Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY.
Series: 'Kindred Spirits'.
Spoilers: The Box; The Triangle; Forbidden Fruit; minor spoilers for The Cost of Living.

Forbidden Fruit

"Lindsay's pregnant."

Jess spun around, her hand flying to her hip, momentarily forgetting that her gun was in its holster on the back of a chair. "Dammit, Flack; don't do that!" She sighed, turning back to the saucepan on the stove. "How did you get in?"

"I know where you keep your spare key." Don answered, with a smirk she could hear in his voice. "What are you doing?"

Jess pushed a stray hair out of her face. "I dunno, Don; what does it look like I'm doing?"

"I didn't know you could cook." Don commented.

"That's because I don't do it very often." Jess told him. "I just got fed up with take-outs." She turned the heat off. "Now …" She turned to face him again. "Did you just say Lindsay's pregnant?"
Don nodded, a smile on his face. "Yup. Danny just told me. He's really excited."

"Really?" Jess asked, a little sceptical. "I mean, Danny's one of my best friends, but … really?"

"Yeah, I was surprised." Don admitted, sitting down. "But, you know, Danny loves her so much and … no, I got nothing, if I'm honest." He sighed. "He asked her to marry him. She said no."

"That doesn't surprise me." Jess fell onto the couch next to him.

"Oh yeah?" Don reached over and pulled her on to his lap. "And why's that?"

"Because he was only asking her because of the baby." Jess reasoned. "No girl wants that."

"Isn't that the responsible thing to do though?" Don asked. "I mean, it's his baby."

"Yeah, but …" Jess sighed. "Every little girl has, at some point, planned her dream wedding. I think even I did it, once. Mind you, I was wearing my dad's hockey jersey rather than one of my mom's dresses."

Don sniggered. "I can see you doing that."

Jess grinned. "The point is, every girl's dream wedding is different, just like every girl's dream guy is different. But the one thing they all have in common is 'he loves me'. Not 'he got me pregnant and it's the right thing to do'."

Don nodded understandingly. "Alright, I hear you. So, Detective, what was your dream guy like?"

Jess was silent for a few minutes, thinking back. "Can't remember."

"Seriously?" Don asked. "I thought all girls kept that in their minds at all times."

Jess smiled. "Don, I gave up on fairy-tales a long time ago."

"You don't believe in fairy-tales?"

Jess tilted her head back so she could see him and laughed at the incredulous expression on his face. "Nope; can't say I do."

Don shook his head and pulled her into a kiss. "We'll have to fix that."

It had been three weeks since they'd had that discussion and Jess was beginning to remember why she didn't believe in fairy-tales.

She hadn't seen Don all day; in fact, she would even have gone as far to say he was avoiding her.

She went straight home after work, running through every reason he could have for doing exactly that, but she could think of nothing, only that maybe his case had caught up with him.

As she showered, she decided that, if he didn't call, she would head over to his apartment and ask him what was going on.

The thought was more nerve-wracking than she thought and she scowled at her reflection, tying her damp hair up out of the way while she dressed. Why should it be? Aside from being her boyfriend, they'd been friends for more than two years; she shouldn't have any problem asking him if he was mad at her.

A knocking at the door interrupted her thoughts and she cast an eye over what she was wearing, realising she couldn't answer the door like that. "Who is it?"

"It's me." Don's muffled voice floated through to her.

"You know where the key is." Jess called, going back to rifling through her wardrobe.

A second later, she heard the door open and close and Don's voice without any obstruction. "Jess?"

"In here." Jess sighed, still searching. Why do clothes always hide when you want to find them?

"What were you thinking?"

Jess started and turned to face him. "What?"

"What were you thinking?" Don repeated.

It looked like Jess was about to find out why he'd been avoiding her, but given the emotion in his voice, she wasn't sure she wanted to. "What was I thinking when?"

Don sighed. "Jess, can you do me a favour a put a robe on? I'm trying to be mad at you here and you're not making it very easy."

Jess rolled her eyes, but grabbed her robe from the inside of her closet and put it on, a small part of her relishing in the fact that her in her underwear could distract him from whatever was bothering him, something she had learnt was nearly impossible. "Now why are you mad at me?"

"I had a very interesting conversation with Mac today." Don stated, his voice cold. "He asked me what the hell I was thinking letting Stella use my partner in an undercover operation to catch a serial killer. Now, this was all news to me, so I asked him what he meant and I hope to God, Jessica, that he has somehow misunderstood the situation. So why don't you tell me what this little 'undercover operation' involves?"

Jess took a deep, shaky breath. She had known, of course, that she would have to tell Don sooner or later, if not because he was her partner, because he was her boyfriend. But she hadn't anticipated this conversation coming so soon and it had never occurred to her that this was why he was avoiding her.

"Okay … Stella and I caught a murder in an antique store today; same MO as the rat fisherman, so we knew it was Sebastian Diakos and there was an antique coin missing. So we got a guy to create fakes and sent me to his partner at the embassy as someone who's trying to sell them." She finished her explanation quickly, hoping he wouldn't catch all that she'd said.

From the look on his face, he had. "You're crazy. You're completely … What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking we could catch a serial killer." Jess stated. "This guy has immunity from the Greek Embassy, Don; it's not as simple as …"

"You are putting a giant target on your own back!" Don cut her off.

Jess folded her arms. "Oh, so now I can't take care of myself?"

Don sighed. "That's not what I said, Jessica! This guy has murdered two people and attacked Stella – it's not easy to catch her off guard, but he managed it. I just …" He turned away from her, the anger suddenly melting from his voice, leaving behind a fear she could practically taste in the air. "I care about you, Jess; I don't want to lose you."

Jess felt awful. She hadn't told him because she knew that Mac had told Stella to drop the investigation; it had never occurred to her how he would feel about the danger she was putting herself in. "Don, I'm in no more danger this time than I was when I was bait to catch Suspect X; what's the difference?"

"The difference, Jessica, is that last time, my entire team was nearby in case you got made and there was no danger to you unless you were." Don answered. "Drop the case."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Is that a request or an order?"

"A request." Don still didn't turn back to face her. "But if I have to turn it into an order, I will."

Jess sighed. "Don, I'm sorry for not telling you. And I'm sorry for worrying you. But I am not dropping this case. We need to get this guy and Stella will carry on with this plan with or without me." She slipped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his back. "Can't you just trust me?"

For a few seconds, there was no response, then Don breathed a sigh of his own. He turned so he was facing her and cupped her face gently. "Of course I trust you. And your judgement. I'm sorry for over-reacting and I'm not gonna try to order you off the case. I'm not that stupid. Just … be careful?"

Jess smiled at him. "I always am." She kissed him lightly and pulled away. "So can I lose the robe now and carry on getting dressed?"

"There's two movements that should never be in the same sentence." Don commented, tugging lightly on the two ties that held the cloth together. "How about you just lose the robe and we can both carry on getting dressed later?"

Jess smirked at him. "Remember, you've been avoiding me all day; I'm a little mad at you for that." She dropped her robe on the floor, returning to her somewhat fruitless search, fully aware of his intake of breath behind her. She knew that he hadn't let himself pay attention to what she'd been wearing earlier.

"What are you looking for?" Don asked, his voice a little shaky.

"My favourite shirt." Jess answered nonchalantly, glancing over her shoulder. "What's with you? You've seen me in my underwear before."

"Yeah, for a few seconds in the locker room at work." Don reminded her. "That's a completely different situation and either you need to find that shirt and get dressed or I need to leave this room."

Jess turned to face him. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

Don's head snapped up from where he was staring determinedly at the floor. "That's not what I meant!"

"I know." Jess sniggered. "But the look on your face …"

"I didn't know you had a tattoo." Don remarked as she turned away again. "I mean, I knew you had one on your wrist, but I didn't know about that one."

Jess glanced down at the small mark on her hip, just above her panties. "Yeah, I got it done about two years ago." She heard footsteps and then his arms slipped around her waist as he kissed her shoulder.

"What is it?" Don asked, his fingers tracing over it.

Jess fought to understand the question, his touch burning through her. "It's the … NYPD shield and my badge number … with the motto underneath."

"Fidelis ad mortem." Don concluded, pushing the strap aside to continue his trail of kisses across her skin. "Faithful until death. This favourite shirt of yours … is it purple with a silvery thing on the front?"

Jess rolled her eyes. "I suppose that would be a male description, yes. Why?"

"Is it this one?" Don asked, pointing to a shirt hanging up in front of her.

Jess blushed lightly. "Yes, it is." She pulled it out. "Thanks."

"Hang on, Detective." Don caught her hands. "Where were you planning on going?"

"To talk to you." Jess answered. "I wanted to know why you were mad at me."

"Not mad." Don corrected. "Worried. And I'm right here."

Jess grinned. "So I don't need to put a shirt on? How am I gonna have a sensible conversation with you then?"

Don turned her in his arms and returned to her neck again, his voice vibrating against her throat. "Who said anything about a conversation?"

"What …" Jess bit back a moan, letting her head fall back as he bit down lightly on her skin, before soothing it gently. "What do you suggest we do instead then?"

Don lifted his head to meet her eyes, a smirk on his face. "How about you tell me if you were expecting me to see you in this," he ran a finger over the top of her bra strap, "this evening?"

"And what gave you that idea?" Jess asked. "Sometimes I just wear things like this to make myself feel better." A smirk of her own appeared. "For that matter, who said you were the guy I was expecting to see it?"

"Don't joke about things like that, Jess." Don murmured, kissing her hard. "It's not funny."

"Sorry." Jess whispered, her smirk softening. "And no, I wasn't expecting you to see me like this. Actually I … I was half-expecting you to end things."

Don gaped at her. "Jess, why would I do something stupid like that?"

Jess shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "You'd been avoiding me all day; I didn't know why."

Don ran his hand through her hair and kissed her softly, in complete contrast to every other kiss they'd shared. This sent a shiver through her, made every nerve ending quiver with anticipation. He pulled away, still holding her close, locking her gaze with his. "I wouldn't give this up for the world, Jess. I'm in this for the long shot, alright? I'm not going anywhere."

"I know." Jess assured him, leaning against him. "But I'm allowed to jump to conclusions; I'm a woman as well as a homicide detective."

Don pulled away a little and ran an appreciative eye over her. "Believe me, Detective, I know."

Jess laughed quietly. "Mind … gutter … out."

Don's hand slipped from her hair and down her back until it joined its partner, stopping at the backs of her thighs and lifting her up, causing her to wrap her arms around his neck. "I quite like it in the gutter, Jess." He murmured, dropping her on to her bed and crawling on top of her. "Why don't you join me?"

AN: I wanted a bit of fluff before I moved on; I know it's a little disjointed, but conversations don't always flow smoothly; people get distracted and whatnot. (I'm starting a campaign to bring 'whatnot' back into our lives; who's with me?) Review please! Including you lurkers in the back – I don't bite, you know!