For those of you who have already been here and read this, thank you for coming back and sorry for the switcheroo. I found myself writing another wee scene after 6.02 and didn't feel it was worth being deemed as a whole different story, so changed this place to include any and all Stella/Adam fics that may arise as the season continues.

For those who are new, hope you enjoy!

Summary: After an unsuccessful day at court, Adam's worried about how Stella is coping.
Episode: 6.01

She threw her bag on the desk, the contents rattling against each other as they bounced on the hard surface. Her breath was coming out in short frustrated huffs, her jaw set so firmly her teeth were aching. A marker pen rolled to the floor at her feet, she swooped down to collect it with a groan as the anger continued to blossom in her stomach.

She rapped the pen across her thumb knuckle, the pain a welcome distraction to the rising bile of rage that constricted her insides. The events of the day mixed with memories of the past month resulted in a mix of emotions so powerful they nearly took her breath away. In a last ditch attempt to vent away her nerves, she launched the pen against the wall, its lid snapping free and flying across the office. "Stel, I got the-whoa!" Adam called, dodging the plastic projectile.

"Oh God, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he smirked, picking the cap up and handing it back. "Are you?"

"No." She spun back the desk and dropped it in the pen organiser.

"Court didn't go so well?"

"They let the bastard go free."

Adam closed his eyes, the manila folder in his hand slapping against the other. Not a surprising outcome for the case, but no less wrong; the evidence just couldn't confirm what was obvious to them. Stella had taken the case to heart. She'd taken all the cases to heart since Angell had died. They all had.

She heaved a heavy sigh, her shoulders sagging. "What did you want me for?" she gestured to the file.

"Doesn't matter," he muttered after a beat, noticing the purple fatigued bags under her dull eyes and thinner figure. He looked around for her jacket, finding it strewn in a ball on the couch. "Here," he said, straightening it out and passing it to her.

"What-?"

"We're going for a drink."

"I can't, Adam, I've got-"

"-What was the one thing Angell's death taught us?" he interrupted. "We need to live more. What have we done since? Worked more than ever. We need a break, Stel."

He was right; She knew it deep down. She sighed again, her head nodding.

He smiled as she took the blazer jacket from him, straightened her skirt and cursed whoever invented sling-back heels.

He threw the file onto her desk and sprinted to the locker room and back to grab his coat. "Ready?"

"Yeah," she nodded, clicking her monitor off and dragging her trapped curls from beneath the collar.

They didn't go far, just to Bart's down the block. They couldn't face going to Sullivan's yet and seeing Angell's picture on the Fallen Comrades wall next to Aiden et al.

They sidled up to the bar as Adam closed the dark wooden door behind himself.

"What's your poison tonight, man?" the bartender asked Adam, shaking his hand over the bar with a back-slapping hug.

"Beer for me."

"Two, please."

"Coming up."

"Thanks for this, Adam," Stella smiled, squeezing his arm affectionately.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," he blinked nervously, "I haven't even begun to regale you with my sparkling personality."

She laughed, thanking the bar-keep as a bottle was placed before her. They swigged back the necks, Stella picking at the label as silence enveloped them. "God, I can't believe this past month. Jess, Danny... Flack is not coping well." she sighed, taking a long drink.

"Yo, Owen," Adam called back to the barman. "We're gonna need shots."

"Yeah?"

"Shots, Adam?"

"We're going to get hammered, okay? We won't be dealing, but we'll be forgetting."

"Coming up!" Owen reached over for a black square bottle and two small glasses. A thick yet watery dark liquid filled the glasses and spilled to the bar in sugary pools.

Adam and Stella gingerly picked up the glasses, narrowing their eyes suspiciously at the sludge about to invade their senses.

"Cheers," Adam smirked, his fingers sliding against the slippery spills.

"Cheers!" Stella laughed, tossing back her head and letting the liquid slide a burning path down her throat in sync with Adam.

They both coughed gently as the liquorice taste invaded every sense, the menthol factor stinging at their noses.

"Good God!" Adam laughed hoarsely.

"Fill 'er up!" Stella smirked.

"I like you," Owen chuckled, refilling the glasses with a wink to Stella.

He got called away, refilling the glasses for a third time before he left.

"Oh God, I can't have many more of them," Adam moaned, his throat red raw. He should have had something to eat first, his head was already beginning to spin.

"It was your idea, Sonny Boy," Stella laughed.

"And it's usually a good idea for such times!" He picked up the next round, his grip harder against the velvet spills. "Either drink or sex."

"Yeah," she chuckled, a nervous silence suddenly encompassing them.

"Yeah. So… drink it is," he threw back the next shot.

"Adam?"

He grimaced as the menthol attacked his nose again. "Hmm?" he murmured, his eyes closed again.

"Adam," she said with more authority.

His eyes snapped open to her, seeing a very different look on her face. She was looking straight at him, dark emerald in a pointed stare. Without a word, she finished her beer and took her jacket from the free seat, stalking out of the bar with a sway to the hips.

Adam was not the only guy with eyes fastened to her retreating figure, but he was the only one dumbstruck, trying to decide if the extra sway was for his benefit. Was she really thinking what he thought she was thinking? He necked the rest of his beer and took her untouched shot as well, jogging out of the door to slide into a cab next to her.

"Where to?" the driver asked, dark eyes looking at them through the rear-view mirror.

"Adam? Where to?" Stella asked, the look in her eyes heating him up to a stutter.

"Oh, er, er, Queens. Thanks."

Stella smirked at his red cheeks, leaning across to place a hand on them as the cab pulled away. He visibly gulped as she fastened her lips to his.