Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: NY.
Series: None.
Spoilers: Dancing with the Fishes.
Chapter Six – Dancing with the Fishes
"I'm just sayin' I don't get why I have to go; it's her boss's kid's Bar Mitzvah. What's it gotta do with me?"
Jess glanced up, holding a hanky over her mouth and nose to block the pungent smell of fish from affecting her any more than it already had. "It's a deal-breaker, Messer."
"I will never understand women." Danny proclaimed, setting his kit down. "It don't make sense. Who do we have?"
"Hey, you don't gotta convince me." Jess muttered. "Still a John Doe for now. Without an ID, before you ask, I can't link him to any case you might have mentioned."
"But?" Hawkes prompted.
Jess smiled wryly. "How'd you know there was a 'but'?"
"There always is." Hawkes grinned. "Go on."
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but the victim stinks of fish." Jess began.
"Actually, Angell, I hadn't noticed." Danny interrupted, photographing the body. "Fish? Really?"
"Shut it, Messer." Jess warned. "As I was saying, you did mention a guy once who was stabbed with a swordfish."
"A swordfish?" Danny repeated.
Hawkes carefully pulled the victim's shirt up to examine the wound. "Well, the smell does seem to be coming from the hole in his chest and it is an unusual shape. Not to mention the bill of a swordfish would be more than sharp enough to do this. Did you have a name?"
Jess shook her head. "No, it was just in passing. You know, weird cases."
"Well, they don't get much weirder than that." Danny commented.
"Oh, I dunno." Jess shook her head. "There was a couple that I wasn't sure if you and Flack were pulling my leg over."
"Us?" Danny asked, before sniggering. "Yeah, sounds like something we'd do."
Jess smirked. "Basically, I might be right; I might be wrong." Her phone beeped and she pulled it out, seeing a new message on the screen.
We nd 2 tlk. My place 7? D
Jess bit her lip, sending a reply confirming it. They were never good words.
By now, it was rare for Jess to stop outside Don's door and knock, since she knew where the key was, but she did this evening.
Don let her in. "You don't normally knock."
Jess shrugged. "I like to keep you on your toes. You know, even when two people aren't dating, the words 'we need to talk' can be rather ominous."
"Well, I actually wanted to talk about that." Don admitted, leading her over to the couch. "You remember that conversation we had about not wanted to start something until I know for sure what I'm feeling?"
"Yeah." Jess agreed slowly, feeling her heart start racing in spite of her better intentions.
"I still don't know what I'm feeling." Don admitted. "I know you're important to me and I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'll make me blush." Jess warned with a smile. "I know all that too; what's the problem?"
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but we don't think twice about …" Don paused "… touching each other, I suppose."
Jess knew what he meant. Even as they'd been talking, he'd absently begun playing with the strands of hair that had fallen out of her tie and over her shoulders. "There's nothing wrong with that. I don't have a problem with it."
As if suddenly noticing what he was doing, Don dropped his hand from her shoulder. "I'm just worried about …."
"Leading me on?" Jess finished gently. "Hurting me? You remember I told you that us hooking up wasn't weird? It was because we were already so close. We'd even slept in the same bed before without thinking about it."
"Okay." Don slipped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "So you're alright with this?"
"Very alright." Jess confirmed with a smile as he kissed her forehead. "How was your case?"
Don pulled a face. "A woman faked being abused by her husband so her brother would kill him and she'd get his pension. Young girl caught the tram unexpectedly and was pushed out the window."
"Great." Jess muttered sarcastically. "Poor girl. I mean, I feel sorry for him as well, but talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Lindsay figured it out." Don told her. "Realised the widow's black eye was too black."
Jess grinned proudly. "Sounds like her."
"What about yours?" Don asked.
"Oh, you're gonna love this one." Jess told him. "Owner of a restaurant helped his fish supplier out by writing a recommendation to help his son get into the most prestigious kindergarten in New York. Fred's son – the fish guy – got in; his didn't. So he shoved Fred into a swordfish and …"
"Fred's dead." Don finished. "A swordfish?"
"A swordfish." Jess confirmed.
Don sighed. "God help me, this city gets stranger by the day."
AN: Sorry for the delay; I had a moment of writer's block – I'm basically killing time until I want Don and Jess to start dating (and I do have a specific moment in my head) but my hands don't seem to want to cooperate. Plus, I'm trying to make sure that all of these chapters don't follow the same 'Hey Jess, did we mention this …?' format. Review please!