On Stella's Concern

After Flack dropped her off, Stella went back to the lab to see that the test she had stared run still wasn't finished. Instead of looking for something useful to do, she sat letting her thoughts wander to the dark detective.

Dark is right. Actually, tall and handsome are also accurate, but at the moment 'dark' fits him the most.

And she didn't have only his black hair in mind.

Amidst the banter and occasional flirting, Flack's personality always had an inherent anger and sadness; a melancholy rough edge. It was underlying, it was mysterious; the only hint of its existence was in the zeal with which he did his job.

It was different from Mac's sorrow. Mac's pain and its cause was clear: the devastation of losing a beloved wife. There was nothing subtle or inexplicable about it. Understandably, it lasted a long time. And during that time, his wretchedness permeated so strongly, that even looking at him was a difficult feat because of how obviously broken he was. The experience was distressing for anyone to witness, more so for those who knew and cared about him.

But as the cliché goes, time passes by. Even Mac eventually moved on and found someone else to care about, someone who would attempt to fill the void Claire's death created. And for now he lived happily; or at least as close to happy as was possible for Mac. His closest friend, Stella, could finally breathe easily whenever she saw him. Finally, she didn't have to worry about what to say, how to behave, afraid her tongue would slip and she'd make him feel worse.

She never thought she'd have to face this situation again, and with Flack of all people.

If there was one person who embodied strength, in all its moral, emotional, and physical aspects, it was Don Flack. In that respect, he reminded Stella of herself a bit.

But she recognized now that sadness had always been in Flack. It was in how his whole face lit up when he smiled. Not smirked, but grinned boyishly from ear to ear showing his dimples at their full glory; and how rarely that happened. And it was in how quick he was to frown, his face settling into the lines easily, like they were there long before he ever became a cop.

But the gloom was restrained; it was elusive, disappearing into a joke the moment it starts to surface, making any witnesses think it was just a figment of their imagination, especially since there was no reason for it. But Stella now had proof of its existence. She knew its source.

Usually, knowing more about your friends brought you closer together; strengthened bonds. But not like this.

She had enough secrets to know how sacred they were to those who kept them. They were closely guarded, they weren't meant to be discovered, and were shared with only the most trusted people. But he hadn't told her of his secret, she had found out, when she had no right to.

Stella sighed, looking at the machine that was taking its time with the task she had set to it. But, she was almost thankful for the time out. Concentrating on her job was going to be very hard today.

Flack was probably feeling frustrated, perhaps even betrayed and the way he spoke to her before she got down was very discomfiting. In his aloofness, he was almost like a different person.

I really hope this doesn't change things between us. Then she was hit with a dejected afterthought.

Hasn't it already?

Author's note: Hi all. I'm sorry for the delay in updates. I've started adding events from season 4to the later chapters so I have to be very careful with the timeline. The story has become much longer than I had anticipated . It doesn't seem like it will finish anytime soon. But maybe that's a good thing. The next chapter is almost done so hopefully, it'll be up soon. It'll be a long one too . As always, I'd love to hear your feedback.