AN: I don't own any of the CSI:NY Characters or any of the show's storylines that I may refer to from time to time, but the rest of the plot is mine.

12. Stella

Alex rubbed her face with her hands, stood up and went to the door of the interview room. Unlocking it she found herself face to face with ... Detective Donald Flack jnr.

"You decided to come for round 2? Forget it, I'm leaving." Alex announced icily as she went to move around him. A hand clamped round her wrist and stopped her. The thought crossed her mind that he was about to arrest her for something because he was pissed off. She looked up into his piercing blue eyes. She almost felt as if they were drilling into her. She stepped back, his fingers were still curled around her wrist, not tightly, but enough for her to know. "You don't need to escort me out of the building. I'll send Ben to collect my stuff from the lab. You won't see me anymore." She started to step away, expecting him to let go, he didn't, he stepped towards her.

"I promise I'll leave right now, just please let go." She half pleaded. He hadn't said a word to her yet, just looked at her. "Detective, stop staring at me like I've grown horns and tell me what's on your mind or let me leave." She snapped.

He held out a mug of steaming coffee as he let go of her wrist with his other hand. "It's fresh, I heard you liked my coffee." He said calmly a small grin on his lips as he recalled Adam's words of a few minutes ago. "You want to get back in her good books? Make her a cup of coffee. She thinks its perfect." "It's a peace offering. ... I lost it upstairs, I shouldn't have, I just don't like what the publicity has done to my friends."

Alex paused for a moment. She was in two minds as to whether to accept the coffee and see what happened or to bolt and forget the whole thing. His eyes still drilled into her. Her feet didn't seem to want to move so she warily took the coffee cup from him. "... I don't blame you, in your place I would have lost it too. ... You're a good friend to have detective. I'm sorry we are just on opposite sides of the fence."

"... How about I take you to lunch and we can talk about that?" Alex was stunned, that was the last thing she expected to hear from him. She took a mouthful of the coffee so she had time to process the request. As she did his phone rang. After speaking in monosyllables for a moment he hung up and looked at her. "Dispatch, I have to go, ... maybe we can pick this up later, over dinner if you and Ben don't have plans?" he suggested.

"... I'm kind of hoping we do, I'll call you and schedule a proper meeting." Replied Alex formally. "Thanks for the coffee, Mr Ross is right, I did say it was perfect!" She added unable to contain the small smile which momentarily graced her face. He nodded at her and turned and walked away.

Alex stood in the hallway for a few minutes idly drinking the coffee he'd brought while she decided what to do next. As she drained the cup her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and sighed before answering.

x X x

Alex entered the coffee shop around the corner from the lab, not quite sure of what to expect. She headed for the booth at the back of the room and sat down as she warily watched the woman already there. For a moment neither said anything. The waitress came to take their orders.

Alex wasn't hungry and didn't need more coffee so she ordered some juice. The other woman ordered a sandwich and tea. They were still waiting for the other to open the conversation. "I'm sorry about this morning. I had no right addressing the issue as I did. I realize it's a sensitive matter and you won't want to talk about what happened, which is why I asked about your recovery." Began Alex after taking a deep breath.

"I know, ... I just don't see the relevance of discussing our personal lives for publicity."

"Detective Bonase-"

"Stella, ... if we have to talk about it at least make it less formal" Stella offered. Alex nodded.

"OK ... Stella, I won't be using the personal stuff, I just want to get a feel for the type of person who does this job, and like I said, find out how your lives are affected by what you see everyday. There has to be a time when it gets too much, especially with what happened to you." Said Alex earnestly. (Madison Bellows)

"Frankie was a real piece of work. ... I thought he would kill me, ... Everyone heard the call, ... Don spent all night at the hospital with me, ... helping me work out what happened, ... he's a good friend. Mac, well he's always been there, he looks out - we look out for each other."

"How hard is it for you to date again and do you find yourself more wary of men now?" (hockeymom / Aphina)

"I haven't yet, its hard to trust people you don't know. I always wonder if they're the same."

"You and Detective Taylor seem to be kind of the parents of the team, what is your relationship really like?" (Aphina)

"We're very good friends. We work well together." Answered Stella with a smile.

"How do the intricacies of your relationships make you feel? ... I've heard that you're quite close to Detective Flack, any potential for romance with either him or Mac Taylor? (hockeymom /Madison Bellows)

"I don't think we would jeopardize our friendship by doing that, we're all better as friends. I couldn't ask for better friends than our team."

"Do they watch out for you when you meet other guys?"

"I guess they do, but they're pretty protective of all the women they work with, we're partners and that means a lot."

"Have the personal experiences the team have gone through made you all stronger or more wholesome like a family?" (Aphina)

"They have to. Life experience will always impact on who we are as individuals, some of the experiences we have shared inevitably bring us closer.

"What cases have affected you personally? (Madison Bellows)

"The bombing last year, thinking that we could have lost 2 members of the team, and that happening so soon after what happened with Danny's brother and Aiden. I didn't know what would happen to the rest of us if Mac and Don didn't come out of there. Then having to process the scene and arrest the guy who did it. It was good when Don came back to work."

"Any others?"

"We had one a few months back, involved my foster family, one where the only leads seemed to be dead ends ... It's still an open case" (Madison Bellows)

"Does that upset you?"

"It makes me sad that kids have to see things they shouldn't, I learnt things about my foster sister which I hadn't known before, what she went through wasn't down to the system. That's down to the parents, bad things don't just happen because you're in foster care"

"How do you see the team being affected by the cases you handle?" (Madison bellows)

"It happens, Hawkes and Danny were most affected by Aiden's case. Danny was closest to her and Hawkes .. identifying her. The whole lab was affected though. We all knew her, except Lindsay, but she felt it through us. ... Danny's brother gave his life to get evidence for our case. There will always be some cases which will affect us more than others, its inevitable."

"I appreciate your openness Stella. ... There's talk of Detectives Messer and Monroe dating, what do you think of that?" (open hearts catch dreams)

"It's not official, but I think Lindsay has been a good influence on Danny, what do you know that I don't?"

"Nothing definite, it's just the way everyone talks about them and how they talk about each other. I think they're pretty cute how they keep trying to hide their relationship from everyone."

"Maybe I need to change my date in the pool then!" Grinned Stella at the new information. Alex flicked through her notes before asking her next question.

"... What made you decide to go into law enforcement? (Aphina / Madison Bellows)

"I saw the other kids get into trouble a lot, no real guiding influence, I wanted to do something good, I liked school, especially science so the academy training program attracted me, especially as it supported my college tuition"

"Is that kind of program still available to under privileged kids?"

"Yeah, its important to have something out there which is good which helps them keep straight, you know."

How do you know about your Greek heritage and how did you end up in St. Anne's? (hockeymom)

"I know very little about my family, I spent most of my younger years at St Anne's from when I was a baby. When I left the only thing they gave me of my family was a Greek bible. When I was studying at the academy we ran tests on our own DNA and I found out I had Mediterranean heritage, that and the bible encouraged me to find out more about Greece and to learn the language."

"Have you been to Greece?"

"Not for a long time, but I would like to go back one day. Can I ask you something?" Alex nodded. "Are you and Ben together?"

"We're supposed to be, but the last few weeks I have hardly seen him. This project was supposed to give us more time together." Alex glanced at the clock on the wall. "Is that the time?"

"Oh God, I've gotta get back." Exclaimed Stella.

"Me too, I was supposed to be meeting Detective Taylor 10 minutes ago!" Replied Alex. "I really appreciate you talking to me, I promise you can all see the footage before I send it in."

Dropping some money on the table they made their way to the door.


Thanks to hockeymom, Aphina, Madison Bellows and open hearts catch dreams for the questions indicated. Maddy - I hope you feel Stella got the grilling you wanted.

Hope you like how this is going -please review... Do you have a burning question to ask one of the characters? Now is your chance...Mac next

For those who want a reminder these are some of the episodes which fuel the discussion with Stella:

2.21 - All Access - Stella/Frankie

2.23 - Heroes - Aiden

2.24 - Charge of this Post - Bombing

3.22 - Cold Reveal - Stella's Foster Family