Read Mail --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Louise Brown" [Save Address] [Block Sender] To: crimplex@yahoogroups.com Cc: Subject: {Stingers} Fic: The Waiting Game Pt. 1 Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 09:02:05 -0000 REPLY | REPLY ALL | FORWARD [As Attachment] Previous | Next | Delete | Close Hi everyone, here's part one of a fic I have written. It's not all that good, but I hope you enjoy. The Waiting Game Pt.1 Author: Louise Email: lj_brown2@yahoo.com Disclaimer: I do not own Stingers or the characters, this is purely just for fun! Note: This is a continuation from the events that happened in season 4 (Pete arresting Landis for Bill's murder!) 2006 – Melbourne: Mac looked down at the clock on her desk, placed nicely between photographs of her two children and Pete with a smile, thinking about the events of the past five years. A lot had changed during that time - Mac and Pete had finally admitted their true feelings for one another and before they knew it, they were expecting their first child together, forcing Mac to leave the unit. When Bridget was six months old, Mac returned to work, as Assistant Commissioner, but only a few months after, found herself back on maternity leave, expecting her second. This time, Mac decided to wait until Callum was one before retuning to work again. The phone rang distracting her from her thoughts. She closed the file she was working on as she answered the phone. "Assistant Commissioner Mackenzie…yes Sir…now?…No, I'll be right in…" She placed the phone back on the hook and left her office in a hurry. Moments later she arrived in the Commissioner's office. "Ah, Mackenzie, take a seat," he paused while she sat down, "we've just had a phone call from H.M. Barwon Prison…It seems that Frank Landis has escaped." Mac looked up sharply, not taking long for the name to ring familiar, fear evident in her eyes, "he what? How?" "There's no evidence of him having broken out as such, so we believe he may have been aided by one of the prison guards, possibly more." Mac sat there in silence, unable to comprehend the news that the man responsible for murdering Hollister, was now on the loose. "Ellen, I feel that your safety may be compromised with the fact you and Bill were close and you were heavily involved in the capture and arrest of Landis," he paused again as the events of five years ago came flooding back to Mac. "I also fear that your husbands' safety could also be threatened." Mac waited a few moments before responding, "so, what does this mean for Peter and I?" "Under the circumstances, I suggest that you and your family go into witness protection immediately. Particularly with your past as an undercover operative and Peter's current status within the unit…his position could be compromised." Mac stood, ready to leave, "thankyou Sir. I will be sure to pass this onto Pete as soon as I see him." "Actually Ellen, I will brief Detective Senior Sergeant Church in the morning on the situation, so if you could keep this to yourself for the time being - " Mac was taken aback by this, "what? You expect me to lie to my husband?" "Ellen, I'm only considering this situation for your own benefit. Through briefing him on a professional level, I can order him to go into witness protection, otherwise, if Church hears this from you, he will refuse to go into witness protection and go after Landis himself." Mac looked down at the floor, not wanting to hold off from telling Pete. "Is that clear?" Mac hesitated before replying, "yes, Sir!" When Mac got back to her desk, she picked up the photographs of her children and ran her fingers over their faces, as tears welled in her eyes. Mac and Pete's house~ Mac was sitting down in the lounge putting the pyjamas on the children when Pete arrived home from work. "Hello, pumpkin…How's Daddy's little girl?" He said as he lifted Bridget into the air. Mac smiled as she looked on. Pete walked over to Mac who was still dressing Callum, leant down whispering, "…and how's Daddy's big girl?" "Mm, not too bad," she let out before Pete kissed her deeply. As Pete pulled back, he sensed that something was bothering Mac. "Are you alright?" Mac looked at him, nodding, "mm, fine. Why wouldn't I be?" "Ah nothing…you just seem a bit…distracted." "Will you stop worrying about me?" She smiled as she stood, "…do you want to finish dressing Callum while I get tea started?" "Sure." Pete replied, taking Mac's place on the floor, "how's my boy, eh?" Mac spoke up from the kitchen, "he may have inherited your charm, but he also inherited your devilish ways!" "Hah, wait until the terrible two's!" While Mac was trying to prepare dinner, her conscience was eating her up. On one hand, she wanted to open up to Pete about the news of Landis escaping, but on the other, she knew what Pete's response would be – an all out war to get Landis. She tried desperately to think about something else. The two familiar arms wrapped securely around her waist immediately comforted Mac. "Need a hand with dinner?" Pete asked quietly in her ear. "Yeah, that'd be good," Mac replied in a shaky voice. Pete turned her around to face him and saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. He softly wiped them away with his thumb. "Ssh," he whispered as he gently rubbed her back. "Hey, what's wrong?" "Nothing, Pete." "Don't give that…Mac, come on…talk to me, please?" She stood there crying for a couple of minutes before saying anything. "Pete, I love you…Promise me you'll stay out of trouble?" Pete lifted Mac's chin so their eye's met. "Hey, what's brought this on?" He asked, confused. Mac bit her bottom lip, wanting so badly, to tell Pete, but opting not to, "nothing…Just promise me you'll never leave me?" "Of course I won't. You mean the world to me Mac…I love you more than I could ever tell you!" Tears continued to stream down Mac's face as Pete fervently kissed her once again. "Hey, everything will be fine, you'll see." Next morning - H.Q~ "You would have to be the sexiest Assistant Commissioner ever!" Mac looked up at the familiar voice. "Morning. What are you doing here?" Mac smiled, feigning surprise. "The Commissioner called, wanting me to come in for a `chat'." Their conversation was cut by the voice of the Commissioner breaking in over the intercom, "Mackenzie, has Church come in yet?" "Yes, Sir he has just arrived…should I send him right through?" "Yes please…oh, and you'd better come in also." "We won't be a moment." Pete helped Mac to her feet, whispering, "maybe he was still here the other night when we tried out your new desk!" "Come on," Mac smiling at Pete's remark. "Detective Senior Sergeant Church, thankyou for coming in on such short notice." "Morning Sir, it sounded pretty urgent." The Commissioner looked at Mac who had her eyes fixed on the floor as she sat next to Pete. Pete watched as the Commissioner took his focus off Mac, and back onto Pete. "I'm afraid I have some rather disturbing news," he began before being cut off by Pete. "Don't tell me I stuffed up the budget figures for the last job?" He laughed. "No, Church. This has nothing to do with your unit…Do you remember Frank Landis?" Pete glanced deeply into the Commissioner's eyes, before turning to Mac whose eyes were still transfixed on the floor. "Yeah, I remember him. He was once a mate of mine…he had Hollister blown up…why, what's he done now?" "Church, I'm afraid Landis escaped from prison, early yesterday afternoon." Pete looked back at Mac, realising this was probably the reason for her behaviour last night. "You knew about this?" He asked her. Mac looked up, "yes…" but was cut off before she could tell him why. "You knew about this, and you didn't tell me?" Pete's voice grew louder. The Commissioner spoke up, to save Mac having to explain the situation herself. "Pete, I ordered your wife to keep this from you, because I am sending the two of you, along with your children into witness protection." Pete scoffed, "you're telling me, you ordered my wife from telling me something that not only affects my professional life, but also my personal life? Easy to see why your three marriages never worked out!" "Peter!" Mac said annoyed at Pete's statement. The Commissioner let Pete's last comment slide, "Church, if it was left up to Ellen to tell you that you had to go into witness protection, would you have listened to her?" "Why the hell should that matter? It doesn't matter who tells me I'm in witness protection, because I'm not going!" The Commissioner walked right up to Pete, stopping just millimetres away from him, "yes you are, Detective Senior Sergeant, because it is an order!" Pete turned and headed straight out the door, slamming it shut. The factory~ All eyes were on Pete as he stormed into his office, slamming the door. "Things went well with the Commissioner!" Danni stated sarcastically. A few seconds later Pete reappeared, "can I see you three in my office, now." Danni and Angie just looked at each other wondering what on earth the Commissioner said that got Pete so agitated. "Is there a problem?" Asked Oscar as he walked in behind the girls. "Yeah, a bloody big one…by the name of Frank Landis," answered Pete shaking his head as he paced back and forth in his office. Angie looked up sharply, "Landis?!" "Surely they're not giving him early parole?" Queried Danni. "Danni, he's in prison for murdering three people, including a cop, plus an attempted murder," stated Oscar matter-of-factly. "Oscar, I don't need to be - " Danni was cut off by Pete before she could finish, "was in prison… Landis escaped yesterday arvo." "And they only told you this today? Does Mac know?" "Of course Mac knows, Angie. She found out yesterday," said Pete, anger still evident in his tone. "You know he's going to go after you first, don't you Pete?" Angie reminded Pete of something he knew all too well. Pete waited before replying, "yeah, that's why I need you three to help." Mac and Pete's house~ "Mummy, mummy," exclaimed Bridget as she ran down the hall to greet Mac. "Hello baby, you're in a happy mood. Is daddy home?" Asked Mac as she placed her daughter on her hip. "Yes and Oscar and Angie and Danni are here too." Mac looked surprised, "are they?" "They're helping daddy put some microphones in the house." "Microphones?" Mac asked confused, but then something clicked and she realised her daughter was referring to bugs. When Mac finally reached the living room, she could tell something was definitely going on by the way everyone stopped talking and doing things as she walked in. "Don't let me stop you," she said before giving Pete a death stare and heading upstairs. "Bridget, you go play in your room while I get changed okay?" "Okay, mummy." While Mac was changing, Pete walked into the bedroom. She could sense he was there, but neither said anything for a few moments. Eventually Mac broke the silence, "where's Callum?" "Having a nap…Mac - " "What the hell are you playing at Pete?" "What am I playing at? What about you? How often were you given an opportunity to tell me what was going on with Landis, last night, hey?" "Oh, come off it Pete. You heard the Commissioner. You and I both know that if I told you, you would have raced out of here like a bull at a gate!" Pete scoffed, "having the Commissioner tell me won't stop me from going after Landis!" "Pete, didn't you hear what he said? We have no choice but to go into witness protection." "Us being in witness protection won't stop Landis. He's got connections Mac!" "So what, you're telling me you are willing to risk the safety of your family…your children…our children? Pete, you have a responsibility as a father to protect them." "Mac we can do this without witness protection. Look, we've got it all planned…Danni will be the nanny, to protect Bridget and Callum, and we'll have 24 hour surveillance. Mac, it's the safest option for all of us." Mac shook her head in disgust, "I still can't believe you're doing this." "Mac, - " Pete whispered as he reached out to grab her, but she pulled away. "Pete, I would understand this if it was just you and I, but to do this to our children isn't fair on them, and it isn't fair on me!" By this stage, Mac and Pete were well and truly yelling at one another. They were interrupted when the door to their room quietly swung open and Bridget appeared in the doorway. Mac pulled away, wiping the tears from her cheeks, "hey sweetie, what is it?" "Mummy, why are you and daddy fighting?" Mac looked down at her daughter and hugged her gently. "We just had to discuss something important." Bridget frowned, "but why are you crying?" Mac tried to smile as she looked down at her daughter's innocent face, "because daddy just told me some sad news." "Oh, ok…Callum's crying, I think you and daddy woke him up!" "Alright. Can you go in and see him while I finish getting dressed?" "Yep!" She replied as she skipped off. When Bridget left the room, Mac looked sharply at Pete, "you better pray nothing happens to either of those two, Pete!" Angie, Danni and Oscar were sitting in the living room in silence when Pete and Mac returned. It was obvious to them there was tension between the two, no matter how much they tried to hide it. "I haven't put bugs in every room," started Oscar. "…I thought that you would need some privacy." Pete grinned as Oscar smiled back at him. "Just as long as you haven't bugged the bedroom, it's fine with me!" Replied Pete, hoping he would see a smile reappear on Mac's face. Instead, Mac gazed deeply into Pete's eyes, still pissed off with what he was doing, "why should having our room bugged worry us?" Oscar, Angie and Danni looked at Pete as Mac stormed off into the kitchen for a drink. "We should be off, seeing how we have an early start tomorrow," said Angie. Danni stood as well, "yeah, better get some sleep…Will you be alright tonight," she asked Pete. "Yeah, Landis will probably lay low for a little while, until he knows where we are staying," replied Pete, looking back at Mac who had already finished off one glass of red, and pouring out another. Oscar stood and shook Pete's hand, "just as long as you're sure you're safe…come on girls, your chariot awaits!" Angie walked into the kitchen to say bye to Mac, "we'll make sure Landis doesn't try anything, ok Mac?" "Angie, why is Pete doing this? He says we mean the world to him, but… I don't know…the way he's acting…" Angie hugged Mac tightly. "You do mean the world to him, and this is why he wants to stop Landis…We're going now, did you want us to take the kids for a couple of hours so you and Pete can talk?" Mac pulled away, "nah it's fine, I want Bridget and Callum here. Thanks anyway, Ange." "No worries. What are friends for?" Mac smiled as Angie, Oscar and Danni walked out the door. Pete grabbed the bottle of wine off Mac, which was already nearly empty, as she was pouring out another drink for herself. Mac scoffed as she turned to take it back, "so, it's alright for you to endanger our lives, but I can't have a drink!" "You've had more than enough…besides, we need to talk about this rationally." Mac walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room, laughing at Pete's statement. "What's the point? You've made your mind up!" "Mac, I know you, and I also know that there's no way you want to go into witness protection!" Mac nodded, "no Pete, you're right. I'd rather see our children be in danger than protect them as best as I could!" "What makes you think we would be any safer in witness protection?" "Pete, we can go anywhere we want. It would be harder for him to track us down, than being sitting ducks waiting for Landis's next move!" Pete turned Mac's head so she was facing him, "bullshit, Mac! Landis will keep tracking us down for as long as it takes him to kill me. Do you honestly want those kids growing up with a life on the run?" Tears started welling in Mac's eyes as she shook her head, " but I also don't want to lose them." "Mac, Landis would have to get through me before he has an opportunity to get to our babies or to you!" By now, Mac was well and truly sobbing and Pete put his arms tightly around her, rubbing Mac's back until she settled. "We'll get through this Mac, I promise you?" Later that night~ Mac and Pete were lying in bed fast asleep, oblivious to the tiny footsteps outside their door. "Mummy, mummy," cried out Bridget as she tapped Mac on the side. Mac took a few moments to wake, but when she did, she wasn't in a particularly happy mood. "Bridget, what are you doing up?" "I couldn't sleep and I heard funny noises coming from outside." By this stage, Pete had woken, "you want daddy to go outside and have a look?" "Yes please," she replied with a smile. "I won't be long," he said as he climbed out of bed and pulled some pants on. Pete came back in through the sliding doors that led to the patio in the backyard. He smiled to himself as he closed and locked the doors, knowing that it was probably the trees scraping against Bridget's window that spooked her. But he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw a dark silhouette in the corner of the living room. Immediately, he knew who it was. "How the hell did you get in?" "I snuck in through the sliding doors while you were outside," was the smug reply. He began walking closer to Pete, continuing to talk, "you know, your wife and daughter looked so peaceful as they lay in bed waiting for you." Pete looked at him sharply, "how do you know?...what have you done to them?" "Why don't you head upstairs and look for yourself?" Pete sprinted up the stairs, into his bedroom, only to find the bloodied bodies of Mac and Bridget sprawled on the bed. He dropped to his knees beside Mac and his little girl, screaming out their names as he cried. "Mac, Mac…come on…hang in there Mac, please…" "Pete, Pete…wake up," said Mac as she ran the back of her hand over Pete's sweaty forehead. "Ssh, Pete. It's alright, I'm alright." Pete woke from his nightmare and hugged Mac when he saw that she was alright. He looked around the room, but couldn't see anything, it was too dark. "Where are Bridget and Callum?" "They're in bed…Pete, what's going on?" But he didn't answer Mac's question, instead he headed straight to see the children. Mac found him standing in the doorway to Bridget's bedroom and slid her arms around his waist, "do you want to talk about it?" "It was just a nightmare," he replied. "What was it about?" Pete turned to face Mac, "Landis, he set me up…Bridgie woke with a fright, and I went outside to look around…when I came back, Landis had gotten to you and Bridge." "Oh, Pete," said Mac, as she and Pete cried quietly in each other's arms outside Bridget's room. Next day, Police HQ ~ "I thought I gave you and your husband pretty clear orders that you were to immediately go into witness protection," yelled the Commissioner, only inches from Mac's face. "Yes Sir, you did. But you know what Church is like. He's not one for taking orders." The Commissioner sat back down at his desk, "I hope you're willing to live with the possible consequences!" "I am not happy with the plan either, but with all due respect Sir, don't you think it will be easier to capture Landis, knowing that he will most certainly go after Pete?" The Commissioner looked up at Mac, "alright, but the minute the situation turns dangerous, I am pulling ALL of you out!" "Yes Sir." Mac and Pete's house~ Pete walked through the empty house, "Danni, are you here? Danni…" He headed upstairs and checked the rooms, but still there was no sign of Danni or the children anywhere. Pete tried not to panic, until he saw a pile of photographs on the coffee table in the lounge. He walked over and looked through them. They were pictures of his family, with arrows pointing to him. Pete turned quickly as he heard the front door open, gun in hand. It was only Mac. "Hey," she started before seeing Pete's distressed look. "What's the problem?" He handed her the pictures, "he's been here, Mac…Landis has been here!" Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Your use of Yahoo! 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