A/N: This bunny has been nibbling at my toes for weeks.

Stella sighed, leaning her forehead against the cool metal of her locker. The image that Hawkes' computer had put together still haunted her, and she couldn't expel it from her mind. Aiden had been her friend, and now she was one of their victims. Her chest constricted as she remembered the charred remains, and she struggled to breathe.

"Hey Stell." She looked up to see Flack staring at her, his eyes full of concern. "You okay?"

"Well, aside from…" Her voice trailed off and her heart sank into her stomach. "You don't know yet."

He frowned. "Know what?"

"Don…" She stopped when her voice broke. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "Maybe you should sit down."

He ignored her suggestion. "What's goin' on, Stell?"

She felt the tears filling her eyes, but she held them back, fighting to keep her voice steady. "You remember our burn victim from this morning? The one in the car?"

"Of course."

Stella swallowed. "We ID'd the body."

"Okay –"

"It's Aiden."

He stopped and just stared at her. She watched the emotions go through him, each and every one of them registering on his face – disbelief, shock, confusion, and then finally pain.

She almost cried out for help when he fell to the side, hitting the locker with his shoulder. But then she saw the tears streaming down his face and he sank to the floor, looking like a lost little boy. Stella was on the ground in an instant, holding him to her tightly, trying to hold him together.

"Don," she whispered, rubbing his back as she tried to comfort him.

He shook his head. "It can't be her."

"Don –"

"I just saw her this morning."

Stella stopped, staring at him. "What? Where?"

It took him a long time to answer. Swallowing hard, he finally lifted his head, his blue eyes boring into her.

"When I left the apartment."

Stella frowned. "What –"

"We been seein' each other, Stell. Me and Aiden."

Her voice was hushed as realization swept over her. "Oh."

More tears fell from his eyes, and his bottom lip trembled. "You're sure?" he whispered. "It's her?"

Stella squeezed his hand. "We're sure," she replied, her voice breaking. She took a minute, trying to rein her emotions in. "How long?" she finally asked.

Flack leaned his head against the locker. "Six months."

"It was serious."

He nodded, screwing his eyes shut as another wave of tears came. "We…last night…we decided to move in together. She was supposed to start packin' today."

"Oh, Don…"

He squeezed her hand, clutching at her desperately. "We said 'I love you' for the first time this morning." He turned to look at her, his eyes searching hers. "It's not supposed to go like this, Stell," he said, his chest heaving and his voice breaking. "We were supposed to be happy."

Unable to hold back her own tears, she pulled him close again, letting him rest his head on her chest. She rocked him back and forth gently, knowing that soon they would both have to go out and face the world. But for right now, he had nothing left to hold on to, and she wasn't going to let him drown.

"I don't wanna do this without her, Stell," he whispered.

She leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "Now you have to do it for her, Don," she answered quietly. "Can you do that? For Aiden?"

It took him a minute, but he finally nodded. "For Aiden."