Letting Go

By Ladijules

When Mac and Stella are forced to go undercover, can they keep their feelings undercover too?

A/N - I don't own them. CBS does. I just write stories about them.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The chief of police sat at his desk, flipping through a large file. The file itself wasn't a pleasant thing to read through. The graphic pictures it contained made his stomach churn. They had a serial rapist and murderer on the loose out on the island and the kind of things he did to his victims was beyond the usual normal of sick. Whoever he was, he had his own "signature": not only were the female victims raped and murdered, but each of his male victims had the greek letters for Alpha and Omega carved into their chests peri-mortom and it was always a husband and wife. Crimes matching this had already taken place in California, Colorado, Louisiana and Georgia. Even the feds were looking for him now. And worse, judging by the crime scene photos from 3 days ago out by Long Beach, the monster had moved to New York. The chief was determined that this bastards reign of terror was going to stop here.

He looked up at a sound, just in time to see his two best CSI's walk in the door. Mac Taylor and Stella Bonasera were an interesting pair. He was an old Marine known for his determination and his complete focus on the crime at hand. She was so beautiful that he was surprised she had become a cop, surely she could have been a pampered housewife to some rich guy. But she too had an unbeatable reputation in her field. He was also aware the the two were the best of friends and if the rumors were true, they were secretly in love with each other. The friends part would help them in this assignment. The part about them being in love... well, that could complicate things or make them easier. Not that it really mattered to the chief as long as the job got done. He hated to ask this of them, but he didn't really have a choice. They were the ONLY people he had with the right abilities and mannerisms to pull this off.

Mac and Stella walked into the office with questioning looks on their faces and sat down at the chiefs nod. The chief gave them both a long look before dropping the file on the desk and leaning his elbows on it.

" I know you two worked on the husband/wife murder case we had three nights ago. I recently got some information on it, but it needs to be kept quiet. Thats why I asked you two to come here. " The chief picked up the file and opened it so they could read it. "This isn't the first time he's done this. You already know what he does to the victims. What you don't know is that he is predictable to a certain extent. The Feds have been researching this and some things are very consistant. In every state he has done this in, it is always a upper middle class husband and wife and he always kills 5 couples before he moves on. The murders always take place on the third Friday night of the month and within a 3 mile radius of each other. All of the victims are in their late 30's to mid 40's with no children living at home and they all live in blue, suburban houses. Sometimes the murders are months apart, we guess its because it takes him awhile to find victims that suit his standards. And just like he did with the most recent case, he always calls to report the murders to 911 himself. There is also evidence that he keeps the couples under close watch, often even putting spy equipment into the homes he's watching when he can. "

Mac and Stella just nodded. While all of their cases were disturbing, this one had been beyond the norm. Just from the way the killer had handled the bodies had proved to them this wasn't the first killing. They weren't surprised to have it confirmed. The rest of the information however left them both feeling chilled.

"If the feds know so much about this, why haven't they caught the guy yet?" asked Mac. "With all that information, couldn't they have put someone undercover?"

"They tried." The chief answered. "A few times. It didn't work. Mostly because this guy does observe the victims so closely. The undercover agents just couldn't pull it off as husband and wife that long. We're guessing that if they don't act like whatever his version is of what a husband and wife should act like, he loses interest and moves on to another couple. And the guy is really clever. He leaves almost nothing for tracing him. It wasn't until the last case that we even got DNA. As you know though, we couldn't find a match to that DNA in any database."

"What exactly do you mean by his version of what a husband and wife should act like?" Stella asked. "Couldn't that give us a clue to the kind of personality or past history for this guy so we could narrow it down?"

The chief nodded, impressed that she had picked that up so quickly. "The feds did do a personality profile on him. They suspect that his own parents were very similar to his victims and that either he wants to kill them or he already has. As for what he thinks a couple should act like, the reports from people who knew the victims all said that the couples were very much in love with each other and it showed. It also seems that all of the victims were rarely separated and often worked in the same place. The women weren't usually housewives unless the husband also worked from the home."

"So what do you want us to do? We already have the department working full time on this one. Are the feds going to help?" Mac asked.

The chief closed his eyes and sighed. Then he opened them and looked straight at Mac. "The feds don't have undercover agents that they can send. The are willing to do whatever they can, but they are a bit shorthanded at the moment. They asked us to take on the lead on this case."

"So what do you want us to do?" asked Stella, repeating Mac's question.

"I want you to go undercover yourselves. Your the best we have and the most capable of solving the case. Your also best friends, so you should be able to pull off the husband / wife thing without too many problems. And let me be clear: this guy will be watching VERY closely. You two will really have to ACT like husband and wife in every way and you may have to do it for a few months. We HAVE to catch this guy. "

Mac and Stella took in what the chief was asking of them and all it implied, and then the color drained out of both of their faces. Mac said it first. "YOU WANT US TO DO WHAT?! "

"You heard me Taylor. I'm sorry, but I don't have a choice. Not only are you the best I have, your the ONLY people I have. It has to be done. And if your concerned regarding protocol in this case, let me assure you I will be "looking the other way" as it were."

Stella finally chimed in, obviously angry. "I'm not sure you can even ask this of us! I understand going undercover but......".

The chief shook his head. He knew they weren't going to be pleased with this assignment when he decided to give it to them. "Bonasera, what's more important here? The case or your personal feelings? This is a job that needs to be done. Your being told you need to do it. How you do it and how you feel about it isn't my problem. Getting this bastard is. Now start packing! There will be a team here tomorrow morning to get you into place. You can tell your team you are going undercover, but no one else." He closed the file and handed it to Mac. Mac took it with a stunned and oddly scared look on his face. The chief wasn't going to give him a chance to argue. "Good luck on the case and I expect to see you two back here shortly with that monster in handcuffs."

Mac glared at the chief and at the file but knew it was pointless to argue, the chief had obviously just dismissed them. He turned around and stalked out of the room without even looking at Stella.

Stella stood, shaking, searching the chief's face. He glared right back at her. Without a word, she turned and walked out of the office, following in Mac's footsteps.

When the door had closed, the chief allowed himself a brief smirk and shook his head in amusement. If those two really were in love with each other, this case was going to push them over the edge. He thought of his two detectives... he had known them for years. He knew what both of them had been through and what he was asking of them. Oh to be a fly on the wall when they really realized that he had just given them permission to ignore protocol on this one! He suspected that the protocols regarding boss and employee are what had kept them apart all these years if they really were interested. Or one of the reasons anyway. He just hoped putting them together wasn't going to tear them apart. He suddenly sobered. He also hoped this case wouldn't get them killed.

__________________________________________________________________

A/N - I know some of this was a little OOC. Sorry, but it took a bit to set this situation up. It will get better, I promise.

And for my Fan's waiting for the final installments of Hell House.... I'm working on it, I promise!!!!!