"I hate meeting in dark alleys," a hooded figure complained to himself as he stepped into a puddle of dirty water. He grimaced and shook the water from his boots, though as he approached the meeting place his arrival was announced by a distinctive squelching sound. "Why on Earth couldn't we meet somewhere…drier?"

The shadows behind a green metal dumpster moved and began to coalesce into the form of another mysterious man. "We all have our orders, and you would do well do follow them. The Morrigan wants this handled with as much discretion as possible." The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a rolled piece of paper.

"Discretion? You've gotta be joking. Look, I love the Morrigan, I really do, but we're talking about kidnapping the Ash here. I thought there were laws against this."

"There are. But only in Fae Society. There's nothing stopping a group of humans from doing our work for us. She needs this to work, Vex."

Vex sighed and grabbed his orders from the other man. "You know at one point the Morrigan had higher standards. Working with humans, she's really lowered the bar."

The man growled under his breath, his eyes glowing a predatory yellow. "You may be her favorite now, Vex, but one of these days…" He left the threat hanging in the air.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll pay for it in blood and entrails. But today is not that day, my friend. So why don't you scurry back to whatever hellhole you came from and leave the job to me?" He waved his hand dismissively and the messenger disappeared into the shadows once again, cursing the Mesmer under his breath.

Vex looked around quickly to make sure no one had intruded in on their little chat before breaking the seal on the scroll and reading his orders. "Why in the hell do I have to go to Boston?"

XXX

Three days later

XXX

"Jane? Jane, get up, we have to go to work." Jane Rizzoli groaned and rolled over in bed, hugging her pillow and steadfastly ignoring the voice.

"It's too early," she replied, "Wanna sleep more."

"I'll throw out all of your instant coffee unless you get up," the voice threatened, and at that Jane shot upright. She opened her eyes and rubbed the sleepy feeling out of them to see Maura Isles standing over her, a bright smile on her face.

"That was a low blow," Jane whined, but returning Maura's smile all the same. She yawned and looked over at her digital clock. "Maura? I know you love your job and all, but it's four a.m."

Maura nodded, "I know, Korsak and Frost just called. Something big just happened and they need all hands on deck for this one."

Jane immediately shifted into her work demeanor, leaping out of bed and getting dressed as fast as she could, only stopping briefly to kiss Maura on the cheek. "Did they give any details?"

"No, they just said to get there as soon as possible. I already took Jo Friday out to do her business," she said as Jane approached the wall where they hung their coats. "Oh, and I made you your coffee to go," she added when her girlfriend opened the kitchen cabinet, searching for the bag of coffee beans."

The brunette smiled gently, "Thanks Maur, I really appreciate it."

"Hey, it's the least I could do after the amazing night you gave me. Call us even," Maura winked, opening the fridge and placing a few lettuce leafs in front of her tortoise, Bass. She stroked his patterned shell affectionately, allowing herself the briefest of respites.

Grabbing her car keys from the little glass bowl by the front door, she called to Jane. "Let's go!"

"On my way," came the response from the bedroom. "Where's my gun?"

"Top drawer," Maura said, putting on her jacket and giving Jo Friday a goodbye pet. Jane came jogging out if their room, putting her gun in its holster as they left.

The two of them made their way to the precinct, the lack of traffic this early in the morning making their trip much faster than usual. "Hey Maura, are you sure they didn't give any details?"

"All they said was that some important guy from somewhere in Canada was visiting here and got kidnapped. I think Korsak said his name was Hale."