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November Rizzles Ficlet #2

Episode: Boston Strangler Redux

Summary: After Grant leaves Jane and Maura at the bar, Maura momentarily reflects on how her life has changed since meeting Jane Rizzoli.


Maura chuckled into her wine glass, causing Jane to look up from her own beer. Their eyes met for a moment before Maura turned away, her lips curling into a smile. When it didn't seem as though Maura was going to speak or explain her laughter, Jane set her beer glass down with a soft thud, pulling her legs off from laying on the seat and facing frontwards towards her friend. She folded her hands together and stared.

"You gonna share with the class?"

Maura's smile froze in place, then she laughed again, her head hanging low. She stared down at her lap for a moment before looking back up at Jane. "I was just thinking."

"You? Thinking? No," muttered Jane sarcastically.

The medical examiner gave a mock smile. "Very funny," she rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, I was just thinking about how in the very few months that we have been friends, I've seen more excitement in the field than I have since beginning as an intern. You seem to attract trouble, Detective Rizzoli," said Maura with a smirk. She took another sip of her wine. It was Jane's turn to laugh.

"Yeah, Ma always said I invited trouble into my life. She, uh, she didn't really want me to become a cop. You know, long hours, little pay. She also had a problem with the getting shot at."

"And now she has two cops in the family."

"Well, technically she has three kids in law enforcement. It's just a matter of what side of the line they're on," replied Jane shortly. Maura raised an eyebrow. Jane sighed, swirling the last of her beer around in the bottle. "My brother Tommy is a different kind of trouble. He's at Norfolk."

If Maura was surprised by the announcement, she didn't show it. She tilted her head a bit, surveying Jane; the dark haired woman seemed uneasy about the revelation, and Maura watched how Jane's hands clenched and unclenched with every passing moment. It was a quirk she had noticed that the detective did quite often, primarily when she was nervous or tired. Maura figured that, in this instance, it was a little of both.

"Metaphorically speaking, we all have skeletons in our closet. No family comes unscathed. We all have our secrets. I mean," Maura set her wine glass down. "Who knows what my biological parents are. My adoption papers are sealed. Your brother could be sharing a cell with my father or uncle or maybe I have a brother. What I'm trying to say is…" Maura slid her hand across the table and let it rest on Jane's. She wasn't used this this; she had never been one to initiate physical contact and she could tell Jane wasn't either, judging by the startled look she gave Maura. But there was something oddly comforting about the way Jane looked back at her, as though to say, without words, that what Maura had done was correct, that this was how friends were meant to respond and behave when talking about something fairly serious. "-you don't have to be ashamed."

Jane shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not ashamed," she said flatly. "I love my little brother. Just, you know, bein' a cop and all, it's hard to exactly be proud of his choices. I want him to step up, be a man, make something of himself."

"Well," Maura sighed. "I know very little about siblings and even less about the intimate inner-workings of a family outside of a sociological perspective, but I think, even in this situation, that how deeply you want him to get his life together says more than if you were indifferent to his situation. Indifference shows a severed emotional connection. You still care enough that you want to see him succeed. I think that's noble, especially when you're on this side of the law."

A subtle smile played at Jane's lips. "Yeah, well. When you talk like you do, I think anything sounds logical."

"And what does that mean?" asked Maura playfully.

"It's means you're probably going to be as much trouble for me, as I'm going to be for you." responded Jane. She raised her fingers to the bartender. "Two more?"

Maura agreed.