Three days later, Jane strode into Maura's office with a sloppy grin on her face. She swaggered over to the doctor's desk and threw down a piece of paper.
"Pretty impressive, don't you think?"
Maura put down her notes and grabbed the paper to see a messy looking "Jane Rizzoli" scrawled down in large letters.
"I know what you're thinking. Not great. But honestly my handwriting wasn't much better than that to start with. My mother called it completely illegible in high school."
Maura almost felt her eyes brimming with tears. "Oh, Jane. It's magnificent!"
She looked up to find Jane sheepishly smiling back.
"Ahh it's not that impressive. Took me an entire week."
"Do one for me."
"What?"
Maura handed her a piece of paper and a pen.
"Go on. Please."
Jane smiled and hunkered down. Leaning down, with her lip sticking slightly out of the corner of her mouth in concentration, she slowly began to write "Dr. Maura Isles, M.D."
Maura clasped her hands in delight.
"I love it!" Maura leaned the paper against the lamp on her desk so that it faced her. "This must mean you're close to being administered your gun again."
Jane nodded happily. "Yep, Stephanie thinks in another two weeks. One if I actually do my homework."
"What does she have you working on this week?"
"it's a - um... partner activity. I basically need someone to push and pull against me to strengthen my grasp. There are these three different exercises..."
"Show me?"
Jane shifted her weight awkwardly. "Alright... you'll have to come over here."
Maura pushed off of her chair and crossed to the front of her desk, now leaning against it. Jane felt her eyes rake up and down Maura's body. Was this woman even real? It was like working with Jessica Rabbit. Today she was wearing an all black ensemble; probably her most common look, Jane realized as she cycled through the doctor's clothing for the past two weeks. Today was a black dress with leather detailing along the sleeves and hemline of the dress. Jane had to willfully force herself to look away.
"Okay. What should I do?"
Maura held her hands out, awaiting further instruction. Jane informed her to stick two fingers out. Jane grasped them and told Maura to pull Jane's hands towards herself on Jane's count.
"Ready? Go."
Jane pulled Maura's hands towards her, only to find out that Maura was only giving back about ten percent. Due to the lack of resistance, Jane ended up pulling Maura off the desk and, in her heels, Maura stumbled forward into Jane's chest.
"Oh!" Maura exclaimed as she regained her footing. She paused for a moment, her forehead right in the crook of Jane's neck. She stepped back, blushing, realizing she may have hesitated for a moment too long.
Jane laughed. "Sorry, sorry. You've got to actually pull this time. Give me at least eighty percent."
Flustered, Maura pushed her hair out of her face and pushed her shoulders back. "Sorry, I was just worried..." She found herself trailing off, afraid she would offend Jane. "I'll do better this time, I swear."
Jane smiled and held out her hands. "Ready?"
Before Jane could say "Go," Maura's phone rang.
Giving Jane an apologetic look, Maura reached around the desk to grab her phone.
"Dr. Isles."
Jane watched Maura as she listened. She loved reading her facial expressions. For someone who'd been deemed the Queen of the Dead, she was quite expressive. Jane loved how her forehead would wrinkle in frustration. Or how her eyes would widen in surprise. And that god damn dimple...
Maura hung up the phone and immediately moved to sit in her desk chair.
Trying to hide her disappointment, Jane asked if it was related to their case.
"Yes, but it doesn't make any sense. We hadn't considered..." Maura lost herself in thought. "Unless..."
"Care to bring me in?"
"The residue found on his palms was polyethylene resin... it's an adhesive. Found in duct tape, gripping tape, a number of other-"
"Gripping tape? Lacrosse teams use that. Players tape up their sticks to keep their hands from callousing." Jane shook her head in frustration. "Lakeview High has a lacrosse team. I saw them practicing when we found the body. I bet the coach has access to the school grounds after hours!"
Jane started heading out the door.
"Wait, Jane, where are you going?"
"To the lacrosse field. Maybe I can sneak into the locker room."
"It's so late! You can't go alone."
"Well Frost is finishing up on his last case with Tanner, so it looks like I'll have to."
"No. I'm coming with you," Maura said, grabbing her keys and phone.
Laughing, Jane shook her head. "What are you going to go to do? Hit him over the head with your Prada shoes?"
"They're McQueen. And you need back up. You're going in unarmed."
"Maura, I think it'll be fine."
Maura had already made her way to the door. "Are you coming?"
Jane groaned and followed her out the door.
"You are impossible, you know that right?"
"Are you sure we can be back here? Don't you need a warrant or something?"
Jane rolled her eyes and dragged Maura (who was still crouching as if waiting for someone to jump out) across the locker room threshold.
"Who says I'm here as a detective? Maybe I'm interested in sending my child here." Jane turned towards Maura with her best snobby voice, "He is first in his class, after all."
Maura laughed and cautiously stepped forward.
"What exactly are we looking for?"
"Anything. I'm hoping the," Jane paused as she pushed against the coach's office door, and sighed in defeat at the locked door, "coach's office is open."
Maura watched Jane's eyes scan across the room. She found it amazing that Jane could search for clues when she had no idea what to look for. Maura needed rules. Expected outcomes. She looked across the locker room blankly. Where should she even start?
She watched Jane saunter over to the lockers on the other side of the room, muttering something that sounded like "fucking private school."
"Do you see the size of these lockers? You could fit like three bodies in here."
Maura walked over to examine, frowning slightly. Three seemed awfully generous.
"Ha even the nerds must be happy here. Huge locker to get shoved into!"
"I very much doubt-"
Maura felt Jane grab her arm as they heard voices quickly approaching. Maura felt her hair stand on end as she met Jane's eyes.
"What do we do?"
"Don't worry, I'll just say you're a prospective parent."
"What! Why me?"
"Maura, look at how we're dressed. No one going to believe me."
Maura felt her pulse quicken. "No, no. We need to get out of here. I can't lie."
"What do you mean you can't lie?"
"Jane, please," Maura said panic-stricken, as the sound of the voices grew louder. "We have to get out of here. You don't have your gun!"
Jane grabbed Maura by the hand as she pulled her towards the door, only to quickly pull her back as they heard shuffling in the incoming hallway.
"C'mon," Jane voice was barely above a whisper in her ear. Maura felt her body shudder.
Before she had a moment to process what was going on, she felt Jane pull the two of them into an open locker, shutting the door as the voices entered the locker room.
It sounded like three young men were talking, but Maura couldn't concentrate enough to pay attention to anything being said. Jane's assumption that three people could fit was grossly overestimated. Maura couldn't turn her head straight without her nose bumping into Jane's chin. She could feel Jane's breathing in her ear. Her arm was caught behind Jane's back, and when she tried to move it, Jane whispered, "Don't move."
Maura held her breath. Was it possible the men outside could hear her heart hammering through her chest? Certainly Jane must be able to. Maura was thankful for the darkness, knowing she must be flushed from head to toe. She bit her lip, willing her body to control itself.
The voices dissipated and the door to the locker room shut. Maura felt Jane's body relax, causing her chest and left leg to lean further against Maura. Maura attempted to stifle her quick intake of breath.
"Are you alright? Did I snag you?"
Jane's voice tingled in her ear.
"No, no," Maura stammered. "I'm alright."
Jane pushed against the locker room door.
"Shit. It's locked. Why wouldn't they use a Masterlock like every other school?"
Gasping, Maura asked, "What are we going to do?"
"Got a bobby pin?"
Maura nodded. "In my hair. It's just that I can't-" Maura struggled to prove her point, "My arm's stuck."
"Here."
She felt Jane shift, causing her entire body to stiffen as more of Jane's weight fell upon her. Jane snaked her arm around and brought it up to Maura hair. She felt Jane brush the hair back from her shoulder, causing goose bumps to erupt.
"Okay, let me know if this hurts," Jane whispered as she slowly began to pull the pin out of Maura's hair. Jane's voice this low was so scratchy. It was practically a growl.
"We're going to have to shift over so I can reach the lock."
Maura felt Jane delicately move her over, her arms threading around Maura's waist in order to reach. After a few tense moments, in which Maura was sure she didn't breathe once, they heard the tell-tale sign of the click of a lock. The door swung open and the both clumsily fell out apologizing.
As Maura smoothed out her dress, she noticed Jane opening and closing her fists.
"Are you okay?"
Jane grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah, think I wore out my fine motor skills with that one. Don't think I need to practice for the rest of the week."
Maura wanted to reach out and console her, but before she could dwell on it, she saw Jane turn towards her and grin.
"Did you hear all that? I think we just got a motive. Now I just need to prove the coach was there at the time of the murder."
Maura stood stock still. She had missed the entire conversation. All she could remember was that Jane smelled like lavender. It was unexpected. Maura averted her eyes and bit the side of her lip to keep herself from smiling. She wanted to know more.
A/N: Paying homage to a scene from Lost. Just wanted to do something fun before we got into the thick of it. After this, Maura realizes she needs to confront her feelings.
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