A/N: Super speedy update this time - see what happens when you deprive me of sleep? For those of you who've been anxious to get back to the Fiesta moments, this one is for you! A quick note - please remember when you read this that there was a little time gap between the two sections in the last chapter. And don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

Adam tried to mentally prepare himself as he flashed his ID card at the frazzled booking clerk and pushed his way into the holding area. It hadn't taken more than a few seconds for Captain Flack to excuse himself when he'd heard of Kevin's arrest. Neither Adam nor Samantha had been particularly surprised at his departure, but that hadn't meant that Samantha had been any less upset about it – not because she'd thought he was abandoning her, but rather because, as she tearfully explained to Adam, she was certain that he was going to kill Kevin.

And just as quickly as he'd seen her heart break at the prospect, Adam had somehow found himself assuring her that he'd stop him, that he'd make sure her father didn't do anything stupid – and then, off he'd gone. The decision, of course, struck him now as somewhat ridiculous – how was he supposed to physically restrain a man who could quite certainly snap him in half without breaking a sweat?

Regardless, he'd made a promise and now found himself pushing through a crowd of uniformed officers who'd formed a semi-circle around the cell. At the center of their enclosure, he found his future father-in-law, pressing a frightened looking man into the wall, his arm pressed into his throat as he shouted at him and a young uniformed officer tried in vain to pull him away.

"You son of a bitch! Did you think I wouldn't find out? Did you even care, you sick bastard?!"

Kevin seemed to be trying to eek out a response, but the pressure on his windpipe prevented it from being any more than a squeak.

"Captain Flack!" Adam shouted as he grabbed the older man's shoulder, pulling just enough to get his attention. "Let him go!"

"Back off, Adam," Captain Flack practically growled. "You know what he did to my little girl…you know what he did…"

"That doesn't make this okay," Adam insisted. "Think about Samantha!"

"Who the hell do you think I'm thinking about?" Captain Flack asked, continuing to press Kevin into the wall as he squirmed helplessly. "This bastard pretended to be family, and what does he do? He turns around and rapes my baby girl!"

"I know," Adam said, wincing at the words coming out of Captain Flack's mouth. "He's a jackass, and he deserves to be punished…and he will be, but not like this, not here, not by you."

"I…" Captain Flack began angrily.

"Think about everything he's taken from her," Adam interrupted desperately. "Think about the years he took, about the things she's lost…if you do this, there are witnesses. If you hurt him, even if they think he deserved it, all these officers have to testify against you. Think about that…damn it, don't let this be another thing he does to her! Don't be another thing he takes away from her!"

Captain Flack seemed to relax his grip for just a moment, staring back and forth between Kevin's confused expression and Adam's almost frightened one. He hesitated, torn between the desire for revenge and his concern for his daughter.

"She's not as strong as she acts," Adam continued, sensing he was making inroads with him. "Don't get me wrong, she is tough…the strongest woman I know, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have moments of weakness. She's survived a lot, but she just got you back – and don't think that's not something she's wanted for a long time, because it is…if she lost you, if she lost that connection to her family…I'll be there for her, but I don't know…I don't…"

As Adam's voice trailed off in uncertainty, Captain Flack sighed heavily, releasing Kevin with a force that sent him careening back into the wall one final time.

"What the hell are you all looking at?" Captain Flack said angrily, turning to the crowd of officers near the holding cell. "You forget how to actually do what the city pays you to?"

Even if he was retired, the legend of the decorated NYPD veteran preceded him, and the officers quickly scattered back to their various posts throughout the precinct, leaving Adam and Captain Flack alone with Kevin and the booking officer who had been attempting to break up the altercation.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Stella asked as she and Angell walked into the tiny room.

"Nothing," Captain Flack said gruffly.

"They were just leaving," the booking officer suggested not-so-subtly, earning a sharp glare from Captain Flack before he turned and walked out of the cell without a word to either Stella or Angell.

"Adam?" Stella asked expectantly.

"I, uh, well…" Adam stammered.

"Crazy old man tried to kill me," Kevin said, straightening up and rubbing his throat. "I don't get it, a few weeks ago I was like a son to him and now he's trying to kill me. Someone's been messing with his head, that's for sure."

"Shut up," Adam snapped.

"Geez, what's got your panties in a bunch?" Kevin asked testily.

"You, that's what," Adam said. "You think you're so smart and powerful, but you're nothing but a coward, you know that? That's what a rapist is, a coward."

"I am NOT a rapist!" Kevin protested angrily as Adam turned away from him. "I don't know what the hell you people think I am, but I have never been with a woman who didn't want me. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar, got it? Just because his daughter changed her mind about the fact that she let…"

Kevin's protest was cut off mid-sentence as Adam whirled around, his right fist connecting squarely with Kevin's jaw as a loud smack echoed through the eerily silent room and Kevin fell backward, stunned into silence by the unexpected hit.

"I told you to shut up," Adam said, shaking out his fist before turning and quickly walking out of the cell, past a stunned Stella and Angell, then past a confused Captain Flack, who had remained close enough to see exactly what had taken place in the cell.

"Well?" Kevin said in annoyance as he sat up against the wall, pulling his hand away from his face to reveal a bloodied jaw. "Aren't you going to stop him? He attacked me!"

"Did he?" Stella asked innocently. "What a shame, I must have had my back turned. Detective Angell, did you see what happened?"

"Can't say that I did," Angell shrugged. "Doesn't really sound like Adam, though."

"No, it doesn't," Stella agreed. "Officer Williams? You were here the whole time, weren't you? Did you see Adam Ross attack this rapist?"

Officer Williams hesitated for a moment, glancing down at Kevin before looking back at Stella and Angell.

"No, ma'am," he said. "I can't say that I did."

"Hey! I'm injured here!" Kevin protested. "That didn't just happen, people! I was attacked, and there are surveillance cameras in this room to prove it!"

"You know, I think that camera's broken," Officer Williams said. "You know how city maintenance is…it takes a year to change a light bulb around here."

"He is injured, though," Stella said. "Officer Williams, he's your charge. How do you explain that?"

"He must have fallen, Detective," Officer Williams said. "Tight quarters in here, maybe he tripped on the edge of the bed. Wouldn't be the first time."

"You really ought to be more careful, Kevin," Angell said. "Wouldn't want to spoil that pretty boy thing you got going on. Although, maybe you do…because trust me, you don't really want to know what happens to pretty boys serving life out at Riker's."

Stella rubbed the back of her neck and tried in vain the work out the stress knot in her shoulder as she pushed open the door to her office, pausing when she saw that it was already occupied.

"Sure, make yourself at home, I don't mind," she said sarcastically, leaning against the doorframe as Flack stared at her from her desk chair, his arms crossed over his chest and an almost frightening look of anger on his face.

"You gonna explain to me what the hell's goin' on here?" he asked.

"You're in my chair," Stella shrugged.

"Don't be cute with me," Flack snapped. "You know damn well what I'm talking about, Stella. What the hell happened today?"

"Today?" Stella asked defensively, taking a step into the office. "Well, today Angell and I arrested a murderer. Today, we took a sick bastard who preyed on innocent young women and we took him off the streets, hopefully for good."

"I don't buy it," Flack said, standing up from the chair and moving around to the front of the desk. "I've known Kevin Maloney practically my whole life, and there is no way he's a killer, Stella."

"Don, the DNA doesn't lie," Stella said. "Plus, he fits the profile of what we were looking for – someone with medical training."

"That's only half the people in this city, Stella!" Flack insisted. "Hell, you and I have medical training!"

"But you and I don't have DNA that was found at the crime scene," Stella said gently. "Kevin does."

"Mistakes happen, damn it!" Flack shouted. "Someone made a mistake with this one!"

"Do not raise your voice to me," Stella said sternly. "You know as well as anyone the level of skill and integrity in this lab, so don't you dare go insinuating that someone on my team screwed up."

"I'm not…" Flack began.

"I get that you're upset," Stella continued. "No one likes to think that someone they're close to could do something like this, but…"

"He didn't do it!" Flack exclaimed.

"Don, he did," Stella insisted, taking a step closer to him.

"Why does have to be Kevin who screwed up?" Flack asked angrily. "If everyone can screw up, maybe it was one of you. Maybe it was you, maybe you screwed up!"

"How dare you!" Stella snapped, her right hand moving toward his cheek, stopping just before impact as he grabbed it mid-air with his own right hand, yanking it away from his face with enough force to cause Stella to cry out slightly in pain.

Snapping her wrist back away from him, Stella glared at him as she rubbed it between the fingers of her other hand.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Stella asked angrily, any sympathy she'd feeling for him now totally gone.

"Jesus, Stella, I'm sorry, I…"

"I didn't ask for an apology, Don," Stella interrupted. "I asked you tell me what the hell is wrong with you right now. And don't give me any crap about knowing him, about him being someone you trust, because I've seen you trust the evidence over your relationships before. Why can't you accept the evidence here?"

"You don't get it, Stella," Flack said. "Kevin, he's not just some guy that I work with – he was my best friend growing up. There's never been a time in my life when I haven't trusted him…if he's who you think he is, then where does that leave me? I told him things I'd never tell anyone else, I trusted him with everything that mattered to me…I let him into my family, Stella."

"Even family sometimes turn their backs on one another," Stella pointed out.

"I've spent so much time with him," Flack said. "I would have known, Stella. If this were true, I would have known."

"Maybe," Stella said. "Maybe not. You're human, Don. Even the best of us get fooled sometimes…and this guy, from what I've seen, he's delusional. There'd be no way for you to tell, because he doesn't feel guilty about any of it."

"I trusted him, Stella," Flack repeated. "With everything…I set him up with Angell…I tried to set him up with my sister…"

"You did what?" Stella asked surprise.

"When she was a senior in high school and we were still just stupid kids hanging around the neighborhood and partying too much," Flack said. "I used to leave parties early, ask him to drive her home…I thought it would be great, my best friend and my…"

"Don?" Stella asked in concern as his face clouded over.

"No," he shook his head, a stunned look on his face. "No, it's not…oh my God…"

"Don? Talk to me," Stella said gently, placing a hand on his forearm as he ran a hand over his eyes and up into his hair.

"She had a kid," Flack said, his mind racing. "She had a kid right after senior year."

"What are you thinking, Don?" Stella asked hesitantly.

"She freaked when I asked about the father," Flack said. "She seemed…I don't know, almost scared…oh God, Stella…I think…what if he…"

Stella felt her anger melting as she watched him run through the possibilities in his head, always coming back to the same heart-wrenching conclusion.

"Come here," she softly, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. "It'll be okay, Don."

Flack sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his head in her shoulder.

"She's my baby sister," he muttered. "If he hurt her…"

"You'll figure it together," Stella said, pulling back slightly and looking him in the eyes. "He's going away for a long time, no matter what happened all those years ago."

"I know," Flack nodded wearily, resting his forehead against hers. "I'm really sorry, Stella…"

"Shhh," she muttered, quickly shaking her head. "Apologies go best with little blue boxes."

Flack smiled slightly as he reached up to brush a stray curl out of face, knowing that they were edging dangerously closer to that line they'd promised to observe just a few weeks earlier.

"Screw the line," he whispered, so softly that Stella almost didn't hear him.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"Would it be really inappropriate if I said I wanted to kiss you right now?" Flack asked, his lips so close to hers that she could feel the heat from his breath as he spoke.

"I…" Stella started, suddenly finding herself at a loss for words.

Taking advantage of her silence, Flack gently placed his hand on her cheek, tilting her head ever so slightly as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, smiling to himself when she let out a soft moan as his tongue brushed against her lips and they slowly parted for him.

"Stella, have you…"

Flack and Stella practically jumped apart at the sound of Samantha's voice, turning to find her standing in the doorway, her mouth stuck half-way open in shock.

"No, no," she said quickly. "Don't stop on my account."

"Sam…" Flack began.

"No, no, no, pretend I wasn't here," Samantha said, waving her hands in front of her. "Please, carry on. I'm just gonna…you know, go find Dad or something…please, don't stop…as you were, people, as you were…"

Flashing a quick thumbs up at her brother while mouthing 'oh my God' in Stella's direction, Samantha looked back and forth between the two of them once more before shaking her head and stepping backward out of the office.