Another story from the warped brain of yours truly. You heard the man and you know the drill – I don't own R&I, or the books or the show or any of that other copyrighted "stuff".

I was thinking about the "sleep coach" in 2.10 and this silliness just came to me. I blame the Halloween season. You all should feel free to blame my over-active imagination.

"What in the hell is this Maura?" Jane asked smirking as she held the headpiece of the sleep coach device on one long finger and swung it to and fro.

Maura hurriedly sashayed over and snatched it from Jane. "It's a..um, sleep coach, well at least it's part of a sleep coach. Before I got you the racing car birthday present I was toying with giving you this. However, your mother said if I gave you this then you would never get married. I'm not sure of the correlation; she never did explain why."

"Put it on," Jane said, still smirking, "I want to see exactly how silly it looks."

Maura gave her that look…the one where she dipped her chin down and tilted her head slightly but complied as she had done for Angela Rizzoli.

Jane looked at Maura incredulously and burst out laughing. "Oh Maura, really? You thought I would actually wear this thing? I doubt it could've helped me sleep. Besides, it reminds me a little of Wonder Woman or She-ra's head band."

Maura looked at Jane with a puzzled expression.

"No, really?, " Jane said, using her patented expression for the second time in as many minutes, "You seriously haven't heard of Wonder Woman OR She-ra?"

"Jane as you already know, my knowledge in the pop culture arena is sadly lacking. Please, educate me. I'm curious about both of these characters."

Jane easily strode over to Maura's computer. "I bet we can find something on You Tube," she said, "While I search though…Wonder Woman is a superhero. She has all kinds of cool gadgets and you know, fights evil. She-ra is a cartoon character who along with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe entertained an entire generation of kids. I loved both those shows….my guilty pleasures."

Jane quickly located a You Tube video of Wonder Woman and gestured for Maura to sit down and watch.

"I think it's entirely unlikely that a female superhero would wear that outfit to fight crime." Maura stated after watching the snippet of the Wonder Woman show.

"Yeah, but it's pretty hot, right?" Jane asked grinning, "I-um, mean for the guys watching the show. "

Next she found an episode of She-ra for Maura to watch. "Another scantily clad female hero," she noted as she watched the show, mentally storing this information away.

Jane merely shrugged, "I enjoyed them because they had strong women kicking some serious ass."

Once the video ended Maura turned to Jane and said "Thank you Jane for giving me that insight into the younger you."

"No problem," Jane replied, "Now, you are going to return that sleep coach thing, right?"

"Yes," Maura sighed, "tell me honestly though, besides staying over with me how are you sleeping these days?"

"Not well, " Jane replied curtly, "Hey, don't forget about the Hallowe'en Party at the Robber on October 29th. Who are you dressing up as?"

Maura acknowledged the not so adroit change in subject and did not push her friend for more details. "I haven't decided yet," she said, "What about you?"

Jane smiled, "Oh I have mine all decided," she replied, "but I'm keeping it a secret. You are going, right?"

Maura tilted her head, "I did have a moment where I thought about declining but then I knew you would be disappointed…so…yes, I will be there."

Just then Jane's phone rang. "Rizzoli. Yeah Korsak, I will be right up." She ended the call. "Duty calls, see you later for lunch." she said as she left the morgue.

Maura stared at her computer screen as if contemplating something. Suddenly she smiled and began typing furiously at her keyboard. She knew exactly which Hallowe'en costume to purchase.

The day before the Hallowe'en Party finally arrived. Jane tried without any success to guess what Maura's costume would be while still keeping hers a complete secret. Korsak had already let slip that he would be a "Goodfella".

Maura's costume had arrived the previous weekend. She had carefully opened it and tried it on – no need to make a fool of herself if it didn't fit – but the costume was perfect, as were the accessories.

Maura walked into the detective room with an autopsy report for Jane. "So Maura, still not going to tell us what your costume is?" asked Frost.

"No Barry, it would not have the desired effect if everyone already knew," she replied, "I'm sure you can wait the last few hours before all is revealed."

Jane took the proffered report and placed it on her desk, "Do you want to go together?" she inquired, "I could come pick you up.."

Maura smiled, "No Jane, I plan to arrive there alone. You don't get a sneak preview before everyone else."

Saturday dawned bright and crisp. The late autumn weather had taken a cold turn but it was perfect for trick or treating.

Jane stood in her apartment bedroom and admired her costume. If ever there was a badass, this character was it. She picked up the one accessory she had for the outfit and tested its weight in her hand. "Amazing that this could actually be used as an effective weapon," she said to herself. She found the pistol grip almost as comforting as her own gun. She grabbed her car keys and headed for the door.

Maura stood in her bedroom and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She swallowed nervously. This costume had seemed like a great idea but now that it was time to be out in public…she wasn't so sure. The one saving grace was that she knew Jane would love it…and that meant a lot to her…probably more than it should. She took a deep breath and strutted (there really was no other word for it) to the door.

People, I promise to get back to "keeper of my heart" soon…the muse stuck this idea into my head and I had to get it down on "paper" to keep her happy. Reviews are welcome!