A/N: This idea had been gnawing at me for a while. I love the idea of an (even more) bull-headish Jane, desperate to do anything to get into Homicide. I know there are a couple of variations of a Maura Doyle storyline, but I wanted to try something that still felt authentic to the Maura we know. Hope you enjoy!

Stretching her arms above her head, Jane sighed in frustration. No movement. She pawed at the open bag of chips between the car's console before tossing them back in her partner's lap.

"I'm going to lunch," she grumbled in defeat to Ricky.

"You're going to miss all the action," He joked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hands.

Jane forced a laugh as she got out of the car, but cursed the moment she closed the door. Another week and nothing to show for herself.

Jane knew she was better than stake outs. The department should be using her to question suspects and put together a case, but because of her age and sex, she would be stuck at what just barely beat out desk duty until she proved them otherwise. Jane angrily kicked a beer can that had rolled towards her. She was positive she had heard kids reference that Pete stood at this corner to deal.

The beer can rolled back towards her after hitting the curb. This time, Jane crushed it with her boots, trying to take out some of her frustration. Pete, a red-headed smartass, had been eluding her for weeks. She and Ricky had had multiple run-ins with him, and Pete had always seemed to slip through their fingers, both literally and figuratively. His fast talking and quick feet had gotten him out of previous scrapes with other officers, and she knew if she could bring him in, the Narcotics squad would finally start taking her seriously.

She rounded another corner, trying to remember exactly where the Chinese restaurant was before doing a double take. Was that actually him? Jane crouched down behind a parked car and squinted, trying to see if the skinny red headed figure was Pete. Jane's eyes widened as she realized not only was it him - he was about to make a deal. She reached into her back pocket and fumbled for a moment with her phone before bringing it up to take a picture as the drugs and money exchanged hands. Her face broke out into a smile, excited to imagine Pete try to weasel his way out of photographic evidence. She weighed her options for a moment, knowing it was stupid to approach Pete alone, but she wasn't about to let him squirm away yet again. She wanted this bust. She needed it.

Right as she stepped forward, Jane's phone went off, causing Pete to look over his shoulder. His eyes went wide as he spotted her, and before Jane could shout at him, he slid through a broken gate and sprinted into the alley to his right.

Jane cursed and began running, chasing Pete over a fence as he led her towards the warehouses by the dock. She ignored her pounding heart as she turned the corner, realizing that she was beginning to gain on him. Just as she was only a few yards away, Pete cut sideways and disappeared through a door into one of the warehouses.

Jane hesitated for just a moment before throwing caution to the wind. She pulled open the door, drawing her gun. The door shut behind her, throwing the large warehouse into darkness. Jane slowed down, trying desperately to hear where Pete had gone, but the only sound was her own staggered breathing. She began to panic, quickly turning left and right, unsure of where to point her gun in the darkness.

She heard a scuffle from behind her, and before Jane had time to turn around, she felt a blunt force against her ribcage. She gasped, trying to catch her breath, throwing her arms out widely to try to place him in the darkness. She felt her elbow make contact with Pete's head and adjusted to point the gun in his direction.

There was a brief struggle before Jane's shot went off, his body falling onto hers. Jane grimaced as she tried to push him off of her, the pain from Pete's initial blow beginning to creep in.

"Was that a gun shot?" Jane heard a voice shout in the distance.

Scrambling to get up, Jane heard heavy footsteps as more voices joined in. In a haze of panic, she ran to the nearest shipping crate, trying to find cover. Jane heard the doors to the side of the warehouse open and tried to steady her erratic breathing, grimacing as the pain in her ribs intensified.

"Is that Pete? Is he dead?" another voice called out.

Jane inched her way behind a shelf, trying to get a better glimpse. She could make out nearly twenty men surrounding the body, guns drawn. Was Pete actually a part of something bigger?

"Search the perimeter. They couldn't have gotten far," said a gravelly voice.

Jane gasped as she made out the source of the voice, her excitement forgoing the pain in her ribs. After studying his tapes for months, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that the shadowy figure standing over the body was that of Paddy Doyle.

Her mind raced. Pete had led her to Paddy Doyle, one of the most feared drug lords in the south side of Boston. No one had spotted him for years.

Crawling to a nearby shelving unit, Jane crept between two boxes, tucking her legs in to try to hide herself completely out of view. She held her breath as the she heard footsteps down the aisle next to her, fearing that her beating heart would give away her location.

Jane heard a strangled noise from the middle of the room. She lifted her head slightly to look over the box shielding her from sight to try to make out what was going on.

Shit. He's alive.

Jane chewed the inside of her cheek. If Pete was alive, he could identify Jane. She -

"Is he alive? Should we bring in the doc?" asked one of the men in a panic.

"Not until we get the okay." Paddy said, his voice still emotionless.

"All clear," echoed out from different corners of the warehouse moments later.

Jane watched as Paddy nodded to one of the men, who picked up his cellphone and made a call. Jane closed her eyes and prayed that the doctor wouldn't get there in time to save him.

Moments later, a figure appeared in the lit doorway. Jane could only make out a shadow. It was a woman.

Jane shifted as she strained her eyes. Is that the doctor?

Jane squinted and brought up a hand to shield her eyes as the light flickered on, straining to make out who the woman was as her eyes slowly adjusted to the light.

The woman's golden hair shone brightly in the harsh fluorescents. She moved with an effortless grace towards the body, a dark purple trench jacket wrapped tightly against her body, as if she knew how many eyes were following her.

She tucked the trench coat under her as she bent down to crouch near the body, quickly unbuttoning Pete's shirt.

"Is he going to make it?" One of the men asked, breaking the silence.

The doctor didn't answer. Instead, she opened a bag and pulled out a bottle with clear liquid. Jane jaw dropped as she watched the woman splash what must be alcohol over the man's chest and, without hesitation, drew a blade against his skin.

The man cried out in pain and began writhing. The doctor took something out of her bag and said softly, "Bite this."

The man made a strangled moan as she set back to work on his chest. Just a few seconds later, she paused and turned to Paddy behind her.

"He needs to go to the hospital." She said quickly. "There's nothing more I can do."

That appeared to be all Paddy needed to her. He nodded, stepping closer to Pete's writhing form, and shot him in the head.

Jane looked over at the doctor, who had quickly turned her head away, her eyes still closed tightly as if trying to rid herself of the memory. She couldn't be more than thirty years old.

"Maura," Paddy said, offering a hand for the woman to stand up. He then lowered his voice and leaned in. Jane could just barely make out what he was saying. "Why don't you stop at Central Grounds to clear your head? I'm sorry you had to see that; I didn't want him to suffer."

Jane felt as if the entire world was coming to a stop. Maura... as in Maura Doyle? Jane knew the story of Paddy Doyle's love affair with a well-to-do doctor. The whole city did. The story was only revealed when the doctor lost the baby just three days after being born. Jane had even seen the tombstone.

Jane's heart began to race as she realized what she had just found: the weak link to Paddy Doyle.

Paddy cleared his throat, commanding attention. "Clearly Pete was followed here, which means this place is no longer safe. I expect you all to be packed up and out of here within the hour. I'll talk to James to figure out our next location."

Jane held her breath as the men filed past her towards the side door. The moment the doors clanged shut, she bolted towards the entrance she came through, trying to ignore the searing pain from where she was hit earlier.

This was it – her big break. If she could hand Doyle to Cavanaugh, she would be set. Youngest woman ever promoted to homicide. Jane couldn't help but break out in a smile. The only thing she needed to do was to find out their next location.

She slowly walked back to where the police car was parked and found Ricky leaning against the hood of the car, eating a hot dog.

"'zoli," he said before swallowing. "There you are. I was beginning to get worried."

Jane looked at the hot dog in his hand and cocked her eye brow. "Apparently."

"Well, man's gotta eat. Where have you been?" he asked, crumpling up the wrapper.

"I caught Pete dealing," she responded flatly.

"Nice! Hate that little shit. Did you get the money shot?"

"I shot him," she said, opening the car door.

"What? Oh jeez, Rizzoli. The paper work we're going to have to fill out…"

Jane gritted her teeth. She couldn't wait to move out of Narcotics. People like Ricky were a dime a dozen in the division. She needed this win. It was going to be her ticket to Homicide.

"You're sure it was him, Rizzoli?" Cavanaugh asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Positive. And get this – his daughter is alive."

"What? The daughter buried at First Memorial?"

"The very one. Maura Doyle. I think she's my way in," Jane explained. "I don't think she's stomaching the family business so well. We can use her."

Cavanaugh closed his eyes, as if replaying Jane's words in his head. "So they're no longer staying at the warehouse?"

"No, Doyle figured it had been compromised. We should get a team down there to swipe for prints. But if I can talk to the daughter, I think we can bust the entire operation. Not just get Doyle, but figure out who all of his men are. Everyone he's got working on the inside," Jane said, her excitement building. "This could be big. For both of us."

"You think we can get her to be a CI? Betray her own father?" Cavanaugh asked.

"I don't know. Either way, I don't want to spook her. Let me talk to her – let me get her to trust me."

Cavanaugh sighed, but eventually nodded his head. "So you lost where the men were. What makes you think you're going to find the girl again?"

"Stakeout Central Grounds," Jane said quickly. "I heard Doyle mention it to her – the way he described it, it sounds like she must go there a lot. Kind of like a safe haven from all of it."

"And I assume you think you're the best detective to win her over?"

"What – yeah! Come on sir, this is my case."

"It is. But we can't afford to blow this. And Rizzoli, you're not exactly known for your warm heart."

Jane scoffed and folded her arms tightly across her chest. "Trust me. I can do it."

Cavanaugh nodded, as if thinking everything over one more time. "You can stakeout Central Grounds for a week. If we don't see her, I'm putting you back up for active cases."

Jane nodded, trying to hold back her excitement. She grabbed her keys and set straight to work.

Jane rubbed her eyes and yawned. It had been four days, and still no sighting of Paddy's daughter. She clenched her jaw at the thought of losing this lead. Jane was sure she would catch the girl here eventually, but she was running out of time. What if their new location meant that Maura had found a new coffee shop to hang out in? What if she –

Jane's fingers clutched the wheel. She spotted a blonde head walking towards the door in a floral dress and high heels. Was that her? Yes!

Frantically grabbing her things, Jane stumbled out of the unmarked car and headed inside, attempting to casually walk in behind her. Jane did a quick rundown, trying to figure out what she could use as an ice breaker. How was it that during all that time in the car, Jane hadn't thought this through? It was obvious that Maura was into fashion, but Jane knew she couldn't even fake a conversation about that. In Maura's hand was a large text book.

"Bit of light reading?" Jane asked, surprising herself at how quickly and dumbly she jumped into the conversation.

Maura turned to look at her, confused at being addressed. Jane felt pressure in her chest when their eyes locked. Maura was… gorgeous. Her red lips turned upwards into a smile when she realized that Jane was talking to her. Her already rosy cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink as she looked down at the large text book and back at Jane.

"Oh – no, I…" Maura stammered.

"Next," shouted the barista.

Maura smiled to apologize for having to divert her attention as she gave her coffee order. Jane cursed inwardly at the broken moment. She gave her own order and tried again as they waited for their drinks.

"So," Jane said, craning her neck to read the title of the book clutched in Maura's arms. "Anatomy? Are you at BCU Med?"

"Oh, no," Maura said, smiling at the floor. She clutched the book tighter. "Just a hobby, I suppose."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Wait, what? That's insane."

Maura finally met Jane's eyes, as if timidly trying to tell the tone of Jane's reaction. "I find the human body fascinating. The way it fights and repairs itself is extraordinary."

Jane smiled. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this. She certainly didn't expect the daughter of a mobster to be so articulate and poised. Paddy's gang members referred to her as the doctor… was all of this self-taught?

Jane's curiosity got the better of her. As they both reached for their drinks, she went with her gut.

"Oh man, it's packed in here. Only one table open."

Maura withdrew her gaze from Jane to follow her nod towards the empty table. "Oh no, well I can always-"

"What? No, you were here first –"

"But you spotted it first."

Jane smirked. "Any thoughts on sharing? I know you're looking to study up, so I swear I'll be quiet."

Maura broke out into a smile. "Of course."

Jane held out her hand to let Maura lead the way, and smiled as she watched Maura clumsily trip over someone's bag. It was – adorable. How was this Paddy Doyle's daughter? How did she cut open a man's chest earlier this week? She was fascinating. And like that, Jane was hooked.