A/N Sorry for delay, had a gremlin in my machine… Thank you as always for reading and reviewing.

Chapter 10

For the second time that day, Jane found herself vaulting from the bed like a bullet out of a gun. All thoughts of sleep had now been vanquished by the flashback of her and Maura… together…here in this bed. Grabbing her clothes from where she'd folded them neatly over the foot of the bed, she dressed hastily.

"Geez Rizzoli, you are such a jerk!"

They had shared something so beautiful and moving, how in the world could she have forgotten that? Maura must be going through hell right now thinking that she hadn't remembered. She needed to let the doctor know that she knew what had happened between them. And tell her how grateful she was to the honey blonde for being there for her. Maura had offered herself so willingly in order to comfort the brunette in her distress. It was the most touching thing anyone had ever done for her.

They really needed to sit down together and talk about their relationship and where it was heading. Remarkably the detective realised that she was not the least bit afraid of the conversation. All the years of longing for so much more, but being terrified of voicing it, seemed so ridiculous now. Every single reason for holding back had been dissolved by the knowledge of what her life would be like without the doctor in it.

Losing Maura was like being ripped in half, heart and soul. Now that the M.E. had been restored to her, she didn't want to continue with the fabrication of innocent friendship any longer. She wanted absolutely everything, and she wasn't in the least bit scared by the idea of expressing it.

Maura was undeniably her soul mate.

She had always felt an underlying sense of serenity and calm whenever the doctor was in close proximity. A gentle love, that provided stability even when her life got messy. But it was nothing compared to the emotion evoked by their sweet lovemaking. Tangled together in the aftermath, Jane had ascended to a level of tranquillity that was unlike any other. She had experienced a warm feeling of being complete on every level possible, something so far beyond love, it existed in another realm entirely…

She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. It seemed that emotional overload made her uncharacteristically philosophical.

Her thoughts moved in to more familiar territory as she mused that even purely on a physical level, their recent intimacy had been mind blowing. They were so compatible, their bodies melting together perfectly, each effortlessly anticipating the others' needs. She had never climaxed so many times in such a short space of time, it was like nothing she had ever experienced.

A wry chuckle escaped her.

A little over two weeks ago she had been nervous just thinking about the idea of kissing Maura, let alone anything else. In fact she should probably be freaking out right now in light of what had happened, but oddly she found that she wasn't. If anything, she was already feeling the steady pulse of desire begin to stir within her once again.

It's not like anyone could really argue that it had happened too soon, they had been pretty much dating for the last three years, even if neither had been willing to label it before now.

She left the apartment, determined to get back to Maura and clear things up.

Closing her bedroom door Maura brought up a hand to wipe away an errant tear as it rolled down her cheek.

She wanted yesterday afternoon back again, when everything was perfect. Snuggled in post copulative bliss with the detective, there had been no doubt in her mind how Jane felt about her. Now she was back to the uncertainty that had plagued her for years.

She wasn't accustomed to feeling so vunerable, but the detective had opened up a part of her that she hadn't had much experience in dealing with. She had always held people at arms length. Jane had managed to sneak her way into her heart and in so doing had brought a wonderful light. But it came with an unsettling darkness when the brunette shut her out, like she did on occasion.

More tears spilled over as she opened her closet door.

Earlier the doctor had been so eager to change into clothing that hadn't spent two weeks in a suitcase, now as she stared through watery eyes at the clothes, she couldn't muster up much enthusiasm.

Frankie was waiting for her downstairs, she couldn't take too long. He had kindly agreed to go with her to return the rental car, and had given her a lift back home so she could change. Grabbing the first skirt she could lay her hands on and a matching sweater, she dressed quickly.

Sitting down on the bed she brought her hands up to her face, closing her eyes she tried to clear her mind of the confused thoughts. Why did things have to be so difficult? Opening her eyes again, she stood ready to go. As she did so, she noticed for the first time the crumpled state of the bedclothes. Someone had been in her bedroom.

Dr Hunt had told her that the crime scene techs hadn't been due to come in until Monday afternoon and they had been cancelled. Logically, she realised that the only person it could have been was Jane.

A panicked thought occurred to her, if the detective had been in her bedroom and her bed…

She quickly moved to check under her pillow for the T-shirt that she had left under there and was relieved to find that it was still in its original place. Of course that didn't mean that the brunette hadn't discovered it.

She sighed, the torturous thoughts returning.

She had had enough of existing with just tokens of Jane around, she wanted the real thing. Hadn't she taken the initiative already? Made the first move? Confessed her wishes?

It was painfully obvious to her that Jane had avoided any mention of her proposition. The detective hadn't even questioned her in detail when she had skirted lamely over where she had been all weekend.

Maybe things would have been better if she had not said anything. Then she would have had no reason to hide away all weekend. If she had come home as planned from the airport, she could have cleared up the whole mess before it all got out of hand. Jane wouldn't have been so broken and drinking excessively. And they wouldn't have ended up making love, only for the detective to forget the next day, leaving Maura even more confused about their relationship.

She was pulled from her pained thoughts by Frankie calling up the stairs.

"Sorry Maura…we need to leave if we are gonna get to Walpole in time to meet Korsak!"

"Coming!" she shouted.

She checked her reflection in the mirror quickly before heading downstairs.

Having just missed Frankie and Maura leaving, Jane decided to try and get some work done, walking into Homicide, she found Frost tapping away at his computer.

"Hey." She said

"Hey."

"How's it going?"

"I think I may have found something, but it's slow going trying to retrieve it!"

"I'm gonna grab a coffee, want one?"

"That would be great." He smiled.

She left and returned ten minutes later with two cups of coffee and a bag containing two donuts.

"Thanks," Frost said as she handed him a coffee and one of the donuts.

Sitting at her desk opposite him she started to look through the case notes she had made already. A part of her regretted the fact that she hadn't gone to the Prison. She hoped that Doyle wouldn't upset Maura. It was unlikely that he would be prepared to shed any light on the case.

"Can I get a hell yeah?!" Frost bellowed Jumping up and startling Jane into spilling a little of her coffee.

"Frost, what the…"

"I did it…I recovered some of the deleted material!" he said excitedly.

"Okay, well let's see it," she said.

Standing in the reception area at the archiving department Megan Hunt was one unhappy customer.

"This is ridiculous, do you know how imperative it is that I get hold of this file immediately?!" Megan said.

She was very close to losing her temper. The guy she was dealing with had that fresh out of college attitude, and he was more than a little rude.

"I'm afraid your request is being processed and will be handled in the next few days according to protocol!" said the file clerk curtly.

The redhead shook her head.

"But I'm here now, can't you just send someone to get me the file…"

"It's against the rules, plus we don't have anyone available to deal with it right now, everyone is busy handling the requests that were filed before yours, as per procedure."

"Whatever…I'll get it myself!"

"What? You can't come back here."

"Watch me!" she said removing her heels and moving to climb over the reception desk. It was the only way to get through to the door that led to the stacks warehouse, where all of the archiving for BPD was located.

The file clerk panicked as Megan managed to scramble in a dignified manner, over to his side of the counter.

"I…you…you can't come over here!"

"I can and I did and unless you have a gun under your desk there, you are not going to stop me from retrieving my file!"

The clerk was so shocked that he didn't even think about calling security.

Megan strode through into the stacks to find the file.

"Frost what the hell is going on? I just found out that Rizzoli's car was clocked ten minutes ago doing over a hundred on the I-95..."said Cavanagh coming into the room.

Frost straightened in his chair.

"Er…she…I managed to recover some footage from the FBI database, you have to see this."

He motioned a hand towards the huge screen and the Lieutenant looked up as the detective set the digital recording to play.

Four days ago (Saturday afternoon)

Evan Jackson grimaced at the pain radiating through his shoulder as he pushed open the heavy cell door. He was breaking protocol entering the cell alone, if he was discovered he could be seriously reprimanded, but it meant little to him now. His time at the Bureau had come to an end. This was his last stop before a flight to Europe and a new life.

Hard blue eyes scrutinised the agent as he entered the room.

"Is it done?"

Evan looked down and cleared his throat.

"Yes, but I'm afraid there was a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"I was unable to do a clean job…I sterilised the scene…but I had to leave the body."

"Shit! Do you know what will happen when that body turns up in the morgue?!" said the prisoner angrily.

Evan steeled himself in preparation for the reaction to his next statement.

"Also…she was at the house… I had no choice but to do it there."

"Jesus, of all the places, and to leave the body…"

"It was unavoidable, she managed to get in a lucky shot." He motioned to the bandage supporting his fractured clavicle.

"I warned you not to underestimate her."

"I truly am sorry." He said ashamed of his failure.

"It's done now," said the prisoner tersely "did you manage to recover all her belongings?"

"Yes. I stored them in the usual place."

"That's something at least."

An awkward silence fell between them. It stretched on for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"I'm leaving the country in a few hours, once I've cleaned up here."

"A wise decision."

Evan held out his hand and was rewarded with a firm handshake. This was a parting of ways for a friendship that had spanned decades. He was not a fool, despite the order coming from the man himself, he had ended the life of one of the daughters of a mob boss, not something that would ever be forgotten. Evan Jackson would make sure he never crossed paths with Patrick Doyle again.

"Take care old friend." said the agent.

"You too."

"Oh Shit." Cavanagh said as the recording finished.

"Korsak and the doc are over at the prison now, we couldn't get hold of them, they probably had their phones confiscated as part of security measures. Jane is on her way there."

Cavanagh nodded in understanding.

"Keep me up to date, I will try and get hold of the warden, see if I can get them to stop the interview… You know I always wondered if that whole honour code that Doyle was supposed to live by was bullshit."

"Yeah." said Frost.

The Lieutenant went back into his office.

A moment later the sharp staccato of heels in the corridor outside signified the arrival of the red haired M.E.

"I had to go to extreme measures, but I got it!" Megan said as she walked into the department holding up a file triumphantly.

"Great work, those guys down at archiving are usually hard to charm." He said.

Megan smiled.

"I don't think they were anticipating my brand of charm."

"Have you had a chance to go through it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it's a little light on details."

She handed it to him.

"Man, this is either poor police work, or it's been interfered with. Who was the investigating officer…"He flipped to the front of the file "Detective Greg Smallwood…hmmm…that name is familiar…" Putting the file aside he tapped his computer keys and brought up a list of names. "I thought so, he was one of the dirty cops working for Paddy Doyle…Maybe this case was linked to Doyle in some way?..."he thought out loud.

"I'd say definitely!" Megan said. "The file may not contain much, but it does contain a DNA profile for the victim, a young male aged twenty to twenty-five, here's where it gets interesting, I compared it to our vics on a hunch, and there are several markers in common."

"What?"

"Yes, the victim in this case was a half-sibling to the victim and Dr Isles…on the paternal side."

"Whoa, I need to get a message to Jane and Korsak to follow this up with Doyle" he said reaching for his phone.

Sitting next to Korsak at the interview table, Maura shuddered as the door behind them closed with a heavy clunking sound. It echoed ominously throughout the room.

The interview room was unlike any that she had ever been in before. It was basically just a converted cell, it even had pipes in the corner were a toilet had likely been at one time. It was claustrophobic and the air was stifling. She couldn't subdue a slight feeling of anxiety, a certain amount of design in the architecture was intended to promote just that, she supposed.

Unusual measures had to be taken because of the maximum security status of the prisoner they were about to meet. 'The prisoner', she didn't like to think of him that way, her biological father. His presence in her life had been alarming at best, terrifying at worst. But he had shown her more affection in the few times they had met, than her adoptive father had shown in a lifetime. Though she didn't agree with his methods she knew that he had been taking care of her from afar since the day she was born.

The door swung open again and in came Paddy, flanked on either side by prison guards, two FBI agents brought up the front and rear as the group made their way to the table. It was close quarters, for whilst the room was quite big, obviously intended to house four men, the large table made it hard to navigate in such a big group.

Five minutes later and Paddy was chained to the desk. The guards and FBI agents had left the room. They were likely waiting outside in case there were any signs of trouble.

The room was silent.

Korsak spoke first.

"Do you know why we are here?"

Paddy remained silent looking at Maura.

She pushed a picture of the dead woman across to him.

"Who was she? Why didn't you tell me about her?...Will I find out about all my biological relatives when they end up on a slab in my morgue?" she said her voice thick with emotion.

"I'm sorry Maura." He said softly, shaking his head. He had wanted to avoid this.

"Do you know anything about what hap.."

The door flew open with an echoing cracking sound that reverberated throughout the room. In entered a very pissed Jane Rizzoli, Gabriel Dean followed closely behind.

"Korsak, get Maura out of here now." She bit out. She didn't want Maura to find out like this.

"Wha…"

"Now Korsak!"

"Jane…" Maura was confused and more than a little shocked.

"Out!" said Jane firmly.

"But…" she began. Dean pulled her to her feet a little roughly and pushed her towards a shocked Korsak.

The older detective led her out of the room, he was as bewildered as she was. The heavy door swung closed behind them.

"You son of a bitch, it was you!...you ordered the hit!" Jane was livid.

She stared at the man in the prison jumpsuit. Her eyes were wild. She had flown down to the prison like a bat out of hell, hoping to get here before the interview started and Doyle would see that Maura was still alive. But she had been held up by beaurocratic nonsense. In the end she was lucky that Dean was here overseeing things. He had been called to the wardens office where Jane was about to strangle someone. When she filled him in on the recent development he had waved her though security, but not before she had reached a dangerous level of fury.

She smacked a bandaged fist down on the table.

Paddy didn't even flinch as he observed her calmly. Her appearance was quite different from the cool cop that he was used to dealing with. She looked a little unhinged. He realised it must have been a shock to be confronted with the sight of the body that was the image of Maura. He had no idea that the confusion had continued as long as it had.

"Is she in danger you bastard?...Did you try to have her killed?" Jane voiced her fear.

That statement shocked him out of his controlled silence.

"No."

"You need to start talking Doyle." Dean said.

Paddy considered his options. The last thing he wanted was for Maura to think that he had tried to have her killed. Curse fate that Jackson hadn't managed to do a clean job.

On the other side of the door Korsak and Frankie were shifting uncomfortably as Maura paced angrily in the hallway. They had rarely seen the mild mannered doctor's temper. Though neither would admit it to said woman -and certainly not under the circumstances - it was kind of cute.

Her face was red and her fists were clenched.

The honey blonde was hurt by the way she had just been treated. It stung a little bit more that Gabriel Dean was a part of it. He and Jane were together in whatever was happening in that room and everyone outside had been shut out of it, including her. Though she accepted Frankies explanation that it was to do with a new development in the case, she didn't understand why they had been pushed out.

It had all happened so suddenly. She had a good mind to march back in there and demand an explanation. But she realised, she was so mad at Jane right now, that she didn't want to see her.

"Take me home please Frankie." She said finally.

A/N Please review and let me know what you think...