Disclaimer: I do not own the Little Britches Magnificent 7 AU that inspired this series, nor do I own the characters or the show CSI: NY. I only own my version of this AU.

Author's notes: Completely unbetaed...Anyone interested in filling the beta reader spot, please PM me...

Set in the same universe as the Footprints on the Heart series, which is an AU based on the Magnificent 7 Little Britches AU. I am starting the CSI:NY version of the same AU.

There are no slash or adult situations in these stories whatsoever.

The Smacked portrayed in here is meant to be friendship and only friendship, but if you can handle the relationship on the show every week, you should be able to withstand this. ^.^ Unless the show makes Smacked canon, I will not write Smackedlove in here… but there'll be lots of Smacked friendship and that great chemistry and dynamic we see every week…

This is an open AU, so feel free to join in and write stories of your own in this universe. All I ask is that you wait for me to finish this first story? It might sound like crud now, but I rather think you'll like it by the end…

If you don't like the flavor of the tea, please don't spoil the pot for others, thank you. :) Consider this a founding fic – how it all began.

Oh. And just in case you're wondering what the Little Britches AU is (remove spaces and copy into browser URL bar): http : / / blackraptor . net / Joy / LB / LBLinks . htm

Do check them out, their ATF series is really beautiful and well-written. :) Especially if you're a Magnificent 7 tv series fan...

On with the fic!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prologue

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some move our souls to dance.
They awaken us to new understanding
with the passing whisper of their wisdom.
Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.
They stay in our lives for awhile,
leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never, ever the same."
~ Anonymous

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Their footsteps echoed loudly as they walked down the silent hallway, even though there was carpeting to muffle the sound. A woman and a boy, walking hand-in-hand, the boy keeping his eyes on the ground as he moved, scuffing his sneakers along the way. The woman shook her head slightly, but fished in her bag for her keys with her free hand and stopped in front of a door to open it.

"Well, this is it. It's not much but its home," Stella Bonasera announced lightly as she opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside, quickly putting away her jacket and bag so that she could help her 'guest' out of his. Blue eyes scanned the area quietly, with no apparent sign of enthusiasm… though discouraging, Stella did not let it faze her.

"Bet you're hungry, kiddo," she said as cheerfully as she could. "I'll try and find out where I put the peanut butter and jelly, all right? I make a mean PB&J – I promise."

The dull blue gaze did not waver, but the little boy blinked and nodded slowly, his hand tightening on the one item he would not let her touch – a worn brown teddy bear with only one eye, and patches of dark brown where the fur had been all hugged away. His grip on it was fierce – Stella did not ask to hold it, nor did she command him to put it down while he ate… it brought him comfort and security, and right now she knew he would need as much of it as he could get.

No five-year-old should have to experience what he had. No child should lose their mother at so young an age, then be abandoned by their father, the only family they had left…

Delainey Marcos had been a friend of Stella's since her days in the police academy, and they had both worked together right up till the day that Stella had decided to go for CSI training, to work in the crime lab instead of becoming a regular police officer. To this day, she regretted that decision a little, because it was after they'd started walking separate career paths that they had begun to drift apart. They'd lost touch completely just a few months ago, shortly after Delainey had made Detective... and then Stella had gotten the call.

Her friend had been found dead in her own home, shot five times in the chest and back. Her five-year-old son had escaped with minor injuries, though he had become slightly hysterical and they'd been forced to sedate him in order to bring him to the hospital to get checked out. He'd calmed down somewhat by the time Stella had finished processing the scene and been able to go check on him with her boss, Mac Taylor… but once there, the doctors had informed them that they had already told him that his mother was gone, and wouldn't be coming back. The instant the five-year-old had heard that, he'd shut down, refusing to speak or respond to anyone. Seeing him there, the life and exuberance stamped right out of him… it had just about broken Stella's heart.

Then, to make things worse for the little boy, his father, Lawrence Messer, disappeared without a trace shortly after his mother's funeral, taking his older brother Louie with him. The police were still searching for them both, and in the meantime, little Danny had been handed into the care of Social Services, despite Stella's protests. He had no other family willing to take him in, and though he and Stella had formed a tentative bond through her daily hospital visits, she wasn't a blood relative, and so could not bring him home with her, not even temporarily.

Brooding at home alone, Stella had finally gotten fed up. Instinct had brought her back to the crime scene, to Delainey's room, where she had found Danny's teddy bear by the bed, obviously left there during a late night visit by a certain brown-haired, blue-eyed five-year-old. Something had made her pick it up, telling herself that it would make a good excuse for her to visit him at the group home where Social Services had placed him for now. And as she was sitting on the bed with the old toy, looking beyond the bear to the wall, she had suddenly seen a secret wall safe, behind a slightly crooked painting…

The CSI had gone slowly over and pushed aside the painting, slowly reaching up to try different possible combinations. Drawing on her knowledge of her friend, she had smiled when she'd discovered that the code for opening the safe was the date that Delainey and she had both joined the academy. And inside, within a small metal box, she had found copies of Delainey's will… and information that warmed her heart and brought hope that she would be able to take her friend's son home with her after all.

Delainey, it seemed, had thought ahead, taking no chances with her sons' futures. In her will was a stipulation that, in the event anything happened to her and her husband was not able or available to care for her children, then her old friend Stella was to be named the boys' legal guardian. There was no one, she wrote in an accompanying letter, whom she trusted more, no one else to whom she could entrust the care of her children. She knew that with Stella, they would be safe and loved and cared for, and that was all she wanted for them.

"My friend," she had written, in words that brought tears to Stella's eyes, "You are like a sister to me. You always have been. To quote a Muppets movie: 'There is no word yet, for old friends who've just met', and that was what it was like when we first introduced ourselves to each other at the academy. I know that you will care for them as your own, and love them with all the love in your big, warm heart, if ever anything happens that means I'm not around to do it."

Stella had known then, that despite it all, she still had the option to say 'no'…

But after approaching Social Services with this new information, she had gone to visit Danny. The home he'd been placed in was a nice one, a warm and comfortable place with children laughing and running around in the yard as the sun set slowly over the city. But Danny wasn't among them, nor was he inside with the younger children, watching TV. Instead, she found him in the backyard, sitting by himself at a picnic table, staring off into the distance, his blue eyes tinted a little darker by the colors of sadness and lost hope. The woman who ran the home was concerned that he wouldn't speak to anyone, and had been refusing food ever since he'd been brought there. He'd been sitting at the table all day, and despite all her experiences in bringing up orphans and foster children, she'd never seen any child quite this… devastated… before.

Standing there with the bear in her hand, Stella had known then that she couldn't not take him into her heart and home, at least until a more permanent situation could be found. That was the deal – Danny would stay with her until they found some family who could adopt him, or blood relatives who could take him into their home instead. Social Services had learned that there was the possibility that the boy had an aunt and uncle in LA, and while they investigated that, Danny would be staying with Stella.

And so she had brought Danny home with her that very same night.

He wasn't exactly enthusiastic, but Stella still hoped that she would be able to help him heal, and help him find the courage to speak again. To get over his grief and forget the tragedy he had lived through… and most of all, help him want to live again.

It wouldn't happen overnight, and it wouldn't be easy. But then, it was important that she tried...

Because Danny was fading slowly away with each passing day, as the darkness of grief and depression threatened to claim him, slowly killing him from within. And one thing that Stella definitely did not want was to lose this little boy the way she had lost his mother…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------