Frankie paced outside the lab door rubbing anxiously at the back of his neck. Jane had just left to go back up stairs, but it wouldn't be long before Maura called her back down for the autopsy, so it was now or never. Gathering the scraps of courage that he had found to do this he quickly pushed open the door and walked over to where Dr. Isles was currently waiting for the truck.
"Frankie? What's wrong, you look a little pale." Maura said, walking up to the young Rizzoli. Jane would want her to take a look at him if he was sick, so why not get a head start.
"Maura stop. I need you to just listen for a sec, k?" Maura was a little put off by his statement, but did as he wished, backing off. She had never seen him like this so whatever was bothering him must be pretty serious. "Okay, I've never done this before so you're just going to have to bear with me okay?" She gave him a slight nod, not sure where this was going.
"Okay so look Maura. I don't know what's going on between you and Jane but…" He paused for a second and resumed his pacing. "This was always Tommy's job." He muttered. "You just have to…" He glanced back up and made sure that Maura was looking at him. To his surprise she actually was, a look of concern on her face. "Look. Just be careful with her. She may seem tough but under that hard exterior there is still a little girl in there and all she ever wanted was to be loved. You're going to have to be soft with her because you of all people know that she's been hurt before." He stopped pacing and looked back at Maura. She was silent, and it was now her turn to be pale. When she didn't answer him, he continued.
"Jane is special Maura. I've never met anyone like her. She's as hard as nails but she falls in love so quickly, not that she would ever admit it. You have to be careful with her. Promise me you'll love her okay?" He walked up close to her and repeated himself. "You have to promise me." She managed a feeble nod, unable to meet his eyes. As if on cue one Jane Rizzoli entered the lab. Frankie flew away from Maura as quickly as he could, but it wasn't fast enough for Jane not to see anything.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything…" Maura and Frankie shook their heads.
"No. I was just leaving." Frankie said, giving Maura one last look before walking out. Jane eyed the two of them wearily before going to join Maura by the door.
"What was that all about?" Maura just shook her head, not able to speak yet. There was no way that she would ever be able to tell Jane what Frankie had just been going on about, mostly because even though Frankie seemed so serious, Maura had no idea what he was talking about.