Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY. I do own Phillip Walters.
Series: 'Kindred Spirits'.
Spoilers: Enough – dialogue in bold taken directly from the episode.
Enough
"So you didn't hear anything?" Don double-checked.
"Nah, man, I was watching TV." The man shrugged. "I mighta heard, like, a bang or something, but I thought it was just background noise, you know?"
"Yeah." Don fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Thank you."
"Hey, do you know a Jessica Angell?" The guy asked suddenly. "No, she's probably still in Jersey; never mind."
"We've met." Don corrected warily. "How do you know her?"
"We used to date." He shrugged. "She dumped me for some reason." He snorted. "Like she was ever gonna do any better."
Don glanced at his notepad again this time paying attention to the name. Philip Walters.
His partner's voice floated into his head, a tinge of hurt still present despite her protests to the contrary. "I walked in on him screwing my room-mate on the couch … he told me to get over it."
Don's hand clenched on pad he was holding, fighting the urge to punch the smug man in front of him, the man who had caused Jess so much pain. Damn him, if I thought she'd ever look at me that way, I'd hold her and never let go. How could he not see what he had? Who the hell tries to improve on perfection?
Before Don could say anything, his phone beeped. He glanced down to see Jess smiling at him from the screen. "Speak of the devil." He had a choice to make …
Meanwhile …
"I hate club deaths." Jess muttered. The once-packed room was covered in broken glass, which made contaminating the crime scene dangerously easy.
The victim sat in one of the booths, eyes closed, a bullet hole in his head. Danny joined her and they stared at him for a few minutes.
"Salut." Danny raised an imaginary glass to him.
Jess smiled weakly and got on with her job. "Michael Jones, Oxford, class of '98, Rhodes scholar, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Time magazine's man of the year …" She trailed off, seeing Danny's disbelieving expression, and chuckled. "He ran drugs from Beach 14th to Beach 20th. Should've stayed home."
"Should've stayed home?" Danny repeated, looking at the glass on the floor. "I should've stayed home. Lotta glass. Lotta work."
Jess smirked, leaving him to it. As she walked away, her phone beeped, indicating a text from Don.
Male DOA, apartment leased to Michael Jones, background check?
She rolled her eyes, but the name caught her attention and she called him back, finding a quiet corner away from the hysterical women behind the crime scene tape.
"Hey, gorgeous." Don answered.
Jess frowned. Has he mistaken me for a new girlfriend? The thought hurt. "Er, Don, did you check caller ID?"
"Yeah, of course. What's up, Jess?"
"First of all, you can do your own background check; I'm on a case." Jess told him, deciding to just go with the flow.
Don chuckled affectionately. "Course. Sorry. Second of all?"
"Secondly, my vic is Michael Jones; any connection?"
"He deal with drugs?" Don asked.
"Probable." Jess admitted. "Half the people in this club do."
"Then it could be. The lab'll be able to figure it out, right?"
"Yeah." Jess agreed. "That all?"
"Yeah. We still on for tonight?"
Jess paused, trying to work out whether they'd had plans. "Sure."
"Okay, sweetheart; I'll see you then."
The line went dead and Jess stared at her phone for a few minutes. What in God's name was that about?
Granted, Don had called her that before, but never on the phone.
She shook it off, resolving to confront Don later, and approached the crime scene tape, thanking the officer who lifted it for her.
Several hysterical women and a detour later, Jess returned to where the body was just getting carted out by the coroner's assistants and where Danny was examining a small red pill.
"I know it's gonna be a late night, but I suggest coffee." She quipped.
Danny gave her a small grin. "Yeah, I found them in the vic's pocket. Best guess is ecstasy. Probably dealing based on the amount."
Jess nodded. "Sounds about right. The girls sitting with the vic said that he was the go-to guy, although they all swear they say no to drugs." She added sarcastically.
Danny snorted. "Right, and they all swear they didn't see the shooter's face?"
Jess nodded. "Too dark and too fast. The two sitting on this end said they saw a guy in a blue hoodie at a table over there." She nodded. "They were about to do a round of drinks when he got up, came over, shot the vic and dropped the gun before running."
"He dropped the gun?" Danny repeated.
"That's what they said." Jess confirmed.
Danny shook his head. "A pill-popping whack job split with the murder weapon."
Jess raised an eyebrow. "How do you know the person who has it pops pills?"
"How do you know he doesn't?" Danny challenged.
Jess smirked, holding up the gun in an evidence bag. "Because he is a she and I am clean as a whistle." She sniggered at the stunned expression on his face. "Who's got it on me?"
"Nobody." Danny told her, taking the weapon.
"One of the girls saw it get kicked under one of the tables." Jess explained.
"So the night's not a total bust, but I still have to deal with this." Danny groaned. "The perp's DNA and fingerprints could be right in front of us."
Jess took her opportunity to leave. "It's moments like this that I love that I'm not a lab-rat."
If Don was surprised when Jess showed up at his apartment that evening, he didn't show it.
"We had plans?" Jess asked calmly.
"Er, yeah." Don coughed. "Remember?"
"No." Jess said. "Because we didn't. Did that bizarre conversation have anything to do with your witness list from the building canvas?"
It had only occurred to Jess at lunchtime that maybe Don's behaviour on the phone had more to do with his company than her and she had checked the list of tenants in his victim's apartment. One had immediately jumped out at her and, from the way his expression darkened, she knew who he'd been talking to.
"You met my charming ex then?" Jess guessed.
"Yeah." Don grimaced. "And 'charming' wasn't the word I'd use."
Jess sauntered over to his couch and sat down, observing him quietly. "I still don't get it."
"Get what?" Don asked, playing dumb.
"What did you say to him?" Jess asked through gritted teeth.
"Hey, he brought you up, not me." Don protested. "Asked if I knew you; said you used to date. He …" He trailed off, before forcing the words out. "He said you were never gonna do any better than him. I just wanted him to realise that he was the idiot, not you."
Jess wanted to stay mad at him; it was a little too … possessive for her liking and she didn't like it when her boyfriends acted like that, let alone her partner, even if he was her best friend. But his reasoning was just so … sweet, and so like Don that she couldn't help her irritation melting away.
"I don't need protecting." She told him, without any of the anger that would normally have been present.
"I know." Don assured her, sitting next to her. "I wasn't trying to protect you, Jess. I just wanted him to realise that you deserve so much better than him."
"What did you say after we hung up?" Jess prompted, automatically leaning into Don's side so he wrapped an arm around her.
Don smirked. "'Thank you.'"
Phillip looked bewildered. "What?"
"Thank you." Don repeated. "I know why you two broke up. Why you felt the need to cheat on someone as amazing as Jess I'll never know, but thank you."
"You've lost me." Jess admitted.
"He did you the great favour of removing himself from your life, Jess." Don kissed her forehead. "I don't like the way he did it, but you …"
"I what?" Jess prompted when he trailed off.
"You deserve a guy who tells you how gorgeous you are every second of every day." Don murmured into her hair. "You deserve a guy who treats you with respect and would die before he did anything to hurt you. You deserve a guy who totally adores you."
"And what if I don't find him?" Jess asked quietly, trying to push his face out of her mind, where it had popped up while he was talking.
Don ran a hand through her hair, pulling her closer as he did. "You'll always have me." He whispered, feeling her rest her head on his chest. He never wanted to let her go, but all he could do right now was pretend.
AN: And now we can get on with it; thank you for sticking with me through the non-dating part of their relationship. 'Dead Inside' and it's companion 'Falling For Her' are already up and posted, for those of you who are just joining us, and you can find a full chronological list of all the stories in this series on my profile. It would make more sense to delete the next lot and upload them in order, but I don't want to so you'll just have to go hunting XD
I know I missed out the scene with Jess and the hooker, which I'm sad about, because it's one of my favourites, but I just couldn't figure out a way to work it in. And I will bring Adam's situation in at some point; it'll just be at a later date, probably in 'The Party's Over'.
Oh, speaking of, before I forget, which side of the fence do you want Jess on with the Blue Flu? Because I'm up in the air.
And review please!