A/N: Okay, so it's time to update! I've talked my mom into taking our desktop over to my OTHER sister's house, so I can bum off of her Wi-Fi to update every night. Hopefully. Anyhoo, I've been moving and working all day...it's time to write more of our favorite little couple *less than three*

RaiN: I had a ton of time yesterday lol that was the only reason I was able to update so much. I'm such a huge country fan. Country and rock are my entire life, but I have a little bit of everything on my iPod. If I know people pretty okay, I'm a people person. Most of my friends are guys, too, simply because I believe girls bring so much drama to the table. I think Izzy did want to kill him, or at least smack him over the head. Frankie needs some serious balls to be Izzy's boyfriend, though! She needed a wake-up call and he was just the one to give it to her! Isabella really is a very quirky person, but it's what makes her so irresistible. She's eccentric, and life without her would definitely be boring!

Let me know that I've done wrong

When I've known this all along

I go around a time or two

Just to waste my time with you

Tell me all that you've thrown away

Find out games you don't wanna play

You are the only one that needs to know

All-American Rejects — Dirty Little Secret

"Oh, you look nice today," Maura commented as Isabella walked into the morgue to get a report on the body. The petite detective smiled in thanks and slid her hands into the pockets of her tan corduroy jeans.

"Thank you," she replied. "What is it that you found on my John Doe?"

Maura held out a tablet. "I don't know what to make of it," she admitted. Isabella studied the trace report and frowned.

"It said that it's got a chemical compound of graphite, charcoal, lampblack, and powdered acacia," she commented. "And Lycopodium."

"It said it was a contaminated sample when they tried to run it. All the techs were able to get off of it, was that much," Maura explained. Isabella nodded, sliding her finger to check it.

"It's fingerprint dust," she replied. "Did a tech handle the victim's shirt after dusting something else for prints?"

"No, I didn't," Zachary Hunter's voice came from the doorway. "We use the pink powder when we check for prints, it shows up on more."

"Nowadays, labs use aluminum powder," Isabella informed him. "The particles cling to epithelial DNA and raise the ridge detail."

"We also found odd patterns on his clothing, but we can't seem to figure out how to do it," he added. She chuckled in surprise as she raised her eyebrows.

"Did you do a reconstruction?" she asked. The puzzlement on Zachary's face caused her jaw to drop. Back when she had worked in the lab, she had lived to do reconstructions of crime scenes. Especially trying to determine a murder weapon. "Have you ever done a reconstruction?" He shook his head.

"We're going to do a reconstruction right now," she informed him, gesturing him to follow her into the lab. "I will teach you what it means to be a true tech."

"It's four in the morning," Frankie complained from his seat. "And we're still not done, all because you're getting all profiling on it." He watched Isabella pour over the feed, her eyes glued to the screen.

"We're missing something," she informed him. "When we're done, I'll get you a burger." He rolled his eyes and watched as she rewound it again to watch it for the umpteenth time. Her blue eyes were narrowed, her finger curled over her lips in thought.

"Seriously, we've been over this a million times," he said. "We can give it a go when we've had some sleep." She shook her head, not tearing her concentration away.

"I'm missing something obvious," she insisted. The feed was of the victim's home, a Lester Jones. He had surveillance cameras in his home, and it had taken a federal warrant and several back-flips to get it. Something just outside of the frame had caught the tip of the murder weapon, a butcher knife. The victim came into the screen and Isabella paused it.

"I swear, Izzy, if you pause that one more time to rewind it, I'm going to hurl that computer across the room."

"No, no, no," she said. "I've got it!" He watched as her keys flew across the keyboard. The screen zoomed in on the victim's eye. "I got you now, you son of a bitch."

"What are you doing?" he asked. He had learned long ago to not question her motives, but he couldn't deny his curiosity. Right now, she was getting her CSI on.

"Corneal imaging," she explained. "Something that helped me catch a killer a long time ago." She enhanced the reflection of the victim's eye and sharpened the focus.

The sound of the AV door opening caught Frankie's attention and he looked over his shoulder to see Jane.

"I wanted to talk to you two alone," she said, closing the door. She leaned against it, her dark eyes on Isabella. Frankie's unease grew as his sister's gaze turned to him.

"Yes?" he prompted. Jane's gaze turned from him to Isabella before pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"How long did you two think you could get away with breaking protocol?" she finally asked.

Isabella fought the rising paranoia as she tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear.

"What makes you think we're breaking protocol?" she asked innocently. Her paranoia came from the fact that she and her partner were fraternizing, which was a massive no-no. Jane scrolled through her phone before showing her the screen. Frankie and Isabella right by the precinct, in a very compromising position.

"That's what makes me know you are," Jane informed her. "Honestly, how long has this been going on?" Isabella glanced at Frankie, her paranoia evolving into dread. She felt like a reprimanded child instead of an adult.

"It's not completely her fault," he said. Jane held up one finger to shush her younger brother.

"I'll get to you in a minute," she told him. "Right now, I want to hear her explanation." Isabella looked up at her, fighting the urge to shrink back. She wasn't sorry, and she wouldn't tell her she was.

"About a month or so," she replied. "During the Patricia Morris case." There was no use lying about it. Jane had solid evidence to back up her theory. Jane turned to look at Frankie, who nodded.

"Because I am now involved, I have to ask you questions," she said, her expression one of clear discomfort. "Who else knows about this?" Isabella twisted her mouth in thought, drumming her fingers on the glass of the AV desk.

"No one, as far as I know," she replied. She turned her gaze to Frankie as he nodded in agreement. "No one else knows."

"Is your relationship..." Jane trailed off, composing herself for a moment. Her pretty face twisted in a grimace as she forced the words out. "...physical?"

Isabella felt the tips of her ears and her face turn bright red. "Well, this is awkward..." she muttered, before nodding.

"Yeah, you're telling me," Jane replied, her grimace still visible. "Trust me, I really don't want to know, but I have to."

"We didn't tell people for a reason," Isabella said quietly. "Not only because of the no-frat rule, but because I'm a very private person and I don't like people discussing details of something they know absolutely nothing about."

"You didn't want the drama," Jane uttered. Slowly, Isabella and Frankie nodded. Jane sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I really don't want to do this, but I have to."

It was clear that she was conflicted about how to proceed. She watched them intently for a long moment.

Isabella's drumming grew louder on the desk as she watched her partner's sister with impatience. Her breath was in her throat as she awaited the final decision. If Jane went to IAB with it, Isabella and Frankie were both screwed.

"The way I see this, I have two options," Jane finally said. "I can go to Internal Affairs with this, and likely, you both will be on separate shifts until they say you can work together again. One of you might be fired."

"What's your second option?" Frankie asked. Isabella ran her tongue ring across the roof of her mouth, trying her hardest to calm her speeding heart rate.

"I can claim ignorance, delete the photo, and continue letting you two sneak around like this," Jane replied. "Honestly, I'm leaning towards the first option, because I'm a cop before I'm a friend and sister."

Isabella's heart sank and she dropped her gaze to the glass on the desk. "We've maintained a professional front," she offered quietly. "All they'd be doing by firing one of us is just giving us freedom to actually come out as a couple. All they'd be doing by separating our shifts is making it just a little bit harder for us to see each other."

Her gaze lifted to meet Jane's. "And I honestly don't care if they fire me," she said. "I can just as easily find another job, they can only control my career as a cop, not what I am as a human being."

She was sick of people trying to dictate her life. Isabella Reagan Pacino Zuko never let people tell her what to do and she wasn't about to roll onto her back and show her belly in defeat. If this turned out to be something, she was going to prove to them that she was more than just a cop. She was a lone wolf, but she never went down without a fight.

"Do you feel the same way?" Jane asked Frankie. Isabella kept her gaze on Jane, to make sure she didn't pressure him. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Isabella may be a quirky, eccentric woman with an unnatural obsession with music, but I honestly can't see myself working alongside anyone else," he said. "She may be completely overqualified for this job, but like she said, we've maintained a professional front. We'll continue to do so. If they make it hard for us to be together because we're partners, we'll just fight harder for it."

"The job kills relationships," Jane reminded them. "You'll be put to the test every single day."

"We've made it this far," Isabella pointed out with a smirk. "If it's supposed to work out, then it'll work out."

"What about if you two split?" Jane challenged. "Can you handle working with your ex?" Isabella stifled a laugh. Oh, if only she knew...

"I think I can manage," she replied. Her gaze slid over to Frankie and her eyebrow arched. "Can you?"

A smirk crossed his features and he chuckled. "Bring it on."