Rizzoli & Isles – I certainly don't own them. I give a lot of credit to the people that do and thank them for letting me mess about with them for a bit.
This is a short 6 chapter shot based off the Afterthought series but stands alone. It trends to the dark but think Marathon/Connection and it is certainly "M".
Korsak shut the door wearily as he left Cavanaugh's office. He rubbed his hands along his forehead and eyes. He'd done his best and hopefully it would be good enough. Sean had worked just enough political magic that perhaps the fallout was already over. Approaching the bullpen he changed his mind. The official fallout might be over but the real shit-storm was just beginning.
He looked into the bullpen and Frost was just sitting down at his desk. There was no sign of Jane yet. He poked his head in. "Frost, I'm running down for a coffee. You want anything?"
Frost took in Korsak's appearance. It was just before 8am and his shirt was pulled and rumpled with an end of the day air. There were bags under his eyes and the man looked at least 10 years older. "You look like shit this morning. What's going on?"
Korsak waved him off. "It will wait until Janie gets in. If she shows up before I'm back up here tell her the Lieutenant wants to see her." He trudged off ignoring Frost's protests.
Looking through the glass doors he could see that the café was busy as the morning rush started. Angela was still tying on her apron but she and Stanley were already arguing. He pushed open the doors in time to hear Stanley threaten Angela's job while she rolled her eyes and gave her customers a wink. It was a typical scene for a Wednesday morning.
Angela hesitated before she rang up Korsak. "Only coffee this morning Sergeant?"
He shrugged.
She pointed to the open seat closest to the register. "It's not good for a man to just have coffee for breakfast. Sit down next to me while I finish up with the other customers."
He thought about protesting but he'd been married enough times to know when the easier route was to sit down and wait. Right now anything easy was appealing. Halfway through his coffee Angela set down a plate with one of her egg, cheese and bagel sandwiches in front of him. The aroma was comforting.
"Now isn't that better than just coffee?" Angela looked over to the line forming and moved back behind the register, handing out to-go preorders and jotting down a few new ones. "You catch a new case or something? You look like you've been up half the night." Angela looked behind her quickly. Stanley was still in the back. She grabbed Korsak's to-go cup and pried the lid off, quickly refilling the coffee before helping the next customer.
Korsak took a big bite of his sandwich. The 'or something' out of Angela's mouth didn't begin to cover it. "Nope, nothing new in homicide, but the morning's not over yet." For some reason he had to bite back a laugh. Murder in the metaphorical sense might not be that far from the truth once Jane got in. He had a vague feeling that was why he was the one called. "Angela, have you heard from Janie this morning?"
Handing over the last of the preorders, Angela sighed with relief. The worst part of the rush was over. "No but I didn't expect to. She might have stayed out late with Casey last night."
Korsak stopped mid chew as his instincts pricked. "I thought Frost told me that they weren't dating until he went through some medical trial?"
Stanley came out with the next round of orders and slammed them down by the register as he announced he was taking a break. Angela waved him off. "Jane was the one that called him up and invited him out. She wanted to see how he was doing."
Angela picked up the containers and matched customer to order with a smile, dropping a handful of money into her tip jar. "It's nice to see Jane try so hard with someone. I was just telling Maura the other day that I worry that she'll end up alone."
The counter was finally quiet until the next wave of customers came in.
Korsak took another bite as a theory solidified in his mind. Maybe he was wrong but he didn't think so and for now the events of last night seemed less drastic. He actually felt a bit better. "What did Maura think?"
Laughing, Angela left the counter to wipe down the tables behind him. "Maura was Maura. She spouted off some statistic about the number of women today who choose not to enter into formal marriage. Something about being fulfilled by other relationships in their lives."
Finishing the last of the tables she made her way back behind the counter. "Sometimes I swear Jane bribes her to come up with this stuff. The two of them are wasting the best years of their life with each other."
Korsak shrugged, Angela's words had just confirmed his theory. "What if they weren't wasting the best years of their life together?"
Angela stood in front of him, arms crossed; analyzing him with the same expression Jane did when she was suspicious. Right now there was no question they were mother and daughter. When a new customer came in she had to stop the scrutiny, but once the customer left she looked back at him. This time her posture and her voice were soft. "After all they've been through together if they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other I'd take it. It's not like it hasn't crossed my mind. Especially after that fight they had over Doyle." She took a deep breath." But Jane seems set on Casey and even Maura said she thinks Jane loves him."
Frowning she picked up his empty plate. "Well let me add to what I just said. I'd take it as long as they both understood one way or another I want grandchildren."
Korsak snorted. "I'm sure you'd be able to make that clear."
Angela nodded thoughtfully. "Maura's the better catch anyhow. And you never answered my question from earlier. If it wasn't a new case, why do you look like you need another 10 hours of sleep?"
From the corner of his eye he caught Jane waving to Spitzer at the front desk. Thank god he didn't have to answer. She'd find out soon enough anyhow. He pulled some money out of his wallet and placed it on the counter. "Office politics, I keep wondering why I took the promotion sometimes. Sorry but I have to run."