A/N: WOW, I was gone longer than I said in my last story. Things got hectic…life am I right? Anyway, this story is about Maura and Jane being physically and mentally scarred and in order for them to come together they must put their hurt and pain behind them. It will probably be slow, but there will be rizzles in the end. I hope you enjoy.

Maura Isles had always relied on science for all her answers. It was her calling to go into medicine and through the years she had always looked at death as a natural occurrence. During her residency, Maura knew that working on the living was not her forte but helping people who had just lost someone with their grieving was beyond her realm. She was fearful not of death but of the living, that is what she told herself and something she fully believed in up until death itself had wrapped it's ugly hand upon her and her family.

Five years ago during a routine check up, Maura's doctor had found a lump in her breast. Six months later, after radiation and targeted therapy had failed, Maura had used all her connections and had the world's best doctors perform surgery to remove the cells before it was too late. Four years ago, Death was cheated a soul, and Maura always suspected that he would back to claim what was his. The problem was she never expected for death to take her spouse.

Detective Vincent Korsak walked into Cavanaugh's office to find a young dark-skinned man with an impeccably tailored suit on. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was reassigned a new partner after the incident but he never thought he'd get a rookie that looked like he stepped out of a suit commercial. As he sat in the chair next to the young man, Vince self-consciously pulled at his too small tweed jacket. He expected more from the person who was taking the place of Jane Rizzoli. Jane was the top of her class in the academy and was the youngest promoted detective in the history of the Boston Police Department. Korsak was proud to have her as a partner and in his heart he knew he should have been there to back her up that day. He felt that it was his fault Jane wasn't here and he wished that it were him that had those scalpels pierced into the palms of his hands.

"Detective Vince Korsak, this is Barry Frost the new detective from the Cyber-Crime Unit. He needs to learn the ropes of Homicide before being assigned to active duty. I was hoping for the next few days you could show him how things get done around here." Lieutenant Sean Cavanaugh declares and Korsak knows that this is not an offer, that this is final.

Shaking the younger man's hand Korsak tries his hardest to welcome his new partner. Dropping his hand, the older detective looks to his superior, "Sure Lieutenant."

"Well, now that the introductions are over, go down and get him assigned a service weapon and make sure he has every thing he needs. You know the Cyber Unit only assigns them USB's and iPads." Cavanaugh jokes and gets a good laugh from Frost and Korsak. As they exit the Lieutenant's office, Korsak doubles back after telling Frost to wait outside.

"Sir?" Korsak doesn't bother knocking as he re-enters. "You know I mean no disrespect when I say this but I just want to know why you are assigning me this kid as my new partner. He's too young and I…I just think I might be too stuck in the old ways to be his partner. Rizzoli was good with that, we worked well together…I think maybe if we wait a little longer…ya know until she—"

Korsak doesn't get a chance to finish as the other man cuts him off, "Vince, there is no easy way to say this…I thought you'd catch on with that little meeting."

Korsak's bushy eyebrows furrow as he tries to understand what Sean is saying, "I…I guess my detective skills may be a little dusty because I really don't see what else could be going on here."

"Detective Frost isn't going to be your new partner, he's going to be Rizzoli's. She asked for a new partner when she came back and her doctor gave the okay. This week the paperwork is going in and I need Frost to be ready for her return. I thought you would be the best guy…that you would feel a bit better knowing you taught him some of your techniques."

"What does that mean for me? Are you reassigning me to be the old guy guarding the door?" Korsak says violently, well as violently as he can. It isn't like him to be this angry but hurt is the emotion that is driving him to lash out in such a way.

"Vince, it isn't like that. I want you to head the team. You will be the one who sits back and directs the other two on how to take action and how to use their time wisely. It is your time to supervise."

Korsak doesn't say anything else as he squares his shoulders and walks out the door to the rookie that he is training to take his place as Jane's partner, the new partner that she asked for.

"Nathaniel Jacob Faulkner-Isles! You get down here right this instant!" Maura Isles waits at the bottom of the staircase for her son to come down. When it is apparent that her son isn't going to come willingly, she takes the stairs to his room muttering to herself as she climbs, "Today of all days!"

As she enters his room her anger quickly fades as she sees her son in tears. "Nathaniel? What is wrong my darling?" She kneels before the bed where he is sitting. Growing up, Maura never envisioned herself a mother, she was cold and distant from the world and when she married she thought that was the closest she would come to having her own family. Things changed the moment she had Nathaniel, she vowed to show him the love she never had growing up. And in this moment she knew she had to show understanding and love rather than the irritation she felt at being late for her first day of work.

Rubbing the boy's back, she again tries to coax out the answer, "Sweet boy, what is the matter? You are going to be late for your first day of school."

At this the boy's back goes rigid and his breathing becomes louder as he tries with all his might to keep the tears at bay. "That's just it!" He yells, startling his mother. "I don't want to go to a new school."

"Nathaniel, we talked about this before our move. You were happy to make friends, a new start, remember?" And the words are barely out of her mouth before the tears fall from her son's eyes.

"I was happy with how things were back home, I wanted friends but I was okay. People stopped making fun of me. We moved because Father died but I never saw him anyways! So we moved because he died and we had to be closer to Grandmother…No one asked me what I wanted to do and now I'm going to public school and I am going to get made fun of all over again."

Grabbing a hold of her son, she feels him nestle into her chest. "Oh…oh sweetie, I'm sorry but that's how life is. It is hard, challenging at times but that doesn't mean we have to give up. I wanted to give up many times in my life but I didn't, I carried on and that is what you are going to do…do you want to know a secret?" She continues when she feels her son's head shake up and down.

"You know that I was shy and insecure when I was younger? Well, I may have grown out of it but today…today I am extremely scared to start at my new job. You know that feeling you get in your stomach? Did you know that the digestive system is closely linked to a person's thoughts and emotions? So when we feel nervous about certain situations, the brain communicates that anxiety to the gut, sometimes causing a case of the butterflies. It is our adrenaline preparing us to use our flight-or-fight response." The blonde pauses as she pulls her son away from her so she can look into his eyes. "So are you going to fly away into loneliness, or are you going to fight for the things you want?"

Walking into the precinct, Maura looks at her watch and let's out a groan as she sees that she is almost fifteen minutes late. She has always prided herself on being on time and professional but Maura will never put her job in front of her son. She knows how precious every day she has with him is more than she expected and she would never again put anything before him. So with that she slows and walks more confidently to the front desk as she readies herself for the busy day to come.

Jane Rizzoli had never been one to willingly show her weakness, she knew that Korsak had seen it that day in that basement. Hoyt had handed her over to Death and in that moment she had revealed the very thing she hated most, her weakness. Hoyt had played off that and she had given into that monster. It was the reason why she needed to have a new partner. She feared she would never be strong again for Korsak, that he would view her, as she was that day. Jane knew that she needed to rely on someone new, Korsak would always be her friend but she could never purge the regret she felt at almost getting him hurt because of her stupid actions.

"MA!" The voice pulls her out of the self-loathing that has become a constant for her now. "Earth to Mom?"

"What's with the sass buddy?" The brunette looks to her son in the backseat. He always looks disheveled after a day of school much like how she looks when she gets home after work.

"I was trying to get your attention for like a whole minute." The boy rolls his eyes and if it weren't for her teaching him it she would scold him for being disrespectful. Instead, she responds with sarcasm, "WOW, a whole minute? That does seem like an eternity Nicholas! What was so important that you needed to get my attention for one whole minute?" She turns around in her seat to smile at her boy.

"I wanted to know if we could get pizza for dinner?" He says excitedly before adding in with a begging voice, "Please-oh-please!"

"Sure, buddy." Jane smiles, grateful to have her son to brighten her days.

When they get home, Jane sets the pizza box on the table and goes to the fridge to get the drinks. "How was school?" She asks as they sit down at the table.

"Good." He answers not really thinking about the question. "OH! We have a new student he has a funny name, like it's kinda long and he's sorta weird but he's cool I guess. The only seat that was open was next to me. His mom walked him to class, ya know 'cause he was late?" Jane nods her head as she listens to her son. "Well anyway, I could tell he was scared about his first day so at lunch I didn't go sit with my friends from Mrs. Walker's class, I went to find him. He was reading a book and some of the kids where making fun of him. So I went up to him and asked him if I could sit with him."

"Really buddy? I'm so proud of you."

"You always say that, stuff like that is the right thing to do and I know that if it was you, you would have done the same thing." Nicholas says and takes a big bite of pizza and gives Jane a big messy smile.

A few seconds go by in silence before Jane speaks, "So buddy? I go back to work next week".

Oh?" Her son looks worried as he plays with his piece of pizza.

"Don't worry Nick, I will be safer than I was before." Jane reaches out to ruffle his hair. "And Grandma or one of your Uncles will pick you up like before…you know?"

There is no need to elaborate more; both of them know exactly what is being talked about. It has become that way since that day; none of the Rizzoli's mentions the event or Hoyt's name it is always referred to in some indirect term that everyone knows about. So, tonight is no different as they sit in silence both thinking of that day and how their lives were affected.

"Promise you'll be safe?" Her son looks at his pizza while he asks.

"I promise."

The week had passed and work was slow enough that Maura was able to take half days without being missed down in the morgue. She was happy that both her and Nathaniel had settled in quite nicely. Dr. Pike was almost completely moved out of her office and she had been able to bring in all of her office décor and furniture. The following week she would be on call and Pike would be gone, so that meant that today was the last day that she could pick up Nathaniel from school.

She was glad that he had made some friends, thanks to the kid who took him in the first day of school. She was excited to hear about him that night and everyday she walked him back to the house. At first, she was a little apprehensive of her son's friend but as she observed them together walking out of class he seemed like a nice boy. She had learned his name from Nathaniel but she herself had gathered that he might not have any parents, unless his mother was the older lady that picked him up yesterday. But science had her assuming that a woman that age would not have been able to have a son of that age. Nonetheless, she was thrilled to know that this move was turning out to be a good thing for her and Nathaniel.

"Mother!" Maura watches as the two boys run up to her, the older woman tailing behind them. "Mom, can Nick come over? He wants to show me some soccer moves and you said I could join this season and it's Friday today and I know to check with you first." He rambles on and Maura looks at him with eyes wide open unable to get a word in over the excited child.

"If it is alright with his grandmother than it is okay with me." Maura answers as she puts her hands in her pockets as she watches them run up to the older woman after a few seconds she sees both boys running back again followed by the woman.

"Mom! She says she needs to know your address and you number and she wants to speak to you." Her son yells as he runs to her.

Maura smirks as she walks to the woman, watching as the boys pretend to kick an invisible ball around.

"Hi, I'm Maura Isles." The blonde extends her hand to the grandmother. "I would be more than happy to give you all my information so that these two can have a play date." Smiling the woman grabs her hand and shakes it, "Angela Rizzoli."

So there you go! Don't worry the cancer thing with Maura is to show her she has weakness because she is different than in the show and her weakness there is kind of her loneliness but that is over it isn't going to come back. I hope you enjoyed, please be nice with the comments :)