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 13 – "Virtual Love"

"Did you really take a slice of pizza up to your room?"

"I was starving. And you needed space to talk to your mother."

"And then you ended up getting grease from my half of the pizza on your couture dress."

"Yes." Maura sighed, resigned. "I already put baking soda to soak the residue, and I am hoping the dry cleaner can fix it."

"Okay, but now can we eat here?"

"Only if you tell me more about your conversation with your mother. And if you keep the grease from your peperoni pizza from flowing to my mushroom pizza."

Jane scoffed, separating the two halves of the pizza in the carton.

"Happier now?"

"Immensely. What did she say?"

"Not much."

"I don't understand. What did you say to her?"

"First, I asked why she was doing that to Cavannagh. She said it was none of my business. To which I replied that it was my business as long as he was taking it out on the entire squad. She then called him juvenile, and I counter argued that juvenile was Lightning McQueen, and reminded her she didn't even like the goofball. She reprimanded me for calling him a goofball, and tried to convince me she liked him. I told her I didn't believe her…"

"Keep going." Maura asked, curious, attacking one more slice of her mushroom pizza.

"I told her that if she was doing that just to get to Cavannagh, that I was going to tell her something she had told me in the past…"

"Wow, sounds serious. What did she tell you in the past?"

Jane mocked her mother's voice: "Don't. It's beneath you."

Maura opened her eyes wide.

"And then?"

"And then she began to cry…"

"Jane! You made your mother cry?"

"She said she was crying because she was proud of me, because she raised me, a beautiful girl. And she said I was right. Then she thanked me and walked out of this door."

"Not before you telling her you loved her and she responding she loved you more. That was the only part I heard." Maura offered with a hopeful smile.

Jane smiled gently. She had learned overtime that these display of affections between Angela and Jane were something Maura had never experienced with Constance or Hope, and that Maura craved those and always felt deeply touched by something that Jane took so for granted.

"Do you think it will work?"

"We will need to wait and see."

"Well, in the meanwhile, please keep reinforcing your policy of insisting they each have one foot on the floor when they are making out in my mother's bed."

"I don't believe I used the expression making out."

"Oh, no, of course not, you would never… You used the more colorful ancient heavy petting. What does that even mean?"

"Making out?"

Both laughed.

…

"Jesus, I am exhausted." Jane whined.

She was finishing putting the last piece of serving in the dishwasher.

Rondo had left with his rejects, and Angela had gone to her guesthouse after helping Maura with all the leftovers and the promise Jane would not leave before finishing helping Maura to clean up.

Of course Jane would – this dinner had been her idea. She had been brokenhearted hearing Dania saying she had robbed the hundred dollars from Angela to buy a text book because she didn't want to tell her teacher she lived in a teen shelter. Jane knew Dania had broken the law. And she felt torn. But she also had seen how ridiculously smart the girl seemed. That was when she had devised the plan.

Maura had obviously agreed – generous Maura, who would open her house to Rizzoli's and extensions. Jane shook her head.

"So how did your studies of aberrant juvenile behavior go?"

"Jane… You know that was not the reason for me to be glad you brought them here. I was happy to provide the environment for you and your mom to give attention and support to them."

"Come on, Maura, you provided a lot of attention and support. Dania, she became your biggest fan."

"I think if she can keep her studies, she will go places."

"I am sure she will."

"You are really a pushover… Someone who does things for the best interest of others."

"I don't. I just felt bad for the way I treated them. And yes, they did a lot of bad choices, but life has not been exactly kind with them."

"And I really didn't mean to be uncharitable…"

"You? Uncharitable? Maura, pl-e-a-se..."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You are the most charitable person I know. You didn't miss a beat in opening your house to four homeless people that you don't know, and that, from what we knew for sure, had falsely actioned a fire alarm and robbed my mother of a hundred dollars."

"Yeah, but I was not ready to cross the line of hosting a slumber part in the guesthouse."

"Nobody would expect you too, Maura. I told you already, I don't even expect you to have my mother over your guesthouse, imagine other people beyond her."

"But I do feel bad they are in a teen shelter. I imagine how many kids with such a potential are out there. These three got some food, attention, and support today. What about the others?"

Jane also knew where that came from. It was not only because Maura was generous. Because she was. Beyond generous. But abandonment was something else Maura couldn't handle. It spoke too close to her reality. Yes, she had been adopted as a baby. And yes, she had been doted with money. But yes, the feeling of abandonment from her biological family always followed her, and then the feeling of distance due to the benign neglect of her adoptive family… It always put Maura on a position to feel even more inclined to be kind and generous and charitable.

"We cannot save the world, Maura. The mentor program might help others too."

"I just feel we should be doing more."

"Maybe volunteer at the shelter?"

"Maybe. I feel really humbled that a homeless like Rondo is generous to volunteer there, you know. He has nothing but his time, and he still shares it there. I feel we do too little."

"Rondo is a good person. I still wonder if one day I will get him to sing to me, or if I will ever find what brought him from famous blues singer to homeless guy. But yes, he is generous. Although it is easier to be generous with his time when time is all he has."

Maura paused to think.

"True, time in our case is a commodity we have very little control over. I think I will talk to my lawyer. Maybe we can get some of the Isles Foundation to support the work done with the teen shelters."

"That would certainly help a lot, if it is in the realm of possibility. See? Super charitable. Without breaking your one-guest policy."

Both chuckled.