HIGH STAKES

Chapter Twenty Five

Mac thought that his heart would stop completely when the two men fell through the air. Time slowed down, as he tried to work out which way they were tilting. The sound that they made as they hit the rooftop in front of him was the best thing he had heard in a very long time.

Stunned by the landing, Bob let go and Adam was thrown from his clutches at last. Mac ran towards him, halting in surprise when he finally saw the state of his friend. Adam's swollen eyes were closed, his face was a mess and his upper body was marked with an ugly patchwork of nicks and bruises. Just looking at him made Mac feel cold, and he tore off his jacket, draping it over the man to hide his indignity. He knew how much that would mean to Adam. The warm and thoughtful action eased the lab rat back to his senses. Opening his blue eyes, he stared up in bewilderment.

"Mac!" he cried out. "Did I fly?"

Mac smiled with joyous relief.

"No, Adam. I'm afraid you're still on the rooftop."

"Oh." Adam thought about that for a moment and then his gaze darkened. "And... is he... Is...? Oh, Mac..." His words trailed off into painful silence. A lump rose up in Mac's throat.

Reaching a hand out, he hauled the man to his feet and untied the cord around his wrists.

"See for yourself," he suggested.

Bob was pinned like a beetle on his back, with Baxter and four other officers straining to hold him as he kicked, and spat, and struggled.

"Not dead, then," whispered Adam.

"Neither are you," said Mac.

Standing beside his boss at last, Adam let out a long, shuddering breath. Then he stared down at his foe with unreadable eyes.

"Think you've won?" shrieked Bob, who was looking far less frightening and far more desperate now.

"Yes," said Adam. "I do."

And he walked away. Mac kept a casual arm around his shoulder, holding him up. He could see the tremor in the other man's limbs, but he knew that Adam needed to leave this scene right now, before shock overwhelmed him completely.

His efforts didn't go unnoticed. "Thanks, boss," the lab rat whispered, as he finally passed through the hated doorway, out of his nightmare and into the real world once more.

Game over.

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"I'm so sorry," Mary gasped, as Mac knocked politely and entered Isla's hospital room. It was the tenth time at least that she had apologised. He shook his head and dismissed her words with a gentle flick of his hand.

"I told you. It's done. Adam is safe, and so are you."

"But I nearly killed him." Her eyes were bloodshot and raw around the edges from too much crying. Time to heal, thought Mac.

"No, that was your husband. Ex-husband, I imagine, very soon." He smiled across at Jo. The dark-haired woman perched gracefully, as always, on a plastic chair in the corner of the room. Only she could make a hospital chair look elegant. "And I believe I know someone who could give you plenty of good advice on that subject."

"Already have," Jo admitted, looking suitably penitent. She rose to her feet. Isla lifted a sleepy head from the pillow and turned to watch her as she walked towards the door.

"Thank you," whispered the girl.

"Yes - thank you so much," agreed Mary fervently. The exhausted mother sat down next to her child and smoothed her hair with trembling fingers. Mac turned back for one final look as Jo dragged him from the room.

"Leave them in peace," she chided. "Let's get a coffee. If you're as parched as I am, then..."

"Then my throat's as dry as a creek bed in a drought?" Mac suggested. His eyes lit up with a rare, mischievous glow as he watched the slow smile spread across her face.

"Mac Taylor! I guess you've been talking to Lindsay. Are you teasing me?"

"I would never," he told her seriously. "Go, fetch your coffee. I've just got a couple more stops to make."

"I know." She tilted her head. "We did good, Mac. Lord, what a horrible day."

We did good, he echoed silently, as he watched her walk away.

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Next stop for Mac was Adam's room - but to his surprise, the bed was empty; sheets askew and pillows shoved underneath them in a vain attempt to make the place look occupied. "Oh, Adam," he grumbled. Turning away, he thought for a moment, and smiled. So predictable.

Retracing his steps along the corridor and round a corner to another section of the ward, he followed his hunch to a third hospital room. Mac was about to go in when an unexpected hiss made him rock on his heels.

"Pssst! No - don't," said an urgent, familiar voice. "Just give him a moment."

The detective turned around.

There, perched on a bed in an empty cubicle, sat Officer Sanchez, swinging her legs. Beside her, a nurse stood, grinning. Mac looked suspicious.

"What's going on?"

Sanchez shrugged. "Your CSI begged for a favour. Helen here was kind enough to grant it. She snuck him out of his room."

"For the good of his health," the nurse added, winking at Mac. "Poor man was fretting. Needed to set his mind at ease."

"I understand." Mac nodded pleasantly. The charm that Adam possessed was far more powerful than he knew, or would ever believe. "But I don't think they'll mind if I join them." Crossing back to the door, he started to push it open. Fragments of a conversation slipped out through the crack and made him pause. Curiosity fought with guilt and won, as he listened, unobserved.

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"I'm so glad you're okay," breathed Adam. "They wouldn't tell me anything properly. That's why I had to come and see for myself."

"Well, now you see me." Don grinned woozily. "How 'bout you?"

"Oh - me? I'm fine." Adam flushed as he gave the same old answer. He picked at the bed sheet with nervous fingers. "Just a couple of bruises. You know?"

"Yes," said Don. "I know." He shifted himself up higher on his pillows and stared at Adam with eyes that were suddenly sharp. "I know what you did."

"Wha.. what did I do?" The lab rat gulped. His mind raced as he thought back through the catalogue of disasters that had marked his first day as a CSI in training. Last day, he reminded himself, with a sigh.

"Adam - you're such an idiot sometimes. Don't beat yourself up. You saved me. I heard you, okay?"

"Not me." Adam shook his head. "That was Mac. Remember?"

"Sure, Mac. I know that. But first there was you. You stood up to him, Adam. You begged him to let me go. And you offered to stay behind. I think, if you hadn't done that, maybe Mac would have failed as well."

Adam's eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open. "You heard? You heard me say that? I thought you were asleep."

"With all that jabbering? Fat chance." Don smirked and closed his eyes, glad to have said his piece. "And I'll be telling Mac as well."

"Oh - no, don't do that." Adam shook his head. "I don't deserve it."

"Too late," said Mac as he slipped into the room. Honour would not let him stay outside a moment longer. Besides, the look on Adam's face was worth a little embarrassment.

"Hey, Mac." Don opened his eyes and grinned. "You come to fetch this runaway already?"

"If you're done with him." Mac watched as Adam shuffled to his feet. Clearly in pain, but dogged as ever, the lab rat tried to look nonchalant. "I'll be back in a while. Can I get you anything?"

"I like the sound of Adam's nurse..," Don suggested, settling his hands behind his head.

No worries there, then. Lindsay was right - Don was going to be just fine. Smiling to himself, Mac took Adam's arm and steered him out of the room.

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"I blew it. Didn't I?" The lab rat tugged on his hospital gown. His eyes were carefully blank. Mac was uneasy. He recognised that look all too well. He'd worn it himself, in the past.

"Blew what?" Mac chose not to understand Adam's comment. He wanted to push the man further and make him follow this train of thought on his own, out loud. Adam was far too reticent when it came to the things that hurt him. Hypocrite, he told himself wrily. But knowing his own flaws might show him how to help this man, now. Mac waited.

"You trusted me. 'Don't let me down', that's what you said." Adam's voice was choked, as he remembered the conversation. Already, it seemed so long ago. A whole world had come in between them since then; full of pain, and fear, and terrible shame. The man closed his eyes and forced the experience deep into the back of his mind, to dwell with the monster that huddled there already.

"I remember."

"So... I did let you down, right? I left the crime scene and didn't tell them where I was going. I put myself in danger, and Detective Flack as well."

"Yes. You did that."

Adam frowned, unaccountably irritated by Mac's manner.

"And I'm in trouble, okay? I know it. You're probably just being kind and waiting 'til I feel better, so you can drag me into your office and suspend me for a month. Or maybe..." Fire me, his helpful brain supplied. I deserve it.

Mac's eyes bored into him. "Are you finished?"

"Y-yes." The lab rat stuttered to a halt.

Steering him into a quiet alcove, Mac gripped his shoulders firmly. He was shocked to feel how badly the man was shivering once again. Cold? Or distress? Mac suspected it was the latter. And he knew that he needed to fix it, right away. "Adam. At one time or another, every one of us has made a poor decision. We're human, okay?"

"Even you?"

Mac laughed at the man's stubborn faith. He couldn't help it. "Even me. Remember Clay Dobson?" He paused, as a grinning vision leapt off a rooftop. Today had been a stark reminder. So close... "What really matters is how you choose to deal with your mistake. I fought with mine, but in the end, I accepted the consequences. So did you. I heard what Don said just now. You saved him, Adam. Somehow, the two of you managed to stay alive - and I'm beginning to think that a lot of that was down to you. The girl is safe, the bad guy's been arrested, and I think you've had enough 'punishment' for one small mistake. Don't you?"

Adam leaned back against the wall. Mac stopped talking and took a good look at his face. Bruises stood out in stark relief against the waxy pallor of his skin - but his eyes were shining. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft as though he hardly dared to believe what he was saying.

"Then... then you still think I'd be a good CSI?"

Mac smiled.

"I had my doubts," he admitted. "I don't any more."

Blinking shyly, Adam smiled back. A weight he hadn't even known was there fell from him and disappeared, like a stone into water. Subject closed, he guessed.

Moving out of the alcove with Mac, he prodded at the tape across his nose experimentally. "Oof," he whispered. "Sore."

"I'm sure it is." Mac stared down the corridor. Jo was heading in their direction, a cup of coffee steaming in her hands. Seeing her reminded him of something. He turned back to the lab rat.

"I'm curious, by the way," he said to Adam. "Which of you punched Bob in the face and made his nose bleed like that?"

Adam halted. He stared back at his boss, and then at Jo. "You had a pool going... didn't you?" he said, accusingly.

"More like an ongoing discussion."

"And I'm betting that everyone thought it was Detective Flack. Am I right?"

Mac nodded again.

"Apart from Jo," whispered Adam fondly, watching her stroll towards them, oblivious.

"Apart from Jo. She backed you all the way."

"And she was right." Adam closed his eyes, forced to picture the moment. It wasn't really funny when he thought about it. But knowing that somebody out there had believed in him that much? Well, that did help. Adam smiled; a genuine, playful smile that lit up the whole of his face at last. "It was me. I did it."

Mac gave him one of those looks that Adam had never been able to read. Then he glanced at Jo, who had seen them by now, and was waving happily.

"I'm proud of you, Adam," he sighed. "But really, that's not the news I was hoping for. Knowing that she was right, and we were wrong?" He shook his head regretfully, grinning all the while. "She's going to be impossible to live with..."

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A/N: And that's the end! I'm sorry, really. I've had a blast writing this story and reading all of your comments. Dragging out the suspense was such fun! Especially because of your brilliant reactions. There'll be a new story coming soon. I've already written Chapter One, so I'll just get a few more chapters done and then start posting it.

See you soon. And thanks so much for reading!