Prologue

Chapter 1: Partners

A/N: I think I remember hearing that a story involving the Newlywed Game has been done before, but I haven't read it. I'm hoping that this ends up being a different take. However, if anyone disagrees, please let me know. The last thing I want to do is overstep, but I feel like the game itself is fair game for a storyline.

I'm back from my trip, but my brain is a bit too jet-lagged and tired to write my more serious stories. I hope to get out the next chapters of Family by Love and The Gravedigger Redux soon, though.

Also, yes, Ian is in this story for a hot second, but I promise he won't be around long (nor is he a large part of this story) – and much to some of your chagrin, he's not gonna be the bad guy in this story (he's literally only there to get the story started).

Just a short chapter to get us started…

Maura

"Oh, Jane! I'm so glad you're here," Maura exclaimed when Jane walked through her door for their usual Friday evening hang-out.

"I missed you, too," Jane quipped, "for the 30 minutes we were apart."

Maura rolled her eyes. "No, I have a problem," she said quickly, choosing to bypass Jane's comment. "You know the annual fundraiser for the Isles Foundation that I am planning?"

"Yeah, we already all said we'd be there to fill a table," Jane said. She paused before adding, "As long as we don't have to pay the ridiculous table fee."

Maura rolled her eyes again. "The money all goes to support Médecins Sans Frontières," she said shortly. "It's a wonderful cause. But no, you don't have to pay."

"I know, I know," Jane placated her friend. "So, what's your problem? I thought the board liked the idea of the game show. The Newlywed Game, right? I'm sure it'll be fun to watch. We can make fun of all the couples."

"They want a member of the Isles family to participate," Maura said, ignoring Jane's desire to mock the participants.

"Okay, so shouldn't your parents do it?" Jane asked.

"They can't," Maura said. "My parents have to host the major donors. They want me to participate."

"But you're not dating anyone," Jane said stupidly.

Maura sighed. "Hence my problem," she said shortly.

"What exactly do they want you to do?"

"They want me to do what they always want me to do," Maura replied. "They want me to fake it. They suggested I ask one of my ex-boyfriends."

Jane scrunched her nose in displeasure at the idea of Maura playing with one of her exes.

"I asked Ian," Maura added quietly before Jane could comment.

Jane paused for a few seconds, and Maura held her breath as she waited for her friend's response. She knew Jane wasn't a huge fan of Ian, but Maura wasn't sure who else to possibly ask. Ian was a long-time supporter of the Isles Foundation and MSF. Plus, they had once known each other pretty well, so they, at least, wouldn't embarrass themselves in front of the donors.

"Oh, well, that makes sense," Jane said slowly, and Maura could tell that Jane was choosing her words carefully and controlling her tone. Part of Maura wanted to ask Jane what she really thought, but the other part of her didn't want to revisit their argument from last time Ian visited, which was also the first time Jane met Ian – and the time that Maura told Jane that Ian was the love of her life. Maura had revisited that conversation in her mind hundreds of times since that night, and she couldn't make heads nor tails of her feelings about it. She had believed that Ian was the love of her life when she said it, but as soon as it came out of her mouth, it sounded wrong. The problem was, Maura had no idea why it sounded and felt so wrong…

Jane

An inexplicable flash of anger rushed through Jane when Maura said that she was going to participate in the game with Ian, but she did her best to pull herself together.

"It sounds like you came up with a solution," she continued. "So, why do you have a problem." Did he say no?" Jane prayed that Maura couldn't hear the hope she was feeling at the thought that Ian might have said no.

"No, he agreed to participate," Maura replied. "I…I guess I no longer have a problem. Sorry," she added quietly.

Jane watched her friend closely, and she could see the anxiety underlying Maura's façade. She realized that what Maura really needed right now was reassurance. She could do that. She could support Maura – no matter what. "It'll be fun," Jane tried to reassure her friend.

Maura's eyes found Jane's, and Jane hated how unsure her friend looked.

"I'm not good at these things," Maura said sadly as she crossed her arms protectively in front of her chest. "What if we make a fool of ourselves?"

Jane realized that Maura had never been referring to whether or not she had a partner when she said that she had a problem. Maura's fear and insecurity were what she perceived as a problem – and it broke Jane's heart.

Jane stepped towards Maura and grasped the other woman's hands in her own. "You won't make a fool out of yourselves. Maybe you'll win, maybe you won't, but that's not really the point. You're both doing this because you believe in the cause, and that's all that matters. Just try to have fun while you play…enjoy yourselves."

"Are you going to mock us?" Maura asked.

Jane laughed. "Oh, absolutely," she teased. "What kinda best friend would I be if I didn't?"

Maura laughed, too, but Jane could see her friend relax anyway. She had said the right thing.

A few weeks later

Jane

"Mauurrraaaaaa," Jane whined. "How did you convince us to do this again?"

Maura turned to look at Jane. "With free food," she said matter-of-factly.

Jane scrunched her face in response. She couldn't argue with that. Maura had offered to cover their seats at the fundraiser if they would help with the set up. The foundation had hired a company to set up the tables, chairs, etc. in the banquet hall, but setting up the set for the gameshow wasn't part of their contract. Therefore, rather than hire another company, Maura had bribed Jane, Korsak, Frost, Frankie, Nina, and Tommy to help build and set up the set. Frost was also going to host the gameshow.

Tommy had built the sets by hand, and Jane had to admit that he did a wonderful job. He had built four custom seating areas with lattice arches – one for each couple – and a lattice covering for the host's podium. He had also built matching signs that read 'The Newlywed Game' and 'Presented by the Isles Foundation.'

"Besides, you're not exactly exerting yourself," Maura teased, only loud enough for Jane to hear her.

"Yeah, well, 'work smarter, not harder,' right?" Jane replied with a smirk. Who was she to complain if Frankie and Tommy wanted to go a bit overboard to impress Maura?

Maura bumped her shoulder against Jane's in response. "Tommy did an amazing job building these sets," Maura said, changing the subject. "I don't think we could have found better sets if we had hired a professional company to make them."

"Yeah, well, he's a Rizzoli," Jane quipped. "We'll do anything for free food." Or for you, she thought to herself, even though she was pretty sure Maura knew that part as well.

Maura's phone buzzed, drawing both of their attention away from the conversation.

"It's Ian," Maura said, glancing at Jane. "I'm going to take it."

Jane watched as Maura walked away, answering the phone as she left. She was honestly looking forward to when this was over, and she could shove Ian and his relationship with Maura back into the deep recesses of her brain.

While Maura was gone, Jane was reluctantly pulled back into helping. However, after a few minutes, Jane realized that her friend hadn't yet come back.

"I'm gonna go find Maura," Jane said to the rest of their group, and without waiting for a response, she headed off in the direction that Maura had walked earlier to take her phone call. "Maur?" she called out as she searched for her friend. "Maura, are you back here?"

Jane stopped when she heard the quick intake of breath from behind some of the boxes. She quickly stepped around the boxes to find Maura, clearly mid-panic attack.

"Hey, hey," Jane said quickly, stepping in front of her friend. She gently pushed Maura's shoulders against the wall to open her lungs before she guided Maura's face to meet hers. "Just breathe. You're gonna be okay. Just breathe with me. In through your nose…one, two, three…out through your mouth…one, two, three. Keep breathing with me. In…one, two, three…out…one, two, three." Jane repeated the pattern until Maura's breathing started to match her own and the cloudiness that had covered Maura's gaze started to dissipate.

"Come'ere," Jane said, pulling Maura into a hug. "What happened?"

"I-Ian can't come," Maura choked out. "He…he had to stay in Tanzania because of a medical emergency."

"Is he okay?" Jane asked quickly.

"Y-yes," Maura replied. "He…he just won't be here. I-I-I don't have a partner. What is everyone going to think if a member of the Isles family, a board member, drops out at the last minute? I planned this whole event, and all anyone is going to remember is that I dropped out at the last minute."

"Hey, no, no one is going to focus on who is or isn't part of the game," Jane tried to reassure her friend as she rubbed her back comfortingly. "They're just going to remember what a wonderful event you planned."

"No, this is the kind of thing that matters in these social circles," Maura said quickly as she pushed herself away from Jane, her breathing starting to quicken again. "That's why the board was so insistent that someone from the family participate in the first place. I-I-I…"

There was nothing Jane hated more than seeing her friend in distress. She knew it wasn't a good idea, but she did the only thing she could…the only thing that she could do that would fix Maura's problem. Jane looked Maura in the eye and offered, "I'll do it."

"What?" Maura said weakly, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Still, despite Maura's confusion, Jane's words must have penetrated Maura's panic to some degree because her panic seemed to be subsiding.

"I'll be your partner," Jane said. "We know a lot about each other. I mean, I know we aren't a couple, but you weren't dating Ian now either, so…" Jane trailed off nervously.

"Really? You'd do that for me?" Maura asked, her voice a mixture of hope and vulnerability.

I would do anything for you, Jane thought to herself, but instead, she said, "Yeah, it's not a big deal. We'll know enough about each other not to make a fool of ourselves. You won't have to pull out. It'll be fine."

Jane's heart warmed as she watched a tentative smile tug at the corners of Maura's lips.

"Let's do it!" Maura said, her excitement growing with each second that passed.

"Let's do it!" Jane repeated.

Frost

"Hey, Frost!" Jane called out, causing Frost to turn to look at his partner.

"Yeah?" Frost asked as Jane approached.

"Okay, so there's a slight change of plans," Jane said quickly. "Ian got caught in Africa, so I'm going to be Maura's partner. Can you make that change in your script or whatever?"

Frost had to use every ounce of self-control he possessed not to smirk. He also forced himself not to look at Frankie, Nina, and Korsak, who were clearly listening to the conversation. He knew that if he made eye contact with any of them, he was burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I can do that," he said in the most neutral tone he could muster.

"Okay, Maura said I gotta get my hair and make-up done, so I'm going to go with her," Jane said, oblivious to the stifled responses of those around her. "You guys good here?"

"Yeah, yeah, we got it all handled," Frost said. "Go!"

"Thanks!" Jane said, waving at them before she left with Maura.

They waited until the door had firmly closed behind Jane and Maura before they all burst into hysterical laughter.

Nina was the first to regain some measure of control. "Oh my god, this is gonna be great!" she choked out through her laughter.

"Please tell me you have hard questions," Korsak added. "Otherwise, this is going to be way too easy for them."

"I did try to come up with some difficult questions, but if we have a little time after finishing here, maybe we could have some fun," Frost suggested with a smirk.

"Oh, yes," Frankie joined in, having finally gathered himself. "We have to come up with the most ridiculous questions we possibly can. We gotta stump Jane and Maura."

"I'll make sure to throw some easy ones in there too, though, so that we don't embarrass the rest of the contestants," Frost said.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" Frankie said with an evil little-brother smirk.

"So good!" Nina added as all four of them exchanged knowing glances.

A/N: I have a number of questions already planned for this story, but I am taking suggestions, especially for hard questions (all questions should be about couples/appropriate for The Newlywed Game).