Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY. I do own any characters you don't recognize. Nik Nak 17 owns Niki Foxx.

Notes: Part 3 of 9. Thanks to Nik Nak 17 for the encouragement. Like always, enjoy.

I'm convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile. ~ Tom Clark

The Perfect Game

Bottom of the Third

This team is a well-oiled machine. Two innings in and no signs of slowing down...

Five interviews down, one to go. So far, the only information that was even marginally meaningful was that Miguel had a girlfriend, Sophia Perez. Right then, she and her parents were waiting to be interviewed. Lindsay was looking over Flack's notes from the past interviews before she sat down with this family.

Meanwhile, Don and Kelly watched from the observation room. Flack sat on the table in their while she leaned against the white board.

"So we've got a bat as a murder weapon?" Don asked.

She started to write their knowns on the board. "Yeah, it's a wooden bat. Sid found traces of the same wood that Mac found in Miguel's head. We also know that someone else was still with him when the janitor found him. Besides that we know where the murder happened, but we don't have a motive, and according to everyone, he wouldn't upset anyone."

"So we have nothin'," Don shook his head. He was just as frustrated as she was by this case. They were no closer to finding this guy than they were six days ago. He wanted a break from this case, but he knew that wasn't going to do him any good. Actually, he wanted this case solved. He had a date tonight, but all he was going to be thinking about was how they still hadn't caught the guy.

"We don't have "nothin'," Don," Sheldon answered as he walked into the room.

Kelly grinned and stifled a laugh as Don rolled his eyes. "We don't even have a motive. The murder weapon is missin', and everyone says the same thing about this kid. Doc, you better have good news."

"Maybe the murder weapon is the key," he answered. "Lindsay said that high school uses metal bats."

"Summer leagues use wooden bats," Kelly corrected. "This kid was All-American, right? Well, he would've played on a summer league. You don't get Rice and Cal to look at you by just playin' high school ball."

"So get his coach in here. Maybe he knows who had a grudge against Miguel," Sheldon suggested with a laugh. She grunted in reply and flipped open her phone.

Flack watched her walk away from the two of them to have a quick conversation with Detective Lawson. He looked at the doctor who seemed to be very amused by her reaction. "You wanna come to lunch with me and Kells?"

He shook his head. "The last time I went to lunch, you two bailed on me and left me with the bill."

"I don't know what you're talking about. It was a real emergency," Flack coughed and looked down, away from Sheldon.

"Yeah, yeah," the doctor rolled his eyes and watched the younger detective avoid looking at him. "I'd go, but I don't want to have to pay again."

Kelly hung up the phone. "Lawson said he'll find the coach of that team. Shel, if you come, we'd be happy to pick up the tab." She sold her idea with a smile, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Fine, where are we going?" Sheldon relented.

"Benny's Grill," Don answered with a grin. "Make sure you guys take a long lunch."

The other two were beyond baffled. They looked at each other but couldn't make heads or tails of what he was talking about. Benny's Grill was only four blocks away, and it was a quick place. Neither argued, however, so they agreed to take a long lunch. It wasn't as if they would want to get back to work. All the emotions from this case were getting to be too much for all involved.

On the other side of the glass, the interview progressed just as all the others had before it. Sophia insisted that everyone loved Miguel. He was a popular guy who had a heart of gold. That is, of course, the essence of what everyone said. The detectives in observation had little faith in this statement. They'd seen too many "good" people get killed for some backhanded deal they were involved in. It was the nature of their job to be skeptical.

"So lunch?" Sheldon asked once the interview concluded.

Kelly nodded and grabbed his arm. "Come on, let's get some food. I'm starvin'." She turned to Donnie and beckoned him with a tilt of her head. He grinned and followed obediently.

Don waited until they got outside to spring his idea on them - why he wanted them to go on a long lunch. "So can you guys come on a quick errand with me?"

"Long lunch?" Sheldon shook his head.

"You could've told us that, Donnie," Kelly smirked. "We'd've still come."

His eyebrows retreated into his flick of hair. "Really?"

"Yeah, you're paying for lunch," Sheldon shrugged. "It's the least we could do."

Don made a sour face before shaking his head. At least they were coming. If he had told them where they were going, they would've split before he could explain. He needed a second two-month anniversary gift.

He stopped in front of Victoria's Secret and waved the two of them over to him.

"Hell no," Kelly flat out refused. "I'm not helpin' you buy lingerie."

"This is sick, Flack," Sheldon reprimanded. "Do this on your own time." He shook his head and kept walking.

"Come on, Doc! I need help," Flack called after him.

"I think that's fairly obvious."

"It'll take two minutes."

Sheldon looked at Kelly who couldn't help keep a grin off her face. "He'd owe us forever for this, Shel. I say we go for it."

"Please, we're having dinner tonight, and I don't have a gift for our two-month anniversary."

The doctor nodded. "But it better not take more than two minutes."

Don grinned because of his victory but didn't say anything to them. He led them through the store towards their lingerie section. Kelly shook her head but followed him anyway. Sheldon looked down. He couldn't stand the awkwardness of the situation.

A skimpy little black number (they all were) at the back of the store caught his eye as soon as he walked in. He made a beeline for it and grabbed it right off the rack. "What do you guys think?"

"You can't buy lingerie for your two-month anniversary gift!" Kelly exclaimed quite loudly, garnering the attention of several people around the store.

Flack frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's completely selfish for starters."

"I don't think Niki will see it that way," he insisted.

"Did you just meet her?" Kelly retorted with an indignant stare. She had her hands on her hips and looked downright menacing.

He glared back. "What of it?"

Wanting to avoid a fight, Sheldon wisely stepped between them. "Let's just get the lingerie and go. We still have lunch to get through."

Both detectives were stressed, and this just happened to be something they had a minor disagreement on. Of course, they blew up over it. It was bound to happen. Kelly just shook her head and muttered a quiet "sorry" to which Don shrugged and muttered something incoherent.

"Do I know you three?"

In a somewhat synchronized move, the three spun on their heels to face this woman. At once, they recognized her as the woman Mac had chatted up at the bar. On the downside, however, no one knew her name. Mac was secretive.

They looked at each other with confused expressions, not really sure how to tell this woman that they knew her, but they didn't know her name.

"I'm Amy Fields. You were at the bar when I met Mac? You kept looking over at us?" They didn't react at all so she continued. "Surely, he's told you about me."

"No, he didn't actually," Kelly told her with a nasty edge in her voice

Amy had the sense to know when she was being insulted. "I guess I thought he would've since he spends so much time at work, and you seem to know him judging by how many times you looked over at us."

"Well, he really only talks about things that are important," she drawled back, "so I can't imagine why you didn't come up."

"I'm sure more important than your little ménage à trois," Amy rebutted slyly. "Maybe if you spent more time doing your job instead of planning whatever indiscretions you're up to, you'd know this."

"What does it matter? You're obviously on the outs if you're looking at lingerie. What have you been on? One date?"

Sheldon pulled on her ponytail, hoping to get her to shut up. She was being petty, and it was annoying. He didn't like when she did this.

Amy, however, was not planning on letting Kelly get the last word. "You're one to talk. Planning some dirty little rendezvous avec eux?"

"If you want to be a smart ass, you have to be smart, Amy. Otherwise, you're just an ass," Kelly retorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

Sheldon grabbed her arm and begged her to stop with a look.

Don stepped in as mediator. "Sorry, we're just under a lot of stress with this case. Higgins didn't mean that. Honestly, she's just having a hard time."

Something in his argument struck her fancy, and she stopped glaring at Kelly. "You must be the voice of reason."

"You can call me Don."

She shook his hand and smiled. He was charming and so tall. Very unlike the woman to his left who was older than him but no where near as tall. If anything, she showed that age does not necessarily mean wisdom. She muttered "Kelly" as a way of introduction.

Sheldon took Amy's hand and enthusiastically told her his own name. "I'm Sheldon, and I'm the only one who works for Mac."

"Don't sound so proud of that, Doc," Kelly told him with a large amount of snark.

Amy rolled her eyes again. "What's your problem?"

"Honestly? You."

As expected, Amy scoffed and seemed ready to slap the detective.

"What she means," Flack said, once again stepping between them, "is that we've been working really hard, trying to get Mac to find a new CSI."

"Why?"

Sheldon stepped up to answer. "Last month, one of our supervisors left the lab."

"She was Mac's best friend," Kelly corrected. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it out on you, but we were so close to getting him to start looking for someone. Then you came along, and it's worse than ever."

The apology was sincere enough, but Kelly didn't put enough heart in it to completely convince Amy that she was being heartfelt.

"And then," Flack continued where Kelly left off, "we're in the middle of a horrible case. You have to understand that with that going on, Mac's gonna be real focused on work. We need help getting him to see that he needs someone else."

"In other words, you want me to talk to him for you," Amy supplied.

"Not directly of course. Maybe just imply that you think he looks stressed, and then ask about work - maybe about why he works so late," Flack explained cautiously. "But nothing to suggest that you know anything."

Amy crossed her arms over her chest and stared intensely at the tall detective.

"Mac would never forgive us if he knew we asked you this," Sheldon answered Amy's question before she could ask it.

She glared once more at Kelly. "Why should I help you?"

"You're not helpin' us," Kelly answered with a glare of her own. "You're helpin' Mac."

"I'll think about it," she waved them off and went back to her own shopping which was on the other side of the store and away from the lingerie - a fact that made Higgins simmer.

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go. Flack'll meet us at Benny's." He watched Don find his spot in a long line of lunch shoppers. He walked her out of the store and down the street.

She eyed a magazine stand's cigarettes for a solid minute before shrugging and catching up with him.

"What? No smokes?"

"I'm quittin'."

"Since when?"

"Since we went to the bar," she answered with a grin.

He looked skeptical so she lifted her sleeve so show him her nicotine patch. He put his arm around her shoulder. "So that's what that whole mood was about in there?"

"Well," she started and then thought better of it, "yeah, that's it. I'm just under a lot of stress with the case and this."

"I'm proud of you," he told her. "But Mac's going to be pissed at you."

"No, he won't," she laughed. He looked curious so she explained. "Amy isn't going to tell Mac about meeting us. She'll want to because I was a bitch, but she won't. She isn't going to want to admit that she was at Victoria's Secret because even though she wasn't buying lingerie, he'll think she was. It's as simple as that."

They spent the rest of the walk talking about Sheldon's girlfriend, Jenna. She was an ER doctor at Angel of Mercy and incredibly gorgeous. He had already met her family, and he couldn't wait for her to meet his.

"When's she going to meet us?"

"Never," he winked.

She shook her head. "Why not?"

"You'll rip her to shreds just like you did Amy."

"No, not me."

He rolled his eyes. "You're such a liar."

"I won't because she makes you happy, Sheldon, and you're my friend," she explained.

Once they arrived at Benny's, a pretty young waitress seated them outside, under an awning. A few minutes later, Flack arrived and sat down at the table. The waitress returned to take their drink order. She eyed Don as she left to get the three of them some water.

"I think someone has a crush," Sheldon chuckled.

Kelly grinned. "Nobody tell Niki."

Don, however, did not find their comments funny at all. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "You guys are so immature. Can't one person be happy around you?"

"No, not really," his partner spat back with a smile on her face.

"You're supposed to be the mature one. You're thirty-seven, Kelly, and you just flipped on Amy like you were fourteen!"

He eyed his partner for a long time to see if she would make any retort. She didn't so he looked over the menu. Their avocado burger was his absolute favorite so he went with that just like he always did. His partner went with a southwestern burger (something she'd ultimately regret). Sheldon went with a salad since he had a big dinner planned with Jenna later that night.

Their food was brought out about twenty minutes, and it was delicious as expected. At least, Flack thought so. Kelly thought her burger was not southwestern enough. He supposed she would know, but he also thought that she should've at least ordered something she wouldn't have a problem with. In fact, he told her so.

"Do you have a problem with me, Don?" She dared him with her tone.

He frowned. "I don't get what's wrong with you."

"Nothin's wrong with me," she snapped at him. "You on the other hand..."

Mac groaned as he went through the crime scene files again. There was nothing. He couldn't find anything hinting toward a particular person. They had zero suspects still. They wouldn't be able to interview the baseball coach until he came back in town in two days since he was at a tournament in California with the team. He did find out that Miguel was unable to attend that tournament since St. Marks was still in the playoffs.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the glass.

Danny walked in with a grin. "Hey, Mac."

He answered with a nod.

"You know, the Cubs are playin' the Sox. It's on at Sullivan's."

He didn't look interested at all. He was too busy reading over the files again. "Danny, maybe some other time."

"Kelly called. She's looking over the reports and will call if she finds anything."

"It's your turn, isn't it?"

Danny hoped he looked quite confused at this. "I just wanna watch a baseball game, boss."

Mac sighed. "So the Cubs are playing?"

Don smiled when he looked at his girlfriend, Niki Foxx. She was a fox in every sense of the word. She made his day so much better especially after that fight with Higgins. He loved watching her walk into the restaurant.

"Hey," he said softly and stood up from his chair.

She snorted. "Hi, Donnie. What's with the long face?"

He shook his head as if he thought he didn't want to bother her with his day. Then, he realized he wanted to tell her everything. "Kelly's being a bitch so I called her out on it, and now she's pissed at me. Mac is still dating that Amy chick which is why Kelly was being a bitch to begin with. This case is nowhere close to being solved, but that doesn't matter right now. I should be happy to see you - and I am - but this case is getting to me."

"You'll figure it out," she answered with an eye roll. "Anyway, happy two months to us. No one thought we'd make it here. Again."

"Here we are," he agreed and took a drink of wine.

They sat in a comfortable silence while they looked over the menu. Suddenly, Don thought of something.

"I know an FBI guy!"

"Congratulations," Niki grinned back, "you have friends."

"No," he frowned, "I know an FBI guy. I'll ask him if he knows of anyone. Who better to take Stella's spot than someone from the FBI?"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. I just want to say that the Cubs do play the Red Sox in interleague play which is in June (which is when this story is set). Please review. Have a wonderful day!