Hey, I'm finally writing this! The wait is finally over, guys! You get to see how canon and The Rizzoli Family Christmas inevitably connect. This picks up on the summer finale of season 3; we'll see more of Maura's mother and how they became close after the events of "Money Maker". And yes, I will address Lydia and her baby as well.

I own nothing; just my little 'verse.

When The Rain Falls- Chapter One: Unanswered Questions

The innocence of youth was one thing that was admired all around the world. When a child was murdered, you instantly shook your head and sent your strength to their families. For Jane and Maura, they hated cases dealing with children. Even cases with teenagers got to them; they were all still far too young to be murdered. Most of them were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, it seemed.

Kristen Gates was a nineteen-year-old worker bee. She had devoted most of her time to her job at a local coffee shop in Boston, where she worked as a barista. And, when she wasn't working, she was catching up on schoolwork and studying for exams. Everyone loved Kristen; she was a ray of sunshine to her co-workers and customers. Needless to say, it was a shock when she was reported missing from work that next day, and the day after that. Her parents hadn't seen her since the weekend; even Kristen's neighbors hadn't seen her since she left for work that last day.

When the nineteen-year-old was finally discovered, no one had any idea of what had happened to her. In fact, she almost wasn't discovered at all.

A fragile soul had been robbed of its light, but at what cost? Who would have murdered this beautiful redhead? Everyone was baffled; why would anyone murder her?

o—o—o

Jane Rizzoli grumbled something incoherently as she stared up at her apartment ceiling. Okay, so she had been living here for quite a while, but she had never had a big of a problem as she did right now. And, to make things worse, she couldn't call on her father, seeing how he would rather knock up a blonde bimbo than be with his family…

The dark-haired detective had called on Sergeant Korsak, her former partner and the man who had always treated her like his daughter. She thought that, surely, he would have some experience.

Korsak looked up at the ceiling and back at Jane. "Water damage, right?" he asked her, slightly shaking his head.

"That was my first guess," Jane began, her voice raspy as usual. She dragged a hand through her hair and sighed a bit. "Alright, so we gotta find the source of the leak; which means tearing the ceiling. Dammit, the landlord's gonna kill me for this…"

"I guess look at the bright side?" Vince Korsak shrugged a bit, not knowing what else to tell the younger detective, "you caught it before it got too bad, right?"

She snorted in disbelief and shot a look back at the bearded man. "Riiiight. Yeah, thanks, Korsak, but I think that I would have preferred it not get this bad at all."

"Hey; I was trying to help," the older detective shrugged a bit, which made his counterpart chuckle heartily, throwing her hands up in the air as a slight defense.

Not even five minutes later, there was a knock on Jane's apartment door. Neither detective had to guess who it was, though. When she opened the door, her best friend Maura Isles stood on the other side, one of her many designer bags hanging off of one hand.

The M.E. smiled at the detectives, "Hi Jane, hello Detective Korsak," greeted them curtly as ever and strode past Jane like it was nothing.

"Hey, Maur. Enjoying that day off?" Jane asked, grinning slightly.

"Mmm. Mostly just getting away from the crying baby," Maura sighed, placing her bag gently on the couch. "Angela tried to talk some sense into Lydia, but… She just doesn't want to raise the baby that 'caused one family so much trouble'."

The dark-haired detective raised an eyebrow. "So… She's gonna feel bad about causing us trouble, but yet she dropped said trouble off on us?"

"I don't understand her reasoning either, Jane, but maybe she'll come around," the honey blonde smiled a little, "at least Angela is enjoying herself."

Jane scoffed. "I dunno how she can. We don't even know if that baby belongs to my dad, or if it belongs to Tommy!" She went over to the couch and plopped down next to Maura's purse, frustrated. "Just… Why? Why my family?"

The doctor spared her friend an innocent look and sat down next to her, their knees brushing a bit. "There's no real answer to that, you realize that right? Not even science has a plausible answer."

The detective groaned and threw her head against the back of the couch. "Maura, why did you have to ruin my hopes? Normally your Google talk is kinda helpful…"

"It is?" Maura asked, a tiny grin growing on her lips. Their eyes met for a short while, only to have the honey blonde catch the dark spot on the ceiling from the corner of her eye. "Do you have a water leak, Jane?"

Jane blinked for a moment, trying to understand what she meant by that. "Oh," she finally added, looking up at the ceiling, "yeah, that's why Korsak's here. He came to look at it."

"You shouldn't be here until it gets repaired," the doctor turned to her best friend, her green eyes showing every bit of concern. "Do you know how fast mold grows in these situations? And… The effects it has on the human body is actually quite scary."

The detective sighed and rubbed the blonde's knee. "Maur, I'll be fine. I'm going to talk to my landlord about it and see how much that asshole is gonna charge me for it."

"Jane, I'm not taking no for an answer. If you won't take my word for it as a doctor, then take my word for it as a concerned friend," Maura bored her eyes into hers with as much sincerity as possible. And, yes, maybe a little pouting.

Jane looked at her best friend and started laughing. "Maura, are you pouting?" she continued her rumbling laughter at the sight. It was… Kinda adorable, not that she'd admit it, anyways. "Where are you expecting me to stay if I can't be in my own apartment?"

"With me, of course! There is plenty of room in the guest house. It's not like you'll be putting me out of my way," the honey blonde smiled at her best friend.

"You keep forgetting that my mother drives me insane. And she also has baby what's-his-face to worry about right?" the detective grumbled under her breath, "my brophew…"

"Brophew?" Maura asked, her forehead crinkling in contemplation.

Jane waved her hand dismissively. "You know, he could be my brother, or he could be my nephew. Ergo, he's my brophew."

Korsak started laughing at that, which got a pillow thrown at his head. "Sorry, Jane," he added through his belly-rumbling laughter.

"I think Ethan needs all the help he can get right now. The earliest stages of development are the most crucial for the right upbringing, Jane," the doctor reminded her best friend.

The younger detective let out a deep sigh. "Fine, Maura, I'll play nice with my could be brother, could be nephew, alright?"

"So that means you'll stay?" Maura asked, a childlike grin in place.

How can I say no when you look like that? Jane thought inwardly.

"Yeah, Maur. I guess I'll stay, if it means that much to you," she told the blonde.

The chief medical examiner lunged for her best friend and gave her the tightest hug that even Angela couldn't get away with.

The detective snorted and rubbed her best friend's back. "Love ya too, Maur."

Korsak watched the two from a far, just shaking his head. If those two didn't fess up before 2012 was over, he would probably just lock them both in the same room with no other source of entertainment, see where that took them…

As if on cue, all three of their phones started ringing at once. Of course, that could only mean one thing.

"Either my ma has something really important to tell us, or there's a murder to be solved," the younger detective reached for her phone, as did the other two.

o-o-o

Jane, Maura, and Korsak met up with Frost at the crime scene. When the body of nineteen-year-old Kristen Gates was found, the BPD was notified instantly. They had been looking out for the missing girl, but their hopes were crushed prematurely when a few witnesses called in a body within the same height range, ethnicity, and build.

This corpse was a petite redhead, who at one time seemed to have perfect skin. Her hair was a matted mess on the top of her head. Blunt force trauma to the head was evident, given the dried blood that came all the way down to her eyebrows. Her face was dirty, scars marring her high cheekbones.

The brunette detective came up on the body, slipping her blue rubber gloves on. "God, that's her, isn't it?" she asked her partners, her voice thick with distress.

Maura crouched down next to the corpse, examining her from up-close. "She was at least nineteen. And-" she tilted the body slightly upright as she studied her back, "this was the position she died in. See, the blood pooled at her lower back. Based on my estimations, livor mortis has set in; she's been dead for at least twelve hours."

Jane looked around at the wooded area that they were in. "It makes sense, right? Someone comes along and kills her; she's surrounded by woodlands, so no one suspects anything until they smell something. By that time, the killer thinks that they've gotten away Scott-free."

"Again, this is just a estimation, Jane. I would need to get to the lab before saying anything conclusive," the honey blonde stood up and looked at her three counterparts. Poor Frost was trying his hardest to get his morgue legs.

"Yeah, I know," the brunette sighed and stood up as well, frowning sadly down at the body. "I'm sorry that we couldn't get to you in time, kid…"

And that's where I'll cut the first chapter off at. Feedback is welcome, Rizzles family! Hopefully you won't have to wait very long for the next chapter.