So, it should be noted that reviews are crack and I checked for my fix like every ten minutes. Seriously, thank the powers that be for internet ready smart phones. Thank you so very much to my reviewer! I squealed out loud when I saw I had one. Literally, OUT LOUD. Extra cookie for you for being be first!
Also, most of the italics are thoughts. But when it's in flashback italic mode, thoughts are in regular print. Confusing enough for you? That's okay, I hurt my own brain with it too.
Standard Disclaimer: Hmmm, lemmie think now. Oh yeah! Still not mine *sad face*
Jane couldn't help but let loose a small groan as her back finally gave out with a satisfying 'pop'. She held the stretch for a few more minutes, then eased back down in her work chair to stare blankly at her screen again. With a tried sigh she rubbed her face, and went to grab her coffee, only to groan again, this time out of irritation, when she discovered it empty. With much more force than required, the offending item landed in the trash, and Frost looked up from his own paperwork.
"Alright there partner?" He asked, a smirk on his face. Jane just huffed at him and waved a hand. She'd been up for what almost 2 full days now? She was allowed to be a little grumpy.
"Yeah yeah. Just frikkin peachy." He grinned at her and stretched himself.
"Maybe you should go home, catch some shut eye. Hit it again tomorrow." She gave a non-committal shrug. The thought had been skirting the edges of her mind for the past few hours too. She'd been going non-stop on this body-dump since she and Maura had gotten the call Friday night. Aside from a short exhaustion induced nap sometime Saturday night, she'd been awake and plowing ahead. It was now nearly the end of Sunday, and she wasn't sure she was even useful at this point. She was loath to walk away, especially without a single lead. But until the damned DNA results came back, they were pretty much stuck. Only good thing was with an unsolved case, she'd been able to skirt the self-defense class.
"Might not be such a bad idea." Across the room Korsak shifted and smiled at her.
"Wow, Detective Rizzoli voluntarily going home to sleep? Never thought I'd see the day." The brunette just rolled her eyes at him, flicking a pen in his direction.
"Yeah yeah. Sleep is good for your cortical cerebral blah blah whatever part of the brain helps you focus. And I could definitely use some focus." She missed the look Korsak shot Frost when she stretched again.
"Hmm, that sounds like something the Doc would say." Frost chanced innocently, twirling a pen on his desk. Jane shrugged and started piling paperwork up in an attempt to organize.
"Probably is I'm sure. I swear she's that little voice inside my head telling me not to do all the stupid fun things I used too." She couldn't help the smile on her face at the thought. Maura was most definitely the voice inside her head. And she's telling me to do a lot more than sleep.
"And you actually listen to her?" Jane gave up piling and opted to shove everything into her top drawer. God, Maura would go OCD over that if she saw.
"Of course I listen to her. She's a genius. A certified genius. Literally. Gives her ideas at least a little bit of merit." She did not miss the look her partners exchanged this this time, but shrugged it off as sleep-depravation induced paranoia.
"It's kinda crazy isn't it? That someone could be so smart and so….." Korsak trailed off and Jane looked up warily, still tucking the odd ends of folders away.
"So, what?" She asked and he looked away.
"So…Uh….."
"Beautiful." Frost cut in and the older man nodded.
"Yeah. Beautiful." Jane sat back in her chair and looked between them cautiously.
"Yeah. Real crazy." They both looked away from her and she narrowed her eyes. She was beyond tired and frustrated out of her mind and this little whatever it was not helping. After a few more awkward silent moments, she assumed they'd gotten it out of their systems and given up. Thank God. Cause all I needed right now was to talk about how beautiful Maura is. Jane gave up staring them down. She'd come back at them tomorrow after a good nights sleep. As soon as she stood up however, Frost spoke.
"But it's not just beauty. She has a great personality too." Jane closed her eyes briefly. Frost bit his lip, and after shooting Korsak a hesitant look, changed tactics.
"I suppose she is really odd though." It had the desired response. Dark brown eyes were open and glaring at him.
"Odd?" Her tone was deep, dangerous. Frost looked away.
"Well, quirky." He amended and Jane's look of death eased only slightly. Calling her beautiful was one thing. Borderline insulting her meant swift and sudden death,
"Yes. Quirky." She conceded, her eyes still narrowed. Quirky wonderful adorable.
"It's not a bad thing." Her partner hastily added, throwing up his hands in defense.
"All of her, quirks, are endearing." Korsak tossed out.
"Like what 'quirks'?" She challenged. They were walking a fine line. They looked at each other for a moment, mouths gaping.
"Like her google-mouth." Frost came up with. Jane cocked her head at him.
"Yes. That is an endearing 'quirk'." She crossed her arms, eyebrow raised.
"And her turtle." Korsak added. Jane didn't even think before responding.
"Tortoise." Now it was the older man's turn to raise his eyebrow at her and she fought a blush. "Yes, that is a quirky thing to have."
"And the not-lying thing." Jane stuck her tongue in her cheek and shook her head. A million images of Maura avoiding questions and answering with her little 'Not-lies' running through her head.
"That's not a quirk. It's just cute." The boys exchanged glances and the brunette clenched her fists. Stupid lack of sleep making me talk out loud. Frost shifted in his chair and pushed a few papers into a pile.
" Brains, beauty. Cute quirks." She squinted at him. "So have you noticed that partner?" She stared at him warily. When he used that innocent tone, whatever he was saying was by no means innocent.
"Noticed what?" He shrugged and glanced swiftly over at Korsak. The older man's eyes widened slightly and Jane flicked her gaze between them.
"Noticed what?" She asked, much more sternly and entertained a brief flash of pride when both men squirmed in their chairs.
"How beautiful she looks." Came Korsak's response. Jane couldn't help the eyebrow that jerked up her forehead as he immediately looked away from her. Slowly, she stood fully and leaned against the edge of her desk, arms still crossed. Full-on intimidation mode. Or at least as full-on as she could manage as a sleepless zombie.
"How beautiful she looks?" She questioned, splitting her gaze between the two.
"Yeah. And how she always wears clothes that fit her perfectly." Frost added.
"And her hair."
"Yeah, her hair is always perfect."
"And she looks great in heels."
"And in skirts."
"Or pantsuits."
"Yeah, gotta love the pantsuits."
"And she's always so poised." Jane watched them incredulously, a hint of amusement in her eyes, as they went back and forth, throwing out Maura's greatest hits.
"Gorgeous eyes."
"Oh definitely." She wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Not that the two weren't fans of Maura's. But this, this was weird.
"Don't you think so?" Frost trailed off again, and Jane quirked an eyebrow. A stubborn force of habit. Damn thing had a mind of it's own sometimes.
"Why the sudden interest Frost? She's outta your league anyway." Korsak unsuccessfully stifled a snort and Frost huffed.
"I am not interested in her like that." He defended and she only smirked at him, turning to grab her jacket.
"Uh-huh. Sure. Of course you aren't. You want me to drop in a good word for you or what?" She couldn't help the snicker that escaped. Frost was safe territory. Him and Maura? Not a chance.
"No, I'm good thanks." She shrugged and slipped on her jacket.
"Then what's with all the Maura talk?" The two men exchanged another look and Frost did his best innocent shrug.
"What? People can't notice and comment on the finer attributes of friends?" Well, if she'd had any doubt that something was going on, it was completely erased now. That was beyond a weird sentence. Whatever he was trying smoothly to get to, he failed miserably, and even Korsak winced.
"The finer attributes of friends? Really?" She zipped up her jacket and stuffed her keys and her cell in her pockets.
"Yeah. I mean, you must of noticed. You're with her all the time." Frost pushed on. Her Detective senses tingling in over-drive, Jane cocked her head and squinted her eyes at first her current, then her former partner. The sarcasm dripped from her voice.
"I must of noticed….what? Her hair?" And how it's shiny and bouncy and perfect and smells good always. "Her pantsuits?" I so prefer the skirts. Her legs…kill me… Korsak looked away and Frost shrugged.
"Well yeah. And everything else. You know." Jane's eyebrow twitched and she huffed.
"I know what?" It came out as a demand and Frost chewed on his lip. He stole another glance at the older Detective who only shrugged helplessly. Her partner seemed to struggle with what he was getting at and Jane was prepping to bite his head off when he finally seemed to find a few ounces of balls left and answered.
"I meant, have you noticed everything about the Doc as a whole. Like what we noticed about her." She wrinkled her nose at him and put her mind to work sorting through bits and pieces. Why he was asking her seemed like a damn mystery, but she was pretty sure of the answer she was being led to.
"You mean, that Maura's beautiful?" Beautiful doesn't even come close. That's not nearly a good enough word to describe…my completely platonic friend. Korsak nodded enthusiastically from his seat and Frost beamed. She felt like she'd passed some sort of test.
"So, you think so too then?" She blinked at them slowly and crossed her arms again. The hell were they up too? She weighed her words and shrugged. No real harm in pointing out the obvious right? It'd be weird if she denied it.
"Yes. I do think so too. Christ I'd have to be blind not to notice."
"Not to notice what?" Jane turned at the voice and grinned as Maura walked towards them, her heels clicking lightly. She couldn't help the involuntary softening of her eyes as she watched the could-be model rock heels like no-ones business.
"The boys here were just talking about you." Jane sang out, turning gleefully to watch the looks from Korsak and Frost as they got caught. If anyone could sort it out and shove em' in their places, it was Maura. Much to her surprise, Frost did not seem sheepish but looked equally as gleeful. She opened her mouth to further tattle on and horribly embarrass them, but he swiftly cut her off.
"Jane says she'd have to be blind to not notice how beautiful you are." He spit out and Jane barely managed to keep her jaw from dropping.
"I said what?" She questioned, getting defensive. Beside her, Maura shifted to give her a cautious smile.
"Really? You said that?" Jane sighed heavily at the happy tone. Technically yes, that was exactly what she'd said. But to admit to that? To Maura's face? Out of context? She was most definitely not ready for that particular can of worms. Her internal monologue screeched to a halt as Korsak spoke for her.
"Yeah. I was sitting right here when she did." Jane didn't even get a chance to send a decent disbelieving glare in his direction. Her brain had just enough time to throw out a 'Really?', before Maura hit her with a mega-watt smile that made her knees weak.
"Jane. You really feel that way?" Her voice was soft, full of innocent childlike wonder. She sounded so truly curious, so hopeful, that Jane knew exactly what her answer would be before she even felt her mouth move over the words.
"Ah, yeah. Yes. I do think that….. That you are beautiful." Maura's smile-wattage increased and the blonde dipped her head shyly, looking up through full tantalizing lashes.
"That's so sweet of you to say. Thank you. I appreciate you noticing. It means a lot." Her voice was sincere, and it dripped with honey. The brunette managed a weak smile and scratched the back of her head nervously, her defenses already shattered.
"Well, you know, you're welcome." Oh God Oh God Oh God Say something else before this gets weird. "So, um anyway I'm beat." Yeah, that's just so smooth. Maura nodded at her seriously, though the smile did not waver.
" I assume by now you are nearly at forty-eight hours without sleep. That kind of build up isn't healthy for you Jane. Lack of sleep makes it incredibly difficult to properly focus." Korsak snickered and Frost leaned back in his chair. A winning smile on his traitorous face.
"You know, Jane was just saying something like that." In slow motion, Jane turned her head to face him, an incredulous look on her face.
"Yeah. How she needed to sleep to focus." Her eyes turned skyward as Korsak chimed in and she got the feeling that she knew exactly what Frosts next words would be.
"Yep. Even said you were the voice in her head Doc. Telling her to go grab some shut-eye." She closed her eyes momentarily, wondering what exactly she'd done to warrant her partners turning on her like this. And if in fact in was possible to melt through the floor out of embarrassment when Maura's sweet voice broke her out of her self-induced pity-party.
"Well I'm honored that you actually pay attention to me enough that I can be that voice in your head. It's about time you started taking better care of yourself." Jane let out a long-suffering sigh and mustered enough energy to crack her eyes open and peer down at her friend, still smiling up at her.
"Well you know, everybody has to sleep eventually." The blonde nodded seriously.
"You don't have to be bashful Jane. You know she can't lie to you. She really is honored." The brunette gritted her teeth. With Maura here, the boys were back on top, and loving it. Even without facing him, Jane could hear the glee in Frost's voice as he followed Korsak's lead.
"Yeah Jane. You were just saying how cute you thought that was about Maura." Jane swallowed when Maura blushed at her coyly.
"It seems as though I was quite the conversational piece." She teased. Jane sighed. Heavily. Her brain had seriously reached its limit and she had no idea what she could say at this point to salvage her image. She gave a helpless shrug in return, holding her hands palm out and Maura gave her a sly grin, waving goodbye to Frost and Korsak as she turned to leave.
"We drove to the crime scene together so we can take my car home." Jane went to move off the desk but Maura held up a hand, stopping her movement.
"What?" Now it was the ME's turn to arch an eyebrow and she crossed her arms, nodding her head down in the direction of Jane's desk. She turned to find the edges of several folders still obnoxiously sticking out.
"I will wait for you to properly organize that down in my office." Jane managed a tight smile in her direction and Maura turned, walking triumphantly back to the elevators. Resigned, she counted down in her head and less than five seconds later, the sound of a whip cracking played through the room as Frost held up his phone. Yanking the offending drawer open, she set about furiously shoving everything into a more presentable pile while shooting daggers across the room.
"The hell was that about?!" She hissed, opening a second, deeper drawer to dispose of the more difficult paperwork. The men both shrugged and Korsak took his turn with the lead.
"The Doc's a lady. You should let her know how much you a appreciate her." Roughly she kicked the bottom drawer shut and looked up through dark curls.
"Appreciate her?" He grinned.
"Trust me Janie. Three marriages have taught me something. Sometimes, it's just nice for a woman to hear that you think she looks good."
"Don't call me Janie. And Maura's not my wife. Or my ex-wife. Or my soon to be wife. You think she's looking good, you tell her. Don't drag me into it." Finally, blessedly, the paperwork obeyed and she shut the top drawer in triumph.
"But you are her best friend. It means more coming from you." Frost added and Jane couldn't help the lost look on her face.
"From me?" She couldn't help parroting back their words. By now, she wasn't even sure a good night's sleep would clear this up. Korsak smiled at her.
"Just make sure she knows you care." Jane worked her jaw back and forth, pursing her lips.
"So, the moral of this lesson is, you both want me to make sure I tell Maura that she looks good and that I care about her." They both nodded, obviously pleased, and Jane rolled her eyes and fluttered them shut. She was definitely more tired than she was giving herself credit for. This conversation made no sense to her. And the conclusion made even less.
"Oookay then. Thank you Dr. Phil and Dr. Phil Jr. If you don't mind, I'm leaving now." They both smiled and waved at her as she stomped her way to the elevator, thwacking the button in irritation. At their still delighted smiles, she flipped them off as the doors dinged shut.
RIZZLESRIZZLESRIZZLESRIZZLES RIZZLESRIZZLESRIZZLESRIZZLES RIZZLESRIZZ
Maura was careful not to wake the sleeping form of her best friend as she eased from the bed. Jane really did push herself much to hard. She needed every minute of sleep she could get. Even if the alarm was set for less than an hour away, she'd let Jane rest peacefully. She took a moment to watch the detectives sleeping form. How much softer, innocent she looked asleep. Minus all the sarcasm and irritability and walls, this was the real Jane Rizzoli. A Jane that enjoyed wine and ice cream out of the carton and sappy romance movies and cuddling. A Jane that Maura found her herself privileged to be aware of considering that half the force would faint from surprise if they ever found out she even HAD a softer side…
With a smile she tucked a errant curl of brown out of Jane's face. Her fingers lingering on soft skin for moments longer. Indulging herself in her….friend. With a smile and whisper-quiet sigh she pulled back and headed for the shower. Thirty minutes later, and feeling much more awake than she had last night she left Jane a note saying that she'd gone into work already to go over the labs. After setting up her impossible machine to produce real non-instant coffee for Jane around the time the brunette would stumble down the stairs, she grabbed her keys and took off.
Walking through the front doors, the ME went straight for the elevator, eager to go through the results and hopefully have something for Jane. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Angela's form bustling around the Café. With a surreptitious glance to the front doors, Maura changed trajectory mid-step. She and Jane had been too busy for the past few days to give Jane a chance to bring up Fridays conversation. And last night, the brunette had been dead on her feet. Passing out nearly as soon as her head hit the pillow. With any luck, she could take care of this now, and be able to laugh it off when Jane finally forced the story out of her. She took a seat at her usual spot, and as soon as she caught the older woman's eye, Maura waved Angela over.
Waving away Stanley, Angela weaved her way through the morning crowd with a smile.
"Good Morning Dr. Isles. And how are we this morning?" Eagar to get on with the confrontation, and sighing at her own inability to ignore social niceties, the honey-blonde smiled back.
"Very well. Thank you Angela." At this, the elder Rizzoli got a playful grin on her face.
"I should hope so. I hear you took Janie home last night." Maura blinked.
"Um, yes I did. When we were called on Friday, we took my car together. It was more efficient." Angela unsuccessfully hid an even larger grin and nudged Maura's shoulder as the blonde started to wonder what she'd missed.
"Uh-huh. And how did it go?" The ME couldn't help quirking her head. Following Angela in conversation was fast proving to be more difficult than following Jane.
"How did what go?" In a mirror image of her daughter, Angela rolled her eyes.
"How did last night with Janie go?" Maura wrinkled her nose. From the older woman's tone, it was clear she was asking something aside from what she was actually asking. A thoroughly confusing practice that also ran rampant in the Rizzoli clan. But, completely lost as to what that something was, she could only shrug and go with honesty.
"Last night went very well. She was exhausted. She truly does work herself much too hard." Angela nodded sympathetically.
"She does." Maura sighed, thinking back to the near-angelic look on Jane's face.
"I understand her need to protect and serve. To get the bad guy and give it all of herself, I truly do. It's one of the qualities I admire about her most. But I wish she'd take better care of herself. She's so busy watching out for others, who's going to watch out for her?" Angela smiled softly.
"Well that's where we come in." The blonde gave a half-smile.
"Indeed. And looking after Jane is a full-time job all by itself. It's no wonder I was as tired as she was last night." They both giggled conspiratorially. Maura's world seemed right. Bonding with Jane's mother over Jane felt, good. It made her feel special that she was included in the little group entrusted with such an amazing woman's care. Hell, next to Angela, she was co-captain. But Rizzoli's are not Rizzoli's if everything is making sense to Maura Isles, so naturally, Mama threw her for a loop. Her giggle turned into a playful smirk and winked.
"Had to sleep after huh? Well, I don't need anymore details than that. Just glad we could help." Maura fought the urge to face palm and felt her brain scrambling to catch up. There were so many things off with that sentence. Her social skills were woefully inadequate to deal with this alone. Obviously she had missed something significant.
"We?" Was the only clear part of Angela's sentence that Maura felt she could safely question. The elder woman nodded, pouring out a full cup of coffee.
"I enlisted Frost and Korsak." Maura blinked again.
"Enlisted?"
"To help with that little problem we discussed on Friday." There! A moment of clarity. Angela had willing brought it up. Maura clung to it.
" Oh! Speaking of, I thought I might take the opportunity to clear up Friday's um, discussion." Then, as Angela's words finally processed, she felt her jaw drop. "Wait, you did what?!" She couldn't help that it came out as a low screech. Angela glanced around and leaned in to whisper, still infinitely proud of herself.
"Well, I don't like to admit that I needed help. But my Janie is a stubborn one. So I brought the cavalry together as fast as possible." Maura's eye literally, physically twitched. Her lips squeezed together and she chewed on the inside of her cheek.
"You…..You enlisted Detective Frost….and Sergeant Korsak….Jane's partners…to help….help…." She couldn't even finish the sentence properly. Angela mistook her silence for overwhelming emotion and gathered the flustered ME into a hug.
"Oh Dr. Isles…Maura…..it's okay. I told you we were all on the same page about you. Just let it all out." She really did feel like letting it out. Although, she wasn't sure if it would come out as tears, or murderous rage. So she settled for taking a deep breath, clearing her head, and pushing to clear up the most recent in a long list of assumptions. Opting to ignore the implications of Angela's cavalry for now.
"Angela, I'm not sure what….Jane and I didn't…." Angela pulled back and stared curiously and Maura used the distance to take in a few more deep breaths. "Last night, I took Jane home, and we both fell asleep. That was all. There wasn't…anything else to give details about." Angela's face noticeably fell and she thwacked the table with the cleaning rag over her shoulder.
"My God Janie is stubborn!" Don't I know it. Maura shook her head.
"Angela really, it's okay. That's what I wanted to talk to you about…" Angela shook her head violently, cutting the blond off.
"No, it isn't. I knew she'd be a tough nut to crack. I didn't think it'd be that easy honestly. When they told me what she said, it seemed to good to be true. She's much to hard-headed to cave that easily. Of course Janie felt that way about you. I knew that wasn't the problem. We all did. But, start at the beginning. Right Dr. Isles?" Maura whimpered and struggled desperately to process. Who was they? What had Jane said? What beginning? This conversation was feeling like déjà vu all over again.
"Angela…." She tried again but the eldest Rizzoli only pulled her into another swift hug, patting her back in support.
"This is what you want right? You really care about Janie?" Two completely separate questions. Maura answered the second one automatically. It was the wrong order.
"Of course I care about Jane…."
"And you'll take care of her for me?"
"Wha….yes, of course. I'll always take care of Jane. But…"
"And you know I always wanted a Doctor in the family. You already are family. You know that right? You want to be a part of this craziness?" Maura couldn't help getting misty-eyed at that. Being a part of Jane's family meant more to her than she could ever properly express.
"I love being a part of the family Angela. All of it." With a nod, more to herself than anyone else, Angela put her hands on Maura's shoulders and stared her in the eye, speaking firmly.
"Then don't you worry about it. We already have the next plan of action down. If it wasn't her she was confused about, maybe it's you. You just trust me Maura. Mama knows best. We'll get Janie yet." The fear was back on Maura's face full force. But before she could even consider stuttering out another denial, or voice a question about one any of the troublesome parts of Angela's reassurance, a happy voice sounded behind them and she shuddered. Yes, of course right now.
"Good morning." The raspy voice caused an involuntary ripple down Maura's back and she turned to see the topic of conversation strolling towards her. A smile on her face, and dark brown eyes that were so bright and much more lucid than they had been last night. Eyes that held the power to completely disarm and hypnotize her with their warmth and depth and intensity. Eyes that were right now boring through hers, glittering with curiosity as they observed Maura and Angela separate quickly. Maura knew that a guilty look flitted across her face, ever so briefly. Jane caught it, of course. And just like that, the game was back on.
"Morning Janie. Would you like some pancakes?" Angela's voice, as high pitched as her own had been on Friday night, was an unsuccessful attempt to smoothly avoid catching Jane's attention. Sadly, it did nothing but make Maura sigh as Jane now knew for sure that she'd interrupted something. Sure enough…
"Am I interrupting something?" Jane threw out a Rizzoli smirk and Maura couldn't decide weather or not to be turned on, or terrified. Angela not-so-subtly winked at Maura, and the ME got the distinct impression she was going to be covered in hives by the time this conversation was over.
"Actually, Maura and I were just talking about you." There went Jane's eyebrow and Maura shifted uneasily in her seat, a poor attempt at a smile on her face.
"Oh really?" Came the shit-eating response to match the equally shit-eating grin on the Detective's face. Maura avoided eye-contact and sent a pleading look to Angela. Please if you know your daughter or ever cared about me please don't say what I think you are going to say.
"She was just saying how much she admired you." Jane and Maura both blinked, exchanging confused looks. That was not what Maura had thought Angela would say. And, from the look on Jane's face, it wasn't what she was expecting either. Whatever snark she had wanted to inject into the conversation died with the unexpected praise. Maura watched Jane do what Jane did best when it came to praise. Avoidance. Level: Expert.
"Okay. Well, that's…..nice." She rolled her eyes, and plopped down in the chair across from Maura. The ME wanted to let loose a relieved breath, but Angela wasn't done.
"Really Jane. She was worried about you pushing yourself on this case, same as I was!" Jane shot Maura a look, and the blonde knew she was assuming that Maura had gone and tattled to Mama about Jane not taking care of herself.
"I'm fine Ma. You know this is how I work. It's what I do. You shouldn't worry. Either of you." She stressed the 'either', locking eyes with Maura for a moment.
"I know Jane. I know it's what you do. I'm sorry. I can't help but worry." Jane's hard look softened and she returned Maura's soft smile, both temporarily forgetting Angela's presence.
"I know you worry Maura. But I promise, I take of me. Just so you don't have too." They shared a small laugh, and just when Maura felt herself getting lost in a deep chocolate gaze, life interrupted again.
"I'm glad you think you can take care of you, but you know Maura was volunteering for the job." Maura chewed on her lip and Jane looked slowly between them, an indescribable look flitting across her face.
"What?" Maura tried to speak up, to stop what ever it was that Angela was aiming to do, she just wasn't nearly fast enough.
"We were just talking about how you get on a case. How much you put into. It's one of the things she likes about you. Isn't that right Dr. Isles?" Angela gave her a sly grin, and not for the first time, Maura cursed her honesty.
"Ah, yes. That is correct. Bu…"
"And she was saying that you don't take care of yourself when you get like this. But that she'll always be there to help take care of you." A slow half-smile had spread across the Detective's face. Maura correctly identified it as Jane's 'jackpot blackmail material' smirk.
"That true Maura?" She asked, her tone almost all tease. But, in the very back of her question, Maura could sense the hesitancy. Jane was honestly curious.
"Well, I um, I suppose yes. That is what I said." Jane's smile grew and Maura fought the blush she could feel rising from her chest.
"She also said she's part of the family." It was a statement Jane already agreed with. She'd told Maura the same a few times, though it was in passing and said with such little emphasis that Maura knew she wasn't supposed to make a big deal about the admission. But still, the way Angela said it just broadened Jane's smirk by inches and dropped her voice a few timbres.
"Family huh?"
"I did not technically say that I…" Mama to the rescue.
"When I told her she was family, craziness and all, she said she loved it." Under the smirk and sarcasm about to come from between her lips, Maura saw Jane's eyes twinkle with joy, just for a moment. It made her happy to hear that Maura was happy to belong. And it made Maura happy to make Jane happy. So even though a part of her wanted to sink through the floor, Maura smiled.
"That a fact?"
"That is a factually accurate statement. Yes." The more nervous Maura got, the larger the words she used became. It was a tell Jane had already picked up on. Never mind that it was mostly around Jane that Maura felt the need. Don't sense that I'm nervous. Don't sense that I'm nervous. There was the smirk, and Maura braced for whatever one-liner she could see twinkling mercilessly back at her from beneath Jane's liquid gaze.
"It seems as though I was quite the conversational piece." Aaaaaand there it was. Maura felt the flush burn its way up her neck as her winning play from yesterday was so effortlessly thrown back at her. And felt…FELT Jane's gaze as it flickered downward ever so briefly. She needed to run. Now.
"I….am going to go down to the morgue to get the lab results." She avoided Jane's sly grin as she slid from her chair. Setting Angela straight would have to wait.
"I….am going to go with you." Jane announced. Hoping out of her chair with a new found energy that Maura was sure was directly related to her own embarrassment.
"Oh you two." Angela pitched in. And when Jane quirked a very amused eyebrow, the older Rizzoli winked very purposefully at them. For the second time in less than five minutes Maura had to physically resist the urge to face palm and groan out loud. When Jane turned a still amused, but now confused grin on her, the ME shot her a sheepish 'I have no idea what's going on grin'. Please work Not enough of a lie to garner hives thank whatever powers that be.
"Riiiight. Well then…" Jane made a shooing motion at Maura, signaling that they should vacate her mother's presence immediately and the honey-blond had never been more thankful for Jane's lack of tact. Obviously, her mother's weirdness overshadowed the guilt she'd caught on Maura's face earlier. So now, instead of making Maura suffer more for fun, she wanted to flee. A sentiment Maura happily shared.
"Thank you for the coffee Angela." Maura offered as Jane hustled her away, doing her best to remember her manners even as Jane's touch on her elbow burned her skin.
"You're quite welcome hon. For everything." At the stressed word, Jane looked down curiously at the woman nearly in her arms and this time Maura didn't even fight the sigh that escaped.
