A/N: This is the result of a prompt given to me by ymmat09.
Their fight had taken Jess off guard and the week of silence was rattling her more than she cared to admit. It didn’t help that they weren’t even in the same state. She was out of town on a case.
Jess sighed and tried to focus on the case file before her. She had a job to do, and it wasn’t sitting around feeling sorry for herself. After several minutes of not being able to concentrate, Jess tossed the file across the room in frustration. She stood up and walked to the window, staring out but not seeing. Jess had never had this much trouble compartmentalizing her personal life from her work.
She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. If only she knew why Dana had been so upset. Jess knew it had nothing to do with the actual argument. It was obvious that something other than the fact that she had left a towel on the bathroom floor had upset Dana.
Jess tried calling her lover’s cell again. She snapped her phone shut with a sigh when her call went to voice mail again. A knock on the open office door startled Jess. She turned to look at the local agent.
“Yes?”
“Thought you’d want to know – we’ve got a suspect in custody.”
“That’s great.”
“You want to interrogate him, right?”
Jess started to answer, but stopped. It didn’t take more than a moment to reach a decision. “Actually, no. I’m going back to DC.”
“Why? What if this guy isn’t the rapist?”
“Doesn’t matter, you’ve got my profile and it’s solid. It’s just a matter of legwork now.”
Jess grabbed her briefcase and quickly headed out. It took her only a matter of minutes to check out of her hotel and drive to the airport. Luck was with her when she was able to get a flight to DC leaving only half an hour after getting to the airport.
~~~
Jess used her key to let herself into Dana’s apartment after finding out that her lover had taken the day off. Dana still wasn’t answering her phone, so Jess looked around for any clue to where Dana was. She looked at the blank notepad by the phone and got an idea. She took a pencil and rubbed the lead over the top sheet, revealing what had been written:
She looked at her watch; it was 3:45.
~~~
Jess looked around the waiting room when she entered. She didn’t see Dana, so she took a seat and waited.
It was about half an hour later when the redhead came out.
Dana came to a complete stop when she saw her lover waiting for her. She was surprised and didn’t know what to say. She knew she’d been unfair in shutting Jess out. As their eyes met she saw concern, and hurt, in those sparkling grey eyes.
“Dana…”
She stepped up to Jess and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m sorry, Jess. Forgive me,” she whispered tearfully.
Jess tightened her arms around her lover. “What’s going on, honey? Are you okay?”
Dana nodded and sniffed. “I am now. Let’s go home; I’ll explain everything.”
~~~
The drive to Dana’s apartment was done in silence, but Dana clutched Jess’s hand as her lover drove. At the apartment they sat on the couch. Jess waited patiently for her lover to explain.
“A few years ago I was diagnosed with a nasopharyngeal tumor. My cancer has been in remission, but… I was afraid it had returned when I got a couple of nosebleeds last week.”
Jess squeezed Dana’s hand and swallowed. “Is it back?”
“No. Dr. Miller verified I’m still in remission.”
They embraced tightly.
“I’m so sorry, Jess. I shouldn’t have shut you out, but I was afraid.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Dana. I’m in this for the long haul – no matter what. But we have to face things together, not shut each other out.”
“I know.”
Jess pulled back and tenderly wiped Dana’s tears away. “I love you, Dana.”
“I love you, too.”
Their kiss led to the physical reaffirmation of their love.
FIN