"Money in the Bank" part 2, by Imogen Freeman
imfree_80@yahoo.com
Setting- Melbourne, where Stingers is made,
approximately three weeks after the 2000 season finale
(ie- Oscar has just been shot, Pete is dating Colette
and Mac slept with Bill Hollister)
Disclaimer- no, unfortunately I do not own Stingers
Thanks- Lisa, for your advice/ideas, you might find
some of this story familiar...haha.....
Dedicated to the late, great Krystal McDermott, my
internet friend and a huge Mac and Pete fan. This
one's for you.
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Where we left off:
Mac has been held hostage in a bank, but managed to
tell Pete, who told the other police. The bank robbers
know Mac is a cop, and are pissed off because Pete
sent one of their cousins to jail. Angie goes in as a
negotiator and Pete is waiting outside. However, when
Angie doesn't make contact within the designated time
frame, uniformed police storm in, resulting in Mac
being stabbed in the stomach.

On with the new story:
Pete freaked as he heard gunshots from within the
bank. Over the radio in the police car he was using as
a shield came the two most terrible words a police
officer can hear: "Officer down!" It was only three
weeks ago that those same two words were spoken by
Pete himself, as Oscar lay beside him, wounded and
bleeding.
Pete forgot about the dangerous situation
surrounding him as one question penetrated his mind:
Was Mac the injured officer? He leapt to his feet as
thoughts of guns and bullets escaped his body. As he
ran to the double glass doors, he prepared himself for
whatever it was that he might find beyond them. He
poked his head around, but all he could see was blood.
The figures surrounding him were surreal and strange,
but in one he found a sense of familiarity. Angie was
kneeling on the floor. As Pete approached her, he
noticed her tear-stained face. 
There she was. The only person Pete wanted to see
right now. He hurried over to her, picking up her
bloody hand.
"Mac? Are you okay?"
"Pete? Make it stop, Pete. It hurts too much."
With that Mac closed her eyes.
"Mac? Mac? Can you hear me?" Pete shouted.
Mac nodded her head slightly, acknowledging Pete's
question.
"Hang in there, Mac. Okay?" Pete gave Mac's hand a
squeeze, as the farmiliar wail of an ambulance could
be heard in the distance.
"Mac, it's going to be okay. Can you hear the
ambulance? Everything will be fine."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
Pete hurried through the glass doors of the
hospital. Mac was being wheeled in ahead of him, but
she was not yet out of his sight. A doctor approached
Pete. 
"Sir, do you know this woman? What is her name?" he
asked.
"Ellen MacKenzie," Pete replied slowly.
"If you would like to take a seat over there, sir,"
he said, gesturing to the waiting room, "I will come
and find you here as soon as I have any news."
Pete nodded and walked to the nurses station, where
he had first picked up Collette, with Carlo's help. He
was greeted by her smiling face.
"Who died?" Collette joked, but when Pete's face
didn't change she became worried.
"Mac got stabbed. They just brought her in." Pete
informed her.
Collette told Pete that she would try to find out
something as Pete sat down to wait for the doctor to
return. It was not long before Angie joined him. She
had called Oscar and Danni, telling them not to come
in for security reasons. If the wrong people saw them,
they would be in trouble. Although, by now they were
used to their secretive lifestyles.
"How serious was it?" she asked Pete.
"Pretty serious," he replied. "The most serious
I've had," he confessed, "...and now I might lose
her..."
"Hey, don't talk like that. Mac's tough. You and I
both know that. She'll pull through." Angie tried to
encourage positive thinking. She couldn't help but ask
one more question. "What happened, Pete? I mean, with
you and Mac..."
"Bernie found out. He told us to end it or we'd
lose our jobs."
Angie took Pete's hand in hers, and they sat in
silence, thinking about their best friend.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
Oscar and Danni walked casually through the heavy
glass doors. They just couldn't stay away when nobody
was telling them how Mac was. As they walked towards
the nurse's station a familiar figure caught their
attention. It was the little bald man, Bill Hollister.
Oscar was about to attract his attention when Danni
reminded him that they weren't even supposed to be
there.
They were just within earshot when they heard him
tell the nurse as he flashed his badge discreetly,
"Hollister, from Homicide. I'm here regarding Ellen
MacKenzie." His tone was formal and serious, extremely
business-like.
In her head, Danni was thinking. Bill, a homicide
detective, was there for Mac. She burst into tears,
sobbing uncontrollably. Oscar grabbed her, asking,
"Danni? What is it?"
It took him an extra second to realise why Danni
thought Bill must be there, and he felt his eyes well
up. Could it be true? Their courageous leader, killed
off duty? She had been in much worse situations when
she was undercover, surely she should have been safe
in her own time.
People turned and began to stare at the two,
although they didn't look out of place in the
emergency department, where people died every day.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
Peter saw the doctor approaching, so he stood to
meet him. "How is she?" he asked, anxiously.
"She'll be down from surgery in a few moments.
She's very lucky; there will be no permanent damage."
As Pete sighed a sigh of relief, he was distracted by
a woman crying loudly. He looked over to see Danni,
being comforted by Oscar.
"Excuse me," Pete told the doctor. "They are
friends of mine."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
Oscar's shoulder was now well and truly soaked with
Danni's tears. Oscar could see Pete approaching them
over Danni's shoulder. He looked concerned.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Did you just get here, Pete? Mac's dead, we just
found out." Oscar told him.
"What? Who told you that?"
"We didn't have to be told, we saw Hollister and
put 2 and 2 together."
"Look, guys, I just spoke to Mac's doctor and she's
going to be fine. I don't know why Hollister's here."
"But he said he was here for Mac," Danni defended,
begining to feel stupid for creating such a scene for
no reason.
Hollister approached the group, explaining to them
that he was there to make sure Mac was okay, as a
friend.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
The group of four sat in the uncomfortable hospital
chairs, waiting to see Mac. Danni had a hand on the
edge of Pete's knee, and Oscar had one arm
protectively around Angie as they waited in silence.
They saw the doctor approaching and rose as one.
"You can see her now. She's just down the hall."
They walked down the hall past the nurse's station.
Collette offered Pete a small smile, but he had other
things on his mind.
As they stopped outside a door, the doctor spoke
once more.
"She's still asleep at the moment, do you think you
could go in one at a time?"
Angie spoke up, "I think Pete shold go in first."
Pete smiled thanks, and turned the door handle,
followed by the doctor.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 
Mac was lying lifeless, surrounded by white linen.
"There is one more thing, Mr MacKenzie," the doctor
said as Pete took Mac's limp hand in his. "I'm afraid
it's not good news."
Pete's concentration was broken, and he was too
concerned about Mac to bother correcting the doctor
about his name.
"Did you know that your wife was pregnant?" he
asked.
"Pregnant? No, I didn't. I can't believe she didn't
tell me." 
"She was only three weeks, she mightn't have even
known herself."
"What do you mean 'was'?"
"I'm so sorry, Mr MacKenzie. The trauma to her
stomach caused a miscarriage. There is no baby any
more."
Pete sat down as he struggled to comprehend this
new information, while the doctor silently left.
The news of Mac's pregnancy was a shock to Pete. He
didn't even know that Mac was seeing anybody. He
didn't like that. He knew he didn't have a right to
know everything that was happening in Mac's life, but
he thought they were close enough to tell each other
something so important. Maybe their relationship
wasn't as great as he thought it was.
Pete felt so alone. The person he considered his
best friend had been keeping secrets from him. He
decided that he needed some company, so he walked to
the door and turned the handle once again.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 
Danni, Oscar and Angie were still waiting outside.
Danni had her legs crossed while still sitting in the
chair, and Angie was half-asleep on Oscar's shoulder.
Collette had come to see them before, sitting with
them for a few minutes. It had been fifteen minutes
since Pete and the doctor had disappeared into the
room, and ten minutes since the doctor reappeared.
Suddenly the door opened. Pete stood before them,
looking as white as a ghost.
Oscar jumped up. "What is it?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing." Pete did his best to reassure his
colleagues. "I've just never seen her like that, you
know?"
Pete invited the others to come into the room. They
sat around the hospital bed, sharing their memories of
the good times and the bad as the clock on the wall
kept relentlessly turning.
Oscar rose. "Danni and I had better go."
Pete nodded.
"Tell Mac we'll come back soon." With that they
were gone.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
Angie and Pete sat in silence. In his mind Pete was
beginning to worry. Mac should have been awake by now,
surely. He was momentarily distracted by the movement
from the bed, as Mac was finally waking.
"Hey, Mac," Pete soothed. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired. And I have a dry throat," she hinted,
adding a fake cough for effect. She needed to talk to
Angie. Alone. 
"Can I get you a drink?"
Mac nodded, so Pete disappeared down the hallway.
"What happenend back there, Ang? Those uniforms,
they came from nowhere."
"I'm so sorry, Mac. I let you down. It's my fault."
When Mac said nothing, Angie continued. "I was
supposed to make contact with the sergeant outside
within ten minutes. The listening device in my watch
didn't work, your moblie was smashed on the floor, and
the old lady took off her wire. They had to assume the
worst, so they barged in."
"The old lady was wired?" Mac asked, thinking as
she spoke. "Does that mean.....you heard what we were
talking about?
Angie nodded. "Pete said it was pretty serious,
Mac.
He was so worried about you. But don't worry, I won't
tell the others, it can be our little secret."
Mac smiled at this, as the door opened as Pete
returned, empty handed.
"Hey, Pete, are you losing your mind? Where's the
drink you went to get Mac?" Angie joked.
Pete realised that in the shock of the last few
minutes, he had forgotten why he went outside at all.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
He walked down the corridor with a mission.
Whatever Mac wanted, he would get her. As he
recognised Collette at the nurses station he decided
to take a small detour.
"Ah, Pete," she said as she saw him approaching.
"Can we talk?"
Pete nodded as Collette lead them to some seats.
"Look, Pete.....I'm just giong to come out and say
this....I don't think I can do this any more."
Pete looked confused, so Collette continued.
"Earlier this month it was Oscar, now Ellen.....
How long will it be until it's you they wheel in
here?"
Pete understood what she was saying. His job was
more dangerous than some, he knew that. But it was a
risk he was more than willing to take.
Although she had only known him a few months,
Collette could see Pete's passion for his job. Hell,
he probably loves his job more than he ever loved me,
she thought dismally. She had no intention of forcing
him to quit; he wouldn't do that, she could tell.
As Collette finished telling Pete it was over, he
was already walking back down the hall in a daze.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
*
"Pete? Pete?" Angie waved her hands in front of his
face. He seemed awfully distracted tonight.
As he came to, Angie told them she should probably
go. After all, it was getting late.
She waved goodbye and headed to the door, as Mac
called her back.
"What happened to the robbers, Ang?"
Angie thought before she spoke. "Greedy bastards,
all they were interested in was the money in the safe
that had been cleared out for the day before they
arrived. Ah.....let's just say they're all accounted
for now."
Mac nodded, as she remembered the bullet fired in
her direction, and succenly crashing to the floor
along with the man who stabbed her.
Once Angie had left, Pete plucked up the courage to
ask Mac a difficult question.
"Mac?" he asked gently. "Can I ask you something?"
As she nodded, Pete added, "It's kind of personal."
"Come on, Pete. You know me better than anyone. Of
course, you can ask me anything."
"Mac......um.....did you know that you were
pegnant?"
The look on Mac's face said it all. She had gone
white, and looked as if she was about to start
shaking.
"Mac? Mac? Listen to me. It's gone now, Mac. The
trauma was just too much."
Pete was amazed as Mac started to calm down at this
news. "So you didn't know?" he asked.
Mac shook her head.
"Doc said you probably wouldn't, you were only
three weeks along."
Mac started calculating in her head, although there
was no need. She already hated to remember that night.
"Mac, do you want to talk about it?"
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Mac told them weakly, expecting to see a
nurse, to kick Pete out for being there so long. The
figure that stood there gave Mac the surprise of her
life.
"Hi Ellen," he said.
"Bill, hi. What are you doing here so late?"
"Oh, I just came to give you these," he told her,
nervously rubbing his bald patch and passing her a
bunch of flowers.
"Is now not a good time?" he asked, sensing that
there never seemed to be a good time for Ellen when it
came to him. He hated the hostility that had been
created between them. 
"Ah, not really, Bill. Maybe later?"
"Sure, I'll come back later. Goodnight."
Pete could sense the tension between the two. He
realised that once again, Mac had found a way to mix
business and pleasure, with disastrous results.
Mac could tell that he knew, and got embarrassed
all of a sudden. It made the mess she had made seem
even worse.
"What happened, Mac?" He tried to be sensitive, but
somehow it came across as judgemental. She started to
cry softly.
"Don't judge me, Pete. You don't know the
circumstances."
Mac could see it in his eyes, he was saying, 'tell
me the circumstances'. She took a deep breath and
began to get it all off her chest.
"It was a really bad time for me. Oscar was shot
and in here, Brian was cracking onto me, again, and
then there was IA breathing down my neck, and Angie
was mad at me too." She took a breath and then
continued, nervously. "To top it all off, there was
you, all happy with Collette and her family."
Pete laughed out loud.
"What's so funny?" she asked, slightly hurt.
"Collette dumped me. She reckons the job's too
dangerous. It's over."
"Oh, Pete, I'm so sorry, I had no idea." 
"It's fine. It wasn't that serious anyway. But it
did kind of remind me of a breakup I had a few years
back...... Came out of the blue and bit me on the
ass."
Mac looked guilty.
"No, Mac, I don't blame you. It's all those stupid
rules and Bernie being in charge." She could see how
deeply their breakup had really affected Pete, and she
knew how hard it was hard for her to get over, too.
"I'm in charge now, Pete," Mac added slyly.
Pete grinned. "What are you saying, Boss?"
"Well, what they don't know won't hurt them."
"But Angie knows," Pete added, disappointed.
"I know, she told me. But I think she'd understand.
She'd only want whatever makes me happy."
"And what would that be?"
"You," she told him, as she pulled him to her for a
reunion kiss.
~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***
What did you think? Let me know.