Hail the glorious readers. Welcome back, we continue on from the Diary of Jane right here in the 12thprecinct. New Characters new intrigues and so you know, my friend Zarosguth is Beta-ing for me but all of the mistakes are mine entirely.

And as usual all characters and references belong to their respective owners, writers, studios, and etcetera. But again I'd like to remind the actors who portray these characters should they be reading along with us that I have the utmost respect for your work and I've tried very hard to treat your characters with respect.

And also as usual, the steamy scenes are done vaguely without real description because of respect. Language usage is hard but used sparingly.

So without further adieu, Lets get this machine cranked up.


Prologue

NYPD 12th Precinct

Sitting at their desks in the 12th bull pen, both of them were looking down at their transfer papers. Jane looked up at her partner.

"You really don't have to do this. We can stay here."

Kate tapped her pen against her lip as she considered her partner, "No. I think it's a good move. You and Maura aren't the only ones thinking about children. I think it would be nice to have a yard and open spaces to run and raising kids where it doesn't take twenty minutes to get five miles away should something happen."

Jane blinked at her, "You're thinking about kids?"

"If Rick and I are going to make Boston our home then I want to plan ahead." She looked up at her partner who wasn't quite buying it. "Okay, my biological clock is starting to sound like a gavel so yeah, I'm starting to think about children." She huffed, "Just don't tell Mr Ego."

She nodded with a smooth grin, "Well I'm sure Beacon Hill has a few fancy places for sale."

"It's never been about that for me," she said, "He's like Maura. He buys without consideration of price because he wants the best for Alexis and now me."

"I know." She thought of all of Maura's clothes hanging up in the closet. She probably spent more on them than Jane had made in her life.

Jane took her pen out of the cup and looked down, "All it takes is a few lines of ink."

Kate nodded as she stared at the line marked with an X. "A few lines and we start one helluva shit storm."

Jane put her pen to the page and stopped, "Gates is going to hit the roof."

"Yep." Kate said and she took a deep breath and signed.

Jane gently scribbled her name and tossed the pen back in the cup.

"Well," Kate said as she stood up, "let's go ruin the Captain's day."

Jane nodded and stood up. They walked over to the office of their CO and knocked.

"Come in!" The sharp voice shouted.

They looked at each other and took a deep breath for courage.

Kate stepped in first, "Sir, do you have a minute?"

Jane walked in behind her and shut the door.


Chapter 1

Captain Victoria Gates sat at her desk going through the mountain of paperwork that was part of her job as the head of NYPD's Homicide Unit. Having cut her teeth working in Internal Affairs, Iron Gates had a hard line reputation of running a by-the-book command. This had made her several friends up high and several enemies as well. During her command at the 12th she had met the one officer who had took away her record of being the youngest woman in NYPD to make detective. Katherine Beckett had made detective six weeks earlier than she did, it was a source of irritation for the hardnosed woman and also a point of admiration.

She had worked hard to make detective and she was certain that Kate had too. Beckett was an outstanding detective and achieved another first at the 12th. She had achieved the rank of Detective Sergeant at age thirty one making her the youngest Sergeant on the NYPD roster. Gates admired Beckett's detective skills and work ethic and had no doubt Beckett would go very far up the ladder if given the chance.

Her partner was another matter. She had read Jane Rizzoli's Boston Police file from cover to cover and found a brash, headstrong detective that played fast and loose with the rules, acted almost purely on impulse and had an arrogant attitude that Gates had no tolerance for. Her detective skills were exemplary but again, Rizzoli had a knack for bending procedure so far out of shape that one could barely recognize it. Rizzoli was also the youngest officer in BPD history to make Detective and had it happened in the NYPD, she would have beat Gates' record by eight weeks and Beckett's by two.

The only thing that kept Jane Rizzoli in the NYPD was that Gates knew that Beckett & Rizzoli were the best anywhere. Their conviction and closure rates were unheard of in the NYPD and Gates wasn't about to waste an asset like that.

So now both detectives stood before her and she had a feeling she wasn't going to like this.

As a rule, Rizzoli tended to keep clear of her Captain since Gates had made no attempt at hiding her dislike for Rizzoli.

She looked up from her paperwork and immediately levelled a glare at Rizzoli before looking up at Beckett.

The look on both detectives' faces wasn't a good one. Although they did not look like it, Gates could tell they were a bit nervous.

She closed the manila folder and set her pen down before interlacing her fingers, "You two are up to something that I'm not going to like."

Jane's eyes widened slightly and Beckett raised an eyebrow. Before either could speak, the Captain cut them off. "Don't bother denying it." She held her hand out to Jane and the older partner handed over the two pages.

She looked over the transfer form and noted the requested date. Flipping to the second sheet stapled to it she saw the Boston Police Acceptance of Transfer. She signed off on both of them and set the pages in her outbound tray before looking over the Boston native. It wasn't a happy look.

"I can't say I'm won't be happy to be rid of you Rizzoli but in all fairness I'm disappointed in you. Despite the fact that you are a huge pain in my ass, yelling at you has done wonders for my stress level."

Jane smirked and it put a hard look in her Captain's eyes, "Just part of the service as the unofficial morale officer, Captain."

"Blow it out your ass Rizzoli." She said as she turned back to Beckett. "Can I assume that the paper you're carrying is that report I asked you for on the incident in Boston?"

Kate took a deep breath and handed the page over, "No Sir."

Gates took the page and kept looking at Kate as she positioned it in front of her. Her eyes widened when she looked down to see a transfer request in Beckett's name and an accompanying Boston Police Acceptance of Transfer.

She stood up sharply and glared at Jane, her anger rode her hard as she realized what was going on, "You arrogant, self-centered, egotistical, conniving bitch!"

Jane's eyes widened to the pint it felt like her eyes were going to pop out as her jaw fell open. Kate went bug eyed too as the captain started up on a good rail.

"How DARE YOU steal from my department!" She yelled at the top of her throaty voice, "You think I'm going to let you walk in here, work in my Unit and go back to Boston toting my best detective with you?! You are out of your ever loving mind! Pack your things and get the hell out of my unit before I throw your bony ass out the fucking window!"

"Captain, I…" She started as Kate said, "Sir that's…"

"GET OUT!" She shouted, "DISMISSED!"

They turned to leave.

"Beckett, don't you move!" She commanded, "Rizzoli, get the fuck out!"

Jane stood proud and defiant as she nodded to her captain, "Yes Sir!" She passed a look to her partner and left, closing the door behind her.

"She didn't deserve that, Captain." Kate barked at her loudly.

Gates looked at the defensive posture that Beckett blatantly displayed at her.

"Stand down, Sergeant." Gates said as she sat back down in her chair.

"No, I don't think I will, Sir."

Never had she seen Kate deliberately provoke her before. But there she was, arms crossed, legs set shoulder width apart, glaring back at her.

"You can check that attitude right now Beckett. I expect it from Rizzoli but it doesn't look good on you." Gate said as she took a breath and leashed her anger.

"And with all due respect, Sir, cussing out my partner for my choice doesn't look good on you or the 12th."

"Don't you start, Beckett." She snapped, "You are a damn fine officer and I can see you going far in this department but taking on some of your partner's more colorful traits is not something I'm going to tolerate well."

She stood tall, proud, and arrogantly defiant and Gates did not like seeing Jane in Kate. She grimaced and sat down. "I should have never let her into my Unit."

"Why did you, Sir?" Kate said coldly.

"Her arrest record and in the time I've known you, I've never seen you stand up for someone like the day you wanted her for a partner."

They both remembered the day.


April 17, 2012

"Are you out of your ever loving mind?" Gates glowered at her sergeant. "This detective has been off the force for three months, has never worked for NYPD, nor is she even familiar with New York City in any way. Even if that wasn't enough, she took off out of Boston with barely a word and if I heard correctly has been holed up in Castle's home ever since and word has it that you haven't been anywhere else but here and there the entire time. It's screaming instability!"

Kate stood up tall and defiant, "Captain, I know Jane Rizzoli. Have known her for years and I'm telling you that you couldn't ask for a better detective if you trained one from intake at the academy. She's one of the best anywhere. Yes she went through a hard time but look at her record, she's been through a few of them and she always bounced back. There's no one I'd trust at my back more than her and that includes Ryan and Esposito. They're great cops and I wouldn't have a doubt about them but with Jane, I wouldn't even have a shadow of a thought about doubt. She's as tough as they come and she'd be one of our best and I'd stake my job on that."

Gates narrowed her eyes at Beckett. She'd known that Beckett wouldn't blindly follow orders and that she'd snub her nose at authority if she felt she was right but this was the first time Gates saw it without a damn good reason. She opened Jane's Boston PD record.

"She shot herself in the stomach outside of Boston Precinct 1." Gates said formally.

"Yessir, she did." Kate said with conviction. "With another officer gravely wounded, she was taken hostage by a bad cop during a siege at her stationhouse. No officer on the street would take the chance and shoot the guy so she wrestled with him for his gun and put it into her own stomach and fired, ending that crooked cop's life and saving her own brother who was bleeding out. She almost died twice before they got her to the hospital and as the Captain should see, she was sighted for valor above and beyond for that incident."

Gates stared at the commendation noted. "Yes she was and I'd go over another few incidents but I can see that she has quite a few citations here." She shut the file and returned to the transfer paperwork, "Says here she also went through NYPD Refresh and Orientation at the academy. Pre-hire Psych found a question pertaining to relationships that was never answered but wasn't concerned." She set it down and looked up at Beckett, "I'm going to give this one to you Beckett on one condition."

Kate looked at her, "Sir."

"She's your responsibility. Anything she does is going to reflect directly on you and you'd better be damned sure you're willing to take that risk before you agree because if she screws up or she loses it, it's your head going on the block."

Kate stiffened, "If my career is going to be tied to hers, I want her at my side, captain."

"Absolutely not," She barked, "She gets paired with Marks."

"Marks is a chauvinistic prick and trust me when I tell you that Rizzoli won't tolerate him very well. You would be creating a problem, Sir." Kate took a step closer to her captain, "If she's my responsibility then I need her to be at my side, nowhere else because that is where I know I can keep her and myself out of trouble. That is where she will be most effective in this unit."

"She's impulsive, has a bad attitude, and you already have one wild card following you around, I'm not going to pair you up with another."

"Castle is a civilian and he learned to get with it. Jane is a cop, Sir and she knows how to play ball. Most importantly, she knows how to play ball with me and we've been a great team since '08."

Gates looked at her again, "Convince me."

Kate couldn't believe what she was hearing; Gates was actually listening. "In '08 we solved a murder at Ft Justice at the LETO expo together. It was like we had come out of the academy together and we just clicked. Since then I've spent time with her in Boston, a couple times observing her cases unofficially and she's done the same here with Montgomery's approval. We've always had a great partnership connection and it's as natural a pairing as any I've ever seen. Give her to me and we will do our jobs better than ever."

Gates shook her head and reopened Jane's file. Five minutes later, she looked at Beckett and then through the door. "Bring her in."

Kate nodded and stifled her grin as she opened the door and called out to her friend, "Rizzoli."

She came in with a light step that was slightly timid but not a concern. She stood tall and blank faced next to Beckett. Her Ebony black hair was a mass of unruly curls that was pulled back. Her suit was one that Gates recognized as belonging to Beckett but hadn't seen her Sergeant wear in months. She narrowed her eyes as the detective stood staring at the wall.

"At ease, Detective." She said calmly, "Beckett has put in a convincing argument to bring you into Homicide as well as be partnered up with her. I've read your record and I know your history but before anything else, I need to know if there is something that isn't in here that I should know about, if there are any issues that could affect the appearance of my unit, my precinct or my department."

Jane looked at her and bit her lip before nodding, "I wouldn't bring this up except for the way you worded that question. The only thing about me that isn't in there that the department might not care for is that I'm a lesbian."

Gates' eyes nearly fell out of her head, "Oh sweet Baby Jesus, help me." She glared at Kate and back to Jane, "Let's keep that quiet shall we?"

"Ma'am. I've spent the better part of my life denying that part of myself and it's done nothing but make my life miserable. I won't hide that anymore."

Gate stood up and leaned over the desk, "Do not call me Ma'am, Rizzoli. After all I've suffered to get to where I am I'm entitled to be called Sir or Captain." She said with authority, "And I'm not going to ask you to hide your sexual preference. Only that you not flaunt it around and keep your relationships low key. That basically means that you use discretion and professionalism and please, keep your face out of the LGBT posters. That is the last thing Homicide needs."

"Yessir," Jane said crisply. "I can do that."


Kate stood directly against her Commanding Officer in a distinctively defiant I'm not taking no for an answer posture. Gates sat down and looked at her, those dark eyes penetrating into Kate.

"One year." Gates said calmly. "One year and you're ready to throw away everything you've done here for a woman who came here shattered over a broken heart."

"Yes, Sir." She said cleanly, with no anger and no regret, just conviction.

"Beckett, I know you and Rizzoli go back a few years but I'm not sure you are thinking with a clear head."

Kate bristled at the accusation, "She's my partner, Sir. I'd stand with her against Death himself."

She shook her head, "You don't get it do you Beckett? I still don't understand what you see in her and believe me, I've looked. I know you're not sleeping with her so tell me what the hell is going on."

"I can't sir. Not in a way that you would understand." Kate relaxed her posture, "Jane and I have just clicked since the day we met and we understand each other. We can damn near read each other's minds, on or off the job. She's a damn good cop and yeah, she can bend rules with the best of them but I've done it, Sir and so have you."

"I've never bent rules the way she has and neither have you. I'd have reprimanded you if you had."

"You're missing the point, Captain." She shook her head, "Jane is more to me than just my partner, she's like a sister and when Boston offered to take her back, she refused because of me. She never thought I'd leave NYPD and she told her old boss that she's made a commitment to her partner and that she won't leave me. That loyalty you keep condemning me for is a two way street. Jane is just as committed to me professionally as I am to her. I was the one who insisted that Jane wasn't going back to Boston without me and so we're clear Sir, I was the one who accepted the BPD offer."

Gates stood up slowly and leaned over the desk, "You accepted the offer?"

"Yes Sir. I did." Kate said defiantly. "I accepted a position in Boston Homicide as the Head Sergeant."

"Just because Rizzoli wants to go home? Are you kidding me?"

"That's not the only reason." She sighed, "I want to start a family too. I thought it would be good for our children to have a house with a yard instead of a loft and parks. I grew up in Manhattan and although I don't regret it, I want my kids to have better. I've seen Jane's home and how she grew up and I want that for my family too."

Gates shook her head, "I grew up in Brooklyn and I wanted the same thing as you. That's why we have neighborhoods like that."

"No Sir," She said, "If it was just that, Castle and I would have moved into the Hamptons. It's about family and not living in one of the biggest cities in the world. I'm ready to settle down and Boston is a good place for me and mine to do that."

"And if I don't accept your transfer request?"

Kate didn't say a word as she unclipped her badge and her sidearm and laid them on the Captain's desk. She then clasped her hands behind her back.

Gates couldn't believe what she was seeing. Kate Beckett was offering up her shield as a sacrifice for this, the one thing that meant the most to her. Like Jane Rizzoli, being a detective is what defined Kate, gave her a purpose. She was willing to walk out on it, destroying her career to go to Boston with her partner. It was possible that she could be hired into BPD as a detective but after dropping her badge here, her advancement beyond that rank would be virtually non-existent, even in Boston.

Gates looked at the thin gold star that lay on top of her paperwork. Kate was completely stoic, awaiting her Commander's response.

Gates took the badge in her hand and as she flipped through the transfer request she noticed the date. "This date is eight months away."

"Yes sir, Sergeant Korsak is retiring from thirty five years on the force. Lieutenant Cavanaugh has said that I can come in at any time but I won't take over for him as Sergeant until his retirement."

Gates looked up at her, "You won't be the sergeant if you drop this here." She held up Beckett's badge.

"No Sir." She said, "Rizzoli will. She's scheduled to take her Sergeant's exam at BPD in July."

Gates shook her head, "Rizzoli as a sergeant. That's scary stuff." She tossed Beckett's badge at her.

Kate caught it, and stared blankly.

Gates signed the orders and set them in her inbox. "I'm keeping you until September while Rizzoli transfers out in June. Maybe a few months apart will get your head on straight but I doubt it. In the meantime I want you to know that I am not happy about this in the slightest and the only reason I'm letting you go is so that you'll have rank on Rizzoli. I expect you to act like you came from NYPD and don't you dare bring shame to our Department's name, such as it is over there."

Kate nodded and clipped her badge to her belt and took her sidearm off the desk.

She turned to leave and Gates stopped her, "The chief has been asking for volunteers for public events so if I were you and Rizzoli, I'd make sure my blues fit."

Kate looked back at her, "Sir?"

"You're taking my best investigation team away from my unit. I know why Rizzoli isn't leaving until June and I know why you won't leave her here to suffer me alone so you're both on my official shit list until the day you leave. Dismissed."

Kate stepped out of her office and saw Rizzoli sitting on her desk with an empty box in her hand. Kate shook her head and walked back to her desk. Rizzoli put the box down and stared.

I'm sorry I got you into this.

Kate shook her head again, We're in it together, always.

She patted Jane on the shoulder and sat back down at her desk. They were in it now.