Another CSI:NY story from me! I know, I haven't updated my "Night Of Karaoke" story yet, but that's because I'm just completely stuck! Don't you just hate that, when you want to write this story/chapter so bad, but you just can't? It sucks! And it bothers me! Plus, you get this other story nagging you, so finally you give up and write that other story? Maybe it's just me. Sorry for the rant! Basically, takes place after the 5th season finale, but Jess didn't die, she was just wounded. (I refuse to believe she's dead!) In the beginning, it's Stella being very emotionally confused. It'll go on from there. I know, I suck at summaries, but, I'm going to shut up now. ENJOY!!!

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Stella sat in the waiting room, staring at her hands. Blood covered both of her hands, some of it hers from the glass shattering in her hand, some of it Mac's, where she had desperately put her hands over his bullet wounds, trying to stop the blood from seeping out of his body. So many bullets, so much blood. Stella blinked a few times, her vision slipping from present to past.

Shots rang out in the night, and everyone ducked. Stella felt the glass shatter in her hand as she ducked and barely felt the pain as the glass cut her hand. She looked around desperately as everyone was ducking for cover. The shots stopped, but everyone stayed down.

Danny and Lindsay were clutching each other, but seemed fine. Sheldon was grazed in the shoulder, and Don was helping him stop the bleeding, and then Stella noticed that Don was bleeding from a wound in the side. Sheldon helped him stop the bleeding, and then Stella saw Adam, who was fine, but was looking terrified at someone next to Stella. Stella looked over and saw Mac lying prone on the ground, bullets in his gut, chest and arm.

"Get me an ambulance NOW!" Stella yelled out, scrambling over to her partner's side. Her hands tried to stop the bleeding as Mac's hands found hers and held tightly. Stella's terrified eyes met Mac's, and he tried to say something. She bent her ear to his mouth as he murmured,

"Love, you, Stel." She pulled back, tears filling her eyes as she grabbed his shirt, demanding,

"Don't you dare die on me, Mac Taylor!" His eyes had a hint of disappointment, and Stella knew that wasn't what he wanted to hear. "I love you too, Mac." She whispered, and then the ambulance came roaring up.

"Stel?" Sheldon's voice said, and Stella jerked to reality, seeing the former M.E. looking at her in concern.

"Yeah?" She said, blinking a few times, coming back to focus.

"Your hands." He said, sitting next to her and waving for a nurse.

"Oh. Just a few scratches. Most of it isn't mine." She said in a ghost of a voice, and Sheldon looked in her eyes, nodding understandingly.

"It's Mac's, it's it?" At her nod, he sighed as the nurse came over. "Get her hands cleaned and bandaged for me, please." Sheldon said to the nurse, and Stella followed the nurse blindly.

Mac was still in surgery, and no one knew anything about his condition, as the nurses didn't know. Only the doctors that were performing the surgery knew, and they were still in the operating room, too busy to talk to anyone else. Danny and Lindsay sat in the waiting room, while Lindsay held Lucy tightly.

"D'you think he'll make it?" Danny asked hollowly, not wanting to imagine life without his mentor. Lindsay put her head on his shoulder, saying quietly,

"I hope so. If he doesn't, Stella won't survive."

"She will. She just won't be the same. None of us will, if he doesn't." Don said, sitting down next to Danny, speaking from experience of almost losing his Jess, who was still in the hospital and who he had just come from visiting.

"Did you see the look on her face when they took Mac away?" Lindsay asked him, and Don shook his head. Danny blew out a breath, saying,

"It was twice as worse as yours when the doctors took Jess in for surgery." Don sucked in a breath, knowing that the look on his face was pretty bad when the doctors took Jess in for surgery.

Sheldon came back with Stella, who had her hands bandaged and she sat across from the group as Sheldon sat next to Lindsay. The four looked at her as she stared off into space, and by the look on her face, she wasn't in the present anymore. She was back in the past, to happier times, to the night after Mac was rescued.

Stella knocked on Mac's door, unsure of what she was really doing there. She managed to convince herself, by the time Mac got to the door, that she was there to make sure he was okay. When he did open the door, he wordlessly let her inside.

"You okay, Stel?" He asked as soon as both of them were standing in the living room, and Stella half-smiled and said,

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I asked you first." He said with a slight smile, and Stella sighed, saying,

"I'm just worried about you."

"I'm fine, Stella. I promise." He said, and Stella nodded, looking into his eyes. Both of them fell silent, and Mac knew that Stella was on an emotional edge from almost losing him. He walked over to her and murmured, "C'mere, Stel."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her close, knowing she needed it. "I'm still here, Stella, and I'm not going anywhere." She nodded as she clung to him, letting her strong façade melt down, just for a little while.

When she got her composure back, she drew back and said quietly, "Thank you, Mac. I obviously needed that." She smiled at him, and he impulsively kissed her cheek softly. She froze, he had never kissed her cheek before. She had kissed his many times before, but never had he kissed hers. Not that she minded, but this was just new territory. Uncharted waters.

"Stella." He whispered, staying in close proximity with her. She put a hand on his cheek and said,

"Mac, this is, it isn't, it's uncharted waters."

"I know. That's what makes it worthwhile." Mac said quietly, and Stella threw caution to the winds and did what she had been longing to do for a while. She pressed her lips to his, and when he drew her close and deepened the kiss, it left no doubt in her mind as to where this was going.

She wasn't going to her apartment that night. She was spending the night in Mac's arms, which was better than her apartment any day.

Stella was jerked back to reality when Adam sat down next to her. She faced him and tried to smile, a smile he tried to reciprocate but wasn't working. "You okay, Adam?"

"Yeah. Just a few scratches." He said, and she nodded, saying,

"Good. What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize." He muttered, looking down at his hands. Stella was bemused, saying,

"For what?"

"I froze, when I saw Mac shot. I didn't do anything, maybe he'd have better chances if I had done something, you know…" Adam said, but trailed off as Stella put her hand on his. He looked at her, a few tears in his eyes and Stella knew that Mac getting shot was hard on everyone, especially Adam, who looked up to Mac like a son looks up to his father.

"Adam, listen to me. Are you listening?" Stella said, and when Adam nodded, she said, "Nothing is your fault. You froze, big deal. There is nothing you could've done any faster. The ambulance was already on its way, from the 911 calls. You did great, Adam. Trust me."

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I love my SMacked, can't you tell? I'll get back to the present in the next chapter, but there might be another flashback, just to let you know the background of the story. Trust me, the next, and last, flashback, will be the most important one. I hope you liked this chapter, and thanks for reading! (OMG, I just found out that Gary Sinise and I are both Pieces! Um, the horoscope, because I don't know if that's how you spell that horoscope! Our birth dates are, like, 13 days apart! Except for the part that he was born quite a number of years before me, but who's minding the details? Sorry, had to say that.) Adios for now!