Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: NY – do I really need to state this every time?
Series: None.
Spoilers: Bad Beat. Everything in bold came from the episode. Thanks to everyone who responded with ideas for this chapter – most of you wanted to see the Walrus Documentary (you'd be surprised how difficult that is to convey in words), but a special thanks to Runner043 who suggested that Jess couldn't quite remember why what she did remember was so important …

Chapter Ten – Bad Beat

It wasn't unusual for their movie nights to be interrupted by one of them getting called out to a crime scene, but that was usually followed by both detectives getting in separate cars, one going home and the other to the crime scene.

So Jess knew she'd confused Don when she jumped into the squad car with, but the words 'shotgun', 'peephole' and 'poker' had caught her attention.

Don didn't question her until they were on their way. "You know, you're not on this case."

"I know." Jess shrugged. "I just got a feeling that you told me about this one. Or maybe Lindsay did. Either way, I won't know until I get there."

When they reached the crime scene, Jess realised that her suspicions were correct; the man lying just inside his apartment with his face blown off definitely qualified.

She stayed at Don's side as they moved along the hallway, knocking on doors.

"Did you hear anything unusual last night, sir?"

"No. Did something happen?"

"Yeah, a man was shot down the hall."

"Oh, yeah, I heard that."

"Did you report it?"

"No. Why?"

"Good evening, ma'am; I'm …"

"Do you know what time it is?"

"I'm very sorry, ma'am; I'm …"

"I asked you a question."

"Do I know what time it is? Yes, ma'am, I do; it's … 3.23 am."

"You people are crazy."

By the time they reached the last door, Jess was grinning. "I always wondered why you hated this job; I never have this problem."

"Then, by all means, be my guest." Don offered, gesturing to the door.

Jess knocked and waited for it to open.

The occupant was an overweight man in a very small pair of underpants, scratching his chest.

"Never mind." Jess pulled the door closed again. "Is there any way to psychologically un-see something?"

"I wish." Don sighed. "So what's the verdict?"

Jess pulled a face. She'd been hoping that one of the neighbours could jog her memory.

Unfortunately, although the case was weird enough or bad enough for Don to mention it to her, it wasn't unusual enough to stick in her mind and she couldn't for the life of her remember what the outcome was, and she told him as much.

Don sighed again. "So, basically, you coming here was a complete waste of time?"

Jess shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Is there anything you can tell us?" Stella prompted.

Jess frowned in thought. "I don't think it's who you think it is. And …" She hesitated. "Hang on."

"Jess?" Don called after her as she headed back to the elevator.

Jess wasn't surprised when she slipped in after her and just pressed the button for the next floor.

"What's up?" Don asked.

"I don't know." Jess admitted. "I'm just sure it has something to do with this floor."

Unlike the eighth floor, the ninth was quiet and empty as they stepped out onto it and Jess tried not to notice the smirk on Don's face.

"I'm sure I'm right." She murmured, more to herself than to her partner.

"You were bound to get something wrong eventually, sweetheart; you're only human."

Jess stopped scanning the hallway for any reason they should be up there to look at him, wondering if the term of endearment was intentional or if it had just slipped out as it had in the past/future; if it had been intentional, there was nothing in his expression to suggest it.

Jess sighed. "I guess you're right." She turned back to the elevator and stopped, a smile spreading across her face. "Hey, Detective. Is that blood or am I imagining things?"

Don joined her in peering at the button. "It's blood."

Jess turned her attention to the carpet and found what she was looking for; blood outside one of the apartments.

"Someone took a hit." Don commented. "Can't be our poker cheater; why would he come up to this floor?"

"He wouldn't." Jess answered. "But check out the apartment number. 9C."

"Our dead guy was shot in 8C." Don commented. "You don't think …?"

"Only one way to find out." Jess knocked on the door and waited.

It opened to reveal a woman her age with chestnut-coloured hair, looking exhausted. "Yes?"

"Good evening, ma'am." Jess checked her watch. "Morning, now, I suppose. I'm Detective Angell, this is Detective Flack; we're with NYPD, homicide division …"

"Homicide?" She interrupted. "What happened?"

"A man was shot in the apartment below yours." Jess told her. "Did you hear anything?"

"I didn't …" She turned back into the apartment. "Scott!"

Her boyfriend appeared behind her, looking equally weary. "What?"

"A man was shot below us." She told him shakily. "You hear anything?"

Scott shook his head. "No."

"Did either of you see anything yesterday afternoon?" Jess prompted. "Anything suspicious? Anyone? The smallest thing could be helpful."

"What about that guy in the elevator, Heather?" Scott asked.

"Oh, that was nothing …" Heather began to protest.

"What guy?" Don asked.

Heather sighed. "He followed us into the elevator; he was obviously drunk and stunk of marijuana. He kept brushing up against me, touching my hair … He followed us out and we just rushed into the apartment."

"No, I think something else happened." Jess disagreed. "There's fresh blood on the floor outside your apartment."

"Blood?" Heather repeated. "I don't know …"

"I do." Scott cut in heavily. "After I rushed Heather into the apartment, I asked him to leave. He made some comment about nobody scaring him anymore and it looked like he was gonna start something, so I punched him and closed the door. What does this have to do with the guy downstairs?"

"Probably nothing." Jess admitted. "Thanks for your help."

"Sure."

The door closed politely but firmly behind them and Jess turned to Don. "He was drunk, stoned and humiliated …"

"Went back to his apartment to get his gun." Don glanced at the elevator buttons. "Went up. And when he came back down …"

"He got the floor number wrong." Jess finished. "I bet if Stella and Mac test the blood on the carpet outside the vic's apartment and the blood from the wall, it won't match."

"I wouldn't take that bet." Don frowned at the elevator. "But how do we know what apartment the guy from the elevator lives in?"

Jess shrugged as her phone went off. "Your problem, Flack, not mine."

"Oh, come on, Angell!" Don groaned.

Jess sighed. "But, if it were me, I'd check the door handles for gunshot residue."

Don gave her a smile that made her legs begin to shake. "Thank you."

By the time Danny turned up in Central Park, Hawkes, Aiden and Jess were already gathered around the body.

"Mornin'." Danny greeted as he reached them, handing Aiden a cup of coffee.

"How come you never bring me coffee?" Hawkes asked.

"Aid and I made a pact when we started workin' together." Danny shrugged. "You want in? You gotta swear in blood first though."

"I never realised coffee was so important." One of the uniforms muttered.

"First day?" Jess asked over her shoulder.

He looked surprised. "Third, Detective."

"Give it time." Jess smirked. "You'll be running on it before long."

"What do we got?" Danny asked.

"Tara Stansfield." Jess answered. "Weather girl for Channel 8, local news."

"Explains the pancake make-up and the clothes she's wearing." Danny commented, pulling a pair of latex gloves on. "She might've just came from work."

"Or an assignment." Hawkes added. "She's been doing small stories lately, moving up from the weather."

"Patrol says a jogger found her about an hour ago." Aiden put in.

"No apparent cause of death." Danny frowned. "No signs of strangulation. Nothing to indicate sexual assault."

"Doesn't appear to be a robbery. Still wearing her jewellery and watch …" Aiden trailed off, shaking her head. "I'm lost."

"Doesn't take much." Danny quipped, examining the victim's hands. "Oh, we got trace; it's a yellowish colour. There's no blood, no damage to the nails … although they are fake …"

"Thank you, Detective." Jess muttered, rolling her eyes. "Talk about stating the blindingly obvious."

Danny grinned at her. "That's what we're paid to do. Only traces of dirt. Her coat's damp. Here."

Hawkes joined him and they rolled Tara onto her back. "Lividity on her face and neck put time of death at least eight hours ago."

"Actually," Danny glanced at his watch, "ten hours and thirteen minutes."

"It's impossible to be that exact on TOD." Hawkes disagreed.

"You think so, Einstein?" Danny smirked.

Hawkes sighed. "Danny, I'm a certified pathologist, I know so."

Aiden stood back to join Jess. "Better wait until they're finished or we'll never get anything done."

"Her coat is damp." Danny pointed out, a certain amount of smugness in his voice. "I got caught in the rain last night. A 20 minute torrential downpour at 8.45. Only the makeup on the right side of her face was streaked, which means she was lying here dead when the rain began."

Hawkes pulled a face at Danny and looked up at the two women, who were smirking at him, then looked back at Danny. "Show off."

Several hours later, preoccupied with the inexplicable – how had Tara Stansfield drowned in the middle of Central Park? - Jess, Aiden, Hawkes and Danny found themselves in the AV room.

None of the so-called 'lab-rats' were aware of Jess's story, and she fully intended to keep it that way.

But she'd forgotten about a certain lab-rat, who had become a CSI without a badge.

"Hey, Adam." She greeted when he walked in.

Adam jumped. "Oh … hey, Detective … erm … how did you … Does that mean … I mean, it's not …"

"Yes, the rumours are true." Jess nodded. "Yes, I came from the future."

"Why are you telling Adam?" Danny asked. "He's only just joined the lab. There are about fifty others who've been here …"

"Adam's the only one I knew in the future." Jess cut him off with a smile. "Was practically a CSI by the time I left."

"W-wow … Really?" Adam stuttered.

"She wouldn't lie." Aiden handed him the destroyed tape they'd found in Tara's dressing room at the studios. "Here, Adam; work your magic."

Jess watched with a certain degree of fascination as Adam unravelled the tape and steamed it to straighten it out, his shyness and awkwardness seeming to melt away as he worked.

Gradually the crumpled tape became smoother and smoother until it was almost impossible to tell they'd ever been destroyed.

"Adam, when you're done with that, I got a pair of slacks that need to be ironed." Danny quipped.

"I have no response to that." Adam muttered, as Aiden swatted her partner over the head. "Okay, let's see what Tara Stansfield didn't want the world to see."

With a few clicks, a picture appeared on the screen. But out of everything the assembled audience had predicted, this had not been expected.

"The male walrus and the female walrus may appear slothful, but their mating habits would make even the most sexually active couples jealous."

"Walruses?" Aiden asked, watching the large mammals rolling around on-screen. "Are you serious?"

A moment of static answered her question and the picture transformed into …

"Those aren't walruses." Danny stated as Tara and an unknown man landed on her bed.

Jess couldn't help tilting her head to see if she could distinguish who her sex-buddy was.

A hand brushed against her lower back and she jumped, realising that Don and Lindsay, probably on their way to see Mac, had seen through the glass walls of the AV lab and joined them.

"Footage from your thirtieth birthday party, Messer?" Lindsay asked.

Danny didn't miss a beat. "Walrus documentary, actually."

"It's Tara Stansfield, our victim from the park." Hawkes explained.

Lindsay nodded. "Who's the other walrus?" She tilted her head to get a better look.

"I've seen him before." Jess muttered. "I know I have."

"We all have." Hawkes said. "It's her producer."

"Her married producer." Jess added, turning the video off. "Motive?"

"It was him then?" Aiden asked.

Jess shrugged. "No idea. No one told me about this one."

"You're loads of help today, aren't you?" Aiden asked, the grin on her face taking any sting out of the comment.

"We'll go and talk to the producer." Danny said, indicating Hawkes. "Coming, Angell?"

"Actually, I need to talk to Jess about something." Don said.

"Apparently not." Jess told Danny. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Suit yourself." Danny shrugged.

Adam's beeper went off. "Mac wants me." He announced to no one in particular, before he too disappeared out of the AV lab.

Jess folded her arms. "This better be good, Flack; I was looking forward to watching that guy crash and burn."

"Can we stay?" Aiden asked. "Or is this a private conversation.

Don raised an eyebrow. "You implying somethin', Burn?"

In response, Aiden pulled her phone out, pressed a few buttons and held it up, showing them a picture of the two of them sound asleep in each other's arms. "Depends, Flack. Something you're not telling us?"

"No." They answered in unison.

"What do you think, Linds?" Aiden tilted the screen towards her.

Lindsay smirked. "Looks like they're not telling us something."

"What did you need?" Jess asked, ignoring them.

"We got him." Don told her. "The shooter. We got him. He was in a drunken stupor when we found him."

"Okay." Jess waited, sure there had to be more than just an update to this conversation.

"I was wondering if you knew …" Don hesitated. "His little girl was there."

Jess cursed under her breath. "How old?"

"About eight." Don sighed. "If that. Do you know what happened to her?"

Jess pulled a face. "I wish I did. Her mom's still around, right?"

"Yeah." Don nodded. "Divorced. He was mugged and slipped into depression … She couldn't cope. He lost everything and, instead of holding it together for his daughter, she was left to fend for himself while he drank himself into oblivion."

"Alcoholics can't always help it, Don." Jess stated quietly, wondering if and how she'd ever be able to tell him that the problem was closer to him than he thought. "It's not that easy to just stop."

"I get that." Don told her. "I do, Jess. But he knew he had a problem and he didn't even try to get help."

"Some people just can't be helped." Jess shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be alright; her mom'll take care of her and now he'll have to get help."

Don sighed. "Yeah. Too little, too late. C'mon, Linds. We'd better fill Mac and Stel in."

The door swung closed behind them and Aiden turned her smirk on Jess instead.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened."

"Uh huh." Aiden's expression didn't change.

"Look, it'd been a bad day … we just fell asleep." Jess shrugged. "No big deal."

"Jess, I've known Flack for a long time." Aiden told her. "I've 'had bad days and fallen asleep'. That is not it." She slipped her phone away, now looking more curious than amused. "Was something going on between you two before?"

Jess nodded silently, not trusting her voice.

"Was it serious?" Aiden asked.

Jess nodded again.

"Did you love him?"

Another nod.

Aiden let out a breath. "Wow. Does he know?"

"Yeah." Jess answered quietly. "I didn't want to tell him. I was kinda taken out of my hands."

Aiden shook her head. "I don't wanna know. So what is going on here, if you're not dating?"

"We're friends." Jess said. "And partners. That's all."

"No." Aiden disagreed. "Flack and I are friends. You two have so much UST that you might just start causing things to combust if you don't hook up soon."

"That's a new one." Jess commented. "You're not gonna do anything with that picture, are you?"

Aiden shrugged. "I was. I can save it for the wedding if you like."

"Why are you so convinced we're gonna get together?" Jess asked curiously. "And don't give me the tension answer again."

She had started having nagging doubts herself as to whether anything would happen this time, wondering if maybe it was a certain sequence of events that had caused him to fall for her.

She couldn't deny Aiden's comment about sexual tension though; she was fairly sure that if and when he finally kissed her, the result would be orgasmic.

Jess forced those thoughts to the back of her head before they could get too detailed, knowing that lab was hardly the place to let those fantasies reign, and raised a questioning eyebrow, waiting for Aiden's response.

"He's crazy about you." The CSI shrugged. "He just hasn't realised it yet. And he won't for ages. And, because he cares about you, he won't make a move until he does realise it."

"So what do I do?" Jess asked, dropping all pretence.

"Either wait, or back him into a corner." Aiden advised. "Make him jealous."

Jess pulled a face. "I don't know …"

"It won't take much." Aiden assured her. "All you'll have to do is smile at another guy; Don's the possessive type."

"Yeah." Jess muttered. "I'd noticed."

"So which are you going for?" Aiden asked.

"I'll wait." Jess decided. "The second one sounds too manipulative for me."

Aiden shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just remember it's always an option."

"Sure." Jess checked her phone. "Producer's got an alibi."

"We'd better get back to work rather than gossiping then." Aiden concluded.

Jess nodded, following her out of the AV room. While she already knew how possessive Don could be – even before they'd started dating she'd noticed that he moved closer to her when men on the street looked twice – she'd never thought about using that to her own advantage.

And, despite her conviction not to start now, she filed the thought away … just in case.

AN: Okay, next one's 'City of the Dolls', and I need suggestions. Please review!