2 years in progress and this story is finally ready to start being posted. :O Thank you for clicking in here, I hope you will read the chapter and let me know what you think!
As always, Thank you to Lily Moonlight for plot discussions, editing and endless encouragement to keep writing! :D

Chapter 1:

Another Tuesday morning had started abruptly with a call from dispatch; waking Flack long before his alarm could. Once - just once, couldn't criminals muster up the decency to consider his morning sleep?

Even worse; he had only made it three bites into his cream cheese bagel before he had to deal with another call. One that was much more urgent than the first. Which is why he had abandoned his breakfast, and now found himself bumping into anyone who got in his way at the precinct. If he could just clear this thing up quickly, he might still make it to the crime scene.

By his desk, in handcuffs and guarded by a rookie officer, sat Laura Starling. A teenage girl who had a habit of appearing in his life, whenever she got into trouble. Only this was the first time trouble warranted an officer standing guard by her side.

The young girl had already spotted him as he walked in, and now wore a pleased smile on her face. Flack could easily get the case from the rookie, both he and Laura knew that, but he wasn't so sure he would. For a moment, he considered letting Laura face the consequences of her actions for once.

"Laura," he said. His chair pulled across the floor with a squeak before he sat down. "I thought you promised to be out of my hair for good."

"You know me and promises Flack." She met his eyes, but the smirk on her face didn't fool him. She shifted in her seat under his stare. She was in deep trouble this time, and she knew it. "Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't."

The first time Laura and Flack had crossed paths, had been at a small convenience store. He had been trying to decide which excuse for a sandwich should keep him alive until the end of his shift. Jess had gone outside to wait for him, after she was done mocking him with the difficulty of his decision.

He had seen Laura swipe a couple of items from the shelves, but before he had a chance to react, the store owner chased her out of the shop, screaming 'Thief!'.

A severe case of smoker's lungs stopped the owner halfway down the block, flailing his arms in the direction Laura had gone. Flack caught up with her in an alley half a block away and bailed her out of trouble the first of many times.

This time, however, her problems wouldn't be solved through a long conversation and an apology. For the first time since Flack had met her, he began to wonder if he had taken on too much, by trying to keep an eye out for her.

"I left your foster mom a message, I'm sure she'd like to know where you're at," he said. Laura turned her face away, but didn't offer anything else in the way of a response.

"How long've you been on the run this time?" he asked. "More than a few days, I'm guessing. Takes a desperate kid to do an ATM stick up."

"A few months." Her words came with a shrug, as if months on the street was nothing. Flack had never believed she was as casual about her situation as she led on. Maybe it was the times he had helped her adjust to new foster homes that caused his doubt. Or maybe it was the fact that she reminded him of someone else he knew. Someone who had taken a few stabs of her own at escaping the foster care system.

"Don't give me that look," she shot at him. "I don't need your pity, I got friends." Though there was no mention of these friends' current whereabouts.

"Did these 'friends' put you up to this?" Flack knew the answer to that one before he'd asked, and just as well. Laura averted her eyes and fixed her attention on a loose tile in the floor, giving him no answer.

"You gotta grow up," Flack said. "You'll be 18 soon."

"And?" The floor tile took a kick from the tip of Laura's boot, but remained in place, adding to her frustration. She gave it another kick.

"I can save your ass from a stint in juvie for a purse snatching, but armed robbery?" Flack paused to give Laura a chance to draw her own conclusions. She didn't. "You could be in real trouble here."

"So fix it," she said with a shrug.

"There's no fixing it." Flack pushed his chair backwards as he stood up. For a second it balanced shakily in its back legs, before it plopped back down. "If the DA goes forward with this case, there's nothing I can do."

"Are you serious?" For a moment Laura seemed to have forgotten that she didn't care about consequences, and Flack saw a glimpse of the much younger girl he had bailed out of trouble the first time.

"Dead serious" Flack said, but his voice softened. "I'll do what I can. Maybe the DA can work the system while you're still a minor, but this is your last warning."

"So what were the other last warnings?" The hint of a smirk had returned to Laura's face. He had had a soft spot for her since they met, and in her case, he didn't give much credit to the system. She damn well deserved his help. "Jess is right about you, you know. You're soft."

"Don't push it," he said, careful not to smile at the thought of Jess and Laura discussing him behind his back. "Wait here while I go call in another favour from the DA. You know I'm running out of those, yeah?"

"Maybe you should restock." The words came with a challenging raise of her brows and a smirk.

"Wise-ass," Flack said. "Sit tight."

With that, he headed into the hall to call the DA to call in one of his very few favours, before someone else called in Laura's arrest.

Not far from the precinct, impatience had become exasperation. Stella sat in the driver's seat, tapping her fingernails against the steering wheel. People were scuttling in and out of the busy courthouse; each attending to their own important errands. While Mac sat, blissfully ignorant of her impending wrath and ate the last few bits of his breakfast.

Parked illegally by the side of the road at the courthouse didn't strike Stella as the most suitable place to enjoy breakfast, but Mac seemed unaffected.

"Get out," she finally said, releasing a sigh that had been kept locked in her chest for several minutes. It was no longer a matter of whether she was going to be late. It was rather a question of how late she was going to be, and still, Mac didn't budge. Instead he watched her with raised brows.

"You're eager to get rid of me." Mac's mouth was still half full of toast, but that didn't stop him. Stella couldn't keep a chuckle from rising through her throat at the sight of him, but she bit back her amusement with a shake of her head.

"I'm going to be late," she said. When that didn't seem to work, she continued; "Danny is going to want an explanation."

"You'll think of something." A smirk broke out on his face as he caught a few crumbs by the side of his mouth with his thumb. For a second she considered the consequences of telling Danny the truth. She could at least threaten to do so, but the small joy from her petty revenge against Mac, didn't seem worth it.

Instead she watched him with no small bit of impatience as he crumbled up his napkin and stuffed it in the ashtray. Finally, he gathered up his files for the trial.

"See? I'm going." Mac held up his slightly messy stack of papers as proof that he really was. Only, he let them drop back on his thigh as he instead reached over to place his hand on hers. "Sorry for making you late."

"I guess it's alright, you weren't the only one to oversleep," she admitted, moving her hand so he could easily wrap his fingers round hers.

"See you later at the lab?" he asked.

"Of course." She was tempted to add that it'd be hard to avoid, seeing as it was her job, but she stopped herself.

"And tonight?" Mac added, with a look of optimism on his face.

"Pushing it, Mac Taylor." It was her turn to smirk at him as he shook his head in defeat. "Go get a killer convicted."

"Alright, alright," he said, pushing the door open, though he didn't leave before leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek.

"Have a good day," he said before he let the door close behind him. Stella watched as he marched toward the courthouse, before she could finally head out to the morning's crime scene.

Getting through morning traffic was a struggle. By the time Stella finally arrived at the crime scene, most of the activity had died down. A few curious neighbors remained in hopes of catching a glimpse of the body bag. But Sid's people did a good job obscuring the view as they brought it out of the house. Sid followed the body, shaking his head at the commotion, but still managed a smile to Stella in passing.

She made her way into the small family home, where Danny was already busy working in the entrance. Though not too busy to stand up to greet her.

"Took you long enough," he said, pushing his glasses back in place with the back of his wrist.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I had a… thing," she said, still not entirely over the idea of telling the truth out of spite.

"A thing, huh?" Danny asked, a hint of suspicion about him that Stella thought it best to ignore, for now.

"Yeah," was all she said as she set her kit down and clicked it open to grab a pair of latex gloves. "I thought Flack would be here?"

"He got called back to the precinct before he even got here," Danny said, before moving over to the door that stood busted open. "Looks like the killer forced his way in through the front door. Even the chain is busted."

"You're going to have to start from the beginning Danny," Stella said. "Mac got the call, but he had to go to court. The address is about the only thing I know about this scene."

"He had time to call you but no time to brief you?" Danny gave an exaggerated sigh and shook his head.

"Sorry Danny, busy morning," she said. Danny smirked. There was a glimpse of something in his eye, that for a second, made Stella sure he knew something. But she found it best not to ask.

"The case?" she asked instead.

"Okay so, here's what we got; two men broke into the house early this morning. They were interrupted by Tyler, one of our vic's foster kids, and the B&E becomes a home invasion." Danny seemed to make an effort to explain the case quickly, but Stella paid no attention. Instead she glanced around the crime scene as she listened to him talk.

"Is the kid okay?" Stella asked. She hadn't seen any kids on her way into the house, but the report had only been about one victim.

"Nothing but a few bruises," Danny said. "They took him to the ER, just in case."

"Good." Working the case of a murdered child wasn't how she wanted to spend her morning. "Do we have a description of the men?"

"Nothing useful. The wife said they wore masks and were 'pretty normal looking'."

"Great," Stella said. "Case closed."

Danny didn't even bother half a smile, instead he cast a glance around the crime scene. Thinking the same thing Stella was; it had to be more than a robbery. They had murdered a man, but none of the family's expensive items seemed to be missing.

"How does our vic fit in?" Stella asked, drawing Danny's attention back to her.

"Our vic, Tommy Davies, jumped one of the robbers," Danny said. Stella hadn't seen the victim yet, but judging by the body bag he had been brought out in, he wasn't a big man.

"Why would he do that if they were armed?" She asked.

"Sounds like he was trying to defend the two kids." Danny said. "So far we can't tell if the gun went off by accident, or if they shot him on purpose. He bled out before the ambulance got here."

"Damn." Was all Stella said.

"Yeah," Danny added in, but was stopped by his phone before he could add anything else. "Excuse me," he said, though after a quick glance at the screen, he stuffed the phone back in his pocket.

"Not important?" Stella asked. Ignoring her rule of not interfering in other people's personal lives (at least while at work), because of the look on Danny's face.

"Nah, it's Louie," he said. He sounded about as annoyed as he looked, and Stella didn't blame him. When the Tanglewood boys had first popped up in one of their cases, Mac had come to talk to her about it, and about Louie. There was a lot of history there, that neither of them knew even half of.

"I guess you're still not talking?" she asked, not wanting to pry, but she couldn't very well leave it either.

"Look Stell, he saved my ass, I'll give him that, but things don't just change. Louie doesn't just change," Danny said, trying his best to brush it off with a shrug. "It's for the best. Especially for Lucy."

"Fair enough," Stella said, figuring it best not to press the subject any further. "Let's get to work then, I want to be back at the lab for lunch."

"I've been working for over an hour already," Danny said with a huff, before they both went about their jobs of processing the small house. It was early in the afternoon before they were ready to head back to the lab.

"Stella!" Mac called, though his partner, who stood partly hidden behind the closing elevator doors, took no notice. Or, at least, she pretended not to. It was quite clear that she was watching him from the corner of her eye, as he approached.

Her lips quirked upwards as Mac brought his pace to a slight jog, but still, she made no move to stop the doors.

If he hadn't been a grown (And if he were to say so himself; professional) man, he would've entertained the idea of racing down the stairs. Though he feared that he wouldn't make it down the stairs on time. Instead she would be laughing as he came huffing and puffing down the stairs well after the elevator had brought her to their destination.

Thankfully, neither of the two came to happen. Stella shot her hand out and stopped the doors just as they were about to draw together. The quirk of her lips turned to a grin as Mac walked in beside her.

"That was very gracious of you," he said, she offered a shrug in response.

"Didn't think you'd be able to handle the stairs," she said. He shot her a glare, but she had already casually moved on. "How was court?"

"I hate lawyers." The horrors of his morning stood clear in his memory. Nothing pissed him off quite like the lawyer of a spoiled rich kid.

"You and me both," Stella agreed, shuddering in mock horror. "Want me to cheer you up?"

"Sure," Mac said, not trusting her for a bit, given her mood this afternoon. "What've you got?"

"Our case is a dead end, so far," Stella said. How exactly that was supposed to cheer him up, eluded him. "So, it looks like we'll be outta here just in time for you to buy me dinner."

"Oh really?" Mac asked.

"I'm hoping Sid will have something for us," Stella added with a sigh, leaning against the elevator wall.

"Doesn't he always?" Mac asked. This brought a smile back to his partner's face.

"I'm sure Sid'll love to know how much faith you have in him," Stella said. She nudged his arm just as the elevator doors slid open. "Better hurry, I was serious about dinner."

With that, she slipped out of the elevator, leaving him no chance to protest. Not that he had any serious objections to her decision. Instead, he followed her into the autopsy room.

"Hey Sid," Stella called out to the ME, who stood by the body in the middle of the room. "Got anything for us?"

"Your robbers were careful, I can tell you that," Sid said, tossing his bloody gloves in the trash.

"Don't tell me you've got nothing," Stella said. She and Mac had taken their usual place by the opposite side of the autopsy table.

"Got nothing?" Sid scoffed and grabbed a clean pair of latex gloves from the box. He put them on with a loud snap, forcing Stella to press her lips together, not to chuckle.

Sid might've missed it, but it wasn't lost on Mac. It was no wonder she was known to have no poker face. It took her a moment to regain her composure enough to talk.

"You're right Sid, sorry," she said.

"Thank you," Sid said. "Now if you had allowed me to present my findings, I would've told you that I have a bullet for you. I estimate that it was fired from a distance of at least a couple of feet."

"So it was no accident," Stella said. "The gun couldn't have gone off during a struggle."

"Despite that, there was evidence of a struggle," Sid continued, leaning over the body to point out the injuries that had led him to that conclusion. Mac's attention, however, drifted to Stella. She was paying close attention to Sid's findings, her brows drawn tightly together and her lower lip pulled between her teeth as she tried to put the puzzle together.

She'd had the same look on her face a few mornings earlier, when he had woken up to find her solving crossword puzzles in bed. His crossword puzzles. Although, they hadn't been too bothered about crosswords most of that morning...

"Still with us, Mac?" Sid asked suddenly, drawing Mac back to the autopsy with a start.

"Uh, yeah," he said, grasping for any explanation for having zoned out, staring at Stella, in case Sid would ask. Thankfully, he didn't. Instead he went back to explaining the details of the autopsy, leaving Mac wondering if his guilty conscience had made him jumpy.

Stella, however, wasn't about to let him off that easily. She was watching him with one eyebrow intentionally raised. It was in that moment that it occurred to him, that she hadn't yet gotten her revenge for this morning. A look of fear must've clouded his eyes because the minute that thought had struck, Stella winked and turned her attention back to Sid.

"Subtlety never was your strong suit, Miss Bonasera," Sid said, without as much as looking up from the body.

"How's that?" she asked. The look of indifference on her face wasn't quite convincing. Sid crossed his arms and watched them with his head slightly tilted and his eyebrows raised. As if his look alone would break them into a confession.

"The winking, the glances, the touches," he listed. His smirk had grown to a grin. He had caught them unaware. Something they wouldn't be allowed to forget for a long time. "The two of you may, shockingly, be able to fool your superior, but you will have to up your game, to trick me."

"What are you trying to say, Sid?" Mac asked, hoping his tone of impatience would end the conversation, but Sid wasn't letting him have the final word.

"Just making an observation," he said with a shrug, and reached for an evidence bag on the table. "Here's your bullet."

Mac wanted desperately to say something - anything that could make Sid forget what he knew, but he came up empty. Sid had caught them, and he could only wonder who else knew about them too. The time for damage control passed as Flack came rushing into the morgue.

"Sorry I missed the scene," he said, slightly out of breath. "I had something personal to deal with."

His voice trailed off as he got close enough to see the victim's face. There was a look of recognition on his face, yet he seemed hesitant.

"You knew him?" Mac asked.

"Not really," Flack said, not quite able to tear his attention from the victim. "I know his foster kid, Laura."

"That's odd," Stella said. "His wife didn't mention another foster child, just the two boys."

"Laura's a run-away, she's gotten into some trouble." Flack's words made Stella's look harden as she realised what had happened. Mac had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her arm.

"I spoke to Mrs. Davies a half hour ago," Flack continued. "Laura's not going to be able to stay."

"Unbelievable," Sid said, but Mac didn't pay attention to the rest of Flack and Sid's conversation. Instead he watched Stella. She pressed her lips tightly together, her attention lost somewhere beyond the wall of the morgue.

"Stella?" Mac asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, harshly. That was the end of the conversation. She grabbed the evidence bag from his hand and headed for the lab, leaving Mac to finish up with Sid.

Best place to hide is in plain sight. Long as you look like you belong.

He didn't remember who'd said that to him, but he wasn't so sure they were right. He didn't blend in with the suits and pricey shoes one bit. Instead, in his worn old jacket and dirty jeans, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Guess he should've planned ahead a little.

Too late now, Louie thought, as he fixed his attention on the glass doors again. He'd already been here way too long. If they came looking for him, he'd be in trouble. Fuck - being caught outside the crimelab with him out of prison… He wouldn't be in trouble - he'd be dead.

He should've risked it and grabbed Danny when he ducked out for a snack earlier. She'd been with him, his boss, but at least it wasn't that arrogant bastard Mac Taylor.

He didn't know all that much about her, except she was no more to be messed with than Taylor. But she'd for sure have let him talk to his baby brother. There was no harm in that, she'd see that. Unfortunately, Danny didn't seem too keen on talking to him.

He'd have too though, there was no other way to stop this.