"Oh God, how long have we been working today?" Jessie asked, flopping down onto the patio chair of some random restaurant. Every muscle in her body was aching from the long shift she had put in. The hour long lunch break she got today would just barely scratch the surface of the exhaustion she was feeling right now.

"I think we're somewhere between the pack mule and 'Dear God kill me now' levels." Derrick replied, random strands of hair falling across his brow as he slid into the chair across from her. Slowly opening her eyes, Jessie grinned. She was very glad to have Derrick as a friend, though sometimes she wished he wasn't gay. The man was so completely fuckable with his deep brown eyes, tan skin, jet-black hair and that rock hard physique. There had been many times since meeting him that Jessie had cursed the gods for making him care so much about his appearance. If he had been at all interested, she so would have jumped him long ago.

"Oh, I've long since passed 'Dear God', I think I left 'Dear God' behind at about 9 this morning when the trapeze started falling apart." When the waitress finally made her way over to their table, Jessie just leaned her head back ad shut her eyes. "Can I get your seafood fettuccini with a coke and a coffee please."

"Certainly." The girl replied in a ridiculously perky tone, one that hurt Jessie's ears. "And how would you like your coffee?"

"Black as night and loaded with sugar."

"A diet coke and a Caesar for me please. And if we can have our bills ready to go as soon as possible? We have to be out of here in about an hour." Derrick said sweetly. Once the waitress had left, after confirming that the friends did want to split their cheques, Jessie felt Derrick's eyes watching her. "Since when do you drink black coffee?"

"Since Don introduced me to its wonderfully energizing powers." She replied, lifting her head and opening her eyes to gaze at him. "Why do you ask?"

Derrick just shrugged. "It's just out of character for you, that's all. You usually hate black coffee."

"Still do, it's just a necessary evil right now. I'm way too exhausted to care what the coffee really tastes like at the moment and it's the closest thing can get to having caffeine introduced to my system intravenously."

"I hear that girlfriend!" Derrick exclaimed, reaching over to give her a weak high five. "So how are things with your stud?"

Jessie took a moment to consider her answer. "They're ok. We've both decided to take this tour as an opportunity to take a step back and slow down a little."

"Translation: the two of you haven't spoken since I called." Derrick had the decency to look more than just a little contrite as he spoke. "You and your fucking pride. You know that's what got you into trouble the last time remember." All he got to that one was a snort and an eye roll, but Derrick really didn't expect anything more.

"Oh, that didn't last more than two weeks. We talked before I left. That's when we decided to take the step back." Jessie nodded her thanks as the waitress returned to set their drinks before them. "We're talking as often as either of our jobs can and are taking things one day at a time."

"Oh God, I'd much rather have the sex."

Derrick's comment nearly caused her to choke on her coffee, though she really shouldn't have been surprised. "Christ Derrick, you are such a Samantha."

Taking a sip of his drink, Derrick rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe you watch that show. It's so ridiculous."

"I got started for the shoes." Jessie replied smirking. "Don't give me that look Derrick, I'm a girl, Personally, I love my drama and 'Sex and the City' is oozing with it." Jessie's face took on a dreamy expression. "And then there were the clothes. And the shoes, God! You know I am not usually a fan of Manolo Blahnik, but those shoes were freaking works of art."

Derrick just shrugged. "I prefer YSL personally. The world of fashion lost a great man when he died." The two friends shared a moment of silence, after which Derrick shot Jessie a smile of thanks for her observance of his latest tradition as the waitress once again approached their table, gently placing their meals before them before laying their separate bills under their cutlery so they didn't fly away on the breeze. Quickly starting to dig into his salad, Derrick continued. "So what are the chances you and Detective Studly are ever going to get back to the place you were?"

Rolling her eyes and chuckling, Jessie also began digging into her meal before answering. "Pretty good, I think. It'll take a while, but I think if we're both willing to slow down and talk about it, we've got a pretty good chance at making this work. I mean, it's not like I don't get that his hours are weird or that he might get a last minute break in a case. And by the same token, He understands that I might also be called in at the lasts second and he's starting to understand that my hours, particularly when I'm touring, are also going to be a little insane." Pausing to swallow down a large mouthful of pasta with a sip of coffee, Jessie smirked. "You know, he thought we were sleeping together."

She couldn't help but laugh out loud as Derrick nearly choked on his diet coke. "Not funny Kilburne, not funny at all!"

"Oh, come on, your reaction was a little funny." Jessie said once her laughter had died down enough to allow her to do so. "Though I suppose convention dictates I should be a little insulted by it."

Now that made Derrick laugh. "God, whenever I start to forget why we became friends in the first place, you pop in with one of those to remind me." Looking over at her, he smirked. "Where the hell would he get the idea we were sleeping together?"

"When you called me and we started speaking French together. He got it into his head that I was trying to hide you from him." Shrugging, Jessie leaned back, taking a breather and a gulp of her coke. "That was the first time you 'entered' our lives, I suppose is the best way to put it. That, combined with the apparent bad day he'd had just lead to a supreme shit-storm."

"That was the reason you two didn't speak to each other for two weeks?" Derrick asked, a little incredulous. "That was the reason you two nearly stopped seeing each other? Jess, are you serious here? That is such a load of BS, I can't even tell you." His fork rattled about in his bowl as he gently threw it down. "I mean, really, what the hell was going on in that head of yours girl?"

Jessie shrugged. "Stubborn pride for the most part I suppose. I thought I had explained the fact that I needed to tour every now and then to survive and what that entailed. Apparently I didn't do that well enough. Then there was the fact that he had no idea you were gay. His mind just made a leap and both our tempers followed suit."

Sighing, Derrick shot her a look. "You know what I'm going to say, don't you hun? That is the biggest load of-"

"I know, I know, it's a load of bull, but such was the way we were." Spotting the smirk tugging at Derrick's lips, Jessie imagined she'd had the good sense to at least look mildly sheepish at her foolishness. "Anyway, it's been somewhat dealt with and we're trying to move forward."

"Only somewhat?"

Nodding, Jessie swallowed her last bite of pasta, marvelling a bit at how fast she had inhaled it. "He still hasn't told me what was bugging him that night. I mean, he and I both know he wouldn't have blown up like that unless something had already primed the fuse. Now I'm starting to think he'll never spill." Setting her fork down, Jessie fished out her wallet to pay, wanting to see if she could wrangle getting off a little early so she could take a relaxing soak in the tub before midnight. "But I'm not going to push it, so long as it doesn't happen to that extreme again."

"Well, you have my hopes for the future." Derrick said, raising his empty glass to her in a mock salute before grabbing the cheque and getting up to pay. "But I'm guessing you've got your suspicions as to what that stick in his craw may have been and might still be?"

"I'm sure it has something to do with one of his cases at work, but other than that, I have no idea." Walking up to the desk, Jessie chewed her lip a little as she handed her cheque over to the girl behind the cash register. "But it either had to be something truly horrific, or something to throw off his center. And Don can stomach even to bloodiest of crime scenes so I doubt it's the former."

"What do you mean by his center sweetie?"

Collecting her receipt, Jessie leaned up against the desk as she waited for Derrick to pay, tucking the receipt into her wallet to be filed away later. "Don's got this moral center to him; a series of rules that, for the most part, cannot be questioned." Slipping her wallet into her pocket, she pushed off the counter, falling into step with Derrick as they left the restaurant. "I get the feeling that center is what helps keep him sane during the tougher times at work."

"So why do you think something threw him off?" Derrick asked, snuggling into his jacket as a crisp breeze blew past the pair.

"Because he's used to bad crime scenes." Jessie replied. "He's seen so many of them; he knows how to handle his reaction to them. He's even had a few since we've been dating, so I kind of know his routine by now. He needs time alone to work things through and get back to himself. Usually he hashes it out with the CSI's or goes to a church service or two."

"He's a church boy?" Derrick asked, a little surprised. Jessie had never mentioned Don's religious leanings before.

"A lapsed altar boy, but he still holds onto the basic Catholic beliefs. The idea that everyone gets judged in the end and that the guilty will be punished helps him, I think."

"As I recall, you've never been a great fan of the Catholic Church." Derrick commented, watching Jessie out of the corner of his eye.

"I've never been the greatest fan of any religion." Jessie replied, shrugging casually. "I'm not saying I don't believe in God, I just can't bring myself to actively support any religion that would insist upon itself, claiming that it was the only true religion." Turning to face him, Jessie smiled. "I identify most with being a Buddhist, but that's mainly because they don't feel the need to prevent others from practicing their beliefs."

"So you don't care about him being Catholic?"

"Why should I? He doesn't insist I go to church every day, doesn't make me observe all of the Catholic traditions in existence. It's his way of handling things when stuff gets rough and I'm not about to deny him that."

Derrick nodded, thinking over Jessie's response. "How very Zen of you." He said, smirking slightly.

"Oh shut up." Jessie laughed, shoving him playfully. It was at this moment her phone decided to ring. "Figures, they can't go a single hour without us." Jessie said, laughing.

"It's such a comfort to know we'll always have job security." Derrick replied, chuckling.

Jessie snorted her amusement as she answers the call. "Yeah, what's happened this time?"

"Jessie?"

The voice on the other end of the call pulled stopped Jessie in her tracks. "Mac?" Derrick looked back at Jessie, curious. "It's Mac, the CSI supervisor. What's going on Mac?" Jessie asked, her voice growing concerned. Mac wouldn't have called her on tour unless it was important.

"Jessie, you need to come home."

Jessie's stomach plummeted at the same time icy fingers of fear started to grip her heart like a vice. Mac's voice was calm, but Jessie could easily detect a tension in his tone, one that was she was certain meant something bad was happening. Mac was an ex-marine, he had seen more than his fair share of atrocities in his day. This had to be bad.

"Don was caught in an explosion. He's in intensive care right now." Mac's tone was quiet, clinical, pulling no punches. "You need to come home Jessie."

"Oh God." She murmured, her knees going weak. Derrick had to wrap an arm around her to keep her from falling to the ground in a heap, frowning in concern. He pulled her close, hugging her tightly to him as she tried to wrap her brain around what Mac had just told her. "Oh God, oh no...H-how... how bad?"

The long pause before Mac replied made her sick. "Jess... Just come home."

"How bad Mac." Jessie insisted, her tone hard. She had to know. Her mind narrowed, registering nothing but Mac's voice. She didn't even notice as Derrick flipped open his phone to call their hotel, asking Jessie's roommate to start packing her bags.

"The doctors aren't sure, but they're not optimistic." Mac replied, sighing. That one sentence hit Jessie like a physical blow and Derrick had to tighten his grip to keep her from crumbling to the ground. "They've got him stable for now, but they aren't holding their breath."

Jessie had to take a minute to steady herself, her mind still reeling. "I'm on the first flight out. I'll call you when I have my flight information."

Derrick didn't even wait for her to speak. "Shannon's packing up your stuff as we speak. She'll have your travel documents in your carry-on, ready to go by the time we get to the hotel. I'll drive you to the airport as soon as we've got your stuff." Squeezing her shoulders, Derrick leaned down to gaze into her eyes. "You need me to go with you?"

"No!" Jessie replied with surprising vehemence. "No, you need to stay and make sure everything gets done here. I'll be... I'll be fine. I just need to get home." Her hands shook as she dialled the number for American Airlines, praying she could get a flight.

Derrick just held her for a moment. If the circumstances weren't so obviously dire, it would be sweet. While she may not have admitted it to anyone, including herself, it was obvious to him that Jessie was head over heels for her Irish detective. Hugging her close, Derrick pressed a gentle, comforting kiss to her temple, steering her towards his rental as she spoke with the airline's representative. She loved him dearly. The question now was, would she ever get the chance to tell him?