Snow crunched under foot for the newest Boston Homicide detective, Steve West, who tiredly approached his first crime scene several hours before the planned orientation at eight that morning. Being woken by dispatch at 4:40 in the morning and being told to head to an address in Back Bay was not the first day he had been anticipating. The street was lit by street lamps and the red and blue of police cruisers reflected off the white that blanketed the city. He paused outside the tape to take in the atmosphere of crime scene techs hustling inside out of the cold and several uniform officers keeping the few brave looky-loos at a distance.

Detective West shivered, feeling the chill to his bones. Adjusting his trench coat he approached the uniform manning the scene and spoke, "Detective Stephen West, Victor 853."

Officer Manning noted down his badge number and lifted the tape for the detective, "Rizzoli is waiting for you upstairs Detective, apartment 15."

Steve's eyes darted towards the officer's name plate and he nodded his gratitude before ducking under the tape. "Thank you Officer Manning."

The first thing that he noticed when he entered the apartment, besides the techs photographing the place, was that the victim appeared to be obsessed with World of Warcraft, which he himself only understood thanks to his kid brother. The open planned apartment was adorned with posters, statues of characters lined shelves and what looked like a replica sword hung above the flat screen television. He was absolutely certain his brother Mitch would be in heaven.

"Pretty cool huh?" Detective Frankie Rizzoli asked with a boyish grin, his hand reaching out to shake that of his new partners. "You must be Detective West?"

Steve took the hand offered and shook firmly, nodding his head at the question he responded, "Yeah, and you're Rizzoli?"

"One of them," Frankie said with a chuckle before turning in the direction of the bedroom, "Vic is through here, the medical examiner isn't here yet but it looks pretty clear cut at this stage."

The pair walked through to the room, careful not to disturb any evidence. Steve cast an eye around the room, the victim was laying on his bed, pistol just out of reach from his hand with a gunshot wound to the head. At first glance it looked like a suicide, but he had to wonder why a guy who was so clearly immersed in the world of a game would shoot himself.

Obsessive personality perhaps, but his first thought was to look into the guy's background more. "Looks like a suicide, but…" he did a full circle glance around the room, opposite the bed sat a computer desk with two towers and four monitors, plus associated peripheral mice and keyboards. The computers were on and the game was up, but his account had timed out. "It really doesn't make any sense."

Frankie nodded, pleased to see that the newest member to the team appeared to have a good eye. "Yeah, I have no doubt the ME will end up agreeing with you, because it doesn't make sense. We'll have the computers packed up so that our analyst Nina Holiday can have a look at them; see what she can glean from his online presence."

A yawn escaped Steve's lips and he rubbed the back of his neck, he was operating on four hours sleep and while he knew he had to get used to it, he had forgotten to get coffee in his rush to get to the scene. Subsequently his mood was plummeting quickly; glancing around before ducking his head out into the main area of the apartment he creased his brow. "Where the hell is the ME?"

Frankie glanced at his watch and scratched his head. He could easily call her and ask, but he didn't want to chance interrupting her and his sister in an intimate situation. He fought back a wry smile; he had never seen his sister as happy as she had been. Even if she had become an even bigger hard ass at work, it was worth it to see her happy outside of it. He stretched his neck out by craning his neck left and right. "She'll be here."

Right on cue Doctor Maura Isles strode into the apartment, kit bag in one hand and a coffee tray in the other. Despite the fact the weather dictated she dress warmly she still radiated wealth and quality via her leather jacket, which paired with designer jeans and leather boots that had a three inch heel. Her hazel-green eyes quickly searched the room until she located Frankie standing next to someone whom she assumed was the new detective. She smiled broadly, offering coffee to both men when she reached their position.

Frankie grabbed the coffee with his name on it and the spare, which didn't have Jane or Maura's name on it and handed it to his partner. Grinning widely he said, "Thanks Maura. This is Steve West, new detective."

Maura set her bag down and reached out to shake his hand, "Nice to meet you Detective. I didn't know how you took your coffee, so I just ordered a long black and brought along some creamer and sugar. I hope that is satisfactory?"

Steve, who hadn't said anything since she had walked in, picked his jaw up off the floor. He shook the hand offered and nodded sheepishly, "Yeah this will do thanks." He couldn't believe how incredible looking this woman was, besides her outfit and incredible smile, her eyes he had no doubt could see right through a person and her honey blonde locks framed her face beautifully. He cleared his throat when he received a nudge from Frankie, he was quite clearly staring. "And you are?"

"Forgive my manners. I'm Doctor Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." She was oblivious to the fact he clearly found her attractive, instead turning to Frankie and asking, "Frankie could you hold these for me while I examine the body?"

Frankie nodded and took the tray from Maura and stepped aside from the door way so that she could enter and do her job. He nudged his new partner once again and whispered sternly, "Keep it in your pants." The last thing the newbie needed was to get on the wrong side of his sister by ogling Maura in her presence.

Steve raised an eyebrow in curiosity and whispered back, "She your girlfriend or something Rizzoli?" It was a fair question to ask he thought, considering the familiarity of their interactions and the whispered warning he had just received.

Frankie almost choked on his coffee at the question. He stared wide eyed at Steve and shook his head vigorously, "No! But trust me she's off limits, unless you really wanna piss of the Sarge."

He chuckled a little, suddenly wishing he had paid more attention when Lieutenant Cavanaugh was telling him about the squad, because for the life of him he couldn't remember who the sergeant was. Either way, lucky guy he figured. He smirked at Frankie before approaching the bed, standing just behind Maura and breathing in her floral scent surreptitiously. "Got anything for us yet, Doctor Isles?"

"Detective West," Frankie attempted to warn him to back up a little, but found himself waved off. He sighed with the realisation that his sister was going to loathe the new guy, whom he was saddled with and he would end up suffering for it. "Please give her some space." He'd be torn a new one if Jane showed up to find her girlfriend's personal space being invaded by the new detective. They both would.

Maura didn't feel overly comfortable having the new detective bearing down behind her, but she knew Jane wasn't far behind and if the new detective wanted an initiation by fire, then who was she to deny him? She shot Frankie a knowing look and shook her head almost imperceptibly, indicating he should just leave this to play out.

Without turning to look at Detective West she answered his question, "Liver temp indicates the victim has been deceased for approximately four to six hours. While the wound could be self inflicted, I won't be able to say anything for certain until I can perform a full autopsy. Although the fact this man is left handed and the weapon is on his right side does have me considering homicide as a possibility, as it is highly unlikely he would have used his non preferred hand to shoot himself."

Steve's eyes automatically searched out the victim's right wrist and not seeing a watch he wondered how the medical examiner had come to her conclusion. "I don't see a watch, what makes you think he's left handed?"

"The location of the mice on his computer table, detective. They are both to the left of their respective keyboards. A watch is no real tell either, detective. Not everyone wears their watch on their opposite hand. Also he has a calloused thumb on his left hand, which I deduce to be from his computer usage, the contact with the buttons on the side of the mice a probable cause." Maura responded professionally, she hated to guess, but as Jane would say it was an educated theory; a reasonable conclusion.

Frankie bit back a snigger at the frown that appeared on the new detective's face, but quickly turned to look into the next room when he heard the familiar clomping of his sister's boots. She was grumpy, he could tell from the grimace on her face, although she brightened a little when she saw him holding up coffee. "Coffee," he offered politely, his hand holding out the tray with the only beverage that could tame the beast a little.

"Thanks little brother," Jane said with a crooked grin, her long fingers curling happily around the warm cup, the heat seeping into her palms and soothing her scars. "What we got?" She asked quietly, her dark brown eyes instantly falling on the new guy standing incredibly too close to her girlfriend. Strike one. Two more and he was out as far as she was concerned, Cavanaugh had dumped this guy on her and she really would have preferred a different candidate.

Frankie followed his sister's eye line and sighed, "I did warn him," he whispered quietly before clearing his throat and speaking normally. "Twenty five year old, Larry Peterson. Gunshot wound to the head, weapon on the bed beside his body, possible suicide but Maura is leaning towards homicide, not that she will commit of course."

Jane chuckled thankful that some things would never change, but her mood quickly soured again when she noticed that the new guy still hadn't noticed her arrival and was pushing his luck. Her eyes locked on to those of her girlfriend's and she decided enough was enough. She cleared her throat loudly and walked into the vision field of the medical examiner and Detective West. "Possible homicide Maur?"

Maura looked up and smiled brilliantly at the newest arrival to the scene. She couldn't help but rake her eyes over the long lean body of her girlfriend, and while Jane was wearing her typical pant suit, it was one of the Armani ones she had talked the Italian into allowing her to purchase. It was a soft grey paired with a burgundy shirt, tailored perfectly and matched up with the cleanest pair of black boots the detective owned. Her usual wild mane was tied back in a high pony tail. "Yes Jane, but I'll know more once I've performed the autopsy."

Jane nodded and turned her eyes onto the new guy. "You must be Detective West," her voice dripped with ice, "Care to explain why you're invading the personal space of the medical examiner?" Her eyebrow quirked up in expectation.

Steve straightened to his full height, noticing the badge attached to her belt he recognised her as a detective. He just didn't pay much mind to female detectives; they were weak and needy in his eyes. He shifted his gaze to her face and while he could tell she was pissed off he wasn't one to back down. Ignoring her question he spoke a little condescendingly when he said, "Yeah I'm West and you are?"

Jane rolled her eyes, strike two. "I'm Detective Jane Rizzoli and this is my crime scene."

Steve sniggered and walked around the bed, sizing up the taller woman in the room. She matched him in height, but his confidence was not going to be affected by that fact. "Well Detective Rizzoli, I didn't pull my ass outta bed at 4:40am to work this scene, for you to come along and take it from me."

Frankie shook his head and stepped forward to intervene, but his sister threw a hand out across his chest and hissed, "Stay right there Frankie." The younger sibling shrugged and stepped back, sharing a sympathetic look with Maura, the pair of them knowing exactly what was coming.

"As for you," Jane said venom lacing her voice, "Get the hell outside now!"

"On whose authority?" Steve scoffed, despite knowing he shouldn't be picking a fight on the first day of his new role. He just couldn't help himself, there was something about this woman and the way she acted like she owned the place that irritated him.

Maura, sensing the impending explosion, tapped him on his shoulder and said, "I suggest you do what she says."

Frankie rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He told the techs to take five and nodded at the uniform on the front door to acknowledge him before shaking his head in frustration. He really wanted one of these new detectives to stick, but pissing the boss off on the first day seemed to be their talent.

He supposed he could have warned West that Jane was the sergeant, but then she'd have been pissed at him. If they couldn't respect her without knowing her rank, she didn't want them in the squad and he really couldn't blame her. Although he had to wonder how tired Cavanaugh and the top brass were getting with the turnover rate in homicide. Probably not as much as they would care if the closure rate had fallen under her leadership, but it hadn't, it had only increased. Jane had been on a crime solving tear, despite now occupying a role that was meant to mean more desk time and less field time. Seriously though, who could really tell Jane to do something she didn't want to do?

Frankie cringed when he heard his sister raise her voice and tear the rookie of homicide a new one. Well, now West knew who was boss, things might calm down a little. At least so the middle Rizzoli sibling hoped. He probably shouldn't have left Maura in the room with them, but then he figured if anyone could prevent Jane from pulling out her service revolver and shooting the fool it was her girlfriend. God what he wouldn't give for the old Janie back. Sure she was happier now when she wasn't working, but Christ, the woman was always working and she had no tolerance for incompetence or misogyny. Heck she had no patience for anything really.

The bedroom door flew open and Steve stormed out in a huff, shoulder bumping Frankie on the way through. "You could have warned me," he tossed back over his shoulder before high tailing it away from the scene.

Frankie sighed and turned to face his sister, "Did you fire him already?"

"No," Jane said firmly, "But he's on his last strike. Three strikes and you're out. He's already got two."

"Right, so back to work then?" There was no point questioning his sister because she was the boss after all.

"Yeah," Jane replied gruffly before turning back to face the body. "Get CSU back in here."

"You got it, Sarge." He wasn't allowed to call his sister by her first name at work anymore. He sighed and followed in Steve's footsteps to get the techs back to work.

It was going to be a long day.

A/N: So, sequel to Catch 22... well it is set in that universe. Between my muse fickleness and my medication my motivation isn't as high as it used to be, so I might struggle sometimes with updates. So I won't be making any promises, but this is the most I have written in one day in months, so hopefully you will enjoy where I take this.