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It had happened so quickly that the CSIs were literally shocked, and it took a lot to shock some of them. "Mac, how the hell can we get five cases in a half hour?" Stella asked as she looked around. Mac had his eyes shut and was pinching the bridge of his nose. "And with Danny and Christina not here, how are we going to process all of them?"
"Call them in," Hawkes suggested.
Mac said nothing. Lindsay had been watching what was going on, seeing Mac stressing and Stella begin to stress. If Hawkes lost his cool, they'd all be done for, because if Hawkes lost his cool this was just a bad situation. "He's got a point," she said. "Two of these scenes are going to require two CSIs."
Mac still remained silent.
"Well, Mac? What are we going to do?" Stella asked.
He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and looked at Ryan. "Do you want to make a comment, too?" he asked pointedly.
Ryan spread his hands in front of him. "No, not really."
Mac nodded, satisfied that at least one member of his team wasn't going to rise up in mutiny. Danny and Christina had begged and pleaded not only for the weekend off, but that he not tell anyone where they were going and why. He was happy for them, he really was, but if he'd known the lurch it was going to leave him in... "Hawkes, you take the Queens case. Stella and Lindsay, you take the one in Brooklyn. Ryan and I will get the Central Park one."
"And you're going to call Danny and Christina in?"
"I...can't." He shut his eyes again.
"Mac Taylor, what do you mean you can't call them in?" Stella asked shrewdly.
"I already know there isn't any possible way they could come in today." He opened his eyes and found Stella staring at him and everyone else staring at her. "They're not in town."
"Well, where else could they be?" Ryan asked.
"California," Stella said, still staring at Mac. "They're at their place in California, aren't they?"
Mac nodded slowly. If they were happy with that bit of information, maybe they'd stop badgering him, grab their kits and go. "Yes, they're in California. So calling them for a scene right now would be pointless."
Stella said nothing, but nodded slowly. Mac began to relax until Lindsay asked, "Why'd they go across the country on such short notice?" He turned and saw now that Stella was looking at her as Lindsay stared at him.
"We have cases to process," Mac said gruffly. "Let's get to them. Call if you finish up and I'll send you to another scene or scenes." And with that he walked out of the break room. Ryan leaned over and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek really quickly before heading out after Mac.
"Something's up. Mac's no good at keeping secrets," Stella said, tapping a finger to her chin. "Something else has got to be going on here..."
"But what?" Hawkes asked.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Stella said. She turned to Lindsay. "Come on. We should get to the scene."
---
"Maybe they just needed a break," Lindsay pointed out as she paused to look at the scene again, see if there was anything she'd missed photographing before.
"When you and Ryan need a break, where do you go?" Stella asked.
"Jersey Shore." She raised her camera again. "But we also don't own a beachfront home in San Diego County, either," she added.
Stella grinned. Trust Lindsay to point out something so obvious to her. "Okay, then. Let's just assume that they wanted a break. Why didn't they tell anyone?"
"They didn't want anyone asking to trade days? Or they did it on such short notice?"
Stella shook her head. "Something else isn't adding up." She looked over at Maka, who was interviewing witnesses, and then it hit her. "Flack."
"Okay, where did he come from?"
"Flack's not here. He was telling me he was going to be meeting Susan's parents this weekend. In California," she added with emphasis.
"So? Danny and Christina probably just took the opportunity to spend some time with Susan's family, too. She was saying she and Christina are like sisters, and I remember Danny spent time with them when they were there for the funeral." Lindsay lowered her camera. "Stella, they're having a weekend off together. It's not like they're..."
"Eloping or something?" Maka suggested as she came closer to the two CSIs.
Stella's eyes widened. "They wouldn't."
Maka tilted her head. "Come on. You saw how stressed out the two of them have been over the whole wedding thing. Hell, I'm not even around that often and I saw the way they looked every time someone mentioned the word 'wedding' to them. Why wouldn't they?"
Lindsay shook her head. "The case? Please? I'd like to be able to go home and get some sleep at some point this evening..."
"Right," Maka said. "Witness said he saw a silver car shoot out of here. New York license plate, vanity plate. I've got what he could remember so I'm going to run with it."
Stella nodded. "Soon as we bag this section up, we're done. Mac already called and said Hawkes and Ryan are at the other two scenes, so..."
Maka nodded. "See you at the labs, then." She walked back over towards her police car, leaving Stella squatting on the ground and Lindsay standing over her.
"I want to find out what's going on," Stella said as she straightened up.
Lindsay groaned and rolled her eyes. "Can't you let it go? They'll be back Monday morning, I bet."
"No. Because I hate it when things are going on and I don't know what they are."
---
Mac was nowhere to be found when they returned to the labs, and once they had evidence to process and results to interpret, Stella backed off of the idea of cornering Mac and making him tell her what was going on. Somewhat, at least. After a few hours, Ryan and Hawkes came in. "Thought you were each doing a scene?" Stella asked.
Hawkes shook his head. "Mac took one of them because Ryan's scene turned out to be a two person job, too."
"He's trying to avoid me," she said, shaking her head. "He could have easily--"
Lindsay came up next to her. "Stella's got it in her head that Danny and Christina are off in California getting married."
"Who put that idea in your head?" Hawkes asked Stella.
"Maka." She shrugged. "I think she's got a point."
"You just wanted to be in another wedding," Ryan said with a grin.
"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride," Hawkes said to Stella. "But you like being a bridesmaid, don't you?"
"Maid of honor, thank you." Stella shook her head. "If they are...why didn't they say anything?"
"Isn't the point of eloping to get married in secret?" Lindsay said. "So if they told us, it really wouldn't be a secret."
Stella sighed. "You're right, you're right." She pulled out her cell phone.
"Are you going to call Mac and badger him?" Lindsay asked.
"No, I'm just going to ask." She dialed a number and waited a minute. The others stopped what they were doing and watched. "Hey, Mac? Question. No...it's not about a case. Yes. Yes, I want to know. Mac-- Well, it's important to-- Are they-- Mac Taylor, let me finish!" She pulled the phone away from her ear. "He hung up on me!"
Hawkes lost it then, putting his arms on the table and hunching himself over. Laughter erupted from him and his shoulder started shaking. Ryan's mouth edged up in a grin and Lindsay had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "Yup. He is avoiding you," Ryan said.
Stella glared darkly. "He can't stay out of the labs all day..."
---
Lindsay waited patiently by the elevator. Mac took one look at her and groaned. "Lindsay..."
"Are they getting married?" Mac blinked, completely taken aback. "That's what Stella wanted to know." She grinned at him. "I can't believe you hung up on her..."
"Stell's a little too nosy for her own good sometimes," he said with a sigh. He shifted the box of evidence he was carrying. "Who suggested the idea that they were getting married?"
"Maka." Lindsay shrugged slightly. "Well?"
Mac looked at her. She was being irrationally calm about asking him. If Stella hadn't been so driven to find out... "Yes."
Lindsay nodded. "Maybe I should go tell Stella the news before she decides to try her hand at homicide and make you the intended victim."
Mac shook his head. "Then she'd just try and kill the messenger." He looked down at the evidence he was holding. "If you'll take this to Adam and tell me where she is, I'll just get it over with."
She took the box. "She's in AV."
Mac nodded. He took a few steps forward and stopped, turning to look at her. "Don't tell Stella this, but if she'd calmly asked, I probably would have told her."
Lindsay laughed. "Secret's safe with me."
"Let's hope you can keep a secret better than I apparently can."
---
Later that evening, as Ryan and Lindsay let themselves into their apartment, something that had been bothering Lindsay floated up to the surface. "Ryan, you think maybe them going off and getting married away from here might have been..."
He set his jacket on the chair by the door. "Might have been what, Lindsay?"
"Our fault?" He said nothing, but tilted his head slightly. "I mean, we got married first. And it was a big wedding. Maybe they felt we were all expecting them to repeat it."
"Danny told me the one thing he and Christina wanted was something small and personal." He looked at her. "You wanted something big, and that's what we had."
"You regret it?" she asked quietly.
"No, not at all." He came over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "We had people from two labs involved, and the scheduling was a nightmare. But we put most of it off on a planner, so it wasn't as stressful as it could have been...they were trying to do it all by themselves."
"I know. I just feel a little guilty."
"Why? Think about it: the people that Christina considers family are probably there. I mean, if Susan and Flack are in on it, and I'm pretty sure they are. Wouldn't be surprised if Danny's parents are there, too. Other than family and really close friends, what else do you really need at a wedding?"
"Someone to officiate?" Ryan laughed. "Seriously, though. I just feel bad."
"Why?"
"No one ever got to do anything nice for them. I mean, no parties or anything. Nothing like that."
"Have you thought that they might not want it?"
"Maybe."
Ryan was quiet for a moment. Lindsay shut her eyes and stood there, content to let her husband hold her for a while. "Throw them a surprise party."
"What?"
"They'll be back Monday morning, right? So why don't you and Stella plan an impromptu party for them?"
She turned in his arm and kissed her husband soundly. "Ryan, you're a genius!"
"No, I'm just a good friend." He shrugged. "But if you say I'm a genius..." He let her go so she could head over to their phone, and he watched as she punched in Stella's number and began talking animatedly. He grinned and shook his head. Hopefully Danny and Christina wouldn't be upset with this kind of surprise...
---
"Shh! They're coming!"
"The walls are glass, Adam. They can see us."
"But Sid, that doesn't mean they need to hear us."
Mac stood away from the group, watching. To be honest, he was a little worried; they had asked him not to say anything and he had. He glanced over at Stella, who gave him a slightly apologetic look before coming over to him. "They won't kill you," she said quietly.
"They didn't want any of you to know."
"I bet they just wanted to surprise us."
"When they see this, they're going to know who told everyone."
"We'll just tell them we forced it out of you."
"We?" Mac asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, me and Lindsay." She grinned at him, then grabbed his arm. "Come on. You know you want to congratulate them, too..."
Mac grinned and shook his head, looking to the break room door just in time to see the newlyweds walk through, completely shocked looks on their faces. He met Danny's gaze and saw the look of shock fade away and his lips form a grin. That was when he finally started to relax. Maybe letting the cat out of the bag was a good thing after all...