Disclaimer: All recognizable Rizzoli & Isles characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to Tess Gerritsen. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Another short one-shot. Trying to get my writing mojo back by writing smaller, succinct pieces. Hope y'all enjoy. –DKC

Partners

Maura arrived at the crime scene and was disappointed to find that Detectives Rizzoli and Frost hadn't been called on this one. It certainly made the M.E.'s job much more enjoyable when she worked around the people who were used to her quirks.

"Well, well, well… Looks like the BPD brought out the big guns. Nice skirt, sweetheart!" hollered a man in the small crowd assembled behind the police tape.

The medical examiner may not have even realized the obnoxious bystander was speaking to her. As she walked up to the detectives and asked for information on the body, the younger male detective sent death glares at the bystander. As Maura got opened her kit, she noticed Frankie Rizzoli walking toward the scene. He must have been called in to keep the small crowd under control.

"Alright, folks, step back. Let's give these officers some room to do their work," Frankie was heard saying.

"That hot piece is hardly an officer," the loud bystander said, getting a laugh out of a few of the other young men standing hear him. "Or if she is, I'd like to be arrested by her."

"Back up buddy and shut it!" Frankie said.

Maura realized there wasn't much she could do with the body in its current location and ordered her assistant to take the body back to the morgue. As she stood and wiped the wrinkles out of her pencil skirt, she couldn't help but glance in the direction of the man she'd been hearing the entire time, but attempting to ignore.

"Hey, baby," he hollered and she quickly looked away.

Maura gathered her things and started walking back toward her car. There was no way to avoid walking past the man; the narrow alley placed him between a brick building and the police tape. Walking under the tape, held up by an older officer, Maura had to walk no more than the length of the morgue vehicle to reach her car. Unfortunately, about a foot past the tape, she felt a hand reach out and grab her forearm forcefully.

"Hey, bitch! Didn't you hear me?" the loud and strong man had grabbed Maura under the police tape.

As Maura looked at him with a complete look of shock, Frankie Rizzoli pushed the man against the brick wall. The man hit rather hard and was met with Frankie's arm pressed into his throat as he held him by his collar.

"Do you have any idea what you have just done?" Frankie said, raising his voice and continuing to hold the thug against the wall.

"Man, come on, you see that?" the guy said.

"Jim, get over here. This fella needs a ride down town," Frankie said to the older officer, turning the guy around to cuff him. "You're under arrest for assault, asshole."

Maura continued walking to her car. Once she got in she realized she was shaking. Taking in a few deep breaths, she calmed before Frankie was there at her open door.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I believe so. Is arresting him necessary?" Maura asked, looking up into the concerned eyes of her best friend's little brother.

"Maura, he assaulted you. If he had done that to a cop, he would get the same treatment," he said.

"I understand," Maura said. "Frankie?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't tell Jane," Maura asked.

Frankie grinned knowing that his sister would come unglued on the poor bastard in lockup should she find out about the incident. He knew Jane and he also knew how protective she was of Maura.

"No problem," Frankie answered as he closed Maura's car door and smiled at the doctor.

xx R&I xx

Back at the morgue, Maura found a sticky note on her desk asking about a specific case from before Maura was the Chief Medical Examiner. Welcoming the distraction as she continued to attempt to calm her nerves, Maura put on her lab coat and walked to the small file room at the end of the hall.

Reaching the file she needed, the doctor stood skimming the file as her best friend came stomping into the file room.

"Maura!" Jane said in a firm voice as she shut the steel fire door to the file room. "What the hell?"

"It was nothing, Jane," Maura answered without looking up at her friend. She didn't need to look at Jane to know her best friend was mad and she certainly knew what it was about without having to ask.

"Nothing?! Some asshole grabbing you a crime scene is not nothing!" Jane stared at her best friend who still hadn't looked up.

"I told Frankie not to tell you. I didn't want this to be a big deal," the doctor said as she finally looked up from and closed the file.

"Frankie? Frankie was there? He isn't who told me," Jane huffed.

The detective took several steps toward her best friend and gently pulled up the sleeves on Maura's lab coat to inspect the doctor's arms for bruises.

"It didn't bruise," Maura whispered.

She should have expected Jane to find out. It was nearly impossible to keep anything quiet in the BPD station. She also knew this is how Jane would react—precisely why she didn't want Jane to know. Jane's overprotective nature kicked into high gear anytime those she was closest to were in trouble or hurt in any way. It was something truly loveable about Jane Rizzoli.

"Are you okay?" the detective had lowered her voice and was looking at the doctor with the same concern Maura had seen from Frankie earlier only magnified.

"Yes," the doctor answered.

Jane, who had still been holding Maura's forearms, let her hands slide into Maura's.

"Why didn't you call me? Or text me? Or tell me when you got back to the station?" Jane asked softly.

"Because I knew you would overreact."

"I'm not overreacting. This is a perfectly rational reaction. We're partners. This is how partners react," Jane's voice was soft, yet serious. Her dark eyes were locked on Maura's.

"Frost is your partner. I'm your best friend. I understand that partners have each other's back. This is different," the doctor responded, never dropping eye contact with her friend.

"That's not what I mean," Jane whispered.

"No, no it isn't," Maura said as she dropped her forehead to Jane's shoulder.

There was much left unsaid between the two. What they were, what they weren't, none of it mattered to them—at least not in the sense that they needed to dissect it or fear it. Jane's reaction to the entire episode said everything that needed to be said. What they had didn't need to be defined.

"Take it easy on Frankie," Maura muttered into Jane's shoulder. "He was gallant."

"I heard the gallant Rizzoli game to your defense."

"Must run in families," whispered the doctor, squeezing Jane's hands tighter in hers.

-finis-