A/N: Hope you are all still with me, my apologies but I am finally getting stuff sorted after relocating and the new job and the new stories. Please enjoy, your humble bard, Honorcpt.

"You have to be wrong Joey, it can't be Cavanaugh…" agitated she started to pace, "dammit…tell me why you think its him."

Joey saw her concern and anxiety. This whole case had taken a left turn somewhere and he had to make it right. He knew he was right.

"Jane he knew you would be here alone with Maura, the guy who showed up knew exactly what to say. They didn't expect Korsak or I to be here."

"Yeah but I'm here, I'm not incapable," she said angrily.

"But Janie, who would be answering the door if it were just you and Maura?" he said it quietly, seeing the implication of what he said in her face.

"No…no Joey…shit!" Realizing how close Maura truly had come to dying made her sick. "We need to talk to him."

"I have an idea about that, we could ask to meet him at the coffee shop by the precinct this afternoon. He won't have an excuse not to and having us together would present an irresistible target."

Jane eyed him carefully, she trusted him for the most part but she wanted to speak with Korsak first.

Reading her mind, Joey continued, "I already asked Korsak yesterday to tell Cavanaugh we would be meeting at the coffee shop at 2pm today."

"Dammit." She thought about Maura and the slice across her face and could feel the anger boiling inside of her. Joey was right, it would have been Maura answering the door this morning.

"Fine…right now I need you to take me to the hospital though."

"No problem Janie." Joey grabbed his jacket and bit back a curse as Jane smacked him in his sore arm.

"And stop calling me Janie!" she ground out, so much for getting rest today.

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"Is Jane on her way?" Maura found it difficult to speak with the bandage on her face but she needed to know. Her face felt numb but she knew that was from the injection they had given her to prepare her for surgery. The emergency room doctor had immediately called in a plastic surgeon for a consult and they wanted to do the surgery as soon as possible. Maura had refused until she saw Jane.

Korsak put his phone away and nodded, "Yeah Joey is parking the car but Jane is on her way up, " he stood up from his seat as he heard Jane's voice down the hallway, she sounded pissed.

Jane stood in the doorway and took in the sight of Maura in a hospital bed again, this time a thick bandage along one side of her face.

"Hey hon…" she said gently. At her words Maura finally let go and tears ran down her face. Jane walked over to her and gathered her in her arms while Korsak quietly left them to each other.

"Shhh….shh…its okay Maur, what did the doctor say?" Jane pulled back and ran a hand through Maura's hair before cupping the uninjured side of her face.

"Surgery, plastic surgery to repair the damage." Seeing the concern on Jane's face she misunderstood. "It won't leave a bad scar, I should look…almost the same."

Jane heard the hitch in her voice and immediately understood. "Maura, I don't care about a scar, I care about you. You're beautiful to me. Don't you know that?"

"Even like this?" Crying again she hated to sound so vain but, "what if its very noticeable?"

Jane leaned her cane against the bed and held up both of her hands, flipping them back and forth. "Noticeable?" she said gently, "Maura you once told me my scars don't matter to you except for what they signify, why do you think I would feel any differently if the scars belong to you?"

"Oh Jane…" Jane wrapped her in her arms again, angry about Maura's injury, her tears, her worry. Jane could feel the rage building inside her about this whole case and realized Joey was right, they had to know, one way or the other.

"Maura I'll be here when you get out of surgery okay, but Joey Korsak and I are going to meet with Cavanaugh in a little bit."

"You're supposed to be resting," she started.

"Maur, really? I'll rest when I'm dead or at least when this case is over okay?" seeing the horrified look on Maura's face, Jane knew she shouldn't have been so flippant.

"You know what I mean Maura. I will rest but this has to end." Jane waited for her to nod, "My mother is going to be checking on you if that's alright with you?"

"Of course it is, but Jane…please be careful."

Jane kissed the back of her hand. "Your wish is my command milady." Raising the cane she saluted, with a wry grin, "I'm off to slay the beast, a kiss for luck?"

Maura's eyes twinkled as she realized what Jane was doing so she played along. Reaching over she grabbed a tissue and kissed it before handing it over. "A kiss and my favor good sir…"

"Woohoo!" Jane smiled before kissing her soundly, mindful of her injury and glad that her attempt at levity had worked. "It'll be over soon Maur, promise."

Maura's nod was all she needed before she left, walking past the orderlies who had come to take her to surgery. Jane texted her mother to let her know and made her way over to Korsak.

"Joey speak to you Jane?"

"Yeah he did, what do you think Korsak? Is it possible?" Jane still couldn't wrap her head around the idea of Cavanugh.

"I think right now anything is possible, I mean hell look at Crowe. No Jane, we have to consider every possibility no matter how crazy it seems." Korsak had known Cavanaugh for years he didn't want to believe that it could be true, but Doyle and Joey were right, everyone was suspect and right now they needed to eliminate folks in order to know who to trust.

"So, the coffee shop?" Jane said.

"Yeah, I left Maura's friend a message about what happened and what we were doing, he said he'll be around."

Jane knew he was talking about Doyle and as much as it went against the grain, she was grateful that he knew and would be watching. She was a living testament to the value of his intervention.

"Well let's go then before I realize what a crazy idea this is. Joey said he would wait for us downstairs." Jane led the way as Korsak followed. He knew she was preoccupied with Maura and her own health but she was still able to focus on the task at hand.

Reaching out for her, Korsak grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her.

"Jane wait. I…I want you to wear a vest."

Jane rolled her eyes before she glared at him. "Vince, I don't think…"

"Jane no more okay? Your body can only take so much and hell, I can only take so much." She looked at his face as he spoke and saw the depth of his fear, for her. "At least this way, God forbid something happens, you'll be somewhat protected."

Jane thought about what he was saying and knew he had a point. She was tired of all this and now, she had a fiancée to think of as well. "Fine, I'll wear my vest but that means you both do too."

"Done, besides I think Maura would hurt us all if we didn't." Korsak didn't miss the emotion that crossed Jane's fce at the mention of Maura's name. "Hey…She's going to be okay you know."

"I know Korsak, sorry, I'm just tired, physically, emotionally. I'm beat. This case is costing all of us, in more ways than one."

"How are you feeling?" Jane heard the concern and smiled.

"Im okay Vince, no fever, like I said, just tired." Seeing the look in his eye she conceded, "yes some pain, but I can't avoid that right now can I?"

"No I guess not." Walking alongside her, he tried not to watch her as she walked. He could tell she was hurting, her limp was more pronounced and she was leaning heavily on the cane. He prayed that she would be able to get rid of that cane soon, he knew how much it bothered her to have to use it.

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Jane rubbed her hands together as the ache in them grew stronger. She knew it was stress. She couldn't stop thinking about Maura and was glad that she had lightened Maura's mood a bit before she had to leave. Doyle had called Jane directly to check on Maura and while her comments had been terse and brief, she could hear the thanks in his voice. They were almost to the coffee shop and all of them now had their vests on. They hadn't spoken much except for Korsak to update both Jane and Joey on Frost and Frankie's conditions. They were both improving greatly and they were reducing the medication Frankie was on for him to wake. Frost was still in guarded condition but his stats were better.

"Here we are." Joey said as he put the car in park half a block from the coffee shop. "No sign of Cavanaugh yet"

"So what's the plan?

"I say we confront him with what we suspect." Korsak looked from one to the other, "what? He won't expect that, so either way we'll get an answer."

"I agree" Jane said, "what I'm worried about is whether the three of us out there together are going to a target they can't refuse." Thank god Maura didn't know what they were planning. She would deal with the repercussions later.

Joey rubbed his chin, "its definitely possible, but right ow the only one who knows we would be here is Cavanaugh, so if something does happen…" he left the rest unsaid. "I don't him to be in on it, but something stinks Jane."

Jane opened the door and swung her legs out. "Well come on, we're not getting any younger, besides its almost two."

The men followed Jane out and walked to match her pace. Joey's eyes darted back and forth as he scanned the street.

"There he is." Korsak pointed out Cavanaugh who was just crossing the street.

Jane pulled out the closest chair and looked across the street at Cavanaugh as he approached. "He doesn't look uncomfortable or anything."

"Rizzoli…you doing okay?" Cavanaugh took a seat across from her and watched curiously as Korsak and Joey took seats on either side of him.

Jane nodded, "Yes sir, I'm fine. I'm sure you're wondering why we asked you out here."

"I am…is this about who went after Crowe? Grant?"

"Yes sir it is, we figure there have to be more folks involved within the department." Joey glanced at Jane who nodded. "We were wondering if you knew of anyone else that Crowe might have worked with."

Cavanaugh's eyes narrowed as he realized what they were really asking. He pushed himself to his feet. "You all have a lot of nerve! You asked me here because you thought I might have something to do with this didn't you? Vince?"

"Sean we have to be sure and you've been privy to the same cases that Grant and Crowe have, besides you managed to skip having to do a beat when you made Sgt. One day you were one of us and the next you were brass. That doesn't happen without a little help Sean and you and I both know it."

Cavanaugh's face turned red as he looked at each detective in turn, he had kissed a lot of ass to get where he was, but he was not dirty. If anything he was stuck where he was because of it. They were right though. It was definitely someone higher up. "Look, I get where you're coming from, I do, but I am not involved, at all, unlike Joey here."

Joey jumped out of his seat but stopped when he felt Jane's cane across his chest.

"This is getting us nowhere. Obviously someone at your level sir or above has a hand in this and we need to know who it could be." Jane's voice was cold and firm. She believed him and the relief she felt surprised her. She watched as Joey and Cavanaugh sat down and Korsak started asking them both questions. She jumped when her phone buzzed on her hip.

"Rizzoli…what?" her eyes scanned the street as she listened to the person on the phone, "yes fine…" disconnecting the call she looked at the three men. "We're in trouble…" Jane knew Korsak understood, as did Joey.

"What do you mean we're in trouble? Rizzoli! Who the hell was that?" Cavanaugh stood up in front of Jane and took the bullet intended for her. He slumped over the table even as Korsak called for an ambulance and back up. All three ducked down and turned their table over as another shot pinged off the overturned table.

"He alive?" Korsak called to Joey who was busy checking Cavanaugh.

"Yeah, bullet's still in." he looked at Jane as he applied pressure to the bullet wound, "that was meant for you Jane"

"Really Joey? I coulldn't figure that out?" Shit!" Another shot ricocheted off the table next to her. "Where the hell is the shooter?"

Korsak looked up and tried to follow line of sight, "there!" he caught the reflection of the sun on the barrel of the rifle being used. "Across the street!" Grant fired back while Korsak called in the shooter's location. The sound of sirens was a relief as the shooting stopped.

"They're in pursuit Jane." Jane watched as officers converged on the building where the shooter was. The ambulance pulled up and Jane was glad that for once they weren't there for her. Looking down at Cavanaugh though she felt guilt course through her as she realized he had unwillingly taken a bullet meant for her.

"Crap."

So….what did you think? Too little, too much? Smile, there's more to come. Let me know what you think…