I do not own the characters and I'm not making a profit off this story.

Rated T to M

Blubbers in the Dark

Chapter One:

Jane sat at her desk when she got the call. Paperwork laid spread out, sheet upon sheet covered in her sloppy penmanship. With rushed impatience, she answered and listened to dead air for a few heartbeats. Then, a rushed voice on the other end told her that Ziggs was gone. Passed away in her sleep. She nodded, swallowed, then hung up without responding. Her eyes focused on the mess of papers and her hand rested on the phone receiver.

She blinked, feeling a sudden sting in her eyes.

"Hey Jane, you have the Samson report finished. Lt said he needed it ASAP," Barry Frost said, walking into the squad room with the speed of a rabbit and the force of a bulldozer. He had a job to do and intended on doing it to the best of his ability no matter what.

Jane didn't look up. She blinked rapidly and continued to keep her head down.

Frost stared at Jane for a minute, then came over to stand beside her desk. "What's going on?"

"She's gone," Jane muttered.

"Who's gone? Maura? Your Ma?" Frost placed his hand on her shoulder and took a seat beside her. "I didn't hear anything." He set his hand on hers, still gripping the receiver and squeezed.

"Ziggs. Her husband came home from work to find her gone. Dead in their bed."

"I'm very sorry. But, who is Ziggs?" He patted her hand. "I've never heard you talk of anybody named Ziggs before."

"Uhh. That's because we haven't spoken in almost ten years. She was my best friend in school. Practically sisters." Jane swallowed and wiped away the hot tears coating her cheeks. "We parted because I didn't fit her mold of a girl. She liked to ride bikes and I liked to take them apart. I played baseball. She cheered me on and checked out the hot boys on the other team." She used her sleeve to wipe her nose and looked at Frost with watery eyes. "We parted with hateful words and never apologized."

"I'm sorry partner. I'll cover your shift if you need to go see her family," Frost whispered, patting Jane one more time before taking his hand away and giving her space. He knew she wasn't fond of touching, even when in need of comfort, giving her space and just being beside her was the best way he could offer his condolences.

"Thank you, Frost. But, I'm not sure what'd I say." Jane turned away and sat up straighter in her chair. "She's gone and that's that." She grabbed her pen, glanced at Frost one more time, then said, "if you don't mind, the Lieutenant needs this report and I need to get back to work on it."

"Sure thing. Just let me know if I can do anything for you. Okay?" Frost stood up and backed away from his partner. "Even if it's only to grab you more coffee. Probably the only time I'm gonna offer to do that for you." He laughed, watched Jane ignore his comment then went back out the door as quickly as he had entered. He turned and watched her for a minute, sighed, then headed for the stairs. There was only one person to help Jane get through the shock she was obviously experiencing. And he only hoped she wasn't too busy to come to the rescue.

Frost pushed open the door to the morgue and marched inside. Maura Isles, sat at her desk, working on her computer. She looked up as she heard the doors open.

"Barry, what can I do for you on this fine Monday morning?"

"For me, nothing. But Doc, Jane needs you," Frost said, moving to stand right beside Maura's desk. "She just got bad news and she's gonna need you. An old friend of hers passed away yesterday and she just received the call."

"Who was it?" Maura slid back from her computer, locking it down, and her hands already grabbing for her purse. The concept of being too busy to help her best friend never being an option for her. She would drop everything to help Jane.

"Somebody named Ziggs. I'm not really sure, Jane never having spoken of her before, but she did say that they parted about ten years ago and haven't spoken since." Frost shrugged. "She seemed pretty devastated. At least for Jane. You know how she can be. The whole cold outside, boiling down inside persona that she wears so well."

"I know. I'll be there for her. Whatever she needs." Maura looked Frost in the eyes, then turned and left the morgue at a fast walk. She would run, but her heels wouldn't allow her to without stumbling and falling down.

"You go, girl," Frost muttered to the empty room. He stood watching her until he heard a clang from somewhere toward the back of the morgue lab, then he bolted. "Wait for me," he mumbled and left the morgue at a jog.

AN: Writing is cathartic in many ways. I recently lost my best friend from childhood and this is my way of working through the grief. I have no idea how many updates I will do, but there will be a chapter two posted soon.