Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own CSI: New York or any of its characters :(

Summary: A crime scene turns deadly and someone is left fighting for their life. SMACKed with some DL thrown in for good measure. :)

Author's Note: I have no idea if 35 and West is a real street, I doubt it is :|

Stella Bonasera had seen a lot of things in her thirty-six years, but this was one thing she would have preferred keeping off that list. Lindsay Messer was pressed up against the lockers with her husband attached to her face.

"Ahem", she coughed briskly allowing the two to separate and fix their dishevelled clothing.

Danny realised the only way to make the situation to seem less awkward was to attempt to form words, "Well…uh...we were…just going over…some things?"

Stella had failed at keeping her laugh to a minimum as she glanced at Lindsay who was furiously trying to sort the back of her hair. "We got a 4-19. Flack just called, would one of you like to accompany me? Not that you both have anything better to be doing, eh? I'll meet whoever at the avalanche in 10 minutes."

She walked out of the locker room smiling as she went to get her kit.

Everyone in the lab knew Mac Taylor was tough, hard-headed and would never let anyone criticise his team; however no one knew he was in love with his partner, Stella. He had been perfecting a speech for the past four days in order to ask her out. He had recited it over and over again, trying to find the perfect words to express his love, begging that she would feel the same.

He paced his office, "Stella…I wanted to see if you wanted to go for coffee sometime?" He scoffed, "Coffee sometime? What am I thinking? Hey Stella, up for some lunch? Damn it! Just go for it, Mac, you can do this, it's not that hard."

Once he had swallowed his fear he took the seemingly long journey to the shared office only to find Danny sat in his chair with his feet on the desk reviewing old case files.

"Oh...Hello. I was looking for Stella, is she in?"

Danny looked up, "Uh, she's at a scene on 35 and West with Lindsay and Flack, why? You need help with something?"

"No. No, I'm fine. I just…had something I had to tell her, but it...it doesn't matter." Mac left the room bashfully and returned to his own office to continue with his paperwork.

Danny shook his head and laughed at the state his boss has worked himself into.

"Hey Flack, whatcha got for us?" Lindsay announced once they arrived at the scene.

A handsome man in his early thirties looked up from his phone to respond, "The victim is one Erica Grant, she had ID in the bag that was recovered from the opening of the alley. Witnesses say they saw her stumble into the alley with a tall, dark headed caucasian male. They heard screams, but they never thought to check if she was okay. They were the ones who made the 911 call and they are Stewart and Katie Jefferson."

Stella glanced over at the body, something not feeling quite right. "Did they see the man come back out from the alley?"

Stella studied the inside the gloomy alleyway where there were various dumpsters and abandoned trash bags. It looked like a stereotypical alley, she noted. The body was in the middle of a dirty puddle that her blood had mixed into. The alley led to a sharp turn which disappeared in the darkness. There were also ladders and stairs that lead up to numerous apartments.

Don sensed her worry, "No, they didn't mention anything, but our officers cleared the scene."

"Alright, let's do this. Lindsay, you want the body or the perimeter?"

"I'll go body tonight, good luck with the alley." replied Lindsay with a hint of sarcasm.

"Thanks, you too."

Lindsay approached the girl. She had two stab wounds, one above her collarbone and the other in her lower abdomen. She was wearing a small red cocktail dress and matching shoes, one of which was missing the heel. Her blonde hair was matted with blood and the dirty water she was lying in. Lindsay began to take blood samples and scrape the dirt from underneath the victim's finger nails.

Meanwhile, Stella has begun to process the dumpsters around the corner of the alley. She opened the first of three to find it empty and surprisingly clean. As she reached for her kit she heard the distinct sound of gunshots from the end of the alley. Stella's vision blurred as she felt a searing white pain in the middle of her chest.

Don's head whipped around to see Lindsay covering her head while kneeling on the ground trying to grasp her gun.

His hand was poised above his own gun as he shouted "You Okay? Where's Stella?"

Lindsay couldn't form words as she stood and frantically looked for Stella. "I…I don't know…I can't see her, she was processing…", she stumbled over her words coming to conclusion over Stella's whereabouts, "…around the corner."

Both Don and Lindsay ran to the edge and took cover behind the wall, a shot ricocheting off of a brick centimetres from Lindsay's head. They could hear whimpering and a man yelling angrily.

"That bitch was stupid! She would still be alive if she didn't try and leave me! I was the best thing to happen to her!"

Don had heard enough as he threw himself from the wall and took a shot at the suspect. Bullseye. The suspect cried out as the shot hit him in the thigh, knocking him to the ground. He could see Stella slumped haphazardly against the dumpster, making a wheezing sound he would never forget. He hand-cuffed the shooter and threw him into the back of one of the police cars.

Lindsay rushed to Stella's side checking her pulse and trying to keep her awake. "Stella! Stella…you have to stay awake okay?"

She felt helpless as Stella's head lolled to one side and she mumbled incoherently.

Don used his walkie-talkie to alert any nearby officers. "This is Detective Don Flack, we have an officer down on 35 and West. We need an ambulance, ASAP."

The alley became eerily silent as everyone stared at Lindsay and Stella and listened to her futile attempts to keep her awake.

Back at the precinct Danny was sat finishing up on some paper work in the office as he heard Don's distressed cry over the scanner. "This is Detective Don Flack, we have an officer down on 35 and West…"

He picked up his keys, forgetting his jacket as he ran through the labs. Mac was still in his office as he saw Danny fly towards the elevators.

"Hey! Danny! What's worng?" Worry clearly evident in his voice.

"It's Linds, or...I don't know, but there's an officer down where she was working", he made for the stairs instead while Mac grabbed his coat.

A look of dread and fear flashed across his face.

"Stella's there too."

So? Should I continue? :)