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Chapter 10

The following morning Jolene was walking onto a scene with her kit in hand. She'd never been more grateful for a case in her life and actually getting out of the lab. Lucas had also called her that morning and she hated that she had to tell him she couldn't make it home for his wedding. She explained why and he had said some very colorful words to her for not calling them and letting them know what happened to her. He said he was going to tell her folks, and she told him to wait until the evening so when she got off shift she could handle the hour long 'talking to' her mother was going to give her.

"Glad to see you're back, Jo," Mac said as she walked up to him and she smiled, "but I don't want you to overdo it."

"Mac, I promise I'm perfectly fine," she assured him through her smile and Mac assessed her for a second. She looked better than she had since the incident at the warehouse and even though he'd been London for nearly all of her healing time she seemed different than she had the day before.

"All right, let's get to work," he said and her smile grew before he advised her of what they had so far and the duo began processing.

"Okay, I know you're happy to be back at work, but you haven't stopped smiling all day," Lindsey said as the two women had broke away from the lab long enough to grab lunch at a small café not far from the lab. "What's going on with you?"

"You won't believe me if I told you," Jolene said and Lindsey raised an eyebrow before she opened the door for Jolene to go into the café. She quickly followed and once they were seated, Lindsey continued pressing her friend.

"Try me," Lindsey said and Jolene laughed nervously.

"Well, Don and I have been seeing each other for a little while," she said and Lindsey grinned.

"It's about time," Lindsey said and Jolene was surprised by that comment.

"What?"

"You weren't kidding when you said that you had trouble reading into your own relationships," Lindsey said. "You and Don flirted worse than Danny and I."

"I didn't flirt, I teased him all the time," Jolene said with a frown, but Lindsey just scoffed.

"Same thing with you two," Lindsey said. Jolene laughed lightly and shook her head as their waiter came up and took their drink order. "So?" Lindsey asked and Jolene raised an eyebrow.

"So, what?" she asked.

"So, how was it?" Lindsey asked and she smiled when she saw a deep blush grace Jolene's cheeks.

"I refuse to answer that question. I don't want to know what your love life with Danny is like, and I'm not going to tell you mine with Don," she said. Lindsey laughed and Jolene soon joined her. Jolene was glad to be back at work and to finally have a chance for some real girl talk with Lindsey.

After two weeks, life had returned to normal for Jolene with the exception of her and Don's relationship. They were of course far closer than what should have been allowed. She was down in the precinct after bringing a guy from interrogation into booking and before she headed back to the lab she stopped in to see Don. He was standing at his desk paging through a file and she smiled when she saw him. She'd actually worn her hair down that day especially for him because whenever they weren't at work and were just together, he always pulled her hair out of whatever binding she put it in. She figured he liked it when she wore her hair down and since they hadn't been intimate after that first night she was hoping to entice him for later on should work continue as smoothly as it had been that morning.

"Hey," she said as she came to a stop at his desk and leaned back against the hard wood.

"Hey," he said with a glance up from his file, only to fully look at her after realizing who it was. She laughed at his smile and nodded her head at the file in his hand.

"Something interesting?" she asked and he shook his head.

"Not really, just a few reports on a couple of break-ins that might have something to do with a John Doe we found outside a Brooklyn building last night," he said as he closed the file and sat it down on his desk. "What are you doing here?"

"I just brought a guy into booking after Mac and I interrogated him, thought I'd stop by and see if you were at your desk," she said as she tucked some of her hair behind her ears and he grinned.

"You bringing in the bad guys already this morning?" he asked and she chuckled.

Mac came into the room to make some copies of the booking papers for their file upstairs when he heard Jolene's laugh. He followed the sound and smiled when he saw her with Don. It hadn't taken him long to realize why Jolene had seemed so different once she'd gotten back to work. All it took was one case with Flack and the look that passed between the two on the scene. The look she had given the detective was the same look Claire used to give him when they first started dating. Shaking his head he looked away to finish what he had came in there to do.

"You know it," she said and they just looked at each for a few beats before Jolene softly spoke. "So, I was wondering if we both get off shift when we're supposed to tonight, do you want to come by my place?"

"What do you have in mind?" he asked with his grin still in place.

"Oh, I don't know," she said nonchalantly with a shrug but a smile on her face all the same, "a bite to eat and maybe a movie or some other form of entertainment." He laughed quietly then and took half a step closer to her before his phone rang. He sighed before he raised one finger at her, telling her not to move, and answered his phone.

"Flack," he said and Jolene looked away from him and at the cement floor as his conversation continued and she realized he was wrapping it up. "Give me a couple of hours and I'll get back to you on that," he said and she smiled at him as he hung up the phone. He'd been about to answer her again when the double doors to the precinct were pushed open by a naked man with some sort of helmet with wires on his head.

"I've killed him!" the man said and Jolene stood up straight and drew her weapon from her right hip at the same time Don did. The man collapsed to the floor and a few officers made to go over to him until a voice cut through the air.

"Get back! Get back!" came Mac's voice and Jolene and Don kept their eyes focused on the collapsed man as they slowly moved forward as Mac did. The man was shaking and gasping for breath on the floor as Mac kneeled down next to him.

"I've killed him," the man repeated as he reached his hand up.

"Killed who?" Mac asked gently.

"Kevin. Kevin Murray. Chelsea dorms – 9:45," the man said before he reached up and grabbed Mac's arm of his suit jacket. "Do you hear me?" he asked.

"It's 10:15," Don said quickly his eyes still trained on the man and Mac looked up at him before he looked down at the man once more.

"Was that this morning?" Mac asked and the man shook his head 'no.' "Last night?"

"No," the man said before he grabbed at Mac and pulled Mac closer to him as he raised up slightly. He whispered something to Mac before he collapsed to the floor once more, that time he was no longer breathing. The officers and detective's un-tensed and lowered their weapons, all with confused looks on their faces.

"What the hell just happened?" Jolene asked as she holstered her weapon, seemingly voicing everyone's question.

A few hours later, Jolene, Sheldon, Mac, and Don walked into a room of the building a transmitter pulled out of their victim's hand led them to. The man their victim had confessed to killing was alive and well at the moment because their victim had confessed to killing him the next day, and the whole case just kept getting weirder and weirder. She frowned as she walked around the room with the men doing much of the same.

"Is this what I think it is?" Sheldon asked as he moved closer to the large machine set up in the middle of the room.

"It's a very elaborate attempt at time travel," Mac said with his usual contemplative look on his face. Don gave the man a disbelieving look before he smirked.

"You guys talking time machine?" he asked. "Whoa. Paging Dr. Who."

"You mean Dr. Browning," Sheldon said. "Guys, this is our John Doe."

"Got any pictures of him in a straitjacket?" Don asked.

"Believe me, Flack, this is no madman," Sheldon said. "I've read about this guy. Dr. Martin Browning was a cutting-edge genius. He even won a Klimko Price for Advance math and Physics."

"So, what, now he's graduated to time travel?" Don asked dryly.

"Well, if anybody could do it, it would be him," Sheldon said and Jolene rolled her eyes.

"Looks like this is where his time finally ran out," Mac said as he kneeled down next to a pile of broken glass and blood spatter.

"Time travel is impossible," she said. "This is seriously like something out of a bad science fiction movie." Don smiled at her as he sent a wink her way.

"Let's get to work," Mac said through the smile on his face.

The following night, Jolene had just climbed out of the shower and wrapped in a large dark blue towel with a similar one wrapped around her hair. The Browning case was now closed and behind them, but as Dr. Browning had predicted Kevin Murray was indeed killed when he said he would. However, it was not by Dr. Browning's hands but at the hands of the man who killed Dr. Browning. A gambling addict who had weaseled his way into Dr. Browning's work. Because of the case, she and Don hadn't gotten their night together and as she got off shift Don was still on following a lead on the John Doe case he had yet to close from a few days earlier.

Sighing, Jolene quickly padded into bedroom and unwrapped her hair before she started to towel dry it. She ran a brush through her long hair and as she did so she seriously considered cutting her hair. It had been a long time since she did, but other than causing her to use an awful lot of shampoo and conditioner it really didn't cause her a lot of problems. Plus, she also didn't think that Don would particularly like it if she cut. She silly smile that always came to her face when she thought of Don made its way across her face and she laughed at herself before she put her brush down and opened a drawer to pull out fresh underwear and her pajamas when a knock sounded on her door.

Jolene frowned as she walked out of her bedroom and went out into the living room and over to the door. She raised up on her tip toes and looked out the peephole only to smile when she saw Don standing on the other side. As if sensing her looking through the peep hole he held up a brown take out bag with a smile as he looked at the peephole and she laughed before she lowered herself to her flat feet and unlocked the two deadbolts but left the chain on. She opened the door, holding her towel tightly to her chest, and smiled at him.

"Detective," she said coyly and Don made sure to keep his eyes on hers. However, he was finding it rather difficult considering she was standing there clad only in a towel with her hair still wet but neat. "I didn't buzz you into the building." Don laughed lightly and stepped closer to the door.

"Mrs. Knight let me in as she was coming out. I've got a certain charm with the older ladies," he said and Jolene laughed.

"Well, I'm almost four years younger than you," she said, "you think it will work with me to let you come in?"

"Maybe," he said with a grin, "but I think the burgers and fries I picked up from Maurice's will charm you even more." Jolene smiled before she closed the door and removed the chain before she opened it fully.

"You sure know the way to a girl's heart, don't you?" she asked and Don stepped inside with a laugh.

"I try," he said and Jolene closed the door, locking it once more. "So, did you get all dressed up hoping I'd be stopping by?"

"Ha ha," Jolene teased. "I just got out of the shower." He smiled as he walked over to her small dining table and chairs, setting the bag with the two Styrofoam containers that held the cheeseburgers and curly fries he ordered for them. "You know where everything is, I'm just going to get dressed." She started to head to her room when Don caught her waist and quickly pulled her back.

"Why?" he asked, leaning down and pressing his cheek to her wet hair before gently laying a kiss on her right temple. "I like what you're wearing now." She chuckled.

"Of course you do. I'm only in a towel," she said and she turned around to look up at him. "As much as I love the way you're looking at me right now, I really don't want to eat dressed like this." Don smiled before kissing her lips lightly.

"Fine," he said. "I'll get your mustard." She laughed again before she nodded her head and slipped out his arms.

"I've got some beer in the fridge too." He chuckled and gave her a curt nod.

"You got it," he said before he watched her saunter away and into the bedroom, closing the door tightly behind her.

"Thank you for dinner," Jolene said after they were done and as she started to clean up the mess, but Don stopped her.

"You're welcome, and that can wait," he said as he grabbed her hands and wrapped her arms around his neck before he picked her up bridal style. Jolene laughed lightly as she looked up at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked he gave her a look.

"What do you think I'm doing?" he asked as he started carrying her to her bedroom. Jolene didn't say anything as he turned the light on with his elbow and carried her over to her bed where he sat her down on her feet next to the bed. She moved her right hand from his neck to the side of his face as she looked up at him with a small smile.

"Do you have any idea how amazing you are?" I asked and he frowned.

"For bringing you dinner and then carrying you into room?" he asked and she laughed as she shook her head.

"No, because of everything you do," she said and she pulled his lips down to hers and she kissed him deeply. Don's grip on her upper waist tightened as he pulled her close. He turned and hoisted her up onto the bed, never breaking their kiss. However, Jolene broke away and laughed as he crashed on top of her and he chuckled as he looked down at her. Their eyes met as their laughter died and he pushed her hair from her face; and as they looked at each other the words escaped her lips before she could stop them. "I love you, Don," she said softly and he smiled as he looked down at her.

"I love you too, Jo," he said and she smiled back.

"Really?" she asked and he laughed as he gave her a look.

"Really," he assured her before she laughed and raised her head up to him, capturing his lips were hers. Don smiled against her lips and returned her kiss just as heatedly. It wasn't long before they were lost to each other.