It was a dark and stormy night.

Everyone else had gone home, but Dr. Isles and her assistant, Susie, stood in the dim lab, surveying the body that lay on the table. It wasn't a dead body, but it wasn't alive, either. At least, not yet.

"She's perfect," Dr. Isles breathed. "Physically, she's perfect. This is how I've always imagined my dream woman."

"She's tall," Susie observed.

"Yes, I like them tall," Dr. Isles said proudly, her eyes sweeping the long legs and the lithe body they connected to. "Tall and thin. Slightly androgynous form, but with a feminine edge. Breasts large enough to fill my hands, but not too large." Susie looked slightly uncomfortable with that image. "The abs came out well," Dr. Isles added.

"Yes, but she'll have to work out a lot to keep them," Susie noted.

"If the brain programming works out, that won't be a problem," Dr. Isles assured her. "I put in a love of physical exercise. I made her like mainstream sports, such as baseball, for the sake of contrast. I gave her many qualities I don't have. Balance is important to a relationship."

"You two will look good together," said Susie, looking at the woman's pretty face. "Her dark hair and eyes will provide a nice contrast to your lighter features."

"Thank you," said Dr. Isles, pleased. "I love the curls. They're a bit wild, but I think I need some wild in my life."

"You are very orderly," Susie agreed.

"Like I said, balance." Dr. Isles gazed thoughtfully. "She's beautiful."

"Yes, she is. She looks Italian."

"I love Italians." Dr. Isles smiled sadly. "If the brain programming works, she will be bold, brave, and loyal. She will be fierce and intelligent, with a big heart, a great sense of humor, and a healthy libido. She should also have a low, raspy voice, which will be very sexy. I've given her the skills she needs to be a homicide Detective, perhaps the best they'll have, so we can work together but not too closely together."

"She sounds like the ideal mate for you, Dr. Isles."

"She will be. There's just one flaw in my plan." She sighed sadly. "I can't program her to love me. I just have to animate her and see what happens."

"I'm sure she'll love you, Dr. Isles. She's perfect for you."

"Yes, but will I be perfect for her?"

There was a crash of thunder, lightning flashing through the high windows. Susie drew herself up. "Well, there's only one way to find out. Shall we do it?"

"Yes," said Dr. Isles, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "Let's give it our best shot. Help me dress her first." She paused and looked at Susie. "You can leave, if you don't want to be part of this. I'll understand. Only a desperately lonely person could even conceive of this plan, and I'm not sure a sane person would carry it out. You can still walk away, pretend to know nothing if this goes horribly wrong."

"No, Dr. Isles," Susie insisted stoutly. "I know how much this means to you. I'll stay and help."

"Well, then," Dr. Isles said, smiling proudly at her assistant, "let's animate her."

Dr. Isles almost expected her plan to fail, so she could hardly believe her eyes when the woman on the table began to draw breath.

"It's working," Susie said nervously. "I forgot to ask – what are you going to name her?"

"Jane," Dr. Isles answered. "Jane Rizzoli."

At that, the woman – Maura's dream woman – opened her big, beautiful brown eyes. She looked around the room, and then her eyes settled on Maura.

"Hello," Dr. Isles said shyly.

"Hi." Jane's voice was hoarse. "I, um…could I have a drink of water?"

"Of course. Susie, get her some water."

Jane blinked after the woman as she walked out. "How are you feeling?" Dr. Isles asked her.

"I'm feeling fine, just a little disoriented." She shook her head as if trying to shake off a strange feeling.

"You've been through a shock, but you're going to be okay now." Dr. Isles had programmed Jane's brain with memories, a sense that she was native to Boston and already knew Maura. She didn't want her to know that she had been created here in this lab. "Are you hungry at all? I can take you out to eat."

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Dr. Isles took Jane to a casual restaurant, not wanting to start with anything too formal. She would take things slowly, give Jane time to adjust to life and develop her own feelings. Dinner went well, Jane seeming to get more comfortable in her own skin as the minutes passed, and even began to feel like a date. The way Jane looked at her – it was as though she was trying to make love to her with her eyes! Perhaps they would get to the real thing sooner than Dr. Isles had expected. Why should we wait? she thought to herself. This is what I made her for: to be my lover, my life companion. She finally got up the nerve to go in for a kiss…but Jane turned her head away at the last minute.

"Who's that man?" she asked, looking at the next table. Dr. Isles noticed a man in army fatigues sitting there.

"We don't know him," Dr. Isles said quickly.

"I want to know him," said Jane. "He looks like the man of my dreams."

"The…man of your dreams?"

Before Dr. Isles could stop her, Jane got up and introduced herself to the man. His name was Casey Jones. Jane sat down at his table, leaving the doctor all alone.

"Nooooo!" Dr. Isles cried.

~R&I~

"Dr. Isles, are you okay?"

Maura looked up. She was sitting at her desk, and rather than a dark and stormy night, it was a rather pleasant day, not that she could see that from her office. Susie was standing in the office doorway with a file.

"I'm fine," Maura said. "I was just having a daydream, and I couldn't even get that to turn out the way I wanted."

Susie came in and put the file on Maura's desk. "Do you mind if I ask what it was about?"

Maura heaved a sigh. "It's just…I've realized, if I could design my own dream mate, much like Dr. Frankenstein in his lab, it would be Jane. She's everything I could ever want. She's beautiful, sexy, smart, an amazing detective, loyal, kind, witty…she's everything I'm not, and everything I need her to be. The only problem is that she's not in love with me. She loves Casey. And now she's probably going to marry him and move halfway across the globe."

"Was that your daydream? Building Detective Rizzoli in the lab, like Frankenstein's monster?"

Maura chuckled. "It's silly, isn't it?"

"Not at all, Dr. Isles. Today is Halloween, after all."

Maura smiled. "Do you have any plans?"

"Yeah, my boyfriend and I are going to a costume party at the nudist retreat where we met."

"A…nudist costume party?"

"Well yeah, it's kind of the only time we get together with clothes on. What about you?"

"Jane and I are dressing up to hand out candy to the neighborhood kids, and she's bringing a scary movie for us to watch."

"I wonder if it'll be about Frankenstein?" Susie said with a giggle.

"I don't care what it is as long as she lets me sit close to her on the couch. Last year I pretended to be scared, and she put her arm around me and pulled me in close. I'm hoping that will happen again."

"Maybe you should just tell her how you feel."

"It wouldn't matter. She's in love with Casey. I can't figure out why. I treat her so much better than he does."

"But he's far away, and you're here. Maybe if she knew how you felt…"

Maura shook her head glumly. "I'll never convince her that she should be with me instead. Even though I could make her happier."

"Of course you could, Dr. Isles. You know Detective Rizzoli better than anyone in the world."

"Well, I'm just grateful she still hands out candy and watches scary movies with me every year. And Angela has plans elsewhere, so it will be just the two of us. And I talked her into dressing up as Wonder Woman. She's going to be so sexy."

"She might get a little cold in that costume. It's going to be chilly tonight."

"Well, then she'll just have to use my body warmth," Maura suggested with a devious smile.

Susie smiled back. "Good luck tonight. Maybe you will get a chance to make your move."

"A girl can dream, I suppose. Thank you for the results."

When Susie walked out, Maura heard her say, "Oh hi, Detective Rizzoli," in the hallway, and her heart sped up. Had Jane overheard any of their conversation?

But Jane strolled into the office nonchalantly, with her usual, "Hey Maura."

"Hi," said Maura, feeling a slight itch as hives threatened to pop up. Jane was already trying to decide whether to marry Casey and move away with him. If she found out her best friend was in love with her, she'd want to leave the country for sure.

"Did you get the test results back?"

"Yes, I was just about to look at them." Maura opened the file folder and scanned the results. "Looks like you arrested the right person. DNA under the victim's fingernails matches her ex-boyfriend."

"Great, we can formally charge him now. I love open and shut cases." The detective smiled warmly at Maura. "You got your costume ready for tonight?"

"Yes. I'm looking forward to being a Greek goddess for the evening. Is yours ready?" She was very much looking forward to seeing Jane as Wonder Woman.

"Yeah, but I left it home. I'm gonna pick up a pizza after work, swing by and get my costume on, and then I'll head over to your place. I might be a little late, but I'll still hand out candy with you. And then we can watch our movie! I was thinking maybe Bride of Frankenstein?"

Maura felt a wave of itchiness and wondered if the hives were showing yet. "I was hoping for something a little more modern. It's easier to be scared with modern special effects."

"Good thinking," said Jane. "I'll find something with a lot of good jump scares."

Maura nodded. "It's almost lunchtime. Would you like to go somewhere with me?"

Jane shook her head. "I'm gonna try to Skype with Casey over my lunch. We haven't really talked in days."

Maura's heart sank. "Okay."

Jane gave her arm a friendly squeeze. "I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay." Maura lightly touched the spot on her arm Jane had squeezed, savoring every little touch as she always did. She looked forward to their evening of pizza and beer and candy, to seeing Jane bare some skin in that tight Wonder Woman costume and snuggling up against her during the movie. She just wished that joy didn't have to be tempered by fear, the fear that Jane would accept Casey's proposal. The fear that this would be their last fun Halloween together.

~R&I~

Maura went straight home from work and got everything ready for the trick or treaters. She lit the candles in her jack-o'-lanterns, set out her bucket of fair trade candy bars, got out the snacks for her and Jane (caramel apples, and Jane's favorite, Rice Krispy treats), and put on her Greek goddess costume – a silk dress that left one shoulder bare. She put her hair up in a bun with a few strands hanging down to frame her face. She wanted to look pretty for Jane, not that there was any point.

She'd had a few trick-or-treaters already when Jane came in the back door with their pizza. She was wearing a trench coat, but Maura could see she also had on the red high-heeled boots and tiara that were part of her Wonder Woman costume.

"Wow, you look stunning," Jane said, taking in Maura's costume.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, makes me want to travel to ancient Greece."

Maura blushed. "Let's see your costume."

"All right, all right." Jane set the pizza down and slowly removed her trench coat. Maura's eyes swept up long, bare legs, took in the form-fitting costume, and noted that there was more cleavage than she had expected. Then they moved upwards to look over exposed collar bones and shoulders. Maura really couldn't have done better, even if she did have the power to design human beings in her lab. She was glad Jane wasn't good at recognizing signs of sexual arousal, because she would certainly see them in Maura right now.

"So you like it?" said Jane, her lips curling into a smile.

Maura swallowed. "You're the warrior I would want to rescue me if I were in trouble." Her eyes met Jane's, and her heart broke a little when she thought again of Jane possibly leaving. "You are the one who saves me when I'm in trouble. You're my Wonder Woman."

"I will always be there when you're in trouble," Jane said softly.

"But…always?"

"Always."

"But if you move away with Casey-"

"I'm not." Jane shook her head. "I made a decision today."

Maura's heart lifted a little. It still meant Casey was coming here, which would ruin their beautiful just-the-two-of-us relationship, but at least she wouldn't lose Jane completely. "So Casey will move here?"

Jane shook her head. "I turned down his proposal. If one of us has to give up what we love to be with the other, then we're not compatible. And how well do we even know each other? It's a horrible idea. I knew it from the beginning, but wishful thinking got in the way."

Maura's heart lifted even more. "Oh, Jane, that's wonderful – well, maybe not wonderful news, but…I'm glad you're not going away."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jane promised. "How could I? I can't live without my best friend."

Maura grinned, but the doorbell rang, interrupting their little moment. They both scurried to the door in their costumes to hand out candy bars to the little witches, superheroes, princesses, and wild animals. When the current stream of children headed to the next house, Jane snuck one of the candy bars out of the bucket and bit into it.

"Jane! That's for the kids! And you haven't even eaten your pizza yet."

Jane chuckled. "When I was a kid, I always wanted to trick or treat in Beacon Hill, but my mom would never drive me this far. Kids at school said the rich people here gave out money instead of candy."

Maura frowned skeptically. "I doubt anyone would do that."

"I'm sure it was made up, but at least people here do give out full-sized candy bars, not that 'fun size' crap they always did in my neighborhood. There was one grumpy old man who would give out cough drops, if you were stupid enough to ring his bell."

"That's unethical. Cough drops could be considered a form of medication, which you should never give to children without their parents' consent."

"Yeah, well, I think he was just too cheap to buy candy and wanted to deter us from coming back." Jane casually sat at the kitchen counter and began eating a slice of pizza.

"So, you really told Casey you didn't want to marry him?" Maura took her own slice of pizza.

"Yeah. He was on some mission, so I couldn't Skype with him. I sent an email instead. Kind of cowardly I guess, but I wanted to get it over with. I need this behind me."

"What made you decide?"

Jane looked down at her pizza. "Have you ever really wanted something, but you didn't think you could possibly have it, so you tried to find something else and make it work, even though you knew it wouldn't? And then you realized you were making a horrible mistake and you had to stop?"

Maura's heart seized. "When I made that date with B.T., I knew I wasn't really going to be happy with him, I just wanted to be. So I canceled the date, because it was unfair to him."

Jane nodded. "Well, I figured that out with Casey. Marrying him would be settling for less than I really want."

"I never felt like he was good enough for you," Maura admitted.

"He wasn't the right one. That's all."

Maura smiled, feeling much lighter. "Jane, I'm so happy you aren't going away!" She threw her arms around her best friend, who hugged her tightly. It was exhilarating to hold Jane so close when she was wearing so little. Maura could feel her sexual arousal intensifying and did her best to keep it in check. Then the doorbell rang again, and they broke apart.

~R&I~

The two of them had a lot of fun handing out candy to the rest of the kids that night, but soon trick-or-treat hours were over, and most of the candy was gone.

"Well, did you bring a movie?" Maura asked, turning out the light over her front door.

"Yeah, I brought The Ring. That one will make you jump for sure. But, there's one scene where something bad happens to a horse, and we're skipping that part."

Maura chuckled. "Okay. I'll get it ready."

"I'll just use the bathroom really quick."

Jane went into the powder room, and Maura found the DVD and put it into the player. She was just opening a beer for Jane when the detective came back from the bathroom. She was still wearing her Wonder Woman costume, but she now had strange little knobs on her neck that Maura was certain had not been there before.

"Jane, what have you got on your neck?" she asked, perplexed.

"I'm FrankenJane, your very own creation." Jane grinned, posing. "You designed me yourself in your lab. Your very own dream woman."

Maura felt heat rising in her face. "You heard me talking about that?" she said faintly.

"Yeah. I heard. I had no idea you felt that way, Maura."

"I…I didn't mean for you to hear. It was just a silly daydream."

"I'm glad I did overhear. I'd been struggling to make a decision about Casey, thinking I was crazy to turn down an opportunity like that, but really not wanting to say yes, because the person I actually want to be with…is you."

"Me?"

"Yes, of course you. It's always been you. But I always thought…well, I thought there was never any chance of you going for someone like me. When I overheard you talking to Susie today, I realized how stupid I had been. So I told Casey I wasn't going to marry him, and then I picked these little knobby things up at the store, because…well, if this is what you want, then it's yours. You're already my dream woman, and if I'm yours too, then you can have me. This is my Halloween gift to you."

She indicated herself, her whole beautiful body. Maura felt such a rush of emotion that she burst into tears.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," said Jane helplessly. "That's not the reaction I was going for."

"I'm just so overwhelmed," Maura admitted. "I thought I was going to lose you, and now you're saying…we can actually be together?"

"Yeah, if that's what you want."

"I do. I do want it."

"Okay then." Jane took Maura's face in her hands, wiped her tears away, and kissed her. Maura melted into the kiss, her whole body pressing against Jane's, as one kiss followed another and then another. The flow of tears stopped as Maura's arousal intensified yet again, becoming stronger than ever.

"Jane," she whispered breathlessly. "I love you. I love you."

"I love you too," said Jane, holding her close. "You know if you'd given me a diamond ring, I would have known what to say."

"I would have given you a better ring," said Maura without hesitation.

"I'm sorry for not seeing this sooner. How you feel, I mean. I would never have hurt you on purpose."

"You didn't hurt me."

"Yeah I did. But that's over now."

Maura smiled, taking Jane's hands. "Come on," she said, leading her to the couch.

"Are we gonna watch our scary movie now?"

"We don't need to anymore."

"Why, because starting a relationship with me is scary enough?"

Maura grinned. "No, because I don't need an excuse to get close to you now!" She urged Jane to sit down on the couch and then got on her lap, straddling her. She wrapped her arms around Jane's neck, kissing her again, deeper this time. The fingers of Jane's right hand caressed Maura's bare shoulder and then trailed down her arm, while her left hand moved down to grip Maura's rear end. Maura eagerly kissed her way down Jane's long neck, pulling off those ridiculous knobs as she did so, and then she took notice of that little mole between Jane's breasts that she had always wanted to kiss. She kissed it.

"You really do make a beautiful goddess," Jane murmured.

"You make a beautiful superhero." She stared adoringly into Jane's eyes. "In my fantasy, I gave you a healthy libido."

Jane chuckled. "Did you now, Dr. Islestein?"

"Well, I was designing my dream mate. You know, I haven't had sex in two years."

"Oh, no! I'm surprised you could even make it that long."

"Well, I know how to take care of myself, but it is better to have another person when possible. Especially a superhero."

"Yeah?" Jane unzipped Maura's dress partway, tugging the bodice down a little until she was able to pull out two full breasts. She cupped them, her thumbs circling stiff nipples, and then she gave them each a good squeeze. "Well, I've always wanted to get busy with a goddess."

Maura tugged Jane's hand down towards her heat, hiking up her skirt. She had been aroused all evening, and now she was about to explode. "I need you," she whispered.

Jane swallowed. "Okay." Her hand slid with agonizing slowness up Maura's smooth thigh, causing Maura to whimper slightly as it got closer to where she wanted it. "No underwear?" Jane observed with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, the ancient Greeks didn't wear underwear like we do. They sometimes wore loincloths, but…I don't have one."

Jane laughed out loud. "Only you would insist on having authentic underwear to go with your Halloween costume."

"I can wear whatever I want to in my own house," Maura declared haughtily.

"Hey, I'm not complaining." Jane's fingers were already busy exploring Maura's wet folds. "You're um, certainly ready for this."

"I've been ready for at least three years." Maura gasped as Jane cautiously entered her. She rocked her hips, encouraging her to go deeper, tightening her arms around Jane's neck.

"Is this good?" Jane asked.

"Yes, good…Jane…"

It didn't take a detective to decipher the plea in her voice. Jane began thrusting rhythmically, and Maura met each thrust with her hips, increasing her speed, driving herself towards a sweet, beautiful climax.

Afterwards she just lay against Jane for a minute, panting. Jane held her close, seemingly speechless.

"I'd really like to get you naked," Maura said when she started to catch her breath.

"For someone who kept her feelings to herself for so long, you sure aren't holding back now."

"Now I know I don't need to. And you don't, either."

"No, I guess I don't. Right now I feel like we should go upstairs before my mom gets home."

"Good idea." Maura took Jane's hand and led her up the staircase, into her bedroom, stopping beside the bed. She unzipped Jane's costume, slowly peeling it down to reveal everything from her fantasy: breasts of just the right size, firmly toned abs, slender hips. Maura couldn't wait to explore olive skin, to find out what Jane was like in the throes of ecstasy.

As it turned out, she was a screamer. Not just a screamer, but the kind to scream profanities in the buildup to orgasm, and then to scream her lover's name when the moment arrived. Maura found this out with her fingers deep inside Jane, as she knelt beside her, cradling Jane's head in her left arm. Her thumb was teasing Jane's clitoris, fingers pumping away, as Jane yelled, "Oh fuck, fuck, FUCK, MAURA!" She clenched around Maura's fingers as she screamed her name, and Maura gazed down proudly at the body she had so carefully mapped. She would remember the geography of Jane for the rest of her life, that much she was certain of. But that didn't mean she would ever stop exploring.

"Oh, fuck," Jane sighed contentedly.

"I believe that word would describe what we have been doing," Maura agreed.

"Can we do it all night?"

Maura smiled brightly. "I'm up for that." She was naked now as well, the bits and pieces of their costumes scattered about on the bedroom floor. She lay down on top of Jane, looking her straight in the eye as she pressed their bodies together, breasts against breasts, heat against heat. She began rubbing up against her, still making eye contact, bringing them both to another climax.

"Maura," Jane gasped. "You really are a goddess."

Maura rolled onto her side, holding Jane close. "And you couldn't be more perfect if I had designed you myself."

"Maybe you did, with your special goddess powers." Jane nudged Maura onto her back, rolling on top of her. "I think Halloween is my new favorite holiday."

Maura kissed her. "Mine too."