I don't own Rizzoli and Isles or its characters!
Maura busied herself in the kitchen of her home, making coffee and breakfast before heading off to work for her first day back as the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A part of her wanted to just stay home after she'd confessed to Jane back in Paris. She'd never thought she'd have the guts to say those three words with the fear of losing her best friend constantly eating at the back of her mind; however, a little alcohol intoxication and a major dose of jealousy was just the push she'd needed to bring them from the abyss. When Jane hadn't answered her even after several painful moments of silence as the other woman stood there staring wide eyed, Maura did the only thing she could think to do! She turned on her heels and ran.
Jane hadn't come after her… nor had she called her since that day. Perhaps she should have just kept her mouth shut... If she had she was sure Jane would probably have been here to visit at least twice since she'd come back. The last week spent alone within her Boston home was pure hell! She'd hardly slept… knowing Jane would no longer be in Boston and she feared the black haired ex-detective would never come to see her again. When her phone rang she'd get jumpy and question getting up to answer it fearing a call from the black maned Italian openly announcing that their friendship was over, ultimately confirming her own frightening thoughts. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying over the thought of losing the only best friend she'd ever truely had.
Maura let out a loud yelp, she leaped back, the glass mug slipping from her fingers as the coffee overfilled the cup causing the hot liquid to spill out over her hand scalding her. The mug fell, crashing down harshly against the floor shattering to pieces. Maura rushed over to the sink with tears clinging to the rim of her eyes, holding her hand under cool running water for quite some time hoping it would soothe away the pain her simple mistake of not paying attention had caused. As the pain dulled a little and Maura turned still holding her blotchy red scolded palm within the uninjured one. Maura frowned as she surveyed the damage done to the mug Jane had gotten them as a gift two years ago. There was a total of two mugs… Maura's said "Best" while Jane's continued with the inscription of "Friends" across the side.
The blonde sunk to her knees reaching out to touch the remains of her cup, 'Was this a sign?' a small part of her wondered her hand faltered in its advances. Maura drew in a shaky breath as she carefully reached around slowly collecting the pieces from the floor. Feeling the presence of a bad omen... She couldn't blame the Italian, after all who wouldn't be freaked out after hearing your "best friend" whom is also a "girl" say she's in love with you. It would throw just about anyone for a loop… right? Stopping at the trashcan, she stomped on the small lever at the bottom to open the lid, and held what was left of the cup... over the wastebasket.
Taking in a shaky breath as a tear slipped down the right side of her face as all the memories the cup held flashed in her head. She couldn't do it... She pulled the cups remains away from the open trashcan allowing the small cans lid to drop back down over the wastebasket. Rushing back to the kitchen counter with hurried steps filled with purpose, she laid out all the pieces before running off again to find some superglue. Upon coming back, she sat at the counter working diligently to repair the broken cup. By the end of it all her fingers were covered in cuts and as soon as she stepped down off her stool she came to find her feet were bleeding. How had she not noticed? The blonde shook her head not wanting to think about the reasons as to why she was unable to focus. Since she'd gotten home it had been one mishap after the other due to her lack of concentration! If she wasn't burning something, she was breaking something! After pulling all the glass from her feet, properly cleaning and treating the wounds on her hands and feet, then bandaging them with Band-Aids or gauze.
Maura cupped her face with her bandaged hands running her fingers through her blonde locks as she stared at the poorly fixed cup sitting on her counter. What had she been hoping for? That if she could fix the mug it would somehow fix the friendship she'd possibly broken with her heartfelt words? Maura's expression twisted in a mixture of inner conflict and sadness, "Jane…" She sobbed out softly for what seemed like the millionth time since her return. Though she was supposed to be leaving for work in less than an hour Maura brought up her legs tucking them close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them tightly. She sat there crying silently in the dimly lit room.
~oooOOOooo~
Returning to work after being gone for a few weeks had been simple. Keeping her unprofessional emotion in check... now that was another story. There had been several times now where she had to stop her autopsy to calm herself as the sadness continuously piled behind her hazel green orbs. Every part of this lab held memories of Jane. Just a small unintentional spared glance caused her to remember... every happy, sad, sarcastic, and angered moment that they shared in this room. She kept mentally arguing with herself… ultimately finding herself blaming herself for telling Jane how she'd been feeling for the longest time. She'd been a fool! She'd let her jealousy take hold of her till it all just spilled out. Maura fastened her hands to the cool stainless steel counter across the room by the sink, taking in an emotionally shaky breath as she tried to suppress the sobs that were trying to escape her.
She gripped the counter hard as a few tears strayed from her eyes to roll down her cheek and drip from her chin. They clashed with the steel with a soft cling, "Come on… You can do this. Y-You you can let her go." She sobbed softly with tightly closed eyes. She'd been trying to encourage herself to move passed this, but her mind seemed to want to torment her by constantly showing her the one thing in this world that all her money couldn't buy for her.
"Maura?" She heard Jane's brother say from behind her, the doors to the autopsy room closing softly behind him. "Maura, hey have you...?" he started but paused in his stride to stand near her noticing something was wrong, "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly reaching out to touch her shoulder.
"I'm alright just something in my eye! Don't touch me please..." Maura told him shrugging off his palm as it touched her shoulder. Maura took off the bloody gloves and gown... obviously needing a moment or two more to collect herself. "Did you need something?" Maura asked trying to distract herself.
Frankie frowned retracting his hand, "I-I was just wondering if you'd talked to Janie recently." he asked. When Maura shook her head as a response Frankie was more than surprised.
Seeing worry reflected in the brother of her best friend's eyes shocked her... Why did her response worry Frankie? I mean there were times she and Jane had their arguments and went without talking to each other for days... so why? The feeling that'd been creeping up on her every now and then since her return came back full force. "W-Why do you ask?" she questioned finding the slight shift of Frankie's face hard to ignore... something was very wrong!
"W-We haven't heard from Janie for almost a week. We've tried calling her but she's won't answer... she won't answer any of us." Frankie informed her looking down at his shoes. His fists tightened at his side, "C-Can you call Janie and..." he started to ask raising his eyes to meet hers, but to his surprise Maura was no longer there.
Frankie's shoulders jumped a little, hearing hurried beeping coming from behind him. Frankie's eyes locked on the cell phone in Maura's hand, her fingers tapping around the phone as quick as lightning, "Thank you." he mumbled as the blonde M.E. fumbled to tap in her friend's number.
It rang three times before someone picked up, "Jane, I..."
"We're sorry, the number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in service! Please, hang up and try your call again."
Maura's heart stalled... W-What? Maura pulled the phone from her ear with a shaky hand to stare at the caller ID that was now staring back at her. The number was indeed Jane's. The message repeated two more times as she sat there in disbelief. 'J-Jane wouldn't change her number just to avoid me... would she?' Maura thought her hurt expression shifted to thoughtful... "When was the last time you talked to her?" The blonde M.E. asked redialing the number several times only to get the same message... When Frankie told her the last person in the family to talk to her was Jane's mother and as far as they were aware Maura was the last person to physically see her; Maura grew even more concerned, 'No,' Maura shook her head furiously, 'Jane wouldn't run like that... and if she did she would never not give her family her new number!'
Maura turned poking Frankie, "Call Kent, tell him I want him to work this case for me." she said as she ran to her office. She grabbed her jacket, throwing it over her shoulders not even bothering to pull her long hair out of the back as she grabbed things she needed from her desk and jammed them into her purse.
Frankie followed her, "Why?!" he interrogated, something about the blonde Medical Examiner had been different since she'd gotten back from Paris. When Maura didn't answer he stopped her from packing by grabbing her hands, "Maura!" he shouted seriously.
Maura's eyes raised to meet his and he realized just how panicked she was. Frankie didn't release her hands though, "Talk to me. I can't help unless you talk." he told her.
The blonde looked away from him as a blush flooded her cheeks in remembrance, "I-I..." she stumbled over her words. Taking in a calming breath as her fingers unconsciously came up to her lips, "In Paris, I had a lapse in judgement... and I told her my feelings." she explained.
Frankie looked confused... He didn't understand! The girls told each other their feelings all the time! They even had a conversation at one point of how close they'd come to dying for one another! So, what was the big deal. Maura, he noticed gained a frustrated stare, "I kissed her and told her I loved her in the romantic sense Frankie." she told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Everything around him stopped at her words, "Wait... what?!" he exaggerated dramatically with widened eyes. He couldn't believe it! "B-B-But, you like guys!" Frankie shrieked in confusion remembering all the men he'd seen her hit on and vice versa.
Maura nodded in confirmation, "Yes, I like guys," she paused briefly to rub the side of her head, "but I'm in love with your sister." she told him.
The words hit him like a ton of bricks...
The Medical Examiner frowned, "You're not saying anything..."
Frankie held up his index finger gesturing for another minute, "This is kinda a lot to process." he huffed out in disbelief. It explained so much! All those sideways glances towards his sister, all those bright eye catching smiles whenever Jane was around, and why she never sat near anyone but Janie!
"I'm sorry..." Frankie heard Maura say, looking up he found Maura's head bowed.
Frankie rubbed at his face in disbelief, "I-I-I mean since when..?" he questioned. Still stuck on the words that'd left Maura's mouth. 'Maura loves Jane...' The thought seemed to echo in his head while all the small moments that would have tipped him off popped into his head.
Maura smiled with watery eyes, "To be honest I'm not quite sure myself..." she continued.
"Well, what did Janie say?" he asked getting right to the point.
Maura flinched, "..."
"Maura?" Frankie pressed felling concern rush over him at the face she'd made.
Maura reached up gripping at the sleeves of her jacket, "She didn't say anything." she sniffled turning her head away from Frankie's view. Eyeing the tribal mask on her wall more than she usually would. She felt the urge to grab one right now, so even if only for a moment she could be someone else. So, she didn't have to feel the way she was feeling right now.
Frankie seemed taken back by her answer, "What? There's no way Maura!" he told her with authority. No, there was absolutely no way! Jane wouldn't do that to anyone especially to Maura!
Frankie's heart seemed to stop as he watched a tear slide down the Medical Examiner's face, "Well, she didn't for a whole ten minutes... Then I realized what I said and that Jane would probably end our friendship so I..."
Frankie held up his hands making her stop, "Woah... Woah there! Let me stop you right there." he began. Frankie grabbed her by the chin forcing her to look up at him, "Even if Jane ain't into you not only would she provide you with a proper answer, but she'd never let it ruin your friendship. You should know by now Maura... Jane's not that kind of person." he tried to reassured her.
"Then why didn't she answer me?" Maura asked him looking directly into his eyes with her watery ones.
Frankie fumbled at the question, "She was shocked?" he offered her the best answer he could think of.
Maura shot back again, "Why didn't she come after me or call me?"
Frankie dropped his hand from her chin but his eyes never left hers. Even as he took on a thoughtful expression, "I-I'm not sure, but you're really overthinking this; Jane wouldn't..." he mumbled out only to be cut short.
Maura sighed back the hurt feelings she was feeling, "Frankie... she's not even answering my calls." she told him seriously. I mean what else could it be… right?
Frankie took a moment to think before speaking. He wasn't sure of a lot of things, but if there was one thing he was certain of it was..."I-I'm not sure what to say about that, but I do know that if there was one person in this world that she wouldn't ignore... it's definitely you." he told her.
His last statement had surprised her. Mostly because of the amount of truthfulness laced within his words. But though Frankie seemed to be speaking the truth...was it true for Jane? And if it was true for Jane then what was her reason for ultimately ignoring her? Maura looked conflicted, after a few minutes Maura found herself fed-up with thinking, "Well, I guess I'll be finding out soon!" she announced grabbing the rest of her things from her desk wiping her face in between stuffing them into her purse.
Frankie stepped in front of her when she tried to leave, then followed her matching her stride as she sped around him, "What do you mean?" he interrogated.
Maura's heels clicked rapidly against the tile floor as they made their way to the elevator, "I'm heading home to get my passport and a few other things, then I'm going back to Paris and if I need too to Quantico!" she told him. After Frankie's confrontation she felt much better and yet really confused. If Jane would never not give her an answer... why wasn't she now? Could she waiting for her to come back?
Frankie leaped in front of her jumping into the elevator, "I'm coming with you!" he replied immediately.
Maura shook her head refusing the notion, "What? No Frankie, you're needed here!" she reminded him.
Frankie closed his eyes, "Please?" he begged.
Maura hit her floor and his, stopping him when they reached the first floor, "No... Stay here and work on the case." she ordered. Maura flashed him the best smile she could muster given the situation, "Jane would want that. Besides I'm sure everything's alright!" she told him walking away and out of BPD.
~oooOOOooo~
Maura was ready to go and was just closing the door to her house when her phone rang. Recognizing the strange unknown number that'd been calling her off and on for the past few days that she'd been ignoring. Irritated she answered, "Look I don't know who you are, but you've got the wrong number!" she shouted. This wasn't a time for her to be dealing with something so stupid as another individual misdialing the number they were trying to reach.
"Talk to me like that again and your girlfriend dies." a dark low voice she didn't recognize spoke from her phones speaker.
Maura looked even more irritated and now confused even, "I don't have a girlfriend! I don't know who you are but..." she stopped hearing the phone call get dropped. Maura pulled the phone away from her ear looking at it oddly, replaying the strange conversation in her head gripping her phone tightly as one person popped in her mind at the word 'girlfriend'. The thought made her freeze on the spot... She told herself 'No, everything's fine! There's no need to panic! Jane is fine. Jane is fine...' while taking in calming breaths.
Now that she answered this call; she'd gained a gut wrenching feeling that she didn't like. Shaking her head causing her blonde locks to flicker around to rid herself of any thoughts, she took in a breath rebuilding her resolve once again to go see Jane.
Maura strutted up to her front door, but paused at the doors knob when her phone chimed indicating there was a message. With a sigh, she reached down into her pocket, clicking it on the side causing it to light up again. After a few necessary taps on the screen to input her password Maura was greeted with the screen for her text messages. 'A video message?' she thought her eyes scanning over the number... She recognized it; it was the one that'd just called her! Maura told herself to ignore it and went to put the phone back into her pocket, but stopped... she had this nagging feeling that was eating at her at his earlier words.
Pulling it back from her pocket with a gulp she tapped the play button, "Get your hands off me!" she heard a familiar female voice echo from the dimly lit and poorly pixelated video.
Maura's eyes slowly widened as the sound resonated into her ears as a light was turned on to reveal Jane's bloody and bruised face with a person standing behind her with a ski mask on. His fingers could be seen laced through Jane's dark hair as he pushed her forward holding her closer to the camera for the blonde to see. Tears whelmed into Maura's eyes, "J-Jane?" she whispered in disbelief at what she was seeing.
"I said, get your hands off me!" Jane shouted swinging her head back colliding with his head. Maura's grip tightened on the phone praying for Jane to get away. The man stumbled falling back off his feet, though disoriented Jane wobbled looking for a way out!
'Come on Jane!' Maura mentally cheered, but her celebration was hauled as the man stood his back raising from the ground as Jane stumbled passed him to the door covering up most of her view of what was happening. Tears spilled over the rims of her eyes as his hand fell on the Italian's shoulder. Maura watched as he forcefully spun Jane around and reeled back his fist, Maura flinched and gasped as he punched Jane with such a force that she tumbled to the floor and soon slipped out of consciousness on the floor mumbling something under her breath.
The man chuckled climbing over the heap of a body on the floor and knelt behind her. Maura could make out as the man smirked under his ski mask as he grabbing Jane by the hair and hoisting her up beside him. He held her out to the camera smugly, "Are you done playing dumb?" was all he said before cutting off the video feed.
Maura was shaking now... Jane was in trouble! She needed to find Jane, but she didn't even know where to start! What was she suppose to do?! All her prior worried emotions about Jane having ended their friendship over her confession pushed to the side forgotten. This video it changed everything! It explained everything! From Jane's strange behavior to a mild conformation of Frankie's words! Maura felt weak in the knees as she sank to the floor.
All this time that number had been Jane's captor trying to get a hold of her and she'd ignored it! Maura's phone rang and she answered it immediately when she seen the number, "I see I've got your attention now!" he spoke happily.
A tear dripped from her chin falling onto the floor, "If it's money you want I'll gladly..."
"Oh, I know you will~" the man told her a little too enthusiastically making Maura grit her teeth angrily. "I want twenty-million-dollars by the end of the week." he started and before Maura could snap off at him telling him about how it couldn't be done he added, "If you need more time... hey that's fine, but for every extra day you take I'll send a piece of her home! Know what I mean?" he finished.
Maura could barely contain fearful anger that struck her at his words, "F-Fine... When and where?" she probed for information.
The man chuckled, "Oh, no no honey. I won't be giving you that information today. No no that will be our next call." he taunted her with the information.
Maura glared, "I'm not your honey!" she shouted squeezing her phone tightly in her hands.
"Oooh, temper temper!" His amused voice came irritating her even more. "Your little girlfriend here may like that, but I suggest you watch your mouth around me sweetie.~ Do keep in mind... I have your girl," he said adding the last bit in a taunting whisper. He let her stew on it for a moment before continuing, "and right now I can do just about... anything I want to this beautiful sexy woman lying so helplessly unconscious in front of me."
She could just imagine him running his hands over Jane's skin and it angered her to no end, "STOP IT!" she shouted the order weakly.
"Aw, but then that stops all the fun!" he whined into her ear. When she didn't react cutting out his amusement he continued, "Eh oh well, I got a bit carried away anyways... Ground rules! No LAW ENFORCEMENT! I have eyes and ears all over Boston much like your father little girl I will know if you say anything!" he informed her seriously. He waited for a moment to see if she processed his words, when she stayed quiet he began to feel irritated, "Do we have an understanding?"
Maura shut her eyes holding her face in her free hand, "Y-Yes." she sobbed softly. How was she going to do this?! She couldn't do this all by herself!
"I can't hear you," he taunted her again, "I said do we have an understanding?!"
Maura's free hand dropped to the floor curling into a tight fist, her head bowed shadowing over her fear driven eyes, "YES!" she yelled.
"Good!~" a hint of amusement leaking back into to the male's voice. "All right, all I want you to concentrate on is gathering the money. Once you have it; you are to wait for my call!" he said awaiting her response.
"YES!" Maura yelled out again in confirmation that she understood the terms.
She could practically hear the smile stretching over his face, "Such a good obedient girl, Ta ta for now!"
"Wait!" Maura screamed out the order. Maura glared at the wall across from her as if he was standing right here in front of her, "Don't you dare hurt her anymore you hear me?!"
He laughed at her, "Ahaha, well sweetheart that will depend on if your girl tries that again. As long as she's chill; I'll be chill!" he informed her. Then he spoke up in a taunting tone, "But you know her very well right, so you probably already know how this will play out don't you," he paused. Maura heard Jane groan from the other end of the phone as she started to stir, "that she'll never stop trying to escape me." he continued.
Maura's nails drew blood from her palm, "Please..." she whimpered, "Please don't hurt her anymore."
"Begging now are we?" he questioned, "Huh, I kinda like it! Do it again!" he said finding amusement in her suffering. When she remained silent he got agitated, "I said DO IT AGAIN!"
At the idea that the man might harm Jane due to her silence; Maura screamed pleading with him, "Please, don't hurt her...! I'll do anything!"
Tears leaked from her eyes at the thought, "See!" he started happily. "Now we're gettin somewhere!" he continued in a taunting tone. Maura let loose another heart wrenching sniffle as her brilliant mind tried to process what she was going to do, "Don't be late with my money, Doctor." The man reminded her his tone switching from a taunt to that of a warning.