A/N This is the sequel for "At a Distance". If you haven't yet read that story you may have some issues understanding some of the dynamics generally assumed for this story. Also, I will apologize again to every English teacher I had in my life. They all taught me better but my brain still functions through series of sentence fragments. Sorry you all have to suffer through that too.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They are better off in the hands of those smarter than I. I'm still just taking them out for a spin and having fun doing so.

Discovery

Detective Jane Rizzoli sat at her desk in the Homicide division for the Boston Police Department. She had hated homework as a kid. She always held to a theory that the nuns from the Catholic school she had attended purposely added unnecessary tasks to the assignments just because they could. Jane had thought she had escaped homework once she had finished school and had become a police officer. However, she was wrong. No one told her about the paperwork she would be required to complete daily for her job. And today, she felt buried in it.

She looked over at her partner, Detective Barry Frost, and took just a small piece of comfort. Looking at his desk, Frost's pile of papers had to be twice as high as Jane's. She had at least made a dent in her stack today. Frost's pile seemed hopeless. Jane threw down a file onto her desk in frustration.

"Can a person go blind from staring at small print for too long?" she asked as she pushed herself away from her desk and rubbed her eyes.

"If it's possible, I think I'm more at risk than you right now," Frost returned the comment. "Jane, I really, really hate paperwork."

"I know you do. That's half your problem. You put off doing it all until after the case gets closed. That's why your pile looks like that," she pointed to his desk. "If you maintained any of it at all your pile would at least look like that," and she pointed to her desk.

"But both piles suck Jane."

"True, but mine sucks half as much," she attempted a smile. Frost didn't find any humor in that. "Tell you what, I can power through my stack and be done in the next hour. After that, I'll help you with yours and then we can go get a drink at the Robber. Deal?"

This made Frost smile. "Deal," and he went back to his stack.

"But, you're buying," she added with a smile. Frost nodded in agreement. It was a small price to pay.

True to her word, Jane powered through her remaining files in just over an hour. Frost had made serious dent in his stack and between the two of them if they stayed focused there was hope that they could finish it all in about the next hour and a half. Jane pulled off two toxicology reports from his pile but also grabbed her phone before diving in.

Drinks at Robber w/ Frost?

She sent the text and waited for a response. Within a minute her phone vibrated its answer.

I have about 2 more hours of work but I can meet you both

Jane immediately smiled at the answer.

Frost, seeing the smile, commented, "Tell Maura I'm buying."

Jane nodded. It was nice that Frost could tell just by the look on her face that she was texting her girlfriend. Dr. Maura Isles was the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Boston, Massachusetts. Jane and Maura had been friends for five years but Maura had been Jane's girlfriend for six months. It had been the best six months of Jane's life.

I have almost as much. Meet u there. Frost is buying

She sent the text to Maura and again waited for a response.

Got suckered into his paperwork again? :)

Jane chuckled. Maura knew her so well.

Of course…but misery loves company

She put her phone back into the holster on her hip and started to help Frost with his paperwork. They managed to finish everything in an hour and a half. They gathered their belongings and started to head out for the Dirty Robber.

"Hey, text Korsak and tell him we are seeking shelter at the Robber. He should join us after his meeting gets out."

Frost pulled out his phone and typed out the text to Sergeant Detective Vince Korsak. "Done. Now let's get out of here before we get more paperwork."

Frost and Jane made their way to the Dirty Robber. It was a cop bar and their favorite hangout. True to his word, Frost ordered the first round of beer for him and Jane. Frost felt his phone buzz and he pulled it off his hip to review the message.

"Korsak is about ten minutes away."

"Good. Maura should be here in about fifteen."

Jane and Frost chatted about the upcoming football season. Both were New England Patriots fans and both felt that the Pats had a decent shot at returning to the Super Bowl this year. Jane still didn't want to talk about the loss to the New York Giants. It still hurt too much. Frost went to get round two for both and Jane watched as his attention was captured by a girl at the bar. Jane smiled knowing he would try to make a move and it would be awhile before she got another drink.

Watching Frost try to put the moves on an unsuspecting girl at the bar made Jane happy she was out of the dating scene. She had been with Maura for six months and couldn't be happier. It hadn't been anything she ever thought would happen. Their relationship took both of them by surprise. She smiled when she recalled that the only people who were genuinely surprised by their relationship had been Jane and Maura. Everyone else seemed to know they were in love before they did.

She let her mind drift back to how the announcement of their relationship had occurred. Even that hadn't gone as Jane expected.

Jane and Maura had just returned from New York. It was a week filled with family drama for Maura and the realization of feelings for them both. Maura had just dealt with her father, Phillip, attempting to disown her as well as starting to work through a better relationship with her mother, Constance. Jane had followed Maura to New York when Maura had run off. Their time in New York had brought both into the awareness that their feelings were stronger than friendship. The first time they made love had been their first night back from New York.

Jane's plan had been to not tell anyone about their relationship for awhile. She had told Maura she wanted time to just enjoy the change and each other alone. Maura, on the drive over to Sunday family dinner, had agreed to go at Jane's pace for informing family and friends and they had decided not to tell anyone that day. They both knew that Jane's mother, Angela, had expressed a desire that they get together but Jane hadn't wanted to share the news yet.

As soon as they pulled up to Maura's house, Angela had practically bolted out the front door. Jane had expected to take the brunt of Angela's excitement in the form of a hug but Angela blew right by Jane and nearly tackled Maura in the driveway. Angela threw her arms around Maura and Maura had to stagger to keep her balance.

"Maura! You're home! Oh my God, I'm so happy you are back!" Jane was convinced the neighbors could hear her mother.

Maura, although ready for Angela, wasn't really ready for Angela. She didn't quite know what to say. She tried to return the hug but Angela had such a bear hug on her that moving her arms seemed to be impossible. It took Jane calling her off to get Angela to release her hold on Maura.

"Ma! You are going to hurt her!"

Angela, realizing that she may have been squeezing a bit hard, released her hold on Maura. "Sorry sweetheart! I've just been so worried about you!"

"I'm fine Angela, really. But your concern has meant a lot to me." Angela began to steer Maura into the house.

"What about me?" Jane asked feeling a little sorry for herself as Angela had gone straight to Maura and skipped right past Jane.

"Oh, hi Jane. Will you get the bags?"

Maura had to stifle a laugh at Angela's disregard for Jane. She made eye contact with Jane and gave a look that conveyed that she was sorry. Jane smiled in spite of herself. Seeing her mother embrace and care for the woman she loved melted her heart.

"I'll get them. You two go on inside."

Once inside, Maura immediately sought out Bass. She had missed her tortoise immensely. Bass seemed no worse for the wear and he even popped his head out of his shell at the sound of Maura's voice. Angela did a recap of Bass' diet and activities while she was gone. As for Jane, Jane was pounced on by her dog Jo Friday as soon as she opened the front door. The pup was so excited to see Jane she was jumping up and down and running around in circles at Jane's feet. It was fair to say that both pets were happy their parents were home.

After the pets had been corralled together, Angela reverted to true Hurricane Angela mode. She fired questions at Maura and occasionally Jane. Where had they been? What had happened? Where did things stand now? Maura did her best to fill in the blanks without rehashing too many pieces. She told Angela about Phillip and the dissolution papers. She told her about going to her place in New York and she told her briefly about confronting Phillip as well as the steps forward she took with Constance.

Angela listened to it all and was appropriately angry at Phillip and happy about Constance. She took Maura into another embrace and told her that she always had a place in the Rizzoli family. That had made Maura tear up and they embraced again. All in all, Maura had weathered Hurricane Angela pretty well. Both Jane and Maura had then hoped that the arrival of Frankie and Tommy would distract Angela from asking anything further. They both would be mistaken.

Both Frankie and Tommy arrived together. They, too, had gone straight to Maura. Both hugged her and asked if she was alright. When she said yes, unlike Angela, the boys accepted that as enough and didn't press for any details. Jane was touched by the genuine concern her brothers had for Maura. Maura was a bit overwhelmed by it too. She knew that the Rizzoli family had taken her in but after the few weeks she had it seemed to reinforce her belief she really did belong in the family.

What neither Jane nor Maura was expecting was that this particular family dinner night apparently included the extended family. Just as Frankie and Tommy got settled in front of the TV there was another knock on the door. Jane went to answer it and found both Frost and Korsak. She broke out into an immediate smile to see her partners.

"Jane! You're back," acknowledged Korsak. "You can take your partner off my hands now." But he said it with a grin on his face.

"Ha ha Old Man! You joke now but the first time you have an error message on your computer I'm suddenly going to be your best friend again." He smiled and entered the house. "Welcome back, partner," he said to Jane.

And, repeating the scene that had already played out twice before, both men went straight to Maura and smothered her with hugs and questions about her well being. Both Korsak and Frost cared about Maura and had played a vital role in helping Jane find her in the first place.

Angela announced dinner would be in fifteen minutes. The boys all settled into the living room to watch TV until it was time to eat. Jane had tried to help her mother in the kitchen but things were well under control so Angela had kicked her out. "Go watch TV with your brothers."

Instead, Jane noticed Maura was absent from the scene. She assumed she had taken her bags up to her bedroom so she went looking for her. Once she got upstairs though, she couldn't find Maura. She had headed back downstairs and went out into the backyard. There she found Maura sitting on the deck.

"Are you ok?" Jane asked suddenly concerned. She sat down next to Maura.

Maura laced her arm through Jane's and leaned her head onto Jane's shoulder. "I'm better than ok. I'm home." Jane didn't even need to look at her to know she was beaming.

"Yes, we both are. Come on, dinner is ready." She leaned in for a tender kiss and then helped Maura up.

In the end it had been Maura's hand that had betrayed them. They all sat around the table letting the dinner conversation bounce around through multiple topics while the food was being passed around from person to person. It had been as simple as Jane passing a plate full of broccoli to Maura. Somewhere in the passing of the dish, Maura's fingers gently rubbed against those of Jane's and a smile was exchanged between them. Unfortunately for them at that moment, the gesture had not gone unnoticed by someone.

"Oh My God! You two had sex!"