Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm just a fan

A/N: Hey everyone, this is an idea that was inspired by reading the Garoul series by Gill McKnight and if you've read them you'll have some sense of what this story will be like. If you haven't read them, then get on it! I'm kind of still figuring out exactly where this is going so please be patient with me. Also this is the first story I've written in a couple of years so I might be a little rusty. It's rated T for now but that almost certainly will change at some point.


"Johnny Burton you are under arrest in connection with the murder of Caroline Ennis and under suspicion of tampering with evidence." Frost called out firmly.

Burton was caught flat footed, carrying a handful of hardware for some part of the building he was employed in the construction of. All around other workers stopped their labors to stare at the scene unfolding, three homicide detectives and two officers in uniform accosting Burton.

Burton wasn't smart Jane realized, but he was decisive. He threw the lag bolts at them and ran for an exit, leaping over piles of lumber. Frost barely dodged the projectiles while Jane easily side stepped them, taking off after Burton in a flash. The uniformed officers and Frost were right behind. With other workers all around, firing on Burton was too risky. Chasing him was the only option.

Korsak merely watched them go but shouted at their backs, "Don't bother guys! Jane'll get him. She always gets them." Korsak turned and walked back towards where his car was parked, pulling out his radio as he went. "Be advised, we have the suspect in custody. He has possible broken bones, have the medics on standby. Over" "At least, he will when Jane gets done with him." he chuckled.

"Crap!" Jane snarled. Banging up against a door Burton had blocked from the other side. "You guys go that way, and I'll try this way!" she shouted.

"By yourself?" Frost replied. "Jane take Johnson with you!"

Jane shouted over her shoulder, already running off, "He'll slow me down!"

"Damn it! Come on guys" Frost said, heading the other direction.

Jane loved it when they ran. She almost lived for it. She loved being a cop, protecting people, punishing the wicked. But still, most of the job was puzzles to solve and paperwork to fill out. Boring stuff. Tedious! When they ran though, she could chase them. She could hunt. The hunt was what made her feel complete. All her senses heightened, blood coursing through her veins like a raging river. Her muscles vibrating with power. She had his scent. She knew the tricks. There was no escape from her now.

She burst through the doors into an unoccupied part of the job site. The sound of Burton's footsteps was gone. She knew he couldn't be out of earshot yet. Not her ears anyway. He was hiding. Jane grinned wolfishly, Nice try. She thought.

She inhaled deeply, turning a few times and then smiled when she smelled what she was after. She had his scent leading her towards him as clearly as a glowing trail. Now she moved silently, smoothly. The only sounds were Frost, shouting for her from somewhere back behind, asking her location and a makeshift door rattling in the breeze on the far side of the building. Jane ignored them both, focusing instead on the stacks of insulation bundles to one side.

As she got closer she stench of his sweat became almost overwhelming to Jane's powerful nose. Even without it she could now easily hear his ragged breaths which he vainly tried to muffle. She could taste his fear on her tongue. Stopping beside the stacks she said in a low vicious tone "It's already hot, I can't imagine what it's like in the middle of all that stuff."

Realizing suddenly that he was found, Burton clawed out of the insulation, madly running for the door. Jane watched for a moment, allowing him twenty feet of head start. Deciding it was time to wrap this farce up she closed the distance on Burton in a split second, letting out a growl from deep in her chest. She slammed into him sending him hard into the floor. He let out a sharp scream and lay there moaning.

Jane stooped and grabbed him by his shirt, wrenching him up and slamming him into the wall. He screamed again "My arm! You broke my arm, you bitch!" his left arm bent and hanging awkwardly.

Her face sharpening almost imperceptibly, eyes flecked with amber, Jane snarled, "You murdered Caroline Ennis and assaulted a Police Officer, Your arm is the least of your worries!" Burton paled as the blood drained from his face, cowering from the power radiating off of her.

"What are you?!" he whimpered.

"I'm a Rizzoli." she growled.

She heard Frost shouting again, closer now and called back to him "Over here."

When frost and the two uniformed Officers reached her, panting hard and sweating, she had Burton in cuffs and was pushing him ahead of her while he continued to moan and quietly curse.

"Jeez Frost, what took you so long?" Jane laughed.

Frost wheezed, "Someday I'm going to catch one, *wheeze* before you do." He sucked hard for air.

Cocking her head with a smirk Jane teased "Yeah, I won't hold my breath on that." "Come on dumb ass." she barked at Burton, strong arming him toward the parking lot and the waiting ambulance. Frost still wheezing and muttering behind her.

Korsak leaned on the hood of his car, sipping coffee and munching a doughnut. "Have a good run?" he asked Frost who made a show of ignoring him.


Back at the station it was lunch time. Jane was still buzzing with the after glow of bringing a suspect down. She sat at her desk finishing her second quarter pound burger, rumbling happily. She was the best. She'd proved it yet again. Anyone who didn't know it would learn. Anyone stupid enough to challenge her would learn too. In an especially rough manner. She replayed her take-down of Burton. She only wished people had been around to witness it. She wanted to humiliate him even more than he had been. She replayed her take-down several more times, still getting pleasure from it. Knowing she was annoying Frost with her self satisfied demeanor.

She was unwrapping her third burger when Cavanaugh interrupted everyone's lunch with an announcement. "Can I get everyone's attention over here please?" he said. "We have a new member of the department joining us today. With Ryerson's retirement official, I want to welcome our new Chief Medical Examiner, Dr Maura Isles." he gestured toward the blonde woman beside him.

A chorus of welcomes and polite applause broke out and several detectives stood and introduced themselves to her. Jane didn't bother. She didn't even stop eating or change her posture, just appraised the new ME out of the side of her eyes.

Nice legs. was her first thought, running her eyes up the tan, smooth calves and thighs until they disappeared under an expensive looking violet skirt. Nice everything actually. she continued. She better be easy to work with. It took a solid year to get Ryerson trained. Jane grunted and rolled her eyes, thoughts drifting to the many annoyances of her time working with the old ME.

Jane became aware of a subtle, sweet fragrance combining lavender, vanilla and something she couldn't place and then a cool, controlled voice asked "Detective Rizzoli?"

Jane looked up to see the new woman standing by her desk, holding out her hand. "It's a great pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about Detective Rizzoli and her amazing arrest record in the news the last few years."

Jane's dark, brown eyes met light hazel ones and she stood quickly, taking the offered hand. "The pleasure is mine." she smiled. She couldn't stop staring at those eyes. Eyes which widened as Jane rose to her full height. They made her feel... something. Some pull at her that Jane couldn't place.

Whatever it was, Jane took an instant liking to this woman. Turning on the charm she smiled crookedly and said "Maura, that's a nice name. You don't meet a Maura every day."

The ME seemed overwhelmed somehow. Like the shear presence Jane exuded had put her off kilter.

She opened and closed her mouth, continuing to stare and then spoke so fast Jane had trouble keeping up "Well the name Maura has gone down in popularity steadily since I was born and now is only the 924th most popular name for girls, so statistically speaking your chances of meeting a woman or girl named Maura on any given day are not very good."

Jane blinked at her, at a loss for words. She glanced at Frost, watching the whole scene unfold from his desk and he shrugged at her.

Maura was continuing though, still talking fast "Your zygomatic and mandibular bones are amazingly well pronounced. Is that common in your family?"

"Pardon?" Jane asked. "My what bones?"

"Zygomatic and mandibular." Maura said. "Your cheekbones and your jaw."

"Oh, um, yeah. I guess." Jane said, feeling more and more off kilter herself.

"Well, actually not in my brothers." she amended. "It goes back in my family line, but sometimes it skips people. I got it, but my brothers didn't." she mumbled.

"Well it is incredible." Maura said. "You have exquisite long bones." running her eyes down Jane's body.

Jane felt that thing again, even stronger. Pulling her eyes away from the blonde, Jane saw Frost looking uncomfortable and Korsak looking amused. Maura too, looked at Korsak and Frost and seemed embarrassed, blushing faintly.

The moment was broken as Cavanaugh came over. "Dr Isles? This is Susie Chang, one of our criminalists. She'll take you down to the morgue and show you around."

Maura and Susie shook hands, smiling and Maura looked around the room and said "Thank you everyone, for the warm welcome. I look forward to working with you all." glancing at Jane as she said the last part.

Jane watched her leave as Korsak came over. "what a beautiful woman the new Doc is." he mused. "You and she seemed to hit it off pretty well." He smiled at her, a look in his eye that Jane knew as either his "I've figured it out" look, or his "I have another clue look". Jane was very familiar with them both whether it was from cracking a case or solving a crossword, but she wasn't sure which one this was yet.

"Yup." was all Jane offered in reply. Then "Well now that that's over I can finish my lunch!" Pointedly ignoring any further attempts at conversation.

Korsak rolled his eyes and returned to his desk, leaving Frost typing away on a report and Jane eating the rest of her burger. She idly stared at the hand that had held Maura's and brought it to her nose, taking in more of the lovely scent. She rumbled happily again. Frost, well accustomed of the noises she made, barely noticed.


Maura arranged the few pictures and books she'd brought with her on her first day on the shelves and tables around her new office. She loved making spaces comfortable in just the right way and was pleased with the early results, although she had many more books to come as well as artifacts and art from around the world. She found she had trouble focusing though. She kept seeing dark brown eyes and wild black hair. She couldn't help wondering what that hair would feel like in her hands. Pulling through her fingers.

Oh for goodness sake, Maura! She thought. It's my first day on the job. A job I've been wanting for years. I can't be distracting myself with thoughts of intriguing women when I have so many new responsibilities to learn! Besides, she's a new co-worker, how silly would I be to start something here when I'm just finding my feet?

Still, she couldn't deny the attraction she'd felt. It was so intense and so sudden! Maura had never felt anything like it. Not with any previous lover, even the ones she'd cared deeply for. Jane Rizzoli was different some how. Energy came off of her. Some kind Maura couldn't quite place. Animalistic she might say. Jane Rizzoli was like a predator. She'd seen it in the news photos of Jane leading suspects away in cuffs. Dominant and in complete control. The photos didn't do her justice though. Not after actually meeting her. But that still didn't fit right. Jane, for all her tallness and strong posture, dark eyes, wild hair and positively ridiculous cheekbones, had charm and kindness. Her eyes were kind, Maura realized. Behind the predator.

This was disturbing to her. The impression she liked to give off was one of calm, confidence and exceptional ability. People who didn't know her well called her cliched things like "Ice Queen" and people who did called her things like "Walking Encyclopedia". Maura didn't care what people called her behind her back for the most part, as long as they respected her ability to do her job and do it better than almost anyone. But after her reaction when meeting Jane Rizzoli, she was sure the impression she'd given to the detectives was not what she'd hoped for her first day.

Shaking herself out of her musings, Maura resolved to get back to decorating her office and let this thing with Jane Rizzoli sort itself out another time. She couldn't lie to herself that there wouldn't be another time though. Something was there. And it would have to be faced eventually.


It had been hot all week. Very hot for this early in the summer. Even with nightfall it barely let up and muggy oppressive heat hung over Boston.

Jane was restless, sitting on her couch with a beer trying to be interested in the game she'd tivoed. Her air conditioning was woefully inadequate and besides that, the days events, hunting down Burton and meeting the new ME, left her with a low grade buzz that the heat was exacerbating.

Maura's eyes kept popping into her head as did her scent. Unconsciously, she growled softly. The feeling of tracking Burton made her flush with blood again and again as it came back to her. Suddenly it was all too much. She needed a night out. She had to work this energy out. Her pelt felt tight and strained to be let free.

Grabbing her keys she was out the door. Heading to one of her favorite spots for nights like this. A large park in a quiet, older part of Boston.

After leaving her car in the lot, she hit the joggers trail heading into the heart of the park, away from street lamps and buildings. Finding a spot in amongst tall oaks and a few hedges she stopped, scanning to see if she was visible to anyone. Satisfied that she wasn't, she stripped down and stashed her clothes well out of sight.

She was sweating and shaking from the strain of holding it in for so long and letting go was a relief. Her pelt surged to the surface. Her back arched, bones popping. Her face lengthening with the sound of cartilage tearing and stretching. Razor sharp teeth thrusting through her gums, filling her mouth with blood. Hands and feet lengthening, wickedly sharp talons ripping through her finger tips and toes. Eyes glowing amber, her black luxurious pelt shining under the starlight.

The pain of the change was excruciating as usual, and she roared out. But it was soon gone without a trace and replaced with relief. Finally, finally free she howled out her delight and slipped into the trees.