Summary: Many times Alex Rizzoli has been compared to her mother Jane; they're both stubborn, hard headed and loyal to a fault. Jane's always tried her best to keep Alex away from the dangers of her job, but her daughter has always been one to go looking for trouble. Unfortunately for everyone, she might just find it.
SEE ONE. DO ONE. TEACH ONE
"Knock, knock." Jane said as she rapped twice on the wooden door, but heard no movement from inside. "Alex?" Still nothing. "Al, you gotta get up or we're gonna miss the meeting with the Headmaster."
"That's kinda the point of me not getting up." Jane heard Alex's muffled voice groan from inside. It was faint and Jane just barely heard it.
For the last ten years of her life, Alex Rizzoli had attended public school. Her grandmother, Angela, had wanted her to be enrolled in Jane's old Catholic school, but that's the last thing Jane wanted. With the nuns and the Fathers that taught there, they only saw the world in black and white when Jane knew that the world was a very large gray area. Alex knew that too and Jane knew that Catholic school wasn't the best thing for her kid so she chose public school.
But two weeks ago, Jane had gotten a call from Ethel Eddington, the Headmistress at Mothson Preparatory school, a very exclusive private school a few miles away from where Jane and Alex lived, and they had invited Alex a full scholarship to their school. According to Jane's friend, Maura, there were only two ways to get into Mothson; Be ridiculously rich or be ridiculously smart. Alex was the latter of the two.
Jane had jumped at the chance for her kid to have an better education, but Alex hadn't exactly welcomed it. She hated change, much like her mother, and she had been sulking all week after learning she'd have to go to a new school.
Jane sighed as she ran her hand through her wavy black hair. Her week had not been a good one; the insertion of an FBI agent into her case which happened to bring back the one person in the world she was terrified of, Charles Hoyt, and the fact that her mother and brother wouldn't stop hovering over her...the last thing she needed was a moody teenager.
"Kid," Jane started. "Mom is having a bad week and it would mean the world to her if, just for today, you did everything without being...a teenager, okay?" She asked. "I know you don't want to leave your school, but this is a great opportunity for you."
"I don't care about leaving my school." Alex's muffled voice said through the door and Jane's eyebrows furrowed. Then what is she mad about? She asked herself. "I hated my school and the people sucked."
"I don't understand." Jane confessed. "Then what are you mad about?" Jane stepped back as the door opened and she came face to face with her daughter.
At age fourteen- almost fifteen-, Alex was about half a foot shorter than her mother with short- and insanely curly- black hair that stopped an inch or two before her shoulders. She had a slightly lighter complexion than Jane with light dark brown eyes.
However, today Alex wasn't dressed in her normal jeans, sneakers and hoodie. She was wearing the dark blue plaid skirt that stopped a bit before her knees, a white button down under a dark blue blazer with the Mothson insignia on the left breast and a pair of black dress shoes over a pair of tinted pantyhose. Her hair had been pushed back by a dark blue headband if only for Jane to see the displeasure written clearly on her daughters face.
"It's the uniform." Alex informed her mother. "I hate plaid. It makes me feel like the star of some forty year old sex offenders wet dream." Jane just shook her head.
"You'll get over it, I promise." She lied. Jane had hated plaid too when she had attended Catholic School. "Now come on."
After a silent, one hour drive, Jane and Alex finally pulled up to a large, modern looking building surrounded by a tall iron gate with a large M on the front. After giving the guard her information, he let her through to large, circular driveway that was filled with gravel. Jane and Alex could see a dozen or so teenagers, all dressed similarly to Alex, sitting on the lawn and on benches. A few stared when Alex and Jane got out of the car and the teen was immediately reminded of the girls at her old school.
"Ms. Rizzoli." Headmistress Eddington greeted as Jane entered the large, spacious office with Alex trailing behind her and stood before leaning over the desk and offering her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Jane's fine." Jane told the woman, shaking her hand before sitting down in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. Alex took the other.
Headmistress Ethel Eddington was an older woman, maybe in her late fifties or early sixties, with graying blonde hair and brown eyes. Her face was one of a friendly grandmother or aunt; full of crows feet and laugh lines. She didn't look like she'd be a pain in the ass, but neither did Alex's last principal.
"Can I just say what a pleasure it is to meet you?" Headmistress Eddington expressed as she sat down. "None of the students in my school have achieved the grades that your daughter has in her classes. You must be very proud."
Jane gave the woman a friendly smile in return. "I am." She said honestly. "Alex is a very smart girl."
Headmistress Eddington raised an eyebrow before looking to the teen. "You go by Alex?"
Alex nodded. "Alessandra is a bit of a mouthful." Headmistress Eddington let out a chuckle.
"Well, Alex..." She said. "I would like you to know that you will be welcome in this school with open arms. It's not every day that we come across a student at an inner city public school as smart as you. We'd be-" But she never got to finish her statement because Jane's phone began to ring. With an apologetic smile, Jane pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly flipped it open before accepting the call and putting the phone to her ear.
"Rizzoli." She said as her usual greeting.
"It's me," Jane heard Maura's voice say on the other side of the call. "I'm about to start the autopsy if you'd like to be present."
"Crap." Jane whispered, ignoring the looks she was getting from Eddington and Alex. "I'll be right there." Jane hung up before standing and looking to the Headmistress. "I am so sorry, but I have to go. I have a work related matter to get to." Alex went to get up, but Eddington held out her hand, instructing the teen to stay seated.
"It's completely fine if you leave." The Headmistress said. "My father was a police officer so I understand the hectics of your schedule, and even though she technically isn't a student until tomorrow, it'd be more than okay to let her spend the rest of the school day here. That way she can get used to our schedule."
"Uh..." Jane looked from the Headmistress to her daughter who shook her head subtly. "I don't know what time I'd be able to pick her up-"
"We have a car service that takes home the students who don't have cars." Headmistress Eddington said. "We find it more accommodating than a bright yellow bus."
That's how Alex ended up in Mr. Setters Advanced Calculus class only ten minutes later. Jane had left her daughter at the school, but since it was almost the end of the school day Alex couldn't start her classes from the beginning. She had walked into the classroom in the middle of a lecture and felt her face burn as she handed a note to Mr. Setter and took an empty seat in the back of the class.
Twenty minutes later, Alex got out of class and began her walk to stairs so she could get to the third floor. That's where her locker had been placed and she had three different books from Mr. Setter to put away.
She was just putting in her locker combo when one of the books slipped off of the top and onto the floor. Alex went to pick it up, but someone got it before she did. She looked up to see a boy holding her book.
He was around her age with floppy sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes. He wore the same blazer as Alex, but his, of course, came with a pair of beige slacks. He had to be at least four or five inches taller than her.
"I'm guessing this is yours?" He asked holding it out and Alex took it from him with a smile.
"Thanks." She said placing as she continued unlocking her locker and the boy scratched the back of his neck not knowing what to say next. Alex didn't either.
"I'm Adam." He introduced and Alex looked back at him.
"Alex." She replied. Adam leaned against the locker next to hers.
"I don't think I've seen you around here Alex." He said. "And I'd know if you had enrolled. I've got a friend in administration."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" She asked and Adam nodded. "You know I've got friends, too." She told him and it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Where?"
"In the Boston Police Department." She told him and he looked confused. "My mom's a cop." She explained. "And so is my uncle-"
"And your your other uncle and your grandfather." He finished and Alex couldn't believe how wrong he was. "Is your life Blue Bloods?"
"Actually," Alex said as she pulled her locker open. "My other uncle is a alcoholic bartender and my grandfather is a fifth generation plumber."
"Wow..." Adam said looking down before looking back up at Alex. "I was way off, wasn't I?"
"Very." Alex chuckled. "But you are forgiven since I'm not technically a student here until tomorrow. Headmistress Eddington wanted me to get a head start on figuring out my schedule." Adam stood up straight and slid his hands into the pockets of his pants before clearing his throat.
"Well, since I've clearly embarrassed myself and probably don't have a chance with you anymore, I think I'm gonna...go." Adam walked past her and Alex watched him go. She figured a new school wouldn't be too bad if all the boys attended it were as sweet as him.
Alex turned back to her open locker and was just about to set her books inside when she noticed a small rectangular black box inside with a note behind it with her name on it
Looking around, Alex wondered who could've had time to put this in her locker considering she didn't even know she would be enrolled today. She hesitantly picked up the note and flipped it open before reading it.
"For a splash of red in a sea of black and white. - Henry Deduboto" She read quietly before looking around again. There were only a few students sitting against the wall reading books and a few at their lockers talking to each other, but none of them were close enough to Alex to hear what she had read. Looking back to her locker, Alex put the note down before picking up the box and opening it.
Inside of the box was a necklace. The chain was silver and thin and at the end of it was a flat, silver bird. Alex couldn't tell what kind of bird since it was so small, but she realized that Henry Deduboto, or whatever his name was, yet another, a sweet guy at Mothson.
Alex heard the bell ring and noticed the students around her get up from their spots against the wall and saying goodbye to their friends, so she quickly put on the necklace before closing her locker and heading to her next class; Language Studies.
Jane had just experienced the worst day of work in her entire career- and that included when Frost puked on her at his first crime scene.
Charles Hoyt, AKA the Surgeon, had escaped from a maximum security prison.
Jane didn't know half of the emotions running through her, but they were all mixing up and turning into one emotion and Jane hated to admit it, but she was terrified.
She was terrified for her friends, she was terrified for herself, but she was most terrified for her family; namely Alex. Jane couldn't help but fear that Hoyt would go after her daughter if he knew about her. Thankfully he didn't, but that didn't mean he couldn't find out. All he had to do was talk to one of her neighbors or anyone she had ever known well. Jane had never known that giving her daughter the last name Rizzoli would put her in danger. If she had, she would've given the teen her fathers last name. Of course, her mother would've thrown a fit, but at least Alex would be safe.
Speaking of Alex; Jane had just gotten home and all she wanted to do wanted to do was hold her daughter and make sure she was okay. She knew that Alex had been perfectly safe at the private school three miles away, but Jane had to make sure. Standing in the doorway of the room, Jane couldn't help but take it in.
Alex's bedroom was like an extension of herself; When Jane had finally saved up enough money and bought her condo, the first thing Alex had done was paint the light blue walls with yellow paint. Once it had dried, dozens and dozens of framed and unframed family photos, posters, magazine clippings and even her own paintings had been put up. She had old birthday cards and flyers pinned onto the cork board over her desk which was almost completely covered in notebooks and regular books much like the bookcase between her closet door and dresser. Knick-Knacks and trophies sat on top amongst other books that couldn't fit on the shelves, while other had been stacked on top of each other under Alex's bed that had three different comforters on it.
Knocking on the open door got the teens attention. Laying on her full sized bed, getting started on her homework, Alex looked up and smiled when she saw her mother.
"Hey, kid." Jane greeted as she walked into the room and sat on the edge of Alex's bed. "How was school?"
"Other than the three tons of homework they gave me," Alex started as she turned over and sat up. "It was fine. My teachers were nice, I met a few of the students and they weren't total asses."
"So you made friends?" Jane asked hopefully, glad that he daughter had a better day than she did.
"Sort of." Alex told her. "I met this boy and he was cu...he was sweet." Jane raised an eyebrow at the change of words.
"Did this sweet boy give you this?" She asked pulling lightly on the necklace around Alex's neck.
"Uh, no." Alex said pulling it out of her mothers hand. "This is from some guy from school. I have no idea who he is, but he left it in my locker at school. I asked around about him, but no one knew who he was."
"Someone's got an admirer." She teased and Alex rolled her eyes before looking at her mother. She could tell that something was wrong, but she didn't know what and she was smart enough to know that she wouldn't get the truth if she just came out and asked.
But, that's exactly what she did.
"What's wrong?" She asked and Jane raised an eyebrow. "Is it work?"
"Um..." Jane debated on telling Alex the truth; on one had she didn't want to scare her, but she also didn't want to send her daughter out in the world without the knowledge that she could be in danger.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she shook her head. "I'm just tired." Jane lied, but Alex wasn't sure whether or not she was believed. "Get some sleep, you've got school in the morning."
When Alex woke up, her grandmother Angela was making breakfast in the kitchen and her mother was nowhere to be found.
"So," Angela began as she looked across the table at the blue uniform her granddaughter wore. She had to admit that it was flattering, but she would also point out to Jane that Alex would've looked just as nice in the uniform from St. Edward's. "How is school going?" Alex shrugged as she ate a bit of eggs.
"It's okay, I guess." She answered. "I've only been there one day, but everyone seems nice enough."
"Do you like it there?" Alex, once again, shrugged.
"The teachers are okay." She replied. "And they let us have a free period and ten minute breaks between classes, so that's a point in the win column." The small watch on Alex's wrist beeped and she put down her fork before looking down at it. "It's seven and my ride should be here soon." Getting up, Alex put her almost finished plate on the counter before kissing her grandmother on the cheek. "Bye, Grandma."
"Bye." Angela called as Alex grabbed her backpack off the back of her chair before leaving the apartment.
She only had to wait a few minutes on the steps of her building before a large gray bus pulled up. The windows were tinted so Alex didn't see that it was almost all the way filled until she got inside. Walking down the aisle, she made it all the way to the back of the bus before she found an open seat next to a girl with long wavy, blonde hair and green eyes wearing an identical uniform.
It wasn't until they had been driving for a minute or two that she spoke. "I'm Claire." She introduced suddenly and Alex looked over at her. "Claire Stark."
"Alex Rizzoli." Alex replied.
"Today's my first day." Claire said. "And I'm ridiculously nervous, but I promised my mother that I'd try and make friends, so I figured that the sooner I introduced myself to someone, the sooner I could get that done and over with, but now I just feel more nervous."
'Note to Self.' Alex thought. 'Claire rambles when she's nervous.' "Well, today's my first day too." She informed the blonde. "Technically."
"Oh," Alex couldn't tell if Claire was relieved or even more nervous than she already was. "Well, at least I won't be alone in figuring out the social hierarchy of the school, right?"
"...Right." Alex replied eventually. She didn't have many friends at her old school; most of them thought it was 'uncool' having a friend with a cop for a mother and the rest- as she told her mother the day before- sucked. Maybe having a friend at Mothson wouldn't be too bad.
Surprising, Claire turned out to be a very good friend of Alex.
While Alex had never been one for much talking, Claire seemed to be the exact opposite, but Alex liked hearing her talk. Sometimes she zoned out or used Claire's voice as background noise, but it worked for both of them; Alex listened- most of the time- and Claire talked, but never got angry if Alex hadn't heard a word she said. She simply liked to vent out her frustrations or nervousness or any other emotion she was feeling.
As Alex and Claire were both wading into the uncharted waters of Mothson for the first time, they were both relieved when they found that they had more than half of their classes together.
At the moment, the two were in English class and were listening to the teacher- Mr. Clark- talk about Macbeth and his tragic tale. Alex was barely listening; she had already read Macbeth at her old school- well, the Sparknotes simplified version- so she figured there wasn't much else she could learn about it.
"Now," She heard Mr. Clark say. "As most of you know, I could do a number of things to help you in your ten page stories about power and corruption; I could give you tips or note cards or a sample story, but I think I'm going to try something new." Great, her first day and she was already being assigned week long assignments. "When I was in college, my roommate talked me into joining an improv group and I loved it. It was fun and spontaneous and you never knew what stories would be made up only after a few minutes. So, I want one of you to create a story using only topic and these two pictures." He said and went to the laptop that was connected to the Smart board and pulled up two pictures; both of men wearing crowns, but they were different. "Who'd like to try?"
Everybody looked away from Mr. Clark, hoping not to catch his eye and the teacher sighed. "No volunteers?" He asked, but no one spoke. "Then I guess I'll have to pick one of you at random." His eyes scanned over the students who sat two to a table and his eyes landed on Alex. "How about you, Ms. Rizzoli?" He asked and she groaned internally. "Your grades in English at your previous school were remarkable. Why don't you show us what you can do?"
With a sigh, Alex looked to the two pictures of the crowned men on the board; one had their head bowed and eyes closed as the crown sat upon his head, seemingly connected to him while the other stood with his crown wrapping around his face.
"Two brothers." She began and it seemed like everyone turned to look at her. "Both want to be king, both want to prove to their father that they have what it takes to be king. Knowing that he'll never know how either would rule after his death, the king has a sorcerer put both of his sons in a deep, year long sleep and give them both the same dream."
"In their dreams the same thing happens at the beginning; their father dies and they both become king in their respective dream; The first son," Alex said looking to the picture on the right. "He rules justly and stays humble like his father had and his father before him. He makes choices that benefit his kingdom and they grow prosperous during his rule. The second son, however, lets title of king go to his head and his power consumes him; his kingdom whittles down to nothing as he makes bad decision after bad decision as he's driven by his hunger for power and, by the end of his year long rule, his kingdom is in ruins and he is easily overthrown by a enemy nation. Both sons wake up after their year long sleep to find their father- respectively- proud and disappointed in them."
The class was quiet and Mr. Clark stood at the front of the class with his arms folded and a pensive look on his face.
"Were you in the creative writing program at your school?" He asked, but Alex shook her head. "Why not?"
"Because they told me that I wasn't talented enough." The bell rang and everyone began packing up their things and Alex followed their example as Mr. Clark called a reminder of the deadline for their stories.
She was just about to follow Claire out the door when Mr. Clark called her and asked her to stay back.
"I'll save you a seat at lunch." Claire promised before leaving the room and Alex sighed before turning around and walking over to Mr. Clark's desk in the corner of the room.
"Yes, Mr. Clark?" She asked even though she already knew what he was going to say.
"The school has a creative writing program and they meet up on Saturdays in the Math classroom." He told her. "I think you'd be a valuable addition."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Alex replied as politely as she could as she tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. "Writing is just a hobby for me."
She turned to leave, but Mr. Clark stopped her. "I'm not saying that you have to dedicate the rest of your life to being a writer." He began and she sighed before turning back around to face him. "Just think about it." He requested. "The students enrolled in the program are asked to write a sixty page script and turn it in to the program director in May and the best script gets turned into a play. Doesn't that sound like something you'd be interested in?"
Alex was quiet for a moment as Mr. Clark stared at her. She had to admit, getting to write a school preformed play sounded pretty awesome, but she'd never admit it. "I'll think about it." She said at last before turning and leaving the classroom.
Maybe Mothson wouldn't suck as much as the uniform made her believe.
"So, how was school?" Jane asked looking across the couch at Alex who shrugged. Since it was Friday, they usually went out to eat with Maura at the Dirty Robber, a bar near the police department, but Maura was busy so Jane and Alex had decided to stay home and order pizza.
Alex seemed to be in better spirits than she usually was, but Jane was attributing most of that to the small Yorkshire Terrier that sat next to Alex's side of the couch, waiting patiently to be fed another slice of pepperoni from Alex's pizza. Ever since she was a little girl, Alex had begged her mother for a dog, but Jane had always insisted that she was allergic; that was before Vince saddled her with Jo Friday.
"It's was...school." Is what Jane got as an answer.
"Your teacher called." She revealed and Alex raised an eyebrow in question. "Your English teacher, Mr. Clark."
Alex nodded. "Of course he did."
"He told me about the creative writing program." Jane continued as she picked up her beer bottle. "Are you going to do it?" Alex shrugged again.
"Maybe," She answered. "Right now, I'm just...really busy with my homework. Ms. Griffin gave me four pages of Algebra, I got twenty pages of American History to read and a five page essay from Mr. Rosen, Mr. Clark gave the entire class a ten page writing assignment due by next Friday and Claire wants me to go to her house to help her decide what song to preform for drama club tomorrow. I'll barley have time to breathe, let alone join a club."
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Who's Claire?" Alex furrowed her eyebrows.
"The girl I met at school." She said as if it were obvious. "Did I not tell you about Claire?"
"You did not tell me about Claire." Jane confirmed.
"Oh," Alex frowned. She could've sworn she told her mother about Claire...Either that or she told Claire about her mother. "Well, we met when the car came to pick me up this morning. Today was her first day too, so we just...became friends." What a lame explanation.
Jane and Alex finished their dinner in quiet before Alex went to her bedroom and started on her homework. Jo Friday, who had followed her into the bedroom, laid down at the foot of the bed and watched her.
The four pages of Algebra was the easiest to knock out and the twenty pages of American History were next. Alex managed to do that all in under an hour, but she sat at her desk for about twenty minutes stating at the blank screen of her prehistoric computer before she gave up on writing her essay and left her room to watch TV. She did have TV in her own room, but it was tiny and only got a couple of channels. The TV in the living room, however, got two hundred despite the fact that Alex watched only twenty- at most.
"I bet you never even once thought about leaving the force, did you?" Who's voice was that? Alex was still in the hallway, but she could see the living room and no one was there, so the only other place the unfamiliar voice could be was the kitchen. She figured that her mother was also there, so she couldn't peek around the corner unless she wanted them to stop talking and eavesdropping had been a hobby of Alex's since the tender age of four.
"Sure I did." She heard her mother refute. "When Hoyt had me pinned to the floor with a scalpel to my throat." Who was Hoyt? Alex had definitely heard that name before, but she'd never heard of anyone named Hoyt hurting her mother. "And now there are two of them...hunting me down like a pack of wolves."
It was quiet for a moment before Alex heard the mystery voice say something. "Do you want me to stay?" That wouldn't go over well.
"No." Her mother shot down immediately. "No, no- No." Alex figured that it was the most opportune time to interrupt.
"Hey mom, do we have any ice cream..." She trailed off as her eyes landed on the owner of the mysterious voice. She was always great at lying. "Hello."
"Uh..." He seemed uncomfortable as he cleared his throat. "Hi." Alex looked to her mother in question.
"Uh, sweetie, this is Agent Dean." She introduced. "He's helping us with an investigation. Agent Dean this is my daughter...Alex." His eyes widened slightly as he looked from Jane to Alex who gave him a tiny wave as she continued on her way to the fridge.
"Your daughter?" He asked and the teen almost laughed at the confused look on his face.
"Yeah," She confirmed as she pulled out a quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream. "I was a prom night baby." I told him. "Dad managed to slip one past the goalie which got them in a lot of trouble. I mean, can you imagine? Walking around a Catholic school and everyone knows that there's a baby inside of you?" Agent Dean looked a bit uncomfortable at her onslaught of words and didn't seem to know what to do with himself. "Night."
A couple of days past and Jane was glad to see that Alex was adjusting to her new school.
Jane would be the first to say that Alex was not one to make friends, despite the fact that she was a people person. She had a warm personality and- much like her mother- could come off as disrespectful, rude and uncultured to those who didn't know her, but she had a way of making people feel comfortable and safe. She had since she was a baby.
But Jane was- for lack of a better word- flabbergasted at how easily her daughter was making friends at her new school; Alex had, apparently, started up a friendship with the 'sweet' boy from her unofficial first day of school, the girl named Claire who she had met on her official first day of school had already declared Alex her best friend and she had already been invited to three different parties. At first, Jane had suspicions that Alex had made all of that up to ease Jane's guilt for making her switch schools, but Jane had been proven wrong when she had arrive home only a day earlier to find Alex in the living room with six different teenagers who had come over to help her write her essay.
The fact that her daughter was happy was the only thing keeping a smile on Jane's face during her crap-tastic week. Knowing that Alex was at a friend's house, safe and unharmed, was the only thing keeping Jane from breaking down.
She had been with Agent Dean when Maura called and told her that Hoyt had been in her apartment. She had immediately expressed her concerns about Alex, but Jane assured her that the teen was at the house of one of her friends, Claire, and wouldn't be back until the next day.
Jane was just about to get out of her car when her phone rang in her pocket. Quickly pulling it out, she accepted the call when she recognized the number as Agent Dean's.
"Yeah?"
"Jane, you were right." Was the first thing he said. "Called in a favor and got some records from Fort Stewart. Our apprentice is Special Forces Officer John Stark, age thirty-two. He did three tours in Afghanistan and is part of a direct action force."
"What unit was he assigned to?"
"6-1-8." Dean answered. "Medical Care Specialist." Why wasn't she surprised?
"That was Hoyt's unit."
"There's something else." Dean replied. "I took the liberty of looking for any family he might have in the US. His parent died in a home invasion during his second tour, but his sister still lives in Boston. Stark couldn't come home from Afghanistan to take care of her so she was made a ward of the state. She disappeared from her foster home ten days ago."
Jane sighed. "That's when the first murder happened." She realized. "What's her name?"
"Claire Stark."
"Wait, I know that name." Jane told the agent. "She's a student at...Oh, my God."
"What?" Dean asked. "Jane, what is it?"
"Claire Stark is a student at my daughter's school. She's been to my apartment- Alex is at her house now!"
"Where?" Dean asked. "I'll send agents to pick them both up."
"400 Chestnut Hill Square, but I doubt that's her real address. Dammit!" Jane hit her hand against the steering wheel.
"I'll send units anyway. I'll get someone to track Alex's cell-"
"She doesn't have a cell phone!" Jane snapped. "She's only fourteen!" A knock on the window pulled Jane's attention from her conversation and to a medical assistant standing next to her car. "What?"
"Detective Rizzoli?" He asked and Jane nodded, knowing she'd say something unpleasant if she spoke. "Dr. Isles requested that you ID the body."
"What body?" Jane asked as she opened the door to her car. "Dean, I've got to go. What body?" She repeated as she got out of her car and followed the assistant to the van.
"Sorry, I thought you knew." He apologized as he unlocked the back doors. "Dr. Isles said it was your neighbor?"
"Oh, my God. Marissa." He opened the door and Jane wasted no time climbing inside- not even noticing that the assistant climbed in behind her.
With fumbling hands, she unzipped the body bag, expecting to find the cold dead body of her law student neighbor, but getting the exact opposite.
"Hello, Jane." Hoyt grinned and Jane let out a gasping yell when he shoved the prongs of a taser into her stomach. Falling back into the arms of the assistant, Jane couldn't even fight as he inserted a syringe into her neck. "So nice to see you..."
Alex groaned as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Her head felt like someone had thrown a house at her and her body felt the same as it had when she was twelve and got the flu.
The last thing she could remember was calling her mother from the land line at Claire's house to check in. She had hung up and then...nothing.
Suddenly, she remembered the stinging sensation in her next right before she blacked out. She tried to move her hand to touch it, but neither one would comply. Mustering up most of her strength to turn her head to the side, Alex's eyes widened and her chest tightened when she saw the scalpel that had been stabbed through the center of her hand and into the wooden floor beneath her.
Another turn of her head found an identical scalpel in her other hand and Alex let out a whimper, only to feel a sharp pain in her lower stomach. Mustering up all the strength she could, Alex lifted her head.
Three different scalpels lodged in her body is what Alex saw; one on each side in between her middle ribs and one in center of her lower stomach. The area of her shirt around each one scalpel was soaked with blood and Alex resisted the urge to cry. What was happening? Where was she? Why was she there? Where...Where was Claire?
"Claire?" She hadn't been able to muster up anything other than a weak whisper. "Claire?" She had been louder that time, but not by much. "Claire...Where are you?
"Look who's awake." Alex turned her head again to see Claire in the open doorway twirling a scalpel in her hand. Somehow, she looked different; her long blonde hair was now cut short and she had on dark eye shadow and dark red lipstick. Her overall vibe was different too; gone was the meek exterior and fragile stance in her place was a young woman who radiated confidence. "I was starting to think I gave you too big of a dosage."
"Claire, what happening?" Alex swallowed as the blonde neared her. "Why are you-"
"Doing this?" Claire finished. "Because I can, because I need to, because I'm supposed to- take your pick."
"Claire-"
"Oh, stop your whining." She snapped and Alex flinched. "You're lucky that you got me instead of my brother. I mean, Johnny...he likes torture." Claire squatted down at Alex's side. "Emotional, physical...sexual." She ran her scalpel lightly across Alex's neck and then over her chest. Alex wished she hadn't taken off her button up, leaving her only in her tank top, but she doubted it would've stopped Claire. "I, however, prefer the kill. I mean, watching the life drain out of someone as they slowly die...that gives a girl a whole new kind of satisfaction." Trailing her scalpel up Alex's chin, Claire continued up to her face and pressed down above her eyebrow.
Alex flinched and Claire quickly retracted the blade. "Normally, I like'em to die slowly, but I like you." Claire chuckled. "Hoyt warned me that you were like your mother that way." Alex's eyes widened at the mention of her mother, but there wasn't much she could do. Her body was ridiculously weak and the blood loss from her hands weren't helping anything.
"Who is Hoyt?" Alex asked and Claire let out a humorless chuckle.
"You're either stupid or your mother really never told you anything, but who could blame her?" She shrugged. "I'll give you a hint though; Your secret admirer, Henry Deduboto, sends his love. Sure, it's in the form two scalpels in your hands, but it's the thought that counts, right?" Claire let out another short laugh before her entire demeanor became somber. "Y'know, I've never been sad about anybody else I've killed, but you..." She shook her head. "You were my only friend- my best friend and I am gonna miss you."
Raising the scalpel over her head, Claire gave Alex one last pitying look. "Goodbye Alessandra." Alex's heart began to speed up and she desperately wanted to close her eyes and wait for it all to be over, but she refused to be that weak. If Claire was going to kill her, she was going to have to do it while looking her in the eyes.
Claire took one last soothing breath before bringing the blade down at the same moment that both she and Alex heard the sound of a bullet crack through the air.
Alex screamed as Claire fell and the scalpel clattered off to the side. She looked to the blonde to see that her blue eyes were still wide open and staring right at her.
"Alex?" A voice called and she turned her head to see her Uncle Frankie's face above her own. "Alex, you're okay now. We're gonna get you out of here."
"Jane...Jane!" Jane shook her head and looked up to see Maura standing above her with two cups of coffee in her hands. "Where were you?"
"Nowhere...everywhere." Jane sighed as she took a cup. "I just keep expecting her to wake up and when she doesn't..." Maura sat down next to her friend and looked over to the bed.
For two weeks, Alex Rizzoli had been laying in a hospital bed at Boston Memorial Hospital with her only movements being the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.
As soon as she arrived in the hospital, Alex had been rushed to the operating room after she began coughing up blood. Two of the three scalpels stabbed into Alex's body had impaled both of her lungs, deeply. They had been the only things keeping her lungs full of air, something that Frankie hadn't known when he pulled them out.
After she had gotten out of surgery, her doctor- with Maura's consultation- had decided to put Alex in a medical coma so she could heal faster. Now that Maura was confident that Alex wouldn't be in too much pain, she suggested that she be brought out of her coma and the doctors listened. Now everyone was simply waiting for the teen to wake up.
If only to make herself and Jane feel better knowing that Alex was comfortable, Maura had used her friendship with the hospital's owner to get Alex a private room that had a couch for Jane to sleep on. Well...that and they needed a room big enough to hold all the flowers, 'Get Well' stuffed animals and other gifts that were dropped off by Alex's schoolmates and people from the precinct. Even Alex's paternal grandparents had stopped by to leave a gift and they hadn't seen her since she was four.
"She could come out at any time, Jane." Maura assured her. "We just have to be patient."
"I know." Jane sighed. "That doesn't stop me from wanting her to wake up sooner rather than later." She stared at Alex's seemingly peaceful face for a few seconds before looking back to Maura. "Did you know that Frankie still hasn't come by to see her?"
Reluctantly, Maura nodded. "He feels guilty. He's been distracting himself by cleaning up your apartment."
"He shouldn't feel guilty." Jane said. "It wasn't his fault. He needs to understand that."
"He does." Maura replied. "You've told him, I've told him, Angela has told him, but...Frankie's not going to feel better until he hears it from Alex." Jane knew it was the truth, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
"Do you know what today is?" Maura nodded.
"September thirteenth." She answered. "Alex's fifteenth birthday."
"All she wanted was a phone." Jane continued. "She wanted one last year, but I said no because I knew my mother would be in my ear 24/7 about me letting Alex have one so young."
"I take it, she's getting one once she wakes up?" Maura smiled and Jane did too.
"I'd give her a pony if she asked." Jane replied honestly. Maura opened her mouth, but Jane already knew what she was about to say. "No, you are not buying my daughter a horse."
...
When Alex woke up, her head was no longer pounding. Instead, it kind of felt like when she was twelve and she had woken up from surgery to get four broken teeth removed from her mouth after her Uncle Tommy took her to a skate park and decided she didn't need a helmet.
While she was still weak, she was strong enough to move her head and when she did, Alex was very relieved to find she did not have any scalpels in her body.
Automatically knowing she was in a hospital, Alex lifted her arm to grab the remote underneath her pillow and pressed the nurse call button before putting it back. It wasn't long before a nurse showed up. When she saw that Alex was awake, she seemed surprised. The nurse left for a moment, only to return with Jane and Maura both.
"Alex," Jane breathed a sigh of relief as she rushed over to Alex's by while Maura talked with the nurse. "Thank God you're okay, I was starting to think you'd never wake up. What were you doing in your head so long?"
"Dreaming." Alex answered, still sounding weak. "How long was I asleep?" Jane seemed reluctant to answer, but Alex gave her a look. "Mom..."
"Not that long." She claimed. "Just a couple of days."
"How many days?"
"..." Jane did not want to answer that, but she knew that the doctor would tell her if Jane or Maura didn't. "You were asleep for three weeks. They had to put you in a coma so you wouldn't be in pain while your lungs healed."
"But you're all better now." Maura informed the teen as she joined Jane by her bedside. "I wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon, so that's a good sign. Another week or two and you might be able to go home." Alex smiled and her eyes traveled past her mother and Maura to see the gifts and flowers that filled the large hospital room.
"Uh, Maura?" She asked, her eyes flicking to the medical examiner. "Did you...?" Both Maura and Jane followed her gaze to the gifts.
"No." Maura answered. "These are from your friends at school and everyone from the precinct." Alex smiled again only for it to falter when she realized something.
"I missed my own birthday."
"Yeah, but you'll have plenty of other ones." Jane assured, taking Alex's hand. She nodded in understanding, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
Twelve days later, Alex Rizzoli was officially released from the hospital.
She still had a lot of healing to do, so Maura had decided Alex would be on bed rest, not that she minded. Alex had over four weeks of school and homework to makeup, despite the fact that her teachers told her that she could simply make it up once she returned.
"Alright, that's the last of the stairs." Maura announced as she opened the door of the stairwell to let Jane and Alex through. "I still can't believe they haven't repaired the elevator yet. You shouldn't have to climb four flights of stairs just to get to your apartment."
"Maura, that elevator's been broken for two years." Alex reminded her as she was led, very slowly, towards the door to her and Jane's apartment.
"Well, I wouldn't have to complain if your mother had found a better apartment to live in."
"I'm not moving Maura!" Jane said firmly. "Not only do I not want too, but I can't afford it. I just finished paying off my loans to buy this place."
"You know that the door to my guest house is always open." Maura argued and Jane rolled her eyes.
"I like my apartment."
Alex couldn't help but smile as she listened to the two bicker the entire, very slow, walk to the front door of the apartment. Despite the fact that it should be stressing her out, Alex found it soothing in its normalcy and God knows she needed normal after everything that happened.
Jane opened the door and went inside as Maura helped Alex in after.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Alex asked as she shuffled in and ran her hand across the wall until she found the light switch. "It's like somebody deliberately-"
"SURPRISE!" Alex let out a very loud and very high pitched scream and would have fallen down and need another trip to the hospital if Maura hadn't caught her.
In here apartment stood every member of her family, almost every teenager she had come into contact with at Mothson and each person wore some kind of party hat on their head. The entire apartment was covered in blue and white birthday decorations and there was even a very large 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!' banner hanging above the windows.
"What the hell is going on?!" There was a reason Alex Rizzoli hated surprise parties. She didn't like being the only person who didn't know what was going on and she also didn't like a dozen people yelling Happy Birthday at her as soon as she walked in the door.
"We knew you were a bit upset about missing your birthday," Jane explained. "So Maura called all your little friends from school and threw a surprise party."
"This cannot be healthy for my blood pressure."
"It's one surprise. You'll live." That, surprisingly, came from Maura.
Despite the fact that she was tired, Alex was a team player and stayed up to enjoy her birthday party. After receiving hugs from her grandparents, Uncle Tommy and very apologetic Uncle Frankie, Alex allowed herself to be ushered over to the couch and surrounded by her Mothson friends who told her everything that had happened at school while she was in the hospital.
"You know," Jane said as she and Maura watched Alex converse with her friends. "We did a good job with her."
"We?"
"Well, yeah." Jane nodded. "You've been in her life since she was seven and you've done a lot for her; you helped me give her the 'You're Becoming A Woman' talk after she came home from school during her first period, you helped me take her bra shopping and you taught her French. Who knows how different she'd be if you hadn't been around."
"She'd still be the same sweet, kind, generous-"
"Sarcastic, Smart-ass, slightly insane-"
"Responsible, beautiful girl that she is." Maura continued, holding in her laughter at Jane's word contribution. "She just wouldn't know French." Both the medical examiner and the detective clinked their respective glass of wine and beer bottle together before taking a drink,
...
Later, after everyone had gone home, Jane was helping Alex get ready for bed.
And, although Jane had seen Alex's naked body many times as a child, it was still very embarrassing for the latter of the two when it came to bathing. "Just think of it as Karma." Jane suggested as she recounted the time she had tried to take a day off to herself. She was still in the academy and Alex was barely four. Tommy- who had been sixteen at the time- offered to take his niece to her soccer practice that day so Jane had ran a bubble bath and had only slipped in when she heard her front door open. The next thing she knew, she heard Tommy's voice calling out Alex's name before the door to the bathroom slammed open and Alex hadn't even hesitated before running in and jumping into the tub- still clothed in her uniform and covered in mud.
After helping her with her bath, Jane helped Alex get dressed in a nightgown before depositing her in bed.
"Alright," Jane began as she re-entered Alex's bedroom. Jane didn't know why, but she was thankful that this was the only room that hadn't been trashed by Hoyt and Stark. She didn't know how she would feel if she saw everything that Alex had ever loved had been destroyed. "I know your fingers are tired from all the gift unwrapping, but you have one more present to open before you go to sleep." Sitting down on the side of the bed, Jane pulled her hand from behind her back and handed it to Alex.
"Well..." She said examining the hand sized rectangular box."It's obviously not a pony." Jane rolled her eyes and Alex pulled the thin red ribbon off of the box before pulling the top open and taking out the object inside. "No way..." Looking up at her mother, Alex saw the grin on her face before she looked back down at her gift. "I can't believe it! You actually got me a phone?!"
"Well, I figured that it was time. You are, after all, fifteen and now you actually have friends to call." Alex glared at her mother for the joke, but couldn't keep the grin off of her face.
"Thank you, mom." Alex would deny it later, but leaning to hug her mother had hurt a lot. Pulling back, Alex looked back down at her phone just before it buzzed and the screen lit up. "Who could be texting me? I, literally, just got the thing." Unlocking the phone, Alex tapped on the notification.
Happy Birthday - Dad
So, please tell me if that was as much a sucky ending as I thought it was. I just couldn't figure out any other way to end it. I hope you all are as excited as I am to go on the series long journey with Alex.
Review!