Full disclaimers in Chapter 1

ALERT: If you have not watched the show yet, there might be spoilers.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.

I am not a native English speaker, and I don't have a beta. So all mistakes are 100% mine.

Enough of disclaimers and warnings – read at your own risk. Reviews are always welcome!

Season 3 – Episode 10 – "Melt My Heart To Stone"

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." Jane tried to reassure Maura.

"Oh, God. No. How could I not know?" Maura had her hands on her head. She was crying hard.

"No. Come on. Listen. He evaded four different jurisdictions, okay? Including us. Okay? You said it yourself ... They're not all reclusive monsters, okay? You couldn't have known. You couldn't have known." Jane's broken voice, full of worry and concern, trying to reassure Maura.

Maura just cried harder.

"Oh, God. I should've known."

Jane hugged Maura tightly, trying to comfort her.

"Jane, we need her statement, then you can take her home."

"Can't this wait, Korsak?" Jane asked with pleading eyes. Maura was obviously a wreck right now.

"I don't want to make her re-live this once she calms down."

"Ok, then." Jane sighed, frustrated, herself feeling the effects of the adrenaline and the terror of having seen Maura under real life threat. "But let me get her somewhere to sit first. Give us a few minutes. She is pretty shaken up."

Jane practically dragged Maura, who was still crying, to one of the sofas. Jane hugged her, rubbing her hand on Maura's back, trying to calm her down, and trying to calm herself down. Maura was alive. Maura was safe. And Dennis was dead.

When Korsak saw they were settled, he approached.

"Doc. I know this is hard. And I think you will want to forget this day. So the earlier you give me your statement, the earlier you can go about forgetting."

"Of course." Maura sniffled, trying to control her tears.

"I know you have a good memory, Doc. If you can tell me from the beginning how you met this guy until he showed up here."

"Three months ago, Jane and I were in the autopsy room working on the case of that veteran that was killed with a tactical tomahawk. Do you remember?"

Korsak nodded.

"The EMT brought another body, that had just been pronounced dead after collapsing in a taxi ride to the airport, apparently from an overdose of Inderal. After the EMTs left, we saw the corpse had an erection, and I found a pulse. I did a procedure to open his airways and Jane called the EMTs back, and they took him to the hospital."

"Oh my gosh, this guy was the zombie with a hard-on?"

"Korsak." Jane admonished, her voice menacing. This was not the time for jokes.

"Dennis Rockmond. He is known as a famous motivational speaker and author. He sent me flowers to thank me, and showed up later in the precinct with a thank you gift for Jane and another gift for me. Mine was a sculpted hand. He invited me to a few dates." Jane was signaling Maura to skip the tagging part and the sculpting in the nude details. Maura seemed to pick it up.

"He told me he was going to sculpt me, and even made me pose in one of our dates. After that, he simply disappeared for three months. No text, no email, nothing. Then, when we found the first statue, he showed up in the café. Apologizing for having disappeared, saying he had been really busy with his book and speaking engagements, and inviting us for his book signing at lunch. We went – and in his public speech he mentioned about his perfect parents, etc. After that, he showed up that night into my house, to apologize for having disappeared for three months. He said his parents had a wonderful marriage and that he had gotten scared of how he felt about me, and that was why he kept his distance, but that he wanted to reconnect because he wanted to have the perfect marriage his parents had."

Jane was surprised, because Maura had not shared all the details of that part of the story. The guys had lured Maura into real romance… And Maura, Maura had fallen. Hard. Thankfully she had not fallen hard in the elevator shaft.

"Oh my God, Maura, he could have attacked you in your house." Jane interrupted, horrified.

"He could, but your mother was knitting in my living room when he arrived. She left before we talked, but she might have saved me from that because he knew she had seen him. Then today he entered the morgue through the loading ramp, giving me a huge scare. He said it was his birthday, that he was trying to re-live the highest and lowest moments of his past year, and asked me to have a birthday dinner with him. Since I was waiting for different test results that would not be ready in another hour, I accepted his invitation and came here with him. We had some wine, and we were discussing his art and his approach to sculpting. He was just taking me to see his work when you showed up."

"So you had no inkling that he might have been the killer?" Korsak asked.

She sobbed, shaking her head. "No."

"We didn't too, Korsak. Only when Susie showed me the Inderal results in the victims, I remembered the Dennis Rockmond case, broke Maura's hand sculpture to find a hand that analysis will confirm belongs to the first victim we found – that happened to be Dennis birth mother – and then ran here."

"The hand he gave me was a corpse too?" Maura asked. "And his mom was the first victim we analyzed? The one with the hypopigmentation on her hair?"

"Yes, and yes. I don't know how or why you didn't smell decomposition on the hand, but it might have been because your office and the morgue are kept at such a low temperature that you couldn't notice it. His real name is Mark Dugan and he is 36."

"He just told me his mother called him first thing this morning to wish him Happy Birthday… He… completely played me… and I totally fell for it…" Maura cried.

"Korsak, do you need anything else from Maura?" Jane asked, urgency in her voice. She needed to take Maura away from that place now, they would not have done that with a regular victim, she didn't want that done with Maura.

"Yes, Jane, take her out of here, we will take care of everything."

Jane stood, and helped Maura to her feet. "Let's get you home." She said gently, guiding Maura to the door.

Jane drove in silence, Maura sobbing by her side, repeating every now and then "What a fool… I should have known." Or variations of it. Every time Jane would use her right hand and squeeze Maura's hand to remind her she was not alone.

As they arrived home, Angela was knitting, and was surprised to see the state Maura was at, but Jane cut her: "Ma, that guy that dated Maura, he was a serial killer. He tried to kill Maura. He is dead. She is not hurt, but it was a big scare, okay? She needs time and space to process."

Angela opened her mouth to speak, but closed it, thinking better of it. Jane was in superprotective mode. Maura was in safe hands.

Jane took Maura to her bedroom. Maura was still shaking, and Jane knew she was in shock.

"Why don't you take a shower to calm down a bit?"

"I want to wash his touch out of my skin."

"That, too."

Jane picked a comfortable pair of blouse and yoga pants and handed it to Maura. She then sat by the bed and waited for Maura to finish her shower and come out of the bathroom dressed in the relaxed lounge clothes Jane had picked.

Maura handed her the dress – that Jane knew would need to be processed as evidence.

Maura at least had stopped crying, but Jane could see how shaken up she still was.

Jane guided her downstairs, knowing it was not good for her to be alone for now. She maneuvered Maura towards the sofa, covering her with a blanket. She knew Maura was still in shock.

Angela put a mug of tea in the coffee table before sitting back to knit, but Maura didn't touch it.

Jane sat with Maura, a hand rubbing up and down Maura's thigh over the blanket, trying to ground her. Maura was awfully quiet. She would just sniff every now and then. Jane knew Maura well, and knew Maura needed first and foremost time and space to process. And Jane would be there if and when Maura was ready to talk.

Jane stood, knowing Maura had only drunk wine with Dennis, and had no chance to have dinner. It was so late already. So she prepared a sandwich, hoping she could make Maura eat.

"You haven't said a word in over an hour, Maura." Angela tried.

"I'm just trying to process the worst day of my life."

Jane presented the plate to Maura, she just shook her head, finding no appetite to eat.

"Stop beating yourself up, Maura. We all met him. None of us spotted him. You know, the best behavioral psychiatrists in the world will tell you that serial killer get away with it because they appear so normal."

"Ugh. Why couldn't you two do something else for a living?" Angela sighed.

"I thought about being a ballerina."

Angela chuckled. "Yes, you did. And you were so good at the fouettés."

"And then I wanted to be a goalie in the NHL."

Maura and Angela laughed. Only Jane would go from ballerina to a goalie.

The doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be my yarn."

"My god, woman. How much yarn do you need for a baby blanket? And speaking of babies I guess I have to ask, girl or boy?" Jane asked, curiously, getting to the door.

Maura finally picked up the mug of tea, sipping some.

"Is it the yarn?"

"It's Lydia's baby. She left him on the doorstep." Jane came back carefully holding the baby in her arms, to both Angela and Maura's surprised looks. "Hi, baby." Jane sniffled, touched. She was an aunt. Or a half-sister.

"Is the baby okay?" Angela asked, concerned, standing up.

That sprung Maura into action. The doctor in her took over her pity-party, and she stood up as well. She looked around searching for her bag, that Jane had placed on the usual spot Maura kept it at when they arrived.

She picked the bag and approached Jane.

"Can I examine the baby?"

Jane was surprised to see Maura all business, but thought that could be a good temporary distraction, and nodded.

"Bring the baby here to the bed in the guest bedroom." Maura instructed.

Jane placed the baby on the bed, and sat by one side, Maura on the other, Angela standing by the door.

Maura carefully removed each piece of cloth, examining the exposed skin, and putting it back to keep the baby warm. She checked under the diapers.

"Diapers are clean. And he is a boy." She informed Jane and Angela, with a gentle smile on her face.

She then picked her stethoscope, and rubbed it against her pant, to warm it, knowing it would otherwise be too cold against the delicate skin of the baby. She tested the metal on her hand and found it pleasant to the touch, proceeding them to auscultate the baby. All sounded normal on his breathing. She used a small pocket light to check his eyes, and another device to check his ears. She opened his mouth delicately using her thumb to pull his chin down, and illuminated his mouth with the pocket light. She was so gentle that the baby only cooed and stirred, and didn't cry.

"He seems perfectly fine from what I can see." Maura said, storing her instruments.

"Can I pick him up?" Angela asked.

"Of course." Jane nodded to her mom.

Angela took the baby from the bed, and Maura and Jane exchanged glances.

They followed Angela, who was cooing to the baby.

"You need to eat." Jane tried, hoping the baby distraction would have helped.

"I am not hungry, Jane." Maura sighed.

"Please, Maura. I will need to take the baby and my mom, and I cannot leave you like this."

"Why would you take the baby and your mom?"

"Because you need time to process. You just went through a big scare. He could have killed you. The last thing you need is a baby bawling."

"It was a big scare. But I don't need you to leave, I don't want you to leave. I want to help with the baby too. It will be a good distraction. A new life. Life is always the best distraction."

Jane smiled gently at Maura. The person who always put others ahead of her. In this case, the wellbeing of a baby.

"Well, we all will need to take turns with this baby. If this is to include you, so you need to be on top shape, you need to eat."

"Fine." Maura said, picking up the plate Jane had carefully prepared, while sitting again in the sofa and covering her legs with the blanket. Jane sat by her side, and resumed her motion of stroking Maura's thigh.

"And I need to call Tommy, he will take shifts too. He either is the father or the one who introduced the baby's mother to my father, so he takes his share." Jane was distracted.

"This is really good, Jane, thank you." Maura said, between bites.

"Will you stop beating yourself? You couldn't have known the guy was a serial killer..."

"You told me you didn't like him. I should have trusted your intestines."

"My guts, Maura. And your guts told you something too. You didn't even sleep with him. And I didn't dislike him at first. I just disliked him because he kept you at bay without news for three months. It is not that I disliked him, I was pissed off at him for the way he had treated you. If he had treated you well, I would not have disliked him, okay? There was no gut feeling involved. You did nothing wrong. You couldn't have known."

"It will take a while for myself to get convinced of it, Jane. I know deep down I likely couldn't have known, but my rational mind keeps repeating I should."

"So tell your monkey mind to shut up, okay? You had no way to know, and you did nothing wrong."

Maura checked the hour. "I should put a list together, you will need to do some shopping before pharmacies close. We will need baby formula, baby bottles, diapers, creams, oils."

Jane rolled her eyes.

As Angela walked around, and as she got farther away from where Jane and Maura were sat, Jane whispered to Maura. "It could be her grandson, or it could be whatever it is a half-brother of mine would be to her."

"It is a child that has been abandoned at my doorstep, Jane, and who needs love and caring." Was Maura gentle response. Jane knew an abandoned baby went straight to Maura's heart and her own history. "And if there is something this house does not lack is love and care…" and Maura squeezed Jane's hand on top of her thigh to emphasize her point.