Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY. I do own the Angell clan minus Cliff.
Series: 'Kindred Spirits' - previously 'Walking With Angels'.
Spoilers: Pay Up; Commuted Sentences; You Only Die Once.


Chapter Two

Jess seemed to sit on edge for the next twenty minutes, only half-listening to Bethany's chatter about the baby. If her sister-in-law noticed, she didn't say anything.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, the front door opened.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Uncle Matt!" Mya cried, and she raced from the room.

"He'll know you're here sooner or later." Elle smiled, giving Beth a hand up. "I wouldn't move."

Jess grimaced, standing up anyway. She felt Don's arms slip around her waist and he kissed her head. "Relax."

"I am." Jess murmured.

"… and Santa brought me a doll's house and a new uncle!"

Jess smirked, tilting her head back. "Looks like you're stuck with me now. You'll break her heart otherwise."

"I'm not going anywhere." Don reminded her softly.

"A new uncle?" Matt's voice repeated. "Nana doesn't have a baby in her tummy, does she?"

"No!" Mya erupted into giggles. "That's Auntie Bethany and that's my cousin."

"Oh. So where did this new uncle come from then?" Matt asked as they came into view.

"He came with Auntie Jess." Mya lowered her voice to a loud whisper. "I think she likes him."

"Busted." Jess stated wryly as Matt spun to face them. "Close your mouth, Matthew; you look like you've seen a ghost." Her hands tightened on Don's momentarily, before she slipped out of his arms and stepped forwards enough for Matt to scoop her into a hug.

Almost immediately, he let her go. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Jess shook her head. "Just don't put too much pressure on my stomach. Hi, Sarah."

Unlike Elle and Bethany, Sarah clearly wasn't quite sure how to treat her, having not been in the family long enough to be used to the injuries associated with a job on the force, so Jess spared her the embarrassment, embracing her lightly.

"Don, this is my youngest older brother, Matt, and his fiancée, Sarah. This is Don Flack, my boyfriend."

Jess held her breath as Matt shook his hand silently. The last time she had seen that look on his face was before her senior prom; her date ended up so shaken that he was too scared to even hold her hand that night. Thankfully, Don was made of stronger stuff than that.

She hoped.

"Sarah, didn't you want to talk to Jess about the wedding?" Matt asked quietly.

Jess met Sarah's gaze, silently pleading with her not to take the bait. For her part, Sarah seemed torn between both unspoken requests and faltered. "Yeah … why don't we talk about it? Over here?"

Jess agreed, moving to the other side of the room, offering Don a supportive smile as she did.

"He doesn't want us to talk about the wedding." Sarah stated quietly.

"Nope." Jess shook her head. "I'm worried."

"How did you two meet?" Sarah asked curiously.

"We work together." Jess explained, before telling her about the bomb that had sculpted that first meeting, keeping half an eye on the two men just out of earshot.

"How long have you and Jess known each other?" Matt asked quietly.

"Just over three years." Don answered. "We met in August of 2006. I was in hospital after I got caught in a bomb the month before."

"Wait …" Matt narrowed his eyes. "Are you the partner she keeps telling me about?"

"Well, I assume so. I mean, I'm the only partner she has, but I don't listen in on her phone conversations … Well, most of them, anyway."

Matt sniggered. "Yeah, I know how that goes. I was under the impression you two were just good friends."

"We were." Don confirmed. "But … Jess's easy to fall for."

"How serious are we talking?" Matt asked, shooting a covert glance at his sister, who didn't miss it and looked even more worried.

"Very. I wouldn't have risked losing her if it wasn't." Don assured him. "She's my best friend."

Matt eyed him speculatively for a few more minutes, before grinning. "Alright, Jessie; I approve."

Jess sighed in relief, rejoining them with Sarah. "Good. I'd hate to have to shoot you."

"You don't have your gun." Don reminded her.

"But you have yours." Jess smirked. "And don't think I wouldn't, because I would."

"Like I'd let you get hold of my gun." Don rolled his eyes.

"Need I remind you, Detective, that I've beaten you the last ten times Captain had us spar in the gym?" Jess retorted.

"Well that …" Don faltered. "Never mind."

"Someone's well-trained." Ellie commented, coming back in with Elizabeth, who was now properly awake and held her chubby arms out to Jess, who took her with a smile.

"Hey there, Lizzie!" She cooed, tickling the child's tummy.

"Are you sure you're alright holding her?" Ellie asked worriedly. "She's gotten very heavy."

"I'm alright holding Lucy." Jess responded.

"Lucy's only three months old." Don pointed out.

"And wriggly." Jess added.

"Dinner's ready!" Marie called from the dining room.

"Who's Lucy?" Sarah asked curiously as they all filed out.

"She's the daughter of two of the CSIs." Jess answered. "She's lucky she ended up a Lucy."

"Lydia wasn't that bad." Don protested.

"Yeah, but you heard the names Danny was coming up with for a boy." Jess shook her head, trying desperately not to smirk. "I call telling her that Daddy wanted to name her 'Cosmo'."

"Excuse me?" Cliff looked up as they walked in. "I did not!"

"No, not you." Jess patted her father's shoulder as she passed him. "One of our co-workers over at the lab. Detective Messer had some strange names picked out if the baby was a boy."

"So the CSIs are detectives as well?" Sarah asked. "What's the difference between what they do and what you do?"

"They do the science and we do the legwork." Don answered.

"Don, that's not the only difference." Jess rolled her eyes. "They collect all the physical evidence; the fingerprints, blood spatter, things like that. And they don't speak English."

"Yeah, why say something's covered in hairspray when you can use the long-winded scientific name?" Don asked.

Jess sniggered. "They do that to you too?"

Don shook his head with a sigh. "I think they do it on purpose."

"So I read something in the papers about a gang of thieves driving around New York in a flashy car a few years ago." Jamie commented. "Were you two on that case?"

"I wasn't." Jess smirked. "Don was."

"Not by choice." Don muttered.

"His ex's place was robbed." Jess explained with a grin. "He ended up chasing the car in a cab."

"I thought NYPD had a 'no high-speed chases' policy." Cliff frowned.

"We do." Don sighed. "Chief Sinclair was not happy."

"Danny and Lindsay were though." Jess remembered. "Something about the car being a cross between Mach 5's Speed Racer and the Batmobile. And, as I recall, you and Stella got to play James Bond at the mayor's benefactor."

Don grinned. "Yeah, that was pretty cool. You know, minus the fact that someone died."

"Yeah, that does tend to put a dampener on the event." Jess agreed.

"Do people at the precinct know that you two are together?" Ron asked.

"Well …" Jess exchanged a glance with her boyfriend. "The captain does. And has for a few months apparently. We haven't told anyone and we keep it out of the office. So, as far as I know, there's just the rumours that have been floating around. And they haven't changed since … well, since I started there."

"Remember Amber Stanton?" Don asked.

Jess laughed. "First case we worked on together." She caught sight of everyone's curious expressions. "Oh, we were on a stake-out, following this murder suspect. We were sitting in the car and she suddenly appeared, got in the back and started listing her itinerary so we didn't have a problem if we lost her."

"While making a few snide comments about how her venue of choice for lunch would be …" Don trailed off. "How did she word it?"

"A bit expensive on my boyfriend's salary." Jess supplied. "And then half way through Bloomingdale's, she doubled back to join us and asked if we were always that sickeningly obvious."

By this time, her brothers were all sniggering and even her father was grinning.

"What did you say?" Marie wanted to know.

"Nothing." Jess shrugged. "It was either that or I hit her."

A peal of laughter rang around the table and it was only broken by Jason, who swallowed his mouthful and asked, "Aunt Jess, what happened to the man who shot you?"

"Jason!" Ellie chided as everyone fell silent.

"It's a relevant question!" Jason protested.

Ellie gave her husband a look. "You taught him that, didn't you?"

Jamie shrugged. "Kid's got a point."

"He was killed resisting arrest." Don answered quietly.

"You sure?" Will asked. "Because I wouldn't mind shooting him again just to be certain."

"William!" Marie scolded. "The children!"

"I'm sure." Don said shortly. "I shot him."

"He was ambidextrous." Jess added. "Caught you by surprise, didn't it? It did me."

"What does ambidextrous mean?" Liam asked.

"It means you can use both hands the same." Jess explained, glancing at Ellie for some sort of guidance as to how much she could say; her sister-in-law just shrugged. "I shot him in the right shoulder and I thought that meant he could shoot as well anymore, but he switched his gun to his left hand and kept shooting."

Liam grimaced and looked at Don. "I'm glad you shot him."

Don managed a smile. "I know."


"He wasn't ambidextrous."

Jess glanced up as Don walked into the bedroom, tossing his shirt onto the chair. "I know."

"Why'd you say he was?" Don asked.

"Because you regret killing him." Jess answered, pulling the tie from her hair. "And because IA are going to poke their noses in sooner or later."

"You raised a valid point though." Don continued as though she hadn't spoken. "He can't have shot you after you shot him, which means you must have put two in his shoulder after he shot you."

"I did." Jess confirmed.

Don gaped at her in disbelief. "Jess, that's a one in a million shot and you made it twice! You're giving up the chance to go down in history!"

"I came back from the dead." Jess shrugged. "Besides, if I had to choose, I'd take you every time. You know that. How do you think today went?"

"I think it went well." Don looked worried. "Why?"

Jess laughed. "No reason, sweetheart. They all loved you." She hesitated. "Am I the only one who's worried about tomorrow?"

"Sam's there." Don reminded him. "She adores you."

"It's not really your sister I'm worried about." Jess admitted. "You said your parents think we're just partners."

"They do." Don nodded. "But you come to me tomorrow and my mother will take me aside after dinner and start going on about how she's not getting any younger and that you're such a nice girl, at which point I will tell her that she's in luck, because I love you and I'm not planning on letting you go."

"And what if they don't like me?" Jess asked quietly.

Don chuckled. "Jess, I don't think that's possible. I mean, it's you."

"I'm serious, Don." Jess stated even quieter.

Don kissed her forehead. "That's their problem. They are just gonna have to accept that you are the woman I love and …" He cut himself off abruptly.

"Don, you can't tell your parents where to go." Jess chided lightly.

Don smirked weakly. "That wasn't what I was gonna say."

"Then what was?" Jess asked.

Don hesitated for a second. "They're gonna have to accept that you're the woman I love and their future daughter-in-law."

Jess's breath caught in her chest. Of course she had never assumed that their relationship would be anything other than long-term and she knew he loved her more than life, but she had never let herself think of the implications of that, aside from the odd moment early in the morning, when she woke up in his arms and lazily imagined waking like that every day for the rest of her life, or when she found herself coupling their names to see how it would sound. Jessica Flack just sounds … right.

But she had never considered that he might have been thinking in the same direction.

Belatedly, Jess realised that she had been staring at him in astonishment for the last few minutes and a glimmer of rejection had appeared in his eyes, and she smiled. "Was that a proposal, Detective?"

"No." Don searched her eyes. "A warning."

Jess wrinkled her nose. "'Warning' sounds so ominous, Don."

"Alright, what would you call it?" Don asked, a flicker of hope replacing the rejection.

"A promise?" Jess suggested, holding her breath.

Don nodded, kissing her forehead again. "It's a promise. Just give us time to get over this and let me do the thing properly."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Jess nestled in to his side. "You're gonna have to do a lot of work if you wanna surprise me though."

"I'll think of something." Don smiled, pulling the covers over them. "You want your present now?"

"Don, we agreed on no presents!" Jess protested. "I didn't …"

"Jess, we went through this yesterday, remember?" Don cut her off. "Having you here is better than anything else." He rolled over, pulled open the drawer and extracted a wrapped box. "Merry Christmas."

Jess sighed resignedly and tore the paper off, opening the box to find … a photo frame containing a list.

"This morning," Don kissed her neck, "wasn't the first time I've seen you look like that. It's just the first time I've called you on it."

Jess was still confused and ran her eye over it, certain phrases leaping out at her. The way you play with your hair when you're trying not to lose it … The way you remember everything about every child every Saturday … The way you smile at me every morning … "I'm confused."

Don chuckled. "It's a list, Jess."

"I can see that." Jess rolled her eyes. "A list of what?"

"All the reasons I love you." Don answered. "Well, actually, I'd need a much longer list to put all of them, but I think these are the main ones." He brushed a lock of hair from her face. "I never want you to doubt how much I feel about you. But I can see it in your eyes sometimes. Like this morning."

Jess traced a finger over the frame. "I think this might be the most amazing thing any man has ever done for me."

"You're worth it." Don murmured into her hair. "I love you, Jess."

Jess carefully placed the frame on the nightstand and brushed the paper off the sheets, before pulling him into a deep kiss, his arm snaking around her waist to pull her closer. She shifted slightly, wanting to be closer to him, but the movement sent a stab of pain through her and she broke away.

"Did I hurt you?" Don asked immediately.

Jess smiled, the pain receding as quickly as it had come. "No. I did." She sighed, out of frustration more than anything else. "I just … I need you."

Don kissed her forehead, smiling at her blunt honesty. "I know, sweetheart. Believe me, I know. But it's best we wait for the doctor to give you the go-ahead."

"That could be months." Jess sighed again. "And don't tell me it's not getting to you as well. You spent two hours in the shower this morning."

"Well, it's not my fault you look so damn sexy when you first wake up." Don smirked. "Jess, it's okay. We can wait. And when you do get the go-ahead, I'll take the day off and we can spend it in bed. Sound good?"

Jess grinned, feeling her body respond subconsciously to his words. "Sounds very good. I love you so much."

"I love you too." Don murmured, tracing small circles on the skin just above her pyjama pants, as her hand rested on the tattoo on his chest, tracing over the words, already memorised in her head.

Forever my Angell.


AN: Originally, this was going to be a two-shot, but there'll probably be another chapter now. As you may have noticed, I've changed the name of this series to 'Kindred Spirits', because it was confusing me, with it being called the same as my C2. There is a chronology on my profile – a list of the fics in order, for those of you who aren't sure what that means (I had to look it up myself) – if you're getting confused as well.

My apologies, also, to everyone who voted for Grounds for Deception as a story; it's not one of my favourite episodes – aside from that one conversation between Don and Stella about Jess. I can't help but notice that TPTB like doing that to us: penultimate S5 episode of CSI: NY, Don says that he 'cares about her – a lot'; next episode, she's killed. Penultimate S2 episode of NCIS, Tony tells Kate that her staying reminds him of the end of Alien ("I will never leave you"); next episode, she's shot in the head. Seems to be a pattern here.

Anyway, I digress. Grounds for Deception is in the works, but I'm a little distracted. On which note, I would be eternally grateful if a) you reviewed this story and b) you took a look at my NCIS stories and reviewed them. I have written a Tiva fic if you really can't stomach Tate.