Fic: "Shadowbox" (Mac/Danny, G)
Fandom: CSI: NY
Title: Shadowbox
Author: gin200168
Rating: G
Summary: Danny sees a new side of Mac.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Property of Jerry Bruckheimer, Alliance Atlantis, CBS, etc.
Pairing: Mac Taylor/Danny Messer
A/N: stellaluna_ did the usual fixing.
Feedback always welcome.
Danny goes to leave the lab, intent on getting the loose ends from the Dobson case tied up and himself on the next train home. He passes by Mac’s office, and something catches his eye as out of the ordinary, especially given that Mac’s been out of town the last couple days. He stops and does a double take when he sees the back of a man in Marine dress uniform, looking intently at the cluster of photographs and shadowbox mounted on Mac's wall.
He approaches the office cautiously, unsure of who it could be. Mac doesn’t have people coming around in dress uniforms too often, much less Marines. Honestly, none of them know much about Mac’s past in the Marines beyond what little’s in his office, and if this guy has some sort of significance, he doesn’t want to tread too much in Mac's private business. An irrational part of him worries that they've somehow brought Mac out of retirement and this guy's come to take him to Iraq, to turn him into some commanding officer. Or maybe they’ve got a DB with Marine ties like the case before in Central Park like before, and he’s just worried over nothing. Maybe he really is someone from Mac’s past, but they wouldn’t dress all fancy like that just to make a social call, as far as Danny knows.
All in all, it just doesn’t seem to sit right with him for whatever reason, so he decides to cautiously look in on this mystery man. He can always take the “Is there something I can help you with?” approach, which would allow him to check out what's going on without seeming too nosy. Besides, Mac won't be back until tomorrow, as far as he knows, so he'd be doing them both a favor by informing whoever this is that Mac's not around.
He opens the door cautiously, and the uniformed man turns to look at the noise. He inhales sharply when he realizes it’s Mac, or at least he thinks it's Mac, because it sure looks like him. It’s so hard to believe that it really is Mac in front of him because he rarely mentions anything from his past, much less anything from his time in the Corps beyond the few mementos on his office wall. The closest thing Danny's ever seen remotely related to a uniform on him that isn’t NYPD is a well-worn grey workout shirt emblazoned with ‘USMC’ that he wears in the gym sometimes.
Mac continues to stare at him with a sharp but unreadable expression, and Danny just stands there stunned, eyes scanning Mac from head to toe in amazement.
“Yes, Danny?” Mac says with thinly-veiled annoyance. Danny’s cheeks redden as he realizes he’s intruding on something obviously private to Mac.
“I, uh, was just gonna see if whoever was in here needed some help, cause you’re supposed to be gone. Didn’t think it would be you, with the whole uniform and all.” Mac’s eyes darken, and he stares at Danny as if he’s only tolerating his presence out of decorum. Danny backs away slightly, surprised at Mac’s sudden anger.
“Well, it’s me, so you can leave now,” Mac says stiffly, attention turning away from Danny as he moves to gather something on his desk. He seems a bit embarrassed, trying to hide something, and this piques Danny’s interest.
“You’re not... leaving, are you?” Danny can’t seem to control the words that spill out of his mouth, and his eyes widen in horror. Way to sound like a moron, Messer.
Mac looks at him as if he’s grown a new limb, and if he didn’t already feel like a big enough idiot for opening his mouth, he definitely does now.
“Leaving? No. What the hell are you talking about?”
Danny gestures at Mac’s clothing, not trusting himself to actually say something proper and coherent now after he’s already managed to look like a fool.
Mac snorts derisively as he bends over to retrieve a piece of paper that has fallen to the floor. “Funeral. And if you’re done asking me random questions, I’d like to go home now,” he says as he shuffles some papers into folders on his desk.
“Oh, yeah. ‘m sorry-- ‘bout it all. I’ll.. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Danny slips out of the office quickly, something he figures he just should have done in the first place before he made a fool of himself.
He stops just inside the edge of the viewing range of Mac’s office, watching him move smoothly throughout the room. Danny can’t seem to keep his eyes off of Mac-wearing something so foreign to him yet so fitting and dignified. Although it seems a little small, he moves like the uniform is something he’s very much used to, a second skin.
The funeral must have been for someone very important to Mac for him to dress up like that… Maybe he’s in one of those pictures he caught Mac looking at. Someone he knew from his days in the Corps? Maybe even someone special to him? Danny’s looked at the pictures while waiting for Mac in his office-there was one guy in all three of them. Maybe him? Mac was never actually in any of them, so Danny’s always assumed that it’s because Mac was the one taking the photograph. He wonders if there are any pictures of a younger Mac even out there, and wishes he could see one, before life hardened him and age pulled at the corners of his eyes.
He can’t help but be fascinated by this tiny insight into a Mac that none of them knows, with this window into his past. It’s something he never remotely imagined he’d see, and he smiles to himself knowing that he’s probably the only one that will.
Fin
2/07
Link to all of my stories
Title: Shadowbox
Author: gin200168
Rating: G
Summary: Danny sees a new side of Mac.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Property of Jerry Bruckheimer, Alliance Atlantis, CBS, etc.
Pairing: Mac Taylor/Danny Messer
A/N: stellaluna_ did the usual fixing.
Feedback always welcome.
Danny goes to leave the lab, intent on getting the loose ends from the Dobson case tied up and himself on the next train home. He passes by Mac’s office, and something catches his eye as out of the ordinary, especially given that Mac’s been out of town the last couple days. He stops and does a double take when he sees the back of a man in Marine dress uniform, looking intently at the cluster of photographs and shadowbox mounted on Mac's wall.
He approaches the office cautiously, unsure of who it could be. Mac doesn’t have people coming around in dress uniforms too often, much less Marines. Honestly, none of them know much about Mac’s past in the Marines beyond what little’s in his office, and if this guy has some sort of significance, he doesn’t want to tread too much in Mac's private business. An irrational part of him worries that they've somehow brought Mac out of retirement and this guy's come to take him to Iraq, to turn him into some commanding officer. Or maybe they’ve got a DB with Marine ties like the case before in Central Park like before, and he’s just worried over nothing. Maybe he really is someone from Mac’s past, but they wouldn’t dress all fancy like that just to make a social call, as far as Danny knows.
All in all, it just doesn’t seem to sit right with him for whatever reason, so he decides to cautiously look in on this mystery man. He can always take the “Is there something I can help you with?” approach, which would allow him to check out what's going on without seeming too nosy. Besides, Mac won't be back until tomorrow, as far as he knows, so he'd be doing them both a favor by informing whoever this is that Mac's not around.
He opens the door cautiously, and the uniformed man turns to look at the noise. He inhales sharply when he realizes it’s Mac, or at least he thinks it's Mac, because it sure looks like him. It’s so hard to believe that it really is Mac in front of him because he rarely mentions anything from his past, much less anything from his time in the Corps beyond the few mementos on his office wall. The closest thing Danny's ever seen remotely related to a uniform on him that isn’t NYPD is a well-worn grey workout shirt emblazoned with ‘USMC’ that he wears in the gym sometimes.
Mac continues to stare at him with a sharp but unreadable expression, and Danny just stands there stunned, eyes scanning Mac from head to toe in amazement.
“Yes, Danny?” Mac says with thinly-veiled annoyance. Danny’s cheeks redden as he realizes he’s intruding on something obviously private to Mac.
“I, uh, was just gonna see if whoever was in here needed some help, cause you’re supposed to be gone. Didn’t think it would be you, with the whole uniform and all.” Mac’s eyes darken, and he stares at Danny as if he’s only tolerating his presence out of decorum. Danny backs away slightly, surprised at Mac’s sudden anger.
“Well, it’s me, so you can leave now,” Mac says stiffly, attention turning away from Danny as he moves to gather something on his desk. He seems a bit embarrassed, trying to hide something, and this piques Danny’s interest.
“You’re not... leaving, are you?” Danny can’t seem to control the words that spill out of his mouth, and his eyes widen in horror. Way to sound like a moron, Messer.
Mac looks at him as if he’s grown a new limb, and if he didn’t already feel like a big enough idiot for opening his mouth, he definitely does now.
“Leaving? No. What the hell are you talking about?”
Danny gestures at Mac’s clothing, not trusting himself to actually say something proper and coherent now after he’s already managed to look like a fool.
Mac snorts derisively as he bends over to retrieve a piece of paper that has fallen to the floor. “Funeral. And if you’re done asking me random questions, I’d like to go home now,” he says as he shuffles some papers into folders on his desk.
“Oh, yeah. ‘m sorry-- ‘bout it all. I’ll.. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Danny slips out of the office quickly, something he figures he just should have done in the first place before he made a fool of himself.
He stops just inside the edge of the viewing range of Mac’s office, watching him move smoothly throughout the room. Danny can’t seem to keep his eyes off of Mac-wearing something so foreign to him yet so fitting and dignified. Although it seems a little small, he moves like the uniform is something he’s very much used to, a second skin.
The funeral must have been for someone very important to Mac for him to dress up like that… Maybe he’s in one of those pictures he caught Mac looking at. Someone he knew from his days in the Corps? Maybe even someone special to him? Danny’s looked at the pictures while waiting for Mac in his office-there was one guy in all three of them. Maybe him? Mac was never actually in any of them, so Danny’s always assumed that it’s because Mac was the one taking the photograph. He wonders if there are any pictures of a younger Mac even out there, and wishes he could see one, before life hardened him and age pulled at the corners of his eyes.
He can’t help but be fascinated by this tiny insight into a Mac that none of them knows, with this window into his past. It’s something he never remotely imagined he’d see, and he smiles to himself knowing that he’s probably the only one that will.
Fin
2/07
Link to all of my stories