'Lindsay, what do we have?' Stella asked as she entered the trace lab.
'Ah... trace from the bed comes back as personal lubricate.' She said with a sigh. 'At least they were considerate when they raped him.' She said turning her attention back to Stella.
'Ok, so maybe this was a home invasion turned sex crime?' Stella said as she put down the evidence in her hands.
'What was taken from the apartment?' Lindsay said as the two women began to go over the case.
'It's hard to tell, they place was trashed.' Stella pulled photographs out of an envelope and placed them on the table.
'What if it wasn't a home invasion? What if the person, or people, that did this were there to kill and torture this guy. Maybe they messed the place up to look like a robbery.' Lindsay said looking over the photos.
'I think you're right. Any DNA from the rape kit?' Stella asked.
'No, looks like they used a condom with the lube. We should start looking into his enemies.' Lindsay said as she stood up and took off her gloves.
'Good idea. Oh and Lindsay?' Stella said reaching out and stopping her from leaving by taking her elbow in her hand.
'Yeah?' Lindsay turned back to Stella.
'What's going on with Danny?' Lindsay sat back down onto her chair.
'I don't know. I've never seen him this snappy. He says he isn't in pain and I know he is.' Lindsay took a deep breath and looked at her lap. 'Yesterday morning we were in the shower and I wrapped my arms around his chest and he flinched, I could feel him pulling away from me. He was hurting.' Lindsay looked up at Stella with tears in his eyes.
'He just adjusting, he's been through a lot Linds.' Stella said as she rubbed her shoulders in a comforting gesture.
'No, it's different. Something is wrong.' She said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
'Just give him some time, alright?' Stella said as she stood up and pulled Lindsay into a hug. 'Now, let's go talk to the people Mark Maglieri knew, and put these sick bastards away for a long time.' She said tapping Lindsay on the back as she left the lab, leaving Lindsay sitting by herself.
Stella walked down the hall with her thoughts lost in the case, going over possible motives and enemies, passing the DNA lab she found Danny sitting in darkness next to a table. Sitting with his arms folded over his chest staring at the table in front of him Stella quietly entered the lab behind him. Walking up slowly behind his she placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump.
'Whoa, sorry!' Stella said as Danny whipped around to face her.
'Stella, what are you doing?' He said as he tried to catch his breath.
'I should ask you the same. What are you doing in here?' She asked looking at the empty table before him.
'What? Oh... I just needed somewhere quiet to think.' He said looking away from her. 'Anything on the trace?' Danny asked as he cleared his throat.
Stella stared at him, noticing the difference when she looked him in the eyes. 'Yeah, Lindsay found traces of personal lubricate in the bedroom.'
'Well at least they were considerate when they raped him.' Danny said as Stella smiled at how much a like he and Lindsay were.
'What?' Danny asked confused by her smile.
'No, nothing. You didn't find any traces of DNA from the victim?' Stella asked as she consulted her file in front of her.
'Still waiting on DNA from his finger nails. The guy fought back, Sid says he had boxer's fracture. Half is hand was mangled.' Danny said showing Stella what bones on his hand were broken.
'Good, so we're looking for someone with a possible black eye.' Stella said pulling out a photo of the victim's hand. Dropping a photo of the victim's face, Danny bent down to pick it up, hissing in pain he held his arm over his rib cage as he stood up with the photo in his hand. Suddenly he stopped and stared at the photo, pain across his face he stared at the bloody face of Mark Maglieri.
'Danny?' Stella said as she attempted to pull his attention back to her. 'Danny!' She said louder.
Danny looked up from the photo to Stella. 'Hum?' He answered as the colour left his face.
'What's going on with you?' She asked.
'Nothing, I just... thought I saw something... it was nothing.' He lied, the truth was, when he saw the victim's bloody face he saw his own face staring back at him. Fear rolled through his stomach as his mind played games with him.
'Alright, well I'm heading back to trace. You sure you're ok?' She asked again watching the colour slowly return.
'Yeah, fine. I'm going to head back to the crime scene actually... I think we might have missed something.' Danny said straightening himself out.
'Ok, keep me informed.' She said as she turned to leave the room. Leaving the door way she turned back remembering something else. Entering the room, she saw Danny taking a pill from a bottle and swallowing it dry, forgetting what she was doing she turned around and left Danny alone. Taking her cell phone from her waist line, she phoned the one person she knew would get through to Danny.
'Flack.' He answered on the second ring.
'Hey Flack, it's Stella. I need your help.' She said as she walked quickly to her office and closed the door behind herself.