I'm sorry for the long delay on this chapter. One, things got a little interesting around here recently, so this wasn't exactly on my to-do list. Second, I had some serious trouble with this chapter. I hope everyone still reads it, even though it's late and that you enjoyed it.

Please leave a comment telling me what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli and Isels.


Detective Jane Rizzoli was in a bad mood. It had started two weeks ago when she had missed the funeral of Dr. Dillinger because homicide had called her to one of their scenes. She had taken one look at the victim and knew it was for special operations. She didn't need Maura to tell her that the cause of death was a succubus. They left very telling marks on their prey. The problem was that this victim was a woman. Jane had never heard of a succubus targeting women. The fact that this one was couldn't mean anything good.

Her mood continued to deteriorate as two more women were killed. All of them were successful business women between 28 and 40. They had finally found a commonality among all the victims and it only made things worse. Each victim was a member of a singles site that catered to women seeking women. Each woman had also been last seen at the same very posh night club. The media was having a field day with the succubus hate-crime angle, making Jane's job even more difficult than it already was.

Today, however, was the topper. It had been decided that they would set up a sting to try and lure in the succubus. The succubus's DNA, or lack thereof, would give her away immediately. At that suggestion, Maura had immediately started her dissertation on how hard it would be to collect samples in a public bar that would be fit to be tested. Jane had explained that she was more than capable of doing the job. Maura disagreed stating she would have to be onsite to collect the samples. That was when some moron from vice had actually suggested to Jane that Maura be the bait for the succubus. Jane had pointed out that Maura didn't have the necessary skills to put herself in that sort of dangerous situation. He had explained that being an exceptionally fine piece of ass was all the skill she needed. That had sent Jane from bad mood to blind rage. The officer in question, unfortunately, had a run in with a locker room door that broke his nose and blackened both eyes, so his idea was never presented to anyone else.

That had led to Jane being the reluctant bait. She had done stings in vice, so she was used to it, but she didn't like it. Somehow, though, seeing the profile her 'friends' had built for her on the dating site felt even worse than dressing like a hooker. Now, here she was, standing in the back room of said posh night club, running a wire through her bra, to play bait for the succubus. "I may be able to defend myself, but I certainly don't have Maura's skill." Jane thought to herself.

"We have two detectives at the tables around you and Dr. Isles will be collecting the glasses after each 'date'" Korsak turned from the screen that allowed him to view the security cameras in the club to look at Jane. He could tell she was a thousand miles away. "Jane!"

"Huh?" Jane jerked her head toward Vince.

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

Jane thought about trying to bluff for about half a second, but realized she had nothing. "No, Vince. Not a word."

Korsak just shook his head. "I said we have a detective at the table across from you and behind you. Dr. Isles will be collecting the glasses after each of your 'dates'. If anything goes south we will be watching. Remember, no heroics. If we identify the succubus we take her outside the club."

"Right." Jane stated.

"Look, I don't know where you are." Vince rose from this chair and walked over to the brunette. "But you need to get your head in the game here. This thing has three bodies to its name already. You don't get to be number four."

"I didn't know you cared, Vince." Jane put her hand over her heart. "I'm touched."

"I mean it." Korsak growled.

Frost approached the pair, effectively putting an end to their bickering. "Your mic is picking up just fine. I could hear every word you and the old man said."

"I'll show you old man."

Frost ignored him. "What's the safe word?"

Jane thought for a minute. "Abercrombie."

"Abercrombie? How are you going to fit that into a conversation?" Frost looked at her skeptically.

"Fit in?" If you hear that I will be screaming it as I dive under the table to avoid being killed by a succubus." She pulled her jacked off the back of the chair.

"At least we can just shoot a succubus, not like that chupacabra that time." Korsak headed back over to the monitors.

"It was a gargoyle."

Korsak laughed at Frost's frustrated tone. "Chupacabra. Gargoyle. Who cares? They are both ugly. Both mean. Both hard as hell to kill." Korsak counted his reasons off on his fingers.

Frost just shook his head at the senior detective. "It's time." He nodded at Jane. "First date will be here soon."

"Yeah." Jane said unenthusiastically.

She exited the back of the room to walk around the outside of the building to the front door. Since the staff knew what was going on, she didn't have to wait in the line long to enter. She scanned the room as she entered, immediately spotting her table and the two detectives who were acting as backup. She didn't notice someone approach from her side.

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Yeah. I'll have a…" Jane turned to look at the waitress and felt her eyes bug out of her head. "What the hell, Maur?" The brunette looked at her friend starting at her feet and moving up to the top of her head. The outfit consisted of a very short pleated skirt and a corset top that almost had the blonde's chest even with her chin. "What are you wearing?"

"It's the club uniform. It's a little revealing, but very sexy." Maura shimmied a little to emphasize her point.

"Revealing?" Jane took off her jacket, handing it to the blonde. "Put this on."

Maura looked scandalized. "No. I'm working." She looked down at her outfit again. "I admit it's not something I would choose myself, but it does have the desired effect on the clientele."

"Really? Desired affect? It makes a person want to take you back to their apartment and remove the outfit with their teeth." Jane's brain kicked in just a couple of seconds too late to stop the statement. She ran her hands through her hair to stall and gather her thoughts. "A beer. I would really like a beer."

"You can have water. You can't drink on a stakeout." Maura admonished.

"It's a sting Maura. A stakeout is sitting and watching. A sting is setting a trap for a perp."

"Regardless, it's water for you."

Jane shook her head and made her way toward the table. She really would like to have a drink. Thankfully Maura hadn't questioned her about her statement. She gave herself a shake. She really did need to get her head in the game. It was possible that one of her dates for the evening was a serial killer.


"Well, that was a huge waste of time." It was hours later and Jane was helping to pack up equipment in the back room.

"You can't possible know that. I haven't even run the test yet." Maura replied.

The brunette lifted the case she had just closed from the table. "Trust me, Maur, none of those women was a succubus."

"What Rizzoli? To irresistible for a succubus not to try and consume you right there in public?" Frost taunted.

"Not hardly. It's just only one of them gave off a predatory vibe and I shut her down."

"You shut her down alright." Korsak offered carting a case toward the door.

"I still don't understand why you were so rude. She was just paying me a compliment." Maura defended.

"A compliment? She asked how your outfit would look wadded up on her floor. That's not a compliment."

"Jealous?" Frost couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Jane whirled on her partner. "Yes. What sort of woman, while out on a date, openly propositions the waitress? I mean I'm not Maura, but I deserve a little more respect." Jane huffed.

Korsak stopped before exiting the door. "You do realize that you were here under false pretenses, investigating these women for murder, 'Miss I deserve respect'."

Jane growled. "That is so not the point."

"No. Jealousy was the point." Frost added helpfully.

Jane glared daggers at everyone in the room before taking her case and heading for the car.

"Jane!" Maura called after the retreating brunette. She turned her own glare on Detective Frost.

"Too far?" He attempted to look innocent.

"Yes." Maura said with such venom it caused him to wince.


Maura managed to catch up with Jane before she got into her car. Jane took her hand off the handle and turned as she heard her name.

"Sorry Maur. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

Maura almost asked Jane what was wrong. She had a pretty good idea what it was, but knew if she pushed Jane, or worse made her feel cornered, she would never get the truth from her. Jane Rizzoli was as bad at confronting her feelings as she was good at being a cop. She decided to use a different tact.

"So the outfit is that bad?" Maura let a smile cross her face.

It took Jane a minute to get her bearings on the conversation that was occurring. "It's not bad, per say. It's just not you. You are far more stylish than this."

"So getting you one so we match is out of the question?" The blonde did her best to not laugh while asking the question.

"WHAT!" The color drained from Jane's face.

"Yes. The owner thought that you would look, I believe her exact word was 'yummy' in one of these outfits. So she gave me one to give to you."

Jane had no idea how to react. "She…you…yummy…REALLY?" The brunette just stared at her friend. "NO! Not in the history of ever will I wear that." She pointed at the outfit Maura was wearing.

"It's not that bad. I think I look rather, what was the term your date used, 'doable'."

"Well I don't have your body." Jane closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she heard the words reach her ears. She turned and opened the car door. "Maur. I'm going home. I will see you and the guys in the morning."

The M.E. watched as her friend started the car and drove away. She smiled to herself as she turned to walk to her own car. It was always fun to see the resolute Jane Rizzoli so flustered. It was especially enjoyable to see her flustered about her feelings, especially where Maura was concerned.


Jane rolled out of bed and walked to her bathroom to get ready. The alarm wouldn't go off for another half hour, but she was tired of just lying there. The case had kept her awake most of the night. The suspects from last night were the only real leads that they had. She was positive that none of them would pan out. Maura wouldn't put any stock in it, but her gut told her they were going the wrong way.

As she brushed her teeth, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"So what do we know?" She questioned herself. Talking things through out loud always helped, so what if she looked crazy. "They were all on the same dating site. They were all last seen at the same bar." She frowned at her reflection. "We don't know anything else." She spit her toothpaste in the sink, then rinsed her mouth. "We are missing something. I'm missing something."

Even as she got in her car to head into the station, something kept gnawing at the back of her mind. She just couldn't place what it was.

She parked her car in the parking garage, walked into the building, and pushed the button for the morgue. She was unreasonably early, but she was betting that Maura was determined to start the samples. Sure enough, as she stepped out of the elevator she could see the lights on in the morgue.

"Don't you ever sleep?" She asked as she made her usual brisk entrance.

Maura looked up from her microscope. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Touché." Jane hopped up on the counter. "So, everyone has DNA, huh?"

"Why do you say that?" Maura was puzzled.

"Because you have been here awhile, finished the preliminaries, and didn't call me at home." Jane ticked the reasons off on her fingers.

"You are right. Everyone had DNA. They are not our killer."

"Back to square one." Jane hopped off the counter. "Well, I'm headed up stairs. I want to go through everything again. I have to be missing something."


Five hours later, Jane looked up from her desk. Everyone else had gone to lunch, but she hadn't even noticed. Frost and Korsak were out running down a lead and Maura had been called out to another team's homicide. She pushed her chair back and stretched. Looking over everything they had still hadn't given her any insight into the murder. She knew she was missing something, she just didn't know what it was.

Jane checked her watch. The club wouldn't be officially open yet, but she knew there would be people there taking deliveries and setting up for the night. She figured that one more once over of the place couldn't hurt. She grabbed her keys and left the bullpen.


One of the wait staff recognized her when she arrived and let her in the front door. She found the owner behind the bar preparing for the night to come.

"Welcome back detective. Did you find out anything?" The owner greeted.

"Nope. Everyone was clean. That's why I'm back. I'm missing something and I just don't know what it is. I was hoping that being here might help. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, not at all."

Jane sat down on a stool at the bar. "You didn't see anything that struck you last night, did you? Anything out of the ordinary?"

The tall blonde thought for a minute. "Nope. Nothing seemed out of place. Other than you and your team, it was a pretty average night."

"Hm." Jane turned in her seat to look around the empty bar. She could still feel something just at the edge of her mind, trying to tell get in.

The owner went to lift two stacked boxes from the bar when the top one began to slide. Jane quickly stood up and grabbed it.

"Thanks for that." She replied. "That stuff isn't cheap. Mind helping me take this to the back? I would really appreciate it."

"No problem." Jane stood with the box and followed her around the bar and through the door to the back room the team had been in the night before.

She watched the owner set down her box, then moved past her to neatly place her box on top of it. As she turned around she felt electricity up her spine and her vision went a little cloudy. She turned slowly around to find the owner, but instead was face to face with Maura.

"Maur?" Jane was confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I think we both know what I'm doing here, Detective." The M.E. took a step toward her friend.

Jane tried to force her brain to move faster, but it was no use. "Helping with the case?" She offered weakly.

"No. I don't think so." Maura took another step toward her. As she did she slowly undid the first two buttons of her blouse.

Jane's eyes went wide and she attempted to take a step backwards. "Maur, what are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing? You are the detective. You can figure it out."

"Here? In the back room of a bar?" Jane's mind felt like it might explode. It was both racing at fantastic speed and moving numbing slow at the same time.

"It doesn't matter where, as long as you are here, beautiful." Maura reached out and touched Jane's face.

Jane flinched at Maura's touch but nothing happened. There was no sense of power or warmth that always occurred when her friend made contact with her. She couldn't feel that bond that they had shared since that moment their powers had touched.

"You're not Maura." Jane felt as if she had crashed back into reality. The fog in her mind cleared and the Maura Isles standing in front of her disappeared, replaced with the form of a sickly thin, ghostly pale, grey haired woman.

Realizing her spell was broken, the succubus lunged at Jane, a terrifying scream escaping her mouth.

Jane dove out of the way. She rolled across the floor, coming to her feet several paces away from her assailant. She braced for the next attack.

The succubus turned toward her, readying another charge. Jane waited for it to come. When it did, this time she was ready. She had already incased her right hand in the silver-iron that was her bracelet, and as the next attack came drove her fist into the oncoming face, putting her entire body into the blow.

At her feet lay the unconscious owner. She got out her cuffs, securing the unconscious woman's hands behind her back. She looked around the room, wishing she wasn't on duty. Any of the beers in the industrial refrigerator behind her would have been marvelous.


Frost and Korsak were the first to arrive on seen when she called it all in. Patrol units arrived shortly after to take away the club owner. Jane was currently being looked over by EMTs as Frost and Korsak looked on. To say Korsak was livid was a gross understatement.

"What the hell were you thinking?" His face was red with what could only be described as rage.

"I was simply here to try and straighten everything out in my head. Figure out what I was missing."

"You could have been killed. Haven't you learned anything about going off on your own? This is exactly how you got hurt last time."

And there it was, the reason for Vince's rage. Jane had almost gotten killed again and he wasn't there.

"Vince." Jane had lowered her voice, attempting to calm her friend. "This wasn't me rushing into a dangerous situation without backup. I was visiting a public place, in the daytime, where there was no reason to be concerned. This is not the same situation. At all. Alright."

Though his face was still red, his eyes lost some of their anger. "Alright." He shook his head. "Alright."

"Why attack you?" Frost was equally worried, but as the junior man, wasn't going to scream and yell at the two ranking detectives.

Jane noticed he was playing good cop to Korsak's bad cop. "Maybe she thought I was close to figuring it out? Maybe she just couldn't help herself? Who knows? We can find out when we put her in the box for questioning."

Jane looked from Frost over to Korsak, who was now smiling. "What's are you smiling about?"

"Well, you have to tell Maura and your mother about this."

Jane put her head in her hands. "Crap."


Jane knocked on the door to Maura's office softly before opening it and sticking her head in. She saw the blonde at her desk staring at her laptop. "Can I come in?"

Maura jumped up from her desk and headed toward the detective. "Of course. Are you alright?"

"You already heard?" Jane had hoped that she could beat the rumor mill to Maura.

"Vince told me." Maura started looking her friend over with her trained medical eye. "Are you sure you are alright?"

"Just a few bumps and bruises. Nothing serious. EMT's checked me out and gave me the clean bill of health."

Maura walked them both over to the sofa and sat them down. "So it was the owner?"

Jane chuckled. "Yeah. Didn't see that coming."

"I'm surprised there aren't more victims. Succubus aren't exactly known for their restraint." Maura pointed out.

"Well, after questioning her, there are more victims, they were just covered up better. Something set her off, made her sloppy. That's why we noticed these. When I showed up today, she assumed we were on to her, so she tried to take me out."

"So who did you see?"

Jane felt her mouth go dry. "What?"

"She attacked you. Succubus can show a person their inner most desires. So who did you see when she attacked you?"

"What makes you think I saw anything? She wasn't trying to seduce me, she was just trying to kill me."

"A succubus couldn't take you in a straight up fight. She would have to use her magic to get the upper hand. Who did you see and more importantly, how did you break her hold?"

"Don't you think you are selling me a little short here? I mean, I am a trained detective. I think I could figure out when I'm being hoodooed."

Maura narrowed her eyes. "Hoodooed is not a word. And don't think you are going to get out of answering my question by trying to distract me."

At that moment, Jane's phone went off. She pulled it off her belt on instinct and looked at the picture. She winced.

"Your mother?" Maura asked.

"Yes." Jane signed. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go get yelled at in private." Jane rose from the sofa and headed for the door.

"Fine, but don't think you have heard the last of this conversation." Maura shouted at the back of her retreating friend.