AN: Sorry it took me so long! Enjoy!
Chapter Five
Mac was walking down the street in search of Stella. It was freezing cold and he was grateful for his jacket.
Where the hell is she? What was she thinking just running away?
All kind of horrible scenarios were playing in his mind.
He had no idea where he was going, and moreover why he was going there. He was just hoping that luck was on his side and that he would find her.
He spotted a figure in the crowded street. That's her! His mind screamed at him He ran toward the woman, just to discover that when she turned around she didn't look like Stella at all.
What the hell Mac? Are you loosing your mind? This is stupid!
He was starting to lose his hope of finding her.
You can't think like that! You can't just give up! Who knows what could happen to her in her vulnerable state?
Vulnerable? Stella would kill you for just thinking that.
He had to smile, yep she would definetly kill him.
So he kept on walking. He couldn't believe his luck when after what seemed to him like an eternity he finally spotted her.
He quickened his pace and finally caught up with her.
She was limping and looked worn out. He could see she was freezing. Her face was wet with tears and he could see crusted blood on her hands.
He resisted the urge to wrap her in his arms. Instead he settled on giving her his jacket and calling a cab.
Stella had never been so happy to see someone in all her life or at least it seemed like it to her.
She felt so tired and not to mention cold. When she had started running, and even after she stopped hadn't noticed how cold it actually was, but on the way back she had started shivering from the cold.
It wasn't exactly a bad thing, because it helped her not to think about the woman in the morgue, but as she kept on walking she saw flashes of herself lying next to the woman frozen to death.
Why can't I stop seeing her face? I don't even now her name!
She kept telling herself that it shouldn't affect her so much, but she had still started crying.
Look at yourself? Crying over a woman you never met!
But yet she felt so close to her, like she had known her all her life.
She watched as Mac walked towards her, he looked concerned and worried. He took of his jacket and wrapped it around her.
It feels so warm and nice. I'm wearing Mac's jacket!
She smiled happy.
"Where the hell have you been?", he asked his worry turning to anger in a split second.
I'm worried about her! Why can't she understand that?
"I don't know", she answered truthfully, but her voice sounded weak.
Upon hearing her voice his worry was back. "Let's get you home", he said.
On every other day she would have been tempted to at least hit him, for suggesting she needed help, but not today. Today she felt grateful.
She stumbled through her front door, Mac following closely behind her. He had hailed them a cab, because he had the slight advantage that a) he knew where they were, b) he had a cell to actually call a cab and c) the money to pay the cab.
"Thanks", said Stella.
"Anytime", Mac answered as he closed the door behind them.
"I think I'm going to get a hot shower now", She turned from his concerned gaze and without waiting for a reply she walked down the hall into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
She locked the door behind herself and slid to the floor hugging her knees.
A few minutes before she had been so grateful for company but now she wanted to be alone. She shivered, whether it was because of the cold or of the memories she didn't know.
Why is her face haunting me? Why can't I let go?
She remembered how about 8 hours ago she had been in this room, getting ready for work, standing in front of the mirror, seeing herself and not some woman with the same face as hers, staring back at her with dead eyes.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting on the floor when Mac knocked.
"You want Chinese, Italian or Greek for dinner?"
She took a deep breath before answering.
"I'm not hungry", her voice sounded much stronger than she was feeling, to be truthful she felt more like throwing up rather than eating.
"You have to eat something!", Mac called back.
She would have argued this point, but she didn't feel up to it.
"You chose! ... But not Greek!"
Normally she loved Greek, not only did she love the taste, but it always felt right, like home, because she would imagine eating it with her family.
Today under this circumstances it just felt wrong.
She finally stepped under the hot water, she winced when the water hit her bruised knees and hands.
Who is, was this woman? The similarities between them couldn't be random? Right? So why did they look so alike?
The only conclusion she came to was horrific and raised gooses bumps all over her skin making her shiver even as she stood under the hot water.
Do I have a sister? A twin sister?
Since she was young there hadn't been a day where she hadn't thought about her parents.
She had imagined them in thousand of different ways, but they were always wonderful parents and loved each other and loved her. She would imagine how they were forced to give her up, but one day would come back, because they missed and loved their baby girl, but they never did.
Not once in all this time did it occur to her that she could have siblings, that she could have a twin.
Mac was sitting in the living room. He had turned on the TV, a movie was playing, but he had absolutely no idea what it was about.
His mind was still trying to work out everything that had happened today. He looked up as Stella came into the living room.
Her hair was damp and she was wearing an oversized T-shirt above her sweat pants.
"I ordered pizza, hope you don't mind", He got up and went to retrieve the pizza from the kitchen, where he had put it when it arrived 10 minutes earlier.
"What's on your mind?", Mac asked as he handed her a slice of pizza.
He always knew when something was bothering her and in this case it was more than obvious. The case just had to bother her.
"Nothing", she took the pizza and began chewing on it, without really eating.
Mac frowned.
Why is she lying? He knew this had to be hard for her. It had been for all of them, but she always told him what's going on. What she's was thinking? Why doesn't she talk to me?
He didn't want to admit it, but he was hurt. They were best friends! They told each other everything. Or so he thought.
"I don't want to talk about it", she whispered.
Please just leave it alone Mac! Please!
She couldn't look him in the eye, because she knew she'd hurt him. It wasn't like she didn't trust him, but she just didn't want to talk about it.
She looked away. "I'm sorry." Mac knew it wouldn't do any good to ask her again.
Maybe she will tell you later, she's just not ready yet...
"It's alright", he said and they both settled on the couch, watching TV.
Danny was still running the prints through AFIS, so far he came up empty. Aiden wasn't having any luck either. Both CSI's jumped when Flack rushed into the lab.
"I got it", said Flack triumphantly waving a file in the air.
"Her name is Aletheia Gerold, her husband filled out the missing person report yesterday evening."
"Yesterday evening?", queried Aiden.
"But she was already dead the night before that", said Danny.
"Husband says he came home from a business trip yesterday evening, found the door open, the house a mess, his baby crying and his wife missing", Flack looked up from the file. "What a mess to come home to."
Now that they knew the victim wasn't Stella they could be more objective and they had fallen back in their usual working routine.
The case was still more personal then any other case, but after all they didn't know the victim.
"Baby?", asked Aiden.
"Yeah says here she has a 10month old daughter", said Flack reading the missing persons report again.
Another kid growing up without a mother...
Aiden looked at Danny who seemed to be following similar thoughts.
Flack put the file down. "Police looked at the crime scene, but didn't find anything."
Aide sighed. Poor baby, thank god she's still to young to know what's going on.
"I'm going to call Mac", said Aiden disappearing from the lab.
Mac was awoken by the sound of his cell ringing. For a moment he was confused.
What happened? Where the hell am I?, Then memories of the days events slowly started to come back.
He was sitting on Stella's couch with said woman sleeping in his lap. She looks like a little girl, so innocent so peaceful... Mac grabbed his cellphone.
"Taylor", he answered quietly, trying not to wake Stella.
"It's Aiden. How is she?"
"She'll be alright." He answered with more confidence than he felt. Will she? How would you manage?
"She's sleeping right now. What did you find out?"
"We found out who she is." Mac listened as Aiden recited everything that they had found out about the victim.
Closing his cell he placed it on the coffee table. He had told Aiden and the others to go home and get some rest; tomorrow they would interview the husband. The last 24 hours had been hell for all of them, they deserved some free time.
Stella murmured in her sleep. Mac touched her hair slightly. She's so beautiful...
She snuggled closer to him. Mac smiled and it didn't take him long until he was asleep again too.
AN2: Special thanks to my beta readers stella-taylor and fruitbat00!
Thanks to everyone who read the story and wrote a review!
chili-peppers I try to imagine, but I don't think it works to well.
scrimshaw89 it's so cool you have a twin, maybe you can help me a bit then ;)
hotchner well I couldn't kill my favourite character, could I?
angie thx hope you like this part too!
simanis no need to apologize
littlesheep wow now I'm really jealous! CSI in English only a dream come true...
rxc well then enjoy
quille I don't think so, I just have good beta readers, but thanks for the compliment. I always try to make the characters more real by writing about their feelings.
goddessofblood sorry to scare you ;)