"Maura, everything's going to be just fine. You'll see."

Why do lawyers think they know everything? The fact of the matter is that she may lose her children. Firstly, her daughter Alice hates her. Initially Maura thought it was just a teenage phase, but when they broke the news of the divorce to their children, Alice had actually shouted at Maura – not her father – in French! And then ran to her room. She thinks that the reason her parents are getting divorced is because they don't love each other anymore; and of course, she blames Maura and not Ian.

Then there's their younger son, Jacob, who keeps asking questions like "When's daddy coming back home?" and, "Why are you crying, mommy?" As heart-breaking as it is for her to have to answer him honestly, his little face is what keeps her going; still so filled with hope.
But the poor, sweet boy doesn't even understand what's happening.

"Mrs. Isles would you like to say anything before I give my verdict?" asked the judge. Anyone could tell that to him, her court case was just another marriage gone wrong and that he was in a hurry to resolve this and make it home in time if he wanted to keep his own marriage alive. If there was anything she would have really liked to say, she would have asked him to take this case seriously.

Yet knowing that she should say something, she didn't. There was nothing really to say. He had read their character witness statements as well as their hand-written statements and Maura exhausted every single resource she had to show this judge how much she needed her kids; and how much they needed her. And now her family's fate is left in the hands of an inattentive old man in a robe.

"Very well then. After reviewing both your personal statements, as well as your witness's statements, I have concluded that in the best interest of the children, their care will be left solely under the supervision of the father. This is a temporary arrangement until our next court date."

Maura felt her heart plummet heavily into the pit of her stomach. How could he do this to me? How was it that Ian screwed up their family, but it was she who was being punished? Ian knows how much she loves their children. How could he?

"You are dismissed," said the judge, banging his gavel as if she was just another docket number.

"That's it? It's over?"

"Maura, now's not the best time for this. Please, trust me, everything's going to be fine," said her rookie lawyer, fresh out of Yale. Maura just knew he was too young to be able to hold the future of her children in his hands, but her brother, Colin, insisted he was one of the most elite, up and coming stars on the law and justice scene. So far, all he's done is draw up the divorce papers and let the court award her soon-to-be ex-husband full custody of her children. At this point, a refund would be the least he could do.

Fed up, Maura erupted with anger and yelled at him, "Until my children are safely back in MY home where they belong, everything will NOT be fine!" Redirecting her anger, Maura scowled at Ian.

"How can you take my children away from me?" she asked. He just sat there looking as if he had done nothing wrong; just an honest, blank stare of innocence. He probably didn't even expect the judge to rule in his favor either.

Setting her shoulders as she walked the short distance to his table, she stood right in front of Ian and his lawyer, hesitating to think of what she should say to him after yet another betrayal. Something that would hurt him or make him want to give her children back, but she couldn't. All Maura could think about was that the man she married knows how much she cares about Alice and Jacob. The man she married would never try to separate her from her children. But clearly, the man she married isn't the same man she's divorcing.

"I don't even know who you are anymore." And with that, she felt the prickle of fresh tears stinging her eyes.

Maura rushed out of the court room – I will not let him see me cry – and as soon as she felt the cool, open air of downtown Boston, she completely fell apart. She tried to force herself to calm down so no one would see her like this; see what Ian's done to her, when she heard her phone ring. Her hands were shaking so much, she barely managed to press the right button before speaking on a broken exhale.

"Where are you!?" she barked at her brother, who had promised to be by her side during the court proceedings. How reliable are the men in my life?

"I'm so sorry, honey. The orientation at the university went on longer than usual. We're getting so many freshmen this year and apparently they all want to take Art History. So… what happened?" She knew that was coming. The price of having a twin: you know exactly what they're thinking.

"Well," she sighed, gathering her wits about her, "… Ian got full, temporary custody of the kids." At first there was only the sound of a car engine that assured her Collin was still on the phone.

"Collin? Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he answered, sounding unsure. Then suddenly, his tone became extremely agitated. "You know what, I lied. I'm not ok and neither is this fucked up situation!"

"Collin, calm down, and please watch your language." This is so like her brother. He does this thing where he can turn anyone's situation into his own. Maura just knew that when she told him the judge's verdict, she would have to be the one consoling him instead of the other way around. "Everything is going to be fine," she mimicked, "That over-priced under-aged lawyer you stuck me with told me himself."

"You with the jokes at a time like this... Listen, go home. I'm on my way to your house right after I drop by the liquor store, ok?" Honestly, she didn't want to see him – or anyone – at the moment. And unfortunately, no amount of alcohol in the world could make this hurt go away.

"No. Actually, I just wanted to be alone," she confessed.

"Are you sure? Because I know this is a really difficult time for you…" he said as if she wasn't in a custody battle, but instead battling cancer.

"I'm positive. Plus, I shouldn't drink. I have work in the morning."

"Right. Got it, sis. Is there anything you want me to get you?"

The only thing she could think of that she could possibly want was her children. She sighed, defeated. "No, I'm fine."

"Alright, well call me if you need anything, ok?"

Maura knows he means well, but she really needed him by her side in that courtroom today. Yeah, not gonna happen. "I will. Oh, and Collin?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell them," he said preemptively, doing the twin thing.

"Especially not mother!"

"Especially not mother."

When she hung the phone up, Maura started walking towards her car. Distracted with thoughts of the day's events and preoccupied with wiping the tears from her blurry eyes, she almost didn't notice him standing near her car.

"Maura..."

She snapped her head up to find Ian standing there. "Excuse me, I need to get in my car. Besides, you're not even supposed to be talking to me," she said keeping any emotion from coloring her voice.

"I know, but I need a favor."

For lack of a better (or worse) word, Maura was completely stunned. He had been dragging her through hell for so long with the marriage counseling, then the divorce lawyers, and not even ten minutes ago he was standing before a judge, under oath, testifying that she was an unfit mother! Now he wants afavor?

"Ian, what could you possibly want from me? You've already taken every single thing I care even a little about."

"It's actually about the kids. Could you… not tell them… you know… about what happened?"

"What do you mean by 'what happened'?" Maura played dumb, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She was wondering when this conversation would come to a head.

"You know… about why we're getting a divorce."

"Oh, you mean how their father cheated on their mother with three other women? And how you then allowed them to believe that the reason for our divorce is because Mommy spends too much time at work and doesn't really love Daddy anymore? Is that the 'what happened' you're referring to?"

"Have you… Have you already told them?" he asked, unable to meet her gaze. She couldn't tell whether it was from shame or fear. She hoped it was both.

"No! Of course not. And I wasn't going to, because unlike you, I am a fit parent," she countered, shoving her way past him and getting into her car.

How could he even think that I would tell our children something like that? I would never tell them that their dad is a selfish bastard who couldn't keep his hands – or any part of himself – to himself. As if they aren't already going through hell.

Without a backwards glance, Maura put the key in the ignition, hands shaking in anger, and drove away, disappearing around the corner. When she reached her destination, she put the car in park in front of the playground where Jake and Ali often played, long before their family came crashing down like a ton of uncemented bricks.

Maura sat there crying until the street lights came on, wondering how on earth she was going to build them back up again.

A stream of piercing, bright light leaked through her bedroom curtains and woke her up. Her head ached dizzyingly, the throbbing at the base of her skull reminding her that that last glass of wine was one glass too many. Eventually, Maura willed her body to roll over and glanced at the bedside clock. Through her haze, she strained to make her brain read and make sense of the large, red numbers... I'm late!

Shooting out of bed with a newfound reserve of energy, Maura stumbled instinctively around her bedroom while the blood rushed around inside her head.Late for work! I will never hear the end of it. Glad that she decided to take a hot bath last night instead of putting it off until this morning, she rushed into her closet and blindly grabbed the first black pencil skirt and white blouse in sight.

"Where are my sketches?" she wondered out loud. Hurrying down the hallway to her home office while buttoning up her shirt, Maura rummaged through the papers on her desk and luckily, the sketches were right there waiting for her. She found a pair of her go-to black heels peeking from under the desk and absent-mindedly slipped them on with practiced ease.

Remembering that workdays also meant schooldays in this household, the working mother of two dashed to her son's room to wake Jacob up, but when she reached his bed, she realized he wasn't in it. That was a little strange, but thinking nothing of it, Maura figured his big sister woke him up after noticing their mother was still asleep. As angry as she was all the time, Alice was nothing if not practical. Maura made her way to the next bedroom and pushed Alice's door open only to find that her bed was already made and her book bag wasn't at her desk. Confused, Maura made her way down the stairs, wondering where her kids were.

It wasn't until she reached the kitchen that the overwhelming truth of yesterday's events came rushing back.

"My children are gone."

The thought alone was enough to open the floodgates of anguish she tried so hard to numb the night before. Maura is not usually one to exaggerate, but she literally felt like dying; she felt like going back up to bed and never getting back up. All sorts of questions swirled around her mind. Are they awake? Did Alice drop her brother off at school? Do they have lunch money for the week? Do they miss me too?

Intent on finding out the state of her children's well-being, the worried mother quickly went upstairs to her bedroom in search of her cell phone. When she saw the text message alert on the screen, she immediately imagined the worst, giving way for panic to set in. Maura opened the message.

Alice: Don't worry. Jake and I are at school. I took care of it.

Maura sighed in relief, proud to have such a responsible daughter during this trying time. Her slight smile sagged a little when she realized how much growing up Ali's been forced to do since the divorce was announced. She wished her daughter didn't have to grow up so fast just because one parent refused to. Pushing those feelings aside for later processing, Maura sent a quick reply.

Maura: Hey, honey. I'm really sorry we didn't get to say good-bye before your dad came for you.

The reply is instant.

A: … Sure mom.

Maura could almost see Alice roll her eyes at her.

M: Ali, I had no idea he was going to get you guys before I even got home.

A: I said sure. Gotta go.

M: Okay. I love you. Call me later, please.

Maura knew her daughter wouldn't reply this time, but she was glad even for this short, awkward interaction. A few moments after pressing Send, wrapped up in the feeling of missing her children dearly, she caught another glimpse of the time and decidedly sprang back into action.

She couldn't believe she was late. In her ten years working at one of the leading architectural agencies in the world, she had never been late. Not once, not ever.

Maura sent an 'I'm running late' text to her assistant, Justin, as she peeled out of her driveway, but there was no reply. Could this day get any worse?

If only she hadn't broken down last night and indulged herself in an entire bottle of wine – alone – crying over a photo album of the happy family she once had. Her thumb hovered over the Send button several times after typing and re-typing her brother a simple text reading, "I'm not okay." Yet she never sent it. Instead, she coddled herself with way too much liquid healing and now she's running into work with disheveled hair and a pair of shoes a different shade of black than her skirt!

As soon as the elevator dinged to reveal the 12th floor, she darted towards her office hoping – no, expecting – her morning coffee would be promptly waiting if Justin knew what was good for him after ignoring her this morning, but as she passed her usually punctual assistant's desk, Maura noticed it was empty. Something else that got her attention was a woman she'd never seen before, hovering near her office door.

Maura walked past her and twisted the door-handle and the pacing woman stopped and immediately turned to her. She smiled and said, "Hello, you must be Mrs. Isles, I'm-"

Maura turned in the doorway and rolled her eyes, too hung-over to even bother trying to hide it. She never thought she'd be on the business end of the dreaded 'you're late' speech, but she kind of knew it was coming.

"Listen," she rudely interrupted the other woman, "if you're one of Fairfield's minions here to inform me that I am late, you can save yourself the trouble and inform him that I am intelligent enough to be fully aware of that fact."

The woman looked taken aback and her smile wilted. "Oh, no Ma'am. My name is Jane Rizzoli. I'm actually-"

"Look, I don't have time for this. I have a lot of work to do."

And without a backwards glance, Maura further entered her office and shut the door in the woman's face. Sighing, she dragged herself to her desk and plopped down, already exhausted. Placing her head in her hands, Maura took a few deep breaths. I really need to calm down. She was already so worked up, without having done any work yet.

Coffee. That's what was missing from the equation. Where's my coffee? Justin. Dead man walking. They've discussed this; she needs her coffee waiting on her desk every morning of every day. It was highly unlike him to slack like this. He's usually too afraid of her to do anything wrong.

The architect picked up her telephone's receiver and then dialed her assistant's extension. The phone rang and rang and rang until she ultimately slammed it down and charged back to her door, yanking it open. Maura stood in the doorway and yelled. "Justin! Where the hell is my coffee!"

But instead of the meek, young man with 90s boy-band highlights and thick-framed glasses, the tall, dark-haired girl from earlier got up from Justin's desk and shuffled toward her. "Oh. I… didn't know you needed coffee."

"What I need is Justin. Where is he?"

"Uhm… Ma'am, he was laid off yesterday," she said as if Maura should already know this.

Maura's agitation promptly picked up where it left off after the last five words that were said to her. Laid off?!

"What! How do you know this when I don't?"

This had Fairfield's fingerprints all over it. Typical. How could he just fire her assistant and not let her know? Maura was beyond furious.

"I only, uhm, found out about this job yesterday myself. And it's just such a great opportunity I just couldn't pass it up. So, here I am. Jane Rizzoli, your new assistant…"

Maura felt like her head was spinning, not only from the hang over, but now from rage as well. One deadbeat after the other; first her husband, and now her boss (if you don't count her brother and lawyer). Men were officially overrated.

Fairfield did not get to hire and fire her assistants! She did! She got to choose who she deemed qualified and quick enough to keep up with her pace, not him.

She looked the woman before her up and down. Standing up straight in her dark (clearly off-the-rack) pant-suit, she was tall and slim with long, wavy dark hair that stopped a couple of inches below her shoulder blades. But she looked a lot more mature than most of her previous young assistants, which is one of Maura's primary conditions for employment under her. Young assistants tended to have the stamina required to run errands and stay up late. They were also easily intimidated by her, and therefore, thankfully, kept their opinions to themselves. From what Maura's seen so far, this woman wasn't exactly a bad candidate, but that should have been her decision. Not Fairfield's.

Jane's rambling rant seemed to fetter out as Maura scrutinized every square inch of her with narrowed eyes. "You're my new assistant?"

The woman eagerly nodded her head. "Yes, Ma'am. And Mrs. Isles, I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your work and I plan to work very hard for you. It's a real huge honor to be-"

"Why didn't you answer the phone when I paged your line?"

"Oh." She seemed taken aback at being interrupted once again. "Well, uhm-"

"You have used the unfavorable phrase 'uhm' three times so far during this conversation. If you are to remain my assistant past the five-minute mark, you are to speak to me like an educated individual. Therefore, you will completely discard that phrase from your vocabulary."

At first, the new assistant just stared back at her. She lifted her eyebrows in surprise, mouth poised to say something, but ended up only nodding slowly, accepting the assertion of Maura's superior position.

"It won't happen again, Mrs. Isles. But just for the record, when you called earlier I was on the phone with someone from upstairs and I wasn't sure how to switch over to your line."

Maura looked at her subordinate, who seemed to be nervous for a change, as her hands dug into her pockets, looking back at her with expressive brown eyes.

"Well, Jane, you better figure it out by the time I get back. Now, call Fairfield's office and let him know that I'm on my way up to speak with him," she said to her, making her way to the elevator. She was going to rip him a new one.

This was no coincidence. Ever since Maura rejected his romantic advances toward her, he's been a complete ass to her. It isn't her fault that she finds him very unattractive on top of her being very married… or at least she was very married. And ever since his father made him co-head of the company, he credits himself with far more power than he actually possesses. She was tired of his crap. It had to end.

When Maura passed by his assistant's desk, she immediately rose to her feet.

"Mrs. Isles, we weren't expecting you. Your assistant just called to say you were on your way up."

"Yes, Diana, and I wasn't expecting to have a new assistant. A day full of surprises, isn't it? Where is he?"

"He… uhm… He-" Maura waved her off for wasting her time, and entered Fairfield's office without knocking. She found him silently seated at his desk, browsing something on his laptop when his stony face turned shocked once his line of sight found her in it.

"Isles, what are you doing here?"

She crossed her arms and braced herself for the verbal lashing she had concocted and embellished especially for him on the ride up on the elevator.

"One of these days everyone will realize that you aren't just playing dumb. And you know exactly why I'm here! What is this about me getting a new assistant? Why was Justin fired and why the hell was I not informed about it?

"You have got to stop playing these stupid games to try and get back at me! I am much too mature for this childish revenge, especially when it starts interfering with my work. Just because you're daddy's boy does not mean you are exempt from the standard of professionalism that the rest of us seem to have no problem upholding, Garret!"

He stared at her for a long moment before closing his laptop and adjusting his tie with a tensed jaw.

"First of all, Maura, I'll ignore your little outburst due to your present… circumstances, but let this be the last. And I have no idea what game you think I'm playing with you, but I can assure you that I do my job with the utmost professionalism and efficiency. My company prides itself in our efficiency, which is why I had to let your little bus-boy go."

"That makes no sense. What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Pillar's salary had to be cut. He didn't like it, so we had to replace him with someone who didn't mind working for a little less. Now, you know all about this business. Do you truly doubt I did the right thing?"

As much as she hated this prick, he had a point. The company was all about cutting corners and saving money at any cost, but she wasn't about to let him off that easily.

"And I suppose giving me a heads up would have been wrong and inefficient of you then?"

"Well, the decision was made yesterday and you said yourself that you didn't wish to be bothered the day of your trial… How did that go by the way?"

"None of your damn business." Maura turned and began walking towards the door. "By the way, an email, at the very least, would have been nice. Which I imagine would have been quite far out of character for you."

"Good morning to you too!" She heard him say, always having to have the last word. Could the day get any worse now?

By the time Maura arrived back at her office, she found her new assistant sitting at her desk recording something into the planner with her left hand while holding the phone's receiver against her shoulder with the other. She was concentrating too hard to even realize her new boss was back.

An unusual sense of fleeting guilt swept over Maura for snapping at her earlier. The girl was trying. She gave her a slight nod as she continued on into her office and shut the door, only to be wonderfully assaulted by the aroma of coffee. Her heartbeat sped up in excitement with each step, fingers crossed that it isn't instant coffee.

And there it was: a double-tall, non-fat, spice pumpkin espresso. Plus a post-it note reading: 'Sorry about the wait. It won't happen again.' Suddenly she didn't miss Justin at all. The fact that Jane got it right the first time was impressive on its own, just not enough to send Fairfield a thank you note.

Taking a sip, Maura's thoughts cleared and gave way for her conscience. The new girl really was trying, and Maura felt she owed it to her to at least introduce herself properly. Now that she thought about it, she's been nothing but bitchy to her all morning.

Having another sip, Maura sat back in her chair with her coffee in hand and dialed Jane's extension with the other. It rang only once before Jane picked up the line, sounding flustered.

"Hello, Mrs. Isles. What can I do for you?"

"I see you figured out how to use the phone," she noted, a half-attempt at humor.

Through the glass walls Maura saw her look over with a very faint smirk. "Yes, Ma'am."

She sighed in relief, glad Jane didn't take it the wrong way. "Anyway, will you step into my office, please Jane?"

Jane glanced at her again through the wall. "Oh, of course. I'll be right there."

A moment later, Maura looked up at the sound of her door opening as Jane stepped only a few feet into the room and stopped, waiting for instructions with her iPad in hand.

"Do you need me to do something, Mrs. Isles?"

"Come. Sit."

A/N: So...I did a thing. Please, let me know what you think! Also, thanks to my awesome beta Ink-About-It.