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CSI characters are not mine!

Don sighed as he got off the elevator and headed for the office in the back of the floor. He nodded at the man sitting at his desk.

"You called me up here, Mac?" He asked.

Mac Taylor nodded. "We have a lead on the shooting at the diner last month."

"Finally."

"I know. These guys were sneaky. I need you to bring in the girl you talked to last month."

"Jess?" Mac nodded. "Alright I'll get a hold of her."

"Good. Hopefully we can put these people away for good."

"I sure as hell hope so." Don replied.

Don headed back to the precinct and got into the computer. If he wanted to be honest with himself he had been thinking about Jess almost every day since she had been shot. She had just seemed so different, so innocent, not anyone that deserved what she had gotten. Of course, no one did, but she was different, he could just tell. He also couldn't help but notice that she was a very attractive girl.

Don finally found the number and cleared his throat as he dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi is this Jess Campbell?"

"This is. Who is this?"

"This is Detective Flack with the NYPD, I was the responding officer at the shooting at the diner."

"Oh! Right. Hi."

"We have a suspect in custody and we were wondering if you could come down."

"Um, sure. When?"

"Well this afternoon would be good if you are free."

"I actually am. I'll be down in an hour."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Bye."

"Bye Jess."

Don hung up the phone before calling Mac and telling him she would be there within the hour. In the meantime, Don did some paperwork he had been neglecting and tried to tell himself he wasn't counting down the minutes.

A girl cleared her throat and Don looked up, almost not recognizing Jess. Her long dark hair was tucked behind her shoulders and she was wearing a yellow t-shirt and jeans.

"Hi." She said, almost shyly.

"Hey. I guess I got caught up in my paperwork." Don said with a chuckle.

"Actually, I'm early. I didn't know what else to do and I was kind of nervous so here I am." She shrugged. Don smiled at her. "I just didn't know where to go."

"Well I'll take you back now since you're here." He told her as he stood up.

"Okay." She replied with a nod.

Jess followed Don wordlessly to a back room with a two-way mirror. She looked around the dark room nervously and Don looked at her, sensing her apprehension.

"Now we're going to do a lineup of six guys. They can't see you, hear you, or touch you. You're perfectly safe in here."

Jess nodded at him. "I've seen a lot of cop shows."

Don chuckled. "Alright. We'll go ahead and bring them in then, okay?"

Jess nodded and swallowed nervously as Don signaled someone else to bring them in. She watched as they lined up against a wall all holding numbers.

"Do you see the guy?" Don asked softly.

Jess turned her head, only to turn back quickly when she noticed how close they were. She cleared her throat and squinted as she looked through the glass.

"I don't, I don't know." She sighed.

"Take a minute, don't get frustrated." He said.

Jess nodded and bit her lip as she looked again. She tried to think back to a month ago and closed her eyes, trying her hardest to picture the guy's face in her head. She remembered they were wearing hoods and opened her eyes. She looked at Don and shook her head as she frowned.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember. They were wearing hoods and it was hard to tell. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Don said softly, placing his hand on her back.

"What's going to happen now?" Jess asked as she watched a police officer take the men out of the room.

"Well we've got enough to hold them for a few more hours, but if we don't find something solid, we'll have to let them go."

Jess frowned. "I'm sorry I couldn't remember."

"It's not your fault. I know you said they were wearing hoods and things and it's hard to see anyone's faces like that. Plus, it was dark out. These guys were smart." Don said with a sigh.

Jess shook her head. "I still don't understand why they did it."

"I don't either. How are you doing, by the way?"

"I'm doing alright. Fully healed now." She said with a small chuckle.

Don smiled at her. "That's good to hear."

Jess smiled back. "Yeah." She fidgeted nervously before looking up at him. "You know, I never do this, and if you're busy that's okay, but, um, would you like to maybe go out to dinner sometime?"

Don smiled again. This girl was cute, he had to give her that. Unfortunately, he had a job to do. "I can't."

Jess frowned and looked at the ground. "Oh. You know, that's cool. Sorry."

"What I mean is, I would like to, but I can't because you're a witness to the case."

"Okay." Jess said, looking at his number before putting it in her pocket. "You know, that's fine. I shouldn't of asked." She shrugged.

Don frowned. "I'm sorry, Jess."

"It's not your fault. Don't worry about it." She looked up and smiled slightly. "I better be going."

"Alright. You alright to get out of here?"

"Yeah I took a bus. I hope you catch this guy."

"Me too. Be safe, see you Jess."

"Yeah, bye." Jess replied with a slight smile before leaving.

Don watched her leave before heading upstairs to talk to Mac. He found him in his office and sat down across from him with a sigh.

"How'd it go?" Mac asked.

Don shook his head. "Not good. She didn't recognize any of them."

Mac shook his head and frowned slightly. "Hopefully we'll be able to find something before we have to let him go."

"I hope so."

"I better get to the lab and see if they have anything for me."

"Mind if I tag along?"

"Come on." Mac said as he stood up.

Don followed him out of his office and into the crime lab where Danny Messer, Lindsay Monroe, and Stella Bonesera were all working.

"What do we got?" Mac asked.

"Nothing here, Mac. I looked at every inch of this, but there's nothing. No fingerprints or anything." Stella said to him.

"I have a blood stain on this shirt, but it's only a couple of drops and I didn't get a hit on it." Danny said.

Mac shook his head and sighed, frustrated. "There has to be something we can get on these people."

"We're looking, Mac. We'll find something." Danny said.

Mac nodded. "I know. Just keep at it and keep me posted." He said before he left.

"So I saw you getting pretty chummy with the witness." Danny said to Don with a smile.

Don rolled his eyes. "We were talking. I was following protocol of what we tell all the people that come in and identify a criminal."

"But you talked to her for a while after that." Danny said with a smile.

"Leave him alone." Lindsay said, hitting his arm.

"I'm just saying it's been a while since he's had a girl, this is good. I think she likes him and I'm almost certain he likes her."

"She's involved in a case, I can't date her." Don told him.

"But as soon as this case is over you can." Danny grinned.

Don rolled his eyes again. "It's not going to happen, Danny."

"So you say." He replied before going back to the microscope.

"You know how Danny is, sometimes it's just best to ignore him." Lindsay said to Don.

"Hey watch it there, Montana." Danny replied.

Don chuckled. "I know, believe me." He said to Lindsay.

"Whatever. I bet you will date this girl after all this is over." Danny said.

"Not going to happen, man." Don replied. "I better get back down to the precinct. Let me know if you guys find anything."

"We will." Stella said.

Don nodded and headed back down to the precinct. He sighed as he sat at his desk and looked at the paperwork, shaking his head at how frustrating this situation was. He was almost certain they had the guy, he just wished they had something to hold him on.

Don sighed again and ran his hand over his hair as he stood up from his desk. He couldn't just sit there while a criminal was ready to run free. They had to have something. Don walked back to the CSI offices and into the lab where everyone still was.

"Don, you're just in time." Stella said.

"What?" He asked.

"I found a trace of blood on that girl Jess' shirt and it's not hers. I'm ruining it now."

Don nodded and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the screen, waiting for the results.

"Dammit." Stella said.

"What?" Don asked.

"It's not Curry's. It's not his."

"Damn." Don gritted between his teeth. They only had another hour and a half before they had to let him go.

"We got a hit though, it belongs to a guy by the name of Stan White. His last known address is right outside the city."

"Let's go pick him up." Don said as he and Stella left.

**

"Hey Jess."

Jess looked up and smiled at her friend she had met at her job. She was the first person, besides Don, she had really gotten to know since moving to the city.

"Hey Andrea." She said, getting up to hug her.

"Have you been here long?" Andrea asked as she sat down.

"No." Jess replied.

The waiter came by and took their orders and left.

"So how's life?" Jess asked as she took a sip of her soda.

"It's alright. How about you? See that cute detective anymore?"

Jess smiled and rolled her eyes. "I had to go to the precinct today and see if I saw the guy."

"How'd it go?"

Jess played with her straw and frowned. "Not good. I couldn't ID him."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that if they can't find anything, they're going to have to let him go."

"That sucks."

"No kidding."

"How are you doing, any more nightmares?"

Jess shook her head as she sipped on her drink. "No thankfully."

"That's good."

Jess nodded. "When are you moving in?"

"At the end of next week. Thanks for taking me in on short notice."

"No problem. It'll be easier for me to have to share the rent with someone."

"I bet. You got a nice place."

"Thanks. I saved up a lot of money for that place."

"I bet you had to." Andrea replied.

The waiter came to give them their food, they thanked him and began eating.

"I wish I could stay at my place." Andrea said with a sigh. "It sucks having to leave."

"Yeah I can't imagine."

"They increase our rent like everybody can afford that." She shook her head. "We're not all made of money."

"I know right. People seem to think we are though."

"And of course they won't give me more hours at the restaurant."

"Me either."

Andrea frowned and shook her head as she ate. "This economy sucks."

"I know it does."

A few minutes into their meal, Jess' phone rang. She wiped her hand off on her napkin and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jess? This is Don Flack."

"Oh. Hi."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright. How about yourself?"

"Pretty good."

'Who is it?' Andrea mouthed.

'Don.' Jess mouthed back. She rolled her eyes when Andrea wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"So I just called to tell you we got all the guys from the diner shooting."

"Oh wow. Finally."

"I know. I thought for sure we would've had him two weeks ago, but thank God we got them now."

"Yeah that's great. I'm glad to hear that."

"So you can rest easy now."

"Yeah hopefully. Thanks for calling to tell me that."

"No problem. Hey so, uh, your offer for dinner still good?"

Jess stopped reaching for her drink mid reach.

"Um." She said.

"I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine. I just couldn't then because of the case. Since it's over, I mean, if you want to, I'd like to take you out to dinner."

"Oh, uh," She looked up and saw Andrea looking at her.

"What? What's he saying?" Andrea whispered.

"If you don't want to."

"No, no I mean, I'd still like to." Jess interrupted.

"Great. So I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven?"

"That sounds good."

"Alright I'll see you then."

"Okay. Bye Don."

"Bye."

Jess shut her cell phone and found Andrea looking at her expectantly.

"Well? What'd he say?" She asked.

"Well they caught all the guys involved in the shooting."

"That's great!" Andrea said.

"Yeah."

"There's more?"

"Well." Jess started, trying to hide her smile.

"Oh my god! He asked you out!" Andrea squealed. Jess laughed. "Oh my god he did! How exciting! Where are you going? When's your date? What did he say?"

Jess laughed again and shook her head. "He's picking me up tomorrow at seven. You know, he didn't say where we were going though."

"Oh! I have to come over tomorrow and help you pick out an outfit!"

"Okay if you insist." Jess chuckled.

"I do! I can't wait! You have to let me do your hair and makeup!"

"Alright."

"It's going to be so much fun!"

They paid for their meal and left. Jess was excited and nervous for her date, but apparently not as excited as her friend. She was anxious to see what was in store for her tomorrow night.

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