Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: NY. I do own Marie, James, Elle, Jason, Liam, Mya and Elizabeth Angell. Oh, and Mark Granger, who isn't really important and probably won't appear again, but fleshed the fic out a little.
Series: 'Kindred Spirits' – once again, there's a full list of stories on my profile.
Spoilers: Past Imperfect; Cold Reveal; Comes Around.

… Comes Around

"Negative."

Jess breathed a sigh of relief, stepping into the kitchen with Mya on one hip. "Stella, that's fantastic." She kissed her mother's cheek, ruffled Jason's hair and slid her niece into a highchair in one smooth movement, her cellphone tucked between her shoulder and ear. "You must be so relieved."

"You have no idea." Stella admitted.

Jess glanced at the calendar. "I thought you had a few more weeks before you could figure it out. Cereal?"

"Pardon?"

Jess laughed. "Not you. Mya?"

"Yes, p'ease." Mya nodded.

"Okay." Jess pulled the box from the cupboard. "Stel?"

"There's a PCR DNA test that cuts the window period." Stella explained. "After the suicide case …"

Jess nodded understandingly. "Why didn't you ask for that straight away?"

"I thought I could handle it." Stella sighed.

"Well, all's well that ends well." Jess commented cheerfully, mashing the cereal up with some warm milk. "Oh, how's Mac doing?"

"It's not good, Angell." Stella told her. "There's gonna be an internal investigation and Mac's keeping his mouth shut."

Jess groaned. "Oh, that's not good."

"Tell me about it." Stella agreed. "I gotta go."

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know." Jess hung up and sat down at the kitchen table. "Hi Mom; when'd you get here?"

"About an hour ago." Marie answered. "Jamie called; he and Ellie will be home soon."

"Nana, Aunt Jess might take us to the park today!" Jason told her.

"Really?" Marie shot her daughter a look.

Jess shrugged. "You remember what the boys were like when Mya was born. I figured that Jamie and Ellie might need the kids taken off their hands this afternoon."

Marie nodded. "I see. What was all that about on the phone?"

Jess shrugged. "One of the CSIs got some good news; she called to tell me about it." She sighed. "Oh, and my partner called yesterday to tell me about something else and … Well, it doesn't really matter. It'll be sorted by the time I get home … I hope." Her phone rang again and she glanced at the screen. "Speak of the devil. Hi."

"Hey." Don sounded even wearier than he had the previous night. "Sinclair and Gerard are hunting."

"Yeah, Stel told me." Jess frowned. "But she also said that Mac was refusing to give a statement."

"Yeah, but that shouldn't matter."

Jess sighed inwardly. "It does matter, because it makes it look like he did something wrong."

"He didn't!"

"You think …" Jess trailed off and glanced at her mother, who was watching with interest. "Excuse me." With more composure than she thought she had, she pushed the back door open and stepped out into the yard. "You think I don't know that? But let's be sensible here; if it had been a civilian on that roof when Dobson fell and he was now refusing to give a statement, you'd be convinced of his guilt."

"But he was not a civilian, Angell; it's Mac we're talking about."

Jess pulled a face, recognising his tone. "There's no need to pull rank, Detective Flack. If you think back, you'll notice that I never said I thought Mac did anything wrong. I'm just saying that Sinclair and Gerard are doing their jobs."

"I'm not pulling rank!" Don protested.

Jess smirked. "Yeah, you are. It's easy to tell, Don; you start calling me 'Angell' off-duty."

Don sighed. "I've been acting a bit irrational, haven't I?"

Jess chuckled. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you just hang up? No one else will put up with me when I get like that."

Jess smirked. "I know. That's why I didn't hang up; someone had to talk you down."

Now it was his turn to laugh and even over all those miles it still made her smile. "Yeah, well, for the record, I'm glad you did." He sighed. "I gotta go."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." Jess hung up and ducked back into the kitchen. "Sorry about that."

"That's alright, dear." Marie told her, handing her a mug of coffee. "That sounded serious."

"It was." Jess agreed. "But it's a long story and I still don't know all the ins and outs yet."

"Hmm." Marie tugged the phone out of her hand and scrolled through the contacts. "Is that your partner?"

Jess glanced at the screen, where a picture of Don smiled up at her. "Uh huh. Don't start, Mom."

Sensing a girly talk, Jason quickly disappeared and Liam wasn't far behind.

Marie lowered her voice. "You admit he's good looking then."

Jess rolled her eyes. "Mom, every woman in New York admits he's good looking. But he's my partner. And my best friend. I wouldn't risk it."

Four hours later, Jess was sitting on a park bench, Mya playing happily on a blanket at her feet. Liam had run over to the play-park and Jason, well decked out in helmet and kneepads was on his skateboard.

One on Liam, Jess watched Jason show off every trick he'd ever learnt, applauding after each one.

It didn't take long before Jason rolled to a halt and skated over to a man standing by the side of the ramp.

Jess narrowed her eyes, certain that Jason wouldn't be silly enough to talk to strangers, but she'd seen enough in her career to know that that wasn't always enough.

To her relief, Jason nodded, pointing over in her direction, and his companion jogged towards her. He was about her brother's age, but with fair hair instead of dark.

When he was a few feet away from her, he stopped. "You're not Elle."

Jess stood up, raising an eyebrow. "Thanks for noticing."

He chuckled, extending a hand. "Mark Granger, I work with James."

"Jessica." Jess shook his hand. "Jamie's sister."

"Wow." Mark stated. "When Jamie mentioned a kid sister, I kinda assumed you were, you know, a kid."

Jess rolled her eyes. "I think he thinks I still am."

Mark jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Jason. "I asked Jase who he was here with and he just pointed over … shoulda realised you weren't Elle when I noticed you weren't ready to pop."

Jess laughed. "Not anymore; she had the baby yesterday."

"Oh brilliant!" Mark grinned. "Pass on my congratulations, will you? I was surprised to see the kids here, considering, but I guess this makes sense now."

Jess nodded. "I think Ellie just wanted them out from under her feet."

"So, since you're obviously not still in high school," Mark smirked, "what do you do?"

"Homicide detective." Jess answered proudly. "NYPD." Her phone buzzed on her belt and she glanced down, seeing Don grinning at her again. "Excuse me. What's up?"

"Hey, where did you put the paperwork for the McMillan case?" Don asked without any preamble.

Jess frowned. "Erm … bottom drawer on the left, I think."

"Got it. Thanks." The line went dead and she gazed at her phone for a few minutes.

"Apparently he's forgotten how to say goodbye."

"Boyfriend?" Mark asked, transparently.

"No, partner." Jess corrected, trying to think of anything she'd said that would suggest otherwise. "Why?"

"It's gonna sound weird." Mark warned.

"Try me." Jess suggested, picking Mya up as she began fussing.

"Your eyes lit up when you saw who it was." Mark told her.

"You're right; that does sound weird." Jess agreed with a grin. "Don's just a friend. Were you looking for Elle?"

"No, actually, I was heading over to give this to Jamie." Mark held up a file, looking considerably more upbeat. "But I guess you could do that, right?"

"Sure." Jess took the file from him.

Mark lowered his voice. "My number's inside." He ruffled Mya's hair, causing the girl to grin up at him, and raised a hand in farewell to Jason who returned it. "See you around, Jessica."

"Yeah." Jess agreed absently, slipping the folder into her bag. She had no doubt that curiosity would get the better of her and she glance inside, maybe transferring the number to her phone, but she was fairly certain she'd never call it.

She tried to tell herself that it was because he lived in California and she in New York and logic told her that it was pointless – she'd never been one for meaningless flings and long-distance relationships didn't work.

But she couldn't deny that she also didn't doubt the truth of his words; she was sure her eyes did light up when Don called her and that was why her mother hadn't believed her lie that morning.

That was why she didn't either.

Jess hadn't been wrong; she never did call and felt no guilt over it at all. For a week, she'd avoided her mother like the plague, spending time with her nephews and nieces instead, knowing that she wouldn't bring up her love life – or lack thereof – around the children.

Don had been in contact every day, either by phone or video, but each call brought more bad news: the media storm hadn't died down, Sinclair and Gerard were paying attention to it, and Mac was refusing to testify at his own trial.

Jess had to admit that she'd been wrong about the brass; forget rationality, this was a witch-hunt at the highest level.

That evening, ten days since Jess's arrival and Elizabeth's birth, they were sitting in the living room, laughing about old anecdotes long-since forgotten.

Jess ignored her phone when it went off, but her father didn't. "Work?"

"Of course not." Jess laughed. "I'm 2413 miles away, give or take. They'd have to be crazy to call me."

"It might be your boyfriend though." Marie commented with a grin.

Jess groaned. "Mom, leave it! He's my partner, not my boyfriend. I told you, I don't feel that way …"

"Mon œil!" Marie rolled her eyes and leaned over to snag Jess's phone again. "Ellie, back me up."

Elle joined them so she could see the screen. "Oh, I have to side with her, Jess; that's utter shite."

"Even if I did, which I do not," Jess added hastily, seeing the look on her father's face, "he's my partner and I wouldn't even consider starting something." She took her phone back and checked the message.

Need 2 talk 2 u, but not on the phone. See u online?

Jess sighed. "He needs to talk to me."

"About what?" Cliff asked immediately.

Jess hesitated, wondering how much to tell him. "One of the CSIs, a friend of ours … he's been having some trouble … a suspect died during a chase … he'd already been convicted once, but was released because …"

"Clay Dobson." Cliff interrupted. "Yeah, I read about that. He's dead?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. And Mac – Detective Taylor – didn't do anything wrong. Except the media are going crazy and the brass have started hunting and Mac refuses to play politics. Flack's watching his back, but it's my job to watch his, whether I'm here or in New York."

She found herself using his last name to put more emotional space between the two of them.

Marie smiled. "Sweetie, you're an adult now; you don't need to excuse yourself anymore."

Jess felt her face heat up. "Right." She slipped out and up the stairs, her words echoing in her mind.

"I don't feel that way …" Yeah, right. I'm not as devoutly Catholic as I probably should be, but one more lie that big and I might need to go to confession when I get home. Would've been nice if that wasn't all I was lying about.

"Wouldn't consider starting something …" I can't consider it. I suppose I can't really say I wouldn't, given those dreams I keep having …

Her thought process trailed off as she allowed herself to get lost in memories of dreams that left her gasping for air and covered in a thin layer of sweat when she awoke.

Jess walked into her bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her, and sat down at her desk, forcing herself to think professionally as she opened her laptop.

It took a few minutes to turn on and a few minutes more for the program to load, but she was soon looking at his face and …

"I wasn't expecting a smile." Jess commented with a grin. "Welcome sight though. So what's so urgent that you can't tell me over the phone?"

"Guess who had a moment of conscience?" Don smirked.

Jess frowned. "Sinclair?"

"No."

"Gerard?"

"No."

"The DA?"

"No."

"The media?" Jess paused and shook her head. "No. I give up."

"Dean Truby." Don stated.

Jess's mouth fell open. "You're kidding! What did he do?"

"I don't know." Don smirked. "But whatever it was, it was enough to make Mac look like the cat who got the canary when he got back. And it gave him enough leverage to beat Gerard and Sinclair at their own game."

Jess laughed. "Don, that's the best news I've heard all week!"

"And that's why I wanted to tell you like this." Don told her. "Wanted to see your reaction."

"As if." Jess rolled her eyes. "My reaction was predictable. Why did you really want to do it this way?"

Don didn't hesitate. "I miss you."

Jess smiled. "I miss you too." She admitted. "My family's driving me crazy. I swear the kids are the only sensible ones."

"Let me guess …" Don grinned. "Your dad's fishing for info and your mom wants to know when you're gonna find a nice boy and settle down."

"How'd you know?" Jess asked.

Don sighed. "I get that every time I go home as well. I swear the woman's obsessed." He was quiet for a few seconds, obviously thinking about something, before shaking his head and giving her a smile that, even through a screen, threatened her composure. "So you rethought your theory that Sinclair and Gerard were being 'rational' yet?"

Jess rolled her eyes. "Alright; you were right; they were hunting."

"Told you so." Don smirked.

"Watch it, Detective." Jess warned. "I can think of a few things I've told you recently that you've ignored."

"Like what?" Don prompted, looking thoroughly unconcerned.

"Like that tie." Jess smirked. "Actually, come to think of it, any tie you've ever bought and ever worn; I'm just gonna start a petition to get them banned from the precinct."

"They are not that bad." Don protested. "And that would never work."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Jess shrugged. "Karma: what goes around comes around."

"How does that apply here?" Don asked in bewilderment. "I didn't get anything banned; I just proved you wrong."

"And then laughed about it." Jess added. "Which is what I'm gonna do when I prove you wrong."

Don groaned. "Alright, I yield. I'll never win an argument with you."

"Debate." Jess corrected. "Arguments with me involve a lot more yelling. And I was just teasing you, Detective."

"I knew that." Don insisted. "Does that mean you'll leave my ties alone?"

Jess shook her head with a chuckle. "I don't know why you're so fond of those monstrosities, but it's starting to rub off on me."

"I'll take that as a yes." Don decided with a grin. "You really believe in karma?"

"Well, Truby must have told Mac something incriminating, or Sinclair and Gerard wouldn't have backed down." Jess commented thoughtfully. "Seems a good argument for karma to me. What about you?"

"If it does exist, I must've done something amazing at some point." Don responded.

"Why's that?" Jess asked curiously.

"I ended up with you as a partner." Don told her with another heart-stopping grin.

Jess smiled herself, feeling her face heat up. "Do you and Danny have a bet on or something to see how many time you can make me and Lindsay blush?"

"Dammit." Don sighed. "You caught us."

Jess sniggered. "I'm serious, Don."

"So was I." Don assured her, all humour gone from his face. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Jess."

Jess's smile softened. "Then let's hope you never find out."

AN: While writing this, I realised how difficult it is sticking to what I've already written and, reading ahead to what I've already posted, I also realised that, in 'Visitors', Marie doesn't know who Don is when Jess mentions him on the phone: that's because she's only ever referred to him as 'Flack' around her parents and that's what's on her Caller ID.

Speaking of Caller ID, I'm assuming her phone is the same as Lindsay's – in Personal Foul, Danny's name's accompanied by a photo – I can't personally get my phone to do that, but oh well.

Damn, I'm confusing myself now …

I have another plot bunny that's bothering me, so I'll tell you the title and summary and you tell me if you'd read it:

Blind Love – Set around Summer in the City – An email Don sends to Jersey PD ends up in the inbox of a certain overheated officer and manages to spark a friendship that takes place online and over the phone. Is it possible to fall in love with someone you've never even met?