WHITE RABBIT

Chapter 1

It was raining when Maura Isles met Jane Rizzoli.

It seemed rather fitting, in retrospect, to meet on such an overcast day. For Jane Rizzoli was an overcast human being, and not by her own volition. She was, well, haunted, one might say. Hollow.

And for good reason.

"Doctor Isles," greeted an officer as he held up the yellow tape for her to swoop beneath. She resurfaced, still poised and perfect, not a coiffed hair out of place.

"Hello, officer," she returned the greeting, not unaware of the way the officer was admiring her well-fitting dress. She simply decided to ignore him.

She approached the crime scene with a calculating eye. She was new to the BPD, and wanted her first time on the job to be flawless. No mistakes, no missing details. She was out to impress.

It was with this calculating eye that Maura first drank in the sight of Detective Jane Rizzoli. Tall, intense, with unruly dark curls falling down to her shoulders and even darker shadows beneath her eyes. When the detective turned her gaze on Maura, the Medical Examiner felt a tug and a foreboding all at once.

"Hello, Miss….?" Jane questioned, looking curious. Maura was slightly offended that the detective had no idea who she was, considering she herself had done much research on the detective she'd be working with. Jane was a renowned detective, praised multiple times for her skills in solving murders. She was often referred to as "Boston's Best Detective," which was nothing to be scoffed at.

Maura shook all of this away, however, in favor of her love of diagnosing other people.

"A hairline fracture," she said, reaching for Jane's face. "Hardly noticeable, but I could still set it for you, if you'd like."

"I… What?" Jane was startled, and when her partner gave her a questioning look she said "I fell outta my bed this morning. I hit my face on the bed side table." Her partner laughed, and she moaned "Frost," and gave him a meaningful look that he seemed to immediately understand.

"Shit, again?" he asked.

"Yep," Jane sighed, looking dejected.

Maura decided not to ask, but she had to admit, she was interested. She put it in the back of her mind, filing the strange conversation away for later. "So, would you like me to set it for you or not, Detective?"

"What?" Jane looked startled, as if she's forgotten the other woman was there. "Oh, yea… sure, I guess. Will it hurt?"

"Only a little," she smiled, and it turned apologetic as she grasped the detective's nose in a sudden fist, her other hand gripping a strong jaw, holding her head in place.

"Wait," Jane said suddenly and in a trembling voice, "I think I changed my-"

But Maura was taking no prisoners today.

Crack.

"Augh!" roared the detective, hands coming to gingerly cover her face once Maura's vice grip had released her. "Sweet Jesus – a little?"

Maura just smiled and shrugged.

"All right, so you know medical stuff. I'm guessing you're the new M.E.?" Jane inquired once she'd stopped holding her nose and wailing.

"You would be guessing correctly, Detective. That is a nasty habit, though."

Jane furrowed her brows. "What is?"

"Guessing. I do hate to guess. You should always be sure of something before you say it. Why risk anything?"

"Uh… okay. Well, the body is this way, Doctor Isles," said Jane, looking uncertain and a little thrown off. Maura inwardly sighed. She did seem to have that effect on people.

"Please," she said, "call me Maura."

Jane turned to glance at the M.E. over her shoulder. "Well, all right, Maura. Very nice name, by the way."

Maura beamed. "Thank you."

"I guess that means you can call me Jane, then."

"Okay, Jane."

The smiling and friendliness dissipated upon seeing the body. Frost stood off to the side, a tint of green coloring his dark face. Jane smiled reassuringly at him and he raised a meek hand in return.

"Frost is the new guy," Jane whispered as the two slid on their gloves. "Used to work in robbery before he got dragged onto homicide. Poor guy has the weakest stomach I've ever seen."

"That is unfortunate," Maura murmured.

"Mm, no shit."

Maura immediately began examining the body, pressing careful fingers to the inch deep cut to the throat. It looked like it had been caused by a scalpel, but she'd have to do more tests before she confirmed anything. The man's wrists and ankles were bound by duct tape, along with his mouth. A broken teacup lay discarded nearby.

Meanwhile, Jane knelt next to her, seemingly steeling herself for something. She was taking several deep breaths through her nose. Maura could practically feel the tension rolling off of her.

"Jane?" Maura questioned curiously. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," said Jane tightly, and then, in a way not dissimilar to the way a person might remove a band-aid, Jane put her hand on the man's shoulder.

And suddenly became very still, eyes becoming glazed and faraway.

"Jane?" Maura's voice rose, suddenly worried.

"Hey, c'mere Doc, tell me about what you've found on the body," said Frost, suddenly there, as he avoided looking at the body and pulled her away from Jane. "Jane is fine, she's just doing her weird detective thing. It's best we leave her alone."

"I…. all right," Maura murmured, though she couldn't help feeling there was more to this weird detective thing than Frost was letting on.

A moment later Jane seemed to resurface, looking very white. Frost immediately hurried over to her, where they proceeded to have a quiet exchange. Maura picked up "looks like Hoyt…" but didn't hear anything else.

Hoyt… where had she heard that name?

She had a lot of questions regarding the very strange, very tired-looking Detective Jane Rizzoli. It looked like she had some more research to do.