Made slight changes to the first chapter according to the information on the show as far as 3x05. Hope doesn't have a husband and I mentioned the daughter's name in the revised part of the previous chapter. Enjoy.


I stood outside with Maura as I waited for her to ring the doorbell, but she only stood there gasping every other breath as she had an internal debate about what to do.

"Oh, come on, Maura," I ordered in a whiny tone brought on by impatience.

"I'm sorry, Jane. I can't. I can't do this."

"Sure you can," I tried to sound calming, an urgency still in my voice. "All you have to do is ring the doorbell and eat!"

"You know it's not that simple," she said as she turned to me.

I sighed.

"I get it, okay. But...Maur, it's just dinner."

"But you said I need to tell her."

"Yes, you should tell her...but if you're not ready then you should wait until you are. I promise not to pressure you, okay?"

She looked from me to the door then back at me. She took a deep breath and nodded as she released it.

"Okay," she said.

She turned back toward the door and stared at it with her arms crossed at her waist.

I arched an eyebrow and frowned as I looked her over for a moment. I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I reached for the doorbell and pressed it.

"Wait," Maura looked at me with wide eyes.

She looked scared.

"What," I asked through gritted teeth.

"This was a bad idea. I can't go in there and have dinner with my moth-"

The door opened to reveal a smiling and well dressed Dr. Hope Martin. I smiled back to be polite and hoped Maura followed by example if she wasn't socially smart enough to figure out it was the right thing to do for herself.

"Dr. Isles and Detective Rizzoli, so nice of you to come," Hope's smile brightened.

"Oh, you can call me Jane," I gingerly corrected her. "And I'm sure Dr. Isles here wouldn't mind if you called her Maura either."

"What," Maura asked as she appeared lost. "Oh. Right."

Maura smiled at Hope and nodded.

Hope stepped aside and motioned for us to come inside. I took her up on the offer first.

Maura followed in tow and made sure to smile along the way.

"Thank you for inviting us," she spoke up behind me as Hope shut the door.

The three of us headed into the kitchen where the table was set and the food was ready. A smaller ash-blond woman sat at the table and beamed when she saw us.

"Hi," she stood and held out her hand. "My mom has told me quite a few things about the two of you."

She shook my hand.

"So nice to meet you. I'm Kailyn," she said with a firm handshake and twinkling hazel-green eyes.

"Jane," I said as I continued to smile. "And this is Maura."

I pointed back at Maura and got her to look at something other than Hope for once. Sometimes Maura stared and I had run out of excuses for her odd behavior.

"Hello," Maura nervously greeted her as she held out her hand.

Kailyn shook it and looked between the two of us.

"Hi. Gosh, I feel like I'm in the presence of celebrities or something," she said.

I gave her a once over and noted her choice of attire. She wore nice clothes, near Sunday's best, but there was a casual, free-flow feel to her outfit. The clothes fit her smile and posture, but they were somewhat loose on her. If she had a late night soccer game with some friends later, she could easily play in the outfit she wore. Black dress pants and an almost forest green V-cut T-shirt and it looked good on her.

I looked quizzically at her forearm before I realized what I was looking at. She had a tattoo.

"You have a lot of those," I asked as I pointed to her ink.

"Oh," she pulled her arm away as if she were trying to conceal it. "No. Just the one."

Hope approached Kailyn and stood as though she outranked everyone in the room, though she did smile.

"That was a birthday gift to herself this year," Hope mentioned.

"Yeah, I was feeling a little rebellious."

"Well, that's cool," I said. "I felt like that a lot in my house. My parents always drove me crazy and all I ever wanted to do was run off somewhere for some alone time."

"She's tried that before," Hope lightly chuckled.

Kailyn smiled.

"I was only trying to find myself. I felt way too sheltered here. Anything I learned about society just seemed to be read straight out of a book. I wanted to experience it first hand,"she explained.

"And now she'll get to do that even more when she goes off to college this fall."

"Wow," I said.

Maura stared at Kailyn for a moment. She almost seemed lost in the girls' eyes.

"That's great," I continued as I tried to give Maura time to adjust. "Where are you going?"

"I'm still not sure, but thankfully I got in everywhere I applied and there are really only three schools I'd love to attend."

"BCU, Columbia, and Harvard," Hope answered my next question before I could even ask it.

"Fantastic," my smile spread from ear to ear. "Why Harvard?"

"Criminal defense attorney," she smiled.

"Ah."

She nodded.

"We should sit down and discuss this over the dinner that's starting to get cold," Hope chimed in.

I looked back at Maura after Kailyn took her seat and I raised both eyebrows at Maura in a silent question. She broke her fixation on Kailyn and nodded a moment after she made eye contact with me.

"Okay," I whispered, though I didn't mean to vocalize it.

I placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her to the table. I let her take her seat first before I sat in the one beside her.

Hope took her place at the head of the table and leaned over to grab a covered plate.

"I hope you like Italian. Kailyn has been craving it for weeks now," Hope smiled as she picked up one of the dishes, served herself, and passed it to Maura who sat to her right.

"Italian is fine," Maura smiled. "That seems to be a food we have a lot."

She nodded at her own admission and looked at Hope with a smile before she glanced at me.

I smiled back at her, happy to even see a smile on her soft, delicate face.

"It's Jane, right," Kailyn spoke again after a small pause.

"Yes," I smiled at her.

"What made you choose law enforcement?"

"Well,"I started. "I protect people. I always have and I always will. It's in my nature to make sure no one gets hurt, but if they do get hurt, I can still protect their memories. I can still protect their families hearts and I can still protect others that may be a murder's next victim by putting the criminals behind bars. Every law enforcement officer makes a promise to protect and serve. Who better to do that than someone who's already a protector?"

Kailyn nodded.

"Nice," she said.

She seemed riveted, maybe even blown away, by what I said.

"That's why I want to be a defense attorney. To make sure a detective's work is recognized and carried out through the courts. Someone's got to do it and I know I'd do everything I could to make it possible."

"That's great. That's why you applied to Harvard. Why BCU and Columbia?"

"I also appreciate the art of science, social and non-social. If I were to go to BCU, I'd study to be a pediatrician. At Columbia, I'd major in Psychology."

"Smart...just like your mother," I said but looked at Maura.

I wanted to mention how similar she was to her half-sister, but that would have to be some other time, if Maura ever got the courage to confess.

Maura passed the food to me and I served myself before I handed the plate over to Kailyn. Once the four of us had plenty on our own plates, we scarfed it all down like we hadn't had a meal in days. Occasionally, one of us would have an empty mouth and a curious mind, a combination that lead to conversations without a doubt.

"You must like children if you want to be a pediatrician," Maura spoke up for once as she looked up from her plate to Kailyn.

"I do," Kailyn smiled. "I used to babysit a few times a week for some of the neighbors and their kids always made me smile. They're so young and full of life. They really give living a different meaning."

Maura smiled and nodded.

"What about you? I know you're a medical examiner, but...what are your thoughts about kids?"

"It's definitely something I want. They can change your perspective on everything without you even realizing it and that excites me."

"Really," I asked, genuinely stunned.

"Yes," she frowned. "What do you look so surprised?"

"Because you like science. You enjoy constants and numbers and specifics. Kids are messy and you're...not."

"Well, that's the kind of mess I'd like to live with in the future. Sometimes I think, if I had a child, maybe I wouldn't have to be so precise and that would be okay."

Her eyes lit up as a small, angelic smile appeared across her face.

I slowly started to feel the corners of my mouth curl into a smile of their own at the sight.

Hope started to tear up and sob a bit. She used her napkin to dab away the tears before they had a chance to fall.

"That's how I felt about Kailyn. She was my miracle and I've never seen things the same way since she was born."

I cringed at Hope's words knowing they'd stung Maura. I wanted to jump up on the table and say how I felt about Maura, that she was the real miracle. She had a criminal for a father, a man that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, and a brilliant mother that was told Maura died at birth. After being adopted and on her own for most of her childhood, she turned out to be one great person. She was smart and made me laugh even when she didn't try. Life had dealt her a shitty hand of cards, but learning everything she had about her personal life and what she'd learned in her professional life, she'd remained resilient.

"Oh, please, Mom," Kailyn started. "I wasn't much of a miracle. You're just saying that becau-"

Suddenly, Kailyn struggled to breath. She looked as puzzled as the rest of us as she tried to regulate her breathing, but she only wheezed.

She tried to stand up, but her legs wobbled until they gave underneath her.

"Oh my god," Hope jumped out of her chair and flew over to Kailyn.

Maura and I shot out our chairs and followed Hope's lead as we immediately ran to Kailyn.

"What's wrong with her," I asked as I looked between Maura and Hope.

"I don't know," Hope answered as she turned her daughter onto her side to comfort her.

Maura looked quizzically at Kailyn as the eighteen year old squirmed on the floor. She opened Kailyn's slowly closing eyes and analyzed them. She then looked at Kailyn's legs and then her throat.

"We need to get her to a hospital."

"What is it," Hope asked in a panic. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not one hundred percent sure."

"But you have an idea?"

"Yes, but I-"

"Then what is it?"

I watched as the doctor part of Hope died and the worried mother came out. She neglected all her years of medical training and relied on Maura to tell her something I knew Maura would never tell her if she wasn't completely sure she would be right.

"I'd only be guessing."

"Then guess! Please, this is my daughter!"

"Hope, I don't have time to guess. You don't have time for me to guess and your daughter doesn't have time for me to guess. We need to get her to the hospital now before whatever this might be gets worse."

Maura started to pick up Kailyn, but the girl was mostly dead weight in Maura's arms. I grabbed one of Kailyn's arms and started to pull her to her feet along with Maura.

"Come on, Kailyn. You've got to help us out here," I begged her as she depended on Maura and I to lift her up.

She weakly stood, but didn't seem to have the energy to walk.

"We can take my car," Maura struggled to say as she used all the muscle she had to support Kailyn.

"Okay," I struggled almost as much as her to talk as we dragged Kailyn to the front door.

Hope trailed behind us and helped us lay Kailyn in the backseat. Hope took whatever space she could to sit next to Kailyn as she cradled her daughter's head in her lap.

I rushed into the passenger's seat as Maura started the car. Within a few seconds, Maura sped off.


Hope sat in despair while Maura stood alert and worried. She gently hit her fingers against her palm in wait as I brought her a water from the vending machine.

"Are you gonna be okay," I asked as I handed her the bottle.

She shook her head.

"This is awful. If it's as serious as I think it might be, there will never be a right time to tell Hope."

"Oh, Maura. You can't worry about that now."

"That's not what I'm really worried about," she threw up a dismissive hand. "That's my sister in there and something's wrong with her. I'm scared, Jane. I've never had a sister before and now, the only one I have could be very sick. I don't want to lose her. She's got her whole life ahead of her."

"I know. I know," I cooed as I pulled her into a hug.

She took a deep breath and released it in a sigh the moment her chin rested on my shoulder.

I noticed a doctor looking over a clipboard after he rounded a corner and headed toward us. I kept my eye on him as he quickly discussed something with a nurse then looked up and made eye contact with me as he approached.

"Are you Kailyn Martin's family," he asked me.

Maura pulled away from me and wiped away tears that had just started to tremble down her cheeks.

"That's her mother there," Maura pointed back at Hope who sprung up with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"How is she," Hope asked as she joined Maura and I in front of the doctor.

"It appears one of your daughter's kidneys is failing and the other is severely infected, Mrs. Martin."

"It's Doctor Martin," she corrected.

I looked apologetically at the doctor before I spoke up.

"So she'll need a transplant," I asked.

"I'm afraid so," he gravely answered.

"Oh god," Hope placed a hand over her heart.

"Have you put her on the list already," Maura asked.

"No, but that's only because we request the family provide blood samples to see if they're a match. So, Doctor Martin, whenever you're ready-"

"I'll get tested now. I should be a match, right? I'm her mother. I'll be a match."

The doctor nodded.

"If you'll follow me-"

He didn't have to finish his sentence before she began to walk with him.

I turned to Maura as she started to shake her head.

"Kidney failure. I knew it was something that serious," she started to cry.

"Hey, Hope's getting tested and she'll have to be a match. Kailyn will get the kidney and everything will work out."

She walked into my arms and I hugged her again.

"And you know it has to be the truth because I won't tell you it's gonna be okay when I don't know that it will."

She laughed a little through her tears.

"You wouldn't lie to me, right?"

"Never," I honestly answered.

She squeezed me tight and I closed my eyes to conceal the pain I felt for her.

After a few minutes, she collected herself and backed out of the hug.

I let her go and tried to meet her eyes.

She looked up at me and sniffled. She stared at me and for a moment, I recognized the sight of the cogs turning in her brain. She had an idea.

"Excuse me," she tried to get the attention of one of the nurse's at the front desk. "I'd like to get tested to see if I'm a blood match for a patient named Kailyn Martin."

"Okay," the nurse said as she began to type on he computer.

"What? Maura, what are you doing," I gently grabbed her arm and pulled her to face me.

"One moment, ma'am. I'll have Dr. Ronsen's attending take you to one of our rooms," the nurse said as picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Maura," I panicked.

"I just want to see if I'm a match. I need to do everything I can to keep her healthy. She's family."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair to keep from crying. I worried if Maura wasn't a match, it would crush her. If she was a match, I knew from that statement she would gladly give up a kidney to save her sister's life. Though I understood her decisions, and I knew I would make the same choices given the same situation, I knew I also knew I didn't want to lose my best friend either.

The nurse hung up.

"Ma'am," she called to Maura.

Maura turned to look at the nurse.

"Nurse Andrews is on her way down. She'll get you tested shortly."

"Okay. Thank you," Maura smiled at the nurse.

The nurse nodded before she went back to work.

"Maura," I softly called to her.

She gave me her undivided attention.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, if you're a match..." I trailed off.

"Yes. I want to do this."

Though she always spoke with certainty, I'd never seen her so sure of something in life until that moment. I stared into big, beautiful eyes and made my own decision.

"Then I'm gonna support you. No matter what, I'm gonna be here for you...okay?"

She nodded.

"Thank you," she slowly started to smile.


Hope, Maura, and I sat in the waiting room while the doctor retrieved the test results.

Maura rested her head on my shoulder as we sat side by side. I held her hand as she tried to relax and occasionally ran my thumb in a circular pattern over the back of it to soothe her.

It seemed to work until the doctor came into view.

Both Hope and Maura shot up and met the doctor halfway.

I slowly got to my feet and took small, deliberate steps toward the three of them.

"What's the news," Hope asked.

"Well, Doctor, you're a match-"

"Then what are we waiting for. Prep me for surgery."

"But there's a problem with your health as well."

"What?"

Hope looked beyond surprised.

"I've done nothing but take care of myself for the past few years."

"Have you traveled overseas recently?"

"Yes, for the last twenty or so."

"In that time you've been exposed to several illnesses of other regions. Illnesses we haven't perfected antibodies for yet. Though you're body shows no signs of weakness, you've stabilized the infections and have nearly grown immune to them. People like you're daughter who haven't been in contact with these same infections won't be able to handle them without the medicine I assume you provided yourself."

"I have more. I can give you more," Hope started to plea.

"She's in too weak a condition for us to try anything that danger in fear that her other kidney may shut down if exposed to too many different medications."

"Then what am I supposed to do? My daughter will die without another kidney and by the sound of it, she doesn't have time to wait on a transplant list!"

"Well, there's good news. Doctor Isles is also a match."

"What?"

Hope quickly turned to Maura.

"You had yourself tested," she asked.

"Yes," Maura replied after a moment. "I had to do something. I...feel so close to you and now your daughter. I had to try."

"Well, thank you, but I can't let you give up your kidney for my daughter. We've only known each other a few weeks. It would be selfish of me to ask you to."

"Let me do this, Hope," Maura took Hope's hands in hers. "She needs the kidney and I'm a match. You said it yourself. She doesn't have time to wait on a list."

Hope stared at her as she contemplated her morally conflicting choices.

"Let me do this," Maura repeated.


Thank you so much for reading. Again, please let a review so I can know your likes and dislikes. Let me know what you think. :)