Silence

Summary: When a young foster child was the only witness and survivor to a triple quadruple homicide, the CSI's attempted to get her to reveal the killer's identity. What if she would not talk? How would they catch their killer? Smacked.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own CSI: NY. If I did, Stella and Mac would have gotten together long ago.

Ducking under the yellow crime scene tape, Mac Taylor and Stella Bonasera took a good long look around the crime scene. Four bodies were lying there on the floor, with signs of being beaten and stabbed. Pools of blood were all around the floor. The eldest man was perhaps only forty years old, while the youngest child was only about seven.

'Morning Mac, morning Stella.' Don greeted as he jogged over, his trusty notebook in his hands as he had just finished interviewing potential witnesses.

'Morning Don. What have we got here?' Mac asked as Stella struggled to stifle a yawn. Mac gave a small grin. He knew exactly what and who kept her up at night, but oh well, he knew she enjoyed it immensely as well, just as much as him.

'Four DOA's. The adults vics' names are James and Ellen Walker. Forty-three and thirty-nine years old. Those two kids are Yasmine Andrews and Matthew Wilson. Foster kids. Ten and six year old' Don answered, his expression somber, since he knew how much this type of cases often affect Stella greatly, due to her own experience with foster families.

'Any witnesses?' Stella asked, kneeling down next to the lifeless body of Yasmine and examined the blood pool on the floor next to her.

'Yeah, eight year old Daniela Myerson. Can't get a witness account though, she won't talk.' Don said, looking at Stella, for he was sure that she would recognize the name.

'Daniela?' Stella asked, confirming Don's thought.

'Yeah,' answered Don. 'The Myerson's were charged with child abuse, and Daniela was taken away from them. She was placed in foster care until someone adopted her, but so far, it didn't happen yet.'

As soon as Don finished telling Daniela's story to Stella, she was already on her way over to Daniela. Crouching down beside Daniela, Stella's green eyes locked into the chocolate brown eyes that were unfamiliar to her, yet at the same time, familiar.

'Daniela? My name is Stella. Can you come with us please?' Stella asked gently.

Daniela's head turned slightly to Stella. The voice, she remembered it. From where, she had absolutely no idea, but something in that voice, she knew she could trust it.

Stella was getting ready to hold her small hands in her own, but another police officer came over.

'Detective Bonasera? I recommend you not to try it. Many officers have attempted to take her away, but she turns violent,' said the detective.

'She does not strike me as a violent girl.' Stella answered coolly, holding the small girl's hands.

To everyone's surprise, the little girl neither turned violent nor flinched. She followed Stella meekly to the side of the house, away from the direct view of the mangled bodies.

'Daniela, can you go with detective Taylor to the crime lab? ' Stella asked, her voice soft and soothing, but the little girl will not let go of her hand. Instead, all she did was hold Stella's hand even more tightly, absolutely refusing to let go.

'Go on Stella, I can work the scene. Take Daniela back to the lab. Maybe she can help us fill in the blanks.' Mac told her, and Stella gave him a grateful smile. Although it had been three years since she had last saw Daniela, she often thought about that little girl. Seeing her in distress was not how she wanted to see her again.

'Come on Daniela. Follow me.' Stella told her, running her hands through Daniela's soft, brown hair, but Daniela just stood there, her eyes wide and focused. Stella tugged on her hands, and gently pulled Daniela to the avalanche that was waiting for her.

Lifting her up into the avalanche, Stella thought she heard a small whimper from the child. Daniela was looking past her shoulder, her eyes fixed onto something. When Stella turned to look at what she was looking at, she saw that she was staring at the M.E. who was taking Yasmine's body. One cannot see Yasmine's body under the clean white sheet, but a hand was showing, and Daniela was staring at that, her eyes unblinking. Stella immediately got in the avalanche and closed the door, blocking the view of what was going on outside.

Putting the siren on, Stella rushed them both back to the lab, hoping to get little Daniela away from the crime scene as soon as possible.

*Silence*

Wiping Daniela's face clean, Stella studied the girl's face in front of her. Those same brown eyes that stared into her face all those years ago were still there, only they were marred by sadness, sadness that were not there when her innocence was still intact. All of a sudden, Stella felt a small hand tugging her shirt. She looked down and saw Daniela tugging at it.

Pulling Daniela onto her knees, she saw that tears were starting to drop from her eyes. Her hands were fingering the locket on her neck, and she was rubbing it with her thumb. Unconsciously, she opened and closed the locket, allowing Stella to see a photo inside; a photo of her and Yasmine, both with a huge smile on their faces. Stella had seen them, only when a foster child had found her sibling do they ever smile like that. Her heart ache for the child. No child should ever have to go through the system, and ended up lost in there.

Placing her hands on Daniela's cheek gently, Stella slowly turned her head so that Daniela was looking her right in the eyes.

'Daniela? Listen to me. We will find the person who did it to them. We will find the person that did it to Yasmine.' Stella promised.

Daniela gave a small nod, but otherwise, gave no other respond except to cry and cry. Stella hug the girl close to her, letting her cry it all out. After some time, Daniela was finally able to calm down. Taking the tissue that was offered to her, she dried her eyes and promptly fell asleep.

Laying the child down on the sofa, Stella pulled a blanket over her. Looking at the worried facial features etched on the child's face, she knew that this nap would be a restless one, and sooner or later, she was going to wake up from a nightmare.

Seeing Mac heading towards her, Stella could not help but allow a smile to grace her lips at the very sight of him. When Stella went over, Mac pulled her into a hug, which Stella gladly returned. But as they pull apart, Mac's face was serious.

'Stella? We have a problem.' Mac told her.

A/N: Finally! Now I could finally post this story. I came up with this idea a whole week ago, but I couldn't find time to type it up. Originally, I was going to put it up in the weekend, but my friend, BookLover926 had been begging me for the whole week on finishing this, so, here you go!

Please review! Constructive criticisms are much appreciated, but no flamers please.

Dedicated to Bianca tabbycat, AddictedtoReadingJC, BookLover926 since you are all my best friends.

Zoe tabbycat