After flashing his ID badge, Mac ducked under the crime scene tape and headed towards a decrepit alleyway. Mac knew the routine well. As with many other mornings over the course of his career as a CSI he had been woken by a phone call just after five, and after a quick shower and shave, which had been his routine since his military days, he was en-route to the crime scene, weaving in and out of the New York traffic as he made his way downtown.

Even after all the years he found himself unnerved by the crowd of onlookers that had gathered at the crime scene tape as he walked into the alley. He found it difficult to understand the crowd's perverse need to watch as the scene was investigated and the victim wheeled away to the morgue. But he had to remind himself that he had seen much death in the course of his life and he knew the real horrors of it, not the packaged up version the public got when watching crime TV shows.

As he approached the scene he expected to see Stella bouncing towards him, greeting him cheerily before stealing a sip of his coffee he had grabbed on the way. Mac reprimanded himself violently as he reminded himself of the fact that those days were over.

Stella was gone and she was not coming back.

Seeing his new second in command, Mac made eye contact. 'What do we have?'

'Hey Mac. Body of a young female-approximately in her late twenties. No ID. Stabbed in the chest- it would appear by lack of blood pool that she was killed somewhere else then dumped here. Found by a homeless man-he's talking to Flack just now.' Jo gestured and Mac followed her gaze to where a bearded, unkempt man stood, talking to a patient-looking Flack.

'TOD?' Mac questioned, kneeling down beside the woman's body.

The first thing that struck him was the bloodied wound in her chest. For a moment Mac felt a creeping sense of déjà vu as he stared at it. It was a strange shape, obviously not caused by an average blade and Mac was sure he had seen the exact same pattern somewhere before but then he shook his head, his eyes moving away, observing other details. Her glazed green eyes were wide open, staring yet unseeing and her pixie-cut brown hair was messed around her face. Her obviously expensive navy blue business suit was torn in places but there appeared to be no indications of sexual assault despite the defensive bruises that lined her hands and knuckles.

It was Hawkes who replied. 'About three to four hours ago. So approximately two A.M.'

'Found any fingerprints or trace?'

'Trace is bagged but fingerprints are proving difficult. There's a lot of alley to cover Mac.' Jo responded grimly.

'Alright then let's get to work.' Mac walked over to the trashcan behind the woman and began to dust for fingerprints, looking for any sign of any evidence that could lead to the woman's identity and to her murderer and he quickly became absorbed in his work. Around him, Jo and Hawkes became absorbed in their work also, collecting trace samples and helping to load the deceased onto the van which would take her back to Sid and the morgue. The intense concentration Mac found himself in was broken by Don's approaching footsteps and the detective glanced up.

'Hey Mac. Just finished speaking to Bernie over there.' He gestured to the unkempt homeless man. 'He says he's never seen the girl before. Just found her lying there; went to the nearest payphone and called us. Just the usual- didn't see anything but Bernie did tell me something useful.'

Mac raised his eyebrows questioningly.

'He told me that there have been a lot of complaints from the female homeless population and prostitutes about this creepy guy hanging around, hassling the girls so I checked it out with precinct and they confirm that there have been complaints made.'

'You got an ID?' Mac asked.

'Nah but Bernie gave me a description; says the guy is 6ft 2, mid to late 20s, pale Caucasian. Couldn't tell me anymore as the guy wears a dark hooded jacket- hood always up.'

'Sounds suspicious.' Mac mused.

'That's what I thought. I'm gonna take Angell, go and speak to the locals of this area, see if I can find anymore about this guy.'

'Ok you call me if you find anything.'

'Will do Mac.'

After Flack left Mac continued with his processing along with Jo who looked at the scene thoughtfully.

Mac frowned, 'What is it?'

'Oh nothing...it just reminds me a little of my first call out...Found a man lying...' But Mac heard no more as he found himself remembering back to a similar conversation only a few years before.

He remembered asking, 'Do you remember your first collar?'

Stella snickered her response. 'Oh yeah. A shoplifter on 43rd and Eighth Avenue- the guy took one of those "I love New York t-shirts. Proudest moment of my life.' He remembered her laugh; the melodic sound that caused him to shiver even now. 'Two days later I arrested him again.'

He savagely brought himself back to the present, reprimanding himself for bringing Stella up. Why was it that everything he did she had to be somehow involved? That she had to somehow worm her way into his thoughts? It was bad enough dealing with his feelings of betrayal at her departure but this constant haunting by his memories of her was too much. Suddenly he realised that Jo was talking to him. 'Mac you ok?' She asked concerned.

'Yeah...I'll start processing this end of the alley.' And he quickly walked over and unpacked his kit. Jo watched him closely for a minute, knowing that Mac Taylor was not 'ok'. For a brief minute he had looked so incredibly sad and she wondered just what it was that he had been remembering but knowing she would get no answers, she steeled herself and returned to her processing.

The pair worked diligently and silently for the best part of two hours, collecting samples and fingerprints which would be transported back to the lab for testing. Mac was becoming increasingly weary when something at the end of the alley caught his eye. He walked over to it and kneeled down; staring at it closely, before he picked it up with his gloved hand and brought it to his eyelevel. It appeared to be a bright red, hard fragment of some sort but Mac had no clue to what it was from.

'Mac, you found something?' Jo came over on seeing him hold something.

'It's some sort of red fragment.'

Jo knelt down beside him, furrowing her brow. 'What ya think it is?'

'I have no idea. I'll take it back to the lab with me. You stay here with the uniforms- finish processing the scene.'

'Got it Mac.' Jo nodded, moving off to another part of the alley and processing the area there. As Mac moved out of the alleyway and under the crime scene tape onto the busy street, he was sure that for a brief minute he glimpsed a woman that looked remarkably like Stella standing and watching the crime scene. He felt almost compelled to call out after her but the woman turned slightly and it became clear that she was nothing like Stella.

Mac admonished himself angrily for being so stupid. 'It's not Stella Mac. Stella's got a whole new life in New Orleans. It's just a woman who looks a little like her. Now pull yourself together Detective.' Even as he stubbornly continued walking towards the vehicle, Mac could not prevent the wave of pain that hit him as he thought about the Greek and how much he missed her.

As Mac entered the lab corridor, Hawkes came towards him. 'Hey Mac! Got an ID for our vic.' He passed him a file. 'Name's Alison Williams, 28. Lives three blocks from the crime scene. Works as a secretary at the New York Times. Uniforms are informing next of kin and Danny and Lindsay have wrapped up their case so Lindsay is interviewing her colleagues at the newspaper and her friends and Danny is processing her apartment.'

'So it would appear our victim was walking home from work when she was murdered.'

'Yep. I've also had the techs start to analyse the trace and fingerprints we found at the crime scene but I've found some CCTV I thought you and Flack might want to look at.'

Mac followed the younger man to the tech room where Flack stood waiting next to a sitting Adam. 'Alright I found some CCTV of a man in the area who matches the description Bernie gave.'

Adam clicked the screen and the footage began to play. Although parts of the film were fuzzy Mac and Flack were able to see a man leaning against a lamp post, obviously leering at the women who walked past. Like Bernie had described, the man was tall but they were offered a further glance when the guy scratched his head, momentarily lowering his hood to give a glimpse of a man with shoulder-length black hair and a slight beard on his face.

'Put this through facial recognition.' Mac ordered as he began to move away and Adam began to hurriedly type away.

'Hold on Mac there's more.' Hawkes pointed to the screen and Mac watched as their victim Alison Williams walked by, heading homewards. The hooded man glanced at her and then stared as she did so and then looking both ways, as though to check nobody was watching, before he followed the victim, gazing at her intently before he walked out of the camera's line of sight.

'What time was this at?' Flack questioned.

'10pm- less than four hours before TOD. Plenty of time to have grabbed her, murdered her, then dumped her body.'

'Guys I've got an ID.' The three men raised their heads as Adam leant back in the chair. 'Creep's name is Jason Bleutz, 29, squatter. Got priors for drug dealing and for assault. I've forwarded his last known address to you.'

'Thanks Adam.' Flack nodded, taking out his cell and dialling for Angell. 'Hey Jess...yeah got an address.'

It had taken nearly an hour to locate and arrest Jason Bleutz on suspicion of murder. Both Danny and Lindsay had long since returned, frustrated at having found no leads. Lindsay had discovered from Alison's boss at the newspaper that whilst generally Alison was a dedicated and hard-working employee, recently she had been leaving early and had been distracted from work.

Her best friend had also reported that she had been acting strangely in the last couple of months and that she seemed to be pulling away from her friends and had indeed turned down the offer to be a bridesmaid to one of her closest friends, an action which had shocked everybody who knew her. When asked why she thought Alison was acting this way, her best friend has responded that the most likely scenario was that Alison had met a man.

This in fact had turned out to be true when Alison's Irish fiancé, Sean, had come forward. Lindsay had felt her heart break for the obviously devastated man who had explained that Alison and he had been in a relationship for many years, keeping it secret because of the fact Alison's parents were incredibly conservative and would not have approved of her dating an Irish Catholic. Sean had informed Lindsay that Alison had recently estranged herself from her parents due to a fight and since then they had not spoken one word to another.

When asked about her recent strange behaviour, Sean had chuckled sadly, stating that Alison had been pulling away from her friends due to the fact she was leaving New York to begin a new life with him in Dublin and that she didn't want to make it difficult for them. 'That's who she is.' He had smiled. 'Always putting everyone else first.' His sad smile had dropped and when he spoke again, his voice was angry. 'You find who did this detective and you punish them for it!'

Danny had informed Mac that the apartment had been a dead end. It was obvious Alison had never reached home before she was murdered and there was nothing suspicious and no signs of a struggle. He had collected some personal belongings of Alison's in case they were needed for comparison but it was obvious that the CSI was frustrated. Usually there was something that gave them a lead but there was nothing straightforward about this case. All that was left now was Jason Bleutz.

Jason Bleutz sat hunched over the interview table, his head resting on his calloused and stained hands which had more scrapes added as a result of his altercation with one of the arresting police officers following a daring, albeit short escape from the NYPD. Flack had to admit he was impressed with Jason's record; his first arrest had been at the age of thirteen for drug possession which had escalated to drug dealing at sixteen, burglary at twenty, assault at twenty-five and now it seemed, murder was to be added to the list.

'So Jason, why'd you run?' He questioned as Mac entered the room.

'In my world, ya see a cop ya go the other direction. You cops have a habit of planting shit.' Jason leant back in his chair, defensively, his sleeves rolling up to expose his heavily inked arms.

'In my books running usually means your guilty- that and the fact you assaulted a police officer who tried to apprehend you.' Flack leaned forwards in order to intimidate their suspect.

'Well you know what they say you have to strike hard at vermin.' Jason smirked. 'And besides I'm gonna press a complaint about heavy handedness of police methods.

Mac ignored his weak threats and he too leaned forward. 'You have priors for drug possession, dealing and assault and now it would appear you've added murder to your list Jason.'

'Murder? What the hell you talkin' about? I ain't murdered noone! What the hell you try'na pin on me now?'

'I'm talking about the murder of Alison Williams.' Mac spoke coldly.

'Never heard of them.' Jason spat out.

Mac placed the printed out pictures from the CCTV on the table in front of Jason. 'These are CCTV images of you following Alison Williams at 10pm- four hours before her death. That gives you plenty of time to have murdered her then dumped her body in this alley.' He placed another picture on the table-this time of the murder scene.

'Why'd you do it Jason huh?' It was Flack who now spoke. 'You get tired of harassing the local prostitutes so you went after a nice, successful young woman? You were looking for a bit of fun so you followed her but when she turned down your advances you got angry and you stabbed her.'

'NO! No man not me.' Jason shook his head violently. 'Ok I admit I followed her but I did nothing to her I swear. Ok so maybe I was looking for a little fun y'know.' He gestured, smirking as he did. 'But when I tried to, the bitch attacked me, clawing at my hands and shrieking so I ran for it. The last I saw of her she was running away from me further down the street outside a' Johnny's the takeaway. Ask him.'

'Oh we will Jason.' Flack intoned.

'This mean I can go?' He sat back in his chair.

'Not until we clarify your alibi.' Mac answered, walking to the door with Flack but before he left he looked at the uniform officer. 'Book him for attempted assault.' And he and Flack exited the room under a chorus of Jason's curses.

Once out both men stopped and the younger detective turned to Mac. 'You believe his story?'

'I guess we'll have to see what Johnny says.'

'Yep I know him. Slimy little fella. Seen him hassling the girls, including Sarah over there.' Johnny Marco, the owner of 'Johnny's' pointed to the pretty, red-head teen who was cheerfully handing over takeaways of rich smelling pizzas, fresh from the wood-stove oven. Jo and Lindsey nodded as the cheery, overweight and balding proprietor spoke in his thick Italian-American accent. Immediately on their arrival, Johnny had greeted them and since then he had been more than helpful in their investigation.

'Did you see him with this woman?' Jo asked, producing another image, this time of Ally.

'Yeah...god that's the woman from the news isn't it?'

Lindsey nodded her response.

'Such a shame, pretty girl. Yeah I saw her. That creep seemed to be chasing her but she gave him a good slap and then ran off. He didn't follow her though.'

'You're sure?' Lindsey questioned.

'Definitely. Although it was busy, I noticed that he lingered about before going off in the opposite direction. I hope this helps.' He smiled apologetically.

'It does, thank you.' Jo smiled.

'No problem, anytime. I hope you catch the bastard who killed that woman.'

'We will.' Lindsay called in response as she and Jo exited the takeaway and out into the bustling street.

'Well it looks like Jason is off the hook.' Jo nodded in frustration to Lindsay's comment.

Mac examined the crime scene photos in frustration whilst the rest of his team were busy analysing and testing the evidence they had collected from the alleyway. Much to Flack's chagrin, Jason Bleutz had been bailed due to his alibi checking out and now he and Angell were following up any leads relating to sexual offenders in the area and also looking for any possible motives in Alison Williams' personal life.

Despite this hive of activity, Mac was frustrated. So far, after almost twenty-four hours of investigation they were finding no definite leads and their murderer was out there, evading them and evading justice.

As he eyed the photos, he frowned. There was something about the murder that seemed almost familiar to Mac, as though he had seen it before but his mind was failing to come up with any definite answers. It was something about the pattern the weapon had caused. It was familiar yet it was lost in the fog of his mind. Mac shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He leant over his desk and grabbed his coat, deciding to head out into the evening air to buy coffee in the hope that would assist in solving the mystery of why the case was so familiar.

The evening air hung around him like a blanket of ice yet despite only being clothed in thin garments, the man did not feel it. Instead, he stood in the shadows of the side-walk, intently observing the man buying coffee in the neon-lit cafe. It had been many years since he had last set eyes on Mac Taylor and yet the detective had barely changed except perhaps for the increased number of tight lines around his eyes. He had been anxious for a glimpse of the Detective for many years- perhaps due to his curiosity to discover what had become of his adversary, the man who had ten years previous come so close to capturing him.

Ever since Mac had been called to the crime scene, the man had been cautiously observing him in sick obsession. There were new faces on his team, many new faces but that was unsurprising considering the time that had passed since their last encounters. The man knew their names of course, he had been following Mac Taylor's life and career very closely for the last decade, memorising every newspaper cutting and television appearance the Detective made.

But what surprised the man the most was the absence of the woman. In the old days, during his last stay in New York, she had been constantly at Mac Taylor's side, laughing and discussing with him. She was absolutely beautiful and he had found himself to be in awe of her fire and her determination. Like her partner, she was the perfect adversary. Had it not been for her determination he would have never left New York in the first place and for her to no longer be around to witness his new masterpiece of terror was something which admittedly caused him a great deal of dissatisfaction.

Yet despite her absence, Mac Taylor was still around, doggedly defending justice and he would once more be the perfect witness to his reign of terror.

Finally it was time. And with that thought in mind, the man smiled cruelly before disappearing once more into the shadows of the night.

Once again all support is appreciated. I have to warn you that unfortunately updates will become even more sporadic than they already are (something I'm terribly sorry about) due to the fact I am beginning university and therefore am yet unable to determine how much time I will have to spend on the uploading of my fics. But please bear with me; Bete Noire will be uploaded in its entirety eventually. Thank you.