A/N: Chapter 17 started to get a bit too long so I spliced it a bit. As always, you know what to do!

Chapter 18

And Randi came face to nose with an albino Burmese python.

Randi's mind immediately recognized the snake and registered it as a non-venomous type of snake. It was huge, yes, but she couldn't see how huge since it looked like most of it was under a large cloth-covered, rectangular-shaped, object but its head was good-sized, about the length of her hand, nails included. Her mind told her to simply step away from the snake, that it wouldn't attack her. The tongue-flicking thing was the snake's way of finding out who and what she was. It wouldn't hurt her. That's what her mind was saying.

Unfortunately, her mind and her body had decided they were not on speaking terms right there and then.

Randi screamed. It was a scream of absolute terror.

Then something on the floor caught her attention. It was another Burmese python and this one was a light brown with dark brown blotches bordered in black, not an albino, which was white with patterns of butterscotch yellow and burnt orange. It was also bloody huge, almost eight feet long and nearly as thick as a man's arm near the middle.

This fellow had quietly come from under the table, where Randi hadn't seen him, and was now steadily moving towards her feet.

Randi did the only thing she could do; she screamed again.

"Randi!" someone said, trying to get her attention. Hands were gripping her arms but she couldn't take her eyes off the snakes. "Randi, it's okay. You're safe; they won't hurt you, I promise," the voice said.

She had to fight with herself to take her eyes off the snakes. Once she did, she was so damn glad it was unreal. Mac, the man she'd been looking for, the man she loved and needed, was right in front of her, worry etching his face.

"Get me out of here!" she begged, flinging her arms around him and burrowing her face in his neck, not caring how stupid she looked.

Mac, Danny, and Stella had been in another section of the lab when two frightened, piercing screams had rent the air, less than three seconds apart. Flack had just told him Randi was looking for him and he'd been quietly debating with himself as to whether or not he wanted to deal with her right now. Their fight from two days ago still lingered in his mind and he'd been debating what to do.

However, that changed in an instant.

Everyone had run to the source of the scream and frozen at the doorway of the adjourning lab when they'd seen the situation. It was Randi and she looking at the two giant snakes with absolute terror on her face.

Mac remembered Randi had once told him she didn't care much for snakes and, seeing the look of terror on her face, he quickly realized just how much she didn't care for snakes. Randi didn't just dislike snakes; she was absolutely terrified of them.

"Somebody get those snakes under control, now!" he snapped, skirting around the snake on the floor and going to Randi. He stood in front of her, trying to get her attention away from the snakes. "Randi!" he called. No response. "Randi, it's okay. You're safe; they won't hurt you, I promise."

Finally, finally, she looked at him. "Get me out of here!" she begged, flinging her arms around his neck and burrowing her head in his neck. She was shaking.

Deciding drastic measures were needed, he quickly scooped the woman he loved up in his arms and bore her out of the lab, heading straight for his office.

Once in his office, he sat Randi on the couch beside him and did his best to soothe her. She had an iron grip on him and was shaking.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears rolling down her face. "I'm sorry, Mac, I'm sorry about everything," she whispered.

"It's okay," he soothed, gently wiping away her tears. "It's okay."

"We," she gulped. "We need to talk but we can do it later. Right now, just please, please don't let me go."

He smiled, wrapping his arms more comfortably around her. "I can do that."

After a long moment she shifted position so her head wasn't buried against his throat and he swiped a tissue from his desk for her. She wiped her nose and her eyes and gave him a watery smile.

"Thank god for water-proof mascara," she quipped. Mac chuckled.

Someone knocked on the office door and they looked up. It was Flack and he was holding what looked like a cup of coffee. Beside him were Lindsey, Sheldon, Danny, and Stella, all looking concerned. Mac gestured for them to come in.

"What happened?" Lindsey asked, concerned.

"I've got a bad thing about snakes," Randi explained. She accepted the coffee Flack handed her and took a sniff. Something close to brandy reached her nose and she raised an eyebrow at the detective.

He smiled. "Not to name names, but one of the supervisors keeps a little something in his desk. I swiped a few drops with his blessings."

"Good thinking," she said, taking a grateful sip. The coffee warmed her mouth and the brandy burned a slow, pleasant path down to her stomach. She sighed, leaning against Mac and letting the coffee-brandy do its thing. With Stella seated next to her and the rest of the group surrounding her, Randi explained. "When I was younger, like about eleven, I was on a ranch in Texas that belonged to one of my uncles. I had a sixteen year old cousin and he was a cocky young prick but I idolized him as only an impressionable girl of eleven could do." Her friends chuckled. "Unfortunately, that cockiness cost him one day. He found this brown-colored snake that was near the water, a sort of lake the bordered the ranch I was visiting, and he started tormenting the damn thing. I tried to get him to leave it alone because, even then, I didn't care much for snakes. Turned out the snake he was tormenting was a cottonmouth."

Everyone winced.

"Cottonmouths are pretty aggressive," Danny said.

"I know. It struck my cousin. Twice," she said, holding up two fingers for emphasis.

"Oh jeeze," Sheldon breathed.

"To make matters worse, he got nailed in the artery on the inside of his thigh," Randi said.

"He was a dead boy," Sheldon said.

"Within minutes," Randi confirmed. "And I was less than a few feet away when he died. I screamed my head off, went running, and my uncle, the boy's father, came running with rifle in hand, but there was nothing he could do. Nearest town with a properly equipped hospital was about forty-five minutes away, even by chopper. The paramedics pronounced him dead at the ranch."

"But those were pythons in the lab, and they don't look anything like cottonmouths," Lindsey said, confused.

"Well, the cottonmouth gives you an idea as to what started the problem," Randi explained. "While I was in college, my dormmate had a boyfriend who owned a Burmese python, exactly like the albino one in the lab. Idiot had this theory that all you had to do was touch the snake and you'd get over your fear of snakes. Donna, bless her heart, said if I didn't want to go near the snake, I didn't have to. Unfortunately that didn't stop the boyfriend from pushing. He showed up at my dorm room one day, when Donna wasn't there, complete with snake, and forcibly tired to get me to touch his snake. Needless to say, the ruckus I created at a lot of people running, Donna included."

"I hope she dumped him," Stella said.

"After she verbally castrated him," Randi said. "I seriously thought that if I checked under the bed, I'd find his balls." That got a laugh from everyone.

"You gonna be okay?" Sheldon asked.

"Yeah, I will be. The coffee's helping," Randi replied. And it was.

After a few more minutes of polite chit-chat the group of friends left Mac's office and Randi said up.

"Seriously," Mac said, concern on his face. "Are you going to be okay?"

She smiled and touched his face, liking how his skin felt. "I will be. Next time I go looking for you, though, I'm going to call your cell first. Really don't want a repeat of that incident."

He chuckled. "Good idea."

She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out a set of keys on a butterfly keychain. Picking up Mac's hand, she placed the keys in his hand. She took a deep breath. "I don't… I don't trust easily when it comes to my personal life and I admit it. But I'm going to try and trust you," she said, knowing this was a big leap she was taking. "One key will get you through the main door and one key will get you through the apartment door. I'll be home after seven tonight, if you want to stop by. We can talk then."

He looked at the just-cut keys and then looked at her. "Are you sure?" he asked, realizing how important this was to her. She nodded. "I'll call you before I come over," he said.

"You don't have to. That's why I gave you the keys; you have an open invitation," she explained. He nodded, closing his fingers around the keys. She smiled, leaned forward, and gave him a gentle butterfly kiss. "I'd better get to work before Hodges has hysterics about the damn budget. I'll see you tonight," she said, standing up.

"Hey Randi?" he said, catching her hand.

"Yeah?"

"We'll work things out, one way or another," he said.

She smiled and it was like warm sunshine filling the room after a cold day. "I know we will. I love you too damn much to walk away just yet."