Disclaimer: Don't own them. Just playing with them ~shifty~

Spoilers for 5X11

Notes: This is my take on the fight in Forbidden Fruit. Besides the fact that it was hot. It was. Umm this is sort of Adam centric. Like always, enjoy.

Dynamic Duo

It wasn't hard for him to notice them fighting. And, truth be told, it wasn't hard to hear either. And now they were on the same case together. The dynamic duo of the lab was not as dynamic as they were detrimental. Mainly to each other. He concentrated on telling them the report, but it was harder than usual.

Usually, he was intimidated by them because they were just them. Mac was the boss. He had power. He knew he had power. He was a Marine after all, but he was definitely a good boss. He defended and was still defending Adam's job at the lab. Stella was Mac's right hand, well, woman. And Adam was intimidated by them enough separately, but together, they were unstoppable. Different as night and day. Yin and yang. But they kept each other in check with every little thing in their world.

Now, they stood on two sides of him, not occasionally glancing at each other like they used to do. Not the occasional third wheel aspect he felt around them. The way that everyone else could see what was between then when they failed or refused to recognize it.

"So… errr… the… uh… victim was at the… umm… movie with her… uh… boyfriend."

"And?"

Patience really wasn't Mac's virtue. It was kind of ironic because when he dated Peyton he waited a while to make any progress in that relationship. And he was not making a move at all towards his partner. Nothing. Of course, no one really expected him to. They were fighting after all. But maybe that wasn't patience as much as it was stubbornness. And that made him like Stella in one way (if they were even like each other, they shared so many differences). They were both so stubborn. And that was keeping Adam's job so he was not about to challenge it. But their stubbornness solved so many cases which made them so remarkable with detective work. And also it was what made him nervous.

"She left him at the entrance," Adam managed to blurt out without any 'err' or 'umm' remarks that made him stutter. "It looks like they were fighting." He saw them glance at each other then quickly back at them. "We lost her after this. Until Kendall found part of a ticket in her purse. So I pulled the security tapes from the opera house where she was at. In every frame that she's in, this guy's about five feet behind her. I only got his face once." He handed them a print out of the picture. "Don't know who he is. Facial scan pulled up nothing."

"We'll put a bulletin out. You're incredible, Adam," Stella always was a bit kinder. She was the one who had come up with the plan to save his job. And she was always the one to convince Mac of something. But she was also the one who said they needed those machines instead of him. But she might as well be a super hero because she managed to keep Adam's job.

"Thanks," he turned red and grinned awkwardly. He could have sworn that Mac's anger had shifted just a wisp in the time vortex that surrounded them to the lab tech then back at Stella. Mac must've had a clue as to what Stella was up to. Going against him and all. Adam had heard the fight and assumed that Stella went against him when she left from the lab early. He went to Mac with the evidence instead of telling her.

Needless to say, the tension breathed in and out as they did, consuming the room.

"Mac, I'm sorry. You were right. I'm sorry I sidestepped you." Stella looked quizzically at Adam while he did this impression. Mac looked a bit amused.

"Stell, it's okay. We all want this case over and solved. I just wish you hadn't gone around me in this." The amusement was gone in a flash. Stella couldn't hide a healthy grin. Mac looked at Adam with a mixed look. Adam didn't know if he was mad with him or wanted to laugh. Stella looked over at her partner with a raised eyebrow and that same grin that always accompanied a sarcastic comment from Mac. Almost as if nothing had changed.

Adam looked down on the ground and rubbed the back of his head, his blush expanding and growing in intensity. But he knew what he was going to say might just hit home. If not, well, he was always saying awkward things so this would probably just slide through everything he had said before. "We don't like it when Mom and Dad fight."

They looked at each other with softer eyes, but Adam knew the anger was far from gone. Sometime soon when Mac knew exactly what she did, they would fight, and the lab didn't know what would happen then. If the dynamic duo would survive, or if they'd lose what made them great. But for now, maybe things would look up, just for a bit.

A/N: Short, but anyway it's my take on things. Hope you enjoyed it. And really was I the only one who found Mac and Stella's fight like really hot and electrically charged? I love their fights. Please review and have a good day XD