A/N: I'm currently an engineering student, and I am just burnt out on thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, etc. So, here I am attempting to write fanfiction (mostly during a time I should be listening to my professor) for a show that I believe is performing below its potential. Even though I'm in school I plan to update at least once a week. Anyway, this is the story so just read it if you'd like.
Pairing: Possible Jane/F, Probable Jane/Maura (eventually)
Ice and Embers: The Battle of the Queens
It was a cold Boston night; the harsh wind howling through the air made even the coldest blooded individuals reconsider a step outside the comfort of their warm homes. Despite the unusually rigid weather on a September night everything seemed to be fairly normal, but about forty-five minutes away, on the outskirts of Boston in a small neighborhood, things were anything but.
Officer Michael Sable rubbed his gloved hands together; mentally reminding himself to purchase a better jacket for more cold nights like this that were sure to come. He was only on guard outside of the house for twenty minutes and had already jotted down the identification numbers of detective Vince Korsak and Jane Rizzoli who were inside the house, as well as detective Barry Frost who was walking the parameter outside. The old, small house was strange enough, but for some reason the power was out, making every shadow and distant noise much creepier to those nearby.
The little house located on the cul-de-sac had once probably been considered charming by the people who bought it, but not anymore. In front of the cottage styled house multiple blue police lights lit the night sky from blocks away, silently alerting all those that saw them that a tragedy had occurred.
The doctor had no trouble finding the home, parking her Tahoe; she swiftly stepped out of her vehicle. With one hand gripping the worn leather handles of her doctor's bag, the other in her in her pocket, she briskly walked towards the entrance of the house.
"Mam, Mam," called officer Sable after the medical examiner when he noticed she was not slowing down to show him her identification.
The strawberry blonde woman slowly looked at the officer calling after her in annoyance. She tightened her grip on her bag, the leather straps crunching under the pressure. Her angular jaw was locked tightly as she gave the rookie officer a glare that sent shivers down his spine. Officer Sable was sure the soles of his spit-shined shoes had just melted onto the cemented driveway, leaving him stuck in place unable to get another word out to the woman.
"Good evening, doctor. What brings you here to Boston?" Officer Norman said as he walked up to the police tape line. "She's clear, Sable," he continued, knowing the medical examiner would not respond to his question.
Officer Sable watched as the medical examiner continued on and gracefully walked into the house. He felt a swift slap on his back, as his partner chuckled loudly. "Do you know who that was, man," not waiting for a response officer Norman went on, "Allison Steele: 'The Ice Queen'."
Getting past the lump in his throat, Sable choked out, "She never even verbally acknowledged me." Then turning to Norman he asked, "How do you know her?"
Norman looked over at his squad car then back at the doorway which the doctor had walked through. "Before I transferred to Boston PD, I worked in Connecticut where she was the senior medical examiner, and boy," the overweight officer shook his head, "let's just say most of the detectives were more frightened about coming across her in the autopsy room than the dead bodies."
"I believe that," was all officer Sable managed before turning to face the street again as if he were afraid the doctor would come out of the house at any moment with the same glare that locked his feet to the ground in the first place.
The body of David Burch was immediately visible upon entering the house. Dr. Steele bent her knees to lightly drop her medical bag onto the hardwood floor, and then proceeded to walk around the corpse. As she pulled her voice recorder from the pocket in her thigh length trench coat, her thought process was interrupted by creaks on the old hardwood. Footsteps. Quickly turning her head around Dr. Allison Steele was met with Jane Rizzoli, towering over the woman in her crouched position.
"Oh, you must be the medical examiner in for Dr. Isles tonight." Jane said, taking notice of the medical bag on the floor and the tape recorder in the doctor's hand. "You didn't just come in from outside did you?"
Dr. Steele's strawberry blonde hair was pinned into a perfectly shaped bun, with practically no stray hairs, which the detective found somewhat odd, considering how hard the wind was blowing outside.
"And you're either the detective, or a random stranger asking painfully obvious questions." Dr. Steele spoke as she turned back to the body, sticking in the thermometer to take the liver temperature. "Time of death was between two and three hours ago." She continued, not missing a beat.
Jane did not know whether to address the smart remark the doctor had just made or to get more information on her victim. She opted for the latter, and would let the comment slide this time. "Do you know the possible cause of death, doctor?"
Dr. Steele shined her flashlight onto the crown of the victim's head, "Blunt force trauma to the head, with a square, flat object. That is all I can give you right now."
"That's more than what Dr. Isles would give me, she refuses to eve-"
"Well, I'm not Dr. Isles, am I detective?" Dr. Steele said coolly, cutting Jane off, but never turning around to face the other woman.
The doctor heard the wood floor moan once again, only this time louder due to the heavier footsteps of detective Vince Korsak. The slightly overweight man walked into to the foyer, coming from the same room Jane had appeared from a few minutes earlier. "There seems to be," detective Korsak started, but then paused when he took a look at Jane. Her fists were clenched, short nails were digging into the palms of her hands, and even though it was quite cool in the house she was lightly sweating as well as breathing unevenly. "Are you okay?"
Jane nodded at Korsak, hoping that he would quickly drop his inquiry. She did not want to reveal that this new medical examiner had so easily gotten under her skin. "I'm fine," Jane said through clenched teeth in a poor attempt to reassure the older detective. Relaxing her hands she continued, "So, what were you just saying?"
None of this went unnoticed by the hyper-aware doctor, who appeared to be continuing to closely look over the victim's body. She heard the strain in detective Rizzoli's voice when answering Korsak. Still kneeling by the body, she looked over her shoulder to get only her second look at the now irritated detective. She unabashedly looked Jane Rizzoli over. Her raven hair, unlike the doctor's, was unruly with stray pieces flying in multiple directions; the moon from the skylight in the foyer acted as a filter, casting shadows and pockets of light onto Jane. Her slightly squinted eyes looked much darker than normal, and the light sweat on her face made her glimmer in the darkness. The natural illumination from the night sky had shed an eerie light on the dead body as well as Korsak, but not Jane Rizzoli. She appeared dark, naturally beautiful, and most of all: untamed. Allison Steele smirked.
"Oh,"Korsak chuckled, "I thought you were Dr. Isles from the back. Well, ya know. I mean not by the 'back', but by the blonde hair and uh the similar kind of coat."
Korsak's embarrassing ramble fell on partially deaf ears; the women were too fixated on each other to really be paying attention to the older man. Korsak, noticing the intensity of their glaring, cleared his throat in order to break apart what he believed to be animosity in the air.
Quickly standing up from her crouching position over the victim, Dr. Steele announced to the coroner who had just walked in that the body was ready to be taken back to the morgue. And with no other explanations or words, the doctor was out the door and headed back to the Boston police department headquarters.
A moment later, detective Frost came in from outside addressing Jane and Korsak, "I don't think we are going to be able to get the power back on any time soon. The fuse box is completely busted up, clearly deliberately too."
Korsak looked around the small entrance space, and then at the stairs where the body was being put onto a stretcher.
"We might as well head back and get a jump on this in the morning. No one has any information on the exact whereabouts of the homeowners, Clark and Karen Burch either."
"Do you think they are missing?" Jane asked Korsak.
"I don't believe so it appears that the couple is on vacation. Their answering machine says so. And until we can speak to them there is not a lot left for us to do right now."
Frost nodded his head in agreement about there not being much that can be done at this point. He was clearly ready to leave, perhaps due to the creepiness of the old house or maybe just another pressing issue that he had to get to. Either way, when it was decided that they would return in the morning the young detective hurried to the crown Victoria and all but hopped in the back seat.
It was late when the three detectives finally made it back to headquarters. Frost bid Jane and Korsak goodbye as he quickly got into his own car and drove off.
"I wonder what is going on with him."
"Don't worry about it, Jane. It's Frost; he probably has some pretty young lady waiting for him to drop by or something." Korsak said, waving his hand dismissively in the air. "I'm about to head home too right after I drop this off." Korsak tapped the notepad in his hand.
Stepping off the elevator Jane said goodnight to Korsak and walked over to her desk, eying the receiver she thought of calling Maura. Jane grabbed the phone and began to dial a number that her left index finger was all too familiar with, when she stopped on the sixth number and hung up the phone. She knew it would be best to just drop by the house since Maura was under the weather; there was no point in calling her and possibly waking her up, Jane reasoned. Grabbing her jacket the detective pulled out her call phone and sent Maura a text that read: going to pick up soup then on my way over to your place.
Angela Rizzoli had moved out of Maura's guest house a couple of months ago and into an apartment fifteen minutes down the street. Jane had told her mother that Maura was sick and Angela insisted that she make some soup to give to her. Angela's apartment wasn't too much out of the way when heading to Maura's so it wouldn't be a big deal to drop by her mother's place before driving to the medical examiner's house.
The elevator had reached the bottom level of the building where the morgue was located before Jane realized she had pressed the 'L' button instead of '1'where the main entrance/exit was located. It was obviously a habit for her to drop by Dr. Isles' office to let her know she was leaving, often times because they carpooled together.
Jane was just about to hit the 'close doors' button when she saw a light coming from around the corner. Curiosity getting the best of her, the detective stepped out of the elevator and headed down the hall.
The autopsy room was dim, definitely not the room where the light was coming from. It was Maura's office, as Jane walked in she saw the blonde haired doctor sitting at the desk. It wasn't Maura Isles, but Dr. Steele instead. Jane studied the doctor, whom at the moment, was quite occupied by whatever she was doing on her laptop. The doctor's strawberry blonde hair was still pulled into that perfectly neat bun, prompting Jane to wonder what possible products she was using to keep her hair so orderly.
"Normally Dr. Isles doesn't like people sitting in her chair." Jane said leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.
"And normally Dr. Isles is here." Dr. Steele replied, continuing to work on the computer, appearing not even the least bit surprised by her unexpected guest.
"I don't know how you do things where you come from, but here, we normally work better when we all try to get along. You know, without the snide remarks." The detective quipped back, stepping forward at the same time.
At that moment, the medical examiner quietly closed her laptop, pushed back her chair, stood, and quietly walked around the front of the wooden desk. "You're the detective that shot herself."
Jane was taken aback by the comment for two reasons. First, hardly anyone ever mentioned the shooting, even her family. Second, the doctor had said it so matter-of-fact that Jane began to wonder what all she knew about her. "That was a few years ago." Even the detective was surprised by the wavering in her voice when she responded.
"Hm,"Dr. Steele shrugged, "the emotion in your voice makes it sound like it was a few days ago."
"I'm sorry, are you a medical examiner or a psychologist?" Jane watched as the woman placed the palms of her hands on the contemporary desk behind her. The doctor didn't respond to the question, indicating she was not going to take the bait. Instead she leaned back slightly and raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. Jane cocked her head, unable to decipher if the other woman was fascinated or toying with her out of boredom. Being unable to tell the difference was a rarity for the detective who was so good at reading body language.
But it was then that Jane Rizzoli really got her first good look at the doctor under the luminescent lights and for a moment she was stunned. Allison Steele was only an inch or two shorter than herself, with a slender coke bottle figure, naturally tanned skin, full, ample lips, and dark, icy blue eyes. The doctor was definitely in her late thirties, Jane determined. The only indicator that hinted at her age were the small lines beginning to appear in the corner of Dr. Steele's eyes, other than that the woman was in fine shape.
"I normally work into the night on my victim's," Allison began, snapping on blue latex gloves as she spoke. "I will have the preliminary report on your desk in the morning, but my personal notes and observations will not be complete until tomorrow evening."
Jane cleared her throat, "Well, I will come back by to come pick those up when you're done."
"I'll be completing those at home," was all the doctor said as she turned back around to grab a file by her closed laptop.
Annoyance was no longer in the mind of Jane Rizzoli, but rather replaced by intrigue. Who exactly was this woman, and where did she come from? Jane was not used to someone so abrupt and precise. It was different than being around Maura, who could ramble on for days about anything. This woman though, no, she had a sharp mind and tongue, but there was certainly more to her.
"Don't try to read me, detective." Dr. Steele said, interrupting Jane's musings while flipping through the file she had just picked up.
The surprising vibration in her pocket cut off anything Jane was about to say to the doctor. It was a text from Angela, but the message made no sense. Jane Rizzoli took one last look at the medical examiner who was enthralled with whatever was in the file and walked out of the office.
"Hello?" Angela Rizzoli answered her phone.
"Ma, once again, your text makes no sense." Jane said, holding her phone to her ear and pressing the 'up' button on the elevator.
"Oh, I still don't know how to use this silly smart phone, Jane. I was trying to say that I went by Maura's house myself to drop off the soup and watch after her. You were taking too long."
"But ma," Jane Rizzoli then explained to Angela how things were hectic around the department with having a new case and Maura being out. "Plus, Dr. Pike did not fill in for Dr. Isles this time, we have a medical examiner none of us have worked with before and uh, this one just takes some uh, you know, getting used to." It was an effort for Jane to conjure up the words to describe her dealings with Dr. Steele, but even then she was stuttering.
"Oh, well okay." Angela was perplexed by her daughter's strange response.
"I'm walking out to my car now. I guess I will just head home, and then stop by Maura's in the morning to check on her." Jane eagerly ended the conversation with her mother, unlocked her car doors, and eased into her seat. The detective combed her fingers through her wild hair, glancing back at the building she had just exited. Gripping her steering wheel, Jane then rested her head against the cold object. It was the only relief she could bring to herself at the moment with so many unwanted thoughts taking over her brain. She quickly sat up, after taking in a deep breath of air, buckled her seatbelt, and started the car to head home. The only thing Jane Rizzoli needed right now was some sleep; everything would be okay again when she woke up.
The next morning Jane walked into Maura's home, plopped on the couch and released a deep sigh. Her night had been restless for many reasons. It was a while since she had really let herself think about the shooting, and Dr. Steele bringing it up brought back a flood of memories as well as pain. And that was the other thing: Dr. Steele. The woman had so quickly gotten under Jane's skin without even doing much, but the detective wanted to know more about this mysterious woman. She knew Maura probably didn't know much about her since she was the M.E. in Connecticut.
"I thought Maura was the one with the flu." Angela Rizzoli said, pulling a bowl of soup from the microwave.
Jane, surprised by her mother's presence, dramatically threw her head back against the couch, "I know Ma!" She turned half of her body towards Angela. "I'm headed back to her bedroom in a minute; I just needed a moment to catch my breath."
"Why are you out of breath, Janie?" Angela blew on the steaming bowl of soup.
"I'm not really out of breath. I just wanted to sit down for a bit, but I can't even do that without being interrogated." Jane stood up and grabbed the warm bowl from her mother's hands. "I'll take this to Maura now." And with that, Jane was headed down the hallway towards her friend's room.
"Maur."Jane softly whispered, sitting on the side of the bed. "Maura," she whispered again just slightly louder in order to wake the slumbering woman.
Jane lightly pushed the sweat soaked hair from the doctor's face, feeling her forehead as she did so. Maura's temperature wasn't too hot. She's probably finally sweating it out, Jane thought. Sitting on the side of the bed she watched as Maura stirred and then stretched, opening her eyes to look at Jane and then smiled.
"Hey Maura, how are you feeling," Jane smiled warmly, "I've got you some soup, why don't you sit up and try to eat some of it." Jane reached for the bowl of homemade soup as Maura scooted her way up to rest her back against her headboard.
"Can you hand me some water over there first?" Maura hoarsely asked, pointing to the bottle of Dasani water on her nightstand.
"I'm sorry Maur. I should've thought of that." Jane grabbed the water from the nightstand, twisted off the cap and held the bottle up to Maura's mouth. "I guess I'm just so used to you normally having to take care of me." She laughed.
Maura lightly laughed as well, and then saw the soup still in Jane's other hand. "Is it hot?" She asked, licking her lips in anticipation.
"More like very warm, here. Eat it, it's good."
Jane watched as Maura sat against her headboard, taking hearty bites of her mom's delicious soup. Even the doctor was surprised when she noticed how quickly she finished the bowl. "Hm, I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was. Anyway, tell me about work. I hate being confined to my bed all day, honestly."
"It's only been two days! Now you see how I feel," she patted Maura's leg, then grabbed the empty bowl from her hands, "but work is just, work."
Jane's fidgeting while answering Maura went unnoticed by the doctor as she continued asking questions. "I received the text about the new case last night; I'm sure Dr. Pike is already annoying you." Maura joked.
"Well, actually, Dr. Pike isn't the examiner on the case."
"Oh? Well then who is?" Dr. Isles was surprised, she certainly hadn't been informed that they would be sending out someone else other than who she had approved.
"Uh, it's just this doctor no one really knows about." Jane shifted in her spot again.
"Obviously, Jane, it's a doctor. Who is it?" Maura began to pick up on the fact that Jane was becoming somewhat uncomfortable.
"It's just some medical examiner from Connecticut. Her name is Dr. Allison Steele." The detective said, attempting to act nonchalant.
"Allison Steele," Maura repeated, trying to jog any memories of the name. "That name doesn't ring a bell. But if you hand me my computer we can Google her information."
"Hold it, Dr. Google. I've got to get to work on this case; we can look up all of her dirt later. Besides, you need to rest some more." Jane was thankful that Maura agreed with her logical explanation to hold off on finding out more information on Allison Steele. She wasn't sure why, but talking about Dr. Steele around her mother or Maura just made her uncomfortable. So if there was anything she really wanted to know, Jane decided she would be looking it up herself.
Arriving back at the office, Jane saw a folder sitting on her desk. Dr. Steele really meant it when she said that the preliminary report would be completed by morning. Jane glanced up to see Frost and Korsak on the phone, probably trying to track down one of the homeowner's of the house where the victim was found. Looking at her watch, she made a mental note to take her break around 2:00 pm since she told Maura she would be back over to drop off some lunch.
Opening the report Jane skimmed over the first page, her eyebrows knitted together and a frown suddenly appeared on her face. She snatched the folder up and rushed downstairs to the morgue.
"Have you seen Dr. Steele?" Jane asked a lab technician after searching the autopsy room with no luck in finding the new medical examiner.
"She worked all night finishing up a couple of autopsies, left us with a few samples to run, and I believe she went home or wherever she is staying now." An unknown lab technician informed Jane.
"Right." The detective said absentmindedly as she raced back upstairs.
Jane slid into her chair, opened the file once again and began to dial a number that was on the first page. Korsak watched Jane as she scribbled some notes and quickly hung up the phone.
"Is everything alright, Rizzoli?" Korsak asked, covering his hand to the mouthpiece of the receiver.
Jane realized how she might've appeared to anyone who was paying attention to her and decided she should probably relax, at least for the moment. "Yes, of course. I am just about to check up on something really quickly and then I will be right back." She finished, ripping off a strip of paper from her legal pad and grabbing her jacket from the coat rack.
Detective Korsak shrugged, removed his hand, and continued with his conversation on the other line, searching for anyone who knew of the whereabouts of Clark or Karen Burch.
After exactly sixteen minutes of driving, the detective arrived at her destination. Just as she was about to knock on the thick oak door, Jane hesitated, running her thumb over the file up under her arm. Gathering her nerve she gave an authoritative knock.
"It's open!" The voice from the other side of the door called.
Slowly opening the heavy door, Jane stepped inside the house.
"It took you long enough." Dr. Allison Steele said smirking as Jane closed the door behind her.
I am currently searching for the right beta for this story, so all grammar mistakes are mine and mine alone. Thanks for reading.