Frankie expects to find Maura in the morgue after lunch. Suzie reveals to him that she's at the shooting range. He steps onto the range, and finds the medical examiner in her pink protective ear wear. She wears a matching pink empire waist shirt, and a charcoal grey pencil skirt. He slowly approaches, watching her the entire time. She empties her clip into the target. She doesn't notice him as she switches her empty clip for a full one. She proceeds to empty the second clip into the target. At that point she clears her weapon, and removes the empty clip. She lays her weapon down, and pushes the button so that the target will come towards her.
"You shouldn't sneak up on someone at the range," she informs detective Rizzoli, without turning to acknowledge his presence.
"You've been spending a lot of time down here lately."
"What is your point?" She snarls.
She feels his fingers graze her arm, "Maura?"
She turns to make eye contact, "What?"
He notices the holes in her target, before he can respond. Most of her shots are at center mass. The others are higher, just between where a person's eyes would typically be located.
"Are you okay?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"A valid one. You have been so cold lately."
"What do you expect? I'm the ice queen," the words fall from her mouth like a dagger.
"I'm worried about you."
"Don't be."
"Maura, talk to me," he begs.
"What do you want me to say? My best friend, your sister, disappeared four months ago. We are no closer to finding her than we were the day that she disappeared."
"Maybe, it is time to let her go."
"Do you know something that I don't?"
"No."
"Then why would you say that? It is very insensitive."
"I don't know what to say. You make it impossible to talk to you. I just want to talk to you. Maura, let me in."
"Not here," she growls.
He surveys the room, "Maura there is no one else here. It is just the two of us. Everyone else is at lunch, which is precisely why you're down here."
"I feel close to her when I'm here."
"You have to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"Can I take you to lunch? I want to talk."
"About what?"
"Us," he answers.
"There is no us," she argues.
"We had something, and then… you stopped talking to me."
"I can't do this right now."
"Do what?"
"Have this discussion with you, not here, and not now."
"Then when?"
"I don't know. Stop pushing me. Just let me grieve."
"There is something more going on here. Please, just tell me what it is."
"You don't want to know."
"Why are you so mad at me? Why do you keep pushing me away?"
She swallows hard, "You wouldn't understand."
"How can I? You never let me in."
"I did, and look where it got us."
"I have no clue where it got us, because you won't talk to me," he begins to raise his voice.
She clenches her jaw, and her nostrils flare. Her face grows red in anger. "Do you really want to do this right now?"
"Yes," he nods, "I miss you. I want to fix this."
"You can't fix it. I am not ready for whatever it is that you think you want from me. I just lost my best friend, and… I can't handle anything else."
"Why are you so angry at me?"
"You really want to know?"
"Yes."
"You knocked me up," she answers far less eloquently than he expects. She grabs her gun, and walks away without a word. She leaves him standing there, completely dumbfounded.
Ten minutes later he is finally able to make it to the morgue. He finds Suzie teasing particulates from a piece of torn fabric.
"Suzie, where did Dr. Isles go?"
"What did you say to her?" She fires back.
"Why?"
"She was really upset when she came back down here. She went home."
"She went home?"
"She said that she wasn't feeling well."
"Okay, thanks."
She's leaning against the counter, waiting for her tea to finish steeping when she sees Frankie walking up the sidewalk, through her kitchen window. She groans, and slowly makes her way to the door. She pulls the door open just as he raises his fist to knock.
"What do you want?"
"You can't just tell someone that, and then leave. Can we talk?"
"No," she closes the door in his face.
"Maura," he knocks on the door, "Please talk to me."
