Firstly I cannot apologise enough for the length of time it has taken me to update this story, all the Christmas and New Year's celebrations got on top of me, coupled with going back to school. Gr. Anyway hopefully I have my inspiration back and will be able to write more quickly. Thanks again to all of you who have stayed with this story, you're reviews mean so much to me, they make me so happy.

Also, I was watching Hustle last night and a character appeared with the name 'Frank Rice, so I just want to say that I DID NOT nick the name from Hustle, as you can see I posted this story and created this character before that particular episode aired. Just wanted to say that so that I don't get any Hustle fans shouting at me for having a character with the same name.

Anyway, on with the story.

Mac couldn't quite understand what he was doing in this place, well okay he understood the fact that whenever he moved he could feel shooting pains across his chest and the one time he'd managed to look in a reflective surface he'd seen that he had wonderful purple bruises across his face, arms and stomach, but he didn't remember how he'd got these. Obviously it had been in a fight, but when, where and why? After a few hours of laying in his hospital bed his memory had started to return, little snippets at first until finally he began to remember bigger chunks. The best bit had been when he'd finally been able to put a name to the woman who had been at his bedside for the entire time he'd been awake, he couldn't quite believe that he'd forgotten who she was! Stella, his best friend, confidante and second in command. Once that bit of information had been secured in his brain she'd helped him piece together other parts of his short term memory and he could only thank whoever was listening that the head injury that he had obviously sustained wasn't too bad.

The doctors had been hurrying in and out of his room every so often, looking at his chart, checking his vitals before checking on the amount of drugs that were flowing through his system. He'd had morphine a few times in his life and every single one of those times he'd wanted to kiss the guy who'd invented it!

"Mac?" He glanced up at Stella, wondering why her voice was so quiet all of a sudden. As he looked at her she smiled softly, "I thought you'd gone back to sleep." At this comment he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow,

"Unfortunately going to sleep with my eyes open is a skill I haven't mastered yet." As his friend laughed he shot her a smile, before laying his head back down on the pillow and looking up at the white ceiling above him. Now that he was awake all he wanted to do was get out of here, he could do so much more from either his house or at work than he could stuck in here. However, as everyone who had visited him so far kept on saying 'the doctors know best', and they definitely were not going to let him go until they'd made sure that he wasn't suffering any side-effects and that the lovely, great bullet hole in his chest was healing nicely. Even when he was discharged he'd still have to stay off his feet for a few weeks…that was pretty much his idea of hell! He needed to run, jump; hell skipping would be okay if he could just leave.

"Stella, you should really go home and get some rest." He tried to sound authoritative but when you're lying in a hospital bed and look like a strange purple, blue and black fungi then for some reason you lose some of that authority over others. The female looked at him as though he'd gone slightly mad, before she lowered her eyes to look at her knees before speaking.

"Mac I'm staying here, okay. I almost lost you and you are not making me leave here until the doctors tell me that you can go home, and even then you know I'll be over everyday to make sure you're behaving yourself!" It was true, she'd probably end up tying him to his bed or sofa with a bit of food and water and leaving him there until whatever time she returned. But still there was something about her lowered gaze. She was keeping something from him.

"What aren't you telling me?" He asked, raising himself up on his elbows and ignoring the stab of pain that shot through his body at the movement. He'd dealt with worse injuries than this in his lifetime, so he wasn't about to let a little bullet wound get in the way of finding out what was troubling Stella. As he spoke she looked back up at him searching his eyes for something, he couldn't stand being kept in the dark about things and she, above all others, should know that by now.

"Nothing." Mac felt annoyance begin to bubble inside him, why the hell wasn't she telling him what was the matter? He was awake, alert and almost mobile so there was no reason for her to sit there and act dumb. Green eyes turned cold as he glared at her, a part of him felt that he was beginning to be a bit hard on her but he'd been out of the loop for several days and he was not about to let things slip past him now he was awake.

"Stella…" His voice was low and her name came out almost as a growl, he knew that this anger was slightly irrational but he couldn't help it.

"Mac, please it's nothing you need to worry about. You've just woken up!" If only he could make her see that he didn't need to be protected from things, he needed to be kept in the loop and not cut out of it just because he hadn't been awake.

"Just tell me Stella, I'll end up worrying more if you don't." He stared her down, waiting for that little sign in her eyes to tell him that she was giving in. There it was, just as she gave a small sigh, and scrubbed her face with her hands. He knew these gestures only too well, she was either exceptionally tired or this news was scaring her. If he had to hazard a guess he'd say it was a bit of both.

"Okay, fine. I might as well tell you everything. We've caught the two guys who attacked you, they're in custody right now but they also killed another man. He stopped them in the alleyway outside the club you went past…" His eyes widened, he remembered that kid! He'd come over, scared the two attackers off and helped him to his feet. Mac could remember telling him to be careful because there was a high probability that they'd come back for revenge…he'd hoped that he wasn't right.

"Mac?"

"I remember him…they killed him? What did they do? Wait until later when he came out and grabbed him?"

"Yeah. They ganged up on him and ended up killing him, that's when they headed to yours. Well, apparently they've got another man on the outside, and he's going to want to finish the job that they started. Flack is on his way to pick him up, but until I get a call saying they have him then I'm staying right here and nothing you say or do is going to get me to move." A small smile began to creep across his face, he'd always known that Stella was protective but he'd never seen the extent of it. He was pretty sure that if anyone tried to get through the door into this room she'd take them down no problem. Never step between Stella and something she wants or someone she's trying to protect, it's not a pretty sight if you get in the way.

Stella looked at him with a look of confusion on her face; she didn't quite understand why he was smiling so he shook his head slightly and lay back in his bed. Well no doubt Flack would have sent some uniformed officers over to the hospital to keep an eye on him and Stella, so he didn't feel any immediate danger…the only problem was he didn't know who was after him. He'd managed to send down quite a few big criminals in his time and he knew that he'd made a hell of a lot of enemies along the way. He could only hope that Flack found this man soon, because if he found his way here then there was little way he'd be able to put up a fight and he did not want Stella to have to deal with some raging murderer on her own.

XXXXXXXXXX

Don couldn't remember feeling more relieved then when he'd received the call from Stella telling him that Mac had woken up, he'd wanted to punch the air and scream loudly. However, he'd managed to contain these urges and had settled for hurrying up to the computers and running the name 'Richard Clark' through every database. His list of convictions ran on for several pages and it seemed like Mac had been able to help secure each one with DNA evidence, now that was definitely a motive. The more Don looked at this guy and his previous the more he was beginning to understand what motivated this guy, he wanted revenge. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a chance to get back at the man who put him in jail in the first place. The only thing Flack didn't understand was why he sent Rice after Mac instead of going after him himself, surely that would be the most satisfying way to handle it?

With a slight shake of his head the male reminded himself that he was not a criminal psychologist and it was not his job to go around discovering why the perps did these things. Nope, he was the brawn, the muscle, the tough guy who could wade into a scene bash a few heads together and look menacing in an interview. Well, okay, he was a bit more than that but still he liked thinking of himself as the tough guy, it occasionally led to quite amusing chats with his dad.

Finally he found what he was looking for, a last known address. There was no guarantee that Clark was still there, but it was a start and they really needed to catch the final link in the chain. He printed the address off and began to assemble a team; they had to get on the move now if they were going to keep Mac safe. Flack guessed that once Clark heard that his son and the hit man were in custody then either he'd try to flee the country or else try to finish the job himself.

XXXXXXXXX

Danny was beginning to grow impatient; the car they were in was going too slow for his liking! Flack had got a team together to raid Clark's house and once the warrant had come through they'd begun to move off, Danny had tracked Flack down and convinced him to let him and Hawkes come along as well. Surely a few CSIs would be helpful, especially if they needed to gather any evidence if Clark had disappeared. Now they were stuck in the regular New York traffic, even with their sirens going no one seemed capable of moving out of the goddamn way! Blue eyes glanced across at Flack who looked just as agitated as he felt; they needed to get a good pace so that they kept on top of this case. They'd already done pretty well in getting two of the guys responsible now they just needed to catch the 'big fish'.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, the cars in front parted and they were able to get through, the driver narrowly missing a few side view mirrors. The siren was wailing and people were now scrambling to get out of the way of the police vehicles, now they were getting somewhere. The car sped through the city, having a few near misses with obnoxious cabbies who didn't really want to move over for a cop. However, eventually they reached Clark's home and they all piled out of the two police vans. Flack took charge and began directing his men round the back of the small house, once he was sure that his guys had the back door covered so no one could make a quick exit, Don signalled that the rest of them could move in. Danny glanced over at Sheldon who nodded once at him, they both drew their own guns and followed Don up the steps of the porch in time to see Flack banging on the door.

"Mr Clark? This is the NYPD, open up." There was silence, Flack knocked again his gun at the ready in case someone came flying out.

"This is the NYPD open up!" The statement was repeated but still met with silence; finally his friend turned to the uniformed officers and motioned for them to smash the door down. Danny had to admit that he did love this part of the job! What self-respecting guy didn't love it when things got smashed, or they were able to get involved in high speed chases?! Honestly, this job could often be his idea of heaven…but it also could be his own personal hell.

Two officers hurried up the steps and managed to open the door very quickly, once they were clear they all began to walk into the house. Their guns drawn, all expecting someone to charge at them at any moment. Danny walked down the narrow hallway until he reached a door into what looked like the living room, with his gun at the ready he stepped inside, scanning the area with his eyes and his gun. There was no one in here…but there was something else. It looked as if someone had decided to take out their stress on the furniture; there were deep rips in the fabric of the sofa and armchair which looked like they'd been made by a knife. As he walked further into the room Danny could see that it wasn't only the furniture that had been attacked, he bent down and looked at the small droplets of blood on the linoleum floor, he spun around on the balls of his feet looking for the exact spot where this attack had taken place. He couldn't see a high velocity spatter anywhere in this room, slowly he stood up and headed towards another door at the other end of the lounge.

His gun rose once more as he reached the door to the kitchen, he pushed it open slowly scanning the area quickly and immediately came to the realisation that this was a preliminary crime scene. There was blood all along the wall to his right, parts of it had dried on the paintwork but the odd droplet was making its way down towards the floor, allowing gravity to take its toll.

"Flack!" His voice was loud, there was no body in this room but if one person had lost that much blood then they definitely needed medical attention soon or else they'd been stone cold in a matter of minutes. All around him he could hear the pounding of feet as the police officers hurried towards his position, within a few seconds the two doors into the kitchen burst open and Flack hurried in flanked by a couple of the armed officers.

"What's up…oh." It seemed that his friend had just noticed the blood stains up the wall, and his eyes widened as he took it all in. "Wow, that guy won't be doing too well." Danny shook his head silently, before stepping a bit closer to the wall. He needed to take a sample, dust for prints, process the crime scene. If they could find out whose blood this was then…well he wasn't sure how that would help Mac but if Clark had done this then it would put him away for a hell of a lot longer.

Suddenly another call came from one of the rooms upstairs, Danny and Don turned in unison to look out of the door before they both hurried towards the voice. The shout had come from one of the family bedrooms, they entered slowly glancing at one another wondering what the officer had found. They saw the male stood before a 13'' plasma screen television, the remote clutched in his hand and the D.V.D displayed on the screen was currently paused.

"What's that?" Danny watched as Don walked towards the television, his head tilting to one side as he looked at the screen.

"I think you'd better watch it, sir." Danny stepped forwards as the officer pressed play, he couldn't stop himself copying Flack's head movement as the static cleared and an image appeared on the screen. This seemed to be a film of an attack, in particular the attack that must have happened downstairs. They could see a very pale male strapped to a chair, white tape covering his mouth and flanked by two extremely large men. A voice could be heard by someone just off camera,

"You failed me." The man in the chair shook his head fervently, trying to plead with the male who was holding him captive. His silent pleading didn't seem to do much good, instead the voice spoke once more and a figure moved towards the man in the chair, his back to the camera.

"Now you've put me in a difficult situation, because I asked you to do one thing, to keep an eye on my son, make sure he didn't get into any trouble, and you failed." He signalled for one of the goons to grab hold of the man's shoulders, fear was evident in the poor guy's eyes as he stared up at the man that Danny could only assume was Clark. The figure walked closer to the male, obscuring him from view but his screams resounded the bedroom, Danny winced inwardly as the shrieks slowly grew weaker. The camera caught the blood spatter perfectly, the vic had been pushed backwards on his chair causing it to end up standing on two legs before a blade had been brought down somewhere on his body.

"Okay, that's enough." Flack said, tearing his eyes away from the screen as the attacker walked backwards from his victim, he wasn't about to show them his face. Danny shot him a look, wondering what to do next. They needed to find Clark quickly, if they left it too long and he found out they were on to him then he could easily flee the country.

"We should process the scene." Danny stated finally, putting his gun back in its holster and moving towards the door. Before he could exit the room another shout rang out from the study down the hall, he jogged up to the door with Flack hot on his heels. As he entered his eyes immediately fell upon a computer, its screen was lit up and an officer was stood beside it. Danny stepped forwards searching the screen, there seemed to be some kind of diagram on it. He raised an eyebrow at it, wondering what the hell it was. Behind him he could practically sense Don near him before he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he was pushed slightly aside so that his friend could get closer to the screen.

"Was it like this when you came in?" Flack asked the police officer brusquely, if this was right then they may have found an important bit of evidence.

"Yes, sir." The two males studied the officer's face, he didn't seem to be lying, in fact he seemed to be genuinely excited that he'd managed to find something of significance. Danny turned his attention from the officer before him to the computer, it looked like a map to somewhere. There were few road names on it, but for some reason he felt like he'd seen it before.

"Doesn't that place look familiar to you?" Don asked, squinting at the diagram on the computer as if trying to think where he'd seen a place like this before.

"I'm not sure, it kinda does…" He trailed off, staring at the screen. It had to be a map, it had to be a route he wanted to take to get something…or someone.

"The hospital." Danny said, his eyes meeting Flack's for a brief second before both ran to door, hurried down the stairs and out of the house calling to a few of the officers to come with them. They had to get to the hospital right now, if Clark was going there to finish the job his son tried to start then Stella could be in trouble as well as Mac.

XXXXXXXXX

Stella yawned widely, a hand rose and scrubbed her face before she turned to look at her sleeping friend. Mac had fallen asleep a few hours ago, thankfully, after he'd hounded her for information on the case so far. She'd done her best to try and keep him out of it, but it hadn't worked so well. He could be extremely persuasive, and annoying, at times. It was best just to tell him everything and have done with it.

Her hand rested on his for a few seconds, gently stroking it before she got up and began pacing the small room. She didn't want to leave, not until she had confirmation that Clark had been captured and was being tortured…uh well interrogated… by Flack and his boys. However, she did need exercise as well as coffee. Yes, coffee sounded like a very good idea. She walked towards the door, and glanced outside just as a young nurse was passing by.

"Excuse me, would you be able to get me a cup of coffee? Sorry, I'm not supposed to be leaving him on his own." The nurse shot her a small smile before nodding and hurrying off to get Stella her little cup of heaven. With that done she turned back to Mac, a smile appearing on her own lips as she watched his chest rise up and down. She couldn't believe how close they'd come to losing him. Slowly she moved back to her seat beside his bed and took his hand in hers, she didn't know what she would do without him. He was her rock when everything around her was washing away he was the one that got her through the tempest.

She was desperately tired, with a slight sigh she lent forwards, resting her head on his bed and closed her eyes. Within a matter of seconds she was asleep.

Thanks to my beta reader, 'cause she is amazing. We had the best discussion about the 'map', anyway thanks for reading. You know you want to review it :)