He'd Still Love Me
Title: He'd Still Love Me
Author: Jaxson K .
Pairing: Don/Mac
Rating: PG (language)
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Summary: Don deals with someone trying to come between he and Mac...
Don rolled over and shut off the alarm. Time to get up and face another day. Any other time he would be fine with that thought, but after last night, he wasn't so sure. He and Mac had had another rough night, arguing until the early morning hours. That's why Don wasn't too surprised when he realized that Mac had already left to go to the crime lab. That meant that Mac was still brooding over what they had argued about, and a brooding Mac was not a good thing. God knows what Don was going to have to face when he saw Mac again.
It was really very simple. Ever since Rose Foster came to work for the crime lab, she had been a bit over-friendly toward Mac. Stella was the first to notice it, but it was Danny who brought it to Don's attention. At first, Don just thought that Danny was just trying to yank his chain, but when he realized that Danny was serious, Don began to watch Rose a bit more closely. He didn't see anything overt at first, just Rose being Rose, or so Don thought. But, as time went on, Don saw things that really began to work on him.
The first time Don saw Mac and Rose having lunch together was when he knew for certain that there was more to the situation than he thought. Mac had called him earlier that day to say that he couldn't make it for lunch because he had some things to take care of. Don didn't think too much about it because this wasn't the first time that one or the other had to cancel lunch because of work. Don couldn't begin to describe the hurt and confusion he felt as he watched Mac laughing as he ate his lunch. Don turned around and beat a hasty retreat back to the precinct.
Don fretted about what he had seen for the rest of the afternoon. He had a mountain of paperwork to deal with, and that helped pass the time. When it was time to leave for the day, Don tried to call Mac at the lab but was told that Det. Taylor had left for the day. This was odd because Mac usually was the last to leave. Don went to the lab and caught Danny on his way out.....
“Yo, Don! What's up?”
“Danny, do you know what time Mac left?”
“Uh, nooo...”
“Come on, Dan, what time did he leave?”
“He left around 4:15, 4:30 maybe.....”
“Dammit!!!”
“What's goin' on, Flack?”
“I'm not sure yet, but I think I have a pretty good idea!”
Don went on to explain to Danny what he had seen earlier that day, and asked Danny to keep quiet about it until Don knew exactly what was going on.
Don tried to call Mac's cell one more time. He kept getting Mac's voice mail, and that was unusual. Mac always left his phone on in case he got called out for the lab. Don threw his phone across the room in frustration. Damn Mac Taylor to hell and back! How in the hell could Mac do this to him? They had been together for so long, and Don just knew they would stay together. Mac had explained in the beginning that he was afraid to try to love again after Claire died, but Don showed him that it was okay to feel, to laugh, and to love without fear.
Don had done his very best to be the kind of partner/lover that he felt Mac deserved. He'd helped Mac overcome his fear of sleeping, he helped with Mac's inability to relate to people on a personal level, and so many other things. Mac always claimed that Don had saved him. Don took that very seriously. He'd die and go straight to hell before he left some bitch walk in and take what he'd worked so goddamned hard to hang on to! Don made up his mind right then that he was going to fight to try and keep Mac, and God help ANYBODY that got in his way.
As fate would have it, Don and Mac got called out on the same case the next morning. Don was nothing but cool and professional, which threw Mac off a bit. Mac was expecting Don to be a bit angry and more sarcastic than usual. Don gave Mac and Danny all the pertinent information and started giving his men instructions and questioning witnesses. By the time Mac and Danny got finished processing, Don was long gone. Mac was irritated by this because he had hoped for a chance to really talk to Don so he could find out just how pissed the dark-haired detective was.
By the time Danny and Mac had finished logging all the evidence in and got ready to start processing, it was nearly time for lunch. Mac was pleasantly surprised to see Don walking down the hall near the elevators.....
“Don! Hey, Don!”
Don stopped walking but didn't turn around. Mac caught up to him , stopped in front of the man and said; “My office...Now!”
Once they made it to Mac's office, Mac turned and shut the door.....
“I'm glad you came by the lab...I was hoping I would get a chance to talk to you. I thought maybe we could go to lunch today.”
“Well, you thought wrong! I already made plans with Danny for today...”
“Well, break them....”
“What? Like you did me for Rose yesterday???”
“Wait a minute...”
“No, YOU wait a minute! I saw the two of you at Vinetti's yesterday. You told me you couldn't go to lunch because you had some things to do for work, but you lied!”
“Don, it...”
“What? It wasn't what it looked liked?”
“No, it wasn't...”
“Then what in the hell was it, then?”
Mac looked away from Don, and that action told Don everything he needed to know.
“Tell ya what, Mac, I may ignorant about a lot of things, but I'm NOT stupid by any means. If this bitch means that much to you, you can have her, but know this: she will NEVER be able to do the things for you that I can, and she will never love you the way I do!”
With that, Don turned and stalked out of Mac's office leaving Mac, Danny and two startled lab techs in his wake.....
END, Part One