Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY.
Series: 'Kindred Spirits' – see my profile for the order of stories.
Spoilers: Sleight Out Of Hand; minor spoiler for Heart of Glass.

Sleight out of Hand

Jess had had a relatively normal couple of days, especially compared to her partner, who was trying to figure out who had sawed a woman in half. She suppressed a shudder just thinking about it; she had never liked watching magic shows like that, even if logically she knew there was a trick to it.

No trick to this one, though.

Jess had finished up her paperwork, asked Don once more if he was sure he didn't want her to stick around and then made her way home, with no shortage of relief.

No sooner had she shut her apartment door behind her than the phone rang. Jess sighed, tossing her jacket onto the back of a chair, not bothering to check Caller ID. "Trust you to wait until I got home, Flack."

"Angell?"

Jess froze. Lindsay's voice shook with tears and was barely audible over the long-distance telephone garble. "Lindsay?"

"Is this a bad time?" Lindsay asked shakily.

"No! No, I just got home; I am all yours." Jess sat down. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if I can do this." Lindsay whispered. "How can I? What if something goes wrong? What if they don't believe me?"

"Lindsay, slow down." Jess stated calmly. "First of all, I assume this has something to do with your trip to Montana. Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."

So Lindsay did.

Halfway through the story, Jess opened a packet of tissues, trying desperately not to let her friend hear her crying. What an awful thing to experience and at such a young age!

"They asked me to come back and testify. It's him. I know it's him." Lindsay finished tearfully. "But I couldn't finish; they had to adjourn court and I could see him smirking at me … he doesn't think he'll be convicted; what if he's right, Jess?"

"Alright. Take another deep breath." Jess instructed soothingly. "You're working yourself up. If you tell the jury what you told me, there's no way he won't be convicted." She hesitated. "You talked to Danny about this?"

Lindsay sniffed. "No. I can't, Jess; it's bad enough he knows what happened …"

"Lindsay, he cares about you." Jess told her. "He won't think any less of you. Is there anything I can do?"

"Take my mind off it?" Lindsay requested. "What's going on at work?"

"Well, Mac and Dr. Driscoll have finally gone public." Jess laughed. "As if we didn't know. Well, Danny didn't know; sulked for a week."

To her relief, Lindsay gave a small giggle on the other end of the line and Jess launched into a recount of one of her stranger cases since Lindsay's departure, not paying any attention to how long it took or how tired she was. Her friend needed her. She could sleep later.

"Jess … Coffee …"

Jess's nose twitched and she lifted her head. "'M awake." She blinked rapidly, trying to come to bearings with her surroundings. "What happened?"

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say you fell asleep on your paperwork." Don smirked, perching on the edge of her desk. "Now drink your coffee before you do it again."

"Thanks." Jess took a big gulp of the hot liquid and felt herself perk up slightly. "What's up?"

"I should be asking you that." Don frowned. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Yes." Jess lied. She had slept, but not soundly; even after making sure Lindsay would be alright and ending the call, sleep had evaded her as the images Lindsay had conjured up refused to leave her head.

"Jessica …"

Jess sighed. "I did! Not well, but …" She sighed. "Do you know why Lindsay's in Montana?"

Don grimaced. "I don't know the details. I'm guessing you do?"

"I do now." Jess muttered. "It's gonna take me a while to come to terms with it." She shook her head. "But, Detective Flack, I'm sure that's not the only reason you woke me up with coffee."

"I've got another body." Don muttered.

"Sawed in half?" Jess asked.

"Burned alive." Don corrected grimly.

Jess pulled a face. "Wasn't that the same stunt Luke Blade pulled last night? I didn't watch it. He's got to be connected, Flack."

"Yeah, but there's no way he could be in two places at once." Don frowned.

"Logically there's no way he could set himself alight or saw himself in half and survive it." Jess pointed out. "But he did. How do you know he's not using an illusion to create an alibi?"

"Okay, forget the suspect for a second." Don suggested. "What do you think about the killer's state of mind?"

"What is this; impromptu pop quiz?" Jess asked, leaning back in her chair. "Okay. You said that the killer took a bow at the first scene?"

"So Mac says." Don nodded.

"Well, they're not quick ways of killing people." Jess commented slowly. "So it's someone who's got a lot of hatred or a lot of confidence; possibly both. Someone who is willing to watch his victims die slowly and in pain. There must be some sort of psychosis involved here, but the killings are meticulous, well-planned; maybe some sort of split-personality disorder?" She shrugged. "I'm not a profiler, Don."

"I know. I just wanted to know if you were thinking what I was thinking." Don stood up, grabbing his jacket. "Going to the crime lab."

"Was I thinking what you were thinking?" Jess called after him.

Don flashed her a grin over his shoulder. "Aren't you always?"

AN: So this was one of the more popular options in my poll (which isn't saying much, since only ten people have voted so far) and if you voted for this one, I hope I did it justice. On another note, all of my oneshots have over 100 hits, but almost all have under 20 reviews. So for all you lurkers out there, I don't bite; it'll take you two seconds to tell me how good or bad this was. And, all my loyal reviewers, keep em coming!