The snow was falling softly over Manhattan as the two CSIs walked down the street, attempting to Christmas shop for their respective girlfriends.

"This is harder than I remember," Sheldon complained.

Danny grinned. "When was the last time you bought something for a woman?"

"That wasn't a relative? Oh, let's see now…"

Danny laughed. "That long ago, huh?"

Sheldon gestured toward Danny's empty hands and replied, "Well it's not like you're doing any better."

"True, true. Maybe we need to work together on this…approach it the way we solve a case."

It was Sheldon's turn to laugh. "That's romantic. I'm sure the girls will appreciate it."

"You got any better ideas?"

Sheldon thought for a moment. Then, "No. Okay, we'll do it your way."

They ducked into a department store, figuring that with all the different choices there they were bound to find something for Sarah and Maddie.

"So where do we start?" Sheldon asked.

"Not in housewares," Danny decided. "One of the few things I learned from my father is that no woman wants a blender or a vacuum for Christmas."

Sheldon grinned. "Absolutely. One year when I was a kid, my father bought all new kitchen appliances for my mother's birthday. She loved to cook and spent a lot of time in the kitchen, and they needed new appliances, but let's just say it didn't go over real well."

Danny chuckled. "I can imagine. Clothes are out, too, then, 'cause they'll cause the same problem."

Sheldon nodded. "Okay, what about perfume? Women like perfume, right?"

"Maddie only wears perfume on special occasions, and there's only one kind she wears…"

"And you don't know what it is," Sheldon finished.

Danny tried not to look embarrassed. "Right. But we can go look at some for Sarah if you want to."

"It's worth a shot."

The two rambled through the store until they found the perfume counter and spent a half an hour fending off the flirting of the girl working there. Both became thoroughly frustrated and left, promising through gritted teeth to think about the fragrances they'd tested and come back later.

"That was painful," Sheldon winced as they rode the escalator upstairs.

"You ain't kiddin'," Danny agreed.

Sheldon wrinkled his forehead, thinking hard. "Okay, what else?" He caught sight of something red and silky as they reached the top of the escalator and smiled. "Lingerie?"

"You wanna talk about pain?" Danny laughed. "Lingerie has pain written all over it!"

Sheldon walked over to a rack and ran a finger gently over a satin nighty. "Really? Why? It's sweet, it's romantic…"

"Do you know how much trouble you'll be in if you get the wrong size?" Danny grinned.

Sheldon stopped. "I don't know Sarah's sizes…and you have a pregnant girlfriend who's very touchy right now about how she looks…"

"Exactly."

"So strike two."

"Yep. On to the next plan…"

In another department store, Mac and Maddie strolled down the aisles engaged in the exact same activity.

"I'm glad you came with me," Mac said to her. "It's been a long time since I've bought a woman a Christmas gift."

Maddie smiled. "Happy to help," she replied. "So where do we start?"

Mac looked blankly at her. "I don't know."

She laughed and began walking. "Well, are you looking for something small and inexpensive, something big and expensive, or something in between?"

He kept pace with her, trying not to bump into people as he thought. "I don't want to do too much," he decided, "because we aren't that serious yet."

"Not that serious?" Maddie grinned. "Mac, I've seen the way you two look at each other…"

He smiled shyly and shifted his gaze to his feet. "Okay, well, we're taking things very slowly. Stella hasn't had much luck when it comes to men, and it's only been a few years since Claire…"

She brushed a hand over his shoulder. "You two take things as slowly as you need to. Don't let obnoxious people like me try and rush you," she grinned.

"I think we'll be okay," he chuckled. "So anyway, I need to get my girlfriend a Christmas present." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye to see how she reacted to his words.

She didn't disappoint, her eyes twinkling as she laughed out loud. "Your girlfriend? How long have you been waiting to use that one?"

"Oh, a while now," was all he said. "Outside of the times when Stella and I are alone, I only get to use it when I'm with you."

She laughed again. "Then feel free to use it all day today…you're so cute when you do…" Mac blushed crimson and Maddie giggled. "So, shall we?"

"Let's."

He offered her his arm and she took it, quizzing him about the type of gift he was looking for as she led him around the store. Eventually they ended up in the jewelry department, every man's gift-giving safety net.

"Okay, so if you want to go all big and over the top, the diamond rings are over here…" Maddie said, gesturing toward the far end of the display case while trying to keep a straight face.

"Uh, no," Mac replied. "How 'bout something a little less over the top."

"There are some nice earrings over here…" She led him in the direction of the earring displays and helped him comb through the sets.

He found a few pairs that were okay, but nothing that really screamed Stella's name. "What about a necklace?"

"Also a nice choice," Maddie informed him. "There's sterling silver, gold, necklaces with stones in them, some without stones…"

They waded through the masses of necklaces until Mac found the one he was looking for. He knew it was perfect the instant he saw it: the outline of a small star inlaid with diamond chips, dangling from a delicate gold chain.

"This one," he declared. "It's Stella."

"Literally," Maddie smiled, "since 'Stella' means 'star'."

"You think she'll like it?" he asked as the clerk wrapped it up for him.

She squeezed his arm affectionately. "Oh yeah. You just wait."

His smile was a mixture of shyness and pride as he took the small bag from the clerk. "Now," he said, turning to her and changing the subject, "what about Danny?"

She pressed her lips together. "I don't know," she thought out loud. "I want to get him something fun…something he can play with…"

"…something electronic," Mac finished with a grin.

"Exactly," she laughed. "Since he is kind of a computer geek."

"Then I know just the place…"

Don sat on the floor in his living room, staring down at the sheaf of papers in his lap.

Michael Sassone…arrested 9/23/01—racketeering; released, insufficient evidence…arrested 6/14/02—extortion; released, acquitted at trial…arrested 7/27/03—heroin trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder; released, trial ended in a hung jury…arrested 2/2/04—intimidating a witness, jury tampering; released, insufficient evidence…arrested 12/13/04—extortion, attempted murder; released, insufficient evidence…

Captain in the Utzieli crime family…believed to be very violent toward enemies as well as allies…known associates include Benito Amilcaré…Vyacheslav MikhailovichMolotov... Josef Dzhugashvili…Tanglewood Boys…Loreto Gang…

Don shook his head at the papers, turning paler as he read through the dossier. "Amilcaré, Molotov, Dzhugashvili, Tanglewood, Loreto…these are some scary guys…scary even for cops to deal with…" He paused and thought about that last statement. "Scary especially for cops to deal with…I wonder if Danny realizes…"

Before he could expound any further, though, there was a knock at his door.

"Who's there?" he called as he pried himself off the floor.

"It's Stella," a voice called back.

Don opened the door with a puzzled expression on his face. "Hey, Stel…what're you doin' here?"

Stella smiled. "I have something for you." She looked down at the envelope in her hand, raising an eyebrow as she looked back up at Don. "I don't know if this is an early Christmas present, or cruel and unusual punishment…"

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

She pressed her lips together and handed him the envelope. "It's an e-mail from Aiden."

He tried to keep his expession neutral. "Oh."

"I think…I hope I'm doing the right thing here, but I think you should read it."

Stella watched Don as he stared at the envelope, wondering if she was helping the situation or inflicting an incredible amount of pain on him.

"Okay," was all he replied.

He looked a little stunned, like he'd been blindsided, so she decided to leave him to process. "I was just out running some errands, and I gotta get going, so I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing…"

She turned and started to walk away but Don touched her shoulder. "Stel?"

"Yeah?"

"How is she?"

Stella gestured toward the envelope. "Read for yourself."

She disappeared down the hall and Don went back into his apartment. His apartment, the one he had moved to after he had boxed up all of Aiden's things and fled the apartment they had shared together. He stood in the living room, looking around at his apartment, nearly bare because most of their things had belonged to Aiden or had reminded him of her, and had ended up in storage.

He glanced down at the envelope in his hands and wondered if he should read it. Aiden hadn't called or e-mailed him herself, but Stella obviously thought there was something in there he should know.

He resumed his position on the floor, staring at the envelope for several more minutes before taking a deep breath and opening it.

The first two-thirds were mostly chit-chat, talking about Charlottesville, the bookstore Aiden was working in, the trip she took with her friend to check out the campus of the University of Virginia.

It was a paragraph near the end that got Don's attention.

So how's Don doing? Aiden wrote. Is he okay? How are things going for him at work? You're keeping an eye on him, right? Don't let him work too hard…he does that when he gets frustrated with life. And make sure he eats, too. Maybe you can keep some Pop-Tarts in the car for the next time you two go somewhere on the job…

Listen, Stel, I know I really have no right asking about him after the way I hurt him, but I gotta know. I knew when I left New York that he was The One, and even after being gone for months I've still never been more sure of anything else in my life. He's it—my soul mate, the man I'm meant to spend my life with. I only hope someday he'll understand why I left. Maybe then he can forgive me…

Don stopped reading, feeling himself go numb. Aiden, the woman who had run out on him, the woman he thought had lied to him about how happy she'd been with him, had in fact wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

He couldn't think, couldn't react. The letter slipped from his fingers as one thought passed through his mind:

She loved me…she still loves me…