Chapter 2: Evidence

Maura

Maura sighed as she followed the two (admittedly beautiful) Italians out of the stadium. To her relief, the crowds thinned quickly since very few people were leaving the game this early. All she wanted was to get away from this nightmare.

She still couldn't believe that this had just happened. She had met Jamison at one of the Isles Foundations' fundraisers, and they hadn't even been dating for six months yet. They had literally never discussed marriage, so why on earth would he propose? Didn't he know her at all? She was a planner – everyone knew that about her. Or at least she thought they did. And she hated to be the center of attention. Even if they had been considering getting engaged, she would never want to be asked in public, let alone in front of nearly 40,000 people. On a Jumbotron. At a baseball game.

But she also felt terrible. She knew she had embarrassed him, and that was the last thing that she wanted to do. She may not have envisioned a future with him, but he was nice enough. Well, he seemed nice enough. She'd have to reconsider that assessment after today's humiliation. Still, she always tried to treat other people well, and she hated letting others down, which is exactly what she had done today.

The woman's voice broke through Maura's thoughts. "You're lucky," she said. "Normally, we don't park this close, but Frankie won these tickets, and they came with a parking pass." She paused then smirked. "Sorry, maybe calling you lucky today was a little mean."

Maura had to laugh at that. She couldn't deny that lucky wasn't how she would label herself today, but she was starting to wonder if her luck was turning. Part of her brain was telling her that she shouldn't be getting in a car with two strangers, but even though she never relied on her instincts, she couldn't help but trust them.

"It's okay," Maura said. "I at least feel lucky that you two were there to save me. I can't thank you enough for helping me get out of there without making more of a fool of myself."

"Honestly, your ex…wait he is your ex now, right?" the woman said.

Maura laughed again. "Yes!" she replied emphatically. "He is most definitely my ex-boyfriend now."

"Good," the woman said, seemingly satisfied with Maura's answer. "Anyway, I was gonna say that he was the one who made a fool of himself. I just felt bad for you."

"Well, thank you," Maura said as they arrived at the car and the woman opened the passenger side door for her. "Oh, I can sit in back," Maura said quickly.

"Not a chance," the woman said, flashing Maura a dazzling smile, and it wasn't until now as her stomach flipped in response to that smile that Maura realized that while she knew that the man's name was Frankie, she still didn't know the woman's name.

"I really don't mind, but I just realized that I never actually introduced myself to you," Maura said with a smile. "Maura Isles," she introduced herself.

The woman laughed brightly. "Yeah, sorry, I think 40,000 people might know your name now," the woman said. "But I'm Jane. Jane Rizzoli. And this is Frankie," she said as she pointed to the man standing next to the rear door.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Jane," Maura said, smiling at Jane. "And you, Frankie," she added, looking at the man.

"It's good to meet you too, Maura," Frankie said. "But you're still not sitting in the backseat."

"He's right," Jane added, gesturing to the front seat.

"Alright, thank you," Maura replied as she sat down, and Jane closed the door for her.

"You said Beacon Hill, right?" Jane asked as she pulled out of the parking spot.

"Yes, I mean, if that's not too far out of your way," Maura said quickly.

"No, it's not a problem," Jane replied.

"Aww, shit," Frankie cursed under his breath from the backseat, but both Maura and Jane heard him.

"What's up?" Jane asked, glancing in the rearview mirror when she stopped at a light.

"Valencio just asked if I could start my shift early," Frankie said. "Any chance you can drop me off at the precinct?"

"Course," Jane said. "Maura, are you in a hurry or could we actually drop him off first? It'd make a little more sense to do it that way since Beacon Hill is in between downtown and Back Bay, where I live."

"Oh, that's not a problem at all," Maura said quickly. "Precinct. Does that mean you work for the police department?" she asked Frankie.

But it was Jane that answered, "We both do."

"Jane's a homicide detective," Frankie added. "I'm still a beat cop, but I'm hopin' to take my detective's exam in a few months."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Maura said. "I work in law enforcement as well. I'm an assistant medical examiner at the FBI's Boston field office." She didn't add that she was hoping to be considered for the chief medical examiner position, which would have her working directly with the Boston Police Department. The current chief medical examiner was expected to step down this fall, but Maura wasn't sure how widespread that knowledge was.

She also had to admit that she felt better about accepting a ride from strangers knowing that they were police officers.

They chatted about light topics as they drove downtown. When Jane pulled up in front of BPD headquarters, before Frankie got out of the car, Maura said, "I'd like to take you both out to dinner to thank you for today."

Maura was surprised by Frankie's answer. "You should take Janie out," he said. "It was all her idea. I was just along for the ride. I gotta go. It was niceta meet ya, Maura. Hope your day gets better."

"Goodbye, Frankie," Maura replied.

Jane

Jane could kill her brother in that moment. Could he be any more obvious? Of course, he wasn't wrong – Jane was definitely attracted to Maura. But Maura hadn't given any indication that she was into women. She was just proposed to by a man.

Luckily, Maura seemed to be oblivious to Frankie's awkward attempt to set them up. She had pulled out her phone and was clearly reading something. Jane was, of course, nosey, but she didn't know Maura well enough to ask her what she was looking at.

However, when Maura sighed and dropped her phone back into her purse before looking out the window, Jane couldn't hold back anymore. "Everything okay?" she asked.

Maura turned to look at her as though she just remembered that someone else was in the car. "Oh, um, sorry, I didn't mean to be rude," she said quickly.

Jane didn't really mind that Maura had checked her phone, but doing so had definitely caused a dramatic change in Maura's demeanor. "It's fine," she said truthfully. "You sure everything is okay though?"

"A few people I know were at the game today," she admitted. "This whole thing is just humiliating."

"Ugh, that sucks," Jane said. "I'm really sorry. Um, hold that thought for a minute. I need directions," she added as they neared Beacon Hill.

"Oh, right, of course," Maura said quickly.

It didn't take them long to get to Maura's house. When Jane pulled up in front of the beautiful townhouse, she couldn't help but be amazed. It took her a moment to realize that Maura had made no move to get out of the car.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jane asked, gently placing her hand on Maura's wrist. Jane's eyebrows furrowed in concern when Maura jumped slightly at the touch.

Maura

Maura turned to look at Jane. She hadn't told the full truth when she told Jane that she had received text messages from people she knew who had been at the game. That was true, but it wasn't what was really bothering her. No, that was the series of not direct threats but still extremely concerning text messages that she had received from Jamison.

"It's just…Jamison's pretty upset…" Maura said slowly.

"He sent you text messages? What did he say?" Jane interrupted, speaking extremely fast. "Did he threaten you?"

"No, no, he didn't directly threaten me," Maura said, but Jane immediately picked up on her use of the word 'directly.'

"But whatever he said freaked you out?" Jane prompted. "Is there somewhere else you'd like me to take you? A friend's place? A family member's house? The FBI?"

Maura didn't want to admit to this person she had just met that while she had some casual friends, she didn't have any that she could just call up on a moment's notice, and she didn't have any family in Boston right now. Work was an option, but what was she going to do, stay there forever?

"No, I'll be fine," Maura said, moving to open the door.

"Wait," Jane said. "Does he have a key?"

"No, I never gave him a key," she replied.

"Did he ever have a chance to make a copy of your key?"

Maura narrowed her eyes at the thought. She never would have thought of that, and she really didn't think he had a chance to do that…but she wasn't completely sure. "I have an alarm system," is what she ended up saying.

Jane sighed. "Look, I know you don't really know me, but…hold on," she said as she pulled a key off her keychain and leaned over Maura to unlock the glove box. Maura watched as she pulled out her badge and gun. She took the gun and handed Maura the badge. "You can write down my badge number if you don't trust me or you can text it to a friend, but I'd like to walk you inside and just make sure everything looks okay. Just check that nothing was tampered with."

Maura considered the offer. She didn't want to seem like she couldn't take care of herself, but the truth was, she was concerned about going in alone after everything that had happened today. And she probably shouldn't trust someone she just met, but she did. She trusted Jane and not just because she was a police officer. She had been staring at the badge long enough that she had already memorized the number, so she handed it back to Jane.

"I don't want to inconvenience you," she said, and Jane clearly took that as her agreeing.

"Come on," Jane said, getting out of the car. Before Maura could process what was happening, Jane was opening her door and holding her hand out to help Maura out of the car.

They walked up to the front door together, and Jane stood aside to let Maura unlock the door. However, once the door was open, Jane gently placed her hand on Maura's forearm, stopping her from entering. Closing the door behind them and locking it, Jane said, "Stay here."

Maura nodded, but Jane didn't wait for her response as she quickly cleared the main level of the house.

"It's clear down here," she said, walking back over to Maura. "I wanna check upstairs, too, but I don't want to invade your privacy."

Maura hesitated for only a moment before saying, "It's fine. You can check upstairs."

"'Kay, wait here," she said.

As Maura waited for Jane to return, she thought back to the afternoon. It was terrible, but she was also really glad that it had led her to meet Jane and Frankie. She wanted to get to know them better, especially Jane, but she wasn't the best at making friends. Was it appropriate to ask Jane if she wanted to stay for a while? Was it better to offer to take her out another day for dinner like she had offered in the car? Or was all of that inappropriate?

"It's all clear," Jane said as she returned downstairs.

"Thank you," Maura replied, blushing slightly. "I'm sure I'm just overreacting, but I do appreciate your willingness to check my house."

Jane waved her off. "Better safe than sorry," she said. "So, um…I guess I should go, but, uh…" Jane rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes as she stalled. "Maybe I could just leave you my number…in case you need anything, ya know? If your jerk of an ex shows up or something."

Maura couldn't stop the smile that graced her face. She wasn't the best at reading people, but she was pretty sure that Jane wanted to see her again. And Maura definitely wanted to see Jane again.

"That would be wonderful," Maura replied. "Also, I'm not sure if you have plans tonight, but would you like to stay for dinner? When I said that I wanted to buy you and your brother dinner to thank you for saving me today, I intended to take you both out to a nice dinner. However, maybe I could also treat you to takeout tonight?"

Jane smiled broadly. "I never did get my hot dog and beer," she said brightly.

Maura laughed. "I'm not sure about the hot dog and beer, but I could offer pizza and wine," she said. She had been planning to suggest a nicer restaurant for takeout, but she was getting the impression that Jane preferred something more casual.

"Done!" Jane replied.

An hour later, they were sitting on Maura's couch with their pizza and wine, and Maura had already forgotten everything that had happened today before she met Jane. She wasn't sure when the last time she laughed this much was, but it had definitely been a long time.

"You and Frankie are close?" Maura asked, curious to learn more about Jane.

"Yeah, I mean, he annoys the crap outta me, but I love 'im," Jane said.

"Is Frankie your only sibling?"

"Nah, we gotta younger brother, Tommy," Jane said, but she didn't elaborate. "How 'bout you? Any siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," Maura replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Lucky," Jane quipped, and Maura just shrugged.

"Were you always close to your brothers?"

"In some ways, yes, but I'm four years older than Frankie and six years older than Tommy, so it was different when we were kids," Jane said. Then, turning to look at Maura, she added, "If you ever tell him this, I'll have you arrested, but he's my best friend now. We used to give each other so much shit as kids, though.

"So, this one time…uh, I think I was 16 and he was 12, he thought he was so grown up and so cool. He would follow me and my friends around, and he had this huge crush on my friend Maria, so we decided to mess with him."

"What did you do?" Maura asked. She would never admit it, but she was hanging on Jane's every word. Jane's childhood was so different than anything Maura had ever known in real life.

"I don't really remember the details, but basically, we got him to think that he had a chance with Maria. We were planning on just getting him to make a fool of himself in front of all my friends, but it went haywire when he walked in on me and Maria making out under the bleachers. Oh, he was pissed because in his words, 'I stole his girlfriend.' I mean, how that I'm at least slightly more mature, I'm glad we didn't actually humiliate him. However, I'm not sorry about kissing Maria.

"I'm fairly certain Frankie still hasn't forgiven me," Jane said with a laugh.

Maura, however, was stuck on the fact that Jane kissed a girl. Now that she thought about it, much of Jane's behavior towards her could be considered flirting. It hadn't occurred to her earlier since her first thought had been that Jane and Frankie were a couple. Even once she knew they weren't, she hadn't thought about it again.

Now though…no, she couldn't do anything about it. She had just broken up with her boyfriend. In front of thousands of people. On the other hand, she could use something fun…

Jane

Oh, god, Jane thought to herself. Was Maura homophobic? Jane had just revealed her interest in women (something she had been trying to slip in all evening), and now Maura was silent. Completely silent.

"Maura?" Jane's voice cut through Maura's thoughts.

"Sorry," Maura said, giving her head a little shake to clear it. "Sorry, I just…"

"Um, maybe I should go," Jane said, disappointment and a hint of anger evident in her voice. She pushed herself off of the couch and went to pick up her wineglass and empty plate.

"No, wait, please don't go," Maura said quickly, reaching out to grab Jane's forearm. "I'm sorry. I was surprised, but not for the…"

"It's fine," Jane interrupted, her anger rising. It didn't matter how many times it happened; it still hurt when she realized someone she liked was homophobic. Not interested she could handle. Homophobia just pissed her off.

"No!" Maura said angrily, surprising Jane. Throwing caution to the wind, Maura stepped into Jane's space and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

Jane was so shocked that it took her a moment to respond, but when she did, it was like lightening in her veins.

Maura was the first to break the kiss. "You didn't let me finish," she said without fully retreating from Jane's space. "I didn't hesitate because I was upset by the realization that you've been interested in women in the past. I hesitated because I was trying to figure out if that meant you might return my interest in you."

Jane considered her response for a moment before deciding on action over words. She captured Maura's lips in another bruising kiss. Maura's hands instantly flew to Jane's hair as Jane's hands found Maura's hips.

"Does that answer your question?" Jane said under her breath when they separated, both panting heavily.

"Mmm, I think I need more evidence," Maura replied with a smirk before pulling Jane back into their kiss.

A/N: The real BPD headquarters is in Lower Roxbury, but it seemed like they always said that the headquarters in the show was "downtown." For the purpose of this chapter, I went with the show's location, but just like in the show, the actual location of headquarters isn't really going to matter for this story.