Monday morning, Jane was back at the precinct. After getting some teasing from Korsak and Frost about going on a road trip with Dr. Isles, silence finally turned into the bull pen. Jane sat at her desk, tapping the pen nervously against it with a thoughtful expression.
She realized that she didn't mind if people thought that she and Dr. Isles were a couple. There had been talk for years that she was gay. But she minded being bugged when already being annoyed and grumpy.
The reason for her grumpiness this day laid in the fact, that nothing had moved in the Nairobi case and that Cavanaugh had ordered her into his office right after she had walked through into the building. "The governor wants answers. This case has been dragging on far too long Rizzoli." He had said. "It's nice that you found a friend to spend time with, but we need to solve this case."
Wasn't he the one who had ordered her to take time off she wondered? Why the sudden rush then? As far as she knew there were two forces onto it with SFPD, BPD and the FBI. None had provided any results so far. Why? Because the perpetrator or perpetrators left no evidence, there were no witnesses. Hence no viable lead.
The fact that there were still murders of course kept the case active. And it was out of question that she wanted to solve the case, but for that they needed more leads. Instead of saying a word though, she listened to Cavanaugh's ramble about how the governor sitting in his neck. He almost lost her attention until he finally turned soft.
"Korsak is going to retire and I threw your name into the pot with the governor as his successor. You are good Rizzoli, not to say the best. I would like you to be the new sergeant. That's the reason why you need to solve this case to show him how good you are. Then the rest will be a piece of cake."
Jane glanced at him wide eyed. "Me? Sergeant?" she gasped, thinking that she was still young. How did she stand the chance, which Cavanaugh obviously thought she did? "You deserve it. As the boss of this unit, I need someone I can rely on, and I can rely on you. I want you." His eyes turned kind. "And I mean it when I say that you deserve it, Rizzoli."
The brunette nodded slowly. "I asked Dr. Isles to come in tomorrow because she has lived in Europe. She knows foreign languages. I asked her if to help communicate with the involved law enforcements. Hopefully, it will speed up things and open them to the idea of collaborating with us on the cases if they can communicate properly in their own language."
"See, Rizzoli, clever!" he replied with a wink. Jane thought about Maura and smiled. Whenever she thought about the doc, she couldn't help but smile she noticed, and tried to give him a serious face again.
He dismissed her with a fatherly wink and left her to go to her desk. She was still grumpy and annoyed by the pressure she now felt. And by two more facts: that Korsak had never even said one word about his plan to retire and the fact that she had to work instead of staying at home with Maura and her kid.
R&I
Coming home got a new meaning with being in a relationship with Maura. Jane walked out of the car and straight back into the bubble, where the doc was singing songs to put the toddler to sleep. Jane watched her for a while silently from the doorframe.
"You are doing great with her." She whispered and pulled the doc into an embrace after padding over to the blonde. Maura leaned her back into her and Jane could feel a slight shiver. "I haven't noticed that you're home." She said.
"I just came home five minutes ago. I didnt want… I mean .. it was just nice to watch you both. It makes me feel happy." The brunette explained and Maura turned in her arms to face her. "I cooked some dinner for you." She simply said while taking in the state Jane was in.
They walked out of the room, Maura taking the baby monitor with her. A few minutes later Jane grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat at the kitchen island, watching Maura distribute the fried chicken rice on two plates to heat them in the microwave.
While one of the plates was circling in the heater Jane told her about her talk to Cavanaugh.
"Sergeant is great Jane!" Maura said in excitement before adding: "The governor already called me this morning."
"So, there goes our plan of spending the next week together huh?" Jane smirked and Maura laughed.
"Well, we are going to spend time together, but not the way we planned." She said and laughed some more after another smirk from Jane.
Maura took the plate out of the microwave oven and put it down in front of Jane while telling her that she had called an old friend from the FBI and other people to find out what the deal was. "The reason why the governor is getting nervous is, that there is rumor about a neonazi organization here in the US. And the president wants to get it cleared up."
Jane who was about to take a bite dropped her fork and gasped silently. "Neonazi, really?"
Maura took the second plate out of the oven and sat down next to Jane.
"If its really that big, why isn't the FBI involved?" Jane asked after kissing Maura.
"Who says they aren't?" the doc replied with a smirk.
R&I
Jane sat her desk and watched in awe how Maura talked to an Austrian detective in German. Her German seemed to be perfect. Marcella was sitting in her lap and trying to reach all sort of stuff laying around like a pencil or Janes badge.
Maura and she had agreed the previous night, that she would only come by to take a few calls and then go home with the toddler again. Cavanaugh who passed in the hallway walked into the room to say hello to them.
Maura hung up shortly after. "Looks like they will send us all of their documents about the cases. They have two couples' murders. They exhumed the bodies and guess what they found?" she summarized, throwing a questioning glance into the round.
"Tiny bullets?" Frost was the only one to reply the rhetorical question, earning some glances from his colleagues. "What?" he asked.
"They'll send us copies of the reports and everything they have on the cases." Maura repeated with a chuckle.
Everybody looked up when a woman entered the bullpen. Her eyes were darting around questioningly. She seemed slightly familiar to Jane who couldn't remember from where. She wasn't sure if she had seen her before because she didn't recognize her face. Yet, the person rang a bell in her memory.
"Detective Rizzoli!" The woman's face brightened up when she spotted the brunette sitting at her desk amidst her colleagues. "I see you made it safe home. I have to admit that you got me worried for a while."
Jane raised an eyebrow and stood to greet the person. Then it hit her, and a sly grin split her face. "Mrs. Cane?" she asked and saw Maura's face turn pale in the corner of her eyes. The woman nodded with a satisfied grin.
"Yes. My real name is Juliet Berkshire. MI6" the woman introduced herself and shook everybody's hand. "I knew it!" Maura suddenly exclaimed and blushed when everybody looked at her curiously. "I knew that you were lying about your hip replacement and that something was wrong about you."
The toddler on Janes lap giggled in amusement about the fuss and Jane cringed when the girl exclaimed "Mommy!" spreading her arms towards the doc. Juliet Berkshire clearly didn't know what to make out of the scene. So did Cavanaugh who shot her a confused glance.
"I didn't know that you are allowed to bring your children to work in the US. It seems to be an interesting idea though." Juliet stated. Jane saw how Cavanaugh scratched his head.
"Its not usual. Ma… I mean Dr. Isles just came for a short visit." The brunette felt the need to explain.
"May I ask you for the purpose of your visit?" Maura interrupted the chit chat. That was a good question indeed, Jane thought. Juliet Berkshire nodded. "You may. Its about the case. I have the feeling that we might come closer to solving it by exchanging information."
Jane was just wondering were the FBI was, when Gabriel walked into the bull pen. Great! She thought. Now everybody is here. He too gave a confused look at the gathered crowd and most of all at Juliet Berkshire. Then Marcella reached out her arms for him saying "dada". Was it even possible to have more puzzled looks and confusion in one room Jane thought to herself while biting her lips not to giggle?
To her relieve though, Gabriel took his daughter awkwardly out of Maura's arms under the interested eyes of the whole crowd. "Hello baby girl." He muttered.
"Good, now that everybody is here, we can start to confuse uhm I mean to inform each other." She stated. Cavanaugh nodded and offered them to move into the conference room before leaving the bull pen.
Within the next 15 minutes they moved equipment like white boards, laptops and boxes with files into their interim's office.
"Lets start by making a list of the known victims. Sort them into confirmed and suspected ones. Add the persons information." Jane ordered, trying to make everybody work systematically. Marcella who had gotten tired by all the excitement was put to rest in a sea of blankets at a spot where Jane could always have an eye on her. She could feel Juliet's confusion and looks at all of them. The brunette knew that it either looked like they were a commune or that Maura had had a thing with Gabriel.
To her relieve there was no objection to the plan and each law enforcement party began scribbling names to the list. It reminded Jane of high school when they had to do a project. And just like in high school there was a run on the few pens available. Rolling her eyes, she sat and watched the scene.
Her eyes lingered on Gabriel whose hair had become a bit grayer since she had seen him the last time. But otherwise, he was looking good and healthy. Feeling her stare, he turned around and their eyes locked in a few seconds before both looked away.
Maura was watching them from the other side of the room, arms crossed in front of her chest and she was bearing an unreadable mind. Frost was typing away on his computer, looking for information about the names on the white board and Korsak was sitting at the desk watching Jane and the scene.
The brunette decided to step out for a few minutes to get some fresh air, hoping that Maura would follow for a short chat. But the doc didn't want to or didn't get the hint. Once in front of the precinct she leaned against the railing and took a deep breath.
It was Juliet who walked out a few seconds later, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of her coat. "Nasty weather, just like at home." She stated after offering Jane one. The brunette declined by shaking her head in no and chuckled.
"So, its true? The weather is always bad in Great Britain?"
"Not always. But very often." Juliet laughed after dragging on her cigarette.
"You must have missed it in Nairobi." The brunette smirked pointing at the smoking piece in her hand not recalling seeing Juliet smoke in Africa.
"You have no idea." Juliet laughed again. "I thought I would stop smoking forever because its far healthier. But I just couldn't."
"Have you never smoked?"
"Occasionally." Jane admitted. "When I was a teenager, because it was cool." She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her coat. She glanced at the woman who was maybe 10 to 15 years older. Her blonde hair was cut short, she was as tall as Jane and had piercing blue eyes.
Eyes which were studying her thoroughly right now. "Would you like to have coffee some time?" Juliet asked with a smile. Jane realized instantly that the woman was hitting on her and felt flattered. "You are into woman, are you?" Juliet asked with a sly grin.
"Yes, but I'm not out at the precinct. Not yet anyways." Jane said surprised. Was there something written onto her forehead which revealed her sexuality? When seeing that Juliet was waiting for an answer, she cleared her throat. "But I'm also in a relationship. So, thank you for asking, but I have to pass."
If Juliet was deceived, she didn't show. Jane rolled her eyes when the woman extinguished her cigarette on the steps and threw the butt into a dustbin which was nearby.
