A/N: So the whole 'Not a crime writer' thing really pertains to this chapter as well.
Disclaimer: Don't own characters, not making money etc.
Jane sat in her usual booth at the Robber with her feet propped up and Maura across from her. She was getting increasingly frustrated with the case they were working. Two women were dead and she couldn't figure out why or who or anything. They had no leads, no new discoveries, no nothing. There was absolutely nothing that connected the two women other than the fact that they were both dead and had been murdered the exact same way. Jane had been frustrated all day long. Maura had stayed the night at her house the night before as per request and she had gotten some decent sleep for once but still she felt unbelievably tired. When Maura suggested going for some dinner at the robber Frost and Korsak practically shoved her into the elevator. So there she sat having dinner with her best friend while a case was still open on her desk. It felt wrong. She looked at Maura who was delicately taking a bite out of her pasta. "How are you so…okay?" She demanded.
Maura put her fork down looking at Jane. Truth be told, she was expecting an outburst from the detective. With cases like the one they were involved with now where there was no lead or a hint of a lead always made Jane slightly on the agitated side. "I don't know if you know it or not but you have a tendency to be very vague about things."
Jane narrowed her eyes at the woman across from her. She stuck a French fry in some ketchup before chewing on it passive aggressively. "I mean I'm a mess. I've been a mess since the warehouse. And you," She waved in Maura's direction. "You leave and come back and all of a sudden you're perfectly fine. And I don't get it. Why?"
"When I went away," Jane snorted. Maura glared at her before continuing. "I left the country for two months. It gave me time to process and decompress. And I saw a therapist when I got back while we weren't talking for two months. Overall I've realized that the situation was just a bad series of circumstances that were out of both of our control. I've accepted that and moved on." She tilted her head to the side. "Albeit it was easier since no one actually died."
"You've been seeing a shrink?" Jane asked. Maura nodded her head taking a sip of her water. "Since when? How did I not know this?"
"I've been seeing her since college. Though not consecutively, I usually only see her when I need to." Maura shifted her eyes away from Jane's. "I saw her a few times after what happened in the jail infirmary and then when I came back from my sabbatical in Africa."
"After Hoyt." It wasn't a question. Jane laughed dryly shaking her head. "Wow, I'm a spectacular friend."
"You are." Maura replied.
"I was being sarcastic."
"People cope with things in different ways. I need time and when that doesn't work I need to talk things through until they make sense. And some people would rather pretend certain things never happened. It's all a matter of coping."
Jane scoffed. "And I'm the 'some other people' in that equation?"
"Jane, you have a history of avoiding topics you find uncomfortable."
Jane sighed. "I know. I just…I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me about things that are bothering you. It makes me feel like a crappy person."
Maura reached across the table placing her hand over Jane's. "I know I can talk to you about anything. That's why you're a great friend, my best friend. But you weren't ready to have that conversation. You were dealing with it in your own way. And I'm fine with it. I am." She gave the hand a squeeze. "You're a good person, Jane."
Jane rolled her eyes. She really wished she had a beer but she was on the job and generally speaking alcohol and police work was frowned upon. "I've killed people Maura, I don't think that makes me a good person." She closed her eyes tight the second the words left her mouth. She hadn't meant to say them. Maura had a way of doing that to her: making her say things she didn't want to say.
"Jane, those were bad people, people that were trying to kill you or your partner or innocent bystanders." Maura reasoned. Jane raised her eyebrows once with a shrug taking a bite of her burger. It was the end of the conversation. Maura knew the signal well. She sighed. "You do that a lot you know?"
"Do what?" Jane asked through a mouthful of food.
Maura rolled her eyes. "You say these big meaningful things and then drop it like a hot potato when people expect you to elaborate further. It's irritating."
Jane cocked an eyebrow. "Irritating?" She nodded her head at Maura. "Nice. That's why I don't talk about my stupid thoughts." She mumbled into her water glass.
"Jane that's not –" Maura started before she was once again interrupted by the sounds of their cell phones ringing. They answered. They had another victim but she survived the attack. She was on her way to the hospital. They stood from the booth. Jane threw some bills onto the table. "Saved by the ring." Maura said before walking past Jane towards the door.
"It's bell." Jane said with a laugh. "You were almost two for two on getting the expressions right that time. I think I'm a bad influence on you." She followed Maura out the door.
Before they got into the car Maura turned towards Jane looking serious. "Jane, I know you have your own way of dealing with things but if or when those thoughts get to be too much, I want you to know that you can call me, or come to my house. Anytime. Day or night."
"Noted." Jane said quietly. She looked at Maura expectantly. "Can we get to the crime scene now?"
…
"What is the connection here?" Jane threw the file she was holding onto her desk with a sigh. It was around eight the next morning and Jane was on her second cup of coffee. She and Frost spent most of the previous night at the hospital. She only went home to shower, sleep for a couple hours, and change clothes. The third victim was still in critical condition at the hospital. The only reason she even made it to the hospital was because a bouncer walking home from his shift saw her struggling against her attacker and stepped in.
"When you hear hoofbeats think horses not zebras." Maura, who was sitting at Jane's desk, put the loose papers back into the manila folder.
"Maura!" Jane whined dropping her hands to her sides. They were lucky in that the bouncer got a couple punches on him but they weren't lucky enough for him to have seen the guys face. The bouncer had blood on his shirt from the attacker and they took a swab from the bouncer's knuckles for DNA. Maura was having the crime lab run it as they stood in the bullpen. All three of the victims deserved justice and Jane was determined as ever to give it to them. But she couldn't find the damn connection! She growled again before she started pacing.
"They're all women." Frankie offered up.
"And they're all brunettes." Frost said.
"They all had alcohol in their system." Maura said next.
"So what, our killer is in a bar picking out a random female brunette and follows them when they leave just to beat them up?" Jane asked quizzically. It sounded right. It sounded like that was what was indeed happening but there still wasn't a why or a motive or reason. Jane had been doing her job long enough to know that the why mattered. The why gave them an idea of where the guy would strike next or who he'd go after next. Without the why they were still guessing. And while most of her job was based on guessing it was also about following her gut and her gut was telling her that they were missing something.
"I think that's exactly what's happening." The voice didn't belong to anyone the people standing inside the homicide room recognized. Jane turned around finding a woman standing in a black and white power suit. The gold badge and gun on her hip instantly alerted her that the woman meant business and was most definitely not FBI. Even though, Jane reasoned in her head, FBI had no jurisdiction where this was concerned anyways. But she knew from experience the feds, or one particular fed, seemed to show up at random anyways. "I work downstairs. I'm Lieutenant Stacy Emerson for the Violent Crimes unit." She extended her hand towards Jane. "You must be Detective Jane Rizzoli?"
Jane nodded her head with a small smile shaking the woman's hand. "You know anything about this case that we don't know?" Jane asked a little perturbed.
Lieutenant Emerson shook her head. "My team was just getting caught up on the victim at the hospital last night. Somehow we got a little mixed up, we wouldn't have gotten involved had we known the case was related to yours." Jane nodded her head. She was beginning to like this woman. The no nonsense way she spoke and the way her tone was light but demanding all at once. Jane knew instantly this was the kind of woman who knew her stuff. "I spoke with Lieutenant Cavanaugh and he brought me up to speed with the string of cases you're working on now. One of my detectives was able to find a friend of the third victim. Detective Rice was able to find out what bar they were hanging out at before they parted ways. It seems like the bar is very near to each crime scene. I thought it might be worth looking into." She nodded her head.
"Well, what bar?" Jane asked impatiently.
"Before we get into details I need to speak with you and your partner in Lieutenant Cavanaugh's office." Emerson began walking towards the office in question. Jane raised her eyebrows at Frost and Korsak before motioning them to follow her leaving Frankie and Maura to look at each other in confusion. Korsak shut the door quietly behind him. "The bar is called Luck's Irish Pub. I know, Detective Rizzoli, you're the lead investigator on this case. I've already spoken to your lieutenant," She motioned towards Cavanaugh. "He agrees with my proposed plan but the decision ultimately rests in your hands. I don't want to step on any toes here." Jane nodded in understanding. There was yet another reason to like this woman. She experienced enough working with the Robbery Unit on some of her cases that most people would've gladly stepped on toes and faces to get what they wanted. She continued to listen. "This man seems to be going on a schedule. The media is starting to pay attention and it seems other than the name of the bar we're stuck on both sides of this operation. I was thinking we could set up an undercover operation in the bar. I have two capable brunette female detectives on my team and you yourself are a brunette. I understand you have a DNA sample already from the third crime scene that you're waiting on results from. There's a good chance that this guy isn't in CODIS. That's why I propose the undercover operation. The three detectives can get DNA samples from different guys at the bar to have them run against the one we already have. I'm sure that's where he picks out his target. In the meantime I'll increase patrol officers in that area. What do you say Detective?"
Everyone turned towards Jane. "Sounds like the best shot we have at the moment of nailing this guy." Frost and Korsak nodded their heads.
Lieutenant Emerson smiled. "I'll inform my team and we'll set up a meeting and a task force then."
A/N: I know it sounds a little like I Kissed a Girl but I wasn't intending it too. Also I know this chapter is really short but I just got done with finals so I'm all researched and studied out so I really don't want to go do research about scientific crimes and police procedure and what not. Like I said in last chapter's A/N the crime isn't really important it's what happens in between that's really important. Mainly I need this chapter up as a segue into the rest of the story. I promise I know what I'm doing (hah where I'm going at least.) I actually have most of chapter 10 written out long hand. And actually the rest of the chapters (in bits and pieces) written out that way too. I just want to say this story is going somewhere I promise!
Anyways, thanks for reviewing/alerting for last time! And as always, thanks for reading!