wife for the first six months I worked with him. "Quinn immediately realizes it might not be a great idea to bring up Mac's diseased wife to his fiancée. So she quickly continues to try and change the subject in a good and natural way. " but you. He pretty much mentions you every day."
Christine smiles and then notice a new picture on Mac's desk. It's a photo from the day they told the team that they got engages. She hasn't seen this picture before, but they look straight into each other's eyes, and they seem so happy and in love. How could she ever doubt him when he looks at this picture every day at work? Christine takes the image up and looks at it. Quinn is just watching her. She knows how much Christine means to Mac, and it's clear to her that Mac means just as much to Christine. Quinn now realizes that Christine is the perfect match for Mac and that Quinn will never have a chance with Mac. It hurts her, but she wishes the best for Mac.
"what are you two doing in here?" Christine looks up and smiles at Mac, who is standing in the doorway. Quinn turns her head and looks at him too. He has showered and looks nice and clean and smells so lovely of cologne too. He is wearing jeans and a white t-shirt under his nice navy-blue shirt and a black suit jacket.
"Hey, handsome," Christine says without thinking about Quinn is there. Mac blushes a little when he looks down at Quinn. Mac walks over to Christine and sees which picture she is holding. He can't help smiling when he sees the picture. As he is taking the picture frame from Christine's hand, he places his hand over hers, and she looks up at him, and their eyes meet in a loving smile. The love between the couple makes Quin uncomfortable, and she looks away. Mac takes Christine's hand and pulls her to her feet.
"Should we go get something to eat?" Christine asks. Mac nods, then he looks over at Quinn.
"you want to join us?" Christine looks a little surprised, and so does Quinn by the offer. Quinn looks over at Christine to get a hint on whether Christine is okay with the invitation. Christine isn't looking at her but is leaning against Mac and looking lovingly up at him. Quinn takes that as a no.
'no thanks, Mac. I will see you tomorrow.' Mac smiles.
'okay then. See you tomorrow. Have a good night Quinn.' He takes Christine's hand, and then they head to the elevator together. Quinn looks after them for a moment and then leaves Mac's office.
"Hey, Quinn. "Mac says right before she disappears into the lab.
"go home. get some sleep." He orders, and she nods with a smile.
Restaurant
Mac and Christine is pleasantly seated in the restaurant. They have just got their food and are sitting in pleasant silence, but Mac has the feeling that something is off with Christine. She hasn't said much since they left the lab, but she keeps looking at him in a way like she is searching for answers to something. He looks at Christine with a calm, smiling face.
'Everything okay?' he asks quietly.
She nods. 'sure. Why?' she forces a smile on her face.
'nothing it was just… you are so quiet tonight. I'm sorry if you are upset about me not coming home before 8." She smiles at him.
"I'm not upset. Seeing you work tonight actually gave me a whole new perspective on you." Mac looks at her with a raised eyebrow. That is his way to asks what she means by that. It amuses Christine, and she chuckles before she elaborates. "seeing you work and seeing how passionate you are about the science. It just gave me a deeper understanding of you. I am beginning to understand why you love your job so much."
"I love you even more." He says and reaches over to take her hand as he is looking into her smiling eyes. His eyes so filled with love for her that it makes her blush. She smiles shyly and looks down at their hands. 'I was just thinking of something Quinn told me." she admits, and Mac soddenly looks a little nervous. 'what did she tell you?'
'that you pretty much mention me every day." He just smiles at her a little guilty. He knows she is probably right, but he hasn't really thought much of it. It is perhaps because Lindsay and Jo are asking him almost daily about how Christine is doing. Christine continues. "Quinn also said that you didn't use to share anything about your personal life last time she worked with you."
"I have changed, I guess." He says casually and takes a bit of his food. They are sitting in silence while finishing their dinner.
When they leave the restaurant, Christine takes Mac's arm and leans into him.
"what do you mean that you have changed?" Christine asks as they walk down the street towards their car.
"as a marine, you don't talk about your personal life, only with your closest friend. As a chief in command, you differently don't talk about your personal life. You don't share personal pictures of family and wife in your office where your staff can see it. I brought that with me when I became a detective. It was Stella Bonasera, my former partner, who made me open up. Sometimes when Claire came to the office, and I wasn't there. She would talk to Stella, and Stella sometimes would ask personal questions about how Claire was doing. And she made me open up more."
"I'm happy she did," Christine says with a sad smile. She knows Mac has had his fair share of tragedy in his life, and it warms Christine's heart, knowing that he has had friends who could open his heart up. Mac nods. "When Claire died, she was the only one I talk to about it. I know you would like her." He kisses her on the temple, and they walk down the street together.