#098 Completing The Cycle (Mac/Stella)
Title: Completing The Cycle
Fandom: CSI NY
Characters: Mac/Stella
Prompt: #098 Rain (soaked)
Word Count: 505
Rating: T+
Summary: Droplets of rain glide down her face. Her hair is a tangled mess of damp curls.
Notes: Written for xyamountofwords. October 2.
Droplets of rain glide down her face. Her hair is a tangled mess of damp curls. Each step she takes is hampered down by her sopping wet clothing. Still, she keeps moving. She needs to feel something other than the dull melancholy in her soul, dragging her under to depths unseen. She needs to know that there is more to feel.
She takes another step followed by another, not quite running and not quite walking. She is so caught up in listening to the rain that she doesn’t hear the footsteps behind her. She doesn’t hear Mac call her name; his voice is carried off by the wind. She doesn’t feel his presence.
Until he breaks into a job and catches up to her.
“Hey, Stella,” he calls as she looks at him in surprise. “Slow down, please?”
She obliges, comes to a stop and stares at him from behind dripping lashes. “Mac! I didn’t see you.” She breathes in the crisp air. Exhales.
“Or hear me apparently,” he adds.
She offers an apologetic smile. “What brings you here?”
“I saw you on your way past the bakery down the block,” he explains. “I thought I’d see how you’re going. You know.” He talks to her as if they’re not standing in the middle of the street, rain pouring down upon them.
“Oh. Well, I’m fine,” she tells him. She wraps her arms around her midsection. Lying to Mac never has sit well with her.
As expected, he sees right through her “Really? Because you didn’t look fine. Is something bothering you?”
She swallows, shakes her head. “I’m fine. Really.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Stella,” he warns.
“Okay. I was working off some frustrations that last case brought up. Who doesn’t occasionally, in our line of work?”
His brow creases in understanding. “We all do need to vent sometimes,” he agrees. “I’ve been affected by it more than once myself. Make sure you stay alert when you do go out though. You nearly ran over a boy back there. Next time it could be a car that runs over you.”
She averts her gaze to study the ground. The rain has intensified the colour of the path from a dull grey to a darker colour, the colour of concrete when it’s first laid down. She frowns.
“Stella?” he says quietly. He places a finger under her chin and lifts her head to meet her eyes.
She swallows and looks at him grimly. “Yeah, Mac. I heard you.” The shame she suddenly feels fills her from the top of her head right down to the toes of her drenched sneakers.
He picks up on it, puts a comforting hand on her lower back and begins to lead her back the way she came. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
She can do nothing but nod.
The rain has already cleansed her as much as it possibly can. It was time for her to let go until the cycle began again with the arrival of a new case.
Fandom: CSI NY
Characters: Mac/Stella
Prompt: #098 Rain (soaked)
Word Count: 505
Rating: T+
Summary: Droplets of rain glide down her face. Her hair is a tangled mess of damp curls.
Notes: Written for xyamountofwords. October 2.
Droplets of rain glide down her face. Her hair is a tangled mess of damp curls. Each step she takes is hampered down by her sopping wet clothing. Still, she keeps moving. She needs to feel something other than the dull melancholy in her soul, dragging her under to depths unseen. She needs to know that there is more to feel.
She takes another step followed by another, not quite running and not quite walking. She is so caught up in listening to the rain that she doesn’t hear the footsteps behind her. She doesn’t hear Mac call her name; his voice is carried off by the wind. She doesn’t feel his presence.
Until he breaks into a job and catches up to her.
“Hey, Stella,” he calls as she looks at him in surprise. “Slow down, please?”
She obliges, comes to a stop and stares at him from behind dripping lashes. “Mac! I didn’t see you.” She breathes in the crisp air. Exhales.
“Or hear me apparently,” he adds.
She offers an apologetic smile. “What brings you here?”
“I saw you on your way past the bakery down the block,” he explains. “I thought I’d see how you’re going. You know.” He talks to her as if they’re not standing in the middle of the street, rain pouring down upon them.
“Oh. Well, I’m fine,” she tells him. She wraps her arms around her midsection. Lying to Mac never has sit well with her.
As expected, he sees right through her “Really? Because you didn’t look fine. Is something bothering you?”
She swallows, shakes her head. “I’m fine. Really.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Stella,” he warns.
“Okay. I was working off some frustrations that last case brought up. Who doesn’t occasionally, in our line of work?”
His brow creases in understanding. “We all do need to vent sometimes,” he agrees. “I’ve been affected by it more than once myself. Make sure you stay alert when you do go out though. You nearly ran over a boy back there. Next time it could be a car that runs over you.”
She averts her gaze to study the ground. The rain has intensified the colour of the path from a dull grey to a darker colour, the colour of concrete when it’s first laid down. She frowns.
“Stella?” he says quietly. He places a finger under her chin and lifts her head to meet her eyes.
She swallows and looks at him grimly. “Yeah, Mac. I heard you.” The shame she suddenly feels fills her from the top of her head right down to the toes of her drenched sneakers.
He picks up on it, puts a comforting hand on her lower back and begins to lead her back the way she came. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
She can do nothing but nod.
The rain has already cleansed her as much as it possibly can. It was time for her to let go until the cycle began again with the arrival of a new case.