Don and Danny were standing in the small cafe. It was a rather unpleasant day; dreary and dull. They waited impatiently for their wives to return with an old friend. Within minutes Danny spotted them walking towards the cafe. He jumped up and started waving both of his arms to capture their attention. His wife was the first to notice him. She smiled and waved, picking up the pace.

With each step they took, seemed like an eternity before Stella could reach the two men. Instantly she was hugged by Don, then by Danny. She had tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall. A sad smile slipped on her delicate face. Jess noticed and hugged her tightly.

"We missed you," said Flack.

"I missed you, too," Stella replied, wiping her eyes.

"Tell us about New Orleans," Lindsay suggested.

"Okay," Stella said. "My team is great down there. Not as amazing as you, but good. They consist of: Ricky Sanchez, my assistant supervisor; Anita Williams, my best fingerprint analyzer; Brooke Thomas, Reagan James, and Maddie Reynolds are my homicide detectives; Jimmy Yang, Kim Quintin, Aliyah and Jordyn Marks are my field investigators; and Rosalie and Lillie Nelson are my doctors. Lulu Vera and Arnie Delaney, the MEs; and Katrina Patterson and Willow Zola are my best lab techs."

"Wow. Do they replace us?"

"No. They could never. You guys are far too amazing to lose to them." Stella assured them.

"How's the crime down there?"

"Eh. Not at all like here. There's not much rush around there."

"Tell us more."

"Well, a couple of weeks ago we found this young toddler chopped up. She was only two. Her mother was devastated, her husband was out of town. He hadn't known until he returned." She took a deep breath. "Riley was her name. She was an exceptional kid. Adorable, sweet, kind. When I saw the body, I freaked. I worked nonstop for the rest of the case. Not wanting to let this case go cold, not wanting the her murderer to get away. Ricky decided it'd be all macho of him to tell me that I was off the case. And I freaked again. Screamed at him to shut up and get away from me."

"Oh." Lindsay teared up as she thought of Lucy dead.

"Yeah. Anyway, a whole bunch of suspects popped up. Randy Jones, a regular con, was the lead suspect. He was a child molester so, I mean, obviously, he'd be our number one suspect. He was able to evade us the first time we questioned him. The second time: lucky again. But third time's a charm. We nailed him." A ghost of a smile slipped onto her lips. "He-he-he said, "I did it because she was so beautiful. So attention capturing. A real beauty. I had to have her. So..." then he proceeded to tell me how he raped her, how he cut her into pieces. I thought I was going to throw up. He was lucky to have Anita in the interrogation room with me. Or else I would've killed him and not cared."

"Wow." Jess murmured quietly.

"Exactly. I started dating. My first boyfriend there was Tommy Carson. I loved him. He was such a gentleman. Not many people down there were helpful to new people. Tommy was my boyfriend for about a year. During that time we had a lot of drug busts. Kilos of cocaine, marijuana, and weed went missing. At first I thought it was someone from my lab. It was so bad that internal affairs got involved. Even after a lengthy lecture, drugs still went missing. I knew that it wasn't the lab. Tommy made me dinner one night to ease away the stress. I couldn't make it so I had to rain check. He said okay and hung up. I went home tired and just ready to change into my pajamas, grab a beer, and watch TV. I walked in and was hit from behind.

"I didn't know what was going on. I was too dazed to realize I was being tied up, gagged, and blindfolded. It was too late by the time I noticed. I was tied to a chair and put in the front hallway. My first thought was that I was going to die in my own home by some deranged psychotic killer. But then the person started humming while they fixed tea. Now I have no idea about you, but I don't know a whole hell of a lot of killers who hum happy tunes and make tea for their hostages. I then was dragged to my bedroom and tied to my bed. He raped m-m-me.

"After that I was wide awake. Waiting for him to do it again. To not feel safe in my home again. He took off the blindfold. It was Tommy. And he held up a gun. He took the gag out of my mouth. I asked him what he was gonna do. His reply was that he was going to shoot me. I laughed, thinking he was joking. He wasn't. Four shots. The first shot, my shoulder; second shot, my thigh; third shot, my stomach; fourth shot, my chest. He was going to leave me there and let me bleed to death. " She sniffled. "I thought that I was going to die there. My sacred sanctuary was contaminated again by a man. Frankie was bad enough, but this. This gave me a whole new perspective about men. I decided it was best to not date again. Tommy managed to leave the city. I tracked his transactions to New York."

"So he's here?" Don asked.

"Yes. I'm here to bring justice to what he's done. Later I found out that he was mentally and emotionally unstable. There is a dangerous man out there and I'm here to find him."

"Okay. We'll help." Danny spoke up.

Sid arrived with Hawkes. They greeted Stella with warm embraces. Lucy was in Sid's clutches and squirmed away from him. She hugged Stella tightly and started to babble about her day. Stella listened intently. But every now and then, the team would notice that she'd look around as if waiting for someone.

"She's waiting for Mac," Sid said softly.

"Yep." Hawkes added quietly.

"How many vics now?"

"About 13 now. His kills are speeding up. They're resembling more and more to Stella."

"Damn it!" Danny cursed.

Then a black Avalanche rolled up. They all looked up and frowned, not being able to see through the tinted windows. Mac climbed out of the car and slammed the door. Causing Stella's head to snap up. Her eyes twinkled when she saw her old partner. She stood and had Lucy on her hip. Lucy squealed, excited to see Mac again.

"Uncle Mac! I was just telling Auntie Stella bout my day."

"Really? I'm glad she was here to hear it."

"I know!"

He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist. She hugged him back, not wanting to slip out of his embrace. They stayed like that for awhile longer. Then someone cleared their throat. The rest of the team groaned mentally. Jo stood there, arms crossed. Stella stepped away from Mac and smiled at Jo.

"Stella Bonasera."

"Jo Danville."

"And you are?"

"Mac's new partner and his girlfriend."

"Oh. Mac!" She swatted his arm lightly. "Why didn't you tell me you found someone?"

"I was busy?"

"Of course. You need to work on your lies, Taylor."

"Kinda figured."

"Well, I better go." Stella announced. "I have to go and catch him before he disappears again."

She turned and walked away. The team shook their heads and greeted Mac and Jo. They were all listening to Lucy chatter away when the first shot rang out. Everyone ducked, Danny grabbing Lucy and pulling her down. More bullets pierced the air and finally it died down. Everybody stood and surveyed the damage. Lucy wiggled out of Danny's grip and stood. She toddled to the door and pushed it open. They all watched as she stepped outside. Lucy managed to make it halfway across the plaza on her own. Then another bullet sounded.

"No!" Danny shouted.

They all watched as a blur jumped in front of Lucy and protected her from the shot. More bullets were fired and each bullet hit the person. Lucy was stumbling to her parents, sobbing. Mac stood and ran over to the person.

"Stella?"

"Mac..." she coughed up blood. "Tell Lucy I'd give my life to protect her."

"I need a medic now!"

Hawkes rushed over and started to check over Stella.

"I need to get her to a hospital."

"My car."

"Okay."

The ride to the hospital was a long and excruciating one.