Prologue: It had been three weeks since the former NYPD detective had walked back into Don Flack's life. Ever since her return, the charming Irishman with his dark blue eyes had been confused. The insanely gorgeous brunette stole his breath twelve years ago, and after she'd left for a position in New Orleans he'd felt that he'd lost his chance to tell her how he really felt about her. She'd changed his life once more, it being the third time in over a decade. The first time being when they met, the second when she'd left for New Orleans, and her sudden, surprising return being the third. This was his chance to explain how he felt.
"What?! She's back," exclaimed Detective Mac Taylor as he accompanied his fellow NYPD detective and close friend Don Flack into the crime lab.
"Yeah. . . She came back three months ago," Detective Flack replied half-halfheartedly, his blue eyes burning with shame.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me?! The least you could do was pick up the damn phone!"
"Mac, I was just as stunned then as you are now! If I'd known that she was coming back, I would've told you!"
With his blue-green eyes glowing with fury, Mac followed Don into the nearest lab. Inside said lab was Sergeant Detective Danny Messer and his wife Lindsay; Mac's yelling had caused them both to look up from their work. When the two of them noticed Flack's red face, they glanced at one another, wondering what the hell had been going on.
"What's goin' on here?" Danny asked, breaking the awkward silence between the four of them.
"She came back three months ago, Danny, and Flack didn't even bother telling us!" Mac replied furiously, aware that Danny knew to whom he was referring.
"What the hell, Flack?!" Danny demanded, now receiving Mac's fury as his own.
"I'll explain later, Danny!" Flack replied as his phone began buzzing in his pants pocket.
While the three of them continued to glare at him, Flack ripped his cell phone out of his pocket and nearly smashed the answer key with his thumb. He knew who was calling and honestly thought that they'd chosen a really bad time.
"Flack," he hissed into the speaker, turning away from the glares of his teammates.
"Don, it's me. You sound pissed. What's going on?" questioned former NYPD Detective Stella Bonasera, whose voice was surrounded with worry.
"I. . .spilled the news to the rest of them just now. . ." Flack replied halfheartedly, bracing himself for her fury.
"Are you kidding me?!" Stella shrieked, adding a barrage of curse words that Flack had never heard her say before.
"Calm down. I told them today because I didn't want you to be stressed from their visits if I'd told them three months ago."
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"Stella, calm down. Where are you?"
"I'm downstairs. I'll meet you up there in a minute," Stella hissed, obviously irritated with Flack.
"Don't go anywhere. I'm coming downstairs to meet you," Flack replied calmly before hanging up his phone and heading towards the elevator.
"What the hell was that all about," Lindsay asked as Flack left the lab.
"No idea," Danny and Mac replied in unison, their voices full of the same confusion as Lindsay.
Five minutes later, Flack found himself in the lobby of the tower that held the New York Crime Lab and numerous other offices. His blue eyes scanned his surroundings, searching in vain for the fiery lady that had returned to him three months ago. Even though he'd meant well, he still felt like an ass for not telling the team about her return, especially Mac and Lindsay, both of whom had missed her terribly. He couldn't blame them for being pissed at him; he would've reacted in the same exact manner if he were in their shoes. Before he was able to turn back towards the elevator, a warm hand had placed itself on his back and scared him. Before he could reach for his service weapon his blue eyes met a pair of hazel orbs sitting just below his face. The eyes weren't the only thing that invaded his line of vision; the spiral curls, deep brown in color, and a smiling, beautiful face caught him off guard as well.
"Hey you," he murmured, placing his chin atop the spiral curls that belonged to his beloved Stella Bonasera.
Stella didn't reply; she only allowed herself to be pulled into Flack's chest, which smelled faintly of the cologne that she missed so much. After she'd taken a new position in New Orleans as the head detective, she'd come to realize how much she had really missed Flack. It wasn't his blue eyes that attracted her to him, it was his charming smile and polite manner. Not to mention his cologne. The bottle that she'd gotten him as a birthday gift before she left smelled so strong, so sexy. The bottle practically had his name written all over it.
"I see you're using the cologne I got you a few years back," Stella muttered, pulling away from Flack's chest and throwing him her classic smile.
"Yeah. . . I knew it would come in handy one day," Flack murmured in reply, placing his crazy blue eyes just inches from her hazel orbs.
"Flack, you have no idea how much I've missed the smell of your. . ." her voice trailed off.
"My what?" he questioned, staring deep into her eyes.
"Animal magnetism?"
"Maybe that's the phrase you're looking for."
"Maybe it is, I can't be sure."
Grinning at Stella, Flack pulled her in close to him, allowing himself to get a whiff of her perfume. Holy shit, she's gonna incapacitate me! he thought to himself as the smell caught him off guard. He couldn't help himself; she smelled so amazing, like she was his own brand of ecstasy. Before either of them could get any closer to one another, the elevator dinged behind them, causing the two of them to crank their heads in that direction. Moments later, the smooth metallic doors slid open and revealed the famous Mac Taylor and his new best friend, former FBI investigator Jo Danville. The very sight of Stella wrapped up in Flack's arms forced his dark eyebrows to rise to a peak on his forehead and his blue-green eyes to widen with shock; Jo took one look and her jaw nearly caused a crack in the floor after it had dropped so low. Flack saw his boss and nearly released Stella out of embarrassment, his blue eyes full of shame. Stella, on the other hand, only pulled herself closer to Flack.
"What have we here," Jo asked finally, breaking the silence between the four of them.
Nobody answered Jo's question, they only gaped at each other with wide eyes, high eyebrows, and open mouths. Mac knew very well what was going on in the lobby: Stella had come for a visit, and she met Flack in the lobby for a little "privacy." Well, he'd thought that was what was really going on, until he saw the look in Stella's hazel eyes. Totally speechless, he pulled the shocked Jo Danville into the lobby, casting a sideways glance at Flack as he did so. Once Mac and Jo were out of sight, Flack pulled Stella into the elevator and tapped the button to take them to the thirty-fifth floor.
Two minutes later, the smooth metallic doors of the elevator opened and instantly Flack and Stella's ears became filled with the buzzing of lab machinery, conversations, and ringing phones. Without a word the two of them stepped out of the metal box and into a familiar world. To Flack, this world was like a second home to him, with the endless noises of machinery, conversations, and ringing phones. Stella, on the other hand, felt totally different. This lab had been her home for twelve years, and she'd left it behind for a new start. Now that she was back, she felt like an alien, an outcast. Without a single word, Flack slipped his hand around her waist and guided her through the world that she once knew as her home. He knew what she wanted to do, and it was see everyone that missed her terribly. An endless sea of lab technicians, detectives, and suspects stared at them as they walked side by side to the nearest lab.
"Look out, Flack, here comes trouble. . ." Stella murmured as the sight of her once-fellow CSIs Danny Messer, Lindsay Monroe-Messer, and Sheldon Hawkes, along with Chief ME Sid Hammerback, invaded her hazel eyes.
"Make that trouble times four. . ." Flack muttered in reply, his face turning red with embarrassment.
Without as much as a glance, Flack escorted Stella into the lab holding her closest friends. Upon her entrance, Lindsay nearly shrieked, Danny's jaw dropped to the floor, Sheldon's brown eyes widened, and Sid took on a look of shock that nobody had ever seen before.
"Hey guys!" Stella called out, looking at her old friends, all of whom she considered family.
"Stella! Holy-!" Lindsay shrieked in reply, running over to embrace her closest friend.
"How's my girl?" Stella grunted through Lindsay's tight hug.
"I'm good! What're you doing here? Are you on vacation?" Lindsay grunted in reply, finally letting go of her close friend.
"No. I left my job in New Orleans."
"You WHAT?!" Danny shrieked, looking at Stella in disbelief.
"Danny, I had to get out of there. I knew that the door would always be open if I wanted to come back. I had to settle in before I talked to Mac about it," Stella replied calmly, walking over to her longtime friend.
"You're joking!" Sheldon hollered, his mouth opening in disbelief.
"I'm actually quite serious, Sheldon. Mac and I had a private discussion before I left regarding what would happen if I decided to leave New Orleans. I just didn't feel right down there. I missed my family here in New York," Stella admitted, smiling at Sheldon and the others.
"So. . .you're coming back to work at the Crime Lab with us?" Sid jumped in, glancing at Stella with his tired blue eyes.
"Yeah, and I would've called Mac if I'd had the chance, but. . ." her voice trailed off, leaving everyone in a cloud of confusion.
"But what?" Lindsay asked, looking sideways at Stella.
"I had to settle in first," Stella muttered, glancing at Flack as she answered Lindsay's question.
"You two have been seeing each other?!" Danny shrieked, his mouth wide open with shock.
"Danny, you know how Flack reacted when she left. He was going nuts!" Lindsay replied, knowing that he knew what she meant.
Shaken with disbelief, Danny, Sid, and Sheldon just stared at Flack, who'd slipped his hand around Stella's waist quietly. The whole time she was here, even before she'd left, the two of them had been seeing each other, and who the hell knew what they'd been up to! Despite his embarrassment, Flack grinned and pulled Stella close to him. Lindsay was the only person who knew about the two of them, and now that the secret was out, Flack couldn't help but grin. Stella, on the other hand, had forgotten how much she'd told Lindsay before she'd left for New Orleans and turned a deep red. She then buried her head in Flack's chest and sighed, hoping that nobody knew what she was doing.
"How long has this been goin' on, Flack?" Danny demanded angrily, glancing furiously between Flack and Stella.
"Longer than you think!" Lindsay giggled, returning Danny's glance.
"Yeah. . . I had a little 'scare' down in New Orleans after I first got there, if you know what I mean!" Stella murmured into Flack's chest.
"Holy shit! Why didn't you say anything?" Flack demanded, pulling away from Stella and staring deep into her hazel eyes.
Sid and Sheldon both sensed what was going to follow and left the lab hurriedly, hoping to not find out what Stella meant. Moments later, Flack escorted Stella out of the lab, his face red as a lobster, and the two of them walked side by side to the elevator.