Disclaimer: They are not mine, blah, blah.
By the way, I am based in the UK and so have not seen the new series. Therefore, I'm sorry if any of the following chapters are a little off from the main path after this point.
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Stella strode into Mac's office, her long legs quickly covering the distance and her curly hair streaming behind her like a pennant. Her face was unreadable as she dropped into the first available chair, and threw her arms up in a gesture of frustration.
"Don and I have been all over the damn city and back again. No sign of him". She shook her head. "I thought he would have gone to his parent's house but they swore he wasn't there."
"Do you believe them?" Mac's voice was low and weary.
"No. He's there. But I could hardly force them to hand him over. I just highlighted how important he is to us. Hopefully they'll let us know something when they feel they can."
Mac finally looked up from his work. "Bring him back Stella. Look, don't worry about your current cases; I'll sort something out. Just… find what's wrong and bring him back."
Stella reached across the desk and covered his hand in hers.
"It's not your fault Mac". Her voice was warm and sincere but her eyes were shuttered and Mac stared at her, knowing she did to certain extent blame him, but if he was not mistaken she blamed herself as well.
"It is my fault Stella. Just… bring him back," he repeated quietly.
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Stella stared at the blank computer screen in front of her. Where to start?
Work it like a case. She murmured to herself. Look at the evidence and go from there. A timeline could work…
Stella decided to do a 'Mac' and cleared away the furniture from the glass wall of her office. Grabbing a pen she firmly drew the long horizontal and confidently marked on verticals based on what she knew; the shooting; the Tanglewood case, Louie; Aiden; the bombing; the date Lindsay left; the warehouse incident, and finally the date he disappeared.
Stella stood back.
Now what?