The doctors fought back and forth for Stella's live. Every second mattered as her life slowly slipped away. Her breathing became erratic and her heart was slowing at a fast pace.

A young doctor emerged from the OR double doors. He spotted the family in the waiting room and approached them slowly. He took his mask off and snapped his bloody gloves from his hands. "Donald Flack?" He asked quietly.

Don rubbed the fatigue from his eyes as he stood. Catharine looked up from her position half under Lindsay and Jordan, half on top of a now awake Warrick. Danny stood about as fast as Don did.

"Yeah?" Don asked hesitantly.

"I'm Doctor Morgans. You're wife… well, she's going to be just fine. They've removed the tumor completely"

Don didn't let him finish as he ran over and hugged the man. Bloody scrubs and all. "When will she be awake?" He begged.

"Within the next two or three hours, though she'll be in a lot of pain. There may be some memory loss, possibly a lot of memory loss, but it's short term. The bleeding was extensive, so that may not aid very well in her recovery… but she should remember everything clearly within the next few months. Details on events will be sketchy at first, so be patient."

Don nodded hugging him again. The rest hurried over, thanking the doctor and hugging, crying and getting all around excited.

Quite a few members of the LVPD Crime Lab were present to bid farewell to their new friends. Sara Sidle, Nick Stokes, Gil Grissom, Sofia Curtis, Warrick Brown, and, of course, Catharine Willows.

Lindsay couldn't stop the steady tears as she said goodbye to her cousin, aunt and uncle.

They all stood, waving from the gate as the Flack family and Danny Messer boarded non-stop flight from Vegas to New York.

"Call me." Catharine mouthed to Don.

He nodded laughing as he mock blew her a kiss.

She giggled through the tears that stung her eyes. It'd been such a long time since Don's mother had decided that hanging around an exotic dancer was dangerous and corruptive. She had practically dragged the teenager away from his sister whom he had spent so much time with. When she wasn't working and he wasn't in school, they had been inseparable. And, though the dangers of her career weren't exactly untrue, she never brought her work home with her and Don had known very very little of it. But the day he had left, his mother had denied him the privilege of saying goodbye. He had snuck of to one of the clubs she performed at and waited for her to finish. He had run to her, hugging her tight as he cried into her sweaty outfit. He didn't care that she was half-dressed and just finished her show, his mother was forcing him from his family. His mother had followed him to the club and pulled him out of her arms and forced him into a taxi that whisked him away to NYC. He kept in touch with her until she got married and moved. Since than, he had been unable to find her and the same went for her.

Catharine winced at the memory. Not this time. This time no one took him away and no one could keep them from talking. And she knew now that they would indeed talk often.

The plane landed in NY where nearly the entire NYPD Crime Lab stood waiting with balloons and tears. It'd been a grueling 6 months of hoping, praying and of long hours as they filled in for their missing colleagues.

Mac was the first to emerge from the group and practically lifted Stella off of her feet, hugging her and kissing her.

Don mock timed them as he watched his wrist, which was void of anything to look at. "Alright, children." He disentagled Mac and Stella, making both laugh.

"Lizzy!" Jordan, despite spending so much time around another 'Lindsay' hadn't quite mastered the name. Lindsay didn't care. She picked the small child up and held her close.

"Miss me?"

"Of course!" Jordan squealed. "Mens!" She yelled pointing at the guys coming up from the baggage claim ramp. Lindsay laughed, remembering Jordan's prior experience with the 'mens'.

Sheldon, Jane, and Lindsay each welcomed Stella, Don and Danny home with hugs and stories as they made their way out of the airport. Mac now had Jordan, holding her tight.

Late that night, Stella was sitting up flicking through the channels on their TV. Somehow she didn't feel like sleeping. Don was asleep in their bed and Jordan was in her own, but Stella continued to sit and flick through each channel one at a time. She stopped on one of the news stations where it was showing old video clips of the World Trade Center going down. She glanced quickly at the date readout on her watch. 9-11-09. 8 years today she lost her best friend, Mac lost his wife, a nation lost it's fear and stood their ground. She sighed; it came so quickly this year. Picking up the phone, she quickly punched in Mac's number. No, he would not be asleep. Not today.

"It's 11:45pm, Stella Flack has finally come home and she's calling me instead of curling up in bed with her husband. I feel honored." Mac's voice was tight… tired, exhausted.

"Hey… I didn't know it was the eleventh."

"Surprise." He whispered. "How are you holding up?"

"Probably better than you."

"I'm okay, actually. For the first time in years I'm happy on the eleventh of September."

"Is it because I'm home?"

"Absolutely, Stella. You're still my closest friend and because you're still with us, somehow it makes my annual grumbling that much more insignificant."

"Did you go?"

"Yeah, but I didn't stay long. She'd be all the way down to T. Your plane came in when we hit L."

"I wish you stayed."

"I'm glad I didn't."

Stella grinned. "Thanks, Mac. It meant a lot that you were there and it means more now that I realize what today is."

"Anytime, Stel, anytime. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Yes, Sir." She giggled. "Goodnight, Mac."

"Goodnight, Stella."

She hung up and crawled into bed with Don. He turned over and put his arms around her. "Finally decided to come to bed?"

"Yeah."

"You alright?" He asked as he turned her towards him.

"I'm great, Don. I'm absolutely wonderful." She kissed him softly as she snuggled closer to him. Life was good now. She did indeed have the family she'd always dreamed of, and though that had been threatened, she held strong to it. Stella Bonasera-Flack slipped slowly into a peaceful sleep, her husband's arms strong around her, her baby safe in the next room.

-And that's all she wrote-Written by Officer-In-Blue-Support our Troops, they're protecting your ass -