A/N: With this story I hit these moments where the chapters pretty much just write themselves and then I hit other moments where trying to write them is so so hard and takes hours upon hours because I keep getting distracted. This chapter was of the second variety.

Disclaimer: Not making money. Don't own characters. ETC.

Monday morning when Jane and Maura showed up for work holding coffee cups from the same place something was definitely strange. So much so that the duo had to stop in the middle of the lobby for a moment and exchange raised eyebrow glances before both shrugging and getting on separate elevators. People were staring at them and occasionally giving each other excited glances with under the table fist pumps. Jane thought it was just because she'd taken a bullet. Near death experiences of colleagues tended to rattle a few cages. But unbeknownst to the homicide detective that was not the reason for everyone's strange behavior.

No, it was because they saw Jane Rizzoli literally put action to the words 'I'd take a bullet for you', they saw the great detective actually lean into Dr. Isles in pain as she sat up after taking one to the chest. Sure, leaning into the person next to her would have been normal for anyone else, but not her. Detective Rizzoli didn't lean. On anyone. For anything. She stood her ground. She bent over at the waist, grit her teeth, pushed away those that tried to help her up. Maybe she'd lean against a wall or a building but never a person. Only, on Thursday they saw her lean against Dr. Isles. They saw her walk away to get examined by a paramedic, get an x-ray, and get sent home for the entire weekend without any fuss. Jane had been with the force for nearly fifteen years and she just didn't do that for anyone. So people talked. Cops were especially known for gossiping. Word traveled about the headstrong detective and the cold hearted medical examiner both of which didn't seem near as headstrong or cold hearted around each other.

There was a betting pool going around to see when they would get together, who'd make the first move, how it would happen. In fact, someone in the building was getting paid at the very moment for the simple fact that the two came in together that morning. It was so much easier to talk about a could be relationship between two people that seemed to be made for each other regardless of their gender rather than the alternative. Which was how in the hell Boston Police Headquarters seemed to be one of the least safest places in Boston and the fact that two of their own were almost killed right under their noses. Harmless betting pools were much easier to talk about.

But of course they were all just rumors in the end. There was no pile of bills locked in Sergeant Korsak's desk drawer. There was no list of things to bet on, no ledger, no teams, no scheming, no nothing. That was the story and everyone was sticking to it.

…

At lunch time Jane walked into the morgue, more out of habit than actually needing to be there. What she found was Maura wrist deep inside a cadaver and she finally understood. The fact that men and women were turned on by Maura wearing black scrubs (which usually meant she was in the middle of an autopsy) always felt like some weird kink that people had. She never understood what it was about the black material that made married men stare at the doctor with the most disgusting, sleazy look on their face while Maura was bent over a body. She never understood how that did it for them. She always just chalked it up to a school teacher type of crush. But walking into the morgue with Maura bent over a cadaver in those incredible black scrubs she finally got it.

Maura was being Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Isles. She was talking to a small group of young soon-to-be doctors. Half of which, Jane noticed, didn't seem to be paying attention to Maura's voice at all but rather other parts of Maura. Jane leaned against the doorframe.

She had seen Maura dressed in the highest level of fashion imaginable. She'd seen her wearing designers she couldn't pronounce from places she hardly remembered existed. She'd seen Maura sweaty from a hard run or work out with no make-up on whatsoever. She'd even seen Maura in her own boxers and an oversized t-shirt with her hair in a complete mess. But it was here in the basement of Boston Police Headquarters – in Maura's lair – that she felt a wave of attraction for the doctor so strong she had to laugh.

Jane always knew Maura was attractive. With the way a wide, bright smile could get her to the front of a line at a coffee shop or a free drink at the bar it was obvious. But she had never been attracted. Or maybe she was attracted. Maybe when she was drunk or when their lives had been threatened. But it was never so strong that she had to stop and think about it or catch her breath or stare. Because she was. She was openly staring at Maura's ass in those scrubs. It was so wrong. She had become a dirty old man. And she wasn't the only one.

What was it about those scrubs anyway? Jane pondered the thought briefly before deciding that it was the way Maura acted while in those scrubs, where she was full on Dr. Isles examining bodies, solving crimes, and exuding all the confidence in the world. It was not however how the dark material contrasted against her pale skin or the way her normally slightly curled hair was pulled back into a no nonsense ponytail bun thing. It wasn't the way her eyes scrutinized the body before her or the way she quietly murmured to herself while poking and prodding with her scalpel. It wasn't even the slight Irish temper that dripped dangerously in her voice when people tried to contradict her science. No, it was none of that, or perhaps it was all of it. Perhaps it was everything. Perhaps it was just Maura.

Maura could rock a Chanel something or other or Jimmy Choo heels or Louis Vuittion purse. She could rock Lulu Lemon athletic apparel with just as much class. She could make grown, married men (and women for that matter) do a double take in just about anything she wore. But it was in those scrubs that she not only turned heads but kept their gaze. And it was in those scrubs that Jane finally admitted to herself for the first time that she was attracted to her best friend. She could feel her face heat up at the thought. She shifted nervously against the doorframe.

Maura seemed to have dismissed everyone for lunch while Jane was in the middle of this revelation. Maura walked up to her friend after throwing her purple gloves in the correct disposable area. "Jane?"

Jane jerked her eyes to Maura's. "Hmm?"

"Do you want to grab lunch?"

Jane nodded her head. A few minutes later they sat together in Maura's office. Jane was tossing her French fries around on her plate, playing with the food rather than eating it. Maura had thankfully changed out of her black scrubs and was now wearing a black skirt and a red button up top. This outfit was not doing the detective any favors either. She felt uncomfortably hot everywhere. They almost died. If she could just get the nerve to just ask why it was that every time they almost died did she feel the biggest level of sexual frustration imaginable (because she refused to admit it was anything deeper than that) she would. But as it was, she was Jane and she did not admit to having any kind of sexual anything.

Maura was staring at her friend, worry clearly evident in her face by the slight crease of her brow and the tiny frown lines by her lips. "Do you want a bite of my salad?" She asked testing the water. She held out a fork full of leafy greens towards the dark haired woman as some sort of incentive.

Jane shook her head. "I'm not really hungry." She mumbled before crossing her legs. She just wanted to figure out the circus that was going on in her brain.

Maura nodded her head slowly, knowingly. "You hardly ate anything all weekend. You didn't eat breakfast this morning." Maura paused. Jane was still sitting on the couch staring at the table all stoic and weakly brave. She tried to find the words for her next sentence. Jane was like a dear sometimes, she didn't want to spook her and send her running off at such a speed she could never catch her. "I bought you cupcakes on Thursday because I know that you don't eat." Jane turned her head slightly in Maura's direction but didn't fully face her. Maura could see her jaw clench and knew she was treading on very thin ice. "You don't eat, after it happens, for days sometimes." Hands balled into fists. "It – it scares me. So when you said you wanted cupcakes that's what I purchased because I thought you'd eat them and you did. But you haven't had a real meal in three days." Jane shrugged before crossing her arms. Maura shook her head. Jane was shutting down, already. "You have such an excellent poker face that even I, a person well versed in neurobiology, can't even dictate what it is your feeling based off the movements of your facial muscles."

"Your point?" Jane asked leaning forward throwing a fry onto her plate. She knew what Maura was getting at. Maura was going to ask her the big 'do you want to talk about it' question that everyone seemed to always ask her and in doing so Maura would change the game. That question was not part of their dynamic. Maura never asked. It was implied. It was a look or a soft touch. It was never a voiced concern. Why was Maura changing the game all of a sudden?

"My point?" Maura asked flabbergasted. "My point is that you're my best friend, Jane. And a buildup or cortisol is dangerous. It raises your blood pressure and puts undue stress on the heart which in turn could be very damaging to the longevity of your life."

Jane snorted. "My blood pressure is fine Maura."

"Jane." And there it was, not in so many words, but there it was nonetheless.

Jane rolled her eyes and crossed her eyes arms again. "If you want to talk about something then talk." She snapped. "No one's stopping you."

"No one's stopping me?" Maura laughed. "Look at yourself! Your body language just exudes 'don't talk to me.' After it happens you always do this. You check out for days."

"After it happens?" Jane finally turned to Maura with her eyebrows raised. "If you want to talk about it so damn bad why don't you actually say it?" She looked at Maura with fire in her dark brown eyes. "You almost got kidnapped and I got shot. For all intents and purposes, we almost died. This," She gestured between the two of them. "Is exactly why we would never work." She didn't know what possessed her to say something like that, what caused her to even think there could ever be a 'we' or 'us' between them. They were both mostly straight, they were best friends, and they worked together. So why was she the one that kept bringing it up?

Maura rolled her eyes. "What exactly are you looking for in a relationship then, Jane?" The conversation had somehow ended up skirting dangerously close to a line she wasn't fully prepared to cross. "Do you want someone like Agent Dean? Someone who couldn't care less about you if they tried? Then you should've been with him, because anyone who has ever met you or is willing to be in any sort of relationship with you is going to worry about you at one point or another. I've never had anyone that worried about me or that looked for me when I decided to shut out the world like an angry teenager but then you came along. And you have so many people that care about you. It's not fair that you get to worry about everyone while no one gets to worry about you." Jane couldn't help but notice how the green shade in Maura's eyes seemed to take over the golden color as her anger rose.

"What do you want me to say Maura?" Jane snapped. Maura jumped back in her seat completely not expecting Jane to speak so loudly. "How does one go about talking about their screwed up shit? Am I supposed to cry into your shoulder? Tell you how I don't sleep most nights? Do you want to know about the nightmares?" Jane shrugged. "We're surrounded by death all the time. Do you think I even want to think about mine? If I talk about every time I almost die I wouldn't be able to do my job anymore. When I'm going down a dark alley or rounding a staircase I can't be thinking that I could die." She shook her head at Maura. "The stuff that I've seen would eat me alive if I let it. So I don't. It's that simple. However I choose to cope is my business and no one else's." Jane finished turning away from Maura before she could even respond. "I have paperwork to do."

Maura sat in stunned silence alone in her office for several moments. "You are my business." She said to the empty room. It was a phrase she used once to combat Jane's defensive behavior after another shooting. One where Jane wasn't wearing a vest. One where she had shut everyone out of her life for almost a full three months, even her mother which was no easy task. The phrase made Jane roll her eyes but that night Maura had also put action to words. She physically dragged the detective to her feet and made her go to her own award ceremony. She sighed. She could never understand why Jane had to be so strong all the time. Between Maura's inability to understand feelings and Jane's inability to let herself feel things they were quite a pair. Maura pushed her salad away, suddenly not hungry anymore. She changed back into her scrubs before walking back out into the morgue.

…

Later that night Jane found herself alone at the bar of The Dirty Robber. All day people kept giving her knowing looks that she knew nothing about. It was like they all had some big pow-wow that she missed out on over the weekend (which was exactly why she hated taking days off!) Then there was the realization that happened in the morgue. Because really, she couldn't be attracted to her best friend in any shape or form because Maura was…Maura was a woman. She was…was like a…a sister? The thought made Jane make disgusted a face. Definitely not like a sister. Maura was just…was just Maura. She just couldn't be attracted to her in any light because it would ruin it. It would ruin everything. Finally, there was the fight she had with Maura in the morgue. She sighed. She was just having a bad, weird day. It was like she came back from an awesome weekend and stepped into the Twilight Zone. She picked up her glass of scotch and took a sip.

Sergeant Vince Korsak walked into the bar to find Jane where he knew he'd find her. He took the seat next to her. He always felt the need to talk the junior detectives up when they were feeling down. Yes, he still considered Jane a junior detective even though she'd been around a while. He could still see that young kid who was so eager to make a difference in her eyes sometimes. He hoped she would never lose that. "Penny for your thoughts?" He asked sliding a penny onto the table in front of her.

Jane laughed picking the penny up. "Not worth more than a penny huh?"

The older sergeant shrugged. "Inflation." He nudged Jane's arm. "What's up kid?"

"Everyone's acting weird." Jane said quietly flipping the penny around with fingers. "It's like," She paused. "Like everyone wants me to figure something out but they won't tell me what it is I'm supposed to be figuring out." Korsak raised his eyebrows, this might be easier than he thought. "And Maura's mad at me." She took another drink. She didn't usually offer up her thoughts but Vince was different. He was her mentor and she looked up to him.

"You have a crush on the doc. Probably more than a crush actually." He said with a shrug as if he were saying 'Oh, it's going to rain today.'

"Excuse me?!" Jane shouted getting several looks from random people around the bar.

"You just don't want to admit it." Korsak continued undeterred. "Not to yourself or Maura or anyone. But you're happy when you're with her. The force that pulls you two together is so strong that everyone sees it now. That's what everyone wants you to figure out. Look," He put his hand flat on the bar. "You would follow her to the ends of the Earth and back if she asked you. You look to her before you make really big decisions whether you realize it or not. You come in together in the morning most days. You're already dating, you just don't know it yet." He finished with a slight laugh. It wasn't a perfect rise from the ashes, hair raising speech but if Jane even listened to him in the smallest of portions it would do the trick.

Jane's heart was pounding in her chest. Her eyes were suspiciously burning. She was going to blame it on the scotch. "What happens if I admit it?" Her voice was thick as she spoke.

"That's up to you." He shrugged. "The big question I would ask myself though is: would you regret not doing it? Having been in your position before, I do regret not telling the person I want that I wanted them and that was because I was too stubborn to admit I needed anyone. Now I'm divorced three times with nothing to come home to besides my dogs. Don't make the same mistake I did." He stood patting Jane on the shoulder. "You should go home, get some rest. You've had a hell of a last few days." Jane nodded her head as he walked out the door. Something in his words hit deep within her. He always knew what to say to her. He wasn't afraid to cut to the chase. She always admired him for that. There was no beating around the bush like there was with her mother or Frost or Maura even. And there her mind drifted again to the medical examiner. She just couldn't get the honey blond doctor out of her head. Maybe Korsak was right. Maybe she did have a crush on Maura.

A/N: I don't know, I feel like Jane's the type of person that needs someone to tell her what's going on inside her head for her to fully understand. Also I had a sort of black scrub epiphany the other day while watching that one episode where they end up on Jane's mattress with the human trafficking crime haha.

BUT Y'ALL (I'm from Texas, can't help it) OVER ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! THAT'S NEVER HAPPENED TO ME EVER! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!

Thanks for reading!