Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:NY.
Series: None.
Spoilers: Super Men – anything in bold was taken from the episode; Child's Play; Right Next Door; Point of No Return; Greater Good.

Chronology note: For those of you who don't read my Kindred Spirits series – why the hell not? You are Flangell fans, clearly, you should be … I'm kidding obviously, but you should check it out – for those of you who don't read it, this series is set in that timeline, which means pretty much all the episodes are set more or less when they aired, until it gets to Season 5. So Pay Up, in this timeline was November 10th, not May 20th – obviously before Jess fell back in time – and Lucy was born in September, not whenever Greater Good aired. I haven't watched CSI:NY since it started, so I've had to lay out my own timeline. It differs in some places, fits in others, and I tweak it as I go along, if something is mentioned in an episode.

Ouch, that was a long wait. But I'm back now XD

Chapter Twenty Two – Super Men

There was something about the scene that niggled at the back of Jess's mind. She knew she should be bothered by the death of a young man with everything to live for, but something was echoing in her memory – not quite something she could grasp, but there nonetheless.

Lindsay was already there, photographing the body, when Danny arrived, setting his kit down inside the hotel room. "Tyrell Mann." He sighed. "They called him Superman."

"With good reason." Lindsay responded. "45 college touchdowns, over 3000 career rushing yards and he averaged 7.2 yards a carry."

"Don't tell me you know a little something about football, please." Danny groaned.

Lindsay chuckled. "Why? Is that so surprising?"

"No, just dangerous." Danny told her, completely seriously. "I might ask you to marry me."

Jess choked on her coffee, before lapsing into giggles.

"What's with her?" Danny asked in bewilderment.

"I'd have thought that was obvious." Lindsay answered. "You've never exactly hidden the fact that you don't do long-term relationships, the idea of you getting married is kind of funny."

"Not that funny." Danny frowned, before smirking. "Unless she actually went to our wedding in the future."

Jess managed to get her giggles under control. "No." She said, clearing her throat. "I didn't."

It wasn't a lie, she reflected, as Danny knelt to examine the body. Danny and Lindsay had married so quickly the first time that, aside from Mac and Stella, everyone had found out after the fact.

Actually, that's a fair point … what do I do about that?

Humour sufficiently diminished, Jess turned back to the current case, deciding to put off worrying about Danny and Lindsay until later. "Okay, before you ask … I'm sure one of you mentioned this one, but … I have no idea."

"We guessed." Danny sighed, kneeling down to look under the couch. "Hey …" He reached under and pulled out a small object. "What's this?"

Lindsay joined him. "It looks like a high school ring to me. Looks like blood."

"Wait a minute …" Jess murmured, crouching beside the body. She slipped on a glove and prodded his knees carefully. "Injury." She commented, almost to herself. "It was an accident."

"You've lost us." Danny told her.

"I remember." Jess looked up. "That ring was his, but the blood isn't. That's the motive."

"What's the motive?" Lindsay asked blankly.

"Whatever caused the blood has something to do with an injury to his knee." Jess explained. "I know it was an accident, but that's what you need to focus on."

Danny and Lindsay exchanged a look. "We still need a murder weapon."

Jess frowned and flipped through her notes. "Keep processing." She told them. "I've got an idea." She left the hotel room, her mind racing.

According to the witness who'd found the body, he'd come to get the room service cart, but never mentioned removing it.

After a quick chat with the man in question, Jess confirmed that he hadn't moved it anywhere and that anything found on the cart aside from food would be placed in a lost property cupboard.

Sure enough, after half an hour of searching, she found a football pump in one of the boxes. "Call me crazy," she said as she returned to the room, "but that looks like blood."

Danny took a swab and sprayed it with luminol. "Yep, definitely blood."

"And that explains how he died when there's so little blood." Lindsay realised. "The air entering his bloodstream would cause a valve lock. He'd have died in seconds."

Jess ran an eye over her notes, just making sure she'd written down her thought process in her memo book. Satisfied, she flipped it shut and tucked it away. "You got the scene?"

"We're good." Danny told her. "ME can come in now. You riding with the body?"

"I suppose someone has to sign him over." Jess sighed. It wasn't her favourite part of the job – not even close – but someone had to do it and Danny and Lindsay weren't anywhere near finished with processing.

So the ME assistants transferred the body into a body bag and she accompanied them out to the van, sitting in the front with the driver.

I miss Peyton. She thought absently, remembering the last time she'd ridden in the morgue truck. A twinge of pain ran through her head at the memory. Vaguely, she wondered when Peyton would join the team and added something else to her list of things to remember. Note to self: when someone decides to steal a body, make sure they don't hit you with a medical kit.

Sid wasn't in the morgue, but Marty Pino was, with a young brunette, who seemed annoyed at something.

"C'mon, sweetheart, I can't pass this up!" He was saying. "Oh, hi Detective. Annie, this is Detective Angell. Angell, this is my wife, Annabelle."

"Nice to meet you." Jess shook her hand on autopilot, trying not to think of the night Don had told her of this woman's murder.

Of course, it wasn't possible, especially when Annabelle turned to kiss her husband goodbye and Jess saw the love in his eyes. How could this man have ever left his wife's dead body in a motel room and worry more about getting the drugs than her killer?

"Detective?" Marty prompted. "Are you alright?"

Belatedly, Jess realised that Annabelle had left and that her eyes had filled with tears. "Oh, yeah, sorry. You two just remind me so much of my brother and his wife … I haven't seen them in ages." She wiped her eyes hurriedly. "And I never do well in Autopsy."

"Not many people do." Marty gave her a crooked smile. "You got the evidence log?"

"Yeah." Jess handed the form over and he signed the chain of custody. "Don't you usually work the night shift?"

"Yeah, but when I heard what had happened," Marty unzipped the body bag, intrigue shining on his face, "and the Man came in … Tyrell Mann … I could not pass up this autopsy. You got a murder weapon?"

"Found a football pump with traces of blood." Jess answered. "No proof it's his blood yet though. Very little blood at the scene and no sign of defensive wounds."

"Well, that would be consistent with the wound." Marty bent to examine it. "You wanna stick around?"

"No, thank you." Jess beat a hasty retreat. "The paperwork on this one is gonna be a nightmare."

That evening, paperwork done and time to spare, Jess surveyed handiwork with satisfaction. Luckily, when she had moved to New York – returned to New York? – she had managed to get hold of her old – new? – apartment, which meant that she didn't have to spend three years without knowing about the secret compartment at the back of the bedroom closet.

The building was quite old and she assumed that it had once been a place to hide young children in times of danger, but she used it now to pin up a large wall-chart, big enough to act as a monthly calendar for the next three and a half years.

She started by marking the date she originally joined NYPD, which allowed her to count back and estimate a two week window for the bombing. That still wasn't very helpful, but it was better than she thought. She was also able to mark May 25th as the day Aiden had been murdered – or at the very least discovered dead – the first time.

From there, she added the date that she and Don had become partners – and tentatively noted the paintball murder that had occurred at the same time (although, with Truby in jail, that was unlikely to happen this time round) – and the date of their first kiss.

Finally she noted Lucy's birthday, with a question mark.

Danny and Lindsay were going to be difficult this time round. Jess knew full well that the only reason that Lucy had been conceived was that emotions had been running high when they were reunited and they weren't thinking straight.

But the only reason they broke up was because Danny cheated, which was because Rikki was hysterical, which was because Reuben died.

Jess hesitated and circled December 2007, leaving herself a note. She was sure she could slip Reuben into conversation and if she could get Danny to tell her when and where he was taking the kid to the bike blessing, she could 'bump into them' and, with any luck, save Reuben's life.

She looked back at September 22nd. Sorry, Lucy-Lu. But children who are already born take precedence. Besides, it's not like you'll never get born. It just might be a bit later.

A knock at her door caught her attention and she took a step back, sliding her clothes back along the rail they hung from.

"Jess?" Don's voice called.

Jess rolled her eyes. "In here."

"Do you always hide in your closet?" Don asked, his voice closer this time.

"I'm not hiding." Jess informed him, ducking out to see him leaning against the door frame. "I was decorating."

"Your closet?" Don smirked.

"No, the hidden compartment at the back." Jess explained, fishing in her pocket. "Here."

"What's this?" Don asked.

"It's a key." Jess grinned. "You know, one of those small things you use to open doors. I figure this way my spare key might actually stay my spare key."

"Are you sure?" Don checked.

Jess shrugged. "You let yourself in all the time anyway. What's the difference?"

Don chuckled. "Oh, honey, you're so romantic."

Jess sniggered, winding her arms around his neck to kiss him. "Isn't that my line?"

"You want romantic, Jess? Because I can do romantic." Don cleared his throat and pulled his own set of keys from his pocket, sweeping her into his arms as he did. "Jessica, my darling, I give you the key to my apartment as you have already taken the key to my heart."

Jess burst into giggles. "That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."

Don grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, but it's better than yours."

Jess held up the key. "Did you get this copied?"

Don turned slightly red. "Er, no. No, I didn't. I'm gonna need that back."

Jess sniggered. "You're right. There's nothing more romantic than badly planned spontaneity."

"Shut up." Don murmured, catching her lips with his briefly. "So do I ever get to see these decorations?"

"One day maybe." Jess answered absently, tilting her head back to look him in the eye. "It more for my sanity than anything else."

"You alright?" Don asked quietly, brushing her hair from her face.

Jess sighed. "Not really, no." She bit her lip, making a split decision. "It's Marty Pino."

"What about him?" Don pressed.

"Don, he's either already mixed up in some bad things or he's going to." Jess told him in a whisper. "He was fired from the ME's office for falsifying time slips … he …" She swallowed hard. "God, it was awful."

"Jess?" Don sat down on her bed, pulling her into his lap. "Baby, you're shaking."

"It was awful, Don." Jess repeated. "I wasn't even there and I don't want to think about it. I don't want you to go through that again."

"Through what again?" Don prompted. "What happened?"

Jess took a shaky breath and closed her eyes, remembering the smell of blood when he walked into her apartment, how he had said nothing, but taken her to bed and made her scream, before curling up in her arms and telling her …

"He sold drugs to pay off his gambling debts." She whispered. "Liquidised the organs from dead addicts that came into the morgue … When he was fired, he … He created a new supply."

"He killed them?" Don concluded. "How many?"

"I don't know." Jess admitted in a whisper. "But the dealer he sold to … he … he killed Annabelle."

Don sucked in a breath. "Marty's wife?"

"She tried to talk them out of hurting him." Jess explained, the words coming in a rush. "And got shot for the trouble. And he escaped out the bathroom. He ran, Don. And when the maid came by and decided to help herself to the pack of coke on the table, did he tell NYPD who murdered his wife? No, he went after the drugs instead."

She realised belatedly that tears were spilling down her cheeks. "I met her today, you know. And I watched him kiss her goodbye. And I knew what was going to happen to her. And I can't stop it."

Don stroked her hair, kissing her tears away. "So what now?"

"I don't know." Jess admitted. "But I don't know how much longer I can do this without cracking up … There's just so much pressure resting on me and …"

"Jess, it's okay." Don soothed, lying back with her in his arms. "No one's putting any pressure on you, sweetheart."

"I know." Jess murmured into his collar. "But I am. Haven't you ever had a case where you've wished you could go back and save them?"

"All the time." Don whispered. "I think we all have."

"Right." Jess lifted her head. "I've done that. But I can't save them."

"You can never save them all." Don told her quietly. "You know that."

"I know." Jess sighed. "It's you lot I'm worried about. What if something happens to you that I could have stopped, but didn't?"

Don rubbed her back. "We trust you, Jess. Even if you know about something, that doesn't make you infallible. It won't be your fault and none of us will blame you."

"But …" Jess began.

"Jessica," Don interrupted firmly, "you remember when you told me there'd be a time when I'd question your motives? I told you that I trust your judgement, remember?"

Jess nodded wordlessly.

Don smiled and kissed her. "I completely understand that you feel under pressure. No one is expecting you to save the world, Jess. You're a detective, not a superhero."

"I know." Jess kissed his shoulder and nestled into his side.

Don kissed her forehead. "You're my superhero, Jess. Isn't that enough?"

"I guess so." Jess sighed, closing her eyes. "I just hope that doesn't change."

His arms tightened around her. "Never."

AN: Three things:

First of all, I know I promised someone – you know who you are – that I'd see what I could do about the other case in the ep, but I just couldn't fit it in.

Second of all, although I HIGHLY doubt they will ever read this, a big congratulations to Prince William and our future Princess Catherine on their wedding tomorrow – I fully intend to watch it (thank God for YouTube – don't know what I'd do without it) and wish them both a lifetime of happiness together. And congratulations to Kate as well for conducting herself with such dignity over the last few weeks – I'd have snapped with all that focus on me.

Third of all, of course, please review!