*A/N: This is my first attempt at a Rizzoli/Isles fiction. I know this is really short, but it is only the prelude to my story. I hope that you enjoy this little bit of writing and I plan to have more up within the week. As a note, this is my interpretation of one particular scene in Season 1 Episode 8. I do not own anything Rizzoli & Isles related although, it would be interesting if I did. Thank you for reading, I hope that you enjoy.
Like You
Prelude
"You're clearly trying to frighten me." Maura Isles noted as she spoke to Hoyt as though he were a child being reprimanded for playing too rough with the other children.
"I am." Hoyt confessed with a satisfied grin and an exaggerated nod of his head.
Maura had seen first-hand the types of things that satisfied Charles Hoyt. She had examined one of his victims earlier that day, but now she couldn't picture anyone other than Jane Rizzoli. She saw the tears that threatened to fall from the detective's face, felt her trembling body each time she touched her, and sensed the fear and shame Jane felt every time she examined the ever present scars on her hands. Maura could feel the anger that she had spoken to Hoyt about earlier rising up within her. Jane was terrified of this man that sat before her; he was the monster that plagued her nightmares, the demon she couldn't escape. Feeling the last bit of self-restraint slipping, Maura allowed herself to lean forward onto the wooden table before her.
"I'm not afraid of you." She refused to break eye contact, the challenge evident in her voice.
If Hoyt wanted a worthy opponent, as he had called it, Maura would rise to the occasion. She knew the ins and outs of his case almost as well as Jane, but she also possessed a unique understanding of his thoughts. Where fear of Hoyt's unpredictability had paralyzed Jane, Maura would triumph. She refused to let Jane fall prey to this monster any longer, not if she could do anything to stop it.
Hoyt leaned forward, as if to meet her challenge, as his eyes became level with her own gaze.
"I know," His raspy voice confided in a barely audible whisper, "because you're like me."
Maura instantly became confused by his statement. How were they alike, she pondered. As she mentally ran over the case file in her head, she began to notice a large number of indicators that were similar to her own past. As the number grew increasingly larger, Maura could feel the previous confidence slipping from her form as a new found fear rose from within. It wasn't Hoyt that scared her; it was the possibility that she could be anything like him. Could she really be so similar to the man that Jane feared the most?
Maura sat motionless as Hoyt leaned back in his chair, his eyes never breaking their contact. She saw it in his facial expression; he was telling the truth.