Disclaimer—I don't own the characters of CSI: NY

Stella bolted awake the next morning when her alarm went off. Groping for the off button, her hand found the piece of paper on her bedside table and as soon as she silenced the shrill beeping that had invaded her dreams she picked it up and read the note.

Stell,

You fell asleep before I could feed you, do me and yourself a favor and eat breakfast when you get up.

P.S. Coffee doesn't count

Don

She couldn't help but smile; she could almost hear his voice in her head when she was reading through his note. It touched her that he was so willing to be there for, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. Before the Manes case she and Don had been bordering on inseparable. She'd actually been debating whether or not to finally ask him for a real date when it had come up, and everything had gone to hell.

Sighing quietly she threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. Though she hated to admit it, she was a little bit disappointed that Flack hadn't stuck around. Still, she knew that it wouldn't be fair to expect him to sleep on the couch just because he was worried about her.

Remembering the note, she went to the kitchen to see if there was anything even remotely resembling food in her apartment. After rifling through her cabinets and fridge Stella managed to dig up an English muffin that she toasted and slathered with jam. Seeing her woefully stocked kitchen made her realize exactly how little she'd eaten in the past few weeks, and she made a mental note to actually go to the store. She realized how worried everyone was for her, and though she knew she wouldn't be able to let go of the case entirely she could try to back away a bit, for her own health and well-being; she also knew just how difficult that would be.

When Flack ran into Stella in the lab later that day he couldn't help but to ask the question that had been in his head all day long. "You eat this morning?"

She flashed him a small smile. "Yes, I did."

"Good. Now keep it up and maybe I won't be able to practically fit you in the palm of my hand."

"Thank you Don."

His smile was a bit bemused. "For what?"

"For caring," she told him quietly.

"We all care Stell," he told her. He could have sworn that he wasn't in control of his hand as it reached out to brush a piece of hair from her face. "You make it hard for me not to care. I'll see you later."

As he walked away, Stella felt ridiculous that one little touch had left her so shaken; but there she was with her heart racing. Her cell phone's ring was a welcome distraction from her feelings. "Bonasera; oh hey Angell." She listened as the detective ran down the case that had just come through and her blood ran cold. "I'll be right there."

Barely twenty minutes later she felt sick to her stomach as she looked down at the body of the Jane Doe who had been discovered by a homeless man earlier that afternoon. It was as if she'd been dropped back into a never ending nightmare as she photographed the young Hispanic woman who's body was riddled with carved swastikas. Feeling tears prick at her eyes. "What the hell happened?" she questioned.

Angell shook her head as she fought back the same horrified feelings Stella was dealing with. "Manes went off the grid last night, only for about two hours when the patrols were off. They've been cutting down on the patrols by uniforms and plain clothes."

"You don't sound optimistic."

"He's got a damn alibi. We've got a prostitute swearing up and down that he was paying her for her services at the time of the murder."

Stella took a couple of deep breaths before she spoke again. "And it didn't occur to anyone that he most likely paid her or threatened her into saying that?"

"It occurred to all of us, but she's sticking by her story. Unless we can get some concrete evidence we can't touch him."

"Well then we're completely screwed because I doubt we're going to get any more from this crime scene than we have from the other three."

Sometimes she really hated when she was right. Four days later and they had been over every inch of the latest crime scene, and they were no closer to proving Manes' guilt than they had been before. Their work had turned up the same generic fibers that could be linked to some five million American consumers. There was no traceable DNA, no traceable anything, and the prostitute hadn't budged on her story. Their victim had remained a Jane Doe until three days after her death, when a missing person's report was filed and Angell had to inform Mr. and Mrs. Solarez that their twenty-three year old daughter Angela was dead.

Stella was feeling perpetually sick to her stomach and her emotions had begun to war with each other the moment that she'd seen Angela Solarez's body. She was so furious she could barely stand it; furious that Manes had skipped the cops, furious that he had killed again, and completely enraged by the fact that they had absolutely nothing to pin the crimes on him. She was more exhausted than ever, having barely left the lab in the four days since the most recent murder; and she was torn by inner conflict over what to do.

She could vividly remember her promise to Don, but she also remembered the promise she'd made to herself to make sure that these women's killer was brought to justice. Sitting at her desk she glanced down at the crime scene photos in front of her. Erin Dawes, the twenty-eight year old mother of two; Sandra Jones, a nineteen year old student at NYU; Alexandra Jessop, a twenty-five year old with a fiancé who had adored her; and Angela Solarez, a twenty three year old dancer whose life had been taken only days after she'd been given her big break in an off-Broadway production.

Looking at these women and what had been done to them, Stella knew she couldn't back down. Four women who were given no choice in their future, whose families lived in suffering, not knowing if their little girls would ever have justice for what had been done to them; a baby and a toddler who probably wouldn't be able to remember their mother's face. Thinking of them, she knew that she would do anything to bring Manes down; whatever it took.

When Angell had told him about the most recent body on the Manes case Flack's heart sank. His heart ached for the Solarez family after having lost their only daughter, and he knew that this would only make things worse for the families of the other three women. Along with his regret and empathy for the victims' families, he was terrified for Stella. He knew that there was no way that she would be able to back away from the case. Maybe they would all get lucky; maybe he would slip up and they would just be able to scoop him up and set everything to rights.

Even as he thought it he knew it was the last thing that would happen. Manes had yet to screw up, and from everything Flack had heard about the case this latest body hadn't turned up any new evidence. He wanted to believe that she would remember what he'd told her, but in the end he just wasn't sure.

"Hey Flack."

Lindsay's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he smiled up at her. "Hey Linds."

She eased a hip onto his desk, taking a seat. "You looked pretty far away there."

"I guess I was," he conceded.

"You're worried about her aren't you?" she asked quietly.

Don shook his head. "There's no point in even asking why you know that is there?"

The same worry was written on her face as they spoke. "We're all worried about her Flack; it's just that most of us aren't falling in love with her."

He deliberately ignored the last comment, not ready to even think of going down that road. "I wish I knew what to do for her Linds. It terrifies me how thin she's gotten. She looks like she'll shatter to pieces if you touch her. She's forgetting to eat and she's working on the case so constantly that she isn't sleeping."

"Danny said you talked to her about it."

"I did, but that was before they found Angela Solarez's body. She promised me that she'd be more careful and stop following Manes, but I know she's not going to rest until this one's solved."

She sighed. "I know. What worries me is how good this guy is. Manes hasn't faltered at all or given us anything to work with. He could keep this up for a while before we can catch up, and I'm not sure that Stella's health will hold out that long."

"Don't think I haven't been driving myself crazy thinking the same thing, but I don't know what to do for her. We make our concerns known, but that's about all we can do. She's a grown woman who makes her own decisions, regardless of how worried we are for her well-being."

"We could always tie her up and forcibly prevent her from doing anything I suppose."

He couldn't help the smile that crossed his features. "She'd find a way, you know she would."

Lindsay laughed. "Yeah, I do. I've got to meet up with Danny and Hawkes, try not to worry too much."

"We both know that's not going to happen, but thanks Linds."

"You're welcome."

Left on his own again, Flack really couldn't stop thinking about everything that had been going on. He cared for Stella, more than he had ever cared for any woman in his life. He supposed that should probably worry him since they weren't even together, but it didn't change what he felt for her. All he could do was hope that she would put her health in front of the case; and maybe if he nudged her in the right direction he could make that happen.

Scarcely able to think about anything but keeping Stella healthy all day long, Don decided at the end of his shift that he should see if she wanted to grab some dinner. There was no way for her to avoid or forget eating if she was with him. With that in mind he headed to the lab to try and persuade her to grab something with him.

On his way into the lab he ran into Hawkes, who stopped when Flack motioned to him. "Hey, is Stella still in there?"

Sheldon shot him a look. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, stupid question."

"I don't think she'll be leaving any time soon, though it would be a lot better for her if she did."

He nodded. "You'd be the one to know Doc."

"See if you can get her out of there, it may help," he told him as he walked away.

Steeling himself for a bit of a battle getting her to leave, he headed up the elevator and started towards her office. He certainly wasn't surprised to find her camped out at her desk scrutinizing a stack of files.

She was still beautiful to him, even with everything she'd been putting herself through. For a moment he only stood there and watched her, soaking her in. "Hey Stell."

Evidently he scared her half to death because the file she was holding when flying from her hands and she just about jumped out of her skin. "Sorry, sorry you just startled me."

"It's okay, I'm sorry I scared you; definitely wasn't what I had planned." He bent to help her gather the scattered papers. "I came to see if I could convince you to grab some dinner. I figured if I didn't try you'd probably forget…" He trailed off as he glanced down at one of the papers he'd been gathering. "Stella what the hell is this?"

His tone immediately had her on high alert, and when she saw what he was holding all of the color drained from her face. "Don."

They both stood, and Flack felt his hands shaking with anger as he faced her. "Damn it Stella you promised me you were going to stop." He held up a picture of Manes, clearly taken from some distance without his knowledge; it was dated the previous day. "This isn't stopping."

"What the hell am I supposed to do Don?"

"Quit putting yourself in danger! If this guy realizes what you're doing he won't even hesitate to try and make you victim number five."

Her own anger was rising up to match his and she willingly let it loose. "Don't you think I'm smarter than to let that happen? I know what I'm doing."

"No Stell, you really don't. I kept hoping that I'd actually gotten through to you on this. I thought that you cared enough about your friends and yourself that you would listen to reason, but obviously reason has gone completely out the window."

She shook her head. "Of course I care about all of you, and myself! But I have to do this Don, for those girls and for myself."

He tossed the picture to her desk. "You have to work the case, you don't have to follow around a vicious killer waiting for him to mess up and praying he does before he figures out what you're doing. You say you care but it's becoming more and more obvious to me that you really don't. You won't listen to Mac, you won't listen to Danny or Lindsay or me…"

"I'm listening, I'm taking it to heart, but I can't stop before…"

"Before what Stell? What happens if we never catch him? What happens if you lose everything you've got trying to find him?"

Still she stood firm. "It's not going to happen."

"I'm done Stella. I care too much about you to sit here and watch you self destruct over this."

"Don…"

He shook his head. "None of us can help you unless you want to help yourself. Maybe when you realize just how much you're putting at stake here you'll be able to see everything more clearly. I can only hope that happens before you get hurt."

He was gone before she could say anything else.