Chapter 10:

The Party's Over

Jess stood outside the ATM around the corner from the precinct; she stared at the receipt that showed her balance…$152.48, she had $152.48 in her account. She didn't know if it was best to cry or laugh at this point. Jess sighed…the pay lapse the city had enforced on the NYPD had to end soon.

She shoved her debit card in her back pocket along with the statement and the 20 (the reason for the detour) and headed across the street to the outdoor café called Blue Green. Jess glanced around until she saw a familiar face, he waved and Jess walked over and sat down at the table "hey Eric" she said

"Hey, little one…it's been awhile" Eric said

"Arg! Am I ever going to out grow that one?" she asked

"You'll have to take it up with Drew" Eric said

The waiter walked over and took their orders. "How's the clinic?" Jess asked once the waiter left

"Hectic as usual" Eric said, "How are you doing?"

"I'm ok" Jess answered

"So what do you need?" Eric asked, he always could read her like a book.

"A huge favor" Jess said

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Don and Danny made their way from the precinct and headed down the street to the coffee cart for some sensible coffee. "So you and Angell huh?" Danny asked as he gave a chuckle.

Flack rolled his eyes "Can we just be men and not gossip" he pleaded

Danny shook his head no but didn't get a chance to continue with the subject, "The entire precinct is talking about taking action if we soon don't get paid, what's the lab saying?" Flack asked hoping the change of subject meant Danny would drop the Jess topic.

"Yea, I've heard a few people talk about calling in sick in order to protest. It's been dubbed the blue flu by the brass but no one has had the balls to do it YET" Danny said

"But don't think that I've dropped the Angell thing….speaking of which isn't that her over there at the Blue Green sitting with that guy"

Don looked over to where Danny was pointing and recognized Jess right away, his face flinched and his heart sank. "Yea, that's her" He said

Danny caught Don's expression "it could be innocent, man…she has like four brothers it could be one of them.

"Messer, that guy is Korean" Don said

"Still could be innocent," Danny stated, "Just don't jump to conclusions until you get all the facts…..Jess is not some bimbo, you care about her."

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Jess stood in an empty precinct, the blue flu had officially started.

"Angell" O'Bryan called from his office "Not feeling any flu like symptoms?"

"Not yet Sir" Jess said. Truth was she was still on the fence about the whole thing. She believed that what her fellow NYPD co-workers were doing was right. It was wrong for the city not to pay them. On the other hand, her dad's voice rang through her head, "being a cop is full of sacrifices, it's a courageous and honorable job. So if you're going to take that oath you better take it seriously" If Jess stood up with the rest of the NYPD, she knew her dad would never let her live it down and she did take the oath very seriously. However, she also believed standing up like this was honorable and courageous and she had to make the decision for herself.

"Good because I'm desperate" O'Bryan said, "I have you and Flack and a few uniforms.

Flack is running the deputy mayor's murder, big priority. I need you to do the grunt work…OK?"

"I think doing grunt work ever so often is good for the soul…keeps you grounded" Jess said smiling as O'Bryan passed her slips of papers with various complaints and things to check out.

Jess returned to the precinct four hours after O'Bryan had sent her out, she was tired and not in a good mood. She no longer thought grunt work was anything more then grunt work. She spotted Flack and O'Bryan talking and strolled towards them "this has got to end" she said

"You're telling me" O'Bryan declared

"Who's the kid?" Jess asked pointing to the young boy sat on the bench

"Apparently, he's waiting for an Adam" Flack answered

Jess' phone went off so she excused herself for a second and answered it:

"Are you working?" Her father's voice came through the phone

"Yes, I'm at work now…why?" Jess asked she already knew where this conversation was going, her dad was retired from the force but he still had close connections, therefore, he always knew what was going on, on the inside. Although, the blue flu had been reported on the media, what the news reports and the truth isn't always the same.

"You shouldn't be" Cliff said

"What?" Jess said, she didn't see that one coming

"Its not right Jess, we deserve better. I expected you to be one of the ones to stand up" he said and added "But it's your choice"

"I would have" Jess explained, "I only came in today because I didn't want to disappoint you"

"Little one, you could never disappoint me" he said "do what you think is right, follow your heart…it will guide you in the correct direction"

"Thanks Dad. I got to go but I'll call you this weekend" Jess said flipping her phone shut and walking back over to O'Bryan and Flack.

Jess bit her lower lip "O'Bryan, I think I'm coming down with something, I should probably head home" She said.

"I've been waiting all day for you to get sick" O'Bryan stated

"I'm sorry…I don't want to do this to you sir but I have to" Jess said and started to walk away.

"Angell, wait up" Flack called. Jess stopped and turned to face him.

"How can you walk away?" He asked

"I'm not walking away, I'm doing what I believe is right" Jess said

"You're wrong…this isn't the right thing" He said his voice getting higher with rage

O'Bryan came over "Angell, if you're leaving, go, I don't have time to deal with whatever is going on between the two of you" he said

"Nothing is going on" Jess said, she was sure she saw hurt flicker in Don's eyes but this wasn't the time so she flicked her hair over her shoulders and headed out of the station.

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Jess sat on her couch watching the news. The blue flu was still in full affect with no resolution in sight. Jess shook her head, this utterly blew.

A light knock came on the door; she wrapped a blanket over her shoulders, hoping to look sick just in case. When she opened the door, Don was on the other side.

"Did you forget where the spare key is or something?" she asked moving aside so he could come in.

"No, I just felt like knocking tonight" Don saidJess gave him a look, moved back over to the couch, and sat Indian style "Are you really mad at me for doing what I think is right?" she asked

"No, I respect your decision about the blue flu. You had to do what was right for you" he said "But Jess, I need to know something"

"Sure" Jess said

"Are you in this?" Don asked

"I'm confused, where did that come from?" Jess asked

"Yes or no" Don said

"If you really have to ask me that then.." Jess said shocked

"I saw you today at Blue Green with that guy and you denied us to O'Bryan….I want a straight answer, are you in this?" he asked

"You saw me with Eric" Jess said, she got up walked into her bedroom and came back with a photo album and sat back down. She flipped it open "that's Andrew" she pointed to a brown hair, brown eyed guy in the photo "he's my brother and next to him is Eric…his life partner" she explained "and I met with him today because I needed to ask for money, not exactly a high point."

Don suddenly felt really stupid "and I didn't tell O'Bryan today because he looked like he was ready to have a stroke, with the blue flu I just didn't think it was the right time, I'm in this" Jess said

"I'm an idiot" Don said

"I know" Jess stated "But in your defense, if I saw you with some chick, I would have been jealous too"

"You should have told me you were having money trouble" Don said

"I have pride" Jess said "and you would have offered to help and I don't want that"

Don nodded his head "You're Ok now?" he asked

"I'll be fine" Jess said

"I have to head back but I'll swing back later" he said

"K" Jess agreed

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Jess made her way back into the precinct; the blue flu had ended…Finally!

She made her way over to Flack's desk and leaned against it "Hey" Flack said

"Hi" Jess replied, she licked her lips and took a deep breath "I'm not ready to come clean with O'Bryan, but if you need me to, I'll march into his office right now." she whispered and held up her hand so he couldn't respond immediately "but before you say anything, I just came from breakfast with Holly"

Don chuckled, she had told Holly which meant more then if Jess had stood up in the middle of the bullpen and announced it…. "Your paper work is piling up" he said

"Oh and you dropped this" Jess said placing a sliver key on his desk. He recognized it as her spare key that she kept hidden behind the fire extinguisher.

"Jess" Don said "I didn't mean to put pressure on you the other night"

"It's alright" Jess said, "I'm in this but right now I got to go do that paperwork"