Title: Mistake
By: nancy
Pairing: Stella/Lindsey
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When Lindsey makes a mistake, Stella swoops in to reassure her.

Lindsey had been attracted to Mac since the first day she’d started. There was no great mystery why, given how handsome, honorable, compassionate, and strong-willed he was. A lot of women wanted Mac, though none had as yet to get him, from what little she’d seen of his social life. Lindsey knew that her father would approve of him without even asking. It didn’t hurt that Mac had been a Marine, either. She’d always been attracted to men in uniform, even if technically he no longer wore one.

Working with Mac had been something of a revelation. His reputation was, of course, sterling and the moment his assistant had gotten in touch with her, Lindsey had leapt at the opportunity. She’d even gone so far as to arrive a week early without securing an apartment. Actually being on the job with Mac had been such an incredible learning experience. She’d almost been able to ignore the growing attraction in favor of the wealth of knowledge that he had to share.

The last several months had been great in all senses of the word. Living in New York City had been a complete change from how she’d lived most of her life and she loved it. Shopping and hanging out with Stella, exploring the museums with Hawkes and going out to cop bars with Flack and Danny after shifts a couple of times a week had all been about the best times she’d had since college.

When Danny’s DNA had come back as the match to the cigarette at the body dump, her world had been momentarily suspended. Staring at the report hadn’t changed anything and she literally couldn’t fathom how she’d made such a mistake. So she’d run it three more times until there was absolutely no way to continue thinking, hoping, that it was a mistake.

She hadn’t, however, been able to bring the report to Mac as protocol dictated. Seeing the panic on Danny’s face when she’d brought it to him had confirmed that something strange was going on. Knowing Danny as she did, there was absolutely no way she could believe him guilty of murder. Not even of being guilty of being present at a murder.

Everything else that had happened still had her reeling. Danny’s brother caught up with the mob, beaten almost to death, the subsequent arrest, thanks to the tape his brother had made. All she could do was thank God that the tape had survived and Mac had been able to restore it to exonerate Danny completely. Thinking of Danny trapped in prison made her nauseas.

Mac didn’t come in until late the next day and Danny didn’t show up at all, not that she was surprised. What did startle her was the way he walked right passed her without acknowledgement on his way to his office. Taken aback, Lindsey watched him go into his office and close the door, a clear indication that he wasn’t to be disturbed. It was a good half-hour later that her phone rang and Mac called her into his office.

Feeling unaccountably nervous, Lindsey took a fortifying breath and strode to the closed door, opening it and then shutting it behind her. When Mac didn’t offer her a seat, as he always had in the past, she remained standing. Now Lindsey understood what people meant when they used the phrase, ‘sent to the principal’s office.’ Having never been in trouble before, she couldn’t understand just why people got so flustered dealing with authority figures. She’d certainly never had that problem.

Not until pale blue eyes looked at her impassively, Mac’s expression unreadable and yet somehow conveying disappointment.

“Standard protocol for an internal match to a felony charge is to bring the evidence to the supervisor in charge of the shift. You know that.” Mac stated.

Lindsey nodded, heart speeding up a bit. “I do.”

“You knew it at the time you brought the DNA match to Danny, instead of to me.”

“I did.”

“And yet you circumvented my authority by bringing the evidence to the suspect.”

Put that way, it sounded really, really bad. Surreptitiously wiping her palms against her slacks, Lindsey had no choice but to answer, “Yes, Sir.”

“Why?”

“I, I didn’t believe…”

“Did the evidence state Detective Messer was a potential suspect in a homicide.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“That means, no matter what you believe, you in no way should have informed him of the evidence, let alone brought it to him.”

Lindsey’s stomach made a bid for building its own rollercoaster and she swallowed before replying, “No, Sir, I shouldn’t have.”

“You’re suspended without pay for the next two days, Detective Monroe. Dismissed.”

Feeling extremely fortunate that she’d managed to escape relatively unscathed, Lindsey replied, “Yes, Sir,” and got the hell out of Dodge.

Shaky and about ready to throw up, Lindsey took a few seconds to get control of herself.

“It never gets any easier.”

Turning towards Stella, Lindsey questioned, “What doesn’t?”

“Disappointing Mac,” Stella answered, sympathy clear on her face. “As a matter of fact, it gets harder. What did he give you?”

“Two days suspension without pay.”

Stella whistled. “Wow did you piss him off. Usually it’s just a verbal warning.”

Which did not make her feel any better.

“Come on, Linds, I’ll walk you out. Make sure the Mac-special didn’t rob you of your ability to look both ways before crossing the street.”

The teasing helped, reminded her that while she was being punished, she wasn’t being ostracized.

As they walked down the corridor, Stella offered, “Just a word to the wise.”

“Yeah?”

“If it involves Danny, do not stop, do not collect two hundred dollars. Go immediately to Mac. No matter what it might be about, just give everything you have to Mac and get out of firing range.”

Lindsey frowned and asked, “Is he that hot to get rid of Danny? I thought, I mean, the two of them are friends, aren’t they?”

Stella smiled, slinging an arm around Lindsey’s waist as she replied, “No, Linds, you and I are friends. Danny and Mac are…well…Danny and Mac. Hey, you hungry? I’m starving.”

Confused, but willing to go along with it, especially since she had gotten odd vibes between Danny and Mac from the beginning, Lindsey nodded, her stomach starting to settle down.

“Great! And then tomorrow, I’ll sneak out at lunch and we can hit that little boutique you liked so much!”

Feeling better about the suspension, Lindsey relaxed a little and grabbed her coat so they could get some lunch.