A/N: I know it is not Tuesday but I have this chapter ready to go and didn't want to wait. My cat's surgery went fine and she is recovering nicely. Thank you to all who sent well wishes. I will see if I can post the next chapter on Tuesday then I might get delayed as I do not get too much time on my computer due to my cute furry one.
Crime Scene Kitchen
Chapter 4, Competition Continued Round 2
Friday Evening, The Day After the First Round
Team 3, Homicide
Jane, Maura and Frost met in Maura's office after work the next evening. Frost started off by giving his thoughts about the previous night's competition. "I feel we worked really well as a team last night and I was proud of us. I know I am not the best cook, I can hold my own but working with the two of you was fun. I was happy that we won but I wondered why Riley's cake look so bad. Do either of you know?"
Maura responded and explain about beating the batter and how if you over beat the mix it can result in a crumbly cake. Jane and Frost were both surprised they didn't know that. Maura was just a wealth of information. "You know so much about so many different things. How do you remember it all?" Frost asked.
"Frost, you know she is a walking encyclopedia, that is why I loving refer to her as 'google mouth." Jane informed Frost and they both laughed. Maura just looked at them for a minute and then smiled. She knew it was a term of endearment and that Jane was not making fun of her.
"I think we should take the weekend off and Monday night we should research desserts that we feel might enter the competition." Maura stated.
Team 5, the Drug Unit
Susie had gone to the Division One Café during her lunch time and talked with Angela. She was concerned about Riley's behavior and how it might affect their participation in the competition. Angela said, "I will think this weekend about how to handle the situation. We will talk as a team on Monday when we have our practice session."
Susie was satisfied with that answer and agreed that hopefully with better communication we will do better as a team.
Friday at The Dirty Robber
The teams all met at the Dirty Robber at 5:30 PM. Gen made sure she arrived before everybody. The owner of the Dirty Robber had stated they could use the back room for their gathering. She had put up a sign congratulating Homicide for winning Round One.
After everyone was present Gen spoke, "Okay before anyone says anything about Patrol not having a detective on their team. The Chief looked over the applications for the contest and at the deadline there were only five other teams that had applied so he made a command decision and approved Patrol participating. He figured if they were willing to participate, he would let them. I would like to think that if they ever need a detective in the future that one of us would step forward and assist them." Everyone nodded. "So now that we have that cleared up, I think Homicide owes Patrol a round of drinks."
"Yes, we do." Jane said as she stood up, "What will you have? I will send Detective Frost here to get it for you." Jane smiled at Frost as she motioned to him who gave her a look. Frost rose so he could go to the bar and get the drinks.
Patrol Officers Sam, Hailey and Gwendolyn all said beer would be fine. Frost went to the bar after Maura handed him her credit card to put on hold for them. He ordered six pitchers of beer and a bottle of Maura's wine. The owner of the Dirty Robber returned a few minutes later with a keg of beer and set it up in the back of the room. He handed Maura a bottle of wine and a few wine glasses. Maura offered to share her wine and Penny and Shea took her up on her offer.
Everyone was laughing and having a great time. The keg never seemed to be empty. They were on their third keg when Riley came over to the table where Jane was sitting to talk some shit to Jane. "So, you think you are all high and mighty because your team won the first round."
"I said no such thing flour girl." Jane said as she smiled at Riley.
"I'm not a flour girl, Rizzoli, take that back." Riley demanded as she reached over to poke Jane and stumbled and fell across Maura and Frost, landing mostly in Frost's lap. Maura just scooted away from the semi-drunk detective. Frost politely righted Riley and stood her up. She was embarrassed. A few of her fellow detectives from the Drug Unit came over and retrieved Riley and took her back to their table. "This isn't over Rizzoli, not by a long shot." Riley said as she was led away from the table.
"Man, are we going to have to have guard dogs for that one Rizzoli?" Gen said as she arrived at Jane's table.
"I'm not sure what her problem is. She has been this way in every competition we are in. She hates my guts for some reason. I really don't understand it." Jane told Gen as they all sat down to continue their conversation. Jane was enjoying getting to spend time with this diverse group of police officers. Some of these officers she had never met. She had seen them around the precinct but had never met them or associated with them in any fashion.
It seemed as if everyone at BPD knew who Jane Rizzoli was. She had been in the newspapers so many times. She knew she would never be able to do any undercover work ever again and she was fine with that, she loved working in homicide.
A few other officers joined in their conversation and soon tables were being pushed together. They were having a great time and Riley left a few minutes after she confronted Jane. Gen asked Jane, "What do you think about doing this every Friday? Maybe minus the Riley Cooper confrontation."
"I think that sounds great. I mean the whole advantage of these competitions is to build unity within the workforce. I mean I have only seen you around the precinct a few times and never had an occasion to chat with you in the last few years, not since working together years ago." Jane said as Maura snuggled into her side.
"I love meeting new coworkers. Jane can tell you I use to avoid social activities as I was not comfortable in them but since meeting Jane that has all changed. She has changed my life for the better." Maura said as she looked lovingly at Jane.
"Ah Maur, don't go getting all mushy on me." Jane said as she smirked at Maura.
Gen laughed and said, "Are you two always like this?"
"Pretty much." Susie said as she sat down next to Maura. "We are all just used to it now. It took them a while to admit their feelings for one another."
"Chang, are you going to tell her our whole life story?" Jane joked as she wadded up a napkin and threw it at Frost who looked like he was falling asleep across the table from her. Frost jumped slightly and gave Jane a look. He then stood up and went over to the Patrol team to chat with them.
"If she wants to hear it Rizzoli, I will tell it." Chang said with confidence. She learned years ago to speak up and not let Jane push her around.
"That's Rizzoli-Isles to you, Chang." Jane said as she tighten her grip on Maura giving her a sideways hug.
"Hey, you didn't correct Gen when she called you Rizzoli." Susie stated.
"That's because Gen is Gen and if she wants to call me Rizzoli she can." Jane said as she smiled at Gen.
"Oh, I'm sorry Jane, I should call you by your new last name." Gen said.
"Gen, it's okay, a large number of people still call me Dr. Isles instead of Dr. Rizzoli-Isles. I don't mind as long as they realize I am happily married." Maura said as Jane leaned in and gave her a kiss.
"Your damn right, you are happily married." Jane said.
"Language Jane." Maura stated out of habit.
"See, adorable." Gen said and everybody laughed. "I wish my husband could have been here tonight to meet you ladies. He has a big case in court Monday and their team is working all weekend to make sure they are ready for the trial."
"Ya, I remember those nights." Jane said remembering working straight days sometimes to make sure they had everything they needed for a case that was going to court.
"Well, I think we need to start wrapping this wrap party up. Round One is complete and we all need to work on our strategies for the remainder of the competition. I will get the guard dogs for Cooper so you don't have to worry about that." Gen said and everybody laughed except Maura.
"Are you serious, Gen?" Maura asked confused by the comment.
"No, babe she is just joking, it's just a phrase and a way for her to let me know that she has my back." Jane told Maura.
"Ya, Maura, I have your guys' back. Riley Cooper will not be an issue moving forward. I cannot guarantee that she won't try some crap but she won't get close to Jane again." Gen added.
"Thank you, Gen. If there is ever anything I can do for you please let me know." Maura told her.
"Just encourage your wife to take the Lieutenant's exam when she is eligible. I know she has just made Sergeant and will be sewing on her stripes soon but we need people like her in the officer ranks." Gen informed Maura.
"Gen, let me enjoy being a Sergeant before you go making me a Lieutenant. Maur and I have talked about that and I am already on board with it, I told her parents when I asked for her hand in marriage."
"See, adorable, I mean how many people now a days actually ask the parents for permission to marry their child, an adult one at that. Okay let's call it a night and maybe see you around HQs on Monday but definitely Thursday night at BCU."
They ushered everyone out and agreed they would do this on Friday nights during the competition. The owner of the Dirty Robber agreed.
Monday Night
Team 3, Homicide
"So, what kind of desserts do you feel we might be making over the next four weeks, babe?" Jane asked her wife.
"Well love, I feel like there might be some sort of fried dough and maybe something like a macaroon as well as another cake or two." Maura stated.
"Oh, I love macaroons, can we learn those tonight?" Jane asked as she grabbed Maura and gave her a big hug and her puppy dog eyes hoping her wife would agree.
"Jane, I thought we were going to look over recipes and see what we felt we might have to make for this competition." Frost stated. He wanted to research all of the possibilities and then they could work on making them.
"Yes, Barry that is what we are doing tonight. If we have time, we can look at macaroons and maybe make some." Maura stated as she tried to break the embrace with Jane. Jane wasn't letting go of her though. She held on to her for a few more minutes as Frost booted up his computer so they could search the internet.
"What would you like to look for first?" Frost asked as Maura attempted to lean over towards him. Jane let her move a little and then hugged her from behind as they looked over Frost's shoulder.
"How about macaroons, let's see what the recipe entails." Maura said as Jane kissed her on top of her head. She was happy at least they were looking at the recipe for macaroons.
They spent about an hour reviewing recipes and then started making macaroons. Tuesday and Wednesday they followed the same procedure, reviewed recipes and then baked something. They were ready for the next round.
Thursday Night, BCU
They arrived at BCU at 4:45 PM and went in and took their seats. They were a little nervous wondering what would be in store for them tonight. Jane sat the furthest from Riley's table. Maura thought that was best, she didn't want any confrontations from Riley interfering with Jane and her thought process.
At 5 PM Sharon greeted them and then asked them to report to their kitchens. Each team visited the Crime Scene Kitchen for their three-minute observation time. By 5:25 PM all five teams had visited the kitchen. Their bake time was shortened to two hours because they wouldn't need three hours. The two-hour clock had started once they arrived in their kitchen after visiting the Crime Scene Kitchen.
What Will We Be Cookin'
The teams were working fast and trying the best they could to get their dessert baked. They had the first session under their belt and that helped some of them with their nervousness.
Team 1, Major Crimes
Mike, Sally and Cami talked about what they discovered in the Crime Scene Kitchen and decided to make a Carrot Cake. All three had scouted out the kitchen rather than each one examining an area in great detail.
Team 2, Vice
Gen, Clarence and Robert each stated what they saw in the Crime Scene Kitchen and then they collectively decided they were going to bake an Italian Cream Cake. They had decided to break up the kitchen and each one would spend more time in their area in a hope to extract additional clues.
Team 3, Homicide
Once the three of them had observed the Crime Scene Kitchen they returned to their kitchen and discussed what they thought they would be baking. Jane of course was telling jokes as she often did when she was a little nervous. Maura and Frost were quite used to this from her. Even though it was the second night of competition they all were a little bit nervous still. Knowing that each night would be a different dessert. The pressure was on to make the correct dessert.
Tonight, Maura was pretty confident in what she thought the dessert was. They had actually made this dessert in one of their practice sessions. Jane and Frost said they would go with whatever Maura thought the dessert was. They had faith in her abilities. They were just happy to be participating in this unique competition.
They had done their 'detective thing' as Jane called it and discovered: cream cheese, cracked nut shells, shreds of carrots on the grater, a dirty cinnamon shaker, eggs in the sink and a scraper with frosting on it. With all of those ingredients they had decided to make a Carrot Cake.
Team 4, Headquarters
Penny, Shea and Lisa continued their theory of each of them going through the entire kitchen. They felt that if they sectioned the kitchen off, they might miss something. By all three of them going through the kitchen they figured they had triple the opportunity of seeing everything. After talking about their discoveries in the kitchen they decided to make a carrot cake.
Team 5, Drug Unit
Angela, Riley and Susie came back from the Crime Scene Kitchen and discussed all of their findings. Riley was feeling cocky she wanted to win. She wanted to beat Homicide. She paid extra attention in the kitchen picking up the most clues between the three of them. She wasn't going to make any more mistakes like she did in round one. They decided to make a carrot cake. They all loved carrot cake and recognized the ingredients when they saw them in the kitchen.
Judgement Time
Sharon called time when Team 5, the Drug Unit finished their two-hour time limit. She called up Team 1, Major Crimes. Mike carried up their Carrot Cake as his teammates followed behind him. Sharon and student judges used their scoresheets to grade the cake. They looked at the overall presentation of the cake. Sharon then cut the cake so they could taste the carrot cake. They scored the cake and then the students retreated to a table to complete the scoresheets while Sharon called up the next team.
Team 2, Vice was next and they had made an Italian Cream Cake. After Team 1 showed their Carrot Cake they wondered if they might have guessed wrong again. They would have to wait until Sharon announced what the mystery dessert was to know the answer. Their Italian Cream Cake turned out perfect. Sharon stated it looked great and tasted wonderful. They really did a great job on their cake. They were just hoping they were correct in their assumption of what the mystery dessert was.
Team 3, Homicide brought up their Carrot Cake. They were as thorough as possible in the Crime Scene Kitchen wanting to make sure they grabbed as many clues as possible. They wanted to score high in this week's competition. They wanted to be in this for the long run. Sharon said their Carrot Cake was beautiful and it tasted wonderful. They were happy when they went back to their table.
Team 4, Headquarters came up next. The Chief had arrived and stood up and walked up with the team as they presented their Carrot Cake. Penny said, "This is our Chief of Police, Matthew Bradford. He will be standing in for me next week as my father is having surgery and I will be in New York with my family. He wanted to see what we are doing and how things work."
"Welcome Chief Bradford! It is a pleasure to have you here with us this evening. After the competition tonight I would be more than happy to walk you through our Crime Scene Kitchen and explain the process to you." Sharon offered.
"That would be great. I would love that and please call me Matt. Thank you!" Chief Bradford stated. Sharon then went back to judging their Carrot Cake.
"The presentation of your cake looks great and it tastes great also." Sharon stated as the team walked back to their table and the students finished their scoresheets.
Team 5, the Drug Unit brought up their Carrot Cake. Riley almost dropped it as she stumbled and her hand smashed into the side of the cake as they approached Sharon and the judging table. Angela just shook her head. She couldn't believe it. They would lose points for sure as Riley set the cake down. Sharon handed Riley some napkins to clean up her hand. She knew it was an accident but carrying their dessert up to the judging table was part of the competition. She would have to take points off and she felt bad about it but she has to judge the cake as it sits on the judging table. The cake tasted great and the part of the cake that wasn't smashed looked beautiful.
Maura had to smack Jane in the arm as she started to laugh when Riley stumbled. Jane turned and looked at her and just smirked. She put her hand over her mouth so that no further noises would escape from her mouth. Frost had also laughed and he immediately covered his mouth as he looked at Maura. Maura just shook her head at her teammates. She had enough strength to hold her laughter in.
Gen looked over to Jane and smiled. Gen was sitting at the table next to Jane and lowered one of her hands to give Jane a low five. Jane lightly smacked her hand as she smiled back at her. Maura looked over towards Gen and Gen quickly looked back to the judging table. She didn't want to get in trouble with Dr. Rizzoli-Isles. She had heard the stories about what happened when someone upset Maura and she didn't want to upset her and find out if the stories were true.
Sharon frowned slightly knowing she would have to deduct points for the smashed side of the cake. She was trying so hard not to show emotion but this was heartbreaking. As the teacher she was to be fair to all and showing emotion for the stumble and damage to the cake was not wise on her behalf. She straightened her face and got her emotions in check and then continued with the program, she said, "It is unfortunate that the cake was damaged in transit to the judging table. Let me cut into it and see how it tastes." She took a small bite and said, "It tastes wonderful. Just the right mixture of carrots and spices to bring out the flavors."
The students retreated to their table and tallied their scoresheets while Sharon called up her assistant to reveal the mystery dessert. "Tonight's mystery dessert is Carrot Cake," Sharon said as she raised the cover from the mystery dessert. Team 2 was terrified, they made the wrong dessert again. They lowered their heads and reached out their hands to one another as best they could while seated around the table. They knew this might be their undoing. They might be eliminated tonight.
Sharon looked over the tables at all the teams and said, "Four of the five teams made Carrot Cake, normally I would announce the winner first but I think it is rather obvious that Team 2 will be eliminated tonight as they did not make the correct dessert. I must admit that their Italian Cream Cake was very delicious, however it was not the correct dessert and because you are the only team that didn't make a Carrot Cake you are eliminated from this competition. As I stated last week you are encouraged to attend each week and root for your fellow members of BPD."
"Now for the other four teams. Well, I hate to say that Team 5, the Drug Unit due to your mishap bringing your cake up to the judging table, points had to be deducted from your great tasting cake. That deduction put your team in fourth place overall. So that leaves three teams." The student assistant brought up the scoresheets for Sharon to review. "Wow, we have a tie for second place and the first-place team only won by one point. The winner tonight is Team 3, Homicide."
Maura smiled and hugged Jane and Frost. "Wow, we won again, thank you for your hard work. I appreciate the two of you very much. We make a great team, I am happy you agreed to compete in this competition with me," Maura said.
Gen walked over and congratulated Homicide, she grabbed Jane's hand to shake it and said, "So Rizzoli, I guess you are buying tomorrow night. I think I might have a bottle of something instead of just a glass." She winked at Jane and then hugged Maura and shook Frost's hand. "See you folks tomorrow night." Jane winked back at her and Maura just gave her a look. Jane pulled Maura in for a hug and kissed her.
"Jane were you just flirting with Gen?" Maura asked with a questionable look on her face.
"No way babe! We were just funnin' with each other. I am very happily married as is she and you are more than enough for me." Jane said as she laid a big sloppy wet kiss on Maura. Maura tried squirming out of the embrace but Jane just held onto her and kept kissing her.
Maura was laughing and asking, "Frost please help me."
"No way doc, I know better than to mess with Jane. She'll hurt me." Frost said as he stepped back.
"Well, what if she hurts me?" Maura asked in between kisses with Jane.
"She would never intentionally hurt you, she loves you too much. She has for longer than she had told you about." Frost admitted.
"Hey, Frosty don't go telling her all my business." Jane said as she looked over at Frost.
Frost said, "I'm sure she knew before you finally told her."
"I did Barry. I have a doctorate degree in Jane Rizzoli. I just had to wait for her to realize that she loved me. If she would have taken too much longer, I would have had to make her realize how much she loved me." Maura informed Frost. "You know we are way off of the subject here. We are supposed to be socializing with the other teams before they leave."
"Ya, well most everybody has left already and we will see them tomorrow at the Dirty Robber." Jane said as she grabbed Maura's hand and their coats and headed towards the door. "Bye Sharon, thank you again. See you next Thursday, unless you would like to join us at the Dirty Robber tomorrow night. We meet at 5:30 and they have the back room roped off for us."
"I'll see if I can make it. I think I would enjoy getting to know the teams outside of the competition." Sharon said as she grabbed her coat. The students had all left already and they were the last people in the building. The Chief had agreed to come early next Thursday so Sharon could show him the Crime Scene Kitchen before it was set up for the competition. Once they were finished with the kitchen her students would set it up for the evening. She turned off the lights and locked the door as they walked to their cars in the parking lot. They waved to each other as they hopped in their cars and drove away.