[Geekgirl]

Okay, so I've been toying with trying to write a Mac fic for a while. And after reading Deepfathom's little story, decided it was time to do some character writing exercizes of my own. So this little idea popped into my mind and wouldn't let go. I wrote for about an hour hour solid and this is what I came up with. I don't own the characters, just had a bit of fun playing with them. This has not been beta'd but is just meant to be a fun little writing practice.

Please let me know what you think. I am hoping to explore Mac a bit more this summer since he presents such a fun challenge.


The List

After a long day at the office, I was looking forward to a quiet evening with my favorite westerns. I sat through three meetings with Pete in the morning and then helped write two grant proposals. I really hate the paperwork aspect of my job, even though the grant writing can be worthwhile for the organizations that receive them. Sometimes I need the paperwork to remind me that it’s nice to have a quiet week without flying all over the world or getting shot at… sometimes it is, but not this week.

Unfortunately, the site that greets me when I get home and unlock the door reminds me that I won’t be having a quiet evening at home. The couch cushions are on the floor, some of the stuffing is pulled out of one corner of the middle cushion. The garbage can is knocked over and its contents are spread across my kitchen floor. And to top it all off, my hockey equipment is not where I left it.

I step into the living room and close the door, looking around for the reason my house is in such disarray. It’s quiet and I don’t see anything downstairs, so I make my way to the staircase, hoping that the upstairs has been spared. I carefully go upstairs and notice that everything looks okay, until, I get into my bedroom. There in the middle of my bed, is my favorite Kings Hockey jersey, in pieces! That’s it! I’ve officially had it with this week. Pete, send me out on the next field assignment that comes along, please.

This was supposed to be an easy week of paperwork and dog sitting for a friend… “Oh she’ll be no problem Mac. Molly’s really a well behaved dog. She’s so quiet you won’t notice she’s here. Just make sure you leave her plenty of food and water, take her for a walk in the morning and the evening, and it should be fine.” I shoulda known that it wasn’t going to work out like that. As a kid, my parents once watched the neighbors Yorkshire terror and it chewed up the end table and ate three of my shoes over the course of one weekend. After two days with Molly the two year old Black Lab, my dear friend will be replacing a few things…but I ‘m beginning to wonder just how long the list will be by the end of the week.

I call to Molly and sure enough, the silly thing crawls out from under my bed with one of my hockey skates in her mouth. I take a deep breath and slowly release it. Molly looks up at me with her big eyes and drops the skate. The skate tongue is chewed to bits and the laces have had it. Okay, add one new pair of skates to the list. I look down at her and snap my fingers. She instantly comes over to me and I bend down and scratch her ears. “Silly dog lets go for a walk.” She wags her tail at me and we head downstairs.

Honestly, how could I be mad at her when she’s been left at some stranger’s house, alone, all day? No, I’ll just add the King’s Jersey and a new pair of skates to the list. I retrieve my hockey stick from the floor and place it in the corner, while I grab for Molly’s leash…also add one hockey stick to that list.

We have a nice walk, with Molly wagging her tail at everyone we pass. Returning home, she looks up at me and nuzzles my hand, as if to apologize for her behavior today, as I unlock the door. I pat her on the head. “I know girl, you didn’t mean to make a mess of the house.” Really, I do understand but I need to remind myself that at this age, she’s still a puppy.

I place fresh water in her bowl and give her a scoop of food and begin the clean-up process. Once my kitchen is back in order, I turn to the living room. Well the couch has seen better days but this should work for now. Pushing the stuffing back into the cushion and adding a bit of duct tape to close up the hole, I flip the cushion over so the duct tape is down and to the back of the couch. A few more things to pick up and then the living room looks like it normally does, except for the addition that has decided she needs to sit on my couch with her head laying on the arm of it.

After making a sandwich for myself and a grabbing a notepad and pencil from the counter, I sit down on the couch next to Molly. She perks up for a moment and I break off a bit of crust and give it to her. Her tail flops against the back of the couch in thanks. I take a bite of my sandwich and look over the list and add today’s damages to it. I finish my sandwich and take the plate back to the kitchen. Returning to the living room, I place a movie in the VCR, turn off the lights, and try to stretch out on the couch with Molly taking up one end of it. She eventually concedes her spot and lies down on the floor next to me. I start the movie and reach down and pet her as the opening credits roll.

A couple hours later I’m woken up by the most god awful sound. Molly is growling and pacing the floor next to the French doors to the deck. Suddenly she runs to and starts to bark at the front door. Now, Molly has never barked the entire time I’ve had her, so this gives me reason for concern. I look around and grab the nearest “weapon” I can find, which just so happens to be one slightly chewed up hockey stick. As I head to the front door, I catch the brief glimpse of something reflected from the kitchen window and I throw myself to the floor, moments before gunshots ring out. Four shots are fired through my kitchen window, with one of them hitting me in the shoulder. Damn that hurts, no matter how many times I’ve been shot, it still hurts.

As I lay low to the ground, another crashing sound comes through the back door. Next thing I know Molly is charging some guy in black with a handgun aimed in my general direction. She lunges at him, biting the arm holding the gun. The attacker drops the gun but Molly refuses to let go, shaking her head from side to side with his arm still in her mouth. The front door opens and the second intruder comes through taking aim at Molly with his gun. I quickly use the hockey stick to knock the feet out from under the guy before he can shoot my dog. Wait a second, when did she become my dog?

I succeed in knocking the guy down and Molly runs to stand over the intruder, growling viciously and succeeding at holding him to the floor. This action leaves the first intruder time to escape back through the back door. I can hear sirens in the distance growing louder and one of the neighbors comes through the front door, baseball bat in hand. Molly has met him before so she doesn’t charge him but continues to stand guard over her prisoner. Jack, an ex-military guy, looks around, and I motion to the back door. He runs out and does a quick check. A few moments later he comes back to check on me and Molly.

I indicate that I am fine but he disagrees and when the police arrive, he asks them to also to send in the EMTs. I try to explain it’s nothing but in the end, I’ve lost the argument and will be making a brief visit to the hospital. Have I mentioned this was supposed to be a quiet week?

The police arrest the burglar and after listening to a bit of my story, send a second car out to patrol the neighborhood. It appears that the second guy was hiding on a boat about four rows over from my houseboat, trying to stop the bleeding on his arm from where Molly bit him. He too gets to have a brief visit to the hospital, before heading off to a jail cell. I make a call to Pete who agrees to meet me at the hospital. Jack agrees to stay behind and watch after Molly until I return.

In the predawn hours, I returned home with a clean, bandaged gunshot wound and my arm in a sling. Pete opened the door and I walked in. Molly jumped off the couch and ran over to me, sniffed my hand and licked it, while Pete surveyed the mess called my living room. Jack said that he had used some cardboard and duct tape to cover the windows temporarily but the lock on the backdoor would need to be replaced. He mentioned that he found my list of things to be replaced and had added the windows and the lock to it. I’m sorry but as soon as he said that, I couldn’t help it, I laughed, hard.

Pete looked at Jack and then they both looked at me. I was so busy laughing and scratching Molly behind her ears with my good arm that I hadn’t noticed when Jack handed Pete the list. Pete looked it over, shook his head, and then laughed as well.

It had been a long night so I thanked Jack for his time and for the repairs. I sent him home and sat down on the couch. As soon as I sat down, Molly jumped onto the couch and lay down with her head on my thigh. I let my hand slide down her back smoothing her soft black fur. There’s something comforting about petting the dog that just saved your life.

Pete looks over to me and tells me to take the day off, the paperwork can wait a day or two until I get things cleaned up. I smile at him and tell him, I’ll see him in the morning. He asks one last time if I’m alright on my own. I give him my, “Pete, of course I am” look as I continue to smooth Molly’s fur. He smiles knowingly and says he’ll stop by in the morning with breakfast.

After Pete leaves, I pick up the list and review it. Things to be replace: Running Shoes, Pillow, Hockey Skates, Kings Jersey, Hockey Stick, Kitchen Window, and Lock on Back Door. I grab the pencil and quickly cross off everything except the window and lock. After tonight, I think Molly has earned her keep…however, I will be telling Nikki that Molly does bark and is one great guard dog.




Yes, growing up, I had a black lab who chewed on everything (tin cans, vaccuum cleaners, couches, etc) when left alone. The silly dog thought he was a puppy and a lap dog until he was 10 years old. It seems that labs never stop chewing....Now, my dog always barked at people so at least Nikki got a quiet one.

[deepfathom393]

What a great story! I think it's a very good start It had a litttle bit of everything: action, humor, dogs... I loved the fact that Mac ended up liking Molly and not being angry with her anymore. Nice touch! It reminds me of my black lab named Skippy at home in Idaho...what a fun dog.