Well here is the second chapter. Thank you everyone who read the first one. I'm humbled by the response. Thank you everyone who left a review. They are like a drug that just keep me writing.
For the reviewer that said they didn't like magic, you might not want to read anymore. I'm trying to write the magic into the story where it is an everyday thing that has its uses, but also its limitations. It is definitely here to stay.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli and Isles.
Jane Rizzoli stood in the very back of the empty elevator. She still wasn't sure why she felt the need to do what she was about to do, but she thought the conversation was necessary. She definitely owed it to the Doc. She certainly hoped it wasn't as painful as the conversation she had three weeks ago.
Jane was actually doing the physical therapy that her doctor's had recommended while watching a Red Sox's game. No one was more surprised than she was that it was actually being done. She had admitted, if only to herself, that she had to do it if she was ever going to requalify at the range. She had thought the psych test would be the big hurdle to overcome, but she had blown through that with little effort. The damage to her hands though had affected her grip on a pistol. She knew she would make the minimum score, but she wanted to match all her previous qualification scores. She didn't want anyone to think she was slipping.
When she heard the first knock on the door she assumed it was her pizza being delivered. The voice that accompanied the second knock quickly dispelled that notion.
"Damn it Rizzoli. Open the door."
"Shit!" Jane muttered to herself as she started undoing the locks on her door. She had installed two more deadbolts the minute she had returned to her apartment from the hospital. She was tempted to wait out the person on the other side, to see if they would leave, but was afraid that would be seen as cowardice. She opened the door and was about to speak when the detective sergeant walked right past her into her apartment. She shut the door and turned around to follow him in, but he stopped just on the other side of her.
"You requested a new partner." It wasn't a question.
She should have known that he would have a buddy in the department that would tip him off. She should have told him up front. That might have saved her this conversation. Unsure of whether to go with the truth or her well-rehearsed speech she deflected.
"Would you like a beer, Vince?"
Korsak was momentarily stunned by the statement. It was the last thing he expected to hear her say. The fact that she was avoiding the conversation only made him angrier. "No I don't want a beer. I want to know why you requested a new partner. I want to know what I did that made you do that. I want to know why you didn't even talk to me about it first. I find out second hand, that my partner, who hasn't talked to me in three damn weeks, has pushed through paperwork for my replacement. I know that what happened was bad. I know that you are working through things. I even understand you need space. What I don't understand is you not having the decency to tell me to my face that you don't trust me to have you back anymore."
Jane shook her head. His last statement had completely thrown her off her rehearsed speech. "Don't trust you?" She snarled when she realized what she had said aloud. She must be getting soft. Normally she had more control and didn't just let statements slip out like that.
"Yes. You don't trust me. It is the only thing I can think of." Korsak took a deep breath, lowering is voice. "Jane, I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I didn't get there faster. What can I do to convince you to forgive me?"
Jane decided she needed that beer. She walked to her refrigerator, pulling out two bottles. She walked back, handing one to Korsak, before going to sit down on the couch.
"Jane?" Korsak took a seat beside her.
Korsak's voice barely registered in the whirlwind of thoughts going through Jane's mind. All the different reasons she had justified the request. All the little pep talks she had given herself to assuage her guilt. It didn't matter. She was going to have to tell Korsak the truth, and it was going to hurt as much as the actual injury. She took a long pull from her beer and set it on her coffee table.
"I don't blame you, Vince."
"Well, I blame me."
Jane shook her head. "I'm the one that walked in there with no backup."
"But I didn't see it!" Korsak cried. "What use is a power that can't protect those most important to you?"
Understanding came to Jane. "Your power doesn't work like that Vince. You know that. You can't beat yourself up for it. It did tell you to bring Dr. Isles and that saved my life and my hands."
Korsak walked over and sat on the couch beside her. "Then why do you want a new partner?"
"You saw me down there. I was…" Jane took a shuttering breath. The department shrink has said talking about it would make things easier. She had told him that talking about being tortured by a serial killer didn't make anything easier. Now, having this conversation with her ex-partner, she knew she was right. She was, however, determined to tell him the truth. He deserved that much from her. "I was broken. I was damaged. I was horrified, scared out of my mind. You saw me at the hospital when I came too. You saw me crying in that bed. There is no way you could ever trust me to have your back, to make the hard calls, after seeing that."
"Jane…"
She held up her hand to stop him. "I know you don't believe that. That's what makes you such a good man, but trust me, it's there. I'm a woman in a male dominated profession. I can't afford to have anyone see weakness in me, ever. Not even you. You have seen it. Regardless of what you say, what you think, seeing that weakness will color your perception of me. I can't have that, Vince. I can't work like that. So, I put in a request for a new partner and to be the lead detective." Jane reached over and took another drink of her beer. "You are right though. I should have told you what I was doing. You shouldn't have found out from someone else. That was wrong of me. I'm sorry about that."
Korsak just sat for a moment. He leaned over and set his unopened beer on the coffee table next to Jane's half empty one. "So that's it then? It's done. You've made your decision and to hell with everyone else."
Jane sighed. "It's for the best Vince."
Korsak stood. "You keep telling yourself that." He walked to the door, opened it and as he stepped into the hall he turned around. "The only person who thinks that what happened in that basement permanently damaged or broke you, is you, Jane." He pulled the door closed behind him.
Jane was brought out of her memory as the door to the elevator opened into the morgue. Both her mother and Korsak had told her, repeatedly that she needed to visit the ME and thank her for saving her life. To thank her for stalling out the FBI grilling until she had a chance to get her bearings and get out from under the effects of the anesthesia. She had meant to do it several times but every time she had decided against it. The truth was that she didn't want to talk about what happened. She certainly didn't want to talk about it with someone she didn't know that well and had actually seen her in that condition. She didn't want to see the pity in the ME's eyes. Her mother and Korsak still looked at her like that, and she hated it. She didn't want someone else doing it as well.
Reaching the medical examiner's office door, Jane stopped for a moment before knocking, gathering herself. After taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
"Come in." She heard from the other side.
Jane opened the door and walked into the office. "Do you have a moment Doctor Isles?" She said after entering the office.
Maura looked up from her desk and a smile spread across her face as she recognized her visitor. She stood up from her chair and moved around her desk. "Detective Rizzoli. It's so nice to see you. Please have a seat." She waved her hand toward the couch along the wall. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"
Jane walked over and sat down on the couch, but lost her train of thought, due to the doctor's reaction. So far, everyone had been somber about meeting her, even her new partner who wasn't even there when it happened. She had to quickly rework what she had planned on saying.
"I wanted to thank you for what you did for me. For saving my life, my hands. I don't remember much, but I do remember your presence. I remember you kneeling over me, trying to help." Jane had tried to look the doctor in the eye but was having trouble and her eyes dropped to the space on the couch between herself and the doctor. "I remember the explosion. I hope that I didn't hurt you."
It took Maura a minute to understand the statement. "Hurt me?" It then dawned on her what Jane meant. "Oh! 'The Event.' No. No you didn't hurt me."
Jane's face twitched into a smile. "The event?"
"Yes. That's what Vince and I refer to it as. It had no lasting ill effects on anyone and apparently very positive, lasting effects on you. I'm still not sure what quite happened, even though I've done extensive research on it. I can't find anything like it documented anywhere. Vince says it's a miracle and I should just leave it alone, but I think I should understand my power. I was concerned that I might have hurt you at first, but it appears that is not the case."
"Trust me you certainly didn't hurt me." Before she even thought about what she was doing Jane held up her hands and flexed them in front of Maura's face. When she realized what she was doing she froze. She didn't even let her mother look at her hands. The only person who she had seen them at all was Dr. Hemshaw and that was because she didn't have a choice but to let him examine them. She had no idea what had gotten into her to show them to medical examiner. Her first instinct was to bolt from the room, but she noticed that even after seeing her scarred hands, the look on Maura's face didn't change to pity. It looked more like concerned interest. Maybe even respect, she thought.
"May I see them?" Maura asked. She had told herself she wasn't going to ask such a personal question. Vince had told her that Detective Rizzoli was very self-conscious about her hands. However, when the detective held them up in front of her, she couldn't help herself. Her natural curiosity simply took over.
Jane's expression blanked. She didn't like showing anyone. She didn't like the weakness she felt it represented. She certainly didn't like the way people looked at her when they saw them. However, there was something about the Medical Examiner that didn't cause any of those reaction. She slowly reached her hands over into the doctor's space.
Maura took the left hand into both of hers and began gently inspecting the hand. Given the damage that she had seen when Korsak had brought her out of the building, she could scarcely believe this was the same person. There was none of the scarring and damage associated with black fire burns. The only noticeable damage was the scars at the center of each palm where the stakes had been driven through. "Is there still pain?" She asked.
"My surgeon says prolonged use and cold weather will cause aches and pains, but that should be the worst of it." Jane flexed her fingers in the doctor's hands. "I do have full range of motion though."
"Hmm." Maura hummed. "Do they hurt now?"
"Uhh." Jane's mind ground to a halt. What she had meant to say was no, but what she heard herself say wasn't even a word. The reason for this was because the doctor has started rubbing her fingers and stroking down into her palms. After that she started massaging her palms from the edges in.
"It's the circulation. All the blood vessels that got cut don't supply enough blood to the muscles in your hand when they contract. The contraction occurs at the end of exertion or in cold weather." Maura continued her manipulation of Jane's left hand not really thinking about what she was doing.
Jane felt it before Maura did. Maura's power started seeping into Jane's hand without her conscious thought. Jane didn't understand what the warm sensation was at first, but suddenly felt small movements under her hand that were not a result of the doctor's finger's movements. She was caught between surprise and fear. Surprised that the doctor was using her powers on her and fear that something was happening beyond her control again.
Maura dropped her hand as soon as she realized what was happening. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I was trying….I would never…"
Jane simply lowered her hands to her lap. She flexed her left hand trying to make the tingling sensation go away. "Relax Doc. You didn't do anything wrong."
Maura took a calming breath. "I promise I wasn't trying to do anything other than help with the blood circulation. I would never use my power on someone without their permission. I certainly would not do it to you after what happened last time. I know that it sounds ridiculous that I didn't realize it was happening, but I truly didn't…."
"Doc. Doc!" Her raised voice got the ME's attention. "It's fine. What sort of person complains about having an injury made to feel better? You fixed the original damage and now you've made my left hand feel better than it has since all this happened. I'm very tempted to give you my right hand."
"I'm not sure that would be a good idea." Maura responded. "My power seems to act unpredictably with you. So far all of those interactions have been positive, but we don't know that will always be the case."
Jane was curious. "How can healing go wrong?"
Maura sighed. "That's why I don't like that term. Even though that is the description used for my power, it is not technically correct. I have the ability to affect living creatures. I can make changes to the body. Now, the changes I make are healing cuts, stopping blood lose, numbing pain. I can do that because, for lack of a better term, I can 'feel' what is wrong with the person and cause changes to make it better. The fact is, and I trust you to keep this to yourself, I could do damage if I wanted to."
"What?" Jane couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I can make the heart beat faster, increasing pulse and blood pressure. I could stop all nervous system activity along the spinal cord, causing paralysis. I could damage muscle and bone." Maura felt sick talking about such things. "That's why I was so very worried about what happened to you during the event. Without my conscious control, I was horrified by what could have happened to you."
"Wow!" Jane gasped. "I thought I felt lucky before." Jane looked down at her hands again. "Now I'm even more thankful for what you did for me." She flexed her hands again while looking at them.
"I'm glad I could be of help, but I'm sure your physical therapy is the reason you have complete use of your hands again."
"I'm pretty sure all the physical therapy in the world wouldn't have healed black fire burns." Jane tried to lighten the somber mood in the room left by Maura's confession. She risked looking the ME in the face.
Maura didn't know how to respond to that statement. Her ability shouldn't have healed the black fire burns either. She didn't want to tell the detective that though. She looked so happy, but Maura felt guilty making her believe she had fixed them on purpose. She decided to move on to another topic. "Are you back? That seems awfully quick."
"No. Not yet. I've got sixty days of medical leave left. I've still got to pass a physical, requalify at the range, and one more psyche evaluation. After that I get at least thirty days on the desk. I'm just here today to start the ball rolling on all the paperwork. I came down here, hoping that I could take you to lunch to thank you for what you did."
Maura was stunned by the offer. She wasn't sure what she was expecting when the tall brunette walked into her office, but a lunch invitation had not even crossed her mind. No one but Korsak had suggested such a thing in the nine months she had been Chief Medical Examiner. She knew very well the names that she was called behind her back. She also knew that her social quirks made her awkward at best.
"If you don't want too or don't have time, that's fine." Jane hedged seeing the look on Maura's face.
Maura was jolted out of her self-analyzing by the statement. Detective Rizzoli was taking her silence as a no.
"I would love to, Det…." Maura noticed the scowl on the detective's features.
"Call me Jane."
"Only if you call me Maura, Jane."
The detective nodded her head in agreement.
Maura stood from the couch. "Just let me grab my purse. Where are we going?"
Jane suddenly got nervous. She was by no means a fashion guru but she knew that the clothes the ME wore cost more than she made in a month. She also knew from Korsak that she came from money. She didn't act like other rich people Jane had met, but that didn't mean she wasn't. Would a woman like Doctor Maura Isles be caught dead at a place like the Dirty Robber? I low rent cop bar? Man up Rizzoli and just ask.
"The Dirty Robber? It's a cop bar just down the street. It's where…"
"Oohh! I loved that place. Korsak took me there once. You can just sit and watch people go about their day and the salads where incredibly fresh."
Jane momentarily forgot about her discomfort with her chosen location. "Salad? You ordered a salad at one of the best burger joints in Boston?"
Maura didn't pause as she headed for the door. "Of course. I like to get the recommended daily dose of vegetables. It helps with digestion and gives many of the necessary nutrients the body needs not only to allow for proper growth and function, but to also fight off infections. There have been several studies that show…"
Jane just shook her head as she followed the ME out of her office and toward the elevator, trying to keep up with her dissertation on the benefits of the lunch salad.
Both had ordered their food and were sitting in silence, each searching for a topic of conversation. Maura arrived an idea first.
"How did your meeting with the FBI go?" Maura asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"As good as can be expected." Jane drew out the word. "I didn't get reprimanded or anything, but the FBI isn't happy with me, especially special agent Dean. I thought his head was going to explode when they approved my request to become a lead detective."
"I don't understand why it would matter to him."
"Catching the Dark Sargent would have been a real career boost for him. He would have been the one you would see on the news every night giving updates on how the case is going. The fact that some local, junior detective at that, actually caught the guy, it doesn't sit well with him. It has apparently had a less than positive affect on his career."
"He sounds very unpleasant." Maura offered.
"He's an ass." Jane responded.
"Language." Maura realized what she said and blushed.
The rebuke would normally have sent Jane off into a tirade, but for some reason the ME's admonishment didn't.
"Did you…?"
"Sorry. It's one of my many bad, socially awkward habits. You are a grown woman. You can use any words you wish."
Jane completely ignored the statement, totally consumed with her own thoughts. "You don't curse?"
Maura shook her head.
"You are around cops and dead bodies all day and you don't use foul language." She wanted to be sure she was being completely clear. There was no way that a person in Maura's profession could not drop a harsh word now and again.
"I do my best not too. An unfortunate side effect of my upbringing I'm afraid." Maura said almost apologetically.
"Unfortunate side effect?" Jane shook her head as a smile crawled across her face. "I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm impressed that you do not use foul language when stuck working with people like me and Korsak. We pretty much bring the profanity out of people. I'm concerned about all the pent up anger and aggression that you have because you haven't let out with a good string of curse words."
"I've never really thought about it that way."
"That settles it. I'm impressed." Jane couldn't help but be impressed with a person who hadn't even thought about just letting the job get to her.
Maura blushed against her will.
Silence settled over the pair.
"Thank you." Jane offered.
Maura wasn't good at taking compliments. "You said that already." She took a deep breath. "I took an oath. I wasn't just going to let you die without trying to help you." She hopped she didn't come off as unappreciative, or worse, condescending like her mother's friends, but she really was uncomfortable with the praise.
Jane laughed. "You aren't good with compliments either. I like that. But, saving me is not what I was thanking you for just then."
Maura's curiosity was aroused. "What, then, were you thanking me for?"
"I was told you were the reason that IA and the FBI weren't standing in my room when I came to in the hospital. That you called in a favor to get me into ICU, even though, technically, I didn't need to be there."
"Korsak and Sargent Sinclair needed a reason to keep everyone away from you for a while. The patient-doctor privilege is one of the few things that even the FBI is loathed to violate. I was just trying to help."
"I appreciate that. I appreciate that almost as much as you fixing my hands."
"I feel I should be completely honest with you. I wasn't trying to fix your hands."
Jane looked at the ME in shock and confusion.
Maura hadn't meant to put that thought to words, but it had escaped before she realized it. She rushed on. "I was just trying to save you and stop the spread of the burns. I was afraid that even that was going to be beyond my reach. Then you reached up and grabbed my hands, and I sort of lost control. I don't know what happened, but I never felt power like that before. Normally it takes intense concentration to control what my power does, but everything just sort of exploded. I lost consciousness when it happened. I certainly wasn't controlling what my power did then." Maura stopped talking. The explanation leaving her drained.
"Well then." Jane held up her beer. "Here's to luck, happenstance, divine intervention, or whatever happened that day."
Maura still wasn't happy about not knowing exactly what occurred, but she could be happy for the life she saved. She picked up her glass and tapped it against Jane's. "To chaos theory."
Jane almost made the mistake of asking what chaos theory was, but caught herself. Instead she just took a sip of her drink.
As she set her bottle down, the food arrived.
Lunch passed with pleasant conversation. Both women were surprised by how comfortable the situation felt.
"Wow, this is some fancy pen." Jane exclaimed as she picked it up off the table.
Jane had insisted on paying for lunch, over Maura's protest. When the waitress returned with her card and the check, there was no pen with it. Maura dug into her purse and pulled out a Mont Blanc pen.
"It's just a Monte Blanc. I've had it for years."
Jane looked at writing etched on the top of the pen. "Your middle name is Dorthea?" Jane raised an eyebrow.
Maura looked down at the table. "Yes it is. I know, it's a little old fashioned, but it's a family name."
"Well, it's better than Clementine." Jane confessed.
"Really?"
"Really. And it's not a family name, my mother just liked it."
Jane signed the check, set the pen back down on the table, and stood from the booth.
As Maura slid out of her seat, while she was moving her purse, she knocked her pen from the table and onto the floor.
"Oh shoot!" She exclaimed.
"I'll get it." Jane said as she knelt down.
Jane crouched down, bending both knees while Maura leaned over from her seated position. Their hands reached the pen at the same time, Jane's hand wrapping around Maura's. Both froze at the unexpected contact.
Immediately Jane felt her power come unbidden. She felt it streak through her body. She looked up into Maura's eyes and saw the same expression of awe and fear that she felt. She felt the pain in her hand recede just as it had earlier back in the office. It felt like it had before Hoyt, before the attack. She was caught between jumping back from the sensation and holding tighter to let the feeling of relief last.
"Jane?" Maura looked at the brunette with concern.
At some point Jane had closed her eyes because he had to open them to see Maura's face. She realized she was still kneeling on the floor, her hand wrapped around the Maura's hand and the pen.
"Jane." Maura said again, softly.
Jane jerked her hand back. "I'm sorry. Are you hurt? What happened? You felt that right? I didn't mean to do that."
Maura stood from the booth and looked Jane in the eyes. "Yes. Yes I did and I'm fine. I'm sure it's not your fault." She looked down at the pen. "Although this might be." Holding the pen where Jane could see it, the previously plain black pen was now an ornate combination of gold, silver, and platinum.
Jane's eyes widened at the sight. "What the hell?"
Both women stared at the object in the doctor's hand for a long moment. Finally Maura made a decision.
"Will you come back to the lab with me? I think I might have an idea."
"You aren't going to dissect me, are you?" Jane deadpanned.
"WHAT! Of course not. I know they call me Queen of the Dead, but I would never…"
Jane cut her off. "It was a joke, Dr. Isles" Jane rolled her eyes.
"Oh." Maura said sheepishly. She knew if she was going to continue to enjoy Jane's company, she was going to have to study and understand sarcasm.
"Of course I'll come back with you."
"Thank you."
Jane gestured toward the front door with her arm. Maura turned and headed for it.
Jane was glad that the Doctor didn't seem too concerned about what was happening, because she was completely freaking out.
Maura had brought them back to the lab so that she could put the pen under her microscope. As she looked at it, Jane sat on a stool on the other side of the counter waiting for Maura to render a verdict.
"So you are a smith." It wasn't a question.
"Yep." Jane answered. "I can manipulate and control metals. But this." She gestured at the pen. "This is beyond that. Nothing like this has happened before."
Maura looked up from the microscope. "You've never had transmutation occur before?"
"Really? Do I look like an alchemist? Do you know how much power it takes to do that?"
"Yes." Maura answered. "1.3 terawatts per gram. It's more power than CERN uses in a year."
"Is there anything you don't know?" Jane asked.
"Of course." Maura looked back into the microscope. "Well this definitely isn't plating. I've scratched at least two millimeters into the surface and the color hasn't changed." She stood up from the stool while grabbing the pen. "Let's find out how pure it is."
"You have a machine for that? Why?" Jane followed Maura to another counter.
"Yes we have a machine for that. It's called…"
Jane held up her hand stopping the impending onslaught of information. "Never mind."
Maura moved on to her next question. "Have you done anything with precious metals before?"
Jane sighed. "I don't have dwarf in my family tree, if that is what you are getting at."
Maura laughed. "Of course you don't. When marrying into the dwarf community the couple stays close to the dwarf's family. Everyone is free to come and go as they please, but don't migrate often. This is partially due to the metallurgical secrets of the different families and partially due to the binding magic of the families. Some anthropologist believe it may also be a learned defense mechanism because of years of discrimination. This is why the dwarf communities are centered around their historical homes. The Himalayas, the Ural Mountains, and the Andes. Surprisingly, North America, while having two prominent mountain chains has no dwarf population. This has led to many scientist theorizing…
"OK Googlemouth. We get it. I'm not a dwarf." Jane smiled at Maura.
"Googlemouth? Really?" Maura tried not to smile.
" and Professor know-it-all didn't seem to cover it." Jane was smirking at the doctor. "So what does your little machine say?"
"Pure." Maura raised her eyebrows.
"Pure? That's not possible. You can't make pure anything. Everything has impurities." Jane argued. She had spent a great deal of time studying not only her power but also the materials that she could manipulate.
"I know." Maura said still staring at the pen in her hands. "But, the science doesn't lie. Not only did a common metal pen get turned to precious metals, they have been converted into a pure form."
"Maura, you can't tell anyone about this." Jane looked a little worried.
Maura was a little unsettled by the worried look on the detectives face. "Of course, Jane. May I ask why?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "Really? What do you think would happen if people found out that I turned basic steel into three precious metals? Three precious metals with no impurities. They would take me away, lock me up, and demand I keep doing it. When I couldn't do it again they would dissect me to find out how I did."
"I understand your concern Jane, but have you noticed that you are a little preoccupied with being dissected?"
Jane ran her hands through her hair. "That's what you choose to focus on?" Jane growled.
Maura walked over and handed the pen to Jane. "Here."
"I can't take your pen, Maur."
Maura lost her train of thought. She had never been given an affectionate nickname before. All the nicknames she had in her life had been derogatory. Maura A-bora. Queen of the Dead. The simple gesture from the detective, one she was sure she hadn't even noticed, meant the world to the doctor.
"Maura? You alright?"
Maura shook herself out of her thoughts. "You should keep it. If you are worried about it getting out, then you take this pen and do what you feel you need to do with it."
Jane plucked the pen from Maura's hand using her thumb and fore finger making sure she didn't actually make contact with Maura's skin.
"What are you doing?" Maura cocked and eyebrow.
"Well, the last couple of times we touched things went, things went all…" Jane waved her hands in the air dramatically.
"I don't think you can turn it more precious." The doctor responded.
"I didn't think I could turn it precious at all." Jane glared, but softened her features. She glanced at her watch. "I hate to run, but I have a meeting with HR in about ten minutes." She headed toward the morgue doors.
"Thank you very much for lunch."
"I'm glad I was here to take you to it. I'll see you around, Maur."
"Later, Jane."
Maura walked from the lab and into her office. She turned to her computer and attempted to start going through her emails. However, a troubling thought at the back of her mind would not let go. This was the third time Jane had touched her and it was the third time that one of their powers had reacted without their control. She couldn't chalk up three separate incidents as simply strange occurrences. She was going to find out what happened.
