Hey peeps! Just some quick fun to get myself back into the groove of writing and uploading. I'm currently working on something new that should be posted soon so if you're a fan of my Rachel/Quinn stories keep your eyes peeled I'll have a new story uploading really soon, just working out the mental cobwebs. This is a Rizziles fic, a one shot I wrote and uploaded to get my brain working again. I think it's sort of fun and cute and hopefully keeping in line with TV Canon. Mostly. Like the show so much of what goes on is open to interpretation and I'm a huge fan of leaving things open to audience interpretation so enjoy.

Detective Jane Rizzoli refused to believe that she couldn't turn things around. It had only been a few days since she'd last spoken to Dr. Maura Isles and she was sure the woman couldn't possibly stay angry at her forever. Since they'd met this was the longest they'd ever gone without speaking to each other. Eight days fourteen hours and twenty seven minutes. That's how long it had been since she'd seen her best friend.

Maura had always been easy going. She was bubbly and happy, chipper and friendly. That had all changed eight days ago. Eight days ago the woman had looked at Jane with what she would later admit was hatred. In those few minutes after Jane had shot Maura's father, Paddy Doyle, Maura hated her.

The look was like being stabbed in the heart. A flaming spear piercing her aorta and nicking her spine paralyzing her with fear and hurt. The look was pure emotional trauma. Nobody had ever looked at her that way before. A mixture of hurt anger and pain. She'd arrested thousands of convicts over the years and had been called every bad name in the book, none of them came remotely close to hurting her feelings. Nothing had touched her until the day she'd shot Paddy Doyle. The day she shot Paddy Doyle Maura had broken through her brick wall and stomped on her heart. It wasn't the words that hurt. It was the look in her eyes that hurt her feelings, broke her heart.

The second Jane stepped off the elevator leading to the homicide unit she spotted Maura speaking with Korsak and Frost. She looked terrific, she was wearing a tight fitted green dress and a pair of shoes that Jane was sure cost more than she'd collected on her last paycheck. She looked like Maura, she was even smiling.

"Hey Maura." Jane tossed out like a softball.

Maura glared in her direction but didn't answer. Her smile was gone that quickly, replaced by the glare. Jane was used to the glare. She'd perfected her ability to ignore it these past few days while she worked up the courage to try and smooth things over. It still stung a bit but she decided today was the day Maura was going to forgive her. Today was D-Day.

"Are you going to stay mad at me forever? If you aren't could you let me know exactly how much groveling I have to do to make it up to you already. I don't like fighting with you."

Maura rolled her eyes. "Sergeant Korsak could you please tell Detective Rizzoli that I have nothing to say to her."

Jane watched Korsak's eyes shift to the floor. "Oh boy." He muttered to himself.

"Korsak can you tell Dr. Isles that I was doing my job. Tell her I'm sorry about Agent Dean, but that I was just doing my job." Jane said forcefully, clearly Maura was being totally unreasonable.

"Korsak can you ask Detective Rizzoli what Agent Dean was doing there in the first place."

Korsak gave Jane a look that revealed he was siding with Maura on this one. He was siding with her but as her former partner he wouldn't admit it out loud. He couldn't force himself to side against her in public, but his glance spoke volumes. Jane however wasn't ready to admit defeat.

"He was worried about me. He cares." She shrugged. "What was I supposed to do?"

Over Maura's shoulders Jane saw Korsak and Frost giving each other pained expressions. She could tell by the looks on their faces she had done something wrong. Still she couldn't imagine what it could be, she was only telling the truth.

"HE cares," Maura asked. She was practically screaming and Jane knew she'd made a mistake, Maura never yelled. "He cares!" She slammed her hands on her hips, another bad sign. "When you had Hoyt nightmares every night for a month, it was MY shoulder you cried on. Not his. It was these arms that held you while you slept. Where was he?"

Korsak and Frost were doing their best to blend into the brick wall and Jane finally realized her mistake. Dean may care but Maura cared AND she had been there. She had always been there.

"Maura I'm." Jane started to say before Maura cut her off.

"No, no don't explain. I get it. I get it that when you were bleeding out in front of the police station it was these hands that fought to keep you alive. It was MY tears that stained your cheeks. Where was he?"

Jane knew that this was bad, this wasn't working out well at all. "Maura maybe I misspoke."

"No, you didn't misspeak, you were right. He cares. Yet when you were lying in that hospital bed, fighting for your life who was there for you? Did he come to the hospital everyday to sit with you? Did he take a leave of absence from a job that he loves to take care of you? No, I did those things. Don't ever talk to me about how much HE cares about you. He cares so much that when you asked him not to come to the meeting he came anyway. Not only did he put himself and his goals over you, but YOU put him before me."

Jane felt the air in the room change and just like that she knew today wasn't D-Day. Today wasn't the day that they were going to make up. She'd blown it. Again.

"Maura I'm sorry about Paddy Doyle." Jane finally said. It was the first time in the history of her career as a police officer that she'd apologized for doing her job.

"It's not about Paddy Doyle Jane, it's about you not putting me first. You've never put me first."

"Maura." Jane began.

"Jane, don't. Don't start this. You don't want to have this conversation here, believe me."

Jane reached out and grabbed Maura's forearm but Maura snatched it away. The act was like being doused with a bucket of cold water. Frigid, unforgiving and painful. Maura glared at her one last time and walked past the bank of elevators to the stairway. Jane watched her disappear behind the heavy metal door and finally let herself mourn.

"Damnit." She cursed loudly.

Korsak and Frost were still standing by the elevators watching the whole spectacle. Needing to vent she went into attack mode.

"You guys get an eyeful?" She knew they weren't trying to be nosy, they were here first, she'd butted in and caused the scene. Still she needed to vent her anger at somebody and Vince and Frost were available.

Korsak simply shook his head. Frost dug his hands deep into his pants pockets. Both looked like they wanted to say something encouraging but neither spoke, they simply stared.

"What?" Jane asked, her heart still heavy from fighting with Maura again, and losing, again.

Korsak finally spoke up, his voice soft and gentle. Nothing like what she expected since she was taking her frustrations out on him.

"Jane I'm going to tell you something that you've never been told before. It's something every good father passes down to his son." Korsak looked over to Frost and the young detective simply shook his head pitifully. Korsak's eyes shifted back to her and Jane knew despite her yelling and cursing these two men were on her side. They had her back, always.

"Okay," she relented. "What is it?"

"Never tell a woman who's had your back how much somebody ELSE cares about you. Dr. Isles has never thrown you to the wolves, not once. Now Agent Dean is a good guy."

"Great guy." Frost chimed in.

"But he threw you under the bus on this. Not only did he compromise your situation with Dr. Isles but he got himself shot and he made you shoot the doc's father. All because he didn't keep his word."

Jane began to shake her head. "He was just doing his job."

Frost sighed. "None of that matters to Dr. Isles. Would it matter to you if it was your old man? It wouldn't matter to me if he shot my father. And I can barely stand my father. Professionally yeah he made the right call, but personally he betrayed you. And he made a conscious decision to do so."

Jane shook her head. "He didn't betray me."

Korsak nodded. "He basically lied to you. But the doc doesn't care about him. She's mad at YOU. You betrayed HER confidence. You sold her out to a guy who hasn't been there for you 5% of the time she has. You did that then you defended him to her. Threw it right in her face that Dean cares about you and blah, blah, blah."

"Put it this way Jane. When you have a problem who do you call? Agent Dean or Dr. Isles." Frost asked.

Jane shoved her hands in her pocket and squeezed her eyes closed. "I did betray her didn't I?"

Korsak and Frost both nodded.

"So how do I fix it? What do I say?" She said opening her eyes to her hard reality.

Korsak finally let a smile creep across his face. "Well seeing as how you know absolutely nothing about women, I'm going to let you in on a little secret Jane. A secret every father tells his son, the key to dealing with an angry woman."

Jane wanted to roll her eyes but knew better than to bite the hand that fed her. "What is it?"

"You say I'm sorry." Korsak said with confidence.

Jane did roll her eyes this time.

"That's it. I'm sorry." She sighed. "I said that and she walked away."

Frost shook his head. "That's not what you said. You talked about Dean."

Korsak nodded. "Don't ever talk about Dean. Not even when she brings him up."

Frost cut in. "Don't lie about him. Never lie about him. Just don't talk about him."

"Right. Answer all her questions about him, but don't talk about him." Korsak said.

"Ever." Frost added.

Jane's head was starting to spin. "So Dean's off limits?"

Korsak and Frost nodded. "Yes." They said in unison.

"For how long?" Jane asked.

"Until Judgment day." Frost said without cracking even a hint of a smile. He was serious.

"Don't ever mention his name to her again. It'll be like fingers on a chalk board if you do." Korsak looked over at Frost with an arched eyebrow. "One or two?"

Frost shrugged. "I only do one, unless I really screw up then I do two."

Korsak nodded. "You should probably buy her some flowers. Two dozen roses. You screwed the pooch on this."

"Roses! I'm not buying her flowers Korsak." Jane said. She almost sounded offended. Almost.

"Why not?" Korsak asked. "It's what we do when we screw up."

Jane's voice softened just a tad but her hard edge was still noticeable. "We who?"

Korsak gave Frost a look but Frost was staring in the other direction purposely avoiding eye contact. She knew there was something they weren't saying.

"What?" She asked.

"Just get her the roses. She's just going to toss them in the trash but buy them anyway. It'll soften her up. Then once you know she's got them go down and say you're sorry. Tell her that from now on, from this day forward she comes first."

"Tell her that for as long as you two remain." Frost cleared his throat nervously. "Um, friends, that nobody will ever come before her again. Beg for a second chance."

Jane shook her head. "I have to beg now."

Korsak nodded. "It's what we do."

"WHO!" Jane asked again.

Frost cut in. "Us who screw up."

Korsak stifled a laugh. "Yeah, us who screw up. Now go do what we say. Buy her the flowers then go apologize."

"Don't forget the magazine." Frost added.

"What magazine?" Jane asked confused again. She'd missed the part about the magazine. "What's the magazine for?"

"For you to read. You sit down there with her and read the magazine until she tells you to go away. She'll tell you right away today but tomorrow she'll let you stew for a while. She'll ignore you but she won't tell you to leave right away either. You keep doing this and after a few days she'll pick a fight with you and you apologize again."

Jane didn't think any of this made any sense but she didn't have a better plan. "Then what?"

"Then that's it. She'll tell you what she wants you to do and you do it." Frost said. "But whatever she asks you to do you have to do it without screwing it up."

"Just like that?" Jane asked.

Korsak nodded. "It's not easy, trust me."

"Maybe I should just give her a little space." Jane suggested. Maybe a little distance would help.

Frost and Korsak rolled their eyes. "Jane, us who screw up have perfected this plan over hundreds of years. Just go with the program huh? Distance is your enemy, trust me. That's why you sit down there with the magazine everyday until she sends you away. The last thing you need is some opportunist reminding her how big of a bonehead you are while you're giving her some space."

Frost nodded. "It'll happen, it's like sharks with blood in the water. Trust us, just buy the roses Jane. And the magazine."

"And don't mention Dean. Ever." Korsak added.

Jane nodded. "Fine. Frost, Vince thanks for the advice. I'm going to go take care of it now." She head off towards the elevator. "This better work."

"Hundreds of years Jane." Korsak said.

"Fine. Thanks again fellas." The elevator dinged and Jane stepped inside. "Us who screw up." She said mockingly to herself but loud enough so the guys could hear.

"You'll thank us. Once you and Dr. Isles make up you owe us a six pack each. It's in the Guy Code." Frost yelled out to her.

"Deal," Jane said as the doors began to close. "Wait, Guy Code? You guys don't think we're…"