A/N: How will our ladies do now that it's time to fly?
Jane was not in a good headspace. She barely heard anything that Charlie talked about throughout the class. She had tried to catch Maura's eye to let her know that what she saw didn't mean what she probably thought, given the anger radiating off her. But Maura wouldn't look at her and Jane felt her heart clench. She would have to fix this and fast. Maura Isles had gotten into her head and her heart and she would suffer without her.
Jane contemplated this last thought. In a little over 48 hours, Maura Isles had wormed her way into Jane's very being. This had never happened to her before. Jane was a bit of player, knowing her natural charm and dimples could get her anyone she wanted. However, now, Jane felt like a whole new person since meeting Maura. From the moment she had seen her, Jane had felt a pull toward her. There was still so much Jane didn't know about Maura but she couldn't wait to find out. Jane needed to find a way to convince Maura that she was serious when she said she wanted to be hers.
When class ended, Jane tried to approach Maura again but was met with empty space as the extremely fit woman took off like a sprinter. Jane was left with just the faint smell of what she had come to think of as Maura herself, lavender and vanilla. This only made her more despondent. And of course the topper to her misery was that Charlie was now looking at her like she wanted to eat her alive. Ugh, how did she get herself into these situations? Any other time she would be flattered. Charlie was a very attractive woman, with her lean frame, wavy blonde hair and intelligent eyes that paired well with an incredible mind but right now Jane only had room for one woman who fit that description and she had just ran away from her like she had the plague.
Jane felt a strong hand on her shoulder and turned to look at Frost, seeing nothing but care in his eyes. "Mav, don't worry. You got this." Jane tried to smile at her best friend but she just couldn't manage it. They were turning to leave when Charlie approached and said, "Lt. Rizzoli, I can't wait to pick your brain some more tonight." She was leaning into Jane's personal space and Jane quickly took a step back. "About that...Charlie tonight isn't good for me. How about we schedule a time here on base to discuss? Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the briefing." Jane quickly turned and grabbed Frost making their way out of the room.
Once they left the classroom, Frost let out a bark of laughter. "Really, Mav?! You spent the whole night with the woman and now you are running scared all of the sudden?" Jane spun toward Frost with disbelief all over her face. "You think I spent the night with Charlie?" she whisper yelled. Frost's laughter immediately subsided and he looked at Jane with utter confusion. "Well, yeah, I mean who else would it have been?" Jane was in shock but felt that this could probably be to her advantage as she had quite possibly screwed things up with Maura. "Goose, you don't need to be spreading things around man. Now let's go, or we will be late for the briefing."
When they arrived, the briefing was just about to get started and they snuck into the closest corner. Jane looked around to see if she could spot Maura but couldn't immediately and she felt her stomach drop again. Frost elbowed her sharply, gaining her attention, and pointed to the front of the room. Jane got the hint and started paying attention to the mission for today's exercises. They were to be paired off with wingmen and Jane was hoping she and Maura would be paired up just so she would have to talk to her. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and Jane and Frost had been matched up with Hollywood and Wolfman. Jane groaned internally. These guys were the worst! They were going to slow her down and Jane was already thinking of how to win this mission without them.
Maura and Susie had been paired with Chipper and Sundown. Jane was jealous for more reasons than she cared to count. Chipper and Sundown were good but Jane had also noticed the way that both men looked at Maura the day before during their classes. If grown men could look like puppies, it was these two when they looked at Maura.
Jane felt another jab to her side and was about to yell at Frost to quit it when they were being dismissed. Damn, Jane had just missed most of the briefing. Well, she knew how to fly and she knew she was supposed to take down Viper and Jester. As far as she was concerned, that was all the information she needed. Slapping Frost on the arm, Jane tossed him a typical Rizzoli smirk and said, "I feel the need, Goose...the need for speed!" Frost just shook his head at her, but a grin formed across his handsome face and he took off toward the hanger.
x-x-x-x-x-x
Jane felt calmer and more at peace. She was soaring through the air and life made sense again. She was out here to prove why she was the best and her woman troubles would just have to take a back seat. Well a further back seat since Frost was occupying the one she had at the moment. Jane laughed at her own joke and Frost chuckled along, even though he had no clue what she was on about. He was good like that.
Currently, they were in pursuit of their targets and Jane was starting to get frustrated. She was growing tired of trying to get Hollywood to follow a single thing she said. The guy was so cocky and kept making her lose her lock on Viper. This is the first time she had flown against Viper and she wanted to make an impression. And it would be a horrible one if this jackass wouldn't start listening to her!
"Listen, Hollywood, I am going to drop down to try to draw him in, and I need you to take a hard right to come around and force him into my lock. Copy?" Jane said through a clenched jaw. Instead of an acknowledgement, Hollywood barked back orders of his own at her like she was some cadet straight out of the academy. Who the hell did this guy think he was?
Deciding that she had had enough, Jane broke formation and took off after Viper on her own. She was using all her best tricks. Jane had to give it to Viper, he was good. Really really good, but she knew she was better. Zeroing in on him, ignoring a yell from Hollywood, Jane was just about to finally get her target lock on Viper when she heard Goose yelling at her that Jester was about to lock onto them.
Jane had been so focused she completely missed Jester sneaking up behind them and before she could even attempt to get away, she heard the dreaded sound of them being targeted. "Fuck! Goose, where did he come from?" Jane shouted out in frustration. She hated to lose but to lose like this was even more embarrassing. "I don't know Mav, he just dropped out of nowhere. Why didn't Hollywood take him?" Jane just grunted in response as she flew them back toward base. Dammit, this is not how this day was supposed to go.
x-x-x-x-x-x
Upon deplaning, Jane and Frost made their way back to the locker room. Jane stripped down and made her way to the shower. She couldn't bear to face anyone right now. All throughout her shower, all she could do was berate herself for getting hung out to dry like that by Hollywood and of course her thoughts turned to how she was in the doghouse with Maura. How could a day that had started so pleasantly turn into this dumpster fire?
To make matters worse, as she was getting dressed, back into her day old clothes no less which just made Jane feel worse, she was once again summoned to see Viper. Letting out a huff of frustration, Jane made her way to his office. The old man was looking none too happy with her and she couldn't even find it in herself to defend herself.
"Rizzoli, the whole point of this assignment was teamwork. You were out there showboating and look what happened. How do you expect to be Top Gun when you are so damn selfish?! This isn't always about showing me your are the best pilot. I've got a class full of the best pilots. We here at Top Gun are training the best aviators who will be going out to defend our country, as a team. People need to know that they can trust you to have their backs when in an all out dogfight. If you can't get that through that stubborn head of yours, you are of no use to me. Dismissed."
Jane just turned around and left, knowing that every word of what Korsak had said was true. Frost was waiting for her outside and he knew not to say anything. This wasn't the first time she had been reprimanded for showing off. He gave her a comforting pat on the back and they walked out to the parking lot. On the way, they passed Maura and Susie who were just getting back to the building, as they were still in their flight suits. Jane saw that Maura looked ecstatic and it was a good look on her. Jane wanted to celebrate in Maura's joy but as soon as Maura caught a glimpse of Jane, her expression darkened and she turned to walk away with more determination, head held high and defiant.
Jane let out a sigh. She had no idea how she was going to fix things but she needed to figure it out fast. She couldn't lose Maura now that she had found her. Jane would need to pull out all the stops to win back the woman who she could just not get out of her head or her heart.
With a renewed purpose, Jane made her way to her bike. "You ok to ride Mav?" Frost asked. He really was a great friend. "Yeah Frost, I'll meet you back at the house. I gotta run a quick errand first."
A/N: What tricks does Jane have up her sleeve? Will she be able to melt the Iceman once again? Stay tuned for more on the next chapter of Need for Speed! (said in old timey TV announcer voice, lol)