Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI: NY.

A/N: This is my first attempt at a case fic, so be gentle in your reviews. I'd still like some criticism, it's what helps me with me work. Please R&R.

Misery and Mystery

(1)

He trailed kisses across her shoulders. He was standing behind her, his arms around her waste. She smiled and turned around, he took a step back. She looked up at him and opened her eyes, they widened with shock. It wasn't who she had expected. She stared at the man before her, confused.

She blinked and he was gone.

Stella Bonasera woke up and rubbed her eyes. It was nothing that some warm milk wouldn't help. She got up and, with her robe wrapped around her, she made her way to the kitchen. She heated the milk up and began to sip it, trying all the while to decipher her dream.

The man's face is what confused her. She had, consciously and subconsciously, expected someone else. Who had she seen? Sheldon Hawkes.

The shrill ringing of her telephone brought her out of her thoughts.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I miss you," Sheldon Hawkes said into the phone. The person on the other end sighed.

"I miss you, too. This place sucks," she said. Sheldon laughed at the way she said it, but there was a sorry in it. It was rare for Sheldon to get so close to someone because he felt strangely secure around the dead. They didn't judge him, they didn't expect him to make conversation or commitments, they were just dead.

This was different, though. She was different.

"I wish you were here. Lindsay's not so bad, but she's not you," he said. The voice on the other end laughed.

"I figured she wouldn't be."

Hawkes sighed.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"We promise to see each other again, and we call every once in awhile."

"Sounds perfect."

"Sounds good here, too. I'll see ya."

"Yeah," he hung up. "Someday." Leave it to Aiden Burn to be so practical.

His phone rang.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Stella and Sheldon stood side by side, staring at the crime scene before them. The body of a woman lay face down in the bedroom of a rather small apartment. There was a pool of blood surrounding her and what looked like a bullet hole in her back.

"You want this room or the rest of the apartment?" Sheldon asked. Stella shook her head, pushing away all thoughts other than the task at hand.

"I'll take this room," she said. Sheldon nodded and left to process the rest of the apartment. Stella watched him walk away before setting down her kit and taking out her camera. She began taking pictures of the body and the room, paying careful attention to places that could easily hide clues. Like the bed and the dresser.

The bed was made up perfectly, with the covers pulled back and folded down at the end of the bed. The sheets looked clean, and they smelled like they'd come straight out of the dryer. Stella took out an A.L.S. and shone it along the bed. Nothing showed up. She sighed and switched off her light, figuring that the sheets were more than clean. They were brand new. She put the light away and began to search the room for anything that looked out of place. One of the dresser drawers caught her eye, it wasn't fully closed. She reached out and opened it.

Sheldon was a room away, searching the kitchen (a small corner of the room) and living areas. He had saved the bathroom for last, entirely by accident, and had finished with the amazingly clean kitchen area. He had found one hair by the sink, sitting almost innocently on the counter top. He had bagged it. He had moved on to the couch and was looking for anything that could help them. He found something. The living area was a mess, a disaster compared to the kitchen and, now that he thought about it, the bedroom. Clothes covered the couch, the remote was on the floor, books were scattered, a pile of magazines was the only order left in the chaotic room.

He took pictures of it, trying to imagine what the room looked like when it was clean. He glanced in the direction of the T.V. and saw the dust line where it had been. Someone had moved it. He dusted for prints, lifting a few good ones, and photographed the T.V.

"Find anything?" Stella asked. She stood in the doorway between the two rooms, an evidence bag was clutched in one had while she held her kit in the other. Sheldon glanced at the bag, it held a gun.

"Not much. I'm almost done here, I have yet to process the bathroom." Stella nodded.

"I'll do that," she said. Sheldon nodded his thanks as she moved off to the bathroom.