A/N: Alright, here it is, the last chapter. I've had it written for about three weeks already(before the last 7 chapters), so I'm excited it's finally getting posted. Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and stuck with me through this thing. The last story I had that was 11 chapters took me 2 years to write, so y'all are lucky I've stopped slacking.

"I'm giving you about five seconds to explain why you're here, and then I'm going to call security to haul you out."

Mac looked the equivalent of a kid with his hand in the cookie jar, only he was a grown man caught sitting in his partner's office the day after being released from the hospital. He stared, his mouth slightly open.

"Mac." Stella snapped. He was grateful the doors here didn't slam shut or she might have broken it, and he'd had enough shattered glass to last him a life time. "You promised me. I let you go home alone last night and you promised me you would stay there. So tell me, what in the hell are you doing here?"

Mac held up his hands. "Just give me a second. It's hard for me to think." It was true the concussion and blood loss had combined to make his brain more sluggish than he liked, even a week later. However, at this moment, he was certain he was just caught off guard by his fuming partner.

"Clearly. You weren't thinking when you came here."

"Stella…" He gave her a pleading look and she caved, blowing out a breath before she crossed her arms and waited. "Look, I was just trying to remember, okay?"

"Remember what? Why? You know what happened." Stella still sounded upset, but Mac could tell she was softening as she sat down on her couch and watched him, familiar concern mixing in with her frustration.

Mac shook his head. "I know what the report said."

"What else do you need to know?"

Mac gingerly leaned back in Stella's chair, mindful of stretching the still-healing lacerations on his chest. He stared out the window at the already repaired trace lab. He'd seen the photos of the damage, but it wasn't the same. "I need to know why. Why did I say Adam was the target? I had no evidence to support that."

"Does it really matter now? You were right."

Mac sighed and looked hopelessly back at his partner. "Lindsay told me that Adam blamed himself for what happened. He was convinced that what happened was because he did something. The report says I approached the lab just after Adam left. Whatever I saw then, and whatever Adam did the second before that led us to believe what we did. I need to know what it was."

"We all assumed you saw Wright. He was in the lab then."

"Even if I did, I didn't know who he was. Maybe I recognized him at the hospital and remembered him pressing a trigger or something, but the fact is, before that night, I didn't know him. That wasn't the connection to Adam."

"Mac, there are a million reasons you could have assumed it was Adam and not you. He was the only other one around. You weren't working trace. You were going home. As out of it as you were, you went with your gut and you were right. Not the first time it's happened, so why question it now? You need to accept that you won't always know everything. Isn't that what you say to me?"

Mac glanced at the ground. "It's not for me. If I can remember, maybe I can help. Maybe there's something I forgot that will help him."

Stella frowned. "Is this about Adam?" Mac didn't say anything as he looked up at her. She went on. "He said he thought leaving his station was responsible for the blast. We know it wasn't. He knows it wasn't. That's not why he's shut himself in. He was kidnapped. Isn't that enough?"

He silently shook his head again. "It's something else." He muttered, staring out the window.

"Why does it have to be something else?" Stella asked, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

Mac sighed and slid an envelope across her desk. "Because I found that in my office."

Stella watched Mac as she cautiously took the envelope and read what was inside. Her frown deepened. When she finished, she slowly folded the paper back up. "You know, Mac, I don't think evidence is going to help him. What he needs is a friend."

Adam glared at his front door, as if it were to blame for the person currently knocking on it from the other side. He looked back at the TV which was playing a movie he had put in an hour ago. He had yet to pay attention enough to figure out the plot. From the amount of gun fire, he figured there wasn't much of one to begin with anyways. The only time the movie had held his attention was when a bomb exploded and he nearly dove for cover and spent the next 5 minutes hyperventilating. He had almost turned the movie off at that point, but instead he hunkered down into his well-worn couch and tried to distract himself with aps on his phone. That's when it struck him just how many games he had that involved blowing stuff up.

The knocking started up again, louder and slower this time. They knew he was here… of course they did. His TV was blaring Die Hard and Hans' henchmen were doing a good job of destroying every last pane of glass in the building. Bruce Willis with his bare feet wasn't too happy about it either. Adam could sympathize. They were probably still finding glass shards in the lab.

More knocking. With a sigh-turned-groan Adam paused the movie and rose with some difficulty from his couch. His back still ached, along with several other body parts he had been unaware of until a few days ago.

Adam unlocked the extra deadbolt he'd had installed, but left the safety latch engaged as he pulled the door open as far as the catch would allow. "Boss?" His voice nearly cracked in surprise as Mac looked back at him through the 6-inch gap in the door.

"Adam." Mac nodded. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he added, "Can I…come in?"

"Hold on a sec." He quickly shut the door and undid the catch, taking a sweeping look around his apartment as he did so. The place was a wreck- food containers and a few empty beer bottles decorated the table, a pile of dirty clothes sat in front of the door to his room.

Adam hesitated and darted back through the apartment, grabbing trash on his way. He kicked the clothes into his room, tossed the trash in after and shut the door. The apartment was still far from clean, but at least looked livable. Unfortunately he wasn't so sure about the smell. He pulled the front door open again to find Mac waiting calmly in the hallway. "Sorry about that…" Adam smiled sheepishly as he stepped back to let Mac in.

As he walked by, Adam got a good look at his boss for the first time since seeing him in the hospital one week ago. The cuts on his face were healing for the most part, though the deepest one on his right temple, sustained in his "landing" after being blown 20 feet through the air, was still covered. Mac was wearing a loose jacket that concealed the rest of his injuries, but he did limp slightly, favoring his left side. He still looked slightly pale and possibly a little shaky in his movements. Adam realized he hadn't even heard about Mac getting out of the hospital already.

"Um, do you want to sit?" Adam suggested, motioning to the couch. His kitchen table consisted of one unstable wooden chair and a folding table currently covered in last night's dinner of Taco Bell, otherwise he would have suggested that. Honestly his couch wasn't a very appealing alternative.

"Sure." Mac went to sit and to his obvious surprise, ending up sinking a foot lower than he anticipated.

"Uh, yeah, the couch is pretty…mushy." Adam explained apologetically as he took a seat on the far end. Mac just flashed a smile. "So uh, what brings you here? I-I didn't know you were out."

Mac nodded. "Last night. How are you doing?"

Adam shrugged. "I'm good. Just some bruises." Mac was giving him a look like he was expecting more than that, but Adam kept silent.

"Anything else going on?" Mac prodded in the way that meant he was fishing for information he already knew.

Adam shrugged one shoulder. He knew where this was going…

"Then do you want to explain why I found this on my desk this morning?" Mac said, pulling an envelope out of his jacket pocket.

Adam bit his lip and stared at the cushion separating him and his boss. "I…didn't think you'd be back at the office so soon." Adam suspected there was probably a story there involving an irate Stella and a chaperone for the next couple of hours at Mac's home, but Adam didn't think he'd be hearing it any time soon.

"Is that supposed to make a difference?" It was both impressive and terrifying how Mac could speak so calmly and yet make you feel as though he were yelling.

"I guess not…"

Mac let out a long sigh and leaned forward on his knees, trying to catch the tech's eyes. "Adam, why are you quitting?"

Adam bit his lip. "I figured I would just beat you to the punch I guess."

Mac's eyes narrowed slightly as he took on a confused expression. "You think I would fire you?"

"You fired Kendall." Adam muttered, staring just to the right of Mac as his hands fidgeted restlessly in his lap.

Mac licked his lips and tilted his head thoughtfully. "Kendall called me and we decided it would be best if she left. She let two unauthorized men into the lab and lied. She's lucky we don't prosecute. What does that have to do with you?"

Adam shrugged, his eyes dropping back to the couch which he suddenly realized was so stained, he couldn't quite remember its original shade.

Mac went on. "That experiment was officially Kendall's, Adam. Just because you offered to help, that doesn't make it your responsibility when she leaves, especially when she didn't ensure you were going to watch it for her."

"I don't want to be forgiven on a technicality, Mac." Adam groaned, burying his face in his hands.

Mac cocked his head and watched his tech with a sad smile. "Okay, fine. Under normal circumstances, I might have punished you both for arguing and letting it interfere with your work. You know the lecture, Adam, I don't need to give it to you. Policies and standards, protocol… if you didn't hear it from me, you heard it through the walls when I was giving it to someone else."

Adam felt heat rising into his face and ducked his head in shame. He had indeed joined the other techs in eavesdropping on those conversations…

"If you want me to be brutally honest, I know that this is a mistake you're never going to make again." Mac continued. "I have a feeling you're going to be the most loyal and thorough tech at my disposal for at least the next few months. It's would be stupid to get rid of an asset like that." Mac was actually teasing him. He was facing a guy who almost got him killed several times in the last week and he was making a joke.

Adam sighed, shaking his head. "But us leaving is the only reason you were there when it-…" He trailed off as Mac's eyes widened slightly in understanding.

"You think I would fire you because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Adam couldn't think of a response. He merely shrugged. Did he think Mac was that vindictive to kick him out because of what happened? No. Did Adam think it was his fault for what happened to Mac? Yes. Did he think he deserved to be fired for it? Maybe… The real question was whether or not Adam could live with the guilt of everything he'd caused.

"Adam, look at me." Mac's voice was soft, but Adam's eyes snapped up as if he had demanded it. "I have no intentions of firing you… and I don't blame you for what happened."

Adam finally pulled his eyes away as they started to sting. He blinked rapidly, fighting the accumulation of unwelcome tears. "Mac, I just can't- I can't… work there knowing that something I did-something I did almost killed- …people."

"You are not responsible for what other people choose to do. You didn't do anything, Adam. Carson did."

"But he did it because of me! Because of what I did!" Adam snapped, and then almost immediately recoiled. Mac was looking at him strangely. Adam couldn't quite tell what his expression was, as he was afraid to look at him for long, but if he didn't know better, he would say Mac actually looked somewhat hurt. Adam felt even more guilty now. "I'm sorry…" He whispered, casting his eyes to the floor again.

Mac's jaw clenched and unclenched as his eyes flashed, not in anger at Adam, but at something else entirely. He ran a hand over his face and got his emotions under control as he sighed, "Adam, would you stop acting like I'm going to hurt you? I'm not."

Adam was about to apologize again, but was able to stop himself. He just nodded and stared at the couch again.

"I haven't accepted this yet, but we're not on the clock either." Mac continued, waving the envelope in his hand. "So if you want to yell, get something off your chest, blame me even, now is the time."

"Why would I blame-?" Adam shook his head and covered his face with his hand. He didn't say anything else. Adam had always been fairly emotional, but rarely ever unloaded on someone, especially not his boss. The thought had never crossed his mind as an option.

"I extend this offer to everyone who works for me, and somehow they think they can't trust me, or I won't understand." Mac suddenly said, sensing Adam's unease. "But I can tell you, Adam, if you're looking for someone who's been in your shoes, I'm the closest you're gonna get."

Adam looked up in surprise and saw Mac looking back at him, his normally intense eyes holding a mix of sympathy and sadness. "What are you talking about?"

"You feel guilty because something you did, through an unpredictable chain of events, led to people getting hurt. Right?" Adam merely stared back. Mac took a deep breath and continued, "You had no more control over what Carson did, than I had over Andy, or Dobson."

Adam saw Mac in a rare state of carefully veiled vulnerability as the freshness of both events seemed to hit him. Both had occurred within the last 6 months- Andy had been arrested a mere two months ago. Adam hadn't even considered that his boss would feel the same way about those things. He was usually so...well, Vulcan almost. Mac never discussed personal matters with his team unless it was to Stella, or - like now- to help someone who needed advice. They all meant something to Mac. Adam knew that, and yet it had never clicked for him until now.

"So… you felt like it was your fault?" Adam asked hesitantly.

Mac nodded. "Hard not to. They tell you it's your fault. You can argue back, say it's on them, but you can't help it. It's natural. It points to your character, Adam, that you would take the blame on yourself. Carson wanted to put the fault on anyone but him to justify what he was doing, so he picked you. He was into fraud well before his wife got cancer. He didn't want to take responsibility for his actions, so you did. You didn't do anything wrong, then or now."

"It's just… it's hard. It just eats at me, and I can't stop thinking about what might have happened." Adam choked out, feeling embarrassed as his voice broke in front of his boss.

Mac only nodded, not judging, just understanding. "I know…" He swallowed and glanced away for the first time since entering Adam's apartment.

"How do you…how do you deal with it?" Adam asked hesitantly.

Mac looked up in surprise, but at the same time a shadow of a smile passed over his face. "One day at a time." He paused and leaned forward, fixing Adam with his intense eyes. "You're gonna be okay, Adam."

Adam was busy trying to find some discreet way to keep the water welling in his eyes from spilling over. He settled with dragging his shirt collar up over his face as he nodded. "Thanks…"

"Any time." Sensing Adam's embarrassment, and to give him time to compose himself, Mac looked away. His eyes landed on the TV where Bruce Willis was caught in a freeze frame in the middle of picking glass shards out of his feet. "Die Hard, huh?"

Adam sniffed, grateful for the welcome distraction and noticed the scene he had paused the movie on. He glanced at Mac and the wounds that covered him caused by a similar event. "Oh…yeah. Um…sorry."

Mac just laughed. "I never appreciated that scene before now."

Adam allowed himself a shaky smile. "Yeah, stings, right?"

Mac nodded, still smiling. "Yes, it does."

"Do you…want a drink or something?" Adam offered.

Mac raised an eyebrow. "You drinking alcohol on that medication?"

"No, no, no," Adam sputtered. "Actually I've stocked up on Dr. Pepper. It's kind of all I have. You could frankly find cleaner water in Mexico. I tested the tap here once. Not exactly up to standards."

Mac chuckled, leaning back into the soft couch. "Yeah, I'll have one."

Adam hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a couple cans. He handed one to Mac and took his seat back on the other side of the couch. "So you uh…you want to finish watching this?"

Mac nodded thoughtfully. "Sure, why not."

Adam couldn't help but feel he was sitting in some alternate reality… A mere week ago he had been fighting for his life at the hands of a vengeful classmate and thought he had killed his boss. Now he was sitting back on his couch, drinking sodas and mocking Die Hard with Mac Taylor.

Adam discretely slid the envelope containing his letter of resignation off the coffee table where Mac had dropped it and slipped it behind his couch to join the months-old pile of empty chip bags littered back there.

He wouldn't be needing it.

A/N: I hope that was an okay ending. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed through this entire thing, especially tlh45 who helped me with some ideas along the way. If you have any ideas for stories you want to see from me, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks again!