Part 1: The Game

Chapter 2: Elvis has left the building

A/N: Found out I was exposed to COVID on my trip (asymptomatic, vaccinated people), so now I'm waiting for my test results from the university. Luckily, I feel fine. In the meantime, I still can't write the heavier stuff, so fluff it is.

I should also mention that this doesn't necessarily fit anywhere specific in the series, but both Frost and Nina are alive and part of the group. I may reference things that happened in the series, but it won't focus on anything from the series.

Now (Maura)

Maura's nerves were returning in full force as she and Jane stood backstage. Her anxiety had been overshadowed by excitement when Jane offered to be her partner, and she had thoroughly enjoyed forcing Jane to let her stylist do her hair and makeup since they would be on stage. But now, when she was about to participate in a game – a game that was admittedly quite personal – in front of major donors, her parents, and her parents' friends, she was incredibly nervous. She didn't want to make a fool of herself, and she didn't want to let anyone down, least of all Jane.

After Maura's father finished his speech about the Isles Foundation, Frost walked onto the stage to begin the gameshow, greeting the crowd, "Hey, Boston! Who's ready to have some fun?" Maura smiled to herself. His charisma was contagious, and his enthusiasm was perfect; the crowd responded instantly. Maura had never seen such an energetic response from the usually stilted group that attended these types of functions.

"Let's introduce our four couples," Frost continued. "First, we have Jason and Wendy Shore. They've been married for 16 years, and currently live in Cambridge with their three kids and two dogs. Please welcome Jason and Wendy!"

The crowd cheered as the couple walked out onto the stage and took their seats in the farthest set of seats. Jason was a tall Black man, who looked to be around 40 years old. Wendy was a white woman of average height with dark brown-black hair that fell just below her shoulders. She too was around 40 years old. When they sat they flipped over a sign that read:

The Shores
Married 16 years

"And next, please welcome Tony Johnson and April DeVos. Tony and April have been engaged for 9 months and are set to get married this October. They have known each other since high school, but they didn't start dating until after college. They have been together for nearly 7 years and currently share an apartment in the Roxbury, Boston with their six-year-old puppy Babe and their three-year-old cat Princess, who rules the house."

Tony and April walked on stage. They appeared to be a white couple in their early- or mid-thirties. April had her dirty blond hair pulled back in a simple updo, while Tony's black hair was slicked back. They waved playfully to the crowd as they did a little dance before sitting down in their seats and turning around their sign that said:

Tapril
Engaged 9 months
Dating 7 years
Friends 15 years

Maura leaned toward Jane and whispered, "Why does it say 'Tapril'?"

"It's one of those hokey couple names," Jane replied under her breath. Maura could have sworn that she could hear Jane's eyes rolling.

Before Maura could respond, Frost was introducing the next couple. "Next we have Xiao Ma and Yuan Han. They've been dating for three years since they met at MIT. They now live in Dorchester where Xiao can walk to his job at UMass Boston while Yuan commutes to Harvard where she is completing her PhD in biochemistry," Frost said.

Xiao and Yuan were a young Chinese couple, clearly in their mid-twenties. Xiao waved shyly at the crowd, but Yuan's smile was so large, drawing everyone's attention, that Xiao's shyness likely went unnoticed. They took their seats and flipped over their sign:

Xiao & Yuan
Dating 3 years

"And last, but not least, we have Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and board member of the Isles Foundation, and Detective Jane Rizzoli, senior homicide detective with the Boston Police Department. They've been best friends for eight years. Please welcome Maura and Jane!"

Maura took a deep breath before plastering a smile on her face and walking out onto the stage with Jane. She felt Jane's hand on the small of her back, giving her strength, and Jane guided her into their seats. Jane flipped over their sign, making a noise of derision as she read it. Luckily, Jane's microphone wasn't yet turned on, so only Maura could hear her. Maura leaned over to see what the sign said, and she had to stifle a laugh when she read:

Rizzles
"Best Friends" 8 years

"Alright, now that we have our contestants, let's get down to it," Frost said. "The game will consist of three rounds. In the first round, I will ask one partner to leave the room while I ask the remaining partner a series of questions about their relationship. They will write each answer on a card. Then, I will invite the other partners back, and ask them the same list of questions. Their goal is to guess their partner's response.

"For round two, we will do the same thing, but the partners will switch roles. Round three will be our lightning round. The two couples with the highest scores will compete head-to-head. I'll explain the rules of the lightning round more in-depth when we get there."

Frost paused to look at the contestants dramatically. "Okay, everyone ready?" Frost asked energetically, and the crowd cheered loudly. "Can we have our one person from each couple step off the stage? My friend, here," Frost gestured to Frankie who was standing on the side of the stage, waving to the crowd, "will direct you to a separate room to ensure that you do not overhear the questions being asked of your partners."

Maura glanced to Jane, who whispered, "Do you want me to do the guessing first? You can answer the questions first, and I'll go backstage."

Maura nodded. Jane squeezed Maura's hand before standing and heading off the stage. Maura watched her go, wishing that there was some way that they could play, and Maura could still have Jane by her side while she was onstage.

Once Jane, Wendy, Tony, and Yuan had left the room, Frost continued, "Each of you have a set of posterboards and a marker in front of you. As I ask each question, please write your answer on the posterboard. Each answer should be on its own posterboard. For now, I'll ask you to keep your answers to yourselves. I will have you share your answers with the audience when your partners guess your responses. Any questions?"

The remaining contestants shook their heads.

"Okay, here's the first question…"

After they had gone through the questions for round one, Frost called the other contestants back onto the stage. Once everyone was seated, Frost brought everyone's attention back to him. "As a reminder, the contestants who just returned will be asked to guess their partners' responses to each of the questions. Each couple will get 100 points for each matching answer, and zero points for each incorrect answer. For any questions with multiple parts, points will be divided evenly between the parts.

"For each question, I will ask the partners to write their response – their guess of their partner's answer – on their own posterboard. Then, I will call on each couple in turn to see if their answers match.

"Okay, the first question we asked was 'what is something that always makes your partner laugh?'"

Seven Years Ago (Jane)

"Maur, are you sure you want to do this?" Jane asked for probably the five-hundredth time that day.

"Yes, Jane," Maura said simply. "You mother is living here now. This is her home, too. Therefore, she is more than welcome to host Sunday dinner here."

"But, Maura, I don't think you understand what family dinner in the Rizzoli family really means," Jane tried again. "We're not exactly…refined."

Maura snorted and smirked at Jane. "Really, Jane? I've known your family for over a year," she said. "I even attended a few family dinners at your parents' house. It will be fine. Now, help me set the table."

"Fine," Jane conceded, recognizing the finality in Maura's tone. There wasn't going to be any changing her friend's mind.

And of course, dinner was its usual chaotic event, but Maura didn't seem to mind. Jane tried to be on her best behavior, but her mother and brothers seemed perfectly at home in Maura's house – and Jane was pretty sure that was exactly what her friend wanted. Still, she tried to keep her brothers under some modicum of control.

After helping with the bulk of the cleanup, Angela retired to the guest house, and Jane was ready for Frankie and Tommy to leave as well.

"Alright, folks, Elvis has left the building. Time to go," Jane said, gesturing dramatically in the direction of the door. Frankie and Tommy were still sitting in front of Maura's big-screen TV watching the highlights on SportsCenter.

"Jane, I think Elvis is dead," Maura said, her face scrunched in adorable confusion.

Jane, Frankie, and Tommy all turned to look at Maura, who was standing next to the couch, and Jane was biting her bottom lip in a futile attempt to stifle her laughter.

"No, Maur," Jane said. "It's just a saying. 'Elvis has left the building.' It means that the show or event is over. It means it's time to leave. AKA, Frankie and Tommy need to get out." All three siblings finally lost their battles to suppress their laughter, and soon they were nearly keeled over on the floor in hysterics – a little too much beer might have contributed to Jane and Frankie's lack of self-control. In their laughter, they missed the embarrassed blush that snuck up Maura's neck and face.

"How come you don't have to leave, too?" Tommy asked as Jane's words finally penetrated through the laughter.

"Cus she basically lives here," Frankie said under his breath, quiet enough so that Maura couldn't hear him while Tommy and Jane could.

"No, cus I'm her best friend," Jane shot back. Jane glanced over at Maura and could tell that her friend was closing herself off.

"Alright, alright, we're going," Frankie said, standing up and pulling Tommy with him. He had noticed the look on Jane's face when she looked at Maura and knew they had officially overstayed their welcome.

After seeing Frankie and Tommy out, Jane found Maura in the kitchen, furiously scrubbing the dishes. Jane gently pulled the dish from Maura's hands and placed it back in the sink. She removed Maura's gloves and gently turned the other woman so that she was facing her. "Hey, what happened?" Jane asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Maura said, but she failed to meet Jane's eyes, looking off to the side instead.

"Maura, something's bothering you," Jane said. "You seemed fine earlier, so it was something that happened at the end of the night. Wait, do you want me to go to? Are you mad that I didn't leave with Frankie and Tommy, and you don't know how to tell me you want me to go? Cus you can just tell me, you know? I…"

"No, it's not…no, I don't want you to go," Maura said. "It's…it's silly. It's nothing."

"If it upset you, it's not silly, and it's not nothing," Jane said firmly but kindly.

"I-I was embarrassed," Maura said so quietly that if Jane hadn't been standing directly in front of her she would have missed it.

Jane's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "You were embarrassed? When?" Jane asked.

"You all laughed when I didn't understand the phrase 'Elvis has left the building,'" Maura explained. "It happens all the time. I'm used to being laughed at, so please don't worry about it. Ever since I was a child, I never understood the pop culture references and idioms that my peers used. It's just that usually I'm alone after it happens, so people don't typically see my reaction like you are now." Maura crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest, and the look of vulnerability that crossed her face broke Jane's heart.

"Have you felt this way with us a lot?" Jane asked, devastation lacing her voice.

Maura tilted her head as she thought about Jane's question. "Not often," she said. "Sometimes, I suppose, but not nearly as often as I do around other people. I'm more comfortable around you, your family, Barry, and Vince than I ever have been around anyone else in my life."

"Come'ere," Jane said, pulling Maura (somewhat reluctantly) into a hug. "You're wrong, you know?" she whispered into Maura's hair.

"I don't understand?"

"Yes, we were laughing because you didn't know the saying, but we weren't laughing at you," Jane said.

"I don't see a difference," Maura said.

Jane sighed and tightened her grip on her friend. "It…I don't know exactly how to explain…but…I don't know if this makes sense, but I guess it means that you're one of us," she said, desperate for Maura to understand.

Maura stepped out of Jane's embrace but not out of her space. "One of you?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, we love you, Maura. All of us. You're part of our family. We were laughing at you the same way we laugh at Frankie when he spills coffee on himself the second he pours it or the way we laugh at Tommy when he tries to do…well, basically anything," Jane said.

Jane watched a multitude of emotions flit across Maura's face as her friend processed her words. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime to Jane, Maura met her gaze. "Part of your family?" she asked vulnerably.

Jane laughed in relief. "Yeah, we tease out of love. It's part of being a Rizzoli, sorry!" Jane teased.

"Thank you, Jane," Maura said genuinely.

"Are we okay?" Jane asked.

"Yes, we're more than okay," Maura said. "I mean it; thank you. I love that you consider me a part of your family."

"Not just me," Jane cut in. "All of us consider you an honorary Rizzoli. Believe it or not, we do generally have better manners than we showed tonight. Frankie and Tommy would never get that comfortable at just anybody's house, and ma definitely wouldn't let us get away with so much if she didn't think of you as one of us. You've been part of this crazy family for a while."

Maura's smile lit up the room and warmed Jane's heart. "Well, I'll just have to brush up on my teasing, then," she quipped.

"Yes, you will," Jane replied, pulling her friend back in for a hug. "I love you, Maur. We all do. You're stuck with us."

"I love you and your family, too," Maura said as she returned the hug.

Now (Jane)

Jane smirked to herself as memories flooded her mind. She quickly wrote down her answer and held her card against her chest.

Once all four contestants had written down their answers and returned their attention to Frost, he continued, "Let's start with our married couple. Wendy, how do you think Jason answered the question 'what is something that always makes your partner laugh?'"

Wendy held up her sign and read, "Dirty jokes." Everyone laughed when Jason held up his own sign which said, "Inappropriate jokes," earning them 100 points.

Tony had guessed that April would say that "kid's cartoons like Tom and Jerry make him laugh," but April had answered "stand-up comedy."

Yuan and Xiao had both said that Yuan laughs when Xiao gets angry.

Next up were Jane and Maura.

"Okay, Jane, how do you think Maura answered the question 'what is something that always makes your partner laugh?" Frost asked.

Jane turned her card around and recited what she had written, "When she (Maura) uses idioms or pop culture references incorrectly."

Maura laughed brightly and held up her card, which read, 'When I don't understand idioms or pop cultural references.' "She's one smart cookie," Maura said as she bumped Jane's shoulder playfully.

"We're two peas in a pod," Jane continued. "We know each other inside out. Besides, this question was easy as ABC. It wasn't rocket science. It was a golden opportunity for us to see eye to eye. Did we pass with flying colors?"

Jane watched Frost try not to burst out laughing at Jane's lame jokes. "Yes, you pass with flying colors," Frost said as neutrally as he could possibly manage. "100 points to Rizzles. So, three of our couples are tied with 100 points apiece. Let's move to our second question."

A/N: I'll include where we are in the game and the score of each team in the author's note at the end of each chapter to help people remember where we are.

Round 1: Question 1

The Shores: 100
Tapril: 0
Xiao & Yuan: 100
Rizzles: 100

Also, yes, I used a couple name generator to come up with Tapril. I was gonna go with JohnVos, lol.