A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay and the shortness of this chapter. Holidays are wonderful, but a bitch, too! I was going to wait until I had more to post, but decided to just go ahead and put this up. I hope you like it!

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But as is often the case, life gets in the way of best laid plans, and it was no different for Jane. Though she hadn't called her mother yet, the older woman sniffed out her arrival like a bloodhound and Jane was dropped back into the Rizzoli family drama as if she had never left. Her youngest brother, Tommy, had been arrested again while she was away, and as it always was, her mother turned to her for support.

And when she wasn't caught up in bail hearings and jail visits, work made sure to take up the rest of her time. It was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, she loved her job- she was one of the youngest in her firehouse to get hired on, and she was the only female firefighter in the district. They were accomplishments to be proud of. On the other hand, it was hard work and often dangerous, both things she was reminded of in her 2nd week back. A call came in at 3AM that knocked her flat on her ass, both figuratively and literally. She took a falling beam to the shoulder pushing her partner out of the way, and suffered through a month of painful rehab. It was this incapacitation that got her called into her boss' office.

"Rizzoli. Frost."

"Sir," they replied in unison.

"Hows the shoulder holding up?" Captain Cavanaugh asked.

She tried to shrug and grimaced at the action. "Coming along, boss."

He saw her expression and snorted. "Right. The physio says another 7-10 days of desk duty." He held up a hand to nip her protests in the bud. "I don't make the rules, Rizzoli. Talk it over with your union rep if you want to appeal. In the meantime, I've got a little job for you and your partner."

"Uh-oh," Frost muttered under his breath. "Don't think we're going to like the sound of this."

Cavanaugh held up a piece of paper. "It's Fire Prevention Week at St Mary's Elementary School. I've volunteered two of my best to go have a little visit with the kindergarten kids."

"And Korsak and Frankie were busy?" Frost winced at Jane's backhand to his stomach.

"Very funny, smartass." Cavanaugh's expression didn't match his words. "You two are the most personable- which isn't sayin' much, I admit- and it'd be good for the kids to see you."

Jane chuckled at Frost's confusion. "He means diversity."

Frost smiled. "Ah. Like a woman and a handsome brother."

Cavanaugh snorted again. "Right. Exactly like that. You guys are up tomorrow afternoon, 3 o'clock. Don't let them run all over you."

"A room full of rambunctious 5-year olds. What could possibly go wrong?" she asked facetiously.

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"Did you really need to bring all that?" Frost groaned as he hauled a bag out of the pickup.

Jane looked at all the gear and conceded the point. "Maybe just the suit and helmet. What do you think?"

"I think you could've told me that before I lugged everything out of the truck."

"Don't be a baby," she chastised. "I have a wounded wing."

"Uh-huh."

She stood at the bottom of the steps of the 3-storey school. "Did I ever tell you I went here?" she asked Frost.

He stopped in surprise. "No. Really?" She nodded and he smiled.

"What?"

"Nothin'. Just trying to picture a 5-year old kickass Jane Rizzoli."

She bumped his shoulder. "Let's go, smart guy."

After a quick check-in with the principal, they walked up to the third floor.

"I feel like a giant," Frost said. "Look how close these steps are."

"The halls are way narrower than I remember," Jane said in agreement.

"Why put the little kids on the third floor, though?" He hefted the bag over his shoulder. "I ain't gonna make it."

Jane laughed. "They set up the floors from earliest grade at the top, to the later grades at the bottom. It's a walk for the little tykes, but they don't get trampled by the stampede of older kids at recess."

"By the time their little legs get downstairs, recess's over!"

They arrived outside the kindergarten room. Jane knocked on the door.

Frost watched her look around. "So has it changed at all?"

She shook her head, almost in awe. "Not one bit. It's weird. I'm tempted to see if my name is still scratched on the desk in Mr. Brovinsky's science class."

"You were a juvenile delinquent!" Frost crowed. "Destruction of school property!"

Neither noticed the door had opened midway through his comment. "Please," Jane scoffed, "like you didn't engage in a bit of graffiti."

"I dunno," he drawled, "that sounds like it could be racial profiling." It was Frost who realized someone was standing in the doorway. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Racial profiling," Jane snorted. "I think-" her voice died in her throat when she saw the woman Frost had acknowledged.

In a voice that sounded much more confident than the owner felt, the woman said, "You must be the firefighters scheduled to speak with my class."

Frost looked down at his gear. "Yep, that would be us." He gave her a beaming smile and held out a hand. "Barry Frost, ma'am. Very nice to meet you. This is my partner, Jane Rizzoli."

The woman took Frost's hand and mustered a smile. "Very nice to meet you as well, Mr. Frost. I'm Maura. Maura Isles."

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