A/N: As always, huge thanks to Moska, the best partner in fic writing crime I could ever ask for. And title comer upper extraordinaire ;) Spoilers through Run Silent, Run Deep.
Don't own the characters, if I did I'd be making sure Stella got some TLC about now.
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Stella stopped mid-step when she heard the knock at the door. Still in shock and not expecting company, she slowly crept to the door, trying her best not to make a sound. She was fairly certain she didn't want to see the person on the other side of the door and hoped that maybe they'd leave if they thought she wasn't home. A look through the peephole told her she was wrong.
She unlocked the door and slowly pulled it open without saying a word. She didn't trust her voice.
"Hey," he said, his voice weary from the stress of the past few days.
Stella offered a small half smile as she pushed the door shut behind him. She was and wasn't surprised to see him, but wasn't sure she was up for company. She just hoped he wouldn't ask about the statue. "How's Louie?" she finally asked, using all her effort to keep the emotion out of her voice.
"Not good," Mac said, shaking his head. "Just left the hospital. Waited with Danny 'til his parents got there and then figured I should give them their privacy."
Stella nodded. Figuring Mac was going to stay at least a few minutes, she went to the kitchen and poured him a glass of water, not realizing it when some of the water sloshed onto the counter. "Eaten?" she asked.
"Yeah." As she walked back into the living room and passed him the glass of water he said, "Stel? What's the matter?"
"Nothing," she said quickly. Too quickly to be believable.
"You're shaking," he said, grasping her hand tighter so that she couldn't pull away. "Stel?" he prompted.
"Long week," she lied, looking down at the ground.
"Stella," he said, more firmly this time, enunciating each syllable. "Talk to me." He wasn't sure why he'd stopped by. There were a few ways to get from the hospital to his apartment and not all of them involved passing her apartment, but for some reason he took one that did. When he saw her light was on, he decided to stop. Now, he was glad he had.
She mumbled something that sounded like it might have been, "I'll show you," and this time he let go of her hand as she tried to pull free.
Wordlessly she crossed to the table, where laptop still sat open. The browser was still open to the search results and she clicked the link to open as she hurried down the hall.
The first thing Mac heard as the web page opened was the sound of Stella gagging as she vomited in the toilet for the third time that evening.
The first thing Stella noticed as she opened her eyes and pushed the sweaty tendrils of hair out of her face was the damp washcloth that lay on the toilet tank. She knew it hadn't been there before and wondered how she hadn't even heard Mac come in. She reached for it and wiped her face as she flushed the toilet, looking away as the pinkish mixture of bile and red wine made its way out of her toilet.
Shakily she rose to a standing position and made her way back into the living room where Mac sat perched on the edge of her couch. She shook her head but muttered a soft "thanks" at the cup of water he offered. She stood in the kitchen doorway, trusting the doorframe more than her own legs to hold her up at the moment.
"Stel," Mac said after a few moments of silence. "You say the word and I'll make the call. Get computer crimes on it. Get the site down ASAP and..." he trailed off, not knowing how Stella would react to his thinking of and throw the bastard in jail.
She stayed quiet, her face buried in her hand as she leaned back against the doorframe, her feet braced against the opposite side. "I had no idea, Mac," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "None."
"You had no reason to," he said, matching her tone as he took a few tentative steps closer.
"You've got your hands full," she said. "Sonny Sassone. Danny. Louie..."
"Sonny's in jail. He can rot in Riker's as far as I'm concerned."
Stella managed a tiny nod as she slid down the frame and sunk to the floor as her shaking knees finally gave way. "Humiliated," she mumbled.
Mac had no answer to that so he just stepped closer. A moment later he added, "I can supervise. Hand pick just one person at TARU to get the necessary details." He waited and nearly missed her tiny nod. "OK," he said. "Why don't you have a quick shower while I make the call? We'll head back in."
"OK," she said, turning her head to face him.
She accepted his hand when he offered it and pulled herself to her feet. "We'll get it down," he said. "I promise."
"I believe you," she said, before heading down the hall.
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