A/N: Here it is, Guys! I know, it took way too long, I'm sorry. I hope you like it :D

When he woke up, his arms were wrapped around her. He could feel her breath tickle the hairs on his forearm, and he enjoyed the feel of her warm body lying next to him, her cheek pressed gently against his chest, her arm thrown casually over him. He smiled, inhaling her sweet scent. Something deep inside him groaned. God, he could just stay here and smell her forever, enjoying the sweet scent that was her, and only her. He rubbed his hand up and down her back, feeling her silky skin underneath his fingers, separated only by a thin t-shirt. She sighed, still dreaming, and he smiled again. He wondered idly what she was dreaming about. Was it another nightmare? He felt his brow furrow, and he frowned.

She didn't feel safe; he could tell. She didn't feel safe alone in her apartment, she didn't feel safe on his couch, and she didn't feel safe with him, in his bed.

What that animal had done was violate her, even though he hadn't actually raped her. He had violated her sense of self, her sense of safety. He had destroyed her independence. Without actually raping her physical body, he had managed to rape her soul. For that, the man would eventually pay. But until Stella was actually able to look her attacker in the eye, say "That's him" and watch them drag him away, she needed to be able to feel safe. He sighed, rubbing his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. That was his job. That was something he could do. It was something he would do, if it meant Stella feeling safe again, even at the expense of losing her sleeping beside him.

Beside him. He closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head at the thought that had just flitted dangerously by: that insane idea that Stella was his to lose, that she wouldn't object to staying, even after he'd cured her of her nightmares, that one day, they might even—but he shut that thought down before it could even make its way out. That was the ultimate forbidden territory of these dangerous waters he was already in. He shook his head and adjusted his body so that Stella was closer to him. He looked down at her face and found that she was smiling. He smiled, too, but his smile faded again as he thought back to that nightmare that she had every night, the one that sent the strong, confident Stella Bonasera into a tailspin of fear, that almost brought her to tears every night, that had forced her to stay awake before he had discovered what was going on. When he saw her lying there, trying not to cry, so tired, but afraid to sleep, something inside him had just broken. He had felt rage boil up inside of him, along with a strong desire to hunt down the man responsible and make him pay. But he couldn't. So instead, he did what he could to help Stella.

He knew what she needed to learn. He knew that as a cop, she could hold her own pretty well, but she still needed him to teach her how to defend herself. She needed him. For now.

"For now," he whispered aloud. As in, she would leave later. She didn't need him forever. He frowned slightly as his heart leapt at the thought of her leaving. He couldn't keep thinking of her like that. She wasn't his.

Her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him, the picture of sleepy innocence. She smiled, still half-caught in a dream, then seemed to realize where she was. Her expressive eyes opened wide and a gasp left her lips as she sat straight up, using his chest to hold herself up.

"Oh, no," she said, looking down at him guiltily. "Did we—?" she let the question trail off.

"No," Mac said simply. He stretched.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure I would have remembered, Stella."

"I could have sworn we—but it was so—what?" she muttered, apparently talking to herself now. She lay back down next to him, subconsciously laying her head on his shoulder as she thought out loud.

"It must have been—a dream? No. But—that's bad. I didn't dream that. Did I?" she directed this last question apparently at him. He looked down at her and pointed to his chest.

"Was that to me?" he asked. She nodded. He shrugged.

"I don't know. What are we talking about here?"

"What happened last night?" Stella asked him. She snuggled closer to him, again apparently subconsciously.

"Well, you had your regularly scheduled nightmare," Mac said, "And then you woke up, which woke me up, and I got you back to sleep. Then about an hour later you started squirming again, and woke me up. When you finally opened your eyes, you screamed and fell off the bed. Then we talked, and—and then we went back to sleep." He felt his cheeks warm, but his face remained straight.

"No," Stella countered quietly. "We did something else."

"Well, we kissed. Again."

"It was more than that, Mac, and you know it. I'm just trying to figure out—" but she broke off that sentence, blushing.

"Figure out what?"

"Nothing. We didn't have sex?"

"No." the question caught him by surprise.

"But we kissed."

"Yes."

"How much more? It wasn't just a kiss; it was more. But how much more?"

"Well, we kissed for a long time."

"How good of a kiss was it?"

"How do you not remember it?" Mac demanded.

"I remember it," Stella shot back. "I'm just…remembering something else, too, and I'm pretty confused as to which is which."

"We kissed. It was a very, very good kiss. At least for me," Mac sounded a bit hurt. "It was about a half an hour or so of kissing, but that was it. No sex."

"Oh. Okay then," Stella said, her eyes widening slightly as some connection was made. She sat up again, this time pulling the covers off of herself and Mac, and getting out of bed.

"You want some coffee?" she asked Mac, not quite meeting his eye. Mac fixed her with a look.

"Sure. You know where to find everything?"

"Yeah." Mac sat up, and she suddenly turned. "But, Mac, wait."

"Yeah?" Mac asked. She smiled tentatively.

"It was a very, very good kiss." She stood up, apparently embarrassed about something, and went to her bag. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants over the shorts she had worn to bed and padded to his kitchen to make the coffee. Mac stayed in his bed for a second, just watching her, frustration and confusion eating at him.

About ten minutes later, they were sitting in his living room, talking and eating breakfast—eggs and a bagel with cream cheese alongside their coffee.

"So what's your plan for today?" Mac asked. She shrugged.

"We've got to go into work. We're both working today," she said around a bite of egg.

"Yeah, but what about afterwards?" Mac asked. "Did you want to have another self defense lesson?"

After a moment, Stella nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said finally. "Yeah, let's do that."

"Okay," Mac said. "Let's say about 8:00 tonight. Same time, same place?"

"Sure," Stella agreed. She looked at her watch. "Damn, we're going to be late," she said, swallowing the last bits of egg and bagel and standing up. "Come on, let's go. Take the Avalanche; I'll take the subway today."

"But—" Mac began to protest. "Stella, that's not necessary. We can both drive to work."

"I don't want people talking," Stella said shortly. "Someone almost saw us yesterday. I don't want to jeopardize our jobs because people think we're—"

"Sleeping together?" Mac finished sourly. "What is it with you and sex this morning?"

He didn't mention Stella's slight blush as she rushed out the door of his apartment, but he did notice.

XXXXX

"Hey," she said as she walked through the door, pulling her hair up in a ponytail. She was wearing the same shirt—a sports bra that exposed her taut, beautiful torso—but instead of the tight-fitting pants made out of that stretchy fabric she had worn last time, she was now wearing a pair of very short shorts, exposing miles of legs. He'd never noticed exactly how long her legs were before, nor how femininely muscular they were, trim and shapely but powerful looking at the same time.

Thank you, God, for women's exercise clothing, Mac thought, looking her up and down as she set her things down up against the wall and began stretching.

"Uh, hi," he managed. He took a deep breath and mentally shook himself.

So she's wearing shorts, he thought. Big deal. Stop ogling her like she's a piece of meat. Concentrate on the lesson.

"Okay, so we're going to warm up with some basic punches," he said, forcing his eyes to look at her face. He grabbed a pair of punching mitts—a sort of glove that you could punch that worked by spreading the force of the punch across a wider area than just one's hand—and a pair of boxing gloves. He put the mitts on and tossed the gloves to Stella.

"Here," he said. "Try these." He knew they would fit, of course—he'd surreptitiously gauged her hand size earlier in the day and had bought them during his lunch break.

"Where did you get these?" she asked him, putting them on. "Wow, they fit perfectly."

"I got them for you. Think of it as a gift," Mac said with a crooked half-smile. She looked up at him, surprised.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Mac said. He held up the mitts. "Punch with your right hand, then left, then give me two right hooks," he instructed. She did what he said, punching with such a force that Mac almost had to take a step back.

"Wow. That's a strong punch," he said, feeling his hands tingle. "Okay, try it again, but don't try to break my hand this time, okay?"

She grinned. "Am I going too hard on you, Mac?"

"No," Mac replied. "I just don't want you wearing yourself out. I want to teach you a few other moves tonight, and I need you able to do them."

"Okay, sure," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Just go," Mac said mock-impatiently. She began punching again, this time with less severity.

"Okay, stop," Mac said after about three minutes. "That's good. How you feeling?"

"Pretty good," Stella said. She shook her arms around. "My arms are gonna kill tomorrow, though."

"That's good, you're gaining strength," Mac said with a smile. "Okay, you can take off the gloves now. Get a drink of water." He noticed the sheen of sweat that was accumulating on her brow and resisted the urge to see if the sweat had beaded in other places as well. She gladly removed the gloves and walked over to her bag, placing the gloves almost lovingly inside before nearly drowning herself with her water bottle. Mac watched with some amusement.

"Thirsty, huh?" he asked dryly. She shot him a look but didn't respond. He cracked the barest of smiles before motioning her over.

"So what are you teaching me today, Mac?" she asked. Mac smiled.

"How to get out of a bear hug. May I demonstrate?" he asked. She nodded.

"Okay, stand behind me," he instructed, "and put me into a bear hug."

"Okay," she said. She went behind him and wrapped her arms around his arms and chest.

"Ready?" Mac asked.

"Sure," Stella said into his ear. She didn't see his grin until it was too late.

"All right," he said. He twisted himself in her arms. Suddenly, Stella felt herself flying through the air, and then she was on her back at his feet.

"Wait, what?" she asked confusedly, looking around. Mac laughed and offered her his hand.

"Come on, I'll walk you through it," he said. He helped her stand up.

"Okay, what's the point of a bear hug?" Mac asked.

"To incapacitate me so I can't use my arms to fight back and also to get out of the way so I can't kick you," Stella said. Mac nodded.

"Yup. So what you want to do is this. Wrap your arms around me again."

"Ha. No."

"Why not?"

"I just got thrown in the air and tossed to the ground like a backpack," Stella said. "Why the hell do you think not?"

"Okay, I promise to warn you before I pick you up," Mac said. She pursed her lips, but got behind Mac again. She wrapped her arms around again.

"All right, so when you feel someone grab you from behind, the first thing you want to do is bend at the knees and get into a ready position," Mac instructed, bending his knees so that he was almost squatting. He turned his head. "The second thing you want to do—and this is the important part—is to raise your forearms up so you can take some of the pressure off of the bear hug. See?" he asked, demonstrating. Stella felt her arms get pulled away from his chest slightly and nodded.

"Yeah, I see," Stella said.

"Good. Why would I do that?"

"Well," Stella said, laying her head on Mac's shoulder as she thought, "it would give you more room to move, right?"

"Yes, but what else does it do?"

"Makes you look like a gargoyle?" she suggested lightly. Mac turned his head so he could glare at her, and she grinned.

"No," Mac said. He stood up.

"When you're bear-hugging me, you can move your hands as far down as you want," Mac explained.

"Promise?" Stella muttered, almost too quietly for Mac to hear. Almost.

"Yes. You have complete control over me, and I'm helpless. But if I move my forearms up, it limits how far down you can go. Do you understand that?"

"Yeah," Stella said.

"Okay, good. So your arms are up, and your knees are bent, right?"

"Yup," Stella said. "What's next? Am I gonna get flipped?"

"No," Mac said with a chuckle. "Okay, you notice how with my knees bent, my hips can move?" he moved his hips from side to side to demonstrate, and she nodded.

"They're movable, so you're going to pick a side and move your leg—I'm going to my right, so I'm going to lean my hips to that side, and I'm going to move my left leg out and behind your body, like so." he twisted once again in her arms, and then he was straddling Stella's right leg. He could feel her breath on the back of his neck, feel her tense up again.

"Not yet," he said in answer to her unasked question. "Soon, though. I'll warn you, okay? I promise."

"Okay," she said softly.

"Okay, the next thing you're going to do is—and I swear you're not going to be thrown just yet—is reach down behind your opponent's legs and grab behind their knees. You don't need to grab too hard; just a nice, solid grip on them will do." He closed his eyes, willing himself to stay in control, and reached down. "Remember to keep your hands on the outside of their legs; you're not trying to get to know them better, you want them off of you." His hands made contact with the back of Stella's thigh, and she jumped a little. Immediately, Mac removed his hands from the satin skin and stood up.

"You okay?" he asked softly, slipping an arm behind her back. She nodded.

"I just wasn't—expecting that," she managed. "Continue with the lesson." He nodded and moved his hands back into position, sliding his hand down part of the way when he grabbed too high.

"All right, this next part gets a little tricky," Mac admitted. "This move is designed to throw off a larger attacker, someone who's going to be bigger and stronger than you, okay? So you have to be sure of your balance and your stance. It has to be solid, understand?"

"Yeah," Stella said.

"Okay, so I'm going to move my hips below yours, to make displacing you easier. If I was to be standing straight, I'd have to throw your entire body weight. I mean, with you, it'd be easy, see?" He lifted her up, and she clung to him like an awkward koala bear.

"Hey!" she squealed. "What happened to my warning?"

"Sorry, that was just a demonstration," Mac said with a grin as he set her back down. "I was just proving a point. If you were taller and bigger than me, I'd have trouble lifting you up. So you're going to keep your hips lower than your opponent's.

"The rest is simple. Make sure you're balanced properly, grab firmly behind the knees, and stand up."

"Stand up?" Stella asked.

"Yes. And then as you stand up, you're moving your arms like you're throwing something over your shoulder. At the top of that arc, let go."

"Let go. Just like that?" Stella asked, incredulous.

"Yup. Your opponent, no matter what size they are, will fall. I'm going to demonstrate now, okay? You're going to fall now. You ready?"

"Yes," Stella said. Carefully but quickly, Mac lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder with ease. She fell to the floor behind him and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Ouch," she said.

"You okay?" Mac asked, instantly kneeling beside her. She looked up at him.

"Well, I just got thrown to the floor, so I'm naturally going to be in a bit of pain," she said reproachfully. Mac laughed and stood up, offering her his hand. She took it and allowed herself to be helped up, smiling at him.

"Okay, you want to try it?" he asked her.

"And get a chance to pay you back? Definitely," she said, hitting him playfully on the shoulder.

"Yeah? All right, then. Go for it." he went behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against his chest. She turned her head to look at him.

"Ready?" she asked softly, her lips inches from his.

"Whenever you're ready," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Step by step."

"Okay," she said.

"I put you into a bear hug. What's step one?"

"Step one: get into a ready position and move my arms, palms facing up," Stella recited, moving into position.

"What does that do?"

"Gives me some room to breathe.

"Good. Step two?"

"Notice how my hips can move," she said, swaying her hips back and forth against him semi-provocatively. Mac gritted his teeth and forced himself to breathe.

"Step three?"

"Pick a side, move my hips to that side so I can get a leg out."

"Which leg?"

"The opposite side. I'm going from the left side, so I'm going to move my right leg."

"Good. Where are your hands?"

"They're staying where they were."

"Right. And the leg? What are you going to do with that?"

"I'm going to move it behind you, making sure I'm tight against you: Step four," she said, grinning slightly as she rubbed her hips against his leg.

"Hey, let's not get distracted here," Mac said quietly, his eyes closed and his teeth clenched.

"I'm not distracted," Stella purred. "Are you?"

Mac opened an eye long enough to look at her. "Just focus, please?" he asked.

"Okay," Stella said breathily.

"Good," Mac said, closing his eyes again. He cleared his throat.

"Step five?"

"Grab behind your legs," Stella said, obediently bending down and grabbing.

"Stell—uh, Stella," Mac said patiently, "I, uh—I definitely didn't grab, um, quite that high. Could you move your hands down, uh, please?"

Stella slid her hands obediently down, sending a shudder up Mac's spine. She stopped behind his knees.

"Thank you," Mac muttered, his resolve weakening. "Step six."

"Step six: make sure my hips are below yours, and then just stand up," Stella said. She paused. "You ready?"

"Go for it," Mac said, opening his eyes.

"Okay," Stella said. She stood up and let go of Mac's legs. She was surprised to feel Mac's body go flying over her shoulder. He landed on the floor at her feet.

"Wow," Stella said, laughing in amazement. "That was amazing!" She laughed again.

Mac smiled up at her from where he lay. "Good job," he said.

"Can we do it again?" Stella asked excitedly.

"Sure," Mac said. "Just, uh, just help me up."

She reached down a hand, and he grabbed onto it and pulled down. She fell down on top of him, giggling.

"What was that for?" she asked him. Mac grabbed her waist and rolled them over so that he was on top.

"You did a good job," Mac answered simply.

"We gonna end all of our sessions like this?" Stella asked him breathlessly.

Mac leaned down close, but instead of kissing her, he moved his lips to her ear.

"No," he whispered. "I'm just getting even."

He stood up and brushed himself off.

"Good job today," he said, acting like nothing had happened. "Same time next week?"

A/N: So what did you guys think? I'd love the reviews :D Should I keep going with this miniseries?