Work Text:
A Direct Order
calikocat
Mac/Adam
Word count: 792
XXX
He'd never seen or experienced anything like that. He'd processed countless crime scenes; evidence covered in blood, brain matter, and even less mentionable biological substances...stuff right out of horror movies and port-a-potties. But that girl...watching her die...it was worse than getting tortured.
No, that wasn't right, it wasn't worse...just a kind of horror he'd never been faced with. He'd been tortured, psychologically as a child, and physically by that Irish drug gang. Watching her die was just...he had no way to really put it into words, though he had tried his best.
xxx
Mac knew that it would happen eventually, he just didn't think it would be like this. If he could, he would lock Adam in a padded room with a king size bed and never ending room service. But they'd only be able to stay in that room occupying the bed for so long before they went crazy. Or Adam would, he was too addicted to the digital age to forgo it for long.
“Hey.”
Mac looked up at Jo; she was standing in the doorway of his office, a concerned look on her face. “Hey.”
“Adam is almost obsessed with this...and you're being awfully quiet.”
“Have a seat.”
“Okay.” She moved gracefully to the chair in front of his desk. “So...what's going on?”
It was already common knowledge, and the brass knew about their relationship, there was no reason to hide it. “You might not be aware of this...but Adam and I are involved.”
She tilted her head a bit. “...Romantically?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Over a year.”
Jo was quiet for a moment, but her smile was soft, genuine. “Well now it all makes sense.”
“This won't be a problem for you?”
“No, you two have been very discreet, I didn't even really notice anything...and you make an adorable couple.”
Mac smiled.
xxx
It had been a long time since he'd felt that sickening terror. Seeing Adam's face on Garcia's computer screen, knowing Adam was going to be Garcia's next victim. All he wanted was Adam safe, in his arms, and behind a wall of bullet proof glass.
Even worse was the sound of a car over the phone, Adam crying out in shock and the crash of the phone hitting the pavement.
Why couldn't his truck move at the speed of thought?
xxx
Adam was still shaking. That man had been insane. Adam had been used before, a means to an end, but he'd never been a target before. And even though he knew he was in trouble, he'd never been so happy to see Mac drenched in red and blue light.
So he sat silently as Mac yelled at him, scolded him for defying a direct order, and then sent him home on a three day suspension.
xxx
Mac let himself in, he hadn't bothered to go to his own apartment...the apartment they now shared. He knew Adam wouldn't be there. They rarely fought, but when they did Adam would always back off and let Mac have his space by retreating to his old place which he still had a lease on. But that wasn't what either of them needed right now...or wanted.
“Adam?”
He appeared in the doorway to the kitchenette. His hair was uncombed, eyes dazed, probably from an afternoon nap...or too many hours on one of his game systems. “Hey.”
“I brought dinner.”
“Okay.”
“Adam I-”
“You had every right. We were at work and I disobeyed a direct order.”
Mac tossed the Chinese take out on the coffee table and moved across the room until they were inches apart. “I was scared.”
Adam looked up at him. “Of what?”
“Of losing you. You aren't just irreplaceable at the lab. You're irreplaceable here too.” He grasped Adam's hand and lifted it to place it over his heart. “The thought of losing you scared me. I lived through that kind of loss once...I don't think I could live through it a second time.”
Adam's eyes narrowed at him dangerously. “You aren't thinking about locking me in the lab for safe keeping are you?”
“More like a padded hotel suite with a buffet.”
His eyes stayed narrowed, but his lips quirked just a bit. “That wouldn't work for either of us Mac.”
“I know.”
Adam sighed and closed the gap between them fully. “I'm sorry.”
“I know.”
Adam slipped his arms around Mac. “But Mac, you ever rip into me like that on personal time and you're sleeping by yourself for two weeks, tops.”
Mac grinned and let his lips graze Adam's jaw line. “Fair enough.”
XXX