It started with a tiny thought as Detective Jane Rizzoli stared at her best friend's signature on an autopsy report. The homicide department now had three open cases and no new leads on any in over a week. So Jane was doing what she did best: listening to her gut and scribbling down hunches.
She had been writing out notes and drawing maps of connections for over an hour with nothing new to go on, not even the slightest intrigue to google. With each case file sprawled out before her, Jane's thoughts turned to the way the Chief Medical Examiner signed her name.
A thought came to life.
Even her handwriting is beautiful. Jane mused and immediately blushed. She looked around the bustling bullpen to ensure no one could hear the loud voices in her head. Turning back to the task at hand, she kept brainstorming.
If Mr. Ruiz had no idea the victim was home that night, how did he find the body so easily? Jane tapped her pen against her pursed lips. Maura arrived at the scene at 9:02pm in that red dress I love. God, her legs look phenomenal in that thing. It shows just enough of her thigh to be sexy but she still keeps it classy.
A minuscule, inappropriate musing.
"Dammit." She grumbled at her own distraction.
"You okay over there, Rizzoli?" Jane looked up into Frost's sparkling Amber eyes.
"Fine." She bit off the single word and turned her attention back to the case. Mr. Ruiz. She wrote the name, tracing each letter several times to make it bold on the piece of lined paper. She circled the name and drew a few lines stemming from that main circle. There. Jane sat back, her chair squeaking slightly and she reclined, and looked at her work proudly. It was a small start that only took up half the sheet of paper but it was a start nonetheless.
Mr. Ruiz works for a construction company, 'All Hands on Deck', and Maura found particulates that match Sheetrock and varnish. A polyurethane varnish to be exact, not to be confused with an oil or epoxy varnish. A soft smile awoke on Jane's dry lips as she recalled the doctor's exact words. But the manufacturers couldn't be linked to the one's Ruiz used.
Again, her eyes fell upon a simple signature. It's more like an autograph. Jane mused.
It was immature, really. An adult woman's thoughts should never wander about the way Jane Rizzoli allowed hers to.
Every time Jane caught herself thinking of her friend like this she couldn't help but feel like a helpless schoolgirl that has a crush on the most unattainable student in her class. Maura was definitely unattainable, and she was in a whole other class. The only thing that kept her above that love-sick child was that she had yet to scribble the object of her secret affection's name combined with her own.
Deep brown eyes looked to the blank space on the paper.
Not gonna do it. She shook her head. Absolutely not. Jane looked around the bustling bullpen once again to see what her fellow detectives were up to. Noses were in paper work or glued to a computer screen. This is stupid. I'm just curious... She tapped her pen once, twice, and a third time before the tip landed on the virgin paper. Maura. Her handwriting was akin to a scribble and the name looked no different than it did when Jane addressed a Birthday card. What her pen did next was what made Jane go wide-eyed. R- legible. I- easy enough. Two Z's followed and a few quick loops of ink finished it off. When Jane dotted the final I she glared at her pen as if possessed.
Maura Rizzoli. Jane took a deep breath, one born of satisfaction, pleasure, and a bit of apprehension. The name looked good. Really good. She smirked slightly as she went to scribble once more.
Maura Rizzoli-Isles. Yup. That's the one. Jane shifted in her seat. Her heart swelled. She also couldn't help but acknowledge just how sexy the name was. She dared to imagine a day where Maura approached a crime scene and introduced herself as, "Maura Rizzoli-Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." It sent a shiver down the brunette's spine.
Ruiz! Jane's rational mind finally barked in the forefront. She moved to scribble her silly doodle when Korsak appeared at her side.
"Anything yet?"
"No!" She threw the sheet of paper into the file closest to her hand. She closed the next two folders and stacked them neatly. Trying to appear casual she stood and grabbed her coffee mug. "I still think Ruiz has something to do with it, but I'm gonna need more coffee before I can figure that out." Her laugh was fake, her smile tight, and she wandered away like a lost tourist. Korsak's left eyebrow rose out of curiosity but before he had a chance to ponder his coworker's odd behavior, Jane's desk phone rang.
"Korsak." He listened to the soft voice on the other end for a moment before speaking. "Yeah she has them right here...of course, doc." Korsak placed the phone back on its cradle and picked up the three files from Jane's desk. He looked to Frost. "The doc wants to look over the case files so I'm going to run them down to the morgue. You'll be okay up here by yourself?"
"I think I can handle it." Frost's reply was dry and his face remained straight.
"Good boy." Korsak slapped the younger detective on the shoulder.
Seven minutes later, Jane returned to her desk with a steaming cup of coffee and a triumphant smile on her face.
"I was thinking, Frost, what if Ruiz is a freelance contractor as well? You know, like doing odd jobs on weekends for a few extra bucks."
"It's possible," the handsome man considered what his partner was saying and nodded before typing a few words into the computer. "I'll check his bank records again for any personal check deposits. If we're lucky, maybe someone paid him with a check and we'll finally have someone to interview."
"All we'll need is for that person to have-" Jane's eyes flew open and she started to search her desk frantically. "Where the hell are the files?"
"Dr. Isles needed them so Korsak brought them down to the morgue."
"What-"
"Don't worry, Janie, she said she'd have them back to us within the hour." The older detective appeared behind Jane. She spun around in a panic. "Relax, keep thinking whatever it is your thinking. You don't need the files for that."
"Yes I do." Jane practically jumped from her chair and raced to the elevator. She didn't care what she looked like, she needed to get to those files before Maura opened them. The lanky detective jabbed at the button violently, the tip of her thumb would likely bruise from the force she was using. It was taking too long. She raced off for the stairs, throwing the door to the stairwell open and taking the stairs two at a time to the morgue.
"No, no, no no no..." The two letter word was a prayer as her feet hit each step in turn.
Her breath was heaving by the time she pushed through the doors and into the frigid space. Every tech that occupied the room turned to look at the frazzled detective. Jane's eyes were almost black, her hands were shaking, and her hair was disheveled around her shoulders.
The detective looked at each person in turn and determined that Maura wasn't in the lab so she must be in her office. Hurried pace continued, she burst through the ME's door gracelessly.
"I need those files back," Jane straightened her posture even though all she wanted to do was bend at the waist to relieve the cramping in her side. "Now."
"Hello to you too, detective." Maura looked up from her computer screen and smiled at her best friend. She closed her laptop.
"I wasn't finished with those case files." Jane approached Maura's desk, her wild eyes looking all around for the folders she so desperately needed in her possession once more. Two were green, one was red. The note is in the red one. Where the hell is the red one! Her conscious was screaming. Against her better judgment, she reached out and started looking through everything that was neatly stacked on the ME's desk.
"Jane!" Maura swatted the intruding hands away. "I have a system here and I really do not appreciate you disturbing that."
"I'm sorry but I really need those files back." Pleading brown eyes bore into the doctor. Jane Rizzoli was not above begging, not in moments like these. "Please."
Maura narrowed her eyes at Jane, barely hiding the hint of ire that danced along in the hazel. It only lasted a moment before the ME gave into the puppy-dog eyes that were staring down at her.
"Fine." Maura picked up the files that were set beside her computer and held them out to Jane. The detective snatched them from petite hands. "I do need those at some point this afternoon."
"You can have them back..." Jane threw the two green folders right back onto Maura's desk. "As soon as I check...this...one..." Jane opened the red file and looked at the slip of paper with relief and crumpled it as discreetly as possible. "Note, got it!" Jane closed the file and handed it back to her friend before turning to the door.
"Jane?" Maura called out and stopped her friend.
"Yeah, Maur?" Jane looked back and smiled broadly. Victory bells were chiming in her mind.
"I would definitely hyphenate." Maura kept her eyes down but she didn't need to see Jane's reaction, because she heard her office door slam.
"Listen, Maura, it's not what it looks like-"
"You wrote my name, correction, you wrote my name as if I had taken your name." Maura stood and walked to the front of her desk, leaning casually back against it. She may have looked cool with her hands in the pockets of her black trousers, but she was not. From the moment the scrap of paper fell from the file that Korsak had handed her, her nerves were jumbled. For a minute she wasn't sure what she was reading, but Jane's small, sharp handwriting was obvious.
Maura narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly. That adorable smirk landed on her face, highlighting a delightful dimple and adding just the right amount of playful sparkle to her eyes.
"Will I be marrying Tommy or Frankie?" The doctor asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What?!" Jane's face screwed up in disgust.
"Of course, we'd have to date properly for a while before I'd even consider a proposal, but I'd have to say that either Tommy or Frankie would make a wonderful suitor." The ME tapped her index finger against her chin as if she were deep in thought, as if she were truly considering which of the male Rizzoli's would make the best spouse. "I have to admit that though I'm very surprised by this, I do find it rather sweet that you're thinking so much of my future nuptials to one of your brothers!" Though her excitement was feigned, it sounded all too real to the detective.
"That's- just stop, Maur. Ew." Visions of her younger brothers fighting for Maura's attention and touch turned her stomach.
"Maybe I should take initiative and ask Tommy out myself? Or if I see Frankie in the cafe later I could-" Maura was cut off when Jane suddenly launched forward and covered her rapidly speaking mouth with her hand. Silence enveloped them. Maura's senses heightened and she became aware of everything in that moment.
Jane's scent; the hint of lavender in the air. Jane's unruly hair and the single curl that was obstructing the detective's left eye. She felt the pucker of a scar against her lips and she fought to keep herself from kissing it. Deep in Jane's eyes was a hint of something foreign within anger and fear. The room was quiet, not even a voice bellowed from the other side of her office door. Too afraid to move and break the moment, Maura stood still and waited.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jane finally started to pull back.
"Uh- sorry." She withdrew her hand slowly, but not without allowing her fingertips the indulgence of tracing along a plump lower lip. Her eyes were locked on the luscious mouth. She was breathing heavily, the small puffs being expelled ruffled honey blonde waves.
The moment of intensity shook Maura from her playful mood and back to the reality that seemed like an unrealistic daydream only minutes before.
"Jane Rizzoli, would you please ask me out on a date so the possibility of my name one day being hyphenated with yours could be real?" She spoke quietly and with a tone full of hope. Dismay clamped down on her heart as Jane separated herself fully and her dark brow furrowed.
"Why?" Jane's head shook and Maura was about to open her mouth to undo whatever damage she had just done when the detective spoke again. "Why do I have to ask you out when moments ago you were so ready to ask my brothers out?" Jane's hands were now on her own hips defiantly. "That hardly seems fair." A playful, bright smile lit up the taller woman's face.
"The explanation is simple really," Maura stalked forward with a sexy sway to stand within inches of Jane. She ran the palm of her hands along the lapels of her friend's cheap gray suit. "Whenever I dared to image this moment, you were always the one to ask me out."
"You imagined this?" The beauty of Maura looking up into her eyes caught Jane's breath in her dry throat.
"I have."
"And how does the rest of it go?" Jane wore a dazed expression as she tried to count the freckles that danced along an adorable nose.
"You offer to cook me dinner this Friday night and I accept. Then I tell you I can't wait and that I'll bring the wine." The medical examiner stepped closer, closing the bit of distance that remained between them. The warmth of their thighs mingled. Maura's ample chest pressed into Jane. "I'll ask what I should wear and you'd say-"
"It doesn't matter because you always look beautiful." Jane finished the sentence. Her focus darted from hazel eyes to smiling lips. "Eight o'clock?" She started to lean in, her mind was reeling at the thought of finally being able to find out what the gorgeous woman before tasted of.
"Seven. I won't be able to wait." Maura pushed forward and connected their lips. Her hands instinctively tangled in thick brunette curls and she pulled Jane closer, and closer still. Her tongue ran along the point of a thin upper lip which elicited a moan from Jane.
"I don't," Jane paused to kiss Maura sweetly at first, "want to," she pushed Maura back against her desk as the kiss went deep, her tongue tasting each surface. "But I have to get back upstairs." Her whisper danced along moist lips.
"Tonight," Maura appraised Jane's appearance with lust-clouded eyes and smoothed out what she had managed to dishevel. "Cook me dinner tonight. I don't want to wait until Friday."
"It's only Thursday." Jane chuckled as she ran her fingers through Maura's hair. The soft, angelic expression on the blonde's face made her heart swell. "I can't wait either." She kissed the doctor again, this time with love and promise.
It all started with an observation that sparked a tiny thought. That thought led to an action, and that action was an insignificant scribble in the shape of two joined names. That scribble was the key to the one thing Jane Rizzoli needed to make her life beautiful: a date with Maura Isles.