Chapter 14: Not the Same Stella

No way to know

How long she will be next to me

Mac stares ahead of him, worrying about what Stoneberg could have done to Stella in the time he had had her. Don makes a sharp turn onto the street listed on the sheet in Mac's hand. "What was the address again?" he asks. Mac does not respond, deep in thought, imagining ways to kill Stoneberg for hurting his best friend. "Mac?"

"What? Oh, it's 9347," he says, reaching over to turn the siren off. Stoneberg didn't need to know that they were on the way.

"Must be a little ways down."

"Fancy neighborhood. Wonder what his brother does for a living."

"Let's hope he's not a lawyer." Flack puts the car in park a little distance away from the driveway. "We should probably wait for backup, Mac. I mean, we know he's dangerous, and he has a gun. There's a good chance he'll either kill one of us or… her."

"We can't do that to her, Don. I can't do that to her. What if he's about to kill her. Or rape her. I can't just sit here and wait while he's hurting her."

"Alright. Let's go," Flack pulls his gun out of its holster. "But don't do anything stupid, Mac."

The two men quickly approach the house. "Should we knock or kick it down?" Don asks.

"The car's in the driveway; we're sure he stole it. All the justification I need."

The detective gives a small nod and steps back. With all his force, he kicks the door, and it swings open. "NYPD," he yells, running inside.

Mac is right behind him. "I'll check upstairs." He quickly goes up the flight of stairs and cautiously approaches the bedroom. Stepping into the doorway, he finds Stoneberg standing over Stella, his lips against her shoulder and his hands unzipping her jeans. "Hey, Stoneberg," Mac calls out.

The man quickly lifts his head up to see who was calling him and is surprised to find Mac there. "You're just in time."

"Take your hands off of her," Mac orders, desperately wanting to pull the trigger.

"Or what?" he challenges.

After glancing at Stella, who is lying still on the bed with her eyes closed, Mac makes his decision. The bullet hits Stoneberg in the forehead, and the criminal falls onto the floor, dead.

"Stella," he rushes over to her, pulling her body to his in a tight hug. She flinches at his touch, afraid. He puts one hand on the small of her back and the other around her head, not even noticing that she is not hugging him back. "It's okay, Stel. I have you now," he presses a kiss to the top of her head, and she quickly turns her face away from him. "Are you alright?" he asks after a full minute of embracing her. Slowly she shakes her head; he feels the answer against his shoulder.

Mac finally lets go of her, and she stands there awkwardly, staring at the ground. He tries not to look at her, knowing she is embarrassed enough about being half-dressed.

Flack holds out her shirt to her after checking to make sure Stoneberg is dead. "Here, Stella. Why don't you go into the bathroom and… clean yourself up?"

The two detectives stand there awkwardly for a few minutes until she comes back out, still refusing to make eye contact with them. "You probably need to go back to the hospital," Mac says, looking at the burn on her arm. Without a word, she heads down the stairs and out the door. Mac looks at Don, worried.

"Take my car; I'll wait for the Albany police to come," he tosses the keys to his friend.

"Thanks."

You Found Me

The doctor bandages Stella's arm, "So how did this happen?"

"Straightener," she mumbles, looking at the ground.

The doctor glances at Mac, suspecting domestic violence. "Was this man involved?" he nods toward Mac.

She shakes her head.

"She's my partner; we're detectives in New York. We… took care of the man that did this to her," Mac explains briefly.

"Perhaps we should keep her overnight to make sure she doesn't go into shock. She seems a little… unresponsive."

"That's not necessary. I'll take good care of her."

Mac escorts her out of the building silently, knowing she would just push herself farther from him if he tried to get her to talk to him. As they pull up in front of the house to pick up Flack, he turns his attention to her. "Stella… if you want to talk, I'm here for you," he tells her quietly, making sure she knows that he is there for her. She does not respond.

Flack walks over to the car and climbs in. "The feds are on their way. I explained the situation; they said they would be down tomorrow to talk to us."

With a nod, Mac starts the drive home. Stella stares blankly out the window, wishing she could fall asleep and wake up to find that it was all just a nightmare. However, every time she closes her eyes, she sees him or Frankie. Sighing to herself, she tries to hold back her emotions, knowing that it is going to take a long time to recover.

A/N: I forgot to tell you guys last chapter that we are half way there. Stoneberg's dead, but there's still plenty of things that have to happen before happily ever after... if they get one. So... you guys can speed up the process by sending reviews. I'll update tomorrow if I get... seven reviews. Oh, I've got a question for you guys. Was there an episode of NY that had to do with golfing on top of the buildings or something? And the guys died because he had instant cement or something put down his throat. Or am I completely imagining this? Anyway... hope you enjoyed this chapter.