A/N: All righty! Just a head's up, good friend Brittany is going to be drawing a cover for this fanfic, so be on the look out for that when it's done!

To all those that reviewed, thank you.

It makes me happy to see people enjoying reading this as much as I do to write it.

Also, be prepared to deal with a lot of feels in this chapter. I'd recommend some soft piano music for parts of it later on.

So do read, enjoy, and review again.

:)

Chapter Ten: Pressures from The Past

"Oh well, would you look at that? About time that you noticed me here." The man's slightly gravelly voice stood out at the pizzeria. Alice felt her nostrils twitch at the anger flooding through her mind.

"What. The. Hell. Are you doing here?" She repeated herself, her voice in a low growl now that her ex-husband stood before her. "You have a restraining order."

"That was ten years ago, Alice." Spence replied. He had grown in more of a scruffy beard on his face, and his hair had been recently trimmed. "And we're not in the state of Michigan, are we?"

"I'm still a cop, Spence." Alice retorted, her gun clearly on display on her left hip along with her badge.

"Homicide detectives aren't exactly working officers."

"I don't really give a damn. What the fuck are you doing here?" Alice asked for a third time, by which Giovanni had come over to the pair of them. Other customers were starting to look at the pair.

"Listen, I don't know what's the matter with you two, but if you could at least take it outside?" Giovanni asked before the verbal abuse grew to something physical. "I'm just tryin' to keep customers happy, all right?"

"Oh of course," Spence smirked before standing at the glass doors, holding it open for Alice, as always. "Go on, ladies first." Alice grunted, and shook her head, glancing back to Izzie, reinforcing her order to stay there.

"You can just go suck a cock, why don't you?" Alice mumbled under her breath as she went back outside, the smells of the city filling her nostrils again.

"You'd like that too much, wouldn't you?" Spence shot back, running a hand through his bristling hair, stuffing his hands in his worn leather jacket's pockets.

"Answer my fucking question. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, popped by for a visit considering I was in the neighbourhood." He replied sarcastically. "It's been ten years, Alice. I haven't seen my daughter in a decade. It'd be nice to let her see her own father."

"Oh no. You are not getting a chance to talk to her! Not a way in hell, Spence Parks!" Alice went on the defensive. "Not after the shit you pulled! Not after the way you oh so abruptly decided out marriage meant nothing to you and you decided to sleep with every whore on the block and treat me like I was worthless!" Alice yelled, her face growing flush with her anger seething.

"And you get no right to take away my kid!" Spence yelled back loudly. "She's mine too, you cunt!"

"You really wanna do this, right here and right now Spence?" Alice hissed back, stepping closer, fists clenching. "Because I will, I swear I will…"

"Hey, kid," Giovanni slid down into the booth where Izzie was dismally sitting, watching her mother arguing with the raven haired man outside. The glass windows muted what they were saying, but she could tell it was getting bad.

"Hi." Izzie replied shyly, and Giovanni provided a take-out box and helped her put the left over pizza inside of it.

"I guess I can see why your mom doesn't like men, huh?" he glanced over to the pair who was viciously going back and forth at this point verbally.
"I think that guy must be my dad."

"Oh?" Giovanni's face fell a little as he had the realisation hit him about the little family that had come into his pop's pizza place. "What makes you say that?"

"I dunno. All I do know is that my mama hates him and well, she looks like she sure hates that guy." Izzie sighed, fiddling with the tab on the take out box. Giovanni scrunched his face up in thought, then glanced again to the couple fighting and noted that it was evolving into something possibly physical.

"That… don't look so good." Giovanni then got up, grabbing his phone, dialling the first person that came to mind. "'ey, Jane, one of your cop friends looks like she's gonna take the face of this guy outside the pizzeria."

"Bullshit, Spence! You fucked every woman down that block and you think I didn't know? And yet, you expect me to respect you enough to let you get to know your daughter? After all this? Ten years, and you just decide to show up here, stalking me to Boston when I moved here to get away from you?" Alice screamed in Spence's face, pushing him back. Spence barely budged an inch.

"And you didn't fuckin' hook up with that Latina dyke half the time I was gone?" Spence retorted. "Every damn night you hung out and you didn't fuck that bitch?"

"No!" Alice felt hot tears forming from the epitome of her anger peaking. Spence suddenly raised his arm, and brought his hand to Alice's face, smacking her with force. She stumbled back, catching herself on the brick wall of the building, her pale face sweltering red where his hand had gone. Caught up in the moment, she closed her eyes, thinking back that decade earlier when Spence used to hit her near the end of their marriage. Flashbacks formed behind her eyes of the bruises, the marks, and the sting of every smack, push, and punch, and without another second, she drew her gun, cocking it and flipping off the safety off the heavy .45. "Give me one good goddamn reason why I shouldn't just cap you right here and right now, you sick son of a bitch." She said, voice octaves lower. It was oddly calm for how angry she was, which in turn was scarier than her yelling. Spence stood back, face indignant.

"Go ahead, shoot me. Get arrested, put away for first degree murder, and Isobella gets put into the foster system. How motherly of you. I thought you were on the good side of the law, hmm?" Spence stood his ground, hands out of his pockets and in the air.

"You just assaulted a police officer… I'll have your ass in prison before you can even think of my face one more time…"

"Alice! Put the gun down!" Jane called out; her own gun drawn as she saw the situation Giovanni had called her about. How he had gotten her number, she would have to find out later. Alice continued to hold her gun out at Spence, aiming right between his eyes. Her left hand began to shake out of the nerves, and finally, she stood down, shaking her head as she discharged the gun, turning the safety back on before holstering the weapon. She glanced down at the pavement, shaking her head. She could hear Jane's footsteps coming closer, along with Frankie's heavier ones. He had come along for back up. Spence smirked smugly.

"Coward." He whispered under his breath, and at long last, Alice's anger finally snapped. She lunged forward, grabbing him by the collar of his worn tee shirt, nails digging into his Adam's apple before she started through punches with her dominant left hand, hitting Spence in the face. Heavy thuds sounded as she punched him repeatedly before the siblings Rizzoli stepped in to pull them apart. Inside, Giovanni had drawn the curtains so Izzie wouldn't see what was going on. He stood by the door way, letting the cops do their jobs. Alice fought against Jane's grip, wild fire in her eyes.

"C'mon! Alice! Let it go! C'mon!" Jane yelled, her husky voice filling the dirty blonde's ears. Spence stumbled back, his nose bleeding quite profusely, his right eye already darkening underneath. He barely struggled against Frankie's grip and shook his head in disbelief.

"You fuckin' crazy dyke!" Spence spat some of the blood out of his mouth to the pavement as the siblings dragged them apart. Frankie slammed the man down against the cruiser they had pulled up to and handcuffed him for safety's sake. Alice stopped, turning to look at the pizzeria, and through the slat in the door, she could see Izzie standing with Giovanni, holding the take out box, jaw dropped. Alice turned her head away and swatted Jane's grasp away, leaning with her back to Spence and the restaurant against the side of her car.

"Come on, let's get you down to the station, huh?" Frankie then tucked Spence into the back of the cruiser, giving a nod to Jane and Alice before driving off. Alice nearly jumped when she felt Jane's hand on her shoulder, and for the first time, she noticed the scarring on the back of it. Now was not the time to ask. She turned, and met the woman's dark chocolate eyes.

"Let's go to the precinct, we'll get this all solved. I take it that was your ex-husband?" Alice only managed a nod, and soon Giovanni came out, leading Izzie by the shoulder.

"Hey, uh… threw in another pizza… free of charge." He shrugged when Jane gave him a look, and turned to head back inside. Izzie too was strongly silent, and glanced up at her mother.

"Mama, you okay?"

"Y-yeah, baby girl. I'm... I'm fine. We're gonna go back to the police headquarters. Come on, we'll let Jane here show you around while mama talks stuff out, okay?" Alice did her best to remain composed while her daughter got in the back seat of the Mustang. Alice fished out her keys, hands still shaking. She held them out to Jane, the metal jingling against the ring. "Please… just… drive, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah of course."

"So," Jane sat down across from Alice, sliding her a coffee in the interrogation room. "Your ex showed up after ten years for what?"

"He wanted to see Isobella." Alice took the coffee, drinking it straight up. "He has a restraining order after I left him…"

"Because he was abusive."

"Still is." Alice rubbed the side of her face. "I don't know how or why he stalked me here to Boston, but… I thought he'd be gone, and…" Alice took a breath. "Ten years of rage pent up…"

"It's understandable, Alice. I'm just glad you didn't shoot the guy." Jane reached across and patted Alice's arm gently, the touch lingering. "He hit you first, that's assault against a police officer. The rules of the restraining order were broken… you've got enough to lay charges against him."

"Oh, trust me. I will." Alice stated. "If he comes near Izzie, that's another story."

"Alice, come on. Think rationally here."

"Yeah, I know. First degree puts me away for life, my kid gets taken away, I get it." Alice sat back, chugging down the coffee, not caring that it burnt her tongue.

"Look, if you need to take more time off, Alice, I'm sure the lieutenant would understand."

"No." Alice shook her head. "If anything, I need work as a distraction. Besides, I have a partner to teach the ropes to."

"Yeah, I thought I recognised her that night at the Robber." Jane pointed out, crossing her arms. Alice felt herself grow alarmed.

"You… knew?"

"Yeah, I recognise faces without sleeping with the person first." Jane began to chuckle. Alice still didn't look amused.

"How the hell was I supposed to know?"

"You didn't. And I'm sorry, it's not that funny. But at the same time, it kinda is."

"Just shut up, all right? I'm sure your love life's just perfect. What with you and your 'best friend'."

"Excuse me?" Jane's brows shot up out of stark curiosity now.

"You heard me, Jane." Alice teased back. "I call it even now. Look, I should go... take my daughter home. It's late. "

"They've still got him there. I'll send Frankie out to make sure he doesn't try to follow you home. In the meantime, stay put." Jane said before she stood up, adjusting her jacket before heading down to the café where she had her mother keeping an eye on Izzie while the charges were processed against Mr. Parks.

"Hey there, Izzie." Jane called out softly, sitting down at the table where the little brunette girl had been sitting in since they arrived at the headquarters. She glanced up, blue eyes looking quite tired.

"Hey Detective, is my mama gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's gonna be fine. She wasn't hurt."

"Not physically, but she's gonna be sad." Jane's brows soon furrowed together, and she scooted her chair closer to Detective Abernathy's daughter. "She always said she hated my father after they broke up, and that's why I never got to know him. Because he's a big jerk."

"Yeah, it happens sometimes." Jane said softly as the girl took a drink from her chocolate milk carton. "But you won't have to worry about him being a jerk to you or your mama again."

"Promise?" Izzie glanced up, and then Jane slowly nodded.

"I do. I promise. I'll even send Frankie with you two tonight to make sure he doesn't come back." Jane explained with a soft smile after Izzie's face lit up a little.

"Would I be able to see the cop car and the sirens and stuff?"

"You sure can. You wanna go see them right now?"

"When will mama and I be able to go home?"

"Soon. I'm sure by the time we go to the garage, and come back up, everything will all be settled."

"Okay." Izzie finished off her milk before sliding out of the chair, stuffing one hand into the kangaroo pouch of her hoodie. She waited until Jane was walking beside her before reaching for the Detective's hand. Albeit being a tad surprised at the girl's actions, Jane took her hand as she began walking down to the elevator to head to the garage.

"Some rough night, huh?" Claire Redfield's voice cut across the empty office of the precinct where Alice was sitting at her desk, waiting for Spence to be thoroughly escorted out of the building after she had decided to press charges.

"You're still here. Yay." Alice quipped back, slouching in her wheelie chair. Claire walked in, coat over her arm.

"Look, I like to remain professional here with our jobs, but if it's any consolation, we are partners, and if you need to talk about anything, know that I'm actually a pretty friendly person when you get to know me well enough."

"Well, as you can see, I have a psycho ex-husband, a ten year old kid who never met her father after the age of two, and deeply rooted anger issues with tendencies to pull guns upon my enemies. And a bad smoking habit which I'm craving quite badly right now but can't do anything about it because my smokes are at home, and I'm inside." Alice ran her hands through her messy curls, and sat up straight, tossing out the empty coffee container into the trash bin.

"I see. So you're complicated."

"Aren't we all, Detective?" Alice asked in response, eager to hear the redhead's answer.

"If you look at it that way, sure." She paced around for a moment in silence, gathering her thoughts. "It's been a rough first day for us both, but if there's time that you can spare come Friday night, would you want to get drinks at the Robber?"

"You asking me out, Redfield?"

"No." She replied with a soft smile. "I'm simply offering, as a friend, time away from work."

"Are you going to intend on getting me drunk? Because if you are…"

"No again, Detective Abernathy." Claire brushed back her hair from her face, green eyes meeting Alice's. "Let me know."

"Sure thing." Alice replied, watching the woman leave. Her eyes couldn't help but to fall upon her back side, noting the way her hips swayed, and the contours of her legs. With a shake of the head, she stood up, and headed out to find Jane and her daughter. It was time to go home.

Another few hours had passed, and by the time it had all been sorted out, Alice was simply exhausted and stressed to the point where as soon as she had Izzie eating her bed snack and tucked in, she too went straight to bed, gun out on the nightstand as opposed to in the locked drawer where she normally kept it. She knew Jane had insisted on Frankie's presence down below her apartment block, but she couldn't take any less of a precaution to soothe her edging paranoia that somehow, Spence would make another appearance. Curling up, she tried closing her eyes, but to no avail. For the first bit, she went out to her balcony, and sat and had a few cigarettes to steady her nerves before going back to bed. What she didn't expect was to see her daughter curled up in the covers, waiting for her.

"Izzie, it's half past twelve. You've got school tomorrow."

"I just wanted to be with you." Alice couldn't help but to smile at her daughter's reasoning, and then slipped back into bed. She simply wore cotton shorts and a slim fit tank top to bed, but it provided enough to be comfortable. She got under the covers. Like always, she had previously chewed mint gum to freshen her breath after she smoked, and she soon cuddled up to Izzie, draping her arm over her daughter's middle protectively. All fell silent for a while, until Izzie spoke again. "Why did you and my father break up?"

"Long story short, he wasn't the good guy I thought he was when we got married and had you. We were both better off without him."

"Why'd he come here after so long, mama?"

"I don't know, baby girl." Alice replied sadly, her other hand playing with Izzie's thick curls. "But hopefully he'll go away and never come back to us."

"Are you ever gonna get married again, mama?"

"I don't know, Iz. If I find the right person who loves me and you, maybe. But for right now, I'm perfectly happy with it just being you and me."

"Could we get a puppy?" Alice let out a soft laugh, planting a kiss on the side of Izzie's head.

"I'll think about it. Now, get some sleep, okay, hun?"

"Okay, mama."

"What's the deal?" Claire yawned, tying her hair back into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck as she joined the ranks of Jane, Frost, and Dr. Isles outside of the downtown core. It was nearly three in the morning.

"Another shooting." Frost pointed out to the body that they had been called about. It was early, but they knew the faster the evidence could be collected and analysed, the faster they had a shot at catching their killer.

"Why didn't we call Detective Abernathy?" Dr. Isles inquired, glancing between them. Jane shook her head before glancing to the body of young woman dressed in a blue tank top and jeans with long wavy brown hair, and then to the shorter framed body of a raven haired East Asian man lying next to the woman, both with gunshots to the head.

"Because she's had enough on her plate for one night to not have to deal with a double homicide."